//------------------------------// // Memories and milkshakes // Story: Spike's Hearts and Hooves Day. // by Silver Topaz //------------------------------// Ponyville park was a place that most ponies would come to to relax, especially Spike when he didn't have to do anymore work for Twilight or Rarity he would come here he even found the perfect spot that most ponies would usually stay away from, he didn't know why but he didn't care it was the perfect spot to lay down and sleep it even had a tree that you could lay under and a stream which added a perfect sound to complete the whole package, however Spike didn't come here to relax today he came to think and to be alone. Sitting near the stream looking at his reflection, after leaving Twilight's castle and coming here he was wondering what to do now he was the right age to live on his own and since he couldn't get Rarity to be his marefriend anymore he really didn't have much to do in Ponyville or Equestria for that matter "why didn't I stayed in the dragon lands at least I would have been a Dragon Lord there" Spike was now regretting his decision of coming back but he did came back "well at least I helped Ember prove you don't have to be big or strong to be a great leader" Spike said to his reflection "I can always go back I'm sure Ember wouldn't mind but could I really leave". After giving it some thought Spike made his decision he was going back to the Dragon Lands "it's not like anypony will miss me" Spike kept thinking could he really do this leave his friends and his pony family behind "Twilight will be find Spike don't worry" Spike said trying to reassure himself, he couldn't believe he made it this far anyway a dragon amongst ponies he remembered the day Celestia told him he was going to be with Twilight Spike wasn't very happy about it. Celestia kept knocking on the door that led to the young dragons room after hearing the news he wasn't as excited as Celestia had hoped he'd be "Spike please open this door" Celestia said sounding a bit mad she could have easily teleported inside the room but she didn't want to make things worse so she didn't. "No not until you promise you won't make me go with her I don't want to" a young Spike said,at this time he didn't really like Twilight he found to be weird and a huge nerd and Spike didn't want to be with her he wanted to stay here with Celestia. Celestia sighed "Spike please let's talk about this" but there was no answer "Spike please please open the door let me tell you why you need to go with her" Spike finally opened the door when Celestia saw him she kneeled when Spike saw this he quickly ran to her and hugged her while crying. "Please don't make me go with her I want to stay with you forever" Celestia was sad that she made this decision but it needed to be done, she raised Spike's head so that she could see his eyes they were covered in tears "Spike you are very special" Spike just kept looking at her "you may not know it but you are the key". "The key to what?" Spike asked very confused. "You'll find out soon Spike" Spike wasn't very satisfied with that answer but Celestia kept going "Spike you are the first dragon to live with ponies you have a destiny that you need to fulfill and being with Twilight is the first step to reach it" Spike didn't answer he just kept looking at her eyes filled with tears, Spike was only five but Celestia has been the closest thing to a mother that he had and now she was sending him away. "Don't you love me anymore?" sniffling Spike asked, Celestia was shocked that he would even consider that ""is it because I'm a dragon and not a pony?" "Is it because I did something wrong?" Spike was going to say something more but was silence by Celestia's hoof. "Spike never think that I don't love you I will always love you" Celestia said getting tears in her eyes "I loved taking care of you for all this time I wouldn't change a thing" Celestia said stopping to take a breath "but like I said before you are the key" there it was again Spike didn't asked what it meant because he knew Celestia wouldn't tell him, "also as a princess I have a lot of work to do and I barely have any time for you" Spike looked down knowing this to be true "you need somepony that can give you more of their time to play and teach you so you can grow up to be a great and noble dragon". "But you can do all that stuff why can't you just have other ponies do your work" Spike said hoping that he would convince her to let him stay. "I can't do that Spike I am a princess and with that comes a lot of responsibility" Celestia hugged Spike and kept talking with her motherly voice "Spike Twilight is my personal student I know she can give you all the things that I can't" Spike still didn't answer "She will love you, teach you new things and she can play with you when she isn't learning and Spike just because I am sending you away it doesn't mean we won't