Chapter X: Thawing
Twilight and her friends raced to the library. Or, Twilight and Rarity raced to the library; Applejack and Rainbow Dash brought up the rear, carrying Pinkie on their back. Fluttershy trotted alongside them, still providing emotional support to the pink pony. A few minutes later, Twilight burst into the library. "Princess!" she called. "Princess, where are you?"
"Up here, Twilight." The Princess's voice floated down from upstairs, it sounded like she was in… Twilight dashed up the stairs, and threw open the door to her and Spike's bedroom. Her jaw dropped, as she saw a little filly lying in her bed, reading Spike's diary. Spike himself lay next to her, asleep.
"Hello Twilight," the filly said.
"P… Princess?" Twilight asked, dumbstruck. Now that she'd gotten a good look, she realized that the filly was indeed the Princess. She had the same flowing mane, the same flawless white coat, the same beautiful lavender eyes, the same everything. All that was different was that she was now much smaller. And, she was completely naked save for a set of long black socks.
"My word…" Rarity said as she entered the room. "Is… is that the Princess?"
"Hello Rarity," the Princess said. "How is your business?"
"It's doing well…" the fashionista replied uncertainly. At that moment, Applejack and Rainbow carried Pinkie into the room, with Fluttershy in tow. "Ah, good, you're all here," the Princess said. "Just give me a moment." She leaned over, touching her glowing horn against the sleeping dragon.
Spike shifted beneath the covers; then, he groaned before sitting up, bleary-eyed. "Ugh… what time is it?" he asked tiredly. He snapped awake as soon as his eyes fell on Twilight. Oh no… he thought to himself, but before Twilight could say anything to him, Celestia spoke.
"Now, we're ready to begin," she said. She paused for a moment, as though carefully considering her words, before continuing. "Twilight, as I'm certain you're aware, Spike is… growing up. And as a dragon, his development is much different than a pony's. For instance, around this time, a dragon's of Spike's breed will begin to-"
"Uh, Princess," Twilight interrupted, hesitantly, "I know what's happening to Spike. We all do."
"…I don't…" Pinkie said in a near-inaudible voice.
As Fluttershy pulled Pinkie aside to explain what happened, Celestia continued, "So you figured it out. I knew you would, Twilight- I just wasn't certain about your friends. But, there's something you need to know. Spike's magic will only continue to grow stronger as he grows older- eventually, it will reach a point where he becomes a danger to himself, to you, and even all of Ponyville…"
As the Princess talked, Rarity shifted uncomfortably - the guilt that had been building up since they had read Spike's journal was becoming overwhelming. Before long, she just couldn't take any more- she had to tell Twilight. "I… I'm terribly sorry to interrupt," she began; Celestia fell silent at once. "…but there's something that I need to tell you, Twilight."
Twilight was visibly troubled by her friend's interruption of the Princess- Celestia herself merely looked on curiously. Twilight looked at her mentor, who nodded silently- then, she looked back at the fashionista and asked, "Alright, what is it?"
In spite of her best efforts, her nerves began to overtake her. She scratched her ankle with her hoof nervously, she looked at the floor, she played with her mane- she did anything she could to try to ease the knot tightening painfully in her stomach. "It… well, um… you see…" the fashionista stammered; she quikly fell silent as she tried to figure out how to best phrase her confession. She took a deep breath. "…I was the one who… told the Princess about you and… and Spike." Her voice faltered, becoming little more than a mumble by the end.
A heavy silence hung in the air. Twilight stared at Rarity, her mouth slightly agape. For one brief instant, her expression became one of unfathomable rage, but just as soon as it appeared, it was gone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, gritting her teeth. "Rarity?" Twilight said, her voice shaking. "Could you come here, please?"
Rarity approached Twilight cautiously. The purple unicorn lifted up her foreleg, as though to embrace her friend; but when she was in range, Twilight suddenly reached her foreleg back, and slammed her hoof against Rarity's jaw. The fashionista was knocked onto her rump by the blow; she brought a hoof up to her face, her eyes wide and watering.
"You… you… bitch," Twilight growled. "I can't believe that you were the one responsible for all this. I thought you were my friend, but what kind of friend tries to put her friend in jail!" Her voice grew louder and louder, until she was screaming at the unicorn. "What right did you have to go butting into other ponies' lives, huh? What right!"
Tears streamed down the white unicorn's face. She was completely incapable of bringing herself to say anything in her own defense. Rainbow Dash decided that now would be a good time to step in. "Listen Twilight," she began, "I know you're angry, but-"
"Oh don't worry," Twilight snapped. "I'm not angry. Angry doesn't even BEGIN TO COVER IT!"
