Twilight Sparkle hadn't meant to cuddle with him. Really, she hadn't. She only wanted to sleep away from the dust and musty scents of that long disused spare room. It was mere circumstance that led her to this. She hadn't had a choice.
Yes, that was it. No choice at all.
You see, Anon slept in "shorts" as he called them, with no shirt, with only a light sheet, and with the ceiling fan turned on high. Had he not been so deliriously sleepy, she would have asked him for an extra blanket like he'd given her that first time she slept here, but he had barely been conscious enough to stand, nevermind answer questions.
She had tried to just go to sleep anyway, but soon found herself shivering even despite her fur coat. She'd been just thinking of fetching the blanket from the dusty room when Anon had shifted and brushed her side with this shoulder, and she was surprised to feel he was warm--very warm. In fact, his bare skin was just shy of too hot, like a heated water pouch you put under your pillow. It felt amazing after shivering for so long
She immediately flipped onto her side and snuggled up close beside him, laying her head on his chest and wrapping a hoof around his belly. Then she realized exactly what she was doing. But anypony could see she hadn't meant to be like this, right? It's not like she was that kind of mare! This was pure necessity, nothing more. It was cold and he was warm. That's all.
Twilight stubbornly repeated these thoughts to herself as she drifted in and out of sleep throughout the night. Anon would shift periodically and Twilight would be stirred awake as her hooves were shoved around and she was forced to reposition.
Then, at some point in the night, Anon rolled over, stirring Twilight awake again, only this time he snaked his arm around her belly and pulled her backwards into his chest. Her ears flipped straight back and she tensed with the unfamiliar touch, but as his warmth enveloped her and he settled into a comfortable curve around her, she decided maybe it wasn't so bad after all.
He felt... safe.
So after a moment of hesitation, she slowly relaxed into his embrace, pressing her head back until it tucked under his chin, his neck and jaw forming a perfect curve against the back of her skull.
She hadn't meant to do this, really. Plus he was so dead tired he probably wouldn't even stir if she wiggled free, so she could stop whenever she wanted.
But she didn't.
Still feeling very alone and very vulnerable, she secretly welcome the embrace, enjoying the cozy warmth and sense of safety emanating from his body.
Anon did not move again for the rest of the night.
* * *
When Twilight next woke, it was to the sound of a groggy groan right into her ear, which reflexively flicked at the noise.
"Wha..."
Anon's body tensed around her, then he began to slowly withdraw the arm he'd wrapped around her. Her giggle made him jerk with surprise.
"S-Sorry, I didn't--"
"It's fine, Anon."
She tilted her head back until she was looking upside down at Anon, her muzzle just inches from his face.
"It was cold and you were warm, that's all."
She almost believed it too.
He stared at her, clearly confused, his breath warm against her muzzle. Unfortunately, it also smelled absolutely rancid. She jerked her head away from his face, wrinkling her snout in reflex.
"Ugh! What the--"
"Oops, sorry! Morning breath."
Anon quickly rolled away from her and she turned just in time to see the bathroom door close. The suddenly cold air ran a chill up her back. With a small sigh she sat up and flipped the sheets away with a twitch of her magic. Then, abruptly remembering her horn's injured state, she excitedly began to test its limits to see how much more it had healed overnight.
First she began levitating things around the room, starting with small and light objects like the alarm clock, then moving up to heavier objects like the whole nightstand, and finally culminating with lifting the entire bed with her atop it. She was able to hold the bed aloft for at least ten seconds before she began to feel the strain and gently lowered it back into place.
Almost giddy with excitement now, she began to really put her horn through its paces. First she cast a shield spell and was pleased to see it was solid and sturdy. Next she cast a come to life spell on the bed sheet, and it danced happily around her, reflecting her own mood until she released the spell. Then she tried a transmorphing spell on the pillow and it became a pillow shaped lump of stone, sinking deep into the soft mattress until she returned it to its previous form.
She'd finally felt a bit of strain at that last casting, but it hadn't surprised her. That was a lot of magic!
Not able to leap from the bed and prance around like she wanted, she instead clopped her hooves together happily, her hind legs twitching eagerly. After a bit of rest she might even try teleporting!
She turned around and--Anon was staring at her, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"O-Oh, hi! Um, good morning?"
He just stared absently at her for a moment, then quietly mumbled, "The... pillow?"
She let out a little sigh of relief. If he'd only seen the pillow then she could still show off the other spells. She wanted to see his reaction!