spend time together" at this Spike smiled a little bit. "You promised you won't forget about me" "I promised Spike I could never forget about you" Celestia and Spike were now hugging by the end Spike had agreed to go with Twilight. End of flashback Spike smiled he really couldn't believe he acted like that, still he never found out what Celestia meant "the key the key to what?" Spike asked his reflection "I'm not special I'm just a regular old dragon" Spike remembered more of that day Twilight was so excited her mentor trusted her enough to give her such a huge responsibility her parents weren't really all that happy that a dragon was going to live with them but he was given to them by the princess so they couldn't really do anything besides suck it up and help their daughter take care of him. Spike did have a lot of good memories in Equestria living among ponies has been great most of the time, as everypony knows with good memories also come the bad ones yeah he had plenty of those there are the usual memories of him being insulted or discriminated against for being a dragon, his friends making fun of him for not acting like other dragons mostly Rainbow Dash, pranks that could have killed him yeah got some of those to on the memory bank, and now this whole Rarity thing, but to him the worst memory came 3 weeks after Celestia sent him to live with Twilight. Spike was walking through his new home he hated to admit it but he actually liked it here, most of the time it was quite, playing with Twilight was fun especially when they played fort and Spike was tasked with defending fort book from the evil Shining Armor, and Twilight would always read him stories of brave knights who would risk everything to save the princess. Spike always wanted to be a knight, Spike had only two things to complain about his new life one even though she promised Celestia usually never had time to be with him but that wasn't really a problem yeah he missed her but she did show him a cool trick with his fire breath that he could use for sending her letters, and two and this was the worst Twilight's parent. Even though Twilight's father finally came to accept Spike as a new member of the family Twilight's mother still didn't like having a dragon around the house always saying that it was only a matter of time before I turned into a beast and started destroying things, Spike was taught by Celestia how to be patient and how to ignore the ponies that would insult him he has done it for a while, he did it with some of the workers when he lived in the castle and he was doing it now with Twilight's mother, but you could only ignore somepony for so long and it was especially hard for Spike since he lived here. Spike finally made it to the couch and decided to take a nap he was waiting for Twilight to come home so they could play, as he was shutting his eyes he noticed Twilight Velvet enter the room and she was not happy and she was also staring at Spike before Spike knew it he was levitated of the couch and into the floor. "What you do that for" Spike said in an angry voice, Velvet was the only family member that still had a problem with Spike living here but she never did something like this but on the other hoof they have never been alone. Even though Velvet didn't like Spike she never said anything probably because there were others around but now they were alone Twilight taking her classes, Shinning Armor training, and Night Light working there was nopony around so Spike had a feeling that Velvet was about to release all of the frustration that she felt specially the way she was glaring at him. "Look lizard I don't know what Celestia is planning to do with you but if you ask me she is wasting her time" Velvet never stop glaring at Spike "all of you dragons are the same and it's only a matter of time before you go on a rampage" Spike was still laying on the ground he was afraid of her and her words were hurting him "I hope you just get thrown into the badlands so you can just die" Velvet was still not done, she had a lot of words to say and she was going to say them "the only reason I haven't thrown you out is because the princess asked us to take care of you" Spike was on the verge of tears he, he was laying on the floor in a fetal position afraid of what Velvet was going to do next "you will grow up to be a monster and nopony will ever love you". "Stop it" That voice caught both Spike and Velvet's attention, they looked in the direction of the voice and saw Twilight "Twilight what are you doing here it's still early you should be in school" Velvet said her voice filled with anger why was her daughter here when she is supposed to be in school was she cutting her classes. "No I lied I don't have school today" Velvet's angry turned into one of shock her daughter lied to her she was about to say something but Twilight stopped her, Twilight now standing in between her mother