This is How a Unicorn Bunks
As Izzy closed the door behind her, Sunny Starscout, dropping her satchel and travel pack off to the side, couldn't help but be entranced by the interior of the unicorn's humble abode once again, between its intricate wooded design, the innumerable unicycled innovations on display, and just the sheer fact of being inside a friend's home. Even after nearly a day of exploring the magically rejuvenated Bridlewood with Izzy and Alphabittle, she'd still found herself most excited to revisit La Villa Izzy.
She managed to get lost in her admiration for practically a minute before she was suddenly pulled back to reality by a hooftap on her shoulder. Or rather, what she initially assumed was a hooftap. She looked over and instead found a tea kettle floating in the air, parallel with her forelegs. She then turned around fully to see Izzy, still standing by the door, grinning at her, with her horn glowing softly.
"That's definitely you, right?" Sunny asked. "Not some weird unconscious alicorn thing I'm doing somehow?"
"It's me, all right!" Izzy chirped. "I've been practicing making things float all the time these past few days. I think I'm really getting the hang of it!"
Izzy's body tensed as she closed her eyes and moved her front legs forward into a concentrated stance. The corona around her horn intensified, and Sunny saw the tea kettle begin to circle her in a clockwise direction. It began picking up speed more and more quickly, until, before Sunny knew it, it had become a blur that was entirely surrounding her.
"Uh, Izzy?" Sunny asked. "This is really cool, but, uh..."
Izzy's eyes opened. Her corona dimmed as she lost focus, and the tea kettle suddenly veered off in a tangent line and smashed against the wall.
"Aww, I really liked that one."
"I'm sorry!" Sunny apologized hurriedly. "I didn't mean to break your concentration, I just--"
"Hey, don't apologize! We're all still learning, right?" Izzy shrugged. "It's not like that's the only thing I've broken. And I'm good at fixing things!" She ignited her horn again and levitated the pieces onto a nearby table for eventual repairs.
"True," Sunny replied as Izzy finished and trotted over to her. "Though you're still doing better than me so far. I can't do anything intentional at all. I haven't even figured out how to get my horn and wings back, if I even can."
Izzy draped a foreleg over Sunny's shoulders. "Aw, of course you will, Sunny! I believe in you!"
Sunny smiled. "Thanks."
"What were you looking at before all that just now?"
"Huh?" Sunny's mind blanked briefly as she fished for the answer to that question. "Oh! I was just admiring your home a bit. It looks even more wonderful at night, the way the lanterns just illuminate everything. There's just... I don't know, just such life to it. Before magic, it seemed like the only place in Bridlewood that had any life."
"It kinda was," Izzy replied, withdrawing her hoof and walking over to face Sunny. "I never really went into town much after I lost my parents," she sighed. "I tried to get along with other ponies, but I couldn't ever make anypony, well, happy. They were always just content to be miserable, no matter what I did." Her voice shifted into a whisper. "It's, uh, kinda my fault mayonnaise is a bad word. There were... incidents." She made an uncomfortable whistling noise as Sunny giggled.
"But anyway, I just tried to keep things happy in here, unicycling and making all kinds of stuff that I always hoped I'd be able to share." She galloped over to her music machine, made of glass bottles and kitchen utensils, and pushed down on the crank, beaming as Sunny watched and listened to the tune.
"It paid off," Sunny commented. "It's beautiful. I almost feel like I'd heard that song, even before last time, though I can't place where."
"Me too. I think my parents sang it to me when I was a really little filly, to help me sleep. But I can't remember the words."
"Maybe we'll figure it out someday."
"Maybe." Izzy yawned. "Speaking of sleep, it is pretty late. Did you want to go to bed soon?"
Sunny nodded. "I think so. I left my sleeping bag over by the door. Let me just--"
"Sleeping bag?"
"Well... yeah? Where else am I gonna sleep?"
Izzy scoffed, though still bearing a smile. "In my bed, silly."
Sunny's eyes widened. "What? In-in-in your..."
"Why not? It's definitely big enough. I don't want you sleeping on the floor, Sunny."
"Well..." Sunny looked away and pondered. If Izzy was comfortable with it... no, it still felt weird. But did it? She wasn't sure. She looked back at Izzy, who was beaming at her.
How could she say no to those eyes?
"I guess so. If you really want me to."
"I do!" Izzy joyfully pronked up and down. "It's gonna be so much fun, except not really cause we'll be asleep, but it'll still be really nice, and I promise I don't snore -- well, okay, I don't promise that because I don't know, but if I do, nopony's ever told me. But why would anypony tell me when I live alone? It's probably fine. But anyway, race you up the stairs!"
Before Sunny had fully comprehended what Izzy had just said, the unicorn had already darted halfway to the top of the steps, and Sunny galloped after her. "Hey, wait up!"
"You'll have to catch me!"
"Oh, you're on!" And Sunny followed Izzy as her newly minted bunkmate led her on a merry chase through the second floor, after which the two were more than ready to get some shuteye.
