Sheesh. Sorry this is so late. Trying to get the time to write this was about as easy as outrunning Pinkie Pie, and trust me on this one, that is NOT easy.  So yeah. Flutterspike date time that’s hopefully not horribly written as I think it is.

Anyways, the countdown to the end of the wedding arc has begun.

- - - - -

Spike couldn’t help feeling nervous as he left the room Fluttershy currently inhabited with the yellow pony. He wasn’t used to being alone with his friends, if he was; it was usually him working with them. He didn’t hang out with them outside of being their assistant. It didn’t help that Fluttershy was fairly attractive and incredibly nice.

He walked closely beside her, mostly in silence. Several times, he would open up his mouth to speak but couldn’t quite work up the courage. When she asked him out- “Not like that, Dreamy,” the dragon muttered under his breath- he had really no idea where to take the shy pegasus that wouldn’t make her uncomfortable. Donut Joe’s was one place, the Royal Gardens were another, but what would a shy animal lover like Fluttershy like in the hustle and bustle of Canterlot?

A familiar voice rang through his head.

“Just do your thing, Spikey-Wikey! She’ll enjoy anything you do with her, I’m sure!”

Caught off guard by the surprisingly straightforward and perfectly sound advice, Spike felt a bit better. If his subconscious/feminine side/ whatever Dreamy was believed in him, then maybe he shouldn’t be so worried!

“But still… there’s something about the shy and cute ones that makes ya just want to do horrible, consensual things to them, huh?”

Spike groaned mentally, and resisted the urge to smack his head into the nearest wall until the brain damage made the world smell like purple.

- - - - -

Memories struck him as he walked into Joe’s Donut shop. One of his earliest memories was Celestia and Twilight coming to indulge in a snack, usually as a reward for Twilight’s progress. He had been much younger at the time, having been out of his egg for only 4 years at the time.  But he was still smart, smart enough to know that donuts were amazing. Sometimes, Celestia would take just him to the donut shop when he did something good, like when he finally learned to breath fire. And someties, just for the joy of spending time together, the princess would bring her two charges here. This simple little donut shop was where he had many good memories, and as he grew older, he would come here to try and feel better, using the taste of donuts and hot cocoa to drown his sorrows. The Gala had been a good example of this. And even that night turned out special, with all of his new friends eventually making their way to the donut shop with Celestia and Twilight. As crummy as the night had been earlier that had made up for it by a lot.

- - - - -

“Hey Joe!”

The donut maker looked up from his work to Spike, and he gave a bright smile after looking confused, which Spike suspected had to do with his growth spurt since he last saw Joe.

“Well look who’s all grown up? Hot cocoa and a chocolate frosting donut with sprinkles?”

It was Spike’s favorite and what he would usually get. Spike nodded and pointed to Fluttershy.

“Whatever the lady here wants as well.”

With Joe’s attention turned on Fluttershy, she shrunk back behind the dragon. Joe had a look of recognition on his face and laughed lightly.

“You’re that pegasus mare from the train that ate the Cake’s entry to the National Dessert Competition. What’ll ya have?”

Fluttershy spoke and mumbled something about having the same thing as Spike, and somehow, Joe understood. He got to work preparing the hot chocolate and warming the donuts up.  Donut Joe’s was fairly empty, most of his customers usually coming in during the morning before work or in the evening. Joe would often use the lull to take care of paper work and prepare donuts for the evening hours, but sometimes he would be able to converse with his customers. It’s how Spike had gotten to know the earth pony that had once been a cook for the Equestrian Army. But that was a story for another time.

Spike and Fluttershy made their way to a table with chairs, sitting down and waiting for their donuts to be finished.

The dragon smiled at Fluttershy, who was a little more ease than she had been on the walk down, probably because of the lack of other ponies in the room. She smiled at him shyly, as Fluttershy was apt to do, and looked around.

“You must really like this place.”

Spike nodded and explained,“The princess used to take me and Twilight here all the time when we were little. Usually it would be if Twilight learned a new spell, or if I did something good, like when I finally learned how to teleport letters by fire!”

Fluttershy looked interested. Spike’s life before Ponyville wasn’t a usual topic he discussed with anypony except Twilight. He’d glossed over his whole life story when Fluttershy asked him that first day, but there weren’t many details in it. Granted, his life in Canterlot had not been nearly as exciting as it was in Ponyville. It was mostly learning next to Twilight Sparkle, and anypony that even knew Twilight in the slightest could guess how fun that was.

Well… it wasn’t too bad. He did learn a lot of information, even if he didn’t care about most of it. He often wondered if there were many dragons out there that knew as much as he did. While the ones he had met hadn’t exactly been the scholarly type, he was sure that there were older, wiser dragons out there. He had hoped. So far, all the dragons he had met were dumb and mean, or obsessed with treasure and mean.  

“Woah. Spike. Rein it in, buddy, you’ve got a hot date!” Dreamy piped up, and Spike instantly focused.

“Right. Hot date. Got it.” Spike mumbled out loud, and instantly blushed. Fluttershy, who hadn’t heard him, looked interested in what he said.

Dang it, Dreamy…

“Um... did you say something, Spike?”

He gulped and started thinking of something to say, but thankfully Joe came in with a save, delivering a tray with two hot cocoa drinks and donuts, two extra.

