Fluttershy could only hear her heartbeat. She cowered in a room with blue-painted walls. Her heart crawled up into her brain, and Fluttershy felt it scraping the inside of her skull. She could hear it scratching, scratching, scratching.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” She screamed, smashing her head against the wall. She felt warm liquid dribble down her forehead.

She saw a fork, lying on the ground. Without hesitation, she grabbed it and plunged it deep into her right ear, severing her eardrum. She didn’t care about the pain, she just wanted the scratching to end, to END.

She was about to stab the other ear when there was a great tremble, which caused her to drop the fork. She turned to see the entire wall behind her had been torn off. An enormous… thing looked at each other, its single eye fixed on her, bloodshot.

“WHY?!” Fluttershy wailed at it. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!”

The thing blinked once, and said something that wasn’t anything at all.

Y-thanarak nnn-‘fhalma syha’h.

XXXXXXXX

Fluttershy gasped, bolting up. Her fur was matted in sweat.

Her heartbeat slowed as she realized that she was back in the train car. Twilight was sleeping in the bed across from her, and Pinkie…

Pinkie’s bed was empty.

Fluttershy gasped, her dream forgotten. “Pinkie?” She whispered. “Pinkie Pie, where are you?”

Fluttershy slowly crawled out of her bed, and exited the sleeper car. Maybe Pinkie was headed to the bathroom, at the end of the next car.

She stopped. Crying could be heard from the far bathroom. Fluttershy began to sprint down the hallway of the train.

“Pinkie?!” Fluttershy cried out, slamming open the bathroom door.

Nothing.

Fluttershy was confident she heard the crying coming from in here, but-

“Hes-s-s-s-s-s-s…”

Fluttershy stopped, and slowly turned around. There, on the floor of the train between her and the sleeper car, was an anaconda. The massive snake was slowly writhing towards her.

Now, normally, Fluttershy loved all animals, big and small. But this… this was no ordinary anaconda. It looked as if it had been made from a dark, blue-green mist, blending in almost perfectly with the dark train car.

On one side of its head, a single eye of burning flame glinted in the darkness.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “No….” She whispered, taking a step back. Her wings felt glued to her sides. She couldn’t walk around it; the thing could pounce incredibly fast if it wanted.

But no; the anaconda was taking its own sweet time right now, leisurely slithering towards her, knowing she couldn’t escape. The closer it got, the more scared Fluttershy felt.

Fluttershy turned around, and darted for the door closest to her. She gripped the handle, and pulled.

Locked.

The anaconda was only a few feet away now. “Hes-s-s-s-s…” It said again.

Fluttershy whimpered, jiggling the door handle furiously, trying to escape. At the last second, she darted into the lavoratory to her right, slamming and locking the door behind her.

She backed up against the far wall, listening to the snake hissing outside, feeling the train wall rumble as it carried along its midnight journey.

Her eyes widened as she saw the anaconda slither under the door, its thick, misty body flexing and squeezing like jello. She was paralyzed with fear as the enormous constrictor slithered up and around her legs. She closed her eyes as she felt its powerful muscles squeezing, squeezing, choking the life out of her, stealing her breath, snapping her bones, crushing her…

She opened her eyes. The snake was gone, as though it was never there. Fluttershy placed a hoof to her chest; it was perfectly fine, though she felt her bones snapping just seconds before.

“Am I going mad?” Fluttershy whispered herself.

knock knock knock

Fluttershy jumped so high, she banged her head on the ceiling. Rubbing her head, she quivered away from the sounds.

“Fluttershy? You in there?”

Fluttershy’s muscles relaxed. It was Pinkie Pie, only Pinkie Pie. She opened the door to reveal her friend’s smiling face.

“Heya, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, bouncing in place. “Going to the bathroom?”

“Er, yes.” Fluttershy said, her eyes briefly glancing away. She didn’t want her friend to worry and not get any sleep; she could tell her and Twilight about the incident tomorrow.

“I was just getting some midnight munchies, myself.” Pinkie said. She pulled out a red bag of chips. “Want one?” She asked.

“Um… no thanks.” Fluttershy said, smiling politely. “I’m… just going back to bed.”

The two of them walked back down the hall toward the sleeper car. “By the way, Pinkie… are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. “I heard you crying earlier…”

Pinkie briefly stopped smiling, and tilted her head. “What do you mean? I wasn’t crying.”

“But… but I heard you…” Fluttershy stuttered.

“You might need to get your earsies checked, Flutters.” Pinkie said, raising a hoof and flopping one of Fluttershy’s ears. Then she bounced off towards the sleeper car, Fluttershy following slowly.

”I know I heard her crying…”

XXXXXXXX

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy… wake uuuppp…”

“Grrmble.” Fluttershy grumbled, rolling over and putting the pillow over her head.

“C’mon, Flutters! The train’s almost there!” Pinkie said, prodding Fluttershy with her hoof.

“hmmph.” Fluttershy said, slowly getting up and rolling out of bed. She had huge bags under her eyes, and shuffled along like a zombie.

“Fluttershy, are you all right?” Twilight asked, walking up. “You normally aren’t this… grumpy… in the mornings. You normally aren’t this grumpy at all!”

