Suponynatural

by thepinkparty

the forest

. . .

"-BITCH!"

The hollow echoes of Dean's shout died away into silence. He found himself surrounded by total darkness, damp and oppressive. For a moment, Dean heard nothing but the sound of his own heartbeat, and a faint whispering noise, like a distant wind. He scrambled to his feet, feeling a hard scraping sensation as he did so, as if the soles of his shoes were encased in metal. Every instinct he possessed was telling him something was different, very different, but he couldn't quite place what had changed.

Blinking rapidly, he strained to see through the inky blackness, to no avail. He swallowed hard, his throat dry and raspy as he called, "Sammie?"

A nervous-sounding voice came from his right. "Yeah, Dean, I'm here."

"You, uh…" He paused. "You OK?"

"I think so. I mean…nothing feels bad, anyway." There was a grunt and a rustling sound as Sam climbed to his feet beside him, along with that strange scraping noise. "How 'bout you?"

"Sure, I'm great." Dean's voice was high-pitched and tense. "OK, so…are we human?"

There was a long silence, then a hesitant response. "I'm…not sure."

Dean swallowed again. "Great. OK, fine, it's all good, I can deal." He took a deep breath, then went on, "I can't see a damn thing, can you?"

"Not really." Sam paused, then continued more confidently, "Wait, yes. It looks like it's lighter, straight ahead of us. I think maybe we're in a tunnel? Or a cave?"

"Perfect." Dean shuddered all over, the action feeling indefinably strange. He could feel a chilly breeze ruffling the hair on the back of his neck, moving all over his body. Then he realized: "Oh, crap, I think I'm naked."

Before he could say more, he heard Sam ask in confused tones, "Is it getting hot in here?"

"Yeah, it…whoa!" Dean flinched as a putrid stench assaulted his nostrils. "Dude! Did you have to hit the burritos before we left?"

Sam's voice sounded scandalized. "That wasn't me!"

"Well, it sure as hell wasn't m-!"

His voice cut off as a brilliant red glow flared into existence above and behind him. Slowly, unwillingly, he turned and looked up.

Flickering scarlet flames spewed forth from the mouth and nostrils of a gigantic red-scaled reptilian head that loomed over them. The creature's yellow slit-pupiled eyes narrowed as it growled at them, showing a mouthful of long, white, pointed fangs. And its deep, rumbling voice bellowed in tones that made the rock walls tremble:

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY CAVE?"

"WHOA SHIT-!" Dean yelled as the dragon reared up and sucked in a deep breath, drawing the flames back inside its mouth, plunging the cave into total blackness again. In the sudden darkness, there was a confused moment of thrashing and stamping and a noise that sounded like a panicked whinny before Dean pulled himself together long enough to shout, "RUN!"

They ran, just ahead of a roaring blast of flame that licked at their heels, the heat of it singing their bodies and stinging their eyes. The brothers bolted out into the night as fast as their legs would carry them, as a mighty roar came from behind. "AND STAY OUT!"

Dean's heart hammered in his chest, his feet pounding rhythmically against the grassy earth as he yelled, without turning around, "Dude!"

He heard Sam shout from beside him, "I know!"

Even through the shock and panic, some insistent thoughts were jumping up and down in the back of Dean's mind, trying to get his attention. Something about the way he was running just wasn't right. Plus his footsteps sounded too loud, and he seemed to be hearing way too many of them for just two people…

Without slowing in his headlong sprint, Dean turned to look at Sam. At the exact same moment, as if drawn by some shared instinct, Sam turned to look at Dean.

With incoherent yells and choked-off profanities, they lost their step, stumbled, and fell. Sam crashed into a row of bushes with a pained shout as Dean sprawled flat on his face, skidding for several feet across the wet turf before finally coming to a halt.

Groaning aloud, Dean hauled himself to his feet. He looked over at his brother, silently begging that what he'd seen had been just a hallucination. But a second look only confirmed what he'd seen before: his brother was a leggy, brown-coated creature with hooves, a mane and tail, and in the most blatant non-sequitur of all, a picture of an open book on his left flank.

"Sam?" Dean asked incredulously. "Is that you?"

Sam struggled free of the shrubbery, and returned his brother's stare with one of his own, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Oh, crap. Dean, you're-!"

