Chapter 7: Farewell

The sun was shining brightly in the sky. Birds and roosters signaling the early morning all across the land of Equestria.

Ponyville, like any other town, village, and city, was blustering with activity. But unlike the rest, this activity was not attributed to the tireless reconstruction efforts going across the land. No, this activity was due to the final preparations of one Spike Solaris's symbolic funeral.

Many delegates of other nations coming from the recently formed Equis Alliance had already arrived days prior or were arriving at the village. Most of them had been welcomed to stay in the Castle of Friendship while some others preferred to stay in Canterlot.

Males and females coming from a multitude of species were working all around the town in whatever was needed to set everything in motion whenever the event began.

It had been two entire weeks since the death of Spike and while all of Equestria and the Crystal Empire were mourning the loss of the dragon, there were many others that had taken his death harder than most. Six of such individuals were sitting around the Cutie Map in silence, all of their eyes locked on the empty, markless seat next to Twilight's throne.

"Is Big Mac back, Applejack?" Twilight asked all of the sudden shifting her gaze to the farm mare. They were dressed in ceremonial clothes made by Rarity a few days after Spike's passing. Her spark for creating and designing seemingly back. The design was similar but outfitted to each and every single one of them to a personal degree. But instead of being of traditional black, Rarity had colored themed them in a light purple shade and adorned the edges with green stripes and a few emeralds.

Applejack looked at Twilight, then at the empty seat, then at her stetson hat sitting on the table, and then at Twilight once more before replying. "He's back alright." She said with a solemn tone.

"Last night?" Twilight asked.

Applejack shook her head. "Before sunrise. Granny was still patching him up when Ah left a while ago. Applebloom left early to meet with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo."

"Speaking of them, do you have any idea what are they doing, Applejack?" Rainbow asked.

"Somethin' about making a present is all Ah know." She replied leaning back in her seat. "How about you, Rarity?"

"I'm afraid I know as much as you do, darling." Rarity replied while she stroked the 'S' shaped mark on her exposed neck with her right hand's fingers. She then turned to face Fluttershy. "Fluttershy dear, do you by any chance happen to know where Discord is?"

"He's in Canterlot keeping some company to Celestia and Luna," Fluttershy answered while she stared at Spike's seat.

Silence fell between the six mares once more. Pinkie Pie, being the quietest of the bunch, kept on petting Gummy. Aside from her silence, the strangest part about her was that her mane and tail remained fluffy and messy, and her coat was bright as ever.

The sound of gates opening caught their collective attention as they turned to see who had entered the room. Twilight stood up when she saw all her family making their way inside the room. Shining Armor was wearing his usual military suit, proudly displaying the symbol of Equestria and the Crystal Empire on his chest. Cadance was wearing a pristine dress suited for a Princess; she could barely see the baby bump in her belly. Next to her brother and sister-in-law side, her parents followed. Twilight Velvet was wearing a similar dress to Cadance's but in light purple; the baby bump in her belly being a bit more prominent than Cadance's. And finally, Night Light was wearing a deep blue and khaki colored suit.

She walked up to the four ponies meeting them halfway through and they all shared a big embrace.

"Did you sleep well?" Twilight asked her mother once the embrace was broken.

"Like a filly, dear," Velvet answered while her husband held her right hand lovingly. "But did you sleep well? You didn't stay up late again, did you?"

Twilight smiled as she shook her head. "I went to sleep early for today." She then turned to face her brother and his wife. "How about you two?"

"I couldn't sleep at all, to be honest. Too nervous, I guess," Shining said, shrugging.

"I slept nicely enough. Thank you, Twilight," Cadance said idly rubbing her belly.

Twilight stretched to the side to look past them to see two Blood Hunters standing guard outside the still wide open doors and an empty hallway.

"Do any of you know where Chrysalis is?" Twilight asked moments later.

"She left before sunrise to oversee something with her changelings. And the rest of the delegates are either still preparing themselves or are already in town." Shining answered.

"Ah, yes. I forgot she said something about that yesterday," Twilight said as she turned to face her friends once more. "We should head out and oversee the final preparations. Want to come along?" She asked sending a glance at her family. Her response was a collective nod from the four ponies.

