“Twilight?!”
A little purple dragon gasps in shock and horror, his wide and terrified eyes staring at the now-empty seat beside him.
A chorus of gasps soon resound in the crystal-like room.
A holographic map on the circular table fades and disappears.
A childish giggle soon follow.
“Twilight!” a male voice shouts.
A white stallion gallops and stops by the seat, examining it. He swipes the empty air with a white hoof, hoping to feel something...to touch someone.
He touches nothing.
“W-where did she go?!” the little purple dragon asks the hyperventilating stallion.
“What did she do?!” a raspy voice asks.
The two males turn their heads in time to see an angry blue pegasus slam both her front hooves on the circular table, her prismatic bangs unable to cover the fury in her eyes.
“What did she do to Twilight?!” the pegasus asks.
“D-darling, please calm down...” a white unicorn mare says.
The pegasus shot her a glare, making the unicorn flinch.
“I...I don't know what happened,” the stallion says, reexamining the seat.
“M-maybe she teleported her?” the young dragon voices out.
“Teleported her?” the pegasus asks, her wings flaring. “Where?”
The young dragon shakes his head. “I...I don't know.”
“Can't you trace it with your freakish unicorn magic?” the pegasus asks, glaring at the white stallion.
“I...I can try,” the stallion replies before lighting up his horn.
“You do that,” the pegasus says as she flaps her wings. Hovering in the air, she angrily points a hoof at the young dragon. “You search the castle. She's probably around here somewhere.” She turns and points at the white mare. “You search around town.”
“Where are you going, Rainbow?” the unicorn mare asks, seconds before the pegasus flies away.
“...I'll search outside Ponyville,” the pegasus replies before flying out the window.
Six large seats and one small seat sits around a large, circular table.
A sigh echoes in the quiet crystal-like room.
Shaking his scaly, serpentine-like head, a tall purple dragon continues to wipe the table with a small cloth. A few more wipes later, the dragon stops and takes a step back, his long, scaly tail wagging lazily behind him.
The bipedal dragon's green ears twitch to the sound of approaching hoofsteps.
He didn't turn around.
The hoofsteps stop.
“H-hey Spike,” a light-purple mare says, smiling an uneasy smile at the dragon.
“...Hey.”
Silence.
Quiet hoofsteps echo around the room as the mare approaches the dragon, stopping beside him.
She takes a breath and exhales, staring at one particular seat.
“...So, you have a visitor.”
“...Is it her?” the dragon asks. He has heard that same sentence for years, after he took his friend's responsibilities.
He still asks the same question each time, even though he already knows the answer.
The mare slowly shakes her head, her pale-purple mane swaying slightly. “No,” she replies with a sad frown. “I'm sorry.”
“...It's okay.” The dragon sighs a quiet sigh. “Who is it?”
Hearing the question, the mare manages to smile a small smile. “Why don't you go and find out?”
The dragon growls a groan. “Not in the mood, Starlight.”
“Come on, Spike,” the mare says, placing a hoof on the dragon's leg as she cranes her head up to look at him. “Just humor me on this one.”
Silence.
“Pleeeaaase?”
The dragon sighs. “Fiiine.” He drops the cloth on the chuckling mare's head before turning around and walking towards the hallway.
He passes by tall windows and closed doors, only hearing the echoing sounds of his footsteps on the crystal floor.
And sounds from a long time ago.
“I-I'm sure that Twilight is fine, darling,” a white unicorn mare says, reassuring her young dragon companion.
And herself.
The two are running in the hallway, towards the large double doors of the crystal castle.
“I...” the young dragon gulps. “I know, but...”
The two stops before the closed doors.
“Now now, Spike.” She turns and gives the worried dragon a gentle smile. “Twilight's a strong mare. She can take care of herself in any situation.”
The dragon sniffs. “I... I hope you're right, Rarity...”
The mare nods her head. “Well, if it'll help you feel a little better, Spike, why don't you write a letter to Princess Celestia?”
“Huh?”
“I'm sure the princess can help us by searching for her in Canterlot, if Twilight was teleported there. Hm...” She taps her chin with a hoof. “Makes you wonder why she wouldn't just teleport herself back here, or fly back, at least...”
The young dragon blinks, thinking about it.
The mare's eyes brighten. “Oooooor! Why don't you write one to Twilight?”
The young dragon's eyes widen.
The mare nods. “Oh, if only Rainbow was here. She could probably follow the smoke's trail when you send it.”
Lighting up her horn, she levitates a piece of paper and a quill from her saddlebag, and floats it over to the dragon.
