//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Tale of Two Dragons 
// by Kind of Brony 
//------------------------------//

A young dragoness was staring out the window, watching the rich green hills and valleys pass by like ocean waves, the flowers on their peaks resembling crests. She only slightly took note of this however, as her thoughts were in other, more turbulent places. “I can’t believe I let her talk me into this. Doesn’t she understand I don’t want to be here? That I don’t want to risk seeing him or what would happen if I did? Of course she doesn’t, idiot, you never told her… And now I feel even worse.”
Her whirling thoughts were brought to a halt when there was a knock at the door, resulting in her elbow slipping from the windowsill and her face smacking off the glass. “Refreshments. Is there anything I can get you?” said a feminine voice on the other side of the compartment.
“No thanks! Everything’s good here, mam!” said the dragoness hastily, pulling the hood of her brown cloak further over her face as she did.
“Okay miss, just ring the bell if you change your mind.” came the response, followed by hoof steps and the squeak of trolley wheels receding into the distance. It wasn’t until she had heard the faint knocking and the same muffled question repeated did the dragoness release the breath she had unwittingly held in.
She sat unmoving for a few breaths before growling, “What is wrong with you? You’re the Amethyst Thistle for crying out loud! Adventurer extraordinaire, world’s greatest treasure hunter, and a damn good archeologist, despite what those stuck up curators say! You do not get spooked by knocks!” With this statement, she stood up and struck a heroic pose, fists on hips, chest puffed out and head held high. Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when her hood slipped from her spines, revealing her face to the world.
She gasped, crouching down and pulling the hood up to shroud her features once more. Amethyst’s eyes darted around the compartment, scanning for any possible witness to her blunder before she remembered she was alone. She growled again and began talking to herself, “Damn it! Why in the world did I agree to do this?”

~8~

“So, what’cha got for me this time, Lorey” Amethyst said as she dropped into the seat across from a yellow pegasus, throwing her feet on the desk between them.
The pegasus only leaned forward, revealing what looked to be a cutie mark consisting of a sandstone slab covered in hieroglyphs with a magnifying glass hovering over it, and tried to push the feet from her desk, but gave up when they wouldn’t bunch. ‘humphing’ in annoyance, she settled for leveling a scowl towards her best friend and longtime partner, “It’s Lore, Amy, Lore Finder. Not ‘Lorey’ as you are so set on calling me”
The dragoness smirked, “I know, but Lore Finder is just so stuffy. Besides, you keep calling me by a nickname, can’t see why I can’t call you by one.”
“Because you prefer your nickname and I don’t. That’s why,” was the agitated response.
“Yeah, because my name’s a mouthful, just like Lore Finder.”
“Than just stick with Lore.”
“Whatever you say Lorey. Now, can you tell me why you called me down here? Got any new leads?” Amy questioned before her eyes lit up and she leaned forward, removing her feet from the desk and looking like a filly preparing to open a gift, “Did you find out more about Bahamut’s hoard?!”
Lore just stared back, pushing her black and grey scaled mane behind her ear, looking torn as she tried to think of the right response. Nodding to herself when she settled on an answer, she squared her shoulders and spoke, “Yes I have, but-”
The dragoness leapt to her feet, fist pumping as she yelled, “AH YEAH! I knew it was only a matter of time! You are the best!”
"Yes, yes, I know you’re excited, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Amy, I know you’re reluctant to go, bu-”
Lore was interrupted once again by a grey blue unicorn bursting through the door of her study, strands of his messy black mane falling across dark rimmed eyes. “Can you keep it down in here you bloody salamander?! Some of us are trying to work!” the stallion yelled.
"Ah, stick it up your plot hole, Prosy. Some of us are actually doing real work,” was Amy’s dismissive reply.
“It’s Prose Worthy! I swear by the sun, if you call me Prosy one more time, I’m going to toss you out a bucking window!”
“I’d like to see you try, Prooosy.”
"Why you little-”
"ENOUGH, both you! Prose, go back to your writing and leave us to our meeting,” Lore broke in. Prose stopped in his slow stalk towards the dragoness, the bluish glow fading from his horn as sent a bashful look towards his wife. Amy stuck her tongue out at the quelled stallion, but jolted when the scolding voice was directed at her, “And you, sit down this instant and don’t make a peep!”
“Yes, mam, sorry mam,” the dragoness said as she sat, head hung in shame and hands in her lap, looking every bit the scolded child. Prose slunk off, saying something about ordering take-out for dinner as he went.
Lore remained quite until her husband’s cutie mark, a quill sitting atop an open book, was no longer visible. Once it wasn’t, she turned burning rose colored eyes to the dragoness across from her. “Why do you see fit to torment my husband whenever you two are in the same room? The profits from his books go a long way into funding your misadventures, after all,” the pegasus asked somewhat sadly.
"Yeah, well, his books wouldn’t be any good if it wasn’t for me telling him about my ‘misadventures’, so we’re even,” Amy said petulantly.
*Gasp* “That’s a horrible thing to say! You know he’s been running himself ragged trying to write something original. Why would you say something like that?” questioned the mare, sounding truly hurt by her friends words.
