Pinkie Pie had inexplicably vanished in Pinkie Pie fashion, leaving Twilight Sparkle to fend for herself with the cleanup. Cake frosting still decorated the walls, a puddle of punch sat in the middle of the kitchen floor, and a mound of books rested against the library’s rear shelf. The exhausted unicorn flopped down on her belly in the middle of the floor and sighed. Until then she never realized how hard it would be getting work done without Spike here to help. The energy to pick herself up eluded her, so Twilight gave into the urge and shut her eyes. Within seconds she found herself pulled into a dream.
She and Spike had moved from Ponyville to Canterlot’s library in order to accommodate Spike’s size. Now a full grown dragon, he could easily reach the highest shelves. For a while, Twilight was happy that Spike had stuck with her until adulthood, then a pang of regret hit. Spike should have spread his wings and gone off on his own to see the world for himself, to see places and things Twilight had only read about in her books. More than that, she’d always looked forward to the day Spike could meet a nice young dragoness to spend his life with and eventually have dragonlings of their own. She could imagine the baby reptiles sitting around her as she read them stories from a children’s book.
The sound of the door opening pulled Twilight awake. She lifted her head to find Spike stepping into the library, whistling all the while.
“You’re in a good mood this evening,” Twilightmumbled as she rested her chin against her shanks. “Something to do with your royal business?”
Spike's eyes darted for a few seconds. He then waved away Twilight's question. “Oh, that. Nothing to worry about. It’s on a need-to-know basis, strictly between dragons and alicorns. Um, Twilight, why are you laying on the floor?”
Twilight lifted her head in irritation and surprise. What would the princess not want her to know about? “But what did Celestia—” With a sigh, she rested her head back against her forelegs. “Oh, forget it. I’m too tired.”
Spike scratched the top of his head. Had his absence really made things so difficult for Twilight?
The little dragon bit his lip in an effort to think of something he could do for her, but he’d promised Sapphire to meet her again tomorrow morning. Indeed, he had something very special in mind for the dragoness, but how much longer could he keep juggling between the two? Eventually, he’d have to make a choice. The unicorn who hatched him from his egg and cared for him since his first breath, or the girl who had made him feel happier than he’d ever felt before?
“Uh, Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked. However, Twilight's eyes were already shut and she started to snore.
Spike decided it would be better to let Twilight get her sleep. He went upstairs to her room, where he saved a stash of gems for a rainy day, and he could think of nothing better to do with them than share them with Sapphire in the morning. Spike covered his mouth to stifle a sleepy yawn as he snuggled into his bed to get some sleep.
When morning came he found Twilight absent from her bed. Probably still asleep downstairs, if she wasn't already up. Spike crawled underneath her bed to retrieve his basket of gems. The smell of the precious stones alone was tempting enough, but once Spike caught a glimpse of them his stomach rumbled in anticipation of just one sweet, delicious ruby. He shook his head in an effort to stave his appetite and refocus his thoughts. It could wait until he met up with Sapphire.
As best as he could, carrying a basket almost as large as his own body, Spike eased his way down the stairs, careful not to mess a step and trip. The snoring that grew louder as Spike neared the bottom of the stairs assured him that Twilight was still sound asleep. He gingerly shuffled his feet across the floor then inched his way out the front door.
Ponyville was all but dead quiet at such an early hour. This gave Spike the perfect opportunity to sneak out of town unnoticed as best as he could, carrying the heavy basket of gems. His walk resembled stumbling, but his desire to share his loot with Sapphire gave him the strength to press on.
After what felt like a couple hours of traveling, Spike finally reached the quiet meadow with the Dragon Pepper bush, where Sapphire’s blue waving form awaited him. Spike’s fatigue seemed to wash away at the sight of the dragoness, who ran after Spike to meet him head on.
“I…I made it...” Spike panted as he dropped the wicker basket onto the grass. He collapsed onto the top of the pile of gems it held.
“You took so long, Spike! I was worried you might not show up.” Sapphire looked at the basket underneath Spike’s collapsed, wheezing form. “What’s this?”
“Well, I—” Spike hesitated. This had gone so much better in his head. He climbed off the top of the basket and peeled back the blanket to present Sapphire with the load of sweet, delicious gemstones. “I brought us some breakfast.”
Sapphire's eyes went wide. She licked her lips hungrily.“Wow! Nice haul, Spike! Where did you find all these?”
Spike looked to the ground, scratching the back of his head. “Well, I’ve been saving them for at least the last year. No one else I know likes to eat gems, so I thought I’d share them with you.”
A coy smile formed on Sapphire’s face before she lunged forward to embrace Spike in a hug. His heart began to thump from the gesture.