and Spike kept talking "I knew you were being mean to Spike so I told you I had school so I could catch you doing it" Velvet was surprised that her daughter would do something like that "your wrong they are all wrong Spike isn't a monster and he isn't a beast" Twilight's voice was full with anger "you'll see everypony will see Spike will grow up to be a nice dragon and everypony will admit they were wrong and I'll make sure of that" Twilight finished she grabbed Spike with her magic and took him to her room, Velvet was shocked she didn't move or said anything she just watch as her daughter carried the young dragon and the last thing she heard was the door slamming. Twilight put Spike on her bed while she made sure her mom wasn't coming she was interrupted however by the sound of Spike's crying Twilight rushed to him an immediately wrapped him in a hug "Spike don't listen to her she is wrong everypony is wrong about you you are going to grow up to be a kind and gentle dragon and they'll have to admit they were wrong" Spike wasn't convince, he hadn't been alive for so long but in those five years all he ever got from most ponies were insults or glares, the only ponies that were kind to him were Celestia, Cadance, Shinning Armor, and Twilight everypony else just insulted him or made fun of him. "Twilight" Spike said through sobs. "Yeah". "Is it true that nopony will ever love me?" "No Spike that's not true the princess loves you Cadance loves you to and I love you to Spike" Twilight pulled him closer Spike finally returning the hug buried himself into Twilight's chest while Twilight nuzzled him. Spike always felt sad when he remembered what happened that day but he was glad he and Velvet could put that all behind and actually be a family. Canterlot was always a city of big news but today's biggest news was the coronation of a new princess Princess Twilight, in the castle Spike had just finished giving Twilight her crown, he was so happy that Twilight was being crown princess and he was there to see it what he wasn't really happy about was seeing Twilight's mother. Spike didn't know why he was surprised to see them there after all their daughter just became a princess so they would be there to celebrate this accomplishment, Spike did notice Velvet staring at him but it was different she didn't look at him with angry eyes like before instead she looked at him with sad ones as if she was regretting something or as if she wanted to say something to him, Spike didn't really care he turned around and followed Twilight who was now addressing the crowd outside. Twilight's coronation felt like a party more than an actual coronation but hey Spike didn't mind even more now that an actual party was taking place many ponies mostly from Canterlot were invited, Spike looked around the room for Rarity but he didn't found her he saw Rainbow Dash talking to Soarin probably about how awesome she would be when she joins the Wonderbolts, he saw Pinkie Pie bouncing around and dancing, Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen as expected, Twilight was talking to the other princesses, and Applejack was trying to make money for the farm, there were other ponies too Octavia, Fleur, Neon, and other Canterlot ponies one which unfortunately had to be Blueblood. "Where is she" Spike said to himself. "Spike" Spike's whole body froze he knew who that voice belonged to and every time that voice addressed him nothing good ever came out of it, Spike turned around and sure enough she was there Twilight Velvet the pony who probably hated Spike the most but just like before Spike noticed she wasn't glaring at him in fact she wasn't even looking at him. "Spike can I talk to you outside please" Spike was surprised by her words they were not angry words or sad ones. "Look I don't have time to be insulted today" Spike was about to walk away but stop when he heard those words. "Please Spike it's important" Spike not sensing any danger just nodded and followed her outside into the garden which was adorned by many different flowers from all over Equestria. "Look what is..." Spike didn't finished that sentence as he found himself in a hug given to him by the one pony who hated him the most it wasn't only the hug but she was also crying "I'm sorry Spike I'm sorry for everything I have said and done" Spike didn't know how to react while living with Velvet all he received from her were glares and mean comments. Spike did what felt natural and returned the hug "it's okay I forgive you" when she heard those words she broke the hug she didn't expect Spike to forgive her this soon but he did. "But all the things I said and did I" Velvet stopped when Spike raised his claw. "It's true you were pretty horrible but" Spike scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward laugh "I didn't make it any easier on you look I don't hold grudges okay" Spike found himself being hugged