My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition

by SuperPinkBrony12

Chapter 46: Spike Returns

It had been a long couple of months, but at long last the wait was over. The annual dragon migration was due to pass over Ponyville in a matter of hours, and both Shining Armor and Twilight could barely contain their excitement. They were looking forward to seeing Spike again, though they had to remind themselves that he might not necessarily be coming back for good.

Everyone else who know Spike was also eager to see him come back, Ponyville hadn't been the same without him. Rarity in particular, had found it surprisingly hard to concentrate on her work.

And so it was, that on the day that the migration was slated to pass through Ponyville, Shining Armor, Twilight, and their friends, were all watching from the safety of a trench. All of them had their eyes to the sky, trying to spot the dragons and hopefully, Spike. So far, they hadn't spotted a single dragon.

"Do you see anythin' yet?" Applejack asked Big Macintosh.

"Eenope." Big Macintosh replied.

"I don't see any dragons either," Soarin added "Where could they be?"

"Are you sure you got the right date for the migration?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight "Cause it looks like those dragons aren't coming!"

"But this doesn't make any sense! I know I have the right date! I studied all the information I could find about dragons and their migrating patterns!" Twilight complained "They have to pass through here!"

"Maybe they're just being fashionably late?" Fancy Pants suggested.

"Or maybe something happened to them that held them up?" Thunderlane proposed.

"Whatever the case is, they aren't here even though they should be," Shining Armor said seriously "Looks like Spike's homecoming will be delayed." And he turned to leave the trench, and head back home.

But just then, Pinkie Pie began to jump up and down, all the while shouting "Look! Look!"

"I don't believe it! The dragons are coming!" Braeburn exclaimed, and he was right.

Using their binoculars, everypony in the trench turned their attention to the sky above them. In a matter of seconds, it was filled with dragons of all sorts of different sizes and colors. Some were very big, and some were rather small. But all of them were a sight to behold for the ponies in the trench, most of whom had never seen anything like it before.

However, Twilight was concerned only with trying to find one particular dragon amongst the migrating group. She looked all around, but there was no sign of him. She searched high, and she searched low, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Not even a single green scale. "I know he has to be in the migration somewhere," Twilight thought to herself, unwilling to give up hope "Where is he? Maybe I should've tried to send him a letter asking him where he'd be during the migration?"

Seconds passed, then minutes, but nopony was able to spot any sign of Spike amongst the dragons. As the migration came to a close, and the last of the dragons passed by the trench, Spike was still nowhere to be seen, much to the disappointment of everyone in the trench.

"Well, I guess.... Spike isn't coming home. He must've found his calling somewhere along the path of the migration, and decided to stay." Twilight said sadly, trying her best not to cry.

"And to think, I never even went on a date with him, even once." Rarity added, now wishing she'd done so at some point. She still wasn't sure if her feelings for Spike went as far as actual love, but at least part of her still felt empty without Spike in her life. He may not have been the sort of prince charming she'd always imagined she'd marry, but in many ways he was a suitor that she'd actually appreciated the more she got to know him.

"I'm gonna miss seeing that little guy, he was a lot of fun to play with." Rumble commented, as he climbed down from Thunderlane's back. With the dragon migration over, he had no reason to stay up there.

"We're all gonna miss him, very much," Shining Armor spoke up "And it's a real shame, I was really looking forward to having him at my wedding," Shining Armor then sighed "I guess, I'll have to break the news to Cadence that our wedding will short one baby dragon. She won't take the news very well, Spike was just as much a part of her life as he was a part of my life, as well as Twily's."

"I was especially looking forward to throwing him a 'Welcome Home' party." Pinkie Pie said, barely able to hold onto her smile.

"It won't be easy to adjust to a life without Spike around, but somehow, I think we'll manage." Fancy Pants said glumly, even though he was not so sure of the statement himself.

And so it was that the dragon migration passed, without any sign of Spike. Everypony that gathered to welcome him back, even if it would only be for a little while, went home with heavy hearts. Twilight in particular, found it hard not to shed tears. "I probably drove him away with all the demands I placed on him as my number one assistant."

But upon reaching The Golden Oaks Library, opening the door, and walking through it, Twilight and Shining Armor were dealt a surprise they never could've imagined.

"What kept you two? I've been waiting here all afternoon." a familiar snarky voice called out. A second later, Twilight and Shining Armor laid eyes on a light purple skin with green scales that they had not seen in months.

"Spike!" The Sparkle siblings exclaimed, promptly racing over and hugging him.

"That's right, I'm back!" Spike said happily "Now, tell me all the news! I wanna know just what it is that I've missed out on while I was away."

