Not a single harem member ceased crying as they were transported back to the Castle of Friendship. When they walked into their home, they all silently and slowly headed for Twilight's room, crowded onto her bed, and embraced each other as tight as they could. Within a half hour, they had fallen asleep, due to sheer exhaustion from crying so much. The princesses were relieved to see Spike's harem finally asleep and away from any depression. They looked peaceful as they softly snored the remainder of the day away, oblivious to the fact of Spike's death.
Thorax and Ember were too emotionally shattered to fly back home. They were given a guest room that was one floor above Twilight's room. Unlike the harem, however, Thorax and Ember spent the remainder of the day, and half the night, embracing each other tightly and crying their eyes out into each other's shoulders. Anyone who passed by their room knew it was best to just leave them be.
Ponyville, Equestria
The Castle of Friendship
October 13, 2019, 7:42 A.M.
Twilight let out a groan as she woke up, her eyes were sore and her whole body ached. She felt like she had just flown and run a marathon at the same time. She looked around at where she was. She realized that she was in her bedroom with her best friends, Smolder, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Gabby, and Starlight. They were lying on her bed still asleep. From the looks of it, they had all fallen asleep in a tight hug. There were tear streaks on the pillows and sheets.
"Ugh," Twilight groaned. "What did we do last night?"
Then she noticed something. In the middle of the cuddle puddle was a small hole that would've fit a small, purple Dragon. Twilight didn't know why Spike wasn't with them. Twilight suddenly felt sick to her stomach thinking about him, but she didn't know why. She couldn't recall a single thing from yesterday, but she felt this was serious, very serious.
She bolted out the door and to Spike's bedroom. She peeked inside, expecting him to be asleep in bed. He wasn't there. She looked in every room in the castle, but couldn't find Spike anywhere. Twilight felt even more sick to her stomach and she felt a bit sad too. Why was she feeling like this? She ran back to her bedroom and woke up the other 11 girls up.
"Girls," Twilight said. "Girls, wake up."
One by one, the others slowly began to stir, and they were not happy about it.
"Ah, what the hell, Twi?" Rainbow Dash groaned. "Why are you waking us up?"
"Yeah, come on," grumbled Smolder. "You're going to wake up Spike."
The orange Dragon looked around the bed only to find Spike wasn't there.
"What the...?" she asked. "Where'd he go?"
"Smolder, girls, Spike's missing," Twilight said. "I've checked everywhere, and I can't find him."
Everyone's fatigue vanished and they jumped up out of bed. They rushed out of the room to start a search party when they were greeted by Princess Celestia and Luna near the staircase. Twilight, as well as her friends, were confused. Since when did the Princesses drop by for a visit?
"Celestia? Luna? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.
"We're here to provide comfort for you, Twilight," Celestia responded. "Do you not remember what happened yesterday?"
Both sisters felt their guts drop when Twilight shook her head, "no". It was clear to them that they had no choice but to recap the results of the battle that happened no more than 17 hours ago. Without another word, Luna used her magic to lift a newspaper that she had brought off of her back and showed it to the dozen creatures. The second they saw what was on it, they all became horrified, and Rarity almost threw up. On the front page were two pictures. The one on the left was Spike smiling at the camera. The one on the right was a picture of the remains of the ruined royal castle. The bold, black letters that made up the title seemed to only worsen the situation. Through blurred vision, the feeling of fresh tears stinging their eyes, and the agonizing pain in their chests as they felt their hearts being stabbed repeatedly by the sharp dagger of reality, the harem of the now late Spike read the paper over.
THE CANTERLOT TIMES
Teenage Dragon dead following heroic sacrifice during deadly Canterlot battle, millions of bits dealt in damages.
October 12, 2019
At that moment, all the memories from yesterday hit Twilight and the other harem members like a wrecking ball. Twilight looked back down at the front of her torso and her forehooves, only to discover they were matted with blood that was now dried, his blood. The sight of it made her want to puke. They began to cry silently. Smolder, however, immediately collapsed and just sobbed as hard as she could.
"A funeral is to be held in Canterlot in three days' time at 12:45 P.M.," Luna stated.
"O-Okay," Rainbow Dash sniffed.
Celestia sighed before continuing, "Ember and Thorax are also here. They're too emotionally hurt to fly back home, so they'll be here until the day of the funeral. Garble's here in the dining room having some breakfast. More than likely, he'll be looking for you, Smolder. We must be off now. The funeral preparations are to start in an hour and a half."
"Oh, uh, thanks," Rainbow Dash replied, her tone sounding meeker than Fluttershy's.
With that, the Princesses flew out the door and to the Canterlot Cemetery, leaving all 12 heartbroken girls alone to remember the horrors of yesterday. They all agreed to go to their separate bedrooms to be alone with their thoughts. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all decided to cuddle their little sisters in bed, because they knew they were just as traumatized and heartbroken as they were. Smolder, however, walked to the dining room to be with her brother, she never stopped sobbing and walked slow and sluggish. Twilight wouldn't go directly to her bedroom either. She instead headed for the bathroom to clean her boyfriend's blood off her body. As the other girls walked back to their destinations, Twilight kept uttering the same thing to herself over and over again.
"Why," whimpered Twilight. "Why couldn't I have done something? I could've saved him."
Left with nothing better to do, everyone crawled into bed and cried themselves to sleep. It was going to be a long three days.