Good bye, Spike (Main story)

by Zweiterversuch

Chapter 4: The whole story

Twilight woke up the morning after Spike's dinner with her brother sleeping on the floor right next to her, a serious hangover, and her face somewhat swollen.

The new princess strained her brain in order to remember exactly what had happened the night before, but without success.

To wake up her brother, Shining armor, didn't look like it'd be of great help either. He seemed to be enjoying his dream a lot. He hugged the bed sheets and mumbled from time to time nonsensical lines such as, "we are all eternal", or "one way or another pie always wins."

After having a look around the room Twilight noticed that neither Spike, nor Cadence were in there. The two of them had either woken up earlier and left, or they had not slept in the same room as she and her brother did.

After a long yawn Twilight stood up and started walking towards her room.
She stopped trying to remember what happened. It was best to wait for her head to clear up a little more. Maybe then she'd understand why they left them there.

Twilight decided to worry about what she needed right now, a shower and some fresh clothes. There was no way she could attend her duties as a princess while looking like that.

As she made her way towards her room she started to remember more easily the jokes, the meal, and her embarrassing behavior the night before. The headache didn't recede, but it was more tolerable now.

The sunlight of the new day passed through the colored glass shards of the stained glass along the corridor, projecting their images on the opposing wall, making her walk down the hallways look like walking through a kaleidoscope.

The morning was cold, but the air was refreshing. The birds chirped and through the few open windows in the corridor Twilight could see the trees and flowers in the garden shimmer thanks to the drops of morning dew running down their leaves and petals.

Suddenly Twilight remembered something, a kiss. A polite kiss on Cadence's hoof and words of gratitude to her from Spike.
She didn't know why Spike had done such a thing, but she remembered somewhat the expression Cadence had and the blush on her assistant's face.
Twilight laughed quietly and kept going.

"Last night was really fun. I really needed that.
I'll have to talk with Spike about drinking though. I don't recall giving him any, but he must have had a couple of sips whenever I wasn't looking."

Finally she was in front of her bed chambers.

Flash Sentry, an orange Pegasus that had been appointed as her personal guard, stood at the room's entrance and greeted the princess once he saw her coming.

"Good Morning princess Twilight."

-"Good Morning, Flash."

Using her magic, Twilight opened the doors of her room. But before she entered there was something she had to tell the guard.

"If anypony comes, please let them know I'll be ready to start my duties once I have freshened up. They should wait for me downstairs."

She was about to leave, but Flash Sentry asked her to wait.

"Actually, Princess. I'm supposed to give you a message from Princess Celestia."

-"The princess? I see. What is the message?"

"You are to meet with her as soon as possible in the throne room. Do not mind your duties, they will be taken care of at a later time."

After Flash was done giving her the message Twilight thanked him and closed the doors behind her.

It was not surprising that the princess had called her into her presence. She had done it dozens of times before, but after she became a princess it had become less common for Celestia to do so, making Twilight feel intrigued by the reasons the Princess might have for this particular meeting.

The purple alicorn threw her dirty clothes into a basket in the room's corner and headed towards the shower.

***************

One hour later Twilight was trotting down the stairs towards the throne room.
She had asked Flash if maybe he knew what the princess wanted to talk about. But all the guard did was negate with his head and wish her a good day.

Unlike other times, the corridor to the throne room was deserted. Usually there would be a long line of ponies from all over Equestria waiting for their turn to meet their rulers and talk about any problem they might have.
To see no pony around made Twilight feel a little nervous. It meant that whatever was the princess wanted to discuss was more important than her own duties as the ruler of Equestria.

As soon as the guards of the throne room saw her coming, they opened the massive doors without announcing her.

The throne room was a gigantic hall at the very center of the castle that was used constantly for a variety of events.
In it usually was at least one of the two rulers of Equestria, either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. Despite being a princess herself, Twilight had no seat next to the thrones of the two sisters at the top of the stairs. The spot was reserved only for the actual ruler of the land, something Twilight was not.