“You know it’s true! And he’s always the one starting stuff. Your husband is a total-”
“STOP! Amy… Just stop,” taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Lore continued, “We’re not here to discuss Prose’s flaws. And it’s not to discuss the progress I’ve made on locating Bahamut’s hoard. I called you here because of the last artifact you discovered.”
“Oh? You mean that big obsidian looking rock I found in the Far Frozen. What about it? I mean, I was looking for Princess Platinum’s Castle and ended up falling through the ice right on top of that thing,” said Amy. She grimaced at the memory; rubbing at the phantom pain in her backside before adding, “The whole expedition was a bust… and I couldn’t walk straight for days afterwards.”
Lore just sighed and shook her head, “That expedition was most definitely not a bust, and if you would just slow down and study your surroundings like I keep telling you, you would have known that.” The dragoness just crossed her arms and muttered under her breath in what Lore guessed was a mocking imitation of her own voice. “Anyways, I was able to identify the writing on those rubbings you took from the stone. It was ancient Unicornian, a language I’m not wholly familiar with, so I sent them to a professor of dead languages at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns to be translated. To say they caused quite a stir would be an understatement,” the pegasus finished.
“You’re kidding me, right? It was just a rock,” Amy said disbelievingly.
“It was not ‘just a rock’. It was the most significant discovery in recent history. What you busted your butt on was the legendary Sun Spire.”
Lore watched with a growing smile as Amy’s mouth fell open in wonder and her eyes went wide, “No way, I found the Sun Spire…” the dragoness said before the look of amazement suddenly vanished from her face and was replaced with dull expression, “What’s the Sun Spire?”
The mare couldn’t stop herself from face-hooving at her friend’s obliviousness. “…Ow…” she grumbled, rubbing the new bump on her forehead before continuing, “Well, I guess that answers the question of if you’ve been keeping up on your studies.”
“Hey, I study plenty; I just don’t see the point in studying subjects that I hardly come across!” Amy said defensively, “Besides, the only pony civilizations prior to the formation of Equestria are those of the three pony tribes, so there are barely any pony ruins to find.”
Lore just rolled her eyes and said, “Be that as it may, this is a prime example of why you should study the history of all cultures. If you would have, you probably would have recognized the Sun Spire for what it was and known it lay in the central garden of Unicornia’s royal castle.”
Though Lore had yet to explain what the Sun Spire was, Amy was already putting what she had explained together, resulting in the dragoness smacking her forehead and running her hand down her face, “I was right next to the castle, wasn’t I?” Lore answered with a nod, “So that means the castle is buried under a ton of ice! Gah! I’m so stupid! I could have used my fire to uncover it!”
The pegasus just watched in amusement as Amy jumped up, walked over to the wall and started beating her head off it, saying “stupid” with each impact. When Lore had enough of her friends self-punishment, she spoke up, “Okay, okay, that’s enough Amy. You’re going to give yourself a concussion, and I really don’t think you can afford any more brain damage.”
Amy stopped and looked over at her. “Hardy har har, that’s real funny,” she said with obvious sarcasm.
Ignoring her friend's remark, Lore continued, “And really, I doubt even your fire would be enough to melt all that, and that’s not even taking into consideration all the water such an action would leave you with.” She stopped for a moment to consider the scenario, imagining Amy wading neck deep in a submerged castle before shaking the image from her mind. “No, no, this was for the best. Equestria plans on sending an excavation crew to uncover the castle as carefully as possible. Your way would have left everything a soggy mess, including the royal archives and library,” said Lore, putting emphasis on the lat bit.
The dragoness just sighed dejectedly and returned to her seat, “But that means we’ll have to go through a bunch of red tape to get to those archives. I was really hoping this would be my chance to find Bahamut’s hoard to.”
“First, as you have apparently forgotten, I already found a lead on that front, if not a bit of a flimsy one,” the mare said. Amy began to perk up again but was prevented from saying anything as Lore went on, “And second, The Princesses of Equestria would like to reward you for your discovery. I am sure if you ask for access to the text found in the castle that they will grant it.”
“Sweet! Things are finally looking up for the great Amethyst! So, I’ll get what I can from the princesses sent here, and we can get to work on finding that hoard. Perfect!”
Lore only smiled uneasily at her friends statement and said, “Actually, there is more, Amy. The Princesses would like to thank you, face to face… You’ve been invited to Canterlot for a public ceremony.”
The tension in the room grew almost palpable before it was finally broken by Amy’s words, “… So, they want me to go to Equestria?”
“Uh-huh, they do.”
The dragoness just looked at her friend for a moment before crossing her arms across her chest in an exaggerated X and shaking her head, “Ehhhh! Not gonna happen, no way, no how. Tell the princesses it’s a no-go. I am not going to Equestria.”
“Oh come on Amy! This is a huge opportunity not just for you, but for Prose and me as well! No matter the business, fame breeds wealth. Just think of how much easier it will be to get expeditions funded when you’re famous.”
“I’m already famous!”
“No you’re not because you do everything in your power to stay out of the lime light!”
“Because Lime Light is a sick perv, and you know it!”
“This is not the time for jokes, Amethyst! This is serious!”
“Well I thought it was pretty funny!”
