Luna continued cleaning Nick’s wounds, repeating what he had said over and over in her head. Did he really feel that way her? They had only known each other for a week at most, and the wolf was still a complete mystery to her. Besides her sister, he was the only one who she had spent a lot of time with. It wasn’t only sparring, there were times where Nick summoned her just to “hang out” as he called it. She was a little surprised that he wanted her company, but gladly obliged him. Normally she was the listener in any conversation she had, however that changed when Nick was there. He always insisted she speak her mind, no matter if it had to deal with being a princess or if it was just personal issues, he was all ears.
This caused a conflict of interest in Luna. On one hoof she was glad to have made a friend in the wolf, somepony that treated her like a normal mare, who seemed to understand the pain of loneliness and not being wanted. His solutions to some of her issues sounded like they came from personal experience, but when she tried to ask him about his past, he seemed to change. His body went from proudly sitting to hunching over, the gleam in his eyes all but faded and turned pitch black. He didn’t even look at her when he told her to never ask about his past. After a few minutes of silence, Nick had reverted back to his cheery self, and it was as if nothing had happened.
On the other hoof, she noticed how she reacted when he was with her. It usually started with her heart fluttering when he called to her from his dreams. While he didn’t have any combat experience, when they sparred he was able to dodge her attacks with grace and elegance, as if he were dancing. She was very impressed, even commenting on his pawwork, and he just gave her a knowing smile. It didn’t help that Nick flirted with her, admiring her bright teal eyes or bluntly saying that her personality was cute. She always thought it was just him trying to get her blushing for his amusement, but from what she had just heard, it seemed he meant every word.
She had faced Tirek, Sombra and even Discord without hesitation. Why should this confession of love have her now taking pause to think of what she needed to do? She started comparing the two, trying to see what made Nick loving her scarier. Realization struck her, she had nopony to help her, nopony to guide her through the twists and turns of love. If she became fatigued in battle, all she had to do was look to her sister for support and seeing Tia fighting just as hard seemed to rejuvenate her.
While she loved her sister dearly, she couldn’t just tell her about Nick’s confession. Based on her reaction to Nick being with her that one morning, she was fine with them being friends, but seemed to draw the line there. Her niece would have been the perfect pony to go to for this issue, but since she was married to Twilight’s brother along with her baby on the way, she couldn’t bother her with this.
By the time she had reached this train of thought, all of Nick’s wounds had been thoroughly cleaned. Applying some fresh bandages, she gently lifted up the slumbering wolf and placed him on her bed. He looked so adorable, his nose and ears twitching while he murmured.
I guess Twilight can wait to hear the news. Afterall an opportunity like this doesn’t come along often. He looks so soft and cuddly.
Deciding that she could call it a night, she slipped into bed next to Nick. Even though he had admitted his love for her, she decided it was best to just nuzzle him. She found out her observation was right when she rubbed his neck, feeling a comforting warmth radiating from him. She yelped when he wrapped his paws around her barrel, pulling her closer and returning the nuzzle. She held her breath, not sure what to do. Looking down she could see a content smile on his muzzle.
“Cuddles it is then,” she chuckled, wrapping her hooves around the wolf and fell asleep to the rising and falling of Nick’s chest.
Nick knew something was wrong when he woke up. First, the light coming in the room was through a window, not the ceiling like it normally did. When he tried to get up, there was something wrapped around his waist. When he looked down, he saw two blue hooves, which were connected to a slumbering alicorn. Nick’s heart started to race as he frantically tried to remember what had happened last night.
I was attacked by timberwolves, and was able to limp back to the castle. I didn’t eat, sang and went to sleep. How the heck did I wake up on Luna’s bed in her hooves!?
He tried again to pry himself from the alicorn, only for her to squeeze him tighter. She was pretty adorable as she slept, softly snoring and nuzzling into the crook of his neck.
Did she teleport me here? She had to, I doubt this was her sister’s doing. But why? What made her do such brash thing? He looked down again and noticed he had real bandages around his wounds, all traces of blood gone. She must have been concerned that I didn’t summon her for our sparring session last night. That still doesn’t answer why we’re sleeping together.
As if she was getting annoyed with Nick’s worrying, Luna let out a loud yawn and stretched her forehooves, freeing the wolf from her grasp. Still confused and scared, Nick tried to bolt off the bed before she could notice, which only ended in him getting entangled in the sheets and landing hard on the floor, right on his wounded leg.
The combination of the crash and Nick’s moan completely woke the mare up, and she was by his side, carefully removing the sheets.
“Are you alright Nick?!” she asked, gently lifting him up to inspect him. This only made the situation worse as the feeling of being levitated was alien to the wolf, causing him to squirm violently, which startled Luna and she dropped him.