Still, she didn't care much about it. The pressure of being the indisputable monarch of everything was something Twilight wasn't eagerly waiting for. It was bound to happen, as princess Celestia explained to her, but Twilight hoped it'd be in a distant future.

This time sitting on her respective throne was only Princess Celestia. Princess Cadence was there as well, but she sat on a wooden, highly decorated, chair that had been placed to Celestia's left, while Luna's seat remained free to her right.

Although the princess had told her countless times it was not necessary, Twilight bowed down in her presence. It was a habit hard to break.

"Good morning, princess Celestia, Princess Cadence."

-"Good morning, Twilight."

Both grown alicorns lowered their heads courteously and asked Twilight to raise her head.
Neither Celestia, nor Cadence talked right away after their greeting. Instead they all remained quiet making Twilight feel quite anxious.

"Ehm...Princess, I was under the impression you needed to meet me?"

Twilight spoke in a soft tone while smiling rather awkwardly.

Like before, Celestia made Twilight wait for her reply. The way the alabaster alicorn looked at her gave Twilight the impression the princess was earnestly thinking about whatever she was about to tell her.

Finally Celestia spoke.

"Tell me, Twilight. Is being a princess, what you really want?"

-"Huh? What do you mean, Princess? Have I done something wrong?"

"You have nothing wrong, Twilight. What I ask is exactly what you just heard. Tell me. Do you see yourself carrying out all the duties of a princess for the rest of your life?"

This question took Twilight by surprise. She never expected to have been asked that so early in the morning. Not to mention that it was maybe one of the hardest questions she had faced in her life.

Up until this point Twilight Sparkle had just pushed forward, concentrating only on passing which ever tests the princess might present her, without caring much about her future life or what she might do in it. But now that the princess was interested in her opinion about all that had been happening, Twilight had to begin asking herself about it too.

The two princesses saw Twilight straighten up. It was clear the question was something she could not respond right off the bat, so they told her to take her time to answer. Twilight nodded and thought deeply about what her life had been up to this point.

As she reviewed her life Twilight came to understand that even if she had not noticed, her life had been divided in three if not four stages: Her childhood before becoming Celestia's pupil, her life in Canterlot as the princess' apprentice, her life in Ponyville, and her life as the princess of friendship.

During the first stage of her life her only goal was to pass Celestia's test and go to magic school. At the time she thought of nothing else. After she officially became Celestia's apprentice, her only goal in life was that of studying and learning. At the time she thought she'd find sooner or later a topic interesting enough to spend her life researching it.

When she was sent to Ponyville and after she understood the meaning of friendship, to spend her life as a humble librarian in the small town didn't sound so bad. To be honest, had things not turned into what they are right now, she surely had remained in there, in Ponyville, with her friends, forever enjoying the simple things of every season.

Now, that she was a princess, it seemed only natural to her to take on her new role as a supporting pillar and leader for all of ponykind. Actually she had just started to get accustomed to it in the past few weeks. True, the pressure and little time she had for herself were something that had been bothering her, but after Spike's dinner last night she had come to realize that being a princess still didn't mean that she'd lose her friends. It just meant she'd have to treasure those moments a lot more.

While thinking about it Twilight noticed that she would have been fine despite how her life had turned out to be. It was as good for her to end up as a researcher, that ending up a librarian or even continue being a princess. Those were tasks she was perfectly capable of doing. But whether or not she was able to perform as a princess was not what Celestia wanted to know. What she wanted to know was if she saw herself doing it for the rest of her life without any regrets.

Twilight thought deeply about just that part. She tried imagining herself years later, whether or not she'd still believe that being a princess was the right choice.

"A princess is not the only thing you can be, Twilight. Although I did raise you and gave you the necessary education to stand where you are now, I cannot deny your wish to become something else."

Celestia's words were clear. Twilight was still the owner of her own life, despite being led to this point by her. One by one she imaged her possible futures once more and realized that despite being alright with all of them, there was one she believed would give her the greatest satisfaction. Twilight Sparkle did not want to be necessarily a princess, but spreading friendship around the land was something she did want to do. To make everypony understand the value of true friends as she had done in these past years had become her new goal in life and being a princess was the best way to reach that goal.

