They Never Knew

by SilverEyedWolf

Dreamscapes and a Return

Author's Note:

Some of you will recognize this. There's a reason.
Some of you will not. This is for you, and me as well.
If anything surpasses the T rating, please let me know exactly which bit, so I can fix it. Danke.

Welcome back, guys.

It wasn’t long after the Nightmare Moon incident that Ditzy moved me in with her. Twilight hadn’t put up too much of a fuss after I told her that I’d help her out whenever she needed me to. It didn’t take her too long to actually employ me, working me seven easy days a week. She even paid me, more than enough bits to feed the three, then four of us.

And yet, I’m ahead of myself. Let’s start at the dinner party a few weeks before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight sent me downstairs to do some cooking, while she stayed upstairs and unpacked. I looked around the kitchen and smiled as an idea formed in my head and I ran to the main room. I took a few pieces of paper and a pen from the desk and scribbled a few notes. Five, to be exact.

I then busied myself around the kitchen, and the diner was nearly ready by the time my small family poured into the kitchen. Twilight started pulling dishes out of the cabinets and setting them on our normal table, but she stopped when I said, “Actually, I was thinking it would be a nice day to eat outside. I’ve already enchanted the table to repel bugs and all.”

She nodded, smiling slightly. She knew that I preferred the outdoors and loved eating outside, and she put away our glass plates and grabbed a stack of stouter wooden plates. While she wasn’t looking, I grabbed all the rest of the stack and handed them over to Dinky, who secreted them outside while Twi wasn’t looking. She stealthily grabbed a handful of silverware on her way out.

Ditzy lifted up the main pot as I grabbed as many of the sides as I could, leaving Twilight only the plates and some silverware. She almost had some potatoes to carry, but Dinky snatched them up before Twilight could look too long at them. Twilight looked at me narrowly, as though she thought I was setting her up for a prank. I did my best to look innocent and walked through the door to our backyard.

As soon as she walked through the barn-styled door she dropped her plates, her hands flying to her mouth. A quick flick of a wand caught the plates and silverware, then distributed them amongst the rest of the set plates.

Her five friends grinned in greeting, plus two little sisters and a friend. All eight had brought something with them, either juices and other drinks or extra courses for the multitude eating with us. I set the course we had contributed on the blankets, yards of cloth set out like a banquet table.

After tearing up a little and going around and hugging everyone, Twilight sat at the end of our blanket and offered thanks for our food and our friends. After a few minutes of quiet eating, Pinkie and Rainbow started up conversations on the end of the blanket. It didn’t take long for everyone to start chattering, thanking each other for making certain dishes and complimenting the food.

I stayed quiet mostly, thanking the others every now and then for compliments and handing out a few of my own. Mostly I listened to Ditzy as she spoke at length on the possible contents of a certain brown-paper wrapped box she’d had to deliver that had been small, but still required a cart to move. The man with a blonde mohawk she’d delivered it to had seemed to pick it up with no strain though, and she debated with Rarity across the food on whether the item was magical or if the receiver was simply very strong.

I finished my plate and sat there, listening to the two of them and smiling. Reaching over, I took her unoccupied hand and enjoyed the warmth of it in my hand. I shared a small smile with Rarity when we noticed her face flush and her smile grow wider as she continued to speak about her day.

On the other side and down the blanket of me was Fluttershy and Rainbow, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie across from them. Fluttershy was discussing a treatment for some of Applejack’s animals with a skin rash, and Rainbow was describing an intricate prank in the making with Pinkie. It was the most serious I had ever seen either of them.

Twi was at the head of the table, as much as there was a head. She sat beside me, and we spoke about overdue books and her usual topics. She tried to engage Dinky with banter about her schoolwork, but she was still acting skittish around both of us.

Everyone ate their fill, and I wrapped up what leftovers there were and stuck them away. Everyone lingered for a few hours, until Rarity mentioned something about a dress she needed to work on. Everyone agreed that it was a bit late, and with hugs everyone went to their mostly separate homes.

Ditzy was the last to leave, staying behind to help me out with dirty dish duty. We chatted about my day then, the books I’d checked out and the seemingly strange topics some people were interested in. She ended up leaning against me, pressing her shoulder to mine as she dried dishes I cleaned. She then handed them to Dinky, who put them away. While not yet developed, her magic allowed her to put the higher dishes away.

