//------------------------------// // The Aftermath // Story: Grief is the Price We Pay // by Scyphi //------------------------------// Though Spike tried to not to let himself be, he found himself in a mildly sour mood for most of the afternoon after his chat with Fluttershy upstairs. It wasn’t so much because of the mellow pegasus herself—Spike fully recognized she was only trying to help—it was more just that he had let himself dwell on thoughts, memories, and feelings he had lately been in the habit of trying to keep buried…for good reason. As a result, he was now left feeling angry, upset, and betrayed at almost everything that had brought him to where he was in life presently, and the knowledge that he knew it shouldn’t have been this way. That very thought left him very conflicted, to the point that it felt like it might tear him apart. The conversation with Fluttershy had also made him realize that his last sight of Twilight, standing there in the snow beside Shining Armor averting her gaze, had become the ultimate memory of Twilight’s betrayal to him. And it stung. Replaying it continuously in his mind, the little dragon still found himself unable to comprehend that such an unthought-of event had actually taken place. But it had. The fact he was here now proved it. A small part of him longed for peace and closure, but the more predominating pessimist that had been growing within him lately stressed that it couldn’t happen. Not now. The damage was done, and it wasn’t going away. So, when he noticed the dark attitude he was accidentally displaying outwardly made a customer he was helping leery of him, he worked to restore the balance with his usual tactic; entomb it deep within himself and ignore it, at least until a more convenient opportunity arose…which it usually didn’t. As the evening started to roll along though, Spike started to feel calmed down and closer to what had become his usual state of mind. Otherwise his shift continued onwards fairly normally. Fly Leaf still didn’t seem to have any clue Fluttershy was present in the building, helped by the fact that she had largely kept to the shop in the lower floors since returning from her luncheon. Spike hoped to keep it up, and knowing Fluttershy was habitually a quiet mare, this seemed simple enough. Yet he knew the longer time passed, the more they were likely to press their luck. For the moment though, Fly’s bigger concern still seemed to be Thorax and his health. She had asked again for an update on his condition with Spike returned from his break and Spike took comfort in the fact that he could report that Thorax was continuing to show signs of improvement. Yet this time, this didn’t seem to comfort Fly much, who revealed she found Thorax’s sudden improvements in health coming along in time for the deadline she had laid down this morning somewhat…convenient. “Spike, forgive me for this, but I have to ask,” she said quietly and personally as she pulled the dragon to one side to talk. “Thornton is actually improving like you say, and you’re not just telling me what I want to hear…are you?” Spike was genuinely shocked by the suggestion. “Why in the world would I lie about that, Fly?” he asked. “I care about Thornton’s well-being too much to do something stupid like that.” Fly sighed but grinned slightly. “I’m sorry, I don’t like implying otherwise,” she explained. “But…let’s not forget that until just this morning…you weren’t being truthful about the actual state of his condition either.” Spike winced and saw her point, hanging his head. “I guess you would have reason to suspect me as the colt who cried wolf,” he admitted glumly, dismayed in himself that he had harmed Fly’s trust in him that much. He looked back up at Fly Leaf, giving her as genuine and truthful an expression he could manage. “But I promise you…I’m not trying to mislead you. Not now. And anyway…Thornton was starting to reach a point that, if he hadn’t started to improve today…I probably wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to keep hiding the truth from you for fear for his well-being anyway.” Fly gazed at him seriously for a long moment. Spike was beginning to suspect she would insist he prove it and had was wondering if the charade he and Thorax had been playing with her would end today after all, but then Fly’s gaze softened and she smiled. “All right then,” she said with a nod. “I just wish I knew why either of you wanted to hide this in the first place…I fear you nearly brought serious harm down on poor Thornton doing this that didn’t need to happen.” Spike sheepishly played with his claws for a moment. “…pride,” he finally admitted simply, knowing there was more truth in that than he’d care to admit. Fly snorted lightly and shook her head, but all in goodwill. “Like I said before,” she said, patting Spike