It is a lovely spring afternoon in the town of Ponyville. The school ponies are no longer confined to the indoor recesses that winter brought, no more shoveling of snow, the sun will be out for longer hours of the day, and the birds have returned from the south. All singing their beautiful bird songs. And the best part about it, everyone is enjoying the outdoors.
“AAAACHHHOOOOOOOO!!”
Well, almost everyone. The town’s (and nation’s) resident human, Troy, is sick in bed. He occasionally gets seasonal allergies, but this is worse. He’s running a one hundred and three degree fever, his head is pounding, his nose is running, his eyes are glassier than a window, and he’s so ill, the poor guy can’t even get out of bed. He’s just been stuck laying down, in his sleepwear, blowing his snotty nose into tissues and lazily throwing the used tissues into a nearby waste bin. Some made it in, some didn’t.
For the life of him, Troy couldn’t quite figure out how he got sick. His diet’s been well maintained, he and Rainbow Dash have been exercising on an almost daily basis, he’s keeping his fluids up, it’s just not making sense!
“What did I do to get sick?” he asks, looking up at the ceiling, sounding congested. It was as if he was expecting God, or Celestia, themselves to give him a reply, but the only reply he got was the quietness of the house.
Sure Troy’s roommate and friend, Roseluck, could help him out, but she’s in Fillydelphia with Daisy and Lilly for a flower show. They’re not expected to come home until the end of the week. And today is Tuesday! They left Sunday and Troy got sick yesterday.
“Ullllllllgggg,” the teenager lets out, zombie like. He feels like as if a pegasus crash landed on him.... again! Troy has been in Equestria for almost a year now and he’s been hit by a flying pegasus fifty times, and he kept count. Thirty because of Derpy’s clumsiness, fifteen because Rainbow Dash got careless trying new stunts, two because Cloud Kicker’s wing keeps cramping up and three because Troy was trying to help Scootaloo fly.
He must be made of steel because he was able to get right back up. Sure, the kid is made of some tough stuff, but not tough enough to get rid of a one hundred and three degree fever.
“This is agony,” he says, blowing his nose into another tissue. Troy says, “Kobe!” as he throws the watted and snotty paper to the waste bin. To his disappointment, it rebounds off the rim and hits the floor. “Damn.” Troy leans his head back, resting it on the headboard of the bed.
Out of sheer boredom, he grabs the calendar from the nightstand and just reads the dates of the month. His glassy and tired eyes glide across the dates, until he sees a day that is circled. It catches his attention.
The date in question is the current day, circled in black ink with a message written on the date’s block.
“Hanging out with Lyra today” it reads.
“Oh crap,” Troy mumbles out of frustration. He forgot he was going to spend the afternoon hanging out with Lyra. She and him planned this two weeks ago, both saving the date. It unfortunately slipped from Troy’s mind and he forgot about it until he saw the calendar. Miffed, he throws the calendar to the foot of the bed.
Even if he did remember what today was, it wouldn’t have mattered. All Troy could do is rub his temples in frustration. He has no way telling her he can’t hang out. The cellphone he has when he was brought to Equestria is useless. If it was home, he could text or call someone. But here, the cellphone is just a useless hunk of junk that makes weird clicking noises after a keystroke.
Anyway, the only thing to do is wait for Lyra to stop by in person, or pony in this case, for Troy to tell her.
The wait wasn’t too long though. It was only minutes after throwing the calendar to the foot of the bed, a knock is heard from the front door of the house.
“Hey Troy, you ready to hang out? I brought poker chips!” a chippy, feminine voice calls.
“It’s open,” Troy calls out, mustering the audacity to speak that loud. He hears the front door of the home open and then close.
“Hey Troy, where are ya?”
“I’m in the bedroom!” As the two communicate, the teen can hear the clip clop of Lyra’s hooves approach him.
“Are you still in bed? Troy, it’s like, two in the after- woah!” The mint unicorn’s outburst is her reaction seeing Troy all... like this. “Goodness gracious Troy, you look like as if a carriage backed into you at full speed.”
