The Screaming Room (Part 2)

The Screaming Room (Part 2)

>"Mgn... Nugh...."
>Something was stirring against my arm, a weight pressing down. It woke me up with a slight jolt.
>"Mnn... No... Nuh...."
>I sat up slightly, my arm still trapped, and looked over. It was Rainbow Dash, having another nightmare. She stirred in her sleep, mumbling something.
>She had untangled herself from being snuggled against me and was now resting on my one arm. The blankets were pulled off and piled around her legs.
>She was sweating and mumbling frantically.
"Shhh Dash..."
>I pulled her back into my arms, where she rolled over facing me. Her head resting just under my neck, she mumbled a tiny bit more before settling.
>Her breathing resumed to normal and she got more comfortable in my arms.
>Me, I figured it would be about 20 minutes before she started up on this again.
>It was the incident at that abandoned building. The one that scarred me and left her traumatized. The one she had refused to acknowledge. Recently we had discussed it when she was feeling more open and that night she slept well.
>But a few days later, she was back to stirring restlessly, waking up every 20 minutes in fear and relying on me as a pillow.
>I had honestly given up on a good nights sleep, the bags under my eyes getting darker every day. It was clear she noticed them and each night tried to stay calm, but I could always feel her shivering, quaking in my arms.
>"Mmn..." She mumbled, her ear twitching as she curled her hooves against her chest.
>I was thirsty.
>I slid out of bed, pulling an old bait and switch with a pillow lying on the floor. She hugged it, burying her face in its fluffyness as I wrapped the blanket a bit tighter around her and tiptoed downstairs.
>The water was cool, refreshing, and woke me up. Three things I needed as I leaned against the counter and stared at the clock above the fridge.
>It was 3:41 AM... Great.

>I put down my half empty glass and stretched. She would wake up soon if I didn't return. The pillow trick only lasted so long.
>"A-anon?" Asked a faint voice upstairs.
>Speak of the devil.
>Suppose I could try to get her talking this time. Maybe I can be assertive about it or something, like Fluttershy.
>I walked out of the kitchen, down the hall, and upstairs. Stopping just outside of the bedroom where we both slept.
>Whew... Alright let's get her to talk about this.
>I opened the door, which caused Rainbow Dash to whirl around frantically, her mane was sticking all over the place and she was still holding the pillow. Almost as though she hadn't quite gotten what happened.
>"Where were you?" She asked, her voice little more than a whisper. I sat down beside her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"Just getting a glass of water Dash."
>She nodded in understanding before yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Can we go back to bed now?" She asked sleepily.
"Mind if we talk a bit first?"
>She groaned and gave me a tired look. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? I wanna sleep."
"Dash you know what this is about..."
>"Anon." She began darkly. "I don't want. To. Talk. About. It. Understand?"
"No Dash I don't! Because we need to talk about what happened! You and I have both been wrecks since then! We got close a few days ago but then you relapsed back into the nightmares."
>Dash hung her head, shoulder shaking as memories of The Screaming Room flooded back into her mind. "I-I just want to forget it all happened... Just... " She trailed off, holding her head in her hooves.
"Dash... We need to talk about it, it'll help I promi-"
>"Why should I talk about the most terrifying experience of MY LIFE!?" Dash screamed, "IT'S MY FAULT YOU GOT HURT AND MY FAULT WE WENT IN THERE!"
"It wasn't your fault Dash."
>I was thrown back by her anger. Had this been bottled up inside her the whole time?

>She held her head, her eyes misting over, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold back a sob. "I... I just wanna forget it happened... But I can't!"
>I gingerly put my arm around her, hoping she wouldn't lash out or something.
"Dash... Talking about it will help. I promise."
>She shook her head before choking back another sob. "I just want to think of something else and go to bed. Why can't we do that?"
"Because you wake up screaming every 20 minutes!"
>"That's because I keep having nightmares about that place!" She broke down sobbing, her emotional wall having finally shattered. "A-and I'm trying to forget a-about it!"
"That's why we need to talk about it. Get it into the open so you can move on."
>I waited with her until her tears subsided and she wiped her eyes with a loud sniff. "Why can't we just pretend it never happened?"
"Because that won't help Dash. We both know that."
>"But...I don't...can't talk about it." She exhaled, massaging her head. "I don't even like thinking about it!"
"Dash, just try ok? If it's too bad I'll never mention it again."
>I still had my arm around her, which she had noticed, but didn't seem to mind.
>She closed her eyes for a few seconds, taking deep breaths before looking at me intensely. "W-what if we're still there?"
"There? Like in th-"
>"Yeah like in The Screaming Room." She was scared.
"What do you mean?"
>"How do we know we left? I tricked that thing into running into the room. But then... we were in the room as well and the monster was gone." She poked the bed gently. "This could all be in our heads..."
"Is that what was bugging you?"
>She nodded, "A bit...But what if all of this is fake? What if we are still in that room?"
"Dash I promise you, we aren't."
>She looked up at me her bottom lip quivering a bit, "But how do you know tha-"
>I interrupted her, lifting her chin with one hand, pulling her head closer with the other, and kissing her passionately.

