What Didn't Happen

by Zeg

A Light in the Darkness

Twilight had experienced this magic once before, long ago when Chrysalis had first managed to trap her within the Crystal Caverns below Canterlot. However, it appeared that this time would be different, as she had two drones disguised as Nightguard keeping watch over her as they descended through the rock and crystal that made up the core of the mountain. It seemed Chrysalis wasn’t going to take any chances now that she had successfully swept aside any obstacles she might encounter with the Equestrian royalty.

But was this really her final goal, Twilight found herself wondering. If simply conquering Equestria was her real purpose, then what use would the Elements be to her at this point? Nightmare Moon would be the only one left who could possibly oppose her now, and it was obvious that Chrysalis had the upperhoof against her even without the power of the Elements. Chrysalis had claimed that she had been searching for the Element of Magic for some time, well before Nightmare Moon’s return. This meant that there must have been some other purpose to her seeking the Elements’ power.

Twilight’s eyes glanced down when the spell passed through the ceiling of the caverns beneath her. The crystals that lined the cavern walls reflected the green light from the spell, filling the room with a cascading effect of light beams that danced off the walls. The dome shaped spell slowly glided down until it touched the floor of the cavern, and once their hooves touched firm ground, the spell dissipated from around them, leaving Twilight and the two guards standing there with the natural low level glow of the crystals giving them just enough light to see their surroundings.

“This way,” one of the two guards simply said, as he began to walk toward an opening that lead deeper into the caverns. The other standing to her side eyed Twilight expectantly, and began to follow her closely as she followed behind the lead guard.

The echoes within the caverns were very strange. The crystallined walls echoed more than just strange sounds; echoes of light refracted multiple times through the crystal walls to cast odd images as well. Twilight caught a few glimpses of the strange images as she walked along with her keepers to whatever their destination may be. Most of them were obviously just odd angled reflections of herself and the two guards, but she could have sworn she saw other changelings just in her peripheral vision more than once, and unless her ears were playing tricks on her in this place she was also hearing more than just their own hoofsteps.

The cavern opened up to a high ceiling that stretched many stories tall into the core of the mountain. The two guards stopped, and Twilight’s eyes slowly drew upward as she took in the shear size of the crystal formation that dangled from the ceiling in the center of the chasm. Her mouth slowly hung agape as she noticed something else; a staggering number of changelings.

“This is where it leads,” Twilight quietly said to herself, only momentarily drawing the attention of her keepers. She mentally berated herself for not having considered this possibility sooner. She knew the gigantic crystal within the Everfree Hive had likely been used as a focus to perform long distance teleportations, but she had assumed the destination would connect to somewhere outside of Equestria, not the core of Canterlot Mountain. Along many of the outcroppings that surrounded the crystal, Twilight could see a mixture of changeling drones and others that appeared to look like ponies, most of which had the appearance of Nightguard, and many of which were clothed in the uniforms. Twilight hazarded a guess by what she was seeing that a large portion of the Nightguard could already be compromised, causing her to wonder momentarily how they could have possibly managed to infiltrate so quickly. But that was just an assumption, she quickly considered. She remembered that the Everfree Hive had existed for at least ten years now, so it was highly likely that the changelings had already been present here for quite some time, slowly working their way into the ranks of the Equestrian Royal Guard.

One of the changelings approached from above, descending from one of the many outcroppings. Twilight immediately noticed the unique differences in appearance as this one descended to the floor just in front of her. It had an appearance that would be a closer match for Chrysalis than any of the drones, seeming to have features that were more equine than the rest. The black chitin that formed the skin of its body had a greenish metallic shine to it, and it had a long mane and tail of straight hair that was many shades of orange. And its eyes, they were not the same single shade compound eyes that were common among the drones; they were deep emerald green irises surrounding pitch black pupils.

Twilight had seen this very rare phenomenon among changelings only a few times in the quarter millennia that she had known of their existence. It was a feature among those that seemed to hold some sort of leadership within the hive structure, but the reason for the physical differences from the drones had never been discovered. She had often called these particular changelings hybrids, based on the mixture of equine and changeling appearances. As this hybrid changeling neared the floor, it kicked up a small cloud of dust, and the rapid buzzing from its wings ceasing when it touched down. It folded its wings with a quick flitter as it approached, looking to the guard that had lead Twilight to this place.

