“I…” Spike starts before cutting off. He covers a surreptitious glance at Twilight with another heavy drag of his claws against his face. Why are his scales so itchy? It felt amazing when Ember was practically peeling his scales from the osteoderms underneath, even if she didn’t quite get around to actually removing them.

But Twilight…

He hasn’t thought about what it will mean for her when he leaves to take over running the Crystal Empire. If she approves of it or not. What she’ll do with all the paperwork Princess Celestia assigns. He’s been so distracted by the congratulations that he just couldn’t. He would instead think about what sort of adventure he might find in the illustrious Empire, what sort of… perks might come with sitting on the throne.

Like when Delegate Gruff came over, the first time the griffon paid them even an ounce of respect. Spike can still see the greedy glint in his beady eye. But it gets him thinking about trade with the Griffon Kingdom, how they could build a railroad that cuts along the Frozen North to Manehattan. It would increase access to the Crystal Empire and boost trade with the Griffons, rather than needing to route everything through Canterlot. And that would be a huge boon, not just in-

Ugh, he’s getting distracted again!

It’s so hard to stay focused, with all the things competing for his attention! Laws of the Crystal Empire, how to deal with ponies, the ponies themselves! He is jumping straight into the deep end, like when he watched Sweetie Belle leap from an apple tree right into the pond, but without learning how to swim. Is this what it’s like to be Twilight, a million different things demanding, all at once, when she became Princess? It explains why she has her lists, a crutch he’s made fun of more than once; she can freely pursue those distractions while being able to return to the issue at hoof at a moment’s notice.

He needs to take charge. Focus on one item at a time. Anything else that comes up should be written down, to be addressed at a later time. Or have the current topic get tabled so the issue cropping up can be resolved satisfactorily, then returned to with a minimum of repeat discussion.

“Twilight?” Spike calls, turning away from the swirling ring of green and his… newest friend to his oldest.

“Yes, Spike?” Twilight answers as she trots over. She beams down at her long-time ward and friend. She asks, as if she hasn’t been listening in to their entire conversation, “Is everything going well?”

“Could…” Spike pauses for a moment, his stomach doing flips as he nearly gnaws at his claws. He dreads Twilight’s answer, even with the mare’s pleasant smile. A smile he wishes Sweetie Belle had on, but she hasn’t let up on her stony stare. “Could you get me quill and parchment?”

“Certainly.” If Twilight finds the request odd she doesn’t show it. Her horn lights; Spike’s quill, inkwell and parchment levitate to the small dragon. Her head tilts to the side slightly, a certain knowing in her eyes. “Is there anything else?”

“I…” Spike stammers, scratching at his cheek. A small bit flecks away, a speck of purple falling to the floor.

“Oh, Spike!” Twilight sympathizes. She drops down and studies Spike’s face with a dam’s protectiveness, eyes narrowing and brow creasing. “Are you alright? Does that hurt?”

“Does what hurt?” Sweetie Belle exclaims worriedly, unable to see from the angle.

“I-it’s nothing! Really!” Spike turns to smile at Sweetie Belle. She flinches noticeably, as do Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. He glances at Twilight, gulping. “Is it bad?”

“I-I’m not sure,” Twilight says. She sits up, studying the two dragons in the room. They seem to be bickering about something, then arm wrestling with each other, but that’s nothing new. “It’s an angry red, like an open wound, like you peeled away a bit of hide. I mean, scale. We don’t know a lot about dragon physiology. But I wouldn’t touch it. Remember the weeping from your scales after Gummy bit you?”

“I won’t mess with it.” Spike’s leg twitches at the reminder. “Deadly machinations benefit greatly from ample drainage.”

Twilight snorts, trying to hold back her guffaws and failing. “Deadly machinations? You must have listened a little too closely to Princess Celestia complaining about the nobles!” She smirks at the white alicorn, only for Chrysalis’ intense stare to catch her eye.

“I believe,” the chief architect states emotionlessly, drawing a certain stillness from the other mares, “that he is referring to an abattoir, not aristocrats. Though one would certainly work on the other.”

“For the record,” Rainbow Dash pipes up to Spike, “I agreed with you when you wanted Twilight to compete for whether or not she could stay in Ponyville. Applejack, on the other hoof, didn’t agree and so she should go at the top of whatever list you’re making.”

