>"You don't have to do this, Anon."
>you know you don't
>but you figure it's best to be the good Samaritan you never got to be back on Earth
>"I know I don't, but while she's staying here, I can at least do something about it. She's your mother, after all."
>Twilight sighs
>"Yes, I know, but she need psychiatric help! Therapy! I know talking it out with your friends and family is good too, but..."
>Twilight leans in, her voice lowering to a whisper
>"My father died six months ago, Anon. I talked to Shining and my mother about it, I found solace with my friends. Shining talked to me, his guard buddies, and Cadence. Mom..."
>she sighs
>"Mom's just been moping and crying throughout the nights. She barely talked to me when I tried to say anything. It's killing me seeing her like this..."
>you pat Twilight on the shoulder
>"I'm good with words, Twi. I can comfort her! Just give me a shot. It's the least I can do to give back after you've done so much for me here."
>Twilight chews her lip nervously
>"I-I'm still not so sure..."
>you give her a pouty face
>bitches love the pouty face
>Twilight frowns slightly, taking a step backward
>"Dammit, not again with the... the... okay, fine, go talk to her! Just don't make that face!"
>nailed it
>with a wide grin on your face, you practically skip up the glittering, shiny staircase in Twilight's new crystal tree place
>the faint sounds of Twilight retching behind you reaches your ears, which you quickly drown out with a happy, whistled tune
>you knock on the door to the guest room on the second floor
>apparently this new crystal tree castle thing has like a million new things that Golden Oaks never did
>RIP in pieces ;_;7
>now's not the time for sadness, though
>well, not THAT kind of sadness
>now's the time for comforting
>super anon-psychiatric skills!
>you hear a little pained gasp and a wet sob from inside the room
>"C-come in..."
>you had met Twilight Velvet before, briefly the first time, and had dinner sitting next to her the second time, for Twilight's Crystal-Castle-Treewarming thing
>she was a nice mare
>both times were before Night Light had passed on
>the last time, you had chatted it up with her, got to know her
>it was about a week before her husband had passed, too
>you remember her being so... well, happy
>she had this glint in her eye, and this coy smile that suggested so much about her
>she had been a journalist when she was younger, on tour with a bunch of soldiers overseas
>Night Light had been an medic
>they met when she fell into a snare and gotten her hind legs torn up
>after they both made it home alive and Night Light was able to escape from the military, they stayed together
>apparently, they didn't even think the army business was enough for them, and they went all over Equestria and beyond, exploring and adventuring
>after a few good years of that, they settled down, and Velvet foaled Shining and Twilight
>all of this had been imparted on you at that dinner
>you'd forgotten to eat anything halfway
>she had a way with words that was... beyond beautiful
>she was a novelist, too, writing fiction and fantasy, inspired by her and her husband's adventures
>they were the lead competition to the Daring Do series
>that whole night while she and Night Light filled you in, you saw that glint in her eyes reach unprecedented levels
>and now, as you saw her, laying on the bed, her cheeks were tear stained, and her eyes were red and puffy
>and that glint was gone
"C-can I come in?"
>you see her lift her head from the pillow it's half buried in, and she blinks at you
>"O-oh... hello, Anonymous..."
>you're about to tell her to just call you Anon, but you figure now's not really the time for that
"Hey there, Velvet..."
>she turns her head back to the pillow, but doesn't push her head into it
>"You may come in i-if you'd like..."
>you do just that
>quickly crossing the room, you sit down beside her in bed
>she rests her chin in the pillows, and sighs loudly, sniffling a bit
>you decide to start simple, and stupid
"How are you holding up?"
>Velvet snorts, and turns her head to look at you
>"Well, as you can see right here, I'm a bit upset."
>you give her an apprehensive look, and she sighs again
>"I'm sorry, it's just... it's been a while since I talked to someone who wasn't trying to force me to see a therapist."
"Twilight forced you?"
>Velvet rolls over onto her back, and places her hooves on her chest, slightly curled up
>"Might as well have... we can't all take the death of such an important being in our lives in such stride as she and her brother have."