"Oh, no, don't tell me…" Wincing as if whatever he'd see was likely to burn his eyes out, he turned his head to look back at himself.

"Oh my GOD, my ass is huge." He flicked his short, dark-brown tail back and forth. "And that feels totally wrong." Then he cocked his head sideways and blinked in bewilderment as he caught sight of his flank. "And why the hell do I have a BOC symbol on my ass?"

"A what?" Sam shook the leaves from his mane, then jerked his long tail free from the bushes with an "Ow."

"You know, Blue Öyster Cult? Like from that stupid Hell House case?" He pounded the ground with his hooves in near-insane frustration. "WHY THE HELL IS IT ON MY GODDAMNED ASS?"

Sam looked pained. "Uh…someone's idea of a joke, I guess?" He tried to look upwards at his forehead, shaking his head to sweep his parted forelock out of his eyes. Reaching up with his front leg, he froze, and tilted his head sideways to look down at his hoof. Then he lowered it back to the ground, as gingerly as if he were handling a live grenade. "OK. This? This is weird."

"You THINK?" Dean's voice was beyond incredulous. "Horses? Seriously?" He shook himself, ruffling his short, spiky mane. "Talking horses?"

"Um…" Sam looked at himself, then at Dean again. Sheepishly, he observed, "I think we're more like, uh…ponies…actually."

"Oh, great." Dean stomped in a circle, fuming. "So we're short horses." He snorted in disgust, letting out a visible cloud of steam. "What the hell was Cas thinking?"

Sam had a sudden realization. "Speaking of…" He looked all around them. "Where is he, anyway?"

Dean blinked. "Didn't he come with us?"

Sam shook his head, looking increasingly concerned. "I don't think so!"

"Cas?" Dean called. "Hey, dumbass, are you there?" Looking around, he saw nothing but an expanse of grass and forest ringed by distant blue mountains. Straining for any hint of sound, he moved his ears back and forth, which felt extremely peculiar. But he heard nothing but the murmur of the cold wind, and a distant rumble of thunder from the churning, cloud-blanketed sky.

Dean's expression turned horrified as he looked back towards the cave they'd recently vacated. A trail of black smoke still drifted from the cave mouth. "Oh God. Did he get eaten by the dragon?"

Sam swallowed audibly. "No way. He couldn't have." He lowered his head, his ears flattening back against his neck. "Maybe we should try, ah, praying for him?"

"Fine." Dean scowled and closed his eyes. "Castiel," he began, his voice a low grumble that sounded far more retaliatory than worshipful, "wherever the hell thou art, get thy ass over here if it's still un-eaten and un-fried, because we totally need to kick you into next freakin' week!"

He opened his eyes and looked around. Sam shook his head. "Nothing," he observed. Closing his own eyes, Sam spoke in more conciliatory tones. "Castiel, if you can hear this, we really…" He paused for emphasis. "…REALLY need to talk to you." He had a thought. "And if you're, I dunno, just embarrassed because you're a pony now, or whatever…"

"Serves you right," Dean broke in.

"…Don't worry about it, just, ah, come if you can, all right?"

Castiel…

Sam's eyes snapped open as Dean looked around frantically, demanding, "Dude, what was that?"

Castiel can't…save you…

The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, a scraping whisper underscored by a threatening rumble. The wind became a gale, setting the leaves and grass to shivering, whipping the brothers' manes and tails into a dancing frenzy. His eyes wide, Sam nervously observed, "I really don't think that's Cas!"

Dean glared up at the roiling sky, shouting, "Who the hell are you? Show yourself!"

You will…DIE…

A bolt of green lightning came screaming down from the heavens, blasting into the ground between them. The brothers reared up with loud, panicked whinnies that they would be very embarrassed about later, then ran for their lives. Hooves churning up the turf, they weaved and dodged as virulent green bolts struck at them, again and again.

"Head for the trees!" Dean yelled, lowering his head in grim determination as he ran.

Sam had to duck as they charged into the forest, galloping beneath the low-hanging branches. The booming voice came from the sky behind them, bellowing in insane rage, You…can't hide! I will…KILL YOU!

Dead branches flailed in the raging wind, snatching at the brothers as they ran, leaving cuts and welts on their necks and flanks. They leaped in unison over a fallen log, but Dean misjudged the distance and stumbled with a grunt, scraping his hind leg on the rough bark. Sam looked back in concern, but Dean only scrambled to all fours and took off again, shouting, "Don't wait for me! Keep going!

