Why Did Equestria Shrink?

Chapters

Day 0
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8

Day 0

Fluttershy gulped as she spread her wings. She lifted herself from the ground, and carefully flew so she could easily sit down on the back of a majestic creature. The yellow pegasus remained quiet as she stroked the silver fur of the beast. There she was, on the giant silver fox called Spera. Or at least, that was what she thought the fox called herself. Even though the being had never really talked to her, she just knew her name. The fox had been bringing her to unknown places. Beautiful places; she had grown keen to travelling with the canine. Of course, at first she didn’t trust Spera that much, but as they travelled, she had discovered she was a kindhearted creature. She just wanted to show Fluttershy everything out there. And the pegasus appreciated that greatly. But as they had traveled, these places always seemed to have a problem of their own. It was either with the inhabitants of said place, or the climate, or anything really. Fluttershy had become used to her journeys the magnificent beast now, still softly stroking the silver fur with her hooves. A pink blush covered her cheeks as a squeak escaped her.

She held on to the fox tightly as it suddenly jumped up to a cloud. As Fluttershy looked back down, she could see Everfree forest get smaller and smaller as the canine leaped from cloud to cloud. Fluttershy gasped as the fox landed on the last and highest cloud, before leaping up to the moon. She blushed, expecting to see Luna, but it was deserted. Fluttershy held on tightly as the fox made one last jump, in to the nothingness of space. The vacuum of space made it so the fox went straight forward, without slowing down. However, Fluttershy was still able to breath. Still able to move, even. But as Fluttershy was, she was terrified, keeping herself close to the fox as her mane and tail waved as it was getting blown on by the wind. Fluttershy questioned this, they were in the nothingness of space; how did she get any wind in her mane?

The mare closed her eyes and buried her face in the fox’s fur, terrified. But as she did, Spera seemed to spread a comforting aura to Fluttershy, as the mare lifted her head and opened her eyes to witness the beauty of space. Stars covered the skies and she smiled. She never knew anything about space, or which planets there were. She thought that was more of a thing for Twilight. She herself prefered animals more. Fluttershy turned her head, gazing back at Equestria as it became smaller and smaller as the fox flew. There was something touching about this. Something pretty. Equestria was shrinking to a small dot among the stars and it made Fluttershy wonder how small they really were. But as the yellow-coated pony looked ahead, she squeaked loudly as they approached a small, blue planet. It was much smaller than Equestria, she was sure of that, but she was surprised at the size of this planet’s atmosphere. As they entered it, it seemed to be much bigger than Equestria’s, even though the planet itself was much, much smaller. But what she also noticed was how heavy the gravity was here. She bared her teeth as she was pressed on to the fox harshly, who crashed down towards the ground, but yet managed to land softly. With all her power, she managed to straighten her hooves and sit up on Spera.

Fluttershy looked up. This planet had many clouds. A lot, really! But when she looked down, she frowned as she saw many, many pegasi walking around. they looked sad, like something was missing in their life. However, they did not look up to Spera, as if seeing a giant silver fox was an everyday event on the tiny planet. Fluttershy gulped and looked back up. They were pegasi. Instead of being on the ground, shouldn’t they be living on the clouds, where they have much more room? They would be able to build cities bigger then Cloudsdale! They could build empires up there! Fluttershy sighed and looked at one of the pegasi. She gulped and gathered all her courage to talk to him, being the shy pony she was.

“Uhm...excuse me sir...but...why aren’t you up there?” She asked quietly. The pegasus looked up to Fluttershy. It was a brown-coated stallion with a black mane. His blue eyes stared in to Fluttershy’s, but she wanted to avoid eye-contact. So her eyes wandered off to look at the stallion’s cutiemark. But, she couldn’t find one. And when she looked at the other pegasi, she realised that all these ponies were blankflanks. She wondered why, but she got the answer from the brown-coated pegasus.

“We would love to, miss...” He said, his voice gentle and sweet. “but the gravity here is so heavy, we can’t fly! That’s why we’re all here, on the ground. And that’s why all of us are blank-flanks! We can’t fly!” He said. And the stallion demonstrated this by spreading his wings and flapping them as fast as he could, with all his strength. However, his hooves only lifted for a few feet, before he landed back. He was clearly exhausted already, and panted heavily and his tongue was lolling out of his mouth. “I really don’t know what it is...” he said sadly, sighing.

Fluttershy frowned and lay back on the fox, giving her hooves a rest as she was having difficulty keeping herself up with them for some time now. She sighed and thought; she wanted to help these pegasi. Even though she wasn’t fond of flying herself, it didn’t mean others shouldn’t have the right to fly. She stroked Spera’s fur, sunken in her own thoughts as she tried to make up a way to release these poor pegasi from this planet’s gravity. But then she came up with something, smiling widely as an imaginary lightbulb sparked above her head. She shuffled forward on the silver canine and leaned down, whispering something in his air. Spera nodded and jumped up, from cloud to cloud. Even with a gravity this big, the fox seemed to be as light as a feather. When they were on the top cloud, Fluttershy took a big breath and promised herself to be a big girl. Only seconds later, the fox jumped off the cloud, stretched her body and dived down towards the tiny planet.

Spera made sure she wouldn’t hurt any pegasi as soared through the air, her head colliding with the small planet. One would think that this would shatter the fox’s skull, but instead of that, Spera’s skull shattered the planet. The sphere broke in to about ten pieces, the now even smaller planets flying across the atmosphere, which stayed. Fluttershy smiled, this causing exactly what she expected. The gravity was now divided in between these tiny, individual planets. Spera landed on a cloud, not seeming hurt at all. Fluttershy petted the canine in contentment, very proud of her. She looked down, seeing the pegasi fly around freely, cheering out of pure joy as they did somersaults, corkscrews and barrel rolls. The mare squeaked loudly as the brown-coated stallion was suddenly next to her.

“Thank you so much.” He said, grabbing her hoof and shaking it in appreciation. “You do not know how happy you made us. We are finally free!” The stallion cheered, shaking Fluttershy’s hoof frantically. “Also, if you’re wondering, my name is Volare.” Said Volare. “You are welcome to return any time you want. We will always be grateful to you.” He sad happily, releasing Fluttershy’s hoof finally and folding his wings, taking a dive with a blissful laugh.

“Good job, Spera...” Fluttershy said softly, snuggling on the fox’s soft back. Spera smiled and bent her neck to lick Fluttershy softly. “On the next one, then?” She asked softly. Spera nodded and, with a mighty leap, escaped the planet’s gravity, wandering off in to space once again. The wind that shouldn’t exist blew through her mane again as she clung to the fox’s fur. She wondered what the next planet would bring her as she looked at the stars. But as they passed by Equestria, she frowned down to it. It was smaller then she remembered. much smaller. it scared her. Her eyes were focused on it as they passed by, and when she turned back to look ahead and sighed, she closed her eyes...

...And opened them again. She was lying in bed, and she let out a sigh. She tiredly rubbed her eye, and asked herself.

Why did Equestria shrink?

“I know you probably don’t like this Fluttershy, but we really don’t know what to do anymore...” Twilight said. Fluttershy’s blue eyes looked at the hospital in front of them. A mental hospital. The pegasus looked back down to Twilight, her eyes clearly begging the unicorn to take her back home. Twilight noticed this and looked away, sniffling. She didn’t want to do this either, but Fluttershy was mentally broken apart. “I’m really sorry, Fluttershy... But you stopped talking completely, you never leave your house and when’s the last time you had a meal?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy’s stomach seemed to respond by grumbling and she frowned. A tear rolled down her cheek as she gazed at her friend, before looking at Rainbow Dash, who was standing next to Twilight. Rainbow’s eyes were swollen slightly and her cheeks moist, indicating she had been crying.

“Look, Fluttershy. We’re all really, really worried about you. You don’t have to be afraid, these are nice ponies...they’re gonna to fix you up.” The cyan pegasus said, forcing a supportive smile on her lips. Fluttershy didn’t like that sentence. Dash was talking as if Fluttershy was broken. Then again, maybe she was? Twilight and her were the only ones that had come with Fluttershy, to drop her off at the hospital. The others wanted to come too, but they had decided that they didn’t want to make this look like too big of an event. And they decided that only Twilight and Rainbow would bring her. Fluttershy gazed at her friends and she sniffled, not realising that her eyes had started watering. Small tears made her cheeks wet as she bit her lip for a bit. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. Something wouldn’t let her. She just stood there, looking at Rainbow and Twilight, and all that left her lips was a small sob. Twilight gulped, keeping in her tears, although struggling to do so.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy...” She said, her voice shaking slightly. She gulped and took a big breath; crying in front of Fluttershy would only turn her down even more. “We’ll visit you often...All of us. We’re doing this for your own good. You’re barely taking any care of yourself anymore. It’s best that you stay here, so these ponies can look after you. And your doctor, Doctor Terryn, will cure you...” She said, repeating herself slightly. She placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s, not being able to hold back her tears anymore. They left her eyes as a sob slipped past her lips. Fluttershy gazed into Twilight’s eyes. She wasn’t sure about this. She was so scared of who was going to be in the hospital.

“Come on, lets meet up with your doctor...” Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy sighed and nodded slightly, slowly trotting to the entrance of the hospital. Rainbow was to her left and Twilight to her right. They didn’t want to do this either, but they were so concerned about their friend. From what Twilight had heard about Doctor Terryn, there was no doubt he’d be able to help Fluttershy. Twilight pushed the large doors to the hospital open and gulped, gazing into the lobby. There were chairs placed around for waiting patient and at the back of the room was a counter with a nurse behind it. The three carefully stepped over the red carpet and Fluttershy took in her surroundings. The lobby seemed a bit on the dull side. There were motivational posters on the walls, but the walls were am off-white otherwise. The lobby could be exited on two sides, on the left was a long hallway with doors, with a staircase at the end, on the right was a steel door. Fluttershy presumed that that door lead to the patients’ wing.

As the bunch approached the counter, most of their sobbing already having died down, Twilight spoke to the nurse.

“Umm...We have an appointment with Doctor Terryn?” She said. Twilight recognized the nurse as nurse Redheart, but wasn’t she normally taking care of patients in the ponyville hospital? Or maybe she had gotten another job here. But it didn’t matter, as Redheart smiled to Twilight, before looking down at some papers.

“Fluttershy?” She asked. Twilight sighed and nodded, looking back at the yellow mare. “Doctor Terryn is waiting for you. Through the hall here, second door to the left.” She said, pointing the long hallway leading to the staircase. Fluttershy held her breath for a second, making herself ready to meet this Doctor Terryn. She was scared, terrified. She just wanted to run out, but that would make her look even more ill. And Rainbow Dash would catch her in no time, anyway. The three followed Redheart’s directions and they were soon found looking at the door. There was a small sign on it with ‘Dr. Terryn’ on it. Fluttershy looked at Twilight, gesturing her to knock, she didn’t want to. Twilight sighed and knocked on the door. Fluttershy squeaked as a voice called out to come in. However, the voice didn’t seem too bad. This man sounded kind. Rainbow opened the door and sighed as Fluttershy slowly trotted in. The office wasn’t too big, containing only a bookcase, some filecases and a big, wooden desk with a light purple-coated unicorn behind it. His mane was short and stubby, being of brown-blonde color. Terryn looked up, lifting his square glasses slightly.

To Fluttershy’s surprise, this man didn’t look old at all! She expected some doctor that looked like he was around 50, but Terryn looked like he was in his late 20’s.

“You must be Fluttershy...” He said with a smile. “Please, do sit down the three of you, and tell me what, exactly, the problem is.” He kindly requested. Fluttershy was even more surprised, this man was indeed very kind! Fluttershy climbed on to one of the black chairs in front of the desk. Twilight and Dash also took a seat, Rainbow sitting on Fluttershy’s left side, and Twilight having taken place to Fluttershy’s right. Twilight had dropped the saddlebags she had been wearing down next to her.

“Hello, Doctor Terryn...” Twilight started. “Umm...” Twilight didn’t really know how to bring this out. She cleared her mind, looked at her friend and cleared her throat. “Rainbow and I... and a lot of others, really, are really concerned about Fluttershy...” She started, her eyes looking back to Terryn’s, his brown eyes looking back in to Twilight’s as he listened. “Even though she’s always been the shy and quiet type...She’s recently gone to the point where she stopped talking...to anypony. Not even to her best friends. And it got even worse as she barely left her house...almost never, really. And I don’t know the last time she had a decent meal.” Twilight explained, having trouble swallowing her tears again.

“And do you know what the cause could be?” Terryn asked Twilight. “Is there something that she’s said before she went quiet that might’ve been important? or has she been acting weirdly in any way?” The doctor asked Twilight. Twilight gazed at Terryn, sinking in her thoughts again. But Rainbow Dash answered in her place.

“Well...” She started. “She’s been talking about dreams she’s been having... about traveling and helping people.” Rainbow said, gulping. “And she also asked me... Why Equestria Shrunk...” The pegasus added, before taking a breath to talk again. “That’s the last time she spoke to me... About four days ago...” Rainbow swiped a tear from her cheek, gulping. “Can you help her?” She asked Terryn, whose horn was glowing dark purple as his pen was writing things down.

“I promise you, I will do my best.” He said. “First I will have to find the source of her problem. It may be the dreams she’s been having. I will try and get that source out of her head using simple therapy. Fluttershy will go back to her good old self, I know that. But I can’t tell you how long I will need. I see you’ve requested a room for her, because she’s barely taking care of herself anymore. That was a wise decision, nurse Redheart is already getting a room ready for her.” Terryn explained. “And if you’re wondering, visiting hours are from two pm until seven pm.” Terryn said, standing up. “Now, if you want to say goodbye, go ahead...”

And with that, the three mares stood. Fluttershy had been staring at the floor blankly throughout the entire conversation. But Twilight lifted up her saddlebags, a purple shine around them as they opened.

“We brought you some things...” Twilight said with a sad smile. The first object to float out of the bags was a framed picture of Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie in a big group hug. Fluttershy stared at it, before grabbing it with one hoof and holding it close to her, starting to sob ever so slightly. As she looked behind to Rainbow, she noticed that she was wiping her eyes. Although Fluttershy didn’t say anything, she moved to the cyan mare to hug her softly. Rainbow hugged back, almost clinging to Fluttershy as if she didn’t want to let her go. Obviously, Twilight couldn’t stay neutral with this, and tears soon leaked from her eyes too.

“T-The next thing...” She muttered, her voices breaking, but she gulped and promised herself to be a decent girl. “...The next thing is something Rainbow brought...From when you were still a filly...” Twilight said, pulling a plushie out of her bag. The plushie was a small, cute fox with silver fur. Fluttershy pulled back from the hug to look at the plushie. Twilight smiled and lifted the fox over Fluttershy, placing it on her back as if it was riding her. Fluttershy stared at the plushie, as if she had seen it countless times before. But in truth, she had. There she was, Spera, on her back, instead of she being on Spera’s.

“A-And last, but not least...” Twilight added, pulling out a blanket. “Rarity made this for you...” The unicorn pulled a blanket from her pack said, sniffling as more tears leaked from her eyes. She unfolded the blanket, revealing patches of the six cutiemarks of her and her friends, with Fluttershy’s being the central one. As Twilight covered Fluttershy with it, the unicorn hugged Fluttershy close, suddenly breaking out in sobbing. “We’ll all miss you Fluttershy...” She muttered, Rainbow Dash joining in on the hug. Even Terryn, who was standing by the door, had to wipe a tear away. He almost felt like a terrible person for breaking this moment.

“Now, if you please, Fluttershy. I’ll show you to your room.” He said. Fluttershy pulled back, nodding a thank you to Rainbow and Twilight for all this beautiful stuff she was given. The yellow mare left the room, holding the picture in her mouth and letting the blanket rest on her, with Spera riding her back...

...and she left her friends behind, to get healthy again.

Day 1

Fluttershy looked up, smiling to Spera. She reached out a hoof to stroke the fox’s face gently. She was ready for an other adventure. She was so happy, because Spera’s appearance made her feel like the canine was helping her to be free from all her troubles... to be free from the hospital. Fluttershy spread her wings and flew on to the back of the fox, Spera, snuggling her soft, silver fur. She had no idea she would be missing Spera this much. Fluttershy sat up slowly, looking down to the fox. She gave the creature a gentle nod, as if she was telling her she was ready to take off. Spera responded to this by taking a mightly leap and landing on a cloud. She ascended quickly by repeating her move, leaping from cloud to cloud. And as she reached the highest cloud, she made one last strong jump, straight out of Equestria’s atmosphere... As she always did.

