Battery

by RockStarMLP

Chapter 8: Love in the Mid-Night

Twilight laid comfortably in her bed, her head rested on her pillow as she had her back to the mattress without her wings popping out. It was late into the night, and she could no longer hear the echoing voices of four fillies after she told them to go to bed a few hours ago. The rest of her guests, her family and Tails and Cosmo, all retired to their respective guest rooms shortly after what has been an energetic sleepover for her daughter and her friends. Her castle was in a calm, cool and quiet state.

She, however, could not fall asleep. Try as she might, Twilight could not get herself to sleep, and it bothered her greatly. She had her reasons - several good reasons - to not be able to fall asleep, but it still annoyed her that her entire self wouldn't rest. Her mind had many thoughts racing around it as if her head was a race track. She was concerned with how Nyx was going to handle being in Canterlot tomorrow, or if any criminal pony would pose such a threat that Tails and Cosmo would have to act. The fear that Silver Lining could be a hoof's reach from her family was slowly building up more and more, even though she knew that he couldn't do anything.

But Twilight knew better, and she was fighting those thoughts with more optimistic and realistic reminders. Silver Lining and his followers were locked up behind bars under the watch of the Royal Guard and the SVU. Nyx's injuries were healed and nopony was going to do more to her. They had the protection of Tails and Shining Armor, and the support of all of their friends and family. Twilight had her parents and Cosmo to help provide a calmer atmosphere, and Rainbow Dash was sticking around all she could to help out. Rainbow kept her company, provided her the most support, and offered to do whatever she could to lend a helping hoof. Rainbow showed why she's the pony representing the Element of Loyalty, showing how much she cared. Twilight had her for a shoulder to lean on, a pony to talk to and help keep her in check, to make her feel safe and warm and lo-

Twilight shook her head before her thoughts continued on. She was thinking about Rainbow Dash a lot more than usual, and the cyan pegasus continuously showing up lately, and for some time before, didn't help with that. Those thoughts stuck in her mind for several weeks, but now was not the time for such thoughts. Her main focus was her family and the potential legal ordeal to come, but for that moment especially, to rest for the next day coming. Sadly, the latter focus was not coming easy, and the whirlwind of thoughts would not subside by just lying awake in bed.

"I need a book," she thought to herself, and got up from her bed.

She made her way through the castle, making her way throughout its crystalline corridors towards her personal library. As she walked along, her hoofsteps provided the only audible noise to be heard as each bedroom door she passed gave no sound. Except, at least, the light snoring sounds of Spike as he slept like a rock. It gave Twilight a reassuring smile that everypony else was able to allow themselves to rest, especially Nyx. She did notice the room for Tails and Cosmo cracked open by a mere sliver, but she paid no mind to it other than that.

As she walked down the stairs, her stomach gave an audible growling sound. She would've thought a meal cooked up by her mother would have satisfied her stomach until lunch tomorrow, but it seemed to be otherwise. Twilight decided to divert herself to the kitchen and prepare a small snack to take with her.

To her surprise, she found a light glowing out from the kitchen entrance as she approached it. Until that sight, her only source of light came from a small magical glow on the tip of her horn, illuminating her surrounds in a familiar shade of lavender. When she got closer, she stopped using her magic and let that light guide her the rest of the way. Twilight turned the corner into the kitchen to find a certain pegasus mare at the counter chowing down on a plate of leftovers with a pint of cider to her side.

"Rainbow Dash? What are you still doing up?" Twilight asked, unintentionally startling her friend.

"Whuh?" The pegasus turned her head surprised as she had her mouth full of food. She forcefully swallowed to clear her mouth and replied back. "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to have some of your mom's awesome cooking." She took a quick drink of her cider to quench her thirst.

"Oh," Twilight said, "that's alright. I just assumed you were either asleep or you went back to your home."

Rainbow said back flatly "Nah. Like I told you, Twi, I'm gonna stick by your side until this whole thing with that pain-in-the-flank Silver Lining is over with. I'd do it for anypony, especially for my friends and their families."

The purple mare smiled hearing her say that, seeing the Element of Loyalty being worn on Rainbow's chest like a medal. It meant so much to have those frequent reminders of how close their friendship was. "I know you would, Rainbow. Thank you."