The young dragon snatches the items and quickly writes one question on the paper. Rolling it up, he takes a deep breath and breathes out green flames, burning the paper to dust.
The fumes spiral in the air.
It rematerializes into a rolled-up paper.
It falls down on the crystal floor.
Two pairs of eyes blink.
Shaking his head, the tall dragon pushes one of the large doors open.
The morning sun's gentle rays engulf the gloomy castle's halls.
As well as the dragon's eyes.
Blinking his eyes to readjust to the sudden light, the purple dragon blinks a curious blink at the creature standing before him.
“Greetings, my wingless dragon friend,” a feminine voice says, bowing slightly.
The purple dragon blinks, lifts up a claw, and scratches his scaly head. “Oh, um, hey Ember.”
“Is that how you greet a friend you haven't seen in years?” the blue dragon asks with a teasing smile.
The purple dragon rolls his eyes. “If two weeks is equivalent to years back in Dragon Lands, then sure.”
The blue dragon rolls her eyes before shaking her head. “Well, in any case, I'm here to help you return to the Spike you once were!”
The purple dragon sighs, a claw slowly palming his face. “Not this again.”
“Indeed, it's this again. Now come!” the blue dragon says, looking and waving a claw at the waking town. “We should start with a morning glide around your pony town.”
The purple dragon deadpans.
The blue dragon looks back to him and blinks. “Oh...right.” She chuckles, her folded wings twitching. “Walking it is, then! Now come, before the streets become a deluge of color.”
Sighing in defeat, the purple dragon closes the door behind him before following the blue dragon. “Sometimes I wish the old Ember returns.”
“Oh, don't get me started with that,” the blue dragon groans, the smile and positive energy suddenly gone.
Too late; she already started.
“I don't know about you, but I need to talk prim and proper if we're to be seen as friendly to our neighboring nations.”
The two dragons enter the town. The purple dragon smiles a small smile, listening to the other dragon's angry words, like he always do when she invites him to help him, while waving a claw to the ponies they pass by.
“Like last week, during the trade negotiations with those deer. They were very, very talkative, it was a miracle I didn't burn them to ashes! They started with a simple sentence, but it was a trap! They were like, ‘you dragons are now friends with ponies, did you know we're just like your pony friends? Some of us can use magic, while some can't.’ That made me wonder. We were about to start, but bloody lava, I fell into their trap. I asked them, ‘so there are also flying deer?’”
The purple dragon listens, until he notices something from the corner of his eye.
“That was a big mistake and they started telling us about the stories from long ago about some legendary deer with leafy wings and—”
The golden sun is shining down on the busy town of Ponyville. Ponies are going to and fro, and sometimes stopping to chat with another in the streets.
A little purple dragon is running down one of the earthen streets of town, frantically dodging ponies, hooves, wagons and a scooter blurring by.
He wants to call someone's name, he wants to shout it, but doing so would cause panic in the populace.
He finally sees the gingerbread-like structure.
“Twilight?!” he finally calls, bursting through the swinging doors.
The few ponies inside the establishment turn their heads on him.
“Not here!” a pink and happy head suddenly appears in front of the dragon's vision. The pony takes a step back, a fan suddenly on her hoof and fans the sweating dragon. “Wow, Spike. Isn't it a little late for a morning jog?”
The purple dragon swats the fan away. “Not now, Pinkie.” He shakes his head. “Have you seen Twilight?”
“Nope!” she shakes her head. “I was about to head to the castle, ready to spend another playtime with the little fluff of giggles!” She giggles. “I could barely control my excitement during the morning rush hour!”
“No kidding,” a pony behind the counter voices out lamely.
“Oh! Are you here to walk me to the castle?” the pink mare asks. “Awww, that's so sweet of you, Spike!”
“No!” the purple dragon replies. “It's—”
“Pinkie Pie! There you are!” a female voice says from behind the dragon.
Both the purple dragon and the pink mare turn to look at the newcomer.
“Oh hey there, Rarity,” the pink mare greets her. “Mane troubles?”
The purple dragon steps aside as the white mare approaches and places a tired hoof on the pink mare's shoulder.
“Worse than that, Pinkie!”
The pink pony gasps in horror. “Worse than your messy mane problem?”
“Pinkie Pie, this is serious,” the white mare says, glaring at her. “It's Twilight. She's...”
She blinks, looks behind the pink mare, and sees a few ponies lining in front of the store's counter.
The white mare leans closer to whisper: “Twilight's gone, and we can't find her.”