Both females collapsed back into their seats, panting, not even realizing they had gone muzzle to muzzle in their shouting match. The silence was broken when the door slammed open, “I thought I told-!”
“Shut up Prose/Prosy!” the girls yelled simultaneously. Prose jolted at the acoustic bombardment and backed out through the doorway with his head down, squeaking out an apology as he did.
Lore turned back to Amy, and though she was trying to look stern, she couldn’t keep the worry and traces of betrayal from her eyes. She was, however able to keep them from her voice as she said, “Are you actually going to tell me why you won’t go this time, or are you just going to keep lying to me and say you ‘just don’t want to’?” The way she said the last part made it clear she had heard those words from her friend on more than one occasion.
“Who says I’m lying?” Amy asked heatedly before she continued far more angrily, “And even if I was, some ponies should just keep their noses out of my business and get off my back!”
As hard as she tried, the pegasus couldn’t keep her façade up any longer and a tear fell from her eye, “But, a friend shouldn’t. Aren’t I your friend, Amy? Haven’t I always been there for you?” the mare asked. When Amy didn’t answer, Lore started talking again, “When you stay here, I hear you at night, you cry in your sleep.”
“I do not cry!”
“Yes you do, Amy. Whatever this is, it’s hurting you and I don’t like it,” the pegasus said back. For the first time since Amy had arrived there, Lore Finder got up from her seat and walked around the desk to stand in front of the dragoness. She rested a hoof on Amy’s clawed hand, “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But can you at least go there and deal with whatever this is? Because it’s eating you up inside, and I’m afraid if something isn’t done, there won’t be anything of my best friend left.”
The dragoness looked at her oldest friend with widened eyes and her mouth parted slightly, and for a second Lore hoped that Amy would finally open up to her. But the look soon twisted up and Amy turned her head away. “There is nothing wrong, just stay out of my business, Okay?” she said in a cracked whisper.
Lore almost burst into tears, but managed to build a wall of cool indifference to dam it in. “Fine then, be that way. But you are going,” said the pegasus as she returned to her seat. “This is far too big an opportunity to pass up.”
Glad to get away from all the mushy stuff, Amy did her best to go on as if she did not just almost cry, “Oh, and how are you going to make me?”
“Well, you owe me for always harassing Prose; I can’t tell you how many times he's kept me up at night ranting about the ‘ingrate salamander’”
“No deal, I shouldn’t have to pay for the fact that you can’t get your man to stop whining.”
Lore’s brow creased in response to her rising ire, but relaxed as a small, poisonous smile pulled at her lips. “I really didn’t want to use this ace in the hole so soon after getting it, but I think this constitutes a good enough reason to do so,” the pegasus said as she opened one of her desk’s drawers and reached inside.
“What are you talking about? There is nothing you have in that drawer that can get me to…change… my… ~Aahhh~,” Amy was unable to finish before the tantalizing smell reached her nose and its source came into view. A perfectly clear gem easily twice as big as the hoof it was balanced on. “W-where did you get a real su-su-sugar-?”
“Sugar diamond? That’s not important. What is important is that I’m willing to give it to you-” she didn’t get to finish as Amy had already pounced at her, stomach now on the desk and arms out stretched for the gem. Lore was forced to hold the sugar diamond as far away from the gem-crazed dragoness as she could while simultaneously putting a hoof to her friends face to hold her back. Even with her cheek smooshed against her hoof, the pegasus could still hear Amy chanting “gimmegimmegimme”. Trying to keep the sugar diamond from falling from its precarious perch atop her hoof, Lore nearly shouted out, “Willing to give it to you ONLY IF you go to Equestria and talk with the princesses!”
The dragoness froze in her actions, not moving for a good few seconds before her eyes finally went from the gem to the eyes of her friend and narrowed. “That’s dirty, Lore” she managed to say even with the hoof pressed against her face.
“That may be, but those are the terms of the arrangement, take it or leave it. After all, I’m sure I can find some nice jeweler who would love to have such an exquisite gem to work with,” the mare said matter-of-factly.
Amy yelled, “You wouldn’t dare! To let such a delicacy be put to any use other than food would be a sin worthy of eternity in Tartarus!”
Lore just leaned in, narrowed her eyes, and whispered, “Try me.”
The two stared each other down, having a battle of wills to determine the fate of both the sugar diamond and Amethyst Thistle’s travel plans.

~8~

…Damn her weakness for gems. Not even after all these years of treasure hunting could Amy resist the allure of a sugar diamond. A part of her kept saying that it was nothing to be ashamed of, that no dragon worth their scales could ever say no to a real sugar diamond. Unlike those cheap imitations bakers use, real sugar diamonds had all the savory taste of diamonds while having the sweetness and melt in your mouth texture of sugar, all balanced in perfect harmony and heightened to the peak of flavor. Some old dragon’s tales even claim that the ponies’ Elements of Harmony were made of sugar diamond. Amy had to agree somewhat with this voice, and she told herself that she had improved her self-control greatly since the beginning of her career. She no longer ended up eating the stones out of the more jewel encrusted treasures she found.
