Teardrops and Snowflakes

Chapter Two

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes were already open as Celestia’s sun was cresting the mountaintops of the land, and she sighed in frustration. Sleep had refused to take her that night, and while she didn’t feel any adverse affects right now, probably thanks to her nap at Rarity’s, she knew that later in the day she would regret it.

Her frustration was short lived though; the waiting was over!

As this thought occurred to her, a delighted grin materialized on her features and her magic went into overdrive as she began to groom herself, pack more items into her already packed saddlebags, clean the library, and fix breakfast simultaneously.

The packing and cleaning, however, were more out of habit than anything. Twilight had cleaned the library the evening before and she and Rarity had already packed the ‘essentials,’ which, according to Rarity, were thirty different outfits, a large assortment of cosmetics, and two or three fiction novels.

That last few items made Twilight involuntarily shudder. Who would intentionally read something that wasn’t true? Madness.

Twilight had tried to be tactful when packing with Rarity, but there are only so many ways to tell a friend that packing thirty dresses and any makeup on a long, most likely difficult journey was just silly.

Eventually the two friends had agreed on a list of items that included warm clothing, emergency food, maps, and, Rarity insisted, at least one extremely frilly dress.

“What?” Rarity asked when Twilight had given her an incredulous look. “Trixie may be an insufferable braggart, but that doesn’t mean she won’t appreciate you dressing up for her.”

Twilight had conceded, but only because she was too embarrassed to say anything.

Slowing down long enough to at least somewhat enjoy the grass pancakes she had fixed, Twilight went over a checklist that included such items as “Ensure checklist has everything that needs to be checked on it” and “Triple-check checklist” just to make sure she wasn’t missing anything.

Satisfied and full, Twilight only had two more things to do. The first was to pick out some books to take with her. Celestia’s Compendium of Edible Flora and Navigating by Night were the most important ones. The others were for pure enjoyment.

The second was to gingerly place Trixie’s cloak and hat into her bags. She had thought briefly about wearing them, but wearing something that wasn’t hers without permission wasn’t right, no matter how much she wanted to.

Besides, that intoxicating scent would have her drifting off and bumping into things. A lot.

Twilight pulled herself away from the scent and quietly trotted up the stairs of her tree-home. A certain baby dragon that she loved was curled up into a tiny ball and resting in the basket that served as his bed, his blanket on the floor beside him.

Twilight smiled at the small amount of drool dripping from his mouth. She had found him, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, asleep beneath Rainbow Dash’s house. They all looked absolutely exhausted, so she had carried the Crusaders to their respective homes with the help of Rarity, then took Spike home and tucked him in for a well deserved rest.

He was the hardest thing to leave behind.

Even though Twilight knew she would be back, she hated to leave Spike alone for so long. They had been inseparable since he was born, and at the end of the day Twilight considered herself his mother.

She had thought about taking Spike with her, but he was too young to be traipsing around Equestria especially considering the reason she was traipsing around in the first place. Instead, she would leave him here, give him some time off and let her friends take care of him. Hopefully he would understand.

Twilight used her magic to gently replace Spike’s blanket and walked over to her desk in order to write her baby dragon a letter.

Spike,

Before I say anything, I want you to know that you are the best assistant I’ve ever had, and even more than that, you’re the best friend I have. You’re always there when I need somepony (or dragon) to talk to, and even if you get mad at me, you’re always there for me. Thank you. But the real reason I’m writing this letter is to tell you that I’m going to be gone for a while. I’m not sure exactly how long, but it will probably be at least a month. I’m…going to do something that I really need to do. I’ll tell you about it when I get back. I’ve asked Rarity to look after you, so behave and don’t make googly eyes every time she’s around. I wish I could take you with me, but you’re still a baby dragon, and you don’t need to be running all over Equestria with me on a silly errand. I love you Spike. Be good while I’m gone. I’ll miss you.

Twilight Sparkle

P.S Please send the other letter to Princess Celestia. It tells her what I’m going to do. Thanks!

Twilight had to rewrite the entire letter once because her tears smudged the words of the original, but in the end she was happy with the result. The letter to Princess Celestia was short and to the point, simply stating that she was going on a journey to do something she needed to do. She wanted to say more, but she didn’t need royal guards tailing her and spying on her every move.

Okay, maybe that sounded a teensy bit irrational, but hey, you could never be too careful…right?

She placed the letters next to Spike’s bed, just to make sure he would find them, and, satisfied that everything she needed to do was taken care of, donned her saddlebags and headed out of her tree-home.

Only to be stopped by the one thing she had dreaded dealing with: a familiar voice.

“Hey Sugarcube. Where ya headin’?

Twilight stiffened and turned around slowly.

Next to her home stood her five friends, four sporting looks of disapproval, and one a look of sheepish guilt.