on the head as she turned to get back to work. “You and Thornton can trust me more than you let yourselves sometimes.” This did leave Spike thinking about just how much deceiving he and Thornton had been doing to the unknowing Fly Leaf, and he felt bad for just how much they had been lying to her since the beginning…especially after how they had become not just her employees but friends as well. He knew, deep down, she really shouldn’t have any reason to trust them at all…which made him wonder why, after this instance, Fly was putting so much faith in him on the matter. Scarily, he realized she really only had his word that Thorax was even still alive at this point considering how little she had seen of her second employee since he fell ill, and already had cause to doubt Spike’s truthfulness as their conversation had just proved. Why hadn’t she called him out and had taken matters into her own hooves? Why hadn’t she gone over Spike and checked on Thorax herself? Why still give them both such a benefit of the doubt, especially considering Thorax’s health was potentially on the line? Ultimately, Spike had no answer to these questions, and eventually decided puzzling over it wasn’t going to help anyway. As his friend, Ember the dragon lord, had told them once; “never look a gift horse in the mouth.” Which had led to a lengthy conversation on just why dragons had a saying such as that…but the intended meaning of the saying was what mattered here. Regardless, the day pressed on, and eventually the business day drew to a close much the same way it had begun, rather slowly and with less business than would be considered normal for a Monday. By the time to close up, there had been so few customers in the shop for the past couple of hours that Spike was able to carry out the usual closing-up tasks he performed every night beforehand, and thus when Fly finally did lock up, he already had all of these tasks largely completed. Thus granted more spare time before dinner than usual, and Fly retreating in back to empty the till from the register and some final accounting work for the night before starting on dinner, Spike chose to make use of this time to head back upstairs and check on Fluttershy and Thorax. He found the two in largely the same positions as when he had left, with Fluttershy sitting to one side and keeping herself occupied with her textbooks while Thorax kept sleeping in his nest of blankets. However Spike did note that Thorax had clearly changed positions in his sleep since Spike last saw him, which heartened him as it suggested Thorax had gotten more energy to move around a bit more. Also he noted when he entered that Fluttershy glanced at him with a look of barely concealed apprehension and realized his earlier outburst was still as fresh in her mind as it was his. Spike sighed at this, but opted first to direct his attention to Thorax, stepping closer to look his friend over. “How’s he doing?” he asked. “Um, still improving,” Fluttershy reported calmly. “His fever’s broken completely now. I’m, uh, thinking that if we can keep him medicated until he’s recovered fully, we should be able to keep it from coming back and for him to get in such a…well…state like he was before.” Spike noticed that the ominous swelling and inflammation around Thorax’s horn had also been fading, and both developments heartened him and made him increasingly confident Thorax would pull out of this just fine after all. “Has he woken up anytime while I was gone?” he asked. Fluttershy shook her head. “No, but he has stirred a couple of times, so he might wake soon.” She shrugged. “It depends on how much sleep his body feels it needs still.” “And he has thrown up anytime while you’ve been up here?” Spike asked, noticing there didn’t seem to be any sign of that having taken place recently. Again Fluttershy shook her head. “No, he’s kept down everything I’ve given him thus far.” “Good,” Spike said, letting out a relieved sigh as he sat himself on the floor beside the sleeping nest. “That means he should be able to keep a meal down when he decides he wants one.” Fluttershy fidgeted uncomfortably at this. “…do you know when he might want to do that?” she asked hesitantly. Spike shrugged. “When he feels he’s hungry, I suppose. Hopefully he’ll wake up long enough here soon that I can urge him to try eating something before going back to sleep.” He turned to Fluttershy. “In the meantime…we should try and promote a positive emotive atmosphere around him…maybe the smell will spark his appetite.” Fluttershy blinked. “…smell?” she repeated. “Yeah, Thorax can smell emotions.” Fluttershy’s brow wrinkled, puzzled, as she looked at Thorax, then back at Spike. “Really?” Spike laughed at Fluttershy’s reaction. “That was pretty much how I reacted when I first learned that myself.” Fluttershy allowed