Yet, an even louder part of Amy was screaming at her for her weakness and stupidity. She tried to appease this voice by telling it that he was more than likely with the Element of Magic. That such an integral part of the country’s security would be off somewhere away from the public, perhaps being trained with the other five to be prepared for battle at a moment’s notice. Amy told that voice that even if he were there, she would not reveal herself under any circumstance, that her cloak did its job well, not revealing a single scale or spine.
The voice quieted when these points were laid out before it, but still grumbled in the back of Amy’s head. With her turbulent thoughts under some semblance of control, Amy tried to occupy her mind with other, less stressful things. Reaching for a something under her seat, Amy pulled out a staff with a small bindle tied onto its end in the classic runaway fashion. Not planning on staying any longer than she had to, Amy packed very lightly, bringing nothing more than her trusty black ironwood staff, some grade-A comfort food, and a piece of very important reading material. She slid cloth from the stick and untied the knot, revealing a guilty pleasure in the form of the sugar diamond wrapped in plastic and a nearly disintegrating book. 
After their stare down and her subsequent defeat, Amy demanded Lore tell her what she had found out about Bahamut’s hoard. As it turns out, it was quite a bit. Lore had come across the journal of a long dead gryphon explorer by the name of Erik. Luckily, Amy was very familiar with the language used within. After all, there were far more ruins belonging to the warlike gryphons than to the peaceful ponies.
In his time, millennia before the formation of Equestria, he had been labeled a nut and ridiculed for the many “impossible” things he claimed to have come across in his numerous explorations of the vast world. Wooden wolves, sea ponies, a beast that flew without the aid of wings and able to bend reality with a snap of its claw, and all sorts of other amazing things were mentioned in his journal. The gryphons of old had been content to rule over their mountains and the valleys below, believing themselves the center of the world. When Erik left and came back with information that contradicted that belief, he was humiliated, and died a broken bird.
Of course now, the things he wrote about were known as more fact than fiction. Timber wolves and Discord were both common sights in Equestria today. Even sea ponies were real, if not very well know. The ocean dwellers preferred to remain in their city of Aquastria, and not interact with the other races of the world.
The fact that these things were real only mattered to Amy to the extent that it served as evidence to support one of Erik’s other claims, that he saw a very particular dragon. The passage was one of the final he had written before he had begun the long journey back to his home. It had spoken of a mountain range far to the east of Erik’s home, a place he described as the most terrifying he had ever had the displeasure to visit. The gryphon wrote of how, as he approached the black mountains, the weather inexplicably worsened until he was forced to land or risk being killed. It was at that moment, huddled into the mountain side, that Erik described something that made Amy’s heart race, a draconic figure in the eye of the storm. Erik wrote of how he could make out the shape in the clouds, its shadow bursting into existence with each flash of lightning. He wrote about how it was the biggest creature he had ever seen, and how he fled in primordial fear of such a superior predator.
Because of his status as a crackpot, no one had given his journal much more than a glance, not even gryphon historians, who were less close-minded than their ancestors, if only just. If it had not been for Lore Finder and her stick-in-the-mud husband choosing to vacation in the Gryphon Empire, Erik’s journal could have remained under the leg of that wobbly table for who knows how long. Amy could only imagine the chewing out the librarian on staff had endured for disrespecting a historical record… and could sympathies.
Amy ran a hand over the worn and cracking leather cover; probably deer hide is she had to guess. In the middle of the book was a round indent from the table leg, it really was a miracle that it had survived so long and was still legible. Prose said he could sense magical residue within the pages and Lore theorized someone had probably put a preservation charm on it, one that had to have been amazingly strong to have lasted so long. Maybe it was someone Erik met on his journeys, perhaps a true friend.
Erik was made a mockery by his own kind, not one gryphon believing him. Amy wondered if those morons truly succeeded in breaking him, if there had not been even a glint of hope in his eyes when his time came. She wondered if Erik had been like her hero. The thought of him caused a flood of emotions to wash over her: Joy, pride, belonging… sorrow, anger… and guilt.
“No! You are not going to think about that! Not now.” Amy tried her hardest to redirect her thoughts, focusing again on the journal. “I’ll prove you were right to, Erik, when I find that hoard… you and him.” Amy whispered into the worn book, hoping the words would reach Erik and bring him peace.
As Amy began to put away the journal, a voice rang through the train, “We will be arriving at Ponyville station in ten minutes. We will remain there fifteen minutes for boarding and disembarking. That is all.” Huh, Amy hadn’t realized how much time drifting in her thoughts had taken, but she wasn’t complaining. Train rides were boring, particularly when she didn’t have anyone to shoot the breeze with. Though she couldn’t really complain, the princesses had paid her travel fare and rented out a compartment just for her and anyone she wanted to bring. Amy would have brought Lore, but she would have held them up for who knows how long… and she would have been trying to figure out Amy’s reason for not wanting to come here. That would have been an awkward trip.
Looking out the window, Amy eventually saw a town come into view. Though it was still a ways away, Amy could tell that it was quite a colorful place. She had always wondered if their preference for bright colors was genetic or merely cultural. Personally, Amy always figured it was the former that drove the pastel ponies to make their homes as tie-dyed as their herds. Like a defense mechanism to confuse predators in a similar fashion as the zebras with their stripes. Perhaps it was an instinctual attempt to cause enemies to go into epileptic fits.