"Twilight," Celestia began. "Please calm-"
"And you're even worse than she is!" Twilight pointed an accusing hoof toward the Princess. "You took Spike away from me, you put me under house arrest, you humiliated me in front of all my friends, and then you sleep with my assistant on top of all that! But the worst part is… you lied to me! Your prized student! You told me once that you trusted me more than you trusted some of your own advisors, but you didn't trust me enough to just tell the truth about this whole thing? I-I, you…" Twilight stammered for a few moments, before turning her back on everypony. "Get out. All of you. I can't stand to look at any of you right now."
"Twilight," Applejack said cautiously, "just calm down. There's no need ta get overly excited and do something ya might regret."
"I'm not going to tell you again. Get. Out."
"But Twilight-"
"GET OUT BEFORE I THROW YOU OUT!" For one brief instant, her mane and tail were ablaze with orange flames. Everypony fled the room, even the Princess, whose position of authority was several magnitudes higher than Twilight's. But as he tried to leave, Spike was suddenly lifted into the air. "You stay," the purple unicorn said as he floated over, and was set down in front of her.
For several moments, she regarded him in silence. "As for you Spike…" she began, before falling silent again. His heart raced at a hundred miles an hour, but Spike did his best to put on a brave face against whatever terrible, angry, hurtful words she had in store for him. He would be brave. He would… would be… b-b-b…
Spike began bawling. Not crying, not sobbing, not weeping, bawling. An entire days' worth of fear and guilt came flooding out all at once, and he was completely and utterly powerless to stop it. He tried to force himself to stop, to face his punishment with some semblance of dignity, but his tears would not stop no matter how hard he tried to contain them. He simply dropped onto his rear, bawling, awaiting whatever punishment Twilight had in store for him.
Meanwhile, Twilight could only stare at the hysterical dragon sitting in front of her. Her anger faded as her maternal instinct took over. She sat down and cradled Spike in her forelegs, whispering soothing words to him. "Shh… Shh… It's okay Spike…" she whispered, gently running her hoof down his back. "I'm not angry… I'm not angry… just, shh… shh…"
Spike replied with… something- between his sobs and being pressed into Twilight's chest, his words were nearly incomprehensible. She was able to make out bits and pieces though, specifically "you," "angry," "alone," "bad assistant," "don't deserve you," and "I'm sorry," repeated over and over and over again.
He sobbed into her chest for a long while, completely soaking her coat. She held him all the while, stroking his back, whispering soft words to him. Eventually, his sobs grew softer, fading into small sniffles. Finally, he pulled away from her chest and looked up at her- his eyes were red and puffy, and a small strand of snot connected his nose with her chest. She wiped it away without hesitation- living with Spike for as long as she had, she'd wiped more than her fair share of dripping scaly noses.
"Spike…" she began, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder, "…I'm not angry with you. I'd never be angry with you. Not over this."
"Are you d…disappointed with me?"
Twilight looked at him in silence, before embracing him again. "…A little." She squeezed him tightly when she felt him shudder. "But, you didn't mean it… right?"
"I… I…" Spike took in a long, shuddering gasp. "I need to be honest with you. I did like it, at first. I mean, Fluttershy, and then Rarity and Applejack… But then, Rainbow Dash… and then Pinkie Pie…" His arms wrapped tightly around her. "I wish I could take it back. I wouldn't even look at another mare if it meant I could be with you."
She ran a hoof down his back. "You don't have to do that…"
He pressed his face into her chest again, muffling his reply. "I just… I just want us to be together again, Twilight."
Twilight hugged him tightly. "I do too, Spike. I do too."
For a long while, Twilight and Spike held each other silently. Then, Spike said, "Earlier, while you were asleep, and before… that thing, Celestia told me she can help me control my magic."
"She did? Does that mean you're going to become her student too?"
"That's okay… right?"
Twilight released him, holding him at foreleg's length, beaming. "Okay? Okay? It's better than okay! It's… well…" She blushed slightly. "Ever since I was little, I've always… this will sound silly, but I've always wanted Celestia to make you her student too. So we could study together, and learn magic, and…" Her smile rapidly faded. "…Oh no… I hope the Princess isn't mad that I yelled at her. And Rarity… I can't believe that I hit her! I bet everypony hates me now…" She hung her head in shame.
"Hey, come on Twilight, I'm sure that's not true." He put his hand under her chin, and pushed her head up, looking into her eyes. "I'm sure everypony'll forgive you if you go downstairs and apologize."
