Chapter 1: Timid Butterfly, Sleeping Dragon (Rewrite 16/07/2012)

Spike woke with a lazy yawn, glancing over to the clock shooting up right when he saw what time it was.

That can't be right, it's not like Twilight to let me sleep in.

He looked over to Twilight's empty bed.

Great so she's awake, oh well time to get up hopefully she isn't too mad.

He streched out, his basket was very comfortable but he couldn't help think it was getting a little too small, often waking with a terrible cramp from sleeping all curled up.

I wish she would buy me a bed, I'm an assistant not a pet.

He walked downstairs humming when he noticed something,

That's strange, it's not like Twilight to be so quiet, usually this time of day all I can hear is her fussing over those books of hers.

Concerned he called out for her, more than worried that he got no reply. He peered down the stairs, Twilight was nowhere to be seen. He could see Owlicious perched on her desk, "Hey Owlicious have you seen Twilight today?"

"Hoo?"

"Twilight..."

"Hoo"

Twilight Sparkle, purple unicorn, always obsessing over stuff?"

"Hoo"

"Twilight!"

"Hoo!"

"Aargh useless bird" Spike called out in anger. Well it's not like her to just walk off, maybe she just went down to the shops or something. He sighed pondering where his friend had wandered of to, when he was distracted by an all too familiar rumbling. Spike shrugged "Time for breakfast then" he said walking into the kitchen. "Let's see, what should I make, I wonder if there are any cupcakes left in the fridge, Twilight wouldn't want me having sweets this early but what she doesn't know won't hurt me." Spike noticed a note pinned to the fridge door with "Spike" written on it in big black ink letters, below it was a rolled up scroll bound by a red ribbon and a small brown bag, which jangled slightly when Spike picked it up, looking inside he found several gold coins. "Well this is odd, what's this note" He unravelled the scroll, placing the ribbon on the table, it was a letter.

Spike

   Sorry I couldn't say goodbye to you last night but I felt that you needed your sleep. I have been requested by Princess Celestia to be a guest speaker at her magic school, the Princess had one of her guards deliver it, he arrived shortly after you went to bed. I left on the train last night, so by the time you read this letter I'll probably be halfway to Canterlot. I made sure that the pantry and refrigerator were fully stocked before I left, below is a bag of bits in case of emergencies. Also I left a list of chores for you to do, just because I'm gone doesn't mean you can slack off. Don't let Owlicious starve and see you next week. I've asked the girls to drop in occasionally to keep you company, I'd rather not leave the library unattended so please don't leave it unless you absolutely have to.

From Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Yes, Rarity will be dropping by too, I'm guessing that you'll enjoy that, just be careful not to do anything you'll regret.

P.P.S If for any reason you need to contact me, send a letter to the Princess. She promised to pass on any messages for you, but remember this is only for emergencies.

"Well that explains Twilight's dissappearance, figures, she'd probably jump of a cliff if Celestia told her to" he crossed his arms and closed his eyes taking a minute to absorb this new information

"I guess with her gone for the week, I can have a sort of vacation, but I'll have to get these chores out of the way first" He turned the paper over, his jaw almost hitting the floor when he saw the list on the other side, it was so covered in ink that it was practically black, each line of text being so small he had to bring the paper close to his face to read them.

"Oh for the love of Luna, I guess as well as my chores, she's bundled hers on here as well, how am I supposed to get all this done" He cast the paper aside, staring in disgust as it lay on the floor.  

I guess I should really be more appreciative of how much Twilight does around here, forgetting that list for now I still have to make breakfast.

Owlicious flew in through the open door, sitting up on the table looking at Spike expectantly, "I guess you want some breakfast as well" Owlicious nodded with a quick "hoo" ruffling his feathers, Spike casually  tossed a food bowl towards Owlicious which settled on the table with a clatter, Owlicious taking to the rafters to avoid the flying tupperware, in retaliation he perched on Spike's spines and began to peck away at the back of his head. Spike doing his best to swat away the annoyed avian whilst attempting to retrieve his bag of feed from the cupboard "Ow! Hey! Stop it! I'm sorry okay! Look do you want feeding or not!" The owl retreated from it's offensive on the dragon's skull as Spike began clumsily emptying the bag of feed into the bowl, several grains falling on the floor. He got out a pan and began to cook up some pancakes. Occasionally flipping them up in the air, progressively higher and higher each time, smiling with confidence, he tensed up ready to flip the pancake even higher when suddenly there was a knock at the door, the sudden knocking startled Spike causing him to toss the pancake up in the air, a little too high. The warm pancake stuck hard and fast to the roof of the kitchen,

"Well Buck..." said Spike "How am I going to reach that?!" the knocking at the door, now a little louder meant that Spike's conundrum would have to wait.

