It is some minutes later, and Flick and Twilight are still entwined, approaching her front door looking very much like a happy couple to all they’ve passed.
Twilight's mood in such seems to waver between not noticing and being embarrassed when she does.
When he lets go, he turns to face her, a small frown on his face. “I guess you still haven’t decided, then?”
"I'm sorry, this is all so new to me! I feel like I haven't prepared enough!" She says in an explosion of words that have the feeling of being held back.
He simply hugs her, smoothing her frazzled mane out with a claw. “It’s fine. I know how overwhelming this can be.” He nuzzles her cheek. “We can take this as slow as you’d like, okay?”
"Okay..." she nods.
“For now,” he lets go and gestures to the door, “how about we get to reading and questions?”
She nods. "I’d like that."
He smiles and opens the door for her, bowing and gesturing inside. “Ladies first.”
She giggles, heading inside with a small prance. "Spike! I'm home!"
“Twilight? I thought you were going to check on Applejack.” He exits the kitchen, drying off a plate. “Why were you l-“ His sentence ends abruptly once he notices the griffon, tilting his head to one side. “Are you two on another reading date?”
"It's not a date!" She reflexively says, only to pause. "... is it?"
Flick shrugs. “That depends on if you want it to be.”
“You two are doing something you enjoy together,” Spike points out.
"I guess... it is a date, then." She nods, unafraid of her favorite activity.
He shrugs, then points to the kitchen. “Do you want me to get your tea with four sugars?”
"Yes please, thank you, Spike."
He nods and hurries out of the kitchen, making some noise as he prepares her drink.
"So, which book did you want?" She asks Flick as she floats over pillows.
“Why don’t you decide, this time?” He smiles, moving so she can set up their seating.
"Then I think you'll like... this one." She floats one over.
He takes it and stares at the cover, then up at her. He slowly turns it around to show a mare and a griffon dancing on a ballroom floor. “Are you trying to tell me something, Twily?”
She blinks rapidly before sputtering. "Coincidental I assure you!"
He laughs and shakes his head. “I believe you. Still, Beauty and the Beast, huh?” He takes the time to look at the back. “Can’t say I’ve heard of one starring a griffon... oh, this writer has the same cutie mark as Celestia.” He looks closer. “...no, wait... how did I mistake a crystal heart for a sun?”
"This writer often does stories in this genre, they've become renowned for it."
“So this Amore does a lot of romance?” He lays down and pats the spot next to him.
She nods. "She only uses one name to preserve her identity."
“I see. Of course, that name could always be a pseudonym...” He looks up thoughtfully.
"True. There's no telling with authors."
“Yep.” He scoops her close with a wing, hugging her to his side as he opens the book. “Well, time to see what’s different.” She smiles as she settles in.
He opens to the first page and looks inside. “There once was a prince of a little kingdom, who was named... Flock...” His smile drops into a confused frown. “...isn’t that like calling a pony Herd?”
She shrugs. "I suppose."
He shakes his head and continues reading. “His parents loved him but were strict. They said not to let anyone into the castle at night, and though it pained the kind griffon, he couldn’t bring himself to question them.”
“One night, while he was sneaking food out of the kitchen, there was a loud knock at the door. With no one else around, he made to open it, and saw a haggard old mare waiting outside.”
“‘Let me in,’ she said, ‘It is dark and cold. I can pay you with this rose.’”
“Now the poor child was frightened, not of the old pony, but of what his parents might do if he went against what he was told.”
“‘I can’t,’ he said, trembling as the cold night air started to seep under his feathers, ‘My parents would punish me.’”
“This did not make the mare happy, and she pulled away her cloak to reveal gleaming silver armor and dark black fur. ‘Then I shall punish them!’”
“Despite his fear, he stood up to the much taller horned pegasus. ‘No! Please, don’t hurt them! I’ll take their place!’”
“She most certainly didn’t expect that, and instead made a deal. ‘You’ll have ten years, until this rose wilts. Everyone else will turn into what you see them as, and you’ll have to find a pony to love and be loved by to break the curse.’”
"...this is not where I expected this to go." Twilight admits.
