They Never Suspected

“So, what are we supposed to do with this?”

Twilight waved irritably at the badly wrapped parcel, surrounded by a faintly glowing field. I had managed to keep the bread downwind of both Pinkie and I, but the smell had taken over the library moments after the door had closed. Two prolonged breaths had sent her scrambling for some dusty tome, and after some hurried ruffling the bread had been put into some sort of pocket that I didn't have the brain power to understand at the moment.

“Well, we can’t really risk destroying it. Burning or obliterating it with magic would just send particles into the air, and we can’t risk hiding or burying it. It could seep into the ground, or attract something to it with the aroma.” I scratched my scalp, ruffling my messy hair even more.

Pinkie was looking back and forth between Twilight and I, a wide smile pairing with a mostly vacant look.

“We could simply let it rot away, let it take care of itself?”

I shook my head. “It was made with Dragonfire and magic. If it even rots, it would probably take years. And besides, aging may make the smell even more… potent.”

Twilight pulled her wand and pointed it to the pocket, muttering some modifying spell. The pocket shrunk to the same size as the bundle, but couldn’t seem to compress it any more than that.

“Well…” I started as Twilight put away her wand. A thought was forming, something monstrous and terrifying.

“We could… lock one of us away, and finish it. Eat the rest of the bread.”

Twilight gaped at me, and Pinkie locked her eyes onto the field of magic.

“That would be torture for whoever volunteered. Why would anyone take that suggestion?” Twilight shook her head. “And besides that, what about the ones to lock her up?”

“Why her?” I interjected. “Why can’t I be the volunteer?”

Twilight glanced down at my wand. “Spike, not only are you a very powerful sorcerer, you’re also a Dragon. Any spell that could hold you would probably harm you, and the ones that don’t you could tear free from. And if you do get out…” She glanced at Pinkie. “We’re the closest ones to you, right now.”

I frowned, trying to think my way around her logic and failing. “So, I guess that means no one’s eating it. I wouldn’t put Pinkie through that again, and you’re as powerful as I am with your magic.”

“Or you could take away my wand,” Twilight said, holding the wood out to me. I shook my head, pushing her hand back.

“You can still summon power, and a spell with power and no way to focus it would be even more dangerous. No, we need either another volunteer or another idea…”

Pinkie suddenly piped up. “Give it to Fluttershy.”

Both Twilight and I looked at her, skeptically. “What would she do with it that we cannot?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie laughed and rocked forward in her chair, leaning towards us over the table. Twilight and I leaned forward as well, and Pinkie whispered, “Mating season.”

I got it a few seconds before Twilight did, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. Twilight looked at the two of us, confusion scrawled across her face.

“Twi, Fluttershy takes care of the animals!” I was recovering from my fit, but Pinkie seemed to be just hitting her giggle stride. “The animals have a specific mating season, so…”

“So she could feed the bread to them without any adverse consequences to the local biome!” she nearly yelled, excitement hitting as comprehension dawned. She joined us, laughing lightly and quietly. Pinkie finished her gale, and I wiped a tear from my eye.

“Well, I’ll just make sure that this spell will stick for a while, and I’ll find somewhere safe to keep it.” She picked up the packet gingerly, adverse to touching it more than she needed to. “Will you get a letter to her, Spike? I doubt she’s up to it right now…”

Twilight glanced up at the clock, and seemed startled to discover that it was nearer to morning than to nightfall.

“Goodness, how did it get so late? We really need to get some sleep, Fluttershy usually wakes up a only a few hours from now, and I want to get this bread to her in case some of her animals are… close.”

“I’ll do it,” I volunteered. “I’m rested enough for a couple of days, thanks to yesterday. I wouldn’t sleep anyhow.”

Twilight nodded. “Very well then. I’ll sleep in a bit, and Pinkie can too since neither the library or the bakery are open tomorrow. Do you want to know what the cancelation is for this?” she asked, hefting the lightly violet package.

I shook my head, pulling the book she’d found the spell in towards me. “I’d rather find it myself, and I’m interested in the rest of the book anyhow.” I patted the blank spot beside me on the table. “You may as well leave that here, since I’ll be taking it in a few hours anyhow.”

