"Mhmmmm..." The low, thoughtless groan is the first thing Seren feels herself doing upon slowly regaining consciousness. Her mind feels muddy, confused, and though she is now awake, she has no particular desire to get up, encompassed as she is in a blissful cocoon of soft blankets, warmth, fur, and feathers.

Wait, feathers? Seren dimly opens her eyes, to realize quite suddenly that she is not in fact alone. The currently rather unflattering face of Ceridwen, laying with his messy bed-head against her pillow and mouth halfway open, is directly across from her. Her body is presently tightly coiled around his, clinging like her life depends on it. For Ceridwen’s part, one of his legs is loosely curled around her beneath her barrel, and one of his wings draped over her protectively.

Startled, Seren bolts up from the bed straight into the air with a shriek. What is he doing here!? She hadn’t shared a bed with him since she was just a filly! Reaching back, she tries to remember the events of the previous night, but all that comes to mind is a desolate blur. Just how drunk had she gotten!? Seren gulps nervously as Ceridwen sits bolt upright, blushing and looking about equally uncomfortable as Seren. Her eyes scan his features, seeking answers. Please don’t tell me that we... Right? Surely not, Ceridwen wouldn’t have gotten that drunk. Right? Oh gods, please tell me he wouldn’t have...

Seren’s fears dart through her mind, with all the sense of desperately trying to reassure herself. She feels... Oh dear heavens, she feels like she’d been in heat last night. Just what had she done!? “C-Ceri? I...What are you doing here? W-We didn't..." Seren trails off, too terrified to put words to her fears. “Y-you know. Right?” She feels her cheeks heating up to a bright crimson blush.

To her immense relief, Ceridwen hastily shakes his head, waving his hooves in denial. "Woah, no, nonononono. What kind of stallion do you think I am? I was just looking after you." He starts, peering up at his sister flying overhead. "I, um, how much of last night do you remember?"

Seren breathes a sigh of relief out, slumping against the bed. At least it wasn't that. As much as she hates to admit it, she wouldn’t have been too horribly surprised if she’d done something unspeakable while drunk. Still, this circumstance did warrant some explanation. Why did she feel so fuzzy and… flirty? What did he mean by 'looking after you'? Shutting her eyes, Seren struggles to think back. She remembers the start of the party, dancing first with her brother and then several other ponies. Then she'd gotten something to drink, and begun feeling funny, and...

The events as she remembers them don't make any sense. Surely she’s misremembering, right? Scrunching up her face, Seren tries to piece it together. She remembers getting along great with a stallion named Rosewine and going somewhere private with him, but Ceridwen broke down the door and she didn't know why. But for some reason, she had just followed Ceridwen back here instead of being angry with him. What in heavens had gotten into her?

Seeing Seren's confusion, Ceridwen breathes a sigh of relief himself now. "I think you're mostly back to normal, at least. That's good, I was so worried about you." He clenches his jaw, and turns more serious. "That bastard spiked your drink with something. I don't know what it was but it... Had a certain effect on you." He winces in obvious discomfort. "I took you back here to make sure you were safe. I didn't trust anypony else to watch after you."

Seren stares at Ceridwen, horrified, as she pieces the new information back into context, and with its help remembers far more of the events of the promenade. "W-wait, you don't mean... Did he..." The blood drains from her face.

Ceridwen sighs heavily. "He was about to fuck you, but I got there in time." There's a distinct warble of discord in his voice as he says that, looking sick at the thought.

Seren falls back onto her haunches, blanching. She'd... Almost been raped the previous day, and hadn't even realized it. She shuts her eyes tightly; she remembers now, every word of Ceridwen's helping her piece together the events of the previous day more. "Oh, heavens..." She utters crisply after a long moment, swaying on her hooves unsteadily as the weight of that reality settles in upon her.

Ceridwen flutters down next to her, frowning with concern and wrapping one wing around her. "H-hey, are you alright?" His voice drips with sincere concern, tender and gentle.

Seren nods; hesitantly at first, then more surely. "Y-yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks to you. Thank the stars you were there." She closes her eyes, and lightly leans against Ceridwen's side. "Thank goodness..."

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Ceridwen shelters her underneath his wing, frowning sympathetically. "Of course, Seren. You know I'm always there for you." He affirms.

And it's true. She does know that. But somehow, it hits differently now that she'd actually needed it. Curious ocean blue eyes find Ceridwen's face. "How did you... Know where to find me? Or that I needed help?"

