Many years later…

Spike stretched, his back cricking as he entered the Canterlot throne room. “I got here as soon as I could,” he said to the two alicorns sitting on the thrones. “But heading the Council of Friendship is a full-time job these days.” He shook his head. “Do you have any idea how many times the Abyssians and Diamond Dogs get into scuffles?”

Star Wing - older and larger than before - rolled her electric green eyes. “And here I thought we were past the whole ‘cats hate dogs’ dilemma.” She shrugged. “That is to say… they are getting past it.”

“Oh, yeah, don’t get me wrong,” Spike clarified quickly. “We sorted everything out in the end. But still…”

“You’ve always been reliable for jobs like that, Spike,” an equally older and larger Twilight replied. “But I’m still glad you could come.”

“You kidding?” Spike asked with a grin. “No way I’d miss out on seeing everyone again. I know we do this every month, but it feels just as good every time.”

“Might be even better this time,” Star replied, hopping off her throne and fluttering over to Spike. Leaning over conspiratorially, she whispered, “Diamondback’s out of therapy.”

Spike gasped. “You mean… she’s coming with Phoenix this time?”

Star nodded eagerly, before Twilight cleared her throat politely.

“Before you two go off to see her,” Twilight asked, “I was hoping you’d be able to help me with something.”

Spike quickly contained his excitement and turned back to his sister. “Whatever you need,” Spike said.

“We are at your service,” Star said with a flamboyant bow.

Twilight chuckled. “You know you don’t need to do that, Star.”

“I know,” Star replied. “I do it because I want to. So, what’s the situation?”

Twilight looked back towards the entrance. “Well… ever since I took over Celestia’s school, my focus has been on teaching magic.” She nodded at the door as a pink and gold unicorn was let in by an older Gallus. “But now it seems my top student has missed the most important lesson of all.”

Curious, Star and Spike turned their gaze to the unicorn, who bowed before all three of them.

“Your Majesties,” the unicorn whispered.

Twilight chuckled. “Luster, I’m still just your teacher.”

“And you’ve been wonderful,” Luster said. “I’ve enjoyed every moment at the School of Magic. But… I’m just not sure if it’s the right place for me.”

Spike and Star glanced at each other. “Any reason why?” Star asked.

“It’s just…” Luster sighed. “There’s a lot of focus on making friends, and…”

“And you’d rather just work than talk to people, right?” Star noted.

“What?” Spike asked in shock. “That’s…”

Twilight nudged him into silence, noticing the sheepish look on Luster’s face. “So you’d rather leave the School of Magic than make friends?”

“I was hoping to set up an independent course of study,” Luster explained. “I want to accomplish as much as you have someday.”

Spike chuckled. “That’ll be hard to do without friends.”

“What do you mean?” Luster asked. “Friendship looks more like a distraction than anything else.”

“Then why do you suppose Twilight and I rule together?” Star asked.

Luster blushed. “O-Oh! Oh, goodness, I didn’t…”

“And why do you think she has a royal advisor to fall back on?” Spike noted.

Luster went bright red. “Uh…”

Star snickered. “Yep,” she noted. “That’s top student material, alright.”

Twilight, for her part, smiled benignly, before approaching Luster. “I think I can handle her from here,” she said, nodding in gratitude to Spike and Star. “Tell Diamondback I said hello.”

“Will do,” Spike replied, before he and Star set out for their usual meeting spot.

As the two headed to their spot, they passed by a few friends:

Astral and Aurora were pushing a pair of baby carriages, one pink and one blue, each with an egg in them. The two had changed a little with age: Astral was now wearing a fancy tunic with a red and purple trim, and sporting a beard similar to his spines. Aurora, meanwhile, wore a light blue dress with a white snowflake pattern and green trim.

As they passed each other, Spike and Astral shook hands (using a special handshake they had come up with a few years ago), while Star and Aurora hugged before continuing on their respective paths.

They then passed by Gabby, who winked at Spike, while Spike winked back.

“Spike, what have I said about…” Star tried to scold.

But Spike grinned back at her. “Oh, I’m definitely not too young,” he said. “Just ask her about what we got up to last night.”

Star’s jaw hit the floor. “Spike, you DIDN’T!”

Spike merely grinned and kept going. Star - despite her princess demeanor - began cackling in sheer delight.

“Does this mean I can finally share all my sex jokes with you?” she asked.

Spike paled. “Wait, what?”

“Don’t think I won’t!” Star teased. “I don’t care if I’m a princess, I got plenty. Okay, for starters…”

“Is someone talking about jokes?” a familiar voice called out, before Pinkie bounced up alongside them and covered Star’s mouth. “Don’t you even try it, Starry; he’s too young for that.”

“I’m not…” Spike then realized she was actually talking about the colt perched on her back. “Oh.”

