//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12: Meeting, Redux 
// Story: Prelude and Encore: A Tale of Friendship, Betrayal, and Forgiveness 
// by WritingDragonfly 
//------------------------------//

	Spike stood up at the top of the hill overlooking the Everfree forest. Looking down, he saw a scene he hadn't seen in a long time. It brought butterflies to his stomach; nevertheless, he gave a huge grin. Was this going to be easy? No chance. Did he completely trust her? No way. But no matter what, it was going to be a great ride. He ran down the hill to meet her.

"Hey, Dragonfly!"

The mare sitting on the bench looked up at Spike as he skidded to a stop in front of her. Her expression betrayed no emotion, though look in her eyes gave off a slight sense of hope. "Hello, baby dragon," she said, her voice sounding flat and uninterested.

"We've got a lot to get done today," Spike started. "My friends are coming down here to meet you in a bit, so we gotta prepare you for that."

"Wh...what?" Dragonfly reeled a little bit. "They're coming here today? B...but...!"

"Oh, shush." Spike gave a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine. Don't worry. We just need to go over a few things."

"Don't patronize me, baby dragon." Spike sensed an attempt at anger from her voice, but it just came across at deadpan.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to." He hopped up on the bench next to her. "First of all, this morning, I sent a letter to Princess Celestia informing her of your return and of the fact that she shouldn't call for Shining and Cadence's super-magic-love-barrier-thing."

Dragonfly looked at him incredulously. "Are you sure that she won't call for it?"

Spike gave a smile that he hoped was convincing. "Of course!"

However, Dragonfly's statement had started a nasty thought in the back of his mind. What if the only reason that Celestia had agreed in her initial response to him was so that he'd tell her when Chrysalis returned? Spike felt the corner of his mouth twitch. Luckily, it seemed to go unnoticed by Dragonfly, for she looked away without a comment.

"Alright. What else, baby dragon?"

Spike put a claw to his chin. "Well first of all, try to be polite. Even if doesn't cause them to suspect anything of you, being rude to them won't get you any closer to being friends with them."

Dragonfly looked back at him. "Really, baby dragon? That's pretty obvious."

"Ya know, you could start by being at least a bit polite to me..." he pouted.

"You do know this won't work, baby dragon."

"What do you mean?" Spike looked at her, concerned.

"You know, baby dragon, being polite often comes from concern. Something I can't quite exhibit at the moment. In fact, I'd say that this entire gambit hinges on me being able to show sympathy, happiness, caring... you know, emotions. And that's something I can't do." She looked away once again.

Spike thought for a moment. He gave a slight nod, then spoke. "Dragonfly."

The moment she turned to look at him, he flicked her on the forehead.

She recoiled, then brought her head forehead into her hooves. "Ow!" She looked up at him from behind her hooves, a slight bit of anger and disbelief in her eyes. "Why would you do that, baby dragon?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "You need stop being so defeatist. No matter how bleak the situation, you only decrease your chances by saying it can't happen." He then looked at her and smiled. "In fact, I'd say that we have a good chance of making this work."

"As long as Celestia doesn't call for the barrier." He pushed the thought out of his head.

"If I need to stop being so defeatist, you need to stop being so naive." She sat up straight once again, and gave a slight sigh. "What else?"

Spike gave a small smile. "Besides that, all we really need to get straight is your cutie mark story."

Dragonfly looked at him in an almost suspicious manner. "Cutie mark story...?" She looked at her flank- imprinted there was an image of a single dragonfly. "I made my disguise, and there it was," she said, somewhat sarcastically.

Spike sighed. This was one of the most important parts... if she didn't get this... "One of the most important parts to anypony's identity is their cutie mark, and it's story. You need a good story as to how you got yours, and how it relates to your 'special talent'."

"Special talent, huh?" She looked away thoughtfully. "I don't know..."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Well, we could probably make it through today without one, but you'll have to make one up sooner or later."

Dragonfly sighed. "All right."

Spike smiled. This wasn't going terribly... but...

He could sense a certain nervousness in Dragonfly. She wasn't really betraying too much emotion, as was expected, but her statements tended to sound downtrodden more often than they did imposing or deadpan.

"Heya, Sugarcube!"

A voice cut into his thoughts. Looking to the hill he had come from, he saw an orange mare trotting down to meet them. "Hi, Applejack!"

She walked up to the bench and looked at Dragonfly. "And you must be Dragonfly! I'm Applejack, I work on the apple orchard in this town. Nice ta' meetcha'!" She held out a hoof in greeting.

Spike watched Dragonfly apprehensively lift her hoof. "Nice to meet you too..." she said, while taking Applejack's hoof.

Applejack gave Dragonfly's hoof a vigorous shake, leaving her a bit dazed. Seemingly oblivious to the shock she had caused Dragonfly, Applejack started asking questions. "So, what do ya' do?"

Dragonfly shook her head quickly, and then looked at Applejack. "What exactly do you mean?"

Applejack tilted her head and smiled. "I mean, what do ya' do for a livin'?"

Dragonfly sighed. "Nothing, really. I'm just a drifter."

Applejack frowned. "'Ah see..."

