Eternal Embers

Chapter One

“But she can’t just leave!” Twilight Sparkle let out a heavy sigh. She had grown tired of having the same argument with the baby dragon every day for the past week. She knew he wouldn’t take the news well, but at least she thought he would try to think of what was for her friend. “We’ve gone over this a dozen times, Spike. I know you don’t want to see her go, but-” “It’s not fair!” Spike interjected.

The argument had always come back to the baby dragon’s same belief. ‘He’s never had to really say goodbye to anypony before, how in Equestria am I supposed to explain this to him?’ Twilight thought to herself, a solemn expression on her face, looking down at the distraught dragon. It was Spike’s turn to sigh. “I know you’re right Twi. I just hate to see her go without telling her... You know. “

Twilight thought it over for a second. “You know what, Spike?” The baby dragon pulled his gaze from the floor up to Twilight’s eyes, which were still looking down to his. “You’re right.” Twilight finished. “I am?” Spike had a quizzical expression stuck to his face. Twilight let a little smile creep up on her face at the sight of Spike’s sudden perking up. “Come on, Spike. We’re going to make a little trip.” The expression on Spike’s face remained unchanged. “Where are we going?” He asked. Twilight let out a little chuckle. “You’ll see.”

As Twilight and Spike walked through Ponyville, Spike realized their destination just as soon as it came into view. “Oh no. No no no no no. I’m not ready for this, Twi! Not yet, at least. I still need to-” A hoof covered Spike’s mouth. Twilight removed her hoof after the muffled sounds from the baby dragon ceased. “She’s only going to be in Ponyville for a few more days, Spike. If you don’t tell her now, I doubt you’ll ever get the chance.”

Spike let out another long sigh. He seemed to be doing a lot of that as of late. He couldn’t help it; Seeing a friend leave is hard, especially one you feel so close to. Spike spent most of his time the past couple of days just sitting in his bed, feeling sorry for himself. Twilight had tried to be as understanding as possible for the past few days for him. She took over Spike’s usual chores, occasionally checking in with him to see how he was doing, but it always led into an argument.

He knew he was being selfish. Of course he wanted what was best for any of his friends, and he knew this was bound to happen at some point, but he always thought he would have more time. He didn’t want Rarity to move to Canterlot, but he also knew she couldn’t give up such a fantastic career opportunity. Her boutique, which was quickly drawing ever nearer, had become in high demand as of late, as fashion designers all over Equestria insisted they design for them.

They were now at the front steps of Carousel Boutique. Twilight motioned for Spike to knock on the door. With one last heavy sigh, Spike knocked on the door. Time seemed to stand still at that point, giving Spike time to think. ‘What will I say? Should I open with a joke? Ooooh, I just don’t think I can do this.’ Spike looked over at Twilight, with that caring smile Twilight only ever gave him. It always seemed to calm him. ‘Maybe I can do this after all.’ The thought had really calmed Spike.

“Coooommiiiing!” The sudden sing-song voice coming from the other side of the door shook Spike back into reality. ‘Nevermind!’ Twilight could see the panic spread across the baby dragon’s face, his eyes shifting everywhere, perhaps looking for somewhere to hide. The door suddenly flew open, revelaing Rarity standing on the other side. “Why Twilight, Spike. How nice to see-” “Aaaaaah!” Spike yelled, before turning on his heels, attempting to flee the situation before he embarassed himself further.

He found however, that his feet weren’t taking him anywhere. In fact, he wasn’t actually moving anywhere. In fact, he wasn’t even touching the ground. Rather, he was being levitated back towards the door, where he could see the puzzled expression on Rarity’s face at the sudden display of terror from the dragon who always seemed so happy to see her.

“Uh... you. Twilight dear, whatever is the matter with Spike? He isn’t ill, is he?” The fashionista inspected the floating Spike head to toe, looking for any sign of disease or ailment. Twilight released her hold on Spike and he dropped to the ground. “Oh no, he’s fine. He’s just here to, uh, have a word with you.” Rarity’s view shifted to Spike, getting back on his feet and wiping dirt off of himself.

“Is this true, Spike? Is there something you needed to talk about?” Spike looked up into Rarity’s azure eyes as she fluttered them a little, staring intently at him, waiting for him to speak. “I, uh,” Spike looked back to Twilight. She still wore that encouraging face, hoping that he could swallow his fear, if only for a moment. “Yeah, I guess I do.” He let out a little smile for Twilight, which she returning with a beaming grin of her own.

“Well, I’ll let you two talk. I’ll see you back at the library, Spike.” Twilight trotted back towards the library, and Spike’s grin faded back to the worried expression he’d had just a moment earlier. The newfound confidence he had slowly drifted from his mind, replaced by the terror of the incoming conversation. Spike suddenly noticed Rarity staring at him, eyebrow raised, as if waiting for something.

“Would you… like to step inside?” She finally broke the silence after an extensive period of eye contact. ‘Oh, right. The whole reason Twi dragged me here in the first place.’ He was wishing he had never argued with Twilight about this; anything had to be better than how he was feeling now. Rather than respond, he simply dragged his feet through the doorway into Rarity’s workshop. The two sat down by Rarity’s sewing table, and much to Spike’s hopes, Rarity had been the first to start the conversation, as he wasn’t quite sure he would be able to himself.

“Now, whatever is it you needed to-” Rarity stopped herself, seeing that sullen pout Spike was had on his face. “Spike, you know that whatever it is you need to talk about, you can always trust me.” Spike looked into Rarity’s eyes, and again noticed her fluttering eyelashes. ‘Ugh.’ He cursed in his head. As much as he normally enjoyed seeing the object of his desire do that, it wasn’t helping with what he was trying to get out.

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Back at the library, Twilight was busying her time organizing books and cleaning them up off the floor from her most recent studying binge, anxiously awaiting Spike’s arrival. She was almost giddy with curiosity, knowing that upon his return, Spike would proudly boast of how brave he was in finally confessing his feelings. However, Twilight had never really asked Rarity about how she thought of Spike, as there never was any real indication that Rarity had caught on to Spike’s attraction to the mare.

The thought led to worry, as Twilight pictured the tiny dragon sauntering home, head hung low and spirits crushed. She decided she would give the two a few more minutes before going out to find Spike. She hated the idea of her oldest friend in such despair. ‘He’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. Rarity knows how to be... delicate about somepony’s feelings. And there was always the chance that Rarity felt the same way, right?’

As Celestia’s orange sun began to set over the sky, Twilight’s worries started to re-manifest themselves. She decided that she had waited long enough, and set out towards Carousel Boutique to get Spike. She didn’t have to walk far though, before long she saw Spike heading towards the library. ‘He doesn’t seem like he is in much of a hurry, though. And had he been… crying? Oh Celestia no.’ Twilight ran towards Spike, stopping only inches away from his face. Spike paid no attention to this though, and continued on his path toward the library.

They both remained silent the entire walk home. It wasn’t until they had re-entered the library that Spike let out a long exhale, and turned to Twilight, his little green eyes gleaming in the light. “Twi, can we talk?” His voice was barely audible, but Twilight heard it nonetheless. The words made her heart drop. This couldn’t possibly be good news.

They both sat down, and Spike was quick to start. “So after you left, Rarity and I sat down to talk.” Twilight listened intently, the concern on her face very apparent. “And-” Twilight’s heart raced; she was waiting to hear what awful thing had happened, expecting a horrible tragedy to have befallen the baby dragon. “I just couldn’t tell her.” Twilight’s head thumped onto the desk, followed by a loud groan.

“Really Spike? You had me all worked up, thinking you just had your heart broken, only to find out you chickened out, again?” The hurt on Spike’s face made it clear to Twilight she had clearly overstepped a boundary, and immediately tried to apologize before he got the wrong idea, but Spike simply waved a hoof at it. She figured that meant he knew she hadn’t meant what had come out.

“Twi, I’m sorry. I know you just wanted to help, but…” Twilight was able to figure the rest out, and walked over the baby dragon and held him tightly in a hug. Before long, Spike had pushed away from the hug. “But-” He interrupted the hug to get the necessary to speak, “I couldn’t put that on Rarity right now. She’s so stressed out with the move to Canterlot, the last thing she needs right now is me complicating things for her.” Spike’s head hung low once more that day, as he slowly ascended the stairs, practically hearing his bed calling for him to come to its warm embrace.

“I think I’m just gonna turn in early, alright Twilight?” Spike continued to climb the stairs a few steps, before stopping and turning back towards Twilight. “Unless you need me for something, I mean.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile at that. ‘Oh Spike, always so eager to help.’ “That’s quite alright; you just get your rest. You’ve had a long day.” Twilight flashed Spike a quick smile before returning to cleaning up around the library. Spike let another grin slid into place.

‘Thanks, Twi’, Spike thought as he snuggled himself tightly into his bed. ‘Even if things do go wrong sometimes, I’ve always had Twilight to look out for me. No matter what, I’ll always have her.’ The last thought Spike had before drifting off to sleep was the memory of him and Twilight back in Canterlot, spending their days running around the library, just the two of them. The way it used to be. The grin on his face grew larger as he snoozed.

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“Rarity, I don’t really know quite how to say this, so I’m just going to come out with it. I-” He found himself interrupted when he noticed Rarity was no longer seated, but instead was running around her shop, frantically fitting dresses and fabrics into suitcases, with befuddling expressions with each article of clothing, knowing she could only fit so much into her suitcases. “Did you… need a hand, Rarity?”

It seemed Rarity had completely forgotten Spike was even there. “Oh that would be wonderful darling, if you wouldn’t mind fetching me my Spring wardrobe from upstairs?” Spike gave a quick salute before sprinting upstairs. Returning shortly downstairs, carrying several large suitcases, struggling to breath while balancing the heavy payload. “Is this really… all your… clothes?” He managed to squeak out between breaths. “Oh heavens no! This is only what I can bring with me for the time being. I plan on having my entire shop inventory transferred to my new home in Canterlot!” The fashionista finished with a large grin on her face at the mere mention of the name of the regal city.

‘Alright Spike, here’s your chance. It’s now or never’, he had said that to himself a handful of times since his arrival, but he felt it was really going to happen this time. “I’m really happy for you Rarity, I know how much this means to you. After all, you’ve been talking about being a famous Canterlot designer for so long now…” Spike paused for a moment, noticing Rarity seemed to have stopped her frantic packing to listen to him. “And… I’m gonna miss you.”

Rarity’s moved expression was enough for him. ‘Even if she doesn’t know how I feel, at least she knows how much I care.’ She trotted over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you too, Spike.” The two looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, before parting the hug. After a moment, Rarity broke the silence. “Is… Is that what you came to talk to me about?” Spike only nodded. Rarity’s smile was heartwarming to Spike. “Don’t you worry darling, I’ll come visit, and don’t you go thinking I won’t.”

Another quick hug, and Spike had left for the evening. Even if he hadn’t done what he originally intended during his visit, he still felt somewhat accomplished in what he did. But that thought quickly evaporated into the thought that she was still leaving, and he was still just Rarity’s ‘friend’. He wanted more. “One day.” Spike said to nopony in particular. “One day I’ll tell her.” Next Chapter: Chapter Two Estimated time remaining: 46 Minutes