"Morning Fluttershy!" Twilight Sparkle said, and poked her head into the guest room. "I'm kind of surprised you're still in bed- don't you usually wake up early to take care of your rabbits and chickens and stuff?"
"Oh." said the vaguely pony-shaped lump beneath the covers of Twilight's guest bed. "I, um, didn't get much sleep last night."
"Really? Oh, I'm sorry- was it the bed? Was it too hard? Too soft? You should've told me something- heck, you could've even slept in my bed. Er, not with me, of course- we'd just switch, and-"
Bleary eyed, Fluttershy poked her head out from beneath the blankets and rubbed at the side of her neck. "It's not your fault, Twilight. I think I just came down with something. I'm just not feeling very good right now." Fluttershy squinted at the open window, then ducked her head beneath the sheets again.
"Oh!' Twilight Sparkle said, "I'm sorry! Shoot, I must have left this window open- no wonder you're not feeling good, you must've gotten too cold last night." Twilight trotted over to the window, closed it, and drew the curtains in as well. "Anything else I can do for you?"
"Mmmgh. Uh. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I just...stay here for a little bit?"
"Of course! It's my fault you're sick in the first place- it's the least I can do, right?" Twilight patted the Flutterlump. "You just stay here, and don't worry about a thing. Oh! I'll even make sure that all your little animal friends are okay."
"You don't mind?" Fluttershy ventured so far as to stick her nose out from beneath the covers.
"You know I don't."
"Oh, okay."
"Anything else I can get you?"
"Oh no, I'm not that hungry. I, uh...I dunno if I'd be able to keep it down right now anyway."
"Right, I'll get a bucket."
"Hey Twilight! Whatcha doing with that bucket?" Spike said as he walked in through the door.
"Spike! You're home early."
"Yeah, well, my friend Scorpan gave me a ride back from Canterlot." Spike grinned. "Sure beats walking, right?"
"You know, one of these days I'm gonna have to meet this Scorpan guy."
"Hey, it's not my fault you keep missing him!" Spike grinned. "So, wha'd I miss?"
"Oh, Fluttershy's in the guest room- she's feeling a little sick, so she's gonna stay here for a little bit."
"Sick?" Spike said, "Is this like that one Wednesday when you didn't get out of bed 'til like three in the afternoon?"
"Uh, sort of." Twilight said. "Could you do me a favor and keep an eye on Fluttershy? I'm going to head over to her cottage and look after her animals, and on my way back I'll talk to Nurse Redheart and see if she'll make housecalls."
"You can count on me, Twilight!" Spike snapped off a quick (if sloppy) salute.
"I'm not the one counting on you- Fluttershy is."
"Well, she can, too!"
"Good to hear it." Twilight patted Spike on the head and then trotted out her door- only to find herself face to face with a certain multicolored pegasus.
"Hey there, Twilight! You seen Fluttershy? I swooped by her place earlier, but nopony's home."
"Er, yeah?" Twilight said, glancing over her shoulder. "She's actually sleeping right now-"
"Sleeping? Fluttershy never sleeps in!"
"Well, she is today- she's not feeling so good."
"Really? Huh. Go figure-" Rainbow Dash scratched at her head, "wait, yesterday wasn't Tuesday, was it?"
"Why does everypony keep asking that?" Twilight muttered.
"I'm just saying! That's the last time Fluttershy spent the night at your place, isn't it?" Rainbow Dash grinned, "You decide to turn the tables, and get her all liquored up?"
"No!"
"Aw. Well, you should've."
"Then she'd be sick and hungover." Twilight said.
"Fluttershy's sick?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Twilight said, voice flat.
"Aw jeez, that's terrible. Any idea what's wrong with her?" Rainbow Dash paused, and looked curiously through the open door of the library. "It's not...contagious, is it?"
"I don't think so. Fluttershy was fine last night- I think it might've just been something she ate."
"Man, that sucks." Rainbow Dash said, "Anything I can do to help?"
"Actually...yes!"
LATER
"Okay, that could've gone better." Twilight said to Rainbow Dash as they made their way back to her library. It was dark. Twilight was limping.
"Stupid rabbit!" Rainbow Dash snarled, "...I still think we shoulda stayed. I almost caught him!"