"Coming" he called out. He hurried over to the door, standing on a little stool, he reached up and opened up the top half of the door. As soon as the door opened a yellow head adorned with a flowing pink mane darted in with such speed it caused Spike to lose his balance and fall hard on his back

"Owwww...." Fluttershy looked around the apparently empty room

"Spike, Spike are you here?" she heard his grumbling and looked down "There you are Spike, I was worried something had happened to you"

She was worried? What else is new?

Staggering to his feet, he brushed himself down

"Hi Fluttershy what are you doing here?"

"Twilight asked me to drop in and see how you were doing, are you alright, you look hurt?"

"I'll be fine in a minute, would you like to come in?" he opened the bottom half of the door gesturing inside.

"Thank you" Fluttershy walked through. "It sure is quiet in here."

"Well it is a library, would you like some tea?" asked Spike walking back into the kitchen.

"Yes please, if that's alright" stuttered the yellow pegasus

"Wouldn't have offered otherwise" said Spike rolling his eyes as he used a stream of green flames to heat the kettle.

"Sorry" she replied quickly.

"Fluttershy, we're friends right? You don't have to apologise for everything you know, seriously I don't mind." said Spike "I thought you were more assertive now?" Fluttershy merely whimpered, looking away. Spike sighed again and handed her the cup of tea  "So how are things with you?" he asked.

"Oh quite good, I guess." Fluttershy said as Spike sat down with his own cup. He was slowly stirring it with a silver spoon, sat crossed legged with the cup resting slightly on his stomach "What about you?" she asked

"Well I was a little surprised when I woke up to no Twilight, that's the first time that's ever happened"

"I can see why, I can't imagine being in a big house all by myself, it's one of the reasons I'm glad I have so many animal friends. They are always there to keep me company. So what are you going to do now, you certainly are lucky to have so much free time?"

Spike smiled "I don't know, she's gone for the week, seems to me like the perfect opputuntiy to just kick back and relax, once I get done with my chores of course" the thought of the offending parchment that lay on the kitchen floor caused him to shudder, he sat up and leaned towards Fluttershy, who was blowing softly on her tea "Fluttershy I've just realised this is the first one-to-one we've had since I moved here and I have a question I've been dying to ask you, " She nodded

"You're right, normally you're with Twilight, so what did you want to ask?"

"You promise to be honest with me?"

"Y-y-yes" Fluttershy was nervous, even more so than usual

"I would have thought the question was obvious, I know your name is Fluttershy" he said being sure to put heavy emphasis on the "shy" "but why do you always act so timid, even that rabbit of yours seems to boss you around, and he's a rabbit for Celestia's sake."

Oh that. Thank goodness for a second there I thought he was going to ask me... Never mind.

Fluttershy embarrassed, replied "Oh I don't mind, Angel's sweet, he's just needy..."

"You know Fluttershy, you'd get a little more respect if you stood up for yourself more, now I'm not saying you go full blown Rainbow Dash, one of them is more than enough for this town." he said waggling a finger at her. Fluttershy giggled,

"The truth is Spike, I don't want to hurt anypony's feelings, even if they're mean to me. As far as I'm concerned if your nasty to someone, it just gives them cause to be nasty back."

"I guess I never thought about it like that." Spike said staring at his distorted reflection in the coffee.

"Besides Spike don't you like me like this? I'm nice to people because it makes me feel happy, besides I know full well how nasty I could be to them."

"What do you mean?" Spike looked at her puzzled

"Oh that's right you've never seen that side of me before, let's just say whenever I try to be assertive I take things a little too far, just ask Twilight when she gets back, she'll explain okay. I really don't like to talk about it" she said averting her gaze.