“Luna … don’t do that again,” he grunted, rolling on his side. His wounds felt raw again, causing him to curl up in pain.
“I’m so sorry Nick,” she apologized, feeling horrible that she had made things worse. “I’ll just go before I do anything else to hurt you. I- I understand if you’re mad at me and don’t want to be friends anymore.”
“What are you talking about Luna? I’m not mad at you,” Nick replied, trying to get up on all fours.
“You- you’re not?”
“Of course not,” he answered, finally achieving success at sitting up. “I was - am just confused why I’m in your room. I understand you brought me here to clean my wounds, but why did you let me sleep on your bed instead of moving me to a guest room?”
The mare just looked down, the room suddenly felt very hot. “Well, you see-” she started, trying to think of why she didn’t move him. “After I finished cleaning your wounds, I didn’t want to move you too much. My bed was close, and I didn’t mind letting you use it, after all you were seriously hurt.”
“I guess that makes sense,” he pondered before giving her a smile, his worries fading. “Thank you for taking care of me, I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“Nonsense Nick,” Luna waved her hoof. “I was more than happy to help you. I’m sure you would have done the same for me.”
They sat in silence, thoughts racing through their minds. For Nick, a new worry appeared. How was he going to get out of Luna’s room without being noticed? He was certain there were guards posted right outside her doors, guards who hadn’t seen or heard of him being invited into her sacred chambers. He could see himself being arrested on spot, Celestia furiously interrogating him, stating how he had overstepped his boundaries. For Luna, she was dying to bring up Nick’s confession. She wanted to see his reaction. Would he deny the confession or admit it and wait for her response. Both didn’t have a chance to say anything as Nick was saved by his stomach.
“Heh, I guess I shoulda eaten dinner last night,” he chuckled, rubbing a paw behind his head.
Luna shook her head and smiled. “Well, I guess that means some brunch is in order.”
The dread came back to Nick. “Um, you aren’t suggesting me eating here right? I don’t know how it works in Equestria, but I’m sure the guards seeing me leaving your room is not good, especially when they didn’t see you invite me in. If you can teleport me back into the old castle, we can avoid any issues.”
While she wanted to dine with him and try to ask about his confession, she knew he was right. Even after she had removed the deep sleeping spell from Nick, he had continued to sleep when it was time for her to lower the moon. Before she had left to wake her sister, she had told the maids not to clean her room and to take the morning off. While she had been walking to her sister’s room, Luna had silently prayed that Nick would continue to sleep until she returned. Stars forbid what would happen when he woke up and realized he was on her bed.
After performing her duties, she had tried to convince her sister that she would need to skip their morning breakfast, that she wasn’t hungry and just wanted to sleep. Of course Tia had thought that something was up and had tried her best to make Luna talk, only for the younger sister to insist that she just wanted to sleep. After convincing her sister she was fine, Luna had simply teleported back to her room. She had been surprised that Nick was still asleep, fighting those timberwolves must have been exhausting. Seeing she still had an opportunity to cuddle, she had locked the door and joined him.
“Very well Nick. Let me know when you are ready.”
Thanking her once again, Nick braced himself as he was wrapped in Luna’s blue magic and zapped out of the room.
“I guess I will have to wait for tonight to find out more my little wolf,” she spoke to herself returning to her bed. “In the meantime, I think I’ll have breakfast in bed.”
“This was by far the weirdest morning I’ve ever had. Scratch that, second weirdest. Waking up as a wolf cannot be topped.”
As soon as he arrived in the old castle, Nick fixed himself a quick lunch and was on his way to town. He was still sore from his encounter last night, meaning it was going to take him at least an hour to reach Ponyville.
Hopefully Twilight isn’t waiting for me when I get there. I’m sure being late on top of seeing me in this state would only cause her freak out. I guess she’s not the only one worried though, judging by that dream I had.
It had been an interesting dream. The day had arrived where all of his training had been completed, meaning he was about to embark on his journey to find each villain. The princesses, Elements of Harmony and all of Ponyville had prepared a celebration to send him off. During the festivities, he had decided to pull Luna and Twilight aside. Since he was a dead wolf, he might as well let them know how he felt about them. It was pretty selfish though, burdening them with that information when he wasn’t going to be able to act on his feelings.
“Have you changed your mind about bringing the girls and I with you?” Twilight started, a rising optimism in her expression and voice.
“No Twilight, my decision is final. I can’t risk having you or any of the Elements getting hurt. If I can’t finish this task, you six, along with the princesses will be the only ones able to stop the darkness.”
“Then why did you ask both of us to talk with you in private?” Luna quirked.
Nick’s heart raced, his eyes flicking between both mares, who were patiently awaiting his response.
