"Tough Love"

Twilight Sparkle was frozen in the world around her and what she perceived as time. She felt as though her heart had completely stopped. She also felt that she'd never be able to find her voice again; or at least, definitely not in this moment. Whether this was really happening to her or not, she'd no idea, but it was something she'd never dreamt she'd ever have to deal with, being the pony she was. Never had she gone looking for this. Never had she wanted to. As far as she was concerned, her life was perfect just the way it was. Such trivial, only-to-bring-drama-she-didn't-need issues had never held even half the amount of importance to her as did the studies she constantly poured her whole soul into.

So how in Equestria was this happening, to her?

She'd never done anything to make anypony think she'd be interested in things like this! She'd always assumed that as long as she remained that way, so would the other ponies around her. And yet, here she was, for the first time ever, being hit with this realization. He'd never done anything like this before. Or so she thought. She sure didn't remember anything like this ever happening in the past! There wasn't a thing she could do about it now, though, except try (and fail) to close her jaw that was now dropped open in complete, near-frightened shock.

It hadn't been much. No, not much at all. She'd simply gone to another of the festivities that her lovely teacher Celestia had wanted her present at. Just like always. And just like always, the royal Pegasus guard ponies had been there. And just like always, she'd been the last one to leave, as she always liked to stay behind for just a moment, as long as her queen was still there, just so she could personally say goodbye. After that, she'd taken her leave, bidding the guards farewell and thanking them for their duties. Just…like…always.

She'd had words with the guards before. Always small things, as they weren't much for talking. This time, though, as she'd finished her goodbyes and started on her way home, a snort had caught her attention, and she'd turned around to see that only one of the guards was still standing by the doorway he'd been guarding, and with her attention gotten, he'd approached her for one of the most awkward conversations (if one could even call it that) she'd ever had in her life. This guard had always seemed a bit friendlier than the other, especially in her presence, but she'd never thought anything of it. After all, she was Queen Celestia's star pupil: everypony among the royals had always treated her kindly.

This time, though, had been the very first time that only he had approached her alone.

Of course, it'd seemed a little weird, but she'd kept her smile, being as polite as she could, as the guards never were anything less to her. It hadn't been until the conversation had begun, that she'd quickly wondered what the deal was. And it hadn't been until the ever-so-subtle proximity, a gentle touch of hooves, and the personal suggestion of her visiting Canterlot sometime in the near future, that she'd realized exactly what was going on.

Back in the current moment, as the realization finally hit her, Twilight was frozen. She'd never thought for even a moment that this would happen to her. This guard…liked her? As in, liked liked her? As in, was viewing her as a possible candidate for a mate? With the thought finally going through her mind, the mare felt as though she'd never be able to breathe again. How was this even possible? Or better yet, how could she have never noticed it until now? Had it even been going on before now? Had she just been so naïve that it'd taken her this long to get it? The guard had been extra nice to her in the past, but…this?

"Um…Miss Sparkle?"

Twilight only continued to stare stupidly at him in her state of shock, ears lowered, until the words reminded her that she'd probably been stuck like that for at least a full minute now. Instantly, she released a breath, and took a few steps back as her cheeks began to redden. She couldn't deal with this. She had no idea how! Why was it even happening!

She choked, "W-Well! I…I-I really should get going, sir! It's getting quite late and…you know! Studying calls! So glad we had this chat! …Goodnight!"

With a cheeky, nervous grin, Twilight turned tail after the words, and immediately dashed out of the situation as fast as she could go, not even waiting for a reply. It didn't even cross her mind how rude such an act was, and honestly, she didn't care. She couldn't speak to him a moment longer. Her only objective was to get back to the precious library she now called her home, and to her oldest friend who'd stayed behind from the night's events. And at the speed she was going, it didn't take long at all before she reached her destination.

Twilight Sparkle nearly crashed through the door, screaming the name she called upon so often without even taking a few seconds to make sure if he was still awake or not.

"SPIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKEEE!"

Luckily, and mostly due the fact that it wasn't quite too late yet, Spike still hadn't gone to sleep yet. He hadn't expected a greeting like the one he was getting now, either, though, especially not from the pony who just got back from seeing her favorite teacher in the more winding-down hours of the evening. The scream sent a jolting flinch through the dragon, and he immediately turned to the doorway Twilight had just burst through, eyes wide.

"AH! What! What is it!" he frantically asked as he held up a book in front of him, almost as a shield. Like any book could save him from Twilight's crazy panics. Still, it was more reflex than anything else.

Twilight, now collapsed in front of the door, panted loudly, her face still covered in the blush from before. She whimpered before trying to get out her news, and failing at it miserably.