"Okay...moving on, is there anything you'd like to ask me, you answered my question, sorta" Spike shuffled in his seat  

I can only dream as to what this other side of Fluttershy is like, I wonder if it's as bad as mine.

"You certainly had enough questions for me when I first moved here, anything else you'd like to know?"

She thought for a moment, small talk wasn't exactly her strong point. Then she remembered something about the young dragon she had been curious about.

"Well there is one more thing I would like to know" she said with a smile.

"What?" he said with raising an eyebrow as he took a small sip from his cup.

"When are you going to tell her?"

"Who?"

"Rarity"

Spike spat out his coffee, wiping his face he shakily replied "I-I don't know what your talking about!"

"Spike there's nothing to be ashamed of, why are you trying to hide it?"

"N-no no I'm not hiding anything what makes you think- " he looked around for any distraction, anything to change the topic.

"Come on you'd said you be honest." Fluttershy giving him puppy dog eyes, how could he resist when she stared at him like that. Spike brought a claw to his face, rubbing his eyes,defeated he asked

"Okay when and how?"

I knew it...

"That Spa day, when me and Rarity went out after I quit modelling. I'm very observant Spike, I notice these things, you were fawning over her the entire time"

"Does she know?"

"You mean have I told her? Oh no, I mean, I thought it'd be better if you did, it would be wrong of me to spoil the surprise."

Spike mumbled "Well actually I tried telling her before, you know on my birthday but she kinda cut me off..."

"As for whether she already knows, I think maybe the fact that she's always so busy means she hasn't really noticed, although I think the nickname's cute."

"Nickname?" said Spike still clutching his face in his palm, looking at her through clawed fingers

"Spikey-Wikey?" Spike went bright red "It's such a adorable little name, how did you get it?"

"It was when I gave her that gem, the week before my birthday."

"Oh yes, that was so thoughtful of you! She spent the whole day talking about it, was it just a coincidence it was heart shaped?"

Spike's heart sank "Oh no, really! It was?!", Spike was frightened now

If she noticed what's to say Rarity didn't! I've really gone and put my foot in it, talk about subtle...

Fluttershy stared at the dumbstruck dragon

"You didn't realise? She placed it in that pendant she made and it was definately shaped like a heart" she sat up, looking confused as to how Spike didn't notice it.

"I'm not going to lie, when I see Rarity I don't really care about what she's wearing, she was happy, I was happy. It was as simple as that"

"Wow, that's so sweet."

"As for the gem, I was going to eat it, didn't matter what it looked like, then Rarity came over and..." His mind drifted slightly as he reminisced about that morning, Rarity skipping about the library, like a giddy little filly before planting a kiss on his cheek... then he remember what happened afterwards, the warm fuzzy feeling interrupted by pangs of guilt.

"Besides I think the only time I got a real good look at what she did with the Fire Ruby I gave her, I was in the process of tearing Ponyville apart" Spike looked away, ashamed of how easily he'd lost control of his emotions on that day, his greed had nearly destroyed his home and thinking about it upset him, struggling to fight back the tears, so as not to embarress himself in front of Fluttershy, he continued "My memories of what happened during that time are a bit hazy, all I can remember from that day is putting on a very nice hat, then I basically blacked out, before waking up in the middle of the air, with Rarity of all ponies, yelling "Spike?! You're the rampaging dragon" before we nearly plummeted to our deaths" Spike looked down "Besides she hasn't worn it since"

Fluttershy smiled at him lifting his chin with her hoof so he was looking at her

"Oh don't worry Spike, no-one blames you for what happened. As for the Fire Ruby, Rarity hasn't gotten rid of it, it's just, her job means that because fashion is always changing what she wears has to reflect that."

"How do you know she hasn't gotten rid of it?"

"Simple, it's by her bed, I saw it there resting on a little pedestal when I slept over there with Twilight" she thought back to that night, Twilight had brought over a book, saying it was the ultimate guide to sleepovers.  She welcomed the idea, having not slept over at a pony friend's house before. Rarity, however hid the book whilst Twilight was applying a mudmask, she wasn't sure why although she heard Rarity mumbling the words "Never again" repeatedly, so decided to stay quiet.

"Well I guess that makes me feel a little better, all those times I've been helping round the boutique and yet I've not been in her room once."

