Gone in 1800 Seconds

by True Blue Spark

#455. Lovebirds

The Prompt: Two ponies attempt to play matchmaker... but end up falling in love themselves.

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The sky was clear and the moon was full, blanketing Ponyville in its calm white glow. The streets were quiet and peaceful, not even a stray cricket disturbing the silence. All in all, it was utterly flawless, the perfect romantic setting... At least, so Rarity hoped.

The past few days had been as chaotic as any she’d ever experienced. Whether this night went well or poorly, she was swearing off matchmaking for life. She wasn’t even certain how she’d gotten roped into the whole mess, aside from having been present at the moment of love-at-first-sight. But she and her partner had one last plan in mind before she threw in her towel.

“I really do wish to apologize, Philomena,” Rarity said solicitously, trotting toward the fountain ahead. “I’m afraid we got a bit caught up in everything. We certainly didn’t mean to be so overbearing...”

From her back, the visiting phoenix trilled a response. She didn’t know a word (or, rather, a note) of the phoenix language, but she could just tell that had been a dry, snarky remark. I should hope you didn’t! perhaps, or Only a bit caught up?

Rarity allowed herself a bit of a scowl. “Although we could always call it a bit of payback for that dreadful prank you played on Fluttershy so long ago...”

The next tweet was sharp and startled, followed by a chirp of apology.

“No, I’m only teasing. It’s all in the past. At any rate...” Rarity trotted out from under Philomena, who took to the air and hovered beside her, wings flapping lazily. “Thank you for giving him one more chance. If you really aren’t interested after tonight, we won’t bother you any more.”

Philomena nodded to her, looking a bit dubious, and flew over to land on the rim of the fountain. Rarity glanced around, seeking out the others. Surely they weren’t going to be late...?

Then they came from around the other side of the fountain. A teenage dragon with a bundle on his back, and a young adult phoenix perched on his shoulder. Once again Rarity had to marvel at how much Peewee had grown. How much both boys had grown, really. Both lean and tall, only a hint of youthfulness remaining in their faces... If she hadn’t known that Peewee couldn’t visit Spike more than once in a blue moon, she would have sworn they’d grown up together.

Spike gave a tentative wave with one claw, then reached behind him to lower the bundle he’d carried from the boutique. He unwrapped the record player, set it to spinning, and placed the needle down. A quiet, low-tempo orchestral piece began to play. Peewee hopped down from Spike’s shoulder, fluttering over to stand across from the older phoenix he’d fallen so hard for. And then he began to sing along with the orchestra, his voice as clear and strong as the strings of a harp.

It was beautiful, even if Rarity couldn’t understand the “words”; she only knew he and Spike had spent the whole day writing it together. But Philomena would understand. Her skeptical expression had vanished as soon as Peewee began singing, and as Rarity watched, she began to stare at her young suitor in awe. A blush appeared on her little cheeks, shining even through her bright feathers, and as the song reached its crescendo, she turned away for an instant to brush a tear away.

The record came to a close, and Spike lifted the needle up, but neither phoenix noticed the slight scratch. Philomena hopped a bit closer to Peewee, lowering her head an inch to meet his eyes, and they began a quiet conversation in song. Rarity listened as closely as she could, relying on the tune and body language to discern the meaning.

She, a careful query.

He, a duck of the head and a bashful reply.

She, a faint smile and a teasing trill.

He, an embarrassed flutter and quick agreement.

She, a pregnant pause... and then a slow nod, and a confident chirp.

Peewee’s head jerked up and he stared at Philomena, wide-eyed. He inched toward her tentatively, as if expecting to wake up at any moment... and finally they cuddled against each other, necks curling and heads nestling together.

Rarity bit her lip to suppress the squeal of joy that threatened to escape. She brought her gaze to Spike, seeing her joy and excitement mirrored in his eyes, and gestured for him to join her in leaving the two lovebirds alone. He nodded eagerly, scooping up the record player and dashing across the plaza to join her.

Once they left the fountain behind, Rarity could finally let her breath out. “It worked! Oh, that was the most romantic thing I believe I’ve ever witnessed!”

“I know, that was great!” Spike grinned as wide as can be. “We really did it, Rarity! We really helped him win her over!”