>you open her mouth, but she turns her head and raises an eyebrow
>"I know what you're going to say, and I get it—they're in a lot of pain as well, and they've... moved on. But it's harder for me, you know? He was their father, and he meant the world to them, but I've done things that they couldn't even dream of doing with him."
>you cough slightly
>she raises her eyebrow slightly higher
>"Yes, INCLUDING that. And that's one of the main reasons it's different for me: I MADE them with him. And even beyond the sexual aspect, I've been through far with him, trekked through sweltering jungles, fended off psychopaths, fought illnesses, and raised foals with him! They don't have that experience with their father, no matter how great he was to them."
>she laughs a bitter, sad laugh
>"I-I'm sorry, I must sound so selfish..."
>she tears up, biting her lower lip
>"B-but... while he may have been their world, he was EVERYTHING to me. And when he died... so did a piece of me, as cheesy as that sounds. I feel hallow, Anon, and i-it..."
>she swallows hard, a tear rolling a familiar path down her cheek
>"And it j-just hurts s-so MUCH thinking about h-how I'll never s-see him again... I'll n-never feel him wrap his sturdy, y-yet gentle hooves around m-me..."
>you feel a deep pang of sorrow in your gut as she watch her roll over and clutch the pillow tightly, her cheek pressed hard into it
>"H-he'll never say 'I l-love y-you' ever a... aga..."
>she breaks down completely at this point, sobbing hard, burying in face in the pillow
>there's not a lot you can do at this point
>but fortunately, you can do one thing
>you gently scoot over slightly on the bed, and lean down
>wrapping your arms around her midsection
>and envelop her in a deep hug
>you rest your head next to hers, knowing you were taking a big risk with this
>you expect her to buck you in your balls any moment
>to your (happy) surprise, she readjusts herself so she's hugging you too
>you're laying there on the bed, a tiny widowed equine a third your size pressed against your chest, sobbing
>and for the first time in a while, you do not wonder what you are doing with your life
>you hug her a bit tighter
>and she cries a bit harder
>resting her muzzle on your shoulder
>sniffling, letting tears leak out onto your shirt
>you don't mind, though
>you let her have this moment
>after a long, long time, she moves her head from your shoulder, and looks up at you
>"A-anon?"
"Yes?"
>she squeezes you a bit tighter, nuzzling your chest
>"Thank y-you. Coming here and just listening to me sob, instead of telling me to move on, or g-get help... it really means a lot."
"R-really?"
>she smiles at you again
>this time, while still certainly a heavy smile
>it's not so sad anymore
>"Yes, really. My kids care, but they... they care too much. They want me to get better right away, and I need time to heal at my own pace."
>you nod
"Yeah, Twilight almost didn't want me coming up here because she thought I was just going to agitate you."
>Velvet snorts again
>it's sort of cute, actually
>a mix of upset, frustrated, and amused
>Upsfrumused?
>ew, god no
>"Well, that's Twilight for you. Even after all this time of studying ponies and making friends and even becoming a PRINCESS, she still can't read ponies right."
>she looks up and down at you
>"W-well, and people."
>you grin, and she giggles, interrupted by a little hiccup
>"Y-you know, Anonymous..."
"Yeah?"
>she looks down for a moment
>Is she... blushing?
>"This is the closest I've been to someone, person OR pony, since Night Light... d-died."
>you stare blankly down at her
>"Physically OR emotionally."
"Y-you haven't even been hugged in the last six months?"
>Damn, you are stammering a lot
>she shakes her head
>"Everyone's been too afraid of 'setting me off', whatever that's supposed to mean."
>you shrug, causing Velvet to jostle a little bit
"Well, they just didn't know how to help properly, I guess. Everyone needs a little bit of love, especially in trying times like this."
>sappy.mp3
>surprisingly, she actually nods her head in agreement instead of kicking you out like most girls do when you get this far
>"Well, I appreciate it a lot, Anonymous, I really do."
