Over the next few months, Twilight worked with Seth's anxiety, but seemed to be getting nowhere at all. Every day, it was mostly stammering and worrying noises in a conversation with maybe ten words from him, assuming she was rather lucky. It went over, day in and day out. Sunset tried to help, but that seemed to do a little more harm than good, seeing as she was the Princess's daughter. He could talk to her brother, or any other stallion, but if there was a mare around, it didn't work.
Finally, the day came where something broke in her. Whether it was because of her comatose mother, Seth's lack of progress, Blueblood still being a jackass, or how to keep Princess Luna's return a secret, nopony would ever know.
"Alright," she said, breathing sharply, "If you somehow manage to say twenty-five words WITHOUT stammering, I'll buy lunch. Wherever you want," he looked at her, then looked away, "Dammit!" she said, slapping him hard enough to leave a swollen handprint on his face and knocking his glasses off.
"Ow!" he said, "What the tartarus did ya do dat for!? You coulda broke my jaw! Not ta mention ya knocked my glasses off! Shit, dat hurts!" he found his glasses and put them on, "I'm glad dese are still together, 'cause I'm half-blind, ya know!"
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I know how ya feel."
Something clicked in Twilight's head, "Fourty-three."
"Forty-three?"
"Forty-three!"
Seth was visibly concerned for the mental state of his partner, "Are you-"
"How do you feel?" she said enthusiastically, hoping something worked.
"Concerned by your sanity?"
"No, not that!" she sat down, "About talking!"
"Fine...ish."
"That was forty-three words, earlier."
"It... wait, what?"
"Just then, you said more to me than the last two weeks combined! Can you talk to Sunset now?"
"...No."
"We'll work up to that," she said, texting Sunset the news.
Me: You'll never guess what happened!
Sunset: What?
Me: That anxiety, he may be getting over it. He says it'll take time before he can talk to you, though.
Sunset: That's good, but how are we going to keep Aunt Luna from your mom?
Seth was peering over Twilight's shoulder, "I can help. Plus, I don't think your mom's ever met me."
"She'll probably want to see news first so she can get a grasp on what's going on."
"Not a problem," he said, pulling a laptop from a drawer and showing her several folders labeled Current Camera, Information Program «TIME», amongst others, "Which does she prefer?"
She scrolled through the list, then decided on the first two that she noticed, "Current Camera and TIME. Now, where do you want to eat lunch at," she said, closing the laptop.
"There's this new Yakyakistanian place that opened a week ago."
"Let's try it," she remembered she didn't have her keys, "No keys. Guess we're walking."
"I have a 2008 Yakaha WR250R. It's like a motorbike."
"Do you have a helmet?"
He pulled one from the same drawer, "I bought it from a unicorn in 2012 before I moved to Canterlot."
"Sure."
A few minutes later, they were speeding down the streets of Canterlot, eventually finding a restaurant that seemed to already be closed.
"Worth a shot," he said, pulling into the lot to turn around, "It's okay. I expected as much."
A few days later, she was back in the hospital, visiting her comatose mother. Seth had decided to come and support her. Sunset, Shining, Cadence, and a newborn Flurry were all there.
"Just how long has it been," he said.
"Eight months."
"Wow. Dat hit hard."
They had only been there for a few minutes when...
CRASH!!
"Mom?" Twilight said, "Mom!"
"Kids...?" she said, slowly coming to.