“I know, I look terrible,” is all he can say.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know how, but I somehow got sick.” Troy grabs another tissue from a nearby box and blows his ever so congested nose into it.
“Are you sure you're not sick and it’s just allergies” Lyra brings the side of her forehoof to Troy’s forehead, feeling his temperature. He feels awfully warm no doubt. Actually, he’s burning up! “Okay, you are definitely sick.” Lyra retreats her hoof. “How’d you come down with it?”
“I don’t know,” Troy says. “All I know is that I was feeling off yesterday, and I found out minutes later I was sick. Roseluck isn’t here to help me so I’m screwed.” Troy’s mouth stays open for a moment, nose tingling up. Quickly, he grabs a fresh tissue and brings it to his nose. “AACHHOOO!!” He lets out. He rubs his noses with any part of the tissue that has not been covered in snot to get rid of any sort of excess.
“Gazuntite,” Lyra says.
“Thanks.” The human boy wads up the tissue and tosses it to the bin. He made it in this time. “I feel terrible.” His stomach lets out a violent growl. Troy just groans as he clutches his stomach and brings the back of his head to the headboard of the bed.
“Have you gotten anything to eat today?” the unicorn asks, tilting her head. She is well aware that a stomach grumble that loud and violent means you haven’t eaten anything for a long while.
“I’ve been feeling too weak to get out of bed to get something.”
“Jeez, this sickness must be taking a toll on you.” Lyra looks off to the general direction of the kitchen, with an idea in mind. “Okay, you stay put. I’m gonna whip up something for you.”
“Oh Lyra you don’t have to -”
“Ah, no! You are here, by yourself, with no one to take care of you. I’ll help you out and look out for you until Rose gets back.”
“Are you sure Lyra?”
“It’s no problem! What’s a friend for?”
“Won’t Bon Bon ask where you’ve been?”
“She’s at a family reunion in Manehattan. She closed the candy shop for the week until she gets back.” Troy thinks about this for a moment. His friend is offering him to help him out while he’s ill, and she is more than willing to donate her free time to do so. On the other hand, he could not accept and just end up dying from starvation. His tummy grumbles again. It made up Troy’s mind for him.
“Alright Lyra, if you insist on helping me out, then what am I to refuse?”
“Okay, I’ll be back in a few to get you something. You, stay put.” Lyra turns around to head to the kitchen. Before she leaves the room, she shoots Troy a smile and he shoots one back. Satisfied knowing Troy is okay with her help, she proceeds to the kitchen to make him something to eat.
After going through all of the cupboards, drawers, the fridge and freezer, and then preparing the food, Lyra places what she will give to troy on a bed tray. She has prepared warm alphabet soup with a side of saltine crackers. To drink, Lyra has prepared some tea with honey, to help get rid of any congestion. For a side entree, she has half a grapefruit cut for him. The boy is going to need his citrus.
After placing everything on the tray, Lyra levitates it and walks back to the bedroom. Upon entering the bedroom, she sees that Troy hasn’t moved a single inch. He did exactly as he was told.
When Lyra gets close to the bed, she hears Troy’s poor stomach crying out the want for food.
“Oh thank the lord for Lyra!” Troy proclaims. Lyra couldn’t help but giggle at Troy’s reaction of her with a tray full of goodies.
Using her magic, the places the bed tray right in front of Troy, it just hovering over his lap. He gazes in awe at what has been prepared.
“Thank you Lyra. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem pal,” the unicorn says. “Now dig in. I know you're starving.” Troy didn’t have to be told twice, he grabs a spoon and dips it right into the alphabet of goodness. He brings the spoonful to his mouth, chews it, then swallows it, letting out a satisfied “ahhh” after doing so.
“That hits the spot.” Troy moves his attention away from the soup and to Lyra, who is smiling at him. “You did good Lyra.” He sounds just slightly less congested. Must be from the heat from the soup letting his insides loosen up a little. He brings another spoonful to his mouth and lets out a “mmm” this time. “So good,” he mumbles under his breath.
“Thanks Troy. I do my best to help a guy out.” The young man couldn’t help but chuckle at her cheeriness.