“Oh,” the pink mare says as the white mare leans back. She chuckles, and opens her mouth to reply—
“I'm sure she's fine, Spike,” a pale-pink mare says as she places a tray of gem-covered cupcakes on the table, in front of the two seated dragons outside the gingerbread-looking bakery. She smiles and places a comforting hoof on the purple dragon's bent knee. “Twilight's a tough cookie. She'll be back.”
The purple dragon weakly nods his hanging head, his gaze on one of the glittering cupcakes.
The pale-pink mare's smile falters for a bit. “Well, you two lovebirds stay right here. I'll be right back to bring your gem-flavored slurpees, 'kay?”
“We're not lovebirds, Pinkie,” the purple dragon weakly says.
“Spike is right, you silly pony” the blue dragon says through a mouthful of chewed cupcake. “We're dragons.”
The pale-pink mare giggles as she walks back inside the bakery.
The blue dragon watches the swinging doors close. She gulps and looks at the other dragon. “Your pink pony friend—Pinkie, was it?—I think the old age is starting to mess with her brain.” She didn't wait for Spike to make a reply. “I mean, no offense, but did she forgot that we're dragons?”
“If she did, our cupcakes would be covered with bird seeds instead,” the purple dragon quietly replies, chuckling.
The blue dragon arches an eyebrow. “What? Was something I said funny?”
The purple dragon lifts his gaze up at her and smiles. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Never change, Ember.”
The blue dragon is about to say something when two tall glasses of gem-sprinkled slurpees appear on their table.
“Here are your two gem-crushed-and-sprinkled slurpees for my two favorite dragons.” The pale-pink mare smiles at the two. “It's on the house! If you need anything, I'll be—”
“Momma!”
The trio turn their heads toward the source—
“Oof—!”
A blur pounces on the pale-pink mare, pushing her back and down on the ground. Lying on her back, she shakes the dizziness away and smiles a wide smile at the smiling filly standing on her chest.
“Momma, momma, listen! You wouldn't believe what happened at school today!” the little filly chirps excitingly, her tiny wings buzzing.
“Isn't it a little early for school to be over?”
“Exactly!” As the filly narrates the events while on her mother's chest, the two dragons look on with a smile.
One dragon's smile soon turns into a sad frown.
“Big Mac and I have searched the entire orchard, but we've found no hair of Twilight anywhere!” an orange mare exclaims, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a dirty hoof.
“I even asked Zecora in the Everfree Forest, but she didn't see her either!” a yellow filly adds.
“Okay, okay,” a light-purple mare says, “don't panic, no need to panic.” She takes deep breaths, failing to calm herself. “I-I'm sure she's...somewhere.”
A childish giggle.
“Could you put a sock in it?!” a hovering blue pegasus snarls, glaring at the source of the giggling.
A white stallion glares back at her.
The blue mare turns her glare at him. “Don't give me that look, ‘BBBFF.’ Have you used your magic to find out where she is?”
“Calm down, Rainbow—”
“No, let her,” the white stallion cuts the white mare off. He shakes his head. “And I did, but...” he looks away.
The blue mare groans in frustration. She angrily turns. “Flutters?”
A yellow pegasus mare winces under her angry gaze. “W-w-well, um...” She closes her eyes and slowly shakes her head, her long, pink mane swaying with the motion. “I'm sorry, everypony.” She looks at them with a sad frown. “But none of my animal friends saw her anywhere.”
“Not even in the Everfree Forest?” the yellow filly asks.
The yellow pegasus slowly shakes her head. “No. I'm sorry.”
“I wonder if the Cutie Map can help us find her,” the light-purple mare thinks aloud, staring at the circular and crystal-like table in the middle of the room.
A pink mare suddenly gasps. “What if Twilight is inside the Cutie Map?!”
Silence.
“Pinkie,” the white mare says, “it's not even a Cutie Map at the moment.”
“Oh,” the pink mare says, her ears drooping. “Right.”
“Anyway,” light-purple mare continues, “maybe the map can help us find her?”
“Like Rarity just said, Starlight,” the blue pegasus says, “it's a plain old table at the moment. Good luck asking it for directions to the nearest train station.”
“Rainbow Dash, seriously,” the white mare scolds her. “Enough with that attitude of yours.”
“I'm with Rarity, Rainbow,” the orange mare says, nodding. “You need to calm down.”
The blue mare ignores them.
“Can't you girls activate it?” the white stallion asks.
“Oh, gee, I dunno,” the blue pegasus replies loudly, turning to the mares. “Can we?”
Silence.
The hovering mare quickly turns back to the stallion. “There's your answer. Happy?”
“Well, I'm sorry for trying to help!” the white stallion says.
