Cloud awoke slowly, and instantly realized he lacked the will to get out of bed yet. He quickly wondered how it was that overnight his bed went from normal bed to impossibly comfortable bed Just in time to wake up. He stifled a yawn and settled back into his warm bed. He must have slept funny, because his wing was trapped under the pillow he was cuddling. Pressing his cheek into the warm, silky mass. Confusion hit him like a herd of buffalo as he realized a couple things: one, he didn't have silk pillow covers; two, he only had one pillow and it was very small and he never hugged it; and three, PILLOWS DON'T HUG BACK! Cloud's eyes snapped open and he looked to his left, and saw something he wasn't expecting. There, in his embrace was a certain changeling, that was hugging him and using his wing as a partial blanket. Cloud blinked a few times while his sleep-addled brain processed this. Apparently, Pandora slept with him... Pandora... slept... in the same bed... as him... as in, was hugging him... in bed... right now.
"..."
"OH BUCK!"
Cloud jumped out of bed with a yelp and scrambled across the floor, waking Pandora with a jolt.
"THE COYOTES STOLE MY MICROWAVE!"
Pandora blearily shouted. When she saw Cloud she smiled and said,
"Good morning Cloud, did you sleep well?"
Cloud stared at her for a second, confusion radiating from his face and his emotional aura.
"Hello?"
"Clou-"
"WHY WERE YOU SLEEPING WITH ME!"
Pandora cringed at his shouting and looked at him with bewilderment.
"What do you mean?"
"Why were you in bed with me... and hugging me?!"
"Well technically you were hugging me, and I was just sleeping in your bed, I figured you would be happy that I was sharing my body heat with you. I didn't think you'd mind that much, judging by your emotions whenever you touched me, I know you find touching me uncomfortable, but... I thought I was helping."
Seing her downcast eyes, Cloud's eyes widened and hequickly explained in a panicked voice,
"You've got it all wrong, you're not the problem, I am. I've... had some bad experiences with other ponies so I'm not really much of a hugger. In fact, I prefer hugging you over anypony else, because I know you actually think of me as a friend, you know, and... stuff. A-and that's special to me. No, the reason I freaked out is also my fault. You see, ponies don't sleep together except in... special conditions."
"Wait... WHAT? Bu-but back at The Hive all changelings group together to sleep, it's the only way to stay warm because of how cold it gets."
"And it's entirely my fault Pandora. I forgot to set up sleeping arrangements for you amd I didn't explain how pony culture worked, but don't worry, today we'll fix that."
Pandora got a thoughtful look before asking,
"Cloud... can I... make us breakfast please? I really want to make this whole thing up to you, and try cooking. Don't worry! I'm only going to make toast with peanut butter... lots and lots of peanut butter."
Seeing no harm in this arrangement, Cloud left Pandora to the simple process of using the toaster woth the instructions he gave her, and went to take a shower. While in the shower, Cloud came upon two shocking realizations, he didn't actually mind hugging Pandora which was weird considering his crippling fear of mares, and his coat seemed... bluer than usual. With a shrug, he chalked it up to random coincidences and exited the bathroom. Upon exiting, Cloud saw Pandora frantically spraying whipped cream onto the smoking toaster while yelling,
"Cloud! Your fire extinguisher isn't working this time! Help!"
With a groan, Cloud unplugged the toaster and removed the two lumps of charcoal that were once bread. Cloud looked with amusement at Pandora who was smiling sheepishly, and said,
"I think I'll take it from here, if you don't mind."
Pandora gave an uncomfortable smile and said,
"Yeah, I'm going to listen to one of my brother's saying on this."
"What was the saying?"
"He once told me after returning from infiltration that,'cooking and sex are a lot alike. Most people don't mind if it's a little loud and messy, but you should probably stop when things start to burn.'"
Cloud went wide eye'd at this that and began laughing while putting more toast into the toaster.
"I so want to meet your brother some day, he sounds like a riot."
Pandora smiled and said,
" You have no idea."
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After a breakfast of toast with peanut butter (or a jar of peanut butter with toast in Pandora's case) Cloud began laying out the schedule.
"Alright, so after this I'll start teaching you all about pony culture and other basic skills. We'll eat lunch, and then head into Canterlot to get you a bed, grab something from a bakery for a snack, kill time until dinner, and then eat dinner before heading back here to see your hopefully delivered bed waiting for you."
"Wait, we're going into town! Like, me and you, in town, with... ponies?!"
Cloud noticed her look of terror and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"Pandora, I promise, I won't let anything bad happen to you. If anypony tries something, I will personally destroy them, deal?"
Pandora gave Cloud a small smile before nodding, her cheeks turning a slightly bluish-green color as she did. Cloud dismissed this as some changeling thing and set to work teaching her important lessons, such as. Never eat gum you find under tables, never lick another pony, don't hiss at ponies, don't light stuff on fire, and many more. He then proceeded to explain the concept of personal space seeing as Pandora didn't really seem to get it. By the time the two had eaten a quick lunch of salad, the duo headed out to Canterlot.
---------------------------
After deciding on a desguise, which consisted of the body of a popular model, with the addition of an off white coat and honey yellow mane who Pandora immediately dubbed "Honey Pot" the two walked to Canterlot. After their trip, Cloud and Pandora began their errands, with Pandora looking very shaky and keeping close to Cloud, the two found a furniture store and started shopping. Some time later, the two left the furniture store where Pandora chose a hammock to sleep in rather than a bed (which Cloud was secretly happy about considering it would free up some space) the two grabbed some donuts from a famous bakery called "Doughnut Joe's" of which Cloud ate half of his sour cream donut, and Pandora ate her chocolate donut, the other half of Cloud's doughnut, and convinced Cloud to get her another one, this time a simple chocolate glazed, and went to sit in a park until dinner. As the two sat and talked, Cloud couldn't help but notice just how nice it was to have somepony to do stuff like this with, and that he had genuinely enjoyed his day, Cloud noticed the lowering sum and got Pandora's attention.
"Hey Pandora, I mean, 'Honey Pot', where do you want to eat?"
The faux pegasus looked around the approaching street before spotting a small, clean looking diner which she immediately pointed to and asked,
"How about that one?"
Cloud followed her hoof and saw the diner.
"Good choice, that place has great onion rings."
So with Cloud in the lead, the pair walked to the diner, ready to eat massive amounts of artery clogging food until they became ill.