Chapter 7
The heat finally got to her. Once she had cried what felt like all she could cry, she moved slowly out of the burning room.
Her only path was to exit out of the door she had come in through. She pushed open the surprisingly cool door and walked through, the door closing shut behind her.
The cool air struck her coat, causing her whole body to feel a bit of relaxation as her temperature cooled. She wiped her face, sniffing as she continued to try and regain her composure. Dash's words still had a strong grip on her heart.
"I...I can't stop now..." Fluttershy gulped back more tears from spilling. "I have to move forward."
She looked into the room at the end of the hallway, expecting to see the pacing nurse. However, the room wasn't the same one she had just come from. The room before her was a small, square room, with a staircase going up before her.
Fluttershy blinked at the sight, but the twisting, warping rooms had become something she was accustomed to by now. She stepped across the room, quickly reaching the staircase. She slowly began her climb upwards, feeling a sense of déjà vu upon the climb.
Her hooves nearly slipped on the slick steps as the stench of mildew hit her nose once more. Water dripped down the walls and she felt a sense of dread.
Suddenly, as she reached the top of the stairwell, she knew where she was.
She was back in the cloud home she had entered when she was first separated from her friends...only it wasn't a random cloud house anymore.
It was her home from when she was a filly. The room she had just entered...was her mother's room from when she was young.
The same bed sat next to the window so she could look out it, the bookshelf that contained the books she'd read in her bed, the bedside table that held her personal belongings, a desk and a chair, the bathroom just a short walk away, everything she'd need for living in her room while sick.
Fluttershy was drawn towards the bed; a force felt like it was guiding her, telling her to go near it.
Her mind felt like a haze flew past it, as she stepped back. She saw blood flash before her eyes on the bed and on the carpet, as if her mind was trying to reject the images; but there would be no stopping them.
Her head began to ache with pain but she couldn't stop the memories.
Her attention was drawn to the bed, as the memories that she had lost came back in full force, making her remember what happened in the room so long ago...
"Mother?" Filly Fluttershy called out, walking into her mother's room.
Her mother sat on the bed, a knife in her hoof as if she was playing with it. Her hair was messy, unkempt and uncared for. Bags were under her bloodshot eyes and she seemed to be glaring at the knife, as if unhappy with it.
"...M-Mother..." Fluttershy whimpered, walking further into the room, "W-What would y-you like to eat tod-"
"Hahahahahahaha!" Her mother suddenly burst out laughing. Fluttershy halted her movements forward, looking up at her mother in shock. The older mare just seemed to have found some funny.
"Oh...yes...that'll do nicely..." The older mare smiled once she'd finished laughing, turning her head to grin at her daughter. Fluttershy couldn't move, afraid of what her mother was about to do.
"Come closer my daughter." Her mother said, twisting her body closer to the edge of her bed. Fluttershy began to hesitantly move closer to the bed.
