Those Stripes

by JeremyStorm

Prologue

I woke with a start, gasping for breath that I couldn’t seem to find. The room around me was stiflingly warm, and I was slick with sweat. I flailed, trying to free myself from the tangle of bed sheets. When they wouldn’t immediately release their hold I began to panic. Swirling blackness was still vivid in my mind’s eye, trying to sweep me away.

Finally springing free, I rolled, falling off the bed and crashing to the floor where I scrambled as quickly as I could away. It didn’t matter where, as long as I was moving. When my back hit a wall, I grasped my head between my hands as I searched desperately for anything I recognized. When the familiar trappings of my bedroom came into view, I took several deep breaths to calm down.

I could still feel the hands reaching for me, raking me with their clawed fingers. Pins and needles were still flaring through me, telling the tale of pains unimaginable. When something touched my shoulder, I jumped wildly, and it was only then that I heard someone talking.

“Matt, Mathew, stop! It’s me, it’s Amiti! Please, calm down, luv,” he pleaded. His voice was something familiar, and I flung myself at him, burying my face in his neck. His forelegs wrapped themselves around my back, cradling me like I hadn’t been for a long time. I couldn’t hold it anymore, and I cried onto his shoulder.

I’m not sure how long we sat there on the floor, but he never stopped holding me. He continued whispering to me, giving me soft assurances that everything was going to be fine; that he loved me. After a time I found my tears subsiding and my breath coming more easily. All the while, his hooves continued to gently rub my back.

With my panic subsiding and the last vestiges of the nightmare fading back to reality, I felt my gut twist in embarrassment. The nightmare had been a bad one, sure, but I felt like a baby for breaking down like that. Realizing I still had a death grip around his neck, I slackened my hold, but I still didn’t pull away from him. Instead, I kept my face buried in the grey-striped coat of his neck.

“Matt? Are you okay?” he asked, his tone calmer than before, but still hesitant. I smiled a little as he nuzzled the side of my head.

“Yeah, I’m better now,” I said, and I was surprised at how hoarse my voice was. Coughing to clear my throat, I finally decided to let go. I leaned back against the wall, the surface cool against my skin. I was reminded again how warm the room was, a fact which wasn’t helped by burying my face into essentially a thick fur jacket. It was the dead of summer, and I was very much missing air conditioning.

As though sensing my thoughts, my partner stood, moving towards the window nearby. Rearing up onto his hind legs, he threw the window open, and a fresh breeze immediately started flowing through the stifling room. It wasn’t exactly much cooler, but at least it was moving.

As he lowered himself from the window, I took stock of him. His striped mane, normally in a well-maintained short Zebrican mohawk, was a mess, though with waking up in the middle of the night I couldn’t blame him that. His coat had a particularly matted patch on his neck where I had cried, and though I bet he was itching to brush it he was more worried about me. That was so like him.

As he turned back to me, our eyes finally met. They’re a brilliant purple, and at the moment filled with a million worried questions he was dying to ask. I had to debate with myself if I wanted to tell him about the dream. He would never judge me over something as stupid as having a nightmare, and I know that I have nothing to prove to him, but I can’t help but feel apprehensive. I hate feeling weak, and complaining about a stupid bad dream felt pretty damn weak to me. Across from me, Amiti fell to his haunches.

“Was it the nightmare again? Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Not really. I can’t really remember much of it, anyway. Just this darkness and that I felt like I couldn’t breathe when I woke up,” I said. It wasn’t a really a lie. My memories of the dream were already fading; whatever had me so freaked out was long gone. I shook my head in an effort to clear my head, and ran the back of my hand across my forehead. I was surprised at how wet it was; guess I was sweating more than I thought.

“Anyway, I’m sorry I woke you up,” I said, forcing a smile, but I could see by his face that he saw through it. “Why don’t you go on back to bed? I just need a minute.” Instead of moving back to the bed, he instead moved over next to me, leaning into my side.

“If you need a minute, then I’ll take one, too.” He finished by giving me his best grin. I knew the look well. He wore it every time he knew he was winning an argument, or when he was being a smartass. Sometimes he wore it just because he knew I couldn’t resist it. I’m pretty sure it was what made me fall for him in the first place. I still get a flutter in my stomach every time he looks at me like that.

