“Mm-hmm. Mm-hm. That’s great, Spike. If you could just have the kitchen send in a sandwich for me before you go, I’d really appreciate it, and I’ll see you at dinner. Oh - and no crusts on my daisy sandwich, you know how I like it.”
“Twilight, are you even listening to me? I said I won’t be back for three hundred years.”
Princess Twilight Sparkle jerked her head up so sharply from Aeternus Apotheosis Illuminatus that it dislodged the light cloud of dust that had settled on her coat and made her sneeze. “That’s today?”
Spike sighed, and lowered his neck a little so he could huff out a blast of sulphur-scented breath and wash the dust from Twilight’s coat. When he was little, his breaths wouldn’t have even tickled her eyelashes; now it was like being bathed in a desert windstorm. He’d grown so large; when had that happened? It felt like only yesterday he was just a little thing who rode on her back. As the books and pages around her settled after the tornado, Twilight realized Spike was speaking again.
“The Draconic Change? I know you have to remember, Twi, you’re the one who did all that research about it! Dragons go to sleep for hundreds of years, and undergo the final growth spurt that transforms us into full-sized dragons. And I’ve been waiting for it for so long!” Spike chuckled, and smoothed a scaled paw over his spines. “Ember’s been teasing me about being a late bloomer.”
“Oh, yes, right!” Twilight Sparkle lied. She was a princess now, and she’d gotten better at it; but Spike was practically a sibling, and the sidelong glance he gave her with one slitted pupil was all the judgment she could stand. “Oh, fine, I forgot. But I knew it was coming! I put it on my planner - uh, my planner - it must be under this one.” Twilight huffed as she began digging through a nearby stack of books.
“Is this a pile of planners? Twi, there are decades of planners here!” Spike admonished her quietly, surprised as he began going further and further back into the pile.
“How else am I supposed to keep track of things?! I’m a princess, I just - I have a lot to keep track of!” Twilight Sparkle huffed, and kicked over a tower of books with her hind leg, emerging at last with a planner held aloft with her magic. “HA! See? I found it! And right here - here we go! ‘Spike begins his special dragon sleep.’ So I’m totally ready! Totally prepared! I can even tell the kitchen myself how to make my daisy sandwiches!”
But the Spike she returned to wasn’t cheerful; his expression was pinched with worry, and the green eyes that stared back at her weren’t a child’s at all, but filled with adult concern. It startled her to see Spike as he truly was. “Are you going to be okay, Twi?”
“What? Pfft, of course I am! I’m the Princess! I have a whole castle here to help me, if anything I’m over prepared! I’m -”
“No, Twi, that’s not what I mean.” Spike stood for a moment, and let the silence stretch out. “I think you know what I mean.”
Twilight Sparkle found herself at a loss for words. “I - I’m sure I don’t know.”
“You don’t leave the library anymore, Twi. You spend too much time in here, locked up by yourself. I know it was hard, losing your friends, losing the Princesses, but you can’t - you can’t lose yourself, too.” Spike swallowed, and the way he knit his claws in front of his middle reminded Twilight Sparkle so painfully of the little dragonet he once was. “I’m afraid of what’s going to happen to you without me here. You only come out when I ask you to, and - and I’m so worried, Twilight.”
“That’s not true! I came out for - for Daisy Shine’s birthday party, didn’t I? That nice little librarian!”
“That was fifty years ago, Twilight.” Spike murmured. “She’s a grandmother now.”
Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth, then closed it, and repeated it once or twice before she stood in silence. That was true, wasn’t it? It hadn’t felt that long ago, but … but it must have been. She’d worked her way through the whole first rack of Ancient Ponish tomes since then, hadn’t she?
“I think this might be why I haven’t had the change yet, Twilight.” Spike continued, watching concern overtake Twilight’s regal expression. She might be a princess, but Spike could still clearly see his beloved bookworm even through the royal features. “I’m afraid to leave you alone.”
“It’s … my fault?” Twilight Sparkle’s voice was a whisper now, and she looked down at the ring of books surrounding her - and the books that stretched almost as far as she could see down the library’s aisles, vanishing into darkness. Ring after ring left on the floor, evidence of uncountable days spent reading and learning. Reading while the world moved past her.
“Not on purpose! I know you wouldn’t, Twilight, I know you didn’t mean to. I just … I couldn’t leave you.” Spike admitted, and swallowed, the motion so much larger now. “I don’t want you to be alone. Not even for three hundred years, even if you barely notice I’m gone.”
“Oh, Spike. Of course I’d notice.” Twilight Sparkle insisted as she pushed the books aside, crossing to his side to hook her forelegs around the dragon in a tight hug. It was harder to do now that he was so much bigger, but … well, she supposed they were both bigger now. “I’m going to change things. I promise. You will go, and I will be fine.”