“Well you see, the thing is…” he stammered. Why was he still afraid to admit his feelings to them? The worst they could do was just say they didn’t feel the same. Sighing he whispered, “I … love ... you.”
“What did you say?” they asked in unison.
Taking a deep breath, Nick spoke again, somehow finding the courage to speak his heart. “Luna ... Twilight, I need to tell you both something important. I … I love both of you. I’ll understand if you two don’t feel the same, but I felt you both needed to know before … “
Suddenly the wind picked up, blowing decorations and other debris everywhere. He reached out to both mares, trying to protect them, but was lifted up and thrown into the air. The scenery changed and he was back in the Everfree, facing the timberwolves again, sort of. He was actually fighting images of them, made up from the smoke that had risen from their ashes. He was surprised he didn’t disturb Luna while he was dreaming, seeing she was pretty calm when he woke up.
“Why do I feel guilty for killing them? They had attacked first, I had to not only defend myself but make sure they never bothered me or anypony again. I should be excited for winning my first fight, but I’m not.”
He shook his head. He needed to think about how he was going to explain his condition to Twilight. No matter what he could say, Nick was sure he was going to get an earful before his lesson. Maybe I should just let her yell it out. I don’t think anything I can say will get me out of this. And why, if I have these so called regenerative powers, does my leg still hurt?!
Last night, the pain had seemed to go away as he had walked but now, it seemed to be returning.
“Come on Nick, you’ll just have to fight through it. Mind over matter.”
His little mantra seemed to work, and the pain died down.
“That’s better, now to face Twilight.”
Twilight had just finished her friendship lesson with Starlight, and was now eating lunch in the kitchen. The lesson didn’t go all according to plan, due to some fatigue from the alicorn. She actually slept well last night, despite being worried about Nick. She had his singing to thank for that she guessed. She had been preparing lessons for Starlight when she had heard a mournful howling come from the Everfree. At first she had thought it was just a timberwolf, but when the howling had changed to singing, she couldn’t believe her ears.
It had to have been Nick, who or what else in that cursed forest would be singing. His voice rivaled Fluttershy’s, and his projection was impressive. The song he had sung wasn’t familiar to her, but the tone had been a mix of melancholy and hope. When he had stopped, she let the feeling sink in for a moment before deciding to head off to sleep.
She had even dreamed about him. She had leaned into his side as he read one of her romantic novels, the sound of his voice along with the warmth radiating off his body making the mare feel safe and secure. He had paused, and when she looked up to see why, she had found herself gazing into his hazel eyes. Her breath shortened and heart raced, as she drew closer to his face. She could feel his soft breath on her lips, his eyes closing in anticipation. Twilight had done the same, waiting patiently for Nick to initiate the kiss. He had teased her, bringing a paw up to cup her cheek, but not moving either his or her face closer. When she had let out a weak whimper of frustration, he dove in.
Emotions had bombarded the mare: nervousness, shock, bliss, content and fulfillment. They had stayed like that for a few minutes, with Nick breaking the kiss and pulling her closer to him. She had nuzzled into his neck, the smell of fresh pine combined with soft fur causing her to sigh.
It was this dream that plagued her mind. The main reason she was distracted during her lesson with Starlight. The reason she had asked to eat alone, so she could simply daydream undisturbed. She looked back at the clock, the second hand seeming to slow with each tick. It was a little after one, meaning that Nick should be in town soon, if he wasn’t already. They had decided for their lessons that Nick would come to the castle, that way they weren’t busy looking for each other.
I guess I’ll find a book to read and wait for him in the foyer. The first thing I’m asking him is why he was singing last night.
After slowly limping down the path for 45 minutes, Nick had finally reached the clearing. He knew that just getting to Twilight’s castle, along with some of the locals asking him what happened was going to make him very late, most likely adding kindle to the already towering bonfire he was going to face when meeting Twilight. Luckily the pain he had felt earlier had not come back, at least letting him pick up the pace a bit.
As he walked through Ponyville, his second observation came true. Several townsponies gasped and approached him. Nick tried his best to make the explanation short. Timberwolves, took care of them, really need to get to Twilight’s castle ASAP. Thankfully they asked no further questions and allowed him to continue on his way. The news sped past him, meaning he didn’t have to explain again and could focus on getting to Twilight quicker.
Another 30 minutes and he was now standing before the giant doors. It was a quarter past two and he knew on the beyond them there was most likely a very worried, angry alicorn princess. Deciding to not prolong the anxiety any longer, he knocked. In a split second, the door swung opened, a very wound up Twilight in the doorway.
“I hope you have a good reason why-” she started, before noticing the bandages around his wounds.