“The link can not be used,” the Hybrid said in a voice that seemed masculine, yet still had a strange resonance. “There has been recent interference from the other side. It is not stable.”

The lead guard took a single step forward. “We have orders from our Queen—”

The Hybrid silenced the protest by quickly raising one hoof. “I know of the orders. Our Queen has cleared the skies. She is to be flown to the hive,” he said as he pointed his hoof toward Twilight. “You two will return to your posts.” The two guards didn’t argue, giving only a quick nod before they both turned to leave from the same direction they had come from. Twilight watched as they left, turning her attention back when she noticed another buzzing sound approaching. Two undisguised changeling drones swooped in to alight on either side of the Hybrid. “You will go with these two,” the Hybrid stated, his somber gaze fixed squarely on Twilight.

Twilight knew it wasn’t a request she could refute as she watched the two drones approach and stand to either side of her. The Hybrid gave an approving nod before turning aside, walking a few steps and then unfurling his wings to lift himself into the air. Twilight followed him with her eyes, watching him circle around the crystal and eventually seeing him alight on one of the outcroppings before he moved out of view.

Twilight felt a hoof prod her side, and she glanced back down to see one of the drones staring back at her. It jerked its head quickly to the side toward the other drone that had already set off toward another cave, and Twilight found herself once again being led through the Crystal Caverns as they disembarked from the chasm.

Eventually, she was lead to a small opening in the side of the mountain. Not too far to her left she could see part of the waterfall that ran along side the city, and she judged by the remaining distance below that they were somewhere just below Canterlot on the cliff side.

Twilight tensed when she felt her foreleg being grabbed, and looked to her side to see one of the two drones hooking its foreleg under hers. Met with the slight resistance, the drone narrowed its solid blue eyes at her. “If you don’t want to be dropped, you’ll cease your resistance,” it said, hissing as it spoke the s’s within its words.

Twilight didn’t answer directly, but wordlessly allowed the two drones to hoist her up so she had one foreleg draped across each of their shoulders. Crossing a foreleg each under her’s and over her back, the drones readied themselves for flight as they approached the edge of the cliff. They held tight to Twilight’s hooves as their wings began to buzz loudly, and the air around them stirred.

As they lifted off from the side of the cliff into the moonlit night, Twilight glanced back over her shoulder. She could see the lights of Canterlot as they slowly grew distant. She had hoped that they might be seen by a pegasus flying by, or someone from one of the many lit widows that dotted the cliffside, but all she could see was an empty sky above the city.

The flight across the Canterlot countryside had been at a slow pace. At first, Twilight had occupied the time with her thoughts, considering possibilities for escape, no matter how remote the chance might be. However, as the flight had dragged on, she had been unable to ignore the aching coming from her forelegs, which were becoming numb from dangling in the sky for so long.

She considered for a moment how this could be used to her advantage. Obviously, the drones were under orders to keep her unharmed. If she could convince the drones that she might lose her grip, perhaps she could get them to land so she could rest. Once on the ground, she might have a chance with only the two drones to deal with, even if only to run and pray that they would lose her.

“I-I need to rest,” Twilight began, trying to sound extra tired. Neither of the drones gave her a response, and simply continued on their course. “I can’t feel my legs,” she complained again.

“As long as you don’t struggle, you will not fall,” one of the drones simply said.

“But if I do fall....”

“You will not.”

It appeared that the drones’ minds had already been made up. Twilight couldn’t help but let out a disappointed sigh, allowing her head to hang limply as she stared at the ground passing far below them. Perhaps at the hive then, she thought to herself. If luck were on her side, the Nightguard from the nearby camp might spot them, but then there was also the chance that the guards would just be more disguised changelings. She furrowed her brow in annoyance at just how little control she had in this situation. All she could do now it seemed, was just wait for something to happen and pray it was in her favor.

Twilight blinked when she noticed a shadow move along the ground far below her. Her mind tried to calculated the size of the shadow against the tree tops below, realising very quickly that this shadow belonged to something large, many times her own size. She pulled her head back, looking behind herself to the full moon hanging in the sky to search for the shadow’s owner.

She didn’t immediately see it, but she could hear it; a steady woosh reverberating through the air from somewhere nearby about once a second. The drones must have noticed the sound as well, as they also began to look around to try and locate where the strange noise was coming from.