Spike's words failed to cheer Twilight up. "How can you be so sure?"
"Well it couldn't hurt to try."
"…I guess not." Twilight visibly perked up. "Thanks Spike. Hop on. I think the both of us have some apologizing to do."
"No problem Twilight." With all his strength, Spike hoisted himself onto Twilight's back. When he was in place, Twilight opened her bedroom door, and headed down the stairs.
A smothering silence had fallen downstairs as everypony looked at each other in silence. Eventually, Applejack found the courage to speak. "So, Princess… what's with that getup?"
She blushed. "Oh! Oh dear… it was… I…" Her horn glowed- in a flash, Celestia was her normal size, wearing her usual regalia.
"Spike got to you too? I gotta say, I didn't see that one comin'."
Somehow, the Princess's cheeks turned even redder. "He didn't 'get me.' …At this stage, his magic isn't strong enough."
"Well, then why'd you… you know, do it?" Rainbow Dash asked, a slight touch of disbelief hanging from her words.
"…I get lonely. Is that wrong?"
"Well no, but it don't exactly give ya the right to go sleepin' around with your student's assistant," Applejack replied. "I mean, ya got a whole army of servants who bend over backwards for ya as it is. Why not just… ask one of them?"
Celestia opened her mouth as though to say something in her defense, but quickly closed it, visibly ashamed. For several long moments, the only sound in the living room was an occasional sniffle from Pinkie. Eventually, Rainbow asked, "What do you think they're talking about up there?"
"I'm not sure," Rarity replied, her words slurred by her swollen jaw. She put a hoof on her bruise. "Ah… I just hope she isn't being too hard on him."
Just then, the upstairs door creaked open. Everypony looked at each other anxiously, except for Celestia- on the surface she was calm, but in truth the ruler of Equestria was genuinely afraid for her student, and what shape she might be in. Everypony (even Celestia) held their breath as they heard hooves clop down the stairs. Finally, Twilight came entered the room, with Spike riding on her back. She didn't appear to be angry, but it was too soon for any of them to relax. "Um, hi… everypony…" she said nervously.
Everypony breathed a quiet sigh of relief- Twilight was back to normal. At least, at first glance.
She pawed the floor with her hoof, shrinking away from the gazes of her friends. Spike leaned against her and said in a low voice, "Come on Twilight, don't be so worried. Everything'll be fine, you'll see." He hopped off, giving Twilight a reassuring pat on the rump. "Now go on."
Twilight walked up to Celestia, trembling furiously. With the Princess lying on the floor in front of her, the courage Spike's words had given her upstairs degraded rapidly- her ears flattened against her head and she looked down, pawing at the floor with her hoof again. "Celestia, I-"
It was all she had a chance to say. At that moment, Celestia reached out, grabbed Twilight, and held her against her chest. "You don't need to say anything else, Twilight."
"But- but- but…" Twilight stammered.
"You have every right to angry with me, Twilight. This- all of it- could have been avoided if I'd simply told you the truth about what was wrong with Spike yesterday. Can… can you ever forgive me?"
"What?" The Princess, asking forgiveness, from her? Twilight would have laughed at the thought, if it hadn't just happened.
"As you said, I once told you that I trusted you above some of my closest advisors. So how could I ever justify lying to a pony who I regard so highly?"
In spite of herself, Twilight began to tear up; she always did when Celestia gave her some kind of compliment. The Princess wrapped her forelegs around her student, and she hugged her mentor back. "Of course… of course I forgive you, Princess."
Spike couldn't help but smile as he watched Twilight and her teacher embrace. But his happiness was interrupted when Rainbow Dash walked up to him. "Hey, Spike?" she asked.
"What is it Rainbow?"
She didn't reply right away. She looked at the floor, and scratched one of her ankles with her hoof, as though she were a filly who'd just gotten in trouble. "Listen, I… well, it's sorta… I mean, you're…" She fell silent again for a moment, before embracing Spike in her forelegs. "I'm sorry," she said in a low voice. "I'm so… so sorry. I know that after what I did, I… I deserve it but please… please don't hate me…" Spike felt something drop onto his shoulder, something… wet.
He wrapped his arms around the pegasus's neck. "Hey, it… it's okay," he said softly to her. "I'm not mad. You… you weren't yourself."
"You're too nice Spike…" She squeezed him tightly. "Oh, and… could you not tell anyone that I was crying?"
"Sure."
