Chapter 5: leave enough alone, part 2

"Market is pretty busy today, huh?" fluttershy asked spike, observing the town square from a bench. They haven't even got a chance to start their shop based on how crowded this specific day was. "Well in between season changes, it tends to be more busy" spike replied, fluttershy nodded in response. Spike finally had something to be excited about, summer is basically around the corner now. "So…. what's been going on?" fluttershy asked, usually this was spike's question for her but he obliged her. "Nothing really….." spike paused, wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to tell her. The pause didn't necessarily help his case, it's basically just screamed "i'm hiding something,please investigate!". She's not a dense mare, so she picked up on this little pause and asked "are you alright?". Spike nodded and replied "just thought about how empty my calendar is…." adding a fake laugh and at least that made her chuckle. He wasn't sure if it's was because of the joke or how stupid his fake laugh is. "Well if we want to come back with anything, might as well get going" spike said, trying to get moving and fluttershy nodded in reply. As spike was about to get up, fluttershy tapped his shoulder and that gained his attention. "I… i'll give you the same luxury you give me…." fluttershy was trying to say, spike noticed the amount of pause that was in her sentence. "You don't owe me…" spike was about to reply with a bitterness in his voice until fluttershy interjected "i'm you friend, we're still at least half a team, you can talk to me" these were the words that he expected but some kind of weight was added to her words, spike then turned around to face her and tried to reply "well…." well, that's all he managed to get out before actually looking at her. "This flustered crap is getting annoying" spike thought to himself, so he decided to turn himself around and replied with his back turned "i guess that's true…". Spike not knowing how to be subtle, only ticked her suspicion more then needed. "You might be sick, i'll get you some ginger root while we're shopping" fluttershy said as she lifted herself from the bench. "That's fluttershy for you, sometimes i thank celestia for her blind kindness, and genuine nature, and soft smile, matter of fact she doesn't look…." spike immediately stopped his train of thought and lifted himself off of the bench. Spike and fluttershy walked side by side, ready to maneuver around the large crowds in the market.

"Went out with fluttershy, no worries and no need to apologize, i'll be fine" trixie read the letter out loud that spike left on the front of the door. This is the 3rd time that she read it, this is if she's counting the times she read it in her head. This lifted a minor weight off her back but the part that'll never be lifted is whether she deserves forgiveness. These thoughts, however, are usually put way in the back burner to keep moving from day to day for her. "If she did it, then everyone should, right?" trixie asked herself, wondering how selfish asking for simple forgiveness actually would be. "That's nothing to think about right now, let's see what this town has to offer for fu….." as she was saying that, she remembered the current scenario. Nobody would let her really do anything without making her feel guilt that she already owns. This left her with a limited amount of options when it comes to a mare's only day. "I'll just…. Stay here, i already had enough time outside" she said to herself, making her way upstairs. She was on the original pace to her room but then on her way she saw the stargazing deck. "Interesting place to relax….." she thought to herself and changed direction.

"This was definitely a good idea" trixie said to herself. The sun was beating in her face, the wind was flowing perfectly through her mane, it was the tell tale sign of summer coming around. The lounge chair was also a nice fit to her actual surprise. She was looking out at the town and saw many of the different ponies working and playing their part in the town. It was almost looking at a miniature universe which she is the center of. As she was looking out of this view and seeing all these things,this made her unearth a feeling she never thought possible "this place….. I really feel at home here" she thought to herself. Of all places to pick a home for, she picks the place where almost half of the population either fear or hate her. She was melting into the lounge chair, trying to fight the urge to start sleeping. "I've been scattering all over the place for awhile now, for once, atleast for a moment, peace has come to me…." these were the last thoughts of trixie before she fell into a slumber.