Troy went through all of that food in a matter of minutes. It was almost like the poor guy didn’t eat in week. After he finished shoving the last cracker down his throat, he let out a small belch, which made the mare giggle a little.
“Excuse me,” Troy says, thumping his chest a little with the side of his fist.
“Feeling any better? “ Lyra asks.
“Much.” Bringing his index finger to his chin, a thought runs through his mind. “Let me see if I can try to get up. I’ve been in bed too long. Can you get the tray off of me Lyra?” Nodding, Lyra levitates the bed tray off of her human friend and puts it on the floor.
Once the tray was off, Troy got the bed covers off of him and swings his legs to the side of his bed. He puts his feet on the floor and his palms on the edge of the bed. “Upside daisy,” Troy says. And just like that, he is standing up. Not losing any sort of balance whatsoever. He puts one foot in front of the other, and does it again. And again. And again! “Alright! Strength came back to me!”
“Guess we just needed to put some food in your wittle bewwie,” Lyra says, poking Troy’s stomach with her hoof, causing him to laugh like a certain commercial mascot from home. Troy is physically feeling a lot better and Lyra was right. Maybe he just needed some food. He still feels a little “yucky” however. Sure the tea, soup and grapefruit help out, but it only did so much.
“Lyra, I’m gonna go hop in the shower. Feel like I need one. My sinus is still bugging me a little.”
“Go ahead. Take as long as you need. Wait, you live here, why am I telling you to take your time?” He heads over to the dresser real quick to grab some fresh clothes. Doing so, he jogs to the bathroom, closes and locks the door behind him, leaving Lyra in the bedroom alone.
Looking around, Lyra isn’t too sure what to do. Her eyes fall upon the trash bin filled to the brim with tissues and a couple of them on the floor. And then she sees the breakfast tray with the dirty dishes and plates. “Should probably take the tray to the kitchen. I’ll figure out what to do with the trash later.” She levitates the tray with her magic and trots to the kitchen to clean what whatever she needs to be clean.
She returns to the bedroom and hears the water running on the other side of the bathroom door. She can see a little steam coming out from the door gap. “Hopefully the guy doesn’t burn himself.”
Her thoughts are interrupted by Troy on the other side, terribly singing about having tickets to paradise.
“Take that back, he’s probably fine. But goodness that was terrible,” Lyra thinks. Troy is overall a good guy and has quite a couple talents (cooking especially), but singing has never been one of them. For the poor guy, whenever a random musical number came around for Ponyville, he was the one that was off both key and pitch. On the bright side, he was on beat and the lyrics came to him like everyone else.”Probably should recommend getting him some vocal lessons with Octavia.” Lyra brings her gaze at the sheets that lay on the bed. They look all wrinkly and could be replaced. Troy’s ill body was lying in those sheets for quite some time. “Guess he wouldn’t mind me changing his sheets.” Not wanting to touch them herself and risk getting sick, she lifts the blankets, sheets and other mattress amenities off via her magic, leaving the bed and pillows bare. Fortunately, Lyra knows where Roseluck’s wash room is. It’s just the first door outside this room.
Lyra gets to her destination in seconds and tosses the bundle of blankets and sheets into the wash room’s hamper. Every article making it in. “Heh, better shot than Troy,” she humorously thinks. Lyra walks back into the room, still hearing the water from the bathroom run along with Troy’s terrible singing. “Okay, I’m making sure that boy is getting vocal lessons with Octavia. I don’t think I can bare hearing that terrible singing anymore.”
The green mare opens up the bedroom’s closet and sees a fresh set of bed pieces all folded together. Sheets, pillowcases, bed spread, all that good stuff. “Perfect!”
It doesn’t take long to make the bed and have it look neat and tidy. The blankets and sheets are a rose red color while the pillowcases are cream colored, fitting in with Rose’s mane and coat colors of course.
Lyra is smoothing out the top layer as she hears the running water being turned off. “Sounds like he’s done.” Lyra does her finishing touches and sees Troy come out of the bathroom wearing black athletic shorts and a red sleeveless shirt.
“Let me say, that shower really did the trick,” Troy says. “I feel better already.”
“Not congested? No headache?”
