//------------------------------// // When It Ends // Story: Painful Moments // by Princess Glitzy //------------------------------// I look at my best friend. He looks at me tiredly. I wish that I could help him. I hold his hand and try to smile, but it's just too hard now. "Hello, Spike." He smiles at me. In his weak condition, that's great. "H- Hello, Twi." "You woke up from the coma! Luckily you weren't out for very long. The doctor says that you should recover nicely." I try to refrain from saying the one question that I want to ask. I look at his heart monitor. It's relatively steady, but his heart is still weak. "Spike... why?" He looks at me with his confused, little eyes. "Why d- did you say yes? You know that you can't handle that. The Cutie Mark Crusaders manage to pull off those crazy stunts, but why did you think that you could?" "I'm a strong dragon. I thought that I could do what they do. They were going rock climbing! It sounded easy enough! I figured that they had the proper safety precautions and tools, but... they didn't." I try not to cry, but he's like my son. "You're just a baby!" I can't help but cry. I put my head on his chest, but try not to put too much pressure. "You know that I'm only a few years younger than you, right?" He laughs slightly. "Yes, but you are a dragon! They age slowly! You'll always be my baby! ...always." He hugs me loosely, but then stops. "Twilight, it hurts." I look at him puzzledly. "What hurts?" He looks at me sadly and strokes my mane. He pauses and then starts to speak. "...death, death hurts." I punch him slightly. I then cry harder. I can't lose you! "Y- YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE! You can't die, not now. It's too soon." He smiles brightly and then checks out his heart rate. He looks at me happily. "Twilight, do you remember the time when we defeated Discord?" I looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course!" "Do you remember when you made me be Rainbow Dash?" I blush. Why did he have to mention that? "Yes." "Do you remember the time when I kept getting bigger and nopony could figure it out?" "Well, yeah! It was so funny! We took you to doctors, vets and random ponies! They all treated you like a little foal!" I start to laugh, I laugh and laugh. I don't remember the last time I just laughed. Spike fell into the coma about one month ago and woke up a couple days ago. I've visited him everyday, but I don't remember laughing like nothing was wrong since this happened. "It wasn't that funny." "YES, yes it was." He starts laughing and the two of us stay happy for a little while. Then, he starts coughing. I try to comfort him, but he's coughing deeply. "Spike! SPIKE!" His heart rate goes fast and I get frantic. He grabs my hooves. "It'll be okay, T- Twi." He looks into my eyes. "If I get better, can I have some icecream?" I'm crying hysterically, but I can't lose my sanity now. "Yes, when you get better, you can have icecream." He smiles and then slowly closes his eyes. I shake him violently. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME NOW! YOU CAN'T DIE! PLEASE! Please! Hold on! Hold on..." I cry into Spike's chest. He's barely breathing and his heartbeats are faint. "Doctor Stable! Nurse Redheart! I need Spike to be okay!" They run into the room and check his heart rate. They look at him with non-hopeful eyes. They know how severe his condition is. Broken bones, fractures, internal bleeding, heart problems and serious headaches. They grab the bed and pull him out of the room. I watch them take my 'son' away. It's too hard to deal with. He will be okay. He will be okay. I rock back and forth listening to see if I hear Spike. I lie on the ground, crying insanely. He can't die on me now. I listen intensely, but what I hear isn't what I want. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP... It's not him. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP... He didn't die! BEEP, BEEP, BEEP... "Time of death, 10:42." Goodbye, Spike. I walk, one hoof in front of the other. The ground is damp from the rain, it fits the mood well. The others have already left. I look at the gravestone. Spike #1 Assistant #1 Dragon #1 Friend "Hi, Spike. It was a lovely funeral. I've missed you, we all miss you. You've been gone for about a week and it's been hard on all of us. Rarity misses you so much. You were her Spikey Wikey. You always loved her so much. She told me that she wishes that she had told you how much she loved you. You were too young to date her, but she still loved you very much as a friend. She hopes that you rest in peace. Sadly, she still hasn't talked to Sweetie Belle. I think that she blames her." I choke back tears. "Fluttershy hasn't left her house since your funeral. She's taking it really badly. She always thought you were so cool. When we first met her she wanted to hear everything about you and she was scared of dragons and ponies so if she could just talk to you then you must be really special to her. Fluttershy and Rarity gave a speech together about you. It was so sweet. Angel Bunny even misses you. Fluttershy misses you Spike, a lot." I sit down on the moist earth. I take in my surroundings. This is my favorite place because of you, but also the worst because of why you're here. "Rainbow Dash is trying to stay strong, but she is grieving about you as much as the rest of us. She cared a lot about you. Not many ponies would be willing to slam into a large pile of rocks for you, just to keep you busy. Rainbow Dash loved hanging out with you and playing pranks on or with you. Rainbow probably didn't get as much time with you as she wanted, but she's still grateful that she got to hang out with you. She did a sonic rainboom at your funeral and gave a small speech. The gist of it was that you were 'epic', 'awesome' and 'cool'. "AJ misses you so much that she named one of her trees after you. She said that that tree was strong and helpful, just like you. She took a week off from working on the farm when she heard about... I can't say it. She made a diamond pie for you." I put it on the grave. "She talked about the time that you saved her life at the funeral. You were willing to give your life for her and she's forever grateful to you. "Pinkie Pie went hysterical. Her hair went flat, her coat got dark and nopony knows where she is. She brought her 'sad cannon' to the funeral. It put black confetti everywhere and balloons that said 'We'll Miss You!' She cried the way that she did when Luna came back home to Celestia. Fluttershy's been taking care of Gummy. I hope that Pinkie Pie didn't do something that she'll regret." I lie down right next to Spike's grave. I feel at peace being able to see him. "Guess what, Spike? Even Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Discord came to the funeral! Everypony loves you, Spike. You'll always be my number one assistant." I put down the icecream he wanted. You always loved your icecream. I get up and begin to walk back home. Goodbye, Spike, rest in peace.