“And that should be one of the last items,” Spike said, tossing a bag of celery into a basket on the cart attached to Fluttershy.
Looking over the list, she nodded.
“There are a couple other things I could use, but they aren’t necessarily needed… And a few of the stores I’d need to visit are already closed,” she said, looking towards the horizon. The sky was darkening towards gold as the sun dipped.
Spike walked over, waving at the vendor as she called a farewell, then looked over her shoulder. “Are you sure you can go without shampoo? Twilight would probably have some you can borrow...”
“Oh, it’s not for me,” she said with a blush. “It’s mostly for Angel Bunny, but if the store’s stocking the great big container then it would be for all my furred animals...”
Looking back towards the west, she shook her head again. “But the store’s almost definitely closed, and it’s too late to bathe anyone anyway.”
“So, to your house?” he asked, looking over the half-filled cart.
“Well, if you’d like… But I can get this home, if you want to just go to the library...” She purposefully looked at the tree in question, a couple minute’s walk away.
He gazed over at the tree, scratching the back of his head as he stared.
“Would you rather I go home tonight?” he asked, looking at his blushing new mare-friend. It was a weird thought, but one that warmed his chest as he thought it.
“My couch is always open,” she said carefully, blushing up at him.
“Oh-ho, my heart,” Spike chuckled, tapping at a scale with a smile. “You know, I’m not sure if my bed’s as comfy as that couch you’re offering. Are you sure it’s okay?”
Fluttershy nodded. “But you should still go talk to Twilight,” she said. “I’m sure she’s wondering how the talk went.”
Spike looked at her blankly, gazing down at her for a full minute. With a small jump, he raised a claw and smacked himself in the face.
“Crud, I completely forgot about that talk Rarity and I had yesterday, Twilight must be worried sick,” he moaned, looking back at the crystal Treebrary between his fingers.
Fluttershy looked up at him, a worried smile glancing over her muzzle. “Go ahead, Spike, really. I’ll get this home, and ready the couch for another night with a Dragon on it, and you go have a chat with Twilight.”
“Yeah, I guess that sounds good,” he muttered, running over the events of yesterday. So strange, it felt like they’d happened months ago…
He stopped thinking when he felt a hoof trace over his jawline, gently pulling him down to Fluttershy's eye-line.
Without thinking, he leaned forward a bit and gave her a soft peck on her lips, smiling down at her.
Her eyes widened and she pulled away, looking around the empty market they were standing in. “Spike, please,” she said as her cheeks reddened.
“I know, sorry,” he said, dipping his head a bit. “I just… I couldn’t help it?”
She snorted at his goofy smile, pushing his snout away as her serious expression crumbled.
“Yeah, alright then,” she said, pulling his face back to nuzzle their noses together. “Just, wait for a bit, alright?”
He nodded, pulling away with a sigh. “Alright. See you back at the couch?”
She nodded, and they parted, both looking over their shoulder and blushing as they left the market. Stretching her wings around the harness, she flapped them a couple of times to work a kink out, then started pulling forward again. Strangely, the cart seemed to be a bit heavier…
“So, Fluttershy,” a scratchy voice, full of sass and joy, said from behind her. Whipping her head back, Fluttershy felt her stomach sink.
“What was that all about?” Rainbow Dash, her feet up on one side of the cart, her back against the other, asked with a grin.
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“Twilight, I’m back,” Spike called cautiously through the small crack in the library’s door. Waiting for a second, he pushed it further open and peeked inside…
Just in time to catch a large dictionary. With his face. His eyes glassed as they tried to focus on the J selection.
“Wait,” he called, holding up a claw. “I know you want to yell at me, but can I go first?”
He heard a huff. “You have thirty seconds.”
“The talk with Rarity went alright, but not very well, so Fluttershy invited me to her house for cocoa and I just spent the night there.”
Twilight was silent for a moment, processing. “So why didn’t you flame me a letter last night, or at least this morning?”
“I was kind of distraught last night,” he muttered, pulling the dictionary from its perch on his nose. “And this morning… was kind of weird. I’ll tell you later,” he said, waving away her curious gaze. “I’m honestly planning on going back over there tonight, I just wanted to update you first.”