"I could give you 2 apples for 6 bits and that's as low as i go" a local fruit stand owner was arguing. Spike wasn't buying it but didn't have the nerve to speak out about it, fluttershy wasn't buying it either but there is a stark difference between the two. "I know what you doing, just please, 4 or 5 is the best i can do" fluttershy replied, almost begging for this last part of her shopping to get done. The stand owner started laughing, this slightly annoyed spike. "being a jerk is funny for him" spike thought to himself. "Since you're begging… 8 bits for one!" the owner exclaimed, exploding in laughter. The drake finally had enough, "how about three bits?" spike said, fluttershy looked at him with disbelief. "Oh really?, and how's that gonna be possible?" the clerk asked, mocking the dragon. Spike isn't necessarily a baby dragon anymore, he's grown quite a height on him. He's at least 2 feet higher than he was before, bringing him at least a foot higher than the average stallion. This allowed him to have the ability to take on a scarier appearance when provoked. This is one of the only times he has used any of that to his advantage. He flared one of his fangs and stood a little taller "because unlike you, she has a dragon on her side" he said in a threatening tone and finished the show by blowing a small and really harmless flame. The stand owner was shaking and his pride was fully destroyed as he replied "keep the bits if you want, i'll give you three apples!" he exclaimed, quickly placing the three apples on the counter and then crouching behind it. While spike took the three apples, fluttershy placed 3 bits on the table as they both walked away. Spike looked back at her action, still willing to give her hard earned bits to someone who wronged her. This was another reason why spike really started to admire her., "honestly, i would have took the fruit for free" spike said to her, fluttershy quickly turned and replied "if i…. Or we did that, were no better than him" she made her stance firm with her voice, spike then nodded in reply. She turned around with the same amount of quickness and kept walking. Spike had an idea that maybe she was upset with him, "i have to stop her, i don't want her to be upset with me" spike thought, he thought maybe the bench in the middle of town would be a good place to stop her.

"Fluttershy, maybe you should slow down for a second?" spike asked, she ignored his plea to slow down. "I wanna make sure i didn't burn anything when i….." spike said, all he heard was fluttershy give off a large sigh. "Ok, we'll take a seat at the bench over there" she replied, with a level of frustration in her voice. Spike saw the bench she was talking about and followed her to that location. He now started feeling regretful about the actions he took with the shop owner and it was all because of the disappointment in her face. He took a seat next to her and started checking the bags, hoping to sneak a conversation in. "look, he was obviously trying to get one over you and i needed to do…." before he could even finish the sentence…. "I…. i'm not mad spike, it's just, i don't want anyone to fear me…" she said, looking down at ground. Spike heard small sniffles coming from fluttershy and this made him feel way worse then he already did. "Fluttershy…." spike tried to call out, the only response he heard was more small sniffles. She finally looked up at him, looking completely hurt inside, without making a single tear. "They fear me, not you, never you" spike said, looking straight into her eyes. "That's supposed to be better…" she replied, all emotion drained from her voice. "Yeah…. It's just…. How do i put this….?" spike was stumbling in his words again. He was stuck on what words he wanted to say besides….."you do stupid things for people you care about" spike replied, slowly looking down in embarrassment. Fluttershy was silent, almost as if she was in her own thoughts.

Last night, the very last night before everything changed and it was full of celebration. The dark nights of the treehouse library changed into a place bursting with party lights and color. Streamers were spread from the main desk area to every shelf in the library. This being something twilight allowed for even one night made it special. Loud party music was the only thing your heard with only the slight whispers of conversation, screaming was the only way to have a dialogue with someone. The google wearing dj didn't care, none of her friends cared, no one around her was bothered by it besides her and the drake sitting parallel to her. "Why does it have to be so loud?" she asked in annoyance, spike nodded and replied with heavy sarcasm "ehh, i'll just let the atmosphere of celebration pass me by" him and fluttershy gave off a light chuckle. It took the looming threat of change for spike and fluttershy to actually start hanging out more. The irony of this sentiment is that they both might be moving on to larger ventures and maybe that's what kicked them both into gear. "So, find out what you'll be doing after this whole thing ends?" spike asked her, fluttershy thought for a moment before replying "i… haven't received any offer, unlike everyone else so….. Staying here" there was obvious disappointment in her voice and spike didn't take an affinity for her when she's like this. Speaking of affinity, rarity was moving along to their table with her new coltfriend. "Spikey!, is that you?!" she asked, it's been atleast a year since they've seen each other. Fluttershy barely heard her but all she had to do is turn to spike and see him looking almost sickly when looking at them. He lightly slapped himself and forced a smile before they both came close enough to see. "Oh my gosh, rarity!, it's been so long!" spike replied, going in for a hug in his mind but was put off by the almost stern look her colt had. "How's it been, everybody must be dying to see…." rarity didn't even finish her sentence before seeing fluttershy on the other side of the table. She didn't even need to say a word to her, the embrace was coming from a mile away. As she hugged her, fluttershy just looked at spike and for a split second she saw sadness before he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Before we all talk, i specifically want to talk to you spike, i think you'll like what i'll propose to you" rarity said after letting go of fluttershy. Spike walked away with rarity for this talk but still quickly looked back at fluttershy, it was almost like something was already on his mind before rarity had anything to say to them.