“Still a little congested, but my headache subsided for the most part. Feeling good Lyra! Actually, hang on.” Troy goes back to the bathroom, grabs a thermometer and sticks it under his tongue. He waits a minute and he takes it out of his mouth, to inspect it. “Ninety eight degrees it reads.” Troy places the thermometer back on the bathroom counter and gets back into the bedroom.
“Good! Guess some food and a shower must’ve been the remedy.”
“I guess...” Troy doesn’t finish because his gaze wanders to the bed. Didn’t it have different covers on it moments ago? Troy points a finger to the bed. “Did you replace the covers?”
“Yep! Figured you shouldn’t be sleeping in blankets covered up in germs and death. So I figured I get you some fresh blankets and stuff.”
“Aww, thanks Lyra.” He places a hand on her head and ruffles her mane a little. Lyra couldn’t help but giggle at the sensation. After doing so, he brings his hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. “Geez, what time is it?” The two find the clock hanging over a nightstand and it reads six forty nine at night. “It’s not even late.”
“Well you do need your rest.”
“I guess so.” Troy makes his way to the bed and gets under the covers, slug like. To her, Lyra found it amusing. Just seeing zombie Troy get into bed is quite funny.
“Alright Troy, since I’m looking after you, I’ll just crash on the couch. Okay?” She turns around to leave, but...
“Actually, hang on a sec Lyra.” The green unicorn stops in her tracks and turns around, seeing her human friend sitting up right. She sees his cheeks are a little red. Were they like that a moment ago?
“Odd,” Lyra thinks.
“I was wondering, can you uhh...do something for me?” Troy asks a little nervously. He needs Lyra to help him out with something, but it’s kind of embarrassing. He and Roseluck do this, and not having anyone to do it with in the past couple of days doesn’t feel right. If Lyra obliges, hopefully, she can help him out.
“Sure thing pal! What do you need? Bedtime story? Milk and cookies? I’m here to help.”
“I was wondering, if um, if uh...” Troy is fumbling over his words. He’s never really asked anyone to do this.
“Oh come on, spit it out bud. It can’t be that bad.” Troy lets out a hefty sigh and just goes right for the chase.
“I was wondering if you could snuggle with me tonight?” Lyra blinked. Then blinked again. Did she hear that right? He wants to what? “You see, and you can’t tell anyone this, me and Roseluck have been snuggle buddies for several months now. And no, it isn’t anything extreme. It’s just two good friends snuggling up before bed. Now that Rose is gone for the week, I don’t have anyone to snuggle with and going to sleep without snuggling seems weird to me. Wanna fill in?”
Okay, this is by far, one of the weirdest requests anyone has asked of Lyra. Sure she and the rest of Ponyville knew Rose and Troy were good and close friends, but not that close. And now Troy want’s Lyra to sub in. On one hoof, it’s kind of weird to snuggle up with someone you're just friends with, and not to mention they’re already snuggling someone else. On the other hoof, you’ll really be helping a friend out. And it’s just snuggling, it’s not like Troy wants to get to second base. Plus, feeling those appendages that are on his hands is quite a great feeling for Lyra. She used to fantasize about humans as a filly when they were thought to be myth and she has become a great friend of one. And he is offering the opportunity to snuggle.
After weighing her options, she goes with the latter.
“Alright human boy, scoot over. I’m going in.” Grinning wide, Troy scooches himself over to give the mint green mare some extra room. Though it is a king bed, Troy wanted the mare to have more space. It’s just polite.
Getting into the soft and large bed, she rests herself on her side facing Troy, smiling. “So exactly how do you and Rose do this?”
“Well, first we need to get close.” The two scoot closer to each other. “Now, Rose will either wrap her forelegs around my neck or torso. Sometimes, I’ll just lay on my back and she’ll rest her head on my chest. Which do you want to do?” Once again, Lyra needs to weigh her options. If she does forelegs around neck, her horn may accidentally jab him. The same could be said for forelegs around the torso. Once again, Lyra goes with the latter option.
“I’ll go with the ‘you on your back’ option.”