The owner of the shadow made itself known not to long afterward, diving through the air from above. As it sped past the group, one of the two drones screeched as it was struck by the passing creature, knocking its grip loose. Twilight found herself hanging on to the remaining drone by a single foreleg as the other spiralled away in the sky. The remaining drone’s wings buzzed loudly as it tried to stay aloft, and then it suddenly let out a screech of its own, its wide eyes seeming to be full of fear. Twilight followed its gaze, looking over her shoulder just in time to see the large creature having circled back around, coming right at them. She could see the moonlight glinting off its back, showing off its impressive wingspan, but was unable to catch any other discernible features before it closed the distance. As it made its second pass, Twilight felt a jolt when the second drone was swatted away. Her lungs drew in an involuntary gasp, and then let out a cry at the sudden weightless feeling that filled the pit of her stomach as she began to plummet to the ground.

Quickly, Twilight willed herself to resist the natural reaction to panic. She steadied herself upright in the air as best as she could without the aid of her wings, and then began to reach her forehooves up behind her withers in an attempt to loosen the buckle that held the harness tight to her body. Her hooves flicked at the metal buckle, desperately attempting to get some sort of grip on the strap, despite the fact that she knew it would be near impossible. The harness was designed to be physically impossible for a pony to remove on their own without the aid of magic. All she could manage was to barely touch the tip of a hoof to the buckle, which wouldn’t be sufficient to loosen it.

The tension in Twilight’s body went slack as she watched the tree tops quickly coming up below her, realizing that she was truly at the end of her options. She allowed her body to turn over in the air, her back facing the ground as she plummeted toward it. All she could do is stare up at the full moon, realising that her last thoughts were going to be of how horribly she had failed Equestria.

Twilight blinked against the tears welling up in her eyes when she saw the light of the moon blink out for a split second. It repeated, again and again in a steady pattern. She realized that a large wing was blocking the moon’s light as it rapidly flapped at the creature’s side. The thing that had attacked the two drones was now diving straight toward her. She felt panic try to grip her once again as it drew closer to her, seeing a clawed hand larger than her head reaching out from it. The moonlight managed to just barely highlight the violet scales that covered the hand as it struggled to reach her.

Twilight’s eyes widened, and she stretched her forelegs out toward the outstretched claws desperately trying to reach them. The clawed hand made a couple attempts at grasping her, brushing just barely against her hooves before pulling back. The large creature grunted as it trusted its wings through the air, forcing itself to jolt forward into the dive. The clawed hand extended once again, and successfully wrapped around Twilight’s form, pulling her close to the creature’s chest. Its large wings flew open to their full span, and the tree tops came up just underneath them as they managed to pull out of the dive, the leaves rustling at the strong blast of wind that rushed through them.

Twilight huddled herself against the scaled chest of the one that had rescued her. Her unsteady breathing gave way to sobs, causing her entire body to shake. She kept her face buried even as she felt her savior coming down to the ground. Once they had landed, she could feel another clawed hand gently cradle her, hugging her close.

“Twilight, I’m sorry! Are you alright?” a deep voice asked her.

She made an attempt to respond, but only managed a choked sob at first. She knew who her savior was, and knew how unlikely it was that he was there, but all that mattered to her at this moment was that he was. “Spike,” she quietly whispered as she continued to huddle against him.

“I thought you would fly away,” Spike said as he held Twilight close. “I didn’t hurt you did I? Please be okay.”

“No... no you... you didn’t hurt me. I’ll be okay... I-I’m just... I need a minute.” Twilight was finding it difficult to control the shaking in her voice and body. She knew she was safe now, but the terror from having come only seconds from losing her life didn’t want to release her so easily. Twilight pushed herself back slightly, looking up into Spike’s eyes. A part of her wondered if this was some sort of amazing hallucination, but when she saw the warm smile he gave her and felt his touch as he gently ran his clawed fingers over her back, she knew it was really him. “Thank goodness you’re here,” she said, the stress weighing heavy on her voice as she wrapped her forehooves as far as she could around his broad chest.

Spike held Twilight for a long time in the silence of the moonlit field, until he could feel that she had finally calmed down. Eventually, he shifted his hands so he was holding her under her forelegs, and gently eased her down to place her sitting on the ground just in front of himself. It was much easier to see the dragon by the moonlight that reflected off the ground around them than it had been in the blackness of the night sky. He was over three times her height; not the largest dragon by any means, but still a fair size larger than Twilight. His wings had grown in to be somewhat large given his proportions, and even when folded to his back the tips nearly touched the ground while the joint peaked slightly above his head. He leaned forward, resting one of his forearms on the ground to bring his gaze down level with her and gently cupped his other hand over her withers. “How did this happen to you?” he asked, eyeing the many restraints that were bound to Twilight’s body.