again by the crying Velvet. "Thanks for forgiving me Spike" Spike was the one the break the hug this time. Spike helped Velvet dry her tears, while he did this Velvet gave him a confused look "today is a day to celebrate not a day to cry okay" Velvet nodded they shared one last hug before going back to the party. Spike sighed he was glad he could change Velvet's view on dragons "c'mon Spike stop remembering things it will only make it harder to leave" Spike said to himself unknown to him there was someone staring at him. Lightning didn't have a lot of things to do after she got of work so she usually flew around eventually she found the perfect spot to relax in the park, like usual she expected things to be quite what she didn't expect was that a dragon would take her spot. Spike didn't notice the pony staring at him he got up and grabbed the bag he left under the tree it wasn't until he turned around that he saw her, she was a Pegasus with an orange coat and a black mane and tail which were very long looking at it Spike noticed they were the same length as Octavia's own mane and tail also they were in a similar style, her eyes were a clear silver color almost making them look like diamonds, Spike didn't say anything he just kept staring he had never seen this mare before so he wasn't sure what to say, finally the silence was broken by her "hello ummm dragon are you by any chance using this spot" her voice sounded happy but nervous at the same time. "Well I was just leaving" Spike said to his surprise the mare came closer it was a surprise to Spike since ponies who didn't know him usually gave him two reactions, one they will start screaming and running away or two they would attack Spike, never has a pony who didn't know him approached him like this, not knowing she was actually scared and nervous. "Lightning what are you doing your getting closer to a dragon" she said to herself but she just kept walking until she was in front of him, after that she put her face close to his face. Spike didn't know what to do or say this mare who he didn't knew not only approached Spike but was now getting to close for Spike's liking. "Excuse me have you never heard of personal space" Spike said very annoyed, to his surprise she stepped back, you don't really expect that from ponies especially if you are friends with Pinkie Pie the mare who doesn't know anything about personal space. "I'm sorry you just look really sad" Spike again was taken by surprise he wiped his tears before and he hadn't been crying in a while so the fact that she could see he was sad surprised him "I guess Rainbow Dash wasn't lying pegasy really do have good vision" Spike though to himself. "I'm fine" Spike said but judging by the mare's worried look she knew he was lying. "Look talking about it will make you feel better" she said while again getting close but not to close. "I said I'm fine" Spike sounding a little bit angry that this mare wouldn't leave him alone. "Look my brother says the same thing whenever he has a problem" again getting closer to Spike. Spike who truly didn't have time for this decided to just leave he tried stepping to the side but the mare stopped him, she was determined to help him but Spike didn't need her help especially now after what happened with Rarity, he tried again stepping to the side but again he was cut off. "Look I know it may be hard but trust me talking about it will help" Spike had it enough. "It's none of your business!" Spike yelled harder than he ever yelled before he knew she was trying to help but right now he didn't want to talk, Lightning stepped back and used her wings to hide herself she was only trying to help him and instead she got him angry. Spike was angry you could see it in his face and his eyes again gained their red coloring all that change however when he looked at the mare again, seeing her cowering on the floor snapped Spike out of his berserk state his angry look was replaced by a look of regret and worry "look I'm sorry". Lightning usually tried to help out as much as she could but that would usually make other ponies angry instead of actually helping she got up and took a deep breath he face filled with anger "look I'm just trying to help ok you don't have to yell at me" Spike looked at her wondering what to do. "Look I know you were just trying to help and I'm really sorry but I just went through a lot today okay but that doesn't give me the right to yell at you, so I'm sorry" Spike looked at her expecting her to be mad or at least to leave but she didn't do any of those things. "What happened?" Spike looked at her she had a curious look on her face, she really wanted to know what was going on "she's like a Pinkie Pie clone always wanting to know what was happening with everypony" Spike thought to himself he was about to answer but she interrupted him "I know how about we go to Sugar Cube Corner and you can tell me