Chapter 4: Interpolation
“Many things - such as loving, going to sleep, or behaving unaffectedly - are done worst when we try hardest to do them.”
Angel stood there.
“Please stop looking at me like that.”
The bunny’s ear flopped down.
“I know, I know.”
He selected a carrot and nibbled off the tip.
“Ok, you win, I will go see him. But it is awfully dark out. Maybe I should…”
Another bite.
“Are you sure you will be ok? Alone here? I mean, I won’t be gone long.”
He looked down at the pile of carrots spilling out of his bowl.
“Alright then. Don’t stay up late and don’t eat too fast; you will get an upset tummy. I will be back soon.”
Angel finished his carrot, watched her leave, and selected another.
The climb up the stairs to her room was longer than Twilight remembered. Each step took more effort than she remembered. Her hooves felt heavier than she remembered.
A glance at the gravity meter confirmed that the planet had not gained appreciable mass since yesterday, and according to the scale, she had lost weight since starting her sandwich and tea diet. So there was no reason for her to experience a larger force due to gravity.
The gravitational constant must have changed, she thought to herself with a huge yawn. In the morning I will find a spell to put it right. Another huge yawn. That could cause major problems if left... She never finished the thought as opening the door required all her mental prowess.
Finally, after a heroic defense, the door surrendered and graciously allowed her into her room.
“Fluttershy, what brings ya out this late?” As Big Mac said this, he stepped aside and beckoned the yellow pegasus inside.”
“Angel told me I should come see you.”
Big Mac accepted this without comment, instead ushering her into the kitchen.
“Sorry to be such a bother, did I wake you?” She took her usual seat at the table and gave her usual apology.
“No matter, Ah was jus’ readin’ this book from Twilight.” He gestured to the couch where a candle sat burning next to a copy of Greatness Feels Good: An Analysis of Narcissism.
“Oh, is it any good?” The pony on the cover stood staring into a mirror, transfixed by his own reflection. Fluttershy shuddered; for a second, she thought it had looked at her.
In way of answering, Big Mac passed the book to her. She took it and read the back cover. It didn’t strike her as particularly interesting, but what did was the corner of a photograph that was being used as a bookmark. A quick flip and she was ready to open to the marked page.
“Tea’s ready,” Big Mac said as he deftly traded a cup and saucer for the book.
“Why thank you,” she took the tea for which she had not asked. She never had to ask for tea. He always seemed to know exactly what blend suited her mood. Tonight he had selected a mild yellow tea and added a touch of honey.
The room was exactly how Twilight had left it, except that somepony had made the bed and restocked the candles. One ignited and floated along with her, suspended in a lavender field.
“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” she read from the inscription set around the candleholder, and frowned, but didn’t know why. She was the one who had put the inscription there, and remembered its meaning something, but precisely what, she didn’t know.
She was saved having to ponder such an existential riddle by the sight of the blankets. Her hoof could barely squeeze under the tightly stretched cloth. Centimeter by centimeter, she wiggled into the shelter. She felt safe here. The tight cocoon was almost the tender embrace of a loved one.
She looked up and felt a pang of sadness. She didn’t know it, but she was looking for her mother and father standing over her, tucking her tightly into bed. The memory was too old, too faded.
Big Mac assumed his normal place at the table across from Fluttershy and waited. She took a sip of the tea.
“I hope I didn’t wake anypony up; I know you all have to be up so early.”
“No, no, this family couldna be roused by a pack of stampedin’ buffalo. The snorin’s so bad Ah couldna git a wink if Ah wanted ta.” Big Mac covered his lie with the utmost ease and a gentle snort. The real reason he was still awake had nothing to do with Applejack’s impersonation of a chainsaw, and everything to do with a certain unicorn.
“Oh, good.”
He watched her take another sip of tea. It was probably too hot for her, but she made no comment. His expression was one of total neutrality, not even a hint of curiosity at her showing up at his door at one in the morning. Some nights, they would sit there for hours without either saying a word. Finally, the call of the rooster would dispel the moment, Big Mac would take her saucer, and she would depart in silence. Tonight would not be such a night. He could tell.
With a mighty effort, Twilight wrenched loose the covers from the left side of the bed, then with another jerk broke loose the opposite side. The bottom quivered, still pressed in place by the mattress. A swift jerk relegated the material to its rightful position. So prepared, she rolled back and forth until she was completely encased in the folds.
Her head found the pillow, and its cool smoothness promised a swift flight to the land of oblivion. Once more she looked up and saw the candle floating there, a silent nimbus of light. She pantomimed blowing it out and her magic extinguished it. Before the darkness could rush in, she had her eyes clamped shut.
