I am not unaccustomed to nightmares or night terrors, though I have them more now than when I was younger. When I was younger the nightmares were of the childish sort that mirrored my everyday life. Like being made fun of, being used by fillies to make colts jealous, being punished by the elders for things I didn't do. I even had nightmares about Muriel following me around forever. I never thought that what I would be the one trailing behind her. Or that being around her wasn't the nightmare that I always thought it would have been. It was actually quite pleasant and as time dragged by I found that I was getting more and more accustomed to her company and actually enjoying it. I suppose part of the reason for that was because I had essentially spilled my guts to her and she to me. Its probably safe to say that we understand one another a little better now than we ever had before.

I'm dozing when she wakes me up screaming and at first I'm annoyed at how loud her voice is and how it echoes in the cave that we're in. My ears are pinned tight against my head and my eyes remain closed until the sound stops and is replaced by sobbing and the shuffling of her hooves. I turn my head in her direction and stare unseeingly, wondering what she had dreamed about that had made her scream the way she had and cry so shortly after the screams stopped.

"S-sorry."

I stay quiet for a moment, letting the very faint echo of her voice die before I finally speak. "Its only a nightmare." It may sound harsh, but this is coming from a man who has lived in his own personal nightmare for more years that he could care to count. "Its not real." Its a a half-assed attempt at making my previous statement a little less harsh because I know I shouldn't be mean to her. Not when she's done so much to help me.

What would she do if I were the one having the nightmare? I think back to when she found me stumbling through the forest and I know that she would offer me comfort. So I should do the same, shouldn't I? Isn't that a part of learning how to love? Tentatively I stretch out my right wings because I remember that she had been on my right side. I pull my wings toward my side before stretching them out again like I'm beckoning her to come to my side and I am. When she gets close enough I'll drape my wings across her back and let her stay pressed against me until the shock of her nightmare wears off.

"."

I'm frowning when she says that the dream was real to her because she had seen it happen. Obviously I had no such luxury of seeing whatever terrible things had brought on such nightmares. "It's gone now." I say, referring to the nightmare that had shaken her so badly. "Its just us here, you and me." My voice has grown softer, the guff edge to it lost if only because instinct dictates that gruffness does not equate to soothing and soothing is what I'm attempting. The whole concept is foreign to me but I feel as if I'm doing it right because I can feel her body press against mine and I let my wings drape across her back and I cradle her against my side.

My mouth suddenly feels dry as she rests her head against my chest and murmurs her thanks. I swallow and nod my head, hyper aware of the curve of her mouth as she smiles against my skin and I can't help but wonder just what the hell is wrong with me. Why does my body choose now to react to a mare that I had been trying to avoid all my life? Why don't I hate it as much as I always told myself I would? "You're...." I swallow again and the muscle in my shoulder twitches. "You're welcome."

This is what I'm supposed to do, right? This is comforting, wasn't it? Was this what she wanted from me? Am I doing this right? Why am I so worried about it now? And why am I nuzzling her ears?

I jerk my head up when I realize what I'm doing and at the same time some poor sod comes running in shouting that we're free. The darkness is gone. Well, the darkness from their world might be gone, but my darkness isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I can feel her looking at me and the excitement and hopefulness in her voice in unmistakable when she says that we can leave. I remain motionless until I feel her wings shaking beneath my own and then I slowly lift my wings so she's no longer cradled against my side, but free run after the messenger who's hooves are now just echoes in the cavern.

"."

"That's all I ever wanted."

She leaves me to mull over the words she's just spoken and I find myself growing more and more confused. What was what she wanted? The nightmares? The constant darkness? Or was it the fact that I had her tucked safe and sound under my wings? I can't help but think that I am a fool at that point for even wondering what she had meant. How long had Muriel hounded me, called me her boyfriend, proclaimed her love for me? Somehow she managed to spin a web and catch me in it and I'm not even struggling to escape.

No sooner had I lifted my wings to allow her to leave she is begging me not to. I am confused and that confusion often reflects in a look of annoyance and I can feel it on my face. Maybe I am a little annoyed, too. Why are mares so confusing? She had wanted to go moments before, hadn't she? So why when I let her go did she beg me not to? My teeth click together as I lower my wings again and drape them over her back and cradle her against my side again. As she apologizes I can hear the fear in her voice and my ears tilt back against my head. Was what she had witnessed really so frightening?

"Its okay." I murmured as I felt her press closer against my side. "We can leave together." Since when was I the nurturing one? The feeling is completely foreign and not one I think I could ever truly get used to.

"."

I am no mind reader, I never have been and I've never claimed to be, but at that point I wished I could read Muriel's mind to understand what she was thinking. There was no way for me to know that she felt we didn't have a home too return to because Janat had treated me so badly. There was no way for me to know the depth of her feelings for me at that point. I would deny it if she had spoken them, anyway. For so long it had been beaten into my head that I was not worthy of any sort of affection. None was even bestowed upon me from my own parents. Anyways, had I known she was thinking that we didn't have a home I probably would have insisted that she return to Janat because she would have been safer there. I was the only one who had never been safe, but I was used to it.

For several long minutes silence reigned and I was close to slipping back into a doze, but then Muriel's voice rang out. At first my ears fell back against my head at her request because I thought it strange, but then I acquiesced and rose to my hooves, waited for her to rise then draped my wings across her back. "I need you to lead me." My request was a quiet one and she would know how it pained me to have to ask for help when I never had to before, but I didn't know these caves. In my blinded state I would probably end up lost forever in the caverns and someone would find my body after my flesh had rotted away and all that was left was bones.

I kept my wing securely across Muriel as she led me through the caves and when I finally felt the sun on my back I sighed. I was always told that I was a creature of the darkness, but I enjoy the sun as much as anyone else and after weeks of being locked away underground I openly welcomed it. I stretched all four pairs of my wings out to soak up as much of its rays as I could, my head lifted toward the sky and I realized not for the first time that I would probably never feel the wind under my wings again. The elders had taken far more from me than just my sight. They'd finally managed to take all of my freedom from me.

"."