`Chapter 3: not a fan of the blues
The drake was in the same exact seat at the bakery for almost an hour, at this point the environment was slowly driving him insane. The absolute lack of information for the meeting she wanted didn't help him. "Maybe this whole thing….." spike was about to say but someone interjected him "this whole what?, not healthy to talk to yourself, not healthy at all!" the bouncy voice seemed all too familiar. "Pinkie?" spike asked, turned around and finding the pink earth pony behind him. "That's right, at your service!" she replied, spike being slightly confused by some things that she says is just accepted now in his book. "Where were you yesterday?" spike asked, pinkie then quickly replied "that is a mystery that i don't even know the answer of?" if she was out that day then wouldn't she know where she was? "Just kidding!, getting ready to travel, finally finding my destiny and stuff" spike's brain was fried from her previous answer but her getting ready to travel is an answer he was surprised by. "Traveling and destiny, huh?" spike replied, pinkie nodded extremely fast and replied "i wanna travel the entire land and make people smile, it's just my thing" this didn't seem anywhere near out of color for her personality but it another person familiar to him disappearing.
"Before i leave, we're gonna have a huge party, a couple of our friends already said they'll be coming" pinkie said, this gained spike's interest. He hasn't seen the rest of the six in 3 years without counting pinkie and fluttershy. "Rarity might even come, wouldn't that be exciting!" she exclaimed, this made spike freeze up for a second. "Has she said…. Anything about me?" spike stuttered, his cheeks turning slowly red. "Yeah!, she really wants to see you, why ya ask?" she replied, this got him to slightly smile and reply "that's good, tell me about it when the time comes" pinkie nodded and replied "it won't be till at least the end of the summer but i'll remind you spikey!" spike folded his arms and put his head on the table, still hoping that trixie wanted to meet here. "What's going on with you?, did ya order anything?" pinkie asked , spike shook his head and replied "nah….. Waiting for someone" pinkie immediately latched onto that vague answer "ohhh, new mare huh?" spike aggressively shook his head and replied "definitely not that…. Someone gave me this and asked me to meet them" he pulled the sack out of his coat pocket and placed it on the table. Pinkie analysed the object and looked inside it, finding the pile of bits inside. "Ohhhhh, then how did you figure here was the right place?, are you a psychic spike?" she replied, he dismissed the last question and focused on the first one. "Well….. Could you keep a secret?" spike asked, pinkie shook her head rapidly and replied "i love secrets!" ironically, she exclaimed her love of secrets and grabbed the attention of the whole bakery. "Sshh, now are you listening" spike whispered and pinkie shook her head. "Well, trixie was in the diamond dog caverns yesterday" spike whispered, pinkie gave a silent oooh at the sentiment, once again spike reassured her of no romance involved. "Had a run in with one dog and i managed to save her from death, i think this is her way of thanking me for it, maybe giving me some kind of job" spike finished, pinkie nodded and froze for a second. Spike was purely confused by what she was doing until she unfroze and replied "she's coming in here in about 1 minute" spike chuckled but then he remember her precognitive abilities. "But isn't that limited to only to instant threats?" spike asked, pinkie then replied "practice, i'm only getting lucky with it so far, i might be able to time travel, but one pinkie is enough for this world" spike forgets how funny pinkie pie could be on the right occasion. "Alright, got some catch up to do with work, good luck with your marefriend!" she exclaimed, spike not really caring enough to correct her but… "already claiming me as yours, huh dragon?" spike turned around and saw the light blue mare behind him. "First of all, spike, second of all, misunderstanding" spike replied, trixie taking a seat next to him, about to give him the oddest proposition.
