Spike looked at his reflection. He was still a baby for dragon standards but he had grown a few inches. He now could reach easily the top shelves, hug Twilight on the neck without stretching and, more importantly, he had kept his wings. They were tiny, they reminded him of Scootaloo's, but they were still able to lift him off the ground. They were a sign that Spike had grown, even if it was just a little.

With a smile on his face, he got down stair and headed for the kitchen.

“Twilight?” he asked, looking at the mare with her head on the fridge.

“Hey Spike, do we have anymore eggs? I wanted to make us breakfast but I can't find any eggs,” she said

“Oh yeah, we ran out of them last week,” Spike said.

He rubbed his arm, a little ashamed. He usually took care of shopping since Twilight might be organized but was a mess in the kitchen. Not that he was the best of cook but he did better than her.  But this past week, with the whole Noble Dragon Code issue he had forgotten to help Twilight like before.

“I´ll go get some!” he announced and rushed for the market, ready to make up for her.

Twilight watched him go and smiled. She was glad to have her little brother back. She rummaged through the fridge a while more, trying to find something, anything to eat. A sudden knock on the door distracted her and she hit her head with a shelf.

“Auh. Spike, did you forget something?” she asked but when she opened the door, she found a different sibling. “Shining Armor!”

“Hey Twiley!” Shining Armor returned her sister hug. “I´m so glad to see you.”

“Me too! What a surprise! What brings you here?” she asked.

“Cadence and I made some more discoveries regarding the Dragon Code and I´m afraid I have some bad news to tell you,” Shining said and Twilight face fell flat. “I also came to pick by Mrs. Agate. There´s nopony running the library right now.” And he pointed at the old crystal mare who was nonchalantly taking a cup of tea and smiling at the siblings.

“Oh yeah, her,” Twilight said.

*****

“Good morning, Spike!”

“Great match yesterday!”

“You look pretty handsome today.”

Spike´s smile was even bigger than this morning. It seemed everypony in town was happy to see him, giving him compliments and waving at him. Even some young mares giggled when he passed by. He felt like he was atop of the world, better than he ever felt since he discovered the code. He was happy with the fact that he could carry two bags full of groceries with one claw.

Spike waved back at all the ponies but he didn't stop until he ran into one filly. “Babs Seed?”

“Whu? Oh hey Spike, what´s up?” she said, blowing her mane nervously.

“You still in town? I thought you will be back in Manehattan by now,” he said.

“No. My folks decided I could stay the rest of the summer,” she explained.

“That´s great! Let me carry this for you.” And he took another pair of bags with one claw.

Babs blushed and barely said thanks. She walked out of the market along with him and noticed how the mares were looking at them. She felt a cold feeling in her chest, almost like she was embarrassed but when she looked back at him, she couldn't help but smile. Spike noticed this and she turned away, blushing.

“Hey, have you girls go to Ghastly Gorge yet?” Spike casually asked, snapping Babs out of her thoughts.

“Wut? Oh that, no. Cuz Applejack learned of what we wanted to do and said it was too dangerous,” she explained.

“Oh too bad.”

“But...” Babs blushed a little, struggling with the words. “Cuz Apple Bloom told me about this place they went camping once and she said, they were rainbow waterfalls and it was tons of fun.”

“That sounds like fun!”

“Umh yeah. Actually cuz, I mean Apple Bloom, was talking of going back there. An official Crusaders camping.”

“That sounds even more fun!”

“Would you...umh would you...”

“What´s that?” Spike asked, leaning over Babs who had to close her eyes to not burst.

“Would you like to come with us?” she finally blurted.

She waited with her eyes closed for what it seemed like an eternity before she finally heard “Sure! I´ll tell Twilight and we´ll all go together!”

Babs didn´t bothered to hide her happiness. Her face was basically beaming.

“Heh, I just noticed I'm now a few inches taller than you,” spike said.

“Wut? No way! I bet I´m still taller than you!”

“Ha, you wish.”