“Same. I thought the prince was always this rude person...” He flips the page and stares at a young golden griffon between two monsters, glaring down at him. “...wow. Are... are those his parents?”
"... artistic license I hope..." she says, frowning a bit.
He nods, then places a claw on the next paragraph, skimming the words a bit. “...it seems they tried to force him to marry ponies from wealthy families, but he couldn’t bring himself to love them.”
"Huh... maybe this is the curse, then."
“So... does that mean he sees his parents as monsters?” He frowns at the thought, feathers getting ruffled. “How... bad are they?”
Twilight shrugs. "Should we choose another book?"
“...no. I wanna see what happens...” He flips the page and sees... Twilight. That lavender unicorn with the star on her rump is Twilight, no doubt, even if the book calls her Starlight Shimmer. “...huh. Even as a drawing you’re adorable.”
"This... this is getting oddly coincidental..." she looks at the book strangely.
He keeps track of the page with a talon as he quickly flips to the inside of the back cover. “...darn, thought there’d be a picture of the author, at the very least, but it’s just that heart, again.” He huffs and turns back to their page as Spike comes in with Twilight’s tea.
"Thank you, spike." Twilight says, taking a grateful sip.
He nods and smiles at her, turning to Flick to ask if he wants anything before noticing the book. “Hey, wasn’t that one of the books Princess Celestia sent?”
Twilight nods. "Yes, it's... been a little odd so far."
“Odd? In what way?” He walks closer as Flick points to the picture. “Oh cool, you star in a book!”
"But I didn't know I did!" She counters.
“You didn’t?” He scratches his head. “Huh. I thought that was what those stipends are for.” He holds up the note from the latest one, labeled “allowance”.
The griffon pats no mind, simply looking at the book once more.
"I thought those were my funding for my studies into the magic of friendship..." She says quietly.
“They probably are,” Flick says. “There’s no guarantee that this author was stealing your likeness or thought you’d mind... but there is one curious thing.”
"Only one?" She asks, incredulous.
He gives her a wry smile, then shows them the dedication.
“To the sweetest filly I’ve ever known,” Spike reads aloud.
"I mean, that could be anypony." She says, though she looks thoughtful.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He shrugs, then turns back to where they were. “Why don’t we finish the story? I’m curious how they interpret you as Belle.”
"An artist's interpretation of me... okay then." She nods.
He nods and offers the book to her for her turn.
And so they continue the story, finding the changes interesting at least, and at times even refreshing. Flick did get annoyed when it was clear the parents didn’t approve of the two, and told Twilight as much, glad their reading had lulled Spike to sleep so he could properly vent.
It gets near the end of the story, where the mob lead by Gruff Skinner is storming the castle to get rid of the monster. Flick starts to read the climax aloud, snuggling closer to Twilight.
“Starlight and Flock rush out onto the balcony, and above them they see the shadows of his father and Gruff, fighting each other. Flock’s eyes catch a glimpse of something silver, and he leaps into action, darting between the two of them.”
“Alas, while he saved his father, the knife instead found him. Embedded to the handle in his side, it is more than enough to make him collapse, falling off the roof and down to where the purple unicorn stands.”
“Gruff didn’t have time to retrieve his weapon before the father grabs him by the neck, squeezing tight and bringing him to eye level. With a fierce roar, he begins to throttle the hapless hunter. ‘How dare you hurt my son!?’ he cries, a steady stream coming from his eyes despite the rain ending minutes before.”
"Hmm... i thought this scene had plenty of weight originally, but it's interesting to see it in a new place." She comments.
He nods and turns the page. “With a surge of strength, he flings the earth pony far beyond the reaches of his castle, down into the dark abyss of the canyon below. Another mighty roar rends the air, sending the remaining members of the mob fleeing in fear for their lives.”
“He slowly descends from the roof, staring down at his child. His child, who had done nothing to deserve this horrid fate. His gaze lifts to the mare, claws clenching as he swallows his pride. ‘Please... help him.’”
Twilight stays silent, though her mouth opens briefly as her horn lights up before she stops both.