"Spike, it's fine, just tell me one thing…." fluttershy said, intentionally speeding through him apologizing. "Yeah?" spike replied, fluttershy took a deep breath and replied "what did rarity talk to you about that night?" spike took a second, wondering if this is something that he should tell her. Spike only had one simple sentence to reply with "i had no intention of going to manehatten to be rarity's assistant". Immediately everything made sense to her…. "You dropped everything….." spike already saw where her sentence is going and just finished it for her "to make sure you'd turn out ok….at least that where things started…." spike furiously looked at the ground, trying to hide the red that was slowly growing throughout his face. Fluttershy was wondering why he was looking at the ground until she finally put together was he was trying to say. This gave way to her own version of shyness and blushing, both weren't the bastions of comfort right now. The surprising first one to actually speak however….. "Of course, it would have been always yes spike" fluttershy said, looking directly at the drake with a newborn energy, a fire in her eyes. "Yes, what?" spike whipped his head up, looking straight at her. Fluttershy lifted her hooves towards her face, letting out a muffled scream and replied "did i read that wrong!, oh no!" she said these words at a speed spike didn't even think possible. Spike grabbed her and replied "it's ok, i was joking!" fluttershy stopped freaking out and paused, then they both started laughing. After getting over the initial misunderstanding, they we're both stuck with exposed feelings for each other. "So… what's next, am i….." fluttershy started and then spike jumped "unless you don't wanna be?" she appreciated the amount of courtesy, false or not. "No regrets, marefriend it is!" she exclaimed, expressing excitement at the new path. Spike was genuinely shocked at the lack of restraint in her emotions but that shock didn't last for long. "I…. well….." spike was trying to find the next thing to propose. Fluttershy then interjected "how about we start with food?" she looked upon him with a beaming smile. Spike was blown away with the amount of adorable looking right at him "uh… yeah, let's do that!" spike exclaimed in reply. The newly joined couple lifted themselves off the bench and made their way to the nearest diner.

"Lulamoon…." an unknown voice called to her. Nothing but a flood of darkness was around her, there was nothing else to see or hear besides this voice. "Wha….. but my…. First…." the young mare tried to respond to this disembodied voice but barely anything came out of her "i know your first name but i prefer your last…" the voice replied, this baffled trixie, no one has ever said something of this nature to her. "Oh…. i get it….. Dream" she replied in the most simple of grammatical structure. "I don't visit you as often, cause you're never really at….." trixie regained enough energy to interrupt her. "Doesn't matter….., why can't i…" she still was struggling to bring an amount of structure to her words. "I'm aware of the issue but it's something only in your control" the voice replied, before trixie could even respond to her idea…..

Trixie was jolted out of her sleep on the chair, she had lost connection to whatever place she was in. "first dream in half a year" she said to herself. As she was slowly regaining her bearings, she realized the darkness that was in front of her outside. She was mentally slapping herself for sleeping that long but then another question popped up in her head. "Where's the dragon?" trixie asked herself, it's at least been a couple hours and she didn't even hear a creak at the door. Of course the first thought that popped up in her head was abandonment, "that'll mean this treehouse is mine until one of his friends starts asking questions….." she thought to herself but then quickly shook that idea away. "Fluttershy was on her way to visit spike for a shopping trip with him, shopping dosen't take this….. No!" she exclaimed and starting bursting into laughter. "Not him and her, definitely not!" the idea was so ridiculous to her that she almost gave herself a heart attack with just the humor of that alone. She decided to look out to see if the drake was anywhere outside and finally trixie saw spike. Him and fluttershy were walking side by side, seeming to be having the time of their lives. "Hmm…almost looks like a date" she said to herself, chuckling after finishing that statement. Once she saw fluttershy besides him, she bolted from her position and made her way back inside.

