Author's Note

Sorry for such a short chapter

Losing Hope

Twilight flew around the map room with papers covering the floor, books stacked up on each other, and a chalkboard that was covered in notes. There were large red X’s on random parts of the map along with dozens of empty coffee mugs. She levitated Spike’s diary and flipped through the pages for the hundredth time that day. The door creaked open and multiple hoofsteps hit the crystal floor.

“Twilight?” A soft voice asked. Twilight whipped her head around to see her friends standing there. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had dried tears on her cheeks. Her hair was a mess and she had heavy bags under her eyes. She looked noticeably skinnier too.

“Oh hi girls.” Twilight said, flipping through another book. She shook her head and dropped the book on to the floor. ”No no he can’t be there.” She whispered to herself. Her friends exchanged worried glances at each other.

“Twilight darling, when was the last time that you slept?” Rarity asked, levitating a dirty mug.

“I haven’t slept since Spike ran away.” Twilight stated while writing something down on the chalkboard. All of her friends eyes widened.

“Twilight, Spike’s been gone for three weeks.” Rainbow Dash said in disbelief. Twilight let out a soft hum in understanding, looking back on the map.

“What are you doing?” Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight picked up a piece of paper from off of the floor.

“I took all of the books and papers from Spike’s room to see if I can find any clues on where he went. So far I’ve found nothing.” Twilight stated as she picked a piece of paper off of the ground. Applejack walked over to her and put her hoof on Twilights chest.

“Take a deep breath breath in and let it out slowly.” Applejack commanded. Twilight slowly inhaled before letting out a long breath.

“Feeling better?” Applejack asked. Twilight nodded her head. Twilight let out a sigh.

“I haven’t taken a break in a while, thanks girls.” Twilight thanked while rubbing her temple. She looked around.

“This place is a mess.” Twilight realized. She tried levitate a book, only for her magic to flicker and fail.

“You’re so tired that your magic isn’t working properly. Get some rest dear.” Rarity stated. Twilight shook her head.

“I made this mess so I’ll clean it up.” Twilight protested. Fluttershy flew over to Twilight and pulled her into a hug.

“We’ll clean this all up. Just relax and take a nap.” Fluttershy said, petting her mane like she would do to calm down her animals. Twilight let out a sigh, knowing that she couldn’t win this argument. She let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

“Fine, fine. Goodnight girls.” Twilight said as she walked towards the door. Her friends said there goodnights and the large door closed. They all listened to Twilights hoofsteps get quieter and quieter until it was completely silent. Rainbow Dash picked up a few brooms and handed them out.

“Have any of you heard any new about Spike?” Rainbow Dash asked. Everyone shook there heads.

“What if Spikey Wikey never comes back?” Rarity asked, levitating all of the coffee mugs that off of the map. Applejack shrugged her shoulders.

“Is that really such a bad thing?” Applejack asked while picking up a book. Her friends stared at her as if she had three heads.

“He’s our friend, why wouldn’t you want him to come back?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I’m just saying that Spike really wanted to leave. We didn’t treat him well and he left on his own terms. I miss him but it was his choice to leave. If he wanted to come back then he would’ve.” Applejack explained as she swept the floor. All of her friends looked at each other. She was right. If he wanted to come back, he would have a while ago. He’s been gone for almost a month and showed no sign of returning.

“You’re right darling, I just hope the he’s alright.” Rarity said with a sigh.

Twilight walked through the Everfree Forest, looking around. It was dark and cold, making a chill run up her spine. It was eerily quiet. Usually she could hear birds chirping or frogs croaking but it was just silent. The ground was moist, squishing with each step.

“Hello?!” Twilight shouted, hoping to find someone. A branch snapped, making her turn around. Spike stood a few feet away, making Twilight smile.

“Thank Celestia I found you.” Twilight said, letting out a breath of relief. Spike stared at her with cold, unforgiving eyes.

”I hate you.” Spike muttered. Twilights ears flattened against her head and she blinked in surprise.

“You don’t mean that.” Twilight said, taking a step forward. Spike snarled and took a step back.

“Don’t get near me!” Spike shouted, his voice booming. Twilight stumbled back.

“You had one job and it was to raise a dragon. You failed at it and look what you did. You lost me forever. You failed!” Spike exclaimed. Twilights eyes filled with tears and she shook her head.

“I didn’t mean to disappoint you. I’ll be better I promise, just please come back home.” Twilight begged. Spike shook his head.

“You already had your chance and you messed it up.” Spike said, anger flashing in his eyes. “You’re a failure Twilight Sparkle.” He said before walking into the dark forest. Twilight tried to run after him, but the ground was suddenly sticky. Her hooves were stuck. She tried to scream his name but her lips had been sown shut.

”Failure, FAILURE, FAILURE!” Chanted around her. It got louder and louder before Twilight broke down into a fit of sobs.

Twilight sat straight up, breathing heavily. Tears dripped down her cheeks. She looked around to see that she was in her room.

“Just a dream...” Twilight muttered to herself as she wiped the tears from her face. She looked at the clock on her night stand. She had only been asleep for a three hours. Her stomach growled loudly.

“When was the last time I ate?” She asked herself. She got out of bed and let her hooves hit the cold floor. She walked out of her room, letting out a yawn. She sniffed the air to smell something good. It made her stomach growl louder than before. She walked a little faster, following the delicious scent. She ended up in the kitchen to see her friends setting up a meal. Pinkie Pie ran up to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

“We made you dinner. Fluttershy made soup, Rarity made deviled eggs, Applejack made fritters, I made cupcakes and Rainbow Dash sat in the corner so she couldn’t light anything on fire!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. She placed Twilight in a chair and gave her a bowl of soup. It was tomato soup with basil leaves in it. Twilight picked up a spoon and started to eat the soup.

“This is delicious!” Twilight exclaimed happily. She continued to eat the soup a little too quickly.

“Twilight we’ve been discussing and we think that we shouldn’t look for Spike anymore.” Fluttershy stated. Twilights eyes widened and she inhaled her soup, choking on it a bit. Once she regained her composure she gave them a distressed look.

“Why, he’s still out there somewhere!” Twilight exclaimed, standing up from her seat.

“Creatures have been looking for him since the day he went missing and still can’t find him.” Rainbow Dash said. Rarity butted in.

“He purposely drank a potion so we couldn’t track him down with his magic, if he truly wanted to come back, he would have been here already.” Rarity explained. Twilight looked down at the table, sputtering a bit.

“B-but the last time he ran away he almost got himself killed!” Twilight exclaimed, tearing up.

“That was years ago, he’s a lot stronger and smarter now. He knows how to keep himself out of trouble.” Applejack said. Twilight thought for a moment. They were all right. Spike left on his own and didn’t show any signs on leaving. He didn’t want to come back and bringing him back would make him hate her more. Twilight let out a sigh and sat back down on to the chair.

“I guess you girls are right...” Twilight said dejectedly. She levitated a deviled egg and sadly bit into it. Her friends surrounded her and pulled her into a group hug.

“I just hope Spike is safe, wherever he is.”