“I made a mistake,” Twilight said as she cast her gaze down at the ground in shame. “I got myself caught.”

“But, this is crazy. I was right behind you. How can this happen in just a couple hours?”

Twilight blinked and looked back up into his eyes. “You followed right behind me?”

“Of course I did!” Spike said as he quickly sat back up on his haunches. “I wasn’t about to let you do this by yourself. Luna and Celestia thought you might need the extra help anyways. I guess they were right.”

Twilight sighed. “Spike, I’ve been here for a few weeks.”

Spike cocked his head to the side. His jawline wrinkled as he grimaced at the confusing statement. “That doesn’t make any sense. You just left,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Twilight shook her head. “The spell is extremely unstable. I came out years after the point in time that I was intended to. And it was a pretty rough landing.”

“Well you can say that again,” Spike said with a huff. “I’m still picking splinters out of my scales from doing a crash down in some trees near here. That wasn’t too long ago through, just a couple hours. I started looking for you right away when I didn’t find you nearby.” Spike reached over to Twilight and began to fiddle with the buckle on the wing harness. “How the heck did changelings get all this stuff?” he said as he worked the buckle loose. Once the tension in the straps were released enough, Twilight pushed them the rest of the way off, stepping out of the harness and chucking it to the ground in a heap at her side.

Twilight let go a long, heavy sigh, sitting back on her haunches again. “So, it ends up that it’s just dumb luck that you happened to be here,” she said, leaning her forehead into one of her hooves. “I’m lucky you came out of the spell when you did. If you had been just a few minutes earlier or later....” Twilight trailed off, a haunted look overtaking her as she stared blankly forward.

“Hey,” Spike said in a near whisper. He leaned forward, gently placing a hand across Twilight’s back. “Lets not think about what didn’t happen, alright? I’m here now, and I’m not letting anything else hurt you.”

Twilight broke away from her stare, her eyes looking up to him. “Spike...,” she began quietly.

“Mhm?” he responded, patiently waiting for her to continue.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak a couple times without success before she finally managed to force the words out. “She was never real.” Spike slowly tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked down at her. “Crystal,” Twilight said, her voice shaking as she repeated her statement once again. “She was never real.”

Spike slowly shook his head, unable to comprehend what Twilight was trying to tell him. “What do you mean?”

“She was Chrysalis,” Twilight said. The simple statement caused Spike to flinch in surprise. “She played me for a fool. I bought her act, and I lead her right to the spell. And now...,” she paused for a second, her voice seeming to leave her for a moment. She looked up to Spike, the tears welling up in her eyes glinting from the moonlight. “Now, everything is broken,” she said quietly, clenching her eyes closed.

Spike leaned down, quickly hugging her close to his shoulder. She buried her face against his neck, quiet sobs escaping from her. “Gosh, Twilight,” Spike said as he held her, gently stroking his hand over her mane. He had spent a fair amount of time around Crystal Charm. Finding out that she had been a fake all along was shocking, but he hadn’t been nearly as close to her as Twilight had been. He couldn’t possibly imagine how much pain this must be causing her, on top of everything else that seemed to be going wrong. He struggled for a moment, feeling frustrated that he couldn’t think of any comforting words. “I wish I knew what to say.”

Twilight shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything. Just being here is enough,” she said, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. Spike did just that, silently holding her for as long as she would need it. He hoped that there weren’t any other horrible surprises that she had been put through.

“Spike...,” Twilight’s voice quietly whispered some time later. It sounded like she had finally managed to calm herself once again.

“Yeah?” Spike asked, slowly leaning back to look at her.

Twilight leaned back as well, rubbing the back of her foreleg against her eyes to dry them. “I need my magic back,” she said tiredly.

Spike eyed the glowing metallic ring encircling Twilight’s horn. “Isn’t that a null ring?”

Twilight nodded. “It is. I need you to take it off.”

Spike’s eyebrows quickly rose at the request. “Uh, I really don’t know how to remove those things. Don’t you need key stone or something to take them off?”

