It was still dark out when I was awoken by a weight settling upon the bed beside me. The mattress sunk down, causing the thing to lean into me. Letting out a small groan, I opened my good eye a crack only to find a warm pair of violet ones inches from my face. Instantly, my heart rate spiked and I inhaled sharply, only for the sweet smell of lavender and parchment to caress my nose.

The eyes receded quickly, revealing a familiar face that was etched with concern.

Closing my eye again, I exhaled slowly as my heart continued to thunder in my chest. “Don’t fucking do that. God damn. Fuck.”

“Sorry,” Twilight murmured softly. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to disturb you. I didn’t think getting into bed was going to wake you up. I can usually get out of bed without you even stirring. Heck, you’re normally such a heavy sleeper that it takes me a couple of minutes to wake you.”

“Mmmm,” I grunted, letting my head fall back down upon the pillow. Slowly, my heart rate returned to normal. “Whatever. Fuck. When did you get back?”

“Only a few minutes ago,” Twilight said. Tentatively, she settled down on top of the covers, draping a wing over my chest in the process. “We finished up with our adventure yesterday. Met A.K Yearling. She was definitely an… unique individual. Anyways, once we were done helping, it didn’t seem right to burden her further so we caught an overnight train back last night.” She was silent a moment before a big yawn escaped her and she squeaked. “The sleeper carriage wasn’t all that comfortable though. Felt like I was sleeping on cardboard and plastic. Spike’s already asleep again, down with Pyresteed on her bed. I came up here to try and get a few more hours of sleep as well.”

“A few more hours?” I hummed. “What… you’re usually an early riser.”

“Yeah. So?”

“What time is it?”

“It’s just a little before sunrise, I think.” Letting out another yawn, Twilight snuggled deeper into the covers, tucking her legs underneath her like some kind of cat. She nestled down, wiggling as she tried to get comfortable. The covers bunched up around her, giving her the appearance of a bird sitting on its nest. “The horizon was just starting to glow a faint red when we got off the train. Princess Celestia and Luna were probably getting ready to trade-off soon.”

I let her shuffle about for a few minutes but eventually, her constant movement got old. Huffing in annoyance, I pulled my arm out from under the covers and wrapped it around her neck. She squawked in surprise as I pulled her against me, but she quickly settled down again, her head resting on my chest.

“There. Better,” I mumbled, already half-asleep again.

“I was getting comfortable,” Twilight sighed, but she didn’t sound too upset. She rubbed her nose against my chest.

“Whatever,” I grunted before letting out a yawn of my own. “Too tired to quip. I’ma sleep now. Goodnight. Morning. Whatever.” Before I had a chance to go through with it though, Twilight stiffened against me. Suddenly, I heard the sound of magic before I felt something grab my face and turn my head about. Blinking in confusion, I stared into Twilight’s eyes, which were now stern.

“Open your mouth,” she said.

“W-what?” I stammered.

“Say ‘ahhh’,” she instructed, her tone brooking no argument. I did as instructed only for her to lean forward, her nostrils flaring. She released my head as her cold look quickly turned into anger. “You were drinking!”

“What are you…?” I began, only for her to cut me off.

“Don’t deny it! I can smell the alcohol on your breath!” Pulling herself away from me, she sat up and crossed her forelegs. “I can’t believe you. The one thing I ask you to do while I’m gone, the one thing I don’t want you to do… and you go and do it!”

“Twilight…”

“How much did you drink?” she continued unabated. “Did you spend the entire time I was gone drunk? Passed out on the couch? I’m surprised I found you in bed. I’m surprised you actually woke up! I can’t believe you’d do this!” Her wings fluttered in agitation. “How dare you!”

“Twilight.”

“I can’t trust you, is that it?” she asked. “I can’t even trust you to take care of yourself for a few days? What? Do I need to put a leash on you again and take you everywhere with me just so I can keep an eye on you? Cause I will. If you want to act like a foal, I’ll start treating you like one!”

“Twilight!”

“What?!” she snapped, only to yelp a moment later as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her down.

“Drop it,” I said as I held her against my chest.

She squirmed, trying to escape, but then she ceased and instead glared up at me. “No, I’m not going to drop this,” she growled. “It’s getting out of hoof. And it’s clear that you don’t care enough about your health to do anything about it! I’m gonna—”

“Twilight, please.” I squeezed her tighter. “Just… d-drop it, okay? For now?” My voice cracked halfway through the sentence and a shiver ran through my body unbidden. Despite being beneath the covers and having Twilight on top of me, I found myself suddenly cold. There was a pain in my chest and I found myself blinking back tears. I quickly buried my face in Twilight’s chest fluff, inhaling deeply as I took in her comforting scent.

Twilight was still for a moment before sighing. “Fine. For now. But we’re discussing this soon. I can promise you that.”

“Deal,” I agreed, my voice muffled by her fur. Had her chest fluff always been this poofy?

Shifting slightly, Twilight wrapped her wings around me, trapping me in a feathery shield of warmth. I felt her hoof brush gently against my head, her frog playing across my shorter hair. No more words were spoken; instead, we stayed that way—me holding onto her with almost fanatical desperation, and her comforting me. In that strange moment she was my rock, holding my encroaching panic attack at bay.

Faint sunlight was soon creeping through the windows. Without moving, Twilight used her magic to close the curtains a little tighter, blocking out the growing light. When the sound of movement came from downstairs along with the muffled sound of laughter, the bedroom door glowed rosy before locking.

As the rest of the world started to wake, Twilight and I held each other close, and slowly drifted back off to sleep. The last thing I heard before slumber claimed me again was the sound of Twilight humming softly. And for the first time in weeks, my dreams weren’t plagued by horrors.

Author's Note

With that, we've come to the end of the introduction. Now it's time for some good meaty parts. Shinanigans, tomfoolery, etc. And for those that have been asking, this is gonna be a somewhat long fic. That means that some things are going to happen, just not instantly. Max's drinking, Twilight's pregnancy, etc.

I got burned out with Your Human and You (as you can tell by the months of no updates) so I'm going to take this story slow and easy and enjoy myself. I have no plans on going anywhere even though the show has ended. I'm sticking around to see if Gen 5 sparks the fandom again, or if this is truly the end.