Closer
Sleep would not come.
Ocellus scrunched her eyes shut and wrapped the duvet even tighter. Her body responded to the physical memory, twitching as warmth bloomed beneath her carapace. It felt safe and snug. It felt like a strange and wonderful new home, and yet a place where she had always known she belonged.
She giggled softly to herself, her wings buzzing beneath the heavy fabric. Sleep would not come, but that wasn't a bad thing. She didn't want to miss a single second of the night.
"Is this gonna become a habit?" Smolder's voice pierced the warm veil. "'Cos I'm seriously regretting sharing my bed with you right now."
"Just tonight... Probably." Ocellus giggled again. She stretched one of her hindlegs behind her, lightly pressing it against Smolder's... knee, was it?
"That's my stomach and it hurts." Smolder roughly re-positioned Ocellus' limb between her longer legs. "We're gonna need to somehow get the school to buy us a double if we're sleeping together from now on. I need space to sprawl."
"So sprawl, my love." Ocellus felt the warmth inside of her increase by a few hundred degrees. Every thought, every touch and sound, was a blade severing her senses from the material world. She could taste Smolder's love, slightly burnt by tired irritation, but everything else was a fog of intangible delights. "I don't mind if you—oof!"
Smolder sprawled.
After a few blissful moments, Ocellus felt her girlfriend's body stir again.
"You okay under there?"
Ocellus tilted her head up and planted a kiss at the base of Smolder's neck. The shiver that passed through her girlfriend's body delighted her—the purr that escaped from her lips even more. Ocellus closed her eyes and enjoyed the heavy weight of Smolder against her body, and the growing spears of love against her heart.
And sleep would not come.
Opening her eyes again, Ocellus studied the scales running down the back of Smolder's neck. She studied the curve and shape of her shoulders and she studied the ridges of her spines and the angles of her muscles. Ocellus studied her girlfriend until the warmth within her turned sick and feverish.
The percussion of her heart was threatening to shake her carapace from her body. Ocellus licked her lips.
"Smolder," she whispered. She could hear the crack of her voice, feel the heat bleed out with every heavy breath. "I—I..."
"Yeah." Smolder's voice was dry. "M—Me too."
"Mm," Ocellus replied. "Good."
Slowly, Smolder uncoiled herself from Ocellus, repositioning her body so that they were lying side by side, face beside face. Ocellus was barely able to look at her girlfriend, such was the way she radiated love and desire and far too many other feelings for Ocellus to be able to process.
She didn't try to, though. A wild smile pulled at her lips as Ocellus instead surrendered herself to it. Her brain popped and fizzed, misfiring and miscuing as her body tried to make sense of a love that was like nothing she had tasted before. A feverish clarity attempted to surface, but Ocellus was desperate in her denial. She closed the gap with kisses and caresses, with bites and growls. She tried to take every wave, every pulse of almost painful delight, and turned them into something she could give back. Ocellus wanted Smolder to feel her love they way she felt Smolder's, and as she opened up her senses further, as she absorbed not only the taste, but the sound her girlfriend's voice and the touch of her body, Ocellus knew she was succeeding.
Later, they both lay entangled amongst a cocoon of blankets and the sharpness of broken wood.
Sleep had finally come.
And that's a wrap! Cue end credits:
I had a blast writing this, folks. If you've enjoyed reading it even a fraction as much as I've enjoyed putting it together then I can consider this job done. And if you've been joining me on this journey, be it silently or by leaving comments and thoughts, then thank you. I appreciate it more than I could probably put into words.
Retrospective to come via one of my blogs at some point. I'm a little too drained to do it now.
One last favour: It would be beyond awesome if you could let me know what you liked/didn't like about this anthology as a whole. I'm keen to learn from the experience, which is why I tried to cover different styles and tones, whilst keeping the structure thematically stable. I don't mind whether it's positive or negative, I'm just keen to learn. So if you have any thoughts, I'd be delighted to hear them.
Take care, and I'll hopefully speak to you soon. 
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That was a beautiful way to end this. I look forward to more work from you.
AND THEN THEY F
Actually no, this was too beautiful to ruin with a crass joke like that. Man you hit it out of the park. It's been fun! And I'm eagerly looking forward to more stories from you.
