//------------------------------// // Zaleilah // Story: Love Will Set You Free / L'amore รจ femmina (Out of Love): Side Stories // by Ospero //------------------------------// "Happy Hearth's Warming Day, Spike." He turned in surprise. Apple Bloom was closing the door to the large living room where they had celebrated Hearth's Warming Eve, smiling at her husband. "You're not as sneaky as you think." "What are you doing up at this time of night?" he asked, walking up to her. "I could ask the same question." Apple Bloom sounded strangely nervous, almost evasive. "Well, if you insist ... I wanted to see this room in the dark." She raised an eyebrow. "Why?" "I love winter nights." Spike walked over to the window and looked out at the falling snow. "I always have, ever since I was a hatchling. And we worked so hard at decorating, I wanted a quiet moment to see the results, before we take it all down again." "We don't have to do that right away, you know," Apple Bloom said. "We can leave them up for a few days." "Yes, but these are Hearth's Warming Eve decorations, and I wanted to see them on their day." He grinned bashfully. "That sounds stupid when I say it out loud, doesn't it?" "I don't think so." Apple Bloom lay down on the sofa, and Spike sat down next to her. "But why are you doing this now? This isn't your first Hearth's Warming Eve here." "Well..." The sheepish grin on Spike's face told her everything she needed to know. "This isn't the first time you've done this." It wasn't a question. "I've been doing it as long as I can think back, even when I still lived with Celestia, and then with Twilight." He lowered his head. "But no one's ever caught me." "Spike, you make it sound like something shameful. It isn't." Apple Bloom smiled. "A little strange, perhaps, but I'll chalk that up to growing up with a princess for a mother and a bookworm for an older sister." He bared his teeth in an exaggerated parody of a threat. "Don't badmouth my family to my face on Hearth's Warming Day, Apple Bloom." "Or what?" she teased. "You'll eat me?" "I might," he growled. "You certainly look tasty enough." She pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Oh, woe is me! The evil dragon wants to eat me. Please don't do it, dragon, I'm far too young to die." Spike leaned in closer. "Not good enough, my damsel in distress. You look like a meal fit for a king, and you'll have to do better than that if I am to leave you untouched." He saw her swallow hard. "Alright." She looked up to him with huge pleading eyes. "If you won't spare me, what about my child?" "Your...?" He broke off as the full force of what she'd just said hit him. She nodded, taking his hand in her hoof and guiding it to her belly. "Our child. Will you spare him? Or her?" Spike sank lower into the cushions. "How long have you known?" "Two days. Right before Pinkie's party." "I'm going to be a father." He said it tonelessly, barely louder than a whisper, and for a second, Apple Bloom's worst fears took hold of her. Does he want it? Is he ready for it? Am I ready? Do we want a family when we're still this young? And then his voice pulled her out of her dark reveries. "I'm going to be a father!" He managed - just - to keep his voice down, but the wide, silly, happy grin on her dragon's face was enough to dispel all her dark thoughts. "That's why you seemed so nervous all day, isn't it?" She felt a smile tug at her lips. "Yeah. I wasn't sure..." "Shh." He hugged her. "We'll be a great little family, no matter what." Something caught her eye. "Look, it's stopped snowing." "So it has." They looked out the window at the clearing night sky. "Hey, a shooting star!" "And another." Something inside Apple Bloom's chest seemed to stir at the sight of the two bright lights. Spike's eyes suddenly flared up with green light. "Whoa." He shook his head, but the light vanished as quickly as it had come. "What in the hay was that?" Apple Bloom stared at her husband in alarm. "They're happy." Two simple words, yet she felt tears rising up. "Who is happy?" He turned his head towards her, and she saw tears in his eyes as well. "I think you know, Apple Bloom. I know you felt it just as I did." She leaned against him. "Yeah, I did. But how do you know?" He pointed at his eyes. "Dragon sight. I've read a lot about it, but I never understood what it meant. Not until now." "Will you ever stop surprising me?" she said half-jokingly. He grinned. "Consider us even. Though I don't think dragon sight is quite in the same league as your little surprise." "Let's get back to bed." Apple Bloom yawned. "There's a long day ahead." At the door, Spike stopped and pointed. "Well, would you look at that." Apple Bloom turned her head and saw the sprig above the door. "Mistletoe." She grinned impishly. "Not that you need an excuse." "Oh, look who's talking." He returned the grin and briefly pressed his lips to hers. "Happy Hearth's Warming, AB." "Happy Hearth's Warming, Spikey."