herself a small amused grin in response, but it quickly faded away again and she averted her gaze uncomfortably. A moment of awkward silence fell between the two before Fluttershy finally spoke again. “Look, Spike…I’m sorry if I upset you earlier…” “No, no, if anything I should apologize for snapping at you like that,” Spike admitted, waving the matter aside. “Despite having little reason to trust me with everything Twilight and the others have told you, you still came to help without question, and I truly can’t tell you how much that means to me, really.” He sighed and curled his knees up against himself, wrapping his tail about his feet to form a ball. “Sometimes it’s just…hard.” Fluttershy gazed about the room for a moment. “Well…” she began, “…it seems to me you and Thorax have been managing…it seems cozy enough in here.” Spike gazed about the room he and Thorax had been living in and saw her point. It had begun to look homey and well-lived in. Everything from the once bare bookshelves on the right of the room had been gradually been getting filled up with atlases, books, papers and other knick-knacks, the desk beside them littered with papers with a corkboard plastered with notes hanging above it, to Thorax’s record player standing between the bathroom door and the wardrobe with the neat stack of records sitting beside it gave the room a friendly and comfortable feel. Spike grinned. “We could certainly be doing worse,” he agreed. He uncurled himself a bit. “I guess we have been letting ourselves get settled in here…we hadn’t originally planned to stay in Vanhoover long, but after a while, it just…” he trailed off, unsure how to describe it. “Became home?” Fluttershy offered. Spike nodded. “It felt nice to be able to live something like a normal life again,” he said. Then his grin faded slightly. “…even though at times that feeling can only go so deep.” Fluttershy kept gazing about the room too, thinking. “I really never thought I’d find you here in a place like this,” she admitted softly. “When you didn’t immediately turn up again, we all started to think you had long been taken to the changeling hive as a prisoner…if not worse.” She winced. “We couldn’t even be sure you were still alive.” She averted her gaze again. “Except Twilight…she seems convinced still you and the changeli—Thorax—are still somewhere in Equestria.” She made a faint and sad grin. “I guess she’s right.” Spike gazed at Fluttershy for a long moment then turned to face her. “How did you and the others all find out what had happened?” he asked finally, quietly. Fluttershy sighed. “Well, obviously because we were still in Ponyville, we didn’t have any idea until we got a letter from Twilight.” She closed her eyes. “It…was very vague and rather jumbled…I think Twilight wrote it while still fresh from…your banishment…and was too emotional to…to write clearly. All it really said was to announce you were to be considered banished on criminal charges and that due to this event, she and Starlight would be staying in the Crystal Empire at least an extra day. Perhaps realizing this was only going to raise more questions, there was a note at the end from Starlight that promised everything would be explained when they got back.” Fluttershy shook her head. “But until then, we were all shocked and confused…we didn’t even know there had been a changeling involved in all of this, and couldn’t understand how this could have happened, how you of all dragons could be banished…for anything. Pinkie and Rainbow even went as far to decide this was all just some kind of elaborate, not-funny prank you, Twilight, and Starlight had devised. Oh, I wish they were right.” She gazed sadly into the distance, remembering. “The moment we saw Twilight’s face when she did return…we all realized it was absolutely true.” An uncomfortable silence fell for a moment. “What did she tell you?” Spike prompted finally, realizing he needed to know. “A lot of what you told me,” Fluttershy admitted. “Just…from her point of view. She gathered us all into the castle and explained you had crossed paths with a changeling that had been, um, bothering the empire and had been convinced by it that it wasn’t actually the enemy Twilight thought it to be. She spoke how you had then been led to cause trouble yourself…largely by trying to break the changeling out of prison. When they couldn’t convince you to, well, stop, it was agreed to banish the changeling instead, thinking that it would be best to be, um, rid of him before he could cause more trouble and then refocus on you again…but uh…” “…I decided to follow Thorax into banishment too,” Spike filled in tonelessly. Fluttershy nodded, and looked apologetic. “Yes,” she said. “Except Twilight…wasn’t so…calm about it.” “I’d imagine not.” “Um…anyway…Twilight then explained that, because of that, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance had agreed it would be best to enforce the banishment on you as well until things were a bit more figured out, fearing the changelings would decide to use you as a, um, pawn in their plans, and…” Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably, noticing Spike was gradually growing annoyed. “I’m sorry Spike…I’m just repeating what Twilight told us.” “It's not you I’m mad at, Fluttershy,” Spike explained, and motioned for her to continue. “Well…anyway…” Fluttershy continued uncertainly. “…Twilight then announced that they had tried to search for you by first light the next day…” “By first light?” Spike repeated, surprised as he straightened. He and Thorax wouldn’t escape the Crystal Empire until that afternoon. He realized they had possibly been closer to getting caught than he thought. “Really? That soon?” “Well, I heard from Starlight later they had wanted to begin searching that same evening after you were banished,” Fluttershy explained, missing the significance of why Spike was surprised. “But it was already starting to get dark and the frozen wastes aren’t safe to travel at night, and Shining Armor thought it would be better to give…um…to try and give the changeling a false sense of security and a chance to lower its guard first. But as soon as the sun rose in the morning, I was told guards had been sent out to begin sweeping the area around the Crystal Empire…I think they went as far out as a couple miles even.” Spike thought for a moment, wondering how he and Thorax had managed to escape the search parties without even realizing they were already out there. “They must have started sweeping the area to the south of the empire,” he reasoned aloud to himself. “I guess that makes sense, because they probably figured we’d try to head for Equestria and not further north…but until we got on that train, we had been hiding more to the northwest if I remember the position of that cave correctly…” he glanced up at Fluttershy and realized she wasn’t following along. “Sorry, I’m just realizing me and Thorax cut it closer than we thought.” “Oh,” Fluttershy said, though she didn’t seem reassured. “Okay. Well, um…at any rate, when you didn’t turn up and they realized you had managed to get…I think it was a train pass…and got on a train and escaped the area, Twilight made plans to begin and try and follow you to…wherever it was you were going, and stage a rescue. She had already been given permission from Princess Celestia, who knew what was happening by this point, to proceed with her support and any resources they needed, and coordinated with Shining Armor and the crystal guard who Twilight said were going to do the searching at her request to begin. We thought you were trying to go northeast at the time, and Twilight had taken charge of searching any potential stopping places along the train tracks in that direction. She then announced she was suspending her other projects so to focus on this, and asked for our cooperation where we could give it…which we all did…though…we still had plenty of questions…it all seemed so…sudden and unexpected.” “Didn’t Twilight explain her reasons?” Spike asked darkly, surprised Twilight would let her arguments for her actions be so flimsy. “No,” Fluttershy answered. “…but Starlight Glimmer did.” Spike, surprised again, refocused his attention on Fluttershy. “Starlight?” Fluttershy nodded. “Twilight…Twilight was still pretty shaken up by everything, so there was a lot of details she didn’t want to talk about. It left some things a little…confusing, so after she had finished speaking with us and left to get to work, Starlight, seeing we still had questions, privately pulled us aside and tried to fill in the blanks.” She swallowed heavily. “So, uh, it turns out…things hadn’t been going so well in the Crystal Empire when they left. See…according to Starlight…when you left with, um, Thorax here, Shining worried that if they tried to fight you on this, it’d only make them seem like more of an enemy to you, and Twilight, not wanting to make all this worse, agreed, so they let you go…but they also didn’t think you’d be gone long. Like I, uh, said before, they all thought you were bluffing, and that you’d quickly realize, um…” she paused for a moment. “…that you’d realize what you were putting yourself into and come back on your own…that same day they were thinking. When you didn’t, and it started to get dark, Twilight panicked and wanted to go searching for you…but Shining wouldn’t let her due to the dangers of trying to navigate out in the frozen wastes at dark and made her wait until morning, promising they’d get you back then. But…as you know…that didn’t happen. And when they realized you had instead escaped with the changeling on the train, um…” Fluttershy trailed