They finally broke from the forest, into an icy wind that slammed into their faces, turning every step into a heroic effort. Fighting for breath, Dean yelled, "What the hell did we do to piss this thing off?"

"I dunno!" Sam gestured sharply forward with his head, his voice raspy from exertion. "Look, over that bridge! There's houses, maybe a village!"

Dean nodded. "Head for that! Maybe it won't be able to spot us in there!"

It seemed as if Dean's hunch was right. The clouds swirled and seethed high overhead, and neon lightning shredded the sky, but no more bolts came near them. Finally, the green glow faded to a sullen gray, and with a final vindictive roar, the voice went silent.

Sam and Dean didn't even slow down. Hooves clattering hollowly over the wet, cobblestoned streets, they barreled full-tilt through the town. They found themselves surrounded by strange, fanciful buildings and straw-roofed houses, but saw no lighted windows, no signs of life. Dean's chest was starting to ache with his labored breathing, and his left hind leg throbbed with every step. "Looks like…place is…deserted?"

"Over there! That house…tree…whatever!" Sam veered to his right, Dean struggling to keep up. "There's light in the windows!"

Finally, they reached the door of the strange tree-building, skidding to a halt in front of a wooden door with a painted candle. For a moment, the brothers could do nothing more than try to catch their breath, heads lowered and sides heaving. Then Dean swallowed hard, trying to moisten his parched throat, and asked, "Now what? Do we knock?"

Sam glanced nervously back at the sky, then took a long, deep breath. "Guess we don't have much choice." Hesitantly at first, then with a look of resolve, he raised his right forehoof and rapped firmly on the door.

"Hello?" Sam called. "Could you let us in, please? We could really use some help!"

Dean thought he could hear voices and movement from inside, and his ears moved as he tried to pinpoint the sound. However, the door in front of them showed no signs of opening. "I don't think we're gettin' in, Sam."

Sam gave a long, frustrated exhalation. "Great. What else could possibly go wrong?"

With a loud BOOM of thunder, it began to rain. Within seconds, a drizzle became a downpour, soaking them to the skin, plastering their manes against their necks and foreheads.

Ears and tail sagging, Dean turned and glowered at his brother. "You just had to say it, didn't you?"

Sam opened his mouth, but didn't get a chance to retort as the door was cautiously opened from within. Inside the treehouse, backlit by a warm glow of candlelight, stood two ponies. They looked out at the unexpected arrivals with what appeared to be caution mixed with concern.

"Boy howdy," drawled the closest one, a yellow-colored pony who was, in what would have seemed incongruous any other day of the week, wearing a cowboy hat. She let out a long, low whistle. "Looks like you colts have seen better days."

The brothers looked at each other, then Dean finally spoke. "Yes…ma'am," he said, trying to sound as polite and deferential as possible, considering he felt like he was slowly turning into a block of dripping ice. "But it's really, really cold and wet out here, so would you mind if we came inside?" Another crack of thunder made him twitch, and he tried for his best, most charming smile. "Please?"

Another pony looked out from behind the first. This one was purple and had a small, spiraling horn in the center of her forehead. Sam saw this, lost his train of thought for a moment, then managed to say: "We won't be any trouble, we promise."

The two ponies inside looked at each other, then did the last thing either of the brothers would have expected.

"Why, of course you can!" the hat-wearing one said, as if astonished that any other possibility might have been considered. She stepped aside and waved them in, her expression turning sympathetic. "Poor things. Y'all look like you tangled with a nest of polecats."

Exchanging glances as if unable to believe, or trust, their good fortune, Sam and Dean stepped inside. "Thanks," Dean began, then let out a surprised "Whoa!" as warm blankets were apparently levitated from nowhere onto their backs and wrapped snugly around them.

The unicorn's horn was surrounded by a faint purple glow as the blankets tucked themselves into place. "Just try not to get the books wet, please!" she requested, smiling.

Sam looked all around the interior as if mesmerized. The walls were covered floor-to-ceiling with full bookshelves, and even the floor was piled with tomes of every size, shape and description. "Wow," he observed, in tones of amazement mixed with adoration.

Dean sighed. "Dude, you're totally having a nerdgasm, aren't you?"

