Chapter Six
“Departure”
The ring of the alarm clock made Twilight’s ears ache in misery. She let out a sigh and a groan.
“4:30 already?” she moaned under her breath, as she sat up in bed. She usually didn’t mind waking up early, but she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. Rarity’s words ran through her mind the whole night.
“And so it begins…” she whispered, running her hoof over her mane instead of thoroughly brushing it. “…The detour begins.” She predicted it would be a very long day for her and Spike. She walked downstairs and nudged Spike to wake him up. “Come on, Spike,” she said. “We have a big day today, and we don’t have time to lie around. Our carriage will arrive in precisely thirty minutes. That ride will take about an hour and fifteen minutes and then we need to be on that train by 6:30! Then from there it will be about a two hour train ride. The orientation is at 10:00, so that’ll give us time to find a hotel in the city. So…get up already! Do you have everything packed?”
“Yep…” murmured Spike sitting up, his head spinning with the different times. He was thankful Twilight was not scatterbrained. He got up, staggered over to his suitcase, and opened it. Twilight peered inside it.
“Gems?!” she said raising an eyebrow. “That’s all you packed? Just…gems?!”
“Hey! What if they don’t have restaurants that serve gems?! I need to have my favorite food there with me! But I didn’t only pack gems. I packed my toothbrush, toothpaste, and the outfit Rarity gave me,” Spike defended. Twilight smiled.
“I’m glad you are letting me come with you, Spike,” the purple unicorn. “Frankly, I’m surprised you are. I’ve been a pain in the tail lately. I don’t blame you for wanting to leave.”
“Aw…hey…don’t say that,” said Spike. “I think it’s a great idea for you to come with me. It’s a great time for us to spend time together too! Hey! I almost forgot!” He ran into the kitchen and came back with a bag of cookies. “I made you cookies for the trip!”
“Oh, Spike,” said Twilight. “You’re too nice. You’ve been too nice to me lately. I…thank you,” Her eyes grew glossy again.
“No problem!” said the dragon cheerfully. He yawned. “Can I have some coffee?”
“Absolutely not,” said Twilight. “You’ll be bouncing off the walls. Besides, you can sleep on the carriage and train ride.”
“Okayyy…” Spike yawned. “I wish Princess Celestia sent us a chariot with Pegasus ponies pulling it. That would have made the trip a lot shorter.”
“Well, it is Monday,” replied Twilight. “Lots of her subjects and servants need chariots more than we do. I think it was very generous of her to provide a carriage to the train station for us, actually. I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get my luggage and money.” She walked upstairs, wincing as she heard some creaks. She needed to fix some floorboards when she got back. She re-entered her bedroom and used her horn to light the way around the room.
Everything was neatly organized. She kept her dresser in the corner, which held her saddles, dresses and some items she kept from her foalhood. She picked out her bag, which she had packed the night before. There was one last thing to pack, and that was her money. She levitated her dresser to the side of the room, heaving a little, for it was heavy. Twilight picked up a loose floorboard and pulled a bag out of the floor with her mouth. There were other bags just like it, but she only felt the need of taking one with her. She used her mouth to pull at the string and peer inside the bag. She reached her hoof in and felt the gold coins jingling, happily nestled together inside, as they proudly bore the image of a flaming sun and glowing moon to represent Equestria’s rulers. She silently counted them. It was more than enough. She tied the bag back up and set it in a front compartment of her bag. She pulled the bag over her head and secured it firmly around her shoulder. Twilight then pushed the floor board back down and levitated the dresser back in its proper place. She sighed and walked over the creaking floor boards toward the stairs.
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Meanwhile, Spike decided to pack his blanket. He would never admit it to Twilight, but he had a hard time sleeping without it. He folded it as neatly as he possibly could so it would fit in the suitcase. Then, feeling the suitcase over, he discovered a compartment in the front of it. He unzipped it and stuffed the blanket inside. Opening the lid back up again, he pulled out a turquoise and sucked on it. He started to walk away, but he tripped on a loose board in the floor. He fell down on the ground and the gem flew out of his hand. It tumbled across the floor and into the corner.
“Grrr! Twilight really needs to fix these floor boards,” he grumbled. He staggered across the room after his gem. He began to fumble around, as the room was rather dark. He reached down and pulled up his gem…and something else. He lifted both the items to his face and blinked so he could see them. He couldn’t see very well. He looked up at a candle that was sitting on a stand in front of him and blew fire at it to shed some light on the situation. The green and white flame flickered and quivered, but it still gave enough light to see objects in the library. Spike focused his attention back on the object in his hand. It was a crumpled-up piece of paper. He thought that it was odd it was in the corner like that. “Did Twilight mean to throw this away?” he mumbled to himself. He shrugged and walked over to the wastebasket which was near his suitcase. He eyed his gem, disappointed that it fell on the floor.
Spike then attempted to blow gently on the gem to remove any traces of dirt on it. However this backfired on him. He ended up setting the gem on fire. In surprise, he dropped it on the floor. Wood floor! Tree! Not good! In a split-second reaction he set the paper down in his suitcase and quickly used his tail to slap out the flame. His thick scales prevented it from hurting him and the fire was soon put out. Spike breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the burnt gem. He eyed it.
“Mm! Toasted turquoise,” he said chuckling and he ate it. He turned around to see Twilight coming down the stairs. She was wearing her bag around her shoulder.
“I’m all ready,” she said. “I have everything I need, and I already left Owlowiscious plenty of field mice to eat while I’m away. He’ll be fine by himself. Are you sure you’re all set?”
“Yep!” said Spike shutting his suitcase and zipping it. “As ready as I’ll ever be!” Twilight looked at the clock.
“Perfect timing,” she said. “The carriage will be here any minute!” Spike eyed the books that were lined on the library walls in the dim light of his green candle flame. He would almost miss cleaning this library, and searching through the hundreds of books on the dusty shelves. He realized this now. If this was the last time he was to look upon this library, he wanted to take it all in. He would miss this old tree. He would miss the branches swaying in the breeze and scratching the windows. He would miss seeing the leaves turn from green to orange, red, and yellow in the fall. And yes…those creaky, uneven floorboards…he’d miss them too, he had to admit it to himself. It was almost a melancholy moment as Twilight blew out the green flame on the candle and the old tree was filled with shadows once again. He sighed and opened the big door leading out. Twilight hung a sign on the handle outside. It read,
I am accompanying Spike for his orientation. I will return tomorrow afternoon.
~Twilight Sparkle
She closed and locked the door. Spike sighed and turned around. Princess Luna’s moon was still in the sky, but the sunrise would take place soon. He heard the sound of hooves clopping and wheels turning on the stony road. The carriage slowly crept up to the tree house and stopped. Two stallions were pulling it. They were both white unicorn guards.
“Miss Sparkle? Mister Spike?” one asked.
“That’s us,” Twilight responded cheerfully. The two guards nodded to her. She and Spike got into the carriage and shut the door. The carriage rolled through the streets of Ponyville, passing all the houses and shops. Spike gazed out the window, eyeing them all, knowing he’d miss each one. It really felt like a goodbye, though he knew it might not be official. It was almost as melancholy as the goodbye he had given to all the other ponies the night before. They passed Carousel Boutique. He immediately thought about Rarity. He hated having to leave her, especially.
I know you probably never liked me…that way…but I always did, my sweet Rarity, Spike thought and sighed. Twilight looked over at him and smiled a little. She could almost read his mind.
“Aw…don’t be sad, Spike,” she said, putting her hoof on him. “Like you said before, you might meet lots of girl dragons.”
“Yeahhh…” said Spike smiling a little. They passed Sugar Cube Corner. He couldn’t help but remember the brilliant speech Pinkie Pie gave him the day before. He loved that. He would also miss helping her with announcing and playing piano for her songs. Soon, the carriage rolled by Sweet Apple Acres. It made a turn by the farm and set out on another road neither had ever been on before. Soon, the farm was out of sight behind them. They saw a sign ahead that said,
Thank you for visiting Ponyville. Please travel safely
Another sign read,
Hoofington
Hoofington was a town that was closest to Ponyville. It was a great outlet to catch a train to Fillydelphia or Trottingham or Appleoosa.
Bye, Ponyville, thought Spike sighing as the detour progressed forward.
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A sudden jolt woke him up. Spike sat up and looked around. The carriage had hit a bump in the road. He looked out the window to see the town of Hoofington in sight. He looked over at Twilight who was reading a book she brought.