off. Spike leaned forward slightly. “Fluttershy?” he prompted. “…Shining and Twilight had a fight,” the yellow pegasus suddenly blurted out. “They disagreed about how they had handled you leaving and who was right and who was wrong and…” She fidgeted uncomfortably. “…Starlight didn’t really go into too much detail, but uh…it sounded to me some…hurtful things…might have been said.” She averted her gaze, ashamed for revealing something so personal without the knowing of the ponies in question. Spike blinked to himself, and scowled at himself for the pained tug in his heart this brought about. He didn’t particularly want to be sympathizing with either Shining or Twilight right now. “I think that’s why the crystal guard became the ones to lead the search for you and so few of the other royal guards have gotten involved,” Fluttershy continued. “…I think it’s Shining’s way of trying to make it up to Twilight.” Spike’s frown deepened. “I’m guessing then that Twilight was the one who probably said the…hurtful things.” Fluttershy kept her gaze averted, fidgeting with the end of her long pink mane. “She’s really been…shaken up by all of this. She’s…not been herself, Spike.” Spike bitterly folded his arms. “I sort of got that impression, Fluttershy,” he stated bluntly. Fluttershy bit her lip and stayed silent for a moment. “It feels like everything’s been falling apart back in Ponyville, Spike,” she said. “I mean…we all mourned in our own ways of course…Rarity was practically inconsolable for days for example…” Spike couldn’t help but wince at this. “…but eventually we all tried to get back into the normal routine…we had to. Life needed to move on. But…we don’t talk about it, but…it feels like a…um…ah…it all feels like we’re…” she stopped, struggling to find the right word. “…we’re only fooling ourselves, I suppose.” She bit her lip. “Twilight’s engrossed herself in finding you…she rarely does anything else anymore…and we all sort of learned there wasn’t much point trying to…to socialize with her right now. She’s…really only interested in finding you right now.” Fluttershy sighed. “She thought she found a lead when she found evidence you had purchased a meal on the train you had been riding, and that was the first time we had evidence you had actually gone south instead of east, and she calculated all the places you could’ve stopped at and had Shining and the crystal guard search for any sign of you or the changeling in all of these places…and then some, to play it safe…or so Twilight claimed.” Fluttershy paused, a thought coming to her. “In fact…now that I think about it…I thought they had spent a good amount of time searching here in Vanhoover too…” “They did,” Spike assured, remembering the crystal guards that had come to Vanhoover searching for him and Thorax. Fluttershy looked at him, surprised. “And they didn’t find you?” Spike shook his head simply. “Managed to keep low and slip by unnoticed…frankly, I’m a little surprised we managed to do it, but don’t tell Thorax that.” Fluttershy blinked, but opted not to inquire further. “Well…whatever the case…” she continued. “When they weren’t able to find you at any of those places…we began to assume the worst. Even Princess Celestia…I mean of course she still hopes you could be recovered safely, and will listen to anything that suggests you might…but I think even she has reluctantly conceded by now that…it was too late.” Spike got curious despite himself. “What about Princess Luna?” he asked, noting the night princess had been largely absent in Fluttershy’s tale. The mare frowned. “Well…I’m not sure, honestly…Princess Luna hasn’t…um…been very upfront about where she stands on all this…but, uh, she also hasn’t done anything to object, oppose, or do anything to stand in the way, so…I can only assume she believes the same as everypony else…especially Celestia…so I think she’s probably also thinking that you’re…” Fluttershy winced and trailed off. “The point is that ponies are starting to think you’re…well…gone forever, Spike.” “But not Twilight,” Spike repeated, remembering Fluttershy mentioning that earlier. Fluttershy nodded. “When you didn’t turn up, that only seemed to make her more…determined.” She frowned, and Spike could tell Fluttershy had her misgivings about Twilight’s approach to the matter. He figured it had become of something of an obsession for Twilight…which would be typical of her. “She’s convinced that you’re still here in Equestria somewhere…just waiting for rescue.” “I don’t need rescuing,” Spike stressed. Fluttershy chose not to comment on that, and the fact she chose that didn’t escape Spike’s attention. Regardless, she continued on. “You’ve still been doing a good job hiding,” she pointed out. “It’s gotten to the point Twilight even tried turning to Discord for help, and you know how she feels