There was a reason Twilight never played Equestria Hold ‘Em. Her poker face was dreadful.

“Uh…hi guys! What are you guys up to? Me? I’m just going for a little walk. Yep…just a little walk to clear my head after that night of…uh…studying! Yep! That night of studying really took it out of me and I just need to…go…for..a…” Twilight trailed off when she realized her friends weren’t buying it. Applejack looked especially annoyed.

“Rarity already told us Twi.”

Twilight shot Rarity an annoyed look.

“Darling it wasn’t my fault! They forced me to tell them!”

Twilight wasn’t buying it. “Forced you huh?”

Rarity’s lowered her gaze and shuffled her hooves. “Okay, maybe ‘forced’ is a strong word. But they were very persuasive!”

Applejack interrupted before Twilight could respond. Her look of annoyance had morphed into one of hurt.

“Now we can assign blame later, but right now ah just want to know why you were gonna leave without tellin’ us! We’re your friends Twi!”

Rainbow Dash also piped up. Surprisingly, her usual look of cool indifference was replaced by an expression that mirrored Applejack’s.

“Yeah Egghead! Did you think we wouldn’t care!? That we wouldn’t worry!? You’re supposed to be the smart one for Celestia’s sake!”

Twilight backed away, her head lowered in shame and tears starting to form in her eyes.

“I’m sorry…I..I didn’t think…”

“Obviously you didn’t think! If you had you wouldn’t have tried to leave without saying anything!” Rainbow Dash had transformed from a hurt mare into an angry one. Tears were also forming in her eyes, and as she continued, her volume rose. “What if something had happened to you Egghead!? What if you had fallen off a cliff or gotten attacked by a manticore or something!? Huh!? We would have never known! We would have never known that our friend had died!! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED!!?”

Rainbow Dash broke down into sobs, and Fluttershy knelt beside her, placing her wing over her and whispering comforting words into her ear.

Twilight looked at her friends through blurred vision. Applejack looked like she wanted to do the same thing Rainbow had done, but was controlling herself. Fluttershy was comforting the sobbing mare. Rarity was still looking at the ground, and Pinkie Pie....was looking straight at her, a mix of sadness and disappointment etched on her features. Her hair hanging down in perfectly straight, pink locks.

“Why Twilight?” Pinkie asked, not a trace of her usual bubbly self evident. “Why would you leave without telling us? Did we do something? Were my parties not good enough? I know that at the last one the punch was a little too sweet, but I promise that it won’t happen again! I’ll try extra super-duper hard and make the best punch ever! I promise!”

Twilight was ashamed of herself. She hadn’t wanted to deal with her friend because she didn’t think they would understand. Sure, Rarity had, but Rarity was always the romantic in the group. She hadn’t even considered what leaving without a word would do to her friends.

“I’m so sorry everypony! It’s just that I knew you guys hated Trixie and…”

“Whoa Sugarcube,” Applejack interrupted, a confused look on her face. “what the hay does Trixie have to do with this?”

Twilight looked just as confused as Applejack.

“What? But I thought you said Rarity told you…”

Everypony looked at Rarity. Rainbow Dash’s sobs had dissolved into quiet tears and sniffling, so even she was paying attention to this new development.

Rarity gazed back at the five pairs of eyes with a guilty expression.

“Ahem, well darling I only told them you were leaving. They didn’t ask why so I didn’t tell them.”

Twilight stared at Rarity, her face flushing with anger. She was about to go off on her, but Applejack decided to have her say first. She didn’t yell. Instead her voice was low and cold, her eyes burning with a cold fire.

“Rarity. Ya’ll are the dumbest, most self-centered pony I know. Ya knew why she was leavin’ and didn’t tell us? Did ya ever stop and use your pretty little head for just a second and think that maybe, just maybe, that would make a difference? If Twilight has a good reason for leavin’, then we have no business yelling at her. I knew your head was filled with to the brim with all that frilly frou-frou stuff, but I didn’t think that your common sense had been pushed out by it. What the hay is wrong with you?”

Rarity simply backed away and looked at the ground again. She had nothing to say.

Disgusted, she turned away and looked at Twilight, her expression softening significantly.

“Alright, why don’t ya tell us then? Why are ya leavin’ and what does it have to do with Trixie?”

Twilight thought about lying for a second. Only a second though. She decided that the only way to handle this was to just come out and say the truth, even if her brain was completely against the idea.

“Well I..um…I kinda have feelings for her, and I want to go and see if they’re real or not, and if they’re real then I want to see if Trixie will return them.”

All of her friends stared at her for a moment, causing her face to blush a bright red. She thought that they were even angrier.

Then Rainbow Dash burst out into a deafening, relieved laughter.

“You! Hahahahahahah! You like TRIXIE! Ahahahahahahaha! That’s rich! That’s…hahahahaha…that’s….ahahahaha…..”