"Rent, you want a place to stay?" spike questioned, trixie nodded and replied "just till certain things get rearranged, time is of the essence with this deal dra…. Spike" spike had multiple thoughts about this whole deal. Why him?, how would he explain this to other visitors?, how would this affect his life of solitude? "Why me?" spike asked, trixie was dead silent and darted her eyes everywhere else beside looking at him. "Cause you've gained my trust, can't you value that?" she replied, gained her trust? Does that mean friendship is a close second? "I'm not that fond of you spike but….. You were a reliable resource and i want to take advantage of that just a little longer" for some reason, that made the drake lightly blush. "Umm….. thanks i guess…. Wait!, did you just admit you're using me?!" spike asked, trixie then replied "wouldn't you love to help the wonderful and beautiful mare in front of you?" she asked, he finally realised how much of a mistake this was, it killed half a day so it didn't really affect him. "I…." spike was about to answer but then trixie interjected "that sack of bits, you could get that every two weeks, just… please" if she has enough to give him this many bits on a consistent basis, then why is she sounding so desperate? "I…. don't need the money, the sack you gave me should be enough" spike said, trixie's eyes lit up but she quickly regained her composer. "well….. I thank you for your services" trixie said, this time she pulled out her hoof for a shake. Spike put his hand out and they shook on it, now sharing a living space together on agreement. "I have a couple ground rules though" she said, spike groaned, her having the nerve to set ground rules for his place.
"So this would be my room, needs to cleaned a little but you could manage that, right spike?" they made it back to the treehouse and spike was showing her around. He decided to give her his old room, not really anything he would want from that room beside the coat he wore today. "Yeah, i'll get it done, anything else princess?" spike said with heavy sarcasm. "You asked for this and i barely payed you for it either" she replied with a chuckle to back it up. He couldn't really say anything to bite back at her, he basically gave her a free place to stay because he feels right about it. "Just… you have anything else to do today, so that i could actually work on your room?" spike asked, "yeah… sort of, it'll be about an hour" she replied, spike wasn't surprised about that, she must have some type of job here to support that much bit income. "Alright, i'll get that done by the time your back" spike replied, trixie only nodded and continued her tour around the house. Spike was still in shock that he actually agreed to her proposition. That responsibility towards other people problems is something that gets him into a lot of stupid things like this. What is her issue anyways? She seems to have enough money to pay for at least a decently sized place in ponyville and might have a job to boot. Why would she need to crash at a place like this?, all of this just didn't add up for spike. "Alright, seems nice enough to hold my amazing nature, i'm heading out for an hour" trixie said, heading out the door, not even at least waving him goodbye. "Might as well start work on her room" spike said to himself, walking back into the room and starting the cleaning process. This was spike's expertise, he could call cleaning an activity and do it flawlessly if he's bored. From time to time spike's thoughts go wild when he doing a repetitive or boring task. He thought about how this room was used before he abandoned it and how he could actually fit inside of the tiny bed on the floor. He remembered that this was his safe and neutral location after any adventure that the six had. "Looks like i'll need to get a bed soon…. Eh, she'll probably not be here long, a larger cushion for the floor should do" spike said to himself, if anything, the one person he talks to the most is himself. He moved the almost broken closet outside of the room and headed towards the kitchen to get a broom. "I could move a couple things around and…" spike was already thinking about the multiple ways he could put the room together, "ok, this will take a little bit more time then" spike said to himself as he started roaming around the house to get more supplies.
Ponies are given all types of jobs to make a certain amount of bits, sell items, draft in a guard position, put on shows, all of these things make the town a breeding ground for success. Some people get the shorter end of the stick, it also doesn't help that you swindled people twice on your last visit. The only person that would accept the idea of giving trixie some type of job would be someone who is naive enough to believe in her. Well….Two people in the universe share that same trait and one of those people sells a variety of different things in this town. It's what most ponies would call a trading post, most come to trade items for bits. It taking the concept of a annual trading convention you would find outside of town and placing it in a smaller scale. The store had a simple design, glass displays on the counter of different items that were traded to the shop, quilts hanging on all of the walls, multiple displays of different things collected peppered around the main area of the shop. The owner took pride in the little shop she created for herself and even has a decent amount of customers come in from time to time. "Where is that mare, i don't have time for her games" she said, looking up at the clock on her wall. She then saw the light blue mare tap on the front door and she groaned at her unprofessional nature. "4 minutes late, trixie lulamoon" the mare said to herself, letting her inside in the process.