-----

Spike could have hardly anticipated just how much he was missed by everyone in Ponyville, as Pinkie Pie and Braeburn's joint "Welcome Home" party for him led to Sugarcube Corner being packed with ponies and non ponies young and old alike.

His friends especially were glad to have him in their lives again, and it wasn't long before Spike caught up on the news he hadn't heard.

-----

"Just who are these little bundles of joy?" Spike asked, as he held a pegasus colt and a unicorn filly in his claws.

The colt had a coat that was light goldish gray in color, almost like cake batter. He had a brown mane and tail in a wavy style, while his eyes were a darker shade of brown, more like chocolate. The filly had a coat that was light yellow in color. Her mane and tail were light orange, and were as wavy as the pegasus colt, her eyes were a briliant blue in color.

"They're Pound and Pumpkin Cake of course!" Pinkie Pie said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Cake? As in, the same Cake family as Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" Spike asked Pinkie Pie.

"Yes a rooni!" Pinkie Pie replied, then she said to Pound and Pumpkin Cake "This is Spike, say 'Hi Spike.'"

Pound and Pumpkin Cake spoke up, but all Spike heard was a series of unintelligable babbles of random nonsense.

"They're only about two months old, they're still learning how to talk." Mr. Cake told Spike.

"But we love them very much, and we're glad to have them around," Mrs. Cake added "They've also taken a real shine to Pinkie Pie, they seem to see her as something of an aunt."

"And between you and me, they seem to really like Braeburn, they're the only other pony they're willing to listen to. Besides their parents of course." Pinkie Pie whispered to Spike.

"Well, I'm glad I finally got to meet them. They seem to be really excited to see me." Spike said, as he noticed how much the twins seemed to enjoy being held by him. They especially seemed to delight in lightly poking his scales with their chubby little hooves.

"This is their first time getting to see you face to face, until now they've only heard stories about you," Pinkie Pie explained "I don't think they imagined you'd be a dragon, instead of a pony."

"Well, I am what I am." Spike replied, as Pound and Pumpkin Cake yawned lightly.

"Excuse me, but it's time for the twins to take their nap," Mrs. Cake explained softly "If you would be so kind as to let me have them back." Spike happily obliged, and Mrs. Cake quickly took her children upstairs, so they could nap in peace.

"That ain't the only piece of news you missed out on while you were off tryin' to find your place in life with that migration." Applejack told Spike.

"Oh yeah, that." Spike replied. Was it Shining Armor's imagination, or did he suddenly seem unhappy to hear such a thing? Surely, the migration had provided Spike with the answers he'd been seeking.

"Big Mac here went and hooked up with Cheerilee, they're offically datin' now!" Braeburn explained "I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard the news, but it was all true!"

"No kidding? Ponyville's number one chick magnet finally found one that stuck to him?" Spike joked "Well, it took him long enough. I was starting to think he was afraid of dating or something."

Spike was only teasing, but he was quite surprised to see Big Macintosh give him an angry glare that seemed to convey "That's not funny!". Spike, deciding it was best not to press his luck. "So, Cheerilee, huh?" he said "Well, I gotta give Big Mac credit, he certainly aims to please."

"Eeyup." Was all Big Macintosh decided to say. He was still getting used to the idea of dating a pony, let alone somepony like Cheerilee, who was the town's elementary school teacher.

"So, what was the migration like?" Soarin asked Spike "Did you meet a lot of other dragons?"

"Were they big and scary?" Fluttershy said nervously.

"Were some of them all cutesie wootsie like you?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I'll bet most of them had stashes of treasure they weren't too keen on sharing." Fancy Pants chimed in.

"They didn't try to hurt you, did they?" Rarity asked, expressing her concern for Spike "If they touched one scale on that cute little head of yours, I'll make them sorry!"

"Did you meet any female dragons by any chance?" Braeburn added "If so, what were they like?"

"I know we're asking a lot of questions, but we're all very curious as to what you saw on that migration," Thunderlane explained "We've missed having you around, and we're all wondering why you came back now."

"Twilight and Shining Armor especially missed having you around," Rainbow Dash chimed in "And you're the first one of us to actually get a chance to see dragons up close and personal."

"When they aren't causing trouble, that is." Soarin quickly added.

"Which is why we're all so curious as to what the dragons you migrated with were like," Applejack explained "So, care to enlighten us with your knowledge?"

