//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Visitors // Story: The Dragon Sage // by Dragon Sage //------------------------------//  . . . and so it went, my life with the Princess of night. I have come to trust her more closely than any other living creature anywhere. I encourage you to find somepony to do the same. While It can be hard to live as the only dragon living in a pony’s world, what I can reassure you is this: Friendship, love, and purpose can be found for you because these rare treasures transcend our species. Find them, and you will know what it is to be a Dragon Sage. And so I write to you. “Hey Kiddo!” Knight Wing hollered from behind him. Spike jumped and closed The Sage’s Lyric with a thud before gazing at the door to his study. The pegasus stood in the doorway looking his usual uninterested self. “You have somepony asking for you down at the palace gates."         “Really?! Was it a mare with a purple mane? or perhaps a pink one? or a Rainbow--”         “--No, you dunce, it’s a stallion,” he interrupted with a scoff.         “Huh?” Spike said and trotted to the balcony at the top of the stairs. He gazed down to where he could faintly see the palace gates. He took a thick breath through his nose and caught his breath in his throat with a ‘hurk’. His eyes dilated quickly until his pupils shrank to tiny slits in his brilliant green eyes. Suddenly his vision zoomed inward and he could see the pony all the way at the palace gates as if he were standing right next to him.         Shining Armor? What’s Twilight’s brother doing here? he thought and released his breath quickly, returning his eyesight to normal.                  “Why is he here?” Spike said with his eyebrow cocked towards his teacher. Knight Wing was already halfway across the invisible bridge toward the observatory, flicking his tail with each stride as if to say ‘I stopped caring before you even asked.’ Spike groaned at his inability to see that coming. He then prowled low to the ground, looking up at the top of his tower, and lept into the air with a heavy flap of his wings. He caught the edges of the roof and climbed up using his claws to keep his grip. He sauntered over to the very edge of the roof and looked out towards the palace gates, judging the distance. He gave one more look at whether he could make the distance from where he was and decided to sink or swim.         He pushed off the roof with another leap and spread his wings as wide as he could as he gently began to glide forward. The breeze felt cool and crisp as it whipped past his ears filling his head with the loud noise of air rushing by. He skillfully used his pointed tail to guide his direction from left to right as he curved around one more tower. In another moment, he began trotting his legs just before touching down on the stone road. He galloped on his hands and feet, slowing down to a brisk canter towards the unsuspecting colt. Shining Armor didn’t seem to notice him approaching until Spike called out to him.         “Hey Shining Armor!” Spike hollered. The stallion poked his head up towards the sound of his name and gave a jump and turn with an audible startle. His legs instinctively spread wide and low, as if getting into a fighting stance, before he cocked his head to the side. “Woah!” he said with his eyes wide.         “Woops. Sorry about that, I forgot you wouldn’t recognize me,” Spike said with with a nervous smile.         “Spike?! Is that you?” Shining Armor asked in astonishment.         “Yeah,” Spike responded with a light chuckle. “I’m a little bigger now.”         “Well yeah! How long has it been since we saw each other? A decade?!” he said and went back to his casual non-threatened stance.         “Nah we saw each other at the Equestria games remember?”                  “But that was not even a year ago!” He said in continued amazement.         “It’s a long story,” Spike said. “Suffice it to say, I’ve been training with Princess Luna and I’ve been growing as a result.”         “Well sign me up as her next trainee!” Armor said with a smile and walked over to spike putting a hearty hoof around his shoulders. “It’s good to see you again.”         “You too. So, uh, what brings to Canterlot?” Spike asked as the two of them began walking towards town.         “I was here for a meeting with Princess Celestia actually. Real important royal stuff, ya’know?”         “Sure, but, why didn’t Cadence come?” Spike asked.         “She’s visiting Twilight this weekend for the same reason, so she had me come here. The princess mentioned that you were in the city, so I thought I’d pal around with you before I get on the train back home! If you’re not too busy of course. I wouldn’t want you to stop whatever you’re doing to make this happen,” Shining Armor finished and prodded a hoof at Spike’s wing.                  “I’m not busy, sure! How about we go get something at Pony Joe’s place? Do you like donuts?” Spike asked.         “You’re forgetting I used to live here, Spike. And that’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say. I’ve been dying for some of his donuts since I first moved to the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor said.         The two made their way into Pony Joe’s discussing their lives and the various things they’ve been up to. Shining Armor was in charge of re-designing the defences since King’s Sombra’s attack. His new method of compartmentalized barrier zones was so effective that he was asked to write a book about it. Spike caught him up with all the various nuances of his training and told him about the Dragon Sages in a hushed tone. The two of them dug into their donuts exchanging quips and jabs as the evening went on.         “So how was your Hearts and Hooves day?” Shining Armor asked with a coy smile.         “Uh, fine? That was almost a month ago. Why do you ask?” Spike said shyly.         “Cause you totally dropped the ball on my bachelor party, so I need to throw you one crazy enough for the both of us,” Shining Armor said with a hearty laugh. Spike covered his face and laughed at his embarrassment.         “Nopony told me what a bachelor was!” Spike said shrugging his shoulders.         “Well, we’re going to have to get you a special somepony, unless you’re ahead of me on that one,” he said and took another bite of his strawberry frosted masterpiece.         “No way man. You see any other dragons around here? Preferably one that doesn’t want to burn everything,” Spike jabbed.         “Why not just a mare?” Shining said.         “Do you really think that could work?” Spike said in a suddenly quiet tone.         “Why not?” Shining said. “From what Cadence has told me, there are griffon and pegasus couples getting married in Cloudsdale. It’s the new big thing everypony is talking about. She loves hearing about that kind of thing. She is the princess of love after all,” he finished before chomping down on his donut again. “Oh I’ve missed these.”         “But. . . how do they . . .” Spike started.         “They adopt,” the colt responded flatly.         “And everypony is ok with that?”         “Well, at first there were the usual weird looks, but after Cadence went up there and personally married a few of those couples, everyone began giving them their stomp of approval. If you wanted a mare, and she wanted you, I can’t imagine why it couldn’t work.”         Spike was taken by surprise at his comments. He always assumed that such a thing would be strange or perhaps forbidden. But if what his friend said was true, then there could be hope yet.         “You have your eye on anypony so far?” Shining Armor said sincerely.         “Well, I uh . . .” Spike’s face turned a brighter shade of purple. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in love before. You know, with somepony who loves me . . .” Spike said and dropped his ears in embarrassment.         “Doesn’t surprise me too much. I mean, I was still expecting you to be a baby dragon today, then bam! Here’s this awesome mare-killer.” Spike was turning even more pink.         “Can I ask you something?” Spike said carefully. A thought had been on his mind for some time now, and he was not getting any satisfying answers from books. He took a deep breath and looked up at Shining Armor intently. “What is being in love like?” The stallion gave a soft ‘hmmm’ at his question and stared out the window as if the answer was out there somewhere.         “You know how, if you like somepony, and you start to freeze up around them? You start to look for reasons to go see that pony, and when you do your heart starts beating like crazy and every word that pony says is the greatest word ever spoken?” he started gesturing with his hooves how grand the feelings were. Spike gave a silent nod in return.                  “Yeah, love is not like that at all,” he said flatly. Spike cocked an eyebrow in response.         “Really?” he asked.         “Oh yeah. That’s just the part of love people write about in books, or talk about with each other. That happens to everypony, but it doesn’t even get close to what the real thing is like.”         “So  . . . what’s the real thing like?” Spike repeated his question and waited anxiously for a response.         “Love is like . . . seeing somepony at their absolute worst, and still wanting to be nowhere else but by their side. It’s like being completely comfortable in every way, even though your crush is right next to you. It’s like . . .” Shining Armor searched for words for a moment, before popping his head up and smiling. “Love is just like friendship.”         “Really?” Spike asked in confusion.         “Well, more like . . . it’s friendship set on fire. When you first love each other, that flame is burning bright and hot. But the more friendship you had to start with, the longer and brighter it will burn. Cadence is my wife, of course, and my great love, but none of that would matter nearly enough if she was not also my best friend.” Shining Armor finished his donut and swiveled his head around to look for the clock.         “Uh oh,” he said  shuffling out of his seat. “My train leaves in 6 minutes. I gotta run. It was good meeting up with you here!”                  “Yeah . . . you too,” Spike said still lost in thought. He watched as the colt briskly cantered over to the door. Before reaching it, he stopped and turned back to Spike.         “Oh, and Spike.”         “Huh?”         “I’m glad my sis has got someone like you helping her out,” he said with a smile and turned back to the door and disappeared.         “Thanks,” Spike said softly. Spike was left alone with his donut and his thoughts assaulting his senses. He thought about everything that Shining Armor said and replayed the conversation in his head a dozen times. Out of all of it, a few words rang in his mind the loudest.         “Friendship . . . on fire.”         Twilight and Cadence giggled loudly at their table as the two of them began to dig into their desert at Sugarcube Corner. The two of them spent the entire day together from the moment Cadence got off the train. No Discord this time as well, to Twilight’s relief. Other ponies in the shop filled the air with various conversations in lovely ambience.         “Does he still have his copy of the ‘Monstrous Manual’?” Twilight asked with a smile.         “Oh he hides all 4 volumes in the space behind the dresser, but he thinks I have no idea!” Cadence said with another chuckle. “He completely denies it every time I mention it too. Still such a nerd, that colt.” Cadence rested her head on her hoof and shook her head with a soft smile at the thought of her husband’s antics. “And I love him to death for it.”         “Awww I’m glad he’s got somepony like you looking after him,” Twilight said.         “He’s a bit of an an oaf sometimes, but I can’t imagine myself with anypony else,” Cadence said wiping her mouth with a napkin. Her gaze drifted upward to the table behind Twilight and the two ponies occupying it. A caramel colored colt was resting on his elbows staring lovingly in the eyes of his marefriend who did the same. The two sat silently smiling at each other, sharing the occasional blushing giggle. Twilight followed her gaze to the couple sitting behind her.         “Oh yes, they’ve been like that since Hearts and Hooves day. You never see one pony without the other these days,” Twilight said and sighed. “I’m glad you and Shining have found each other, Cadence. It’s so great to see love in so many places,” Twilight said as Mrs. Cake came by and took their orders again.         “Just tea for me please,” Twilight said pushing her cupcake wrapper to the edge of the table.         “I’ll definitely have another one of these,” Cadence said lifting her wrapper up with her magic.         “Going for thirds? You must be hungry!” Twilight said.         “Of course, your highness, right away! It’s so lovely to have a pair of Princesses join our little sweet spot. One more for Princess Cadence, honey!” Mrs. Cake called out to her husband with a grin, then trotted off to fetch their food.         “We don’t get any cupcakes like this back home, so I’m going to gorge while I can,” Cadence said and then looked down at her wrapper, seemingly lost in thought.         “Everything ok?” Twilight offered.         “Of course. This actually brings me to why I’m here, Twilight. It’s actually official princess business,” Cadence said in a hushed tone. She leaned in closer to Twilight and spoke loudly enough to avoid suspicion but quietly enough so nopony could hear.         “Really? Is there something wrong? It thought you were here to visit,” Twilight said, leaning in as well and hushing her voice.         “Nothing is wrong, I just need to tell you something,” Cadence said and quickly looked around to make sure nopony was in earshot before continuing.         “The truth is I’m . . . I’m eating for two now,” Cadence said and smiled very faintly. Twilight took a moment to process the information presented to her. Cadence could almost hear her mind at work like a printer spitting ink on a page. Twilight’s eyes went wide as her mind clicked to the inevitable conclusion she arrived at. She gave a loud gasp and her smile grew 10 times in size.          “Cadence!” she nearly shouted.         “Shhhhhh!” Cadence hushed with a wave of her hoof, “We can’t let anypony else know right now. Royal foals are a big announcement and we want to do it when we're both safe at home.”         “Oh my Celestia that’s so exciting!” Twilight said in an ecstatic whisper. “But why so secretive? Are you worried about something?”         “Well, we both wanted to seek out the other princess’s advice because, well, this kind of thing hasn’t happened for a while. Not since I was born anyway.”         “You’re right. We’ve got to research this immediately! I’ve got books on foal rearing and royal lineage and--” Twilight began speaking at a mile a minute.                  “For now, let’s just finish desert. Make sure you take me back here before I get on the train home tomorrow. I’m going to want a box of these cupcakes for the road,” Cadence said and quickly turned the conversation back to Shining Armor.         Later that evening, the two princesses continued their conversation while walking back to Twilight’s castle. As the sun began to set, they walked calmly away from town and exchanged updates in idle chit chat. Twilight explained how Spike was in Canterlot for training and that he’ll be bigger when he returns, which should be soon. She also told Cadence about her plans to have each of her 5 friends and deliver a copy of her book on the magic of friendship to a library across Equestria. Cadence talked about how she was in Cloudsdale marrying couples of griffons and pegasi, and how that gesture started a trend of finding love in new places.         “Even when you live all the way in the Crystal Empire, you’re still spreading love in all corners of Equestria,” Twilight said, gesturing to the world with her hoof.         “Well, someday I’ll have to spread it over here too,” Cadence said with a wink.         “Don’t be silly, Cadence. I mean, can you really see me going all googly-eyed like those lovers back at Sugarcube Corner?” Twilight said with a scoff.         “I don’t know, I’m pretty sure you had an eye that went a little googly for a certain guardpony in the Crystal Palace,” Cadence said nudging her shoulder. Twilight blushed and looked down at the ground, shuffling her hooves.         “The truth is, Cadence, I’m not exactly sure I know what love is! I mean, I’ve read about it in novels and have given it some concise analyzing, but I’m not sure how it feels,” Twilight confessed. Cadence looked forward onto the setting sun and smiled.         “Twilight, there was a couple at the bake shop that was madly in love with each other. Did you see them?” Cadence asked with a smile.         “Of course. I pointed them out to you remember? They’ve been all lovey-dovey for weeks now,” Twilight said.         “Nope, wrong answer,” Cadence said sternly.         “Wait what do you mean?”         “I mean that wasn’t the couple that was in love. While it’s true they were infatuated with each other, and may very well fall in love someday, that hasn’t happened yet for the two of them.”         “How can you tell?” Twilight asked, her eyes squinting in suspicion.         “I’m the princess of love, silly filly,” she answered. “Do you know how my magic works? I spread love not by making ponies fall in love with each other with magic, that would be wrong. My magic simply reminds the ponies of the love that already exists between the two of them. Had I tried it with those two, it would have had no effect at all,” Cadence stated matter-of-factly.         “So who were you talking about?” Twilight asked in confusion.         “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, of course,” Cadence said sweetly. “In fact, they might be the best example of true love in all of Equestria.”         “Really?!” Twilight said quite shocked. “That certainly means something coming from you. But why them?”         “You see, Twilight, everypony expects true love to be like that couple who sat behind us. But being in love is not about admiring someone else, it’s about being yourself with someone else. Take the Cakes for example. They probably were pretty doughy-eyed over each other in the beginning, but their love is strong because they make a great team. They depend on each other and support each other, not because they feel they have to, but because it simply comes naturally to them.” Twilight pondered what she was saying, listening very closely to her sister in-law.                  “They’re friends, Twilight. That is what makes their love so strong. They’re the best of friends and the fact that they are attracted to each other is just a happy coincidence,” Cadence finished with a nod at Twilight.         Of course! That’s what she was missing. The concept of love and romance always confused Twilight since she was a filly. She always considered love to be separated from friendship. She never thought to look at love in the same way. Here she was, the princess of friendship, and never once did she consider the possibility.         “So you and Shining Armor are friends?” Twilight clarified.         “He is my best friend in the world. That’s why I married him. Not because he’s a captain, or because he’s kind to me, or because he’s handsome. Those are all nice, but that is not how true love works. I married him because he is my closest friend, and I decided I wanted to spend my life with him.” The two of them reached the doorstep of Twilight’s new castle. The rooftop glistened in the sunset, which casted an orange and rose glow underneath the clouds. It was truly a beautiful evening.         “Huh,” Twilight thought aloud. “I guess you being the princess of love and me being the princess of friendship means that our jobs are very similar.”         “Yours is even more important, I’d say,” Cadence said enthusiastically. “If there was no friendship, how could there be love?” she said and stepped inside the castle. “Wow, this place is amazing! This all came from the Tree of Harmony?” she exclaimed.         “Yup. Came complete with a library. You can take my bedroom, it’s down this way.”         “But where will you sleep?” Cadence asked.         “I’ll take the new bedroom above the Library. I had the second level converted into a bedroom for Spike, since he won’t be able to fit in his basket when he gets back,” she answered gesturing to the door down the hall.         “Sounds like you guys are going to have tons of catching up to do,” Cadence said.         Twilight took her on a tour of her new home and showed her all the new places that she was still discovering. The throne room had a chamber beneath it that led to a secret exit. The library still needed plenty of books since most of them were destroyed in the battle with Tirek. Finally, her royal chamber with dark curtains lining the walls and glowing gemstones that lit the ceiling. Cadence commented on how beautiful it was, and how much it reminded her of her own palace. After some more catching up, Cadence gave out a heavy yawn.         “I guess you had a long day?” Twilight offered.         “Not at all! It’s been a lovely day, I’m not tired at all!” Cadence said, clearly embellishing the truth.         “Well I should get some sleep anyway. I need to start copying the book, so I’ll work on that early in the morning. Then, when you wake up, I’ll take you to Sweet Apple Acres for breakfast. It’s a walk, but it’s definitely worth it,” Twilight said and began walking to the door.         “In that case, sweet dreams Twilight,” Cadence offered and began walking to the bed. She noticed the little basket with a pillow and blanket and giggled a little. “I guess he won’t be needing that anymore huh?”         “No,” Twilight said with a sigh, “I guess not.”         “Hey Twilight?”         “Yes?” She said before closing the door.         “You’re very lucky to have someone like Spike. He’s the best kind of friend there is,” Cadence said with a smile and a nod. Twilight nodded and bid her sister in-law goodnight.         For whatever reason, those final words that Cadence said were bouncing around in Twilight’s head the entire trip back to the library. She began to review everything that Cadence had told her about friends, love, and her foal-to-be. It was a lot to digest, even for her, but a few things made sense to her. Love based on friendship seemed to be the strongest there is. She stopped dead in her tracks and opened her eyes wide as Cadences voice rang out in her head one more time.         He’s the best kind of friend there is.         “ . . . I guess he is,” Twilight said and pondered her assistant. She opened the door to the library and walked slowly up the stairs to the loft above the bookshelves. Her eyes remained glued to the floor. By the time she reached Spike’s bed, she had forgotten where she was. She looked up and smiled at Applebloom’s handy work. She did all of the designing, but of course she was too young to help out with building and constructing the new area. The filly had a keen eye, though.         The bed was simply a much larger version of Spike’s older basket. The frame was woven reed thread in a large circle nearly 4 yards in diameter. The bed itself, instead of a mattress, was an enormous pillow that was padded down and blanketed with a very thick cover. Candles lined the walls with sapphire and emerald gems hanging beneath them. Spike would have to avoid eating those like candy on a string. Twilight suspected that when the candles were lit, the entire floor would look simply ravishing. Applebloom had the idea of a giant basket-bed when she observed Spikes old basket. She laid down on it and noticed it’s features, noting that Spike would want to feel at home. The best way to make him feel at home would be to keep parts of his old bed the same. What a thoughtful little filly, she thought.         As Twilight crawled upon the giant pillow-bed, she felt some kind of comfort in familiarity as well. She laid her head back and fell asleep rather quickly, having the safe return of her dragon friend as the only thing on her mind.