Sooner than I wanted, I was walking her to the door, taking the towel she had dried her hands on. She stood on her tiptoes and closed her eyes, and I knelt down to brush my lips against hers. She opened her eyes and lifted an eyebrow, then reached up and pulled me down into a deeper, much sweeter kiss.

After flickering ages, passing much too quickly, she pulled away and smiled. “Every kiss better always mean that much to you, got it?”

I nodded happily and leaned forward to kiss her again, then closed and locked the doors after I watched her walk away. I turned and saw Twilight giving me a look, and I shrugged.

“You’re grinning like an idiot.” She walked up and used a tissue to wipe some of Ditzy’s lip gloss from my face.

“Well, surely only idiots can be this happy,” I told her, refusing to let her ruin the moment I’d just had. Twilight was rolling her eyes as I walked to the windows, were I closed the shutters and locked them. We made sure that there weren’t any books sitting in the night return, then went upstairs.

I looked around the small room and at the cramped twin beds. “Twi, what’re we going to do with the space in the basement?”

She sighed and muttered something. I turned and stared at her. “I know I didn’t hear you right. What was that?”

She sighed and said, slightly louder, “I hoped to transfer a laboratory here from the castle.”

I gazed at her a little longer, completely silent. She fidgeted under my gaze for a while, then sighed as she lost our silent battle, head downturned. Without a word, I picked up most of the bed I’d been sleeping on and toted it downstairs, into the mostly empty basement. I didn’t mind sharing a room with the night return slot or the almost abandoned shelves that sagged with age and missing weight.

I returned to Twilight’s room to find her in her bed already. I went over and kissed her forehead, earning a harrumph from the grumpy scientist. I picked up the rest of my bed and turned out her lights as I closed the door.

I set up my bed and moved some of the bookshelves around, planning my room. I then grabbed all of the books and placed them together on a single bookshelf. Pulling my wand, I shrunk the rest of the bookshelves and stacked them onto the spare space of the last shelves, leaving the whole ordeal for Twilight’s scrutiny.

I turned and grimaced, pulling my wand once again and creating a siphon to pull all the dust and dirt from the floor and walls into a ball on the tip of my wand. I opened a small window, painted closed many times, and tossed the filth outside.

I looked back over my room and wiped a hand over the wall, checking for dust. I decided that it was the best that I wanted to do at the moment and looked around my bare room. I liked it, though I felt it was still in great need of a wardrobe. And some clothes to put in it. That would have to wait until morning though; I wasn’t going to wake up Twilight for something I didn’t need.

Sitting on my bed, I realized that this simply wasn’t one of the nights I needed sleep. They were getting fewer, far fewer, and I found myself at a loss for what I could do while passing time for the sun. On my sleepless nights I usually just spent time with Celestia, but now she was hours away and my transportation spells were still hit and miss.

I could fly and be there in an hour or so, but that would still leave only six hours in exchange for two lengthy flights. I didn’t find the idea attractive, so I went back upstairs and perused the library I had at my disposal. Its size left much to be desired, but there seemed to be a varied selection. I browsed for a while, but I bored quickly and gave up, sitting on a chair and allowing myself to descend into a sour state of mind.

I looked up to on the clock on the wall and groaned. It was eleven-o’clock, and Twi usually didn’t stir until at least eight in the morning. I had nothing to do until the library opened at eight-thirty, and I didn’t feel like sitting around for nine hours. I walked to the front doors and opened them as quietly as I could. Locking the door, I set a seal over the keyhole, so no-one could magic their way into the library while I was out.

I walked into the center of town and saw the cupcake house I’d first met Pinkie at. The light in the shop was still on, so I walked up and tried the door. It opened, and the bell softly chimed again as I shut the door behind me. A voice came from the back, “Pinkie, did you forget to lock the door? Go send them away, and make sure to lock the door this time.”

“Yes Mrs. Cake,” An almost tired-sounding Pinkie said.

“We’re closed right now, can you…” Pinkie started as she walked out of the room behind the counter. She saw who it was and smiled, speaking over her shoulder, “It’s not a customer Mrs. Cake, it’s just Spike.”

“Just Spike, am I?” I asked her, locking the door. “If you don’t want people looking for delicious baked sweets, your lights shouldn’t be on.”

She stuck her tongue out at me and grinned, beckoning me into the kitchen. I walked around the counter and stepped into the kitchen, where Pinkie tossed me an apron and a small white cap. “I assume you’re bored? Come help us make dough for the bread tomorrow.” Mrs. Cake was wrist deep in a mound of her own dough, and there was another pile not far from hers.