Guiding the candle ever so slowly, she brought it to rest on the bedside table. A little more to the left, a nudge more, morrree, and there. The telekinetic force abruptly cut off, depositing the candle almost in the exact center of a painted target. In the morning, that would normally be a source of pride.
Mentally she relaxed each muscle. Her withers unknotted themselves as her eyes went slowly from tightly clenched to merely shut. “Breathe, in and out. That’s right, in and out.” Fluttershy’s voice was there, soothing her. She could almost feel her friend there stroking her mane and quietly intoning, “In and out.”
Slowly she began to retreat from the waking world, at last detaching herself from the mortal plane…
After an indeterminate amount of time Fluttershy spoke up, “Mac, I need some advice.”
The red stallion looked on passively.
“It’s about, well you know, Twilight.”
“Do ya love her?”
The pegasus blushed and took a sip of her beverage, now long cold. The tea seemed to fortify her and she responded, “Yes, I do, with all my heart, more than anything else.”
“Then ya should tell her.” His response was so quick and definitive that it gave her pause.
“Just like that? What if she doesn’t…”
“Ah can’t promise she will feel th’ same way. But wut Ah can promise is that ya won’ know until ya tell her.”
Without her noticing, he had refilled her cup. She took a sip and pondered his words. It was a long time before she spoke again.
“What if she isn’t into fillies? What if she thinks I am some sort of freak? What if this ruins our friendship? What if she hates me because of this? Or says she never wants to see me again?”
“Then ya will know. But ain’t that better’n sittin’ here wonderin’? Besides, I don’ think Miss Twilight would say anythin’ like that.”
She looked on dubiously.
“Shy, remember when ya were all worried ‘bout Miss Dash? Worried she would hate you because ya couldna fly fast? What did Ah tell ya then?”
“You told me to talk to her and if she didn’t like me then it was her loss. But Mac, this is so much different.”
“Ah ain’t finished. Remember when ya wanted to go ta Miss Pie’s party? But were too afraid about dancing? What did Ah tell ya then?”
“You told me to try, but this is completely…”
“Who said ya would be good as a bear chiropractor?”
Fluttershy mumbled out, “You did.”
“Even when th’ instructor told ya wouldna make it past th’ first day. Who said ya would be th’ best?”
“You did”
“And Ah was right, weren’t Ah?”
“Maybe, I wouldn’t say the best…”
…Drifting slowly into the world of nod, Twilight let out a small sigh. But, unbidden and unwelcome, a voice rose up. It was calm and reasonable, but carried a self-assured timbre. “What is Spike hiding?”
Whereas she had been previously floating away, she now fell back into her body, feeling the mortal aches rush back. Her eyes screwed up tight trying to fight back to the lost world, but this only made the large quantity of sand in them cut deeper. Her flanks throbbed, reporting their displeasure with sitting in that chair all day, again. Her head pounded and she could feel a pulse at her temples. Every cell reported in. All fully awake, and each screaming its status. The voice retreated, waiting patiently for its prey to tire itself out.
She rolled over and willed herself back to sleep. “Throb, throb…” went her flanks, entirely unconcerned about her demands. She rolled over again and withdrew a hoof from its chrysalis to beat the pillow into a more comfortable position. “Go to sleep!”
“Throb, throb, throb, throb…”
She flipped the pillow and again felt the soothing iciness. But now the blankets were twisted. With a grunt, she righted them, and then beat the pillow some more with her head.
“Throb, throb, throb, throb…”
They sat there in silence, Fluttershy contemplating Big Mac’s words.
“Just like that? Just tell her?”
“Eeyup. Just like that”
“Just come out and tell her, ‘Twilight I am madly in love with you!’ That doesn’t seem a bit over the top?”
“Ah wouldna use th’ word ‘madly,’ but yup.”
Twilight’s tongue joined her traitorous body parts in announcing that it was parched to a level never before seen. According to current scouting reports, all the moisture in her body was currently located in her bladder.
The voice saw its chance and struck again. “He is acting weird, like he always does when he has a huge secret. What could it be this time?”
“Throb, throb, throb, throb…”
Twilight lay there, knowing the battle had been lost, but determined not to give up without a fight.
After an indeterminate period of time, the losses became unsustainable. Her bladder and tongue finally accepted the terms of her surrender, and the candle flicked back into life, rising from its spot. The battle may be lost, but what her body did not know was that she was prepared this time. She climbed out of the battle strewn wasteland that was her bed, and tended to the needs of the victors.
When she returned, feeling much better, she carried a glass of water. Her tongue was confused, and asked her stomach, “You aren’t telling her she’s still thirsty are you?”
“No, are you?”
“No, then why does she have that glass?”
“Maybe for when we tell her she’s thirsty in the middle of the night.”
“Clever, clever filly. I always knew she was clever.”
