//------------------------------//
// Putting Two Together 
// Story: Destiny Sparkle 
// by Spirit Guide 
//------------------------------//

Once we got back down to the first floor, I carried the sick drum over to the corner and plonked it down against the wall. There, I said to myself. The first memorabilia of my time with Twilight Sparkle. I glanced at Twilight, who levitated the magic book onto the coffee table. She glanced at the book and then nudged it to the left.

"I'm a bit of a neat freak," she admitted when she saw me watching her.

"I know." Leading her to the kitchen, I opened the fridge and grabbed a handful of fruits and vegetables, snagging two large bowl on my way past the cupboard. "I'm thinking we should go with a fresher lunch, taking into account you just magically recovered from a case of pneighmonia."

"Okay, I'm good with that." Twilight gazed at the various plants laid out on the counter. She opened the silverware drawer and magicked a knife out. "Can I help?" she asked, carelessly levitating the blade through the air.

I lifted up my serving spoon and blocked the knife as it spun past my head. "Only if you can defeat ME! En Garde, Sparklehorse!"

Smirking, Twilight grabbed a pot with her magic and placed it on her head to use as a helmet, slotting a grater over her horn for protection. "This kitchen shall be my kingdom!" she cried out in a booming voice. "You shall not live to see the end of this storm."

Grabbing a pot lid for a shield, I crouched down and launched myself at the metal-clad unicorn. "CHAAAAAARGE!"

She parried my first strike with the handle of her knife and rolled sideways, her makeshift armor clanging against the floor. Twilight activated her magic and launched a peanut-butter jar at me. Picking up my shield, I knocked the flying jar aside and charged at the pony, waving my spoon like a mace. I brought my weapon down on Twilight's head, only for her helmet to take the impact. She immediately gained an advantage, me being so close, and head-butted me in the chest, forcing me onto the floor. I flung both my spoon and shield at the fast-approaching equine and then started tossing random items within my reach, but she parried everything I threw at her. Finally, weaponless and exhausted, I lay on the floor to await my punishment.

The armored unicorn walked slowly over to wear I lay. She held a rolling pin against my chest. "Do you surrender?" she demanded, lifting her helmet slightly.

Grinning wickedly I replied, "Yeah right!" With her defenses down, I knocked the utensil out of her magic field and threw myself against her, pinning her to the ground. "How about you? Give up?"

"No, of course not!" She didn't sound very sure though.

"I thought you might say that." I immediately sent my fingers to work, tickling every part of Twilight I thought to be sensitive. Laughing, giggling and screaming for mercy, she rolled around on the floor, her motion limited by my holding her down. After several minutes of unrelenting tickling, Twilight, her tears of merriment soaking the floor, managed to calm down just long enough for a counter-attack. Twisting into a new position, she sent her tail up my shirt and swished it across my chest, effectively swapping positions with me as the assailant. Although she had gained the upper hand—or hoof as it were—I was still on the offensive, running my fingers over her while she rammed her tail up and down my shirt.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of cackling, shrieking and tickling, we had both depleted our energy and lay on the floor, tongues hanging out aimlessly as we tried to regain oxygen. I was the first to resurface, panting heavily. By the time Twilight had recovered from the attack, I had already gathered up the dishes and utensils we had used in the fight and deposited them in the sink, they needed to be washed after what they've been through. Twilight looked at the mound of dishes in the sink. "Who's going to wash all these?" she asked, glancing hungrily at the fruits and vegetable we had left on the counter.

I picked up an apple and a carrot. Thankfully, they were still fresh. "That all depends," I replied. "What do you want to do?"

Twilight thought for a minute, then said, "How about I start making lunch, you start with the dishes, then halfway through the job we switch. What do you think?"

"Alright, but let's get to work. It's already quarter to two. If we want to eat while it's still technically lunchtime, we have to start now."