The group left the Map Room in silence broken only by their hoofsteps. Soon enough, they reached the main doors of the castle and four Blood Hunters opened them. Alongside the rays of early morning, a familiar looking pegasus was standing at the end of the stairs.

"Everything is secured, Princess Twilight," Soarin claimed without making direct eye contact with anyone, especially Rainbow Dash.

"Thank you, Soarin," Twilight said once she was close enough to him. Soarin backed away before spreading his wings and taking to the skies distancing himself from the group. "Applejack informed me that Big Macintosh arrived this morning. Maybe you should visit him?"

"An excellent suggestion, your highness." Soarin bowed his head and then flew away at blinding speed.

The group stared at the parting Soarin for a few seconds before resuming their advance. As they made their way through town, the group saw frantic activity all over the place with decorations, adorning walls, placing Equestrian banners, pictures or drawings of lost loved ones, and even some brave enough to rise high the banner of Spike when he was Marshal of Dainn. The closer they got to the town center, they began to see bowls of gems, stacks of quills and parchment, broken shackles and ripped collars, splintered (burnt or even adorned) caribou antlers, and other items scattered around while forming roads to walk through the place where the funeral was to be held.

It took them a few minutes to reach the very center of town and when they arrived they saw an open golden colored coffin, a picture of a young pre-Fall Spike at it's left, a picture of Spike dressed in his 'Royal' Marshal armor at it's right, and a bigger one depicting him with a warm smile while his eyes shined of pure white and the Crystal Heart was displayed proudly on his chest in the center and behind the coffin. They also noticed an odd stack of various shaped and sized hats below the nearby banner of the self-proclaimed Rise of Equestria temporary army banner.

A sudden flash of magic caught their attention and they saw Discord, Celestia, and Luna appear alongside several delegates and other rulers of the Equis Alliance such as Blood Talons, Sebastian, Shifting Sands, Creslin, and Blueblood. The last one wearing not a formal suit, but instead his dented, dirty, slightly bloodied, and scarred battle armor alongside his massive bastard sword strapped on his back.

"I see everything is almost ready," Celestia said in her usual calm, warm tone. She was wearing a pristine white dress while Luna was wearing a virtually equal one but in deep blue, the same as her mane and tail.

"...Yes, almost." Twilight replied hearing the distant shouts of everything being finally set properly up for the upcoming event.

Celestia turned to face Rarity and walked up to her. "Rarity, my dear, I believe I have something for you," Celestia said before conjuring with her magic something.

Said something made the fashionista gasp and tear up as Celestia handed her the item.

"I-I-I thought it was destroyed...th-that I had lost it forever. Where did you find it?" Rarity asked looking at the same Fire Ruby Spike had given her years ago. There was no mistaking it, it even had the same gold holders, chain, and the few scratches alongside it.

Celestia smiled seeing Rarity look at it as tears fell from her eyes and slowly put it around her neck. "It wasn't easy, but my accountants were able to find it amongst the thousands of confiscated treasures stored away in the mines below Canterlot."

Rarity traced the Fire Ruby with her fingers a few times before looking at the Solar Princess. "T-Thank you, Pri-...Celestia. Thank you so much." The two mares smiled warmly at each other until Rarity wiped her tears away and summoned a small box with her magic. "I was going to wait until after the ceremony to give you this, but I simply cannot wait any longer."

Celestia took the box with her magic, unwrapped it, and gasped as she picked out from the inside a simple but beautiful silver collar with a large, polished, and exquisite amethyst in the middle that had a golden 'S' in its center. Without wasting too much time, Celestia took the collar and put it around her neck. Mimicking Rarity, the Sun Princess traced her fingers over it several times before looking at the white unicorn mare with teary eyes.

"It is beautiful, Rarity," Celestia said. A moment later both mares closed the gap between them and hug each other close for several moments. Once they parted Celestia wiped away a tear from Rarity's cheek. "Thank you."

"I hate to interrupt you, sister, but it seems we are ready to begin. We should give the signal," Luna said with a warm smile.

