"You haven't been eating very much."

You raise your head from your desk, sniffling slightly as you paw at your nose. The thing had been shoved against the table...

"What time is it?"

"Late. I saw how much you put in the fridge, and..."

You sigh, rubbing your face clear of fatigue as you press yourself up. Feeling your breath hitch a moment as your eyes fell to the letter under you.

You grab it, and slip it into a drawer, casually pressing it closed before you get up with a stretch.

"I just wasn't hungry," You mumble, twisting around to find Nightmare staring directly at you.

The look of concern cuts deep, you had to admit.

"You never seem hungry..." A hoof of her's scuffs the floor for a moment as she finally looks away the moment your eyes met her's.

"It's just- it's a lot..."

It's been months since your talk. Almost six, in fact. Things had gotten better. A lot better.

She started to smile, she invited your touch. She didn't even seem upset nearly as often; her coat even seemed brighter...

Until tonight.

There was something you forgot.

This was a 'sentence.'

She wasn't going to be here forever.

In fact, she wasn't going to be here soon.

"I simply... Care. You have been working constantly, and the few times I do see you, you..." Her head drops for a moment, before she lets out a sigh. "You don't seem well."

"You don't need to worry, silly mare," You approach her slowly, giving her mane a small tussle. Hoping to disarm her, at least.

"I do care, though!" She protests, practically throwing your hand off of her as she snaps her gaze up to yours, glaring daggers deep into your eyes. "All of this is a blessing- even being able to eat, and with all your talk about being healthy, it-"

She catches herself, stopping mid-sentence and taking a step backwards. "It... It's important that you don't neglect it." She recovers slowly, pausing with a small stuttered breath, before she pushed forwards and pressed her head into you. Careful to avoid her horn, but nuzzling in nonetheless.

"You're important to me, I just..."

"I'm okaaay, Night..." You gently move a hand to pet at her mane- being intercepted by her cheek instead as she rolls into it. It lasted all of a second, before she turned, retreating with that signature moody switch she always seemed to show as her tail flicked anxiously behind her.

"I just don't want to see you fade away, into a memory..." She turns her head back, as she pauses just before the door. "So please... get some food, and come to bed. It's... it's cold, for a summer night."

Your breath catches a bit, as your thoughts snap back to that night again...

... Maybe getting something to eat would be wise. You didn't need her being any more upset than she already was.

You might've filled a hole, but that didn't mean life wouldn't dig any new ones for you to drag yourself out of...

For now, though, you could fill the one that was rumbling, your appetite finally returning with the disappearance of her starry tail.

Author's Note

A small teaser. I'm working on the sequel to this, called 'Aftershock' for now.

To all of you who've read this fic and left kind words: thank you. Catharsis is the most personally important fic I've ever written, it means the most to me.

Thank you for being on this wild ride with me. With my return to writing, of course this is getting love too.

Also, check out Banishment. As it is canonical to this story.