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// Planned Reunion 
// Story: Spike's Greatest Endeavor 
// by Troyjan 
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“Rarity are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Spike worriedly.
“Of course, it’s a good idea. Even if it wasn’t, its far too late to turn back now. Hold still Spike, I need to fix your collar,” said Rarity, as she adjusted Spike’s shirt with her hooves.
Rarity had Spike over for an appointment yesterday, where she took his measurements. With his measurements and his anatomy in mind, Rarity went on to make the very shirt that Spike was now wearing. The shirt was green with a simple golden yellow pattern etched into the hems and collar. The article of clothing fitted perfectly around Spike’s arms, neck and upper torso, with two rectangular holes on the backside to allow his wings to go through it. Spike had repeatedly offered to pay Rarity for the shirt that she had custom tailored for him, but Rarity declined. Rarity claiming that “it was part of her duty” as his friend, and that she wanted it to be a gift.
Spike and Rarity were waiting in a public square, just outside one of the gardens surrounding Canterlot Castle. Once Rarity had refolded the back of the collar of Spike’s new shirt, she took her hooves off of Spike. “Keep a look out Spike, they should be here any minute now,” affirmed Rarity, looking at a nearby street clock.
Then, in the distance, Rarity saw Twilight soar down from the skies above, with another winged creature flying behind her. The surrounding ponies made ample space for Princess Twilight Sparkle and her company to land. They all turning to face and bow towards their princess, her as her hooves touched the cobblestone. The accompanying creature, with lion paws on its rear legs, large, feathered wings, a long, slender tail, a yellow birdlike beak, and large talons at the ends of the forelegs, was clearly a griffon. Upon further inspection, Rarity recognized the young griffon’s grey and white feathered body, confirming the griffon’s identity. Spike, however, had recognized Gabby as soon as he spotted her.
“There she is! Go get her Spike!” cheered Rarity, as she gave Spike a forward push with her forehooves. Spike quickly stepped forward to stay balanced. Keeping up this momentum, Spike continued briskly walked towards Twilight.
“I’m here Twilight,” reported Spike.
“Excellent, you’re right on time,” commented Twilight. “Spike, Gabby, I’ve brought you both here today to complete an important task. There are numerous archives in Canterlot Library that contain information pertaining to public records and official documents. The issue of concern involves the archived documents that pertain to all publicly and privately owned parks within the city of Canterlot and its surrounding areas. As I have recently witnessed myself, those particular archives are in a major state of disarray and need to be organized. Normally, this would be the responsibility of the Canterlot Library staff, but as of now, their hooves are full handling other more important matters. That just leaves the two of you. Gabby, I have already sent a letter to your supervisor. If you agree to do this for me, you will be relieved of your mail carrier duties for the day, and will be appropriately compensated for your effort. With all that said, Spike, Gabby, are you both up for this task?”
“I sure am,” insisted Spike.
“I can certainly help out if you need me to,” offered Gabby.
“Great, I knew I could count on you,” exclaimed Twilight. Twilight then magically manifested two pieces of paper if front of her, and gave one to Spike and Gabby. “These are your passes. They will grant you unrestricted access within Canterlot Library for a whole day. When you arrive there, show these papers to the main reception, and some pony will take you to where you are needed. Once there, I want the historical park archives organized by region, then zone, then by induvial plots of land, and then in chronological order of when they were first released. If you both work hard together and do things right, you should finish by the end of the day. Do you understand?”
“Yes Twilight,” affirmed Gabby and Spike simultaneously.
“Good. I must now be off. I’ll be in Canterlot Castle if either of you run into any issues. See you then,” said Twilight, before magically teleporting herself away (an extremely useful yet difficult skill that Twilight had mastered years ago).
“You got all that?,” asked Gabby, now looking at Spike.
“I sure did. Twilight said to go to Canterlot Library, go to archive section about city parks, and then organize them in order of region, zone, induvial plots, and then chronologically,” answered Spike.
“Good, I was just checking. The princess made it sound like this was really important. But do you have any idea why she chose us in particular Spike? I mean, I get that you’re Princess Twilight’s top assistant, but why would she send me here for this kind of work?”
After hearing the particularly suspicious exchange between Twilight and Rarity at the castle over a month ago, Spike had finally gotten wise to their plan just earlier that day. He had figured out why Rarity had insisted on making a fancy new shirt for him to wear for otherwise no apparent reason, and why Twilight had spontaneously decided to summon Gabby of all creatures, for some previously undisclosed task. But by the time Spike had realized what was going on, he was already in too deep. Deciding that it would be for the best, Spike chose to just play along the best he could.
“I’m not entirely sure about that either Gabby. Maybe Twilight thought that we would work well together as a team,” suggested Spike, not necessarily telling any lies. “All Twilight told me this morning was to meet you here in advance. This was the first I heard about what we would be doing.”
Gabby took another look at Spike, examining his appearance. “Say, that’s a nice looking shirt Spike. May I ask where you got it?”