She cocked her head to the side, looking suspiciously at him. “Found another to fill you with pins already?” she whispered, making his head snap back as he looked at her, eyes wide.
“Twilight?” he asked. “Twilight, that was caustic. Are you alright?”
She glared at the floor for a moment, then shook her head roughly. “No, not especially,” she admitted, wincing. “I’m sorry, that was really uncalled for. I’m just...” she sighed and shook her head again. “Urgh, I just haven’t had a lot of sleep for a while, and then you’ve been kind of scarce, even when you’re here...”
She sighed, slumping onto a nearby chair. “And then I haven’t seen Rarity for more than an hour weekly for the last month, and she’s always really unhappy...” The Alicorn sighed. “And now you’re spending a lot of time with Fluttershy… I don’t want you to get hurt again, and I don’t want to lose another friend… It’s so selfish of me, but...”
Spike walked over, taking his own chair across from her.
“I won’t tell you that your fears are unfounded,” he started slowly.
“Spike,” she moaned, drawing out the first vowel as she placed her hooves over her eyes.
“Now, wait,” he chided, a small smile playing over his muzzle. She closed her muzzle, looking at him over her hooves. “We, Fluttershy and I, had a really long talk about just that this morning. And while we both agree that it’s a bit fast, it’s still something we both want to pursue.
“Both of us,” he emphasized, and Twilight realized that Fluttershy wasn’t here with him.
“Did you come all the way from her cottage just to talk with me?” she asked, surprised.
“She had some shopping to do,” he said, shaking his head. “She just wanted me to talk with you about yesterday, we both thought you’d be curious.”
She nodded, staring at Spike for a moment. “Well?” she asked, with a smile.
He cocked his head to the side, then shook it slowly.
“It was civil, but I got the feeling that Rarity is doing much worse than I am. She said she missed my friendship, a lot.” Spike looked sadly in the direction of the Boutique. “I don’t think she’s recovering well at all…”
“Was she really that bad?” Twilight asked, her eyes following his for a moment.
“The last time we saw her, she was crying on the couch,” Spike said with a sigh, “and Pinkie had shown up.”
With a sad nod and a sigh, Twilight stood from her chair. “I’m going over there, then.” She walked into their kitchen, and Spike moved over to the door. Twilight returned with a glass bottle filled with dark liquid.
“You’re bringing the concentrate?” Spike asked, looking at worriedly. “You’ve already got bags to your cheeks…”
“Gee Spike, thanks,” she said cheerily, a fake smile not even bothering to show. “But, really, I need to be aware, and this coffee should help.”
“Just keep in mind what happened last time you had some straight from the glass...”
“I think that was the time that I came back in time to talk to myself...” she cracked a small smile at the memory.
“Anyway, be careful. And try to have fun?” Spike said, giving her a small hug.
She hugged him back, giving him a kiss on top of his head. “You too, enjoy the sleep… over….”
She leaned back suddenly, glaring up at him.
“We’re going slow,” he reassured her, rolling his eyes. “You think Flutters is the type to just...”
“Well, no, but...” She looked up at him again, biting her lip. “You’re just so grown up, Spike. I guess I’m still getting used to that...”
He snorted, plucking at her wings and lifting an eyebrow.
“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered, pushing him away with a small smile. “Anyway, we should both be going. Just, don't move out without letting me know, alright?”
Spike snorted, waving at her as he walked towards a side-street. Twilight waved back, and they started on their separate paths. A thought occurred to him, and he turned his head.
“Twilight!” She stopped, turning around. “He favorites are the raspberry ones! Pinkie knows which.”
Twilight looked at him, confused, then nodded and continued on her way.
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Spike knocked twice at the door, then opened it. “Fluttershy, Twilight knows,” he called towards the living room. “I guess that means you get to… get Rarity…”
He walked into the living room, and straight into the grinning face of Rainbow Dash.
“I got Rainbow,” Fluttershy murmured, smiling bashfully up at the Dragon.
He looked between the Pegasus, then snapped his claws. “Damned,” he muttered, walking over to the couch Fluttershy was on and sitting beside her. “You want Rares or AJ?” he asked.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about Applejack,” Dash cackled, her wings fluttering against her sides as she chuckled.