what's going on there dragon" Spike didn't know what to do but he did knew that this mare wasn't going to leave him alone, Spike sighed he knew he wasn't going to win if they argued so he just nodded and started walking with her. "Oh by the way my name Spike so stop calling me dragon" Spike said giving her an annoyed look. She giggled a bit "sorry my name is Lightning nice to meet you Spike" she extended her hoof towards Spike so that he could shake it, Spike took her hoof in her claw and shook her hoof. "Nice to meet you Lightning". "Hey Twilight do you think friends are really important?" Spike asked it had been one week since her coronation and Spike wanted to know. "Of course Spike why do you ask?" Twilight said with her cheerful voice. Spike laughed at her answer while Twilight shot him a glare. "Sorry is just hard to believe that Twilight the mare who didn't even want to talk to another pony is the Princess of Friendship" Spike kept laughing and after a little bit Twilight joined in she had to admit it was funny. Spike now found himself being dragged to Sugar Cube Corner by a mare he barely knew well not literally dragged, and for some reason he remembered that conversation he had with Twilight. Ember Spike's only friend that was a dragon had come to visit and she had always tried to convince Spike to come live in the Dragon lands, Spike always wondered why when he asked her she said that he could be a great example to other dragons and that he could help them change for the better. Spike always thought that there was another reason but he didn't tried to find out. Spike found himself in the same predicament as before could he really leave his friends and all of his memories behind and now there was Lightning, Spike knew the drill they would talk she will probably find away to make him feel better and they would become good friends that's how it always worked. Spike decided to stop thinking about it and went back to what was happening they were getting close to Sugar Cube Corner, Spike could actually see it but Spike noticed something Lightning was turning around and looking at him as if she was checking for something. "What does she think I'm going to run away" Spike thought he did admit he actually thought about running but with Spike being the only dragon in a town of ponies and Lightning being a pegasus there was no way he would out run her especially since every pegasy he had met so far could fly really fast. "Were here" Spike was snapped out of his thoughts by Lightning introducing Sugar Cube Corner. "I lived in Ponyville for years now I know this place" Spike said his voice sounding very grumpy, he would rather be doing anything else right now but he didn't want to run especially after yelling at her after she was only trying to help, after all Spike was raise to be a gentledrake so he decided to tag along even if he really didn't want to. "Well I didn't know that" she said she started walking towards the sweet shop, Spike finally noticed her cutie mark which was weather based so she probably worked on the weather team "poor girl has to do what Rainbow Dash tells her" Spike thought to himself. "You coming in or what" Spike didn't notice he was just standing there once he came back from his own thoughts he nodded and started walking in. "Welcome to....." Pinkie started saying but when she saw Spike she stop and her mane deflated she couldn't even look at him "oh hi Spike" Spike didn't answer he still feel betrayed he still didn't know why they didn't told him, Lightning noticed this and concluded that Pinkie had to be part of what was happening. "Hi I would like a vanilla milkshake please how about you" Lightning said pretending to be oblivious to what was happening, Spike never stopped looking at Pinkie he wasn't glaring at her he was just staring. "Same but make mine chocolate and put some gems in it please". "Ok that will be 12 bits please" Lightning reached into her satchel to grab her bag of bits but Spike stopped her. "I got this" Spike said while reaching into his own bag but Lightning stopped him. "I invited you I should pay". "Nah I was told to be a gentledrake so I'll pay, and I will not take no for an answer" Lightning sighed. "Have it your way then" Spike gave Pinkie the bits she then went to make their orders while Spike and Lightning took a seat near one of the windows. Spike sat on one side and Lightning sat on the other one across from him. It was quite at first but Lightning decided to break the silence. "So what's going on?" Spike looked at her with a really annoyed look,"should I really be telling her what's happening I mean I barely know her" Spike thought to himself, he then looked at her she looked very happy and eager waiting for Spike to answer "oh well what do I have to lose she does want to help" Spike finally decided to stop thinking and just tell her. He took a deep breath and started the story all the