She then felt her stomach two different things. First, it began to feel as if she had butterflies at the knowledge of how dedicated Rainbow was to anypony, to her family... to herself. Then it began to give off an audible rumbling sound, reminding her of her hunger from her trip down in the first place. That caused her to laugh embarrassingly and say "Hehe, sorry. I almost forgot why I'm here."

"You hungry, too? I still have some of the leftovers out if you want a plate."

"No thanks, I'm not that hungry. I was only getting a snack and then going to read in my library for a little while." Twilight paused briefly, thinking of how nice her friend's company could be. "You can join me, if you'd want to that is."

"Sure," Rainbow replied, doing her best to keep her own butterfly-filling stomach in check. "Grab your food and I’ll follow you."

After nodding, Twilight made her way to the kitchen's super-sized pantry that held enough foods to be able to provide a great feast if an event called for it. She found her cravings - half of a whole carrot cake made by Pinkie Pie and the Carrot clan - and cut two slices to put on a large plate. After preparing that and getting the necessary silverware, she levitated it all in her magic and led herself and her mare-

Twilight walked her way to the library with Rainbow Dash behind her. The walk wasn't as long as the way from her room to the kitchen, just far enough to not be caught in the hustling sounds of the more active castle space. The two mares entered the library, and the alicorn used magic to ignite a few candle lanterns that hung around the room for some light, and then she did the same with her fireplace. When that was lit, it was giving off a special kind of flame that glowed a shade of lavender. But it was Rainbow that noticed the fire's more intriguing action other than its glow.

"Does that fire... smell?"

Twilight chuckled, and then replied with "Yes, it is. It's a special kind of fireplace log Lumber Jack gave us as a gift for my Princess coronation. These logs are infused with lavender oil and emit a scent when lit, so I always have Spike put a fresh log in here when it's empty because I'm the only one who'd want to use the fireplace when reading."

"Really?" Rainbow said curiously. "But what about when it's cold out?"

"We'll compromise if Spike, Nyx and I use the library together. 'Jack gave us such a great deal on different logs last Hearth's Warming that we brought back a few extra logs of our own to Ponyville. Nyx got the candy cane logs, and Spike... I think he got the ones that were a shade of white." Twilight paused her explanation to try and recall what exact shade of white Lumber Jack said it was. "Royal White... no. Moonlit- no, wait! Marshmallow white."

A teasing smirk crossed the pegasus's mouth as her eyebrow arched. "Marshmallow white, huh? You mean like Rarity's coat color? He hasn't given up on her yet? That chase isn't going to end well if he keeps going for-"

"Rainbow!" Twilight practically scolded her friend for her statements, but paused herself in order to keep a laughter from escaping. "I didn't even make that connection. He just chose his logs and I didn't think second of it."

"Well, for an egghead you certainly are oblivious," teased Rainbow again. Her humor, however, didn't reward her with a laugh from her friend.

"Ha-ha, very funny," the alicorn said, sarcasm heavy in her tone. Her tone lightened up as she added "Make yourself comfortable while I get a book."

The pegasus mare laid down on a rug that sat near the fireplace, placing herself in front of the plate with the carrot cake. Twilight set the plate there so she could navigate with better focus to find her desired book, a book that she had left in her saddle bag for the last few days. When she found her bag and got her book, she returned to Rainbow Dash, who already took a good bite from her slice of cake. She paid no mind to it, only a playful roll of her eyes and placing herself on the rug to Rainbow's left. The book was still hovering in magic, the front facing both mares.

Laws & Declarations of Equestrian Government; Revision #26.

Rainbow read the title, and the commented with "That doesn't sound like an action-adventure book."

"It isn't: it's the up-to-date laws for all of Equestria. I was reading this when you came to tell me about those ponies at Nyx's castle. Maybe some more knowledge on this information could help me relax enough to get some sleep soon," Twilight explained.

"Only you could relax by the rules, Egghead," teased the cyan mare. Secretly, she thought it was cute to see Twilight look so enthusiastic to read a book.