Rarity smiled faintly, glancing up at the starry sky. “Now, don’t go getting too confident, darling,” she said after a moment’s thought. “There’s no guarantee it will work out long-term. She’s only agreed to give him a chance.”

When she looked over at Spike next, she found him watching her. “Yeah, but there’s no guarantee of anything, right? You just gotta try. At least... he’ll never have to say he didn’t.”

The intensity in his eyes sent a shiver through her, and she found herself staring down at her hooves without quite knowing why.* Words popped into her head, and she voiced them without thinking. “That song really was lovely, Spike. You and Peewee did an excellent job.”

“Hey, you were the one who found the perfect music for it! I wouldn’t have been able to just come up with a tune from scratch.”

“Yes, but it was what you wrote that made the difference.” Rarity hummed a measure of the tune to herself. “I only wish I could have understood it the way Philomena did.”

“Actually...” Much to her surprise, Spike stopped walking, pausing right in the middle of the empty street. He set the record player back down again. “Do you want to?”

Rarity blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

Spike lowered his head slightly, cheeks turning red. “I mean... We didn’t write that song just for Philomena.”

He sat down next to the record player, sliding the needle back to the beginning of the song. As the orchestral music rose, Spike closed his eyes for an instant. And then he opened them and met Rarity’s gaze as he began to sing.

“The fire in your soul burns bright

And sears an image on my heart

Your outer beauty pales before

The beauty deep inside...”

Rarity’s breath left her completely. He was serenading her. Spike was singing her a song of love and adoration, obviously nervous but still keeping his voice firm and strong.

They’d worked together so closely over the past few days, setting aside all other concerns as their ever-more-complex matchmaking schemes crashed and burned one after another. He’d begun to act distant, and she’d begun to think he no longer felt anything for her. The thought had created an odd pit of emptiness in her stomach that she’d tried desperately to ignore.

But the love in his eyes and the emotion in his voice left no doubt that she’d been wrong. And this couldn’t be an old childhood crush, or a shallow attraction—this was love, deep and true, and if she thought she’d felt joy and excitement five minutes ago, that was nothing compared to what she felt now.

As the song wound down once more, Spike cleared his throat, finally breaking off eye contact to stare at his claws. “I, uh, we only managed to get it to rhyme in phoenix, not in Equestrian, but... well... What do you think?”

Slowly, a bit unsteadily, Rarity stepped toward him. “I think... I’ve never heard anything so beautiful before.”

He flashed her a grin. “Oh, I know that’s a lie. You’ve heard your own voice before, haven’t you?”

“Oh, you shameless flatterer!” she giggled, giddy with happiness.

“Hey, I’m only getting started.” He blushed again, smiling shyly at her. “If... you’ll let me?”

“Only on one condition...” She reached out for him, and he met her halfway. “That you allow me to do the same for you.”

For the second time that evening, two figures intertwined in the moonlight.

Author's Note:

Oh god, I didn’t even come close to finishing this in a half hour. It was more like an hour and a quarter, all told. But I’m very happy with it. The idea came from a commenter on a pony image board, who pointed out that Peewee crushing on Philomena would be a fun parallel to Spike’s crush on Rarity. I had intended to make a longer one-shot out of the idea, but when this prompt came up, I couldn’t resist.

The mod who posted this wondered how Spike knew phoenix language when Rarity didn’t. Well, that was a writing fumble on my part. My intention was that Spike didn’t know it either; he just wrote the words in Equestrian, with Peewee’s assistance, and then Peewee did the work of translating it into phoenix song. But looking back at what I wrote, it sure seems like Spike is fluent. Maybe he’s been studying the language in between Peewee’s visits.

Comments

[Path_of_cloud]

Peewee and Philomena, brilliant! Truly the perfect lover combo. Excellent work, fantastic angel, happy endings for all!

[Knightmare Neko]

Haven't read this yet, but I don't have to for this comment
This story has had 5 updates this month
Greenfire has had 0
Fix this please.

[Dreamer of Dragons]

Spike grew up in the castle with Philomena, who he probably spent a lot of time with while Twilight was in lessons with Celestia. Would make sense for him to have picked up the language over time. Which he then used and or taught to peewee. Might also explain his apparent confusion when talking to twilight's owl (forgot his name) since he probably thought he already knew the language of the birds.