“Alrighty.” Troy promptly pops off his side and plops on his back. Lyra inches closer to him (minding her horn) and places the side of her head on Troy’s chest, feeling the soft cotton of his shirt against her cheek along with his warmth. Not to mention the feeling of his chest rising and falling is interesting as well. Lyra places her hoof on Troy's chest too, trying to be a little more snug.
Once Lyra seemed to be nice and cozy, Troy wrapped his arms around her. He places one hand on the back of her head and another on her back. Lyra, to Troy, seems to have a more soft touch to her. He strokes the back of Lyra’s mane a couple times and she lets out an adorable coo from the petting sensation.
“Mmm”
“You like that?” Troy asks, quietly.
“Mmm hmm.” She nuzzles her cheek on Troy’s chest, tickling him a little. “I can see why you two do this every night. It feels really nice and cozy.”
“I know, right?” Troy continues to stroke the back of Lyra’s mane and she is loving every moment of it. Everything here is so tender, warm and blissful. It’s amazing.
As Troy strokes Lyra’s mane, his eyelids start to feel a little heavy and another yawn escapes his mouth. He shouldn't have done that because that causes Lyra to let out a cute little yawn.
“Aww,” Troy says.
“What, you find that cute or something?” Lyra asks. “Because you yawning caused me to yawn.”
“I can’t help it, I’m tired.”
“Alright, let’s turn out the lights and get some sleep.” Lyra’s horn illuminates is golden glow and uses her magic to turn out the lights. Doing so, light diminished from the room. The only thing that is visible is dim glow of Luna’s moon outside.
Lyra closes her eyes and nuzzles her cheek against Troy’s chest again, feeling very comfortable.
“Good night Troy,” Lyra says.
“Good night Lyra,” the human replies, closing his own eyes. “Sleep tight.”
“I’m in an embrace, how else would I sleep?” Troy chuckles once again before the need for sleep catches up to him.
Celestia’s morning sun rises over the horizon, slowly spreading its rays of light across Equestria. The light rays make their way into the homes of many, especially a certain human’s home.
Seeing light behind his eyelids, Troy slowly opens them up to the new day. He’s feeling much better than he was more than twenty four hours ago. Yesterday, he was feeling agony and sickness. Today, he’s fresh as a daisy.
He tries to prop himself up, but something is weighing his torso down. He moves his chin down and see’s his unicorn friend, Lyra, resting on him, all snuggled up.
“Almost forgot that she was here,” Troy thinks. As he continues to look at the sight before him, he can’t help but daww. Lyra looks so cute when she is asleep. It’s kind of like a child sleeping with their dog. It’s that level of cute.
He doesn’t want to wake up the mare just yet, she just looks so peaceful. So what Troy decides to do is run his fingers through her mane. The mare on top of him beams in her sleep which causes Troy to smile smile. It warms his heart to see his friend so content.
“I’ll just stay like this until the girl wakes up.”
Wakefulness slowly comes to Lyra. She lets out a couple of wake up grunts until she opens her eyes. Her vision is blurry and it takes time to focus.
Once it does, she sees her human friend looking at her with a warm grin on his face. “Mornin’ Miss Heartstrings,” he says in a happy, semi-whisper. He moves his hand to her ear and gives it a scratch, which she smiles in delight.
“Good morning Troy,” Lyra says in the same tone.
“Sleep well?”
“Best night’s sleep ever. I haven’t slept that well in quite some time.”
“Good.” Troy moves his hand from her ear to her mane, lightly stroking it. Lyra enjoys the sensation of her human friend’s fingers running through her mane. It’s like small, little hooves gliding through her locks.
For a while, they just stay like that. Tory petting Lyra’s mane, her still on top of him while they just smile at each other. That didn’t last long because Lyra’s stomach starts to rumble. The unicorn can’t help but blush a little out of embarrassment. Troy, on the other hand, found it a little humorous.
“Hungry?” Lyra nods. “Alright, I’ll make some breakfast than. In the mood for anything?”
“Hmmm…” If Troy is offering, who is she to refuse? She hasn’t had a good omelet in a while. “I’m in the mood for an omelet with peppers and cheese.”
