Warm Tea and a Gentle Fire
A soft glint of warm sunlight reflected off of the glass. Double Time brought her attention towards it, allowing her faceted crystal eyes to take it in. The light wasn’t bright enough to hurt her eyes as she stared at the little reflection, even after a short while. In fact, it was kind of beautiful… and calming. She let her mind go blank and simply focused on the dot.
She didn’t know how much time passed while she stared — perhaps it was eternity. More realistically it was probably only a few minutes. Suddenly she blinked, shaking her head to clear away the cobwebs and bring herself back to Equestria.
“What was I here for again?” She took in her surroundings. “Oh. Right.”
Her throat gave a small but noticeable bulge as she gulped down a smidgen of her saliva. A shiver crossed her body; whether from the cold and biting wind or due to her feeling of dread, she couldn’t tell.
With a burst of determination she ascended the old and decrepit wooden steps. They creaked noisily with every step, and she desperately wished them to be quiet lest they reveal her position. She knew this was irrational in the back of her mind since the pony she was walking to meet was the pony she wished to hide from at the same time, but she still couldn’t help feeling agitated.
Finally she reached the porch. It was barely big enough for her to firmly stand on; its white paint was peeling so extensively that huge patches of the dark wooden planks beneath were exposed to the elements. She sighed and shook her head at the sight.
Sucking in a breath, she lifted a hoof and rapped it gently on the equally shoddy wooden door.
She waited. And waited. For a moment a small bubble of hope popped into her mind: maybe her knock went unheard? Maybe she could just turn around right now and forgo dealing with all this? As soon as that thought entered her mind, it was replaced with a flood of guilt instead. No, she owed her friend this courtesy.
Her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest as the door in front of her flew inward. On the other side of the threshold stood a pegasus — one of the only ones of his kind in this part of the world.
“Double Time?” His voice had a surprised tone to it as he raised his eyebrows. “C-Come on in.”
He hastily stepped aside and began stammering something about tea and cookies. Double Time trotted up to face him and gave a calming smile. He visibly relaxed — almost slumped — before moving to close the front door. He gave a shiver as the last wisps of cold air blew through his house.
She smiled at him again. A warm, friendly smile. “I’d love some cookies and tea. Thank you, Gentle.”
Gentle Catch returned her smile, though it looked more relieved than anything, before nodding and heading off down a hallway.
With nothing better to do while she waited for the pegasus’s return, Double Time looked around the room she now found herself in. The floor stood in stark contrast to the condition of the porch on the outside: the lush hardwood planks were immaculately lacquered and polished to a shine. A little ways deeper into the room a large and red carpet covered much of the floor. A spark of pleasant surprise shot through Double Time as her hoof made contact with the carpet’s surface. It was so plush and soft and deep — she could probably sleep on it and it’d feel just like a bed.
She made her way to one of the three plush seats strewn across the carpeted area, this one a couch. She plopped down on the far side of it; the one closest to the heartily burning fireplace in the wall opposite the door. The flames and embers immediately caught her attention, and she proceeded to stare at them raptly.
A gentle hoof tapped her on the shoulder, jerking her out of her reverie with a slight start. She turned to meet the smiling face of Gentle.
He let loose a few chuckles. “Still as enamored by fires as ever, I see.”
If Double’s crystal face had allowed her to blush, she would have done so. She smiled up at him before hitting him playfully in the chest. “Oh shush, you.”
He moved to the other side of the room, a large smile still on his face. He nodded his head, indicating to the coffee table. On it was a large silver platter filled with cookies of all kinds placed upon each other in decorative swirls.
Double immediately reached a hoof out and grabbed one of the chocolate chip ones. Not one for restraint, she promptly stuffed the whole thing into her mouth and tried to chew it. It was difficult at first, but after some wriggling with her tongue and acrobatics with her jaw muscles she managed to get the large chunk of food beneath some of her teeth. Her eyes closed in bliss and she slumped into the couch, seeming to melt into the fabric as she ate the cookie.
Gentle could only watch from the matching armchair on the other side of the coffee table, a bemused smirk on his face. He didn’t need to say anything.
Once Double was done violently stuffing herself, she regained her composure and sat up straight on the couch. A sort of serious expression placed itself across her features now as she poured herself a cup of tea before taking the steaming cup in her hooves and leaning back.
She sighed and looked at the smiling stallion across the way with sad eyes.
“Gentle.” She took a sip of the hot tea, if only to stall. “I know you like me.”
Gentle’s whole body seemed to tense, his ears shooting straight up. “W-Well of course I like you! We’re best friends!” He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof, letting out a nervous chuckle.
Double took a sip of her tea again before placing the cup back down onto the table. It made a piercing clank against the saucer.
“No.” She shook her head. “I know you like me like me. I know you want to go to the Gala with me.”
Gentle’s face fell. “How… how do you know that?”
“Warden told me.”
The stallion jumped off the armchair, sending the cushion flying with the force of his leap. He turned to the door and bared his teeth, his body and wings ready to jump into the air.
“Don’t be mad at him!” Double raised a hoof in an attempt to calm him. “Please, don’t be mad. He was just trying to help the both of us, just like any true friend should.”
She shuffled her hooves when she saw she had his attention once again. “You were obviously never going to tell me yourself, and he knew that it was eating away at you inside. He wanted me to know so that I could talk to you about it, and so I could make a choice.”
Gentle slumped to his haunches there, his face utterly hopeless and eyes downcast. His voice came out as a whisper. “You’re not going to choose me, are you?”
