He'd been resting for what seemed like along time... hours spent peacefully laying there, not moving. He was at least finally getting some sleep.

As if propelled by some sudden jab in the back, Cloudfire bolted upright in a very unexpected burst of adrenaline. Swinging hooves wildly he cried out into the darkness. His hooves moved unrestricted, connecting with what he then realized was just air. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at the world around him:

His surroundings were unfamiliar. He was in a large bedroom, resting on a queen sized bed, in the dark. From the window to his left he could see, through its closed shade, that it was light outside. His surroundings felt homey, rustic, and practical, the air relaxing.

"You're awake," said a soft male's voice to his right side. "You had us all worried."

Slowly, he turned to look at the pony speaking. It was Daddy Hooves.

"Where am I?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You're in the Apple's farm house. If you're wondering what in the wide, wide world of Equestria brought you here, I can answer that... you fainted. Can't say I didn't see it coming. You've been out for, oh..." He looked over at a clock on the corner wall," just under 4 hours. We were getting ready to call the Doctor."

"Wow," he stretched, feeling much more rested than he had before. "Thank you for getting me here."

"Thank Big Mac," replied the Unicorn, chuckling. "And my Daughter.. I had to send her here to get him -- I've never seen her fly so quickly. You do know how much she loves flying, right?" Silence momentarially passed over them in a wave as Daddy Hooves took a breath. "Big Mac came running and carried you here all by himself, saddlebags and all. You're almost as big as he is... he's pretty strong to be able to do that."

"Yeah." Cloudfire sleepily replied, rubbing his eyes. "Poor Derpy. She must've been hysterical... is she okay?"

Daddy Hooves got up and approached the bed, pulling himself on to end to position himself beside Cloudfire:

"Honestly Cloudfire... I can't see why she wouldn't be. You started blacking out mid-sentence while talking to her. Once she realized you weren't going to get up, all the color left her face. I honestly thought she was going to throw up right then and there. I had no choice... as you know, I told her to get one of the farm ponies. She left upset... to say the least. I felt for a pulse while she was gone, ready to attempt to revive you. You looked awful to begin with, I must admit... but you at least had a good, strong pulse. As for Derpy, she's downstairs talking with Apple Jack right now... I told her I'd get her when you woke up. I'm not letting her know you're awake until we're done talking here."

Cloudfire turned his head away, dreading what he knew was coming next:

"Alright. Let's talk."

Even though he couldn't see it, Cloudfire could feel the tension in Daddy Hooves as he spoke:

"Tell me, truthfully son... what's going on? I'm not dense, Cloudfire -- I knew you weren't telling me everything earlier this morning. Since it's interfering with our life at this point and I own the house you live in, you owe me an explanation. All I want you to do is just tell me what the problem is."

"I don't know."

"I don't know if I can believe that, Cloudfire." Daddy Hooves rubbed his head, beginning to get a headache. "Look, if it's hard to talk about, then I'm going to have to be rough and just say that's too bad... we've been very accommodating to you so far and, frankly, up until now you've been wonderful. When I said earlier I found your behavior disturbing, I meant it. This is not like you."

Cloudfire just sighed, and rather than getting angry... Daddy Hooves slowly ran through the list of more obvious possibilities:

"Are you having problems with my daughter?"

Not looking back, the Earth Pony shook his head.

"Perhaps you are having second thoughts about the wedding?"

Again, he shook his head.

"I love Derpy." He said, briefly turning back to face the Unicorn. "And I want to get married."

"What is it then, Cloudfire? Pretty please, just put my mind at ease. Keep me in the loop when it comes to my daughter. This has to have something to do with Derpy."

"I don't want to tell you."

Daddy Hooves chuckled:

"It can't possibly be that bad.... wait a minute. Do you have a criminal record?"

"No!"

"Well, I promise whatever it is... when you do tell me, I will not judge you. You have my solemn promise. Even if it means you and Derpy can't be together anymore. I love you, Cloudfire, but you can't do this to my family. It's not right."

Cloudfire took in some air. Biting the bullet, he mumbled the truth quietly beneath his breath.

"What?" Asked an impatient Daddy Hooves. "Speak CLEARLY."

"I said I've been having nightmares. I can't sleep at night... alright?"

The Unicorn was surprised by this answer:

"What kind of nightmares... Cloudfire?"

"Ones where I can't protect your daughter, Mr. Hooves. Ones where everything that can hurt her disrupts the one special thing we have and sends it away blackened and burning!"

Again, the Unicorn looked blown away:

"Wow, just... wow." He put his foreleg on Cloudfire's shoulder. "Is that really all that's been bothering you?"

"YES! Now please... just leave me alone."

He got up:

"Alright. Alright... then, do you want to see Derpy right now?"

"Right now," replied the Earth Pony, turning to face Daddy Hooves with unsettlingly cold blue eyes. "I don't want to see ANYPONY. Not you, not Derpy, not Mrs. Hooves. Not even the Apples. Nopony!"

