Your Family and You

I wasn’t sure what woke me up at first. It was still dark outside and the room was quiet; no sounds of movement to be heard. I hadn’t been dreaming—at least not that I could remember—so no nightmares to blame this time around, either. Rain was slapping against the window, but it wasn’t loud enough to have disturbed my slumber.

More asleep than awake, I continued to lay there, confused, trying to figure out what had forced me back into the waking realm. Then there was a flash of brilliant light through the window, followed by the world exploding.

KRAC-BOOOM!

The entire treebrary shook from the force of the thunder. Beside me, Twilight shifted, her wing pressing into my side. Lifting her head, she blinked sleepily as she looked around. “Wha…?” There came another peal of thunder and she groaned before flopping her head back down on the pillow. “Uuugh… why?”

“I thought rain wasn’t on the schedule until next week,” I murmured, throwing an arm over my eyes.

“It wasn’t supposed to come until next week,” Twilight mumbled back.

“Did somebody fuck up?”

“No, it’s probably just a rogue storm from the Everfree. The weather team will most likely deal with it in the morning after its had some time to blow itself out.” Rain lashed against the windows hard as the wind suddenly picked up. The outer limbs of the library’s branches groaned as they swayed and shifted in the gale.

“Is… that something we should be worried about?” I asked, not opening my eyes.

Twilight hummed for a moment before asking. “Are all the windows closed downstairs?”

I thought about it for a moment before nodding, my arm still across my face. “Yes. Yes, they are.” Beside me, Twilight shifted about until she was facing me.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Like, one hundred percent sure?”

“Positive. Avera and I closed all of them earlier because the mosquitos were coming in and there’s only one blood-drinker allowed in this library.”

“Then we’ll be fine,” she yawned. “The library has enchantments in place for such a thing. We might lose a few smaller branches, but the main ones won’t be affected.” I felt her wiggle about before a sudden weight settled on my chest. Cracking open my eye, I peered down to find that she had placed her head on my chest. I smiled before laying my own head back down on my pillow.

We both lay there for a while, listening to the rain outside as we dozed. Every so often, Twilight or I would start to fall asleep again, only for a loud clap of thunder to jerk us awake again. During that time, Twilight had snuggled closer, her wing now lying across my stomach. Almost unconsciously, I ran my fingers gently over the feathers.

“That feels nice,” she murmured, her words slurred and barely audible. “Do that s’more.”

Without opening my eyes, I ran my fingertips over the edges of her primaries, the tiny barbs of the vane shifting beneath my touch. I played with them for a moment before wiggling my fingers down into the downy feathers near the base of the wings. As I did so, a strange sound reached my ears, just barely audible over the sound of the rain. It took me a moment to realize that it was coming from Twilight, and it sounded almost like…

“Are… are you purring?” I muttered.

“Nuh,” came the muffled reply as she buried her head further into my shirt.

“What are you, a fucking cat?”

“No talking, just rubbing.”

“Whatever,” I grunted, although the corners of my mouth twitched upwards. “Fucking cat pone.” Giving her wing one last scratch, I rested my hand on top of her feathers. After that, I shifted slightly, trying to find a position that was comfortable for both of us. There was some protest from Twilight as I moved, but it quickly changed to a hum of happiness when I draped my other arm about her shoulders.

Both now comfortable, we were starting to drift off again when another explosion of thunder rocked the entire tree again, this time followed by the sound of splitting wood as several of the smaller branches came loose.

“Shit,” I huffed.

“Deal with it tomorrow,” Twilight grumbled back.

Before I could answer, there came the sound of scrambling outside the bedroom door before it flew open and Pyresteed tumbled inside. She struggled for a moment to get to her feet, and when she did, she danced about anxiously, a panicked look on her face.

Pushing myself up onto my elbows—much to Twilight’s displeasure—I stared down at the twitching human. “Pyresteed, what…?”

“Alpha,” she whimpered. “Alpha. Outside. Not well. Strange. Help.” Unable to communicate with her words, she flapped her hands and stamped her feet, letting out distressed noises as she did so.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked. She blinked her eyes, trying to focus.

Pyresteed let out another pitiable whine. “Alpha, help!”

“Pyresteed, calm down,” I called down to her. “It’s just a little rain. It can’t even get you in here.”

“Alpha, no!” She was louder than before, her pacing more frantic. “Alpha, help! Strange, outside, noise, help!”

“What is she doing?” Twilight asked, leaning over my shoulder to peer down at the anxious human.

“Pyresteed, come on. Relax. You’re fine,” I said a little louder, trying to get through to her. “You’re safe here.”

“No.” She stamped her foot in time with her cries. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“This is getting ridiculous,” Twilight grumbled. “It’s just a storm.”

“Pyresteed, you need to calm down. Everything’s fine.”

“No. Alpha, help. Strange. Pain. Help!”

“It’s bad enough the thunder’s keeping us up, now we have her too?”

“I can’t help you if you don’t calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Help. No. Noise. Strange. Hurts. Pain. Help!”

“What’s she freaking out about? We’ve had rainstorms before. Why is this one any different?”

“I don’t fucking know. Pyresteed, what are you—”

A series of flashes illuminated the room followed swiftly by the crash of thunder. The rumbling continued for several long seconds, in which Pyresteed clasped her head, her eyes screwed shut tight. Falling to her knees, she screamed out. “Loud noise hurts! It hurts! Make stop! Please stop!”

Another bolt of lightning forked across the sky, and in its light I glimpsed Pyresteed’s hair. The normal chaotic tangle was even worse than usual. Not only that, but small sparks of blue and green and purple danced across the strands. At first, I thought it was static build-up, but then it dawned on me.

“It’s the storm,” I breathed, eyes wide. “Twilight, it’s the storm!”