I faked a sigh as I put on the borrowed gear and washed my hands. “Poor servant dragon am I, that never gets a break from work even after I cook a meal for twelve and then wash all the dishes.” A wet towel hit me in the face as I turned, and I heard the women giggling.

“Stop speaking like a dork. And I know for a fact that a certain lovely blonde helped you with those dishes.” She laughed as I adopted the grin I acquired whenever Ditzy was mentioned.

I was shown the flour, water and other ingredients, then instructed to start on a flatbread. Mrs. Cake asked me some stuff about my past, mostly where I grew up and other tidbits. I told her as much of the truth as I could, including the fact that I was a dragon and everything except the Darklighters. She’d looked at me a little strangely out of the corner of her eye, as if she thought I was simply a crazy person Pinkie had invited into her bakery.

I pulled a flour-covered hand out of my pile of dough, and let the scales and claws show through. She stopped kneading dough for a moment, eyes widening as she turned her head to look at the claws protruding from long, knobby fingers. I pushed my fingers against my palms and moved them in circles, presenting a whispering noise as the scales brushed over each other.

She shivered and turned back to her own dough, seemingly lost in thought. After some time she finished with her dough and put in in her fridge, in a covered bowl. She washed her hands as Pinkie finished with her own batch and toweled her hands off with a strip of cloth hanging near the sink.

“Don’t leave yet, Spike. I have something I would like to see you do,” she said and left the room. I finished with my batch of dough and added it to Pinkie and Mrs. Cake’s own. She returned quickly, holding a decrepit book. Pinkie gasped when she saw it. “That’s the book we keep all of our recipes in!” She whispered to me furtively. “She never takes that out of the safe under the register!”

Mrs. Cake slowly opened the tome, and I heard the aged paper crinkle as it was turned. She opened it to an index first, near the very front. After scanning it she turned all the way to the end of the book. She flipped a few pages back and showed me a recipe of extreme length. “I’ve never seen this bread made. Could you do this?”

Scanning the contents of the page, my eyes widened. “I could try, but this seems rather complex. Where did you even get this recipe?”

She grinned and shook her head. I looked back to the book, then went over to the sink and washed off all of the excess flour and dough. I took out my wand and used it to arrange two small circles, some of Celestia’s runic magic. I looked up at my audience.

“This is going to be a bit more complex than I’m used to. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, I’ve never done quite this before.” I placed my hands into the circles and applied some of the same magic I used with my wand through my hands.

They grew incredibly hot very quickly, and I tensed the muscles and said a few ancient words, directing the magic how I wanted. The magic complied and the heat poured out, filling out my hands until they were the same as what I had showed Mrs. Cake minutes before.

I pulled them from the surface and grimaced at the twin scorch marks in the wood, where my hands had turned into claws. “I’ll fix that,” I told her, apologetically. She merely looked at my twin paws.

“Why didn’t you just change them like last time?” Pinkie asked.

“Well, last time I was just showing you what they looked like.” I reached over, and ran my talons over the palm she offered. She shivered and ran a hand over the back of mine, her smooth skin clashing with the leathery scales. “These are my real hands, as they should be. I’ve conjured up my scales before with some simpler magic, but for this recipe I needed the claws as complete as possible.”

I offered my other hand to Mrs. Cake, and she gently touched the scales. She shivered and withdrew her hand quickly. I pulled the other from Pinkie and flexed my hands, experimentally. They felt much different from the last time I’d had them, many years ago. I tapped my fingers against my palm and realized what it was.

“I’m turning more humanoid,” I told Pinkie, who raised an eyebrow.

“Like, you used to be more lizardly?” I nodded and flexed my hand, feeling the skin beneath my scales tense and relax. “Like, how much lizardlier?”

“A lot. I don’t remember having actual fingers, just vague digits with claws in them.”

“Uhm… Maybe it’s because of the last five years or so as being a human?” Mrs. Cake suggested. I looked at her and nodded slowly.

“That makes sense. I think I’ll send Celestia a letter about it. But for right now,” I said, flexing my claws at the cabinets, “Let’s try making that bread you’re so interested in.” She nodded and in a few moments I had all of the ingredients in front of me.

