Twilight shifted under the covers, a small sigh escaping through her nose as she stirred. Her foreleg tried to reach in front of her; a small smile playing on her lips as she anticipated soft fur over a sleeping chest, or a golden mane that only she got to see undone. Her expression dropped as it didn’t come, though. Twilight groggily opened her eyes to find her bed empty.
Bits of mane stuck to her pillow as she got up, taking the lightest steps on the wood under her hooves to preserve the silence. Not that it did much good, Twilight’s in-laws had assured her that you could fly and the planks would find a way to groan over it. Something she was still getting used to.
Barely outside their room and Twilight could already see her wife, just a few steps down the hall from her. Applejack’s soft freckled face leaned into a door frame, her forest eyes fixed inside almost hypnotically into the room beyond. She stayed still as Twilight’s gentle steps got closer, as she sat down and wrapped a wing around her back.
“...She won’t go anywhere,” Twilight said in the tiniest whisper.
Applejack didn't move her gaze. “Well, I suppose I have to be sure.”
Twilight leaned into the crook of her wife’s neck, a soft chuckle escaping her. “If she wakes up, you’re calming her down.”
“She won’t.” Was her only reply. The house’s tired breaths was the only think to break the stillness for a good, long while.
“Do you want to go back to bed?” Twilight hummed. She could feel Applejack shaking her head above her. “Go on, then.” Her wife’s chest shifted under a deep breath, before she suddenly got up. One hoof stepped on plush carpet, a valiant guardian against creaks that may disturb the rare slumber. Another hoof glided forward, inching her further into the room. Applejack looked to the ground for a moment, poking the bare wood outside the safety of the rug; almost afraid of it. She grimaced as her weight shifted onto it, creating a regrettable whining from below. Applejack reset her sight in front of her.
A cradle, draped in pinks.
She sucked in a breath, and moved forward once more. The floor gave her mercy and refrained from saying anything too egregious, but she still winced with every step that seemed to shoot through the room like lightening. Her muzzle brushed the blankets of the tiny resting place, and her eyes gazed into it.
The fillies mouth was just a touch ajar; and Applejack watched it take in each breath, watched as her chest rose and fell with every tiny snore. She lifted a hoof and placed it under her eyes, shielding the baby should they happen to well. "Sparkling Cider," She breathed. "My little Angel." The words landed on the foal, and her eyes fluttered open as they hit. They shone indigo, sleepily gazing at her Mother.
Applejack smiled and picked the child up. "I'm sorry, love." She whispered, planting a kiss on her snout. "I didn't mean to wake you." She blinked drowsily at her, before snuggling her tiny, tiny head into her mother's chest. Sparkling's tail flicked, mixing hair like the sun with Applejack's own golden mane, a ribbon of purple intertwining it. A small hoof that would forever be Twilight's, in her mind, reached out to her. Applejack smiled and let it brush her cheek, only a little bit wet.
She sat with her daughter, breathing, enjoying the still moment. The vague smells of milk, baby powder and apple wood. The soft pastel world she found herself it. The softest of weights that lay in her arms.
It was all perfect.
She felt Sparkling shift, giving squeaks of annoyance. Applejack chuckled, "Alright, I get it. Not everypony likes to be up half the night." Setting the child back in her cradle, She crept back through the doorway and to her own bed.
"...You can't do this forever, Applejack," came a sigh from her wife. But Applejack was already dreaming, a small smile tucked under her forelegs.
*****
Applejack hesitated before she opened the door. Her legs danced over the floor, to the safe spots that wouldn't dare make a sound. From he plush island in the middle of the wooden sea, she paused. Her heart lurched in a way she had almost missed as she took a gentle step towards her daughter's crib, into uncharted territory. The wood yelped, rocketing through the room. Applejack swung around as groan echoed from the bed opposite. "Momma, get outta 'ere!"
Applejack gave a sheepish smile and followed the silent path to Sparkling's bedside. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean to wake you," She whispers.
"Well ya did." The filly huffed, rolling over in her sheets. Applejack very much doubted she had, which almost made her smile.
"I said I'm sorry," She nuzzled Sparkling's cheek, the filly batting her way. She found it hard to resist laughing, but settled for a playful grin "Hey now, don't be that way." Sparkling snuggled deeper into her quilted blankets with a huff. Applejack's eyes softened, and she nudged her filly once more with her snout. "Hey, Sugarcube?" She whispered. Sparkling rolled her head towards her. "I'll stop coming in here and bothering ya, I promise. But you have to promise me somethin' too."
"What?"
Her mother smiled and nodded towards the crib on the opposite side of the room, draped in dark blue curtains that had flecks of gold sprinkled about them. "Ya have to promise me that you'll take care of your sister, always." She looked back to Sparkling. "Because you're the big sister, an' that's your job. To look after her when I'm not here. She's a lot smaller than you after all, more fragile. Do you understand?"
Sparkler looked up at her mother with big eyes. Those eyes were stubborn, but Applejack liked to think they were stubborn in the right way. "I understand." she whispered back with a little nod. She puffed out her chest- Celestia, she was cute when she did that. Applejack smiled and eased her back into bed, tucking the covers up to her neck.
"Good. Then so do I." She pretended like her throat wasn't catching. "Goodnight, Sparkling. Goodnight, Starburst."
She swore she could hear a coo from the other bed, but she kept her word and slipped out the door.
Applejack stood in the hallway for a long moment, raising her chin and letting some stray tears silently fall down her neck. She took a deep breath, and went back to her own room. She wasn't about to make a liar of herself after all.
