MLP- Break

With a painful intake of air through clenched teeth, I feel myself jerk awake. My hooves flail as I search for purchase against the ground, flinging myself in a defensive stance as soon as I gain the leverage I need to stand. The dense fur of my purple coat bristles with charged energy, and I take lung fulls of air as my wide gaze shifts about.

I expect to find the horrors of the once beautiful halls of the Canterlot Castle, with the white tile stained deep red with blood and mutilated bodies littering nearly every square inch of the floor. I strain my ears forward, listening for something, anything, of the remnants of terrible screams and neighs of powerful emotion: pain, fear, anger, hatred. But there's nothing of the sort here.

The camp is quiet; everyone's still fast asleep. There is no blood, no bodies, no screams.... just the soft snoring of the girls and Spike.

Slowly, my bearings return to me and I force myself to ease up from my defensive posture, shivering. No screams, no blood, no bodies... just me and the others...

'Just a dream, then... just a dream...'

I take a few steps back with a shaky sigh and rub at my brow with a forehoof, whiping away the light sheen of sweat there. My heart still pounds at my ribcage and my breath is still in shallow pants, images of the vivid dream replaying themselves within my mind.

'Just a dream... just a--"

"Twilight?"

The sound of my name startles me enough to make me jump, and I snap my head around to stare at the source of the voice. Fluttershy stares at me with sleep-fogged eyes, shaking her head before letting out a quiet yawn. I don't say anything, simply staring at the half-sleep mare as she blinks herself awake.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

Even with her voice heavy with sleep, the concern is very easy to pick up on. She yawns again while I stay perfectly still, turning away from the pegasus and closing my eye. I'm still breathing a bit too rapidly, too shakily, so I force myself to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself.

'In and out... in and out...'

It takes longer than I'd like, but I finally manage to force my adrenaline to ease up. My heart returns to a slower pace and my breathing isn't as shaky. I sag as the last of my tension begins to disperse itself.

"...Twilight?"

I look up and offer a wavering smile to the drowsy Fluttershy, shaking my head. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm okay, Fluttershy. I'm sorry if I woke you."

The gentle pegasus cocks an ear. "It's alright. Um... Is there, uh, s-something wrong?"

Again, I shake my head. "No, no. Nothing's wrong. Just a nightmare, but I'm fine now." I reassure her, hoping it'd be enough to get her to go back to sleep. Oh please, go back to sleep...

But of course, she doesn't. It must have been the way I said it, or how I looked, but whatever it was it made something click behind her eyes. The turqouise grow far clearer and wide awake, studious and attentive as they trace over my face. Her ears perk forward as all of her attention settles on me.

She must've found what she was looking for because her gaze suddenly met mine, a furrow to her brows that wasn't there before now present.

"You... you're not okay... are you?"

It's my turn to furrow my brows, but only as I steel my gaze a bit. I don't know what to say, really; the question is bold, almost challenging with just how sudden it seems. So unlike the usually shy pegasus. I don't know what to say at all, so I simply stare at her.

Seeing that I'm not going to speak, Fluttershy continues, sitting up straighter. "Twilight?"

This time I narrow my remaining eye slightly, and I do my best not to completely glare at the pegasus. The images from my dream... my memory, they dance back to life. The images are vivid, not a single detail's forgotten. It almost hurts to remember, and I have to break away from Fluttershy's eyes to hide the grimace on my face. "....Go back to sleep, Fluttershy."

She doesn't listen.

Fluttershy stands from her spot near the camp fire and moves to take a step toward me, but my glare stops her short. She shuffles her hooves, biting at her lip with indecision. She clearly wants to say something, but she doesn't. Instead she seemingly works up her nerves to take a catious step forward.

My increasingly harsh glare does nothing to stop her now.

I feel my upper lip curl slightly and I flick my ears back, unsure but unmoving. Fluttershy takes another step my way. I raise a hoof and toss my tail defensively, but I still remain in place. The pegasus is close enough now to look right into my eye.