Much to the surprise of everyone gathered, Spike replied by saying "I know you all have questions, and under normal circumstances, I'd be glad to answer them. But right now, I'm really tired out. Being part of that migration was exhausting, so I'd like nothing more than to just return home and rest. Once I'm feeling more like my old self, I'll gladly answer all of your questions as best I can." And to emphasize his point, he let out a yawn. Everyone quickly realized they were putting too much pressure on Spike, considering how long he'd been away, and agreed to back off.

Shining Armor, however, could sense that Spike's behavior was more because of some deeper problem that he seemed unwilling to talk about. And he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

-----

The next morning, when Spike woke up, he didn't seem to be at all worried or concerned about the fact that the migration had moved on without him. In fact, he seemed to be glad to be back to being Twilight's number one assistant. As was evidenced by the smile he wore around his face, as he went about his usual duties as Twilight's assistant.

Considering how much he'd said he needed to go on the migration, Shining Armor was certain that Spike wouldn't just up and leave it. Something must have happened during the migration that made him feel he was better off in Ponyville. The only question now was, what was that something?

Shining Armor's chance to ask, came sooner than expected.

"Thanks for all your help, Spike." Twilight said, smiling the biggest smile she had smiled in months. With Spike back in her life, she felt much more cheerful and upbeat. She'd missed having her son around.

"No problem, Twilight. It's so good to be home again after all this time." Spike happily replied.

"Well, I've got nothing else I need help with at the moment," Twilight told Spike "So, why don't you take a break for right now? I'll let you know when your servcies are required again."

"Fine by me," Spike smiled "Guess that'll give Shining Armor and I a chance to talk about guy things. You know, hoofball, girls, that sort of stuff."

Twilight just giggled, and set to work on writing down information that she had collected during the dragon migration.

-----

Shining Armor was waiting for Spike, when he came upstairs. Now was the time to talk, even if Spike wasn't willing to do so.

"Hey, Shining Armor. Long time no see, how's it hanging?" Spike asked "Still set to marry Princess Cadence this coming weekend?"

"Yes indeed, and I'm glad you'll be around to see it," Shining Armor said with a smile "Would you be willing to be the ring bearer during the wedding?"

"Of course I would! I was hoping you'd give me a role in your wedding, considering you've assigned roles to all of our other friends!" Spike replied eagerly.

"Good, I was sure you'd say yes, but I wanted to make sure." Shining Armor said, and he sighed. Now that he'd gotten that out of the way, it was time to find out why Spike seemed unwilling to talk about the dragon migration, and why he'd left it.

When Shining Armor sighed, Spike began to worry. "He's gonna try to probe me and find out what's wrong," he thought nervously to himself "I've got to stay strong! I can't let him find out!" And he mentally braced himself for whatever Shining Armor would try to do.

"So, just how was the migration? I take it there's a good reason why you left, right?" Shining Armor asked Spike.

"The migration was alright, I just decided I was better off living in Ponyville, and that was that," Spike replied, trying to throw Shining Armor off his trail "I'd tell you more, but there's really not much to talk about. We just drifted from town to town, and talked about things that were of interest only to dragons. You wouldn't enjoy it."

Shining Armor didn't buy Spike's statement for a second, there was definitely more to the story than Spike was letting on. "Spike, tell me the truth. What's the real reason for you leaving the migration? You looked so determined when you set off, convinced that it would give you the answers you wanted so badly. What was it that made you decide you didn't want to stay with the dragons?" he asked.

"I already told you, Shining Armor, I just decided I was better off living in Ponyville! That's all there is, and there isn't anymore!" Spike insisted "I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine."

"Spike, whatever it was that you witnessed during the migration, it doesn't necessarily mean that's what you have to do or be," Shining Armor said with concern "You can always be the exception to the rule. Besides, what you are isn't always the same as who you are. You should know that by now."

"Who said anything about who or what I was?!" Spike replied angrily "If those other dragons want to be selfish, greedy, and rude, that's fine! I'm better off without them! And if the few noble dragons are mocked and shunned, then they have every right to leave the flock and strike out on their own!" Spike then realized, that he'd unintentionally blown the lid on his secret. The truth had been exposed.

"So that's what this is all about!" Shining Armor realized "You went on the migration, and you discovered that you didn't like how the other dragons acted! So, you decided to leave the migration the first chance you got!"

"It's like you're a mind reader, but that's true," Spike admitted with a sigh "I tried to find the answers I needed, but none of the dragons could help me. Most of them were either too busy guarding their stashes of treasure, or just weren't helpful. Then, I met these teenage dragons, and after they tried to steal a bunch of phoneix eggs so they could smash them, I knew I wanted nothing to do with the other dragons. Because they either could not, or would not, do anything to stop Garble and his followers!"