With that, we each went our separate ways. I took my place over by the sink and Twilight beside a chopping board. Thankfully, I had more than enough kitchenware even though we had used a lot of them during our spar. We both got to work, me washing the dishes and Twilight making lunch. True to her word, the minute Twilight noticed that the mountain of dishes had been reduced by half, she announced it was time to switch. With the tap still running and the knife quivering inside the watermelon, we rushed to each others stations and resumed the task the other had left. We talked and joked as we worked, often shooting our resources at one another so that the counter was totally soaked and the sink and faucet ringed in seeds

Within ten minutes we had finished. The drainer was full of clean, drying dishes while the table was covered with plates of apples, watermelons, carrots, cherries, tomatoes and cucumbers. Once more, I brought out two plates and cups, but this time gave up on the silverware. Fruits and vegetable were more like finger food anyway.

Twilight was already in her chair, sniffing the food appreciatively. "We've outdone ourselves. I really didn't know I was any good at preparing food or washing dishes."

"You learn something new every day," I told her, sliding into my seat.

"That's true," she said, levitating a few apples onto her plate, "but sometime I wish those things wouldn't come up as surprises."

I reached over for a couple of cherries and began popping the stones out. "What fun would that be if nothing was surprising anymore? I bet Pinkie Pie would find that a crime."

"She probably would, being the energetic pony she is," laughed Twilight.

Our meal continued until half past two, dragged out with all our conversing. We must have talked more than we ate. What was even more surprising was how much we managed to pack away. By the time lunch was over, every plate had been either scraped or licked clean. Twilight's mane was matted with seeds, evidence of her violent scarfing. I myself had tomato juice all over my hands from the arm-hoof wrestle we had over the last of the ground-based fruit. I didn't think she would get so possessive of one single tomato. After we collected all the dishes into the sink and cleaned ourselves up a bit, we went to the living room to continue our previous discussion.

"Okay Twilight," I said, flicking a stray cherry stone off my sleeve. "Where were we?"

She smiled. "I don't really remember," Twilight admitted, shaking her head. "Since I can't recall what we were talking about earlier, let's talk about something else."

"What?"

"All of this." She gestured to the room we were in, the furniture, the kitchen, the house, the weather, everything around us. "If I'm going to be staying here I'm going to have to learn all I can about your world."

I nodded. "Makes sense. Alrighty then, let's begin with something basic." I reached out and picked up the phone, cradle and all. "I imagine you don't know what this is, am I right?"

Twilight scratched her head. "I'm pretty they have those in Manehatten and Baltimare. They're used to have conversations with ponies in other places. Why they would use those instead of letters I'll never know."

Manehetten and Baltimare, eh? Hasbro would probably never do that. Too bad. Putting the phone down in its place, I picked up the TV remote and handed it to her. "You already know what a TV is but now it's time to teach you how to use it."

"Oooh," Twilight breathed in anticipation. She carefully held the remote with her magic. "Wow, that's a whole lot of buttons. How did you ever learn what each one means."

"Years of practice, Twily," I said with a smile.

"Twily." She uttered the nickname fondly. "That's what my brother Shining Armor always called me. Ever since we were little and even now." She glanced at the Season 2 DVD box, where Shining Armor and Cadance were standing to the left of the logo. She picked up the box and stared longingly at the ponies on the front. "I've only been gone for a day but it feels like forever."

Note to self: avoid bringing up friends and family back in Equestria. Current touchy subject. "I know how you feel. Ever since my parents died, I've avoided trying to make connections with anyone in town. I just haven't been able to bring myself to talk with, well, anyone. It just seems so hard."

I put my head in my hands. Being open and honest felt good, but it was making me cry. "You're lucky, Twilight. You have friends that will always be there for you, but me, I'm alone. There's no one in this world who'd be there for me." By this time tears were seeping through my fingers. Talking to Twilight had unlocked my feelings and was now allowing me to speak my heart and mind. But it was horribly depressing.

I felt Twilight's hoof on my arm, gently pulling it down. I removed my hands to find Twilight staring up at me, her eyes welling up with tears too. "We've both had our share of hard times. That's what lets us understand each other's pains and losses, but that also means that we can comfort each other whenever we feel lonely. It's a discomfort, but a gift at the same time: the gift of understanding."

I held her hooves in my hands. "Thank you, Twilight. You've helped me out of a traumatic mess just now."