Ceridwen's gaze hardens once more, thinking back to the previous day. "I was talking with a noble from the west, when I saw you walking up the stairs with that bastard. I knew something was wrong, my sister isn't dumb enough to be lured away like that. Plus, it did seem out of character for you to want to leave the party early." He affirms. "So I followed you up. When I heard him lock the door, I knew that he was up to no good."

Under other circumstances she might have been irritated at her brother for essentially stalking her at the party, but not right now. "Then father came in after you'd fought him, I remember that. I didn't understand why you were so upset, or why you didn't want me going back to the party." She reconstructs the events of the previous day verbally, piece by piece. "You refused to go... Ha, I don't think I'd ever seen you just refuse father to the face like that before, I'm amazed we didn't both get thrown in the dungeons!" She giggles for a moment, even in the somber throes of the current conversation there is still some joy to be had. "You were so... Stubborn." A dozen different words she could have used there flash through her mind, but stubborn is the only one she says. The rest would... have to be unpacked later.

Ceridwen nods in affirmation once more. "You were still really... Um, well, it seemed like it put you into heat. I couldn't just leave you alone like that." He blushes at the comment, shaking his head. "A-anyways, I didn't want anypony else to be around you, just in case. So I wanted to go someplace private and safe." He offers by way of explanation. "I-I was scared, Seren. I didn't know what he'd done to you or if it would wear off." Ceridwen frowns, looking down at the ground. That memory... Seren so pliable, undignified. It was just wrong. "If you hadn't gotten better... I would have killed him. I should have killed him. I..." Ceridwen's hooves shake in rage, his breathing becoming shaky. "Why didn't I kill him? He tried to... To rape my sister! To rape you!" His wings flare out and his stance widens, as though getting ready for combat.

Seren gently rests her talons on Ceridwen's, squeezing them reassuringly. "It's okay, Hawky. You were there for me when it mattered." Ceridwen's face, a perplexing and complex mixture of emotions displayed there, meets Seren's gaze. Seren stares into his features, as if seeking answers there. After a long moment, she looks back around the room, melancholically. "...You used to come up here all the time, back when we were kids. Do you remember?" She asks, more than a little wistfully. It had been years since those days.

Ceridwen blinks, somewhat surprised by the sudden change of topic. "Huh? I mean... Of course." How would he ever be able to forget? There weren't any other kids in the palace growing up, Seren had been his only play partner.

"I'd always get so upset if you ever beat me in wrestling." Seren giggles. "I think you just started letting me win, at some point. I think you liked the blankets up here more than in your own room, 'cause you'd come up here whenever you could get away with it. But maybe you were just lonely." She shakes her head, leaning against Ceridwen casually. "Not that that sounds like you, you'd forget the world if a good book got in your hooves."

"That's not true." Ceridwen responds, matter of factly, not with any sense of rebuke but solely stating it as a fact. "I do get lonely, sometimes. I guess I just don't show it much. It's... Easier to stay in the observatory."

Seren frowns, tilting her beak to look at Ceridwen. "Hawky, you never told me that."

Ceridwen just laughs and looks away. "Don't worry about it. As long as I have you around, I can't get that lonely, anyways." He brushes it off.

Seren nods, settling back into silence for a long moment. The two just lie there, huddled together for minutes before Seren eventually stands up. "I... I think I'd like some time on my own, to think, if that's okay." There was so much to consider. Coming to terms with what had almost happened to her, this nostalgic feeling that Ceridwen's presence had instilled in her, the way everypony had reacted, and more besides.

Ceridwen nods, flapping his wings and slowly lifting off the ground. "Of course, sister. Take as long as you need. You know where I'll be, if you need me."

Seren nods in response, watching the pegasus who had protected her leave, shutting the doors behind him. Unsure of what else to do, she trots back up onto the bed and lays down. Taking in a whiff, she winces in discomfort. Oh boy, that drink had certainly had an effect on her. She shudders to think of what would likely have happened had anypony save Ceridwen been there.

And her father had been so willing to just leave her in the hooves of somepony else... Just so that Hawky could keep trying to make friendly with the other mares at the event? Was that all he cared about?

But he didn’t leave me. She shuts her eyes tightly. Ceridwen wasn’t usually the most combative pegasus around; she didn’t think she’d ever seen him as angry as he had been back there. And it was on her behalf. It felt... Almost overwhelming.

Laying back against the pillow, Seren stares up at the ceiling. She has a lot to think about.