“Hey!” Applejack objects, glaring at the cerulean pegasus. Only for Rainbow to lose her denunciation, point a hoof at her lead mare and laugh uproariously. “Okay, okay, ya got me.”

“On a more serious note,” Twilight says, turning back to Spike, still smiling at her herdmate’s antics. She has an upswing in her voice, a ray of hope conveying that she would be open and understanding. “Was there anything else?”

Spike hesitates, rubbing at his arm, only to worry about whether or not he has a loose scale there as well. He looks down at his thin arms. They look so weak, so paltry, so unlike the muscular limbs of the Storm King. Or even Garble! How can he possibly be a leader looking like he does now? He sniffs and drops his head, despising the sound of Twilight’s hooves as she steps closer to console him.

No! He can’t think like that! To entertain doubt is to dance with death!

“Twilight.” He wipes away his tears as he stares up at his dearest friend. Twilight stops, compassion still evident in her smile, even with the slight harshness in his voice. “Do you want me to go to the Crystal Empire?”

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight says, dropping to her barrel. She can’t say anything more, jaw quivering, Celestia’s missive about Honesty in full effect. And maybe that’s her answer. She beckons him closer, tears muddying the violet of her eyes.

The look she gives him when he stalls… she looks hurt, betrayed, that he might not love her enough to give even this small token. It takes but a moment for his resolve to break, rushing into those waiting hooves. She gathers him up, just like she always has, her shoe sliding along his spines as the other hugs him tight.

“I’m so sorry,” Twilight sobs out, barrel heaving, before Spike can repeat his question. “I just… how would you say it?” The corners of her mouth curl up just slightly. “You know. Now that you’re a big-shot emperor and all.” She takes a breath, then states in a low, deep voice, “Inflated confidence is so easily perforated.”

Spike, along with the nearby ponies, can’t help but chuckle. “I know. But I’m a big dragon now!” He grins at her, despite not coming up to her eyes even when she is laying down. “I can take it!” His voice, as deep as it will go, booms, “Such resilience!”

Twilight ruffles Spike’s spines as he flexes, shaking her head mirthfully. “Oh, Spike. I can’t tell you how much I’ll miss this. And how much I’ll miss you. I don’t want you to go.” She hugs him close, shaking as he spreads his arms to hug her back. “I wish you could stay with me forever.”

She pulls away to steal a glance at Celestia. Her mentor is laying down next to Luna, Doug sitting in between, and giving the two the warmest, most encouraging smile she has ever seen. She notes how Doug’s arm nestles around Celestia’s flank and belly, yet more how her leg wraps around his knee, tugging tightly and holding him close, just like she would with Smarty Pants.

She mirrors the action with Spike, nuzzling him from the spines along the top of his head until she gets to the ticklish spot at his neck. “I think back to all the wonderful things we’ve done together. How you’ve helped me through thick and thin. This might feel early, but I know you are capable.”

“How do you know that?” Spike asks, feeling the responsibility looming over him like the shadow of King Sombra. “I don’t feel ready!”

“We may never feel ready. I know I didn’t when I got these.” Twilight wags her wings. “Or when we fought King Sombra. Or dealt with Chrysalis. But we must always be ready to leap at opportunity when it appears. And I think this is a splendid opportunity for you.”

“You’re not going to come with me?” Spike asks, almost begging. “To lose a retainer is to lose a dear friend.”

Twilight shakes her head. “No. This is your chance to prove yourself. If I helped, I would only be stealing your accomplishment from you. And that would hardly be honest, or generous, or loyal, or kind, or optimistic, right?”

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie complains good-naturedly. “How come my Element always gets changed?!”

“Or worthy of laughter,” Twilight corrects, smiling fondly. “But your friends will always be there if you need us. You can write a letter; we’re just a breath away! Just don’t expect us to solve every problem you have!”

“I delegate all my crises to the Elements of Harmony,” Celestia adds before anypony can accuse her of the same, ending with a wink to Twilight. “I’m afraid I called dibs.”

“I get that,” Spike says, fidgeting nervously. He turns back to Twilight. “I knew I would have to leave the nest at some point. That I wouldn’t always have you around. Before you got those,” he motions to Twilight’s wings, “I thought, when I could bear to think about it, that it would be from age. For everypony else, time can be slowed but never slain. But this?”