Twilight looked down at the bread and put it back on the table, wiping her palms on her shirt as if they could be dirty from the ambrosia. She saw my smirk and reddened, looking away and walking to the stairs leading to her room.

“Twilight,” I called, softly and deeply. She jumped slightly and turned her head to look behind her. “Goodnight, Twilight,” I said, keeping my previous tone. She muttered her reply and hurried up her stairs.

Pinkie looked at me curiously, and I shrugged. “She doesn’t like it when I use a lower tone at her, it always makes her red.”

She smiled a bit and let her eyelids droop, leaning over to me. “I think I can understand why, Spike…” she said, her own voice toned lower, and words laced with… emotion.

It was apparently my turn to turn red, and Pinkie laughed quietly. “See you in the morning, Spike.” She stood up and hugged me loosely, then walked down the stairs to my own bedroom. I heard the door lock, and I pulled my wand to add my own lock to the outside as I had promised her.

That done, I put my hands over my face, and spent the next few hours getting my thoughts straight.

………………………………

The sun was already up when I knocked on the cottage’s door, softly enough to hopefully keep from startling the owner inside. For a moment I was afraid that I had knocked too softly, until I heard a soft voice call through the door. It was too quiet for me to understand, but it at least meant that she was on the other side.

“Flutters, it’s me, Spike,” I called back, trying to keep my tone reassuring. I heard a couple of locks scrape open, and the door cracked enough to allow a lock of hair and an eye to peek through. I smiled and waved. The door closed, and I heard a last lock scrape through its housing before a lovely young woman appeared in the doorway, pink hair hiding half of her face but less of her shy smile.

She looked inquisitively at the bag slung over my chest, resting on my hip. I drew the still bewitched parcel out and held it up for her inspection, saying, “I come bearing gifts to the household, should they approve.”

Confused, she invited me in, fussing over some tea and cookies before she settled across her coffee table from me, her in a cushy chair and I on her equally plush couch.

“Now, just so you can know what we’re dealing with, I’m gonna open a small hole in this field,” I told her, placing the loaf on her table. “Is Dash gonna be around soon?”

“Uhm, yes, but… Can I ask why that’s important?” she asked, eyeing the package.

“You’ll see in a moment. Nothing really dangerous, I assure you. Nothing important to do today, either of you?”

“Uhm, I don’t think so, the animals are all foraging today and Dash already has her work for the weekend done. But how will this affect her if she isn’t here…?”

I laughed lightly. “The… effects will linger long enough. But again, the only danger may be dehydration,” I told her, a wry smile playing its way across my lips. She only shook her head, and I pulled my wand.

“Brace yourself,” I warned, then cancelled the pocket when she nodded to me. Instantly the smell of the ambrosia enveloped the room, washing away the smell of the forest that usually permeated the house. I recast the spell, stuttering once but managing to lock the bread away again.

I peered over at Fluttershy, trying to gauge her reaction. She was entirely still, and more than a little pale. In a moment her face flooded with blood, a trickle of it running from her left nostril slowly. I moved towards her, but her hand shot up in front of me, one finger extended skyward, telling me wordlessly to have patience.

After half a minute, she reached slowly to a side table with tissue resting on top of it. She calmly wiped at her nose, clearing the thin red line and licking a tip to finish the stain. She put it into a basket underneath the same table, then resumed her earlier position, looking straight into the floor between her knees.

“Fluttershy?”

She twitched at my voice, then lifted her eyes to mine. The blush that had been receding came back in full force, but she kept her gaze locked with mine.

“Flutters, are you okay?”

She shivered a little, eyes closing for a second. When they reopened, she smiled slightly.

“No, not really,” she said huskily. “I need you to get Rainbow. As soon as you can. Or at least… not be here. Because…”

I nodded vigorously, standing. Her eyes stayed where mine had been though, and she ended up eye level to my waist. Her blush darkened, and she slowly licked her lips.

