The Elements of Harmony and Spike were in the kitchen of the Canterlot castle as the mares counted out how many gems Spike was putting in his mouth. And it was up to thirty-five at this point given how big Spike's mouth was now. In fact, the Dragon Warrior had quite the growth spurt in the last three years. It certainly surprised the girls when they had learned he was actually fifteen-years-old when he was chosen as the Dragon Warrior. Now that he had recently turned eighteen he was tall as a full grown stallion, his spines were edgier, and he had a longer tail.
They kept counting until Spike said when a full mouth, "Thirty-eight gems!"
They cheered for him until Pinkie said, "Now do forty!"
Rainbow exclaimed, "He'll never be able to reach forty!"
"Wanna bet?" he mumbled out and took out a sapphire and emerald from the gem bowl in front of him.
Rarity said, "Now, be careful, Spikey, the last thing we need is for you to choke."
Applejack nudged her, "Aw, relax Rarity, this is the Dragon Warrior we're talkin' about, he can do this."
"Thanks AJ." he incoherent said.
A small blush crept on her face but luckily everyone was too busy to notice.
Spike held the gems to his face and put them in his mouth, for a moment he was having trouble closing his jaws making the girls anxious until he managed to close it together.
They cheered on with Rainbow saying, "Wow! That was so awesome!"
Pinkie bounced around, "I know, right?! And it's a good thing we were all here to see it, especially since Applejack will be leaving soon!"
Spike's eyes widen from hearing that and spitted out his gems in shock, shouting, "What?!"
Applejack groaned and smacked her forehead, "Pinkie! I was going to tell everypony at dinner tonight!"
The pink pony blushed in embarrassment, "Oops, sorry… it just slipped out."
Spike inquired, "You're leaving? Why?"
Applejack sighed and took off her hat as she faced her friends, "You all know how I was planning on goin' back to Sweet Apple Acres someday? Well, I think that time is now… It's been three years since Spike became the Dragon Warrior and during that time, Equestria has become more peaceful to the point where I don't think I need to stay here anymore."
Rarity smiled, "You absolutely right, darling!"
Spike was surprised to hear that and asked, "She is?"
The unicorn replied, "Well, of course! After all, we did agree to help Twilight protect Equestria until we knew for sure that things had settled down and that there was no need for us to stay any longer."
The other girls agreed.
Rainbow declared, "Yeah! Before I met you guys, I was set on becoming a Wonderbolt!"
Fluttershy added, "And I was going to join the Preservation Society of Rare Creatures before being asked to join The Elements of Harmony."
"I was going to open my own party store before Celestia found me!" Pinkie beamed.
Spike gawked at the girls' confessions; he had been so sure that he was going to battle alongside his heroes for a very long time but now… if the girls want to go their separate ways… He didn't know what to make of it. On one hand, he wanted the girls to be happy and to follow their own path but on the other hand, he was afraid of losing their friendship should they lose contact with each other… He had been their biggest fan ever since they created the group but more that they were the first friends he ever had. What was it going to mean for him when they leave him?
"Spike? You okay?" Applejack asked, looking on in concern since the dragon had a strange look on his face.
"Yeah, it's just… I didn't think you guys leaving would be this soon… I've only been here for three years but you guys are my best friends and I don't want to see you go…"
Rarity touched her heart in awe, "Oh, Spikey…"
Dash proclaimed, "Hey, we'll always be friends even if some of us will be halfway across Equestria!"
Applejack shook her head, "That won't be the case with me." she told him, "Spike, you can come visit me in Ponyville any time you like. You know it's not that far from Canterlot so it'll be like I never left."
He sighed, "It won't be the same… I like how we all get up at the same time, eating meals together, training together, and having fun together!"
Applejack sighed this time, "I know it won't be the same… I like doing all that with y'all too. But I can't stay here forever, my family needs me, the farm needs me…"
He countered, "Well we need you too! You're an important member of this team! You're strong, level-headed, and dedicated to the cause! We'd be lost without you!"
"That's mighty kind of ya, Spike, but there's no point in me staying if there's no reason to!"
"Of course there's a reason!"
"Well then tell me what it is!"
He found himself stammering, "Er… um…" then he quickly said, "I just remembered I got to meet Twilight! Bye!" he ran out of the room.
Applejack seemed to gave off a disappointed glance, then told the girls, "I'm gonna go start packing." and she left too leaving the girls in utter bewilderment.
Rarity commented, "That was… certainly strange…"
Rainbow pointed, "Yeah, it was like we weren't even there for a moment!"
Pinkie said, "That's right! It felt like the conversation was just between them!"
Fluttershy voiced, "I wonder why that was…"
Rarity mentioned, "It was almost as if…" she chuckled, "But that's impossible…"
Dash inquired, "What?"
Rarity pointed, "Well, this is completely out of blue but it was almost as if the two of them were having a lovers' quarrel…" she paused letting the information sink in.
There was silence before Rainbow started to snigger and all four of them began to laugh.
Rainbow Dash gestured while wiping a tear away, "Applejack and Spike in love? Yeah, right!"