“Someone should probably tell her, instead of whispering weird things into her ear,” Spike said, staring at a suddenly blushing Dash.
“That was one time, it’s not my fault I surprised her!”
“You knew it was her estrus, you should have known better,” Spike teased, only half paying attention. Turning back to Fluttershy, he said, “It’s not right that she’s the last to know. Want to tell her together, tomorrow maybe?”
“Well, it is a couple of days from our Spa appointment… I'm sure Aloe wouldn’t mind moving it up, and I could bring you along as a guest…” Her expression fell. “Would that be mean, getting her relaxed and telling her about… us?”
Spike snorted. “There’s not really a nice way to do this...”
“Maybe get Twilight to tell her?” Dash shrugged when they looked at her. “She would, and she’s smart enough to know how to take some of the sting away…”
Spike shook his head at her. “No, that’s a really nasty thing to do, to both of them… Almost as bad as hiding it would be…”
They all sat there for a moment, lost in thought. After a minute, Rainbow shrugged and stood up, yawning and stretching her wings.
“Well, good luck with that,” she said, moving to the door. “I’m leaving before it gets later.” She paused, sending a teasing look at the Dragon. “Gotta get to the Apple Farm before AJ falls asleep.” With that, she opened and sped out the door, her air current slamming it closed.
Spike looked awkwardly at the door, then back to Fluttershy. “Are you okay?” he asked gently.
Fluttershy looked up at him, smiling. “Yeah. Rainbow was always going to tease, but she’s gentle with me. Mostly, she was making fun of your scaly lip kisses,” she said with a giggle.
Spike smacked his lips, looking down his nose and making her laugh.
Grabbing his head, she pulled him down into a chaste kiss, pulling away still laughing. “Your lips are fine, Spike. Now, c’mon, there’s food on the stove just waiting.”
He nodded, smiling at her, then followed her into the kitchen.
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They sat in front of the fire, long forks dangling towards the flames. Large marshmallows hung, Spike’s much darker, melting and crisping before they were pulled back and slathered on graham crackers with dark chocolate squares.
“Spike?” Fluttershy asked suddenly, leaning against him.
He looked down, nuzzling the top of her head before answering with a, “Hmm?”
“Can I ask you about stuff you and Rarity did?”
He looked down at her, his head heavy with sudden thoughts. “Like, everyday things, or… Uh, or nighttime things?”
She squeaked, blushing, and softly answered, “Both? Maybe?”
Smiling, he leaned over and nipped at her ear, gently pulling at its tip with his lips. “Let me eat this last marshmallow first.” She nodded, and he tossed the entire thing in his maw, crunching the entire thing loudly. He smiled at her giggles, actually chewing the treat, then swallowed and said, “Go ahead.”
“W-Well, since we’re embarrassed already… Can I ask how far you two, uh, ‘got’?” She was blushing heavily, looking into the fire.
He sighed, half expecting this question. “As far as you can, Flutters. We weren’t, uh, celibate. In any sense of the word.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Uh, does it bother you that I’m not…” She trailed off, gazing into the fire.
“Of course I’m not bothered that you aren’t a virgin,” he finished, smiling.
She squeaked, whipping her face towards his with enough force to have her hair tap his nose. “No, I meant, does it bother you that I’m not ready, for, you know, not that...” she trailed off, blushing under his wide smile.
“Would it bother you if I was a virgin?” She asked, gazing deeply into his eyes.
“Not at all. My opinion doesn’t hang on your past exploits, Flutters.” He leaned forward, touching their noses. “And as for being ready… Well, I’m surprised we’ve been as physical as we have been, honestly.”
“I like kisses,” she muttered into his lips, he eyes half-lidded and her ears twitching.
Smiling, he tilted his head up, their lips meeting. “Me too, ‘Shy.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then pulled away slightly. “You had other questions?”
“Oh, well...”
They talked into the night, speaking of everything Fluttershy could think of, and then everything Spike could think of. Eventually, late into the morning, they fell asleep, Spike’s wing arching over the Pegasus pulled into his arms.
This was their first night together, and one of the first in months that Spike slept without dreams of a laughing black Alicorn, sneering at him from underneath purple curls.
Instead, he dreamt of a warm field of daisies, the air full of honeybees and pink butterflies.