Romp

“I’m sorry, Rainbow. Really. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. Everything’s cool. Now c’mon…”

Rainbow wrapped a wing around Twilight’s back, pulling her close as they trotted slowly toward the bedroom. “I’m right here, ‘kay? There’s nothing to worry ‘bout so long as the Dash is around.” She put on a confident grin and glanced over at her friend.

Twilight returned the most pitiful look. Tear-stained cheeks highlighted the dark rims surrounding her violet eyes, the corners of which quivered along with the rest of her features. “Rainbow, I’m so, so sorry.”

Rainbow's grin disappeared with a muffled groan. “Why do you keep saying that, anyway?” she muttered, escorting her friend through the bedroom’s threshold. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“No, I mean… I’m sorry for dragging you into all this.” Twilight gulped. “That you had to see me like this.”

Rainbow paused before they reached the side of the bed. She looked at her with an arched eyebrow. “Why would you apologize for something like that?”

“I…” Twilight’s brow furrowed. Her gaze drifted to the bed, where the covers of her four-poster lay askew from earlier.

Rainbow followed her line of sight. “Oh yeah. Here.” With a gentle motion, she nudged Twilight forward with her wing.

Twilight hesitated at first, but she soon gave way to Rainbow’s guiding touch, climbing onto the exposed part of the mattress with weak, shaky hooves. She slumped against the headboard and hugged herself tight, her chest heaving with deep, thick breaths.

Rainbow’s ears fell limp at the ends as she sat down beside the bed. Never before had she seen Twilight so worked up over something like a bad dream. Sure, she may have been known to flip out over other things, like deadlines and delegations, but this was totally different. A dream wasn’t supposed to make somepony this upset. And although she had calmed down since she first discovered her in the bathroom, she was still clearly upset. It didn’t help either that out of all the awesome things Rainbow felt confident she could do, the one thing she felt lame at was being supportive. She wasn’t sure whether or not to try talking things out, or to just let her get some rest.

After a moment of awkward silence, Rainbow decided to give words another shot.

“Okay,” Rainbow mumbled, pulling the comforter closer to Twilight. She ran a hoof through the back of her rumpled mane, scrambling to think of something to say – anything that might help. As soon as the first thought popped into her head, she began to speak. “So, uh… you remember last winter when Tank was going to take his first hibernation?”

Twilight sniffled. “Wh-what about it?”

“Well, I was just thinking… that was the first time anypony besides my folks had ever seen me cry so much.” She gave a dry chuckle. “I mean, you know how I am about stuff like that. Gotta be the tough one no matter what. Go figure a tortoise of all things could turn me into such a crybaby.”

Twilight rubbed a fetlock across her eyes before looking over at Rainbow. “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well… I mean…” Rainbow grumbled, dragging a hoof across her muzzle. “Look. What I’m trying to say is, you shouldn’t feel bad for letting me see you like this.” She glanced up at Twilight, who stared back at her with a confused look. “Seriously, I get that it’s probably embarrassing or whatever. You know I understand how that feels. But…” She placed a hoof next to the mare. “I’m your friend, Twilight. And if you’re upset about something, the last thing you need to do is apologize for crying.” She shook her head, letting her gaze wander down to the covers. “If anything, I’m sorry for leaving you behind.”

“Wait… that’s right.” Twilight sat a little more upright. “You left the castle after that last spell. So, when did you come back?”

“I, uh… never really left, I guess. The storm was so strong, it blew me back toward the castle.” She gave Twilight a cheeky grin. “Might’ve crashed into one of your guest rooms downstairs.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Are you hurt?”

“Psh, no way,” Rainbow said, waving the statement off as she stood up. “I made that storm out there with my own hooves. No overgrown cloud’s gonna take me out that quick.”

Twilight looked over at one of the windows, pivoting her ears toward the sound of the rain. A tiny smile crept upon her muzzle. “Yeah. I can believe that.”

Rainbow breathed a muted sigh, allowing herself to smile a little as well. She looked over at the same window, where a flash of lightning shone through. “So… you gonna be alright?”

For a moment, Twilight remained silent, merely listening to the rain pour against the castle. “Yeah. It’s just… I’ve never gotten so upset over a dream before. There’s no logical reason whatsoever to get emotional over something like this, and yet…” She buried her face in her hooves with a long groan. “Uugghh. I don’t even know anymore. I’m just tired. Way too tired to think straight… but…”

Rainbow tilted her head. “But…?”

