The last few days had absolutely sucked. Maybe it had been a week, Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure.

But however long it had been, she’d pretty much just stayed in bed, either sleeping or just staring at the ceiling. She hadn’t eaten, and she’d only drank at Twilight’s insistence.

There just… there hadn’t been any reason to do anything, really.

Twilight had been sleeping with her, and that had helped. Not as much as when everybody’d first escaped, though. Maybe more warm bodies diffused things more, or something. She’d ask Twilight later.

But the point was, she was finally feeling a little more like herself. And hungry, which was also a good sign.

She propped herself up on her elbows, thinking more clearly than she had for a while. She glanced over at Twilight, and, slowly, gently, moved the purple girl’s arm off of her. Then, carefully, she scootched out of bed and stood. Stretched.

The nightmares were still gonna be there, of course. But she could deal with them alone now. She wasn’t jackknifing awake in the middle of the night anymore, coughing on bile and shaking from the memories. But when she had been, Twilight had been there like a mom or a big sister. Calming her down, cleaning her up, and helping her get back to sleep.

Not really a shock, as Rainbow Dash thought about it. They’d both seen someone drown up close and personal. Though, she was still pretty sure Twilight’s experience had been a lot worse. Rainbow hadn’t even known Gabby, after all.

She wondered for a moment if her friend would feel bad if she woke her up to move her out of her bed, and decided no. They knew each other too well for that to hurt any feelings, especially if Rainbow was polite about it.

Rainbow’s stomach growled, and she chuckled a little. Yeah, there would be time for sleeping arrangements later.

Right now, though: snacks.

Keeping most of the lights off, Rainbow Dash made her way to the fridge. And as she glanced back at Twilight, she had to smile. Even without the special bond the Rainbooms all shared, analytical Twilight would never have made the last few days weird. It wouldn’t have even occurred to her to read some kind of sex thing into it. She’d have just helped out a friend, and then left it at that, never bringing the subject up again.

Which, in Rainbow’s mind, made Twilight pretty damned special.

A quick scan in the freezer confirmed her suspicion that they were out of ice cream.

Probably Twilight hadn’t wanted to go shopping while I was still freaking out, she sighed to herself. Can’t blame her there, I was pretty messed up.

Then, opening the refrigerator door, Rainbow Dash frowned. Yeah, you could definitely tell they were overdue for a shopping trip. They were out of eggs, out of soda… hell, they were even out of pie.

As the door silently closed, the blue woman reached up to raid the top of the fridge. Packages crinkled in the silence of the place as she briefly rummaged, then pulled down her treasure with a triumphant grin.

Cookies.

Aw, yeah. The quest is saved.

Opening the refrigerator door again, she grabbed the milk, shook the carton critically, then nodded. Yeah, there should be enough left for a proper cookie binge.

Rainbow Dash spent the next hour curled up on the couch, reading Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds while she munched. Sure enough, the milk lasted just long enough to wash the cookies down. Then, she tossed her rubbish into the bin, brushed the crumbs off of herself, and headed back to bed.

She hesitated. All she had to do was nudge Twilight’s shoulder a little, tell her it was okay, she could go back to her own bed. Or, if she wanted to be really cool about it – which was always the ideal – she could just crash out in Twilight’s bed.

Alone.

With… her dreams.

Finally, she crawled back under the covers with Twilight, the two women wrapping their arms around one another again as Rainbow fell back into a deep sleep.

You know. Just to be polite.

Author's Note

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Ending Credits: Silent Lucidity, by Queensryche.