Several miles outside of Canterlot, Spike slowly made his way across the landscape. The small dragon turned around to the city to see the sun rising high above it, illuminating the tall castle in the center. Most of the fires that had sizzled out left only small smoke trails, returning the distant view of the city almost back to normal. But inside his heart he felt a pain lingering from the thought of what caused those fires. Adjusting the small bag he had over his shoulder, he turned around and continued walking.
Ever since he escaped a few hours before, Spike was intent on staying out of sight. Because every guard pretty much knew who he was because of Twilight, he was afraid that if he was seen trying to leave the city, they would bring him back to the castle. While they didn't directly say it, it seemed as if he and the girls were being kept confined inside the palace, being asked to turn back every time they wanted to go outside. Despite that fact, Spike was determined on his goal. The moment Velvet left the room, he got up from his fake sleep and quickly made his rope out the window and past the city walls.
Spike had no idea where he was going. He had no way of being able to find Twilight by just walking like this, but for some reason, he felt something inside. Something tugging at his soul telling him to walk west from Canterlot. Whatever it was, it was strong inside of him, and he was willing to follow it if it meant a chance at finding her. Glancing back at his bag, he hoped the things he brought could help him in some way to fix this thing that has happened. He only wished he wasn't the only one trying to do this though.
Even though he couldn't believe there wasn't a way to bring Twilight back to her senses, the girls didn't seem as eager as he was. What more he was astounded at was what the others had said to him the night before. After they left the princess, he was already insistent on leaving the castle right then to go and find Twilight, but each of them didn't want to help.
Fluttershy felt that everything was too frightening for her to deal with and refused. Rarity said there was too much going through her head to decide what to do. Pinkie Pie was too eccentric about all the things she never gave her answer, but Spike could tell she was unsure about everything. And then Applejack, who said herself she didn't know what to do, therefore choosing to stay.
Rainbow Dash however was the only one who didn't say anything against the idea. The difference though, she hadn't said anything at all. As soon as they left the room where Celestia took then, she left them immediately and locked herself in her room. Spike sighed as he thought about her; ever since she admitted her guilt for not helping Twilight, Rainbows demeanor had completely changed. She wasn't as eager when she spoke, her voice attempting to hide the pain she had inside. 'Rainbow, I know are hurt. I feel it too.'
Sighing, he trudged onward away from the city. The young drake wanted to try to-
"Spike!"
Spike froze at the sound of his name being called. Looking back, he covered his eyes and saw a pegasus flying his direction "Shoot, it must be one of the guards! The princess must have sent them after me!"
Afraid that whoever it was wanted to stop him, he turned tail and began sprinting as fast as he could to go. His claws scraped in the dirt as he pumped his legs, going faster to escape his pursuer. Looking back, he noticed the Pegasus was gone, but a shadow passing overhead showed it wasn't far. Panicking, he pushed even harder to get away, not wanting to be taken. "No, I'm not going back!" He shouted at himself.
Spike then noticed a small rock outcropping to his right, the large boulders a possible spot to escape.Seeing his chance, he quickly turned and ran towards the stone area as fast as he could. Skidding down underneath one of the overhanging rocks, he quickly crawled beneath the big stone to give him cover from his pursuer. Sitting quiet for a moment, he listened as the flapping wings past overhead, meaning he wasn't in the clear yet. "Come on, get out of here. Go look somewhere else!" Spike quietly shouted to himself.
"Spike! Get out here! I saw you run into those rocks!"
The young dragons ears perked up at the raspy voice calling out. "Wait a minute. That sounds like..." Crawling forward, he stuck his head out just far enough to look up into the sky to see his answer confirmed. "Rainbow?"
Rainbow Dash was hovering up above the boulders, her head scanning back and forth around the area as she looked for him. "Come on Spike, quit hiding, its me! I know why you are out here!"
Glaring, Spike pulled his head back under the rock. "She must have come out after they found out I was gone. The others probably aren't far behind either." Out to the left in the distance, he noticed the tall trees that were on the outside edge of a forest, giving himself a new target to reach. "Those trees are perfect. She won't be able to fly through and see me as well, giving me a better spot to hide." His only challenge was how to get there.
