Spike woke in the middle of a ring of five mares who were surrounded by chaotic piles of books on the library floor. None of them had felt in any way inclined to clear up the mess they had made, and when the six friends had finished hugging, moping, morosely snacking and hugging some more, he and Rarity had trudged up the stairs to bring bedding down for everypony before they all cleared a patch of floor and collapsed in emotionally exhausted heaps.
He didn’t get up, basking in the comforting closeness of his friends, even if the mare he truly wanted to see wasn’t among them. Not even the sight of a peacefully sleeping Rarity could warm his heart this morning. He sighed and rolled over, his face now close enough to Applejack’s muzzle to feel the stream of warm breath blow across the spines on his head. He could see Applejack’s hat sitting on a pile of books behind its sleeping owner and contemplated getting up to clean, his mind filled with visions of a distraught Twilight trotting through the door to see her library in such disarray.
One of the ponies behind him shifted, creating a wave of movement through the other sleeping forms. Their combined presence was so comforting, Spike snuggled further down, content to stay within the warmth of his circle of friends and forget the state of the library.
There were only a few moments of peace before he felt a familiar burning gurgle in his throat. He turned his head to the ceiling and let out a belch of green fire.
He watched the scroll that appeared fall out of the air to land on Fluttershy’s head. She gave a squeal as she jolted awake and leapt away from the offending object, taking a crashing course through the sleeping ponies rather than away from them. The others awoke with grunts, grumbles and loud complaints, creating chaos in what had not long ago been a peaceful morning.
Spike clambered over sleep-dazed ponies to retrieve the rolled up parchment. When he’d unfurled it, he cleared his throat to gain the attention of the others. The entangled mares stopped and looked to the baby dragon expectantly as he read aloud.
To the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony: Twilight Sparkle’s Dearest Friends,
My sister, Princess Luna, and I have discovered a way to bring my most faithful student back to us. Come with all haste to Canterlot so that we may discuss the decision the five of you must now make.
Please understand that if you choose to take this dangerous mission, you may never return home, so you must plan your departure accordingly.
I await your presence with a hopeful heart.
Princess Celestia.
There was silence in the library once more as the six of them let the words sink in. They quietly disentangled themselves from each other and stood a little apart, carefully not looking anypony in the eye.
“We might not come home?” Fluttershy inched a little further away from the others and hid behind her mane as she finally broke the silence.
Rarity blinked. “Is that …" she trailed off and took a deep breath. "Do you think that will be a problem for us?”
“Well …” Applejack picked up her hat in amongst the books and placed it on her head. “Ah’d need to think ‘bout what that’d mean for mah family and the farm.”
“I’m fine with it.” Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air and swooped above them all. “Besides, we’ll definitely all come back. And when we do, we’ll be heroes.”
“Yeperooni!” Pinkie’s hair was poofier than it had been a moment ago, though not yet at the level of its usual unkempt craziness. “If we go to get Twilight and bring her back, then we’ll definitely be back here on account of needing to be here when we bring Twilight back with us.”
Rainbow Dash gawked at Pinkie Pie for a moment along with everypony else, but then shrugged. “Works for me,” she said. "Now let’s get going. The faster we get there, the faster we’ll bring Twilight home.”
“Woah nelly!" Applejack held up her hooves. “It’s well and fine that you an’ Pinkie have nopony to look after here, but the rest o’ us have family...” She looked to Fluttershy. “... An’ critters we need to talk with ‘bout this first.”
“If they say no …” Spike asked cautiously, “is that going to make your decision for you?”
There was another round of extended silence around the room as they pondered the question.
Rarity broke out of her reverie first and moved over to put a hoof on Spike’s shoulder. “No,” she declared. “There’s no chance that anything will stop me from going to retrieve my friend.” She pulled her hoof away and sighed. “But I do have to speak with my family first. They need to know that there’s a chance … a chance …” She paused to clear her throat. “I need to discuss this with them so that they will be prepared.”
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Spike paced the library while the others were out saying their goodbyes or making preparations in the event that things went wrong ... or whatever it was Pinkie and Rainbow were doing. Pinkie Pie had been the first to return. She said she’d had some teary goodbyes with the Cakes, played with the twins and spoken with her parents. All in barely an hour. Then she sat calmly reading a book, seemingly without a care in the world. Spike would never understand that pony, and he doubted anypony else could, either.