Cadence saw Twilight smile confidently and as if she had just been able to read her mind she knew her sister in law's answer before she even said it.

"I...I think...Maybe being a princess is a bit beyond any of the expectations I have had in my life. I had never given it a thought to actually wear a Tiara or assist to balls and parties of the high society. To be honest I don't care about that, that much. But I do want to spread the message of friendship all over Equestria. I want everypony to know how important is to have friends. I want them to see that friendship is one of the things that make life special."

The resolve in Twilight's eyes was undeniable and not easy to overlooked. Had it been possible she would have earned a new cutie mark right then and there. Celestia and Cadence were happy beyond words, but at the same time they suffered for her beloved friend, for what she would have to go through if she still insisted in becoming one of Equestria's rulers.

Twilight had expected the princesses to be happy about her reply, but instead she saw them grow sad, preoccupied. It was not that obvious, but behind their stoic expressions she could sense that something was off. Before she could ask about it though, Cadence asked her another question.

"As a princess, Twilight, you have received blessings beyond any given to any other pony in the land in order to lead ponies into a better tomorrow. Your body as an alicorn represents each and every kind of pony there is. It is so that you can understand everpony's point of view."

-"Your new found magic is proof of your connection to the source of all, my dear apprentice. It was given to you in order to protect them from all harm and even the one they can cause themselves."

"And the eternal life you have been granted was given to you because you are to understand a truth beyond what a mortal life time would allow you to."

The words of the princesses were ominous and carried a deep meaning. No longer did Twilight stand before rulers of a land, but before entities a pony could never hope to compare to or comprehend.
Suddenly the true meaning behind her title was clear to her. To be called princess wasn't what set her apart from other ponies like Applejack, Rarity, or Fluttershy. It was the power she wielded now, the power of an alicorn that forced her to no longer consider herself a regular pony.

Her chest felt heavy then. To think of herself as different was something she had struggled against in all this time after her transformation. But it was time she faced it. Twilight Sparkle was no longer a regular pony. It was the price she had to pay for teaching the world about friendship.

As if something had made click inside her, the young alicorn felt no more doubts about her future and spoke to both the princesses and the mares that had taken care of her for so long.

"I understand my duties and responsibilities as a princess and the burden I might have to carry. But...I don't mind it.
It might be hard, but I know in the end it will make everypony happy, including myself."

"Is that so, Twilight Sparkle?"

Once more Twilight could sense and see the expression of happiness and pride in the faces of both, Cadence and Celstia, but also their lingering suffering.

"Then there's something you must know Twilight.
As of tomorrow Spike the dragon will be no longer with us."

-"What?"

"We understand he is one of your closest friends. But his absence is inevitable..."

-"Wait princess, why does Spike have to leave?"

"Oh, Twilight."

Cadence's sadness became obvious. The alicorn stood up and walked towards her sister in law.

"Twilight, it isn't something we decided. It is supposed to be that way.
Spike...Spike just can't keep on any longer."

"What? Is he sick? That can't be!
He...he was fine just as of yesterday."

Quickly Twilight dashed towards the doors of the throne room.
She had to check on her assistant.
If he was feeling ill or was affected by something, she had to somehow find a way to help him.

-"Wait, Twilight!"

Twilight stopped at Celestia's command. It was not without reason that the princess yelled.
The young alicorn turned around. She did so in order to excuse herself for leaving. It might be the princess, but she just couldn't leave Spike alone if he was sick.

"Spike the dragon isn't suffering from any illness, nor is he in any sort of danger."

-"It isn't like we want to send him away either, Twilight."

"Spike will cease to be. For you see, Twilight...he...he isn't what he seems to be."

Twilight remained silent. Celestia's last statement was confusing. With one of her eye brows raised and a clear expression of not getting whatever she wanted to tell her, Twilight approached once more the princesses in their thrones.

-"......
Princess, what do you mean by that?"

Twilight looked at Celestia in the eye. It was clear that she needed a more detailed explanation to understand all that was going on. After heaving a long sigh the princess spoke gently.