Spike returned the hug tightly, and held her there for a moment, almost too long, until her bones creaked. “Could you come with me?”
Twilight chuckled fondly. There was the little dragon she remembered, putting up a brave front but still a little scared deep down. “Of course, Spike. I’ll pack our lunches to go.”
***
The kitchen staff surprised her, but Twilight managed to bite back her reaction; it had been many decades since she’d appeared in person, so she didn’t recognize any of them. She thought she had, until the cheerful little dishwasher informed her that her mother had been the former master of sauces, and that’s why they looked similar. Twilight refused to let anything get in the way of Spike’s big day, and so she briskly soldiered on, all the way up to the grassy hill where Spike’s sleeping cave was.
“This is nice!” Twilight Sparkle announced brightly, peering into the cave’s entrance. “Spacious, but not drafty; is this lava rock? I hear it has amazing insulation properties! It’ll keep you nice and toasty in the winter!”
Spike chuckled, and shook his head as he set down the picnic basket. “Thank you. Ember helped me to find the best cave to hibernate in. There’s a bend back there, so you can’t see the gems I used for my bed.”
“Wow! You really thought of everything, huh?” Twilight sat beside the picnic basket and pulled out their lunch - one daisy sandwich for her, no crusts, and one hundred thirty-five daisy and ruby sandwiches for Spike. “I guess you really are all grown up now.”
“I should hope I am - it’s been hundreds of years!” Spike laughed, then paused, and considered Twilight Sparkle sidelong. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
Twilight let her eyes drift out to the horizon, and huffed out a deep sigh. “I think so. I guess I lose track of time when I’m in the library, sometimes. It’s easier than being out here, sitting on the throne, surrounded by strangers.”
Spike nodded, and tossed the first sandwich into his mouth, crunching the gemstone thoughtfully. “I know it was really hard, when we lost Rarity. She was … she was the last.” Spike looked down at his second sandwich, and peeled back the bread to look at the gem nestled against the daisy. “I really miss them.”
“Me too.” Twilight Sparkle replied, and for an instant, she felt something dark and hungry awaken in the pit of her stomach. She stuffed it down with another bite of her sandwich, too large to swallow, and coughed until she could muscle it down far enough to speak again. “Oof, they need to cut those daisies a little thinner, huh?” Twilight grinned, and pushed herself up to her hooves. “I’m gonna check out your bed!” And off she trotted, brisk and elegant, as befitted a princess without a care in the world.
Spike came to find her a few minutes later, and laughed as he peered around the corner. “Twi, you don’t have to arrange them by color!”
“Well, I know sometimes you get a craving for only the emeralds, and you’re like me, you like to work around your plate in order of least enjoyable to most, and this yellow citrine is - oop!” And here Twilight was abruptly cut off as Spike lifted her by the scruff of her neck and gently deposited her on the other side of the cave. The thought came to her unbidden; was this how Spike felt being carried around Ponyville?
“Thank you Twi, really.” Spike chuckled, and regarded her fondly for a long moment. “Thank you for always taking care of me.”
Twilight returned the long look, and reached up to give him a tight hug. “You’re welcome, Spike. I’m going to miss you for the next couple of centuries.”
“Me too. What will you do? Not stay in the library the whole time?”
“I thought I’d go … out. I want to see Ponyville again. I want to see Applejack’s farm again, see if it’s still there. You know; all the places we used to go.” Twilight tried to shrug it off, like it wasn’t a big deal, but Spike’s gaze was too knowing for her to escape.
“I think that’s a good idea. It’ll be hard, but … it’s nice. Sometimes when I get lonely, I’ll go by Rarity’s old boutique. There’s a lot to see out there.” Spike yawned widely, and padded over to his bed of gems. With a carelessness born only of his tough dragon skin, he launched himself onto the jagged pile, wriggling until he’d formed a little crater to sleep in.
“Well, you have a good sleep, Spike. I’ll make sure to make a note in my planner each year until it’s time to come see you again!” Twilight Sparkle promised, and began walking towards the mouth of the cave. “Of course I’ll have to visit each season and make sure you aren’t disturbed, and check on the vegetation, and make sure the Ursa Minor hasn’t taken up residence, and -”
“Twilight?”
Twilight turned back. “Yes, Spike?”
“Could … could you tell me a story? Until I fall asleep?”
Twilight Sparkle returned to the massive dragon’s side with a smile, laying a gentle hoof on his paw. “Of course, Spike. And I think I have just the one. This story is called, How Spike the Dragon and The Elements of Harmony Saved the World.”