Blushing as hard as she was now, I hastily retreated three steps. “I’m, uh, going to leave that here, along with a note explaining everything,” I said, pulling a roll of parchment from my bag and tossing it to the table. “Let me know if you’re okay with the, uh, plan. I’ll go get Dash now, uhm…”

She stood slowly, looking at me very predatorily, almost like a bear with it’s food. I turned and ran, rushing through the door and summoning my wings to my back as I fled the cottage. I jumped into the air and looked behind me, watching Fluttershy slowly close the door I’d left open.

Flapping my leathery wings, I sighed deeply and berated myself for not giving her a little more warning. I hadn’t wanted to go into details with her, mostly because I wasn’t sure what terminology she was comfortable with, and because I wasn’t comfortable discussing the matter at all. I still should have given her much more warning…

Finding Rainbow’s house was a simple matter, considering how many Pegasi made their homes on the ground in town instead of in the sky like she did. While it wasn’t the only one, hers was more obviously of Cloudsdale design. While the other few Pegasi who made their homes of the clouds had created them with a style more designed for regular Earth-bound homes, she had made hers grand and swooping, with quite a few ‘cloudfalls’ as some called them. Particles of water kept as fog that ran in loops, the falls sparkling prettily in the sunlight, even turning into rainbows in the right angle of light.

Landing on what she considered to be her front porch, I stretched my wings as far as they would go before folding them into my back. They weren’t used to the exertion and ached dully, but the ache felt oddly good. Shuffling them into a more comfortable position, I placed two fingers between my lips and whistled, my version of knocking on Rainbow’s door.

Looking up, I found her window and waited. A multicolored mess poked out eventually, frizz and tangles losing to each other over an irritated, confused face.

“Spike? What in the name of Celly are you doing up here, at this time, on my day off!?”

Laughing, I told her to get dressed and get down to where I was. She huffed until I told her Fluttershy wanted her, then grumbled at me to wait and be patient. After a ten minute wait, a brushed and dressed Rainbow Dash walked out of her front door, yawning and stretching her wings out to her side.

“What’s the deal with Flutterbutt?” she asked sleepily, using a pet name I hadn’t heard before.

“Oh, you’ll find out. Nothing bad, just something to be ready for.”

She lifted one of her eyebrows, looking curiously at me. I regretted not telling Fluttershy about the bread, but I wanted to keep it a surprise for Dash. It wouldn’t hurt Rainbow’s feelings, the way I feared I might have hurt Fluttershy’s.

“You’re not getting anything out of me, Rainbutt,” I told her, making a face at her. This only seemed to confused her, and I laughed again. “Not really awake yet?”

She shook her head, and I reached into my pocket and withdrew some coins. “Here, buy a coffee or something on the way, you’ll need to be awake when you get there.”

She took a moment to stare at me, incredulous. She snatched the money from my palm, muttering angrily about ‘mystery dragons’, and dove from the cloud before I could bid her farewell. Laughing to myself, I dove off the other side of her porch, heading home.

The library was still asleep when I arrived, the outer spell on my room still intact and undisturbed. I went ahead and removed it, confident that Pinkie wasn’t going to awake and molest me or anyone else. A yawn surprised me though, coming from across the room.

Walking around the chair, I found Twilight reading a book, very heavy lids staying barely open. She smiled vaguely up at me, then went back to her book.

“Trouble sleeping?” I asked her. Insomnia plagued the poor Unicorn, for reasons no one seemed to be able to figure out. I always just chalked it up to her not being able to tire her mind sufficiently; when we talked it seemed like her mind was always computing at something.

“Only a little. Mostly trouble staying asleep.” She looked up at me, blushing slightly. “The, ah, effects of the ambrosia… linger.”

I nodded, chuckling. “I remember. Anything you want to talk about?”

She started to shake her head, but stopped herself with a sigh.

“I still sometimes forget how old you are,” she started. “May I speak with you about something I can only otherwise speak to Celestia about?”

I nodded, sitting in a chair across from hers. She tried starting several times, stopping each time. I reached across the table and took her hand, smiling warmly at her. She smiled back and took a breath to start.

“I’m… lonely. And a little afraid.” I tried to ask her a question, but she anticipated it and held up her hand. “I know you’re always here, always by my side. But…” She gazed up into the shelves she was facing. “Your heart belongs to Ditzy. It does now, anyhow.”

