//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Love Keeps Dragon On: The Return of Sapphire // by The Lord Thunder //------------------------------// Spike had always known this day would come. For the last few years, it filled him with an odd sense of dread. Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t wait for it. This was the day he packed up to leave Twilight’s library and see the world for himself. Ten years ago, he met a young female dragon named Sapphire and fell in love with her. Unfortunately, circumstances forced her to leave Equestria with her parents, who deemed the country of ponies to be unfit for adult dragons. Spike left Ponyville and tried to catch up with Sapphire, to make their relationship work. It wasn’t until he was a day’s worth of traveling from Ponyville before he realized he wasn’t ready to leave his hometown and his friends behind, especially Twilight. That was the last time he tried to venture off on his own. But now, ten years later and a teenage dragon, he was ready. With a leather bag over his shoulder, he and Twilight Sparkle stood in the middle of the ground floor of the library. The time had come. “Do you got everything packed, Spike?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “I think so!” The teenage dragon let his bag drop to the floor and knelt down so he could sort through it. “Gems, a quill, spare quills, thirty feet of parchment, more gems. Plenty of daffodil sandwiches.” Spike gasped and smiled as he uncovered a roll of tattered blue wool and rubbed it against his cheek. ”My old blanket!” Twilight giggled. “Spike, you’ve had that blanket since you were a baby. Don’t you think you should buy a new one? It’s had more holes than we’ve had adventures!” Spike’s eyes darted from the implication and the mild embarrassment of it. He pulled the old patched-up blanket from his cheek and set it down. “Uh, you’re right, Twilight. I’m… too old for this stupid thing.” Spike waited for Twilight to turn around and snuck the blanket back in his pack. “I could never give you up, old friend.” “Do you have the two hundred bits I gave you?” Twilight asked as Spike rose back to his feet. “Well.” Spike lowered his head, cupped his paws behind his back and twisted his foot. “Umm… yes and no.” Twilight raised a forehoof and gave Spike a quizzical look. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Well… it’s 185 bits now. I bought a cake from Pinkie Keen’s yesterday.” Twilight furrowed her eyebrows. “TWO cakes? Do you really think you need all that sugar?” “What do you mean ‘two’?” Spike tilted his head in confusion. Such a lecture from Twilight was common, but he’d only bought one cake. “Oh, nothing. Just… drop by Pinkie Keen’s again and talk to Pinkie Pie before you leave. She told me she’s got something for you.” Knowing Pinkie Pie and gathering evidence from Twilight’s previous statement, it was probably a going-away cake. If Spike was really lucky, Pinkie would have topped it with all sorts of delicious gems and extra frosting; just the way he liked it. “I was going to drop by there and say goodbye to Pinkie anyway.” Spike reached down to grab his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He stood face-to-face with Twilight. Ten years ago, he was barely tall enough to reach her chest. Now he was nearly as tall as two Twilights. His wings had also grown in, but he was still not a strong flier, even though he’d been taking lessons from Rainbow Dash. The urge to cry swelled in Spike’s stomach, but he embraced his surrogate mother before his eyes had a chance to leak. “Goobye, Twilight. Thanks for everything you did for me. I’m gonna miss you so much.” Tears ran down Twilight’s cheek as she wrapped her forehooves around the dragon. For a few seconds, she forced the tears back down. “Goodbye, Spike. I’m going to miss you. For Celestia’s sake, you’d better write to me tonight!” Though his fingertips tingled with anxiety and he could barely stop himself from shaking, Spike pulled himself away from Twilight, giving her an assuring smile. “I will, Twilight. I guess… this is goodbye.” “For now. You’ll stop back and visit, right?” “Of course I will!” Twilight followed Spike out the door into the warm afternoon sun to see the dragon off. He afforded one last look back at Twilight, who waved him off as he started his round of goodbyes. “Bye, Spike! Take care of yourself!” “You, too!” The first ponies on Spike’s list were Applejack and her family. Seven years ago, A.J. met a stallion named Bartlett Pear, who lost his late father’s pear farm in a storm and came to Ponyville looking for work. He’d started out as a hired hoof for Sweet Apple Acres, but wound up falling in love with Applejack after a few months of labor. Two years later, they got married. As a result, they decided to plant pear trees alongside the apple trees and nearly doubled the farm’s income. The old green pony spending the afternoon in her rocking chair on the porch of the farmhouse was a common sight of Sweet Apple-Pear Acres. Sometimes Spike forgot she actually lived there, and wasn’t just a porch decoration. “Good afternoon, Granny Smith!” Spike shouted. The old pony didn’t respond; she was either asleep or didn’t hear him. Spike didn’t make another effort for her attention. It was enough of a miracle that the ancient mare was even