Sweating madly and desperately, Spike had to find a way to stall for time before Twilight could see what has happened. He did most of the jewels underneath the table and went towards the hallway. Upon making it, he saw Twilight half-asleep with her stomach rumbling.

"Oh... hi Spike." Twilight said with a yawn.

"H-Hey Twilight. What're you doing up in the middle of the night?" Spike nervously asked.

"Hmm. I was having this weird dream about fluffy kittens and for some odd reason, my stomach was rumbling. So I decided to help myself to the kitchen and-"

"That's great! Just stay here and I'll go get it for you." Spike said in a panicked manner.

"Huh? Well, okay. Make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, please."

"One pb&j sandwich, coming up! Plain or toasted?"

"Plain." Twilight said with a yawn.

Spike rushed back to the kitchen and proceeded to make her sandwich. As he was spreading the jam and the peanut butter on the bread, he was sweating bullets. He had no idea how long he could keep her at bay while he was trying to fix the statue. It was a race against time and he knew that he was short of it before tomorrow. After making her sandwich, he quickly ran over and gave it to Twilight.

"G'night, Twilight." Spike said desperately.

"G'night, Spike..." Twilight said as she left while taking a bite of her sandwich.

After hearing her close the door, he immediately went back to fixing the statue. He continued to work on it hour after hour, trying to right the wrong that he wrought upon himself. A wrong that could spell certain doom for the relationship between the dragons and the griffons. Slowly but surely, he started to feel his consciousness slip away. With his eyes dropping, his mouth hanging, he could barely concentrate on what he needed to accomplish. Five-ten minutes later, he finally passed out from working too hard.

***

The next morning, Spike was suddenly awoken by a sudden thud on a table.

"Spike." a voice called.

It was the same voice that Spike didn't want to hear. He slowly turned around and saw Twilight and her friends, with looks of disapproval.

"What did you do?" Twilight asked in a stern, yet angry voice.

Spike turned around and looked at the ruined statue that fell before him. Not sure about what to do, he turned towards them and said,

"There was a slight problem with the statue. It fell apart and-"

"And what? Sounds like you were hungry or something." Rainbow Dash speculated.

"Wha- no! Sure, my stomach was rumbling, but-"

"But what? Sounds to me like you were gonna eat that statue." Applejack said.

Shocked and in utter disbelief with the accusations thrown at him, Spike said,

"No! I was trying to fix the statue! Why are you all just pointing hooves and accusing me all of a sudden?"

"Because we happen to know a certain dragon whose stomach would often rumble for any jewel that he comes across." Rarity said.

"Plus, you seem to have quite the thing for jewels whenever you mention them." Pinkie Pie added.

Spike lowered his head and saw the crumbs that Pinkie spotted. Not knowing what to do at this point, Spike said,

"I really did try to fix the statue. I did. I have no idea what happened, but I didn't eat that statue. Besides, I enjoy eating doggy treats."

"I find that hard to believe, young drake. Not only did you potentially damage any hopes of starting a friendship between the dragons and the griffons, but you also betrayed whatever faith I had in my number one assistant."

"What...?" Spike asked with his eyes widened.

"Twilight, aren't you going a little too far with this accusation?" Starlight asked.

"He knew that he was going to face responsibility if anything bad happened to the statue, as did my friends who relied on him for help whenever they needed him."

"Twilight, don't do this." Spike said.

"I'm sorry Spike, but you left me no choice but to banish you." Twilight said.

Spikes eyes widened even more upon hearing that. The next thing that happened was that tears started rolling down his eyes.

"What? I don't believe this! Couldn't you at least give me an explanation about this?!" Spike asked with his voice breaking a little.

"Ember and Gilda came by earlier than we anticipated and we had to prepare in a last-ditch effort to make sure everyting was in place." Twilight said.

"Me and Pinkie had to make sure that the apple farm was set in place with all the food there was!" Applejack shouted.

"I had to finish up their dresses in a rush to make sure they something to wear for tonight along with the decor!" Rarity complained.

"Every animal in my cottage was running amok and Angel was causing mischief throughout Ponyville, which didn't give me any time to rehearse!" Fluttershy said with assertiveness.

"And I had to help with Twilight's checklist, so I didn't have time for Wonderbolt practice or taking care of the weather!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"I was trying to fix the statue!" Spike yelled.

Twilight and her friends were more angry with him than he ever imagined.