The distance was at least a hundred yards to the nearest tree trunk. If he tried to just sprint with her here, there was no chance he could make it without being caught, let alone noticed. He would have to somehow get her attention somewhere else just long enough to make it. Eyes looking back and forth around him, he saw a small stone in the crevice of the wall by his side. Seeing that as something perfect, he used his claws and scraped at the surrounding rock, chipping away at the hard material until the stone fell free into his grasp.
"Perfect." He said with a grin. Looking out from beneath the ledge again, we watched as Rainbow continue to search the area for him, ducking back and forth between the other rocky areas as she scouted. Waiting until she wasn't looking in his area, he prepared his arm, clenching the rock in his claws. "Come on... Come on." The moment she flew to the ground behind a boulder, he saw his chance.
"Now!"
Jumping out of his spot, Spike threw the rock as far as he could into another crevice away from Rainbow. As soon as the rock collided with the stone, the loud smack rang through the air and reached the Pegasus's ears. Shooting up into the air, she burst towards the source with breakneck speed. "Now's my chance!" Spike screamed to himself.
Standing up, the small dragon sprinted as fast as he could towards the trees across the clearing. Digging his claws into the ground, he pushed himself harder than he ever had before in his attempt to get away. He knew if he could get away from Rainbow Dash, then the others would have no chance of catching up to him. This have him hopes as the trees were only thirty yards from him now.
"Almost there.... Almost there!" He yelled out between his raspy breaths. His lungs burned from exhaustion, but the drive to save his family was far stronger than that. He looked back over his shoulder towards the rocks behind him and smiled when he noticed Rainbow had not come back up from the rocks. "Good, she's still looking back there. Now I just have to- Oof!"
Running full speed into something wasn't something the young dragon was expecting. Falling onto his back, Spike brought his claws up to his head to rub the sore spot on his head. "Ow, what the heck was that? The tree wasn't until..." He paused as he opened his eyes and saw his obstacle. "Crap."
Rainbow Dash was standing in front of him, the rock spike had thrown bouncing up and down in her hoof. A large frown was plastered across her muzzle down at the dragon. "So, thought you could lose me like that, huh?"
Grunting, Spike crawled off the ground and brushed the dirt off his shoulders. "I should have figured that you would be fast enough to find that."
Rolling her eyes, Rainbow threw the rock behind her. "What the heck are you trying to do Spike? I was calling to you back there and-
"You know damn well what I am doing Rainbow!" Spike screamed out.
Rainbow took a step back from his outburst. "Spike, what is wrong-
"I am not going back to Canterlot with you so you guys can keep me there. I am going to save Twilight." Readjusting the bag on his shoulder, he took a deep breath and stared right into the mares eyes. "If you don't want to help her after everything that has happened, that is your choice. I am not going to sit by while she is hurting with nopony to be with."
"Spike please listen to me, I didn't come here to-
"To what, take me back to keep me locked up while the princess goes to kill her!?" Spike clenched his claws in anger as his breaths came in quick intakes. "I saw the group of lunar guards preparing outside of the castle when I left. They are going to go after Twilight, and I am not going to let them get to her before I do."
“What did you plan on doing Spike? Taking off on your own to find her?" You do even know how hard that would be for you?" Rainbow retorted.
"I don't care how hard it will be for me. As long as she is alive, I will not let her be alone. I can bring her back from whatever happened, I know I can."
"Spike listen to me, I want to-
"I don't want to hear anything more you have to say." Spike growled through his teeth as he walked by Rainbow. "I will walk to the end of Equestria if that is what it takes to find her. I don't care. Twilight is my family, and you never abandon your family."
"Spike, can you please stop talking so I can-
“You may not know how much I love her, Rainbow, but Twilight means everything to me. You can go back to Canterlot with everypony else that doesn't want to-
"SPIKE! Are you gonna help me find her or not!?"
Spike froze mid step to what he just heard. Flipping around, his mouth shuttered several times before he could finally form words. "Wh-what?"