10187678
Thank you very much! I threw out a good half dozen ideas that felt okay, but didn't have the sense of ending I wanted. I'm so glad you felt it was a good chapter to bow out on. Thanks for all of your comments along the way, and I'll certainly do my best to entertain on future stories!
10187748
Haha, I'll allow it. Honestly, one of the earlier drafts had a similar-ish comedic tone underpinning the ending, but I dunno, it just didn't feel right. I thought it deserved a more serious, affectionate conclusion. Really glad you enjoyed reading it, and I look forward to chatting more. Your comments since the start have been welcome and enjoyed. Thank you so very much.
10187648
I'll have to check it out then, and maybe that video, too (I'm always a little hesitant when I see titles like that on Youtube vids; always makes me think it's just gonna be an OTT hate-fest on what is ultimately a piece of throwaway entertainment).
That said, as much as I can set aside my love of world-building, that example you gave would have annoyed me for sure, haha. You can't just insert, you've got to evolve. Maybe as a TV show they might have done that?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it too. That was helpful to know!
Extremely romantic
10188073
I mean, this is me we're talking about; how else would I end it?
Thanks for all of your comments along the way. I really appreciate each and every one of them.
That’s the end??
Awww. It had been rather enjoyable following these cute snippets of their life
They need a bigger bed. Cuddles in a cramped zone will only be awesome for a finite time and it seems the dragon grows tired of that quickly.
You write these two well and I hope to see more good stuff from you in future.
10188153
I'm glad you enjoyed the ride while it lasted, and thank you for coming along and commenting. It's really appreciated.
It is indeed, and I hope it felt like a conclusion, rather than a random chapter to end on.
And yeah, for sure. I mean, I'm not sure how they're going to push the school for a larger one without it being obvious; maybe Ocellus totally can't stop turning into a bugbear at night. Yeah, that's it. No other reason. Nope...
10189288
. I hope you enjoyed it; thanks so much for taking the time to comment along the way. I really appreciate it. 
Well, you managed four at least.
It. Was. Excellent. Need I say more? No I don't.
10189687
Thank you so very much for taking the time to read it, and I'm glad you enjoyed it to the end.
Hopefully I'll see you around my neck of the woods again for future/other stories.
I didn't post on this fic before but... now that it's the end, thank you for this !
It was a real pleasure to read these small chapters one by one, just as a distraction sometimes but the fluff / romance here got me to smile so much ^^
Love the way you write the Smolcellus dynamic, it's just adorable !
10189875
Well, I appreciate a comment whenever it arrives. But more importantly I appreciate you taking the time to read my work!! I had a blast writing these two being all lovey and dramatic and angsty, and it certainly won't be the last time I throw them under the romance bus.
Also, it put a smile on my face knowing I put a smile on your face. Thanks for letting me know!
I'm glad you enjoyed writing it. It has absolutely been great to read. Thank you.
10190332
Thank you for reading it! I'm so very glad it's entertained.
This was a pure delight to read. Each paragraph was absolutely soaked in character introspection and all the best trimmings of a good, dramatic romance. I really felt a sense of wonder was captured here, and though you're semi-retired from writing, you should know that this was an especially good piece. Should you ever come back to write again, I'll still be kicking around for more great stuff like this.
10815528
Heyo. Thank you so much for the kind words, and for investing your time in the story. As always, it really does mean a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. I've dabbled with different genres but it really feels like drama and romance is my literary home, so to speak; at the very least, it's where my heart feels at home.
I'm only semi-retired in so far as I haven't been writing here (or anywhere online), but I've still been hard at it. Making the final preparations before I start the first draft of my novel. That said, I'm dabbling with the idea of publishing a short story here every now and then. Just no big commitments anymore, not that I was ever great on delivering on those
10816592
Good, good, let the genuine and wholesome romance flow...
I would be down to gobble up either option.
11120924
Hard agreement
Damn it. I had half a mind of just... combing through the comments, upvoting those that seemed right/expressed what I had to say anyway and leave it at that. (And the obligatory upvote/favorite.) But nooo, you just couldn't let me go that easily. (Kidding, kidding...)
Alright. Fine. I'll try.
Just so you're warned, though: It will most likely not be helpful.