"Ember and Gilda came by in the castle, and when they saw the statue, they got upset with me and nearly left. I had to patch things up between the two and save face between the two species. So who wasn't there to help me with our responsibilities?" Twilight said, looking at Spike.

Spike looked on in tears as Twilight was completely angry at him now.

"That's enough, Twilight!" Starlight protested.

"This is not your place to argue, Starlight."

"Ar-? He was trying to patch things up between the dragons and the griffons! Why can't you see that?"

"We nearly lost a friendship between the two, and who knows what Princess Celestia would think if she saw this!" Twilight shouted as she pointed at the statue.

Starlight and Spike were both in shock as they saw that Twilight was firm in her decision.

"Do you know how I would have did better when I was a student?" Twilight asked Spike.

Spike's eyes widened even more before hearing Twilight speak.

"I would have been better off if I didn't have any assistant." Twilight said as she turned her back on him.

Starlight looked on in shock as she witnessed Twilight give him his sentence. Knowing full well how it meant to be treated as a villain, Starlight went beside Spike and said with a serious face,

"You're gonna have to banish me too."

"Very well." Twilight said with certainty.

The two immediately went to their room and started packing their things. After ten minutes of packing, they went downstairs and exited the castle without as much as a goodbye. They made their way through the town and stopped to have a bite to eat. Looking at Spike, she saw how sad he was about seeing Twilight kicking him out of the castle. So she decided to cheer him up.

"You know, we could try working with Trixie. She has often talked about needing more assistants for her magic shows. It wouldn't be a bad idea. If anything, we could make a killing in the entertainment business and we could become rich if we play our cards right. Get it?" Starlight asked as she gave out a fake laugh.

She looked at Spike and he was still devastated. Starlight gave a sad look and said,

"Look at me."

Spike raised his head and looked at her.

"I know what it means to be banished from your own home. We may be homeless now, but as long as we have each other, there's not a hoof, or claw, that anybody can raise to us. I promise. We will make this work. You have my word as an outsider." Starlight said as she raised her hoof towards him.

Spike looked at her with uncertainty and no idea what to say about it.

"I dunno." he replied.

"Huh?" Starlight asked.

"All my life, I have been told what to do on whatever task that I was given. Day in and day out, I did as I was told and I was often rewarded with a few gems. I did spend some time with Celestia and Twilight, but they were often too busy to even talk to me. Let alone reading to me when I was still growing. Looking back at it now, I feel completely empty inside. I don't think that Celestia would even look at me."

"Don't be like that. Everypony feels that way whenever they feel disowned or whatever. Besides, you now have something in common with me, bestie."

Spike gave her a slight chuckle.

"I guess that's true. I mean, we both are treated like sidekicks."

"Starlight!" A voice called out.

They both looked out of the table and saw that it was Trixie. She ran towards them and said,

"Hey there, bestie~. So how goes your magic training~?"

"It's going great, but we've been kicked out of Twilight's castle."

"Oh? How'd you stir up the hornet's nest this time~?" Trixie asked with curosity.

"I volunteered."

"Huh?"

"Spike got kicked out."

"Oh. Welcome to the club, Spiky." Trixie said with a deadpan expression.

"Hey Trixie."

"Hmm?"

Remember what you told me about needing more assistants?"

"Yeah?"

"What if Spike and I joined you as assistants?"

"Huh?"

"It would be fun! We could pull magic acts, hold special events, and we could be famous across Equestria."

"Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea, but that would mean we'd have to practice hard if we wanna make a living across the land."

"We'll make it work. If you let us join, we could live like princesses! We wouldn't have to worry about trouble ever again!"

After Trixie gave some careful consideration, she looked at Starlight and said,

"Okay, my two new assistants. Guess I have a new magic act after all. But we have to leave immediately if we wanna get over to Los Pegasus."

"Sweet! So Spike, what's your decision?" Starlight asked, raising her hoof back up.

Spike thought about it very deeply after hearing her speak about this opportunity. He knew full well that Twilight was angry with him and it felt unlikely that she was going to forgive him. After thinking it over, he said,

"I've got nowhere to go anyway. Why not?"

He raised his fist and bumped it with Starlight's hoof.

"Looks like we've got a new partnership in our midst." Starlight said with sass.

"Looks that way, huh?" Spike said.

"Yup! Now finish up, 'cuz we got a long road ahead of us!"

After they finished eating, they immediately packed up and went off with Trixie, filled with enthusiasm and ready for a brand new future ahead of them. Spike had no idea what would lie ahead, but he knew that it was his future now, and he has friends to share it with.