At last Spike came to the edge of Ponyville, near the forest he was so anxious about, but much more importantly, he was near the cottage where hopefully, two of his pony friends resided. Upon coming within sight of the place, Spike noticed the ensemble of animals this pony friend kept, and for a moment he wondered if the spell Twilight had cast on him was having any effect on them, for they all appeared to sitting silent, simply eying the dragon with faint suspicion that he imagined wouldn't be there if he wasn't under the spell's influence.
Stepping up to the door, and giving a sharp knock, Spike was slightly alarmed when it flew open much more swiftly then he was used to. And the pony that had opened it was not the pony he wanted to see, but rather the pony that resided there: Fluttershy. But then Spike had to remind himself that it was most likely that the pony resident would open the door, yet inside he had a nagging little feeling that the pony he sought had already gone and left.
"Spike!" Fluttershy exclaimed in joy. "Spike, welcome! What's brings you here?"
"Hey Fluttershy." Spike said, slightly surprised by her forthcoming attitude but considering his interactions today, he was slowly getting used to it.
She allowed him entrance into her cottage without waiting for a reply. Spike then had another thought concerning the spell, and whether it had some kind of range.
"Please, Spike, do tell me what brings you here, it obviously can't be because of little old me." She announced.
"Well no." Spike admitted.
"Of course, of course." Fluttershy assured herself. "Not that I don't mind, you see. It's not like I'm the most popular pony in town, hey I don't really live in town y'know."
"Yeah." Spike replied trying to appear as formal as possible. "I don't suppose you've seen..." He was about to ask.
"Wait a minute, I think I know what this is about." She discerned. "You are obviously after my most recent visitor yes."
"Yes. Have you seen her?" Spike asked eagerly.
"Well of course I've seen her, silly, how else would I have been able to deduct that you are clearly interested in seeing her today." The pony informed him. "But don't you want to know what we had to talk about first, before I divulge her fate."
"Fine, whatever." Spike groaned, while finding the term "fate" a little strange.
"Well now." Fluttershy began. "I'm afraid to say that we had quite the, how you say, argument, regrettably. You see, she came round here not two hours ago, on some kind of quest for a particular gemstone of a kind, and for some reason had this nagging feeling that the Everfree Forest would hold something to suit her liking."
"Uh-huh." Spike uttered, taking it all in. "Go on."
"Well, needless to say, she came to me hoping that I would have some kind of guide or indication as to the location of such a stone." Fluttershy informed him, still in that formal tone that was very unlike her. "But, sad to say, we got into quite the argument regarding our own preferences. I was of the impression that she would be partial to listening to my advice, considering my experiences with the forest, and we did collide regarding our opinions. You understand?"
"Umm, I think so." Spike replied.
"Needless to say, we had quite the conflict, she said some rather brash things, and I did some rather nasty things. In fact, if she wasn't dead, it'd be very hard to mend our relationship."
"Yes." Spike replied, before properly digesting what she had said. "Umm, what?"
"Yes." Fluttershy said. "It would be very hard to repair out relationship."
"No, no no. What was the part before that?" Spike pleaded in panic.
"Oh, you mean the fact that she's dead." The pony said in a very formal manner. "Yes, it's quite regrettably, but the deed's been done, I'm afraid."
"What… how… why?" The little dragon was now spurting in sheer terror.
"Yes, one minute she's angrily arguing and yelling her mouth off. And the next she's lying on the floor looking pretty unresponsive, I really don't know why this is so hard on you." Fluttershy explained, still ignorant of what she was saying.
"But, how did she die?" Spike managed to get out in his state.
"I don't see how that's relevant." She replied. "But on another note, in order to bury her, I've had to remove the chicken coup in order to make room."
"Oh that's… that's… horrible." Spike uttered, not wanting to hear any more.
"Yes it is horrible. Or at least it would be… if it were true." Fluttershy chuckled to herself.
"What?" Spike responded, a different feeling about him now.
Fluttershy gave another chuckle, which turned into a contained laugh.
"Heh heh, oh I'm sorry, Spike. I've been joking with you." She confessed, bringing some feeling back into the terrified little dragon.
"You've been… joking?" He cried out.
"Yes yes, I do apologise for my… macabre sense of humour, I really don't know what came over me." She explained, chuckling again.
"Oh, that's…" Spike began but the relief was too much for him.
"I didn't have to remove the chicken coup to bury her." Fluttershy added.
"What!" Spike shouted.
She simply laughed again, enjoying the effect she was having a little too much.
"Just another little joke there, little Spike." She explained, Spike feeling relieved all over again. "But if you really are concerned with her whereabouts, you needn't worry. She simply took a little trip into the Everfree Forest to our certain zebra friend."
"Thanks." Spike said in a little of an understatement.
"Anyway, you'd better be of then." Fluttershy announced to the dragon. "If you still want to find her, don't let me impede you."
Spike agreed, he felt a longing to get out now, lest Fluttershy rely any more of her little jokes on him. Taking his leave, Spike noticed as he left that that she was still chuckling to herself, not a very reassuring sight, but now he had a new destination to head to, hoping that the pony he sought was there for sure this time.