"Thanks." She released him, quickly wiping her eyes before trotting away. Spike then saw Pinkie Pie, with Fluttershy still trying to console her. He began to walk toward them. Fluttershy's face reddened as he approached; Pinkie gave no indication that she was aware of his presence. "…Hi Spike," Fluttershy said timidly.
"Hey Fluttershy. Can I talk to Pinkie Pie for a minute?"
"Oh, um, of course." The shy pegasus took a few steps back to give the two space. Pinkie didn't look at him, or say anything- she simply stared at the floor near his feet. Spike started the conversation. "Um, hi Pinkie," he began.
"Geh… geh… geh…" was all she managed to say before breaking down into another fountain of tears. Spike quickly embraced the pink party pony. "Oh Pinkie, please don't cry! I… I'm not mad at you; just please, shh… don't cry… don't cry…"
As Spike tried (and failed) to calm Pinkie down, Rarity turned to Applejack. "Well Applejack, I believe I owe you an apology as well. I had no right roping you into that… well, that. …No pun intended."
"Don't worry too much 'bout it, sugarcube," the orange pony replied. "You weren't yourself. And…" She blushed ever so slightly. "…Well, I'd be lyin' if I told ya I didn't enjoy it."
She raised an eyebrow. "Really? If that's the case, maybe I should invite you to the Boutique more often. I have a few 'items' lying around that can-"
"Don't push your luck."
Celestia and Twilight had finally finished their embrace, and the purple unicorn clopped up to the farm pony and the fashionista. In spite of herself, Twilight's heart thumped painfully in her chest. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself. "Rarity, I… I'm sorry." She hung her head. "I just- I don't know what came over me. If… if you-"
"It's quite alright dear," Rarity replied. "You had every right- I imagine that had the situation been reversed, I may have done the same to you." She paused briefly. "You have my word that I won't do something like this ever again. As much as Spike means to me, if you two want to be together, then I'll support you one hundred percent."
Twilight embraced the fashionista. "Thank you. That means a lot to me- to us." She released her. "…Do you want me to do something about your jaw?"
"If it's not too much to ask, could you get me an ice pack?" Twilight's horn glowed, summoning the item into existence. Rarity took it and rested it against her sore jaw. "Ahh…" she sighed. "Thank you, dear."
Spike swayed slightly as he held Pinkie. Her crying had finally died back down to a few sniffles. "See? It's okay…" he whispered. "Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay…"
She sniffed. "You're… you're not mad at me?"
In reality, Spike was a little afraid of Pinkie Pie now, knowing something like… that was inside her. But was he angry? "No. It… it was my fault. And as for you… well, I'm sure there's somewhere you can go that can help you with your problems." He let go of Pinkie so he could look her in the eye. "And me and Twilight and Rarity and Applejack and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy… we'll always be here to support you."
To his relief, she smiled- her mane didn't poof up, but Spike would take any small victory that he got. "Thanks Spike," she said in a voice that was both sad, but a little happy as well. Then, she bent forward and gave him a very small, very quick kiss on the lips. "You're really sweet. I guess I know why Twilight likes you so much."
Celestia watched the events unfolding in front of her in silence, a small smile of approval on her lips. "Everypony? I have an announcement to make," she said above the chatter of her most favored subjects. The clamor died down as all eyes turned to the Princess. "Spike, take a note please." Spike grabbed a quill and a roll of parchment. "To my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle…" she began. "In the past, I've needed to work behind the scenes to handle… delicate issues. But today I learned that when a situation involves ponies who you trust, ponies who you love, honesty is the only policy worth following."
Twilight's jaw dropped at what she was hearing. The Princess was dictating a friendship report, to her. "When you lie to your loved ones, not only do you disrespect them, but also the friendship that you share. And one should always, always treasure their friends… and their loved ones." Celestia wiped her eyes with her hoof. "With… with a lot a love, Princess Celestia." Spike finished writing the report. "Now Spike, if you would…"
Spike rolled up the report and walked up to Twilight. "Here you go," he said as he held out the rolled up parchment to her. She levitated the scroll out of his hands- her mouth worked furiously, trying to give Celestia some sort of "thank you," but words completely failed her.
"You don't need to thank me for this Twilight- in any case, I still have a few more announcements to make. Oh, you don't need to write these ones down, Spike." The young dragon stopped searching for another roll of parchment. "First, from this time forward, Twilight Sparkle shall be released from her house arrest, and Spike shall be placed back in her care."
Twilight couldn't contain herself upon hearing this. "Yes!" she cried, leaping for joy. She bounced around the library, chanting "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!"