Fluttershy clung to the fox as they travelled through space. The wind that shouldn’t be there blowing through her mane once again. Fluttershy looked back to Equestria, watching it as it disappeared among the many, many stars. The mare sighed and looked ahead of herself, sinking deep in to her thoughts. This was much nicer than the smelly hospital she was staying in. Travelling to unknown places, discovering new ponies...This was what she loved. However, she couldn’t help but feel scared...terrified. But she was questioning why she was feeling this scared. A tear leaked from her eye as she rested on the back of the fox. Spera noticed Fluttershy’s discomfort, and emitted a soothing aura to the sad pegasus. Fluttershy felt Spera’s attempt to cheer her up, despite that the canine was unable to actually talk to Fluttershy. The mare smiled at Spera as she sat back up, looking around in the vast nothingness of space.

Fluttershy stared at the stars as they passed, squeaking as she was able to make out some star signs. This travel was taking longer then any of the previous ones, it made Fluttershy very curious to where Spera was taking her. Fluttershy took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second. But when she opened them again, she noticed something special among the stars. There was a much bigger star among them, a purple-pink one. The size was extra-ordinary, and it wasn’t shaped like your average star; it was was like one of those stars you were taught to draw as a foal, with six points. And behind this purple star was another, smaller white one. Fluttershy stared at it, notcing also that the giant star had five smaller stars around it. That’s when she recognized it; Twilight’s cutiemark. The corners of Fluttershy’s mouth went down and she cuddled Spera again, staring at the cutiemark. But Spera’s aura sent Fluttershy’s lips back up again, forming the smallest smile.

It was good to be with Spera.

Fluttershy looked ahead, smiling wide as they approached a new planet. This planet was blue, and as they came closer, Fluttershy could see why. The entire planet was covered in water. Fluttershy frowned again, clinging to Spera as they flew through the atmosphere, diving straight for the water. Fluttershy yelped, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She heard a loud splash, but frowned as she didn’t feel surrounded by water. She slowly opened one eye, but widened both of them in surprise as she realised they were inside a large bubble. Fluttershy smiled and glanced around. This planet was just a massive ocean. But she could see no locals, not even under the water. Maybe they were scared off by Spera splashing into the water? The fox surfaced and stood on the sea level. Fluttershy bit her lip, this really was a wonderful creature, jumping on clouds, dancing on the water, what could be next?

Fluttershy let out an other squeak as the canine swam through the sea, but everywhere the filly glanced around, there was just water. Spera traveled over through water, and even though they were just in an endless seeming ocean, Fluttershy seemed to enjoy the ride. But something on the horizon caught her attention, a small island. Fluttershy squeaked, pulling Spera’s fur slightly and pointing. The fox let out a yap, before quickly speeding towards the small landscape Fluttershy had seen. Fluttershy smiled, gasping as she saw that the island contained a small house. As they approached it, and the island got bigger, Fluttershy could make out that the house was on a small farmland, and the island contained a small dock. But no boat was seen, or any other house. Spera was almost there, and now Fluttershy could see a stallion resting on the dock. A brown-coated stallion, with a black mane. Fluttershy frowned, she could recognize this stallion, but she didn’t know from where. He was a simple earth pony, and as the fox and Fluttershy walked ashore, he didn’t even seem to notice Fluttershy and Spera.

The stallion looked down to the dock blankly, before looking back up over the horizon of the endless ocean. This pony seemed sad, as if something was missing. But Fluttershy couldn’t think of what could be missing. This stallion had a beautiful house at the beach, complete with a farm and a dock. Fluttershy gulped, feeling the urge to help this poor stallion.

“Uhm...excuse me...” She started. “But...Is something bothering you?” Fluttershy asked. The stallion looked up at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy gazed back in his blue eyes. But she quickly averted the gaze. Fluttershy always felt awkward when making eye contact. Awkward and scared, terrified even.

“Hello, miss.” The stallion greeted. “Yes there is... I have everything I want here, but there’s something missing. I have a beautiful house, a farm providing all the food I can eat. But yet, I am not satisfied.” The stallion told Fluttershy. “Something’s missing...”

Fluttershy bit her lip. What could be missing? She glanced around, sighing, before noticing that the stallion lived on this island completely alone. In complete solitude. And that’s when Fluttershy got the idea. This pony was in dire need of some company! Fluttershy shoved herself forward on the fox’s back, leaning down to whisper to Spera. The fox nodded, and waited for Fluttershy to hold on tight. The fox then leaped up, and landed on the water, racing forward. Fluttershy closed her eyes as they traveled, Spera going very fast in search for an other island. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take the two too long to find this island. Again, with a house on it and a small farm, paired together with a dock. On that dock was a sad pony, a mare this time. A mare with light blue coat and white mane. Fluttershy knew there was another island on this huge planet! Spera stepped ashore, and Fluttershy talked to the mare.

“Umm...Are you feeling lonely?” Fluttershy asked softly. The mare looked up with a frown, but nodded. “Uhm...jump on...if you want to...” Fluttershy muttered. The pegasus thought she was inaudible, but she clearly wasn’t as the earth pony had climbed on to Spera. Fluttershy blushed and looked at the mare.

“I’m Sodalis, by the way...” She had said. Fluttershy was about to respond, but the only thing she could get past her lips was a loud squeak as Spera took off in to the water, racing over it. The clever fox knew the way back to the stallion’s island. Fluttershy gulped, smiling as it didn’t take long for Spera to find the way back. As the fox stepped on the sand of the stallion’s island, Sodalis jumped off and looked at him. Fluttershy smiled as the two then embraced eachother, smiling happily. They held eachother close, seeming relieved.

“Thank you, miss... The feeling of emptiness have left me...” The stallion said to Fluttershy. And you haven’t asked, but I’m Solus. And I will be forever grateful.” He thanked. Fluttershy smiled at the stallion and nodded slightly, before clinging to Spera. The fox turned her head, giving Fluttershy a gentle lick, before she leaped up to the first cloud. Up and up to the next ones, until she jumped back in to space.

Fluttershy glanced around, and frowned as Twilight’s cutiemark wasn’t where she thought it had been anymore. In fact, she hadn’t spotted it even once during her journey. And as she passed by Equestria, she noticed it was smaller then before. She looked at it, a tear leaving her eye...

...And she gently wiped it away as she awoke. She opened her eyes slowly, looking down to her pillow. It was moist from her tears. She glanced around and sighed. This wasn’t her bed, or her room. This was the hospital. She gulped and looked at the plushie of a silver fox as she lay on her stomach. She turned her head, looking at the bedside table to the right from her. There it was, a picture of her and her friends, hugging. She already missed them, a lot. And as she turned to lay on her side, she looked down to the blanket Rarity made for her. She appreciated all these things, she really did. But it didn’t stop the missing she was feeling. She felt lonely. Even more lonely then when she sat at home the whole day. And above all, she was scared. Terrified, even.

Fluttershy squeaked and shut her eyes as the door suddenly opened, letting in bright rays of light. She held a hoof in front of her eyes and gulped. She tried getting used to the light, and she steadily did. Her hoof went back down to rest next to her side, and the figure in the door could be recognized as nurse Redheart.

“Oh, sorry if that blinded you for a moment...” She excused herself, steadily stepping in with a smile. “I saw that you hadn’t left your room at all yesterday.” She said to Fluttershy, who nodded slightly. Fluttershy indeed had not left her room after Doctor Terryn had shown her where she was to stay. She had just crawled in bed with her blanket and plushie, and closed her eyes. She had also cried for a bit, but tried and cheer herself up. Again, Fluttershy couldn’t bring herself to say anything. But it wasn’t needed, as the nurse talked again.

“So, because Doctor Terryn asked me to, I’m bringing you some breakfast in bed... You really need to eat something, Fluttershy.” She said, bringing a tray over to Fluttershy. The pegasus sat properly, her stomach letting out a loud grumble as she looked upon the breakfast in front of her. The tray contained a plate with some croissants on it. A large glass of orange juice was next to it, as well as an apple and some yoghurt. Fluttershy couldn’t remember the last time she ate anything, and she was practically drooling.

“Enjoy your meal.” Redheart said with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back and nodded, as if she was saying ‘thank you’. But once again, she couldn’t bring herself in to actually speaking aloud. Redheart moved to open Fluttershy’s curtain and window, letting some fresh air in. The nurse then trotted out of the room, leaving the door only slightly open. Fluttershy blushed, leaning down to take a bite from one of the croissants. She savoured every bite, oh how delicious it was, even for hospital food. But as she ate, Fluttershy couldn’t stop but wonder...

...Why did Equestria shrink?

After taking a long, satisfying bath, Fluttershy felt refreshed. She was sitting in her room again. The long, rectangular room with blank walls, containing only a bed, a bedside table and a wardrobe. Fluttershy had figured that this was a hospital for ponies that were mentally ill, like herself. Not mentally disturbed or plain out crazy. She had decided this because it was quiet in the hospital all night. When someone said “Mental Hospital”, the first thought that always sprung to Fluttershy’s mind was a building full of crazy, screaming ponies, with male nurses everywhere. But that wasn’t the case with this hospital. Everypony here was quiet, like her. And most of the nurses there were female and very friendly. Fluttershy was especially keen on nurse Redheart, because she was pretty much the one that took care of her. She didn’t know about the other nurses, and she wasn’t sure about her doctor, Doctor Terryn.

But as she thought of all of this, she wondered if it was okay to call herself mentally ill. Well, if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be sitting the hospital, would she? She knew that she was in need of help, especially as she couldn’t help herself. She was just scared, and she didn’t know why. And the dreams she’d been having for days now, about a silver fox taking her to places, they were so nice that Fluttershy just wanted to go back to sleep. But that one question kept lingering inside her head, and nopony could answer it. Oh, how she longed for the answer.

“Fluttershy? Doctor Terryn wants to see you now.” A voice suddenly said. Fluttershy gasped and looked up, seeing nurse Redheart in the doorway of her room. The pegasus gulped, she didn’t want to go to her therapy. She was scared, again. She slowly scrambled to her hooves and gathered her courage, following the nurse through the long hallways of the hospital. Fluttershy blushed as they trotted in to the lobby. She hoped one of her friends would be sitting there, waiting to pick her up; but sadly none of her friends were present. Fluttershy let her head hang low and she sniffled, another tear rolling down her cheek. She thought she was being a bit too emtional lately, but her friends had left her behind in a hospital. She didn’t know if she had to thank them for that, or despise them for it. But only time would tell. It would depend on if Terryn could heal her or not.

“Here you go...” Redheart said to Fluttershy, knocking on the door to Terryn’s office, before opening it. Fluttershy gulped and stared in to the room, seeing Terryn behind his desk with a clipboard floating in front of him, a pen writing some things down. Fluttershy glanced around, being a bit too scared to enter the room. But she squeaked as Terryn’s brown eyes looked over his clipboard.

“Come on in, Fluttershy...” He said, casting a small smile to the mare. Fluttershy sighed and slowly trotted in to the office. She gulped as she climbed on to one of the chairs, sitting on it as she blankly stared down to the floor. Terryn sighed audibly, looking at the mentally ill mare.

“How did you sleep?” He asked with a smile. Fluttershy didn’t respond, not even feeling the urge to share anything with the pony. She kept staring down, feeling the tears come up again. She raised a hoof to wipe the water from her eyes. “Listen, Fluttershy...” Terryn started. His voice was calm and soothing, almost as if he understood Fluttershy. But the yellow pegasus didn’t think he did understand her. “I know this is hard for you, but you need to know that your friends are concerned about you, and that’s why they consulted me.” Terryn explained. “It’s normal that you don’t want to say anything to me, and I understand if you’re angry or frustrated. I won’t push you or force you to talk to me.” The doctor explained. Fluttershy looked up, maybe he did understand her? Or, since he was a therapist, was trying to use some kind of mental trick on her.

But Terryn did understand young Fluttershy. He was only twenty-nine years old, now. So he hadn’t been doing this job for too long. However, he did have enough experience to know Fluttershy’s position and how she felt. Fluttershy remained quiet, shuffling her hooves on the chair slightly.

“Also, I have a message from your friends. Rarity and Applejack will be visiting you tomorrow.” Terryn said, lifting up an other clipboard to take a good look at it. Fluttershy’s eyes went wider and she tried to peek at the clipboard. “Are they good friends of yours?” Terryn asked, receiving a nod from Fluttershy, which made him smile. Fluttershy thought back to the blanket Rarity made for her, and she wanted to thank Rarity for it, whether it be verbally or non-verbally. Seeing any of her friends would be great, anyhow. Also, it had been some time since she’d talked to Applejack, and seeing as it was Applebucking season, Fluttershy appreciated that Applejack was wanting to place that aside for a bit just to visit her.

“This counts as your first therapy. But it doesn’t matter that you haven’t said anything. In the end, the therapy should have helped.” Terryn then continued. “Our next therapy is...” Terryn took out another clipboard, going through some papers, before placing it back down on his desk. “Next Thursday, so the day after tomorrow. You’ll be having two therapy sessions in a week, maybe an extra one on the weekend, but that depends on our progress. You can go back to your room now, if you want. You have a lot to still get used to, anyway.” Terryn said with a smile. However, Fluttershy did not leave. She stared at her doctor, sucking up her bottom lip. Terryn had started writing things down again, but Fluttershy took a deep breath, gathering all her courage, and...

“Why did Equestria shrink?” She asked, looking at Terryn. This was the first thing she had said in days, but it had been bothering her for much longer then that. If he really was a therapist, he would know the answer, right? She hoped so. Fluttershy hadn’t realised that her eyes started watering again, resulting in some tears dripping down on her yellow cheeks.

Terryn looked up, jaw dropped. She actually spoke! But for that question, he too did not know the answer. However, he wrote it down immediately, before looking up to talk to Fluttershy.

“I don’t know Fluttershy, but I will help you find out...” Terryn said. Fluttershy simply nod, sniffling slightly as she wiped her tears. He would help her, but she wasn’t sure if she fully trusted him. What choice did she have? The mare slid off of her chair and slowly trotted back towards the door, tears dropping on the carpet as she met with the waiting Redheart.

Fluttershy was brought to her room again, as she quietly sobbed along the way. She had a long journey ahead of her...

Day 2

Fluttershy let out a long sigh as she lay. She stared up at the blue sky, spread out on the grass. She turned her head, to let her gaze fall on her spread out wings, which fluttered slightly. She turned her head back up, to gaze in to the sky. Today seemed different. Spera wasn’t here, where could she possible have gone to? Normally, she’d be waiting for Fluttershy here, but today she wasn’t. Today Fluttershy had to wait for her instead. She was hoping nothing bad would’ve happened to the fox. She was so curious to what strange planet they would’ve gone to. But there won’t be any traveling if the fox wouldn’t show up. As Fluttershy waited, she was sinking deep in her thoughts. This realm was so much better. Here she was free, and away from the hospital. Her eyes followed a cloud as she thought, gulping as a certain idea suddenly caught her mind. What if this was the reality, and the hospital was the dream? Traveling to other planets on a fox was very unrealistic, but then again, Fluttershy found the fact that her own friends dropped her in a mental hospital rather unreal too. They just wanted to help, they said. But did they really?

This reality was so much better. Fluttershy sighed as she thought of a way to stay here. She didn’t want to go back to that hospital, to the therapy with Doctor Terryn or to her friends, who abandoned her. But she shouldn’t be so selfish. What if the hospital was indeed the reality? If Fluttershy could escape to this place, her friends would miss her so much. Or would they? She thought back to the gifts she recieved. The blanket, the photo and the plushie. And to be honest, She hadn’t seen Rainbow Dash cry like that in...well...ages. But dreams were meant to bring out the unreal, weren’t they?

Fluttershy lifted a hoof, sighing as she gazed at it. A ladybug had crawled on to it. She gazed at the insect, its red shield with black spots. The bug had a choice; it could fly away or it could stay on Fluttershy’s hoof. But which ever choice the insect made, it would impact its life differently. If it would fly away, it would be free and able to do anything it wanted. If it stayed with Fluttershy, it would end up in a jar, or being kept in captivity. It would be taken care of. Then Fluttershy realised she had the option to stay in this world and be free to do anything she wanted. But if she stayed in the hospital, she would be held in captivity, at least until she would be ‘cured’. However, she would be taken care of. And in that reality, she had her friends. Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy sniffled as the ladybug’s shell opened, transparent wings spreading out of it before the beetle took off. Fluttershy’s eyes followed the insect. The mare sighed and turned to her belly to get up, but squeaked as she saw somepony standing not too far from her. The pegasus quickly stood, narrowing her eyes. She gasped as she recognized the pony as the brown-coated stallion with black mane and blue eyes. However, she forgot his name. And wasn’t he an earth pony before? Because a horn was decorating the stallion’s head. Fluttershy was scared, but purely because she was surprised seeing the stallion here. However, she felt like he could be trusted.