"You are right, sister," Celestia agreed, broke the embrace, and stepped back enough to allow her and Luna to shoot a combined beam of magic up to the skies.

For the next twenty minutes ponies, changelings, griffons, zebras, cows, donkeys, sheep, saddle arabians, and a few other species arrived at the center of Ponyville taking their seats. Most of the present were either original inhabitants of Ponyville prior or during the Fall up to its destruction by Spike himself, or those that had followed Spike to Hraljord. Meanwhile, family, friends, and the delegates and rulers of the nations conforming the Equis Alliance sat closer and reserved sections near the coffin and the podium. At various angles and placed in strategic positions were Projecting Crystals similar to those used during the Trial.

Suddenly, everything darkened for a moment followed by the buzzing wings of changelings. A few seconds later the darkness diminished enough to be able to see again though not too clearly. Then, green, purple, and white orbs of light began to fall down from seemingly nowhere but that helped everyone present to see with enough clarity a small group of changelings holding instruments, and in front of all of them stood seven figures known by most of the present at least to some degree.

Those figures were Chrysalis, Coloratura, Sapphire Shores, Songbird Serenade, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom. All of them, with the exception of Chrysalis, were wearing matching dresses of light purple and misty blue. Meanwhile, the Changeling Queen was wearing her usual a dark green elegant dress but adorned with pieces and bits of chitin armor.

Before anyone could really question what was going on, music started to play.

At first, it was the slow, calming sound of an arp and a piano playing some notes, but it soon grew in volume and other instruments joined in promoting any other sound to cease. After nearly a minute of ever subtle increase in volume and complexity, the music suddenly dropped back for an instant before the voice of Queen Chrysalis was heard.

Her firm yet gentle singing voice.

"Fear not this night, you will not go astray. Though shadows fall, still the stars find their way~"

As Chrysalis continued to sing, all the present were taken aback by her voice, the music, and the lyrics. A few seconds later two more voices joined Chrysalis's in perfect unison adding their own beautiful part to the mix.

"Darkness spreads through all the land and your weary eyes open silently. Sunsets have forsaken all the most far-off horizons~" Coloratura and Sapphire Shores now sang alongside Chrysalis.

"Nightmares come when shadows grow. Eyes close and heartbeat slow~" The trio sang while Scootaloo and Applebloom joined in as backup.

If the audience wasn't wowed before, they sure were now. The song was powerful, but gentle and warm at the same time; it almost felt like a warm blanket no one knew they needed. This went on for some time until the last two mares, Songbird Serenade and Sweetie Belle joined in, the latter doing so with a nervous step while the former encouraged her gently.

"Pleading, sighing arias; gently grieving in silent misery. Darkness sings a forlorn song, yet our hope can still Rise up~!" Seemingly finding her courage, Sweetie Belle joined in full. A few seconds later the horn of Chrysalis lit up with intense magic as they reached a new verse.

"And though the night sky's filled with blackness~" Her horn shot a bubble upwards as the music turned grimmer and darker. It then exploded showcasing the Crystal Heart covered in green flames. "Fear not, Rise up, call out and take my hand~!" It then morphed into Spike holding out his arm for a few moments while the music turned chipper, brighter, and forceful before the image of the dragon disappeared.

The seven mares continued to sing in their roles with more vivacity and intensity, but never losing the essence of the song while the music shifted and moved alongside them in perfect unison for almost an entire minute.

"And you can always be strong~. Lift your voice with the first liiight of daaaaaawn~" At this moment, the music chimed down and return to its original tranquility. "Dawn's just a heartbeat awaaaay. Hope's just a sunrise awaaaaay~" This last part was sung by Chrysalis only while the six remaining mares stepped back. The music then entered its outro, which in contrast to it's intro, it faded slowly over the course of nearly a minute until it finally came to a satisfying end.

The remaining darkness vanished but the light orbs remained albeit weaker.

Not a moment too soon after did the clapping of all the present was heard for several seconds as the changeling playing the instruments bowed their heads and the seven mares in the front bowed their heads once or twice. It took a couple of moments, but the clapping came to an end and with a command of their Queen, the changeling flew off and the seven mares went to take their respective seats. Though it took longer for many to clean away the tears rolling down their cheeks.