Flick notices, and stops reading to look at her. “What’s up, Twily?”
"Just thinking about what spells could be useful." She mutters.
“...for healing a stab wound? There’s spells like that?”
She tilts her head back and forth. "Not for exactly that, it'd take a combination..."
“...let's hear about it after the story.” He nods and nudges it closer to her, as her character is speaking.
Twilight reads out as her story counterpart tries a spell, though the vagueness of which one it is irks her. When that doesn't work, she declares her love for him out of frustration.
She turns the page.
Immediately she blushes.
Flick blushes as well, staring at a picture of the main characters kissing, though Starlight seems to be doing most of it as he still has the knife in him. “...how glad are you that we aren’t acting this out?”
"You'd be stabbed!" She sounds agast.
“I wouldn’t really be stabbed,” he points out. “After all, it’d only be acting.” He skims over this part. “Let’s see, true love’s kiss, the spell is broken, his parents tell them they have their blessing,” he pauses to turn the page, “and they have numerous foals for her brother and sister-in-law to spoil.”
"That's oddly specific..." She says, blinking rapidly. "And these stories don't usually go on to foals..."
“I’m honestly curious if they’d have foals, rather than griffons or hippogriffs.” He shrugs and closes the book, tracing that heart on the back cover.
"That is a good question... hybridization books are hard to find."
He gives her a cheeky grin. “We can always figure it out through practical means.” He lets that sit a moment before raising a talon. “That was a joke.”
She buries her face in her teacup, despite it being long empty.
He sets the book off to the side, rubbing her back gently. “Sorry, I should’ve known that was too much.”
She lets out a sigh, coming up. "It's okay. Just... this whole book was odd. Eerily appropriate."
“I noticed. Is your mom a writer? Because Starlight reminded me a lot about you.”
"I mean, she's written before..." She looks the book over. "But... she wouldn't know all this..."
“Would anyone know all that?”
"I mean, not really..." She flips open the book, looking at the mark again before her eyes widen at the heart mark. "...Cadence."
He gasps, then leans over her shoulder to look at the book. “Who?”
"My old foalsitter..." She looks thoughtful.
“Your foalsitter writes books?” He wraps a wing around her. “So does that mean you really were that adorable as a filly?”
"I didn't know she wrote books!" She exclaims. "But... given her talent, this genre makes sense."
“...I’m going to guess it’s something love related?” Flick says.
"Correct." She nods. "I guess she had a feeling or something."
“...how would she even know about me, though?” He points to the golden griffon on the cover, looking at her.
"She wouldn't, I haven't really told anypony who didn't already meet you... that's why this is strange."
Spike belches in his sleep, a scroll flying from the flames and hitting Flick on the head.
He blinks a couple times. “...I didn’t know he could do that.”
"Which part? The dragonfire mail or that he can be asleep to do it?" She asks, taking it to read.
“Both, I guess?” He leans closer to see the letter... or rather, the picture of him and Twilight chatting from their balconies. He quietly pics it up to look at it better, allowing Twilight to read the letter.
Dear Twilight, it seems your brother was using the telescope for his own purposes, and took a picture to show us the “threat” to his sister. I figured we should warn you, and properly reprimanded him for invading your privacy.
That said, this guy seems quite the catch, and I’ve noticed that you have been spending more time with him. Any chance you can bring him up to Canterlot for a visit?
Love, Cadence.
"She... Shining... bring you... but we just started..." Multiple brain circuits seem to be trying to fire out of her mouth at the same time.
Flick’s claw gently caresses her cheek, turning her head so she can see his smile. “I know we aren’t ready for that yet. We can always put that off until you’re comfortable.”
"Yeah... wait, my brother can see me from Canterlot?" She looks to the window.
“I don’t think he can see us in here, but this photograph does say he has a good view.” He looks at the picture once more. “...huh. You look flirty in this pic.”
"How?!" She groans.
He points at her resting her cheek against a hoof, eyes half-closed as she looks at him. “Like that.”
"M-maybe I was blinking!" She defends.