It was another hour before Rainbow Dash joined them. She’d flown all the way to Cloudsdale and back to give the news to her parents. They had taken it well. Apparently, having a daredevil weatherpony as a daughter made it much easier to accept the idea of never seeing her again. Rainbow Dash said the goodbye hadn’t been teary, that would have been uncool, but Spike had his doubts that anyone could just casually say bye to their parents with the possibility of it being forever, even Rainbow Dash. She curled up on the rumpled pile of bedding where they had all spent the night and closed her eyes.
Applejack was the next to appear, ears drooping and a forlorn expression on her face as she planted her rump in the middle of the library. Spike didn’t ask her how things had gone. The Apple family were close-knit, and no doubt they would need to pass on details of Applejack’s situation to the Apple family in all the other towns and cities in Equestria. He supposed it wasn’t every day an Apple chose a friend over their own kin, and that decision had to be tearing Applejack up inside.
When Rarity stepped in the door without a huge case of luggage in tow, Spike had to go check that she hadn’t left it outside. The normally high-maintenance pony had only her signature saddlebags filled with accessories. She had her usual dignified air even though there was a feeling of melancholy about her bearing. She stopped for a moment to glance disapprovingly at Rainbow Dash napping as she walked by, then sat herself next to Applejack.
Pinkie Pie bounded into the room, a box on her back in which she had some of her baked goods. Spike hadn’t even seen her leave, but she sped around the room, dropping a muffin on Rainbow Dash’s face, balancing a tart on Applejack’s head and waiting for Rarity to hold out a hoof before gingerly placing a cupcake there. She didn’t speak, just rushed around with her usual intensity, on a mission to make her friends smile even if she didn’t seem to be able to spare the emotional energy to light up her own face.
Spike busied himself making lunch them all, working around an overly helpful and enthusiastic Pinkie Pie. Applejack picked up a book and hoofed through the pages thoughtfully. Rarity rummaged in her bag, reorganising its contents, and Rainbow Dash continued her nap. Spike had almost finished with the meal when Applejack broke their time of quiet reflection.
“What do ya’ll think is takin’ Fluttershy so long? I’d a’ thought she’d know how important it is we get goin’”
Rainbow Dash opened one eye and sighed loudly. “I guess I’ll go get her.”
Rarity held up a hoof, having just finished packing her saddlebags once more. “I think it would be best if we all go. We’ll coax Fluttershy out of wherever she’s hiding, then head to the station to get the train to Canterlot.” She settled her bags on her back and made for the door.
“Sounds like a plan,” Spike said, following her. “Except I think the princess will send us a chariot to get to Canterlot faster.”
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Fluttershy didn’t have a problem finding volunteers to take care of her critters. Many of the ponies in the marketplace had been happy to agree to take turns spreading out food for the birds, beasts and rodents who called Fluttershy’s cottage. So it wasn’t until she was finally home, saying goodbye to her woodland friends, when it really set in that it was possible she’d never come back.
She hadn’t meant to leave everyone waiting for her in the library, she just froze in place when the truth hit her. None of the concerned touches, nudges and nuzzles from her critter friends, nor Angel Bunny’s angry thumps on the floor, had brought her out of her trance.
That was how her friends found her. When Rainbow Dash pounded on the door, Angel led the five of them inside and waved his arms in her direction, looking more grouchy than upset.
Rarity approached, winding through the crowd of watching critters, and nuzzled her. “Fluttershy, dear. It’s time to go.”
“To go?” Fluttershy looked at Rarity, but she didn’t seem to see her at all.
Rainbow Dash flew over and landed beside the pair. “Snap out of it, Fluttershy!”
“Rainbow, darling, I’m not sure that’s going to ...”
Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy and started shaking her. “We need to go get Twilight, and hanging around here worrying about whether we’ll be getting home is only wasting time that we could be using finding our friend.”
“Rainbow Dash, that’s enough!” Applejack pulled the blue pegasus away sharply.
Fluttershy was at Applejack’s side in an instant, her ears flat against her head. “Nonono, it’s fine. She’s right.” She took a deep breath. “Wherever Twilight is, she’s counting on us to find her.”
Over at the door, Spike nodded resolutely. “I’ll let the princess know we’re ready.” He scribbled down a hasty note and sent it away in a burst of dragonfire. When it was gone, he looked around the room between the critters and the ponies. “And I ... uh ... think we should let Fluttershy say goodbye properly.”
The ponies in the room looked around at the patiently waiting animals before silently filing out of Fluttershy’s home into the afternoon sunshine. They shuffled their hooves awkwardly for some time, nopony willing to say anything.
Spike belched up some dragonfire, and there was a collective sigh of relief. The ponies all gathered around Spike to read over his shoulder.