I rolled my shoulders, readying myself for the effort this was going to take. Looking over the cookbook one last time, I started humming as I mixed all of the spices and flour. Letting my draconic side take over my vocal cords, I opened my lips and starting singing the words the book detailed. I felt my magic flowing from my lips into the words and out of my hands into the dough.

I could see the walls vibrating ever so slightly from my voice. I realized that my singing had become little more than a flowing tone, winding its way through the wood of the house as it left the magic I had given my voice in the air. A bedraggled man nearly fell on his way down the stairs and looked at me, questions dying in his mouth as he saw me.

I realized that some of the air was actually glowing, and the dough that I had been kneading on the table was starting to float. Pinkie rushed up the stairs to the man I assumed was Mr. Cake. She grabbed him and dragged him down the rest of the stairs, sitting him beside herself and Mrs. Cake across the table from where I was putting on my impromptu show.

I had the feeling that dust should have been falling from the rafters as I reached a plateau in my song. Sustaining the note for as long as I could, I put the dough on a tray prepared for the oven. The bread rose even as I held the note, doubling in size and even nearly tripling before I had to gasp for breath.

The glow faded from the air and seemed to soak into the resting dough. I kneaded it into shape one last time, humming again. When I was done, the bread had a golden glow. I walked it over to the oven and opened the door and set it on a tray inside, near the back. Leaving the door open I walked back. Tensing my throat and flexing, I felt that peculiar clicking that only happened when I was dragon. I opened my mouth and clicked one last time, igniting my breath into the fire I directed into the oven.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw everyone jump, and watched Mr. Cake fall most of the way out of his chair before his wife steadied him. Pinkie was overjoyed, clapping her hands together as I streamed green fire into the oven.

The book had said to “bake” the bread in this way for as long as I could hold the flames, but no longer than four minutes. I counted to two-hundred and thirty-eight before I let go of the fire, panting heavily as I gulped in air. Cautiously I reached into the oven and pulled out the tray, slightly warped by the heat but shining brightly as though it had been cleansed of all age.

The bread was golden-brown and steaming. I looked over the book and nodded. While it was a shade or two lighter than intended, it was still within an acceptable range.

“It’s going to take about five minutes to cool enough to be edible, according to this. I need to rinse my hands, could somebody else set the table? The book suggests honey or jam and butter.”

Pinkie grabbed some plates and set the table while I rinsed and Mrs. Cake explained to her husband what was going on and who I was. Using water this time, I changed my claws back into my human hands. Using a towel, I set the rather large loaf onto a plate and toted it over to the table, where Mrs. Cake sliced it delicately.

The inside was pale, and very porous. Steam escaped the bread as she sliced into it, and the warm smell seemed to calm Mr. Cake a little. He finally relaxed for the first time, and a small smile played across his face as we all breathed in the warm scent.

I used a knife to spread some honey over my slice, then took a small taste of it. Then a larger taste. I looked around the table, confused.

“This bread… It tastes sort of bland, doesn’t it?”

Confused and crestfallen faces greeted me as I looked around the table. Three nods, and Pinkie was across the room, reading the recipe. I felt a small warmth blossom in my chest, and ate more of my honeyed bread. It didn’t add any more flavor, but it did increase the warmth.

Looking around, I noticed everyone looked perkier. I finished my slice and joined Pinkie across the room. “It pretty much only says its name, and how to make it. Nothing of its flavor, or why a dragon has to be the cook. This seems to me a pretty standard bread recipe…”

She pushed her hand against her chest and pushed slightly. I noticed her flushed face, and realized that I too felt hot. I looked over to the table at the Cakes and noticed that they’d become red as well, and were staring at each other in a way I recognized.

“Pinkie, what’s the name of that bread?”

“I believe it’s called ambrosia, and it seems to be intended to increase…” She peered very closely at the book and shut it, a small look of panic in her eyes. “It’s said to increase virility.”

I looked at the two Cakes, who were getting closer to one another quite quickly. I picked up Pinkie and threw her onto my shoulder. I walked her out of the room, and heard a small crash of plates knocked off of the table as I unlocked the door. I turned off the lights and slammed the door behind me, locking it. I walked a little ways away from the bakery and breathed deeply.

“Uhm, Spike?” Pinkie’s voice came from behind me, over my shoulder. “You’re touching…”

I realized exactly where my hand was holding Pinkie to keep her balanced on my shoulder, and I quickly put her down. She leaned into me, as if her legs wouldn’t support her. She looked up into my face, and her body somehow found more blood to push into her face. I realized that the bread was probably affecting her much more than me and moaned under my breathe.