The Unicorn's eyes went wide with surprise:

"Okay," he said, weakly. "Just take it easy for a bit... I'll check back in an hour."

There was no response.

Using his Unicorn Magic, he opened the door... looking back at the Earth Pony one final time before shutting it. The Earth Pony did not return his gaze.

Laying in the darkness of the Apple family's guest bedroom, Cloudfire should have surprised... this was the time for introspection, yet he felt nothing. He thought of nothing. Even surprise was absent.

There was a knock at the door. Slowly the knob turned and an old pony stuck his head in:

"Cloudfire?" Daddy Hooves said quietly. "How are you?"

"Fine."

Daddy Hooves chuckled:

"I sent Derpy out, Cloudfire... she's going to see if she can get you a couple more days off from work. If it works, you won't have to go back until a week after the wedding."

There was no answer, so Daddy Hooves continued to make sound at the Earth Pony:

"I hope I wasn't overstepping my boundaries, Cloudfire..."

"Don't worry about it."

"Alright," the Unicorn sighed. "Do you want to spend the night here? The Apple Family is fine with it."

"I can walk home."

"Okay... when Derpy comes back we'll leave."

"Okay."

There was a long pause, which Daddy Hooves broke:

"Do you want to talk?"

Cloudfire's response was immediate:

"No."

"Alright Cloudfire," the Unicorn used his magic to shut the door. "Rest up!"

The Earth Pony continued to lay there.

There was a sound outside of the room... a light-footed young pony was ascending the stairs quickly. Could've been any one of three, but Cloudfire knew. Even in his moody state, Cloudfire knew.

The door opened without knocking:

"Hi Cloudfire!" Exclaimed Derpy, stepping inside. "Dad says you don't want visitors right now."

"That's right," he replied, looking over at her. "What do you have to tell me?"

"That I talked to Mister Everstorm and he said that if you fainted because of stress about the wedding that you don't have to come back until afterwards. Me neither!"

If he were in any other mood, Cloudfire wouldn't have been holding back the anger he was... it would have been superseded by appreciation of Derpy's well-meaning, yet poorly thought out, execution of all that.

"Thanks."

Derpy walked over to the door:

"So... are we gunna go home now?"

Cloudfire sighed:

"Just leave me alone right now, Derpy... I'll be down in a few minutes."

Derpy chuckled, trying to sound upbeat as possible for her resting fiancée:

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, thank you. Please go down stairs."

"Okee! Just call me if yo-"

"Please go downstairs."

"Really! Anything! It doesn't bother me-"

"Go away."

"Okee! I love yo-"

"Derpy, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The Pegasus jumped, startled by the sheer volume and anger in his voice. She had never, EVER heard him yell, much less at her. Once she hit the ground she froze, tears forming in her eyes:

"Cloudfire... I was just gunna.."

The Earth Pony bolted out of bed, making the difficult trek over to Derpy with his stiff body working against him (his left back hoof was asleep):

"Derpy, I'm sorry," he hugged her tight. "This... I've never had this. Please understand that for me." He kissed her. "I love you. I really do. You can't imagine how much I love you."

"I love you too, Cloudfire."

"Just go downstairs, Derpy... I'll be down in a minute."

"Alright."

She cantered out of the room, tears still in her eyes. She looked back at her fiancée, who looked back into her eyes with warmth:

"I'm going to be alright. I'm just- My body just -- it doesn't want to continue right now. I need to go home and get some good, quality sleep. I'll be fine. Really!"

"Okay..."

She then left him, slowly descending the stairs with the door still open.

When he was sure he was finally alone, he could have kicked himself. He wanted to break something in the room, smash it to pieces... but this wasn't his room. Even in Derpy's room, if he had a problem with her that got him this angry, that wasn't really his room either. Exasperated, he stretched, popping his neck and back:

"There's one way this could've gone..."

Twenty minutes later, the ivory Earth Pony descended the stairs and went into the Apple family living room where not only Derpy and her father waited, but also the three adults of the Apple Family:

"Thanks for taking me in!" Said Cloudfire, approaching his family's side. "I don't know what we would have done without you."

"It ain't nothin'!" Replied Apple Jack in her usual, cheery tone, while shaking his hoof. "If somepony needs help, it's the Apple Family way to lend a hoof!"

At the moment her voice was like nails on a chalkboard, but Cloudfire continued to smile all the same. It was well-meaning at least. He turned to Big Mac and winked, offering him a hoof to shake:

"Thank you, partner."

"Ee-yup!"

That was more like it.

Cloudfire then left the room, waiting in the hallway... still enjoying the isolation.

After Daddy Hooves and Derpy said good-bye, the three left the farm house. Daddy Hooves was carrying the picnic basket, while Derpy was carrying Cloudfire's saddlebags. At the very least he was unencumbered now, which seemed to matter more to him with the day mostly in the past. It was approaching dusk, and he didn't care that he hadn't even eaten lunch.

