Under normal circumstances, one would expect that, on a bright and sunny day, most ponies would be out and about trying to enjoy it, maybe spending time with friends or loved ones, perhaps even going shopping. And yet, despite such glorious weather and clear skies, all of the homes in Ponyville were shut tight, their doors locked, their windows covered, and nopony about on the streets. To the casual observer, the place would look like an utter ghost town. And yet, despite appearances, there was activity, albeit beyond the boundaries of the town itself. For a large and deep trench had been dug several hundred feet away from the town borders, with several rows of barbed wire just to be on the safe side. Within the trench itself were six mares, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Trixie, all looking to the skies with both fear and anticipation. Beside them stood Spike, who was currently busy preparing a plate of piping-hot cookies to serve to everypony, all while wearing his usual attire for such work, that of a pink apron. While he was busy with that, the mares beside him kept looking to the skies, with Rainbow Dash looking particularly irritated about something. She folded her hooves and looked to Twilight, who was wearing a pair of binoculars as she scoured the sky. In time, with all this silence, she simply let out a groan of annoyance.

"Ugh! This sucks! We've been here for hours, and yet, no dragons! Well…apart from you, Spike."

The young dragon gave a nod of acknowledgement at that, and shortly afterwards got back to his duties. However, after a few more moments, he stopped, and looked to Twilight. As the other mares were busy looking upwards, Spike gained a look of concern before taking a few steps forward. When he finally reached his adopted mother, he gave her a gentle poke in her side, gaining her attention. When she looked down to him, Spike was poking his two index fingers against one another in a clear display of nervousness, before speaking up to her in a hushed tone.

"Er...Mom? Are you sure you're okay to be up and out doing this today?"

A look of understanding and appreciation crossed Twilight's face, leading her to raising a hoof and gently patting the top of Spike's head.

"Don't worry, Spike. I'm feeling a lot better today. But still, thank you for worrying about me."

There was a look of uncertainty in the young dragon's eyes. But, in time, he eventually conceded his mother's point, giving her a single nod before turning to what he was doing before. As Twilight looked back to the sky, she turned to Rainbow, who seemed to be growing ever more impatient with this distinct lack of activity.

"Do you think that threat you made against that dragon really has spread through the others?"

Twilight shrugged her shoulders.

"It’s possible. I told him to keep his people away from Ponyville. Given what I did to him, it could well be that the dragons don't come anywhere near us."

Rainbow looked away from her, looking more than a little disappointed in hearing that, for which Twilight could not blame her. After all, the great dragon migration was a rare event, often avoided by ponies due to how dangerous the creatures were known for being. Even so, both she and the others kept their vigil, trying to see any sign of the now-late beasts. During this, Applejack began to look around down on their level, letting out a sigh before turning to Rarity.

"It's mighty sad that Flutters couldn't be here with us today."

Rarity nodded at that.

"Agreed, darling. But...you know how she is. Afraid of dragons, always has been."

Applejack returned the nod before looking to Rainbow, where she noted that the cyan pegasus was sporting a rather nasty bump on the back of her head. The farm mare silently chuckled with the thought of just how much trouble she had to go through to convince Fluttershy to join them, only to come out of it with nothing but that. Still, she said nothing, and instead re-joined the rest of her friends in looking around. However, this was short-lived as most of the mares then turned to hear Pinkie Pie leaping about and going "ooh", like a school student trying to get the attention of their teacher. She was pointing enthusiastically in a completely different direction to where everypony else was looking, prompting a few looks of confusion from her friends. Although unsure of this, one look at Pinkie's enthusiastic expression gave Twilight pause to consider what was going on, and so lifted her binoculars to her eyes and began looking in the direction she was pointing to. When she did, she let out a gasp of surprise, prompting the other mares to look at her. Turning to them, she offered her binoculars, firstly to Rainbow, who graciously accepted them. When the young pegasus looked through them, she finally saw it; the dragon migration. It was not flying over Ponyville as expected, but rather circumnavigating around the place before resuming their usual journey.

