*Author's note: given that this is easily my most popular story and has a good number of followers, without trying to give away any spoilers, I would forewarn to have a tissue or two handy before reading this chapter =(*
A bright beam of morning sunlight pried Spike's eyes open for the day. He stretched and yawned, a bit surprised to find his blanket draped over him. More surprising was the fact that Sapphire was not laying next him as she was before they fell asleep. Spike crawled out from under the blanket and stepped into the library.
Downstairs, Twilight busied herself making breakfast, but Sapphire was nowhere to be found. A sleepy-eyed Spike drug himself down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Oh, good morning Spike," Twilight said as she stirred a pot of oatmeal with a wooden spoon manipulated by her magic.
"Morning, Twi. Have you seen Sapphire?"
"Actually, yeah. She left about an hour ago. Didn't say where she was going, but she gave me a note to pass onto you. It's on the table."
Spike turned and walked towards the table. There was a piece of paper there. He picked it up and read it to himself.
-Spike,
Sorry I didn't tell you this myself, but I didn't want to wake you. My parents can talk to me over long distances with magic. They woke me up and said they had something important to tell me. I'll be at our usual spot if you want to meet me again later today.
Your girlfriend, Sapphire. XOXO.
"Twilight," Spike said after placing the note back down on the table. "Would it be alright if I went and saw Sapphire after breakfast?"
Still stirring the pot of oatmeal, Twilight spoke. "Well… I suppose. But I get you all day tomorrow, ok?"
"You got it!"
After eating a breakfast of oatmeal, Spike walked along the countryside path that lead to the little meadow where he first met Sapphire. She wasn't there when he arrived. Was she playing hide and seek again?
"Sapphire?" Spike yelled. He stepped closer to the pepper bush in the middle of the meadow. "Sapphire, I'm here!"
Something was wrong. It was too quiet. No answer from Sapphire. Maybe she was at the pond. Spike turned towards the thick blanket of trees that lead to the pond. A sense of ill omen sent him running through the dirt path under he could see the water sparkling in the distance. As the trees thinned out, there was Sapphire, sitting on the bank of the pond with her feet in the water.
"There you are." Spike stepped closer and sat next to her. She didn't answer.
Something Spike couldn't see tapped the surface of the pond, creating a series of small ripples that cascaded across the water. Looking up, Spike watched Sapphire wipe her eyes and sniff.
"Sapphire, are you…crying?"
Visibly gritting her teeth, the dragoness trembled. She sniffed again, eyes shut tight as if in great pain. Sure enough, a tear crawled its way down her cheek, leaving a wet trail along its path before it dropped off her face to send another series of ripples across the glittering surface of the pond.
"Hey, you're crying. What's wrong?" Spike scooted closer to embrace Sapphire for comfort. Almost immediately she buried her tearful face into his shoulder.
"Spike…" Sapphire sniffed again. "My parents…" Spike felt Sapphire tremble harder, as if the words were too difficult to speak. Had something bad happened to her parents?
"What happened?" Spike asked after a few seconds of silence.
"My parents are leaving Equestria today, and I have to go with them. I just found out. That's why they wanted to talk to me."
Spike's fins drooped, along with his heart. "But, if you leave Equestria… when will we ever see each other again?"
"I know! Why do you think I'm so upset?" Sapphire grabbed Spike so tight he could barely breathe, but he wasn't about to push her away in a moment of need. "I don't want to go, Spike!"
"Well… maybe you don't have to. You can come live with Twilight and me. I know she'd let you, and she could always use extra help."
Sapphire pulled herself away and placed her hands on Spike's shoulders. Looking him in the eyes, she dismissed the notion with a shake of her head. "No, I can't. They're my parents. I can't just leave them. They're my only family. Don't you understand what that means?"
Sighing, Spike sunk under Sapphire's gaze, his eyes turned to the ground. "I guess I don't."
"What do you mean?"
. but she is the closest thing I've had to one."
Unable to fight the sympathy and her sadness, Sapphire wrapped Spike in another bear hug. "I'm so sorry, Spike. I never knew."
"Not your fault."
Sapphire trembled. All the tears, all the sadness she'd been holding back came out when Spike returned her embrace, rubbing her back for comfort. She cried and sobbed into Spike's shoulder, a sound that chilled Spike's heart with regret. It was enough to move Spike to tears himself. It was hard enough seeing Sapphire so sad, but to know he wouldn't be able to be there for her the next morning was too much.
"Spike?" Sapphire's shaky voice asked. "You're not gonna cry, too, are you?"
"I'm trying not to."
"Please don't. I'm crying enough for the both of us."