Fluttershy gave a tremendous yawn. “Sorry, Twilight. I just got almost no sleep last night. Nightmares, you see. Not to mention a little incident that happened last night…”

Fluttershy quickly described to her friends the event that had taken place late last night.

“Wow, really? A snakey-wakey?” Pinkie said, smiling as she bounced up and down. “Musta been spoooooky!”

“You’re sure it wasn’t a hallucination?” Twilight asked.

“I have no idea!” Fluttershy said. “I mean, it disappeared, but I could feel it snapping my bones!”

“Hmm… interesting. I’ll have to research the possibility of pain-inducing hallucinations… maybe your mind was manipulated to THINK you were hurt…”

“Next stop: Providence, Rhide island! End of the line!”

Pinkie’s eyes widened. “End of the line? Does that mean they’re gonna KILL US?!”

“Oh… I hope not…” Fluttershy said, cowering.

“Pinkie, don’t be ridiculous.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “C’mon, we need to pack up our luggage.”

XXXXXXXX

One incredibly exciting and plot-relevant luggage packing later…

XXXXXXXX

“Gotta get on top! Stay on the mountain! Na-na-naa-naa-nana-nana!” Pinkie sang as she bounced off of the train.

“Ooh, Pinkie, what song are you singing?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“A Pinkie Pie original! I call it, ‘Gotta Get on Top, Stay on the Mountain, Na-Na-Naa-Naa-Nana-Nana!’” Pinkie replied, smiling.

“So, Pinkie,” Twilight said, following the others off of the train. “You’re sure this is where Lovepen is?”

“Are you KIDDING?!” Pinkie said. “He loves this place so much, he practically can’t go anywhere else!”

“Right, well, you lead the way… you’re the one who knows his address…” Twilight said. Pinkie nodded rapidly, and led them through the train station and out the doors.

Fluttershy blinked, looking at the Horcific sea. “Ooh… Pretty…” She said.

“Providence is right over this way! Onwards, girls!” Pinkie said, bouncing forward and down a dusty trail. The other two followed.

Fluttershy looked to one side, and blinked. There, in front of her,  was a wheat field. She’d seen dozens of them on the train ride here, but this one looked faintly familiar.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. This was the wheat field where that black-and-white photo Pinkie showed her was taken! She recognized the windmill, and the barn, and-

“Fluttershy, are you okay?” Twilight asked, snapping Fluttershy back to the present. “You were staring off into space…”

“Oh, I just recognized this place from –“ Fluttershy said, but she was cut off.

“Look! We’re here!” Pinkie said, smiling.

“Huh… it seemed farther away when we were walking over here.” Fluttershy said as she looked around at the town they had just entered.

Providence really wasn’t that big a town. All the roads were made of dirt, and the houses were single-story and run-down. A few people casually walked along the dusty sidwalks, waving to each other.

“What a charming little town.” Twilight said as the three walked forwards. “It’s always nice to see little rural towns like this.”

“I guess…” Fluttershy said, quivering away from a stranger.

“Here, I’ll give you a tour! There’s Mr Greenhoof’s Grocery Store! And there’s the Whinnysmouth Inn! And there’s Mrs Jeremiah’s donut shop!”

Pinkie continued to point out buildings and landmarks as the three slowly trotted down the street. Finally, Pinkie stopped in front of a two-story, blue-painted house, which looked as though it was falling apart.

“Oh! Just thought I ought to warn you guys…” Pinkie stopped suddenly as they reached the house. “Lovey’s a bit… eccentric. He’s got a bad memory, and he’s seriously paranoid. Just let me talk to him.”

Then Pinkie turned, and knocked on the door. “Lovey? It’s your good friend Pinkie!” Pinkie said, smiling.

She smiled as she waited for the door to open. After about two minutes, Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other. “Um, is he home?” Twilight finally asked.

“Yeah, he’s just trying to pretend he’s not here.” Pinkie banged on the door again. “Lovey! I want to see you!”

“May I?”  Fluttershy asked, walking up to the door. She knocked politely on the door. “Mr Lovepen? Um… I really need your help… and I’d be ever so grateful if you would consider –“

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing the old man with the scraggly beard that Fluttershy had seen in Pinkie’s pictures. “What? Who the bloody hell are you?” He asked, glaring. Fluttershy cowered.

“Loveyyy! It’s meeee!” Pinkie said, bouncing forward. Lovepen looked at her, and his pupils dilated.

“No… not you… NOT AGAIN! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU IDIOT!” Lovepen slammed the door, but Pinkie got her hoof in.

“Lovey, don’t you recognize me?” Pinkie said, smiling.

“Oh, I recognize you! Beast! Get the hell away from me!” Lovepen said.

“Now Lovey, don’t be like that!” Pinkie said, slipping through the thin gap between the door and the doorframe. “Just calm down, and…”

No more words could be heard, as the door slammed shut. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other, as they heard Lovepen’s muffled shouts and Pinkie’s cheerful voice echoing through the door. There was a crash, then a bang. Then, silence.

Twilight was on the verge of blasting the door down when it opened again. Lovepen stood there, now smiling feebly, Pinkie behind him. “Come in, come in…” Lovepen said, inviting Twilight and Fluttershy in. “We’ve much to talk about."