"No, you've helped me," she insisted. Lighting her horn, she picked up the DVD box again and sighed serenely. "Tell you what. From now on, neither of us will bring up our lost friends and family without a fair amount of warning, okay?"

I wiped my tears on the back of my sleeve. "Would a big flashy sign with the words 'Warning: Emotional Outburst!' do the trick?"

Twilight chuckled. "That would be a bit excessive. Maybe we could just do a gentle tap and a few words."

"Deal."

Smiling, Twilight rolled onto her back, her head resting on my leg. "Good. Now how about you teach me how to use a remote," she said, waving it around with her magic. I stared down at the purple mare's face, my eyes traveling downwards until I caught sight of her stomach. Her soft, furry underside seemed to be beckoning to me, calling for attention. And I felt more than happy to give it.

Carefully, I lowered my hand and hovered it an inch over her stomach. Twilight's eyes followed my finger as it descended and came in contact with her lower side. I moved the tip of my finger up and down her soft fur, feeling her heartbeat beneath her skin. Twilight looked up at me. "What are you do—" Whatever she was going to say was lost as her brain registered my touch. "Mmmmm," Twilight hummed in response. "That feels nice."

Her words reassured me of my actions and I added my other fingers, my stroking gentle. Twilight was giggling now, rolling slightly from side to side as I swirled my fingers over her stomach. "Oooooh," she gasped. "This is great!"

Now I was truly motivated. Lowering my palm beside my fingers, I recruited my other hand to help with the job. Together I sent them to work, gently massaging the unicorn's underside in a warm, affectionate way. By now Twilight was squirming with delight, she almost fell off the couch with her wild movements, but her stomach remained where I needed it: within reach. "Aaaaaah!" she sighed audibly, her back hooves bucking the air, her front legs curled in front of her. "What do you call this?"

"Belly rubs!" I yelled gleefully, wrapping one arm underneath the pony and reeled her in, still rubbing her belly with my other hand. Twilight was squealing with joy, rolling the top of her head under my chin, her horn rocking back and forth in front of my face but I didn't care. All I wanted was to sit there and rub Twilight's belly, feeling her soft fur beneath my fingers as my hand raced up and down her stomach, listening to her sweet voice complimenting my work.

I lifted her into the air and lay down on the couch, dropping her on top of me so that I could resume my stroking at a slower pace. Twilight closed her eyes and hummed softly. "Mmmmm... This feels really wonderful."

"I'm glad you like it," I whispered into her ear. "It was always one of the things I wanted to try but never could." My strokes became long, gentle movements, my fingers running through her soft belly fur, relaxing her. Twilight's light breathing and her chest rising and falling beneath my hands soothed me in return. Together we lay there, keeping each other happy and content. I could imagine the two of us spending the rest of our lives like this, me rubbing Twilight's belly as she lay on top of me, her sweet voice uttering words of comfort forever more. Just the two of us...

BOOOOOOOOM

A flash of light followed by the familiar rumbling of thunder snapped me out of my happy moment. Both me and Twilight shot bolt upright, our eyes following the short-lived flash to the window. I slid off the couch and hurried to the window.

"Wait for me!" Twilight cried, leaping onto my back. Her head and front hooves hooked onto my shoulder, resulting in her dangling behind my back. I stopped and turned my head to find her muzzle mere centimeters from my face. She smiled apologetically and I continued towards the window, stopped in front of it and looked out.

Yep. Still storming. We were having so much fun, we'd forgotten the weather outside was still horrible.

Twilight leaned forward and glued her face to the window, staring gloomily at the rain pouring down. "It looks like it'll never stop, doesn't it," she muttered.

"Yeah, it does seem that way," I replied, my breath fogging up the cold surface. Together we stared out the window, watching the wind blow at the few trees we could see through the unnatural afternoon darkness. At one point Twilight, still perched on my shoulder, levitated a pencil from the table and, with the eraser, started to draw on the misty window. I was slightly taken aback when I realized what she was drawing.

