Twilight Sparkle woke up in the middle of the night when she felt something kicking at her hoofs. Sleepily, she sat up to see what had awoken her. She saw Spike kicking and thrashing in his sleep. He looked like he was having a nightmare. Twilight got worried about him. She shook him genteelly with her hoof. "Spike, hey Spike wake up."

Spike jolted up and screamed. He started panting and looked around the room. He instantly embraced Twilight when he saw her and started crying. "Oh thank Celestia you're ok!"

Twilight returned the hug. "Of course silly, why wouldn't I be?"

Spike cried more. "Everything was good…then it all turned bad…and me…and you…" Tears came down from his eyes and onto Twilight's pelt.

Twilight rubbed his back comfortingly. "Shush, it's ok. It was just a bad dream. Everything's going to be alright. I promise." Spike started to calm down a little. Twilight smiled.

"T-Thanks Twilight." Spike said still crying a little.

"You're welcome. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No…" Spike said. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You don't seem fine."

"Seriously Twilight, I'm fine. Now go to bed." He rolled himself over and closed his eyes.

Twilight nudged Spike with her hoof. "Spike…you know I'm always here if you need me. If you ever need anything, please tell me."

"I know Twilight," Spike said.

"I'm sorry if I'm acting motherly Spike…it's just that I care about you…a lot."

"I know. Now please just go to sleep."

Twilight laid her head down and went to sleep.

The next day Spike woke up and stared at Twilight, who was still asleep. He knew what day was coming up. He wondered if would finally be the one. He knew that it would be coming, but he had always pushed the thought to the corner of his mind. He couldn't ignore it any longer. If that day came…Spike wasn't sure what would happen. He knew that somepony would get hurt. He dreaded that it would be Twilight. He couldn't take that thought. Spike knew what he had to do.

Twilight woke up an hour later. Spike wasn't at the foot of her bed anymore. Twilight smiled; this would make her task much easier. She didn't have time to wonder where he went. She rushed down to Sugar Cube Corner. She found Pinkie Pie at the counter singing to herself while she baked a batch of cupcakes.

"I'll never stop it no," She sung as she put the cupcakes in the oven. "When I'm through you'll taste rainbows!" She closed the oven and turned it on. When Pinkie turned around and saw Twilight she smiled. "Oh hey Twilight! What can I do for you today?"

"I need a party." Twilight told her.

Pinkie's eyes shot up as she literally flipped with joy. "OH YEAH! What kind of party do you want?"

"It's Spike's birthday in two days. I was hoping you could through him something big."

"You bet! I'll throw him the biggest birthday party that's ever been thrown by anypony! I'll even make a cake that's shaped just like him! And there'll be purple balloons and green ones too. You know because Spike is purple and green. And I'll hang a big streamer that says Happy Birthday Spike. And the letters will look like green flames. You know like the ones that he shoots when he sends your letters to Princess Celestia. And also…"

"Ok Pinkie!" Twilight interrupted while her head spun from all of Pinkie's plans. "I get it. It's going to be a big party."

"I'm sorry Twilight, it's just that I reeeeeaaaaalllllyyy love to throw parties."

"I can see that."

"I'll get started on the cake right now!" Pinkie ran towards the shelves and got down all of the ingredients she needed.

"Ok thanks Pinkie." Twilight said. She left the bakery.

"No problem." Pinkie started mixing cake batter and resumed her singing. "Don't care what it takes, gonna steal your heart and bake it into my cakes!"

Twilight smiled as she walked down the streets. "Ok so Pinkie's gonna take care of the party. Next I need to buy Spike a gift." She thought for a second on what Spike would want. She knew that for a party this big, gems wouldn't cut it. "Now what does he want more than anything in the world?" She took a minute to ponder this. "There is no way that Rarity would ever do THAT." She said with a chuckle. "But I can't think of anything else that he'd want. Maybe…I could do it for him…" Her face turned bright red at that thought. "No! Why the heck am I thinking that?" But she couldn't think of a different gift. "I'll use it as a last resort. Maybe I should ask him what he wants."

She went back to the tree house. "Hey Spike," She called as she entered. No reply. "Spike? Spike you home?" Still no reply. She looked all around the house but couldn't find Spike anywhere. "Odd, he almost always tells me whenever he leaves." She went down into her library. On the table in the corner she noticed a scroll similar to the ones that Spike sent to Princess Celestia with the words To Twilight written on it. She picked the scroll up a read it.

Dear Twilight,

I'm sorry but I'm afraid I can no longer stay with you. It's not you, it's me. I'm growing older every day and I'm getting close to a point I never want to happen but unfortunately is impossible to prevent. It's for the best that I leave Ponyville forever. By the time you read this I will be far away. Don't worry about me. And please don't come looking for me. I promise you I'm going to be just fine. I really enjoyed being your friend. But this is goodbye forever.

-Spike