“Sure thing! Do mind getting off so I can get up.”
“Aww, but I’m so cozy.” Okay, Lyra wants food, but she is lazy to get up.
“How should I do this?” Troy thinks. He contemplates on what to do for a few moments until an idea strikes him. “Alright I know what to do. Lyra, wrap your arms around my neck.” Wondering where he is going with this, she does as instructed. Troy wraps his arms around Lyra, snug like. He swings his legs to the side of the bed and quickly stands up.
“Woah,” Lyra lets out, when her hind legs dangle. Though Troy has a good grip on her, she brings her legs up and wraps them around his waist for extra security.
“Don’t worry I got ya’,” Troy assures. With the unicorn wrapped in his arms. He makes his way to the kitchen with ease. Not bumping into a single wall or object.
Arriving at the table, Troy gently places Lyra on a chair, gently, and lets go. “That was a nice little adventure,” Lyra says.
“Well, glad you liked the ride.” Troy then slaps his hands together and rubs them. “Alright, ready for some breakfast?”
“Is Pinkie Pie pink?” Tory laughs at her remark and gets to making Lyra’s omelet
“Troy,” Lyra says, dropping her fork onto the empty plate, “I have to say, that was a heck of an omelet you made.”
]“Thanks Lyra,” Troy says over his shoulder, putting his plate in the sink.
“I have to say, if you keep at this good chef stuff, you might land a job at a high end Canterlot restaurant.”
“Aww, you make me blush.” Troy has had some high class food from Canterlot before and it was very good. He’s aware he’s a good chef but he doubts he’s as top notch as the ones in the regal city.
“I’m serious. I used to live in Canterlot. You’re just as good as them… in my opinion at least.”
“Well thank y-” A set of knocks from the front door cut Troy off. “Who could that be?” Lyra just shrugs to respond. He jogs to the door and opens it up to see Rainbow Dash on the other side. “Hey! What’s up RD?”
“Nothing much, just thought I-” Rainbow Dash stops herself mid sentence when she notices a certain green unicorn inside Roseluck’s house. “Lyra?”
“Hey Rainbow Dash!” the unicorn says, greeting the pegasus. Confused, Rainbow Dash glances to the side of the door frame to see the numbers on the house.
“Last time I checked, this is Roseluck’s house, right?”
“Yeah this is her house, Rainbow. Lyra is here ‘cause she spent the night.” Rainbow’s mouth starts to form a smirk and her eyes are half open.
“Why Troy you sly dog.” She lightly elbows his waist and gives him a wink. “Didn’t think you were into ponies. Or you even had it in ya.”
“Habs-a-who’s-what?!” Troy blurts out, red in the face. Lyra blushed a little too, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Rainbow, there are two things wrong with what you said. One: I’m sixteen years old. Two: doing what you are implying is a taboo back on earth.”
“Can I add something?” Lyra says. “I’m just looking after him. He was sick last night, so I stayed here to look after him. Rose won't be back for a few days, so someone needs to keep an eye on him.”
“Wait, Troy’s sick?” Rainbow Dash asks with uneasiness and taking a couple steps back.
“I’m down to ninety eight. Better than I was yesterday,” Troy assures. Lyra nods rapidly for confirmation.
“Oh, phew, dodged a bullet there.” Rainbow wipes her forehead, feeling relieved. “Was worried I was going to get sick from just touching you.” Rainbow Dash then turned her gaze to the unicorn. “So you’re playing nurse, Lyra? Way to be a good pal!” Rainbow Dash trots up to Lyra and gives her a few pats on the back.
“So what brings you to here Rainbow?” Troy asks.
“Just figure I swing by and say hey.”
“Why don’t you stick around for a little and hang out with us? Lyra brought some poker chips yesterday.”
“Poker you say?”
“Royal flush!” Rainbow Dash proclaims, throwing her set of cards down and collecting all of the poker chips in the center of the table.
“Why do I suck at card games?” Troy wonders, throwing his hand of cards down in defeat.
“Luck of the draw Troy,” Lyra says. The three of them have been playing poker for the past couple of hours. Troy has lost almost every hand that was given to him while Lyra and Rainbow Dash have been dominating.