"Done, it should be satisfactory for her when she comes in" spike said to himself, taking a rest after a long overhaul of what used to be his room. First of all, he went out and bought a cushion for her to sleep on. The floor of the room was spotless and he even brought up a spare closet for her to use if she even buys any other pairs of clothes. "Cushion in the middle, closet and mirror on the side, seems good enough" spike said to himself, proud of his completed job on the room, he decided to go on the outside deck to relax. Spike walked to his left and opened the door at the end of the hall. Revealing a small outside deck with a beautiful view of the town, a rusted telescope was still there and untouched by spike. Spike pulled out a chair and just absorbed the view, something that has become a routine to him. It's his daily reminder of what kind of place he inhabits and how beautifully simplistic the town is. These moments are ones that he needs to treasure before everything turns haywire. "Why did i even agree to do this?, my days of solitude will probably be over" spike said to himself, groaning and lounging deeper into the chair. Why do something that gives you so much headache to do? Tons of sacrifices he's willingly made for this one random mare, things aren't really adding up in his head for it to be logical. "I don't….. Think she's ugly but definitely not gonna be my first" spike said to himself, thinking maybe he just wanted to impress a mare. Then he heard a knock on the door, interrupting his thoughts and knowing it was probably trixie. He walked his way downstairs and opened the door to see a very worn trixie going through the door and asking "please, tell me a have a room to die in right now?" she asked, spike nodded and headed his way back to the outside deck but then trixie looked at him and asked "and where are you going?" spike turned around and replied "outside deck, why are you asking?" trixie then replied "without making anything, jeez you're manners need work" she said this in a extremely passive aggressive manner. "What!, i… fine" spike didn't have the care to argue about something that petty. He walked downstairs and started towards the kitchen to fix something at least decent.
It was nothing much, he just made a simple omelet for both of them without that much real effort put in. However, she ate like a decent meal hasn't come to her in years and an omelet was the best thing she's ever had. "You did well with this i'll admit….." she said while still chewing on another piece of food. "Please just finish eating first, that's really gross" spike replied, trixie stopped chewing for a second and then in one gulp she swallowed it. "Even when i give you a compliment, it's not enough for you" she replied, that was a stretch for her? Spike passed this off and actually chuckled at the near stupidity. "Who are you laughing at, lowly dragon!" she exclaimed, spike then had his limit with that. "Hey!, now i need a ground rule, i have a name and you're going to use it!" he exclaimed. Trixie then replied "oh, so now you grow some kind of backbone?" her voice was one of complete confidence and control. "I….. i have a backbone" spike said unconfidently. "why am i here then?" trixie asked with sarcastic tone backing her voice , spike was just completely silent at that response. It's a good question, spike squeezed his hands open and closed, trying to find an angle to reply with. Then…. "Cause if i wasn't nice, you would already be packing" spike said, gaining frustration in his voice. already finished with his food and walking upstairs. He didn't even bother picking up after himself, he was still a little bit peeved by just that interaction alone. "Arrogant as…: spike was about to say to himself but he only heard one sentence from trixie. "Hey… don't worry about the dishes, i'll get to them" she said in a lower tone than usual, lacking her bombast or confidence. Spike continued walking up the stairs however, making that an issue for the next day.
The next day was a big surprise already for the drake, the first thing that spike was blessed with was a silent trixie for half of the morning. She didn't even demand him to make any breakfast for the both of them, laziness was actually something he could have today. The silence is something spike didn't question, he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. As he was about to prepare a small breakfast for himself, he couldn't help but start to grow curious about her new state. "Hey, do you want any…" before spike could even finish the sentence "no, i'm good, piss off please!" she exclaimed. The first thing she's said all morning and it's for spike to basically piss off, this only puzzled the drake but not anger him. "Ok, more for me" he replied, somehow keeping a more reserved and nice outlook on the day. Maybe this was the dragon's special skill and he could get a cutie mark for extreme patience. Then, she just walked out the door without saying another word to him. This was the beginning of spike's odd second day co-existing with the blue mare, this didn't start his full interest into her problems however. So far, this was a godsend for spike, maybe she leaves and he doesn't have to feel bad about it. Then again, this was odd behavior, insulting him is not new but the full on silence is slowly picking at him. "Can't let that get to me, maybe eating my breakfast could push it out of my mind" spike said to himself, heading to kitchen to finish heating the eggs for his breakfast. He finished cooking the eggs and placed them on the table, starting to enjoy a hearty breakfast. "I'll…. Look into things when the time comes" that was spike's first answer before he continued eating his breakfast, not even giving it a second before being in someone else's case.