“Is something bothering you, miss?” The stallion asked, approaching Fluttershy. The mare backed away slightly, not sure of what to think of this appearance.

“Umm...D-Do I know you?” Fluttershy asked quietly, her voice very soft. Yet it had a hint of fear in it. Fluttershy knew this pony, yet she didn’t. Wasn’t he the lonely pony on the water planet? But just his name escaped her memory.

“I don’t think you do...My name is Dubitair...” The stallion spoke. Fluttershy was still backing away from the brown-coated stallion. Or, as he called himself, ‘Dubitair’. Wasn’t he called something else the previous times? She couldn’t remember the names, because he only told his name once. But she was sure it was different. Were all the names he claims his lies? Or are all these his twin brothers? Fluttershy didn’t know, but now a second question was added to her life; Who is the brown-coated stallion? And why was he in her dream? Fluttershy’s only logical answer was that he was part of her mind. Maybe a friendly part, because with every encounter she’s had with this stallion, he’d been very friendly and she had helped him out every time.

“You don’t have to be afraid, miss. I’m not planning on harming you.” The stallion spoke. His voice was soothing, much like Spera’s aura. Fluttershy still wondered where the fox was. She was starting to get worried something might have happened to her. But a big, magical fox like that would be able to fight her way out of anything. “I was just trotting around and I saw you lying here in the grass, deep in your thoughts. And I was wondering if something was bothering you?” Dubitair asked Fluttershy.

“I-I was just...uh...thinking...” Fluttershy muttered. She didn’t really think it was the stallion’s business what she was thinking of. It was personal and she wasn’t planning on sharing her personal thoughts with just somepony. She shuffled her hoof over the grass slightly, a squeak leaving her lips as her cheeks turned a slight pink. The mare was never good with meeting new ponies, especially not when she has the feeling they’ve been stalking her. But she helped him before. Fluttershy’s cheeks went even redder from confusion as a squeak rolled out of her mouth.

“You don’t have to be scared, you know. I’m a friend. I just want to help you.” The stallion spoke. Fluttershy gulped at his voice. It was soothing. Too soothing. She didn’t like this at all. It was like he was going to lure her in to something. “Is a choice you have to make bothering you, miss?” He asked. Fluttershy gasped. How could he possibly know? But maybe it was a wild guess? The mare nodded slightly, gulping. “I won’t ask what choice. But you always need to pick what you feel best with. The choice you’re the most happy with.” The stallion suggested.

Fluttershy was now just thinking of quickly running or flying off. She simply murmured something inaudible as an answer, which turned in to a high-pitched squeak at the end of her sentence. But when a certain shadow casted itself over the grass field she and the stallion were on, she looked up and held her breath, releasing said breath in relief as she saw a fox descending, by using the clouds. She pretty much squeaked in excitement and, as soon as the silver fox had landed on the grass, rushed towards it to give it a gentle hug. She snuggled in to the fur, Spera’s soothing aura being the only one Fluttershy accepted. The mare looked back behind her, frowning as the stallion was nowhere to be spotted. Did he run off when he saw Spera? Or was he simply her imagination talking to her? She shook her head, it was all a bit too confusing for her. She spread her wings to fly on to Spera, clinging on to her back. Fluttershy gulped and shivered slightly, but she felt safe. She opened her eyes again as the fox leaped up to the first cloud, repeating the process she’s been doing since the very beginning. And soon, the two were in space.

But as they flew further and further, Fluttershy turned her head to look at Equestria. It was smaller, again. She sniffled and clung to the fox. How had it shrunk while she was on there? She didn’t feel a thing! She dug her face in Spera’s fur and let out a small sob...

...and another one as she woke up.

The mare curled up as she sobbed lightly. The tears strolled down her cheek and on to her pillow and fox plushie. She pulled the blanket close to herself. She felt so alone. So alone and confused. And above all, scared. Terrified even. She squeaked slightly as the door opened again, letting in a bright stray of light. In came nurse Redheart, with a tray.

“Are you okay, Fluttershy?” Redheart asked, bringing the tray over and placing it on the bed. She opened the curtains and the window, before bowing over to Fluttershy and stroking her pink mane. “Bad dream?” She asked. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here. And your friends are visiting today, they’ve really missed you...” Redheart said. Fluttershy simply nodded and sniffled, letting out one last sob before she sat up and wiped her eyes.

As the mare looked down to the tray, her stomach grumbled. She licked her lips slightly at the breakfast in front of her. Three slices of toast with peanutbutter, some hot chocolate milk, a grapefruit and a vanilla pudding. She blushed and looked at Redheart, who walked to the exit of the room. Fluttershy still liked her more then her doctor, Terryn. Fluttershy took a bite out of the toast, chewing carefully. Breakfast was pretty much the only thing she ate in this hospital, because the patients are required to eat lunch and dinner in the cafeteria. Fluttershy didn’t want to, she didn’t want to meet all those other ponies. She’d probably be sitting at a lonely table in the corner of the room anyway. Fluttershy has also heard that hospital food tends to be rather nasty, too.

As she ate her breakfast, Fluttershy started thinking about her animals. She hoped her friends had thought of having someone care for them. But what was bothering her the most at this moment, was only one question. One question that strayed around her mind as she devoured her breakfast...

Why did Equestria shrink?

Fluttershy sat in her room, waiting to be called to meet her visitors, Applejack and Rarity. She had been told that visits are met and talked with in the lobby. And that the visitors had the option, and right, to talk to her doctor before they met me. Nurse Redheart had already told her that Rarity and Applejack had arrived and were talking to Doctor Terryn right now. Luckily, Redheart offered Fluttershy some paper and pencils to draw, just to kill her time. She had also been giving some sticky tape, to decorate the blank walls of her room with her own drawings.

And so the mare had taken a brown pencil in between her teeth. Fluttershy didn’t consider herself an artist, but she wasn’t lacking any skills in drawing. She started drawing lines across the paper, drawing the first thing she thought of. She had a brown pencil in her mouth and she was quickly drawing the body of what seemed to be a brown pony. Once she finished drawing out the body, she replaced the brown pencil with a black one, adding a mane and tail to the unfinished pony. Once that was done, Fluttershy took out a blue color, finishing the pony off. She sat up to take a good look, gulping. It was the brown-coated stallion from in her dreams, but she forgot his name again. She also wasn’t sure whether she had to add wings or a horn. This character confused her more then a little. With a gulped, she took some sticky tape and pasted the drawing to her wall, next to her bedside table. She stood and took a good look at it. The stallion was just holding a simple pose, looking at Fluttershy with his blue eyes and casting a friendly smile.

Fluttershy sighed. Why was he in her dreams all the time? She didn’t know, really. She shrugged it off and sat on her bed again, smiling and grabbing her blanket as she snuggled it. She wanted to thank Rarity, a lot. She looked at the cutiemarks on it, a hoof carefully tracing the balloons of Pinkie’s cutiemark. But that’s when Fluttershy frowned and looked back at the drawing she just made. She took a good look at his flank, blushing slightly as she did. But she couldn’t find any sign of a cutiemark. Maybe she forgot how it looked like or she’s never noticed it? Or maybe he doesn’t even have one? She gulped, having to remind herself to look more carefully in her next dream, if he would be there.

But the question of who this stallion was wasn’t the biggest question floating around in her head still. The biggest question that was still bothering her was why Equestria shrunk. Why would a planet become smaller? Fluttershy held the blanket tighter and whimpered slightly as she sunk in her thoughts, trying to find a reason. But sadly, she couldn’t. She sniffled slightly, already feeling the tears come.

“Fluttershy, your friends are ready to see you now...” A voice suddenly spoke. It was Redheart, who was standing in the doorpost of Fluttershy’s room. The nurse trotted in as Fluttershy stood up. Redheart had noticed the drawing on the wall, taking a close look. “That’s nice. Who is that?” She asked, beaming a friendly smile, much like the stallion in the drawing. Fluttershy whimpered something shyly, leaving Redheart with a frown. “Oh, it’s okay darling. I shouldn’t keep you waiting, anyway. Go ahead, to the lobby.” Redheart said. Fluttershy squeaked and trotted in to the hallway. As she stepped through, she saw some of the other patients. They were all pretty normal looking, another reason why Fluttershy thought this hospital was limited to only the mentally ill, like herself. She blushed as one of the patients, a blue-coated stallion with a white-greyish mane, waved at her with a smile. Fluttershy squeaked and bit her lip, waving back slightly. The stallion was a pegasus and his cutiemark seemed to be a quill writing on some parchment. She wondered why he was here, but there wasn’t much time for wondering as she was already past the stallion. She sighed and pushed the door to the lobby open. She smiled as she saw Rarity and Applejack waiting for her at a table, talking to each other.

Fluttershy’s eyes then drifted off to look at the exit. A large, male nurse with visible muscles was standing there. She was immediately terrified of this pony. Redheart had noticed her sudden scare and soothed Fluttershy.

“Don’t worry, that’s nurse Grunt. He won’t hurt you.” She said with a smile. But she forgot to add ‘unless you make an attempt to flee’ to her sentence. But the yellow pegasus decided to ignore this nurse Grunt for now, rushing towards Rarity and Applejack, her eyes watering. Not because she was sad, no. Because she was happy. Applejack got up and caught Fluttershy in a tight hug, sniffling slightly.

“Hey there Shy. How have ya been?” The pony asked. Fluttershy just replied with a soft sob, clinging to Applejack. As if she was trying to beg the applebucker to take her back home. But Fluttershy knew Applejack couldn’t do that. And she doubted Applejack could take on nurse Grunt. Fluttershy didn’t even think Big Mac could take on nurse Grunt. “C’mon, don’t cry now. Ya'll make me tear up.” Applejack added. But as Fluttershy clung and sobbed lightly, she could hear the southern pony sniffle and hold up her tears. She tried acting though, but Fluttershy didn’t care. She was just happy she was there. Fluttershy pulled back and moved to Rarity, who had a handkerchief floating in front of her, drying her cheeks off. The unicorn happily accepted Fluttershy’s hug, and the pegasus sobbed more. however, Fluttershy was able to mutter out a short sentence.

“T-Thank you...for the blanket...” The pegasus whimpered softly. Rarity sniffled and smiled. This was actually the first thing she had heard Fluttershy say in days. it made her happy to hear her voice again.

“It’s nothing, darling. Really.” Rarity said in response, feeling a tear drip down her cheek. “We miss you a lot. All of us.” Rarity pulled back from the kiss and smiled to Fluttershy, who sniffled and dried her cheek. Fluttershy sat down in front of the two, gulping. “Also, you don’t have to worry about your critters. Spike’s taking care of them again.” Rarity said with a smile. Fluttershy nodded and sniffled.

Fluttershy sat there as Rarity and Applejack talked to Fluttershy. Fluttershy didn’t say much. Almost nothing really. Just the eventual question or answer. Fluttershy liked to listen, but most of all, she was happy her friends weren’t forgetting her. Well, at least, not yet. She cursed herself for such thoughts. Her friends would never abandon her, would they? Fluttershy listened to Rarity and Applejack’s stories. Rarity talked about how her boutique was getting popular and she was getting more and more requests to make dresses and costumes. Fluttershy was happy for Rarity, she may be on the breakthrough she had been waiting for. But Fluttershy was still here, stuck in a hospital. it made the corners of her lips drop slightly as she though about it, but she shook it out of her mind. Applejack told Fluttershy about how Applebloom had fallen off the barn, thinking her special talent would be paragliding. She broke one leg, that was about it. Lucky for Applebloom. Applejack also told how they had a great applebucking season this year.

But as Rarity and Applejack told their stories, Fluttershy had nothing to tell. She felt like she had been in this hospital for ages, but in truth, this morning was only the second time she had woken up in her room. Her blank room. She had much to go through. Therapy, visits, meeting with the patients, avoiding nurse Grunt. Fluttershy sniffled slightly, now getting jealous of Applejack and Rarity. They could go home now, if they wanted. But she had to stay here. Because she was ill.

An hour had passed and Rarity and Applejack seemed to have finished their stories. They got up and Fluttershy whimpered, also getting on her hooves.

“P-Please...I want to go home...” She whimpered, clinging to Rarity. The unicorn gulped and hugged Fluttershy back. The pegasus’ body jerked in her sobs as she cried on Rarity’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry darling...But I can’t take you home.” Rarity said in response, holding Fluttershy close to her, trying to calm her. “When you’re healthy again...then you can go home with us.” She told Fluttershy, but the sobbing pegasus shook her head and clung to Rarity more, squeezing some air out of the unicorn’s lungs. Applejack, who had promised herself to stay strong, wiped a tear away. She couldn’t bear the sight of the sobbing Fluttershy. Soon enough, Rarity sobbed with Fluttershy. She apoligised, claiming she missed Fluttershy a lot. But it’s only been two days since Fluttershy was put here.

But as nurse Grunt aproached the bunch, Fluttershy released Rarity and whimpered. She looked at Grunt, shivering and whimpering. Fluttershy’s friends glared at the big nurse, but were too scared themselves to complain.

“We’ll visit again, darling. Don’t worry...” Rarity said with a smile. Applejack sniffled and wiped her eyes, gulping. Soon, the two left, waving at Fluttershy slightly. The pegasus broke out in tears, crying on to the red carpet of the lobby. Redheart appaered, yelling something at Grunt before gently helping Fluttershy up. The pegasus followed Redheart back towards her room, glancing around to see the other patients move to the cafetaria for dinner.

And one of those patients was a blue-coated pegasus, who casted a smile at Fluttershy...

Day 3

“Did you ever have the feeling that you should be somewhere else? Like...That you should be taking care of somepony, instead of being asleep? I have that feeling...well, I had that feeling. I start feeling more and more at home, strangely. But I still can’t decide where my real home is. here, or in that hospital? I’m lonely, back in the hospital. The only ponies that I know there are Doctor Terryn and Nurse Redheart. I’m too scared to make friends in that asylum. Even though, yesterday, I noticed this pegasus... he seemed nice to me and I think he wants to be my friend. His cutiemark was a quill writing on parchment, so maybe he was a writer? Or a journalist? I wonder why he’s in the hospital...

“Maybe I should say hello to him tomorrow? After my therapy with Doctor Terryn? Yes...maybe I should do that... If I meet him on the way to my room, of course. But, look at me, trailing off. Where are we going to today, Spera?” Fluttershy asked, laying in the grass as she looked at the silver fox. But the fox had fallen asleep. Fluttershy blushed and stood, glancing around. She had always been traveling in to space, so she figured, why not take a stroll here, on Equestria?

And so the pegasus started trotting along. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so talkative. But, she just felt like talking to someone. It didn’t matter if her chattering made Spera fall asleep, but she felt okay that she was able to share her thoughts with somepony. Fluttershy had been thinking about a lot, lately. Especially the question ‘Why did Equestria shrink?’ was still echoeing through her mind, but also other things. She wondered who the brown-coated and blue-coated ponies were, however, finding out who the blue-coated pegasus is going to be easier. She just needed to gather her courage to talk to him. There were a few reasons why the pegasus was suddenly so interested in that one stallion. Reason one would be that he was the only patient in the whole hospital that had actually acknowledged her presence in the hospital. Another reason was, well, she needed contact. She might be shy, and might be mentally ill, but Fluttershy couldn’t go on without any contact with anypony else. even though her friends came visiting, it wasn’t enough.

But most of all she still wanted to get out of that hospital. Just...away. She was lonely, scared, confused, missed her friends. But mostly scared.

Always scared.

“Hello, miss.” A voice spoke. Fluttershy gasped and turned her head. There he was again, the brown-coated stallion. But this time, with wings. He was a pegasus now, but Fluttershy swore that that same stallion was a normal earth pony last time. She placed a hoof on her head, so many thoughts and so many worries. It wasn’t good for her. She was indecisive about him. She didn’t know whether he was friendly, but she assumed he was. She helped him before, why wouldn’t he be happy about her? “I see you’re taking a nice stroll...” He said to Fluttershy.

“Uh...yeah...” Fluttershy said softly, gulping. She looked at the stallion’s flank, seeing that it was just blank. “Have we met before?” The mare asked, her gaze trailing back to his eyes. The stallion frowned as he walked alongside Fluttershy, shaking his head and making his mane mave slightly.