"Spike is a familiar, Twilight. A familiar that was given to the very first princess as a lesson."

When the princess was done with her sentence, it was clear that Twilight still couldn't understand what both princesses meant.

"Spike, a familiar?
With all due respect princess, but it's hard for me to believe your words.
There is no way Spike can be a familiar."

Familiars were something Twilight knew well. She had read about them in many different books during her life. She had even wrote a two meters essay about them in magic school.

"As you know princess, familiars or familiar spirits are summoned powerful entities one usually has to make a pact with. They are supposed to protect and assist young practitioners of magic as they come into greater powers.
If we go point by point, there is no way Spike could one. He is not a powerful entity, nor did I summon him, nor did I make a pact with him. Most important, he isn't a spirit. He eats, he sleeps, he gets angry about things, he...he even has feelings for some ponies, that go well beyond that of friendship or sympathy."

Twilight's arguments were sound and solid. According to her Spike didn't have any of the characteristic qualities a familiar has.
Leaving this point quite clear she asked the princess once more to explain herself. This time with what she hoped would be a better argument. Yet the princess kept loyal to her story. For her Spike was a familiar.
Twilight was quite annoyed by this, but she did her best to control herself and her words.

"Princess, as I told you before, that can't be. Spike isn't a familiar..."

-"Why is that Twilight? If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense for him to be one.
Spike belongs to a powerful race. He is a dragon, the only one to be able to walk among ponies without problems."

The princess had a point there. Despite his current age, Spike still was a dragon, an earth dragon at that, meaning that in the future he would become a very powerful being. But still that wasn't enough to convince Twilight.

"Well, that might be true princess, but still. In order for him to be considered a familiar I'd have to have summoned him."

"Oh, and you did Twilight."

Twilight froze when she heard the princess' last comment. She was about to tell the princess otherwise, but on Celestia's face Twilight could see that she was about to elaborate her words.

"It was the same day you took the test for magic school. The very moment you started pouring your magic over his egg, was the exact moment the summoning began."

-"Wh-what?
That is not possible princess. That wasn't what the test was about."

"Yes, that was the purpose of the test. If you knew about it, that is a completely different matter.
Every year up until that day, I let hundreds of young unicorns try their luck with the summoning. That helped the teachers gauge their magic potential and if I was lucky enough I'd end up meeting an astonishing unicorn such as yourself Twilight. A pony that had the potential to become a princess in the future."

"N-no..."

Twilight spoke out a single word. She couldn't express her feelings beyond that single articulated noise that left her mouth.
It was unbelievable, not to mention mean and cold from the princess.
Celestia's heart hurt. She knew how much damage she was doing to her beloved student, but she couldn't stop now.

"After Spike hatched, I was the one that set the rules of your pact. Do you remember my words back then?

Take good care of this dragon, little Twilight. As long as you don't stray from the path of magic, he will be your cute assistant..."
-"Take good care of this dragon, little Twilight. As long as you don't stray from the path of magic, he will be your cute assistant..."

Twilight and Celestia repeated the words at the same time. Twilight's strength had left her and she let herself fall on the hall's floor, distinctly depressed.

"Yes...I...I remember those words. How could I forget them, princess? They were very special to me."

It happened almost never that the princess didn't know what to say. But this was one of those times when the princess had no words of solace to offer to one of her most beloved ponies.

"What happened after that, is something you know, Twilight. Spike helped, supported, and protected you up until this day."

"Protected me? No...
Spike...
Spike is a little bit of a coward sometimes. He gets angry and he is selfish from time to time.
There have been days, in the library, when he annoyed me talking about Rarity or his comic books while I tried to study.
Spike, can't be a familiar. He is too moody for that, even devilishly cunning at times.
He is just a baby dragon, my friend and..."

-"No, Twilight. Do not try to fool yourself. See things for what they are."

Twilight bit tightly while tears started to stream down her cheeks. She didn't want to believe it, but with each passing second it became harder to oppose the facts. Cadence and Celestia quickly stood up, but sat back right after that. Twilight had to cope with it on her own.