still alive; it would be another miracle if he could yell loud enough for her to hear him without her ear horn. Two young foals, one filly and one colt kicked up dust as they ran towards the dragon. Both wore sad looks on their little faces. “Uncle Spike!” they shouted in unison. “Uncle Spike, ma’ says you’re goin’ away!” said the filly. “What she said!” The colt pointed at his sister Spike smiled at the children, Honeycrisp and Anjou Pear. They were Applejack’s and Bartlett’s twin foals. “It’s not true… is it, uncle Spike?” Honeycrisp asked, growing misty-eyed. Like her namesake, her braided mane was a light shade of yellowish-gold and her coat a slightly darker shade of gold. “Yer not REALLY goin’ away!” Anjou said. His plain, straight mane was more of a yellowish green and his coat pale green. The spitting image of his father. “Ummm… yeah, I am,” Spike said as he knelt down before the two little earth ponies. “That’s not fair! Who’s gonna play with me?” Anjou shouted as he stamped his forehoof, giving Spike a glare. “Hey, I’ll be back! You can play with your sister until then.” Anjou turned his glare to his sister. “Yeah, right! She can’t even catch!” “Ah can so, Anjou!” “Not as good as Spike!” “Ok, you two, knock it off,” Spike said as he stood up. From a patch of apple trees in the distance, a familiar mare wearing a wide-brimmed hat over her blond hair galloped up to them. A green stallion was with her, and a red stallion beside him. “Hey, AJ!” Spike shouted. “Big Macintosh! Bartlett!” The earth pony trio slowed their pace once they were closer and stopped in front of the purple dragon. Smiling, Applejack looked him over. It didn’t seem so long ago he was no bigger than Honeycrisp and Anjou. “My my, Spike, ya sure as sugar have grown up faster than I reckoned. Guess I knew this day would come eventually.” Honeycrisp looked up at her mother. “Ma, Spike ain’t really goin’, is he?” “For the twentieth time, yes he is.” Applejack’s heart sank when she saw the sad look in her foals’ eyes. The mare lowered herself to their level and hugged both of them. “Now, don’t ya’ll give me that look. I don’t want Spike to go neither, but he’s a big dragon now. Why don’t the two of ya go run along so’s we can talk?” The two foals turned to their father. “Paw, do we have to?” Anjou asked. “Listen to your mother, Anjou.” For a few seconds, the children looked at their parents in disbelief. They gave Spike one last hug around the ankles and ran off. “Sorry, Spike. I just don’t know what I’m gonna do with those young’ins. And here I used to think lookin' after Applebloom was a chore!” “It’s ok, Applejack. It’s nice to have somepony who looks up to you.” Applejack scraped her hoof across the dirt. “Well, I’m not much for goodbyes, seein’ as they’re so sad and stuff. But ya’ll take good care of yourself, y’hear? And don’t even THINK about skippin’ out on Sweet Apple-Pear Acres when ya come back. There’ll be a nice warm apple pie waitin’ for ya when ya do.” “And some big ol’ pear turnovers,” Bartlett added. “Ee-yup!” said Big Macintosh. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Spike replied. Just the thought of the Apple family’s sweet apple pie made him hungry. Bartlett’s pear turnovers were hard to turn down, too. An awkward silence fell over on the farm before Applejack moved closer to Spike. “Aw, shoot, ya’ll are practically family, Spike! Whatcha bein’ so shy for? Give ol’ AJ a hug!” Again, Spike neared tears as he and Applejack embraced one another. After that, he gave Big Mac and Bartlett a quick hug, then stepped back far enough to look at all of them at once. “Well, I’m gonna go. Gotta stop by Pinkie Keen’s before I leave. You know how Pinkie Pie gets when you make her wait.” The Apple Family all waved Spike good-bye as he ran back for Ponyville. He sure was going to miss all their sweet, delicious desserts The next pony on Spike’s list was Pinkie Pie, who now owned her own sweets shop called “Pinkie Keen’s.” Like Twilight, Pinkie hadn’t yet found a special somepony to settle down with, not that the phrase “settle down” existed in her vocabulary. Pinkie Keen’s wasn’t as extravagant as Sugar Cube Corner. Unlike the giant ginger bread house, Pinkie Keen’s was an unassuming little cupcake house painted pink with wooden cupcakes and candy canes decorating the store sign. Tears flowed like waterfalls from Pinkie’s eyes as she wailed out loud from behind her work counter. “I can’t believe Spikey’s leaving us! It’s so sad!” “Don’t cry, Pinkie. I’ll be back!” Pinkie’s tears stopped as suddenly as they appeared. “Oh! I have a cake for you!” The pink pony ducked behind the counter for only a second before popping up to set a delicious looking square cake on the countertop. Spike took a moment to marvel at his cake. Glittering gems in every color of the rainbow outlined the top of. His face had been frosted on it, along with the words, “Goodbye, Spike! We will miss you!” The names of his six best friends had also been written on it, each in different hoofwriting and a different color of frosting. Twilight Sparkle in purple, Pinkie Pie in pink, Rainbow Dash in powder blue, Fluttershy in yellow, Applejack in orange and Rarity in navy blue. “Wow! Did everypony sign this themselves?” “Yesiree, Bob! I made it just the way you like it, with gems and extra frosting!” A