Spike buries himself in Twilight’s soft and inviting chest, a hoof loosely holding him against her. Her head drops down, finally allowing a tear to drop onto his back.

“I’ll miss you, Spike,” Twilight whispers. Only after a long time do they push away. She stares into his eyes, wiping away a tear that didn’t come off on her fur. “I know you’ll be a superb leader.”

“It’d be kind of hard to be worse than the last emperor,” Rainbow Dash adds, breaking the solemnness. She looks confused at the glares aiming her way. “What? It’s true!”

A sniff from Sweetie Belle draws Spike’s attention. She rubs at her eye, clearly reluctant to ask the question, as Twilight backs away and leaves Spike alone. “Do you want me to leave too, Spike? Because I don’t want you to leave. I won’t just miss you when you’re gone.”

“Gone?” Spike says, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders. “I was hoping that you would, you know, come with me. As they say, pity the emperor who sits alone on his throne.”

“But…” Sweetie Belle stammers. Hah! Spike smirks, the shoe on the other hoof. “But we promised,” she finally says, looking up at something he can’t see, then at her two sisters. Neither appears happy with the conundrum in front of them. “We were going to go to Starlight’s village and help everypony there with their cutie mark problems.”

“Oh, so I can’t leave because you’ll miss me?” Spike crosses his arms across his chest, his face set hard. “But you can leave because your cutie mark says you can? What will Rarity say, or Applejack or Rainbow Dash?”

It takes Sweetie Belle a moment to answer, the three mares frowning but not at her. She says, with obvious trepidation, “Well, yeah. It’s like when Applebaum left to pursue her mark. Applejack was sad, but she came to terms with it. Applebaum is doing what she is meant to do. All our dams know that we’re doing what we’re meant to do.”

“But how do you know that I’m not doing what I’m meant to do? Huh?” Spike points a claw at his face, a new spot starting to itch. “What makes ponies so special, that they get to blame any action they want to on their mark and everypony just accepts it? But if a dragon does what they want, they’re ‘just being a dragon’ and the next thing you know they’re being deported?”

“Well,” Sweetie Belle shouts, a new fury in her eyes, “if you want to be a dragon so badly, why don’t you go be a dragon with her!” She angrily thrusts her hoof at the blurry teal figure in the background.

“Her?” Spike glances back, spotting Ember. He gulps. “With Ember?”

“Oh, she has a name,” Sweetie Belle mutters.

Spike glowers at her cross reaction. “But I don’t care about her. I care about you. An emperor must choose his attendants wisely.”

Spike kneels down, wishing he had some sort of token to offer. He grabs the quill Twilight left on the floor. He holds it up solemnly.

“I wish I could tell you the right words. About how much you mean to me. About how valuable you will be at my side. The truly virtuous are few and far between. I wish I could delay, but there is a fine line between consideration and hesitation. The former is wisdom, the latter is fear. An emperor must know precisely where he stands, and I need to know where I stand with you.”

Spike takes a deep breath, then kneels.

“Sweetie Belle. I love you. Will you come to the Crystal Empire and rule at my side?”

Spike stares at Sweetie Belle, holding his position while she stares back. It begins to grow uncomfortable, the itching on his face getting worse. He finally has to reach up and scratch, digging deep, never breaking eye contact.

“Spike,” Sweetie Belle eventually says, keeping the stammer from her voice even as her body quakes. “I… I haven’t thought this through.” She indicates her two sisters. “It’d mean breaking us apart. We wouldn’t be helping the ponies at Starlight’s village. I… I can’t.” She sniffs, once, turning her head away. “I can’t come with you to the Crystal Empire. Not yet.”

She mutters a brief, “I’m sorry,” and leaves a stream of tears as she jumps down and scampers off to hide in one of the bales of hay.

“S-sorry, Spike,” Apple Bloom apologizes before running off to console her sister.

Scootaloo gives a sympathetic nod of her head. “We’ll, um, let you know if anything changes.” She, too, disappears from view.

Spike stares at the empty green ring for a long moment. He says as it fades, without malice or any emotion in his voice, “May you find the ending you deserve.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 34 - Izaro's Turmoil, Part Five Estimated time remaining: 26 Hours, 47 Minutes