//------------------------------// // Parting Gifts // Story: A Dragon's Age // by BlazzingInferno //------------------------------// At least I knew why Celestia wanted to tell me privately. Twilight was shaking by the time Celestia finished explaining everything. “B-but… Spike go alone? Without any friends? Without even me?” Celestia nodded for the hundredth time. “I’m afraid so. Even without the political complications, ponies simply aren’t welcome in that part of dragon territory. You and your friends would be in grave danger.” “What about Spike? If it’s too dangerous for us, then it’s way too dangerous for him! H-he’s just a baby dragon!” I hate it when she says that. In pony years I’m not much younger than her, and nothing sums up every disagreement we’ve ever had like those two words. I couldn’t get bigger fast enough. Celestia shook her head. “I understand that you’re upset, Twilight, but arguing with me is pointless. This is Spike’s decision, not yours or mine.” Twilight turned to me next. “Spike, please tell me you see how dangerous this is! I don’t want you to get lost or hurt out there with nopony to help you. What if this dragon isn’t even related to you, or what if there’s other wild animals, or monsters?” My heart was pounding. I’d had all those thoughts already. “I-I know it’s dangerous, Twilight, but… but I have to. If there’s even a chance that that’s my mom or dad out there, I have to know.” That wasn’t the end of the argument. We could’ve started a whole new section of the library dedicated to Why Spike Should Not Go Adventuring Alone. I don’t want to dwell on all that, though. What matters is what happened next, once Celestia repeating “Spike’s decision” sunk in. That’s when the planning started. That’s when I found out what it’s like to be the subject of one of Twilight’s projects instead of just being her assistant. --- Late that afternoon, I stood alone at the train station. I’d been standing there for over ten minutes, but I was still panting like I’d just finished the marathon that I was about to start. “Walk for a day. The dragon shouldn’t be awake until then anyway. Head southwest. It’s the tallest mountain on the horizon. Follow the river. There’s lots of gem deposits. There shouldn’t be any other dragons this time of year. There aren’t any big animals at all. Southwest.” I wish Celestia could’ve waited there with me. She’d stood next to me all morning while Twilight and my friends panicked, right up until they agreed to help me get ready. Now I was stuck standing at the train station all by myself, looking up and down the train tracks and hoping my friends would hurry up and come say goodbye like they promised. I glanced down at the ticket in my hand. Instead of a destination city, it just said “end of the line - round trip” in red letters. Part of me wanted the train to beat my friends to the station. I just knew they’d start trying to talk me out of this all over again. I’d probably let them win, too. Standing there just thinking about walking out into no-pony’s land had me scared. The bag I’d made out of a handkerchief and a stick felt like it was filled with bricks. I had to go, though. Just knowing that my mom or dad was out there made up my mind. If I didn’t go, I’d regret it forever. How could my friends ever realize that? They all grew up with their parents, or at least remembering what they looked like; they didn’t know how lucky they had it. At least I’d talked them out of taking the train with me. As hard as it would be to say goodbye here in Ponyville, doing it anywhere else would be impossible. Then I heard Twilight’s voice. “Hi there, Spike.” I took a deep breath. I had to be firm. “Hey, Twilight. Listen, I know you’re going to try and—” And then Rainbow Dash zoomed over and thumped me on the shoulder. “So are you ready for your big solo mission?” I looked up at her. She was grinning the same way she does when she talks about the joining the Wonderbolts, or doing a sonic rainboom: she looked perfectly confident. “Uh… I guess?” Pinkie was in my face next. “No time for guessing games! There’s going-away-but-be-back-soon cupcakes to eat!” A tray of cupcakes appeared out of nowhere, and she stuck one in my open mouth. Rarity edged Pinkie away. “Pinkie Pie, I won’t have you making a mess of our precious Spike before his big adventure.” Rarity produced a napkin and dabbed frosting off my mouth. I couldn’t chew and swallow fast enough. What was going on? Where were my panicking friends? I looked around and found Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack behind me. My friends had me surrounded. Chewing was overrated anyway; I swallowed the cupcake whole. “What’re you all doing?” Twilight smiled. “Wishing you luck, of course. This is your decision, Spike, and we’re here to support you.” “But… what about—” Applejack stepped to the side, revealing a pile of saddlebags. “And to make sure you’ve got everything you’re gonna need. Mind if I go first, Twi?” Twilight nodded. “Be my guest.” Applejack opened the nearest saddlebag, pulled out a cloth sack, and threw it into my hands. “I packed you some dried apple chips, Spike. Even if that place is crawling with gems, you can’t go wrong with a little produce in your diet.” I looked down at the hefty bag in my hands. The chips inside crinkled and cracked as they shifted. “Gosh, AJ, that’s really n—” Then she dropped something onto my head. “Plus one of my spare hats to keep the sun out of your eyes.” I pushed up the Stetson’s brim and stared at her. “Y-your hat? I-I’ll take really good care of it. I promise!” She nodded. No amount of smiling on her part could hide the nervous way she kept glancing at the train tracks. “Just take care of yourself, Spike.” Rainbow muscled her out of the way. “Hey, no mushy stuff! Spike, I got you this.” She pushed a glass jar into my hands. The lid looked like it’d been screwed on tight, and the glass itself was pitch black. “What—” “It’s a rain cloud. Just in case you need water in a hurry, open that baby up and you’ve got yourself a mini rainstorm.” She was still sporting her trademark grin. At least one of my friends wasn’t worried. “S-S-Spike.” Fluttershy was shaking like she’d just stepped out of a freezer, especially since she was holding a bright yellow blanket. “I-I’m r-really terrified, b-but I know you’re not. I-I brought you this b-blanket that my animal friends helped me knit. It might be cold out there.” Her shivering didn’t stop as she hugged me. For a second I felt like she was the one going off on a big adventure. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I’ll be fine.” I could feel her nod. “I-I know. I think I’m more afraid from imagining if I was in your place, being out there, all alone with no fr—” Pinkie shoved something in my face. “But Spike’s not going alone!” Fluttershy jumped away, and I nearly did the same. Pinkie held up her present for all to see: a blue rock with painted-on eyes and a big smile. “You can’t bring any ponies with you, but you still need somepony to talk and laugh with. That’s why I made you a portable friend!” Somehow this was the most touching gift of all. I held the little rock and stared at its goofy, vacant expression. “Thanks, Pinkie. This… this is actually pretty cool.” She leaned in whispered in my ear. “His name is Rocky.” As soon as I set Rocky down on the blanket from Fluttershy, three corked glass vials floated into my grasp. Some sort of purple liquid was inside each, and was bubbling violently. Twilight hugged me. Her cheeks felt damp with tears. “Spike… I-I know this is something you think you have to do, a-and I’m not going to try talk you out it. If Princess Celestia hadn’t said no, I’d be right there with you. You know that, right?” I patted her back. “Of course I know, Twilight. I promise I’ll be careful and everything.” She nodded. “I packed a special potion for you, just in case you need it.” I could feel the liquid inside the vials bubbling, even though they weren’t hot. “What are these things, anyway?” “They’re super-concentrated teleportation magic. Princess Celestia helped me make them. If anything goes wrong, just pour all of one on yourself and you’ll end up right back here… but only if you use every single drop. That’s why I made a couple extras.” “Is it… safe?” She nodded again. “It… should be. I-I know you’ll be perfectly fine though, even if you’re in wild dragon country, s-so you won’t even need them!” She backed away and forced a smile. “You’ll be fine, Spike. Princess Celestia believes in you, I believe in you, we all believe in you. You’ll be fine.” I added the vials to my pile of new possessions. I didn’t care if I had to walk the whole way with both arms full. My friends are amazing, and so were their gifts. Twilight stepped away, and Rarity came forward with a bright smile on her face. A goodbye kiss is what I wanted from her, more than anything. Calling Rarity beautiful doesn’t really cover it. There isn’t anything she does or is that isn’t special to me, but I don’t know how I’d ever tell her that. I almost told her I had a crush on her once. Even if she already knew, I’m glad she stopped me. ‘Crush’ just isn’t the right word anymore. I don’t know if it even was then. If I can’t even explain how I feel to myself, then there’s no chance I could tell her, either. Maybe she’d give me a kiss anyway. She does that sometimes, and every time it feels like Celestia stopped the sun right over the two of us. “Spike—” she glanced down at my pile “—clearly there’s only one way that I could add to this fine assortment of gifts.” I puckered up. Instead, she picked up my handkerchief bag with her magic and emptied it on the ground. “By ensuring you have a suitable accessory to carry it all in.” A green and purple saddlebag floated in front of me, except it wasn’t an ordinary saddlebag. I didn’t really know what to call it. It looked like an extra-large saddlebag covered in little pockets that’d be too hard for a hoof to get into. Instead of having a long strap on the back to tie around a pony’s middle, there were two shorter straps on each side, fastened at the top and bottom. “What is it?” “Let me show you. Hold out your arms.” The bag flew behind me, and the straps slid over my shoulders. All of the other gifts were in the air next. One by one, Rarity deposited them in the bag, each time adding a tiny weight to my shoulders. Suddenly the pile was gone, my hands were free, and the bag still felt light on my back. I slipped the bag off my shoulders and looked it over. “I… wow, Rarity. This is amazing! How’d you make something like this so fast?” “I’ve actually been working on it for some time, in preparation for your birthday.” Never before had I been able to stand in front of Rarity without my eyes being drawn to her. I wanted to open every single pocket on the bag to see how she’d stowed everything inside with what felt like room to spare. “This is so cool! There’s a place for everything! It’s perfect, Rarity.” “You will be back in time, of course. Promise me that.” “Huh?” Her smile was gone. Instead she wore the same distraught frown that Twilight had been trying to hide from me all afternoon. “Your birthday is in less than two weeks. Please tell me you’ll be back with us before then?” I nodded. “Of course I will! I’ll be back by the end of the week.” A train whistle cut through the evening air. Rainbow Dash threw the bag back over my shoulder. “That’s your train, Spike. You ready to rock this adventure?” I was. I also wasn’t. I closed my eyes and remembered the map, and the tiny little mountain with a smoke trail above it. Ready or not, I had to go.