It was a fog-sketch of five ponies and a dragon, all huddled around an empty space. The detail on each of the images was so great they looked real. Twilight raised the pencil eraser and touched the empty space between the characters but stopped there. I looked at her face and was surprised and startled to find tears in her eyes. She leaned in close to the window, her eyes trained on the picture of her friends back in Equestria, her tears sliding down her muzzle onto the cold surface, where they were joined by drops of moisture from the edges of her sketch. "Do you think they're doing okay?" Twilight whispered, her ears sticking out horizontally in a sad way.

I put my finger on the clear, fogged-up patch beside Twilight's picture and began to draw. My drawing skills are acceptable. At least when I draw humans and anthros, they don't look deformed. "They're probably fine. Aside from going out of their minds with worry about you, I'm sure they're doing rationally well." I put the finishing touches on my picture: a human crouching beside a unicorn with sparks coming out of her horn.

Twilight looked at my picture, then at hers, then at the empty spot between them. "Would you want to go to Equestria?"

"What makes you ask that?" I replied.

"It's the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about it," she told me, smiling sympathetically.

I'm not sure what she means by 'eyes sparkle', but there's no hiding the truth from this mare. Nodding, I said "Okay, you got me. My greatest desire is to live in Equestria, to see your home with my own eyes."

"Why?"

"What more does this world have to offer me?" I turned away from the rain-pelted window, Twilight swaying from my shoulder. "My family has passed away, I have no friends and I live alone. Equestria just seems like a better place, a place where I can start over."

"You're forgetting the cons," Twilight reminded. "Sure, Equestria is rather peaceful and Ponyville is a nice place to live, but every now and then something goes wrong. Some old entity with an unfinished rule or a grudge, a troublemaker or two, that kind of stuff. But I guess you already knew that, right?"

I glanced sideways at the unicorn. "Fair point. I never really pegged all those happenings, villains and criminals as little more than inconveniences. I'd just look past them, knowing full well you and the other ponies wouldn't fall to them and let us down."

"Aww, thanks."

I bent down and Twilight clambered off my back. The two of us returned to the window. The rain was now falling in the other direction. Twilight reared up on her hind legs and put her front hooves on the window sill. "Must be quite a storm going on back home, huh?" she wondered.

"It'd be crazy if this storm and the one in Equestria were one and the same," I replied. I put my hand on the ledge, as inconspicuously as possible, beside her hoof.

"It could be like that, couldn't it?"

I shrugged. "If a bolt of lightning could bring you to my world, I'm ready to believe anything."

Twilight turned her attention back to the window, carefully examining both pictures. The frost was beginning to evaporate and the sketches were fading. "You know, they both kinda look like their missing something."

I was silent for a few moments as I assessed the two drawings. "Each other," I said quietly.

Nodding, Twilight fixed her gaze on the empty section between our pictures. Her horn glowed, her eyes screwed shut in concentration, a steady stream of magenta sparks flew out the end and onto the cold pane. The flow stemmed out in both directions, making the pictures glow brightly until I couldn't look at them, although it seemed that they were both curling into the middle, slipping sideways on the foggy surface. Twilight grunted, sending another bigger wave of sparks through her horn, causing the entire window to shine like the sun. I covered my face, shielding Twilight's closed eyes with my other hand so that she wouldn't be blinded if she opened them.

When the light began to dim, I dropped my hands and Twilight opened her eyes. What a sight! Both of our pictures were now merged together, the dragon and the five ponies in an embrace around the unicorn and the human. Together they looked complete, each side perfecting the other. I leaned in close to the window; the lines of the drawing didn't look like condensation. "What just happened?" I asked Twilight.

"I'm not really sure," she replied solemnly. "I just did what felt right,"  Twilight leaned her head against my thigh and stared up at her work.

I raised a finger and touched the picture. It felt dry. Cold from the weather outside, but dry. I put my hand against the window and wiped it diagonally across the image. Nothing. It stayed whole and beautiful. I stepped back in amazement. Twilight had used her magic to make our combined drawing permanent, like etched glass. Outside the rain beat against the window and inside the moisture began to gather and slide but the picture remained shiny and beautiful.

"What do you think?" Twilight asked, looking up at me with big, hopeful eyes.