She wiped at her face, and I realized she was crying. I stood from my chair and walked around the table, sitting once again on the arm of Twilight’s chair. I pulled her close to my side, and she wrapped her arms around my waist and pushed her face into my side, holding me tight.

This wasn’t the first time she’d cried on me. Night terrors occasionally plagued her dreams, and she’d been known to crawl into my bed and hold on to me much like she was now. I’d stroke her hair and whisper her fears away. Now though, I could whisper nothing. I didn’t know what to tell her.

“Twilight,” I said gently when her sobs had abated. She lifted her face to me, her eyes puffy and red from crying and pressing against me. “Twilight, you know I love you, so very much. While what I have with Ditzy is strong, it’s not stronger than our bond. I, I don’t know what to say, much less how to say it, but… I will be here whenever you need me, always.”

She nodded, laying her head in my lap. “I just… I just have this hole in me, and I don’t know how to make it feel better. I can only think that what you have with Ditzy would help…”

Extremely uneasy suddenly, I leaned away to look down at her head. “Twi, there has to be someone you like around town. Surely some young man has caught your eye?”

She lifted her head from my lap and turned in her chair to look into my eyes. Once again, her eyes were swimming and her face was scrunched up. She looked so miserable that it broke my heart, even as I knew well enough to dread her answer.

“Not any young man but one much older than I,” she said bitterly, smiling through her tears.

“Oh, Twi, no,” I breathed, whispering into the air.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to come between you and Ditzy,” she said, sniffling and looking down into the book that still lay open in her lap. “I love you too much, and respect her too much, for that.” She looked up and smiled, watery eyes glistening with new tears. “I’ve given up on you, I swear. It just hurts to be reminded.”

I nodded, sitting awkwardly on the edge of the arm. “Is there any way I can help?” I asked, after some silence had lasted a little too long.

She shrugged, barely moving her shoulders. “I dunno, tell me we never had a chance. Tell me you would have turned me away, however gently. Break my heart some more.”

Her words stung, biting into me. It was my turn to swipe at my face, finding more moisture than I’d expected. When I turned back I found Twilight staring up, sorrow painted over her normally cheering features.

“I, I’m so sorry Spike, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry I lashed out, I didn’t mean it…”

“It’s okay Twi,” I said softly. “I know you didn’t mean it like that.” I reached out and put my hand on the top of head, soothing some errant hairs back into place. “It’s just… I felt more like you were my sister, more than anything else. I never even considered…”

“And you shouldn’t have,” she interrupted me. “I shouldn’t have. Not only am I older and younger than you, but I’m much closer family than a lover should be.” She took my hand in hers and pressed my palm against her cheek, smiling and sniffling.  The she pushed me away, waving me back into my own chair.

“I don’t even know why I’m this distraught,” she groused, when I had sat back in my chair. “I knew we couldn’t be anything besides family, and I knew you’d find someone eventually.” She seemed less miserable now, but still a bit too weepy for me. I left my chair and wondered up front, where we kept some tissue for those who needed them.

“I mean,” she continued from across the room, “I knew nothing would happen unless one of us said something, and I knew you didn’t feel the same way. And I knew I couldn’t say anything without making us awkward, and you’re the only person I can count on to be close as you are.”

She took the proffered box, wiping at her eyes and nose. I was trying to stay silent, let her get everything off of her chest. And I had to think of something, anything to say, besides the truth; if she had said something, we probably had a pretty good chance. Telling her that would only break her heart further, I knew that. I had to let her think that we’d never have had a chance.

She sighed again, and smiled at me. This one wasn’t watery, and her sniffles had even stopped for the moment. “Thank you so much, Spike. This feels so much better, having this off of my chest.” She sniffled one last time, blew her nose into a tissue, then stood.

“I never really got to sleep, though. I’m off to bed, to whatever end. We can talk about this some more, if you want.”

I nodded, faking a smile. She smiled lightly back, and left the room still holding the tissues. As soon as she was gone I sighed heavily, cupping my face and lowering it between my legs. This was tearing me up, and I had no way of knowing how to deal with this.

I straightened, remembering something. I knew someone who could help us both, a sort of couple’s councilor.

Rarity.