The farmhouse is silent.
Doug Apple startles awake, only the faint light of the stars piercing through the open windows. His ears perk up, trying to discern any noise besides the sporadic creaking of the old wooden farmhouse. His hands fumble at the cotton sheets scattered around him, desperately trying to find one of the mares that had helped him go to sleep yesterday; he had been like a newborn foal, unwilling to go to sleep except in the hooves of his beloved.
His breathing comes in fitful gasps as he searches through the tangle of fabric, only the cold warmth of a summer night greeting him.
Where were they? Had something happened? Nightmare Moon returned again, and stole them away?
Bare feet hit the rough wooden floorboards, quietly pattering along the hallways to Apple Bloom's room. The door squeaks as it opens, Doug's head peeking through to try to find his six year old filly. Her bed is nicely made, two fluffed pillows propped up against the headboard, but no telltale lump of filly tucked in, or hiding under the covers. He walks up anyway to double check, running a hand along the stitched lines of the soft quilt and underneath the pillows.
Gone.
Heavy footfalls now as he runs outside, sprinting the short distance to the Carrot House where the rest of the fillies sleep. The front door opens easily, the new floorboards silent but for the pounding of his feet. He stops outside the first room he comes to, raising one trembling arm to the door. Applebaum and Lemon's room. His left hand weakly grasps the doorknob, rattling it as he tries to steel himself. His arm burns, the barely healed scars along his wrist painfully complaining about the sudden motion.
A crack of moonlight enters as the door slowly opens, one blue eye peeking into the dark room. Hard breaths come in and out as he pauses, standing in the doorway; no sound comes from the room, and it is impossible to make out whether the lumps in the two beds are pillows or ponies.
Doug pushes the door the rest of the way, tiptoeing the few steps to the near bed. His mind rapidly plays through possibilities, trying to spot any irregularities: no liquid pooling underneath the base of the bed, no glints of cobalt magic illuminating the air. And no sound, no stirring, no...
Doug shakily gets to the edge of the bed, one hand tentatively moving to the lump slowly rising up and down.
Slowly rising up and down.
The breath he didn't realize he was holding rushes out as he stumbles back. He roughly catches himself as he sits down, trying to control the breaths coming in fits and spurts. He slowly calms down, closing his eyes as his hands cover his face, trying to contain and wipe away his tears while whispering a mantra of "They're okay, it's okay, they're okay." He glances up, freezing as he spots two large pools reflecting the light from the open doorway.
Lemon opens her mouth again, a slight frown and shift of her head to the side at the lack of response from her sire. She hops down, his hands automatically coming up to help guide her to his chest. The four year old filly snuggles close before breaking away, still trying to reassure the human that she is okay. Light prods from her muzzle get him to stand, though he checks on her sister Applebaum's still sleeping form before he follows her out of the room.
The small yellow filly grabs one of the games he likes with her mouth, happily bouncing up and down as she sees the smile on his face. She dumps the contents of the box out on the floor, the handmade cards and dice bouncing around. Lemon frowns as she concentrates on shuffling the cards, a quick shake of her head enough to let her sire know she can hoof it. She's a big filly, after all! Her mouth opens, ready to explain all that she did yesterday with the dams of the herd while he was asleep.
Doug smiles as he separates the pieces into their piles, the clattering of the dice rolling around eerily disconcerting against the silent cards shuffling. Lemon babbles along, her mouth opening and closing but nothing audible coming out. She occasionally pauses as if waiting for a response, the quick nod of his head enough to keep her going. The two players split up their five white dice, Lemon dealing the starting cards as the game commences.
"But then I told her that it wasn't because I didn't really want to help her bake cupcakes! Well, not yet, and Pinkie Pie got really mad at me for no reason at all! Dam can be sooo unreasonable sometimes, you know?"
Doug smiles in return, muscles he didn't know were tensed relaxing as he hears her voice. "Yeah, your dam can be quite insistent when she wants to do something. Not to the same extent as Rarity, but still." They both turn as Hedge walks to the front door. Fluttershy's filly turns, a quick wave at the two before she slips outside, getting an early start on her morning chores.
"I know!" Lemon smiles, peeking back behind her screen and rearranging her dice. "But, when she found out that I had a bunch of homework to do she got better. I mean, come ooon, Miss Cheerilee! Just because Princess Celestia came here, doesn't mean we have to write a whole two pages on what we saw! It should be a free day! You know?"