See, there's this funny line in your author's notes early on:
And honestly... in that very chapter, I did consider leaving. Then I read that line in the author's notes and that, mixed with bad conscience and probably mild OCDs and intrigue/curiosity eventually made me reconsider.
So. What is it that made me want to abandon ship in the first place? It's certainly not the characterization. That, as far as I'm concerned, is beautiful. It's not the prose/style/grammar/any technical aspect, since that's impressive and near-flawless as well. ('Near' because somewhere in there, I found one oddity/quirk/mistake and I clung to it like I was grasping straws because otherwise it really would have been too damn good and therefore intimidating as heck. Yes, that totally makes sense, shut it!)
No, it's just... well, it comes down to personal preference, really.
You have a beautiful way with words. And you present us with these tasty little morsels. And I only needed very few chapters to figure out that... I felt left wanting after every. Single. One.
It just wasn't enough. Ever.
There's a fine balance one could strike there. But it didn't happen for me. I felt disappointed. There was so much goodness there, but it just wasn't really 'sooo much'. I'm a sucker for longer pieces. I want to get tricked into caring with slow build-ups or intriguing setups or what have you.
Every story is a window. The storyteller decides how this window looks. How it's dressed up and decorated, how clear it is, what it shows,... how large it is. How much we're allowed to see through it. And for my tastes, your windows were just... too small.
If I'm reading this correctly, this is basically as much an artistic choice as it was one due to time constraints. And I cannot in good conscience fault you for either, really. But goodness gracious me, did I see potential and want that realized. A 20k+ story in this style? Yes, please! 50k. 100k. I'll take it.
But it wasn't. It was 500 words. 1k.
And no matter how tasty they were, I couldn't quite enjoy these morsels as much as I wanted. As much as I felt they deserved. Because they were so tiny.
In the end, I reconsidered. I pulled through, I read it all and I came to an... let's call it 'an arrangement' with myself. You're supposed to eat a single tiny piece of chocolate and relish the flavor. You're not supposed to stuff your gullet like you're some kind of mutant hamster. Buuut. The latter simply... worked. Can't argue with results, right? While each individual piece left me wanting, I found a certain viable amount of satisfaction in breezing through the lot of them. And at the end, I had a slightly disjointed 16k+ story, I guess, and that was something I could deal with. Something I could appreciate a lot more.
Funnily enough, your 9k-story about Twi and Ember made it into my recommendations. Just checked if you had something longer.
So I guess the TL;DR of this would be... it's less about what you could improve in your writing and more about 'life sucks, because a day only has 24 hours and life is busy and ponies need time'. Or something like that.
Told you it wouldn't be helpful.
So there you go. I hope I didn't somehow unwittingly and accidentally insult or offend you. That was not the intention. I'm still very glad I gave this a shot and enjoyed it a lot.
Thank you for writing!
11459340
Hello, there. As the dates of my blogs and published stories may indicate, it's been a long ol' while since I last spent a sustained period of time on the site. But it does a heart good to know that people are still stumbling across and reading my work, and I want to pass on my gratitude for that.
I guess one's enjoyment of/satisfaction with this will depend on the expectation going in. From my perspective, I never intended for it to be a cohesive 'story', more just a collection of vignettes that are vaguely connected thematically. Some of the reoccurring motifs and/or elements that were introduced might have worked against that intention, but I wasn't overly precious about controlling the evolution of the collection. If that and an unclear signalling of content impact on a reader's participation then that's on me of course. But I'm not sure how much I'm inclined to agree on there being unrealised potential between the conception and reality. I remember being super conscious of wanting it to not have a clear narrative structure.
That being said, it's always appreciated when readers leave me a comment (especially when they're of such detail), and I always take some time to reflect and try to find some learning to help me improve my craft. And that will be the case here too. It's doubly important when a reader isn't left satisfied, whatever the reason may be. Apologies for that.
Thanks a bunch though. It really does mean a lot that you chose to read some of my stuff, and also that you then took the time to comment. I hope that you found some parts to enjoy in there. Have a fab day
11461047
And In turn, allow me to say: It's so nice to read that, despite being away for whatever reason for a while, you still come back occasionally and take a look in here.
There's no need for you to apologize at all. You're right. It's about expectations, my expectations, and you did make clear what your intentions where even before I started reading.
I did. If anything, I wished there would be more. And I like to think that that's a compliment in its own right.