I scratched at the base of the crystal cast covering my horn, growling as it failed to give any relief.
“Stop that,” Sunshine said as she pulled down the blankets with her magic.
“The stupid thing itches,” I grumped as we laid down in the bed Celestia had given us in the castle. Luna’s Moon was high in the night sky already and I was strangely exhausted for a day that consisted mostly of surveying repairs to my house and my sister’s home. “And I get a weird feedback from it when I try to use magic.”
Sunshine sighed and glanced at me. “You know you aren’t supposed to strain yourself,” she admonished. “For the next six to eight weeks you are to use your horn sparingly and only for light levitation.”
“Says the mare on a caffeine restriction,” I shot back with a smirk.
It may have been hard to see, but I love making her blush. She changed topics quickly.
“So when is the house supposed to be ready?” She turned slightly towards me, her eyes unfocused for a moment as she removed her glasses. “You and Tempest went there today, didn’t you?”
I nodded, using a wing to turn down the lamp. “The physical reconstruction is mostly done,” I said, a visual of my house coming to mind. “But there is still furniture to replace and the rafters are going to smell like smoke for years.”
My wife nodded. “At least it wasn’t a total loss,” she said as she shifted slightly. After a few minutes she sighed in exasperation.
“Does it bother you?” she asked suddenly.
“What?”
“That you’re stuck here for two months while I can go back and forth willy nilly.” She turned her face to me and looked me in the eyes. “Seriously, I know you want to work on your story and sleep in your own bed. Ray just doesn’t seem the same when you’re gone and Spike is asking about you. He misses you.”
I sighed. “I can work on the story here just as easily,” I whispered as I reached out and ran my hoof along her face. “And it’s my own fault that I’m stuck here. I was the one that went and overchanneled mana through my horn and… well.” I looked up at the glittering encasement.
“But I miss you, too,” she whispered, moving in close.
“You spend every night here, Twilight,” I told her. “And it isn’t like I have a ton of duties now that the sisters are back. You and I could go do anything.”
She nodded. “But it’s not home,” she whispered.
And I understood. Our bond was dampened while my horn healed, but I could still get flashes of insight. I stood up in the bed and positioned myself so I was looking straight down into her eyes.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “It’s not our house in the lower quarter. It’s not our condo uptown from the university. But it is a place we can be together. Home is here, Twilight.” A wing unfurled and touched her over her heart.
“Equestria, Earth, no matter where,” I leaned down slightly to touch the tip of my horn to hers. “I’m home when you’re nearby.”
She blinked a tear back and smiled. “You’re incredibly corny, you know that?”
I leaned further forward, mane sliding over my shoulder to veil us against the light flickering low in the lamp. I could see the blush on her cheeks and the way she bit her bottom lip in nervousness still melted my heart even now.
“You are too cute,” I whispered. “How did I luck into having a wife as awesome as you?”
“I don’t know”, she said with a sigh. “I ask myself the same thing.”
I saw her tilt her head slightly, but drew the moment out.
“You wonder how I got an awesome wife, too?”
She gave me a gentle shove and giggled. “Just kiss me already, you silly mare.”
And I did, reaching down with both wings to cup her face. I felt the thrumming of love in our bond and for a moment it almost seemed like she had two points of light in my mind.
After we parted, we stayed there for a moment, foreheads touching and horns crossed.
“Sunset,” she whispered after a few minutes of silence.
“Mm?”
“I love you,” she continued.
“I love you too,” I said, opening my eyes. She looked at me with a strange look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I just need to tell you that. As often as I can. So you don’t forget.”
“I doubt I ever would, even if I could,” I replied, confused. “Why the sudden need for repetition? Not that I mind, of course.”
“Because I can’t go with you every time you get summoned here for some summit or emergency or national disaster.” She locked her eyes on me and I felt her seriousness. “So I want you to know. I want you to be safe. I want you to come home.” She laid a hoof over my heart. “Every time.”
I smiled through a haze of tears.
“You silly girl,” I giggled before I kissed her. “I’m always home.”
“I’m being serious!” She looked at me as if pleading. “I worry about you when you go out. You are the first to admit you’re a little brash, and your temper isn’t always under wraps.”
I looked away, but she pulled my gaze back. She reached up and put a hoof on the crystal covering my horn.
“This was reckless,” she said. “No matter what the reason was. And while I don’t want you doing anything like that again…”
I sighed. “You know I may be called to do so.”
“So,” my wife whispered. “I love you.”
I hugged her tightly.
“I love you, too.”
As she snuggled into my side, I sighed again.
“Wonder if we can get Starlight to send us back to high school…”
“Why high school?”
“Well, less worries, no princessly duties,”
“No,” she said flatly. “High school was practically hell for me until I met you. You’re mine, no take backs.”
I blinked. “Did you just-“
“Yes.”
“But that’s not-”
“Nope.”
I shook my head and gave her a squeeze.
“You’re spending too much time with Pinkie,” I whispered into her ear.
A quiet chuckle drifted up. “You realize if you’re here for months you’re going to finally have to figure out how to preen your wings, right?”
We both laughed and, the somber mood lifted, began to drift off to sleep, the silvery light of the moon safeguarding the way.