“Don’t believe we have.” He answered. Fluttershy found this situation just a tad too strange. But she gulped and kept trotting alongside him. She was about to ask something again, but the very ground suddenly started to shake. Both Fluttershy and the stallion gasped as they raised themselves from the ground, using their wings of course. But the two were still shaking. Fluttershy squeaked and yelped in slight panic, hoping Spera would be okay. After a few seconds, the trembling stopped and both landed back on their hooves.

“Oh, it shrunk again.” The brown stallion simply said, acting like this was an everyday event. He looked at Fluttershy, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Would he know the answer?

“W-Why did it shrink?” She asked. Obviously very curious as she was standing very close to the stallion. He stepped backwards slightly, letting out a chuckle.

“Everypony knows!” He said. He looked at the mare, who was still standing there with full excitement.

“Fluttershy.”

“Equestria shrinks because-”

“Fluttershy!”

The mare opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was nurse Redheart with her hooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders. She seemed worried, and Fluttershy could understand why. The yellow mare was sweating a lot, and panting like she had just run a marathon. The nurse raised a hoof to Fluttershy’s forehead, to check her temperature.

“You were squirming and yelling in your dreams, darling...are you alright?” She asked. But Fluttershy’s face became an image of pure sadness, before bursting out crying. She slapped Redhearts hoof away and rolled on to her side, sobbing softly. She was so close to finding out. So close, but yet so far. Redheart gulped and backed away slightly, feeling rather guilty. Fluttershy remained to quietly sob to herself, so Redheart decided to leave for now.

Fluttershy’s whimpering and sobbing remained to continue for a good few minutes, before she calmed down and sniffled. She sat up and wiped her cheeks. Maybe she’d have the chance to ask next time. She then proceeded to rub her tired eyes. She didn’t like being woken up, screaming or not. The pegasus squinted her eyes as the door opened again, letting the uninvited light in. Redheart entered, who gulped.

“Feeling better, dear?” She asked. She walked in with a tray, containing Fluttershy’s breakfast. But Fluttershy gulped and squirmed slightly.

“Uh...can I eat at the cafetaria today?” She asked very quietly. Redheart’s eyes widened, as if a miracle had just happened. Well, a miracle did actually just happen. Fluttershy talked! And not only that, but she also wanted to join the others in the cafetaria.

“Of course you can, dear.” Redheart answered after a few seconds, which she needed to realise Fluttershy had answered. The mare was showing progress, and that while she hasn’t been long in the hospital at all. Terryn would probably fix her up in no time! But she shouldn’t be going overhead like that, just a little progress didn’t mean the case was immediatly solved. Fluttershy stood up from her bed with a smile and trotted to Redheart slowly. The nurse smiled and led the pegasus to the cafeteria. The mare entered and glanced around, trying to find the pony she was searching for. But it didn’t take long for her to realise he was already waving shyly. Fluttershy squeaked and shyly trotted over to the blue pegasus.

Fluttershy sat down next to the pegasus, blushing deeply. However, the stallion was the first to speak to Fluttershy. A simple introduction, but just the thing Fluttershy was looking for.

“Uh...hi...” He started. “I’m...Cobalt...Cobalt Ink.” He said softly. He spoke almost as soft as Fluttershy, who introduced herself with a squeak. She spoke out her name softly, as usual, but it was a wonder the pegasus could actually understand her. He smiled softly, before speaking again. “I’m a bit like you...” His speech was smooth, yet very shy. “Terryn told me to talk to you...”

Fluttershy gulped slightly. So Terryn had told him to speak to her. He hadn’t done it out of free will. It disappointed Fluttershy greatly, but she sighed as the stallion continued.
“He always couples ponies with similiar problems...He thinks it helps...” He said softly. “I’m a bit like you...nightmares and such...” Fluttershy was just listening, of course. She hadn’t said anything to the stallion except for her own name. Redheart smiled to Fluttershy as she placed the tray of breakfast in front of the yellow mare, who started eating her meal slowly. She wasn’t feeling particularly hungry, not with all the worries and thoughts she had. Also, she felt scared. Terrified even. But of what, She didn’t know. She never knew, but she was always scared. Cobalt also received his tray, and started happily eating. Although, he continued his explanation, doing it as shy and soft as Fluttershy would before she fell ill.

“He’ll probably ask you to write or draw your problems down...” He said softly. “But as I’ve heard...Terryn is the best therapist in this hospital...” The pegasus told, receiving a gentle nod from Fluttershy as she kept eating. She looked at the stallion, and opened her mouth slightly.

“I...Have therapy today...” She said, her voice so quiet that Cobalt needed a few seconds to figure out what she said, but he simply nodded. The two remained quiet for the rest of their breakfast, for they weren’t much of conversationalists. However, Fluttershy was happy that she could find out who he actually was. After finishing half her breakfast, the mare stood and left without saying any goodbye. She returned to her room and lay down on her bed, pulling the blanket close as she gazed at the picture of her and her friends. Her eyes started watering, the missing was getting to her. Sure, she’s only been her for a couple of days, but still she missed them. She thought back to all the good moments, when they defeated Nightmare Moon together, the gala, Discord, the wedding, the time she stood up against a dragon. All by herself. But now she wondered. What happened to her? Why was she so scared?

Why did Equestria shrink?

Fluttershy had fallen asleep again, in a desperate attempt to find out the answer to her biggest question. But it was fruitless, for she did not dream. It was only a quick nap. She was expecting Redheart to enter any moment now, telling Fluttershy it was time for her therapy. The mare rubbed her eyes as she sighed, still holding her blanket close to her. Then the door opened, but it wasn’t Redheart that entered. No, it was Nurse Grunt.

“Time for therapy.” He said. Fluttershy whimpered at the appearance the large stallion. He looked as though he could break her, snap her like a twig. She was terrified of him, but she slowly stood up from her bed. She walked towards the nurse, who stepped back to make space for Fluttershy to pass through the door. The mare squeaked slightly as she trotted through, wondering why Redheart didn’t pick Fluttershy up this time. The mare slowly proceeded forward. She knew where Terryn’s office was by now and so she walked towards it, with Nurse Grunt following her. As per usual, they passed through the lobby with red carpet, but to Fluttershy’s surprise, Twilight was there, waiting for her. Fluttershy gasped and ran to Twilight, almost pouncing the unicorn as she embraced her in a tight hug. Once again, the mare started sobbing, but this time out of pure happiness. Twilight smiled and held her friend close, sighing.

“I asked the doctor if I could be with you during your therapy today... He said yes.” The unicorn said with a smile. Fluttershy squeaked in response, not showing any signs of letting Twilight go any time soon. “Alright...you need to let go, Fluttershy...” Twilight said, chuckling slightly. Fluttershy sniffled and released Twilight from her tight embrace, stepping back a bit and shyly shuffling a hoof over the carpet. Twilight trotted past Fluttershy, gesturing her to follow, and Fluttershy followed the unicorn to Terryn’s office. Twilight knocked on the door twice, before opening it and entering the room together with Fluttershy. Terryn cast a friendly smile to both Fluttershy and Twilight as they took a seat.

It was only then that Fluttershy started wondering what Terryn’s first name was, and she also realised that she hadn’t seen his cutiemark before. She wondered about her therapist now, there was so much she didn’t know about him, but yet she had to explain everything to him. Wasn’t that a bit weird, knowing nothing about the pony she had to open herself up to?

“Good day, Twilight, Fluttershy.” Terryn said, placing his clipboard down. Really, Fluttershy wondered how many clipboards one unicorn could have. “How are you feeling, Fluttershy?” The doctor asked, looking at the mare from behind his glasses. Fluttershy blushed lightly, her gaze looking down to the floor.

“F-Fine...” She lied. In all honesty, she didn’t really feel fine. Once again, she was scared. She was confused. She was worried. But she didn’t feel like sharing any of that with Doctor Terryn. Not now, while Twilight was next to her, at least. She didn’t want to worry the mare more than she always did. Fluttershy was just going to obey, maybe that would be the best and fastest way to get out of this hospital.

“I’ve heard from nurse Redheart that you’ve met Cobalt.” Terryn said with a smile, leaning forward on his desk as he looked at Fluttershy. “He’s like you, you know? He had nightmares and he stopped talking to his friends. But he’s almost finished his therapy.” Terryn told Fluttershy. Fluttershy had lifted her head to look at Terryn, but avoided eye contact. “He didn’t talk, at first. But he’s a writer. So instead of having him talk about what was bothering him, I let him write it down in the form of a story.” Terryn explained. Fluttershy simply nodded, but Twilight seemed to be rather interested of what Terryn was telling them. “That’s why I’d like to ask, Fluttershy, if you want to write it down? Or draw it, maybe?”

Fluttershy gulped. She would like to draw it, but she just gave a simple nod. Terryn smiled, a piece of paper and a pencil floating on the desk, in front of Fluttershy. Twilight was quiet, watching Fluttershy with a smile.

“Why don’t you draw down something you dreamt about last night?” Terryn asked. Fluttershy nodded and grabbed the paper and pencil between her teeth. She hopped off the chair and turned her back to Twilight and Terryn, placingthe paper down, as if she didn’t want them looking. However, the pegasus stood up again, but only to pull a complete set of colored pencils off of Terryn’s desk. And so she started drawing. Terryn and Twilight were curious, trying to peek over Fluttershy’s shoulder. But only after a few minutes, when Fluttershy finished her drawing, she sat back down on her chair and placed the paper on the desk.

Before Twilight had the chance to look at the drawing, it floated towards Terryn, who took a good look. On the paper was now a brown-coated stallion with black mane. His wings were outspread and his flank was blank, showing no sign of a cutiemark. The therapist frowned and placed a hoof on his chain, drowning in his thoughts as his brow furrowed in to a frown.

“Who is this?” He asked, curiousity mixed in his voice. But all Fluttershy could do was shrug. She didn’t know herself. That stallion was just...there. She could never remember his name, but was sure it always changed. And the stallion himself seems to never remember Fluttershy, although she met him every time. But Fluttershy was not done yet. She grabbed another piece of paper and started drawing again. Terryn and Twilight frowned, waiting for the result, which came soon. This drawing was representing Spera, the silver fox. Terryn studied the piece of art Fluttershy had created. “This is your plushie, isn’t it? Is he in your dreams then?”

“She...” Fluttershy muttered, before nodding and looking at Twilight, who casted a soft smile to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus smiled back to Twilight. But Terryn spoke once more.

“I’m going to take a good look at these drawings, they might help me come to a conclusion, or at least a clue to it.” He explained. “Your therapy is over for today, Fluttershy. I’ll see you next Thursday. You can have a chat with your friend in the lobby, if you want.”

Fluttershy trotted out of the office. The therapy always seemed to be no more then 10 minutes, which was confusing. She hoped that the doctor knew what he was actually doing. Twilight followed Fluttershy in to the lobby, smiling as she hugged her.

“I see you’re doing well here...” Twilight said softly. “Pinkie’s coming over for visit tomorrow. But I can’t stay long, I need to deliver a friendship letter and I don’t want to be tardy again.” Fluttershy once again only nodded in response, looking at Twilight. “It’s going to be about you, you know... No matter what happens, your friends will always be there for you...” Twilight said softly. Fluttershy nodded and sniffled, trying her best not to cry again. She didn’t want Twilight to go. She wanted to go with her. Away from this place. But she couldn’t. She had to stay here. To find out. To find out everything she’s been questioning. Twilight hugged the mare close, sighing. “Hold in there, Flutershy...you’ll get though it...” She said softly. “I believe in you...all your friends believe in you...” Twilight said, retreating from the hug and smiling, before turning and walking out of the hospital. Fluttershy stood there, sniffling. She looked up at the clock, it was four PM now. Maybe the therapy did last longer then Fluttershy thought?

But then Fluttershy noticed that there was no one but her in the lobby. Nurse Grunt wasn’t guarding the exit, as usual, so Fluttershy could just run out. She could be free, away from the hospital, away from her worries. But she didn’t. She just turned around and slowly made her way towards her room. She closed her eyes, tears dripping from her cheeks and on to the carpet. Freedom meant nothing to her anymore. The only thing she wanted was answers...

The mare opened the door and trotted in to her room. She lay down on her bed and let out a soft sob, grabbing her plushie and pulling it close to her. She curled up, her cheeks moist from tears as she began singing.

“Hush now, quiet now...It’s time to lay your sleepy head...
Hush now, quiet now...it’s time to wonder....

Equestria, why did you shrink?”

Day 4

Her hooves stroked over the fox’s fur. A big smile was on her face as she admired the large canine, the hairs flattening as she pressed it down in her gentle rubbing. She slowly rose herself up to place herself on the silver fox. She kept stroking the animal softly as she sat on her back. Oh, how happy she was to see her again. And after staying on Equestria twice, she figured it would be fun to go exploring again. The pegasus looked up at the sky, smiling and letting out a sigh. She just wished this was reality. She gently lay herself on to Spera, closing her eyes and rubbing her fur, a small tear leaking onto the silver fox as she sniffled slightly.

“I don’t want to go back to the hospital...” She whispered softly to the fox, clinging to her fur now. “I miss this...I miss traveling...I miss you...I miss the brown-coated stallion...” She said softly. She couldn’t believe herself, but she did miss that mysterious stallion. Even though he scared her, he was something that always returned in this realm, and when she saw him, she felt safe. Like nothing could hurt her. He may be nameless and he may be changing forms, but he’s what shows her that she’s safe here. Maybe that’s his intention, but she can’t be sure. He’s just so mysterious, and she’s just so curious about him. Fluttershy sat up, wiping her eyes with her hoof as she sniffled. “Alright...I’m ready, Spera...” She whispered softly. She held on tightly to her coat as the fox jumped up on the clouds, climbing the white puffs until she reached the atmosphere, before leaping out.

Fluttershy was used to this, being in the nothingness of space while wind was still blowing through her mane, while she was still warm and while she could still breath. Even though she still hadn’t figured out why, she had gotten pretty used to this. The pegasus blushed as she suddenly spread her wings slightly. However, she gasped as the wind in her wings made her lift of the fox slightly, but her hooves were still tightly clinging to it. She bit her lip and squeaked in both surprise in fear as she was now practically flying above Spera. She needed a moment to get used to it, but after a few minutes she actually quite enjoyed the flying. The young mare glanced at the stars, smiling. A particular set of stars caught her eyes.

In the distance, a group of stars was lined up to form the image of three balloons, next to each other. Fluttershy was more than sure that this was Pinkie’s cutie mark. She blinked and gazed at it, still concentrating on keeping her wings stretched and holding on to Spera’s fur. She was doing a pretty good job and holding her balance. Fluttershy looked ahead in course again, sniffling. She missed her friends, too. She was really happy that Pinkie would visit tomorrow.

But as she looked ahead, she spotted a planet approaching. It was a brown planet, this time, and it seemed to be fairly large. Not as large as the ocean planet, but still much larger than the sky planet. As the fox came near the new planet, Fluttershy sunk in to thoughts once more. She mainly wondered what could be there for her to explore. But, what if something’s bad on it? What if a monster lives on that planet, that devours everything? She shook her head, that was just ridiculous. She was sure there were only nice ponies on that planet, and no monsters.

And so the canine landed on the first cloud gently, with Fluttershy hanging on tightly to her fur. The fox carefully descended, cloud after cloud, until Spera softly touched the ground. Fluttershy sat up and glanced around. A beautiful large landscape, full of fields, barns and farms. But nothing seemed to be growing in the fields. In fact, as Fluttershy looked around, there were no plants anywhere to be found. Fluttershy gulped and frowned, hanging on tightly to her fox.

“L-lets go to that farmhouse...” She whispered softly, pointing to an old, wooden house at the end of the path they had landed on. Fluttershy relaxed on Spera’s back as she walked, even though she found the lack of plants on this planet quite disturbing. Once at the front door of the old farmhouse, Fluttershy flew off Spera’s back and landed on the porch, slowly knocking on the front door three times. She took one step back and waited for the owner, or anypony, to answer the door. And somepony indeed did. The door opened, and there he was.

Brown coat, black mane, blue eyes...It was him again. But this time no wings and no horn, he was just an earth pony, like last time. Fluttershy was just staring at him, in to his deep blue eyes. For a moment, she felt like she could just fall into them, like they were hypnotizing her. But she was scared, terrified even as she stared. Then came some words, finally, as the stallion spoke.

“Hello miss, can I help?” He asked, looking at her. He didn’t seem to break eye contact at all, as if he wanted her to just stare into his eyes as he spoke, like some bad hypnotizer.

“U-Umm...” Fluttershy mumbled, turning her head away and letting out a slight sigh of relief as those blue eyes were gone. “W-What’s your name? I-If you don’t mind...” She whispered.

“Oh, my name is Klaus.” The stallion said with a smile. “And what is yours, if I may ask?”