Though it took every fiber of his being, Spike managed to choke down the tears long enough for Sapphire to calm down. Once her sobbing had stopped, she let go of Spike and turned back to her reflection on the surface of the water. Both dragons sat down on the bank of the pond and dipped their little feet into the water as they wiped their eyes.
"You know, I wasn't lying when I said you're the sweetest dragon I've ever met. All the other boy dragons I've met have been mean and rude. They'd push me down, throw rocks at me, pull my hair, some of them would even hit me."
"Are you sure they weren't just teasing you because they like you?"
"No, this was different. All of them, they lived by old dragon rules: if you can beat another dragon up, you're better than them. If you're mean to someone and they don't fight back, they're weaker than you. If you can take something from another dragon, it's yours. They'd steal from me. Steal from my parents. Sometimes they would even…" Sapphire shut her eyes tight to fight back more tears. "Call me ugly."
"Well, you're by far the prettiest dragon I've ever met, if that helps." Spike watched his reflection blush at his own comment.
"And that's what I like about you." Sapphire scooted closer to lean her head on his shoulder and wrap her tail around his. "You're not like them at all. You're sweet and kind and giving. What if I never meet another dragon like you?"
"Eh, not like I'm much of a catch," Spike answered as he looked his reflection over. "Look at these skinny little arms."
"It's the strength of your heart I like, not the strength of your body." Sapphire gave Spike a kiss on the cheek to reassure him, then pulled her feet out of the water and stood up. "Maybe… we should stop this. Maybe you should go before we make my leaving harder than it already is."
A mournful sigh escaped Spike's snout before he stood up, face to face with the girl who had captured his heart. The girl he could be seeing for the last time. Scraping his foot across the sandy bank, Spike struggled for something appropriate to say. What WAS the right thing to say when your heart was in pieces, and could be the last thing you say to the girl in front of you?
"I don't know… what to say. Or what to do."
It was too hard for little Sapphire to look Spike in the eye. Instead her sights were set towards the ground as she twisted her foot into the sand. "Maybe just a quick goodbye would be easiest."
More tears welled up in Spike's eyes. "But, I don't want to say goodbye."
"Me either. But do we have a choice?"
Sapphire's head still hung towards the ground, prompting Spike to step within arm's reach. Gently, he lifted Sapphire's chin up with a finger, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Goodbye, Sapphire. Don't worry, we can still write to each other, right? Just remember that trick I taught you".
Sapphire sighed as she stepped forward to embrace him one more time. "I don't want to leave, but I have to. I…I love you, Spike. Don't… don't ever change."
Love. The word set Spike's heart on fire. No one except Twilight had told him they love him. Was that what Spike had been feeling for Sapphire? That sensation, warm and fuzzy; yet alarming at the same time. Spike took a few seconds to look deep within for the answer; then spoke. "I love you, too."
A dark, ominous shadow engulfed the duo. Spike pulled himself away from Sapphire to see what it was. Above them, two enormous reptilian forms loomed, batlike wings splitting the air like the winds of a tornado. One was a dark shade of blue with a heavy, muscular form. The dragon beside him was much sleeker and a lighter shade of blue that was closer to Sapphires.
"We're ready, Sapphire," said the sleeker dragon. The larger dragon stared Spike down with the ever watchful eye of a protective father. "Finish your goodbye with your friend and let us go."
Sapphire's sights had been set towards her parents, but now she looked at Spike once more. Spike brought his attention away from the enormous adult dragons and returned Sapphire's gaze.
"Goodbye, Spike. I hope we can meet again someday. Until then, don't forget to write."
"I won't forget."
With one last quick hug and a kiss on Spike's cheek, Sapphire followed behind her parents, affording one more look back at Spike before she vanished in the thick blanket of trees.
What now? Spike wanted to collapse right there on the sandy bank and cry. He'd heard the phrase "love hurts" before, but until now he had no idea just how much it could hurt. It felt like Rainbow Dash had gone into a sonic rainboom and crashed right into his heart, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
To Spike's surprise, Sapphire's father turned around in midflight, gazing down at the young dragon. Now what? It was like he was staring right into Spike's soul.
"Sapphire spoke fondly of you over the last few days, little one." The dragon's deep, booming voice seemed to shake the entire ground. "An honor no other male dragon your age shares. I've not seen her smile so wide. Thank you for being so kind to her. I would hope that we meet again someday, if only for her sake. Farewell." With that, the large dragon turned back to follow his wife soaring above the sea of trees.
Once he was sure he was alone, Spike rested on his back, watching the clouds roll by. When he could no longer fight it, the tears flowed down his face.