//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Tempting Shadow // by Element of Power //------------------------------// Tempest stayed awake for an hour, cleaning up for the meeting tomorrow. She wasn't sure how it would go. Even though they met her new friend, she wasn't sure what they thought of him. Would they try to hurt him, or take him away. Worse, what if they brought the Princesses. That could either be a disaster, or they could accept him, and get everypony else to do the same. Finishing her task, she yawned. It had been a long, slightly weird day. She couldn't wait to sleep, to lay down and relax. Then, she remembered; her new human friend was sleeping in her bed. The bed she forced him to sleep in. Tempest looked at the couch, wondering if she should just sleep there, or her bed. 'It is my bed, maybe we could just share it.' The thought made her blush. Surely it was alright; they barely knew each other, so it couldn't be that awkward. Tempest was conflicted, but she decided that she would do it. She would get up before him though, to avoid any 'situations'. Climbing the stairs, she went into the bathroom to complete her nightly routines first; taking a shower, brushing her teeth, and brushing her mane; before heading to her room. She slowly opened the door, peeking in. Luckily, her guest was already fast asleep. That would make things easier. She walked on the tips of her hooves, silently making her way to the bed. Her human friend was sprawled on half of the bed, his light breathing barely heard in the silence. 'This is fine... this is fine...' she thinks. Her blush returns as she climbs into the bed, laying on the other half. She whispered to herself, "See, it's fine, he's asl- EEP!" she squeaks in surprise as she feels one of his arms around her. Tempest feels herself being pulled in closer and embraced in a warm hug, like a teddy bear. Looking up, she sees the human with a small smile on his face, apparently pleased with the cuddling. For Tempest, even though she felt like she should try to get up, she realized that... it felt nice. It felt nice to be held, cuddled, even if the cuddler was something she just met. She curled up, bringing herself closer to her friend, enjoying the warmth of his body. This made her even more relaxed, falling asleep shortly after. Tempest sleeps, entering her dreamscape. It shifts, creating her house. Entering, she immediately noticed the human, sitting on the couch like before. She goes to him, and sees him opening his arms. She climbs up, and he hugs her. She enjoys his strong hold on her, his loving gaze. She brings her face closer to his, while he does the same. They get closer, each others hot breath hitting their faces. They connect, Tempest pressing her lips to his. It was more than perfect, every moment felt in her fast beating heart. They pull back, looking into each others eyes. Then, the dream fades, leaving Tempest feeling light as a feather. Tempest opens her eyes, still reveling in the bliss of her dream, until she moved a bit. Then she remembered, she was still in the embrace of the human from last night. 'Kind of like my dream.' she thinks, blushing. She felt warm inside, she loved being close to him. But, she knew she would have to get up. She wasn't sure how he would react to knowing he cuddled her while he slept. She tried getting up, but his grip on her was strong. She then tried wiggling out, making it out halfway. But, before she could get all the way out, her friend moved, wrapping his arms around her again, except his... hoof thing... moved and grabbed her flank. "EEP!" she jumped, enough to break out of his 'grip'. Her face was entirely red, quickly running out of the room. She thought about what happened, and couldn't help but feel where he grabbed her. It actually felt... nice. Before she could think anymore about it, she heard a knock on the door. "Oh yeah, the meeting." she said. She made her way to the door, then opened it up, revealing the group from yesterday. Twilight spoke up, "Hi Tempest, may we come in?" "Of course" Tempest nodded, moving to the side to let everypony in. They all filed in through the door, first Twilight, then Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie, then Fluttershy, who came in cowering behind her big pink hair. As Tempest was about to close the door, in came two other ponies. Tempest's eyes widened in surprise; it was the Princesses, both Celestia and Luna. As they walked in, she tried her best to avoid looking at them. Though it had been some time since the Storm King incident, she still couldn't stand to look at the Princesses. Twilight was different though, since she interacted with her more. They all made their way to the living room, before sitting down. Celestia cleared her throat before speaking. "Hello Tempest, how have you been?" "It's... been good." She decided not to talk about all the stares and glares the town gives her. "That's nice. Now, onto the obvious matter. Princess Twilight-" she noticed Twilight cringed at the title, "informed me that you have discovered a new creature and have been caring for it." Tempest got nervous at this. "Yes, Princess" "Wonderful, now first, has it made any aggressive or hostile attempts to you?" For some reason, she thought about the cuddling, then her dream with the... kissing. Clearing her head, she said "No, none of any kind." Celestia nodded at this, then Luna asked "Could you bring it here, we- I heard that it is sapient, so I would like to speak to it." Luna asked almost using the royal we. "Of course. He's upstairs, still sleeping." Tempest got up, and so did everypony else. Apparently they wanted to see him sleep. One by one, they all go up the stairs, through the halls, and up to the bedroom door. Opening the door, Tempest immediately noticed that he was still asleep. They all entered, and stopped right next to the bed. Then they looked at Tempest. She got up onto the bed, and started nudging him in the face. "Wake up... wake u-" she was cut off, once again, by his arms, and his cuddly bear hug. She was trapped again, except with eight other ponies watching. They all looked like they wanted to laugh. "Ha! Looks like he's got his own teddy bear!" Rainbow laughed. Red in the face, she tried squirming, accomplishing nothing. Then, he started to wake up. They all froze, his eyes opening after a long sleep. You start to wake, yawning from the nice sleep that you had. As you move, you feel something soft in your arms. As your vision comes back to you, you look down, and see Tempest. In your arms. In bed. Your face reddens, and you quickly get up, politely of course. Then you look around. All around the bed, there is a group of ponies, some from yesterday, some unknown staring at you in both fear and awe. "Um... Hi."