“F-Fluttershy...” The mare softly whispered. She looked around, to the fields and the lack of plantation. “W-Why isn’t anything growing...?” She asked softly, looking back to Klaus but not directly into his eyes this time.

“If only I knew. We’ve been trying to get crops growing for ages, but it’s just not working. Maybe it’s something under the soil? I just don’t know...” Klaus told the pegasus sadly, his head hanging down slightly. “I think it’s something to do with the cave behind the fields... But I can’t investigate right now...” Klaus told, gesturing to his left hind leg, which had plaster around it with a plinth that made sure it stood straight.

“O-Oh my.” Fluttershy mumbled as she saw the broken leg. Not questioning how it got broken at all. “M-Maybe I could investigate?” Fluttershy whispered. “I-I can help...” She quickly added. Klaus put a thoughtful hoof on his chin, sighing.

“Well, that would be lovely, miss.” Klaus answered, going inside and returning quickly with a lantern. Fluttershy accepted the lantern and smiled slightly, flying back on to Spera and placing it on her back. She looked behind her to Klaus, waving slightly, before hugging Spera.

“To the cave.” She whispered to the fox. The canine hopped over the fence and across the field. Fluttershy glanced around, holding on to the lantern so it wouldn’t just fall off Spera’s back. The surroundings were beautiful, and would be even more beautiful with plants. The endless fields, as far as the eye could see, with small paths running through them. Fluttershy wouldn’t mind living here.

But then she thought of something. That stallion was about to answer her question the previous time, but she was rudely awoken and she wasn’t able to actually hear it. But this time, when she would get back after solving the problem, she’d ask him again. She begged to Celestia that he would give her the answer she’s been waiting for for so long. The mare smiled as she rode her fox, already looking forward to it. But she saw the cave approaching, and it was a rather large one from the looks of things. A large entrance was just outside the fence of the field they were currently in, but it was already dimly lit. Fluttershy held the lantern up, to provide themselves with more light. As the two entered the cave, they only saw one thing in a large chamber; A hole leading down, with a faint purple glow emitting from it. Fluttershy whimpered as she gazed at the passageway, but she whispered to Spera to climb down.

And so the canina did. in one smooth jump, the fox made her way down. The way down was long, very long, but eventually, they landed. Now, Fluttershy could see what the purple glow was coming from. Huge purple crystals were floating in midair in a giant cave, glowing a faint purple. She thought about how Rarity would love this place, as she smiled while gazing at the crystals. Spera had noticed these too, as she jumped up to one and landed on it to take a closer look. But as soon as her silver paws touched the crystal, the light coming from it suddenly shined much brighter. Fluttershy squeaked and looked away, but as she looked at the ceiling, she saw something wondrous happen. Plants started sprouting on it. Or at least, some roots were showing. Spera, however, jumped back off the crystal, and as soon as she touched the soil, the light went dim again. Fluttershy sighed and frowned, trying to figure things out.

“T-Try activating all of them... B-but don’t touch the ground...” She whispered. The fox nodded and jumped up once more, her touch activating the crystal she leaped on. The fox then leaped for the next one, and the next one...until she reached the last crystal. And upon the touch, the whole cave lit up, showing plenty of plants growing on the ground, ceiling and walls. Fluttershy let out a squeak of happiness, now she only had to go back to the surface and ask away!

And so they did. The fox found her way out of the cave, and Fluttershy smiled. Crops, trees, bushes and flowers everywhere, grown in mere seconds! This place looked even more beautiful than before! The fox rushed over a wheat field back to the farmhouse, which was now decorated with Ivy, roses and a large, nice willow tree. The pegasus knocked on the door with a smile, but as it opened, her smile quickly disappeared. The door didn’t lead to the interior of the house...no...It just showed Equestria, and Fluttershy could just see how the planet shrunk. She whimpered and held a hoof in front of her mouth, before falling forward past the door frame...

...and bursting awake with a loud scream. She was sweating heavily, and the blanket of her bed showed she’d been squirming about in her bed. The door burst open, showing a worried nurse Redheart.

“Fluttershy! Are you alright?” The nurse exclaimed. But Fluttershy’s eyes went wide. Behind the nurse, in the hallway... he was standing there. Brown coat, black mane and blue eyes. Fluttershy couldn’t say anything, she just pointed with a shaking hoof. He was here too? In the hospital? She’d never seen him here before. But as Redheart turned her head, she frowned. “What are you pointing at, dear, there’s nothing there...” She whispered, sighing and entered the room with a platter. Fluttershy frowned, he was indeed gone. The pegasus started sobbing once more, letting her head down.

“Aww, poor Fluttershy... Did you have a bad dream again?” Redheart asked, softly stroking Fluttershy’s back, who merely nodded. The platter was placed in front of Fluttershy, her usual breakfast. But she wasn’t hungry. Well, she was, but she didn’t want to eat, nor did she want to talk to anyone... She just wanted to know...Why did Equestria shrink?

Fluttershy sat in the lobby, waiting for Pinkie Pie. Her stomach grumbled, but she simply ignored it. She gazed at the wooden table, thinking. She had looked around to see if she could find the brown stallion, but with no luck. She hadn’t even seen Cobalt. Fluttershy guessed she owed him an apology, because the previous -and only- time they spoke, she ran off without saying a proper goodbye. The mare sighed and glanced around, suddenly blushing. There was Cobalt, sitting alone at a table. Only now Fluttershy’s ears perked up to hear that the stallion was crying softly, his face buried in his foreleg. Redheart then walked up to him, sighing as she softly stroked his shoulder and said something inaudible. Cobalt nodded and stood up, following Redheart towards the sleeping quarters. Fluttershy felt the tears in her eyes, what was wrong with Cobalt? Was he waiting for somepony to visit? She gulped, feeling even worse about her behaviour towards him than before. But, she couldn’t let the moment sink in for long...

“Fluttershyyyyyy!” A voice yelled, before the pegasus was pounced upon. “I miss you so much! It’s not fun without you back in Ponyville, and Angel misses you too! Everypony misses you! I hope you get better soon so we can play games again and have fun, because I don’t know how much longer I’ll hold out without you! I baked you some cookies but I ate them, I’m so sorry but they just looked so yummy. I’ll be sure to bring you more next time!”

“Uh...Pinkie...?” Fluttershy whispered, looking at the pink fur in front of her. “C-can you get off please?” She whispered. Pinkie Pie jumped onto her hooves, allowing Fluttershy to stand up. Pinkie stared straight into Fluttershy’s eyes, before suddenly the tears came.

But they weren’t exaggerated tears like Pinkie Pie is used to perform. No, these were small tears, dripping from the corner of her eyes one by one as they moistened her cheeks. The pink pony’s smile turned upside down as she let out a sniffle, before suddenly hugging Fluttershy.

“I miss you...” She said with a soft voice. Fluttershy was surprised, she wasn’t used to seeing Pinkie like this. Her tears were so real, her voice so soft and sad...This was completely unlike her. Did Fluttershy really have an effect this big on her always so cheery friend? She couldn’t really believe it, but yet the tears making her shoulder slightly wet were proving the fact that Pinkie was really concerned about Fluttershy. The embrace seemed to last for ages, but Fluttershy didn’t mind. She missed it, in fact. It made her eyes well up too, but she tried staying strong, not every meeting with her friends could be a sobfest, could it?

When the two finally broke the hug, they both sat down at opposite sides of the table. Pinkie started telling what she’d done the past couple of days, but Fluttershy didn’t really catch it. Mainly because Pinkie was talking in her own way, making one half of her story too fast to actually understand what she’s saying, and the other half was just complete gibberish, unfortunately the only half Fluttershy could actually tell the words apart. Fluttershy didn’t say much, again. She just sat there and listened. Her stomach made a grumble, those cookies would’ve been delicious, but another part of her couldn’t help but worry about Cobalt. Why? She didn’t know. Maybe because Cobalt was the closest thing she had to a friend in the hospital. The pegasus looked over to the table Cobalt was previously seated on, sighing.

After a long talk, Pinkie Pie got off her chair and gave Fluttershy a hug, saying goodbye. The pink mare sighed and snuggled Fluttershy slightly, before pulling back and saying a soft goodbye, trotting away through the lobby, past Nurse Grunt and leaving the building.

Fluttershy slid off her chair, and looked around as she walked towards the sleeping quarters. On her way, she met with Nurse Redheart, and she squeaked as she called out for her softly. Redheart had heard the soft cry for attention and turned to Fluttershy with a smile.

“U-Umm...W-What was..uh...wrong with...Cobalt?” She asked softly, her cheeks turning to a deep blush. Redheart’s smile vanished and she sighed.

“I’m not supposed to tell you that...but...” She started, sighing. “His family just left him here...No sign of where he came from, who his family was, why he was here...they just dropped him off...” Redheart told. “He thinks that they’re going to pick him up...someday...so he waits in the lobby for one hour, everyday, waiting for them to return. But we don’t think they will. he’s completely alone... An outcast...” Redheart told. “Where he gets the strength to keep waiting...and turn out heartbroken every time...It’s just a mystery to us. He just keeps believing, I guess...”

Fluttershy was silent, taking in the story. She wasn’t the only one to have it so bad. Cobalt is in as bad as a condition then her, if not worse. At least Fluttershy has her friends to visit, Cobalt has no one. That’s when she decided she wanted to make Cobalt happy, she would dedicate herself to be his friend! She would attempt to make him happy. She promised, even though she wasn’t happy herself.

“Thank you...” Fluttershy whispered to redheart. The pegasus made her way to her room, slowly entering. She sat down on her bed, grabbing the blanket and hugging it to herself, gazing at the group picture she was once given. A soft sigh left her lips as she closed her eyes. But in the darkness, she saw two blue eyes, gazing at her. Two deep blue eyes, seeming as if they were trying to hypnotize her. Fluttershy’s eyes started watering as she mentally gazed into the set of eyes, starting to cry heavily as she could not escape the gaze. Fluttershy felt as if she was gazing straight into a nightmare.

but she was able to escape the evil gaze, opening her eyes and letting out slight sobs. She turned on the light and looked around. She had a strange feeling of paranoia, she had the feeling somepony was in the room with her. She hugged the duvet close, glancing around. She didn’t like it one bit, the doubt of whether the brown stallion was to be trusted or not. But he was somewhere in the hospital... He was actually real. But where could he be in the hospital? She lay down and sighed, not daring to close her eyes again.

She was scared...Terrified, even.

Day 5

Everything was dark. Spera wasn’t with her. Nopony was around. The grass was brown and dried up instead of green and fresh. Her house looked like it had been abandoned for years. Ponyville looked like a ghost town. There was no moon. There wasn’t anything. it was just her in the middle of a dried up grass field, in a night without a moon.

Where was she?

Fluttershy had curled up, shivering and sobbing softly. She didn’t dare to move, nor did she dare to explore. She just wanted to stay put. She was scared, terrified even. But more than usual. This wasn’t how it’s supposed to go. Normally, she’d go on an adventure with Spera and solve problems! Normally, she was discovering the unknown... But now, she was just curling up in the middle of a dead grass field, at the edge of an abandoned Ponyville. On a planet that shrunk, even though she didn’t know why. She just wish she could escape this place, or that somepony would help her. But even Spera wasn’t with her today. The pegasus whimpered and sobbed softly, a small spot of soil getting wet from her tears.

“Now, now... don’t cry...” A voice suddenly sounded. She heard some ruffling on the grass and the mare looked up, gasping at the stallion she saw. It was the brown-coated stallion again. But this time, a few things were different about him. To begin with, he was a pegasus this time. But the two differences that really caught Fluttershy’s attention were on his face. His normally short, scruffy mane was now flat and was just hanging in front of one of his eyes. But that wasn’t what was terrifying Fluttershy right now. No, the real reason she was trembling and slowly backing away was because of a trail of tears on the stallion’s face. But it wasn’t just normal moisture. it was red. Blood red. Fluttershy whimpered as she slowly backed off.

“W-Who are you?” She asked, her ears flat as she looked at the stallion, but she tried to avoid his deep blue eyes.

“You don’t have to be scared of me...” The stallion mumbled. His voice was different too. Instead of being rather cheery and calming, it was silent and eery, almost as if he was whispering a ghost story. “My name’s Desolo... Fluttershy... and I’m here to lead you tonight. Through this village and this world...” He whispered.

“L-Lead me? B-But why? A-And how do you know my name, normally you always forget...” Fluttershy whispered. But Desolo frowned and looked at the mare.

“Forget? Sorry, my dear Fluttershy... but this is the first time we meet.” Desolo responded. He slowly approached Fluttershy, smiling slightly. “You don’t have to be afraid, Fluttershy... see me as your guardian angel. I will always be here for you, to lead you through the tough times that lay ahead of you. And now are tough times for you, yes?” The stallion asked. Fluttershy stopped moving, only nodding slightly as a response.

“W-Why are you crying blood?” Fluttershy asked, gulping.

“Grief.” Desolo simply responded. “Grief. For you.” He whispered, suddenly pointing a hoof at Fluttershy. “Come with me, Fluttershy. What you may see tonight will change your life forever, may it be for better or for worse. Tonight we will travel into your deepest thoughts and memories, may they be happy or sad. But we will also dive in to your fears...” Desolo whispered. Fluttershy could swear that he saw the stallion’s mouth form to a slight grin for just a fraction of a second at that last word. But the mare slowly reached for the hoof, placing her own on it. The stallion smiled and softly pulled Fluttershy next to him, looking over Ponyville. “This isn’t Ponyville, Fluttershy. This is a village built on the foundation of your fears and memories. It resembles Ponyville, yes. But that’s because you built it like this.” Desolo explained. Fluttershy merely nodded and looked over the town. It did look like Ponyville, but completely abandoned. Fluttershy gulped and looked over to her house. But Desolo placed a hoof on her cheek and turned her sight back to Ponyville, gently.

“You’re not ready for that place yet, Fluttershy...” Desolo said. Fluttershy gulped and nodded, but followed Desolo as he walked down the hill. They walked in to the town and Fluttershy looked around. All the buildings seemed old and worn-out. it was as if everypony moved out of this town twenty years ago. Desolo walked up the the Sugar Cube Corner and opened the door, allowing for Fluttershy to peek in. The interior was clean and well-kept, much unlike the exterior. But what Fluttershy saw amazed her. In front of the counter was a small filly, with a yellow coat and pink mane. her small wings fluttered slightly and a bag of bits was in her mouth. Behind the counter was Mrs. Cup Cake, obviously younger than she now is. She was pointing at several cupcakes, but young Fluttershy shook her head every time. Suddenly, four other fillies walked in and circled Fluttershy. One of the fillies, who seemed to be young Rainbow Dash, hugged Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy! I lost you after the Summer Flight Camp!” Rainbow exclaimed as she snuggled the yellow mare. “These are my new friends! They’re Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack.” Rainbow said, pointing to all of them. “You’re always welcome to play with us!” She added. The fillies squeaked and jumped into one big group hug, but Desolo closed the door and blocked the view.

“One of your earliest memories...The first meeting with your current friends...” Desolo told. “However, not your earliest memory...” He said. Fluttershy nodded, gulping and a bit shifted from what she just saw. But suddenly, Desolo moved forward and Fluttershy quickly followed him. Desolo now walked to the town hall and opened one of the doors, showing a prom going on inside. Dancing ponies everywhere and a band playing on stage. Fluttershy gasped slightly, her eyes welling up slightly. Suddenly, a pony walked up the stage and tapped a microphone, making everypony go silent.

“And now to announce the king and queen of the prom!” The announcer yelled out. “The king of the prom is... Time Turner!” He yelled. The audience clapped and cheered as Time Turner walked on stage. He was on a neat suit and seemed to be in his teenage years. This was quite some time after the memory they just saw. Fluttershy’s eyes were watering now as she held a hoof in front of her mouth.

“And the queen of the prom is...Fluttershy!” The announcer yelled. Again the crowd cheered and clapped as the teenage filly flew up on the stage, in a beautiful dress and a red blush decorating her cheeks. She giggled nervously as the announcer said something to Fluttershy and Time Turner. Fluttershy’s blush grew, but they both nodded. The band started playing a soft, slow song and Time Turner took Fluttershy in his arms, both of them starting to dance slowly. Time Turner gazed in Fluttershy’s eyes and whispered something. Fluttershy blushed even more, if at all possible, and nodded slightly. Both closed their eyes...and there it was...

Fluttershy’s first kiss.

Fluttershy turned away and whimpered, sitting back against the old town hall’s walls. Desolo looked at her, a red tear slowly trailing down his cheek as Fluttershy started crying.