Sam shot a withering look at his brother, but was distracted from any possible comeback as steaming mugs were placed before them with a clink and thud. "Here ya go, boys," the yellow pony offered with a smile. "On the house. Only the first round's free, though," she added with a wink.

The brothers hesitated barely a second before plunging muzzles-first into the hot cider. She continued, "Name's Applejack, by the way. And this here's Twilight Sparkle."

Under normal circumstances, Dean might have made some wisecrack about that name (or possibly both of them), but was too blissfully deep in cider to care. Sam was likewise enjoying himself, but came up for air long enough to say, "I'm Sam, and this is my brother Dean. Pleased to meet you."

Dean glanced up at them without raising his head, vaguely waving a foreleg with a mumbled "H'lo."

The cozy scene was somewhat marred by another crack of green lightning, followed by a shuddering roll of thunder that shook the treehouse to its roots. Twilight shivered and looked over her shoulder at the nearest window. "Sorry we can't stop to talk. But we're trying to figure out what to do about these crazy storms."

Sam put his head to one side, looking intrigued. "Have you found out what's causing them?"

She shook her head sadly. "No. And they keep getting worse." Her ears and tail drooped, and she seemed almost on the verge of tears. "I'm supposed to be better at magic than this! But everything I try just keeps failing!"

Applejack nudged her companion. "Now, don't be so hard on yourself. You're still the best dang magic-user in all of Equestria." Twilight looked uncertain, but managed a weak smile. Looking back towards the brothers, Applejack continued, "So you two relax and stay in here for a while. Twilight'll figure this thing out, don't you worry."

With that, the two fillies moved off towards the other side of the library. Dean waited until they were deeply involved in rummaging through precariously-stacked piles of books. Then he shouldered his brother to get his attention.

"Dude," Dean asked in an urgent whisper, "What kind of insane crap have we gotten into? Purple unicorns and libraries in trees? Seriously, what the hell?"

Then he looked alarmed, and pushed his empty mug away with a hoof as if fearing he might have drunk something poisonous. "And why are they being so nice to us?"

Sam shrugged, and whispered back, "Maybe they're just nice…ponies?"

Dean hissed under his breath, "Nobody's ever this nice to us! They must be, I dunno, fattening us up to eat us or something!"

Twilight looked up from her book. "Everything OK over there?" she asked brightly.

With a big smile, Dean replied, "Sure! Absolutely! Couldn't be better!"

She smiled back. Then her eyes flickered towards Sam, and her smile grew even wider as her eyes seemed to drift out of focus. Shaking herself, she looked away as if embarrassed, and took a big bite out of a gleaming red apple that sat atop the nearest stack of books, munching away as she returned to her reading.

Sam chuckled at his brother's misgivings. "Somehow I don't think we're on the menu, Dean." Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey," he whispered. "Think we should ask if anybody's seen Cas?"

Dean shook his head. "What do we say? 'Hi, we're looking for our friend, except we're not actually what he looks like now, or if he's even in this dimension'?" He sighed. "Look, I'm worried about him, too, Sam. But for now, I think he's on his own."

Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But maybe they can still help us."

With that, Sam shook the blanket off his shoulders and trotted over to the fillies. "Actually, we were wondering…do you have a, ah…" He ran though a mental list of possibilities including phone and computer and rejected them all as unlikely before finally asking, "…do you have any contact with the outside? Anypony outside your village, I mean?"

He barely had time to think, Did I just say 'anypony'? That was weird, as Applejack shook her head sadly. "Sorry. All of Ponyville's been holed up since this crazy weather started kickin' in." She lowered her eyes. "I sure hope my family's doin' OK back at the ranch."

Twilight gave her friend a consoling pat on the shoulder, then looked over at the brothers, her large purple eyes filled with concern. "My letters to the princess aren't getting through, either." Sam and Dean looked at each other, concluded that apparently this was supposed to mean something to them, and only nodded in confused silence. She continued in a sympathetic voice, "Spike exhausted himself trying to send them. The poor dragon's asleep now."

Dean's ears shot up in alarm. "Dragon? Where?"

Applejack raised a forehoof to her mouth to stifle a chuckle as Twilight assured, "No no, it's OK! Spike's just a baby dragon. Look!"