“Luck of the draw or not, I think I just straight up suck.”
“I think that’s it,” Rainbow humorously adds. The next thing she knows, Lyra’s hoof smacks the backside of her head. “Ow.” Lyra gives the pegasus a disapproving glare.
“Hey what time is it?” The three find the kitchen clock and the time reads one in the afternoon.
“Oh HORSEFEATHERS!” Rainbow Dash shouts.
“What?” Troy and Lyra chorus in a startled manner.
“I got the afternoon shift today! I’m going to be late! See ya guys later!” In a dash, she flies out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Lyra and Troy share back and forward glances between each other and the door.
“Well, at least she left on a good hand,” Troy says after the moment of awkward silence.
“Yep,” Lyra simply agrees.The two lean back in their chairs and just sit in quiet for a few more moments. Until Lyra asks: “What should we do now?” In an instant, Tory has an idea.
“Heard Ponyville Theater has the new Daring Do flick. Wanna go see it?” Though not as big as Rainbow Dash, Lyra is a pretty big Daring Do fan. The action, the suspense, the sarcasm, it’s awesome! And when the movie adaptations for the book series were being made, Lyra was thrilled. She’s seen every installment so far, except for the recent one. And going with a friend is always a good time.
“I’m down to see it!”
“Alright let's go to the theater.... After I get out of my sleep ware,” Troy says, looking down at his clothing, seeing that he is still in his clothes from last night.
“That was better than the last three!” Troy exclaims, exiting the theater with Lyra by his side, both with huge grins on their faces.
“That chase scene had me on the edge of my seat,” Lyra says very excitedly. “I thought she wouldn’t get away from that insane pony tribe!”
“And not to mention Johnny getting more developed.”
“Oh for sure. Everything about this was really well done.” The entire conversation home was how amazing the Daring Do movie was. It’s all the two could talk about the rest of the day really. Walk through the door: Daring Do movie, making and eating dinner: Daring Do movie, just sitting in the living room doing nothing: Daring Do movie. That is literally all they talked about until around ten at night. By this point in the day, sleep is what they need.
Troy is back in his sleep clothes and under the covers. Just like last night, Lyra is all snug next to him. They have a different snuggle position. Troy is still on his back but Lyra’s head rests on Troy’s chest while one hoof is on his shoulder and the other lays on the farther part of his chest. Troy has one hand stroking the back of Lyra’s head and the other is slowly rubbing her back.
“Mmm…” the unicorn lets out.
“Cozy?” Troy asks.
“Mmmhmm…” With more drowsiness catching up to her, she lets out a cute little yawn and Troy can't help but daww. “Alright, Troy, can you turn out the lights.” He nods and quickly turns off the lamp by the nightstand, immediately darkening the room. Looking back at the cute unicorn in his arms, he decides to give her a quick (platonic) kiss on the head. She looks so peaceful right now, it’s hard to resist.
He presses his lips on the top of her head and he sees her smile in her sleepy state and her tail starts to wag, almost like a dog. She looks even more cute than she did a moment ago.
Troy lets out a yawn himself and figures it’s time for him to close his eyes as well.
The rest of the week seemed to be pretty eventful for Lyra and Troy. They went to see the Daring Do movie a couple more times, whenever Rainbow Dash stopped by, Lyra spotted their work out and finished with a card game, the duo went swimming, and most importantly, there was a lot of snuggling. The two had fun! But, good things must come to an end.
The recognizable Friendship Express pulls up to the Ponyville train station with a loud screech in the early morning hours. “Current Stop is Ponyville fillies and gentlecolts!” The conductor shouts very chippy, getting onto the station’s platform. “Please watch your step as you disembark and keep an eye on your children. Once again, thank you for riding with us!” Many ponies disembark the train and amongst a number of ponies are Ponyville’s flower mares: Lily, Daisy and Roseluck, back from the Fillydelphia flower show, each with saddle bags full of stuff.
“I still can’t believe someone was able to sculpture Princess Celestia out of flowers,” Lily says.
