One tiny pair of dragonic claws clutched to the dark-sapphire-blue mane of a filly who had just given birth. They pulled on the wavy clumps of hair that covered the back of Twilight Sparkle's neck. The young unicorn giggled with tenderness and a sense of pride she could not deny, as the baby dragon barely had enough strength to send tickles up the neck of Celestia's favorite student whenever he'd try and grab onto her.
Twilight carefully picked up the infant creature with her magic, levitating him in front of her with the grace of a precocious expert. Playful as she suddenly felt, she rubbed and tickled his belly with the kindness of a mother who had yet to find out she was a mother. It was all in that maternal instinct bestowed upon her as a gift for hatching a life.
She looked at the cute creature with fondness, watching and hearing him as he babbled, dazzled to notice how hard the simple act of floating in the air made him laugh. His eyes filled with innocence, the tiny dragon wrested the happiest of all happy sights from her. Twilight was on a mission from Princess Celestia to take care of the little being and raise him like a real mother, and she beamed with determination at the thought of taking on such a unique challenge.
Looking away from the adorable little dragon was an impossible task.
His newborn smile radiated through the entire exam-room-turned-add-libbed-maternity-ward, that same room where Twilight had just been duly accepted into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. The heart-shaped tip of his scaled tail went back and forth into his mouth, as he sucked on it like he would have a pacifier, covering it in drool as uncontrollably as the entrance exam judges had been by Twilight's spells just moments before. His soft, sweet round eyes shone with a gleam of pure divinity, their brightness specifically resonating with the glimmer from the cutie mark that had just popped up on Twilight's flank.
Such an overwhelming outpouring of cuteness instantly vaporized the residual nervousness from Twilight's previous magical outburst. The sight of his adorable presence between her hooves pierced right through her chest. His intense aura entered through every door of her heart like it could drill it. The resulting sensation of absolute love stung her to her core, drawing forth the most perfect name for the infant dragon: his name would be Spike.
The connection between their two hearts was now fully established, unbreakable until the end of times. Deep into their respective eyes, both knew this would never stop. They were to one another what friendship was to family: the same thing but with different shapes. A united core of love. They belonged in each other's affection. Spike was a blessing, a miracle, a son.
And Twilight would be there for him.
Because Mommy said so.
Years passed. Adventures happened. Dragons and ponies grew up.
An unplanned long stay in Ponyville turned one into six. A farmer, a racer, a fashion designer, an animal caregiver and a baker completed the bookworm student. Orange honesty, blue loyalty, white generosity, kind yellow, pink laughter and purple magic became the next big thing in town. Friendship at its best, or so they thought. There was no longer one pony to love and look up to, but a group of six. Still, only one true mother figure remained, and keeping her in sight soon proved challenging.
Little Spike struggled at first in his quest for love and acceptance. Soon, he grew wary of those friends who'd be quick to steal Twilight's attention if he failed at being worthy of it. Could it be true? Could Spike, the son and number one assistant, truly lose at a worthiness game?
A positive answer almost came crashing down on his soul one evening, the gloomy conclusion to a day that could have ended so perfectly. The dragon fell asleep while meteors showered the horizon, resting chaotically in a punch bowl after a day of working himself to the bone to ensure everypony would spend the best evening ever. In doing so, he had earned praises from the entire gang and finally enjoyed the results of his hard efforts to be acknowledged as a worthy companion.
Alas, a complete stranger pet with a name ringing no bell would be lavished with the same amount of praise on the next day. A hard-won praise Spike had been so eagerly waiting for, earned by an owl in a single day when it had taken him months of patience.
Inevitably, grievance grew in him like a bad case of cutie pox contracted by the Element of Jealousy. A severe telling-off from Twilight drove him away, leaving nothing but fake blood footprints in his trail, as the broken-hearted dragon thought his real blood would want none of him anymore. A tragedy almost occurred but was barely avoided.