She began again, "G-Guards! He likes me! Spike! WHY!"

"Twilight, calm down! What are you talking about?"

The mare suddenly gave a loud inhale before letting herself completely collapse to the floor. Spike only stared down at her in utmost confusion. There was silence in the library for a short moment, until Twilight whimpered out the held breath, and slowly picked herself up again. She used her magic to shut the door behind her, and plopped back down, in a sitting position this time. She looked to be completely exhausted.

"Well?" Spike asked again.

Finally, Twilight lifted her face to meet his gaze with a distraught one of her own. She hesitated yet again, and a few rapid breaths returned to her, along with her panic, before she tried to explain a second time.

"I-I don't get it!" she blurted out. "He likes me, Spike! We were talking, and, and his hoof was really close, and…he wants to see me again! I-I don't even know why! I didn't even know I was his type! I didn't know I was anypony's type!"

"Who?"

"REINARD!" She shut her eyes as she shouted the name, finally standing up, as if Spike should've known exactly who she was talking about to begin with. The shout sent the dragon jumping back again in surprise, but he didn't hold it against her; he knew how Twilight was when she got into her nerdy, spastic panics like these.

Still, the familiar name sparked within Spike's mind, and he couldn't help but lean forward a little with a weird, almost humored smile.

He asked, "Reinard, Celestia's guard?"

Twilight whimpered again, kneeling back down to cover her face with her front hooves. "Do you know any other Reinards, Spike?"

The young dragon rolled his eyes to himself. He knew it was dumb to ask, considering they really did only know one pony named Reinard, but he couldn't help it. Even he never would've guessed that one of the royal guards would be into Twilight. In fact…it was still hard to believe, even with her right in front of him, telling him about it. Spike looked back to her in confusion, and ignoring her smartass spur-of-panic remark, he spoke again.

"Um. Twilight…listen, I'm not saying I don't believe you…but…are you sure you know what you're talking about? I mean, you've never been into that sorta thing…what if you're wrong?"

Another short moment of silence passed between the two as Twilight lifted her head back up to look at Spike; her violet eyes were wide with an almost dumbstruck expression to them, as if the dragon had just tried to tell her that Celestia wasn't responsible for sunrise or something. She got to her hooves again, hesitantly, before answering him.

"Wrong?" she asked in a quiet voice, which only escalated to more shouting as she continued. "Wrong! His hoof WAS TOUCHING MINE! I've read all about that, so don't try to tell me I'M WRONG!"

Spike yelped a little, still holding out his book. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant what if it was an accident!"

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the purple pony sighed in exhaustion, sitting down and hanging her head: she was done. She couldn't keep shouting, and she knew it wasn't Spike's fault all this was happening, even if she hadn't been shouting at him, just at the idea of a stallion actually interested in her. Not just any stallion either, one of Queen Celestia's royal guards. Even if they weren't members of the royal family, they might as well be. They were sure treated like they were. But she…she was just a pupil, nothing special or royal about her in the least. Stallions weren't supposed to like her, especially not ones with his status. Helplessly, Twilight began again.

"I'm sorry for yelling, Spike. But there isn't a pony in Equestria who doesn't know better than to keep his hooves to himself unless in the presence of a pony he's interested in. Everypony knows that. I know that! And I don't even get into that whole…courtship ritual…deal," she paused. "The possibility of that being a coincidence is just far too small to even consider!"

"…Well…even if he does like you…is it really that big of a deal?"

Twilight was taken aback by the question, but only looked confused this go-round. "…Of course it's a big deal! In case you haven't noticed, I don't want ponies liking me! Ponies aren't supposed to like me! I'm a…well, I'm a nerd…and proud! I have much more important things to focus on in my life!"

The dragon only raised a brow. It was exactly the same way Twilight had acted about the idea of friends, back before she'd moved to Ponyville and met the five mares she now held so dear to her. He couldn't say he was surprised, though. As long as he'd known Twilight, she'd never held any interest in relationships, be them platonic or romantic. Especially romantic. The only thing she cared about was her studies, and the impression she left on their great queen. She was definitely the epitome of a nerd, that was for sure. But nevertheless…did she really plan on nevereven considering a love life someday? It wasn't like she was a little filly anymore.

Spike said, "So are you gonna talk to him about it?"

"…What?"

"You know…talk about what happened. Tell him you're not interested. Or, ya know, find out if you are or not," he concluded. "I'm guessing you just ran off in a scared frenzy without telling him anything?"