>she rests her head on your shoulder again, and you feel your own cheeks heat up
>oh god, this isn't
>no
>you can't even CONSIDER doing that thing
>god, what kind of skeevy, heartless bastard are you
>your mind immediately takes you back to you kicking that curly red-haired off-white filly and stealing her peppermint candies the other day
>eh, bitch had it coming, she should have known better than to have candy near you on a kicking day
>that aside, this was something SERIOUS
>this was an emotionally damaged mare who needed something serious in her life to help fix her
>and that serious was time, not you and your... perversions
>stupid sexy horses
>her mane brushes against your neck, and you giggle despite yourself
>"Are you okay, Anonymous?"
>shit
"Yeah, I'm alright. Your mane just tickles a bit, that's all."
>she giggles
>"Night Light loved my mane... sometimes he'd spend up to an hour combing it to make sure all the knots were out before we went out somewhere fancy."
"Sounds dedicated."
>you pause
"Wait, over an HOUR?"
>"My mane gets tangled easily."
>Velvet moves her head up and smiles at you
>"He once swore he found a breezie stuck in there."
>you chuckle, remembering the swarm of breezies that had flown through town all those months ago
>of course, you were still living in a cardboard box then, but they were still pretty fukken cute
>god, keep your mind together! You have a mare who needs your support
>you laugh along with her, although you're pretty sure she can tell you're forcing it a bit
>she sighs, although this one is more wistful than the ones before it, rather than sad
>"At that dinner all those months ago, did I tell you about the few months we were homeless in Manehattan?"
>you shake your head, and she chuckles
>"oh, those were times I won't soon forget..."
"Did you write a book on them?"
>she gives you a bemused smile
>"oh please, Anonymous, my memory is hardly THAT poor."
"Wait, I didn't mean--"
>you stop when you see her chuckling, a hoof held up to her mouth
>"I know what you meant, it's all quite fine. No, I didn't write a book on this particular adventure. Didn't exactly fit in with the others... Rather depressing. Besides, I think the series warped up a bit better with the two of us escaping from the volcano and heading back to equestria."
>you nod in agreement
"Well, I feel like the last one had a rather great climax, to be sure. I thought you two were going to be sacrificed for sure; it was pretty clever how Oberon came in to rescue them both, especially since I thought he froze to death in that blizzard back in book 3. Pretty neat how he found those caves to stay warm in and then spent the next 14 book following them around Equus trying to reunite with the two."
>you should really read the books sometime
>it's a good job Twilight goes on and on and on about them so you can at least pretend to have read them
>Velvet raises an eyebrow
>"really? I thought it was a bit of an ass pull myself, but no one else seems to share that opinion."
"Wait, you made that part up?"
>"oh no, Oberon really did save us. Took his sweet time, too; we were nearly half baked by the time he showed it. I could hardly believe it myself, so I thought for sure the editors would want me to omit it and come up with something far more believable."
>you shrug, and she half-smiles
>"now, where was I? Ah, yes, the Manehattan incident..."
>"We had just gotten back from the Volchari Volcanic Range, obviously, and Oberon had set off to find if there were any griffons left who still knew about the Draydian Scepter. Rumors were that Daring Do herself was after, and as you can probably recall from book six, she's not too fond of either us nor Oberon, so he had his work cut out. But that's beside the point..."
>"We were content with just heading back home and starting a new life ourselves, Night Light and I. But we wanted to start over in Manehatten instead of Canterlot, from which we both were from originally. A bigger city, a different taste, more opportunity, that sort of thing."
>"Unfortunately for us... money fell through. We had spent most of Night Light's funds traveling around Equus, and I hadn't exactly made a ton of money as a reporter. Neither of our families were poor, but I never got on well with mine in the first place (which, funnily enough, lead me to become a war reporter), and Night Light had become estranged from his family on our adventures about the world."
>my GOD, is she opening up
>this is good
>this is very good
>you feel somewhat accomplished by this, even
>the nostalgia train has swept her away, allowing her to reminisce on good memories of Night Light
>helping her healing
>jeez, if only Twilight let you talk to her sooner!