“The next day... he was with another filly...” Desolo said softly.

“I know!” Fluttershy yelled, the sudden outburst not really fitting her personality as she sobbed softly. She wiped her tears and looked up at Desolo. “Why did you show me this... and what does it have to do with the first memory...?” Fluttershy whispered. Desolo sighed and looked at the young mare.

“Because this is what all your friends will end up doing... abandoning you.” Desolo whispered. Fluttershy shook her head, gazing at the stallion full disbelief. “They keep visiting you in the hospital... but for how long? Soon, they’ll leave a day in between... then two days... a week... until you end up like poor Cobalt. Waiting for your friends that’ll never come.”

“No... It’s not true... they love me.”

“Yes they do, but for how much longer?” Desolo whispered, his eyes changing from blue to black as he spread his wings. “Listen to me, Fluttershy...I am your guardian angel and I know what’s best for you...Escape the hospital tomorrow and reunite with your friends before it’s too late.” Desolo said, his voice getting heavier as his body started shifting and shaping, until he was Nurse Grunt. “Don’t stop for anypony.” He said. Fluttershy was starting to panic, slowly starting to crawl away from Desolo, who was shifting again until he presented Doctor Terryn. “And listen to nopony...”

Fluttershy screamed and got up, starting to quickly run away. She had no idea what was happening, at all. She ran back towards the grass field, crying softly to herself. She ran towards her house, reaching her hoof to the door.

“Fluttershy, wake up!”

Fluttershy yanked the door open and she gasped, her eyes wide at what she saw. her house was completely empty except for a chair in the middle. On that chair stood Fluttershy with a noose around her neck. Behind her, on the wall, was written ‘LONELY’ In big red letters. The duplicate looked up to the real Fluttershy, showing red, thin streams on her cheeks just like Desolo has. But she looked ruined and completely broken. She lifted a hind leg, but just as she was about to kick the chair away, real Fluttershy shut the door.

“Grunt, go get Terryn, she’s not waking up!”

“Listen to me, Fluttershy...” Desolo whispered. Fluttershy turned around and sobbed loudly. She was standing on a single dirt platform, above a huge, black abyss. Desolo was flying above this abyss, reaching his hoof out for Fluttershy. “Come with me and I will protect you...”

“What’s going on here?”

“She’s not waking up! She’s sweating and screaming but she’s not waking up!”

Fluttershy shook her head and stepped back, but the house behind her was gone, there was only abyss. The dirt broke under her hooves and so she fell...Into the void...

She screamed and shot up, hugging the first thing that she could reach and sobbing on its shoulder. This pony was nurse Redheart, who gasped and held Fluttershy tight. The nurse was shaking from the shock. So much, even, that she started to sob with the pegasus.

“It’s going to be alright, dear...it was just a nightmare...” She whispered. Fluttershy opened her eyes and glanced around. Grunt and Terryn were looking down on her and on the side were a few other patients, from which one of them was Cobalt. But only now Fluttershy realised she wasn’t in her room anymore, she was in the hallway. She gulped and whimpered.

“D-Did you drag me out of my room?” She asked softly, looking up to Terryn and Grunt, who shook their heads.

“You sleepwalked, Fluttershy.” Terryn said. He knelt down next to the mare. “Go get yourself freshed up and meet me in my office, okay?” Terryn said softly, smiling to Fluttershy, who was still sobbing on Redheart’s shoulder. She nodded slightly and whimpered, but Redheart kept eyeing the door to Fluttershy’s door.

Fluttershy walked next to Nurse Grunt with a blush. She was still scared of the big nurse, but he didn’t really seem that mean. They approached the door to Terryn’s office and voices could be heard from it.

“I swear there was somepony in that room!”

“Redheart, calm down. There was nopony in that room. otherwise we should’ve seen it.”

“He had a brown coat and black mane and he was just standing there gazing at us!”

“Nurse Redheart, you were in panic with the situation that was going on, you were probably just seeing things!”

Nurse Grunt knocked on the door and the voices fell silent. Redheart opened the door and smiled to Fluttershy, quickly walking away. Fluttershy stepped in, glancing around in the room and gulping.

“Sit down, Fluttershy.” Terryn said. Fluttershy nodded and climbed on to one of the chairs. She remained silent as she glanced around, gulping. “Now, Fluttershy...” Terryn said. “You do understand why I called you to my office for...let us say an ‘emergency therapy’.” Terryn said, his voice soft and soothing. Fluttershy nodded softly, gulping. “Your dreams are getting worse... So bad in fact that you’ve started to scream in your sleep. That you’ve started sleepwalking and, what worries us the most, that you don’t immediately wake up when we try to shake you awake...” Terryn said. “Now, I really need you, Fluttershy, to tell me about this dream. We can help you.” Terryn asked.

Fluttershy gulped and looked at the desk, sniffling. It was silent for a bit, until she suddenly opened her mouth.

“E-Every night...I-I dream about a-a stallion...” She said softly. “H-He has a brown coat and black mane...and blue eyes but no cutiemark...” She whispered.

“Like the drawing you made once?” Terryn asked. Fluttershy nodded softly and gulped.

“H-His name always changes...a-and he can also change from being a pegasus or unicorn or earth pony...” Fluttershy mumbled. “H-He can be really sweet... or nice... But last time he... he...” Fluttershy sniffled, a tear running down her cheek. “He was just plain evil...” She whispered, starting to cry softly. She rubbed her hoof on her eye, while Terryn was noting down. “He said he was my Guardian Angel...and that I could trust him... But h-he...” Fluttershy sobbed softly. Terryn gulped and looked at Fluttershy, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright...It was just a dream...” He whispered, but Fluttershy shook her head. “Yesterday...I saw him in the hallway...outside of my room...” Fluttershy whispered. Terryn’s eyes widened and he gazed at Fluttershy, thinking back to what Redheart said.

But then somepony knocked on the door. Terryn shouted the pony to come in and the door opened, showing a very concerned Twilight.

“I came as soon as I could.” She said. Fluttershy let out a whimper as she jumped up and hugged Twilight tightly, sobbing on her shoulder. She thought back to what Desolo said, about how her friends were going to abandon her in this hospital just as Cobalt’s family did with Cobalt. She clung to Twilight, who hugged back and looked at the doctor. Fluttershy pulled back and sat back on her chair, while Twilight took the chair next to Fluttershy. Terryn explained the story to Twilight, who looked at Fluttershy with full concern. Then, Terryn turned back to Fluttershy.

“You said that this stallion always has a different name...What was he called this time?” Terryn asked. Fluttershy gulped and sniffled.

“Desolo...” She whispered. Terryn noted the name down and sighed.

“I’ll have to think about this for a while. I’ll order Redheart to keep a close eye on Fluttershy.” He said to Twilight, who nodded. “Thank you for coming. You two can have a bit of a chat in the lobby.” Terryn said with a smile. Twilight nodded and walked out with Fluttershy, and they both seated in the lobby. But before they said anything, Fluttershy noticed something. Cobalt was sitting at a table, all alone. He was staring at the door and Fluttershy smiled slightly, pulling Twilight’s hoof. Twilight frowned slightly.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, but Fluttershy moved to Twilight to whisper to her.

“His name is Cobalt and he needs a visitor...He’s lonely...” She whispered. Twilight smiled and nodded, before shifting to sit at Cobalt’s table. Fluttershy shuffled next to Twilight smiling. Cobalt looked rather confused, but Twilight smiled.

“We came to visit you, Cobalt...” Twilight said softly. Cobalt’s eyes widened as they watered. Not of grief, but of pure happiness. A large smile beamed on his face and he gazed at Twilight and Fluttershy.

“T-Thank you...” He said softly. “T-Thank you so much...” He muttered. Redheart had just entered to pick Cobalt up, but she smiled as she saw Twilight and Fluttershy already take care of him.

“So, Cobalt.” Twilight started. “Tell me a bit about yourself.” She said, smiling to the blue stallion. Cobalt nodded with a big smile, looking at Twilight.

“I-I’m a writer...” He started. “F-Fiction...” He added.

“Really? Do you have any books published yet? I may have it in my library.” Twilight asked, gazing the stallion in the yes.

“Uh...yes, one. It’s called ‘Another Morning’.” He spoke. Twilight thought for a second, but nodded with a smile.

“Yeah, I remember reading that one. it was really great!” Twilight said.

And so the conversation went on. Cobalt and Twilight were talking about books and writers while Fluttershy was just sitting there by the side, not really following everything being said. She gazed at the exit of the hospital suddenly, frowning and remembering what Desolo said. Just escape the hospital and reunite with her friends. Would it really be that easy? Her friends are the ones that sent her to the hospital to begin with. Wouldn’t they just send her back? Her friends had always been there for her and had always known what was best for her. Sure, there had been accidents like Time Turner, but she had forgotten those. Her true friends had always been there for her, ever since she was a little filly. And they always will.

“It was really great talking to you, Cobalt.” Twilight said. “But I need to go home now, before Spike makes too much of a mess again.” She told, looking over at Fluttershy and giving her a soft hug. “Get better soon...” She said softly, smiling and getting off her chair, walking away. Fluttershy also got off, starting to head over to her room. But she blushed as she felt another hug, this time from Cobalt.

“Thank you... so much...” He whispered softly. “It felt so good having a visitor again... after all that time...” He said, sniffling softly as a tear dripped on Fluttershy’s shoulder. Fluttershy hugged back, blushing deeply, but smiling softly. She made Cobalt happy, and with that, she felt happy herself. Cobalt pulled back.

“I’ll speak to you tomorrow?” He asked, receiving a nod from Fluttershy. She couldn’t believe the afternoon had passed already, with the therapy and Twilight’s talk with Cobalt. She slowly walked back to her room, but she gulped as she thought back to what Redheart said. ‘He was standing in her room, just gazing at us,’ Did Redheart mean Fluttershy’s room? Was he inside her own room? What if she didn’t sleepwalk at all, but that he just moved her around. But Fluttershy shook her head. and opened her room. Nopony there, like it’s supposed to be. She sighed and sat down on her bed. She glanced around, before noticing something on the wall. The drawing she once made, it was moved. She picked it up and turned around, her eyes widening at the text behind it. She never put it there, then who did? On the back was the one question she had asked herself since a while...

...Why did Equestria shrink?

Day 6

“Hello... My name is Fluttershy. And I’ve been resting in a hospital for the mentally ill for almost a week. They think I’m going crazy and that I’m seeing things. They were worried because I was quiet and hungry, but didn’t eat. But I’m not imagining anything, he’s real. He visits me in my dreams to show me how things really are. He takes care of me and he shows me the way to the truth. But yet he seems so evil. He has no name, he has no real form, I can only recognize him by his colors. His name is always different, his personality is always different. I think he just wants to suit to my mood, to make me feel comfortable or uncomfortable. He’s nice and he’s mean. He’s good and he’s evil. He’s helpful and helpless. He always needs my help, as much as I need his. I have the feeling I know him...”

“Yet I don’t. He’s only the brown-coated stallion, who visits my dreams; and sometimes my room in the hospital. But when he visits me when I’m awake, he doesn’t talk to me. He looks at me and walks away like he doesn’t know me. He’s a stranger and a friend...”

Fluttershy giggled as Spera gave her a gentle lick. The pegasus had been talking to the fox, she’s been saying the things she doesn’t want to tell her doctor. Or Twilight. Or any of her friends. Spera listened and stayed quiet, which was perfect for Fluttershy. The fox never reacted, talked back or gave Fluttershy a speech. She just sat and listened to Fluttershy’s stories. This story was about the brown-coated stallion, Fluttershy’s stalker. Somehow, after her last encounter with him, she was hoping for his return. Because he’s the only one willing to show her the truth, no matter how much it hurts. Terryn, Twilight and all the rest of those are just telling lies to make her feel better.

Or at least, that’s what she concluded from the things the brown-coated stallion is trying to tell her. But yet, after being in the hospital for almost a week, her question is still remained unanswered. Why did Equestria shrink? Why is it still shrinking? Of all the things that have been happening around her, that’s still her biggest question. it’s gnawing on her mind, on her consciousness. Questions like ‘Who is the brown-coated stallion?’ or ‘Will Terryn be able to ‘heal’ me?’ were second place. Her main priority was that one question that was left unanswered. But every question has an answer and Fluttershy is determined to dig for that answer.

Another thing that was bothering her was Cobalt. Cobalt Ink, the lonely writer. She felt her cheeks heat up at the thought of the stallion. Fluttershy placed a hoof on one of her cheeks, gulping softly. She looked back up to Spera, both of them laying in a large grass field with no end. The center of Fluttershy’s peace and quiet. Where she was left to ponder.

“D-Do you think...uh...” She stammered, her cheeks heating up more as they showed a nice, pink color. “That... Cobalt likes me?” She said, her cheeks now red. She giggled nervously, her eyes widening as she noticed her own, girlish behaviour. The mare looked down, not having seen that the fox was actually nodding. Fluttershy didn’t know what it was with Cobalt. Of all the stallions in the hospital, he was the one she kept meeting. he was the one that gave her that friendly wave on the first day in the hospital. He’s the one that tried to cheer her up and keep her going. In return, she gave him company; and she could tell that it was one of the greatest gifts Cobalt had actually ever received. He seemed so happy.

But Cobalt is just so similar to Fluttershy. He’s shy, quiet, has been having bad dreams that ended him in this hospital. Sometimes, Fluttershy even feels like they’ve both been put here just so they could meet each other. Ever since she’s just been feeling different when she’s around him.

Fluttershy shook her head. Maybe the hunger was fooling with her brain. She smiled and looked up to the fox, snuggling in her comfortable fur. The fox nuzzled back, as if it was protecting Fluttershy as her own pup. Then Fluttershy’s ears perked up, a familiar voice.

“Hello, miss.” The voice spoke. It was gentle and sweet, as if soothing the mare. Fluttershy pulled away from the fox’ soft fur, looking out towards the source of the voice. Fluttershy gulped as he stood there, the brown-coated stallion. This time he was a unicorn. Fluttershy slowly stood, gazing at the appearance as she gulped. The stallion approached her with a smile. “My name is Amar. And you are...?” The stallion asked. Fluttershy’s ears flattened. Different name, different personality, no memory of her. As always.

“Fluttershy.” The pegasus responded with a smile. She gulped, blushing deeply as the stallion grabbed her hoof and planted a gentle kiss on it.

“That name is like sweet music to my ears...” The stallion said, his voice having gone to a low and flattering tone. “But I expected no less from such a beautiful mare as you...”

Fluttershy pulled her hoof back, blushing very deep now. Her cheeks were on fire as she felt like her whole face had gone red. She giggled nervously.

“O-Oh my...” She gasped. She swayed her hoof slightly, as if sending some fresh air to her face. Is this how Rarity always felt when being flirted with by a stallion? Fluttershy smiled shyly at the stallion. Different personality, definitely. “I-It’s nice to meet you again, Amar.” Fluttershy said softly.

“Again? It is the first time we meet, miss Fluttershy. I would remember a pretty face like yours.” The stallion cooed, a grin playing on his lips. He stood rather close to Fluttershy, but the mare didn’t move. The mare didn’t know what to say, but the fox was keeping a close eye on both of them. She noticed the stallion’s body move closer, his lips drawing closer to her’s. Fluttershy found herself frozen in place, not knowing how to react. When she could feel the breeze of his breath on her lips, the only thing she could do was close her eyes. But then Spera jumped in for her.

The fox nudged the stallion away, growling slightly. Amar frowned and looked at the fox, then to Fluttershy. The pegasus hushed and stroked the fox’ fur in an attempt to calm her down. But the silver canine only wrapped herself around Fluttershy and lay down Fluttershy blushed and shrugged at the stallion, who didn’t seem amused. He sat down on the grass, a frown on his lips as the sky started getting darker. The, he started singing...

“As you seep into the blackest void of all, you’re nothing... You’re no one...”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, snuggling on to the fox as the stallion’s voice had changed to a cold, agonizing whisper.

“As you sleep you hear them creeping down the hall... They’re nothing... They’re all gone...”

Fluttershy whimpered, the feeling of fear taking over as the sky was getting darker and darker, as if night was falling. Spera looked up to the stallion, growling softly. That’s when Fluttershy realized that this was the first time ever that Spera was reacting to the stallion; also the first time ever that the stallion reacted to Spera. But Amar kept chanting.

“But it’s okay to be afraid; when you’re staring face to face with time that’s gone to waste.”

Fluttershy glanced around, stars appearing in the sky. Nighttime had fallen. She gulped and whimpered as Spera stood up, her comfortable fur slipping from Fluttershy’s hooves. The canine growled louder, approaching Amar as she stared straight into his eyes. Amar stared back, not showing the tiniest bit of emotion.