"No! Spike isn't a familiar! He has a life of his own! He isn't a spirit!"

Twilight yelled. Her voice was so loud it made the windows tremble and forced the birds outside to leave their nests.
Cadence and Celestia sat. They were not surprised or alarmed by her outburst. It was something they had done as well when the late queen told them about Spike's true nature.
It was about time then. Twilight was at the brink of despair and it was their task, Celestia's and Cadence's to see that she fell in the dark pit.

-"That is not true Twilight. Spike does not have a life of his own."

Princess Cadence was talking. Her voice was soft, like a whisper. It was hard for her to tell Twilight about this.
Twilight stared at her with a blank expression.

"W-what do you mean, Cadence."

-"Twilight, Spike has never been truly alive. The body you see is nothing more the projection of your magic through his egg.
Spike is one of the many forms the unborn dragon inside the egg could have taken if it had seen the sun light."

"Un...born?"

"Yes, Twilight. As you know, in order to make a familiar a soul is needed. The creator of Spike took the egg and soul of an unborn dragon and used it in order to produce him."

Twilight felt how her heart fell in a cold and dark place. She could still hear the words, but they were distant and overshadowed by ta white noise inside the purple alicorn's head.

"Spike has lived a thousand lives. None of them exactly like the other. With each princess he has assisted, his form and his personality have changed.
The dragon aunt Celestia, aunt Luna, and I met was completely different from the Spike you know."

Twilight stopped crying. The last part of Cadence's comment had drawn her attention and she was more than willing to listen to her.
Cadence started talking about her past with a certain nostalgia.

"When I met him, he was called Sagard. It was a tubby dragon that always wore a blue Victorian vest and a white shirt no matter where he went. On his left eye he used sometimes a monocle that he put on the pocket of the opposing side when he wasn't using it. On his head he wore a white and dusty wig tied back in a ponytail, that despite all his running around, always looked impeccable.

I was introduced to him the same day I arrived from the crystal empire after Sombra's coup d'etat.
He was actually aunt Celestia's helper, but after aunt Luna's birth and my arrival he had become a helper to all of us."

-"Sagard?"

Sagard...that was a name Twilight had heard before. Spike had called himself Sagard and kissed Cadence's hoof during dinner last night.

"Yes, You remember it, right, Twilight? Spike called himself that way last night. It was a short lapse in his memory. It means that Spike doesn't have much time left. He can barely keep his own persona anymore. He's already running out of magic."

-"Then!! If, if magic is all what he needs, then I could supply it to him!"

Wiping her tears off with her foreleg Twilight lifted herself from the floor. If all Spike needed was magic then there was no problem at all. She was happy once more. She saw a glimmer of hope in the distance. But Cadence, as well as Celestia took it upon themselves to make it vanish.

"It isn't possible, Twilight. You won't be able to supply magic to him in his current form, and if you do it after he had turned into an egg again, he will reject it."

-"Why!?"

"Because you are a princess already."

Luna's voice, filled the air of the throne room; her words directed at the young princess.

Gliding through one open window Princess Luna entered the throne room. She hovered for a few moments above the three alicorns before landing gracefully on top of her throne with a couple soft flaps of her wings.

"The dragon won't accept your magic anymore because you are no longer a candidate for princess."

One side of the princess' face had a couple of white bandages that kept a thin wound on her cheek closed. It looked like it hurt, but Luna didn't seem to be even a bit bothered by it. Unlike Celestia or Cadence, the princess was calm, unaffected by the sad atmosphere.

-"Princess Sparkle. Do not try to come up with ways to keep Spike.
The point of all this, is for you to learn to accept his loss.
Just a few moments ago you even said you would be ready to carry the burdens that might come along with your new role as a princess. Seeing hundred of loved ones part is one of those burdens."

Speaking matter-of-factly Luna tried to appeal to Twilight's logic. But Twilight didn't seem to care about the logic of things at the time..

"Twilight Sparkle. It looks like there has been a grave mistake."