“That’s so nice of you, Spike. You’re the sweetest dragon I know.”
Spike’s heart pounded harder. Rarity had told him the same thing before, but it was different hearing it come from another dragon. “Um, don’t mention it. You want to eat the first gem?”
“I’d love to!”
A bright, flawless ruby sat among the gems on the top of the pile, sparkling in the sunlight. It was the most delicious of the gems she could see, so Sapphire plucked it from the pile and popped it in her mouth. A scarlet wave of flavor danced on her tongue as her sharp teeth shattered the precious stone into pieces small enough to swallow. Sapphire licked her lips and gave a slight belch “Mmm! You really know how to choose your gems!”
“That’s what they tell me,” Spike replied suavely, slicking back the spines on top of his head. He grabbed the next gem, a dazzling yellow slab of topaz with a delicate flavor something like a mix of lemon and pineapple, devouring it with gusto. As Spike licked the remaining flavor from his fingers, Sapphire helped herself to an emerald.
“Hey, Sapphire,” Spike said, picking another ruby off the pile of gems, “where did you and your parents come from? You don’t see too many dragons in Equestria, especially blue ones.”
“Well, we’re ice dragons so we came from the northern mountains beyond the Crystal Kingdom.”
“That would make sense.” Spike gulped down the shards of his ruby and swallowed. “So, why did you come to this part of Equestria? Doesn’t it bother you that it’s not cold here?”
“Um...” Sapphire turned her head to the ground and nervously scratched the back of her neck. A look of unease spread across her face. “Doesn’t really bother me, but lately my parents have seemed restless. I think it’s starting to get to them, but this all started when we went to join the Great Dragon Migration. That turned out to be a mistake.”
“Why?”
“We weren’t treated well by the other dragons. We tried to fit in but the others were all just a bunch of bullies, so my parents and I broke off from the migration. I guess ice dragons are different, probably because we’re so isolated and there’s so few of us left. We kind of like it in Equestria, so we’re staying here for now.”
“Bunch of bullies, huh?” Spike asked. It reminded him of the time he joined the Great Dragon Migration. “Yeah, I don’t have a hard time believing that.”
Sapphire looked back up and giggled before picking out a clear blue gem. She smiled warmly at Spike. “Good thing you’re not like them.”
“It’s because I was raised by ponies, I think.”
“And it’s lucky for me you were.”
It went on like that, both dragons taking turns at the gems until a single diamond remained in the bottom of the basket. For a moment, Spike gazed at Sapphire, contemplating whether to give the diamond to her or take it for himself. The dragoness giggled and shied her eyes away from Spike’s gaze. For some reason, Spike couldn’t bring himself to ask if she wanted it, so he reached his hand into the basket to claim the diamond for himself. As the jewel became veiled under Spike’s paw, something soft warmed the top of it.
Sapphire had reached for the gem at the same time he did, Spike realized, but after a few seconds she still had not lifted her paw from his. He could feel his face flush red as he looked up to see if Sapphire was blushing as well. Something in her eyes, a feminine sort of sparkle he’d never seen before, captivated him. In that moment, the diamond no longer mattered. His entire world seemed cradled in silence as the dragoness shut her eyes and brought her head slowly closer to Spike’s.
Responding in kind, Spike felt more of the world around him vanish. Here, it was just Sapphire and him as he trembled in anticipation for the moment to come. Slowly, so slowly that time itself seemed to break down, she came ever closer.
At long last, something soft, warm and moist pressed against Spike’s snout. The little dragon trembled harder. He could smell Sapphire’s bejeweled breath as she exhaled through her nose. Time seemed to stand still now. It was impossible for him to tell how long their snouts had actually touched. Sure, Rarity had kissed him on the cheek before, but this was his first real kiss.
He felt like he was floating in a sea of bliss, perfectly calm and peaceful, as he vaguely sensed Sapphire’s arms around him now. He’d rarely felt this safe, this happy. He sensed it was something rare, something that he might never feel again so he held onto the wondrous moment, light tears of joy bathing his eyes as he held her in her arms.
Spike’s body tingled as the world around him returned, just in time to see Sapphire pulling her head back from his. He pressed his paw to his lips, noticing that Sapphire was doing the same thing, her face a deep shade of purple from blushing mixed under her blue scales.
“Wow,” she said. “That was…nice.”
“Yeah.” Spike was too stunned to say much else, for as he stared at Sapphire, a startling realization hit him full-force. He knew now that there was a creature in Equestria more beautiful than Rarity! Sapphire had surpassed the unicorn who had captured his heart.
Only now he’d given his heart. And received one more precious in return than any jewel.