Dearest Friends,
I thank all of you for helping me out yesterday. If you wouldn't have been there, it would have taken hours to fend off those diamond dogs, even longer for the timberwolves. I know every one of us were too busy to remember this, but Spike is back. He came on a train yesterday and we all forgot about him. Now don't feel too guilty, Spike already knows how preoccupied we were and can understand why we weren't able to make it. He wants to see you all in person and he knows you want to see him, too. So, at two o'clock, Spike and I will walk down to Sugarcube Corner. I hope you all find the time to do so as well.
~Twilight Sparkle
Rarity folded up the letter and shrunk back into her seat.
"Spikey's back? Already?" She counted the days back in her head. "How could I have forgotten?"
"Who are you talking to my dear?" Fancy Pants called from the living room.
"Just myself, Fancy!" Rarity replied. She rubbed her temples and looked at her closet. She better start getting ready now if she was going to make it on time.
"Oh my." Fluttershy gasped when she read the letter. "Poor little Spike was at the train station all by himself?"
She looked at the clock, she had more than enough time to get ready. She hurried to her bedroom.
"I better tell him I'm sorry."
"Oh, I knew I shouldn't have gone to sleep early!" Rainbow Dash spat angrily.
I knew I was missing something yesterday. I knew it! Dash blamed herself. If she hadn't gone to bed so early last night, Spike wouldn't have been left alone at the station. Dash's anger died as cried, she could remember how bad loneliness felt.
"Shoot." Apple Jack put down the scroll and wiped the sweat off her fore head. "Big mac, Ah'm gonna to need ya to watch th' farm for the rest of th' day."
Macintosh crossed his arms and squinted at her.
"It's important, Spike's back 'n Ah wanna see 'um." Apple Jack put on her pouty-face and stared at her brother. "Please? Can ya do that fer me?"
Big Mac sighed. "Eeyup. UMPH!" His ribs were squeezed as Apple Jack hugged him.
"Thank ya kindly, big brother." She giggled and ran off to the farm house to get ready.
Macintosh rolled his eyes and returned to his work. "She owes me big fer this..."
Pinkie was on her lunch break when she was approached by the mailpony.
"Letter here for a Ms. Pie." It was more of a question than a statement.
Pinkie looked up from her cupcake and smiled. "About time, my whole body has been shaking all day!" She snatched the letter while the mailpony backed away slowly.
Pinkie read the letter and stopped, her hair deflated a little.
"Oh no, we forgot Spike yesterday." She worked up a smile as her hair bounced back. "But no worries, I throw a super party for him. It will be a 'Sorry for abandoning you at the train station, Spike' party!" Pinkie flailed her arms for emphasis.
She ran back to the kitchen and begged Mrs. Cake to get off early today. After five whole minutes of annoying persuading, Mrs. Cake gave in, promising that Pinkie could leave at one o'clock.
"Spike, Are you ready?!" Twilight yelled from downstairs. She heard his footsteps as he made his way to the stairs.
"Yep, I'm good."
Twilight and Spike walked threw the streets, waving to anypony who would wave back... Which was everypony. Spike was receiving a variety of looks from passing mares. Some were shocked that the dragon was so grown up now, Some were happy smiles to see an old friend was back in his home town, and the most common, lustful bedroom eyes, which Twilight countered with an angry glare.
They arrived at Sugarcube Corner and stepped inside. It was pretty slow, it was past lunch time and dinner is still a couple of hours away. Spike wiped his feet on the doormat and accompanied Twilight to the register. Mrs. Cake gasped behind the counter as she saw the pair.
"My, my, Spike? Is that you?" She said with a grin.
"Yes, ma'am." Spike nodded. "Just arrived yesterday."
"Gee, no wonder Pinkie wanted to get off early." Mrs. Cake rolled her eyes. "Can I get you dearies anything."
"No, thank you." Twilight spoke up. "We just had breakfast."
"Suit yourselves. Your friends told me to point you in their direction." Mrs. Cake pointed to the far corner booth. "That way."
Spike and Twilight turned to a booth filled with five mares waving them down.
"Is that Spike?" Dash whispered to the group while waving.
"I-it would seem so." Rarity answered with the same volume.
The group stopped waving and stared at Spike as he walked toward them.
"He looks so... so-" AJ started.
"Grown up." Rarity stated.
"Confident." Fluttershy added.
"Awesome." Rainbow squeaked.
"Hunkified?" Pinkie finished.
"...Yea..." The group agreed.
Spike and Twilight were about halfway to the table when Pinkie jumped from the booth and shot towards Spike, wrapping him in a tight hug. Spike was surprised by how fast she could move. He returned her hug as she nuzzled into his chest. One by one the group at the table stood up and ran over to Spike. Spike felt five more pairs of arms embrace him, causing him to feel happier than he's ever been in over a year. The warmth of their bodies made him shed a lone joyful tear.
"We're so sorry about yesterday, Spike." Fluttershy said softly, the others hummed in agreement.
Spike choked back the feels. "It's-it's alright guys. I know you all were busy."
Pinkie pulled back and looked at him. "You forgive us right?"
Spike smiled back. "I forgive you, Pinkie. All of you."
After another minute of snuggling the group finally let Spike go and sat back down at the booth. Spike was forced to sit in the middle.