“I really don’t feel like having another dream like that,” Twilight murmured.

Rainbow’s ears flicked back, her shoulders drooping slightly as another wave of guilt washed over her. “Listen, Twi… I don’t know exactly what happened in your dream. I mean, I get the gist of it from what you said, but… none of this would’ve ever happened if I hadn’t kept pushing you to use the spell.”

Twilight lifted her head off her hooves to glare at the mare. “I already told you, this isn’t your fault.”

“I know, but… isn’t it, though?” Sitting back down, she said, “I get that you’ve had these dreams ‘n whatever over the years, but, like… they’ve never made you this upset before, have they?”

Twilight pursed her lips in thought. Slowly, she shook her head. “No. I mean, the nightmares have always scared me. But not dreams like this one.”

Rainbow nodded idly, then blinked. “That’s right. Weren’t you the giant pony in this dream you had?”

Twilight visibly grimaced. “Y-yes. But like I said before, these desires… it's not like I even want them.” Taking a moment to steel her nerves, she said, “One of the reasons why I ended the last spell was because I realized I couldn’t keep going without feeling guilty.” She frowned as she met Rainbow’s eyes. “I’m sorry if that upset you. Which I guess it did, since you left so suddenly.”

Although Rainbow’s ears were nearly flat against her head already, she still managed to pull them back further. Shrinking away from Twilight a little, she averted her gaze and murmured, “It wasn’t you, Twi. At least… not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

Rainbow fidgeted with her hooves. After a moment, she said, “You know how I told you I’m afraid of losing, right?”

Twilight nodded, pivoting her ears toward the mare.

“Well…” Rainbow swallowed against a tightness in her throat and hung her head, just as a bright flash of lightning illuminated the room. “That’s not the only thing I’m afraid of.”

Twilight blinked – right as the ensuing thunder rolled through the room. She jolted at the sound, though she continued to stare at Rainbow with even more confusion.

As the manalights flickered overhead, a brown object reflected the light in Rainbow’s periphery. She glanced over at the object and found a set of books lying across the floor. Her eyes widened a little when she spotted a familiar looking hardback. “Hey…”

Twilight blinked a couple more times, then looked over at the books. “What is it?”

Picking up the hardback, Rainbow turned it over to examine the front cover. A smile tugged at one corner of her muzzle when she noticed the title. “Heh. When was the last time you read this?”

Twilight squinted at the book in her grasp. “‘Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.’” She returned a weak smile of her own. “The last time I read that was before I introduced you to her. I brought it up a few nights ago intending to go through it again.”

Rainbow ran a hoof gently over the cover of the book, then looked over at Twilight. “Think you’d mind if I read it instead?”

“Well, sure. You can borrow it, but don't you have your own copy at… home?” Raising an eyebrow, Twilight watched Rainbow climb across the foot of the bed with the book in tow. “Rainbow Dash?”

Once Rainbow crawled over and settled against the headboard next to Twilight, she said, “So, back when I was a little filly… like, a really little filly – waayy before I was awesome – my mom used to read me stories before bed. Sometimes, I’d wake up from a bad dream in the middle of the night, and she’d come read me another. Always helped me fall back asleep.” Opening the book to the first page, she said, “I know it’s a really lame idea and all, but…” She looked over at Twilight with bleary magenta eyes. “It’s the middle of the night, there’s a huge storm outside, and we’ve got nothing better to do. Now’s, like, the perfect time to read some awesome Daring Do action. Don’t you think?”

Twilight afforded herself one last totally unnecessary blink. “Rainbow… are you…?”

“Mhmm,” Rainbow hummed with a nod. “I mean, if it’s cool with you, of course.”

Twilight stared at her for a moment longer, then said, “S-sure. Of course.”

Rainbow gave her a quick, tired grin, then turned her attention to the book. Placing a hoof beneath the first line, she cleared her throat. “Alrighty… So, ‘as Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky…’”

__________

If it were any other day, Twilight might have been surprised at Rainbow’s actions over the last few hours. Perhaps on any one of those days, she would have thought to say something about those actions – to question them, or otherwise respond with input of her own. But sitting next to the pegasus now, listening to her read one of her favorite stories while fatigue tingled all throughout her body, only one thought crossed her mind.

This is really nice.