“Normally, yes, but I’m sure you can get it off me,” Twilight said. When she looked up to see the unsure look coming back from him, she said, “Just break it, Spike.”

“Whoa, wait,” Spike said as he suddenly sat up straight, defensively waving his hands. “These things aren’t meant to be just broken off. Won’t the enchantment backfire or something?”

“Breaking the ring will cause the anti-magic enchantment to dissipate all at once, causing a short feedback pulse.” When Twilight saw Spike tilt his head and scratch at the side of his head with one of his claws, she let out a silent sigh. “Yes, it will backfire, but I need my magic back. I’m not going to get caught without it again,” she said. She could tell Spike wasn’t liking this idea by the way he gnashed his teeth at the thought. She hooked one of her hooves over his knee, looking up into his eyes as she said, “Please, Spike.”

Spike scrunched up his jaw and let go a grunt. He hated when Twilight did that, making it impossible for him to say ‘no’ when she gave him that look. It wasn’t a helpless look, or a sad one. In fact he really wasn’t sure what it was, other than serious. But he had seen it before when she asked him for help, and she only asked for help when she knew she couldn’t manage on her own. “Well, if you really think you want to do this,” Spike said, relenting to her silent plea. When Twilight nodded, Spike leaned down next to her, saying, “Alright, come here.”

Twilight sat herself before him, and then he squinted his eyes at the small metallic loop glowing at the base of her horn. He began to reach up one of his clawed hands toward the ring, edging very close to it, but pulled his claws back when he couldn’t steady his shaking hand. The thought of doing something harmful to Twilight didn’t settle well with him at all, despite having been asked to do so.

Spike looked down at her when he noticed a touch on his other hand. She gently held a hoof to his hand, and she smiled up to him when she caught his glance. “I trust you,” she said, which seemed to be all that he needed to hear. He nodded once, and returned his attention to the ring. He held on to Twilight’s hoof with one hand as he inched the other close to the metallic ring. Using the sharp tips of his claws, he pinned the ring between two of them. He knew he would have to make this quick. Putting gradual pressure on the ring would probably only crack it, and might cause the enchantment to go unstable without actually removing the ring, which wouldn’t be good at all. It had to break clean through on the first attempt to avoid causing Twilight any more harm than necessary. He drew a breath in and held it as he prepared to snap the ring. Twilight tensed in anticipation, closing her eyes and curling her fetlock against Spike’s hand a bit tighter.

Spike pressed his sharp claws together against the ring, causing it to snap and come flying off Twilight’s horn in two clean pieces that each rung as they sailed away through the air. A surge of magical blue electricity shot between the two halves for only a split second, hitting his hand and causing him to jerk it back quickly while shaking it. Only a minor grunt from the shock escaped him, but it was drowned out by the wail that left Twilight. She buried her face against Spike’s hand, pulling it close to her with her hooves as she moaned at the pain that had shot through her horn and into her skull.

Spike gently placed his free hand across her withers as if she were a frail glass doll that might break at any moment. “I’m sorry... I’m sorry I’m so sorry,” he said, leaning in close to her. He was sure that the shock that had left his scaled fingers feeling numb had done much worse to her.

Twilight seemed to regain her composure rather quickly, the moans quieting and then ceasing altogether. She sniffed once, wiping the fresh trails of tears away from her face with the back of her foreleg. Looking up to Spike, she tried her best to put forward a smile for him, and managed a weary one. “No, i-it’s okay. I’m okay,” she said, though the quivering of her voice didn’t make the statement very convincing.

“Are you sure? You don’t sound okay,” Spike said as he stared back with concern. He couldn’t remember a time when Twilight had looked this ragged, but he did know that she had a tendency to understate her own condition.

“Yeah... I-I’ll be fine,” Twilight said, trying once more to alleviate Spike’s concerns for her.

Spike let go a low ‘hmm’ as he shook his head, a frown pulling at the edges of his mouth. “No, you need to rest. I’m gonna take you somewhere safe.” Spike began to gently reach forward to pick her up, but met a bit of resistance when she stepped back suddenly.

“Wait, Spike... wait,” she said, holding up one hoof. When she saw that he had stopped to listen, she continued. “We need to head to Ponyville.”

“Ponyville? Why there?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

“Do you remember the library?” Twilight smiled slightly when she saw him slowly nod. “I sent Luna there. She’s probably going to need our help.”

