The late afternoon sunlight streamed gently through the upstairs window of your cozy little cottage, filtering through the trailing greenery in the flower boxes and scattering golden shapes across the wooden floors. Outside, Ponyville was beginning to settle for the evening — shops closing, foals playing their last rounds of tag, and the occasional pony pulling their cart home for supper. Inside, all was still. Peaceful. Warm

Doctor Stable was curled beside you on the bed, his lab coat long abandoned downstairs, replaced by the soft drape of his scarf and the familiar scent of clean hay and chamomile still lingering faintly in his coat. His head rested against your side, the tip of his horn grazing your shoulder every now and then as he shifted — not to move away, but closer. Always closer

You poked at his flank with your hoof, just light enough to be teasing. “Your cutie mark’s so literal,” you’d said, more than once — and now again, with that same playful glint in your voice

He didn’t even lift his head at first. Just let out a soft hum of amusement before cracking one eye open and offering you the most crooked, sleepy smile “Mmh… maybe,” he murmured, voice slow and thick with affection. Then, with a small shift of his shoulders, he scooted upward until his muzzle was nestled just under your chin, his breath warm against your fur

“But you know,” he added quietly, brushing a gentle nuzzle against your neck “my heart does beat a little faster whenever you’re around.”

And stars above, he knew exactly what he was doing when he said it — the way his voice dropped just enough to send a little flutter through your chest, like he was the doctor and the cause all at once

He chuckled at the way you shifted under the compliment, clearly delighted with himself, then tucked himself back in place beside you, muzzle buried in your mane. His glasses slipped a little, and he didn’t care. All that mattered was the way your bodies fit together like puzzle pieces — warm, close, and safe

A soft giggle escaped from him — not his usual professional chuckle, but the real kind. The kind that only came out when he was this happy. This loved. His tail flicked lightly against yours, and he sighed into the quiet “Literal or not,” he mumbled “you’re the only rhythm I want to follow.”

And then it was just the two of you again — cuddled in close, with sunlight on the bed and nothing but steady heartbeats between you