It was a late night, and Dashie had gone to bed early, she'd spent the entire day trying to fly and had tired herself out. She hadn't managed to take off at all, but she was making progress. Though I hoped she wouldn't learn to fly just yet, as I feared her flying too high and hurting herself.

I sat down on the sofa to watch some TV, when I looked down at the games console still plugged in. Playing it with Dashie had made me miss some of my more mature games. I really wanted to play them again.

Fuck it. Why not.  I got up and went to check Dashie was still asleep before I began. I peered into the room, and saw her sleeping gently under the covers, the duvet moving up and down with each breath. I left the room and pulled the door further shut, so she wouldn't be woken up. I went back to the living room, and plugged in the regular controller, and loaded up a personal favourite of mine; Dead Space.

I sat down and started playing it from the beginning. I must have played it for a good four hours before I got weary eyed, and became too tired to focus properly. I turned the console off and went to bed, hoping to play some more the following night.

I woke up the next day, only to find it was already eleven AM. I had slept straight through my alarm and wasted most of the morning. But it was strange Dashie hadn't come in to wake me up for breakfast, like she usually does. I got out of bed and went to see if she was okay.

“Dashie? Dashie, are you alright?” I called as I walked into the hallway, putting my jumper on. The first thing I saw at the end of the hall was the TV in the living room, only it was still turned on, the game was on a game over screen. I know I had turned it off before I went to bed. I ran over and quickly turned it back off. The controller was on the floor next to Dashie's steering wheel.

“Dashie? Dashie, come to Daddy, now! It's okay, I know you must be scared, but it's only a game!” I  panicked. Dashie must have gotten up early to play her racing game, and because I left the disc in, she ended up playing Dead Space instead. I hoped she wasn't too traumatised by it. I went into her bedroom to try and find her, only she wasn't there. I checked under the bed, and under the duvet, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Dashie? Please Dashie, come on out, let's talk about it!” I called out, hoping she'd answer. As I did so, I heard a small whimper coming from the bathroom opposite. I opened the door, walked in, and turned the light on.

“Ahhh!” I heard Dashie cry.

“Dashie? Dashie, it's me, it's Daddy!” I looked around the room, but couldn't see her anywhere.

“In here Da...Daddy...” she whimpered. I turned around and realised it was coming from inside the washing basket, which was shaking slightly. Dashie's blanket lay next to the basket. I looked inside to try and see Dashie, but couldn't see her. I reached in to find her, and to comfort her, but as soon as I did so, she started screaming and kicking violently in the basket.

“AHH! NO! GET AWAY!” She screamed, her voice shriller than I'd ever heard it before. I pulled my arm out and gently moved the clothes so I could see her. She was sat right in the middle, wrapped in a jumper of mine, violently shaking. As I moved the clothes, she turned to face me, looking relieved as she saw my face, but she continued to shake.

“See? It's only me Dashie. Come on out, let's talk about what you saw.”

“N...no. No!” She answered back meekly. She then pulled her head inside the jumper and put her hooves over her ears.

“Dashie. Come on, it's only a game, it can't hurt you. Let's get some breakfast and watch a cartoon, that’ll take your mind off of it.” I said, and reached in to lift her out again. As I put my hand close to her body, she kicked her legs violently at me, and began screaming again. I pulled my hand out before she could break a finger. Her kicks had gotten a lot stronger lately.

“No! I'm not coming out!” She yelled again, and began whimpering. “Go away!” I decided then and there, that there was only one way to solve it. I picked up the entire washing basket and carried it out into the living room. I put it down on the sofa, and turned the TV onto the kids channels.

“You watch some TV Dashie, and I'll get you a special breakfast. You can stay in there as long as you need to.” I patted the top of the pile of clothes to reassure her, as trying to touch her was only making her worse.

I went and made her a special breakfast of pancakes with syrup, with fairy cakes to follow. I put them down in front of the opening she was peering through, and sat down next to her again. She slowly stuck her head out and ate at the pancakes. She looked up to me nervously throughout, but ate her breakfast before retreating back into the washing. As pained as I was at watching her being scared, it was still really cute watching her reaching out to eat her food, like a turtle coming out of its shell.

This unfortunately went on for most of the morning, with Dashie staying inside her cocoon, watching TV. She had slowly started to calm down, she no longer appeared to be shaking, and I heard a giggle or two during the morning. After another hour, she spoke up.

“Daddy?” She asked meekly. “Daddy, is it safe to come out now?”

“Of course Dashie. It's been safe all morning. Come on out.” I said, and bent down in front of the opening, smiling at her. She looked back at me and smiled feebly. She slowly crept out of the washing, looking around her uncertainly. She leapt into my arms once she was completely out. I hugged her tightly and stroked her mane to reassure her.

“I'm so sorry I left that scary game in the console Dashie. I'll never play them again.” I said, and gently kissed her on the head. She smiled as I kissed her, but then looked up at me confused.

“What game, Daddy?” She said, frowning.

“The one you were playing this morning? The games console was turned on, and the controller was by your chair.” I asked, confused by Dashie's response.

“I didn't get to play my game Daddy. I got up and turned it on, and then went to get my blanky from my bedroom as it was cold. I had wrapped up in my warm blanky, and I turned round to go back to the game, when I saw a scary man standing in the doorway, he was wearing a funny mask thing. He saw me, and I ran past him into the bathroom, and hid in the washing basket. He came in and was looking for me, he was whispering 'here doggy doggy' and he started reaching into the basket...”  She started to whimper and cry as she told me, so I held her close.

“He grabbed my leg Daddy, so I kicked him and he let go. I heard the door close, so I stayed in the basket, I was so scared Daddy.  Then you came in, but I thought it was the scary man and I...”

She broke down and started crying hard into my arms. I stroked her mane and gently shushed her.

“It's okay Dashie, you were very brave. I'm sorry I scared you when I came in to find you. That scary man won't be back ever again. I promise.”

I sat down on the sofa with Dashie and cuddled her for hours, gently rocking her from side to side and stroking her mane. After she fell asleep, I gently sat her on the cushion next to me, and went to find how the burglar had gotten in.

After a few moments, I found the back door had been forced open, so I wedged it shut, and checked all my valuables were still present. I went to the bathroom and picked up Dashie's Blanket on my way back, and wrapped it over her on the sofa. She sighed as I placed it around her. I sat stroking her for a another hour, and then put her to bed when I was sure she was fast asleep.

I called the police and reported the crime to them, but didn't expect anything to be done as nothing was taken. All that mattered was my little girl was safe. I fixed the door, fitted a heavy duty lock, and ordered a new alarm system to be fitted, using the money I'd been saving for a new TV. Dashie's safety was far more important to me.

I went back to Dashie's bedroom, and found her stirring in her sleep. I gently roused her, though she awoke with a start at the sight of me, and began kicking and flapping her wings.

“Hey, it's only me Dashie. You were having a bad dream. Come on, let's go read a story. How's that sound?” I said to her, and she nodded back. I placed her in my arms, and she let out a small yawn, and rested her head on my arm.

Next Chapter: Dashie's Friend Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes