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                          Warmth                           
                    -by MathematicPony-                    
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It was cold.
In Ponyville, it was the dead middle of Winter, the insistent chill and frostbitten ground driving ponies into their homes. The Weather Team had scheduled snow, the windless night leaving the slowly falling flakes to coat everything in a pure white.
Eventually, the snow ceased to fall, leaving a soundless night in its wake, the stars glowing brightly, as the Moon softly lit the way for a group of six ponies walking side by side with a large dragon.
They trudged wordlessly through the snow, huddling against each other, as they made their way to their destination; a quiet clearing in the Everfree. For once, the forest was silent, peaceful even, as the seven friends entered the clearing.
They all stopped, and slowly turned to one another, trying to make the moment last just a little bit longer.
But it was time.
Fluttershy let out a slight sniffle. Then, the dam broke.
Not a dry eye was present, not that of the tough-as-nails Applejack, nor even Spike himself, whom the ponies had locked into a strong, group hug.
Gradually, the tears stopped flowing, and Spike looked down at them, his friends. All but two of them were able to pull themselves away from him.
Two large clawed hands rested upon the backs of both the pony who had cared for him as her own, and the pony who stole his heart. As he gazed at each of them, and they gazed back, his memories flashed by: memories of his companion since birth, Twilight, who he was with nearly all the time, memories of the white unicorn who smiled at him lovingly.
His view expanded to the rest of the ponies who were looking at him expectantly. They really were a strange group of friends, but they all fit together perfectly. The kind caretaker, who was still sniffling. The pink party animal who was smiling sadly at him. The honest apple farmer, not even trying to hide the tears in her eyes. The loyal Wonderbolt, trying to act tough, and failing miserably.
He had grown up with these ponies. They had shaped him into who he was today, and accepted him as one of them. They were more like family to him than his own kind was. He had spent many years with them, but now, it was time to say goodbye.
The clearing was almost completely silent, aside from the occasional woodland critter straying abnormally close to the seven friends. It was as if the forest itself was mourning.
A stray breeze blew upon Pinkie’s gravity-defying mane, causing it to lean backwards slightly, then bounce back up.
“W–we’re gonna miss ya! But hey, at least we get to spend this one l–last party with you!”
Despite Pinkie's attitude, her friends could hear the sadness escaping into her normally cheery voice.
Surprisingly enough, Fluttershy spoke next.
“T–thank you. For helping me get over my fear of dragons, I mean. Oh, I can’t believe that this is the very same b–baby dragon who I met in Ponyville so many years ago! We’re going to miss you very much.”
Clearing her throat to dismiss the tightness gathering there, Rainbow Dash looked up at the dragon.
“Where do I start… You were always such a great sport when Pinks and I played pranks on you. And I’m not going to forget our flying sessions any time soon…”
She finally broke down, a lone tear sliding down her cyan coat.
“I’ll miss you, kid.”
Applejack seemed to be contemplating something, looking up at the stars, but then spoke, her eyes bright and warm.
“Y’all are one of the best friends a pony could have. Ah don’t rightly know if we’re ever gonna see ya again, but we’ll always have ya in our hearts.”
She gave a slight smile, her sincerity shining through.
“And that’s the honest truth.”
Spike smiled at them, but the moment was interrupted as Twilight temporarily lost her balance, and her Element of Harmony toppled from her head. Spike, of course, caught the falling relic, and placed it atop its perch, where it normally resided. Twilight had become accustomed to wearing her Element at all times, as was expected from royalty.
Despite her still somewhat new life as an Alicorn Princess, and that she would very likely survive until Spike came back, saying goodbye was still one of the hardest things she had ever done. To think that she would outlive all her friends, that she would be the only one left when Spike returned… It was unbearable.
“Spike, my baby dragon, all grown up now, off to take the first of his century long naps. I–I know that most of us probably won’t be here when you get back, but I want you to know that you will always, –always– be my number one assistant, and that we all love you very much.”