But what neither her tongue, nor her stomach, nor even her bladder knew was that Twilight was far more clever than they realized. “Not tonight,” she spoke aloud with a savage grin, “Tonight I do what I should have done in the first place,” she announced.
A hush fell broken only by, “Throb, throb, throb, throb…”
Fluttershy sat staring at the centerpiece, bringing the tea to her lips every so often. Big Mac rose from his seat and moved to kneel beside her. He turned her muzzle to face his. She made no effort to stop him and he looked intently into her bloodshot eyes.
“How long ‘ave we been friends? And how often ‘ave Ah given ya bad advice?”
“There was that one time with the viper scale tonic, and then the time with the dragon breath freshener herb…”
“In mah defense, the viper’s scales never looked better and th’ dragon’s breath was minty fresh.”
She gave a laugh, and the emotional barrier broke. “Oh Mac, I’m afraid.” she was crying now, the entire evening’s emotions released in a torrent.
“Have a little faith, have a little faith,” he said as he took her head and held it against him.
She cried on his shoulder and he stroked her mane. Slowly, the sun’s rays spread into the kitchen, and he heard motion from the upstairs rooms.
“Can ya do that? Can ya have some faith?”
He got no reply, save a gentle snore.
From the desk, Twilight withdrew a white stoppered bottle and proceeded to read the extensive label carefully. With great solemnity two white ovals ascended from the bottle. She read the label one more time, resealed the foal-proof cap, and returned the bottle.
“She isn’t? Is she?”
“She wouldn’t! They scare her! Remember when she tried that sleep spell?! She wouldn’t!”
She did.
This time the candle came to rest a considerable distance from its target before being quenched. Contently, Twilight once more flipped her pillow, knowing that the pills didn’t take effect quite this fast, and the calm she felt was merely a placebo effect. But that didn’t change the fact she was calm. Her fear was gone, a casualty of the war. Her eyes stood defiantly open, waiting for the chemical bliss.
With the new found calm, she turned to the voice’s question. Now that her mind was no longer clouded with desperation, the question seemed important. “Why was Spike acting so funny?” She couldn’t remember when he started but it was around the time she had just started the Fluttershy tests. “Yes,” her mind cast itself back, “There was that one morning when Spike went missing for a couple of hours. He didn’t go see Rarity like I thought, because Rarity was gone, where?” Her muzzle screwed up, pondering. “That was only two weeks ago; why can’t I remember?” For a couple of minutes, she floated there wondering, gently rolling the query around.
“Oh yes, she went out for that… fashion… thing.” Twilight told herself that she didn’t remember the name because it was fashion, something that made no sense. She liked Rarity, but no matter how many times she explained it, Twilight still couldn’t understand why an astronomically correct cape was not “in.”
“Sure, it needs to be large and round, but that just means everypony can see it and recognize all the constellations. Surely accuracy counted in the fashion world. But apparently not. What was I just thinking about? Something to do with Rarity. No, wait, something to do with Spike.” She felt slow, but that was only to be expected after all she had… Done what? It wasn’t important.
“So if Spike didn’t go see Rarity, what did he go do?” the voice prompted, knowing that this time it had been defeated by the chemical cocktail, but not wanting to cede the campaign.
“Ah yes...” But her synapses refused to cooperate. Tank could have given them lessons on breakneck speed. “He obviously…” A fog seemed to be filling her mind, gently brushing pesky thoughts out. “…” Her fear rose up, screaming that her mind was under attack. This was her greatest fear: losing her mind, being reduced to a simpering vegetable. She couldn’t think clearly! Her memories were not responding! The fog was prepared, and had already isolated the fear, preventing its warning cry from being heard. Then the fog slowly moved in…
“Speaking of those undisturbed by rampaging buffalo,” Big Mac thought as he carried the unconscious Fluttershy upstairs into the spare bedroom. It was made up just for this situation and many a night had Fluttershy spent in it. He laid her down on the mattress and got out her favorite flower-patterned quilt. The dresser drawer squeaked, and he cursed.
“Ah need ta fix that,” he reminded himself for the fourth or fifth time. He draped the blanket over her and tucked her in, pausing to brush her mane out of her eyes. Then he blew out the candle and drew down the curtains, before retreating downstairs.
“If Ah move right quick, Ah can check on her animals and be back before the sun’s really up.” He grabbed a hoofful of oats, scolding Applebloom for being noisy when they had guests, and was out the door.
A certain photograph was tucked into his saddlebags.
“If only it really was that easy. Just tell her ya love her. Ah don’t even know where she is. And she probably doesn’t even know me.”
Angel stood waiting for him when he opened the door.
“Now don’t ya give me that look.”
Author’s note: Comments, criticisms, questions are all welcome. I am trying to improve as a writer, so don’t hold back.
Version 3.0.