Spike stared back in surprise for a moment. “You sent Princess Luna to Ponyville?” he asked, just making sure he had heard right. He was a little surprised to hear that Twilight had even revealed herself to the other Princess in this time, thinking for sure that was probably on the short list of things not to do when traveling through history.

“Yes, teleported her all the way from Canterlot with just my magic,” she said, and then added, “through a shield.” When she saw Spike gawking back at her, she let go a light sigh as she cast her gaze down to the ground. “I know, I overdid it.”

“Yeah, I’d say,” Spike said. “Have you ever done a teleport that far before?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I can honestly say it was the first, and probably last time I ever attempt something like that. I didn’t really think it through, I was in a hurry.” Twilight let go another long sigh, turning her gaze to the side to look off in the general direction of Ponyville. “I just hope she’s okay. Chrysalis had her under some sort of spell right before I sent her away.” Twilight glanced over toward Spike, looking up to him. “She was screaming, Spike. She was in pain. I’d never heard her scream like that before.”

Spike could hear the unease on the edge of Twilight’s voice once again. “Alright, we should go check on her then,” he said, glancing off in the direction that the town lie in. “Sounds like you and Princess Luna have both had a hard time of it. What about Princess Celestia? Is she alright?”

“She isn’t here right now, which is actually probably a good thing, for her sake.” Spike looked back to Twilight with a questioning look. Twilight knew she had a lot to explain to him, she just hoped that what she was about to tell him didn’t change his mind. “Nightmare Moon was never defeated. This is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration, and the sun hasn’t risen in a month.”

Spike blinked his eyes, slowly opening his mouth to speak. “Wait... so... when you say you sent Luna to Ponyville... you really meant that you sent her.”

Twilight quickly approached him, taking one of his hands in her hooves. “I know what you’re thinking, but she is Luna, and she needs our help now. Things aren’t as simple as her being ‘bad’ and us being ‘good’. If anything, I think I’ve learned that we never really understood much about her at all, and we really need all the help we can get right now.”

“Alright,” Spike said, closing his eyes as he lifted one of his hands to pinch the bridge of his nose. It seemed the more he learned about what was happening, the more it didn’t make any sense. Now two of the ‘bad guys’ were fighting each other, and somehow Twilight was caught in the middle of it. And they were going to side with Nightmare Moon of all ponies? That definitely wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. “Hey,” Spike said when another thought suddenly occurred to him. “Does this mean that the others are here too?”

“They are,” Twilight said with a small nod, smiling back to him.

Finally some good news, he thought to himself. It had been nearly two hundred years since he had seen the other five mares that he had grown up with in Ponyville. “Wow...,” he said in a quiet breath.

“I know,” Twilight said in an equally quiet whisper. “I already feel like I’ve been dragging them into this more than I should, but I think we’ll need their help too.”

Spike let out a low hum in thought. The original Element bearers together again, along with Nightmare Moon, setting off on a quest to defeat the changelings. It sounded crazy, but he knew whatever his Princess had planned would eventually work out. “Well, lets get going,” Spike said as he leaned down, opening his hands toward Twilight.

Twilight eyed the opened hands and then looked up to him, giving him a sideways smirk. “Spike, you don’t have to carry me,” she said, fluttering her wings.

Spike would have none of it. He shook his head before insisting that he be allowed to carry her to Ponyville. “You need to rest as much as you can. After what you just went through, I’m honestly surprised that you aren’t passed out.”

Twilight’s wings drooped at her sides, and she let go a light sigh in defeat. He was right, she was really feeling exhausted right now, and as much as she didn’t like being a burden, it was probably for the best if she allowed herself to rest as much as she possibly could. Folding her wings back to her sides, she stepped up to him, setting back and lifting her forelegs up toward him. He knelt down and gently picked her up, wrapping one of his strong arms around her barrel. He nestled her back securely against his chest, and unfolded his wings, causing a woosh to fill the air around them.

“Spike?” Twilight quietly called to him, turning her gaze to look up over her shoulder to his eyes. When she saw him look back down to her, she smiled and said, “Thanks.”

Spike grinned back down to her. “You bet,” he said as he turned his gaze back up to the star filled sky. His powerful wings forcefully came down as he pushed off from the ground, causing a rushing gust of air to billow through the grass around them. The two of them slowly climbed into the night sky to make their way to Ponyville together.