Chapter 4: Release
Twilight was sitting and waiting outside of the library patiently for her assistant to return. It was the late afternoon in Ponyville and the busy day for its citizens was coming to an end. She had a saddlebag on her back Celestia's warm sun was hitting her face was it was changing the sky from blue to a mixture of colors. The shades of the sky went from red to orange all the way to a deep blue and violet, showing all of the colors of the spectrum.
Finally, Spike came into view. The large dragon was slowly gliding down from the clouds to land in front of the purple unicorn. Both Spike and Twilight gave each other a small smile. They didn't say anything right away, knowing that it wasn't easy for either of them. It was Twilight who finally spoke.
"You ready, Spike?" the mare asked in a hushed tone. Spike nodded in response. Twilight nodded back, "Alright. Let's get going then, we have a lot of ground to cover."
"Alright…." the dragon spoke with a detached tone to his voice.
The two began their journey northwards and out of Ponyville. Twilight led the way with Spike following close behind. Night quickly set in and Luna's moon began to rise, giving the two light as they past near the Ghastly Gorge.
Spike felt odd as they were walking, because he wanted to talk to Twilight. However, he held his tongue for fear of how she might react. She had been very stone-faced since he returned from saying his goodbyes. In fact, she had not even turned to look at Spike once since they began their trek. Twilight, on the other hoof, wasn't talking or turning to Spike for a reason, she was silently sobbing.
Spike had to break the silence, it was driving him mad. "So, Twilight….how was your day?"
Stopping from walking, she raised a hoof to her eyes to get rid of her tears. Afterwards, she quickly turned to her assistant, "Oh, I-I actually was going to ask you the same. How was it?" Twilight tried her absolute hardest be strong. She thanked Celestia she was able to.
"Oh, well, it was….unique…." Spike didn't know how to put it.
"Well, tell me as we continue going. We are almost there," Twilight instructed. She looked down at the ground and noticed it was getting very rough and rocky. They were definitely nearing the mountains now.
Spike followed along, "I went to see Fluttershy first. It was a bit weird, she asked me if I was alright and all that before asking if there was anything she could do for me. I told her it's no big deal, but she insisted that she do something for me. So that's why she made sure I had a clean bill of health before I left." Spike rolled his eyes as he said his last statement. He still thought it was unnecessary, but he did what Fluttershy said.
A smile came across Twilight's face, "That sounds like her. Fluttershy just worries about you and all. Don't let it worry you. So then who did you see?"
Making sure he didn't step in a pothole, Spike continued, "I went to see Pinkie Pie next. She wanted to throw me a goodbye party. I had to tell her for ten minutes that I didn't want one. So instead, she made me some special treats. She also told me I couldn't go until I ate them all."
"That's Pinkie alright," Twilight interjected.
"Tell me about it. Anyway, I went to see Rarity."
"Ooo, so what did you do there?"
"Well, I finally had the nerve to tell Rarity I liked her," Spike's cheeks became a little red.
Twilight was surprised that Spike was able to tell her, "And how did it go over?"
"Well, she told me she kind of knew. She said she was 'honored to have a friend like me' or something like that. After that, she asked if she could have a loose scale or two to remember me by. I didn't understand why, but I did."
"She likes you back, Spike. You were just as much her assistant as you were mine," Twilight said with a small laugh.
Spike echoed the small laugh, "Huh, guess you're right. And then she kissed me on my forehead as I left."
"That's really sweet of her. So who did you go to next?" Twilight asked.
The dragon continued, "After that, I went to Sweet Apple Acres. I was just going to say goodbye to the Apple family but Applebloom asked if I wanted to stay for lunch. And she used the puppy-dog face on me, so I couldn't back out."
Twilight laughed, "You always were a sucker for a cute face."
Spike's face became red, "Am not!"
"You were like that! Especially with all of female dragons back in Canterlot!" Twilight couldn't help to laugh harder. It felt good to laugh.
"Anyway," Spike tried to continue, "Applejack and Big Mac gave there best wishes to me and then the Cutie Mark Crusaders….well, I wasn't all that fond of their tickling of me."
Twilight's smile was still on her face, "Sounds like it was fun."
"It was, until I ran out of breath."
Twilight laughed a bit more, "What about Rainbow Dash?"
"She was the last one I saw. I saw her on one of the clouds when I was heading back. She said she wanted to race me just once before I left. To nobody's surprise, she won. But she almost seemed like she was sad that I was going. Rainbow Dash never gets sad. It was….weird," Spike commented.
"That does sound a bit odd for her. I think it's because she never expected that you would be such a friend to her," Twilight thought.
"Maybe. We did have some fun times together when she was teaching me to fly," Spike remembered.
Twilight nodded and finally stopped her trotting. Spike did as well and they both saw that they were at the foothills of the mountains. Just beyond the mountains was where most of the dragons in all of Equestria lived. Both Spike and Twilight stared at the landscape lit up by Luna's full moon. Neither spoke a word. A silence grew between the two as both of their faces were stern.
A small giggle broke the stillness. It was Twilight.
Spike was puzzled, "What's so funny?"
The smile returned to Twilight's face, "Oh, I was just thinking about when you were growing up. I remember when I was teaching you to speak, you kept calling me 'Twiwhy Sparky'. It was so adorable."
A smile returned to Spike's face as well, "Really?"
"Of course! In fact, you were really cute when you first hatched," the mare explained.
"Huh, I just remember being a pain to you for the longest time before I finally understood my duties to you," Spike scratched his head with one of his claws.
Twilight laughed a little more, "You definitely were! You had a tendency to burn many of my books! I knew you didn't mean it, but it still was irritating! But I couldn't stay mad at you when I saw you sleeping so peacefully in your bed, cuddling my Smarty Pants doll closely."
A warm smile came across Spike's face as his claw was quick to wipe a tear away from his eye.
A few tears were also forming in the pony's eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away. "I'd always pull the blanket up to you whenever I saw you like that and then lightly kiss your forehead," she added.
More tears formed in Spike's eyes, "Thank you." He picked up Twilight Sparkle with his claws and hugged her close to him.
"Wh-What?"
"Thank you for giving me such a wonderful life, Twilight," tears flowed from the dragon's eyes.
The purple mare warmly smiled and returned the hug, tears running down her face as well, "Of course, Spike. You are more than just family to me. You've given me memories I will cherish forever."
Spike was sobbing at her words. He felt as if he was saying goodbye to the only being he could call 'mom'.
The dragon finally spoke again, "Can I come visit you?"
"Of course, Spike. I'd love that. All of us will."
Spike smiled. Finally gathering enough strength from within, he set Twilight back down onto the ground. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked towards the mountains in the distance and then back to Twilight for one final time.
"I love you, Twilight," Spike was all he was able to utter.
"I love you too, Spike, "Twilight replied, with a smile.
Spreading his large wings, Spike began to flap his wings. He hovered over the ground for a few moments before flying off to the mountain range in front of him. As he flew, his tears grew and fell from his face, slowly to the ground below.
Twilight watched Spike fly away. Her eyes were sorrowful while she had her smile still across her lips. She had a mixture of happiness and sadness. It broke her heart to see one of the most important beings in her life to leave, but she knew they would meet again. She didn't take her eyes off of him until her assistant was gone from her sight.
END