"Hey, guys!"

Just as Spike heard those words, a blue blur streaked overhead. He watched the figure fly up a ways, then turn into a nosedive. She landed with a solid thump in front of the bench, next to Applejack. The new arrival looked at Dragonfly. "Impressive, huh?"

"Yes..."

Rainbow Dash rose an eyebrow at her. "Jeez, you're about as enthusiastic as Fluttershy is sometimes." Spike noticed Dragonfly roll her eyes, but luckily, it seemed that Dash was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice. "The name's Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you."

"Dragonfly. It's a pleasure." Despite her phrasing, Spike was sure he caught a certain ring of displeasure in her voice.

"You a good flier, Dragonfly?"

Dragonfly hesitated for a moment, then responded, "Pretty good, at least as far as I'm concerned."

"Cool. Then I can give you a tour of all the good flying spots later."

Dragonfly cringed slightly. Again, Rainbow Dash seemed not to notice. However, Applejack did; luckily, her only response was a light chuckle.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a new voice. "Hello, Darlings!"

Spike looked down the path. Rarity and Fluttershy were walking towards them. Spike, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all exchanged their greetings with the new arrivals. Then, attention turned to Dragonfly.

"So, you must be Dragonfly. I'm Rarity." Rarity looked her up and down, and gave a slight look of disgust. "My, we're going to have to do something with your mane, darling."

"A...and I'm F...Fluttershy..." She was half-hiding behind Rarity.

"Oh, come now, Fluttershy, she won't bite."

Right on cue, Dragonfly faked a kind smile. Spike felt a wave of relief.

"HI!"

Spike and Dragonfly both shot off the bench from the voice behind them. Looking back, there was a cloud of confetti, and, who else; Pinkie Pie.

"Hello! Did I surprise you?" Pinkie Pie hopped up and down behind the bench excitedly.

"Yes, and nearly gave me a heart attack!" Dragonfly breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hoof to her chest.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" She smiled, and made her way around the bench. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to get your welcome party ready for a couple of days... So that's why I decided to surprise you here! 'Cause you'll be expecting the party later."

"Th...thanks... I think...?" Dragonfly gave a clearly fake smile.

"I see you've already met everyone."

Spike saw Dragonfly lock up. He scratched his head. Why that reaction? It was only Twilight...

Dragonfly slowly turned to the final arrival. She had walked down the same hill Spike had.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'm happy to officially welcome you to Ponyville."

Dragonfly nodded. "I'm Dragonfly. It's a pleasure."

Twilight smiled. "So, formalities out of the way, I'm curious. Where are you staying?"

Dragonfly gave another fake smile. "Oh, at an inn, for the time being."

Twilight frowned. "That's gotta be expensive for an extended stay."

"It's all I can do, really."

"U...um..." A shy voice sounded from the group of ponies. Twilight turned towards the source, Fluttershy, and responded.

"What's up, Fluttershy?"

"There's a small house that's empty by the edge of the forest. Maybe she could stay there?"

Twilight nodded. "I could talk to the mayor about that."

Spike smiled. This was going a lot better than he had expected. Dragonfly was a bit rude a few times, but nothing serious.

"Are you sure?" Dragonfly frowned. "I wouldn't want to impose..."

Spike quickly glanced at Dragonfly. There was a lot of guilt in her eyes...

"Oh, it's fine." Twilight gave a kind smile.

Spike saw Dragonfly give a slight shudder. What was up with her...?





Everypony started trickling away fairly quickly. Once the initial excitement of meeting a new pony faded away, they all found other things today. In almost no time at all, Dragonfly and Spike were alone once again.

Spike smiled at Dragonfly. "That was a nice start, you know?"

Dragonfly shook her head and frowned. "I guess."

"What's wrong?" Spike gave her a concerned look.

"Why do they trust me? They don't know me at all..." The guilt had returned to her eyes.

"Because they have no reason to distrust you." Spike smiled again. "For the same reason I trusted you initially."

Spike quickly put a hand to his mouth. A letter?

He gave a belch, and a scroll appeared in a wisp of fire, and dropped to the ground. Spike picked it up, unrolled it, and began to read it out loud.

"Dear Spike,

I'm happy to hear that your friend has returned. I shall, in this letter, put down the terms of what she needs to do to get her audience with me.
She will need to befriend Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, and show a significant change in her behavior and attitude from the wedding. Spike, I want you to report to me regularly on any progress she makes. I will inform you when I believe she has made the necessary progress.
I wish you both the best of luck.

Signed, 
Princess Celestia"

Spike gave a sigh of relief, then addressed Dragonfly. "Told you it would be fine."

"I'm still not sure, baby dragon." Dragonfly raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, hope before despair, right?" Spike smiled.

Dragonfly rolled her eyes. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"Yep. But it doesn't make it any less true." He began to walk away.

Dragonfly nodded. "I guess not..." She glanced over to Spike. "Where are you going?"

"To bed. It's getting late." He raised a hand in farewell. "See ya tomorrow!"

"Goodbye, baby dragon." Spike heard a slight downcast tone in her voice, at least... he thought he did.

Though, considering her condition... it was probably just his imagination.