Spike was ready. He'd packed up food, water, his favorite Hoofball cards, his copy of issue number one of the Power Ponies, and even his stuffed hedgehog named Blue. All of this had been put in a cloth tied to a stick. He stood in front of the castle, his friends there to see him off. It was a cloudy day, reflecting the somewhat somber mood that hung in the air. Spike wondered if Rainbow Dash had set this up or if the weather team had already planned it.
"Ya sure yer gonna be okay on yer own, Spike?" Applejack removed her stetson and held it to her chest. "If ya wanted some company we'd be happy to oblige."
"No. I think I need to do this on my own." Spike replied with a light smile.
"Ohmygosh! This is exciting! Spike's going on his own adventure! I mean, its sad, but exciting! Its exsading!" Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down repeatedly, clearly the result of another morning pastry binge. "We're gonna miss you Spike!"
"She is right, you know. It will be a hard adjusting to our little Spikey-Wikey being gone for a while." Rarity hugged the dragon close, who flushed brightly.
"Pshh. Spike's tough. I'm sure he'll come back with a ton of stories for us, right Spike?" Rainbow Dash chimed in, putting on a tough face.
Spike gave a weak chuckle. "Yeah. I'll come back soon. With loads of stories too."
"Be sure to write us letters from time to time." Fluttershy spoke, barely audible over her friends.
"We'll miss you, Spike." Twilight simply stated.
"I'll miss you guys too. And I'll be sure to write." Spike said as he stepped in and wrapped his scaly arms around Twilight, who graciously returned the gesture. Soon everypony joined in on the bittersweet hug. After a moment, everyone reluctantly broke away.
"Well, no point in holding off." Spike took a deep breath, steeling himself for the most difficult step in his journey. The first one. "Bye, guys."
Spike turned away and took a step. Then another. With each step he took, the feeling that this was what he needed to do sank in. He looked back over his shoulder to his friends. Who were waving vigorously and yelling goodbye. Though each of them smiled brightly, the slightest bit of sadness reflected back in their eyes. Spike waved back until his footsteps took them out of view.
~~~
Rarity and the others watched Spike until he was gone from sight. Each one of them felt a little heartbreak at seeing their young friend travel off to Celestia-knew-where in search of adventure.
"We are going to follow him, right? I'd hate to think of something happening to our Little Spikey-Wikey while he was gone." Rarity asked the group, hoping that they would share her sentiments. It was Twilight who answered first, and what she said surprised her friends.
"Not this time, Rarity."
"Why ever not? You saw what happened when he tried doing that ghastly migration affair."
Twilight Sparkle looked to her friends as tears flowed freely down her face. "Because this is different, Rarity. I can't explain how, but when he first mentioned it to me I knew that this was something Spike needed to do on his own. Whatever he's looking for, he won't find it if we go with him."
~~~
Spike passed through the market. Then the town square. Then finally he passed by the houses of the ponies living on the outer edges of town. Then he was out of Ponyville.
It was a strange sensation, leaving home. It wasn't the first time he'd left to find himself. He remembered the fiasco of the Dragon Migration all too well. He had walked away from the situation with the knowledge that Ponyville was his home, and Twilight and the others were his family.
This was different from that though. Before had been an attempt to find a family. Now he was on his way to finding who he was, personally. While he knew where he stood in the eyes of his friends, Spike needed... something. He knew he would find that something somewhere out there, whatever it was.