Seventeen years had passed and the time had finally arrived; most thought it would have taken a lot longer for that certain day to approach them, but for one alicorn, that day came to her in a blink of an eye. And she had hoped that that day would never surface. But ultimately and unfortunately, dreams will be dreams and she had to accept the reality that gazed upon her and cloaked itself deep within her thoughts until it came crashing in her face.

Ponies from Ponyville gathered in a huge crowd in front of in an open field near the bridge to Ponyville as they look at a massive, familiar, friendly draconian form stand before them as the moon shined the night sky, letting the shadow of the draconian blanket over them as it gave them a kind, warm smile. The large being was none other than Spike the dragon. He was now a full grown dragon; not by greed, but by nature. He motioned his head and surveyed the crowd who gave him tearful looks and warming smiles. They all knew a time like this would come and it would have been very respectful to come see their dragon friend and say their goodbyes before he leaves for The Great Dragon Migration.

Spike’s smile grew wider, happy to see that all of his pony friends arrived to say their goodbyes and wished him good luck on his journey. He greatly appreciated this. But what would make him even happier is if six certain ponies were here to give him their goodbyes. He got his wish in the forms of those certain ponies approaching him with loving smiles and tearful eyes.

Spike felt his heart warm-up when he watched his best friends Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight stand in an individual line as they looked up at him with the same expressions on their faces. Spike returned the same smile when he noticed a celestial and lunar form hover down from the sky and stand behind the mane six.

Spike widened his eyes in astonishment to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna show up from his departure. The mane six and the rest of the ponies were blown away by this, as well. But like them, they too wanted to say their goodbyes to the draconian hero. They both gave him respectful smiles, letting him know that they would kindly hold off anything to partake in a day such as this and be there for him to see him leave.

A small tear rolled down Spike’s cheek and felt his lips quiver a bit. He may have a tougher exterior, but that still doesn’t stop him from having his heart increase in warmth from seeing two royalties show up and bid farewell, especially Celestia. If it wasn’t for her, he would have never gotten adopted and be put in the caring hooves of his beloved mother: Twilight.

Speaking of, he narrowed his eyes at everyone and noticed a few were crying why others waved slowly at him. Most were hurt pretty bad to see him leave. But when he hovered his eyes over at the mane six, they too were hurt to see him leave; however, they all had little cuts compared to what came next; when Spike pinned his sight on Twilight, he saw that not only was she hurt, she was destroyed. She hung her head down and closed her eyelids tight, sobbing from the pain of seeing her adopted son leave her. She felt pressure build-up in her chest, trying ever so hard to stay strong and look him in the eyes, but it was just too much for the young alicorn. He knew this day would come. He knew he would see his friends and family wallow in pain and heartbreak. He expected this, and it was hurting him too. But what Spike never expected -not in a millennia- was how bad this day would crush his mother’s spirit.

He motioned his head over to Applejack and Rainbow dash and saw that they were looking up at him with sad eyes, sitting down next to each other and tried their best to stay strong. He then motioned toward the crying pair of Fluttershy and Pinkie pie. They were taking it pretty hard, having Fluttershy bawl in Pinkie’s fur while she hugged the sensitive Pegasus close. And last, but certainly not least, he gazed his eyes at the love of his life: Rarity. And just like the others, her face was coated with tears. Her lips quivered and her ears flopped down when she displayed a pained and sorrowful face to him. Mascara ran down from under her eyes by the crying, but she didn’t care what-so-ever, she was too hurt to see her friend leave. Like Twilight, she was heartbroken and wished he’d stay with them forever; because deep down, she realized that not only was he an amazing, kind dragon and a great helper around her boutique, but she too was developing feelings for him. Feelings that she wanted to express to him and tell him that she loved him so much, but it was too late for her to say anything. She was not only sad to see him leave, but she was angry at herself for not saying a single thing to him.

Luna shed a tear and softly quivered her lips before glancing over at a heartbroken Twilight cry in so much pain. She knew how the purple mare felt; being trapped for a thousand years made her miss her old friends dearly. She still regrets the day she let envy take hold of her mind and transformed her into the soulless monster that every pony feared. It’s a mistake she’ll live with for eons, and hoped it well never again.

Luna craned her head up at her sister and, to her surprise, saw her lips twitch a bit. A small gasp emitted from her throat. She looked at Celestia shocked, never seeing her sister this sad as much as the time she was Nightmare Moon, and that was the last, and only, time she ever saw her older sister cry. Luna, still in tears, looked back at Spike and the others.

Spike looked down at all his friends and smiled, but the tears still loomed and rolled down his cheeks. He watched as they cried at his leaving. He let out a deep sigh before calming himself down, but seeing his friends cry made it hard for him that he broke to the point he couldn’t hold it in, especially seeing Twilight the way she is. The now grown up Spike shed more tears as he looked at Twilight and approached her, leaning his head down close to her, and causing the other ponies to back away as he did so.