"But the phoneix nests aren't anywhere near Ponyville, they're closer to Los Pegasus and Applewood," Shining Armor said, remembering that he'd seen such information on a map "And those were some of the first cities that the migration passed through. If you left the migration at that point, why didn't you come back to Ponyville? I doubt it took you almost three months to get back."

"I wanted to come back to Ponyville and be with you and Twilight again, really I did," Spike admitted saddly "But after the send off Ponyville gave me, and after what I'd done just prior to leaving, I knew I couldn't come back. I headed to Canterlot instead, hoping that Princess Celestia would have the answers. After all, she's the one who obtained my egg. If anypony could give me the answers, it should've been her."

"And she didn't have them?" Shining Armor asked.

Spike shook his head "Unfortunately, yes. She said that my egg was given to her by a mysterious pony, and no one knew who my parents were, or where I'd come from. Even the Canterlot Archives failed to provide me with any useful information, the only thing I turned up, was this 'Noble Dragon Code'. And that certainly didn't do me any favors."

"But even a trip from Los Pegasus or Applewood, to Canterlot, shouldn't have taken more than a month at worst," Shining Armor realized "And I doubt Princess Celestia was so busy you didn't see her for two whole months. So, after Canterlot turned out to be a dead end, where did you go?"

"I just drifted from town to town, trying to forget about my past. I hoped to make a name for myself as a noble dragon," Spike explained sadly "But no matter where I went, my thoughts kept drifting back to you, and to Twilight. Eventually, I realized that, I had to come back. That it was selfish of me to forget about you two, and all your friends, just for the sake of my past. So, now you know the truth about where I've been for these past three months. I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"Spike, I'm not going to say that what you did was smart, because it wasn't," Shining Armor said, after a moment of reflection "But I think you truly proved yourself to be different from the other dragons, when you decided to put aside your own glory, and come back home."

"You're just saying that!" Spike protested "I don't need your pity!"

"Spike, think about it. If you were truly selfish and greedy, you never would've come back home. You would've just continued to travel from place to place, all so you could prove your own glory," Shining Armor explained "But instead, you realized where you truly belonged, and you decided to come back home. And on top of that, you were horrified when you learned what the teenage dragons liked to do. If you were truly like the other dragons, you wouldn't have been offended."

"I guess I never really thought about it like that," Spike realized "But promise me one thing, Shining Armor."

"What's that, Spike?" Shining Armor asked.

"Don't tell anypony else about this! I'd rather they not know," Spike insisted "I'll tell them eventually, but I want to do it on my own terms!"

"Well, I'll give you two months, but that's all you'll get," Shining Armor told Spike "If you haven't told them by that point, I will!"

"Deal!" Spike replied, and he and Shining Armor shook claw and hoof respectively.

Spike went back to being Twilight's number one assistant, and he soon forgot to worry about the possibility of becoming the monster he'd become on his last birthday.

But Shining Armor could sense that Spike's time alone had changed him, even if it wasn't noticeable to most ponies. Spike was now more self conscious about his role in Equestria, and even if he wouldn't admit it, he was less than thrilled by the role he currently played.

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

"What kept you two? I've been waiting here all afternoon." a familiar snarky voice called out. A second later, Twilight and Shining Armor laid eyes on a light purple skin with green scales that they had not seen in months.

And to be honest I thought we were never see him again that got me nervous 😅

[Yoshifan30]

"Oh yeah, that." Spike replied. Was it Shining Armor's imagination, or did he suddenly seem unhappy to hear such a thing? Surely, the migration had provided Spike with the answers he'd been seeking.

Oh boy It's probably because of garble and his goons friends Treated him so badly and oh dear I hope he didn't do that dare about you know what 😰

Edit
Then, I met these teenage dragons, and after they tried to steal a bunch of phoneix eggs so they could smash them, I knew I wanted nothing to do with the other dragons. Because they either could not, or would not, do anything to stop Garble and his followers!"

Oh no Because there was nobody stopping these guys that... OH NO NOT PEEWEE 😭

[Yoshifan30]

"Who said anything about who or what I was?!" Spike replied angrily "If those other dragons want to be selfish, greedy, and rude, that's fine! I'm better off without them! And if the few noble dragons are mocked and shunned, then they have every right to leave the flock and strike out on their own!" Spike then realized, that he'd unintentionally blown the lid on his secret. The truth had been exposed.

Yeah poor spike have to found out the hard way What there is some dragons who are not like that at least they don't wanna show it like ember and smolder it just to bad they don't show up until later but I'm sure we will get there 😔