"Wow, Twi...you really did scare all of them!”

Twilight nodded at that, still somewhat shocked to see the impact that her encounter with a dragon had made on the rest of them. To have an entire migration now avoid a single Equestrian town just because of her, it was a sobering thought to say the least. Still, at the very least, they all got to see the dragons in the end, even if it was at such a long distance away. However, while she was still relieved to see such a thing, her mind then turned to Spike, who was still busy preparing a few drinks for all of them. Twilight became deep in thought over the matter, especially after seeing that the young drake appeared to have no interest in seeing others of his kind. Frowning slightly, Twilight spoke to him in a soft and considerate manner.

"Um...Spike? Don't you want to look at the dragons?"

Spike turned to her, taking a token glance at the far-away creatures, before looking back to her and shaking his head.

"Thanks for the offer, Mom...but...I don't think it's for me."

Twilight looked at him with surprise plastered all over her face.

"I'm...I'm surprised to hear you say that. I'd have thought you'd be all over this."

He gave a slight nod in response to that.

"Sure...I used to be. But..."

He looked away slightly, looking as if he was, for some reason, ashamed of what he was thinking about. Twilight gained a look of concern after seeing this, stepping forward and gently placing a hoof upon her shoulder. As he looked up to her, he saw her gentle expression. She spoke no words, but her message was nevertheless clear; whatever it is, you can tell me. Sighing, Spike began to speak, albeit in a quiet way.

"It's just...back then...I think I used to obsess over dragons because...well...I was one. I’d never met another like me before, and I'd only ever known ponies. I felt...that no matter how many friends I made...I was still an outsider."

Twilight nodded at that, a look of understanding upon her. After all, she had been there to witness his life amongst ponies first-hoof. She knew it all, from the way those in Canterlot would sometimes give him strange looks, to the fact that he only had a hoof-full of friends here and there before their move to Ponyville. There was no doubt in Twilight's mind that Spike meant every word that he'd just said. And yet, she remained silent, giving her son all the time he needed to get this off his chest. And so it was that he continued speaking, but this time, with a small smile forming on his face as he did so.

"But...you and everypony else has made me feel so welcome. It's like...it's like I don't need to know about dragons to feel good about myself. I have you. I have a family now. I'm happier than I've ever been. So what if I never meet another dragon? So what if I'm more like a pony than one of them? I don't care. I'm just...happy."

Twilight stood there, almost aghast at what Spike had just said to her. But, after looking at his face, at his eyes, she saw that there was no lie there. He had spoken from the heart, and she knew he meant it when he said he was happy. Although not entirely sure on what she thought about him outright rejecting other dragons in this manner, it would have been an utter lie to say that she wasn't pleased to see her son so content in his life, not wanting it to change or become something else. She stepped forward, dropping down to her knees and planting a gentle kiss upon his forehead. This, as one might expect, caused him to smile wider than before, and soon afterwards, he stepped forward, embracing her in a warm hug. As they stayed this way, many of the other mares noticed them, smiling at this heart-warming sight. But, rather than disturb them, they simply turned away, remaining silent, which actually required them to hold Pinkie's mouth shut quite frankly. Even so, the two remained undisturbed, and, as they stayed together, Twilight whispered to him.

"I love you Spike. Never stop being happy with who you are."

Spike held her tighter, as if never wanting to let her go.

"I won't Mom...not ever."

When the two finally parted, they each noted that the other had been forming tears in their eyes, prompting both of them to laugh nervously as they wiped theirs away. When that was all said and done, they stood up once more, re-joining the group, who were looking to each other with knowing smiles, and got back to watching the far-away migration. And through it all, Twilight smiled to herself, knowing that, unlike what the rest of his kind would want, she and her friends would make sure that her son would never be made to feel like he didn't belong.