She didn't know how long she’d been walking, and quite frankly, she didn't care. All Twilight could think about at this moment was one thing; how much her hooves ached. She let out a groan of annoyance before looking up, glancing at a nearby tree, which wasn't difficult to do, given that she was currently walking right through a large woodland. Once there, she began to sit down, sighing deeply as she let herself rest after so long. As she leaned backwards, resting her head against the trunk of the tree, she allowed herself to close her eyes, the only sound being that of her steady breathing. Eventually, a new sound could be heard, prompting her to open her eyes again. When she did, she smiled as she saw that it was a bird, small and blue, letting out a beautiful song as it flew from tree branch to tree branch. Perhaps it was because of that bird, or maybe it was because she'd finally got herself a bit of rest, but regardless, Twilight now looked upon her surroundings with a genuinely affectionate smile. Its close now...Ponyville. So long since I've seen it. A month, maybe? Maybe a bit longer than that. Regardless, it's too long. But...I'll soon be back, surrounded by my friends, by my home, and...by my son. A brief chuckle escaped her with that, before gaining a look of slight concern. Spike...I hope you've been okay without me.

Thinking on that, Twilight took a deep breath before finally hoisting herself back onto all four hooves. After grunting with the effort to do so, she looked ahead, seeing the sunlight at the end of the shaded woodland path, and smiled. At last, she began to walk again, and, feeling the excitement and anticipation in her heart, actually started to count the moments. Eventually, she reached a clearing, and when she did, her eyes lit up. For there it was; Ponyville. Even as far away as it was, Twilight could make out every single detail of it. Sweet Apple Acres, Carousel Boutique, Fluttershy's cottage, Sugar Cube Corner, the town hall, Rainbow's cloud house and, most importantly of all, her own home; the Golden Oak Library. All these things and more were visible to her, and for a brief moment, her heart skipped a beat. There it is...home. Oh! I've missed that place! You never know what you have until it's out of your life, and this journey of mine took this place away from me for long enough. With that thought fresh in her mind, her expression became somewhat more serious. I...I did what I had to, to make their future safe. Those plundervines will never harm the princesses and nearly consume Equestria. The alicorn amulet will never corrupt Trixie. And as for Tirek...I have made sure he will never violate the magic of any pony ever again. My friends. They are safe, they are secure, they...are protected.

However, no sooner had that thought crossed her mind when, all of a sudden, Twilight was shaken out of this peaceful moment by a sudden loud sound, carried across the wind like a raging wave. She stood there, aghast at the sound she'd just heard, recognising it immediately as a roar. As confusion gave way to understanding, her mind raced with this possibility. No. Oh no! No no no no! Please! Don't let it be true! But, it was not long before the universe itself answered her unspoken question. For she could see, far in the distance, that a massive purple figure now rose from the middle of Ponyville. Bearing gleaming scales and a row of spikey green plates down his spine, it was a dragon, massive and wingless, that now towered over the whole town, letting out yet another deafening roar for all to hear. But, while most would have looked at such a sight with fear, Twilight looked on with utter heartbreak, as tears now formed in her eyes. Spike...no! Not again! How? How could this happen?! She looked on helplessly as the great beast within Ponyville began to get to work, walking over to a nearby water tower before breaking off its top with a single almighty pull. As the water flooded the town streets below, Twilight gained a frown and a look of determination. Don't worry, son...I'm coming!

With that, Twilight began to gallop forward, never letting her eyes stray from either the town or her adopted dragon son. She watched as many ponies began to flee in all directions, each desperate trying to get out of the path of the rampaging dragon. Twilight, after finally crossing the stream bridge that led into the town, looked around to see if she could spot any of her friends. It did not take long as, soon afterwards, she caught sight of Applejack, who was busy trying to direct many of the ponies away from where Spike was. Changing course, Twilight ran right up to her, calling out as she did so.

"Applejack!"

Hearing her name, the orange mare turned, and her eyes widened with shock to find Twilight approaching her.

"Wha...Twilight?! Yer back?"

The young unicorn nodded before looking upwards to Spike, still several blocks away but still clearly visible, even at this distance.

"What happened? Why is Spike like that?"

Applejack shook her head before joining her friend in looking up at the enormous creature.

"Ah don't know! We were havin this big ole birthday party fer him, when..."

But she was stopped from saying anything further when Twilight started to glare angrily at her.

"Did...did you give him lots of presents?"

Applejack seemed confused by that at first, but, given the way Twilight was looking at her, she quickly started to both look and sound rather nervous.

"Um...well...me an the other girls thought it'd be real nice fer us ta..."

But, yet again, Twilight interrupted her when she brought a hoof up to her own forehead in frustration.

"Applejack! Dragons grow larger because of their inherent greed! If you and the others gave him too much...that would have pushed him over the edge!"

Applejack looked at her friend, surprised at what she'd just heard, before looking up to Spike again. The gigantic dragon had begun to move on from Ponyville, walking towards a nearby mountain. However, it was at this point that something else began to happen. Both Twilight and Applejack looked up to see that it was none other than the Wonderbolts, flying right through the sky to meet with Spike head on. As they began to fly around his head like a trio of annoying flies, Spike, appropriately enough, tried swatting them with a single clawed hand. As Twilight watched, she let out a brief gasp as she saw one of them, she didn’t know which, strike the side of Spike's head with their back legs. Although this ultimately left the dragon unfazed, Twilight nevertheless glared at the unknown pegasus with fury in her eyes

"You...do not...hurt...my...SON!!!"