I felt her place her hands on my chest, and when I looked down again she stood on tiptoe and tried to kiss me.

“Oh, no no no no. Ditzy’s more than enough for me.” I picked her back up again and started back to the library, watching carefully where I put my hands.

“Oh Spike, you’re so rough,” I heard her moan, and I bounced her a bit, trying to get her to stop.

“Pinks, try saving it until we get home.”

“Oooh, taking me to your house now? What would Twi say,” Pinkie giggled, bending more at her waist. I wondered what she was doing, until I felt her hands grab my butt. I jumped a little and, without thinking, swatted her in the most easily accessible area. Of course, this simply made her grab harder.

By the time we’d reached the library Pinkie wasn’t being quite so nice. She’d tried removing my pants twice as I was walking and was in the process of rolling my shirt up to my shoulder blades. I used my wand to open the door and close it again, as quietly as I could with Pinkie still giggling and moaning as I jiggled her.

I walked down the stairs as roughly as I could, bouncing her on my shoulder as I descended. This seemed only to encourage her, and I felt her pull of her shirt and throw it on the stairs. I opened my door and threw her on the bed.

She looked at me and grabbed her chest and spread her legs, underpants peeping out from under her skirt. She motioned to me with her head, running the second one away from her breast and down towards her skirt. “Come get me, lover…”

I slammed the door, tearing my eyes away and locking the room, sealing it so she couldn’t try and get out through the window. I heard her moan throatily and bolted up the stairs, away from the sounds of the gorgeous woman doing who knew what to herself behind the door.

I picked Pinkie’s shirt up as I ascended, and closed and locked a second door at the top of the stairs. I turned and noticed Twilight Sparkle, standing at the top of her stairs in a small nightshirt and rubbing her face sleepily. “Spike, what’s with all of the noise…”

She stopped speaking as she saw the disarray of my clothes. My shirt was still riding right below my neck, and my pants had lost their belt and now sagged open on my thighs. I saw her take in the pink shirt in my hand. Confusion running across her face, she asked, “Is that Pinkie’s shirt? What is she doing running around withou…”

Her eyes widened and she flushed, deep red. I looked down and noticed for the first time the result of Pinkie’s ministrations, and my own reaction to the bread. I moved behind the counter used for checking out books, and cleared my throat.

“We were baking bread. If you could send a note to…” I looked up at the clock. Three in the morning. “I guess to Luna. See if Celestia’s awake too, tell them I need… help with a certain type of magic.”

She nodded and started back up the stairs. I blushed and coughed. When she looked back I said, “Maybe wear pants on the way back down.”

She looked down to her bare thighs and flushed brighter, than ran up to her room and slammed her door. I straightened my shirt and tried pulling up my pants. They were a little too tight at the moment though, and I couldn’t button them. I gave up and tossed them onto a chair, along with Pinkie’s shirt.

Twilight came back down in jeans and a heavy sweater. “I sent word of… your problem. Luna said she’s sending Celestia.” I nodded, keeping my body close to the counter. She looked at the pile of clothes on the chair and shifted uncomfortably. “Is there something… I could do to help?”

I felt my eyes widen as I stared at her, and her eyes widened and she turned bright red again. “No no no, I meant, do you need a sheet or something!”

I grabbed my chest and breathed, letting my forehead hit the counter. “No, I don’t think it would… hide much right now. I think I’ll just stay here. Close to the counter.”

She nodded, looking anywhere besides me. I shuffled some papers around the workspace, trying to keep my mind away from Twilight moving up the stairs…

“Uhm, can I have some cold water and a towel, please?”

Twilight gave me a funny look, but returned with a glass of water and a towel from the kitchen. Staying as far away as she could, she put the items on the desk. I grabbed the glass and dumped it over my head, gasping as the cold water made the breath hitch in my chest. I wiped away the excess water, and looked down.

All the water had done was make my clothes stick to me.

Twilight eyed my wet body and asked, “Help at all?”

I shook my head and she smiled a bit, as if enjoying the torture I was undergoing. I leaned over and her smile faltered.

“Milky white calves leading up to supple, smooth thighs,” I said, grinning and blushing bright red myself. Twilight twitched and covered her face with her hands, looking to the door and squeaking something about how the Princess should be soon. The smile fell from my face. “How much did you tell them, exactly?”