Double picked herself up from the couch and trotted over to him. She sat down in front of the distraught stallion and wrapped him in a tight hug, gently cradling him and stroking a hoof down his back.
She sighed. “Like you said, Gentle. We’re best friends. Believe it or not, you’re… you’re like a brother to me. I do love you, as my very best friend and brother. But to love you romantically… that would just feel weird for me.”
Double could feel Gentle’s chest heave as he choked back a sob. “B-But I love you! I really, really, love you!” He tightened his grip on her, clutching her desperately.
She could do naught but soothingly rub her hoof over his mane. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m not leaving. I’m here.” His grip relaxed a little as she gave his jawline a reassuring nuzzle.
Double leaned her cheek against the stallion’s head. “I know, Gentle. To be honest I don’t really know what to do. I really don’t want to hurt you at all; that’s not what friends do. But it seems the only way to follow my desires is to do just that.” She brought her free hoof up and rubbed her forehead with it.
Gentle leaned back from the hug and wiped at his eyes with a hoof. “W-When I told you to find a special somepony to invite to the Gala with you, I really wanted to go with you. But I was too scared to actually ask you. I thought you’d hate me or something.” He sniffled. “B-But I figured: as long as you’re happy, then I can be happy too. But now that you actually did find someone, I’m so jealous. I-I don’t know why, I don’t want to be, but I am. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Double gave a nod before pulling the stallion back into her embrace. “I understand. I mean, I don’t know anything about relationships or love, but I’m pretty sure that’s a normal feeling. And Gentle? I’d never hate you. You’ve known me for years, and you know that.” She sighed, turning her head and training her unblinking eyes on the fireplace once again. Luckily though, this time she managed to speak through her trance. “But… I already made a promise to Headway that I’d go with him. If I turn around now and say I won’t, then that will just hurt him instead. I don’t want that either.”
“Can’t we both come?” Gentle asked through a sniffle.
Double blinked in confusion. “You’re the one who gave me the ticket, remember? Each pony is only allowed to bring one guest.”
“Oh…” Gentle’s head slumped in defeat over Double’s back.
She sighed. A frown so deep adorned her muzzle that not even the allure of the fire could draw her away from the world now. She wrapped her neck around Gentle’s, closing her eyes and deflating as well.
After a while, she spoke. “That’s still not the main problem, Gentle. Even if you did come to the Gala with me, that doesn’t solve the problem of you liking me. I don’t… I don’t feel that way. I’m really sorry, Gentle.”
“I can’t help what I feel,” Gentle murmured.
Double squeezed him a little tighter. “I know. And… I refuse to hurt you for something you have no control over.”
“We… We could try, maybe? You could grow to love me that way after we tried dating for a little bit, maybe?”
Double just sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
From her embrace, Double could just about feel Gentle perk up. She was certain she would see his ears standing upright if she could see his head.
She was quick to press a subduing hoof to his back. “I said maybe. No promises. I just…” She let out a sudden frustrated growl as she threw her head back. “I just don’t know how to do this!”
Gentle shuffled back, looking into Double’s crystalline eyes with a determined expression before wiping his eyes and letting out one more sniffle. “If you’re really so troubled by it, then… it’s okay. Like you said, friends shouldn’t hurt each other, and that means I shouldn’t be making your life miserable. I want you to be happy. So… never mind. You don’t have to be my special somepony. You already give me more than I could ever ask for; you’re already a wonderful and amazing best friend, and I think that’s enough for me. I’m lucky to even know someone like you.”
Double gave him a simple little smile before getting up and making her way back towards the couch. She reached her hoof between two of the cushions and shuffled amidst them a little bit, before pulling out a small object and clutching it to her chest. She trotted back to Gentle and sat before him again.
She held out her hoof. In it was a chocolate chip cookie.
Gentle’s eyes widened. “Why did you put a cookie between my couch cushions?”
Double’s smile stretched into a genuine grin. “They’re your favorite too. And I thought... I was just about to reject you and hurt you really badly. I wanted to surprise you and maybe cheer you up just a little. Here, take it.” She outstretched her hoof further.
The pegasus tentatively reached out a hoof to grab the cookie, before thinking better of it and dropping it back down. Instead he leaned his head forward and ate it right out of Double’s hoof.
Immediately he began coughing and sputtering, sending crumbs flying all over the place. Thankfully he had the foresight to turn his head away from the mare sitting across from him.
“Hair!” he gasped through a full mouth
Double let out a snort at his antics and gave a guilty chuckle. “Sorry. I probably should have made sure it was clean before you ate it.”
After chewing and swallowing, he reached out and folded Double into an embrace. This one was not like the desperate and broken one like before — this one was full of warmth and genuine love. Double soon found herself melting snugly into his forelegs.
“Thank you,” he whispered into her ear and squeezed her just a tad tighter. She returned the gesture and gave him a loving nuzzle.
“This doesn’t change anything, you know,” she said with a chuckle. “We’re just two best friends sharing a cuddle.”
Gentle nodded. An honest smile spread across his lips, despite her comment — or perhaps because of it. “Of course.”
They didn’t know how long they sat there on the cradling plush carpet in front of the fireplace. Not once in their remaining time together did Double Time look at the dancing flames again — she had something far more interesting in front of her now, even if they still were nothing but best friends at the end of the day.
Eventually, the crystal pony and the pegasus fell asleep; all through the night they held each other in their warm embrace.
Author's Note
Many, many thanks to The Letter J for pre-reading!
And big thanks to my friend Marley for the stylized cover art!
Finally, thanks to Nytus for inspiration!