“A friend of mine made it for me.”
“Oh yeah, you’re friends with that famous tailor, Rarity. I bet she made it for you.”
“Yes, you would be correct. If you really like it, I could ask Rarity to make one for you too. That way, we could have matching shirts. I could even pay for the commission.”
“That sound neat. Maybe we can do that later.”
“Say, Gabby, I just noticed, something looks different about you since I last saw you. Did you recently trim some of your feathers?”
“Oh, you noticed! Yes, I have gotten some of my feathers trimmed. They get really annoying when they get caught in things or hang in front of your face.”
“Well, I say look much better this way Gabby, not that there was anything wrong with how you looked before.”
“Why thank you Spike,” said Gabby, somewhat shyly. “I think we should get started with Twilight’s task soon. Do you know where Canterlot Library is?”
“Yes, its just a few blocks from here. Once you see it, you can’t miss it.”
“Excellent! I’m getting paid to spend the whole day working alongside you Spike.”
“I’m just glad that you’re here Gabby. I honestly had no idea that I would ever get the chance to see you again this soon. It means a lot to me.”
“You mean a lot to me too Spike.”
After Gabby’s last remark, an abrupt silence fell between the two. Spike and Gabby bashfully turned away from each other, neither knowing what to say. After a few seconds, Spike broke the silence.
“Twilight made it sound like there was a lot of work for us to do. Like you said, we should get a move on. We’re expected to finish sorting those archives by the end of the day.”
“Agreed. Now may you show me the way to the library?”
“Certainly”
And with that, Spike took off into the air, with Gabby flying closely after him. Away and to the edge of the public space, Twilight and Rarity were sitting at a table on some chairs outside a local restaurant, behind a wall of shrubbery. Using a sound transferring spell that Twilight cast, the two had listened to Spike’s and Gabby’s conversation as they observed them through a gap between the trimmed bushes. Upon Spike’s and Gabby’s departure, Twilight dispelled her sound transfer spell.
“Oh, those two are just absolutely adorable together, aren’t they Twilight!” squealed Rarity.
“They sure are,” agreed Twilight.
“I know. I’m just so happy that this all worked out so well.”
“I’m so proud of Spike. He’s finally moving on in the world,” said Twilight, as two singles tears slid down her face.
“Twilight, whatever is the matter?,” asked Rarity concerningly.
“I remember getting so frustrated with Spike when he was younger. I just wanted him to grow up, and to stop driving me crazy. But now I realize that Spike will never be the same young dragon he was, ever again,” said Twilight, restraining herself from crying any further. “I had no idea he would grow up this quickly.”
Rarity moved her forehoof over Twilight’s hoof that she had resting on the restaurant table. “You did an excellent job raising Spike. Accepting all of this is for the best. You have nothing to be ashamed about how Spike turned out, Twilight,” affirmed Rarity, doing her best to console her friend.
“Thank you Rarity,” said Twilight, before sniffing and taking a deep breath. “Although I didn’t exactly raise Spike by myself. For years, I had you and the rest of my friends to help me. Combined, all of you taught him more than I ever could have done on my own. Especially you Rarity.”
“There’s no need to thank me Twilight. I was just trying to do my part as a friend. And you’re right Twilight, Spike will never be the same as he was before. While that cute, adorable, and innocent dragon who first followed you into Ponyville has been long gone, we instead have the proper young dragon that he is today. And don’t forget, Spike still has a lot more growing up to do.”
“I didn’t forget about that Rarity. Given the length of an average dragon’s life span, Spike is still practically a toddler. It will be decades before he’s fully grown. Still, it’s going to be a bit difficult getting used to all these changes. For now, I just hope things turn out well between Spike and Gabby.”
“They’ll be fine, they’re practically a match made in heaven. I would just love to follow and listen in on them, but I wouldn’t dare want to intrude. For now, I suggest that we just let things play out between them,” said Rarity, before leaning back in her seat to take a look up at the sky. “I’m certainly going to miss being Spike’s favorite. Things may have certainly changed between me and him, but what we have is something very special. And no matter what happens to Spike in the future, he will always be our precious little Spikey-Wikey.”
“Gee Rarity, I had no idea you still felt so strongly about him. If I had to guess, I’d bet you’ve had some second thoughts about Spike’s proposal to be his mare-friend. Am I right?,” teased Twilight.
“Twilight, what I am going to say is for your ears, and your ears alone. Do you understand?,” declared Rarity in a bold tone. Twilight nodded in response. Rarity leaned her head in, and spoke in a softer voice. “Even ignoring some of the blaringly obvious details such as his age and his species, Spike still has plenty that he needs to work on. But even so, he can be very romantic when gets things right. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered Spike’s proposal for at least a moment.”
An awkward silence fell between Rarity and Twilight. A small smirk escaped Twilight, which caused Rarity to giggle in reply. The two friends then immediately erupted into hysterical laughter, allowing their concerns and worries to fade away into the late summer winds.