Spike was one to always put old sayings into scrutiny, most of these sayings were pretty much idiotic in his eyes. However, after the day that this drake had, he at least found new meaning in one of these sayings. "Times flies when you're having fun….." spike thought to himself, glancing at the smiling mare beside him. It was actually her that noticed the sky slowly starting to darken and usually that would be something he noticed. "Today was great for me spike" fluttershy said in the most sing song way. Spike nodded and said in reply "same here, it's just….." spike was stuck in a thought. This was his very first time having a marefriend or even being on a minor date. "When do we go out again?" spike finally finished said thought, fluttershy stopped for a second before reaching the front of the treehouse. "Hmmm…." it seemed as if her schedule was filling up in her head the moment dating became a prospect. "Two days from now, wednesday sounds good for me" she replied, spike was relieved at how instant the answer was. Spike still had doubt on whether or not she actually liked him but that's a different issue for later. As they finally reached the doorstep, they both looked at each other, expecting a move from the one beside them. "So… i guess this is goodbye for now" spike was the first one to talk, he was shifting his feet the entire time while speaking. "Ok…. i can't wait till next time!" fluttershy excitingly replied, spike was witness to a completely different mare then years ago. Spike had his hand on the door and before he could even turn around, she was gone. "Interesting….." spike thought, he was really expecting at least a peck on the cheek. He shrugged it off and made his way inside the treehouse, the first thing he sees is an impatient trixie sitting in one of the living room chairs. Spike looked at the scenario and with all the good luck flying around, he cracked a smile and found a seat in the living room.

"Hey….." trixie said softly, not even wanting to look him in the eye. Spike was puzzled by her tone, it was the most unlike her he's ever seen. "Where's the pride, the big theatrics, aren't you better at this then me…" spike replied sarcastically, he thought for sure that this would get a reaction out of her. "The note….. Did you mean it?" trixie replied, with the same softer tone she had before. It was almost like she completely ignored him mocking her. It was just a letter and to spike, the answer to her question was pretty clear… "yeah, of course, no hard feelings" spike replied, trixie nodded and looked as if she was gonna say something profound. "It can't be that easy….." she said to herself, spike obviously heard the mare speaking next to him. "For me it is" spike replied, trixie was shocked that he even heard her. "It's….. You know what, i'll take it" trixie replied, taking a breath and sinking deeper in the chair. "Did you have some kind of day?" spike asked, trixie glanced over at him and replied "i guess…." referring to all of the mental gymnastics she took in the first half of the day and her odd dream. They were both in a completely awkward silence until spike spoke up. "Do you genuinely want to improve the relationship with the ponies of this town, start completely fresh?" spike asked , trixie immediately perked up from her seat and gave a rapid nod in reply. "Then we need to start working, community service is always something anypony apperciaties!" spike said in excitement, trixie winced at the idea of hard work but saw the drake's point. "I know, work isn't anyone's favorite thing to do, but it is your best shot at redemption, i wouldn't suggest it otherwise" spike replied, trixie pondered it for a moment and decided to put her trust into spike. "Ok…. new start, got it" she replied, putting an unorthodox amount of weight into those words. This made the drake actually smile,thinking that he's actually given a task that would really benefit someone, his own kind of friendship mission. Trixie was actually infected by the same amount of excitement, a brand new path to walk through. "Oh yeah, been meaning to ask, did you go on a date with…..". Before she could even finish the question… "well…. yeah, no need to keep that secret" spike replied, trixie only had one response to the drake's nonchalant revelation "oh….. wow, never would have guessed". Spike shrugged and replied "same here, but when you feel it, you feel it, know what i mean". A pleasant surprise for the drake, trixie nodded in agreement. For the very first time in trixie's long and complicated life, she started having a normal conversation with the dragon. Two enemies years ago, sitting down and having a conversation, an interesting start to what'll be and interesting friendship.

Author's note: I kinda wanted to write this chapter like an ending to an opening arc. this doesn't mean that the next chapter isn't coming out soon, expect a new chapter tomorrow. thanks for reading, leave a review so i can see you. ha! it rhymes :) damn, this chapter ended up way shorter then it looked while writing it. no worries, the next one will sure make up for it.

.