"What do I think?" I repeated. "I think that somepony deserves this!" I swopped down and gathered the unicorn in my arms, squeezing her affectionately. I stood up and held her tight, one arm around the pony's waist, the other supporting her legs, hugging her the whole time. Twilight's shocked face was priceless. She just lay there in my arms, her expression bewildered. I carried her over to the couch and sat down. Twilight uncurled herself from her slightly squashed position and stretched out on my lap. She looked up at me unblinking, her expression baffled but somewhat grateful at the same time.

"What?" I asked Twilight, still smiling.

She craned her neck and reached up with her hoof, her expression now mildly surprised. My eyes crossed as I struggled to keep the solitary hoof in my sight. All at once, the hoof pressed forwards and bumped me on the nose.

"BOOP!"

Twilight fell back into my lap, grinning broadly. It took me a full ten seconds to realize what had happened before I burst out laughing. Of course. Pony nose-boop was one of my favorite gestures of affection, along with hugs and belly rubs. Twilight chuckled. "Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?"

I shook my head, trying to catch my breath. "No. I sure didn't."

"So," she continued, reaching down and picking the remote up with her hooves, "could you teach me how to use the TV now? No more interruptions?"

I grasped the other end of the remote and slowly tugged it out of her grip. "Yes. And step #1: the TV doesn't turn itself on." I pointed to the large button below the screen. "The one thing the 'remote control' can't do is switch on the screen, still the only part of watching television that has to be done manually."

Twilight squinted at the power button, several feet away from where we sat. "I can understand why you don't like it. if you'd just settled down from a hard day's work to enjoy some entertainment, the last thing you'd want to do is get up from the couch."

"Exactly."

"So why get up at all?" Twilight levitated the remote out of my hand, floated it over to the TV set and with careful precision, prodded the power button, switching the screen on. She looked up at me smugly. "What next?"

Still trying to get over the overwhelming shock of seeing someone turn on the TV without getting up, I grabbed the Season 2 DVD box. "You pick a disk to put in the machine. It helps if you open the slot first," I added, pointing to the Eject button on the remote.

Twilight carefully jabbed the button and the DVD slot popped out. I handed her the open Season 2 box and she levitated the first disk out, floated it over to the slot and fitted it into the drive. "Okay," she said, scanning the remote buttons, "so what do I press now?"

"The Play button looks like an arrowhead pointing right," I told her. "See if you can figure it out."

It took next to no time, after debating between the Fast Forward and Record buttons, for Twilight to find the right one. The moment she pressed it, the DVD drive slid back into the machine and it started to load. Once more the disk's menu was on the screen, only this time Twilight was staring at it like your supposed to, now that she was used to the spectacle. I selected Play All again and we sat together, watching Discord's brief reign of chaos and the many other events of the second season. Every now and then, either me or Twilight would ask the other a question about why somepony did a certain action, what would the other have done in their place, why Pinkie Pie is so random and many others. It was during 'The Mysterious Mare Do Well', at the point where Rainbow Dash busted the dam, when Twilight broke the couch-potato silence.

"I need to go to the bathroom."

Pausing the TV, I stared at her quizzically. Looking down, I saw her hind legs crossed, the universal sign for a full bladder. "You know where it is," I said, waving over the couch towards the always-lit room. "You do know how to use it, right?"

"Of course I do!" She rolled her eyes, smiling.... With anticipation? "We care about personal hygiene and we have bathrooms, according to 'The Last Roundup', which got everything right as everything else has been so far."

"True that. Okay, but hurry. I don't like pausing."

"Yay!" Twilight cried, whether with happiness or relief I couldn't tell. She leapt off the couch and trotted briskly towards the bathroom, shut the door behind her and locked it. I was sure there was more to this break than merely emptying one's tank. So, my regard for privacy arguing with my natural curiosity, I got up from the couch, crept over to the bathroom and crouched down beside the door. I wasn't surprised to hear Twilight talking to herself.

"Mirror's too high for a pony, obviously since humans are a lot taller than we are, but the sink is reachable. Bowl's kind of big too, shouldn't be a problem though. Wall design is perfect for in-room entertainment, plenty of sprawling patters to follow." She seemed to be examining every item in the bathroom, even the tiles. I was all set to facehoof when I heard a soft 'Oooh' and the sharp ringing of two ceramic objects, the seat and the bowl, making sudden contact, followed by the smooth squeaking of something sliding along the seat. My slight concerns ended when I heard Twilight's sighs of relief and the soft tinkling of liquid striking liquids.