With a happy giggle, she shuffled to the edge of the bed and lowered herself cautiously to the ground as she said, "Just testing how well my horn has healed with some basic transmorphegry, nothing to gawk about."
Still stunned, he watched her lower herself to the ground, then finally gave his head a little shake, smiled down at her, and said, "Well it certainly looks better."
"Oh?" She hadn't realized it had ever looked different. Then she suddenly cried out, "Oh, Anon!"
He jumped at her sudden exclamation, "What!?"
"I should have been taking notes!" she said, horrified, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I forgot... I have to record my findings. Anon, do you have any idea how rare a broken horn is?"
Bemused now, he shook his head as he turned to rummage in a nearby drawer.
"Extremely, that's how rare! And it's NEVER been broken by anypony who was really dedicated to science, so we have almost no information on the healing process at all. It's an almost entirely unknown field that I can fill with information! AND I DIDN'T TAKE NOTES! Omigosh Celestia would be furious if she knew! I know she loves heal--"
"Twilight!" His stern voice cut through her mounting panic, "Get a hold of yourself. Here's a pencil and a pocket notebook. It's all still fresh in your memory, right? Write down all the notes you need."
She took a great breath, then slowly let it out. "Sorry. You're right. I can still do this."
"That's right, you got this. But be quick about it, you have until I finish getting ready--about half an hour."
"Why, what happens then?"
He grinned slyly at her, "You'll see." Then he grabbed some clothes and disappeared into the bathroom again.
Twilight wasted no time on his mysterious statements and immediately got to work writing down all she could think of. She recorded what she remembered of the brief time before Anon had replaced her horn: how she'd managed that simple absorption spell--if it could even be called a spell--before the broken tip had been replaced. She noted that the previously known advice of 'pushing' the magic energy into the dead horn piece was accurate, and went into greater detail describing the process.
She documented the healing process so far, including every object she could remember levitating, as well as her accidental spark-outs. They may be embarrassing, but it's still good data! She also wrote that she'd managed to float Anon for a brief period almost immediately after her horn had begun to heal, describing how the spell had 'popped' free of her horn, as if her magic had slipped free of her grasp, accompanied by a sharp stab of hot pain.
She then took notes on what had happened to Anon when he tried to touch the pure magical essence in the core of her horn, his recovery process, and the after effects he had suffered.
Finally, she recalled Anon's own description of the core when she'd asked about it in between episodes of How It's Made--how he'd compared it to "fiber optics," whatever that was, and to a thick, viscous fluid.
She was lost in thought tapping the pencil gently against her muzzle, trying to think of anything else to include, when Anon finally exited the bathroom, fully dressed and looking very clean and handsome.
Twilight did a mental double take. Handsome?
"Alright, Twi, today I'm gonna bring you to my clinic."
"...W-Wait, what?"
"You're healing well, you're friendly, you're fucking brilliant, and I want to introduce you to my assistant Sally. We can also run some tests on those samples I took--another day or two and the refrigerated ones might not be any good any more."
"Oh! We can test that inner core piece you took and I can add that to my notes here too!"
He grinned down at her, then knelt before her, saying, "You really shouldn't be walking yet. C'mon, I'll bring you to your stool."
Twilight sighed but she knew he was right, and she had chosen this over the hard plaster cast after all. She leaned toward him as he picked her up like he'd done yesterday, but Twilight felt much more comfortable now than she had before.
She was really starting to like and trust this human, she thought, and it seemed like he felt the same in return. That made her feel warm inside, just as she felt warm outside in his arms. She'd done it: she'd set out to befriend this strange creature, and that's exactly what she had done. This friendship felt a little strange, a little different, but Twilight brushed it off. He was an entirely new species in a new world, and there was a bit of a power dynamic at play. Of course it felt strange.
Anon set her down on the stool. She smiled up at him and said, "Thank you."
He nodded and began to turn away, but she grabbed his hand in her magic, making him turn back and look at his hand, then up at her.
"I mean it, Anon. Thank you for everything. Considering the dubious welcome I got when I arrived here, I couldn't ask for a better caretaker. You saved my life and kept me sane these past couple of days. I'm deeply in your debt and I won't ever forget it."
As she spoke, he'd slowly knelt before her, his surprise shifting to a somber expression. When she finished, he smiled gently and said, "The pleasure is all mine, Princess. The mere fact that you came here to me of all the people in the world is already more than enough repayment for me simply doing what was right." Then he stood up and winked, "But if you're offering favors, I certainly won't decline."
She only giggled in response, then rolled along behind him into the living room.