The alicorn paid her friend no mind about the joke and focused on opening her book to where she left off before. She reached the desired pages quickly - the Special Victims Unit section - scanning the words to where she could pick up again and began to read. The knowledge before her was important, and she wanted to learn it. She wanted to read all she could that night, to put her focus on expanding her always thirsty knowledge for a better understanding for Equestria's law and order.

It did not help to have Rainbow Dash right next to her overlooking.

Nevertheless, she pushed her attention onto her book. Nyx could need the new knowledge to help with what was to come the next day, and Twilight Sparkle would not fail her daughter. She got through most of the more adult-related crimes and regulations, having read most of it already. It was only a couple pages before she reached the next section under the SVU section: child-based crimes. This was now very unfamiliar territory for her to go through and mentally ingest. It made her spine crawl and body shiver, the goose bumps hidden underneath her lavender coat.

Rainbow was finishing off her slice of carrot cake with one more big bite, savoring the flavor. Her cheeks were still stuffed with the cake when she noticed her friend's shiver down the spine. It didn't make sense to her, not with the fire that was so close to the two mares. At the same time, this gave her a window to work with, to show a little more open care. She had an idea, a great idea to do more for her special somepo- her best friend. Without much thought of hesitation, she acted.

Rainbow scooted closer to Twilight, the alicorn not noticing, extended out her left wing, and had it lay across Twilight's back.

Twilight had her attention shifting from her reading to the cyan wing now across her back. This wasn't the first time she had a friend drape a wing on her, especially during the rougher moments of her life. In this case, though, she felt her heart race a little faster than usual. A quiet library, a roaring fire, a book of new knowledge, and her beautiful mare-

If she didn't know better, Twilight believed she was experiencing a moment of romance with Rainbow Dash. She didn't know how to react to this except to turn her head to her right, unknowing becoming muzzle-to-muzzle with her friend. Both mares turned to look at one-another at the same time, and when their eyes met, they shied their focuses away almost immediately. They also felt their faces turn red as their cheeks began to feel warmer out of embarrassment.

Rainbow braved herself to speak up first. "Hope you don't mind putting my wing over you. I thought you were cold from that shiver you had."

Twilight felt her cheeks get even warmer from hearing that, but she shook it off so she could say something back. "Thank you, but I wasn't shivering because I was cold. It was from something I was reading."

"Something you were reading?"

"Yeah... it's the child abuse laws."

Rainbow's eyes widened upon hearing that subject. "Oh," she managed to say, trying to fight the urge to shiver herself. "I guess that can make anypony's skin crawl."

"I know," agreed Twilight. "Normally the knowledge of these laws would just be good to know, but right now... I need to make sure I know everything I can to make sure what happened to Nyx doesn't happen again. Plus, it will help me understand what can happen if this goes to court."

"That makes sense," Rainbow said. An uncomfortable silence fell as both mares didn't know what to say next. Twilight's eyes managed to find their way back down into her book, her attempt to get back to her reading, while Rainbow Dash looked around room trying to find something to say. There was one question she had in mind, although hesitant to ask it at all. Still, she did want to know what her friend was thinking about what could happen soon.

"Do you think it will?"

Twilight's reading was interrupted again as she lifted her gaze back to rainbow-maned pegasus. "What?"

"This whole thing going to court. Do you think it will happen?"

"Well, it could but..." Twilight paused, her expression shifting into sadness at the mere thought of a trial. "I hope it doesn't. I couldn't make Nyx goes through with that."

"Well, me too," Rainbow said, "but I don't get why it would. Silver Lining was caught red-hoofed and as far as we know isn't denying anything. If he's saying he did what he did he's straight-up guilty, right?"

"Not exactly. There are several ways he could try to work around being punished. If he can then court would be the best way to fight his claims. He could fight that what he did to us was justifiable and not wrong, but it would be up to a judge or jury to decide that after hearing what everypony would have to say," explained the lavender alicorn.

"Wow. That's..." Rainbow was about to make her comment when her friend readjusted herself. Her wing was still extended over Twilight's back, and she had made herself more comfortable, snuggling deeper down and allowing more of the wing to drape across the back. It was a long time since she could recall having her wing lay down across a pony's back, so long that Rainbow couldn't even remember who her last special somepony.