The two estranged souls eventually returned to each other's arms, talked things over and reconciled. A letter containing a friendship lesson was sent, and its story would be told, but the untold part would be the most important. Twilight would take Spike to another picnic session the following day, but with their roles reversed. Twilight and her friends (and an owl) being assistants to Spike, taking care of him as a means to make amends, making him feel comfortable and accepted, proving to him that he belonged with them, showering him with love and affection.
Twilight and her friends were here for him, here to stay, and all's well that ends well.
Because Mommy said so.
More years passed. More adventures happening and time still flying by.
A unicorn became a Princess of Friendship. The Princess of Friendship became ruler of Equestria. The mother stayed a mother, but not all would notice that.
Spike grew to become a fine young adult dragon. The fine young adult dragon became a royal advisor. The son stayed a son, but not all would notice that.
The group of best friends forever grew older, a bit more geographically distant too, but never apart. With most of his pony friends back to their own lives in Ponyville and beyond, despite frequent promises of visits that were mostly kept, Spike felt the pressure of loneliness slowly creeping back to his reality. The dragon with a bit too much lifespan still ahead of him turned back to Princess Twilight, defiantly facing her newfound royalty like it was a threat, with the hope that his mother still had a place of her own to survive and thrive under the crown.
She was hard to find, and even harder it became over time when royal duties and tasks drove them apart. Things were soon reduced to a matter of whens…
When neck bows, curtsies and formal titles became a mandatory norm for the sake of Twilight's position. When addressing her in public the way Spike used to as a child became the subject of nationwide embarrassment. When spending all his time advising her as part of his duties left him no privacy time left with her. When Spike had to fill in a form and wait in an endless line just to meet her outside of work, because they were a lot like him and her safety came first.
When she'd leave for week-long diplomatic adventures around the world, but couldn't bring him along because a fully-grown dragon was still perceived as a danger by some of the foreign people she did her best to avoid a war with. When the Princess left her advisor behind to keep an eye on an empty royal castle, as though it could be less depressing than a library. When she was in the room right next to him, but guards wouldn't let him in due to protocol.
When she was not there. Even when she was there.
When…
When finally, a desperate Spike chose the worst moment to knock two guards out, stormed in during a vital ambassadorial council with some Crystal Empire representatives, and begged his mother to drop the crown for a second and talk to him again. When Spike was forcefully escorted out with half an army to keep him at bay by order of an upset ruler who could just not risk having him around anymore, at least not until the mess he had caused and all its political consequences died down.
When…
When Spike resigned as an advisor shortly afterward, while the council came to an end, and fled Canterlot in tears like the little boy he was again. When Twilight Sparkle recalled how she had almost done the same after she was cast out of her own brother's wedding ceremony. When she received unexpected support from her other court members, and even the Crystal Empire ambassadors who blamed themselves for driving the Princess of Friendship and the savior of their homeland apart.
When the mother of a grieving son took to the sky, searching for him. When she couldn't find Spike but would not give up. When she made a detour to Ponyville, gathering all her friends in her quest for a much-needed family reunion. When mom said she was coming.
When…
When they succeeded and found Spike unharmed, in the same cave where he had first fled with the incorrect belief that Owlowiscious had replaced him. When she apologized and they hugged, when he cried and forgave her, when she offered him back his royal position and promised to make things different in a better way for the two of them.
Because Spike was worth it. He was worth saving room for a new work-and-life balance, even in the case of a semi-goddess and her number one adviser. Worth changing the rusty rules of a several-thousand-year-old dynasty of overly-busy Alicorns, the penultimate of which had been so absorbed by her work at the nation's service that it had caused the Moon to be inhabited for a millennium.
Now most things would change, but one would stay the same. Twilight was still here for Spike, and she and her friends always would be.
Because Mommy said so.
Decades passed. Time flew so fast.
Most ponies grew too old for adventures, which became less frequent, but not all of them aged equally. As time reigned supreme above even the most powerful monarchs of the Earth, it collected its due. From seven to six, to five, to four and only three. Time was unstoppable.