“And it’s okay to hide away to overcome to fears, that ruin all the days.”

Then Spera yapped and pounced on Amar, the stallion’s whole body starting to glow.

Fluttershy gasped as she awoke, feeling a certain moisture on her cheeks. She rubbed a cheek over it, realising she’s been crying. She looked around, whimpering slightly to herself as she slipped out of her bed. She couldn’t help but worry about Spera and Amar. She wondered why Spera acted so aggressive towards him all of the sudden. She had the feeling she was missing something. Fluttershy glanced around, seeming lost in her own room. She moved to the window and slid the curtains open. She opened the window, sighing as it could only open a little bit. She knew this was to prevent anypony from just flying out or jumping. But she needed fresh air. The pegasus gazed outside, only now realising how high she was. She must be at least on the third floor. Her window was positioned at the front of the hospital, as she had a clear view of the entryway of the building complex.

The sun was peeking from the buildings in the distance. The mare sighed, leaning her forehead on the glass. She wanted to go outside and lie down in the grass, have some fresh air. What she also wanted was a shower, because for the previous few days all she got was a wash. Fluttershy sighed and looked over to the drawing. She sniffled slightly and reverted her gaze back to the outside.

“Let me out...” She whispered, closing her eyes and sobbing softly. “I want my friends... I want my house... I want Angel...” She whispered to herself. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. She had to be strong and fight through this. She’d get home eventually. But for now, she had to bite through it. She slowly opened her eyes and sniffled, wiping a tear away. She turned around and sat down, staring down to the floor. So many questions were inside her mind, but no answers. She sniffled and glanced around, until the door opened slowly. Redheart smiled, looking at Fluttershy.

“Oh, you’re already awake...” She said softly, carrying a plate with Fluttershy’s breakfast inside, but she cleared her throat and blushed.

“Uh...C-Can I...e-eat in t-the cafeteria?” She asked. Redheart smiled warmly, causing Fluttershy to blush and smile back.

“Of course you can, dear. I assume you want to sit with Cobalt?” She asked. Fluttershy nodded and stood up, following nurse Redheart as she led Fluttershy to the cafeteria. Once they trotted inside, they glanced around, searching for the blue stallion. Fluttershy smiled and walked to him, slipping on the seat next to his as Redheart placed her breakfast in front of Fluttershy.

“Morning...” Cobalt greeted with a smile. “It’s good to see you here, for once...” He spoke. Fluttershy blushed and smiled, gazing at the stallion. She felt her heart pound in her chest, wanting to just hug the stallion and snuggle into his warm fur. But for now, she just casted a nice smile at him while staring up in his eyes. Cobalt smiled back, scooping up some yoghurt and slipping it in his mouth. Fluttershy gulped, tending to her own breakfast. She felt nervous and scared, terrified even.

“Thank you for yesterday, again... i haven’t felt so good in a while.” Cobalt said with a smile. Fluttershy had just bitten on her sandwich as she smiled. She chewed her food and swallowed out, for speaking with a mouthful was just rude.

“I-It’s n-no problem!” She said softly. She took another bite, actually able to eat more this time. But then...

“In fact, Terryn thought I was doing so well, I can go home today!” He exclaimed happily. Fluttershy’s eyes widened, gasping but coughing loudly as she nearly choked on her food. She slipped off her seat and looked at Cobalt, tears in her eyes. She couldn’t believe he was leaving already, she had no time to develop anything with him. She whimpered and ran out of the cafeteria. Cobalt frowned and immediately chased her, worried.

The pegasus stormed into her room and jumped on her bad, the fox plushy jumping from the impact and landing next to Fluttershy, its paw touching her cheek as if it tried to console her. Fluttershy whimpered as she sobbed softly. She didn’t want Cobalt to leave, she didn’t want to be left alone in this hospital with no friends. She wanted to be with him, go home with him. She just wanted all of this to be over with. But suddenly, a hoof touched her shoulder. She hoped it to be Redheart or Cobalt, but it was an unexpected visitor.

“No need to cry, miss...” He whispered. There he was, the brown-coated stallion. In her room. At this point Fluttershy even wondered if she was actually awake, or still asleep. She couldn’t say anything, she just stared at the stallion. She wanted to scream, but not a noise could escape from her throat. She wanted to run, but not a muscle could be moved. He was staring at her and she was staring back, eye to eye. Those beautiful, deep, hypnotizing blue eyes.

Suddenly, the door opened, and as soon as it did the stallion vanished in thin air, as if he was never there. Fluttershy blinked, wondering if she just imagined it. She started wondering that maybe she does belong in the hospital. But ever since she got her, things have just been getting worse.

“Fluttershy?” A soft voice spoke, gulping as Cobalt entered the room. He slowly walked in; as Fluttershy sat up and sniffled, a tear rolling down her cheek. “What’s wrong...?” He asked, sitting down next to her. Fluttershy looked at Cobalt. This could be her chance. Her chance to openly admit her feelings, maybe even ask him out and get together with him. She opened her mouth, gathering all her courage to say it.

“I...I...” She muttered, biting her lip. “I... I don’t want to lose my only friend here...” Fluttershy whispered. She cursed herself for not telling him, but she just couldn’t find the courage to do so. Cobalt sighed and pulled Fluttershy into a hug, causing the pegasus to blush. She hugged back and gulped.

“Don’t worry... I’ll come to visit...” He said softly. Fluttershy smiled slightly and nodded, sighing. She closed her eyes and stayed in his embrace. She’d lose her only friend here. She’d be left with Redheart, sure, but there’s also the ponies she doesn’t like. Nurse Grunt, for example.

But what she’s most afraid of...Is him.

Fluttershy sighed, sitting in the lobby. She was playing with the Spera plushie, her ears folded back. No visitors. None of her friends had decided to come and check on Fluttershy. She was afraid that this would happen, that they’d stop showing up and just leave her behind in this hospital, just like with what happened with Cobalt. Fluttershy didn’t want to wait until somepony else would force a visitor her way to regain her sanity. All she wanted was answers; and to go home.

Fluttershy lifted her head as she saw Cobalt walk in the lobby, holding a suitcase with him. He flew over to Redheart and Terryn, who were waiting. Terryn gave some papers to Cobalt, saying something Fluttershy couldn’t hear. The stallion nodded and smiled, giving Terryn a hoofshake. Then, he looked over to Fluttershy. He flew to her and sighed, looking at her. Fluttershy couldn’t help herself anymore, gripping on to Cobalt and hugging him tightly.

“P-Please don’t go... I’m sorry for not talking so much... But p-please...” She begged, her shoulders shaking in a sob. She cried on to his fur and Cobalt hugged her back lightly, sighing.

“I promise, Fluttershy, That I will come and visit...”

“Tomorrow?” Fluttershy whimpered, pulling back and looking in his eyes.

“I have a lot of things to take care of... The day after tomorrow... I promise...” Cobalt said, smiling slightly. Fluttershy sniffled, nodding slightly as she was still crying ever so lightly. Cobalt wiped a tear of Fluttershy’s away. “You’ll find other friends...” He whispered. However, Fluttershy didn’t reply to that. Would now be the perfect time to kiss him? Could she really just smack her lips on his? Just for a short time, just a quick peck and maybe she’ll feel better about everything, then she’ll feel safe and then she’ll know for sure that he won’t just simply give up on her!

But Cobalt pulled back from the hug and sighed.

“Bye-bye, Fluttershy.” He said. Fluttershy whimpered and sobbed softly.

“B-Bye...” She replied. She hung her head and let out a soft sob, wiping her own tears. Cobalt sighed and leaned closer, kissing Fluttershy’s forehead for a mere second, but Fluttershy’s heart skipped a beat. She looked up, seeing that he already turned around and walked towards the exit. Fluttershy was frozen, not knowing what to do at that time, but she had to tell him! She had to! Cobalt was already outside and he spread his wings. That’s when Fluttershy took action. She jumped up and galloped towards the exit, but she could never reach the outside, Nurse Grunt had stopped her.

“Sorry, miss, no going outside for you.” He said, his voice harsh. Fluttershy sobbed full-out now, stepping back from Grunt as Cobalt was already in the air, flying away...

He was gone.

Fluttershy shook her head, whimpering as she trotted back.

“I-I love you...” She whispered, as if she hoped Cobalt would be able to hear it. She cried and ran back to her room, jumping on her bed and digging her face in her pillow. She sobbed on to it, shaking her head. Why couldn’t everything just go like she wanted it to? Why didn’t she say anything? Fluttershy had never hated herself like this.

After a few minutes of crying, the pegasus calmed down and sat up. She realised she had left her plushie in the lobby. She turned around and sighed, her eyes widening as the plushie was sitting on the end of her bed, with a little note on its lap. Fluttershy carefully picked the note up, opening it. Her body shivered as she read the words.

“You forgot about me. Now the brown-coated stallion will take me.”

Day 7

No sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams, no sleep, no dreams...

Without realising, Fluttershy had written that all over her bedroom wall with a pencil that was left behind when she asked to draw more. The pegasus blinked, stopping and gazing at her work. The words trailed down slightly, because the mare had been seated on the same spot while writing down. She blinked and looked at the pencil, then at the wall, back to the pencil... She had no idea what she’s doing. But she wanted to stay awake. No more dreaming, no more stallions, that was her theory. Although she felt bad for abandoning Spera. She was scared of what had happened to the fox after her last dream, where the fox and the stallion finally acknowledged each other... and provoked. She didn’t know if they were hurt or worse...gone...

But she didn’t want to find out. She wanted to stay awake. She had no idea what time it was, but it was dark outside, and the lights in the hallway were off. All Fluttershy had to light up her room was the moonlight, which peacefully crept out of her window. She looked down to her bed, searching for her silver fox plushie, but she was nowhere to be found. Maybe she had accidentally dropped it, but the pegasus didn’t really have the confidence to glance under the bed at night, due to some creepy stories Dash had told her.

Like the one of a creature the size of a dust particle during day, that lives under your bed. But when night falls, the creature grows to a full-sized monster called the ‘leg-gnawer’ and when you tried to step out of bed, the creature would swipe out and bite your leg off! Fluttershy shuddered just thinking about it. Yup, she wasn’t getting off her bed the entire night. At least until the sun pokes out.

The yellow equine sighed softly, hugging her blanket close instead. She looked down to the cutiemarks sewn together, giving each a soft nuzzle. And a whisper. “I miss your cupcakes...” She whispered as she softly nuzzled one of the balloons. “I miss your help...” She cooed, stroking her snout on Twilight’s mark. “I miss your companionship...” She muttered while giving Dash’s mark the same treatment. “I miss your dresses...” She softly hummed to the three gems. “And I miss your protection...” She finally said to Applejack’s. Then she saw her own cutiemark.

Her hoof stroked slowly over the three butterflies on the blanket. “And above all... I miss who you were...” She said to the three insects, sniffling slightly. The shy mare let out a soft whimper and cuddled the blanket tightly, shutting her eyes. Everything would be alright. She’d get out of her. She must get out of here. There’s no chance of escape, though. The window was unable to be opened and even if it could be opened, Fluttershy doubted they’d just leave it unlocked. And the lobby doors were locked at night as well, and there’s ponies guarding during the night.

She opened her eyes again, and blinked. Her ears perked up. It was awfully quiet. Silence was another thing the mare was scared of, because silence brings forth the most scariest of noises. Because when it’s silent noises can be heard more clearly, and you start to wonder what those noises are or coming from. And before you know, the brain starts playing tricks on you and makes you think that you can hear things that aren’t there, like whispers or... or...

“Hello miss.”

The pegasus jumped up with a yelp, her wings spreading wide as she glanced around on the bed, while still balancing herself so she doesn’t fall off. But nopony was in the room, or outside of it. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. At least she hoped so. The mare closed her eyes again. She’d never been this tired in her life! The mare emitted a gentle yawn and slowly fell backwards on her bed. She was just closing her eyes a bit...

...As long as she didn’t fall asleep.

Fluttershy opened her eyes again. Strangely, she didn’t feel all that sleepy anymore. The mare sat up and glanced around in the room. The words she had drawn on the wall were still there. The feathered mare let out a soft huff, grabbing her Spera plush and holding her close. She snuggled the stuffed animal softly, a gentle smile had appeared on her face. Until... Didn’t she lose this? She eyed the plushie, frowning. She sat up again and gasped sharply. The door to her room was wide open, and the brown stallion stood in it.

Out of reflex, she threw the stuffed silver fox at the stallion, backing away on her bed. She whimpered softly, her yellow ears laying flat against her skull. The stallion just gazed at Fluttershy, the silver plushie floating up next to him.

“Time’s running out, Fluttershy.”

That cold, harsh voice sent chills down Fluttershy’s spines, the pegasus yelping in fear as she tried to hide behind her blanket.

“My patience is good as gone. After this day, things’ll change forever.” He said, staring straight at the frightened mare. Fluttershy almost squealed, but only yelped louder when her bed started moving up, the piece of furniture seeming to keep its balance on something. Something big, growing and growling. “I’m only trying to help you see, not everything is what it seems.” He continued, a dark tendril creeping from beneath the bed and snaking towards Fluttershy. “But you won’t open your eyes!”

The pegasus screamed and opened her eyes, looking around. The mare was breathing heavily, shaking on her bed. But what she saw, she couldn’t believe. The wall writing she made earlier was still there, oh yes, but it was now joined by many more. Her whole room was written full with nonsense and gibberish. Things like ‘tick tock time’s up’ and ‘wake up’. She wondered who had written all of that. The mare shivered in anxiety, until she looked at her own front hooves, which were covered in black ink. Shivering at this point, she quickly searched for the cause of the ink, which she quickly found. There was a quill and ink on her bedside table, given to her to write things down, but the inkwell was toppled over and had hoofmarks in them.

Fluttershy shook her head. She did this in her sleep? She couldn’t have. She scanned all the words in her room again, whimpering. But the sentence that terrified her most was one she wrote on the ceiling.

‘Asleep or dead?’

Fluttershy stared at that sentence, eyes hastily scanning over it. That’s when she broke. She emitted a loud scream, placing her hooves on her ears, causing ink to get all over her coat. She shut her eyes firmly, curling up on her bed. of course her scream attracted the personnel. The door busted open, showing nurse Redheart in the doorframe.

“Fluttershy, what’s... Oh dear Luna...” She gasped out, seeing the cladded walls. She looked over to Fluttershy, who was a mess of whimpers and shivers. The nurse didn’t hesitate to rush over to the mare and grab onto her hooves, trying to pull them away.

“Fluttershy, calm down...” She tried to comfort.

“Go away!” The mare immediately protested, trying to forcefully pull her hooves back. The mare let out a long whine, tears running down her ink smothered cheeks, which on their turn turned the salty water black and made grey spots on her pillow and blanket. Her struggle with the nurse continued, the poor mare trying to retreat from her cooing and comforting words, but strong grip. Until nurse Grunt was also attracted by the ruckus the two were causing. He noticed the words, but that wasn’t his number one priority right now. The nurse took out a syringe and walked to Fluttershy.

“Hold her still, I’ll inject.” Redheart said, floating the needle from Grunt’s hooves. The big stallion then held Fluttershy down, watching her squirm against her grip. “You’ll feel a sting, but you’re going to be fine, okay sweetie?” The female nurse consoled, before sticking the needle in Fluttershy’s front leg, making her yelp out. The liquid was quickly injected down her veins, and after a few more seconds of struggle, she started to calm down, to the point she just laid back and breathed heavily, staring at the ceiling blankly. It was only then that the mare noticed it was already morning, and the sun was lighting up her room.

“She was doing so well...” Redheart said with a sigh, looking around in the room. “Look at this mess... This isn’t normal anymore. She needs help immediately. Go warn Terryn.” She said to Grunt, he nodded and walked off. Redheart sighed again, looking at the yellow pegasus with a slight shake of her head.

Terryn huffed slightly, pen hastily noting things down in his papers. Fluttershy was sitting across, on the other side of that desk. She looked lifeless, as if she was very sleepy. That was true, however, because last night’s rest wasn’t particularly a good one, plus the injection she got was still fading out. Other than that, it was the fact that she was alone. Twilight didn’t come to help her through this session. Neither did any of her friends, even Cobalt. But she had expected she’d just end up like him in this place. Alone. Abandoned and deserted, bound to sit in the lobby for a whole afternoon, waiting for friends that would never show up.

So now she sat there, in front of a writing doctor that presumed her mentally ill, and the writings in her room just proved that fact. Was she really ill? Did she really need help? She didn’t even know herself. She needed help to decide if she needed help. She was in the hospital for a reason. Her head lifted up slowly, the mare still a bit drowsy. Just as Terryn finally put down his pen and looked over to the mare.