“I know!” Roseluck responds. “If Celestia herself was next to her “flower self”, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.” The two were so caught up in their conversation, they don’t realize that Daisy is trailing behind, head lowered and zombie like.
“Uuuuhhh…” she lets out now sounding like a zombie. Lily and Rose hear their friend moan and turn to check on her.
“Guess she didn’t get much sleep,” Lily suggests.
“Well, we did have to get up pretty early to catch the train to Ponyville.” The second Roseluck finishes her sentence, Daisy falls on her side, going to sleep in the process. “I told her to get some coffee during breakfast.” The two trot up the the pink and green mare and see she looks pretty sound and content just being on the ground, catching up on some sleep.
“Why don’t you head home Roseluck. Bet Troy is anticipating your homecoming. I’ll help Sleeping Beauty get back to her place.” Very carefully, Daisy lifts her friend to her back.
“Uhh… I don’t want to ride the merry go round,” Daisy says, sleep talking.
“You sure you can handle her?” Roseluck asks. Lily nods for her answer and does a shoo like motion with her hoof, telling her she should head home. Seeing that Lily is okay taking care of Daisy, she nods and journeys home.
Feeling she wants to get there sooner, she gallops home. She wants to tell Troy all about the flower show, and she misses snuggling him. There would have been times at the hotel Roseluck almost snuggled Lily or Daisy. To contain herself, she snuggled with a pillow. It seemed to work, but it couldn’t replace Troy’s snuggling. Not in the slightest.
Opening up the door to her home, Roseluck announces: “Troy, I’m home!” She stays quiet for a moment and hears no response. “The guy’s probably asleep. Oh! Maybe I can snuggle up with him and he’ll be surprised when he wakes up.” Wanting to put her plan into action as soon as possible, she quickly lowers her saddlebags she bolts to her room at a speed Rainbow Dash would be impressed by.
Opening her bedroom door, she is surprised at what she sees: Troy is snuggling with another mare! And it’s Lyra! A good friend of Rose. She is curious on how and when these two started getting super close. “Hmm…” she hums curiously.
She isn’t mad at Troy. It’s just snuggling. It’s not like they are dating or have anything serious going on She’s just surprised to see someone other than her is snuggling her human friend. “Troy must’ve been really desperate to find someone to snuggle with him,” she whispers to herself.
Deciding she should try to stick to her plan as close as possible, she hops the the side of Troy Lyra isn’t occupying and gets cozy. She mirrors what Lyra is doing: head on his chest, one hoof on his shoulder and another one just inches from her muzzle.
Now, Roseluck waits.
Feeling that it’s time to wake up, both Lyra and Troy open up their eyes to the new day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, Rose is on the other side of Troy, everythi-
“What the?!” Lyra and Troy almost shout in surprise, seeing the red maned earth pony in bed with them.
“Hey guys,” she says casually.
“Rose? When did you get back?” Troy asks, still surprised.
“Mmm… half an hour ago. So what I miss? Looks like missed something.” The human and the unicorn look at each other, then to Rose, back to Roseluck and then back to each other.
“Well, a day or two after you left, I got super sick. So sick, I couldn’t even get out of bed. Lyra and I were supposed to hang out, but I couldn’t since I was bed ridden. So she decided to stay here and play nurse for me. I got better within hours but she stayed here for the rest of the week. And, we've also been snuggling up while you were gone. Are you mad?” Troy inches himself away from the cream mare, feeling a little antsy and not knowing what she would do. Roseluck blows a raspberry and then giggles.
“Why would I be mad? It’s not like we have an intimate thing going on with our snuggling. Plus, I don’t mind sharing.” Roseluck scooches her head up a little to nuzzle it under Troy’s chin. “Besides, it’s just cuddling.”
“Well,” Lyra starts off, “if she has no objections…” Lyra mimics Roseluck and nuzzles her head under Troy's chin. He can’t help but lightly laugh at the tickling sensation those two are giving him. “Snuggle party!!” The two mares tighten their embrace of their human friend for the most ultimate of snuggles.
Sure it seems ridiculous and silly, but to the human and the two mares, it was heartwarming and blissful in actuality.