"We'll go to the city tomorrow," said Daddy Hooves. "Another day at least... rest up, tonight Cloudfire. Be honest with me if you don't sleep well."

"Okay."

The Pegasus and Earth Pony talked on their way home... or at least that's how the Pegasus saw it. Derpy spoke to Cloudfire, asking him all sorts of questions, to which he responded in mostly short answers:

"I want brown sugar topped muffins! Do you wanna stop with me at the Sugar Cube corner?"

"I just want to go home."

"Okay... Then do you wanna eat at home?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You didn't eat lunch!"

"I'm not hungry."

"Can I try making you breakfast tomorrow then? I was thinking you might like that for a change..."

"Why not?"

All of the questions required at least a one-word response, so it didn't seem that out of the ordinary to her, but to Daddy Hooves... he didn't like what he was hearing. He already knew from what Derpy had told him that Cloudfire had yelled at her in the Apple Family guest bedroom (plus he heard it all the way down stairs, seeing how the door was open). He wouldn't call it yelling himself, we would have called it screaming. He was going to let these things go for now, because this was a pretty stark change from the Cloudfire he'd known and loved for so long... but had he started out this way, he would have not been welcome in their house. It was nice to see that he had a breaking point, however, and that most of his reactions to what was probably stress were... abrasive but understandable.

They finally got home. Mommy Hooves had made a pizza for them all to enjoy before bed. Cloudfire had made it pretty clear he had no desire to eat when they got home, but... Mrs. Hooves offtered it to him not knowing that:

"I'd imagine you're quite hungry after all that adventuring!" She said, offering him a plate with a slice on it.

So... he had a slice so that the older Pegasus's work wouldn't go to waste. It wasn't the first meal he'd eaten that Mrs. Hooves made, but it did taste surprisingly good... that's to be expected when one's stomach is empty all day. He didn't talk much, but he did thank her for her time.

After he had his fill, which took him forever to eat, he silently ascended the stairs... Derpy not far behind him.

Cloudfire got right into bed. Derpy came up beside him and snuggled up on top like always.

"I'm really sorry I yelled at you," he whispered in her ear. "It's just that you can be so.... what I mean to say is everything was bothering me so much. I probably would have yelled if you creaked a floorboard on the way out."

"It's okee," said Derpy, cuddling into the crook of his foreleg. "Why were you so mad?"

"Because I'm really tired, Derpy... I've been having bad dreams."

"Oh." She paused for a moment. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just continue to be yourself... and get really mad at me if I ever do that again."

"Okee!" Again, she snuggled up. "I love you, Cloudfire."

"I love you, too, Derpy."

There was then silence... the Earth Pony felt himself begin to drift off, only to be interrupted:

"Hey Cloudfire?"

He answered flatly:

"What?"

Are we really gunna go shopping tomorrow?"

"If you like... and I sleep well enough."

"Are you gunna tell me and dad if you don't?"

"Yes."

Again, there was silence. He drifted off...

"Hey Cloudfire?"

Again, he answered flatly:

"What is it?"

"Are you happy we're gonna be married?"

"Yes."

"Me too."

He sighed:

"I've never been so happy in my life, Derpy."

Silence for a third time...

"Hey Cloudfire?"

The Earth Pony answered, but first rose to his forelegs, allowing Derpy's body to slide to its side on the mattress. He pulled his head a bit lower than where it already was:

"What?"

"Wh- What're you doing?"

"Shhh... I want to go to sleep, Derpy. You're not leaving me much choice here if you don't."

"But I'm not --" Cloudfire couldn't see it, but her eyes went wide once she felt him push on her leg, then kiss and lick her inner thigh, running up towards her privates. She was both enthralled and horrified at the same time. "Cloudfire!"

He licked around her private area gently as she opened her leg a bit and he got into a better position. He raised his head one more time:

"This is me saying I love you Derpy..." He said, before he lowered his head once more and licked what was there.

They then enjoyed an incredibly long moment of bliss, just the two of them. Time stopped and so did most everything else. All that could be heard was the young Pegasus's heavy, enraptured breathing.

That night Cloudfire made love to Derpy before they drifted off. As a result she stopped talking, which is what he wanted... but he also sincerely wanted to show her that he still cared. She would not stop talking because she knew something was wrong with him but didn't know how to approach it... he could see that. What he did to her then, he did for her, rather than just to her... to help put her mind at ease. He wanted to sleep so badly... but when he realized what was really motivating him, he listened to her body. As a result of this gesture, she melted.

Derpy fell asleep before Cloudfire (like always)... but Cloudfire wasn't far behind her. Snuggling up she was in bliss. Drifting off, she heard five words which helped her find peace:

"I love you, Derpy Hooves."