smile Spike couldn’t fight spread across his face. Even Rainbow Dash had signed her own name on the cake. He’d never expected her to do something so… feminine. He truly had the best friends a dragon could ask for. “Thanks, Pinkie. It’s almost too good to eat. It means so much to me.” Again, with no warning, tears ran like waterfalls from Pinkie’s eyes. “Waaa-ha-ha-ha-haaaa! I’m gonna miss you, Spikey-Wikey!” She leaped over her counter in one bound and wrapped Spike in one of her spine-crushing hugs. “I’m gonna miss you, too, Pinkie, but I can’t breathe right now.” “Sorry ‘bout that!” As suddenly as her tears started again, they stopped again. “Don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine! I’ll give you lots and lots of cupcakes and ice cream and candy when you get back! You go have fun traveling and camping and sight-seeing, you can tell your auntie Pinkie Pie all about it when you get back!” “Will do, Pinkie,” Spike said as he picked up his cake and the wooden plate it stood on. “Well, I’m heading off to Canterlot now. I’m gonna say goodbye to Celestia, Luna and Rarity before I leave.” “Okey-dokey-lokey, Spike! Have fun!” the pink pony shouted with a good-bye wave, “Bye, Pinkie!” Spike stashed his cake in a separate compartment of his pack. It was then that he realized the cake had been enchanted with a spell to keep it from getting smashed, probably Rarity's doing. Canterlot Castle overlooked Ponyville from the far mountains. Though the castle was huge, it looked like a toy from that distance. Rarity lived there now with a gentlecolt she’d met from Trottingham. It hurt for a while knowing his long time crush had found somepony other than him, but Sapphire had made Spike realize something. He’d rather find another dragon to hook up with instead of a pony. Spike would still be a young adult dragon by the time Rarity was as old as Granny Smith. He also longed for a creature that would be closer to his size. With nothing else to do, Spike walked off towards Canterlot, though he’d barely made it to the edge of Ponyville before a loud voice halted his advance. “Hey, Spike!” The dragon looked skyward and smiled. Rainbow Dash was descending towards him from Cloudsdale. “Dash!” Spike yelled back. Once Dash landed, the two gave each other a quick one-arm hug and a high five. “Did you come to see me off?” Rainbow gave Spike a friendly wink. “Well, yeah! You didn’t think I’d let you leave without saying goodbye to your old pal Rainbow Dash, did ya?” “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Rainbow Dash turned her head away, fidgeting with her forehoof. “This is usually beneath my level of awesomeness, but… I’m gonna miss you, old buddy. You know what you should do, you should go track down that girl dragon you met all those years ago.” “I don’t know, it’s been a long time. We hardly even write anymore. She’s probably found a special dragon of her own by now.” “You never know until you try. What could it hurt?” My heart, for one thing. I’ll never forget how much it hurt when she left. “Hey, why are you pestering me about love? I don’t exactly see you flying around with any big, strong stallions.” Rainbow scoffed and waved the notion away. “Please. I’m way too busy being the awesome leader of the awesome Rainbowlts for mushy things like love.” Dash’s typical awesome face turned to a normal look to let him know what came next wasn’t a part of her typical bravado routine. “Spike, you two had something good going on. She wasn’t like other dragons. You’re not like other dragons.” “That was ten years ago. She’s probably changed by now. If we were meant to be together, we would have hung out longer than one week.” “Ok, you win. This is your big day, I’m not gonna argue with you. We’ll hang some when you get back, but until then, see ya!” Dash looked around nervously, her magenta eyes darting as if she felt pressured to do something that would embarrass her. She decided to fly off before she had a chance to do it, but only got a few inches off the ground before Spike’s voice stopped her. “Wait a second, Rainbow!” Dash dropped back to her hooves. “What’s up?” “I know you’re not going to let me leave without giving me a hug. A REAL hug, not just a one-arm buddy hug.” Rainbow glanced around to see if anypony was watching. Assuring herself she was in the clear, she embraced Spike with both front legs. “Aw, what the heck? I wanted to anyway!” “Thanks, Dash,” Spike said. “Stay awesome!” “You know it!” Rainbow Dash said after letting Spike go. With one last high five, she bolted back into the air. With a deep breath of courage, Spike turned back towards Canterlot. All that was left was to say goodbye to Fluttershy on his way there, say goodbye to Rarity and the princesses, and he was off on his own. Despite his objections to Rainbow’s advice about Sapphire, the blue dragoness from long ago stuck in his mind. They rarely wrote to each other anymore, but he supposed ten straight years of nothing but writing does get a bit dull when you can’t see each other. His heart fluttered at the idea of seeing her again. Maybe after he finished his business in Canterlot, he could send her a letter, find out where she was at and drop in on her. If it wound up working no better than last time, at least he’d have the peace of mind from seeing her one more time.