God, he’s turned me into total sap. I paid him back by flicking him on the nose.

“You’ll tell me what it’s about when you’re ready, right? You know you’re not alone here,” he said as he settled into my shoulder.

“It was just a stupid nightmare, and I meant it, I really don’t remember any of it. Nothing to worry about,” I said. He moved as though he were about to stand again, but seemed to decide against it. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. I really didn’t want to talk about it.

We sat there in a companionable silence after that. It was nice. The room was finally cooling somewhat, though I was still missing good old AC, but it was bearable now. The sound of crickets chirping flitted in through the open window, creating a nice backdrop to our breathing. His weight on my side and the warmth of his coat on my arm was comforting after the poor sleep. After a bit, I could feel his weight gradually increasing against me, and I smirked when I heard him snore. I was about to shake him awake so we could return to bed when a tiny knock sounded on the door.

His ears instantly perked up and he shook himself awake. He opened his mouth to allow our visitor entrance when he stopped and turned to me instead. His eyes flicked downward and I followed his gaze. It was then that I remembered I hadn’t worn anything to bed earlier. Casting around, I spotted a pair of sweatpants from a night or two ago. I slipped them on as Amiti made for the door. When I was properly clothed, he opened it and a tiny zebra filly poked her head in.

“Daddy, I heard a loud noise. Is everything okay?” her little voice asked. Maya’s resemblance to her father was downright uncanny. They share the same near-white coat with an almost identical mild grey-stripe pattern. All she lacked was his wing glyphmark. She even has the same deep violet eyes, which were narrowed in concern the same way her father’s did. So, I couldn’t stop at waking just one person- er… pony in the household? Don’t I just feel awesome.

“Yes dear,” he said, pulling her into a hug and nuzzling the top of her head. “Everything’s just fine.” She didn’t look convinced, and looked around him at me as if looking for confirmation.

“Yeah, I just had a bad dream, sweetie, nothing to worry about. I’m sorry that I woke you up,” I said. She looked a little more reassured, but didn’t leave yet. She scuffed her hoof at the floor in the way that I’d noticed ponies do when they were apprehensive about something.

“Can I sleep with you guys tonight?” she asked, shooting some truly impressive puppy dog eyes at her dad. I’m just glad they weren’t aimed at me. I feel like they would have knocked me out from cuteness overload.

Amiti looked back at me, silently asking for my approval. A small part of me wanted to say no so that maybe he and I could have some fun fooling around before going back to bed. Sure it was late, and we were tired, but what can I say, I’m always in the mood for him. But one look at that cute little face and my will crumbled. Much like her father, I could just never say no to that face. I nodded my approval.

“Of course you can, dear,” he said. She let out a small squeak of happiness and paused long enough to give him a quick nuzzle before practically sprinting for the bed and scrambling up the side. It’s a little higher than a pony bed to accommodate my greater height, so she struggled a little, but eventually she got it. She bounced up to the pillows and curled up right in the middle of the bed. Amiti and I both sighed but couldn’t help but smile at her antics. We both made for the bed, he on one side of the filly against the wall, and me on the other. It was a tight fit, so we had to snuggle in pretty close, but none of us minded.

The moment I laid down, I had a shock of striped mane in my face and a warm ball of fluff pressed snugly into my chest. May, continuing in her trend of taking after her father, loved to cuddle. I couldn’t lie down on the bed or the couch for a nap without one or both of them ending up on top of me. It was like a giant zebra pile on the poor human. Thankfully neither of them is heavy. I blew a lock of mane away from my nose, which elicited a laugh from the other side of the filly.

“Night, sweetie,” I said, kissing May behind one ear, causing her to giggle.

“Night, Daddy. Night, Matt,” she replied. I leaned over her and shared a somewhat deeper kiss with her father.

“Night, luvs,” he said, as we all settled in together. It really hit me, then, exactly what I had.

For the longest time, I wasn’t sure it would ever happen, and I never imagined it would include talking zebras, but I finally had it.

That night, huddled into a far-too-small bed with far-too-many ponies, I was reminded that I had a family. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Comments

[One Lucky Gamer]

Can you get back to writing this please ;_;