Before Applejack could stop her, Twilight now charged forward, with her eyes practically blazing with anger. The unicorn galloped as fast as her hooves could take her, passing pony after pony in her efforts to follow Spike's trail. It was not long before she achieved exactly that, as she passed the last house and was now well on her way to catching up with the purple dragon. As for Spike, he had simply had enough of the Wonderbolts' interference at this point, using the water tower top he collected earlier and gathering them all up in it, shortly before he slammed the thing into the side of the mountain. Now without resistance, Spike began to stomp off once more, leading to Twilight looking up at him with worry. Oh no! What do I do! Last time, it was his love for Rarity that snapped him out of it. This time...he doesn't have that! I know there's Sweetie Belle...but I can't risk having a child in the middle of all this! How am I going to help him? She thought long and hard about that for some time, all the while struggling to keep up with her son, as his large strides took him further and further away from her. Eventually, Twilight narrowed her eyes in a show of determination, lighting up her horn and bathing herself in the aura of her magic. There was a bright flash of light and, within moments, she reappeared yet again, this time right on top of Spike's shoulder. Thankfully for her, Spike hadn't noticed this, but that all changed when Twilight finally spoke up to him.

"Spike! It's me! You have to stop this!"

At long last, the dragon stopped, turning his head just enough to see the small unicorn upon his shoulder. There was silence between the two as they stared at each other. Twilight's heart sank as she saw his eyes, primal and full of rage, utterly devoid of the warmth and youth she'd seen in him before. Some time passed before eventually, Spike simply looked away from her, resuming his walk forward. Tears threatened to form in Twilight's eyes upon seeing the uncaring look her son had given her. After steeling herself, she began to cause her horn to light up once more. Forgive me, Spike. Within moments, her spells was cast, and out of nowhere, massive manacles, forged from pure magic, emerged in the air around them. Spike stopped at last, looking to these new arrivals, before finding, to his surprise, that they now shot forward, latching onto his wrists and forcing him backwards, right into the mountain. With him now pinned there, Twilight watched with despair as Spike struggled against his binds, roaring loudly as he did so. She walked along his shoulder, right up to the side of his head, and gently placed a hoof there. As a single tear began to fall down her cheek, she closed her eyes, her voice warm and hushed.

"Shhh...it's okay...Mommy's here."

But, the dragon continued to roar loudly, with Twilight remaining utterly still throughout it all. She did not open her eyes, but instead, in a move that would have shocked anypony who saw her, actually began to sing. Her voice was low and calming, recreating that same lullaby she'd sung for him on the night before she left Ponyville. On and on she sang, putting her very heart and soul into those words. As the moments passed, Spike began to hear her words, and his roars and struggles began to dwindle somewhat. Perhaps, deep down in him, the Spike that was had heard that song, recognising the soothing voice of his mother. However, the dragon still resisted, albeit less than before, all while Twilight kept on singing. Her horn lit up a third time as she sung, opening her eyes at last. Please, Spike...remember. The aura of her horn reached its apex, shining brighter than ever before, and soon enough, Spike's eyes began to glow in unison with it. Within his mind, images and memories flashed before him. Images of him and her, growing up in Canterlot, arriving in Ponyville, the day she told him she'd adopted him, and even, at the very end, the night she sang that lullaby. Those memories repeated themselves in his mind, with Twilights magic keeping them there as she sang, calming him with every passing moment.

In time, Spike's struggles stopped entirely, and Twilight looked on with baited breath, stopping her spell and watching her son carefully. Eventually her eyes widened as she saw that something had begun to change in him. There were slight vibrations on the surface of his scales, as it a small earthquake were occurring within him, and on top of that, his limbs were starting to shrink. Although elated at this, Twilight was soon taken aback when, all of a sudden, his growth began to reverse itself almost in an instant. Before she could react, Spike was back to his regular size, and the two of them were in mid-air together, falling rapidly. Despite being initially frightened by this, Twilight soon leapt into action, using her magic to draw the unmoving form of her son into her hooves. With the two of them now together, her horn lit up yet again, surrounding the two of them in a bright flash. Before they struck the ground, they disappeared, and then reappeared safely on a patch of grass some distance away. Panting heavily, Twilight smiled to see that they had emerged out of this safely, only to lose her smile when she looked down upon Spike. His eyes were still closed, and she raised a hoof, gently placing it upon the side of his face.

Before she could say anything, she looked up to see that all the rest of her friends had arrived. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and even Trixie all stood there, shocked at what they'd just witnessed, before bearing looks of concern as they looked to Spike. Twilight looked back down at him again, tears forming in her eyes for a second time, before whispering to him.

"Spike...please be okay."

She watched him, counting the moments, before finding her heart leaping for joy when the young dragon finally awoke. As he groggily opened his eyes, they widened when he finally noticed Twilight smiling above him. After a brief pause, he smiled back to her, starting to cry himself, before reaching up to her and placing his hand upon her cheek.

"Mom...you came back."

Twilight nodded, finally allowing herself to weep with joy as she lifted her son up and held him close.

"That's right, Spike...I'm here for you. Now...and forever."