For several minutes, Twilight listened with eyes closed while Rainbow read the story aloud. She played the scenes back in her imagination as she had always envisioned them, filling her mind with the adventurous tale and nothing more. Exhaustion had long since settled in, causing her to slump further against the headboard. She briefly considered scooting all the way under the sheets to lie down, but even that much movement seemed like a chore to her now.

In time, her head began to droop sideways, eventually coming to rest on something soft. She thought she heard Rainbow hesitate mid-way through a sentence, though it was too hard to tell for sure – her voice was already fading into imperceptible noise as sleep tugged at her consciousness. But the last thing she noticed for certain was something soft wrap around her back. Whatever it was felt warm and safe, and she couldn’t help but snuggle a little into its downy embrace.

With one last sigh, she nuzzled against whatever her head had found rest upon, then surrendered herself to sleep.

“Alrighty…” Spike wiped his claws along the edge of his apron, taking a step back to look over the finished product.

A wooden bowl sat at the center of a crystalline table, speckled with the remnants of lettuce, kale, and oats of varying import, among other ingredients. A cutting board sat to the bowl’s right, covered with bits of sliced tomatoes and celery stalks. At the end of the table sat two overstuffed pretzel-bun sandwiches, extending a little over each end of two small plates.

Spike gave an approving nod and pulled off his apron, wiping his brow with the clean inner lining. “There,” he said, tossing the apron to a corner of the kitchen. “Took a little longer than I thought, but these should make up for being late with dinner. Don’t you think?” He turned his attention to the other side of the room.

“Hoo,” came Owlowiscious’ answer from his perch atop a fridge.

Spike narrowed his eyes at the owl. “These are for Twilight and Rainbow Dash.” He rubbed his chin with a claw as he examined the creature for a moment. “Y’know, Twilight likes to think she can understand you, but I’m not so sure,” he said while picking up the cutting board, brushing its contents into a trash can with a knife. “All I hear is the same question over and over again.”

“Hoo?”

“Exactly.” For the next couple of minutes, Spike worked to clean up the mess, rinsing out the bowl and oiling the cutting board. With the task complete, he grabbed the two plates and faced the door to the hall. “Think you could lend a claw?”

Owlowiscious blinked one eye, then another, before diving off the fridge and over to the door to pull open with a talon.

“Thanks!” Spike strolled into the hallway with Owlowiscious in close tow. The two gave a visible shiver to the chilly air of the hall that washed over them. Huddling the plates closer to his chest, Spike said, “Jeez, how did it get so cold in here all of the sudden?”

Owlowiscious glanced over silently at a stained-glass window, beyond which the storm continued to batter down against the world outside.

“Weird. Anyway,” Spike continued, “thanks for helping me out with stuff like this. Remember when all those delegates first started showing up at the castle?” Spike shuddered. “I’ve never had to carry so much food at once! And it’s not like you can walk through most of the doors here in the castle.”

“Hoo,” Owlowiscious agreed.

“So, yeah. Thanks for all the help.” Spike smiled up at the owl. “I’m glad Twilight took you in as junior assistant.”

Owlowiscious glanced down with what might have been a beaky smirk.

A moment later, the two rounded a corner into the library and came to a halt, staring at the vacant room. “Huh… it’s late, but it shouldn’t be that late.”

“Hoo?”

“Well, last I checked, they were in here doing… something with a spell, I think.” He pursed his lips in thought. “Not really sure.” With a shrug, he continued down the hall. “Anyway, guess Dash went home. Twilight would’ve said something if she was heading out too, so she’s probably upstairs reading.”

After making the journey down the long corridor and up a few flight of stairs, Spike and Owlowiscious found Twilight’s hall dimly lit and even colder than downstairs. The lights along the wall burned with a weak glow beneath the occasional flash of lightning, and not a sound could be heard above the falling rain outside.

Spike hummed in thought as they continued down the hall. “She usually turns up the lights when she comes up here to study.” He noticed the light coming through the glass of Twilight’s bedroom doors was just as dim.

Setting one of the plates down next to the door, Spike glanced up at Owlowiscious. “Think she already went to bed?” The owl merely shrugged.

With a shrug of his own, Spike grabbed one of the handles and quietly unlatched the door. Pushing forward a little, he peeked his head inside. “Um… Twilight? Is everything alri…?” His voice trailed off as he and Owlowiscious stared with wide-eyes into the room.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat side by side against the bed’s headboard, the alicorn’s head resting on the pegasus’ shoulder, as the two snored away without a care in the world.