Rarity closed her eyes in thought, reminiscing. The majority of her most cherished memories were of her five best friends and this dragon. Spike had accomplished many great feats, including becoming the Equestrian ambassador and making peace with the gryphons, but there was one achievement that Rarity appreciated the most. This wonderful amazing dragon, who she was proud to call her love, had, through years of persistence, wormed his way into her heart.
“Spikey, y–you– I– … Oh, I’m going to miss you so much! Y–you’ve made these years bearable; after all, I am getting older. It’s hard to believe that this is my Spikey-Wikey here with us, but, all the same, we knew this time would come. I–I will always love you, Spike.”
She nuzzled him, and he nuzzled back.
Twilight smiled at the exchange, and then shivered slightly as another breeze blew by. Spike noticed and held the two of them even closer.
Twilight sighed, and all the ponies gathered around the focus of their attention.
Spike closed his eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling the cold forest air, trying to mentally gather himself. He heard the soft pitter-patter of forest creatures burrowing in their homes. He heard the telltale gurgling of a nearby stream. He smelled the fresh pine of the forest.
He felt the warmth of his friends.
"The truth is, I'm not ready to go. I–I can't imagine life without all of you. My friends. But my dragon instincts are pulling me from you. I promise that if I, I don't know, get insomnia or something, I'll come back and visit!"
For a split second, the pure happiness returned to Pinkie's eyes, mischeif leaking into her smile.
"Pinkie Promise?"
Spike smiled at the nostalgia.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
The phrase brought with it memories of days past, and together, they all shared their last laugh, with even Fluttershy chuckling uncontrollably.
As the laughter slowly petered out, the silence once more made itself known.
Rainbow Dash's sensitive ears twitched as they picked up an unidentifyable sizzling sound, as if the air around them was heating up.
"Hey, uh, do you guys hear that?"
Pinkie's head jolted up, now noticing the same thing.
"Whoa, yeah! That's weird!"
Applejack simply figured it was the two of them playing one last prank or something.
"What're you two goin' on about now? Wait... Ah hear it too!"
Twilight, who had been lost in thought, realized she was missing something important.
"Wait, what noi–"
There was a blinding flash of light, and a collective gasp was heard. The tension was palpable, for the Elements of Harmony had materialized themselves onto all of the ponies. The last time they had appeared like that was when they were first used to release Luna from Nightmare Moon’s grasp. Every time after that event the ponies had to manually put them on in order to use them.
Twilight and Rarity pulled themselves away from Spike and backed away into the circle of ponies that had formed around the  dragon, uncertainty and confusion etched into their features.
“Wha–“
Twilight barely managed to get out half a word before a polychromatic light slowly drew from Pinkie’s Element, and laced through the Elements of the rest of the ponies, before connecting with Twilight’s crown. It was a strangly beautiful sight.
For the first time in a while, pure white light bursted forth from Twilight's eyes, and the rainbow colored light attributed to the Elements of Harmony expanded through the circle, washing over Spike.
Twilight experienced the feeling of being pulled through a rip in the dimension –not unlike the ones she opened to teleport with– but the feeling did not pass. Instead, she opened her eyes, and found herself and Spike to be in a familiar setting.
For the second time in her life, Twilight found herself in a mostly-empty space, with excerpts from her life floating through the air, playing out before her eyes.
She was back in the place where she was transformed into an Alicorn, except this time, there was one major difference; not only was her own life projected onto the swirling mist of the area, Spike’s was as well.
Twilight had a strange sense of déjà vu as she observed Celestia once more walking out of the mist towards her and Spike.
“I imagine you’re a bit confused.”
“Uh, Princess…” Twilight paused to carefully consider what she was about to say. “You’re not going to turn Spike into a princess…right?”
“Of course not, that would be silly! I myself was quite surprised when I found myself whisked out of my council meeting to join you here. I was not expecting to return to this place for at least a thousand years!”
“Uh…”
“Ease your mind, my dear Twilight; I’ve figured out a way to slightly increase the time Spike has until he must slumber.”
