The air was cold enough that when one exhaled, a foggy whiteness would float up a few inches into the air before dissipating, but fortunately the weather wasn't scheduled to be snow. Still, the wind chill was almost as bad if it was snowing.
Heavy wing beats interrupted the smooth airflow along the side of the Canterlot Mountains, thick trails of whiteness followed each of the flier wherever they went. An inconsistent clinking sound emanated from an emerald necklace that they were wearing.
As the majestic city came into their view, they dipped their wings down to the side, and approached the purple and gold buildings. They remained at an altitude of just above the buildings, the plethora of moonlight making them clear to see.
I haven't been here in ages! they thought. I wonder how everybody's doing...
They came to a gentle landing in front of Canterlot Castle, folding in their wings. They tore a red and green ticket off their necklace to show to the guards, and then entered into the Hearth's Warming Celebration. Ponies paused from their activities to stare, but they were ignored as the newcomer ran right up to Princess Celestia with a broad smile.
Celestia's eyes lit up just as Luna's had early when seeing who it was. "Spike!" she said with a smile, walking over and nuzzling the dragon. "I'm so glad you could make it."
"I'd never miss a chance to see you, Mom," he replied.
At that statement, though she was across the room, Luna looked up in surprise at the dragon, and then back at Cadence questioningly. "We recall thee speaking of thine sister's nephew."
Cadence just giggled. "Oh, did I say that he was Auntie's nephew? I meant that he was your's."
"But We do not understand this!" said Luna. "How can one such as a dragon feel as Celestia is his mother?"
"She hatched him. He stayed in the castle for several years, but Auntie was worried that he wasn't going to stay happy for long, so she brought him to the Dragonlands, and that's where he lives now."
"Quite interesting... However, thou had spoketh of these 'video games'. Pray tell, what art those?"
Spike gave an excited grin to Celestia as the two spoke together. "I have an Aunt?" he asked. "That's so cool! Is she an alicorn, too?"
"Indeed," replied Celestia. "She's my sister, Luna. She controls the moon and stars."
"Is there anybody else new here? Ooh, is Cadence here?"
She gave a small laugh at his excitement. "Yes, and yes."
"Who is it?" he looked around the room. "Oh, there's Twilight! I'll go say hi to her!" He gleefully ran off towards the unicorn, leaving Celestia laughing to herself once again.
Oblivious to what else was going around her, Twilight was speaking with Amethyst about defensive spells. "-and just making a disk requires fewer ley lines," she explained. "Once you start practicing, you have to start out other only making one around the size of tennis ball to get the feel of it. Then you can get progressively larger over time."
Twilight!" Spike called out. Both unicorns looked up to see him, and grabbed Twilight in a form of a hug as soon as he came close enough. "I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Glad to see you're doing well, Spike," she replied, trying to break out of his grip. "Er, do you want to greet Amethyst, too?"
He smiled in excitement. "You made a friend?!? That's great, Twi!" Spike exclaimed, gripping Twilight harder.
"Spike, I still need to breathe!" Twilight squeaked, gasping for air.
"Oh, sorry!" he let go of her, and excitedly turned towards Amethyst. "Hiya! I'm..." But he trailed off, and stared at her in surprise. "Oh, wow..."
Amethyst stared at the lavender dragon in front of her in shock. He was on all fours, and was almost exactly the size of an average mare. His long tail came to a standstill, and his emerald necklace stopped clinking.
"Uh, are you two okay?" asked Twillight, unsure of what was going on.
"D-dragon..." squeaked out Amethyst in surprise.
"Uh..." Blood rushed to Spike's cheeks. "Yeah, of course!" He awkwardly stuck out his claw towards Amethyst, who shyed away. "Nice to meet you!"
She bit her lip, and Twilight frowned in concern. "How much are dragons like-" Her voice cracked. "-wyverns?"
Twilight tilted her head in confusion, but then her eyes widened. "You're from Manehattan, aren't you?" She recieved a nervous nod. "Don't worry, dragons aren't like wyverns at all. Especially not Spike! He's practically part pony!"
"What's wrong with wyverns?" asked Spike, the pink on his cheeks starting to fade away. "They don't bother anyone."
"Storm wyverns do," said Amethyst, her eyes glazed over and stared up at the ceiling. "When they get mad." Her voice sounded distant. "So much lightning..."
Twilight quietly walked up beside her, and put a hoof around her neck. "It's okay, Amethyst. Think about your friends. You're perfectly safe."
There was a loud echo of glass shattering, and Amethyst snapped out of her daze. Twilight's eyes narrowed, and her horn lit up. There was a second shatter, and conversations began to die down as ponies looked around in confusion as to what had happened.
"Beside me," hissed Twilight to Spike and Amethyst. "Something's not right."
The dragon and unicorn cautiously stepped closer to her, and the lights flickered once again. There was a loud snapping noise, and the lights unexpectedly went out. It was pitch black dark, and everything appeared to be muted.
"What's going on?" whispered Amethyst to Twilight, but was surprised when she didn't hear her voice.
She lit up her horn, but not a speck of light showed. She drew closer to Twilight, the sound of her heartbeat in her ears adding more tension. Several painfully long minutes passed with nothing happening. And then, ever so slowly, sounds began to return. There was breathing beside her, and a soft trill from Twilight's horn, meaning that it was at a double corona. Soft hoofsteps quickly disappeared, and her eyes were hit with all of the lights as they came back on.
"Ugh..." she moaned, rubbing her eyes. "What happened?"
"I... don't know..." replied Twilight nervously.
Amethyst opened her eyes, and was greeted with a shocking sight. Twilight had a small magenta shield surrounding the three of them, but besides them, there was nopony else in sight.