“Hey,” he said to her. “I thought you weren’t going to do any studying!”
“I’m not…” she replied. “Shh!” She finished reading and shut the book. She sighed and leaned her head back. “Oh…Robin Hoof…such excitement and romance.” Spike rolled his eyes.
“Whatever you say,” he said.
“I do…” Twilight smirked. “You know…you’ll have to read stuff like this when you’re in school!”
“Yeah…I kind of forgot about the school part of it,” sighed Spike.
“Don’t complain, now,” said Twilight raising her eyebrows. “Education is the primary epicenter of an individual’s intellectual development, accompanying social development, which plays the minor part of the individual’s path to both self-discovery and stimulation for emotional develop…..”
“Twilight!”
“Sorry…” she chuckled sheepishly.
“Don’t worry…I’ll learn and study…” said Spike rolling his eyes and smirking. The carriage rolled down the Hoofington streets toward the train station. Hoofington was about the same size as Ponyville itself with the exception of the train station. Many ponies were walking down the streets and were eyeing Twilight and Spike as the exited the carriage. Twilight paid the drivers and they trotted away with the carriage. The purple unicorn and dragon stood on the side of the road. They turned toward the ticket booth.
“I’ll buy the tickets this time,” said Twilight. “But when you come back to visit on breaks and stuff, or come back permanently, you’ll have to buy a ticket home yourself.”
“Yeah…” said Spike. “I forgot about money too, and I’m not really wanting to give up one of my…gems! I’m pretty unprepared for this, Twi. I’m sorry.” He looked down. “I thought I was all ready, but….I’m not.”
“It’s all right, Spike,” said Twilight. “I knew you would be. That’s exactly why I brought a whole bag of coins. I planned to give you some.” Spike looked up at Twilight and smiled.
“Really?! Thank you so much, Twilight,” he said. He eyed his suitcase. “Don’t worry, my sweets…you’re safe.”
“What will you do without me?” Twilight joked, nudging him. Spike smiled weakly and looked down again. He walked with her up to the ticket window. An old stallion sat behind the window. He looked very grumpy. “Hello?” said Twilight. “I’d like two tickets to Fillydelphia, please…one round trip and the other one-way.”
“Yep…” said the old stallion yawning. Twilight used her horn and levitated her money onto the counter. The old stallion took the money and gave her two tickets. Spike watched all this with mixed emotions. The train would be there soon. There was no going back. He was excited and nervous at the same time. Twilight turned to him. He climbed on her back and she walked over to the waiting area.
“The train will be here soon,” she said. Spike yawned and laid his head on her neck.
“You’re not going to sit down?” he asked her.
“Nope…I need to stretch my legs,” she said. Her lips curled into a smile. “You’re still sleepy?” That was the last thing Spike heard. Everything began to drown out, even the sound of her comforting voice. The train was chugging into the station but even the sounds of that melted into a dream. He shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around Twilight’s neck, listening to her breathing.
“I’ll miss you…Twi….” He mumbled, but he wasn’t even sure if he said it aloud. Then, there was darkness…the sweet darkness of sleep.
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Twilight turned her head to look at Spike. She smiled, seeing he was falling asleep. The train rolled into the station and halted. The stallions that were pulling it sighed wearily. Many ponies exited the train. She took a step forward when the train was empty. Almost time to board.
“I’ll miss you…Twi…”
Twilight’s ears perked at that. She looked down again at the sleeping dragon. He was curled around her neck. She chuckled a little and smiled sadly.
Oh, Spike, she thought. She sighed as her eyes grew glossy. Don’t cry, Twilight. She bit her lip.
“All aboard for Fillydelphia!”
As Twilight boarded the train, everything was a blur. Even if she tried to remember sitting down and feeling the train move off from the station, she couldn’t. She was just focused on Spike the whole time. Even though she removed Spike from her neck and sat him down next to her, he still leaned his head against her shoulder. At least he was content. She sighed and watched the scenery outside her window. It moved too fast. Too fast. The detour approached too fast. Her eyelids were heavy with all these thoughts and feelings. Onward…onward to Spike’s destiny. But even she fell asleep and dreamed. And both she and Spike dreamed of Ponyville.
TO BE CONTINUED…