The guess had Twilight frozen for a second or two, before she just rolled her eyes with an annoyed sigh and got to her hooves. It always surprised her just how well her dragon friend knew her. She began to pace around the library as she worked up an answer to Spike's stupid suggestion. What was he even thinking, talking to Reinard about the ordeal? How could she do that?

"Spike, I can't talk to him! And I don't needto find out if I'm interested or not, because I KNOW I'm not! I don't know anything about him! I don't even know how old he is!"

"Does it matter how old he is? You're both adults, Twilight," he matter-of-factly replied.

Suddenly, the mare came to a halt from her pacing, eyes blinking wide. Spike truly didn't find this to be a big deal in the least? Nothing about it at all? Why the hay not? She shot him an annoyed glance after the seconds of realization. He was supposed to be supporting her! It wasn't like he had a reason not to…or did he?

She turned to face him with a soft groan. "Will you stop trying to argue all my points!"

"…Sorry, Twilight." The dragon sighed, rolling his eyes up in thought. "But seriously, you're making this into such a big deal. I mean, yeah, you're a nerd and you don't care about this stuff. But maybe he likes that. A nice flank isn't the only thing all guys care about, ya know. You're smart, and good, and don't get me wrong, you're not bad looking either. I'm just saying…maybe it's not as bad as you think. You really wanna be alone forever?"

Once the reply was complete, Twilight was unsure if she'd even be able to speak back. Eyes wide, and mouth open, she only looked down at her friend in surprise. She would've never dreamt to hear something so thought-provoking from him, especially not on this topic. She didn't even know Spike cared about what she planned to do with her future, or rather, what she planned not to do. From the sound of such a question, though, it sure seemed that he did. She also hadn't expected the compliments, or the idea that perhaps Reinard did like the personality she held, but the last words had certainly provoked the most surprise.

She hesitated, and answered the only way she could. "I…I don't know."

Spike shrugged a bit at the answer.

"Well, maybe you should think about it before you jump to decisions. That's all I'm saying."

And with those last words, the conversation had ended. Twilight was still shocked at hearing Spike say something like that, but she couldn't deny he often had a way of surprising her with how mature he really could be sometimes, for a dragon of his young age. He'd left to get some sleep after that, and shortly after, so had she. But while Spike fell asleep pretty quickly, the mare found herself staying up for over an hour more, just staring at the night sky from her window.

Maybe Spike was right. Maybe this part of her future, finding a mate someday, really was something she needed to think more about. Maybe being alone forever wasn't something she'd end up happy with as time passed. She'd never even thought about it the way Spike had before. But now that she was, she honestly had no idea what to think on the matter, when earlier she'd been so certain. Not only that, but also Spike's other words had her rethinking her old views. Maybe her status as a nerd really was a lot more insignificant of a detail than she thought. Twilight had never really considered herself attractive in the past, but…hadn't Spike pretty much said she was? She'd always spent so much time in the mindset that there was nothing too special about her at all (save her magic), that she'd never even considered other possibilities. Had she been wrong in that too?

Twilight still had no idea what she planned to do about Reinard. She still didn't really want to go talk to him about what had happened, or how he felt about her. Now with the advice in mind that jumping to decisions too quickly was a bad idea, though, she really didn't know what to do. She didn't know much about him, but that also meant maybe it wasn't fair to her to immediately decide what she wanted to do. Finally giving a sigh, Twilight rolled to her side and closed her eyes. It was just something she'd have to think more about…tomorrow.

Well THIS turned out a little differently than I'd intended, lol. It was supposed to be mostly focused on Twilight's freaking out over romance issues (which, it is), but it took a turn into also becoming a Twilight/Spike friendship fic. I guess that's nice too, though; I'm just glad I got to work some with Twilight and Spike, as I haven't yet. And YEP. The guard's name is Reinard, because I was too lazy to come up with a good pony name that sounded legit. Go me.

Anywho, don't worry, I didn't ditch "Of Females and Feathers." I just randomly got an idea for a Twilight one-shot, and wanted to write it before the inspiration faded. This may end up becoming a two-shot, though, because I'd love to do another chapter in which an actual resolve happens. So if you liked this, and you'd be interested to see another chapter, just alert it. I'll probably come back. Besides, I actually really do like the TwilightxGuard ship, anyway. It's cute.

If you're wondering about that random hoof-touch thing... I totally made it up off the top of my head. So yeah, I know it's probably got no connection whatsoever to real horses. Don't hate. And again, YEP. I changed Celestia to the queen, because it's better. If you don't like it, tough love, baby. ;)

Reviews & favs are very appreciated! Thanks for reading!