“Just that we had a non-urgent situation that was embarrassing to speak of.” She still had her face covered with her hands, muffling her speech a bit.

Someone knocked gently on the door, making us both jump. Twilight rushed over and pulled open the door, letting the Princess walk in. Celestia almost glided, a look of concern covering her face until confusion replaced it when she saw me standing behind the book counter, dripping. She looked over to the pile of clothes on the nearby chair. I could see gears turning in her head as she looked between the pink shirt and me, and I started shaking my head.

“I thought you were dating the blonde, not Pinkie? Is… is that the problem, Spike?” Celestia asked, a very worried and slightly panicked look replacing the confusion.

I could only gawk at her, making offended noises and shaking my head. “No no no, I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk and I came across the Cake’s bakery and then Pinkie asked me to help them and then Mrs. Cake had this recipe and I made it…”

Celestia held up her hand, stopping me. “Spike… What? That made no sense, slow down.”

I took a breath, and in that moment of silence, a loud moan came from behind the closed basement door. Three heads turned slowly in that direction. They both looked at me, and I simply said, “I couldn’t leave her around Mr. Cake.”

Celestia looked at me for a bit longer before rubbing her forehead and closing her eyes. Twilight went pale and sat in a chair on the far side of the room, facing away from me and the door.

“Okay Spike. You went to help Pinkie Pie make bread because you couldn’t sleep?” Celestia asked.

I shook my head. “I went for a walk, because I couldn’t sleep. I came across Sugarcube Corner while I was walking, and I went inside.”

“That’s when Ms. Pinkie asked you to help her?”

“Her and Mrs. Cake, yeah. I helped them with some bread dough. We got to talking, and it come up that I was a dragon. Mrs. Cake had a recipe that could only be truly completed with a dragon, so we tried it.” I stayed as calm as possible, trying to remember every detail. I assumed it was the bread or the… blood loss, but my mind felt a little fuzzy and I couldn’t remember properly.

Celestia arched an eyebrow and asked, “Did this recipe have any clue as to what kind of bread you were making?”

I fidgeted. “Yes, but we didn’t check until after we’d had some. Me, Pinkie, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I left them in the kitchen when I left, but I didn’t want something… embarrassing to happen with Pinkie so I took her.”

Celestia had to hold up her hand again, and I stopped to take another breath. “Did this recipe have a name? What was the description?” She asked.

I looked away and muttered the name. Her eyes widened and she got extremely close, looking me in the eyes. Again I muttered, “Ambrosia bread…”

She looked deep into my eyes. “How long did you last?”

I blushed and stared at the princess, shocked. She shook her head vigorously and asked, “How long did you cook it for? The full four minutes?”

“Uhm, no, I stopped a few seconds short of four…”

“At least ten seconds, right?” Celestia asked, face full of hope. Twilight just looked on, silent.

“Uhm, closer to eight…”

Celestia laid her head on the counter, directly in front of my abs, and sighed. I felt her hot breath hit my cold skin, and suddenly noticed the low-sweeping back of her dress. I couldn’t help but look down at the top of her head, then down her back to her shapely hips…

A sudden noise on the underside on the counter seemed to announce my current train of thoughts, and with both hands resting on the top of the counter, I had no alternative explanation as to the sound. Celestia slowly moved her head up and looked directly into my eyes, a blank slate. Twilight hadn’t heard the noise, thank Celestia.

The Princess raised an eyebrow, keeping my eyes locked in hers. “How… bad is it?” she asked, quietly.

“Uhm…” I said, hesitating. I was trying to think of any non-suggestive words to describe my current predicament, but I had become engaged in a battle to keep my eyes on Celestia’s face, and not lower. Much lower…

She put a hand on her dress and pushed it to her chest, glaring into my eyes. I guessed I hadn’t kept my eyes on hers as well as I had tried. She glared for another second, then sighed, turning her head away. “Twilight, go ahead and go to bed. We’ll handle the spells he needs; you probably won’t want to see him… during the magic.”

Twilight stood up and quickly walked up her stairs. She paused halfway and turned to Celestia. “It won’t hurt, will it?”

Celestia smiled wryly at me. “Not enough.”

Twilight nodded, then cast one last worried glance at me before finishing her walk up the stairs and shutting her door. Celestia immediately cast a spell over Twilight’s door. When I raised an eyebrow, she blushed and said, “Silencing spell.”

I was about to ask what the silencing spell was for, when my forehead exploded in pain and everything went dark.