Izzy's bed was certainly large; Sunny didn't ask, but she imagined it had likely been used by multiple generations of Moonbows. It creaked a little, presumably from simple age rather than any strain under their combined weight. But it was certainly cozy, and despite her initial misgivings about the situation, Sunny had quickly fallen asleep.
It was still dark, outside and in, when she awoke, with only the soft glow of some of the lanterns below providing some illumination. Sunny looked around, disoriented, before realizing she hadn't simply woken up; she could feel a bit of soreness in her underbelly, and realized Izzy had kicked her.
She peered over in the darkness and saw that Izzy had indeed flipped over to face her. The unicorn was still asleep, but it clearly wasn't a sound one. Soft groans emitted from her as her body twitched, more and more aggressively each time. Her back bottom leg jutted out suddenly, confirming Sunny's suspicion as it now collided with her own back legs.
Sunny hopped out of bed and trotted over to Izzy's side. She lifted her forelimbs onto the bed and placed her hooves on Izzy's back, giving a soft shove. "Izzy!" she whispered. "Are you okay?"
No response beyond more of the same groans. She gave another shove, then got up fully onto the limited space on the bed next to Izzy, resulting in another bed creak. She nudged off the covers, then gently set her hooves on Izzy's exposed side and began to rub furiously, hoping the motion would wake her from whatever bad dream she was having.
Izzy didn't awaken. But the trembling did start to calm down. The groaning softened.
Sunny paused, thinking. She'd been intending to look for the right nerve to wake Izzy up, but if just her touch was enough for some relief, then perhaps she should focus on simply providing comfort instead. She recalled what Izzy had said about the musical melody downstairs. Softly, she began to hum the tune, and couldn't help but agree that it made a perfect lullaby, even without knowing the lyrics.
She began to rub again, more slowly and deliberately, in circles on Izzy's fur. She could feel her easing, the breathing slowing, the nightmare fading. The legs still moved, but not in a sudden kick, but now a slow stretching. Sunny moved further down Izzy's backside, hunting for possible points of tension to relieve. She could tell she'd found one by a sudden noise from the unicorn.
"Mmmmmmmm..."
Sunny pulled back and stopped humming when Izzy suddenly began to roll over, exposing her underbelly to the sky. There was a contented smile Sunny could see underneath the disheveled blue hair. Gingerly, Sunny reapplied her hooves and began to rub and hum again, and she reflected Izzy's expression as more sighs of relief were released into the air.
She recalled a phrase her father had always said to her before bed each night, and decided it made as much sense as any for a possible lyric for the tune. "My little pony, my little pony..."
She couldn't think of any other lines from there, but it seemed to satisfy Izzy. After a few moments, the sleeping mare tipped over to her right, now facing Sunny once again.
It was positively the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. Almost by pure instinct, Sunny leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Izzy's forehead, just underneath her horn.
"Hhhmmmmm..." The unconscious grin grew wider.
Blushing furiously, Sunny quickly pulled the covers back onto Izzy and darted back to her side of the bed. She laid back down and pulled up her own covers, only to notice Izzy's body was shifting back toward her. Her bedmate was still facing the other direction, but now her backside was pressed right up against Sunny.
There was a part of her that wanted to immediately flee, grab her sleeping bag and take her chances in the woods outside. There was another part insisting she not only stay, but nuzzle back.
It only took a few moments for the latter to win out.
She rested her head against the purple-furred body and began to slip back into dreamland.
"Good morning, friend!"
Sunny opened her eyes. It was light out; it was very definitely morning. She couldn't look over to see what time it was, however, given Izzy's face was blocking out nearly everything else in front of her.
"G'mornin'," Sunny moaned, lifting her head groggily. She rubbed her eyes and could see she was now facing the other direction; Izzy was up and standing to the side of the bed. "W'time izzit?"
"Time to get up, of course! I'm gonna make us some apple flapjacks!" Izzy replied, with a quick pronk at the last word. "Moonbow family recipe!"
"That s'unds great, 'zzy, 'll get up 'n just a few." She laid her head back down on the pillow and flashed an appreciative smile in Izzy's direction.
"Okay, fine, you can sleep a few more minutes if you need to." Izzy leaned in closer. "I did want to thank you, though. For last night. I wasn't awake, but... I could feel it. When you stopped my bad dream, snuggled in against me, kissed me... it was really nice, Sunny. Thank you."
And Izzy leaned in and left a kiss of her own on Sunny's forehead. She pulled back, staring inquisitively at her. It took a moment for Sunny, still very drowsy, to recognize what she was waiting for. After a moment, she nodded.
Izzy leaned in and kissed Sunny on the lips. Just for a brief few seconds, and yet... it seemed eternal.
But then it was over, and Izzy was heading toward the stairs, happily reiterating that she'd see her down in the kitchen shortly. Sunny, meanwhile, was content to stay in bed and bask in the moment for another few minutes.
And for the briefest of moments, she swore she felt the same tingle she'd had when the Unity Crystals had first lifted her up to ascension.
After a short while, she clambered out onto the floor, a grin stretched across her face. It was time for another day with Izzy Moonbow.