“You probably were.” He shrugs. “I’m just saying what it looks like. Your beautiful smile really helps draw the look together.”
"...thank you." She smiles, tucking her mane behind an ear.
He smiles right back, gently embracing her. “It’s my pleasure, Twily.”
She giggles. "I guess, embarrassing as it is, it's not that bad."
“True. He could’ve seen me massaging you. Or any of those ponies at the spa, for that matter.”
"Let's not tempt fate..." She says, slightly worried.
“...is he overprotective of you?” He leans over slightly to look at her face.
Spike yawns and sits up, rubbing his eye as he looks at them. “...I missed the ending, didn’t I?”
"It's about what you'd expect, Spike... from a book written by Cadence."
Flick notices the dragon raise an eyebrow as he responds. “Cadence? Your foalsitter? The one who put you to bed early?”
She nods. "And the one who specialized in love magic."
“...I didn’t know that part,” he admits.
"And thus, romance novels." She holds it up.
“Oh. So she had it star you two so you’d consider getting together?” Spike scratches his head. “Sounds silly, to be honest.”
"I mean..." She goes quiet.
“...should I send her a message saying you two are dating?”
"No!" She quickly says, a little too loudly. She clears her throat and continues more quietly. "Let us just... figure things out and I'll tell her."
He narrows his eyes at her, then shrugs. “I guess. Now if you need me, I need to help Rarity!” He rushes for the door, exiting and leaving the two of them alone, cuddling together on pillows.
“...I should probably break the news to him, one of these days...” Flick mutters.
"What news?" She looks to him.
He considers this a moment, then a sly smirk crosses his face. “Is that your first question, Twily?”
"Is it about you?" She asks, even as a notepad and pen float over.
“No, it’s about his crush. A secret I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t reveal.”
"Well, if it's a secret, I agree." She nods.
“Good.” He rolls onto his side, laying against her body. “What else did you want to ask?”
"Tell me everything you know about your magic!" She says quickly, pen poised.
He stares blankly at her. “It’s not magic. It’s my element.”
She scribbles this down. "And what do you mean by that?"
“I mean... it’s mostly mental? But if I overexert myself...” He points to his wing. “This was from harvesting two acres in five minutes... I should’ve gone slower...”
"Wait, this is how you hurt your wing? I thought you crashed like Rainbow does."
“Nope. I don’t do dangerous flying.” He gently grips one of her forelegs and places her hoof on his cheek.
She blushes at this. "And... is the touchiness a you thing?"
“Yep, but only with those I like. Other griffons don’t like being touched much.” He sighs softly and rubs his cheek against her frog, as she isn’t moving.
She blushes more. "I... see..." Her hoof curls a bit. "Ponies tend to be more touchy, so maybe you're more like that."
“Maybe.” He rolls slightly onto his back and nuzzles into her hoof. “Could I have some affection? I’m hoping to get my wing back to normal.”
"And what about that ability? I've never heard of direct attention to physical wellbeing transmutation before." She says, petting his head.
His tail starts to sway a bit, and he hums softly. “I don’t know. I just know that it’s faster when it’s more intimate.”
The hoof pauses momentarily before she continues. "...noted."
“Did that bother you?”
"It's just something that testing in a non biased way is... difficult."
“...non-biased?” He looks up at her, baffled. “I mean... maybe we could... give me minor injuries?”
"N-no!" She huffs, stopping her petting. "I would never hurt somepony for science."
“Then I’ll just... I dunno, I can’t think of any injuries that wouldn’t require a lot of force.” He frowns a bit. “...maybe slowly doing more affectionate things, and seeing how it affects my wing?”
"Let's just... continue with the questions and come back to that..."
“Okay. Ask away.” He flips over the photo, eyeing the back before taking something off and tucking it under his wing.
"What was that?" She asks.
“A ticket with my name on it.”
"... she's not taking no for an answer."
He stares at her in confusion. “...no for what? The ticket? I was just gonna stay here with you and read another story.”
"Oh... okay, so you weren't just gonna go run off and visit?"
“Visit?” He pulls it out and shows her the golden ticket. “I don’t know if I could do that right now. Doesn’t this gala thing take place next year?”