The brothers followed her pointing hoof and saw a tiny purple-and-green lump curled up inside a wicker basket, snoring rhythmically. They both visibly relaxed. Thinking it best to change the subject, Sam looked around at the piles of books heaped on every possible surface. "You've got quite a library here," he observed with a smile.

"Really? Wow, thanks! I mean," Twilight gave a nervous laugh. "Not all of these are mine, of course. But, um…"

She looked away bashfully, then looked up at him again. "You see, I, well, um…" She lowered her eyes and shuffled her hooves before continuing, "I couldn't help but notice you had a book for your cutie mark…"

Dean was suddenly seized with a coughing fit as Sam almost choked in alarm. "My what?"

She seemed not to notice as she went on, "So, I figured you must really like books, and, um, I really like books a lot too, and, ah…" She trailed off, then gazed up at him with wide, glistening eyes, and said, her voice trembling with emotion: "You're REALLY tall."

Dean and Applejack both tried to hold back snorts of laughter, with limited success. Her cheeks turning a violent shade of red, Twilight immediately snatched up the nearest book and pretended to be deeply engrossed in it. Unfortunately, this book happened to be entitled Principles of Pony Accounting, and also happened to be upside down.

Sam shot a withering glare at his brother, who tried to look innocent. Then movement from outside the window caught Sam's attention, and he asked, "Hey. Am I seeing things, or is that a pony…flying?"

Twilight and Applejack leaped up at once. "Rainbow Dash!" they exclaimed.

A drenched, wind-blown shape battered against the window from outside. "Hey!" an aggravated-sounding voice shouted against the roar of the storm. "Open up in there!"

Twilight hurried towards the window as Sam protested, "Wait, be careful!"

"It's OK!" she assured him. "She's our friend!" With that, she flung open the window, and a wet, bedraggled blue Pegasus came zooming in. She hovered in mid-air for a moment, rainbow-colored tail streaming behind her in the wind. Then her eyes rolled upwards as she moaned and collapsed to the floor with a thud.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her forehead wearily as the other fillies helped her scrabble to her feet. "I've been trying everything," she complained. "I tried kicking away the clouds, I tried making a whirlwind…I even tried to do a Sonic Rainboom!" The way she said this implied it was something incredibly impressive, so the brothers didn't ask questions.

She lowered her head and shook her dripping wings, glowering in frustration. "Nothing works on this stupid storm!"

Then she caught sight of the Winchesters, and narrowed her eyes. "Who are these colts?" she asked, not sounding impressed.

Twilight assured, "They're friends. We'll explain later."

Sam and Dean looked at each other. Then Sam began, "Uh, Rainbow Dash, is it? When you were up there, did you happen to hear a…" He hesitated, then went on, "…a voice?"

Applejack snorted. "Sugarcube, I think you've been hittin' the cider a little too hard."

However, Rainbow Dash put her head to one side, regarding him quizzically. "How'd you know that? I thought I was just hearing things!"

Dean asked urgently, "What did it say?"

She shook her head, flapping her wings as she rose into the air. "Nothing, really. It just kind of…laughed." She snorted in annoyance, crossing her forelegs in a sulky gesture. "Really made me mad, too."

With fading hope, Dean went on, "You didn't hear a name? Like, say…Castiel?"

She gave him a puzzled look. "Nope. What kind of a name's 'Castiel'?"

Dean looked at the floor, unable to hide his disappointment. "He's a friend of ours," he finally admitted. "And he's kind of missing."

Applejack looked sympathetic, trotting over to Dean and patting his shoulder. Then her attention was drawn to the still-open window as a fresh burst of rain and wind spattered the inside of the room. Her eyes widened and she blinked several times, asking, "That wouldn't happen t' be him up there, would it?"

The brothers' ears perked up in unison as they ran over to look out the window. Squinting against the driving rain, Dean could barely make out a distant winged shape. It was wheeling and dodging in all directions, fighting its way through the relentless fury of the storm. Vicious green lightning bolts lanced down around the flier, the deafening thundercracks sounding like shrieks of thwarted fury.

"Cas? Cas?"Dean yelled at the top of his lungs, rearing up and propping his forelegs against the windowsill. "Hey! Over here!"

Sam added his shouts to Dean's, waving frantically. "Get inside! Hurry!"