about—” “Wait, Discord?” Spike repeated, suddenly feeling a flare of fear rise up within him. He had forgotten all about the draconequus and the possible danger he could present to him and Thorax. “Twilight asked Discord to help? Did he? What did he tell her?” Discord was by no means all-knowing of course, but Spike knew the spirit of chaos was somehow often the first to know about things as big as this, and knew that with his powers, it’d be easy for him to find out anything he didn’t know…including where Spike and Thorax were at. But Fluttershy shook her head. “No, Discord refused to help…no matter how much Twilight, um, pleaded.” Spike blinked, not expecting this. “Really?” He tilted his head, confused now. “But why would he refuse to help with something like this?” Always the one to cause trouble, despite being theoretically reformed, and always very smug when the ponies had to turn to him for help, he would’ve thought Discord would’ve jumped at the chance. Fluttershy could only shrug though. “I honestly don’t know. He won’t even tell me why…he just won’t. I guess maybe…he just wants to stay out of it.” Spike snorted then. “Smart draconequus,” he muttered. Fluttershy frowned. “Spike…I understand your…frustrations…” she began. “But…while I can’t say who’s…right or wrong in all of this exactly…the more I think about it…the more I think that…maybe…this is just a, uh, big misunderstanding and…” “A misunderstanding?” Spike repeated and wheeled onto the pegasus. “Fluttershy, if Twilight had her way, Thorax would be dead right now—abandoned, forgotten, and starved to death in the Frozen North, of that I am completely certain! Tell me how that’s a misunderstanding!” “Is this really about that though?” Fluttershy challenged suddenly, putting on a rare display of determination. “Or this is more about how you’ve taken offense to Twilight’s views and are simply trying to…rebel?” Spike’s eyes narrowed. “You tell me, Fluttershy.” He motioned to the sleeping Thorax. “If we were to go to Twilight right now and shout “here we are!” how do you think she’d respond?” His anger started to fade away, replaced with an almost heart-wrenching sadness the longer he gazed at the ill changeling. “Do you really think she’d be willing to take us both in now any more than she was willing to then? Can you guarantee me that she wouldn’t just yank me away from Thorax and then do everything in her power to drive Thorax away forever, if not just flat-out attack him?” Fluttershy gaze sadly at Spike for a long moment, not answering as her own bravado rapidly vanished too. Eventually she realized Spike’s point and averted her gaze when she recognized she really couldn’t promise that…she couldn’t even begin to promise that. “…she blames Thorax for all of this, for taking you away from her,” she admitted finally. “She…she almost certainly wouldn’t want anything to do with him…more now than before, if anything.” She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back her tears, hating that she had to admit that for a pony she saw as a friend. Spike, fortunately, sympathized, and stepped forward to sit himself before the pegasus, taking her yellow hoof in his claws. “I know what you’re trying to do, Fluttershy,” he said softly. “And I do appreciate it…but this isn’t about me or Twilight. This is about Thorax. You may not believe it still yourself…but I promise you, all he really wants is a better life than what he had been living before…and he thought he’d find it in Equestria. Instead, he’s gotten nothing but threats and poor treatment until he met me…in Equestria, Fluttershy…the land that’s supposed to be about friendship and acceptance, love and tolerance. I did all of this, because he deserves better Fluttershy. He has just as much right to all of that as any pony, but thus far I’m the only one willing to give it to him.” His gaze softened, and again Fluttershy could see past his disguise and see the sad and confused baby dragon behind it. “That’s the reason I did all of this…so I could not only stand for that, help him defend that…but also ensure he stayed safe from those that would do him harm, intentionally or otherwise…I will not permit him coming to harm…and I don’t intend to stop now.” Fluttershy grinned sadly, and pulled Spike into a hug. “Oh Spike…” she murmured as she did so. “You’re such a good little dragon…maybe better than us all…” Spike could only blink in surprise at this statement. Fluttershy went on. “But…everything this has put you through…and so young…” She pulled away a bit, gazing at him worriedly. “Is it even right to banish someone as young as you?” Spike’s anger flickered back in his eyes. “It depends on whether you count my age in pony years, or dragon years,” he stated flatly. “You’d have to ask Twilight about that.” Fluttershy’s grin turned into a worried frown, and she