Suddenly the expression on the face of the moon princess changed. It was as if Twilight were nothing more than a lost pony that ended up in front of here by mere coincidence. Instead of smiling, Luna was now apparently bored by Twilight. The tone of voice of the princess of the night didn't try to hide that fact.

"It seems you really don't have the characteristics of a princess.
As my sister mentioned before, your life is yours to decide. Whatever options you had before becoming a princess have not changed. But know that you will never be a princess again."

Luna stared down at Twilight making quite clear that her next words would seal her destiny.
The young alicorn was depressed, her wings hanging loosely from her back as if she had no strength left to keep them against the sides of her body.

"I see, princess, Luna. If that's the case, then..."

-"Twilight!?"

From the other side of the thick wooden doors of the throne room Twilight heard Spike's voice accompanied by loud knocks on the door and the complains of the guards posted outside.

"Sir Spike, please step back. The princesses are now having a very delicate meeting and..."

-"Twilight, are you in there? Is everything alright?
I heard you yell a while ago.
Sorry I wasn't in the room this morning. I woke up right in the middle of the garden maze.
Twilight, can you hear me?"

It was like magic, Spike showed up exactly when she felt the weakest. Come to think of it, this was not the first time something like this happened.

"You were saying princess Sparkle?"

Luna continued to press Twilight for the continuation of her sentence. But Twilight was unable to continue, for each time she tried to talk Spike interrupted her. "Are you feeling alright, Twilight?", "If you don't feel alright, ask permission from the princesses to leave."
Spike was concerned about her. Anypony could tell that from his tone of voice.

"I...I..."

-"There's nothing to be ashamed of if you are feeling down Twilight. I'm sure the princesses will understand."

After the last of Spike's interruptions, Luna no longer felt in the mood to keep pressuring Twilight.

"It's alright, Princess Sparkle. You might leave. You may give us your answer tomorrow."

-"Then, Spike....?"

"The matter with the familiar is unavoidable. He'll be no more after tonight.
It won't make any difference if you choose to remain a princess or not. His destiny was sealed since he hatched.
The only difference is that if you don't become a princess we'll make sure to erase all the memories concerning him from the minds of all the ponies that knew him."

That was it. The two choices before Twilight were clearly explained to her by the princess of the moon. She either continued being a princess and remember Spike, or she chose not to and she and every one of his friends forgot about him.

"Then...if you excuse me, princesses..."

Twilight bowed down politely one last time and turned around towards the doors. Her step was slow and she was clearly depressed.
Before the doors closed behind her the three princesses saw the little dragon pat her shoulder friendly while he inquired about her well being.

When the three of them were left alone in the room, Cadence was the first to speak.

"Incredible. He appeared even now to advice her. Had aunt Luna keep pressing her, she'd have surrendered her crown right there."

-"It just means he believes in her that much, Cadence.
The dragon couldn't let her throw everything away just like that."

Both mares smiled at each other. Somehow they knew everything would be alright at the end.
Luna meanwhile had spread her wings, ready to leave the room. Cadence called out to her before she took flight.

"Aunt Luna!"

Luna stopped and turned around. The wound caused by Cadence quite visible and quite painful looking.

"I...I really apologize for my behavior last night. I don't know what overcame me..."

The dark blue alicorn turned her back to her niece.

"Hmph! Do not worry about it. It is nothing but a scratch."

Luna talked nonchalantly, making clear that such a wound was of no importance whatever motives there could have been behind it.

"But still...sorry.
I knew you couldn't just ignore the whole situation."

To this last part Luna had something to object though.

"We do not want any misunderstandings, princess Cadence. I did this because, as I told you last night, I believe this is not as difficult as you make it look. Twilight will pass this test like the ones before it and she shall become our new princess, or she and her friends shall forget everything about it. There's nothing more to it."

Those were Luna's last words before taking off to the sky.
Cadence was outraged by her aunt's attitude. But Celestia could see beyond the abrasive mask, behind which her sister had decided to hide her true emotions.

Princess Luna was still hurting from the last time she met Sagard.