Spike sat by the bed where the second love of his life was lying. Old age had already claimed most of her natural beauty, her white coat fading to ashen grey, but memories from the past of the prettiest mare in the world stuck their tongue out to give the Grim Ripper a piece of their mind. The merriest of them would survive forever in his aching heart, even in his worst mourning moments, while rivers of grief flowed, as the dragon uttered silent laments over never finding the strength to say those three stupid words to her.
A wobbly hoof grabbed his clawed hands, holding to it. Spike gazed across her with sorrowful tears in his eyes, and she smiled weakly. She loved him too.
Her voice had already given way, failing the Element of Generosity whenever she'd try to gift her dear Spikey-wikey one last fragment of her voice for him to cherish. For lack of better days ahead, both souls did their best with what they had. Spike did the talking, thanking her for everything. She did the watching, sadly but fondly, while the dragon wept in blurriness.
Watching from a distance as she stood mournfully in the doorway, the Princess of Friendship could only acknowledge her son's sorrowfulness, a mirror of her own, in the contemplative silence of the hospital room. That same room where Rainbow Dash had read her first Daring Do chapter, and where the last page from the last chapter of her remaining friends' lives had been turned one by one. Neither she nor Spike would ever get used to it.
She turned a blind eye out of respect for her son's unfathomable pain, a kind of pain she'd only feel once upon losing the stallion she had loved the way Spike wished he had Rarity. When she opened her eyes again, another mare had closed hers permanently, and Spike wanted to be left alone.
Rarity was gone.
Twilight and Spike were alone again, left to fend for themselves in a reality where friendship had turned back to being a mere common noun. Nonetheless, a promise was a promise. Twilight would stay by his side to the very end. No, even better: as long as infinity lasted, she'd be here.
Because Mommy said so.
Centuries passed. Time never stopped flying.
Spike sat down in the grass. It was cloudy with a chance of rain. From the outside, he looked peaceful. Deep inside, though, his blood boiled. Why had she? She was gone for good and not coming back to say how sorry she was for not keeping to her words, so what now?
A promise was a promise, for His Mother's sake!
The stick between his crossed legs, and the bindle it held were his only possessions left to carry to the Dragon Land. His time in Equestria wasn't over, but it would no longer be the only place to set foot on. Out of the bindle were pulled a couple of belongings. Photographs, mainly. Some with notes written on them, others plain and blank. One family portrait hastily thrown together, with a torn picture of Spike glued next to his six pony elder friends between a frame, stood out among them. This one never failed to get a bittersweet chuckle from Spike.
Who would make good fun of such a ridiculous helter-skelter montage anyway, besides the only one left to laugh?
The lonely dragon had once contemplated the idea of tearing them off himself, or just hiring a unicorn sorcerer whose magic he would have used to dissolve these cry-on-demand pictures into nothingness. In the end, his own memory warned him off and persuaded him otherwise. Destroying an item would not remove the pain that came with it, nor would it help a wounded heart heal. Memories were there to stay, not only to smile because it happened, but as a reminder that a tombstone should never be what the souls resting beneath them will be remembered for.
His hand searched the bindle again, removing something that would not be put back inside. With utmost care, Spike laid the funeral spray of flowers on the grave in front of him.
"Twilight Sparkle. Beloved daughter, loving mother, faithful student, magical friend, great ruler."
The weather worsened, and it eventually rained. His scaled skin remained dry, but still it rained. Above him, sunlight from the upper atmosphere scattered in the clear sky and coated the horizon in a sweet shade of red, but still it rained. It was twilight, a rainy twilight with no rain at all.
Spike swore to himself and to whoever was listening from above to always come back here every once in a while. A promise that would only be broken once, at deathbed time. Another promise not to cry was made, to cry less at each new visit, only to be broken every single time.
How could he keep a promise when she had not? Twilight had outlasted her friends, but even Alicorns weren't eternal, and neither were their oaths to never let anyone dear and close enough outlive them. Such were the curses of alicornhood and dragonhood alike.