“The extras are on da house, kid,” the donut maker said with a wink and a smile at his young friend, “since I’ve never seen ya’s come in with just one mare. Have fun on yer date.”

Fluttershy blushed heavily and eeped, trying to make herself smaller, while Spike’s jaw dropped. Joe took this well and began laughing heartily as he made his way back to his counter.

“Haha… Joe… he’s always a kidder. Ha…” the dragon trailed off, feeling awkward. Thankfully, this seemed to comfort the pegasus enough to where she timidly reached for a donut. They ate in silence, with Spike debating whether or not his teleportation-fire could be used to send Joe to the moon or something.

As they finished, Spike cleaned up their mess and the two headed out the door, but not without Spike turning around and shooting a death glare at Joe, who just laughed again.

- - - - -

The next place they went to was a museum. Unlike Twilight, Spike wasn’t exactly what one would call an “egghead”, but he did enjoy learning about history, especially that of dragons. What ponies knew about dragons was unfortunately a small knowledge base, but he still liked learning what he could. When he came to the museum, he’d usually head right to the dragon exhibits, but instead he stayed away and decided the creature exhibits  would be great for an outing with Fluttershy. The Canterlot Museum had great animal exhibits, and an aquarium. The aquarium delighted Fluttershy, who rarely got to see, let alone work with, the creatures of the deep. The pegasus almost squealed in delight when a dolphin passed by her behind the glass, and Spike was glad to say that the awkwardness caused by Joe was in the past. Soon, they left, and they talked excitedly about what they had seen.

They spent the rest of the day walking through some of the places Spike frequented as he grew up. Seeing places like the Canterlot Opera House and the Wonderbolts Stadium weren’t quite up Fluttershy’s alley, but she did ask to see the places he wanted to show off. Spike was sort of making up the day as he went along, and it met with varying success. Confident she would love the last thing he had in mind, Spike began leading them to another location.  

As they walked, Spike paid close attention to his… companion, as they walked in silence that was far more comfortable than this morning’s. He had gotten to know her enough to know that she had something she wanted to say but her shyness was keeping her from letting it out.

Concerned, he looked around the area. They were in the outskirts of the Canterlot market, which had a bunch of street stall vendors.  It wasn’t too far from the castle grounds; they were on the right track. The Gardens were close.

Sure enough, as they grew closer, the buildings became sparser and trees and beautifully manicured grass fields were more common. Soon, they arrived at a gated part of the greenery, which had a guard posted at it. Recognizing the dragon, the unicorn guard opened the gates and allowed Fluttershy and Spike into the gardens.

Recognition grew on the pegasus’s face and she smiled slightly. With it being the summer, the garden’s trees were in full color, the flowers all in bloom and dozens of warm weather birds flying about. As she took in all the colors and all the animals, the smile grew bigger on her face and she took to the sky with some butterflies that happened to float by. Spike enjoyed watching her frolic with the animals, sitting at a tree while she flew around playing. Spike took to chasing the yellow pegasus and her animal friends around until the pair nearly collapsed in a pile together laughing. Night had crept up on them, and the two looked up at Luna’s starscape in wonderment.

“That was fun!” the dragon exclaimed, struggling to rein in his laughter while catching his breath. The shy pegasus, who had much more control, smiled and nodded.

“I really had fun today, Spike. Thanks for taking me out,” Fluttershy said, looking into Spike’s eyes. The close proximity allowed Spike to really see the pegasus’s eyes, bright and innocent blue. They were looking straight at them. The dragon’s pulse quickened as Fluttershy’s face seemed to be moving closer to his…

“Ah, Spike, there you are! I’ve been looking all ove- am I interrupting something here?” A new voice rung out and the dragon and pegasus jumped up. Spike was blushing and Fluttershy eeped before flying away.  The newcomer winked at the dragon who was at least twelve kinds of flustered.

“She’s cute, little bro, but come on, bringing your date out to the gardens? That’s such an overused cliché for a date night. I was kind of worried to have you planning my bachelor party, but seeing the taste you have in mares puts all my fears to rest.”

Standing before him was the groom to be, Twilight’s brother, and one of the most magically powerful unicorns in all of Equestria, Shining Armor.

“Hi Shiny. How are you?” Spike said, giving a right near hateful look in his eye as he shot a death glare at his surrogate older brother.

“I’m doing fine, but the wedding and the increased security are majorly stressing me out,” the unicorn said with a bright smile. He seemed to be enjoying the fact that he ruined some moment for him, and Spike would say that it was very likely. Objectively, Shining Armor considered himself his big brother, and they would often prank each other when they had the chance. It was much different from Shining and Twilight’s relationship, or even his own with Twilight.

“You do realize, good sir, that this means war?” Spike growled out, a small smirk hiding on his lips. The unicorn just shrugged and waved a hoof, dismissing the dragon.

“Maybe later, Spike. I really didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I really do need to talk to you about something. It’s Twilight. She seems… off. This whole wedding thing seems to work for everypony but her. It kinda bothers me that she doesn’t seem happy for me, ya know? I thought she loved Cadence- erm, Miamore. You have to talk to her and get her to calm down… or I’m going to have to ban her from my wedding.”

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New chapter on a new server. Hope you enjoyed the fluff, because the story’s about to earn it’s adventure tag.