“Twilight, I can-” Nope sorry bud, you’re not going to be able to defend yourself for at least an hour. Might as well buckle up and brace yourself for the ride.
“What in Celestia’s name happened?!”
Besides telling her that it was timberwolves, Nick remained silent as Twilight poured all of her emotions into lecturing. She talked about how he had promised that he would be safe, that this wouldn’t have happened had he not been such a stubborn, thick headed wolf and accepted her hospitality. What was it with males and thinking accepting help was a weakness? She mentioned hearing him howl and then sing, asking him what all that was about. When he didn’t reply, that just fueled the fire. She went on to how he never talked about his past, understanding that it would be painful to bring up some memories, but talking about them is better than just keeping them holed up. This brought her into her friendship lecture, you all know how that goes.
All the while, Nick had somehow been able to get Twilight to head inside and sit in the foyer. She continued to stand while he sat and listened. Even though he should have been feeling guilty, he couldn’t help but think all of this lecturing was cute and attractive. It made him realize that she actually liked him. Putting so much passion into lecturing him about his well-being, admitting she was worried when she heard him howling and singing, all signs that the wounds hurt her more than they did him.
Speaking of pain, he noticed it slowly returning. Must be all this stress causing it to flare back up. Please go away, if Twilight sees me wincing, that’s only going to make her worry more. What he didn’t know was that once Twilight got into lecture-mode, it had to take more than a change in facial expression to distract her. He looked at the clock, which read 10 till 6. She’s been lecturing me longer than any college class I’ve taken. 3 hours straight and it doesn’t look like she’s slowing down. The pain is getting worse.
“Twilight,” he bravely interrupted, only to be shot down quickly.
“No interrupting Nick, I’m trying to make a point here.” Starlight had rudely interrupted her before, she wasn’t going to let Nick do the same.
Nick pinned his ears back and remained silent. The pain continued to build up, as if the wounds were being retorn and lime juice was being poured on it. The pain wasn’t contained only to his wounds, it spread to his head. Suddenly visions started flashing before his eyes, the timberwolves, the Tree of Harmony, Luna and Twilight, and then his best friend, Alex.
“NO!!!!” he yelled, startling Twilight who was now realizing that Nick was trying to get her help.
“Nick, what’s wrong?” she rushed to his side, placing a hoof on his forehead. “You’re- you’re burning up!”
“Twilight, I - I …” the pain too unbearable, he collapsed right in front of her.
She paused for a moment, trying to process what exactly just happened. She had been so focused on venting her emotions towards Nick, she didn’t even listen to his call for help. Get a hold of yourself Twilight. Beating yourself up won’t help Nick. I need to get him to a hospital quick and then let Princess Celestia know what happened.
He was no Ursa Minor, but he was still pretty heavy. She didn’t want to risk teleporting him as that may make his condition worse. She got them out the door and started heading into town. She spotted Applejack and Fluttershy and called them over. They saw Nick being levitated by her side and rushed over to her.
“My goodness! What happened Twilight?” the Fluttershy inquired.
“Ah’ll help ya with him sugarcube. You talk while we walk to the hospital,” Applejack added, placing the wolf on her back with Twilight’s help. “Whoowee, he sure is heavier than he looks. Let’s go.”
Twilight explained what had happened, how she had gotten carried away with lecturing Nick, him doubling over in pain, running what felt like a fever and then collapsing in front of her. She was on the verge of tears, and Fluttershy tried her best to comfort her. “While I’ve never worked with a wolf before, but I can check his wounds to see what’s wrong.”
“Thank you Fluttershy,” Twilight weakly smiled at her friend’s kind offer.
The three continued walking, brainstorming ideas of what could have caused Nick to faint. Judging by the bandages, he had at least cleaned the wound, but that brought up another question. Where did he get them from? No place in Ponyville sold medical supplies, mainly because there was no need to. All events were close enough to town so that if an emergency occurred, the hospital was minutes away. Maybe Zecora patched him up, but if that was the case, she probably would have accompanied him or had some medicine for him to take.
“I don’t think it was because of his healing magic,” Twilight suggested. “He performed it correctly when we practiced, and I would have sensed it if he used it wrong.”
“He doesn’t have any signs of food poisoning,” Fluttershy added. “He would have thrown up sometime by now and his body would be quivering.”
“Well hopefully the you and the docs can find out what’s wrong. We’re here,” Applejack announced.
They hurried inside and explained what they knew to the receptionist. With the princess saying this was an emergency, Nick was quickly placed on a gurney and rushed into the Emergency Wing, along with Fluttershy.
“Applejack can you round up the others? I need to let Princess Celestia know what happened.”
“Of course, Twi. I sure hope Nick’s ok.”
“Me too.”