Fluttershy tittered, "Oh, I don't think it would be so bad, I think they would make a cute couple…"
Rarity said, "Be that as it may, Applejack will be leaving soon so whatever is going on between them won't last long anyway and actually, Applejack has the right idea of us starting to live our lives once again now that peace has overcome Equestria."
"Yeah! I've been dying to join the Wonderbolts ever since I was filly! I want to see if I can get in now, what with me being a big shot hero!" the rainbow-haired mare gave smug look.
The others playfully rolled their eyes and started going over their plans for the future.
Spike held his head while leaning over the table. He was watching Twilight shelf the books in the library after he told her of his troubles of Applejack leaving and that soon the rest of the girls would be doing the same.
Twilight looked at him, "Spike, as much as I want the girls to stay too, they were living other lives before I met them… I can't force them stay if they feel they don't need to…"
"I know… but… they're the first friends I ever had, Twilight, and that includes you… What would happen to me if they all left?"
"You're the Dragon Warrior, Spike. You'll still be able to protect Equestria even without the Elements of Harmony to back you up."
"You sure about that? Because ever since I saw their first battle with that Bugbear, I had dreams of fighting by their side and being a hero with them."
"Hmm…" Twilight pondered on that and said, "That certainly makes sense you would feel attachment like that if they were the reason you became the Dragon Warrior in the first place."
"I just don't know what I'd do without them…"
"Then maybe it's time to look for a new thing… Like the girls, they want to do something different now that we've been living peacefully these past months. Isn't there something that you've been wanting to do aside wanting to be a hero with the girls?"
Spike thought about it. He then realized that there was something he did want, something he had been wanting to know for a long time… He got up with a determined look. "Yes. There is…" he ran out of the room before Twilight could ask what it was.
Spike made it to his father's joke shop. Over the last three years, Spike had introduced the girls to his dad only for them to discover the truth about Discord much to their shock. But once they had learned that Discord was not villainous anymore and was now just a big trickster; they were fine with him being himself around them and even helped the ponies of Canterlot to be used to his true form.
So now Discord's joke shop was bigger than ever with him using his magic to make magical pranks and trinkets that sold like hot cakes. The draconequus was in the middle of a big sale when his son came into the store and everypony started applauding.
"And there's the dragon of the hour!" Discord exclaimed and popped by his son's side and patted his back, "I haven't seen you in awhile, kiddo, what have you been up to?"
"Well, um-"
"Ah, don't tell me! You got a girlfriend now, right?" he winked.
Spike blushed in embarrassment, "No! Dad, that is not…"
Discord frowned, "Oh, poo… I thought after your eighteenth birthday you would finally start dating one of those Elements, what with you being so close to them…"
Spike kept blushing, "Dad… they're just my friends…" then he turned serious, "Though… I don't know if we'll be friends much longer…"
Discord's brow lifted in confusion.
Spike requested, "Can we talk? In private?"
"But of course! You go in the kitchen while I make sure the customers are busy." he addressed the ponies, "In honor of my son, free goodies for everyone!" they started cheering until he added, "but with purchases." That made them groan, then with a smile on his face, Discord joined Spike in their apartment kitchen. "So, son, what did you want to talk about?" he sat at the table giving his son his full attention.
Spike took a deep breath, "Well, for starters, Applejack is going back to her home in Ponyville now and the rest of girls are thinking about doing their own thing now too… And if that is the case, then… I need to do something that's going to occupy my time to help fill the void of them not being here…"
Discord touched his heart in awe, "And you want to come back to work in the shop?! Oh, I'm so flattered, son! Of course you can come back! Frankly, things weren't the same without you here…"
Spike waved his hands, "No! Dad! That's not what I meant!"
The draconequus' smile faltered, "Oh… so, what are you planning to do then…?"
Spike took another deep breath, knowing this would be a big thing to say, he slowly started, "Dad… I want to find my birth parents…"
Discord's jaw dropped to the floor, literally. Spike kept quiet as he let Discord processed what he just said. Until the draconequus began to nervously chuckle and stammered out, "What makes you think you're adopted?!"
Spike gave him a look and deadpanned, "Seriously, Dad? It's not that hard to figure out…"
"Well don't forget, I am part dragon!" he showed off his dragon leg.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Well then why don't I have any of your powers? Or why am I a whole dragon while you're only part?"
Discord kept nervously chuckling, "What fun is there to make sense? Your genetics just went wacky on you!"
"Fine then, you wouldn't mind telling me who my mother is, would you?" the dragon stared him down.
Discord stiffened and was at loss for words, "Oh… um… I…"
Spike continued, "You never talk about her, so something must have happen between you two and why you had to raise me alone, so where can I find her?"
Discord kept on stammering to the point he grew frustrated and ended up shouting, "Okay, fine! You are adopted! Happy now?!"
"Not really… mainly because, why would you keep it a secret for so long? Why would you try to make me believe I'm your son when I'm not…?"
"You may not be my real son, but I had to raise you for eighteen long years and that makes me qualified as any other father in more ways than one."
"Okay, I'll give you that, but I still want to know where I came from… Can you at least tell me that?"
"Well… that's the trouble, son, I can't, because even I don't know where you came from."
Spike's eyes widen in shock.
Discord started, "Let me tell you the whole story…"