"That was fantastical. I knew you could sing, but nothing like that." Cadance said to Chrysalis as she sat down next to the pink alicorn. Cadance noticed a small green blush on Chrysalis's cheeks.

"I can't believe I ever agreed to do that," Chrysalis said ignoring Cadance's remark. "You should be thanking those brats over there," she said pointing at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "They came up with the song and somehow managed to convince us four to sing it alongside them."

"Ah," Cadance exclaimed. "And the changeling orchestra?"

"...My subjects insisted on it. And all you saw was also their idea," Chrysalis said while her blush slightly intensified.

Cadance merely smiled and dropped the subject.

A few moments after emotions had finally settled, Celestia got up from her seat and walked to the podium, but she was then abruptly stopped by none other than Night Light.

"Your Highness, please, if I may?" Night Light asked rushing to her. The two of them exchanged glances for several seconds until Celestia stepped aside. "Thank you... Celestia."

Making his way to the podium Night Light felt his throat tighten and then he stood in from of hundreds of present. The momentary afterthought that tens of thousands were watching him through the projecting crystals only served to strengthen his resolve.

"Hello, my name is Night Light Sparkle of House Sparkle, husband of Twilight Velvet. Many only know me as the father of Prince Shining Armor Sparkle and Princess Twilight Sparkle," Night Light went silent for a moment and looking straightforward. "In a sense, I was also the father of Spike, but I think my own son did a better job at it than I ever did. I've known Spike since the day he was hatched by my daughter," Night Light looked down at the podium before taking a quick glance to his family and the royal family before looking forward again. "When my daughter first brought Spike to our house, under the protection of Princess Celestia herself, I at first saw nothing more in him than a pest. A dangerous pest."

Night Light sighed at the silence he heard. "Then, as months went by I began to see him as an annoying pet that burned and chewed anything and everything he could get his little claws on. Then, when my daughter-in-law began babysitting my daughter Spike finally left my household, but my daughter would bring him home at every opportunity she had, and my vision of him became ever more hateful. That is until he began to develop more and more and showcase what I even forgot he was: a dragon."

"Each time I saw him all I saw was a potential killer and a monster biding his time to hurt my baby girl. But... but I began seeing Shining and Twilight playing with him so peacefully. Cadance treating him just as she treated my Twilight. Celestia doting her protection over them equally. At how my own wife treated the nasty, ugly, ghastly little reptile no different than her own children. And how the bond between him and my daughter grew each day... I came to the realization of the immense mistake I had made with Spike. And by the time I tried to fix the damage, it was already too late. My son left for the Academy and my daughter was given her own tower in the Castle, and so where she went, Spike followed. After that, I was lucky to see them about three times per year for the following ten years. I tried to get close to Spike, and to some degree, I succeeded."

Night Light stopped for a moment to take a deep sigh. "He would always call me 'Uncle Night', never Dad. Not even once.Not even by some slip of the tongue or by accident, unlike with my dear Velvet whom I caught him call her Mom or Auntie Mom a fair number of times when he was but a hatchling and during his early years as my daughter's assistant. And when they moved to Ponyville I knew I had lost any chance there was to be the father figure Spike always lacked," Night Light frowned. "To think that absolute bastard dared to call Spike his one true son...," Night Light took in a deep breath. "... and that Spike had to call him father even if he had to keep his cover... I cannot begin to tell you how wrong that is to me."

Night Light turned his attention to the open coffin to see it empty.

"And now all I can say is... I'm sorry, Spike. I'm sorry I was never the father you deserved. I'm sorry it took me so long to see past my own mistakes. And I'm sorry... I'm sorry to have never called you 'Son'."

Night Light left the podium and walked over to his seat and sat down, refusing to cry even as tears were glistening in his eyes. He saw Celestia now take the podium and he looked at the picture of the young Spike. Two trickles of tears made their way down and past his cheeks.

End.

Author's Note

Special thanks to everyone that read this!

*Disclaimer: I do not own in any way, shape, or form Fear Not This Night from Guild Wars 2, written by the great and talented Jereme Soule and masterfully sang by Asja Kadric. All props to them.*