Soft green grass caressed the teenage dragons' feet as they walked on towards the Dragonlands. Halfway there from where they started, they could see the peaks of the dragon mountains reaching up like fingers tickling the sky. Thick white clouds seemed to form rings over the mountaintops. It had been ten years since Spike had been to the Dragonlands. Memories of that dark place struck a nervous chord, though he didn't want to admit that to the girl holding his hand.
"Spike," Sapphire said as she pulled Spike in closer, "You got really quiet all of a sudden. Are you okay?"
Spike looked to the towering mountains for a few more seconds, and then rested his sight on Sapphire. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Sapphire watched as Spike looked towards the Dragonlands; his eyes gleaming with fear as he did. "Are you scared?"
"Who, me? Sacred? Yeah right!" Spike released Sapphire's hand and positioned himself in a karate fighting stance, eyes narrowed and focused as if he were anticipating a fight. "I'm a one-dragon kung-fu strike team!"
Shouting with each mock blow, Spike threw a left jab, a right jab and another left. He raised one foot in the air and pivoted on the other for a roundhouse kick, only for his foot to slip before he could spin all the way around and actually throw the kick. The grass did little to cushion the impact of his back hitting the ground. Sapphire laughed at this clumsy display.
"Oh, I can see THAT." The ice dragon bent over to help Spike back to his feet. "You haven't changed, Spike. You're still that same goofball I met all those years ago."
Trembling in Sapphire grasp, Spike swallowed a lump in his throat. Those glittering blue eyes, that beautiful smile. Somehow they'd grown even more stunning since the last time he'd gazed into her face ten years ago. "And you're still the prettiest dragon I've ever met."
Both dragons chuckled and averted their eyes from each other for a few moments. Spike felt himself being pulled forward by Sapphire's strength before she wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a tight hug, her face inches from his.
"Come here, you," the ice dragon purred.
Before Spike had a chance to think anything of it, he felt something soft and warm press against his snout. The kiss sent a tingle up his spine. He closed his eyes to savor the moment. Their lips parted with a smack. Sapphire was already blushing when she let Spike go, her eyes turned sheepishly to the ground. The shock of the moment seemed to numb Spike to anything else except what had just happened.
"I'm sorry," Sapphire finally said to break the awkward silence. "We don't really have time for that. We have a job to do, don't we?"
Spike's elation droned out as he set his sights back towards those ominous, jagged mountain tops. "You're right. We should keep moving."
"Hey." Sapphire watched Spike turn his back to her, remove his backpack and begin fishing through it. "Maybe... once we're done with what we need to do in the Dragonlands... I'll kiss you all you like."
A smile he couldn't fight appeared on Spike's face as he looked up at Sapphire from his kneeling position, still sifting through his pack. Just one kiss was good enough, so his heart began to thump from imagining the dragoness smooching him many times. "Really? I'll hold you to that."
Sapphire stepped closer. "What are you looking for?"
"I can't take it anymore," Spike answered, his attention fixated on his search. Finally, he produced a writing quill and a scroll of parchment. "I have to let Celestia know what's going on here."
For about a minute, Sapphire watched Spike scribble a note on the piece of parchment, his eyes nervously darting. Once he was finished, he stood up, rolled the parchment and sent it on its way.
“Feel better now?” Sapphire asked as magic sparks streaked off towards Canterlot.
“Not entirely,” Spike mumbled. “But I still think we should keep moving.”
“If it helps, I’m scared, too,” Sapphire said as Spike bent over to pick up his backpack, visibly struggling with the weight of his bundles.
“Oof! How’d this thing get so heavy?”
“Probably because you’re worrying yourself sick,” Sapphire answered. After Spike got the straps over his shoulders, Sapphire took his hand again to help comfort him. “Just try to relax. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Meanwhile, back in Canterlot...
Celestia looked out her window into her beloved sunlit city, ever alert for any signs of the dragon invasion that she'd expected for the last week. Her alicorn's sense of foreboding had never failed her before, and she was positive it was right about this as well.
"Sister, will you calm down? It is rare to see you so unnerved. You are beginning to frighten me," the midnight-blue alicorn in the middle of the room said to her sister.
"Forgive me, Luna." Celestia removed herself from the window and joined the night princess. "I hope I am only worrying for no reason and the dragons don't actually pose a threat... but something tells me I would be mistaken to let matters settle themselves."
"If anything does happen, we will be ready. You and I, we can accomplish anything if we work together. No foe can stand up to the might of the sisters of dusk and dawn."
"Perhaps you're right." Celestia sighed, trying her best to get her mind to settle on Luna's notion.
The sun princess' eyes widened as a letter appeared in front of her from a shower of magic sparks. Using her magic, she unrolled the scroll and read it silently to her self.
Luna stood quiet, watching her eyes dart faster and faster as they scanned the letter. When she could no longer stand the tension of the silence, Luna spoke. "What does it say?"
Celestia rolled up the scroll moments later, her eyes narrowed in unblinking determination. "Buckington was invaded last night."
"Invaded..." Luna whispered her dread of that word.
"Shining Armor!" Celestia shouted. One of the guards, undistinguishable under his suit of silver armor, galloped up to Celestia and gave a salute.
"What is it, you majesty?"
"Gather as many guards as you can find. I want every city and village on the border to the Dragonlands under close watch, and I want them working in pairs."
"The Dragonlands, madam?"
"Yes. Buckington was invaded and had all their capable ponies hauled off by dragons. I want reports from each settlement to come in at every two hours and no longer. If they're plotting a full-scale invasion, we'll be ready."
"Are you sure you want to fight..." Shining stopped to gulp down his nervousness. "DRAGONS?" Those enormous winged reptiles, with their breath of fire and unrivaled strength send a chill of trepidation down the captain of the guard’s spine. He’d rather fight an army of changelings again than tangle with even a single dragon, let alone a whole regime.
"If they are going to invade, then we have no choice."
Shining Armor straightened himself and gave a salute "Ma'am!" With that, he vanished down the hall, the sound of his hoofsteps following him.
Celestia's eyes were still narrowed and unblinking. She turned to Luna and looked her in her dark blue eyes as she gave a verbal vow to her sister. “I WILL protect my country."