Twilight continued her hard sobbing, too hurt to move a muscle and open her eyes. She wanted this to be a dream. She wanted this to stop. She tried so hard to think this wasn’t reality, but reality came to her in the feeling of a gentle rub against her fur. With a light gasp, she fought her emotional breakdown and opened her eyes to Spike in front of her, smiling at her softly and rubbing his snout against her again; being that he’s a sixty foot tall dragon and he can’t hug her like he used to, so the only way of hugging was to snout rub, and they didn’t mind at all.

Twilight slowly smiled, wiped her tears away and hugged Spike’s snout. She calmed down a bit while hugging his snout, thinking that he doesn’t want to leave seeing his mother cry; and she was right. Spike smiled happily as the five elements came up and also hugged Spike with teary eyes. The rest of the ponies watch and cry, while a few walk away, not wanting to handle any more sadness. They waved at him before leaving.

Tears rolled down Luna’s cheeks from seeing such a sad event. She looked up at her sister who was shedding tears and strongly quivered her lips. For the first time, in a thousand years, she has never seen Celestia cry like this.

The royal night and day guards, who followed the princesses, noticed the royal sisters cry and sob. They were breath-taken by this and couldn’t believe such an event like this would make them cry, yet, they can perfectly understand why as they too know of the stories Spike has done, like saving the Crystal Kingdom, helping the elements stop Diamond dogs and save their fellow element and saved the equestrian games from suffering an icy grave.

Twilight and the other ponies gave Spike one last goodbye hug before backing away and letting him leave, all but Rarity.

Spike narrowed his eyes down at Rarity until he saw her look up at him with more tears running down her cheeks. It was ruining more of her mascara as alway, yet she didn’t care when it came to a moment like this. She will miss him, and Spike knows this.

Spike looked at Rarity with tears rolling down his cheeks as he warmly smiled at her. He had an unbearable pain growing in his chest. He hated the fact that he was leaving and saying goodbye to the very pony he had a crush on ever since he was little. He wanted to stay here and be with her and the others. Spike let out a tiny chuckle when he remembered the days he spent with her, even secretly having an intercourse moment at one point, and he figured she would remember a day like that. If this never happened, he would be together with her and, one day, start a family with her. And he’d love every second of it. He nuzzled his snout close to Rarity and prompted her to giggle a bit. He wanted to see her smile before he left. It would hurt him so to see his beloved cry in his departure.

Rarity tearfully smiled and kissed Spike on the snout, then stepped back and walked away.

Spike watched his former crush turned and stood next to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, looking at him with a beautiful smile. More tears rolled down Spike’s cheeks as he raised his body up to look down at his friends and give them one last goodbye wave. He was about to turn around when eight clopping hooves approach him. The dragon turned his head to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both walk up to him while the other ponies bow in respect as they approach.

Spike gazed his vision down at Celestia and Luna surprised, yet happy, to see them approach him. He turned his body and diminished his full height to see them, but not first bowing his respect to them. The Princesses stood in front of Spike and bowed back, then stood back up to smile at him, respectfully.

Spike came up to the Princesses to hear them say their goodbyes, but he never expected them to lunge up and hug his snout.

Twilight and the rest of the ponies unhinged their jaws, surprised to see the Princesses hug Spike. To get the royal sisters to cry and hug, that is a sight to behold, but much like the rest of them, Celestia and Luna will miss their friend dearly.

Spike was beyond surprised by this, but he smiled at them and watched as the Princesses back away, while tears rolled down their cheeks.

Spike bowed in respect again, honored to receive goodbye hugs from the Princesses, then rose up to his full height and gazed at Twilight and the rest of the ponies on last time before waving at them and turning around to unfold his fully developed wing. The ponies watch in awe as Spike flapped his wings and jumped in the air, flying into the sky. A single teardrop fell from his face and hit the ground in front of Twilight.

All the ponies waved goodbye to Spike as he flew away towards the dragon migration and disappeared into the night clouds.

As soon as Spike vanished, Applejack returned to Sweet Apple Acres; Fluttershy flew back to her cottage; Rarity walked back to her boutique; Rainbow Dash flew back to her cloud home; and The Princesses arrived back to the Castle, while the rest of the civilian ponies headed back to their respectful homes.

All but Twilight was left, sitting down on the ground and looked up at the sky with one last tear rolling down her face. She sat there, heartbroken, torn apart to see her number one assistant, her only son, leave in front of her. She knew this day would come. She knew it would happen. She knew she had to say goodbye. But she never knew how bad it would hurt her, how bad of an impact it would put on her. She looked down with pain and sorrow in her eyes. She now knows how Shining felt when she left to go live in Ponyville. Saying goodbye to him was very painful and she can tell he was trying to stay strong. He was always a softy when it came to her and she loved Shining for that. But something this was unbearable. She felt like a piece of her life had been torn away from her and all that remained were memories.

Twilight looked up at the night sky and tried to stop her crying, but she could barely pull herself together. A few more tears slid down as she sat there a little longer until she finally decided to head back home to her library. She slowly walked back but turned her head to look back at the spot where Spike once was. With a soft tone, she said one word before heading back home, “Bye,” she opened the door to her tree home and walked inside, closing the door behind her with her magic.

I might have spent a lot of time thinking how this would turn out. This is feels galore, but trust me, the kaiju fights will turn up.