Well, I guess she was telling the truth after all. Getting to my feet, I heard Twilight slide of the toilet and something slammed down on top of the button, starting the flush mechanism. With the sound of the rushing faucet behind me, I hurried back over to the couch, working on my casual inconspicuous look. The door clicked open and Twilight stepped out of the bathroom, humming contentedly. She cantered back to the couch and resumed her reclining position. I looked down at her and she smiled up at me. My eavesdropping had left me exceptionally aware of the mare with her head on my knees

"Um, why aren't we continuing?" Twilight asked after we'd stared at each other for two straight minutes.

I raised my eyes and shook my head. What made me keep my eyes trained on her like that? One of these days I'm going to have research that, but for now I'd better do what she says. I started the TV again and we wasted the rest of our stormy afternoon watching the second season of MLP, changing disks when we reached the end of each one. There were a great many moments were we both burst out laughing, other times when we were shocked silent and even a few where we were holding onto each other for comfort.

By the time A Canterlot Wedding was over and the end theme played once last time, it was already eleven o'clock. My eyelids felt heavy and Twilight was yawning. Outside the weather was still buckets of rain and blasts of wind, sometimes accompanied by lightning and thunder. I turned the DVD off and opened the drive so Twilight could levitate the disk out. I felt a deep sense of satisfaction, having just watched the entire second season in one afternoon. To me, it seemed like a feat worthy of celebration.

Stretching, I got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. I opened the freezer and rummaged around, looking for.... Yes! There's still one left. "Hey Twilight!" I called into the living room.

"Yeah?" she replied sleepily, carefully popping the 4th disk back into the box.

"How d'you feel about pizza for dinner?"

Her head popped up from behind the couch, her eyes sparkling, all traces of fatigue suddenly gone. "Yes yes yes yes yes pleeeease!" she cried, leaping over the couch and hopping enthusiastically around me.

"Alright alright, settle down." I pulled the pizza out of the freezer, unwrapped it and put it on a tray. Turning on the oven, I led Twilight back to the table to wait for the oven to heat up sufficiently. We played Scrabble and Bananagrams to pass the time, Twilight destroying me in the latter thanks to her quick magicking the pieces faster than my fingers could manipulate my own. Once the oven had heated up, I showed Twilight how to put the pizza in and set the timer. She was grateful for the experience. However, instead of starting another round of Bananagrams, Twilight turned her attention back to the living room, cast her levitation spell and floated the Equinomicon off the coffee table and onto the dining table between us.

"I think we should make this our next topic," Twilight said, giving the cover a light flick.

Frowning, I replied, "I already told you Twilight: I don't know where my family got the book. I've got nothing I can tell you about the Equinomicon which you don't already know." I skirted around the table and crouched down on Twilight's side so we could both read. I flipped the cover to the page with the introductory verse. "And I wouldn't be surprised if the place it was printed in, if it was printed at all, was not mentioned in the back of the book."

"Good idea!" Twilight cried excitedly, turning the entire book over to the back cover. We looked but there was no information of any kind, not even a date. Twilight's face fell. "Bummer."

"Well," I said, trying not to make her any more disappointed, "I can't say I'm not surprised. The Equinomicon isn't exactly a great conversation partner. Whether it'll share its origins with us, now or ever, I don't know."

Twilight cheered up a bit. She flipped back to the Ultimate Recovery Spell page. "When do you think the Equinomicon will give us another spell?"

"Who knows? Besides, do we really want more problems in our life that require magical solutions?"

"You mean like a burning pizza?" Twilight offered, sniffing the air.

Burning pizza? I took a whiff of the aroma escaping from the oven and laughed. "It's not burning Twilight," I chuckled. "It's ready!"

The purple unicorn leapt out of her chair and knocked it over with unexpected excitement. "Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!"

I grabbed Twilight around the middle and lifted her up, her hooves galloping in the air. "Yeesh, calm down Twily. You're acting like Pinkie Pie! Here, use your magic to get it out."