way from the beginning, he told her about having a crush on Rarity since the first day he met her, he told her about all the favors he did for her, and he told her about finding out today that for 2 years she was dating somepony else, without telling him and still asking him for favors. Lightning was surprised to hear all of that. She didn't know how she could help him "hey have you ever thought that this maybe your fault" with that Spike gave her a glare, Lightning now getting nervous decided to keep going "I mean why didn't you just tell her before" with that Spike gained a look that let everypony know he was thinking, maybe it was his fault for not telling Rarity but before he accepted that as an answer he decided to ask a question. "Lightning have you ever been in love?" Spike asked his voice sounding very curiously. "Who me?" Spike nodded "well yeah but what's that got to" Lightning didn't finished as she was stopped by Spike's raised claw. "Did you ever told him how you felt" with that Lightning looked at the ground and shook her head "why didn't you tell him?". Lightning finally raised her face to look at Spike. "I was afraid he wouldn't feel the same" Spike noticed her voice sounded different it sounded sad. "Exactly the same reason why I didn't tell Rarity about my feelings" with that the milkshakes finally arrived. As quickly as she brought them as quickly Pinkie left she really didn't want to be near Spike after all she was her friend and she should have told him. Spike looked at Pinkie running away he really needed to tell her that he wasn't mad at her. As for Lightning she grabbed her milkshake an started drinking it she had no idea how she could help and if she went by past events she would probably just make things worst but she wasn't about to give up not yet, she was about to say something but Spike beat her to it "so how long have you lived in Ponyville?, I've seen pretty much every pony in this town and you are not one of them" Lightning was quite she wasn't expecting this "are you visiting somepony". "Oh no I moved here with my brother about a week ago" Spike was surprised usually when there was a new pony Pinkie Pie would give them the grand tour but he got his answer on that "when we got here Pinkie gave us a tour of all of Ponyville she even introduced us to everypony here" Spike smiled at that is was so Pinkie "although she never introduced us to you, wait were you in the castle?" Spike nodded "well that explains it when we went to the castle Pinkie said something important was happening and that we couldn't go in, there were guards everywhere too" Spike now knew why he hadn't seen her and what was she talking about. "The princesses got together that day to discuss matters of Equestria so that's probably why you couldn't go in" Lightning was now curious about what the princesses were talking about but she probably wouldn't get an answer so she just kept going. "So anything else you want to know?" Lightning said drinking more of her milkshake. Spike who finally started drinking his decided to keep the conversation going, he really didn't want to talk about Rarity and what happened so he was hoping he could distract her. "So is Lightning your name or is there more". Lightning shook her head "actually my full name is Lightning Blossom Storm but it just sounds weird when you say it all together" Spike actually didn't think it was too weird since ponies tended to have unique names "look if you want you can call me Lightning Blossom or Lightning Storm but not all of it okay. "I think I'll just call you Lightning okay" Lightning nodded. "Let's see your a Pegasus so you are probably from Cloudsdale am I right" Lightning nodded "judging by your cutie mark you probably work for the weather team" Lightning again nodded, impressed that Spike could figure that out even if it was pretty obvious "I feel bad for you, you have to work with and for Rainbow Dash pretty much all day". "Tell me about it she usually spends the whole day yelling at us" Spike actually gained a sympathetic look "especially at the lazy ones like my brother or Thunderlane, which is stupid since she spends most of the day sleeping on the job" Lightning let out a grunt "how she is still the captain of the weather team I will never know". "Yeah I wonder" Spike answered "so did you move here with your brother" Lightning nodded "why? Are you following him" Spike said curiosity filled his voice. Lightning didn't answer immediately in a way she was kinda following her brother but she had her reason " well kinda but its not like I'm a stalker or anything it's just.... you'll think is silly" Spike actually had a curious look on his face. "I won't think is silly I promised". Lightning sighed and closed her eyes "okay I'm afraid" she opened them and saw the look on Spike's face waiting for more information, she sighed again and finally said it "I'm afraid of being alone" she