Spike simply stood there, not daring to hope.
Twilight breathed deeply, trying to calm her racing heart.
“Really? We can do that?”
“Yes. You see, because ponies are often so separated from dragons, there aren’t many opportunities to test out magic for them. However, I do believe I’ve found a spell than can temporarily suppress Spike’s dragon instincts, allowing him more time before he must take his leave. But you must know that I can only truly guaranty him another fifteen or twenty years.”
Spike shifted his large form slightly, and turned towards Celestia.
“I’ll take any time I can get.”
Celestia nodded.
“Very well. Twilight, I must warn you that this is a fairly difficult spell, and I am going to need your help, although I’m certain that the two of us can do it. It involves turning certain aspects of his innate magic into its inverse. I do not know how much experience you have manipulating others’ magic, but it tends to get rather difficult with dragons. Simply feel out his magic, and try to reverse it. It will feel a bit like an inside-out motion.”
Twilight took another deep breath before turning to Celestia.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
The moment those words were spoken, two dim specks of light flew out Twilight’s and Celestia’s horns, before growing exponentially into a dazzling radiance. It danced around Spike, before finally wrapping around him, with a shower of sparks descending from the strictly controlled magic as it whisked through the air.
Spike was completely silent through this, aside from a small squeak he would never admit to producing. Just before the light completely obscured his vision, he got a glimpse of Twilight, with her brow furrowed and her eyes closed in concentration.
Twilight had never before been so grateful for her ability to focus so well. There was so much magic, and it was so unfamiliar!
She felt Celestia’s magic gently guiding her to the specific magic they needed to alter. Together, then began their strange task. Apparently, saying it was difficult was an understatement on Celestia’s part. Spike’s magic was resistant, and often skirted just out of her own magic’s grasp.
She felt her concentration begin to slip a little bit –nearly going into full on panic mode– but she once again felt Celestia’s magic guide her back to the task and help her calm down.
The portion of Spike’s magic slowly but surely began to transform, and before long, it was complete. Twilight felt Celestia prod at her consciousness to alert her it was done, and they relinquished their grip on the magic.
Twilight felt the strange sensation of teleportation finally fade, hypothesizing that they had once again been released back to the clearing in the Everfree.
The light faded further, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Twilight noticed that her friends were all staring at the scene with rapt attention.
Concern, disbelief, but mostly confusion, had taken over the minds of the ponies who were not there to hear Celestia’s explanation.
“What jus’ happened?”
Twilight simply stood and stared at Spike, until her inner teacher forced her to launch into an explanation –half on autopilot– despite the fact that she was still in a bit of a daze.
“Do you remember when I told you about how I became an Alicorn?”
“Yes, Ah do.”
“Well, Spike and I were transported to that same place, alongside Celestia. She said… well… She said that she had finally figured out a way to prolong the time remaining until he had to sleep, and together we performed a spell she invented on Spike… Spike...”
Twilight suddenly snapped out of it, her motherly instincts forcing themselves to the surface.
“SPIKE!” She whirled around. “Are you okay?!”
Spike was sitting down with Rarity and Fluttershy worriedly fussing over him, trying to make sure he wasn’t injured in any way.
Rainbow was simply frozen with her eyes wide and her jaw on the ground, with Pinkie frantically waving a hoof in front of Dash’s eyes.
“GUYS, I THINK WE BROKE DASHIE!”
Rainbow Dash seemed to get a grip on her surprise, as she then picked her jaw up off the floor and announced that she was perfectly fine.
Spike finally spoke up, albeit, rather slowly.
“Sh–she said I still have fifteen or twenty more years with you guys.”
Spike was still in shock, and could not properly prepare for the flurry of bodies flying towards him at top speeds, one of them nearly breaking the sound barrier. He heard the magnificent sound of simultaneous crying and laughter, his friends pressed up against him.
A warmth grew inside of him until he too joined the tumultuous, but indescribably joyful, noise making.
All was well, at least for now.