>"We only had 800 bits to our name when we first showed up in Manehattan. It was enough for some food and a modest apartment on the lower east side of Manehattan. It sounds like a lot, but the rent for the fist month was 600 bits, so we weren't left with a lot of money to help us along after that."
>"We bought essentially only food for the first two weeks, but on our... 16th day, I want to say? Regardless, that was the day I saw something that'd turn things right around for us."
>"There was a typewriter sale going on at a quills, ink, and type shop that I can't quite recall the name of... it went under shortly after I bought the typewriter."
>"It was that typewriter I used to write my first novel."
"Oh, 'The Syeekoh'?"
>Velvet gives you a little chuckle
>"No, actually, even though that is the first in the series of adventures Night Light and I went on, I wrote a little collection of short stories that I compiled into a novel before anything else. It wasn't groundbreaking, but a small publisher on the other side of town picked up on it. Relatively unknown in most of Equestria, but apparently as of three years ago, it's a huge thing in a tiny Griffon province."
>"It brought us in some coin, which managed to let us keep our apartment for another month (after paying the rent 11 days late), and it gave me the confidence to work on the adventure series, starting with our adventures right after the war. It was released a few days after the first Daring Do novel, so the combined success of our novels launched each other's careers."
>you raise an eyebrow
"Really?"
>Velvet smiles knowingly
>"Yes, I know it seems odd, but that's just what the public wanted at the time. Those who were fans of Daring Do rushed to mine after finishing it, and vice versa. Of course, either sides have their die-hards and schisms and such, but..."
>she sighs, and looks back up at you
>"Well, that's unchangeable. Now, I still haven't told you about how we became homeless."
>"My other short story novel died off in terms of interest with the spark of my adventure novel, so we stopped pulling in money from that. However... we weren't getting any money from the new novel, either. Apparently there was some sort of royalty issues with my book because it was released five days after the Daring Do novel had been. We weren't allowed any money until the case had been settled."
>"So while my books continued to sell like hotcakes, we weren't able to pay for the apartment. Hell, we could barely get food every other day!"
>"So, we were soon evicted. We pawned off most of the meager belongings we had (we weren't looters like Daring Do), and we still came up short to get the apartment back. So with that, we settled on keeping our money safe so we wouldn't starve."
>you smile for a moment at the little contempt for Daring Do that shines through, but quickly drop it when the conversation progresses
>"We lived in an alley a few blocks away from our old home... it was pretty disastrous. My only possession I cared for was my typewriter; Night Light was always fretting over the money, which I knew was important too... but I never stopped writing. Grabbing blank, relatively undamaged papers from garbage cans, fishing around for not-yet unempty ink cartridges, even begging for typewriter ribbons. Night Light suggested I switch to quills after a while, but... bottled ink would have been harder to find. Most of the bottles that weren't exmpty that got thrown out cracked and spilled, or there was so little left in them by the time I reached them, they'd dried to the point of just being a film on the glass."
>she pauses for a moment, and you look down on her
"S-so... how'd you guys get out of that?"
>"Not easily, I assure you. We were running out of the little money we had left before the courts finally ruled in our favor. Said it was 'unrealistic that somepony write a book in five days and get it immediately pushed out by a large publisher.'"
>she giggles, and you giggle along
>this time, your laugh is genuine
>"A.K. Yearling later said in a press release that it was her publishing company, not her, who went after us, but..."
>she shrugs, which is a bit hard to do when she's laying on her side, forearms wrapped around you
>"I always suspected that wasn't the full story. What can I do though? I don't really have much room to complain. Moneys tarted pouring in, and we had a nice apartment on the other side off the city soon after. In a few months, we moved back to Cantlerlot."
>"And you just KNOW that suddenly both sides of the family were all over us, apologizing, once we managed to secure ourselves a decent place in upper Canterlot. Night Light got signed on with the royal guard, since they were interested in able-bodied veterans, and suddenly, we were respected and high class. No more fishing for paper from dumpsters!"