“Cute, isn’t he?” Pinkie asked in delight. “Meet Cheese Caken Pie… that’ll be ‘Lil Cheese’ to his friends.”

The colt waved at them with a delighted coo.

“He may be Lil Cheese,” Star replied, conjuring a jester hat and putting it on his head, “But he’s gotta ‘Lotta’ style.”

Star and Pinkie shared a laugh with each other, before Pinkie bounced off. Spike, meanwhile, noticed a familiar draconequus spiraling away from Canterlot.

“Hey, Discord,” Spike greeted. “Happy anniversary to you and Fluttershy. Ten years next month, right?

“Indeed,” Discord spun happily in the air, forming a heart with his body. “Hard to believe the ‘good deeds’ thing would grow on me so much. I’ve kept at it even though I’ve been back to strength for five years now.”

“Well, it can’t be THAT hard to believe,” Spike noted. “Doing good just feels good.”

“Hm, maybe,” Discord teased. “Oh, but speaking of good deeds…” he snapped his fingers and conjured up a camera. “Maybe I can take a picture of you with everyone together. Save you some money in hiring a photographer.”

Spike nodded. “I’ll make sure our friends and Twilight’s friends are in the same place for that.”

“Then it’s a date,” He conjured up a literal date-raisin and tossed it to Spike. “And I’m not talking about those little meetings you’ve been having with that griffon hen.” Winking, Discord spiraled away with a chortle, leaving Spike and Star to finally reach their meeting spot.

Swift was already there, checking a pocket watch, before his eyes brightened at the sight of his friends.

“Star! Spike!” he called out, rushing over to hug them both. Though he gave Spike a stern look. “What’s this I’ve been hearing about Gabby meeting with you in secret?”

“You’re not jealous, are you?” Spike asked, partially worried.

“I’m not, but Hawke is,” Swift replied. He fluffed his feathers and smoothed his crest back. “She pretty much wanted me to let you know that you better treat her right or… y’know, classic overprotective surrogate sister stuff.”

“Aw, she cares after all,” Star pretended to wipe a tear away. “I’m so proud of her.”

“Yeah, the griffons have been getting a lot better,” Swift said, before noticing someone else. “What about the sea serpents, Jackknife? How’re they doing?”

They turned to greet Jackknife, who launched over the tree tops and glomped Spike, Star and Swift in a massive bear hug.

“Not as good as I am,” Jackknife replied, swinging them around happily. “OOOH, I missed you guys!”

“Dude, it’s only been a month,” Star groaned as he squeezed her ribs.

Spike, however, picked Jackknife up and spun him as well. “Don’t matter,” he said. “It’s just great to see you guys again.”

Jackknife released them, looking around. “Now where’s DB? I know Phi said she was coming. She’d be a pretty crappy Element of Honesty if she lied about that.”

“Now-now, give her some time,” Swift replied, checking his watch again. “They’ve still got another few minutes before our scheduled meeting time.”

Jackknife rolled his eyes. “Ugh, and here I thought Spike was gonna become the schedule fanatic.”

“Oh, no,” Spike laughed. “That’s the last thing you want to be when keeping a bunch of different species representatives together. Especially the ones that were raised with a lot more freedom on the outskirts.”

Jackknife cackled. “Guys after my own heart. But I will tell you, ever since Queen Sky Star took over, things have been getting so much better in Sequestria. She and Storm are a good match.”

“A little surprising, given the rumors I heard about Storm…” Swift mused, though he raised his hands when Jackknife turned to him. “But, I’m sure they’re doing very well keeping things peaceful with the sea serpents and hippogriffs.”

“I’ll say,” Spike replied. “The reps for both are never too far away from each other. One day, I swear, they’ll be proposing marriage.”

As laughs rang out, he finally noticed Phoenix, gently pulling Diamondback by the hand.

Though as Diamondback gazed upon her former friends, Spike’s smile evaporated at how sad she looked:

Her usual diamond decorations were gone, leaving her scales with far less sparkle to them. Her extravagant robes and scarves were gone, causing her to look smaller and more vulnerable. And there was a broken light in her blue eyes like cracked gemstones.

As Spike walked over to her, the others noticed her state as well. Concerned looks grew across all their faces as they converged on Diamondback.

“DB?” Star asked. “Aw, baby, what happened?”

“I thought Phoenix said the therapy was working for ya,” Jackknife said.

“Wait, everyone back up,” Swift warned, noticing how Diamondback flinched. “She needs space.”

Spike obeyed, helping keep Star and Jack back, but Diamondback still looked like they were about to beat on her. Phoenix pat her shoulder before glancing at the others.

“Sorry, guys,” she said. “I should’ve been more clear: the therapy has been helping, and she was curious in seeing you again, but…”

Diamondback looked down, and tears slid down her face. “I… I…”

Spike took a chance and got closer, reaching out for her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay, DB,” he said. “You came back.”