said it she knew it was kinda silly and she probably expected him to laugh but he didn't, actually he had a confused look on his face. "You're afraid of being alone?" Lightning nodded looking kinda sad "like what being alone in the dark" Lightning rolled her eyes and placed a hoof on her face. "If your trying to be funny you are not very good at it" Spike just kept looking at her "look I'm just afraid of being alone okay" a look of realisation now filled Spike's face. "So your afraid of being alone for ever in away are you afraid of being abandoned" Lightning nodded the thought of all of the ponies you care about suddenly leaving you was just something she didn't want to imagine, she looked to the ground half of her expected him to laugh or tell she was just being silly like many ponies did before, what she didn't expect was Spike's actual answer "I know how you feel" Spike said looking out the window, he then looked back at Lightning "my friends have a knack for leaving on great adventures and leaving me behind" Lightning gave a small chuckle. "My brother does the exact same thing when he goes of on adventures I wish I could go on adventures like that" Lightning said sadness filling her voice. Spike however looked at her with a confused look. "I thought you said your brother was lazy" Spike said genuinely confused. "Oh he is but there are two exceptions that will make him get rid of his laziness, one he is doing something he actually likes doing or is actually interested in or two he is helping a friend, if he is not doing that he is probably sleeping on a cloud somewhere". Spike after that got a weird look on his face "it surprises me that he is a lot like Rainbow Dash" Spike thought to himself. "So you're friends leave you behind" Spike nodded "doesn't it make you sad" Lightning now had a worried look on her face. Spike thought about it, he really didn't care if his friends brought him along or not but he had to admit there were two times it really hurt, one was Twilight's birthday when they were in Canterlot to celebrate Spike was sad that Twilight didn't bring him along. Not being there for the birthday of the pony that was basically his mother did make him sad but there was the other time, the time they went to Cloudsdale. Twilight was happy that she finally moved. Since she was little she was waiting for the day she finally would be be able to live in her own, now that she lived in the tower/mini library she could dedicate more time to her studies, and Spike would finally be able to live happy now that Twilight's mother wasn't here. Twilight loved her mother but she was glad that Spike won't have to see her, although her attitude toward Spike diminished there was the occasional glare and the you will grow up to be a monster comment from her. "Hey Twilight what's that?" Twilight was broken out of her train of thought by the voice of Spike who was now looking at map of all of Equestria. "Well Spike that is a map" Spike rolled his eyes at her answer. "I know what a map is Twilight" Spike said a little angry "I meant that" Spike pointed at a big white cloud that was in between Canterlot and Ponyville. "Oh that that's just Cloudsdale that's were most of the pegasy come from" Spike was amazed a city made of clouds. "Can we go Twilight please" Spike said he really wanted to go and check it out but Twilight shook her head. "Spike only a Pegasus can walk on clouds so we can't go not to mention we don't have time" with this Spike excited look changed into a sad one, he started walking away slowly looking at the ground. Twilight seeing this got a sad look but it was changed with a happy one shortly afterwards "although I think there's a spell that lets none pegasus ponies walk on clouds so I think we can go when we have time. When Twilight finished that sentence Spike rushed back and hugged her "you promise we'll go" Twilight returned the hug and nuzzled Spike. "I promised Spike" Twilight said as the two kept hugging. "Are you ok?" Spike was interrupted from his memories by Lightning who sounded really concerned. "Yeah I'm fine I'm just remembering a promise that never came to be" Spike said looking at Lightning who seemed genuinely interested. "What's the promise?". "Twilight you may know her as the Princess of Friendship but I know her as a friend and as the closest thing to a mother that I have" Spike paused apparently it was hard for him to talk about this, Lightning was about to tell him to stop but Spike kept talking "she promised me that when she finds a spell that will let us walk on clouds that she would take me to Cloudsdale but that day never came well I shouldn't say that it came but I wasn't there". "Wait you and Rainbow Dash are friends right" Spike nodded "she was in Cloudsdale's Young Flyers Competition" Spike knew this already he was just waiting for her to get to the point "if all of her friends were there then why weren't