The ponies in the market smiled, watching the filly and the dragon laugh and shove eachother like the best of friends.

*****

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SPIKE HAS TO LEAVE?”

“Twilight, calm down.”

Usually, ponies had a hard time calming down Twilight, especially if she had legitimate reason to be upset. But Shining Armor was her big brother and it only took one stern look to quiet any complaints.

Twilight went back to her seat and looked at her brother, asking for answer.

“Let me finish. Cadence sept days in the library, looking through history books for some explanation for the Noble Dragons leaving and especially, why they would left an egg behind. Turns out many generations ago, Princess Platinum made a deal with the dragons. They would allow the unicorns to search the mountains for the gems they both wanted and in exchange, they would protect the ponies from the many threats like Diamond Dogs and such. And for centuries, that deal was respected. But you know that dragons are greedy creatures and even the most noble of the dragons can fall prey to the hoarding instinct. So the Dragon Code was written and one of the rules was that after a century of service, a noble dragon must abandon the land and go beyond the sea.”

Twilight let go a sigh of relief after hearing the explanation. “Well, then I don´t have to worry. I won't even be around by then.”

Shingin looked at her, confused.

“When I was young and I learned that dragons live longer than ponies, I got really sad. But Princess Celestia assured me that she would always look up after Spike, even after I´m gone, she will never leave his side.”

“She will have to once Spike´s time is over.”

“Yes, I understand that but I´m sure by that time, Spike will be a full Noble Dragon and he will have a great life overseas.”

Shining looked at his little sister with proud eyes. He was still used to think of her like that cute little bookworm that cried at the end of a sad novel but now, she sounded like an adult. Even more, she had the same serene and confident tone as the Princess.

His proud smile disappeared quickly however, since he had sad news to tell.

“There´s another rule that Cadence discovered. One that explains what happens when Noble Dragons break the Code...” Shining looked at Twilight who was looking worried again. “Noble Dragons that go awry are expelled from not just their home but from Equestria all together. And I´m afraid that Spike has broken the Code.”

“What? No, he didn´t! He has stay loyal to that dumb code ever since he discovered it!”

“Now he has but before...”

“Are you talking about that incident last year? He wasn't even aware the code existed! And it wasn't his fault entirely! We spoiled him too much. I didn't even knew what was going on until I asked Zecora!” Twilight explained.

“It doesn't matter, Twilight. Spike is a Noble Draogn by birth which means he is oblgided to follow the Code, regardless if he knew it or not.”

“But that...that means that Spike...”

Twilight was about to break in tears, so Mrs. Agate held her in a warm hug, patting her head.

“There´s one way to get him off the hook, however...”

Shining looked front and found two very angry mares that didn´t appreciated he didn't mentioned that before.

“Umh the thing is, there´s an even older Equestrian law that predates the Code and says that citizens of Equestria, regardless of race, cannot be expelled. And it also includes citizens by marriage so if Spike gets married to somepony, he can´t be expelled.”

“Why didn't you say that first?” Twilight yelled and levitated a wedding gown from somewhere.

“Where are you exactly going, Twilight?” Shingin yelled.

“To get the Mayor so she can marry us,” she bluntly said.

“What? You're not going to marry Spike!”

“Let me go, Shining!”

Mrs. Agate moved back to the kitchen, wondering if there was some eggs on the fridge. She didn´t heard the sound of the kitchen door slamming, a young dragon running away from the house.

*****

Babs Seed was happily humming a song while she unpacked her stuff. She had originally only brought a light changes of clothes (and considering ponies rarely wear them, it was a light change) but now that she was staying for more weeks, her parents had sent a box with her stuff. Babs was now claiming half of Apple Bloom´s room as hers. In just a few minutes, there were hoofball banners and superhero posters all over the walls.

“Hey Babs...”

“Oh hi cuz,” Babs replied in a very flat tone. That was a Manehattan joke but Apple Bloom never got it. “Sorry about your wall. I´m just trying to feel more comfortable.”