Celestia continued her announcement as Twilight bounced around her. "In addition, Spike will be relocated to Canterlot to begin his magic training under my supervision, effective immediately."
Twilight froze mid-bounce, hanging motionlessly in the air. For one brief moment, she'd been on top of the world… but now here she was, falling off the top of the world. She unceremoniously dropped to the floor, speechless. But Applejack was willing to speak for her. "Hold on now," she said. "First ya say it's okay for Spike ta move back in with Twilight, but then ya turn around and say yer takin' him away again? Now that ain't fair!"
"I'm not taking Spike away to be cruel," the Princess replied. "In my years, I've found that there are few things more dangerous than a unicorn that cannot control their magic, and when you take into account the fact that dragon magic is far more powerful than most forms of unicorn magic…"
Everypony understood what the Princess was implying, but it didn't make the news any easier to hear. Celestia broke the silence again. "I'll… give you a few minutes to say your goodbyes, Spike."
Spike went around the library, saying his goodbyes to each of his friends- they wished him good luck with his studies in turn, before giving him a hug, and a small kiss on the cheek.
"I'll try and visit ya as much as I can," Applejack told him. "If I can't, then I'll be sure ta write."
"Things won't be the same in the Boutique without you, Spike," Rarity said. "If I ever catch myself in Canterlot or with free time on my hooves, I'll be sure to pay you a visit."
"With all the stuff I have to do for the weather team, I don't know how often I can visit," Rainbow Dash said. "I promise to send you letters though. Just make sure to write back, okay?"
"All my animal friends are hibernating or went south for the winter, so I could come visit you every day," Fluttershy near-whispered. "…That is, if it's okay with you."
"I promise I'll send you a cake every day until you come back," Pinkie Pie said with a small smile.
Finally, Spike came to Twilight. At first, she said nothing, and simply stared up at the young dragon. "Uh, Twilight? You okay?" he asked. In the blink of an eye, Spike suddenly found his face being pressed firmly into her chest, her forelegs crossed over his back. She continued to say nothing, simply holding him tightly against her chest. "Mmmph ghhnn mfff mmm thhh, Tfff" Spike said. Her grip loosened a little bit so he could speak clearly. "I'm gonna miss you too, Twilight," he repeated, wrapping his arms tightly around her neck- she kissed the top of his head, running her hooves over his back. He let go of Twilight's neck and tried to pull away, but she wrapped her forelegs around him to keep him in place.
"Twilight, you have to let me go."
She sniffled. "Just… just let me hold you a little longer. Please?"
Spike squeezed her tightly for just a few more seconds, before her hands slipped from around her neck again. He slipped out of her grasp and began to walk toward the Princess; Twilight reached out a hoof after him, before letting it clop against the floor.
Celestia lifted Spike onto her back. From his vantage point, he looked at his friends one last time. "Well, goodbye everypony," he said. "I promise I won't be gone for too long." He put on a big smile, but there was no hiding the sadness in his eyes. "Prin- Celestia, we should go now." His voice faltered, and he wiped his eyes with a claw.
"Alright then," Celestia said, glancing back at him. She turned her attention back to the Elements of Harmony. "All of you are free to pay Spike a visit whenever you like- don't forget that." Her horn began to glow. "Goodbye everyone."
There was a bright flash… and then they were gone.
Twilight could only stare at the spot where the Princess had been standing, her eyes beginning to water. Don't cry, she told herself. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry don't cry don't cry don't-
She began to cry.
"Whoa, hey now Twilight, what're ya cryin' for?" Applejack asked, putting a foreleg around the unicorn's shoulder.
Twilight wiped her eyes, but still, the tears came. "I… I'm sorry. It's just… what if he never comes home? What if he can't control his magic and the Princess has to send him away where I can't see him? What am I supposed to do without him?"
Rainbow wrapped her hooves around her friend. "C'mon Twilight- after living with you for so long, I'm sure Spike learned something about magic. And I'm sure the Princess will let you visit him until his training's over. Heck, you could probably visit him every day if you wanted."
Rarity embraced the unicorn as well. "Rainbow is right. Spike is a smart young dragon- I'm sure he'll be in your forelegs again before you know it. And the Princess wouldn't keep you from visiting your own assistant, would she?"
"I guess not…" Twilight replied.
"I… I wish that we could've thrown him a going-away party…" Pinkie said.
"Hey, I have an idea Pinkie," Fluttershy said. "Why don't we all bake Spike a nice cake and send it to him?"
She wiped her eyes, and smiled broadly at her pegasus friend, her mane beginning to curl up. "I think I'd like that."