“Oh, you're sorry—”
“Everypony, calm down, please!” the light-purple mare says. “We'll figure this out. There must be a book in the library about this. I think...” She looks away. “I hope...”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” the orange mare asks. “Let's get to it!”
As the ponies are about to turn and run towards the castle's library, the large double doors swing open, and a tall pony enters the castle.
“I should be flying back home,” the blue dragon says.
The two dragons are sitting under a large tree on top of a hill, their gazes on the hazy orange setting sun.
The blue dragon stands up and stretches. With that done, she turns and smiles at the purple dragon. “Thanks for today, Spike.” She winces. “And sorry if today turned into another one of our previous get-together.”
The purple dragon smiles at her. “Don't worry about it. I like listening to you, Ember.”
The blue dragon sighs. “It's always been like that though... I always open it with me trying to help you, but it always ends up with you helping me instead.”
“Ember, it's fine—”
The blue dragon suddenly stands tall, and with a fierce look on her face, she points a finger at the stunned purple dragon. “Mark my words, Spike. As the Dragon Lord of the Dragon Lands, I will help you get back to who you once were: happy and smart and brave and charming and—”
Silence.
A calm breeze gently rustles the leaves on the tree.
The purple dragon blinks. “...Uh, what was that last one—”
“Oh bloody lava look at the time bye Spike see you soon!”
And just like that, the blue dragon is now a small blue spec in the darkening sky.
“Rainbow, wait!”
The blue pegasus mare angrily folds her wings back to her sides before looking over her shoulder.
The mare's piercing gaze made the approaching purple dragon to stop.
Seconds fly by.
The mare closes her eyes and sighs. She turns around to fully face the little dragon. “Spike, I'm sorry.” She looks over her shoulder, looking at the setting sun on the horizon. “The books didn't help. Celestia was no help either.” Her prismatic mane dances with the gentle breeze. She looks back at the dragon. “I'm gonna go look for her.”
“But Rainbow, I thought you said you already searched outside the town.”
The mare nods her head. “I did.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “But I wasn't outside enough.”
The dragon blinks. “...Rainbow?”
The mare turns her back on him. “...Who's the fastest flier in Equestria, Spike?”
“H-huh?”
The mare gives him a one-eyed glare.
The dragon gulps. “You... you are, Rainbow.”
The mare shakes her head. “Past tense, Spike.” She faces the setting sun. “I was. But not anymore.” She shakes her head once more. “If I was, I should have flown to push her out of the way. Maybe it'll miss us both, or maybe it'll hit just me, but if the latter had happened, what would you think Twilight will do?”
She stomps her hoof on the grassy ground.
“I'm angry, Spike. I'm angry for being so slow. It wasn't right for me to blame her, too, but I couldn't help it. You know how I always pin the blame on somepony else, when the blame should have been on me.”
“It...it wasn't your fault, Rainbow...”
“Then whose fault was it?”
Silence.
The mare takes a breath. “If I was the one who disappeared, she'll do everything, and even more, just to get me back. So I'll do the same.”
“Rainbow...” the dragon whispers, his head hanging low.
A blue hoof pats his scaly head.
“...T-take care of Ponyville for me, will ya?”
The hoof on his head is gone.
The dragon lifts is head up, his teary gaze on the tiny blue spec in the orange sky.
Staring at the darkening horizon, the purple dragon waves a claw goodbye, turns around and walks down the hill towards town.
He visits the marketplace and buys a few ingredients for supper. After the exchange, and with a paper bag full of ingredients on one claw, he continues on his way to the crystal castle, waving and nodding and exchanging a few words to the ponies he passes by.
Arriving in front of the tall double doors of the castle, the purple dragon takes a deep breath and turns around. He stares at the town, under the setting sun's gentle orange light. So much has changed over the years. The town has grown bigger and taller, and most of the ponies from his youth have aged, have changed, and continued on with their lives.
Like nothing ever happened.
A tear rolls down the purple dragon's face. He ignores it.
A sad smile cracks on his scaly lips as he turns back to the doors. He pulls one open and stops dead on his tracks.
His smile disappears, and so is his gentle look.
A growl escapes his clenched teeth as his fierce eyes glares at the cloaked pony standing inside.
“...Hey Spike,” the cloaked pony greets him, lifting a pink hoof to pull the hood down. The young mare's light-opal eyes reflect the angry frame of the tall bipedal dragon by the door, her violet ponytailed mane making her resemble one of the alicorns the dragon knows. “It's been a while,” she adds with a slow nod, a rough and heavy-looking metal ring around the base of her horn seemingly weighing her head down.
“...Flurry,” the purple dragon growls.