"Are you going to come with me and help me find Twilight or are you going to walk on by yourself?" Rainbow asked with a grunt, finally able to tell him her goal from the beginning.
"You... You mean you aren't here to take me back? You want to help her too?"
"Of course I want to help her, she's my best friend!" Rainbow trotted up and sat down in front of Spike. "Twilight has always been there for us through everything, and she has always done the best she can. Whatever is happening to her, she doesn't want this. I know Twilight, and she would never want to do the things that happened in the city."
"But I thought you had stayed in the castle with everypony else?" Spike questioned, "You didn't want to talk at all when I began mentioning leaving to help her."
Rainbow's ears dropped to her head at those words. "I know and... I'm sorry for that. I was just so upset at everything that was happening I didn't want to talk to anypony then. When I went to bed though, I kept dreaming over and over again that Twilight was back home with us in Ponyville, living happy with all of our friends together. I knew I just had to help her now. I did hear how the other girls were too unsure about coming, I chose to just stick with you and we could do it together. I went out my window earlier, but when I flew to over to your room you were already gone."
Spike just stood motionless for several seconds before he could blink again. All this time he wasn't the only one feeling the same way as himself, and he was trying to get away from her. "So... All this time I was running from you, you were just trying to get me so we could work together, huh?"
"Yeah. I know how much you love Twilight, and I want to help too. Whatever that Crimson pony did to her, I know we can get her free." Rainbow smiled down at the small drake and held out a hoof to shake. "What do ya say?"
Looking down to the hoof, Spike pushed it aside and leaped up onto Rainbows chest and wrapped his arms around her neck for a hug. At first she was startled, but then put both of her hooves around him and returned the embrace. Knowing somepony was here to help him made Spike so much happier now. "Thank you, Rainbow."
What caught Spike off guard was the drops that fell onto the topic his head. Leaning back, he looked up and was shocked to see Rainbow Dash crying. "Hey, what's wrong?"
The cyan mare blinked several times to clear her moist eyes. "It's just... This whole time when Twilight was feeling bad, I never tried to help her. I knew something was wrong, but I never took the time to try and figure out what was happening." Pausing to wipe away a patch of tears, she tried to speak again, but her words caught in her throat, unsure of what else to say.
"Hey, don't say that Rainbow..." Spike whispered, "...this isn't your fault. None of this is. We never could have known some crazy dead pony was going to do this to Twilight. But right now, you are here, and that is what matters."
Rainbow couldn't help but smile from how kind Spike was. He truly was a good friend, loyal to the point of possibly surpassing her own level. Everything he did was for the thought of those around him, always making sure that they were happy and healthy. Even the small act of him reaching up and wiping away a stray tear from her fur was something so kind... But as he began to gently caress her cheek, she couldn't help but turn a deep red from a blush.
Pulling back, she smiled awkwardly and chuckled. "Hehe, woah there Casanova. Getting a little comfy there."
"Wh-what?" Spike stuttered before a blush washed over his face too. "I... I was just trying to make you feel better and-
"Hey don't worry about it." She said with a chuckle. Putting a hoof on his shoulder, she gave him a real smile this time. "And thank you Spike. Twilight is truly lucky to have someone like you."
Returning the smile, Spike put his claws on top of her hoof. "Thank you for not giving up."
Pulling her hoof away, Rainbow turned sideways and nodded at her companion. "Now come on, lets go find her."
"Alright then!" Spike yelled out as he ran up and hopped onto her back, positioning himself in front of her wings and putting his claws around her neck. "Lets save Twilight!"
Bursting off of the ground, Rainbow took to the skies high above the trees and to the clouds. Not sure where to go, she decided to head the same direction Spike was going in the first place. He had a fire in his heart and a drive, and that was just enough in her books to go with. 'I will make up for not being there for you. I won't leave you this time.' She thought to herself.
Behind her, Spike looked out past her mane to the great and massive land of Equestria far below him, a land so vast and magical. Although it was beautiful, he only cared for one specific thing, and no matter where it was, he was going to find it. 'Don't worry Twilight..' Spike thought as he gripped his new allies neck tighter, 'we will find you. And we will save you.'