used her hoof to lift Spike’s chin. “I’m just not sure I like what it’s turning you into, Spike,” she concluded finally. Spike simply gazed at her for a long moment. “I guess that’s just the price I had to pay,” he conceded simply. Fluttershy was silent for a moment, averting her gaze, but eventually she brought it back on Spike, giving him a hopeful grin. “Look…despite all of that…I just want you to know that no matter what…you still have a friend in me…and I think I can vouch that for the other girls too…Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack…” she stopped short of including Twilight as well, but Spike opted not to comment on it, appreciating the kindness she was displaying more and decided he wanted to bask in it unsoiled for the moment. “…if worse comes to worse…if all this doesn’t…doesn’t work out…you can still count on us, at least.” Spike managed a small grin, touched by the gesture, even though he wasn’t certain it was really one he could guarantee on given his and Thorax’s predicament. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” he said softly. It was then that Thorax interrupted it all, the sleeping changeling suddenly snorting and stirring in his sleep. Spike whipped around to look at his friend in time to see the changeling’s tongue begin to flick at the air in his sleep. The motion was very familiar to Spike, and the sight alone heartened him considerably. Fluttershy was confused though. “…what’s he doing?” she asked softly. “He’s feeding,” Spike murmured in reply, grinning. He moved to stand by Thorax’s side, patting his friend as he watched the changeling continue to lap at the emotion in the air in sporadic bursts. “Finally, he’s feeding.” Fluttershy had gone almost still at this though. “He…he is?” she repeated with notable hesitation. Spike glanced back at her, realizing her concern. “Don’t worry,” he assured her softly. “It doesn’t hurt.” Fluttershy stared at him for a moment, looking uncertain. “But…” “Thorax feeds off me all the time,” Spike confessed, interrupting, “Often without me even realizing it. If anything, whatever emotions you’re feeling at a given moment just fade slightly…and he never takes more than he needs.” He grinned. “That was one of the first things Thorax promised me he would never do…be greedy and overfeed. And I believe him.” Fluttershy still seemed hesitant. “No offense Spike…but…how can you be so sure of that? I mean…even the best of us can give in to weakness if…if tempted.” Spike merely chuckled. “You don’t know him like I do, Fluttershy,” he said. “I wish you could take the time to do so though…but no, trust me. Thorax couldn’t hurt a fly.” His chuckle turned to a laugh. “One time, a spider got caught in the bathtub, and Thorax was absolutely terrified of it…but he refused to do what others would and just wash it down the drain, or harm it in any way. He wouldn’t go near the darn thing, but he still wanted to help it by insuring it got safely back outside where it belonged. So we had to get Fly Leaf up here to catch it in a cup, because I certainly wasn’t going near that spider either.” He grinned proudly on Thorax’s behalf. “If that isn’t a testament of his docile nature, I don’t know what is.” Fluttershy shared the grin briefly, but while she wasn’t quite so stiff about it, she still watched Thorax sporadically lap at the air warily, unable but to fear for the worst. Spike didn’t pressure her on it though…even he had needed time to adjust to the idea of being a source of food. As a result though, both fell silent for the next several minutes, opting not to speak further for now. And it was a good thing that they did, because it was during this moment of silence that Fly Leaf came knocking on the room’s door. “Spark?” she called through the door, unaware still Fluttershy was present. “If I can borrow you from Thornton for a moment, I need your help downstairs in the kitchen, please.” “Okay!” Spike called back, motioning for Fluttershy to keep quiet. “Just give me a second and I’ll meet you down there, Fly!” They waiting until they heard Fly walk back downstairs before turning to each other to speak. “I’ll be back,” Spike promised the mare as he turned for the door. “Just stay up here and keep being quiet. Now the shop’s closed and empty, sound is probably going to carry a bit better in this whole building.” He started to leave but then doubled back. “Oh, and I guess you’ve haven’t had much to eat yourself in a little bit, so I’ll see if I can slip some dinner up here for you too.” “Thank you Spike,” Fluttershy said with a nod, and watched as the dragon departed, before once again turning her attention to Thorax and was left to once again wonder upon the peculiar circumstances she found herself caught in the middle…and to better determine just where exactly she stood in the matter.