Twilight pulled out the pizza, her magic the perfect substitute for gloved hands, and plonked it on the stove top. I put her down and cut the pie down the middle, laid each half on a plate and took them to the table. We ate in cheerful silence, due to our mouths being full of flat, tomato-sauced, cheese-coated bread. After we'd finished our meal we found ourselves on the couch once more, the Equinomicon back on the coffee table. It was a while before either of us spoke. And it wasn't me.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Twilight said.

"Being alone?" She noticed that in a hurry. "It's not the most exciting thing ever. Cheer disappears and colors just seem to fade as if your world was deharmonzied. I've been at it for too long."

"Do you wish it could be different?" she asked, staring adorably at me with her large purple eyes.

"It is different now," I said, wrapping an arm around her. "In one of the best ways possible."

She smiled and snuggled up against me. We sat there for a minute, for two, for ten, simply enjoying each other's warmth and presence. It was blissful, just the two of us on the couch, listening to the storm rage outside while it was calm and cozy inside. A shame the peaceful spell was broken by the large grandfather clock that, being rather old and several minutes behind, started to chime only now. The dull bong echoed throughout my near-empty home, ringing in our ears and bringing us back to reality.

"The clock is right," I said retiringly. "It's time for bed."

Twilight yawned and slid of the couch. "Yeah, there really is no point in staying up so late. Not yet anyway," she added with a grin.

Grinning back, I got up from the couch and unfolded it again, revealing the sofa bed Twilight slept on the previous night, complete with the pillow and sheets. I watched her climb into bed and wriggle under the covers, her head and hooves sticking out of the top in that irresistibly cute way.

I bent down and sat on the edge of the makeshift bed. "Good night Twilight."

Her reaction was beyond unexpected. Like a whip, she shot up out of bed, kissed me on the cheek and sank back under the blanket before my mind registered what happened. I looked down at her, my mouth slightly agape. Twilight was blushing, but her smile was broad. "Good night," she said quietly, laying her head down and closing her eyes.

Carefully so as not to disturb her, I rose up from the bed and walked towards the stairs, just like I did last night. I turned to see if Twilight was watching me, like she did before, but found her still lying down. She had already fallen asleep, her light breathing the only sound I can hear. Once more, I found myself feeling happy. Just like all those years ago.

I dragged myself up the stairs to my room, changed my clothes and the sheets, which were probably contaminated from Twilight's illness, and climbed into bed. My mind began to replay all the things that happened that day: Twilight's contracting pneighmonia, discovering the Equinomicon, our picture on the window. It all seemed like a beautiful memory, too good to be true. But there was no denying it this time. I knew it was all real.

Equestria...... Ponies...... Magic...... Twilight......


*


Light filtered into my room through a crack in the door. That's funny. I thought I closed it. Sitting up, I squinted into the darkness at the strip of light. "Who's there?" I called out.

The door squeaked open several inches and Twilight appeared in the doorway. She looked tired. Her blanket was draped over her back and her pillow nestled on her head like a crown. Her mouth was set in a sad frown. "I can't sleep," she said quietly.

I stared back at her blankly This is the kind of situation you read about or watch. I was never faced with this sort of problem before now so I had no idea how to solve it. Except maybe—

"You wanna sleep with me tonight?"

A smile began to tug in the corner of her mouth as she slowly crept into my room. I shifted under my covers, clearing half of my bed with the blankets still covering the mattress. Twilight climbed up beside me, plonked her pillow down on top of mine and lay down beside me, curling up beneath her own blanket. She turned her head to look at me and I returned her gaze.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

She inched over and snuggled up against me, the thin sheets the only thing separating us. Almost without thinking, I pulled my arm out from behind my head and laid it protectively on top of the mare's blanket. I pulled Twilight closer and cuddled her. She sighed peacefully at my side and was soon fast asleep. I felt myself drifting off, her small warm body making me feel cozy and safe in return. This was heaven. A real dream come true. Only one thing could make me feel better. But, so Twilight won't wake up—

Buck you, Reality. I've got a pony sleeping in my bed.