Diamondback gazed up at Spike. Something like approval shined behind the shattered light in her eyes. “You were stronger than me, Spike,” she said. “You held all that magic… all that power… and still managed to use it for good.” She looked down at her hands. “I got it all, and…” She started shaking her head again.

Phoenix gripped her shoulder. “DB, don’t go back into that place,” she warned.

“Why?” Diamondback whispered. “How can any of you forgive me? How can you possibly want me back?” She started backing away. “I should’ve let Pyrite go in my place.”

“DB,” Phoenix said more sternly. “You know Pyrite would never accept that. She doesn’t want to be remembered as just your sister. She’s off to make her own identity.”

“And besides,” Spike added. “No offense to Pyrite, but we don’t want some knockoff version of you.” He took Diamondback’s hand and gripped it. “We want the real you. Scuffed scales and all.”

“But I…” Diamondback gazed up at him with sorrow. “I made so many mistakes. I lost myself to the Greed, I…” She held Spike’s hand. “I tried to hurt you, Spike.”

Spike smiled at her. “But you also did more than that. You helped me learn who I really was.”

Jackknife stepped up. “You gave me a chance to be a fighter.”

Swift joined him. “You helped me discover who my real family was.”

Star hugged her. “You gave me sanctuary when I thought I was unwanted.”

Phoenix smiled. “And you helped give me hope during the darkest time of my life.”

Spike nodded. “We’ve all come a long way, Diamondback. But we only did so because you gave us a place to rest, to learn and to grow. Don’t lose sight of that.”

Diamondback gazed around at them all… before falling into their arms, sobbing in utter relief.

The six friends stood together, hugging each other closely.

When Diamondback recovered enough to speak, her voice was still choked by emotion. “I-I was so scared… you wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore.”

Phoenix sighed. “All those times I told you, and you never listen…”

Spike chuckled himself. “Friendships are hard,” he admitted. “And it’ll take a lot of work to maintain them. But without them… life’s a lot harder.”

Diamondback sighed. “I thought I understood that. But even back then, I mostly only knew friendship as a source of power. I didn’t… I don’t feel I truly understood it.” She gazed at Spike with gratitude. “Not until you and your friends arrived on my doorstep, Spike.” She hugged him. “Thank you. Thank you for making the life of this old dragoness… a very happy one.”

Spike hugged her back. “And thank you.” He looked to the others. “Thank you all. Without you guys…”

“I imagine your trip to the Dragon Lands might’ve turned out pretty different,” Star offered.

“I’ll say,” Jackknife noted. “I can’t imagine you going all this way and meeting someone like that brother o’ Smolder’s.”

“He has gotten a little better since he and Smolder were able to make that beatnik band,” Phoenix noted with a grin. “Smolder invited DB and me to one of their shows; they’re really good!”

Spike brightened. “Well, you’ll need to tell us all about it. C’mon!” He led the way back towards Canterlot. “I promised Discord he’d get a picture of us with Twilight and her friends.”

“Can’t we invite Astral and Aurora along the way?” Phoenix asked.

“Why not?” Star replied. “Starlight and Sunset’s daughter Luster is gonna be there; same for Pinkie’s kid Lil Cheese.” She glanced teasingly at Spike. “Should I invite Gabby as well, Spike? You sure you haven’t made some eggs with her already?”

“Don’t make me start wishing for your ‘I’m too young’ gag again,” Spike groaned even though he was smiling.

“Why not?” Star asked. “I imagine Gabby’d be great at making omelets.”

“Oh, good heavens, Star!” Diamondback exclaimed. “Be careful with those kinds of jokes; half of us are egg-layers after all.”

“I’m pretty sure I can make eggs too,” Star replied. “I did spend enough time as a dragon.” She nudged Swift, Jack and Spike. “What d’you guys say? Wanna help me test it out? I bet I can make some really great eggs over-easy.”

“Okay, that’s a little better,” Diamondback replied.

“Then how about something not egg-related,” Star replied. “Like this one time I brought a donkey and a honeycomb into a tavern…”

As Star began to tell her story, the sad energy faded from Diamondback as she watched her friends laugh and joke around, and Spike took in a long, satisfied breath.

For once, there didn’t seem to be any tension in the air. No surprise adventures waiting to whisk them away into chaos and conflict.

For once, all truly seemed well in the world.

Author's Note

And at last, we reach the conclusion to this story.

Thank you everyone; AstralFlare42 for your characters, Comickook and nightshroud96 for your steadfast comments and feedback. All of you made this a very fun and investing experience.

I had a great time sharing Star, Jack, Swift, Phoenix and DB with you guys, and while it will be a while before I can come up with another fic to share on this site, I'm still really glad I took a chance with these characters and shared an idea that I've had on my mind for a while since joining this community.

Until next time, my friends. 👋