Twilight, while relieved that Rainbow wasn’t angry at her anymore, was a little put off by the fact that she found her…attraction…hilarious.

“Hey! What’s so funny about it! Haven’t you ever liked somepony?”

Fluttershy chose this moment to speak up. She hadn’t known what to think about the entire ordeal, but she had been sure there was something they were missing. This was it.

“Actually, yes. She has liked somepony, but unlike you she was too afraid to do anything about it.”

Rainbow immediately sobered up. “Hey! They don’t need to know about that!”

Pinkie bounded forward and pulled Twilight into a crushing hug, her hair regaining its normal fluffiness.

“Oh. My. Gosh. That is sooooooo cute! I can remember my first crush! He was a new colt in town and I had just moved their a couple of weeks before and I was throwing a party and he asked to dance with me and I was so flattered but then he left town and I was sad but then I met you guys and it was okay and then…”

Applejack pulled Pinkie away and gave Twilight a small, friendly smile.

“Ah’m sorry that we overreacted,” here she gave Rarity a withering glare “but when ya don’t have all the facts ya can’t really make good decisions, can ya?”

Twilight grinned at all her friends and sighed in relief. She was so happy that her friends didn’t hate her, and even happier that they understood. She was about to reply to Applejack when a howl of anguish split the air.

“TWILIIIIIGHT!!”

Six pairs of startled eyes whipped around to stare at the tree-home as a distraught baby dragon came running out. Tears were streaming down his face and his claws were clutching Twilight’s letter. When he saw Twilight he rushed to her without hesitation and threw his arms around her, burying his tearstained face in her mane.

“Don’t leave Twilight! Please! I...I don’t wanna stay here without you!!! P..please let me come with you! I’m not too young and I’ll be good! Just please don’t…don’t leave!!” His final words were cut off as his grief overpowered him, and sobs racked his body.

Twilight’s heart broke. She loved Spike more than anything in the world, and she couldn’t handle seeing him cry like that. At the same time though, she knew that if she didn’t do this, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

“Shh….hush Spike. It’s okay, I’ll be back. I won’t be gone that long. Shhhh.” Twilight let him cry himself out on her while she comforted him. Her friends just stared with sympathetic eyes.

Spike’s sobs subsided, and he tried one final time, looking up at Twilight with imploring, emerald eyes. “Please Twilight? Please let me come with you.”

“Spike…” Twilight hugged him. “I really want to let you come, but it’s too much to ask. You’re still a baby, you have to stay here.”

Spike stared down in anguish and defeat, his claw tightening over Twilight’s letter, and tears began to flow down his face again.

Twilight nudged him, a small subdued smile appearing. “Hey.”

Spike looked back up, trying hard to stem the flow of tears.

“Did my Number One Assistant send that letter to Princess Celestia yet?”

Spike sniffled and grinned, the use of his unofficial title, more of a pet name really, filling him with a sort of pride as he traveled back into his home.

“Not yet, gimme a second.”

As soon as the door had closed, Twilight sighed and fell to her haunches, unable to keep up the façade of strength anymore.

“I can’t do it.” She said, looking at her friends with dejected eyes. “I can’t leave him; I’m practically his mother!”

Rarity was aghast. “But..but darling, you told me yourself that this was driving you crazy, that you couldn’t stop thinking about her! Besides, I told you I would look after him, and I’m sure that the others will help too…right?” She glanced around at the other ponies.

Fluttershy was the first to react. “Oh yes. I’ll help look after him Twilight. You know I love baby dragons, and it won’t be any trouble at all.”

Pinkie Pie also agreed, hopping up and down, “Ooh ooh! Me too! I’ll throw him parties Every. Single. Day! He won’t be a saddie-waddie baby draggie for even one teensy-weensy second!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were a little slower to agree.

“Ah’ll help when ah can, but workin’ at the farm will take up most of my time, so ah’m not sure how much help ah’ll be.” Applejack shrugged, simply stating the truth.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was torn. She wanted to help Twilight out, but dragon-sitting sounded so…boring. She began to voice this opinion, but was stopped by two things.

The first was a nudge from Fluttershy. The second was a look from Applejack that mirrored the one she had given Rarity.

Gulping, Rainbow Dash knew exactly what to do. “Yeah Twilight! I’ll help too!”

Twilight felt a gigantic weight lift off her shoulders. With all of her friends watching Spike, she knew he would be just fine. She stood and drew them all into a group hug. “Thanks girls. You’re the best friends I could ask for.”

“Hey!” Spike ran into the center of the hug, and latched onto Twilight, squeezing as hard as his tiny baby dragon arms would let him. “I want a hug too!”

Twilight smiled, feeling much more confident than she had that morning. “Oh Spike.”