"I always knew from the stories I've heard of Spike that he was cool, but that was very..." the pink Pudding colt started, and then realized he lacked the words to finish.
"Noble? Yes. That dragon is the greatest gentlecolt I have ever known; Celestia should have him knighted for having to deal with the two of us." Rarity turned to Twilight in order to direct her second sentence more to her lover, who simply smiled in agreement. The white mare may have giggled while she asserted that Spike deserved knighthood, but she knew that didn't make her point any less valid. Rarity had always believed Spike's love was nothing more than a silly schoolboy crush, and she was both glad that she was wrong and glad she had never thought of it as anything more serious. It would simply never work, and she knew that Spike was always aware of that fact. And yet, that little fire breather tried anyway.
"Is everything ok?" Twilight had a look of veritable concern.
"Why wouldn't it be, darling?" questioned Rarity, blissfully unaware of the tear running down her cheek. Twilight smiled.
The pair had many a conversation about Spike in their time together. The purple Alicorn had always guessed that the generous mare held a world full of sympathy for her assistant; it must be difficult to love somepony who will never return how you feel for them. Twilight sometimes thought that it was unfair to Spike that she had stolen Rarity away from him, even after he had declared the contrary. At the very least, the princess always told herself, the dragon would never have to be without his lost love as long as the two mares were together. Twilight always wanted the best for Spike, even when it came to the little things, but she felt that if she had failed him in anything, it was this.
"You're crying, dear. Are you ok?" Rarity now owned the right to be concerned for her special somepony.
"I'm fine, I just need to lie down..." Twilight voiced seemed hollow and trailed off in what Rarity thought was a very depressing manner.
"Goodnight everypony!" The marshmallow mare feigned as much bliss as she could muster in an attempt to wipe the worried looks from her friend's faces before turning to her tiny purple gem, asleep in her stroller. Rarity let a single tear form in her eye before regaining her composure, and asking if Fluttershy could watch over little Amethyst tonight, to which the yellow pegasus happily replied, "Of course, Rarity!" The loving mother nuzzled her daughter, and turned to trot quietly into the couple's tent. Rarity could see that Twilight was still visibly shaken, even though the princess' back was to her. The white unicorn attempted to ask her lover what was the matter, but before she could start her query, Twilight answered, tears still running down her face.
"I failed him, Rarity. I failed him."
"Don't you dare say that, Twilight." Rarity knew her purple lover had a habit of not giving herself enough credit, but she found this statement rather ridiculous, even for Twilight's sometimes warped view of her self-worth. "You gave that baby dragon everything he could have ever asked for and more." Rarity had walked fully around Twilight in this time, and was now staring her special purple somepony's bangs, which were currently covering her woeful eyes. The alicorn princess looked up at her white mare to give her a reply Twilight had always felt true, but never had the heart to proclaim.
"Except you." Twilight had put it so bluntly that it broke even Rarity's diamond hard composure. Tears were now flowing freeing from both lovers' eyes. They hadn't really discussed Spike since he had left. The mares had told everypony that while the trio was digging up gems in the mountains, he had found the dragon love of his life, and the two wanted to go travel the land and live out their days together. The truth was, they had no idea why he had so suddenly disappeared. The dragon assistant had left behind two empty hearts and a note of only a few words.
Twilight, Rarity, please don't come looking for me. --Spike
The pair secretly looked everywhere and anywhere they could for any trace of him even to this day. Rarity closed down her boutique to help Twilight in any way she could for a time after the baby dragon had ran away, for what she said was, "...a much needed creative reprieve." The generous mare didn't like lying to her friends and clients, but she simply couldn't tell them the truth.
"I thought not being told about my brother's wedding was bad enough, but Spike ran away from me! He didn't want to be around me anymore!" Everything she had tried to provide for Spike was now meaningless. A home, a warm bed, a full belly, an acceptable sisterly figure, and quite a few good books, even if he did prefer his comics. None of it meant anything; she took the only thing Spike truly wanted away from him. The alicorn couldn't help but feel she deserved the hatred and contempt her assistant must have felt for her. With that sudden realization, Twilight lost all control of her sobbing.
Rarity swept up her princess before even Twilight knew she was going to collapse in emotional agony, and gave the purple pony as much affection as the unicorn could muster without breaking down into a wet, teary mess herself. The marshmallow unicorn wasn't quite sure what to say, but she knew she had to say something. "Oh please, Twilight, if anypony is to blame for our little fireball running away, it's me. Why else would he have put my name on that note?" Rarity couldn't hold any of it in anymore. Her attempt at calming Twilight had only made her see just how much pain she had caused the purple mare and her baby dragon. It would have been better to have just moved to Manehattan and avoided them altogether. Who cares about the Elements? There are loads of other generous ponies in the land; any one of them could have taken her place.
Twilight cleared her tear-ridden eyes as best as she could. "I... I need to rest"
Rarity smiled. "Ok, dear. After tonight, I think we could both use it." Rarity looked towards the crib. The pair was so emotionally distraught, she had forgotten to mention the whereabouts of their daughter. "That's why I asked Fluttershy to take care of Amethyst tonight."
The princess rested herself on the ludicrously luxurious bed Rarity had insisted they bring along on their trip. "Remind me to thank her tomorrow." However, Twilight had no plans of resting that night. She was going to find her assistant, no matter how long it took. All she had to do was wait for her marshmallow lover to fall asleep for the night.