With a start, Spike sat up, snuffling and looking groggily around the cabin. Blinking his eyes, he scrubbed at the dried muck gumming his eyelids together for a moment before the event that awakened him reoccurred.
A gentle knocking at the compartment door, a soft voice murmuring into the small enclosure of their cabin, just barely audible.
Looking over at Fluttershy, he made sure she wasn't in any sort of compromising position, before he quietly slid the door open. Looking around, he didn't see anyone. Blinking the sleep still out of his eyes, he instinctively looked down.
A small mare, crystalline, sat on her haunches and thighs, looking up into his draconian muzzle.
With wide, blinking eyes, Spike backed up a bit and lowered the front of his torso. Adjusting until he was at least close to face-to-face with this pony, he gave her the softest smile his sleepy face could muster.
"Sorry about that," he whispered. "I'm afraid we were awake pretty late last night, looking at the scenery go by. Is it very late?"
Gulping, the pony shook her head, the crystal locks of her hair swaying in front of her eyes.
"I am so sorry to interrupt your sleep, Sir Spike," the pony spoke, almost whispering, "but we're nearing our destination, and will be disembarking in approximately fifteen minutes." Pulling out a pocket-watch, she added, "Oh, and it is six thirty a.m. We are about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule."
Blinking at the sudden wealth of information, Spike shook his head and addressed the first issue.
"Oh, no one calls me Sir anymore," he mentioned. "That was, well, kind of an ego-trip of mine when I was younger," he chuckled. "Anyhow, thanks for letting me know, Ms...?"
"Oh, I'm Quartz Watch, timekeeper for the train," she said, bowing slightly. "But, I must go and let the other passengers know about our arrival time."
"Oh, of course," he said, nodding his own head back. "Again, thank you."
She returned the bow again, then both of them let out a nervous chuckle as she got up and he slid the door gently closed. Leaning his head against the wood, he sighed.
"Too early for ponies," he muttered to himself, his eyes clenching for a moment before he turned to Fluttershy.
She was laying on her side, her neck slightly twisted so that her head wasn't perfectly flat on the bench. One of her wings was twitching, and Spike could see her eyes moving beneath her eyelids. The ear he could see flicked against some imagined sensation, and she giggled lightly in her sleep.
Smiling, he checked his breath to make sure it wasn't completely horrendous, before leaning forward and breathing warm air over the flicking ear.
She giggled again, the ear flicking wildly, before raising a hoof up and gently brushing at it.
Chuckling, Spike leaned forward again. Instead of just breathing on the ear, he took the very tip of it between his lips and softly scraped his teeth against the tender flesh, nibbling just a little on her ear.
The effect was near instantaneous; she let out a breathy moan, soft and warm, into Spike's neck, and her legs came forward to pull him into her. She shifted in her motion, and her eyes barely cracked open as she looked up at him, blushing and a little confused.
"It's almost time to get off the train," he said, nuzzling into the base of her throat and laying a gentle kiss there. "The pony who just came by said we have about, uhm, probably ten minutes now."
After a moment, she blinked at him, her eyes crinkling.
"Hmm?"
Chuckling, Spike buried his head in the fur on her neck and nuzzled her, a little roughly. Pulling back, he laid a kiss on her nose.
"Awake time now, sleepy pony," he softly spoke. "Get off train soon."
She frowned up at him, her forehead creasing a bit.
"Animals?" she queried.
He gazed at her for a moment, then quickly covered his muzzle with a paw as he shook his head.
"They're being taken care of, but we have to get off the train," he said, gently rolling her upright with his paws. He took a moment and gently brushed a bit of her mane back over an ear.
Fluttershy blinked sleepily at the door of the carriage, then looked up at Spike, who was now getting their packages together. She glanced back at the door, and Spike turned to her just in time to see her complete the roll so that she was now curled up again, facing away from him.
Sighing, he strapped on their combined saddle bags and wiggled to make sure nothing was going to come loose.
Reaching out, he pulled the door open before turning and tugging open the blinds, revealing a peaceful green countryside covered in gentle streams and new growth forest, slipping slowly by as the trained prepared to stop.
He gazed out in the predawn light, large pink clouds drifting across a sky that reminded him of the faded denims sometimes worn by the Apple family. Sighing, he smiled to himself as he moved over to Fluttershy, before standing on his hind legs. He felt his toes spread a bit, and his knees settled into the familiar weight.
Gently, he gathered up the pegasus in his forelimbs and leaned back, using his tail as a brace as he found the center of his balance. Taking his time, he cuddled her to his chest as he walked slowly down the aisle of the train towards the closest door, his neck arched low to keep his head from scraping the ceiling. He flinched a bit as one of his rolling spikes scraped over a low part, and pulled his shoulders down a bit.
Awkwardly, he waddled his way closer to the exiting door, one other pony occupying the space with his luggage. The pony glanced up from a newspaper for a second, looked back to the page, then snapped his attention back to the shambling dragon carrying an unconscious pony.
Spike and the stallion stared at each other, gazes locked to see what the other would do.
They both jumped a little at a soft noise from Spike's arms, and he looked down just in time to receive a gentle nudge on the end of his nose as Fluttershy adjusted in his forelegs, settling back into them with a sigh.
The two males met gazes again, the tension just as broken as the silence had been.