Spike got up on his feet, wiping his wet eyes just long enough for them to become wet again, and ascended into the dark sky, deep into the setting night. The pictures were back in the bindle. They would come with him, stay with him, witness his new destiny as a future Lord of the Dragons, and follow him to the grave. Regardless of the time it would take, Spike would keep that part of his past to be buried with him. The dragon vowed to become the most patient creature in the universe, as he'd have to wait until he could see her again.
He had lost her too, but he would not lose himself to the madness of loneliness. He would fight to keep the memories alive, to make sure he'd never forget about the one who had brought him to this world. For she was still here with him, close to his heart alongside their best friends.
Because Mommy said so.
Time kept flying, or was it? How long had it been? A thousand years? More? Less?
Spike couldn't tell. For that matter, neither could he guess where he was, nor what had brought him here in this… white void?
He walked for a while. Nothing in sight, nopony around. He felt light, relieved. Lighter than he ever had been. His body felt familiar, yet not exactly like what the last years of his life had gotten him used to.
The last years…
He looked at his hands, eyes widening in utter stupefaction, and instantly understood the meaning behind that odd sensation which had taken hold of him upon awakening in this white land. Spike was a baby dragon all over again. What kind of spell was this?
Death.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes, as if wiping what he had just seen off his memory had been an option to begin with. Spike was too old for that. Really, he wasn't in the mood at all. Dying? He didn't care that much, nor did he perceive the slightest ounce of fear about his near future gripping his heart. Did he still have a heart? Spike couldn't care less about the answer. All he could remember was wishing for an endless existence to reach its expiry date. And done it was.
However, something about the emptiness around him felt off. For it was everything but empty. Something popped up behind him. Something with legs. Spike frowned lightly, unable to tell if this was a bad joke or something crazy that was going to make somepony end up in tears.
He turned over, only to be thrown to the ground with a warm duo of fluffy limbs wrapped around him. It felt so real that it could have been mistaken for reality, save for one tiny detail: it WAS reality. A pony was hugging him tight in Heaven, or whatever it was. Despite being dead, Spike could still physically feel it. His senses were operational. And that smell! Spike had spent countless hours being hugged, consoled, soothed and rocked to sleep in those arms. Only one pony in the wide world of Equestria smelt like that. An unmatched maternal scent.
The two looked deep into each other's eyes, and the world froze. She was here, she had returned, she had kept her promise. At long last.
Spike hugged her back as tightly as he could. For a couple of seconds, his grip loosened as he feared he might hurt his mother by squeezing her too hard, but no matter how strongly they tried, neither one of them could harm the other. Ever since they had passed away, any form of pain had ceased to exist. So, they kept hugging like there was no tomorrow.
A mother and her son. Torn apart by life, reunited in death.
Now that his eternal rest had begun, would Spike spend the rest of his death in this pair of arms? He wished so, but selfishness wasn't his most noticeable feature. Love was to be shared.
The hug dance started with a loud bang from a distance, where a party cannon blew a pink smiling pony smelling like sugar in their direction and at full speed.
Upon impact, a massive ball of cuddling creatures rolled right into another pony, a yellow kind-hearted pegasus who greeted them with her signature yeah! and open hooves.
A bigger ball of hug-cemented friends kept rolling until it was lassoed up in the air, where a blue pegasus in Wonderbolt attire performed an aerial stunt to catch them in-flight.
And as the growing ball of pure love fell back down, a fainting couch appeared out of nowhere with a very conscious white unicorn laying on it, extending her generous hooves to them.
The five hugging souls landed safely on her, instantly joined in their permanent reunion by a seventh and last farm earth pony jeehawing her way among them.
It had taken centuries to reunite them. And done it was.
When the hugging ball came to a stop, it almost felt like time itself had as well. Spike could die again and relive this moment a billionth times. Nothing else mattered. Twilight was back. She would forever be here for him. They would be here for him forever. In this life, they had been. All the way to the next life, they would still be. Forever together.
Because Mommy said so.
THE END.