Rainbow Dash shielded her eyes with a forehoof as she joined them at the window, flapping in place above them. "Whoa!" she observed, sounding genuinely impressed. "Those are some totally cool moves he's AAAH!"

The entire group barely had time to leap and/or duck out of the way as a tan-and-black blur zoomed in through the window, accompanied by a deluge of rain that caused Twilight to shriek in alarm and telekinetically fling dozens of books out of harm's way. Then the figure collided with the far wall with a treehouse-shaking, book-scattering, ladder-toppling crash.

Struggling to his feet, Dean groaned and shook a fallen book off his head, then aimed his gaze at the new arrival.

A tan-colored Pegasus with black wings aimed an upside-down blue-eyed glare at him. He was slumped with his back against the wall and his golden-halo-marked hindquarters straight in the air, all four legs waving vaguely as his light brown tail flopped wetly to one side. He shook his head irritably, further scruffling his wet, spiky mane, and causing the blue tie around his neck to go violently askew. Books continued to tilt and fall off the shelves all around him as he said, in a low, gravelly, and thoroughly displeased voice, "That was completely intentional."

Dean didn't know whether to shout for joy, burst out laughing, or deliver the biggest beatdown of his life. "Cas? Is that you?"

Castiel's expression suggested that, if he was ever asked to numerically rank the stupidest questions he'd ever been asked in his entire existence, that one would definitely make the top five. "Yes."

He paused as another book fell past him with a thud, then went on insistently, "Listen. I know what's caus-"

"Uh, Cas?" Sam interrupted, pointing out, "You're upside down."

Cas glowered at him. "I'm aware of that." However, he seemed uncertain of what precisely to do about it. He kicked at the air with his hind legs, then arched his back several times, producing no visible result. Scowling even more than usual, he opened his mouth as if to say something. However, the point was made moot as he was barreled over with an "Oof!" noise by an extremely enthusiastic Rainbow Dash.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, barely giving him time to stagger up to all fours before vigorously pumping his right foreleg in congratulations. "That was some AWESOME flying!"

She let him go, and he wobbled in place for a moment with his hoof still up in the air. Barely pausing for breath, she went on, "Well, not as awesome as mine, of course. But still, it was way cool!" Cas was forced to duck several times to avoid being smacked in the head as she enthusiastically gestured, "You were all like, WHOOSH! And then, ZOOM! And then-!"

Applejack chuckled. "Ease up there, Rainbow." She shouldered her friend away from the befuddled Cas as Twilight stifled a giggle. "Give that pony room to breathe." Applejack took his skewed tie in her front hooves and straightened it out, then reached up and gave him a fond pat on the head. "You OK there, sugarcube?"

Cas only stared at her in wide-eyed bewilderment, seeming to have utterly lost his train of thought, and possibly had a complete mental breakdown as well. Sam nudged Dean in the ribs to stop him snickering, then prompted, "You were saying you know what's causing the storms?"

Cas turned to face the brothers. "Yes." He nodded once, as his expression settled into its usual grim stoneface, which didn't look quite as impressive on a tie-wearing Pegasus. "I should have realized it from the start. I've encountered him before, a long time ago."

Rainbow Dash looked confused as she flapped all around him. "Encountered who?"

Lowering his head, Cas shook himself vigorously from head to tail-tip, spraying water in every direction and causing his audience to flinch and protest in unison. Then he looked confused, and glanced back at himself as if wondering why he'd just done that. However, he composed himself and continued, "His name is Asfaloth."

Dean flicked an ear back and forth, repeating, "Asfaloth? So who's that? Some high-ranking demon?"

"A high-ranking what?" Twilight asked skeptically, putting her head to one side.

Sam glanced over at her, his voice heavy. "Trust me. You're better off not knowing."

Folding his wings against his sides, Cas shook his head wearily, his expression changing to one of sorrow, even regret. "No. Asfaloth isn't a demon." He hesitated, and a reverberating thundercrack added an appropriate dramatic underscoring as he said:

"He's an angel."

. . .

Comments

[Nox]

[gcwg57]

Y'all look like you tangled with a nest of polecats."

polecats

[gcwg57]

"So, I figured you must really like books, and, um, I really like books a lot too, and, ah…" She trailed off, then gazed up at him with wide, glistening eyes, and said, her voice trembling with emotion: "You're REALLY tall."

LET THE SHIPPING COMMENCE!