"Wait, the gala? I thought these were all sold out..." She looks at it closely.
She sees it is indeed a ticket, specifically to “Flick, Twilight’s birdfriend”.
"...is this offensive since you're also part cat?" She asks.
He shrugs. “Apple Bloom calls me that, too, so I’m used to it. I wouldn’t even know what would be used, otherwise.”
"Hmm... politically correct language that isn't unnecessarily long has never been my strong suit." She admits.
He thinks for a bit, then gently grasps her hoof. “You can always call me love.” He kisses her hoof before he breaks down into a giggle fit.
"I... you..." She blushes, looking at her hoof.
Flick just smiles, rubbing her foreleg. “Of course, I can wait until you’re ready. Just know that I truly care about you.”
"You give a mare a lot to think about, you know that?"
“I’m of the mind that stagnancy is boring, and having someone to share your life with makes it less boring.” He thinks a moment. “...I feel I could have worded that better, but I don’t know how.”
"Hmm..." She looks thoughtful.
“...loneliness. That’s what I meant, not stagnancy.” He tries to bow in his lying position with the amount of success one could expect. “My apologies.”
"Oh... well... I guess I could see that. Though, I didn't realize it until I came here." She muses, rubbing his head reflexively.
She feels his chest vibrate against her side, his leonine tail brushing along her cutie mark in response to her touch.
She giggles. "So, back to question, I think."
“Mmm... and what question is next?” Flick murmurs, enjoying this moment for all its worth.
"Have you ever met others with elements?" She asks.
“My sister,” he says. “Hers is much more tangible.”
"Really? What kind of griffon magic does she have?"
“Again, not magic. And as far as I know, she has a thick skin.”
"Interesting... I wonder if it's something in your family line..."
He shrugs. “We don’t know our parents, so...”
"Oh... I'm sorry." She hugs him.
He gently returns the hug, nuzzling into her mane. “...we’re fine. We made peace with it long ago.”
"Okay...maybe we'll stop for now."
“...if it makes it sting less, we could probably continue questions after our next reading date.” He smiles up at her.
A book falls off the spot with her bed, and Flick looks up to find Rainbow’s tail peeking out from behind the bed. He instead focuses on the book, gripping it with the air and pulling it closer. “...huh. Is this a book about the griffon lands?”
"Hmm?" She looks at it.
Griffonstone: A Vacationers’ Guide
"Oh? I don't think we had this book before..."
“...you didn’t?” He looks at her curiously, then picks up the book to flip through it. “...it’s out of date, anyways.”
"It is?" She peeks over his shoulder at it.
“Yeah,” he points at what appears to be a goblet. “You see this?” She nods. “This is the Idol of Boreas. It was the pride of Griffonstone... but it was stolen.”
"Oh dear." She frowns.
“Yeah. I’m not entirely certain about the details, but it made most of the griffons I know... pretty petty. Like they’d lost their pride, or something.”
"Hmm... I wonder if the artifact was magical..." she muses.
“Possibly.” He shrugs, then pulls her into another hug. “They don’t like others to know that, though. Keep it a secret, please?”
"They don't want help?" She looks surprised.
He grimaces. “They don’t trust ponies... and they’ve become greedy, so...”
"Oh..." her ears fold.
“...yeah, there was a reason I wanted to leave...”
She just hugs him. He hugs her in return, nuzzling against her chest. She lets out a small squeak, blushing.
Sadly, the moment is ruined when a small book goes hurtling through the air, smacking him in the face and sending him sliding across the floor. Dazed as he is, he doesn’t recognize the purple book as the diary it is.
"What the?!" She looks between him and the book, magic levitating it back where it goes as she walks over to him. "Are you okay?"
“...face is sore... probably have a red mark under the feathers... what about you?” He opens an eye, gently turning her face with a claw to make sure she has no injuries.
"I wasn't hit, but you seem to attract injuries."
“Yep... though I think I know who did that one...” His eyes move towards the section of the treehouse with her bed.
"Hmm.." She turns to it as well.
They both see a bit of red just above her covers.