As had been the theme of this particular train ride, Amy was once again brought from her thoughts. The only difference this time was that the sound was accompanied by shaking. Soon after the bump, a loud screech could be heard from the train. “I apologies passengers, but it appears that there was some debris on the tracks. Though we are currently unsure of the extent of the damage, we will be stopping in Ponyville until it is fixed. Thank you for your understanding. That is all.” said the voice from the intercom.
“…Of course the train is busted, I couldn’t have had a nice quick trip. That would be too easy.” Amy grumbled to herself. The last stretch of train ride was incredibly grating as it was filled with shaking and a loud screech the entire way. By the time they pulled into the station Amy feared her ears were bleeding. She moved her hands away from her ear fins as passengers were asked to disembark. The dragoness stood and pulled her cloak around her before sliding the door open, figuring it would be safe to leave her things in her compartment. Stepping into the hall, Amy was easily able to see over the other passengers, being twice the height of most ponies. This gave her the advantage of intimidation, many of the ponies stepping aside for the large cloaked figure.
Amy was off the train in no time, where she walked closer to a couple of stallions wearing coal stained overalls. “Well dang, what’cha think we hit, Boss?” said the younger of the two. He was lying on his belly, focusing on an axle devoid of a wheel. The other stallion reached up to and scratched his head, pushing his cap askew in the process. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke, his voice gruff from years of shoveling coal into the train engine, “I reckon it was a rock on the track. Probably some blasted foals playing where they shouldn’t.” He sighed and dropped his hoof back to the ground, “There ain’t no point in standing here talking about it, we have to get a new wheel on regardless. Let’s get to work, boy.”
Amy watched the two “get to work” and she walked away, glad she listened in. At least now she wouldn’t be stuck waiting like the rest of the patrons. She had traveled by train enough to know how long replacing a wheel would take; she had an hour to do with what she wanted.
What exactly she would do, Amy didn’t know. She wanted to walk around the town; she always loved seeing new places after all. This desire was both compounded and diminished by the fact that she was currently in Equestria, the place she’d really only been to once… and she wasn’t exactly up for seeing the sights then. She stomped her foot, making a few of the ponies around her jump and walk away, “Come on, Amy, you're being ridiculous! Nothing bad is going to happen if you just walk around town!” Amy thought. With determination born of anger, Amy started walking from the station and into the town proper, where she immediately lost her gusto.
She had been surrounded by equines before, many of her adventures taking her to Zebracon and Saddle Arabia, but never before had she seen so many ponies in one place. Ponies rarely left the borders of Equestria, being the minority in most other countries. Even back in Ford Junction, Lore and Prose were two of only a few dozen ponies in the entire city. Amy adjusted her cloak and started walking down the street, ponies moving out her way as they did on the train.
As she walked, Amy tried to calm her mind by observing the architecture around her. She noted that Ponyville, while colorful, was not as bad as she thought coming in, though she wondered why they seemed so hung-up on pink, it was kind of weird. Amy mentally replaced all that frilly pink with a nice royal purple… yeah, that was a good looking town. Moving from the ground up, she eventually got to the roofs which were almost entirely of the hay variety… huh, maybe they double as an emergency food supply. Now that would be a tough choice. Go hungry or roofless? “Well,” Amy reasoned, “pegasi can control the weather here, so going roofless wouldn’t be too bad.”
The observations did well in calming her nerves; unfortunately she didn’t pay close attention to where she was going and ended up at the market place. Ponies were milling around, chatting about this and that as they bought their goods. Amy thought of turning around, but her stubborn side refused to let her shy away from civilians, especially not the pony kind. She walked into the market, glancing at the various wares and regretting not bringing any Equestrian bits with her. Amy had only brought her sugar diamond and a few fairly big bagged lunches for the long train trip, expecting to be fed well in Canterlot and being allowed to ask for some to eat on the trip back home. As it was, Amy had finished the last of her lunches hours earlier and the sight of all the fresh produce was making her hungry.
It was this hunger that caused her to stop at a stall full of her favorite fruit, apples. She stared at them, drooling over the ruby red, topaz yellow, and emerald green morsels. She only pulled her eyes away from them when she heard a voice drawl, “You gonna buy something there, partner, or are you just gonna stare?” When she looked up to see who had asked the question, Amy found herself staring into the green eyes of an orange colored earth pony mare with a straw blonde mane and tail, each held at the ends  with red hair ties, and an old Stetson on her head.
“O-oh, sorry about that, they just look so delicious, I couldn’t tear myself away.” Amy said sheepishly, glad the shadow of her hood hid the blush on her cheeks. Lore always said she thought too much with her stomach.
The mare smiled brightly, “Aw shucks, thank ya kindly partner! Believe me, they taste twice as good as they look, just a bit for one apple.”
“I’d believe it, and that’s a great deal, but unfortunately, I don’t have any money on me.” Amy said, “I kind of wanted to get back home as soon as possible and didn’t bring much.”
The mare’s smile dulled slightly at the loss of a potential sale, but a glint of curiosity soon found its way to her eye, “Aw well, that’s a darn shame. If ya don’t mind me askin’, where are ya from… and what are ya? Sorry if that seems a bit rude ta ask, I was just curios, what with the cloak and all.”