Doug suppresses his shudder, forcing out, "I bet she'll be getting a lot of weird topics!"
"I know, right?! 'How my life was nearly ruined by Nightmare Moon!' by everypony in class!" Lemon giggles, revealing her dice and tossing back a bunch of developments.
Doug trades in a few of his planets, grabbing cards from the stack before he stops. He stares at Lemon, saying, "Hey. You're talking!"
Lemon rolls her eyes, "Yeah, obviously. Normally you're telling me to be quiet! Well, maybe not you so much as Applejack. Or Rarity." Her face brightens as she exclaims, "Hey! You can hear me!"
"I can!" Doug leans over, grabbing the now squirming filly and hugging her, "I can hear you! Nightmare Moon's curse must have worn off!"
"Woohooo!" Lemon shouts, her small forelegs wrapping as far around as she an and embracing her sire, "I should start over from the beginning!"
"Heh, I'd like that," Doug jovially says, scratching her between the ears, "But first, do you know where Apple Bloom is? And Applejack, the rest of the herd?"
"Oh! I think they're still at the party! You know, at the library? Pinkie Pie was pretty miffed that it got delayed by Nightmare Moon and all. I think you went to bed before that, since you were still tired even after your nap. Normally after I take a nap I'm raring to go, you know? But, then again, you had stayed awake all night." Lemon sighs before her chipper attitude returns, "And I think Sweetie Belle is at Rarity's with Scootaloo. Probably with Apple Bloom." She pouts a little, "Can't believe we couldn't stay over there longer. Applebaum was particularly upset, since she's got her cutie mark and all, but Applejack managed to convince her to watch all of us. Well, she got me to help too." She perks right back up, "But! I think they'll be wrapping it up soon. Maybe an hour or two? Dam doesn't like her parties to go for toooo long, you know?"
Doug falls back as he listens to the filly, laying on the ground with her curly yellow mane spilling around his shoulders. He rubs her back, enjoying her soft coos as his eyes close, a soft sob escaping his lips.
Lemon peers down at her sire, a slight frown of her own as she feels the vibration in his chest. She pushes a hoof, trying to squelch the shaking. "Hey, we're better now! You can be happy!" Lemon nuzzles his neck and face, smiling as she struggles against the arm holding her. Her wet snout smears across his ears, giggles escaping both of them.
"Oh, I'm not crying because I'm sad," Doug says, his voice catching. "It's because you're all okay."
"Oooh! You know, dam told me about that. I guess I just haven't seen it very much!" Lemon giggles, "Do you think it's because she keeps everypony happy? And they don't have any reasons to be sad?"
"Well, there are plenty of reasons to be sad," Doug says, a bit of glower in his voice. Lemon's muzzle briefly curls to a frown, the barest hint of her dam's telltale mane sag before her smile returns just as quickly. Doug squeezes harder, Lemon giggling as he continues, "Like you all. I mean, I love each and every one of you, and I would hate for anything to happen to any of you."
"Oh, don't be silly!" Lemon pantomimes a huge smile, her hooves drawing her mouth larger than her muzzle, "I hope lots of stuff happens to us! Life would be soooo boooring otherwise, you know?"
"Let me rephrase," Doug says as he sits back up, Lemon scooching around to ride on his shoulders, "I don't want any bad stuff to happen to any of you."
"Ooooh." Lemon shrugs, leaping off her sire, tucking her head to her chest and somersaulting back to her game pieces. "Eh, I guess." She glances around the game board before pulling back a bunch of dice and shaking her cup. "But, aren't all the mares of the herd, like, the Elements or something? That's what Princess Celestia said, I think. Now they'll protect us from all the bad stuff! At least, all the really bad stuff. Like Nightmare Moon. And she's all better now, right?" Her cup slams down as Lemon pauses, cocking her head at Doug's blank stare. "You okay?"
Doug shakes his head from side to side, his arms again coming up to cover his nose and eyes. He sniffs as Lemon comes back up to him, one hand rubbing her head as she presses against his leg.
"You can tell me, right? When something's wrong?" Lemon briefly smiles, "And I can help make it better!"
"Heh," Doug chuckles, his mouth curling to a smile against the horrors his mind evokes, "I'd really appreciate that."
Lemon nuzzles Doug before returning to her spot, the two glancing outside at the rays of sunlight starting to paint the sky. Both smile, a palpable sense of relief at the sight of another night ending.