"You almost set Fluttershy's house on fire."
"THAT WOULD HAVE WORKED!"
"...maybe." Twilight Sparkle humored the pegasus, "but right now, all I want to do is take a relaxing bath and pretend I never met that little rabbit."
"You n' me both! I just hope Fluttershy had a better day than we did."
"Well, only one way to find out." Twilight said. She opened the door to the library- only to stop right in her tracks as she saw the little scene before her.
On the one hand, Twilight Sparkle should have been relieved to see Fluttershy up and on her hooves once more. In fact, the yellow pegasus looked somehow stronger and sleeker than she normally did.
The yellow pegasus in question also had her jaws clamped around Spike's neck. The little dragon hung limp in her jaws, eyes glassy.
"Um." Fluttershy said through a mouthful of dragonscale "This isn't as bad as it looks?"
"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash said once she managed to get her lower jaw working again.
"Spike!" Twilight Sparkle cried out. Her horn began to glow in preparation for...something, even if she wasn't sure what.
"I'm sorry!" Fluttershy squeaked "I'm so, so sorry. I was just, so hungry, and...I...uh...that happened. I didn't mean to!" Fluttershy broke into tears and flew away. Which wouldn't have been quite as out of the ordinary if Fluttershy hadn't left through the window, at a speed typically reserved for aspiring wonderbolts or the occasional meteor.
"Wait!" Rainbow Dash said. She streaked off after Fluttershy, leaving a small puff of dust and loose papers in her wake. Twilight Sparkle looked helplessly after the fliers, and rushed over to the limp baby dragon on the floor.
"Spike!" she said again, rolling him over to his side. "What happened? Are you alright? Talk to me!"
"Whuh?" Spike blinked. He stared up at the lavender unicorn...and began to blush. "Oh. Uh. Hi."
"What happened, Spike?"
"Nothing!" the little dragon said, entirely too quickly.
"That didn't look like nothing."
Spike rubbed at his neck, "...how much did you see?"
"Enough?"
"I don't know what happened!" Spike said, his blush growing deeper. "I was keeping an eye on Fluttershy, just like you said...and as soon as the sun went down, she went crazy! She had been sleeping all day, but then all of a sudden she couldn't take her hooves off of me."
"That doesn't make any sense, Spike."
"I know! I didn't even have a moustache!"
Twilight frowned. "That's not what I-"
"And I tried to tell Fluttershy that there was only one filly for me, but she wouldn't listen, and before I knew it she started to...uh." Spike rubbed at his neck again. "I'm just lucky my scales are so thick, or else she would've given me a really mean hickey." Spike leaned his head up a bit. "...just to play on the safe side, could I borrow that stripey scarf of yours for a bit?"
"So you're alright?" Twilight Sparkle said, relieved, "When I saw you dangling there, I thought you'd been hurt!" She paused, and then squinted suspiciously at Spike. "Why were you dangling there?"
"Hey, I tried to stop her, honest! But you try keeping a straight face after a cute filly's been nibbling on your neck..." Spike trailed off and blushed again.
"Alright, now I know what to do." Twilight Sparkle said, and cast a quick spell. The tub and water were easy enough to summon, but she had to concentrate in order to get the temperature to just above freezing before she tossed Spike in. "That's one problem solved...now," Twilight rushed to her balcony. She scanned the skies for Rainbow Dash's polychromatic contrail...only to find the blue pegasus flapping down towards her. Rainbow Dash's face showed, once again, an expression of absolute shock.
"What happened, Rainbow Dash? Where's Fluttershy?"
"I...I don't know!" Dash buried her face in her hooves. "She was...faster than me. NOBODY'S faster than me! Especially not Fluttershy! But...she just did this twisty turny thing, and she dove into a forest- and then she was just...gone!"
"Fluttershy." Twilight Sparkle said. "Gone."
"Poof! Like that! Not even a feather in sight! Must be like, some kind of bizarro Fluttershy!"
"I don't think it was." Twilight Sparkle said. "I mean, she didn't even have a goatee."
"Then what the heck is going on!"
"I don't know!" Twilight said. She looked out in the direction of the Everfree forest, and pulled in a steadying breath. "But I think I know someone who can help."