Night is the worst. It offers the least amount of distractions for my love. All of her charges are typically asleep in their pens and there is seldom much to do after a certain time.
And nothing to silence memories.
I awoke sometime in the night to her whimpering in her slumber, curled up in the fetal position and clutching the stuffed unicorn I had made not long after our trek through the mirror as though it was a lifeline.
Fluttershy will always cry, the thought came to me unbidden, remenbering the taunt she had to endure until she found her friends in us.
Tears weĺing in my eyes, I reached out all pulled her into my arms, cradling her head in the hollow of my neck. I began to hum softly, a song that I heard her sing to Sweetie Belle and her friends one night.
Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to rest your weary head.
Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to go to bed...
At the sound of my voice she seemed to relax for a moment before grabbing me in a tight hold in her sleep.
"Don't leave me," she uttered in her sleep. "They always come when I'm alone."
The tears broke free and fell down my cheeks.
"I'm here, my love," I whispered, stroking her hair. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. They won't bother you anymore."
Her body relaxed slightly, sighing in comfort.
I continued to stroke her hair.
"I promise, I'm not going anywhere without you."
The next morning I woke up to see her sitting at her desk drawing, glancing over from time to time to me. I smiled at her and shifted onto my side, pushing my thick hair out of the way.
"Enjoying the view, darling?" I purred.
She tipped her sketchpad to me to reveal a very god likeness of me at rest on her bed.
"To remember," she whispered in a voice that reminded me of how she used to be.
I sat up and smiled. An idea had come to me while holding her last night.
"I have better idea, my dear," I whispered as i slid out of the bed.
Dash dropped her box in the corner and glanced around.
"How'd you find this place?" She asked.
I smiled as Fluttershy came out of one of the bedrooms with a folded box she had just emptied.
"I have my contacts," I said coyly. "Besides, this will work out much better, for all of us. The distance is only slightly more than halfed for Fluttershy and I, and the commute for you is slightly shorter as well."
She glanced around the two-bedroom townhouse we had just started to move into.
"It is a pretty sweet pad," she said as my quiet love came up to wrap an arm around my waist.
"I should hope so," I said, glancing to the side.
"I have a promise to keep, made late at night."