“You can come out, Rainbow,” Flick says, causing two blue ears to pop up in surprise. “You may be fast, but you suck at sneaking.”
“What do those two thing even have in common?” She calls back, then visibly winces as she confirms his accusation. “...shoot.”
"Rainbow... why are you in my house? On my bed?" Twilight asks.
“...I was tired and today’s sky got cleared?”
“Then why not your own bed?” Flick asks, carefully sitting up and leaning against the lavender unicorn.
“Too far.”
“...so what would you have done if Twilight decided to do those tests?” He notes that she’s trembling slightly. “...I can’t tell if that’s nervousness or not...”
"Huh? All tests are done in the lab..." the unicorn comments, looking confused.
Flick and Rainbow both look at her in confusion, the former speaking up. “You have a lab, Twily?”
"Well, yes." She looks at them like it's no big deal.
"...can we use it to test his healing thing?" Rainbow pipes up.
"I'd have to plan out how to do that without hurting him." She gives a small glare at Rainbow at that last part.
The athlete taps her chin, considering this. “Well, he has his broken wing, that lump on his head... what if you tire him out?”
"How would that test anything?" Twilight asks her friend.
“If it can heal him, what’s to say it can’t reenergize him?”
"That's a bit of a logic leap..." She mutters, but looks thoughtful.
“I mean, kissing him after he got worn out harvesting stopped whatever was hurting him, back then.” Rainbow shrugs a bit.
"You kissed him?!" Twilight looks slightly aghast at this.
“To be fair, I asked for it,” Flick says. “And it’s the quickest way I’ve been able to heal... but I guess my wing was beyond that...”
"..." Twilight jots down a few things. "I see."
He leans over her, observing her notes. “Those were chaste kisses, to be clear. And nothing further.”
"Hmm... alright." She makes a few more notes about the merits of contact versus emotion.
“...you could always try a lover’s kiss,” Rainbow says, albeit hesitantly.
“Applejack says not to do anything romantic with you,” he says offhandedly.
“There’s no possible way she said that!”
Twilight looks between them, quill hovering in the air. "I think it will take some planning to design tests that are unbiased for this."
“Can’t exactly be unbiased when the tests require affection,” Flick points out.
"Yes they can." She debates. "I just require more constants, a couple volunteers, and some data before."
He seems disappointed. “Oh. I thought you were going to...”
"What? Social interaction experimentation is separate from scientific research." She says like this is common knowledge.
“Does that mean you aren’t going to kiss him, too?” Rainbow butts in.
"I..." she blushes. "That's a choice for a time not in the experiment." He perks up at this. "Would you actually mind if I planned this?" She holds up her notes.
The griffon blinks a couple times. “...did you need me to leave?”
"No no, it's just I have a tendency to... how did you phrase it Spike?" She turns to the drake... who was not there. "Oh, right. Umm, anyway, I tend to focus on my work."
“Oh. Goal oriented or task oriented?” He gets up and helps her to her hooves as well.
“I’m still wondering what she was planning to do with her planning,” Rainbow says.
“Isn’t that a bit redundant?”
"Huh?" Twilight says, looking up from a checklist.
Flick gestures to the weatherpony. “I think she wants to know what your planning entails.”
"Oh! Well, if you really want to know..." She takes a deep breath as she brings the scroll closer.
He manages to scoop her on to his back before she can start, walking up the stairs. “Let’s all get comfortable before you start.”
"Oh, I half expected her to run." She admits.
“...well, I mean...” His gaze turns up to the empty bed and open window. “...I think you succeeded... wow she’s fast...”
She laughs. "Yes, she is."
“...anyways, you never did tell me if you wanted help with planning.”
"I think I have it, I tend to get a bit... focused, so I'd probably miss a lot of what you'd say." She admits sheepishly.
He shrugs, kissing her forehead. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” He sets her down on her bed and heads downstairs with a wave. “Let me know when you’re ready, okay? I’m gonna help out Applejack!”
"Okay!" She waves back.
As he exits the library, he looks up at the sky, humming thoughtfully as he wonders what the next day will bring.