>Twilight Velvet let loose a loud, long laugh, and you can tell that this one was genuine
>an actual, genuine, not half-sad, not throat, pure laugh of mirth and reminiscence 
>god damn, that sounded beautiful
>"And, well, four months later I found out I was pregnant with Shining Armor! All went well, for us... even though we did have some issues getting Equestrian law to recognize our marriage since it had been done in Griffony. But you read Book Seven, of course."
>no, but that was one of Twi's personal favorites
"Of course! Did you ever catch the spy, by the way? I know you wanted to keep it mysterious, but after the cake ordeal—"
>Velvet smiled, removed one hoof from around you, and raised it to her muzzle
>"Mm-mm! Spoilers, Anonymous..."
>she and you both shared a good chuckle, and Velvet placed her hoof back
>she sighs, and looks up at you, smiling earnestly
>"Oh, I can't even begin to thank you, Anonymous. It's been just... SO cathartic, being able to voice everything and talk and remember... I wish you had come to talk to me months ago."
>you hug her a bit tighter and smile
"So do I, Velvet. You're excellent company."
>"R-really? I didn't bore you? Or depress you with all my sobbing?"
"Velvet, if you had been doing either of that, I would have left long ago."
>she raises an eyebrow
"Hey, I like to be up front."
>she gives you a smirk, and you simply smile back at her
>she nuzzles her head into your chest, and you see that her blush is back
>"O-oh dear... we've been trapped in embrace this whole time, haven't we?"
>huh
>you have
"Wow, I guess we have. I hadn't given it much thought, honestly."
>she leans up
>oh god, what is she
>oh no
>she gently plants a kiss on your lips
>ohgodnowhatthefuckyoucantdothisyoujustcantthisisntathingthatcanhappenwhydoesshesmelllikeraspberriesohgodwhatthefuckWHY
>god dammit
>you LOVE raspberries
>her lips fit her name—they're certainly as soft and smooth as velvet
>reluctantly at first, you kiss back
>you haven't even brushed your teeth today
>fuck, you're a slob
>her lips open up and you make a small noise as you slide to lock in place with her moth, her upper lip parting yours
>damn, it's been a while since you've kissed someone like this...
>it feels good to be this close to someone again
>I guess that's how she felt too
>you smile into the kiss, all reluctance long since faded
>you like this
>this could work
>this could work...
>after a moment that seemed to freeze you both in time, she pulls away
>"O-oh, I'm so sorry Anonymous..."
>you can feel the blush radiating from her cheeks
"No, I mean, I shouldn't have..."
>she shakes her head
>"No, that was all me. I was the one who... instigated."
>"I'm sorry, Anonymous..."
>you try and open her mouth
>you want to tell her you don't mind
>that she has nothing to apologize for
>but the words just don't come out
"Look, I—"
>Velvet detaches from your embrace and rolls off the bed
>"I... I don't know what came over me. I just..."
>you simply look over at her, screaming internally at yourself just to TELL her that this isn't something you're opposed to
>hell, something you WANT even
>"I-I'll just go downstairs and talk to Twilight, a-alright?"
>she gets up and heads for the door
>you smack yourself
>get a grip!
>tell her!
"Velvet, I—"
>it's too late
>you're talking to an empty room
>you look around and sigh
>oh well
>you'll see her at dinner
>hopefully shit won't be too awkward
>pfft, as if
>you sit up on the bed and look around
>the guest room isn't exceptionally messy
>it's messiest on the bed, where Velvet has been rolling around and sobbing, and recently laying with you and sneaking snogs
>ew gross, fucking that word
>makes kissing sound like some sort of noise a clogged toilet makes
>screw you harry potter
>you shake your old world literature from your mind and get up from the bed, moving the sheet and blankets back into place
>might as well make the bed look good
>you fluff the pillows up
>upon grabbing one and doing that little squeeze/shake thing, a ton of water pours from it
>this must have been her sobbing pillow
>sighing as you discard it to the side, you look back down at the doorway
>you could have had her
>dammit Anon
>just... dammit