"-So I get blamed for it, making me the center of that ass-chewing!" The six friends laughed at Spike's misfortune as he groaned at the memory. He was very animated while telling his bootcamp stories and it would at most time leave him out of breath by the end of the tale. Spike breathed heavily and sat back in his seat. "I don't even remember how many miles I ran that night."
"Wow, Spike." Apple Jack said. "Ah can't believe how tough they were on ya."
"Well, they have to." Spike replied. "If you're gonna survive this world, you have to be strong." The table nodded at this, it was sadly true.
"Y-you don't have to fight in any wars, do you?" Fluttershy asked, fearing the answer.
Spike solemnly looked down. "Well, maybe. I'm waiting for official orders from Celestia." His friends feared the worst of this. If Spike went to war, he could be hurt... or worst. The group couldn't think of the worst case scenario. "Don't worry, guys. No war, no orders."
At that moment Spike burped out a puff of green smoke. A scroll dropped down in the center of the table. All but Spike gasped, he picked it up without hesitation. He opened it up and then closed it again.
"It's for you, Twilight." Spike handed it to her.
Twilight reached out in confusion. "That's strange. What could Celestia want?"
She opened it and read silently.
Dear Spike,
Please give this to Twilight. Thanks. ;)
Dear Princess Twilight,
I've sent this letter to remind you that our meeting with the emperor of Prance is starting soon... In fifteen minute to be exact. Anyway, I hope you've finished the peace treaty because you need to bring that, too. Just a reminder, pupil, just a reminder...
~Celestia
Twilight's eyes snapped open and her jaw dropped. "OH NO, OH NO!"
The table stared at her as she sprang from the booth. "What's a'matter, sugar cube?" Aj asked with concern.
Twilight whipped around to face the group of puzzled friends. "Imsorryguys, gotta-go! Spike, behomebeforedark! BYE!"
With a flash Twilight was gone, leaving five confused mares and one dragon scratching their heads.
"I wonder what Celestia wanted..." Fluttershy stated.
"I'm not sure." Spike said. "But whatever it was, it must have been damn important."
Twilight teleported herself to the crystal library and immediately ran to her study, swearing all the way. She shoved the door out of her way and slid into her seat, quickly grabbing a quill and dabbing it. She furiously wrote on the scroll in front of her. She tied up all the loose ends and wrote a quick conclusion. Rolling up the parchment, Twilight bolted out of the library, not bothering to close the door behind her.
She spread her wings and took off with enough speed to create a small crater in the dirt. Canterlot was too far to teleport, she was going to have to pull a Rainbow Dash if she was going to make it.
The foreign country meeting room of the Palace was dead quiet, except the clock on the wall that ticked louder in the silence. Celestia watched Pérez, the emperor of Prance, nervously. She rubbed her hands together and looked at the clock. Twilight has never been this late before.
"I grow tired of zis, Celestia." Pérez said with an accent. He lightly tapped the large table with his fingers. "When is zis student of yours going to arrive?"
"Patience, Pérez." Celestia replied as calmly as she could. "I'm sure any second-"
The double doors to the room swung open, reviling a sweating Twilight. "HERE! I'm *gasp* here." She bent down and rested her hands on her knees. Celestia and Pérez stared at the mare in shock.
Pérez stood up and recoiled. "Is zat your student?"
Celestia didn't bother to reply.
Twilight held up the treaty. "I *pant* got it. The... the peace treaty. Here." She placed it in front of the emperor and unrolled it.
Pérez squinted at the paper and sat back down. Twilight slowly stumbled her way over to Celestia's side and sat down. She crossed her arms on the table and buried her head into it, breathing loudly.
"Cutting it a bit close, I see." Celestia scowled through a fake grin.
"Celestia," Twilight retorted. "With all due respect, I'm too tired for your bullshit right now."
Celestia decided to ignore the smart-ass comment, returning her focus to the emperor. He was silently reading the document with one eyebrow raised and mouthing the words as he went. His fingers trailed the scroll with his reading. Twilight looked up and saw what he was doing, she began to sweat again. For she remembered the fresh ink hadn't dried completely yet. The emperor's hand then came up to rub his chin, leaving a big black smudge on his face. Celestia and Twilight's eyes went wide, Celestia looked down at Twilight, who smiled sheepishly back.
They stared in horror as Pérez scratched his nose, then his cheeks and forehead. Before long, his entire face was covered in black stains. The Prench guards saw what had happened and began to giggle. Pérez looked up from the scroll and glared at his chuckling guards.
"What?" He demanded. "What are you all laughing at?"
"Uh, Major." One said through his giggles. "I zink you have somezing on your face."
The emperor was confused, something on his face? He looked down at his silver gauntlets to see the horrendous reflection. Pérez saw the ink on his hands and cried out in rage.
"OH!" He yelled. "You zink you can mak a mockery out of me with zis phony PEACE TREATY!"
The emperor tried to rub the ink off with his sleeve, but failed. He grabbed the treaty and tore it in half, the two pieces were then crumpled up and spiked at the ground.
"You want ze war, Celestia?!" He spat. "You will get ZE WAR!"
With that, Pérez turned and left the palace, spitting on the floor as he exited. The Prench guards followed their leader while laughing their asses off. The doors to the meeting room closed softly, leaving Twilight alone with the Sun Goddess.
Celestia had her head in her hands. She paused and sighed deeply.
"Twilight, I gave you one job, ONE FUCKING JOB!"