“Ahh… No problem. I’m a dragon, and I’m from all over really, though I spend most of my free time in Ford Junction… That’s a city that sits on the border of between Equestria, the Gryphon Kingdom, and the Bad Lands.” Amy answered hesitantly, but started gaining a little confidence as she went on, “I’m actually on my way to Canterlot. I’m going to be thanked by the Princesses for being an awesome explorer.”
The mare tilted her head, “Really, what’cha explore?”
“Oh, nothing much, just discovered the lost castle of Princess Platinum, the Sun Spire, and probably the whole kingdom of Unicornia.”
The mare just cocked an eyebrow at the nonchalant delivery, a wry smile pulling at her lips. “Well, ain’t that somethin’. I reckon I can spare an apple for such ah amazin’ explorer, just make sure ya tell everypony where ya got the best apple of yer life.”
“Really!?” Amy asked before getting control of herself and picking up a red delicious, “I-I mean, yes I will gladly spread the word that… ah what’s your name again?”
“I’m sorry, I forgot ta tell ya, I’m Applejack and that there is one of Sweet Apple Acres famous apples” Applejack answered.
Amy took a big bite, fitting nearly half the apple in her mouth, “I’s ‘elly goo’” she said before swallowing, “I’ll make sure to tell everyone I know that Sweet Apple Acres has the best apples around.” Amy finished the rest of the apple, core included, in the blink of an eye and burped in satisfaction, a small burst of flame coming out as she did. When she was done licking her lips, she said, “My names Amethyst Thistle by the way, but you can just call me Amy.”
“Well thanks for the compliment, Amy, I’m glad ya liked it.” Applejack said. She leaned forward, placing an elbow on the stand and tipping her hat back, prepared to shoot the breeze with the mysterious stranger, “Ya know, you ain’t the first dragon I’ve met. A good friend oh mine’s a dragon.”
Amy went rigid at this revelation, pretty sure the number of friendly dragons in Equestria was currently two. “Y-you don’t say. So, there’s another dragon around here?” Amy asked, not really sure what she wanted the answer to be.
Applejack, unaware of her new acquaintance’s change in behavior, just smiled brightly and said, “Sure as sugar, he lives right here in Ponyville with my good friend Twilight Sparkle, you’ve probably heard oh her. Real nice little guy, you should go meet him before ya go, I’m sure he’d appreciate talking ta another dragon like him. His name’s Spike by the way.”
Though outwardly, she seemed okay, inside, her thoughts were far more turbulent than they had ever been on the train. “no, No, NO! Stupid, you are so STUPID! This can’t be happening! Stupid! He can’t be here! But he is! HOW!?WHY!? Stupid, why didn’t you know! I need to get out of here! I need to hide! But where!? Stupid, stupid, stupid. THE TRAIN! I’ll go back to my compartment, hide under the seat. No one will find me there! Now, just remain calm, Stupid, and walk back there, don’t draw any attention to yourself, everything is fine.”
“I’m sure he’s a very interesting guy, and I would love to talk to him, but I really should be getting back to the train station, they may be done with repairs already and I don’t want to miss my ride. Maybe I’ll talk to him on the way back, can’t keep princesses waiting after all.” Amy said as she backed away.
Applejack’s smile was lessened slightly by disappointment, “That’s ah darn shame, I’m sure he would’ve been real happy to meet ya to. Well, it can’t be helped I reckon, it was nice ta meet’cha Amy.”
“Ah, yeah, it was nice to meet you to Applejack, I’ll-”
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over the place for you!” shouted a high-pitched voice. Before Amy could even realize what was happening, she was tackled to the ground by a pink blur. As the thing stood up, towering over her, Amy realized her assailant was a bright pink earth pony mare with a darker pink cotton ball of a mane. It was shortly after this observation that Amy noticed the pony was talking at an impressive speed with a huge grin splitting her face. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, and I bet your wondering why I tackled you! Well, you see, I was walking to the train station like I always do to greet all the new ponies because my left knee started jerking like it does when someone new is in town! That’s my patented Pinkie sense, by the way, but anyways, I was walking when I felt my mane tingle and my eyelids started to flutter, do you know what that means! Well, you probably don’t because you’re new, so I’ll just tell you! That combination means that one of my friend’s long lost relatives is in town and they’re gonna make a big hullabaloo! So when my Pinkie sense told me that, I went double time to get there and find them so I could throw them a huge ‘Long Lost Family Reunion Party!’ but when I got to the station, I couldn’t find the pony that made my Pinkie sense tingle, so I really wanted to start looking for them, but it wouldn’t be fair to all the ponies waiting for the train to be fixed so I had to throw them a pick-me-up party because allot of them were all grumpy!” Pinkie Pie said as she stopped to take a huge breath.
Amy was in the middle of trying to comprehend what the pink mare said and was about to involuntarily ask “what” when she was cut off by Pinkie finishing filling her lungs with air. “So there I was, running around looking for the mystery pony, when I ran into the market and saw Applejack talking to something tall and my liver quivered, which means I had finally found who I was looking for! I was so excited to finally meet you that I forgot to stop running and ran straight into you! Isn’t that funny!?” Pinkie finished with an even wider smile and started to get off Amy. When she was, Amy rolled back unto her hands, launched herself to her feet, and started dusting herself off.
