Spike swiftly strode down the street. He had meant to sleep in, what with travel and inevitable all-night partying in Manehattan that was to come, but his excitement got the best of him. So, as opposed to spending his morning with his pillow and blankets, he decided he'd rather spend it with Rarity so he could fill her in on the previous night's developments.
Spike popped open the door to the Carousel Boutique and found Rarity mending a dress in the main room.
"Hey, Rarity!"
"Oh, hello, Spike!" She said, smiling in his direction.
"You feeling any better yet?" He asked, motioning toward her lightly bandaged hoof.
"Oh, yes. Well, enough so I can get back to work, once more."
"Sweet."
"So, not that I have any problem with you visiting, but what brings you over here? I assumed you'd be spending the day with a different white unicorn." She winked and nudged him with her elbow.
"Oh, I will. We're heading out to Manehattan tonight. But first, I've gotta tell you something. Something awesome!"
"Well, tell me, then," she said, putting down her dress and facing him.
"Well, I went over to Vinyl's place last night..."
"And?"
"And we were watching a movie..."
"Yes?"
"Then some stuff happened." Spike's face melted into a quirky smile.
"Stuff?" Rarity rubbed her chin for a moment before her eyes popped open to the size of saucers. "Spike! Isn't it a bit, you know, early in your relationship development for, umm, that?"
"Huh? No, no, we didn't do that...yet." He chuckled and shook his head before taking a seat on a chair next to Rarity. "No, we just kind of talked, then kissed, and we both kind of came to the realization that this could be, you know, kind of serious."
"Oh, Spike, that's wonderful!" Rarity reached over and gently hugged her friend. "I knew it'd only be a matter of time before you two got serious."
"How did you figure that?"
"Oh, sweetheart, it was so obvious how you both felt. That sort of connection between two individuals is rather hard to miss."
"Huh?" Spike placed his head in his palm. "Then how come I never noticed it? If I did, I probably would've made my move a ways back."
"Because you're a male and getting any kind of romantic message across to you is next to impossible." Rarity shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I would know."
"Oh, thanks Rarity," Spike said with his own eye roll.
"Don't feel bad, dear. It's a universally accepted and tried fact."
"Well, at least I realized it now before it was too late. It's been awhile since I've had someone I actually, you know, care about like that."
"Well, I'm happy for you," she said with a smile. "Just make sure to not take it to fast. I really don't want to see you broken up like you were with, you know..."
"Ugh, yeah..." Spike let out a deep sigh. "Speaking of which, apparently Flitter needs to talk to me about something. I seriously hope she's not going to just try and win me back or make me feel guilty again."
"Hmm, well, I wouldn't put it out of the question. You did kind of just leave her out of nowhere."
"Yeah, but you know what the situation was. It was for the best for both of us."
"True, but you also have to be prepared to deal with the aftereffects of leaving a relationship like that. Truth be told, you've been pretty lucky. I've heard of some mares hiring assassins on the guys who hurt them."
"Assassins?" Spike gulped. " let me just add that to my list of possible ways to die. But whatever the case, I'm still debating on whether I should actually meet up with her or not. I mean, what if she's just going to complain or what if she tries to drop something really big on me to guilt me into going out with her again. Not sure it's worth the risk. "
"Listen, Spike, you do owe it to her to find out what she wants. Like it or not, you two had a very intimate relationship for a time and it's your responsibility to clean up any emotional residue that may be left over. You need to at least do that much."
"You've been watching soap operas again, haven't you?"
"Spike. Please take this seriously."
Spike attempted to avert the stern gaze Rarity shot him, but it was no use. When she got serious with him, resistance was futile.
"Fine, fine, I'll hear her out. Darn, why are mares so complicated?"
"Why do you males have to be so short-sighted?"
"Fair enough. Anyway, I'll try and find her before I hit the train station. I'll see what she has to say."
Spike got up and walked to the door. "Later Rarity!"
Upon exiting, he found himself not on the porch, but instead walked right into another pony.
"Woah, sorry about th-... Oh, you can't be serious."
"Um, Hi Spike."
Of course, she found him.
"Oh, uh, hey Flitter." Spike nervously rubbed the back of his head. "What's going on?"
"Can we talk? It's really important. Please?"
Spike tried to think of any excuse in the book, but the mare's eyes said it all. She dug right into his soul and looked like she was about to cry. He had no choice.
"Uhh, yeah, sure. What about?"
"Not here. We need to talk somewhere private." Without a notion of thought, Flitter grabbed his claw and led him away from the boutique.
Assassins? Guilt tripping? Spike had no idea what was in store for him.
He was afraid to find out.
Spike sat across from Flitter at the dining table in her home.
“So, not to like, rush you or anything, but I’ve got somewhere to be in an hour or so. I’m heading up to Manehattan with Vinyl.”
“Vinyl Scratch?” Flitter’s eyes wandered down to the table and back up to to meet Spike’s. “I've heard you two are like a thing now.”
“Geez, does everyone in town know about my personal life before i do?” Spike shook his head.
“Well, you know what they say? Gossip travels faster than Celestia to the dessert table.”
Spike sighed and resigned himself to defeat. “I give up. Being a guy is stupidly hard.”
Flitter giggled and looked at Spike. “Heh, you were always so cute, getting worked up like this.”
Spike felt his cheeks blush but quickly shook out of it. “Yeah, so, what did you need to talk about? Not that I have anything against you at the moment, but I don’t exactly feel super comfortable being alone with you right now.”
Flitter’s smile turned into a frown and she turned her eyes back toward the table. “Oh yeah, right. Sorry.”
“It’s alright. I promise I’ll hear you out. Let’s just make it happen, alright?”
“Okay. But please, you have to promise to listen to everything I say. Please?”
Spike looked at the pleading in her eyes and the tears brimming. What was going on?
“Alright, I promise.”
Vinyl paced back and forth in front of the train station. Where was he?
“C’mon, Spike… we’re going to be late,” she said aloud. “I hope he didn't’ forget. Suppose that’s what i get for scheduling the gig last minute.”
It was only ten minutes until the train left and there was still no sign of him.
“Great, if we have to catch the late train, we could miss the show and definitely miss our dinner plans.”
Vinyl was particularly excited about the dinner plans, especially after she was able to use her connections to set them up with reservations at one of the hottest dinner lounges in the city. Figured it was her turn to to surprise him.
She took a glance about her and was finally greeted with the site of her dragon walking toward her.
“Spike!” She darted up to him and gave him a hug, which he failed to return. “C’mon man, let’s get going. Hey… where’s your stuff?”
Spike brought his eyes up to hers and shook his head. “Hey, Vinyl, i can’t make the trip today with you.”
“What?”
“Sorry, something came up. I’m really sorry.”
Vinyl felt her heart sink in her chest. “Uhh, Spike, are you okay? What happened?”
Spike averted her gaze and brought it to the ground. “Look, I don’t really want to talk about it right now. It’s… complicated. But look, we can maybe talk you know, when you get back. Sorry.”
Vinyl had no idea how to respond. Before she could even think of something to say to him, Spike turned around and walked away.
She was left in a stunned silence until the whistling of the train snapped her back into reality.
“What did I do wrong?”