"That's what, Rainbow?"

Twilight's voice snapped her back to their current conversation. "Oh, um, I was saying... that's... that's dumb. Yeah, like really dumb. Some dumb, stupid pony like Silver Lining shouldn't have any good reason for doing what he did. That's so dumb I can't compare it to anything else," Rainbow responded, speaking swiftly and nervously. Her cheeks blushed bright red and most of her body tried to twitch, all saving the draped wing.

"Ooookay?" was all Twilight could reply with as she looked at her friend curiously. Reading Rainbow wasn't always difficult to her understanding, but now she just couldn't figure it out. What was going on with the pegasus mare was a new complexity of actions and emotions she had never seen before. Rather than put herself in a mental strain to understand, she decided to say to her "Look, Rainbow Dash... I don't know how late I plan to stay up and read, so if you want to go to one of the guest rooms and sleep before tomorrow, don't mind-"

"No! I mean, no, no..." Rainbow responded, almost panicking again. "I don't mind staying up with you, Twi. It's all up to you, of course, but I thought that maybe you'd like the company. I can listen to all the egg-he-" She cut herself off, trying not to sound insulting about the alicorn's intelligence, at least not presently. "I can be a lending ear for you to talk to, maybe help out." She then mused with "My wing's starting to feel numb draped across your back, anyway."

The lavender alicorn laughed a little before replying. "Well your wing does make a nice blanket. I learned that pegasi wing is a pony's most comfortable and natural blanket, especially for when they care about somepony a lot. I can't say I know that from experience myself, but it does feel nice to be on the covered end, as it were." With a heartfelt smile, she said "Thanks, Dash. I'm glad you've been there for me and my family."

"Hey, no big deal."

"It is to me. Thank you."

"Sure thing, Twi. I'll always be there for you."

The two mares began staring at each other, the pegasus's cheeks becoming redder and hotter as the alicorn's cheeks began to react the same. If their minds could read one-another's, they would be sharing the same thoughts and feelings for what their eyes were staring at. In their eyes, they each saw a caring, loyal, beautiful, amazing pony. Little did they notice were their heads leaning in, slowly getting closer and closer as their upper eyelids began to slowly droop down, their hearts rapidly increasing in pace. They came within an inch between muzzles before they realized what their unconsciously intentions were becoming and snapped them back into reality, becoming wide-eyed as their pupils became pin-pricked. They each darted their heads in opposite directions, avoiding contact for several moments or however long it felt like until they felt themselves calm down as much as possible.

"Sooo..." Twilight said, sounding very awkward in her tone, "I was about to move on from the descriptions of crimes and offenses and move on to the consequences and punishments established into law. You still don't mind listening?"

"What? No! No, go ahead. I'm all ears," Rainbow answered, acting just as awkward.

Using her muzzle, Twilight flipped the next page of her book to the next section of laws she had mentioned about. She began to read her book aloud as Rainbow tried to follow reading the text in the book. However, as proven during her studies for the Wonderbolts Reserves exam, neither reading nor listening would help her mentally ingest everything, yet she did not care. All she cared about was helping Twilight. It would probably split her mind in half just trying to comprehend all this information, but she was willing to try. Every now and again reiteration was needed, but the intellectual alicorn showed no mind of breaking down the information or even providing an example.

The two mares would get little sleep that night as they studied and talked into the wee hours of the night, all the while Rainbow Dash's wing stretched out over her friend's back, and eventually Twilight Sparkle leaning her head against the comfortable cushion she found against her friend's soft neck.

/)∞(\

"Well they're almost there. Seems like they're still too nervous."

"You're eavesdropping, aren't you?"

Tails and Cosmo were laid on top of their bedspread comfortably in one of the castle's spare bedrooms. Where they were was directly under Nyx's room, and it wasn't until a little while ago that they could overhear the four fillies staying up after being told to go to sleep. The couple didn't mind the muffled noise above, but Tails still took it upon himself to quiet the fillies down earlier with the harmless threat of using his "Super Saiyan magic" to force them to sleep. The tease, and the knowledge what a powered-up kitsune like him could do, was enough to have the girls fall asleep willingly.