“Not really, and what are you talking about? All I got was that your liver is quivering… You should probably get that checked out by the way.” When she was done wiping the dirt from her cloak and scales, the dragoness looked to the two ponies, “What’s with the looks? They’re kind of creepy.” Amy said, and indeed, both ponies were making very distinct faces. Pinkie Pie’s smile was so wide that Amy could see her back molars, while Applejack’s jaw had fallen open and her pupils were tiny black dots in the middle of her vivid green irises.
It was Applejack that started to answer first, “Y-you look j-just like-”
“SPIKE! Oh wowzers, is he gonna be happy or what!?” Pinkie said.
Amy widened her eyes when the situation sunk into her head. Looking down, she saw her cloak was open, the long, dark fabric thrown over her shoulders in the impact. Reaching up, Amy confirmed what her peripherals where telling her, the hood of her cloak was down. She was completely exposed to these ponies, ponies that were close to him.
Pinkie Pie zipped to her side, standing on her hind legs, bringing her head level with Amy’s shoulder, and wrapped one front hoof around Amy’s waist while the other one animatedly added emphasis to her words, “Oh this is going to be the most bestest party ever! Spike is going to be so happy we found his super-duper best big sis-!” 
Amy didn’t give the pink mare a chance to finish the statement, not wanting to hear those words and have to feel the guilt. She pushed Pinkie from her side and backed away from the two, all the while trying to say anything to help the situation. “Listen, I’m sure you’re really nice and all, and that dragon, of which I have no relations, is also pretty cool, but I’m reeeally busy and I just don’t have the time so… Bye!” Amy said as she turned tail and ran. Behind her she could hear the two mares shouting something and she now had the attention of the ponies in the market. None of this mattered to Amy though; she just wanted to get out of there ASAP.
As soon as she was a good distance from the two earth ponies, Amy cut into an alleyway. She leaned against the wall, trying to calm her racing heart within the shadows. Just as Amy thought she was in the clear though, she heard someone breathing next to her. “Who are we hiding from?”
“Guh!”
“Hey, where are you going!? We need to get you to a party, stat!”
Amy ignored her and just kept running from the crazy mare. Cutting in between two buildings, she wall jumped the walls and rolled onto one of the roofs, even going so far as to burrow into the straw to hide. Again, Amy was startled by Pinkie Pie as her head popped out of the hey right next to her. “Silly, the party isn’t in Bon Bon’s roof.” Pinkie said as if she didn’t just materialized out of nowhere.
Not giving a response, Amy quickly rolled off of the roof and fell to the street. Landing gracefully on all fours, she smoothly transitioned into an all-out sprint, arms pumping furiously with her speed. She didn’t bother running around ponies at this point and was vaulting over them, earning startled shouts from the unsuspecting equines. Amy cut through alleys and climbed over roofs until she was sure she had lost her pursuer. When she didn’t see the pink menace in sight, she jumped into a dumpster and shut the lid.
Amy ignored the stench and kept her ear to the wall. “What are you doing?” asked a voice beside her.
“Trying to hear if that pink pony is coming, so keep it down.” Amy answered.
“Oooh… Wow, you’re really dedicated to hide & seek, not even Dashie hid in a dumpster when we played. But we’ll have to cut this game short, we really need to get your party setup.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get to the party as… soon… as…” Amy looked to her left to see Pinkie sitting right next to her, a clothespin pinched over her nose and a bright smile on her face.
“Hiya!”
“Awwww!” Amy shot out of the dumpster and started sprinting through the town again, desperate to find a place to shelter from the pink demon. The chase continued on for what seemed like hours, and Amy was at the end of her rope. Not only was she becoming physically exhausted, but also emotionally as well. She couldn’t stand to hear Pinkie Pie mention him again, and would do anything short of frying the pony to not have to hear her. It was with this thought that her tired mind saw a sign from the heavens. On it was painted the universal symbol for peaceful sanctuary, an open book. Not bothering to think if Pinkie would actually not follow her into the library or obey the rule of silence, Amy crashed through the door and slammed it shut behind her. Amy was pushing both hands against the door to keep it shut, hardly paying attention to the startled voices behind her.
When she was sure the pink mare wasn’t coming, she sighed in relief and finally noticed the indigent voice behind her. Amy turned around to apologize to the ones she disturbed, only to fall completely silent upon seeing who they were. The taller of the two was a lavender unicorn mare with a straight cut darker mane and tail, each sporting a white and pink stripe. However, Amy was more focused on the smaller figure to the unicorn’s side, a small dragon with purple scales, green belly, spines and eyes. Eyes that were doing a great draconic imitation of Applejack’s earlier. To Amy, it was like staring at a younger version of herself, save being slightly chubbier than her at his age. There was a distant thump from above, but neither Amy nor the other two occupants paid it any mind.
A word Amy never believed herself the right to speak started coming unabated from her lips, “Broth-”
Right at that moment, a pink ball of fur tumbled down the stairs and landed in the middle of the stunned group. Sitting up and shaking her head, Pinkie scanned the room in complete silence before almost singing, “~Draaama Booomb!~”

~8~

“How do I look Spike, is my posture okay? I don’t want to look like a slouch at the ceremony.”