you there?" Lightning asked again confused and curious about the whole situation. "Well the day came when Twilight told me she was going to Cloudsdale with the others" Spike paused taking a sip of his milkshake "I already knew something was wrong when she said that, I asked her if I could come but she said someone needed to stay behind to keep the library open" Spike sighed it was clear he was having trouble telling the story but he kept going "I then asked her what about your promise and I guess what she said hurt the most" Spike said while scratching the table his claw was on. "What did she say?". "She said what promise, that's right she forgot!" Spike said slamming his hand on the table "I was so excited to finally see Cloudsdale and she forgot all about the promise she made" Lightning already knew were this was going and did the only think she could think of, she got up from her seat and walked to Spike side she sat down and gave Spike a hug. Even though he felt awkward about hugging a mare he barely knew Spike returned the hug after a minute the hug was broken and Spike calmed down. "Hey Spike everything will be find okay" Spike nodded he knew he was being childish but he really did want to see Cloudsdale, and to have his best friend/mother forget about the promise she made really hurt Spike. "Hey Spike I know what your doing" with that Spike's look of sadness was replaced with a look of worry. "What do you mean?" Spike said while nervously scratching the back of his head. "You're trying to change the subject so that I don't try to help you fix the situation with Rarity right" Spike was caught red handed he just sighed and nodded. As soon as Lightning was about to speak she was interrupted by a claw that held her mouth shut. "Look Lightning I appreciate you wanting to help but in the end it doesn't matter" Lightning's angry look she got from being forcefully interrupted was replaced with one of confusion yet again "I'm leaving for the Dragon lands tomorrow and I'm going to put this whole mess behind me" Lightning tried to say something but Spike interrupted her "that's my final decision and nothing you say is going to change that" Spike finally let go of Lightning's mouth. "Spike can I at least say something" Lightning said she sounded really sad, Spike nodded "running from this is not going to make it go away, you will still think about her and your friends" Spike didn't look at her he stared at the empty glass of milkshake. He knew she was right but he also knew he was going to forget eventually. "So Spike since you're leaving tomorrow and you don't want to talk about Rarity how about we do something fun". Spike sighed he didn't have anything better to do but he might as well, he nodded once he did Lightning went straight into her saddle bag and took out a book "a book if I wanted to read I would have stayed in the castle" Lightning rolled her eyes and pointed to the cover "Forgotten Temples and Ruins" that didn't help Spike figure out what she wanted to do. Lightning opened the book and stopped at a page that was book marked "here read this". Spike started reading the page "Everfree's secret medow what" Lightning motioned for Spike to keep reading So he did, the rest of the page talked about a secret garden hidden in the Everfree forest that was filled with a rare species of flowers that reacted to magic and that the flower could even hold magic and be used to power spells. What got Spike's attention was the end it said that the flowers could be used to cause destruction since they could store a lot of magic because of that many unicorns used to grow them, but not only that it also said that when the magic of the flowers is triggered that the guardians of the flowers will awaken. Spike finished reading that last bit and he suddenly got chills something inside of him was telling him that these flowers were better left hidden. "So you see wouldn't it be cool if we found those flowers" Lightning said her clear gray eyes filled with excitement, Spike didn't said anything he was to busy thinking the story could be fake but after the poison joke incident he learned to read and trust books more. "Maybe it's not a good idea I mean did you read this" Spike said worry filling his voice. "I know it's going to be a fun adventure so come on" Lightning started pulling Spike's arm to get him to move her excitement never leaving her eyes and face, Spike pulled back he had a bad feeling about this, but on the other claw he did wanted to go on adventures like this with his friends. Spike sighed and started walking, he also grabbed the book that Lightning almost left in her excitement, "it might have a clue on where to find the garden" Spike thought to himself and with that they left Spike looked ahead at the excited Lightning that was still pulling him he sighed once more "what did I get myself into" Spike said low enough that Lightning didn't hear him.