"She's a really heavy sleeper," Spike whispered, offering up a closed-mouth smile to the pony, who just chuckled quietly and nodded as he returned to his paper.
Spike sidled up awkwardly to the door, sitting on his haunches as he watched a stream that slowly wound it's way alongside the train. Watching the snaking water glitter in the slowly crowning sunlight, he let out a yawn and smacked his lips together, wishing for drink of that cool water to wash the taste of sleep out of his mouth.
"Those're some serious teeth there, bud," came a deep, mostly warm voice from beside Spike.
He turned to the pony beside him, who had packed his newspaper into a soft suitcase on top of a much larger case on wheels.
"They come with the," Spike started, then flexed his back.
The pony looked a little confused, and Spike had to shake his head as he remembered.
"Sorry, they come with the scales," he quickly covered. "There was something else, but... well, I don't have them right now."
Slowly the pony nodded, looking a bit confused but not especially concerned enough to ask further. Spike sighed, relieved that his conversational partner didn't seem particularly nosy.
After only another minute or so, the train shuddered a bit as it completed its stop, and there was a magical hiss as the door released and slid along it's track. The stallion nodded to Spike, who gratefully stepped out onto the platform before quickly side-stepping out of the way.
Spike took a moment to straighten his spine and stand straight, a couple of cracks reverberating across the mostly empty platform as his vertebrae straightened.
Spike heard his new acquaintance let out a low whistle, and he stretched just a little bit farther before relaxing and looking down. At this height, he was easily shoulders over the train, and the pony beside him barely came up to his flank.
"I s'pose you're the local dragon I've heard 'bout, den?" the pony asked.
"Well, kind of," Spike said, looking over the new pony in the brighter natural light of the platform.
The pony was a dark metal gray, and he had a strange harness over one shoulder that connected to the large case. He had some slight scarring mussing up the fur on his barrel, and his cutie mark was a wooden disk being hit with a wooden mallet.
Shuffling one arm further below Fluttershy's back, he extended a paw towards the pony.
"I'm Spike," he started, gently grasping and shaking the hoof the pony reached out to him. "I helped out the Crystal Empire a long time ago, so I'm a bit of a local hero I guess, but I live in Ponyville."
"Clear Sights," the pony introduced himself. "Native of VanHoover." He pronounced the name as 'VahnHoova'. "Though I've been on tha move for tha better part of my life, so I dunno how much that counts for."
"Vacationing in the Empire?" Spike asked, adjusting Fluttershy as he looked around the station. Being a few minutes early, they seemed to have arrived before the escort Cadance had mentioned.
"Work," the stallion grunted, gently tapping the large case he was pulling around.
Spike waited a moment, then nodded when it was clear that he'd already received all the information he was going to.
"Hope it goes well," he said, getting a nod from Clear in return.
They both sat there for a moment, both of them looking around the station, before grinning at each other.
"Waitin' on someone yourself, then, huh?" Clear asked with a chuckle.
"We've got someone picking us up, yeah." Spike looked out on the empty streets, then back at a large clock posted in the station. "They look to be running a little late, though. On top of us being early."
The two continued to peer out into the streets, before Spike noted the presence of a couple of ponies walking their way from where the Castle lay. He started to turn to Clear Sights, but the pony was standing up and checking his luggage.
"Think my people are finally getting here," Clear muttered, nodding at the two ponies in the distance.
Spike double checked, and caught the glint of metal from the approaching party. "Those are Castle Guards," he said, nodding at the duo.
Clear looked up at him, surprised for a moment. "Good eyes," he said, then continued, "Yeah, my work's taking me up to the Castle. Got some official business and stuff to bring up with the Prince Consort, Shining Armor."
Spike nodded, smiling to himself.
Both of them moved over to the front of the station, Clear looking up at Spike strangely. Both guards drew close, and came to an abrupt stop in front of the small group.
The first guard snapped a hoof to the corner of his eyes, staring at Clear Sights. Clear returned the salute, and the crystalline pony started reciting, "First Lieutenant Amethyst Star, reporting for escort of Judge Advocate General Clear Sights."
The second guard then approached Spike, saluted, and said, "Second Lieutenant Bright Cluster, reporting for escort of Element of Harmony Bearer Fluttershy, and Savior of the Crystal Empire Spike Draconia."
Chuckling, Spike nodded his head. "At east, Lieutenant Cluster," he said. "They sent out guys of your rank for us, huh?"
Sharply, the officer's foreleg snapped back to rest lightly on the ground. "Yes sir," he said, smiling a bit. "Nothing but the best for our VIPs."
A small chuckle from their side broke the conversation, and a gruff voice asked, "Their best, huh, Bright Cluster?"
Immediately, Bright Cluster snapped back to attention, glancing nervously at the grinning Clear Sights.
"Oh yeah," Clear drawled slightly, still grinning as he returned Amethyst's salute. "I've seen some paperwork pass over my desk about you, Cluster. Feeling very hungover today?"
The lieutenant's mouth squirmed, and he muttered, "Not today, sir."
Chuckling, Clear nodded to Amethyst. "Let's get on with it, then," he said, motioning towards the castle. "Town's gonna wake up soon, and the quicker we get off the streets the better I'll feel about being shoved on tha overnight train."