When Tails had returned to the suite and gotten comfortable with Cosmo again, he sensed movement. It was one of the benefits of his training to feel the energy and magical aura of those who emit great strength. Since his time in Equestria, he had managed to do something unprecedented and adapt that sense with Equestrian magic. What he was sensing that night was the natural magic of two awake ponies, and noticing how one was significantly stronger, he knew one of them had to be Twilight. As for knowing who the other pony was, he was familiar enough with the other energy source to know it was Rainbow Dash.

His sense was confirmed with one last trick of his, and that was using his own energy to enhance his naturally inclined fox hearing. The voices still sounded muffled like the four fillies upstairs, but not enough for him not to translate. This was a talent of his that his beloved flower was never too keen on since she learned about it during a previous adventure, a mission against the Metarex in the world of the samurai simply known as Jack. Having such abilities, however, never changed his beloved's views on his occasional misuses. Tails was familiar with that tone, a very rare tone he's only heard once if not twice before: Cosmo's disappointment.

"What did I tell you about eavesdropping with your enhanced hearing?" she said to him, her head slowly rising up from resting on the fox's chest. "That's an invasion of property, Tails. They're our friends!"

Tails wore a forced and worried grin as he remaining on the bed. "Cosmo, I was only-"

"No buts, Miles." Tails's smirked disappeared and he almost gulped in nervousness. "Twilight and Rainbow Dash are not your focus for entertainment right now. Nyx comes first, and you shouldn’t need to eavesdrop on something that's none of your business. You know better than that."

Tails was about to reply nervously, but in one of the rarest moments of their relationship, he pulled out his trump card for defense. It wasn't his usual tactic, but in a case such as this, he felt best to shed some of his own light. "You mean like how you overheard Sonic and I having a chat in the workshop?"

Cosmo became stunned, her cheeks beginning to blush out of embarrassment. She hmphed, turned her head to the side and crossed her arms.

"You were curious about why Sonic was over for what was probably the tenth time that day, and you walked down part way of the stairs. We didn't hear you come down, but you were listening to us: eavesdropping on us. You heard about Sonic's plan to propose to Amy, and the next day you accidentally spilled the beans and told the girls what you heard." The fox leaned himself up, trying to angle himself to look towards her face. "You're just as guilty for listening into things as I am, you know."

"Well... well, this is different!" Cosmo attempted to argue. "You're intentionally listening with your powers from across a giant crystalline castle."

"And you did the same thing on the stairs," Tails rebutted.

"And I'm starting to notice that you're becoming too much like Sonic, which isn't exactly who the Miles Prower I love is," she replied with a glare.

With that, the fox felt taken aback. It was true that his older brother had an influence on him in more ways than one, for it was partly how he developed his own bravery and perseverance. On the other hand, he knew that not all influences are entirely positive on his own actions. Seeing what his love had meant, he leaned himself all the way up, looking for the sight of her beautiful, even when angry, blue eyes.

"Alright, I get it," Tails said, "maybe I was being too snide with what I said. I'm sorry for that, but there's something I want you to understand. My eavesdropping isn't entirely to know what's going on between Twilight and Rainbow Dash for kicks. Those two have feelings for each other, and it's starting to show during this whole conflict with Nyx's attackers. Doesn't that remind you of another couple who became close during a conflict? Us?"

Cosmo's attention turned from disappointed to curious. She returned her focus onto her fox, only to find his eyes half-shut and looking downward as he continued. "I know we're here for Nyx, but we're here for them, too. When we fell in love is not too different than how those two downstairs are right now. They were both already abused by those ponies by Night Stone Castle, and I can bet they'll come closer together if this whole thing ends up in court. I don't want them to reach a point where they're down to a last resort to change the outcome, and one throws themselves out there as a martyr for everypony. I don't want one of them to lose their life in some way, like how the Brotherhood of Darkness intervened and took you away from me. It could break them apart and no one deserves that heartache, especially their friends or Nyx.

"I get it, though. What I'm doing with my abilities is unnecessary and wrong. Call me some paranoid fox, but I just see myself being alert. Besides, they're not my only focus." His ears began to flicker a couple different directions on their own, as if randomly navigating. "I'm keeping my eyes open throughout the whole castle. No one will get in or out without me knowing."