>Her eyes widened in surprise, wings fluttering, as her heartbeat skyrocketed. But then just as soon as it started, she calmed. Her breathing resumed to normal and her wings settled.
>I finally pulled away from her and she panted, giving me a confused look.
"Still think this is all fake?"
>She blushed, massaging the back of her neck. "That was pretty awesome. But" Her face became crestfallen again, "I'm still scared Anon."
>I pulled her into a tight hug, feeling her ears brush up against the underside of my neck, my one arm around her middle, the other brushing the spot between her wings. She crumpled in my arms, her foreleg draped loosely over my shoulder.
>I could feel her tears wetting my shirt as she cried softly against my chest. She was traumatized.
>But she found comfort in me.
>"I mean..." She sniffled, still crumpled against me. "I'm terrified Anon. I hate admitting stuff like that... But I just can't come up with an excuse. I'm scared." Her voice had dropped to a soft whisper.
>I patted her back, brushing her mane.
"I know Dash. But I promise we're gonna be fine. We've got each other."
>I could feel her cheeks curl up in a small smile against my chest. "Oh yeah we do..." She wiped her eyes and sniffled again. "Ugh... I'm such a wreck. I've started crying like three times tonight."
>I gave her a slight squeeze, causing her to squeak. Yep she squeaked. It was adorable.
"Hey it was a pretty terrifying event..."
>"Yeah..." She rubbed her eyes. "I'm still worried we may not have left that room..."
"Really?"
>I groaned, massaging my forehead, causing her to tumble off of me onto the floor with a yell. "Hey!" She clambered back onto the bed with a wince. "I know how you could convince me that it's all real."
"Hows that?"
>She held out her forelegs with a blush. "Give me a hoof massage."

>"Hah... Hah..." She was panting, her eyes half lidded as I ran my thumbs along her hooves.
>She did finally talk about what was on her mind so I figured this was the least I could do.
>"Haaf... Mmnh" She bit on her lip, her one arm outstretched towards me while the other rubbed her belly lazily. She continued to pant, sweat slowly forming on her coat.
>I pushed down on the base with my thumb causing her to squeal and kick her legs.
"You're uh really getting into this..."
>She squeezed her eyes shut and tugged her tail up between her legs. "Sh-Shut up..."
>I grinned and began making circular motions with my thumb while massaging her ankle with my other hand.
>She was beginning to writhe on the bed now, eyes closed and panting heavily.
>Hard to believe almost an hour earlier she had woken up screaming.
>"A-Ah... Anon!" She cried out and pulled her hoof away. "Can you do this one n-ngh now?"
>I nodded and began working on her other hoof. Causing her to emit a sort of squeak grunt hybrid, using her freshly massaged hoof to tug at her wing.
>She loved hands. Of course she would. How could a creature with hooves not love hands? We hand fingers, nimble dexterous fingers. They could get into the nooks and crannies a hoof could never reach.
>"Hnng... A-anon..." She moaned, beginning to arch her back. She cried out and clenched her teeth, before falling back and giving a happy sigh. I drew a soft circle with my forefinger before dropping the hoof and gesturing towards her hind legs.
"Want me to work on those as well?"
>She shook her head and pulled the blankets back up. "Tomorrow maybe. Those ones are a bit too sensitive."
"Alright suit yourself. Now wanna get some sleep? It's almost 5am."
>She nodded and she pulled my arms around her midriff, rolling over and facing me, her head tucked like usual, under my chin. She curled her hooves against my chest and let out a content sigh.

>I held her, both comforting her and supporting her at the same time. My hand resting on the back of her head and my other arm wrapped tight around her torso.
"Hey Dash?"
>She stirred and mumbled "Mmhm?" into my neck.
"Why do you like facing me when you sleep now?"
>She shrugged and tapped my chest with her newly massaged hoof. "I uh... It's embarrassing."
"I promise I wont laugh."
>Her wing stretched out and draped itself over me. Working as an almost rudimentary blanket. I'd had heard that Pegasi did this to show they trusted somepony/one else. It was essentially letting them know that they trusted you with their wings. It was also a sign of affection.
>"I uh... Feel a bit safer..." She murmured with a yawn and closed her eyes.
"Oh..."
>I closed my own eyes and we slowly drifted off to sleep together.

>About an hour later she woke up one final time, shivering with a slight gasp.
"Dash?"
>She mumbled something and settled back into my arms. "S-sorry... But it wasn't as bad as the previous times."
>I nodded and kissed the top of her head.
"It's okay Dash go back to sleep."
>She wriggled a bit to get comfortable before falling back into a deep sleep.
"You'll be fine..."

The End.