Today was a rough day of work for you and all you wanted was to get back home and sit on the couch. But that wasn't the only reason you wanted to get back to your abode so urgently, ever since she came to live with you, Nightingale greeted you at the door with a shimmering smile and a plate of cookies whenever you returned from work. After a few days, you grew to love and cherish her greeting and more importantly, Nightingale herself. Yes, it is true that you fell in love with her but, you suppressed your infatuation because you couldn't bear the thought of her turning you down or worse, her leaving you. Every time that particular thought came to your mind, you would feel a cold shiver consume you. Shaking the thoughts away, you see your home in the distance and as per usual, your face involuntarily evolves into a dopey grin. You hastily rip the keys out of your pocket and spastically open the door. Slowly, the door pans to the right and there she was,
"Hey Anon, how was work?" Nightingale greeted with an upbeat tone after you closed the door. You found yourself lost in her enchanting eyes. Those blue portals of beauty and serenity, beckoning you to look deeper into them and you did just that. Suddenly her silk voice came back into play, knocking you out of your trance, "Anon, you're doing it again."
"Huh, what. Oh, my bad I keep zoning out." She gives you a doubtful look.
"Mhm, so tell me all about your day at work." After telling her about your day, you ask,
"Did you find any jobs yet?" Hearing your sentence, she quickly loses her happy demeanor.
"Ugh, no. I asked Princess Twilight Sparkle but she hasn't gotten back to me yet."
"Take as much time as you need, I make enough bits to get us through this."
"I know and I'm grateful for that, but I just feel like I'm taking up too much of your space." She looked down at the floor with a shameful expression. You've never really seen Nightingale like this, she was usually radiating with happiness but now she just looks so miserable. Kneeling down to meet her height, you take your hand and place it under her chin, pulling her face up to meet yours,
"Nightingale, listen to me. Even if I was making 2 bits a day, I still wouldn't mind you staying here with me. To be honest, if you didn't come to the bar that night, I would be so miserable."
"Wait, what do you mean miserable, you're so laid-back and fun.
I honestly can't see you as sad or depressed in any way."
"Oh, so I haven't told you huh? Well, after ponies started to get used to me being here, I got tired of Twilight and the others coming to me about their awesome coltfriends. So I gave dating a try, but mares always turned me down as soon as I had popped the question. Then I made a move on Rainbow, only to have her scold me for trying to "ruin our friendship". After she kind of tore my head off, I had Twilight drop me off at Moonshine's place. Once I found a nice booth to sit in, she came in with him. That slimy worm, Soarin. Rainbow lied to me just so she could make me fuck off."
"That's just so bucking uncool, why would ponies do that to you, especially Rainbow Dash."
"I guess ponies don't see humans as...compatible."
"I-I know how you feel, Anon. You see, before I became a night guard, I was actually working 2 jobs and when Princess Luna returned from her banishment, the ponies increased their torment, telling me things like,
"Luna's return would only put us all in danger. And you are nothing but a monster she created!"
At one point I thought that I wasn't going to-" Nightingale could not finish her story, for they reopened old wounds. Wounds that caused her to lose her composure and before you knew it, she was crying into your chest. Nightingale's warm tears soaking into your shirt, as her quivering body gripped you for comfort. You slowly picked her up and carried her to the couch, lying down as she latched onto your body. Gradually, her crying died down until her breathing steadied, looking up at her, you saw that she was asleep. And soon you followed suit, nodding off as well, but the cold air outside was beginning to lurk into the house. You didn't want her to be cold, so you gently shifted your body to where she was off of your chest and you slowly rose to your feet. Yet before you could move, Nightingale wrapped two hooves around your middle,
"Please don't leave me." You place your arm over Nightingale's hooves,
"I won't, I'm just going to grab some firewood. I'll be back, I promise." You walked through the house until you found a stack of logs, you grab two logs of wood, a blanket and pillow from your room, and a pack of matches from the kitchen. Making it back to the living room, you saw Nightingale sitting upright waiting patiently for you to return to her. After setting light to the chimney, you wander back to the couch and lie down, allowing her to crawl on your chest. Throwing the blanket over yourselves, Nightingale nuzzled under your chin,
"Feel better?"
"Yeah." Her voice was tired and quiet,
"Do you want me to get you some water or something to eat?"
"No, I just wanna lay here. With you." Your heart stopped when she spoke those words. They danced wildly in your head, but enough thinking, she needed you to be here for her,
"Sure, no problem."
"Thanks, Anon. You're my hero." And just like that, she dozed off.
"She just called me her hero...could sh-no! What's wrong with me?! There she is at her weakest moment and you just had to think that she was falling for you!" After you finished berating yourself, you glanced down at her sleeping form and kissed her head.
Soon, sleep overcame you as well...