She gave me a weird look. “What? It can’t be. We’ve had thunderstorms before and she’s never reacted like this before.”

“Not ones from the Everfree,” I countered.

Twilight opened her mouth only to pause, an unsure look on her face. “Can… can it really make that much of a difference?”

“Just look at her hair,” I said, pointing down at Pyresteed, who was now rocking back and forth in a crouched position. “That doesn’t look like normal static electricity, does it?”

Eyes narrowing, Twilight leaned over the edge of the bed and peered downwards. She was still a moment before falling back with a sigh. “I can’t be sure, but from this distance, that does look like magic build-up.”

“Is… is it dangerous?”

“At this amount? No,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “It’d take days or even weeks of constant build-up for her to reach dangerous levels. Given how she’s reacting though, it’s probably uncomfortable.”

From down below, Pyresteed let out another whimper.

“So, what should we do about this?” I asked.

Twilight stared at me for a moment—her eyes dropping and bloodshot—before she closed them and exhaled through her nose. A moment later her horn lit up and, with a yelp, Pyresteed was lifted into the air.

“...too tired to deal with this right now,” Twilight grumbled. Levitating Pyresteed up, she deposited her unceremoniously into the bed, dumping her down on the other side of me. As she landed, Pyresteed tumbled into me. The moment she touched me, I was hit with a static shock that oddly filled my mouth with the faint taste of metal and cotton candy.

Almost immediately, Pyresteed grew calmer.

“Uuuh…” I said intelligently.

“If she stays in close proximity to us, the magic should dissipate naturally and ease any discomfort,” Twilight huffed. Leaning around me, she pressed her nose against Pyresteed’s. “You can sleep in our bed for just tonight, and tonight only. Got it? Oh, and just a friendly reminder… he’s mine.”

Pyresteed blinked at her before giving a tentative nod.

“Good.” Pulling back, Twilight pushed me back down into a lying position before returning her head to my chest and placing a wing possessively across my stomach.

Pyresteed watched her curiously for a moment before burying herself under the covers. A mound under the sheets shifted about as she got comfortable, and I felt her back pressed up against my leg.

“Alpha…” she muttered sleepily.

Twilight huffed before trying to scoot closer to me, which would be impossible unless she laid on top of me.

“What are you doing?” I asked her, fighting back a yawn.

“Getting comfortable,” she replied. “This is a two-pony bed, so a third individual makes it kind of cramped.” She was right, of course. With Pyresteed under the sheets as well, Twilight was practically against the wall, and if I moved over a few inches, Pyresteed would fall off the edge.

I considered her words for a moment. As I did so, there came another flash of lightning and a peal of thunder. Under the covers, Pyresteed flinched back against my leg.

“We’ll be fine,” I told Twilight. “It’s just for tonight.”

“Maybe,” Twilight grumbled. “This is your fault, by the way,” she added tiredly. “She’s technically your responsibility.”

“Practically all of the ponies in this library are my responsibility,” I mumbled.

“And?” Twilight yawned. “The point stands. You don’t see anypony I’m responsible for trying to get in our bed—”

“Twilight?”

At the trembling voice, we both glanced at the door. Spike was peering nervously around the doorway, a blanket clutched in his claws.

“Spike, what are you doing awake?” Twilight asked.

“I, uh… I heard the thunder,” the young dragon said. “And, well… I’m not scared or anything, but I… I figured I’d come and see if you needed me to sleep with you. Just in case, you know… you were scared?” He gave us a hopeful grin even as he wrung the blanket in his claws. “So, uh… can I sleep with you guys tonight?”

Rolling my head around, I smirked up at Twilight. She refused to look at me, her cheeks puffing out as a light blush touched them. After a moment, she sighed.

“Okay, Spike, you can sleep with us tonight,” she said softly.

His eyes lit up and he quickly scampered across the room and up to the loft. With nimble dexterity I’d never known he had, he jumped into the bed. “Thanks, Twilight. You’re the best! Not that I’m, you know, scared or anything.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I snickered. “Just get comfortable, dude. We all need to sleep.”

Saluting, Spike careful moved between Twilight and the wall before digging his way under the covers. There was some shifting about before we heard him gasp. “H-hey! What are you doing here?”

There followed a small chirp. “Sleep. Alpha help no hurt.”

“I, uh…. I wasn’t going to hurt you?”

“No, tiny one no hurt. Storm hurt.”

“...what?”

Twilight groaned as the two of them continued their back and forth, their voices muffled from beneath the sheets. “This was a bad idea.”

“Bets on how much sleep we’re going to get tonight?” I whispered back.

“Probably very little.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” I was silent for a moment before chuckling humorlessly. “I swear, it’s like living with two fucking foals.”

Twilight inhaled sharply, her body stiffening against mine. Barely able to keep my eyes open, I lifted my head with great effort in order to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing,” she said a little too quickly. “It’s nothing. I just… I was just… I was… fighting back a yawn and Pyresteed happened to shock me at the same time. Yeah, that’s it. Really tired!”

I stared at her for a moment—in which she gave me a weak smile—before my head fell back against my pillow. “Whatever. Too tired. Sleep.”

“Y-yeah, good idea,” Twilight said. “We both need some more sleep. You especially, with your constant nightmares.”

I huffed but said nothing. Closing my eyes, I tried to fall back into the sweet embrace of slumber, but the muffled conversation coming from under the blankets was preventing that. After a minute in which it didn’t seem the pair was going to be stopping any time soon, I finally spoke up. “First one to fall asleep gets to pick what we have for breakfast tomorrow.”

All sound immediately ceased saved for the sound of rain outside.

“That’s what I thought,” I mumbled.

Settling back down, the four of us slowly drifted back off to sleep, the storm outside continuing to rage, yet not sounding as fierce as it did a few minutes ago.