“You’re suffering from night terrors, hallucinations and sleepwalking... if this gets worse it may even lead to insomnia, paranoia and schizophrenia. You know I can’t let that happen, Fluttershy. I’m sorry but you’ll have to start taking medication. Just know that it’s for your own good. If you’re a dear and co-operate to take this medication, it’ll only be even better on your side. Don’t let this morning happen again.” Terryn explained to Fluttershy. The mare meekly nodded, looking down at his desk. “You need to take the pills twice a day. I’m going to start with your nurse just bringing them to your room, but I want to see you get out more, so it’s only going to be for the first couple of days.” He explained. Again, the same response from the pegasus; a weak little nod.

She wanted to talk, because she was scared. Terrified, even. She didn’t know what to say, but maybe the medication would be the best. Maybe it would help her sleep better, or even make that stallion disappear. Because maybe, just maybe, it was all just in her head. She looked up at Terryn, wondering if she could go back to her room, even though she was a bit scared to do so. Mainly because of what she had written all over the place, but also because that’s the only place where she encountered what she believed to be creations of her imagination.

“I have a list of a few things you wrote on your walls, Fluttershy... What I want you to do is try to explain to me if you remember writing it down, what it means and if it was directed to anypony, okay?” Terryn explained, the mare nodding again. “Alright. First one is; Tick tock time’s up? Are you counting down to something?” The doctor asked. His voice was soothing, obviously trying to coo Fluttershy into talking. The empty mare said nothing, just sitting there within her thoughts. “Fluttershy?” Terryn sighed. He breathed in to start talking again.

“H-He said that...” She suddenly muttered. The mare sniffled, feeling those tears come again. How much has she been crying during her one week period in this place? The mare hadn’t kept count but she was sure it was a lot. She raised a hoof to wipe her eye. “H-He said time’s up a-and...” Her voice was shakey, her fear and distress clear in her trembling words. “He said things would change...That I have one day...” She whimpered.

“Fluttershy, you need to remember that none of this is real. It’s all inside your head, okay? It can’t hurt you, it can’t touch you, it can only speak to you and lure you into Ins- illness.” The doctor spoke. “You’re having night terrors. Everything might look real, but it’s not. When you’re asleep, you’re in a false world.” He explained. He looked at his clipboard and sighed. “And that’s what the medication is for, because it can actually get so bad you start seeing reflections of that false world in real life. You’ll start imagining and hearing things. That’s called schizophrenia, but we won’t let it get that far, okay Fluttershy?” The mare nodded slightly in response, letting out a soft and worried sob. “I’ll warn Twilight and your other friends about this, okay?”

“Why did Equestria shrink?” The pegasus suddenly asked, staring straight into the doctor’s eyes. “I-I need to know...” She pleaded, moving one of her yellow hooves up to place it on her lips. Terryn looked baffled for a moment, just staring at the pegasus.

“We’ll find out together, okay? It’s as big of a question to me as it is to you. And we’re here to find the answer.” He soothed, deserving another nod from the mare. “Now, moving further down the list, we have a really... unnerving one.” Terryn said. “Asleep or dead?”

“I-I didn’t write that...” She quickly said, looking at the desk.

“Than who did, Fluttershy?” Terryn asked.

“T-The stallion did...” She said. It must’ve been, because the mare didn’t remember actually writing any of that down, except for the ‘no sleep, no dreams’ text. That’s the only one she was sure she was responsible for.

“The brown stallion you drew once?” Terryn asked. Fluttershy quickly nodded, while Terryn scratched his head. His pen floated up and quickly noted some things down on his clipboard. “Now, last one. The only one that wasn’t done in ink. ‘No sleep, no dreams’?”

“I-I tried to stay awake so he wouldn’t pop up...” Fluttershy used as excuse, sniffling. Terryn sighed and shook his head.

“You need sleep, Fluttershy. You can’t just stay awake all night. I know it’s difficult to go to sleep while you know things are going to happen, but as I just said it’s not real. This is a beginning of insomnia; and that might even make things worse.” He said. “Therapy is over for now, dear. Redheart will bring you your first dose of medicine tonight at seven. Go back to your room for some rest or go meet some other patients, social actions will do good on you. Until next time, Fluttershy.” Terryn said. Fluttershy nodded once more, before sliding off her chair and walking out of the office.

The mare didn’t feel the need to go meet others. All she wanted to do is rest in solitude. She believed the doctor, maybe it’s all her imagination and she can just think the stallion away and have some good dreams about Spera and herself and her friends. She trotted through the lobby, which had two or so patients talking with friends or family, through the hallway and into her room. The mare settled on her bed and sighed. After taking a good look around and at the walls, she saw that they hadn’t cleaned up, the words were still everywhere. She rolled on her back, staring up at the ceiling as another soft huff escaped her lips.

However, she blinked when she noticed Spera’s stuffed version next to her pillow. She lifted the plush up and looked at it, maybe the staff recovered it while cleaning her room or something. Her eyes examined the stuffed animal’s features, everything seemed in place. She lowered the plush again and looked at her door. That’s when she saw words she hadn’t noticed before.

‘Bye-bye Fluttershy’

Why hadn’t the doctor asked about those words? Were they added after her visit? Or did they really not see that? Her eyes looked that sentence above her door over again and again, the mare having trouble taking that in. She shook her head, ears flattening. She felt queasy. Her body was aching. Her mind was troubled. Fluttershy felt as if she had reached a point of no return. The point where, according to the stallion...

...Things’ll change forever.

Day 8

Tonight it ends...

Tonight everything changes...

Tonight...

Fluttershy had promised herself not to sleep again. But she barely had any rest the night before and the poor mare was growing drowsy, the land of the sleeping getting more and more attractive as her eyelids slowly dropped... Eyes half-closed... No... He wasn’t going to get her tonight...

She was holding the silver fox plushie close. No sleep. He won’t get anywhere near her as long as Spera was by her side. She had all her trust in the fox. All her hope... In Spera...

A loud yawn emitted through the room, but Fluttershy quickly slipped a hoof over her lips. Oh no, she hoped no one heard that. She hoped... But her hope was placed wrong. The door to her room opened slightly, casting in the light of the hallway. Her walls and the ceiling were still covered in writings from which she still persisted the fact that she had written those down.

“Fluttershy...?”

The pills Fluttershy was prescribed made her slow of thought and action, because they really worked on her brain. So the idea of quickly diving down and pretending to be asleep didn’t course through her line of thought before the nurse stepped inside. The pegasus still attempted to do so, though, throwing herself down and slipping the covers over her fragile body quickly. But it was too late.

“You need to sleep, Fluttershy...” The nurse said with a sigh, walking closer. Fluttershy just kept her eyes closed.

“I don’t want to... He’ll grab me...” She whimpered. She felt a hoof perform a reassuring stroke through her pink mane. The nurse was male, but from the way he moved and treated her, she was absolutely sure it wasn’t nurse Grunt. Maybe just a stallion that works night shift.

“He isn’t real, Fluttershy. And your medication should help you forget him...” The nurse spoke, but Fluttershy shook her head persistently. She didn’t want to risk it. She heard the nurse sigh in frustration, the pegasus not turning to look at him. She heard him step away, before returning shortly after. he offered a glass of what seemed like fizzy water.

“Have a drink, dear...” He said. Well, she was quite thirsty, so she figured why not? She sat up and grabbed the glass, slowly downing it. She took a breath once she was finished. the water tasted a little... Off... She gave the glass back to the nurse, looking up at him for the first time...

Brown coat, black mane and deep, hypnotizing blue eyes...

“Now... sleep...” He cooed, the pegasus breathing rapidly in panic. her eyelids started slowly dropping, Fluttershy struggling to keep herself conscious. But as she faded into the darkness more and more, she could see a grin spreading on the nurse’s lips... Before venturing off into dreamland...

Fluttershy opened her eyes and gulped, staring up at what seemed to be the night sky. It was full of stars, winking towards Fluttershy as she lay back on the cushion of grass. The pegasus just lay back to examine the sky and soon she spotted cutiemarks of her friends resembling that vast nothingness of space. It felt weird to Fluttershy. Almost as if they were saying goodbye… As if she was going to go for a very long time…

Fluttershy looked around, rolling herself on her belly before standing upright. She was stood in a field, a tall grass field, and in the distance she saw Ponyville. Although, somewhat different. She saw that the windows of the houses were broken, some were even boarded up. The whole place was a ghost town. As if everypony had just suddenly decided to leave. The pegasus looked to her left and saw… Her cottage. Abandoned, boarded up and very old. She didn’t understand. This wasn’t Ponyville… This wasn’t even the Ponyville that the brown-coated stallion had shown her a couple of nights ago. This town was much, much older.

The mare kept in thought what she saw last time she opened her house, so she decided to steer clear from it. The mare started off towards Ponyville. She was scared. Terrified, even. She kept her head low, slowly walking into an abandoned Ponyville. What she probably found the most nerve-wrecking was the fact that she was alone. Completely and utterly alone. No Spera, no stallion, only her. Only poor little Fluttershy.

The silence gave Fluttershy time to think. Tomorrow her friend Cobalt would visit. After his departure from the hospital he had been on her mind quite a lot. And well, she looked forward to talking to him again, she really did. As she walked into that desolated town Fluttershy could not stop thinking about what she could do with Cobalt when she was fired from the hospital. She could only dream…

The first thing that Fluttershy walked towards was Twilight’s library. Where her and her friends regularly met up. She walked in with a soft smile, opening the door and peeking her pink-maned head inside. It was abandoned, most of the books gone, cobwebs everywhere and dust layering on the furniture. Fluttershy sighed and stepped in, glancing around. It felt so weird being in that library again, although it was empty. She missed the place…

However, the library was strangely familiar. Fluttershy felt like it was her home. She looked around to look at everything, why did she feel that strange urge to call this place her home? Everypony knew Twilight lived here, not her… She shook her head and headed for the door again. However, she halted and froze on the spot. Out of the corner of the eye she saw a shadow move in one of the dark corners of the room. She quickly turned, only to hear the door of the library go open and slam back shut.

Somepony was in here with her…

This world just made no sense at all. Everything felt out of place. Fluttershy was in conflict, follow the figure or just ignore it? She was pretty sure it was just that brown-coated stallion… She sighed and stepped outside, seeing how he ran up to her cottage. To her own house. It made her frown. What could he possibly need there? The pegasus was afraid to enter that house again, because last time she entered there she saw something horrifying…

But she gathered all her courage and took a deep breath, starting towards her house. She had noticed that she could see the cutiemarks of her friends around in the sky. It made her smile. As if somehow they were still watching over her, even inside her dreams… And with that smile she made her way to he rhouse, gulping as her hooves treaded in the grass. She felt nervous. Looking behind her, she saw how the town was succumbed in darkness, like it was being swallowed by a black void. it was disappearing! With a yelp, she opened the door to her cottage, and leaped in…

The house was completely empty. Well, empty except for one brown-coated pegasus, standing in the middle of the room. He gazed at Fluttershy, door locking behind her.

“Game’s over Fluttershy.” He spoke, his voice harsh. “I’ve played with you far too long… It’s time all of this ends. For you. It’s time that you wake up.” Of course, Fluttershy was terrified. She didn’t know what to say! At all! This was all so sudden! “I’m not any of the names I have given you in the past few days. I’m not just some pony like you. It’s time that I properly introduce myself to you, Fluttershy…” He said, his lips curling up to form a creeping smile.

“I am Phobia… The embodiment of fear itself, created by an innocent mind. And you, Fluttershy, are my creator.” He told her. Fluttershy was tugging on the doorknob at that time, yelling and screaming to be let out, the pegasus slowly approaching as his eyes started to glow red, his voice gaining a demonic echo. “Accept your fate, Fluttershy. I thrive to corrupt the weak and drive them to insanity. You have been persisting for too long, and I’m running out of patience. This is the end for you. It’s time to wake up!” He yelled.

But just as Fluttershy was about to lose all hope, the door busted open to show a silver fox, growling at Phobia as Fluttershy quickly climbed onto the vulpine’s back. She ordered the animal to return to Equestria as quick as possible. With that, the fox leaped up, but Phobia flew after them. Fluttershy closed her eyes, wishing to wake up. She HAD to wake up. But when she opened those eyes, she saw how Phobia was already climbing up Spera’s tail, his wings gone to show a horn on his head instead.

“Stop spending your energy in running! This isn’t even your dream, it’s MINE!” He yelled. “Making your planet shrink was just a way to distract you from seeing the truth! You kept breaking your head over a stupid question while I chipped away at your sanity like some cheap stone!” He yelled at her. Fluttershy whimpered and cried, clinging tightly to Spera as she flew through space.

Why did Equestria shrink? She asked herself that again. he had given the answer… But it wasn’t really what she expected. She felt a hoof on her hind leg, and her first reflex was to kick out. She felt her own hoof kick a face, obviously Phobia’s face. She looked behind to see him snarling at her.

“Give up already!”

Fluttershy looked ahead and saw hope. She saw Equestria before them. At first it seemed like it was quite a distance away, but her eyes widened when Spera’s paws made contact with a tiny globe. It had shrunk so much that when her paws made contact with a basketball sized planet, it shattered into a thousand pieces. Just like the first planet she visited. Fluttershy watched how her home shattered, while feeling an arm wrap around her waist.

But then she woke up, in the middle of a nightmare. She was being held by somepony, no one less than the stallion that claimed himself to be Phobia. And suddenly, everything moved so slow. She was pushed towards the window of her room, where she was pressed against the glass. She screamed out, everything still happening in slow-mo as the glass shattered against her back. it was exactly that moment that Phobia disappeared, just as she fell through the empty gap that used to be the window. As she fell backwards, she saw her life flash before her eyes as she slowly made her way down.

She remembered that she was a pegasus, however. But her reaction time was too slow. Just as sh fully spread her wings and tried to turn and fly away, her back hit the floor…

...And she too, shattered.

Fluttershy blinked. She couldn’t see anything. Didn’t she just fall out of a window? What’s going on? She struggled on her where ever she was placed on, but couldn’t remove herself. Like she was glued on it. The pegasus was scared. Terrified even. But then a cold voice started chanting. From in front of her.

“Waking up it’s four o’clock, darkness still outside.
Sneaking down the stairs in silence
‘till I’m out of sight

I’d like to think that no-one knows
and no-one ever will
Yet every time I try to tell myself to quit,
but still.

Telling all my secret stories
to my Dreamcatcher Tree
Wrapping his old branch around me
just to comfort me.”

After that, a single light casted itself on Fluttershy and her surroundings. She was seated at a table, across the brown-coated stallion. Or Phobia, as he called himself. He carefully sipped on a cup of coffee, Fluttershy just too petrified to say anything.

“Now, Fluttershy, I know what you’re thinking.” He said to her. “No, you’re not dead. You’re waking up. It’s time for you to realise things aren’t what they are. Even yourself.” Now what did he mean with that? As far as she knew, she was still shy little Fluttershy, caretaker of animals. “All those things I said before, though, were true. I am fear incarnate. Created by an innocent mind. A confused, innocent mind.” He explained, adding some sugar to his coffee.

“I’ve been looming inside your mind for ages. Since your first memory. Where did I come from? That’s for you to figure out. Even I don’t know. A child doesn’t know where it comes from until its parents tell it, isn’t that true?”

“I-I’m not your mother.”

“You are a lot of things you think you aren’t, girl. You’re also not a lot of things that you actually do think you are.” He snapped. He idly stirred in his coffee, sighing heavily. “Why did Equestria shrink, Fluttershy?” He asked. “Because Equestria isn’t what you think it is. So it made itself disappear, to make room for the real Equestria.”

“N-None of this makes sense…” Fluttershy whimpered, shaking her head.

“It will in due time, but it will be too late. Your… ahem, ‘death’ has set me free. I will spread from pony to pony like a plague and make sure they all undergo the same treatment I gave my sweet mother. Equestria will know nothing but fear and insanity. Even Celestia.” He said, sipping his coffee. “But enough chit-chat. I have work to do. You have waking up to do.” He said, double clapping his hooves. The lights went out…

She gasped audibly, jumping up from her bed. She blinked and looked around, still in her room at the hospital. She looked around quickly. Her blanket seemed to be more poorly sewn together, the picture of her friends was gone and the silver fox plushie seemed more tattered. The room was still covered in her own writings. She jumped up and looked at the window. Still intact. She turned to the door just as it opened, showing Nurse Redheart with a big smile.

“Good morning Twilight.”

To be continued...