"Well Rarity wouldn't be much of a lady if she let in every colt who asked"

Spike nearly choked on his coffee, Fluttershy clapped her hooves over her mouth, both parties now a very deep crimson "Sorry, sorry that came out wrong"

Spike stared at the yellow pegasus

Da buck was that? I wonder if that was the OTHER Fluttershy she was talking about?

Spike thought the best thing was to move on. A sly grin crossed his face.

Well she's embarrassed me enough, let's turn the tables.

"Okay Fluttershy, I admit it. Yes I have a crush on Rarity, but you already knew that as for when I'm going her to tell her that, I really have no idea. Now it's your turn. Do you have a crush on someone?" Fluttershy was taken aback, she hid her face in her wings, whimpering. "C'mon Fluttershy, I think you owe me this much, do you have a crush on someone?" Spike could see her nod slightly under her plumage. "Who is it?"

"I don't want to..." she whispered

"What was that?"

"I don't want to..." she said a little louder

I want to tell him, I need to tell somebody. I can't keep this to myself any more, I just don't know what to do...

"Didn't quite catch that" Spike said getting a little closer so as to hear her better.

A shade seemed to pass over Fluttershy, she stared at Spike, her wings bursting open

"I SAID I DON'T WANT TO, YOU NOSY DRAGON!" she screamed, her breathing heavy and deliberate, her eyes piercing into his very soul. Spike recoiled in fear, overcome at seeing such a blissful pony replaced by a glowering hellbeast. Seeing him trembling caused Fluttershy to snap back to her normal self. Her expression changing from psychotic to it's usual frightened state.

Oh no, oh no no no no, what just happened. Poor Spike looks terrified! D-Did I do this?

As it slowly dawned on her as to what had happened tears formed in her eyes, without saying a word she flew as fast as she could out the door, the gale it caused slamming the door shut.

"In the name of all that is holy, THAT was the OTHER Fluttershy, no wonder she's usually so timid, she almost made me jump out of my scales!" Shaken he gathered up the empty cups and carried them to the kitchen, washing them in the sink hoping the menial task would repress the memory of what he just witnessed. After he'd finished he went to the cupboard and retrieved his broomstick, hoping the long handle would be able to reach the pancake that was still stuck to the ceiling. Owlicious on the other hand had different plans and was proceeding to peck away at the pancake. Spike looked up and saw what the bird was doing "Well at least you're good for someth-" Spike was cut off as the pancake fell directly on him. He lapped it up and swallowed it shrugging "Well it's a little cold but oh well" he swore he could hear Owlicious laughing at him. Now let's see might as well get started on these chores he picked up the note Twilight had left "Sweet Apple Acres that's a lot of work! Might as well get started" donning his apron and raiding the cupboard for cleaning supplies he set to work.

   Several hours later, he collapsed on the couch, exhausted."Okay, so that's the kitchen cleaned, the shelves dusted, Owlicious fed, bedroom tidied and the library floor has been swept up, what else is left?" crossing off the tasks from the list he noticed he'd barely made a dent. He cried out in anger "Why is this so hard, I wish Twilight was still here, her magic'd make short work of this stupid list". Too tired to get up again he fell asleep on the couch. Soon off in a dream world, Spike failed to notice Fluttershy had returned, anxious to make up for her outburst earlier,

"Spike, a-are you in here, I wanted to apologise for what I said earlier, Spike?" as she made her way into the living room she came across the sleeping Spike. "Oh he's so cute when he's asleep, well you can't sleep down here." Using her wing to scoop him up Fluttershy placed Spike on her back, giggling as Spike nuzzled against her soft fur mumbling incoherently, apparently mistaking her for a fuzzy yellow pillow.

"Time to get you to bed little dragon" she said softly. She carried him upstairs and tucked him into Twilight's bed. Spike giving a contented sigh as he curled up under the covers. She walked to the door and turned to face him, smiling at how peaceful he looked, quietly she whispered "I don't know if you can hear me Spike, but I hope things work out for you, someday." Slowly she shut the door and left, allowing Spike to enjoy his dreams.

Author's Note: Okay that's this chapter redone, hopefully this is a little better. Now it should fit much better into what I have planned for the rest of this story. Keep an eye out for spelling mistakes as always. I know some parts aren't perfect but then I'm still learning.