"You're hurting." She all but whispers, and I can't help but instinctively turn my ears forward to listen. It's hard to hold her gaze. Those bright blue-green eyes aren't staring at me. More like, they're staring THROUGH me, right past my eye and whatever walls I've built to search my soul. I don't like it at all.

"You're hurting..." She repeats. I give a nicker in response, narrowing my eye further. I've only known her and the rest of the girls for... what, about a week now? What give her the right to claim that I'm in pain? I'm in no sort of pain... I'm...

"Go... G-go back to sleep, Fluttershy." I'm not staring at her so much as I'm looking past her, avoiding eye contact now. There's something about her eyes I just can't reject though; it's hard for me to remain neutral to her... hell, it's hard for me to remain neutral to ANY of these girls, now that I think about it.

Must be the Elements of Harmony thing we all have going.

Whatever the case, Fluttershy doesn't stop herself from coming closer until I feel her breath on my throat. It makes the fur on my neck stand on end beneath the curtain of my mane; I don't know whether to step away from her or crush her in a hug. She decides for me though.

Without a word, she coils her neck and presses her head against my chest. Right above my stuttering heart. I stiffen up and my scowl deepens, but I do little to dislodge her. I simply... stand there, allowing her to push further until I have to lean forward slightly to keep us from going backward.

The silence is deafening this time, and neither of us do anything to break it. Fluttershy keeps her silence in what seems like waiting, as if urging me to say something. I'm not entirely sure what she expects me to say, though... so I murmur the first thing that comes to mind.

"...You want to know about my nightmare." It wasn't a question. Fluttershy says nothing, pushing her muzzle further into my fur and flicking an ear; the tip of it almost hits my face, prompting a humorless chuckle from my throat. "It's nothing you haven't heard before." It's true, to an extent. Everypony and their grandmothers knows how the Tyrant came to his current position as king, one version or another. Just... not everyone knows exactly how blood-soaked the whole story is.

"I don't mind."

"Will you mind if I tell you it involves more death than any other version?" A version only those who escaped that grissly night remember. I feel, rather than see her flinch against me, although my warning does nothing to deter her.

"N-not if it helps you feel better... um... if you don't mind, that is."

Of course I mind, I want to say. But I don't. I can't, not when a part of me silently wants to talk, to at least tell what I see when sleep claims me. And the Bearer of Kindness is giving a willing ear so I can speak.

I stare past her wings with a sigh, finally allowing my gaze to look down at the back of her head. "...Alright." I murmur.

No point delaying now, huh?

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A quick sketch/doodle I did for my What If... project's War Theme, of which the possible title will be Requiem.

This little sketchadoodle features Twilight and Fluttershy. I wanted to see what I could come up with if I decided not to make the ponies anthro and leave them... well, quadruped. o3o Needless to say, I had fun toying with it. x3

Anywho, as an exercise to help with my writing (god knows I need the practice), I come up with prompts that are related to my War Themed plot and attempt to finish short stories based on said prompt within an hour. The self-imposed prompt for this image is "Nightmare". Twilight suffers from a nightmare of her past, and Fluttershy tries to be the friend Twi needs to at least come into terms with the event.

The sketch also gave me a good excuse to show ya'll what Twi would look like without her hair up in that loose ponytail I had her wear for the story. Messy and uneven, since she cuts it herself. o3o

Anyway, the short story is rough and sloppy, and I'm planning on going over it one more time to get a better result in it. But other than that, I had fun with this little practie run. ^3^ More to come and all that, but for now, I sleeeeeeeeeeep. It's definitely like... 3 in the morning here. T.T
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More from "What If..."

-Zombie-Themed-

Fluttershy- Brave

Twilight Sparkle- Diligent

Applejack- Protective

Rarity- Viligant

Pinkie Pie- Resourceful

Rainbow Dash- Reliable

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-War Themed-

Twi and Spike- Warbound

Mane 6- War Portraits