Spike could feel his eyes beginning to open, which allowed him to see that he was resting in a hospital bed. He got up from laying on the pillow and saw his bed was surrounded by Twilight and the others. Each one looked tired, as though they had stayed there for hours.

Twilight slowly began to wake up and noticed Spike awake, which threw her fatigue out the window. "Spike!" cried Twilight hugging her surrogate little brother as her yell seemed to wake the others up.

"Spikey-Wikey!" cried Rarity giving him a hug that he seemed to melt into.

"Good to see ya up!" replied Applejack putting her hat back on.

"Yeah, this calls for a party!" cried Pinkie already planning for supplies.

"I'm glad your alright." whispered Fluttershy, glad to see the baby dragon alright.

"That was awesome! How did you do all those cool moves?" asked Rainbow Dash as they all quieted down to hear him explain.

"Well, one day while I was dusting the shelves, I came across the book where it explained the history of the dragon slayers. When I began to read it, I thought it would be awesome to learn this kinda stuff. I know I should have gone to you Twilight, but I wanted to prove to you and everyone else that I could get strong when I need to." replied Spike.

Twilight smiled at Spike with pride and wiped a stray tear she had for happiness off her face.

Before anymore joyous celebration could commence, Celestia walked into the room followed by Luna.

"Spike, I'm happy to see you are alright. It seems all you did was exhaust yourself out." replied Celestia with news that calmed everyone. "However, there is another matter that needs attending to." replied Celestia.

All seven of them were quiet to hear what the news was.

"Spike." Spike let out an audible gulp before she continued. "You are needed at once." replied Celestia with a grim look on her face.

Spike looked down at the supposed bad news and climbed off the bed before following Celestia. Luna stayed behind with a noticeable grin on her face.

"Princess Luna, why are you smiling?" asked Twilight who didn't see how the time called for it.

"Well, young Spike is actually..."

"I'm being knighted?!" exclaimed Spike who was currently looking at the crystal empire citizens as they cheered his name.

"Indeed. Your actions today have proven how much older you have grown. You put your life at risk to save your friends, and even a kingdom you barely knew. For that, I hereby grant you the title of Equestrian Dragon Knight!" Celestia spoke out with enough force for the entire crowd to hear.

They immediately shook the very kingdom with their cheers as they continued to say his name.

Spike felt honored and was literally speechless. "I-I-I don't know what to say." replied Spike who did the only thing he could do. He walked over to Celestia and hugged her legs. Celestia smiled at this and returned it by laying one of her wings on his back.

It was at this moment that Twilight and the others came over and smiled at Spike with proud looks on their faces.

Spike returned the smile before hugging Twilight. She hugged back as the crowd continued cheering for Spike.

(1 week later)

We now find the mane six getting ready to board the train as they were merely waiting to say goodbye to Spike. Now that he had a position that was equal to Shining Armor's position, Celestia insisted that he stay for a little bit to know the basics of what his position entailed.

Luckily he would merely be gone for a few weeks. So they didn't have to worry about not seeing him forever.

Speaking of said dragon, He was currently walking towards the train station with Shining beside him as Spike was currently wearing a uniform to promote his position. It was merely a re-sized uniform identical to Shinings, except the red areas were purple, and the spots where it showed the cutie mark now had the symbol of a dragon's claw surrounded by green flames.

"Isn't that Spike, the hero who single-handedly stopped King Sombra?" asked one mare to her friend while Spike and Shining were passing by.

"Yeah, I heard he's real young, but they gave him a position equal to the captain of the royal guards!" gushed her friend in excitement.

"Young, talented, and cute? Sign me up any day." replied the first mare sending a wink Spike's way.

Spike could tell he was blushing and rubbed the back of his head while Shining chuckled. "Seems like someones quite the catch to the ladies." replied Shining giving him a gentle nudge.

The two of them soon made it to the station where Twilight and others were waiting. After giving her brother a hug goodbye, Twilight and the others turned to Spike. "Make sure to write to me everyday, alright?"

"Don't worry Twilight." replied Spike with a confident tone. Twilight smiled with tears in her eyes and gave Spike a hug with the others joining in.

All six of them soon bordered the train and waved goodbye to Spike as the train began to leave.

"See ya everyone!" yelled Spike as he waited til the train was out of sight before turning to Shining.

"Well, let's get started." replied Spike who was eager to learn right away.

Shining smiled and led the young dragon towards the castle. Spike turned back to where the train had gone and gave one more thought before following Shining.

'Don't worry everyone. I'll be back. And better than ever!'

Author's Notes:

well people, i hope you liked the epilogue. I was thinking of doing a sequel to this, but I had originally intended to just do a one shot. So until I can decide, I'll leave the story as completed. If you have any suggestions you would like to see, simply send them to me via comment, or message.