“Ah don't care about that...” Apple Bloom sounded distressed but Babs was so giggly she didn't noticed it. “Hey cuz...”

“Yeah?”

“About Spike...”

“Spike just told me he wants to go camping with us! Isn't that just awesome?”

“Yeah, awesome. Hey, what yah said ´bout him...”

“I asked cuz Applejack and she already said yes. Isn't that great?”

“Babs Seed, could yah please listen to me?” That brought Babs´ attention. “What yah said about really, really liking him.” Apple Bloom took a pause before counting. “Were you serious?”

Now Babs took a pause. She played with a Mare-Do-Well figurine for a few seconds before she nodded.

“So are yah in love with him?”

“I...I think I am. I´m not so sure, I mean, I´ve never felt anything like this before for anybody. But when I´m around Spike I do feeling something inside, like a very warm feeling. I think that's love.”

Apple Bloom walked next to her and placed a hoof  on her shoulder. “If that´s how yah really feel...then ah promise to do everything ah can so yah two can be together.”

“I thought you were already doing that. Cutie Mark Crusaders Matchmakers and all that,” Babs joked.

“This is different! That was a crush but now yah´r telling  me yah´r serious so, as yah cousin and best friend, ah five my Apple word to not rest until yah two are together.”

Babs smiled and hugged her cousin. “For a sec, there I thought you were going to say you were jealous or something.”

“Why is everypony saying that? Ah´m not jealous!”

“Heh, Scootaloo says you are. Of me.”

“Shut up!” Apple Bloom shouted and punched her cousin, who just laughed at the blushing Apple Bloom.

******

Spike ran, he ran faster than ever. Not only his legs were now a little longer but his wings were flapping in tune, giving him extra boost. Before he knew it, he was on the outskirts of town, reaching the Everfree. He tripped with a rock and fell flat, right next to Fluttershy's´s cottage.

“Oh my, are you alright?” she asked, rushing to meet him.

Spike lifted his head, tears falling down his face.

“Oh Spike...”

Fluttershy walked him to her fence and they both sit. She waited until Spike had spent all his tears and he explained the situation.

“I see...” Fluttershy simply said.

“Why is this happening to me? This stupid Code...it has brought nothing but troubles! Wish I had never find it.”

Spike cried some more, buying his face on his knees. Fluttershy played a little with her mane, mustering some courage to finally speak.

“But Shining Armor did said there was a solution...”

“Yeah but that solution is marrying. I already made a mess about that yesterday,” Spike said, wiping his tears. “Besides, I still haven't find the pony that will get my mark. I still haven't met my one and true wife.”

“Maybe...maybe you should try again,” Fluttershy said, looking at her own hoof.

“Fluttershy?”

Timidly, Fluttershy extended her hoof to him. Spike looked at the bright yellow hoof and then at the blushing mare. Fluttershy was chewing on her mane, avoiding looking at Spike. Spike raised his claw, approaching her. He only had to place his claw and if a mark appareaded, then all his troubles will go away...

“NO! This is wrong!” Spike yelled, pulling back.

“Spike, I'm just trying to help you...”

“But if you get the mark, you'll become my wife! For the rest of your life!”

“I...I wouldn´t mind that...”

Spike looked at her, wondering if she was serious. If she really won't mind if the mark appeared. She extended her hoof again and Spike raised his claw but he couldn't do it.

“No! You're too kind. This isn't right!”

And Spike ran off, leaving behind a shy mare with her hoof still extended.

*******

This morning, all the ponies in market saluted Spike and smiled at him.

This afternoon, they barely acknowledged him as they passed by, ignoring the crying dragon sitting under a tree.

There was no cruelty in that act, they simply continued with their daily life. They didn't knew what was in risk for Spike. None of them stop to ask him what was wrong. None of them.

“Hey there, Spike. What´s wrong?”

None except one little filly.

“Do you need any help?”

“Diamond...Tiara?”