Cosmo didn't say anything right away, taking in and thinking over Tails's explanation. It was usually the same kind of conversation the couple would have from time to time, especially when caught in some kind of conflict. Most times the fox would have a good reason for his behavior, but this time was a very rare instance of using his abilities beyond needed. He also made a valid defense about eavesdropping on others, and she still felt some levels of regret for snooping in on Tails and Sonic a few weeks ago. With that in mind, Cosmo was one to argue about the subject.

Yet the more detailed reasons he had for listening in on Twilight and Rainbow Dash were given a justification she never thought of before. She didn't see what could be blossoming romance between their pony friends as similar to how she and her beloved fox became an item, with all the tragedies and heartaches thrown in. For a moment, the idea of eavesdropping to protect others sounded like the right thing to do, to make sure it wouldn't have more than negative results. Above that, him having his hearing always monitoring for unseen problems was a smart and clever tactic for their friends' safety. It never ceased to amaze her just how selfless and reliant of a friend and warrior Tails makes himself for those he cares about, and he would go the farthest beyond just for her.

Deep down, she knew what he was doing, and after considering his words and reasons, her eyes and turned upon the fox sitting up next to her. "Fine. You have your reasons for keeping your hearing abilities up," she said, a gentle smile forming on her face, "and I'm proud of you for doing that. That reassures me how safe Twilight and her family will be until this matter is settled. But Tails, please just leave your hearing for security purposes, and not for listening in where you shouldn't. Deal?"

Tails nodded gently in agreement. "Deal," he replied, and the two leaned in to each other. Their lips came together for a brief and love-filled kiss, a small romantic way for them to put their quarrel behind them. There have been a multitude of disagreements they've had with each other, but never have they escalated their problems into full-blown arguments. In all the time they've spent together, there were never really fights, just the butting of views that involved finding compromise.

When their lips parted, the two looked into one-another's eyes for a moment before he broke the silence. "Let's try to get some sleep. We've got a long day in Canterlot tomorrow."

"Alright," Cosmo replied soothingly. She waited for her love to lay back down on the bed before making herself comfortable. She snuggled against his left, her left arm draped across his chest and her head within the crook of his neck. "Good night, Tails."

"Good night, Cosmo," he said, a relaxed grin across his face. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, and the two began to drift off to sleep.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

the MLP + Taismo series

Care to tell me more?

[RockStarMLP]

7753392 it's essentially what I label my stories here on FimFiction, as near all of them will involve my Taismo series over on DeviantArt. If you'd like to read more about it, I'd recommend starting with the Taismo series for a better understanding of the titular couple and their universe, or go straight to my first story, Taismo: Discovering Equestria, for a quick intro of the two and their introduction to the world of MLP

[Brony4Life2014]

Is this story on hiatus or cancelled? I wonder what happened to my favorite filly Nyx? The condition she is in just makes me wish I was there with her to the end and hug her and never let go of her and then treat her, her family and friends (CMC) to do whatever they wanted to do. Please keep the story going, I want to see how Nyx and her mother overcome this in their time of need.

[Brony4Life2014]

Are you still working on Battery or is it cancelled? I really want to know what happens to Nyx and her family as well as Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle’s relationship. Also, do you plan on doing more stories with Nyx, Team JAG, The Mane 6 and Taismo in the future? If so, then I look forward to it as Nyx is my favorite little filly aside from the CMC as she is so adorable and cute

[Brony4Life2014]

Are you planning on finishing this story on Fimfiction or on your Deviantart page or are you canceling this story because I really want to know what happens to Nyx and her family as well as Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s relationship going forward. Your Taismo and MLP crossovers are my favorite of the Taismo series as Nyx is one of my favorite OC’s in the fandom and she is so cute and adorable whenever she’s with her friends or her mother, Twilight.

[Battle154]

9699602
Is there a Deviant Art page?

[E t the extra terrestria]

The new Chapter 9 20210

[Littletugsjr]

The chamber 9 shining armor

[Fluttershylover3]

9699602
im with you and do want this to be updated soon