“Yes, Twilight, it’s fine. You look fine.”
“What about my mane, do you think I could get it straighter?”
“Why are you worrying about your mane now? The ceremony isn’t ‘till tomorrow.”
Spike had been dealing with this all week since the Sun Spire was found, and his patience was running terribly low. Twilight had been invited to attend the ceremony in celebration of its discovery and to thank the one who discovered it, some mystery explorer.
“Everything has to be perfect for when I meet the Amethyst Thistle, Spike. I mean, she’s only like the most amazing mare in the world!” Twilight said from the pillow she was sitting on, trying her best to get down just how she was going to present herself to one of her idols.
“If she’s so amazing, then why haven’t I heard of her?” Spike asked as he carried more books to the shelves.
“Because, Amethyst is obviously not in it for the fame. She donates the artifacts she discovers directly to the museums they belong in. Amethyst Thistle is a mare of integrity who seeks to uncover the world’s secret, a mare that pursues knowledge!”
“Well, if she’s so quiet about it, how do you know about her?” Spike questioned, more intent on keeping Twilight’s mind of the ceremony for as long as possible, than learning about the topic at hand.
“Well, Spike, just because she doesn’t accept the praise and parties for her work, doesn’t mean people don’t talk. She’s been thanked at just about every unveiling of every artifact she’s discovered. Besides, haven’t you ever read the author’s notes in any of the Daring Do books?” Spike just gave her a blank stare in answer. “Seriously!? I can’t believe you, Spike! How can you be so disrespectful as to not read the author’s thoughts on the work you’re enjoying?” Twilight questioned heatedly.
Spike rolled his eyes, “I don’t think my reading habits are the issue here, Twilight. How about you tell me what’s in the author’s notes?”
Twilight glared at him and answered, “The author, Prose Worthy, often credits one Amethyst Thistle as being the inspiration for the Daring Do stories.”
Spike was a little surprised by this fact, as he put the books down and said, “Really? That’s kinda cool I guess, and you’re going to meet this pony?”
Twilight just smiled at the baby dragon, “Mmmhmm, that’s right. You know you can come with me and meet her for yourself if you want.”
“Nah, I’m sure she’s a cool pony and all, but I better stay here and take care of the library.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked before getting a thoughtful look on her face, rubbing her chin with a hoof, “Now that I think about it, there are some rumors going around that Amethyst may actually be a dragon. I’m not sure how true those rumors are, but this could be your chance to talk to a dragon who doesn’t try to hurt you.”
Spike looked skeptical at the idea, and voiced as such, “How can her species not be known? I mean people must see her when she brings stuff into museums.”
Twilight shook her head and said, “No, she always has her friend, a historian by the name of Lore Finder, bring her discoveries to the museums in her place.”
“Well, if that’s not suspicious. I think I’ll just stay here and not risk getting attacked by another dragon.”
Twilight was about to say something else, probably in an attempt to get Spike to go with her, but was cut off when the door slammed open and slammed shut right after. Both Spike and Twilight jumped a little at the sudden violent intrusion, the mare even yelping in response. They looked over at the door to see a tall figure holding it shut. Neither of them could tell what the stranger looked like as it was wearing a cloak which was covering its back. Not even a head was visible as it was down and a panting sound could be heard coming from the cloaked stranger.
It was Twilight who recovered first from her shock and spoke a bit angrily to the stranger, “Excuse me, what are you doing? This may be a public library, but you can’t just slam the doors like that. If you busted the frame, I hope you know you will be paying for it.”
The cloaked figure sighed heavily in what sounded like relief, released the door, and turned around. It was at that point that Spikes world seemed to freeze. As the figure fully turned, it was revealed that it was a dragon, definitely older than Spike but he didn’t really know how old she was. It was definitely a she if the slightly flared hips and chest were any indication. She was also older than the teenage dragons he had met during the dragon migration as she a few inches taller than the tallest of their members. It wasn’t just the fact that there was a dragon standing in front of him that shocked Spike, though. It was her looks that did it. The dragoness was covered with purple scale a few shades darker than his own. Her belly and spines were a dark green and looking into the dragoness’s eyes was like staring into a mirror. Spike even noticed there were no wings sprouting from her back, a fact that would probably worry him when he had time to think about it later.
No one in the room made a sound, a small part of Spike figured even Twilight must have noticed the obvious resemblance. There was a loud bang upstairs, but Spike didn’t care. All that mattered to him was the dragoness who he had just made eye contact with. In that moment, Spike could see so many emotions run through them that he couldn’t tell what any of them were. The dragoness looked as if she wanted to reach out to him, one of her hands twitching in his direction, and she started to speak, “Broth-”
Before she could finished whatever it was she was going to say, a pink ball of fur tumbled down the stairs and landed in the middle of the stunned group. Sitting up and shaking her head, Pinkie scanned the room in complete silence before almost singing, “~Draaama Booomb!~”
Pinkie’s dynamic entrance and dramatic statement seemed to bring everybody from their stunned states, the dragoness’s eyes widened and her mouth snapped shut. Twilight stepped forward and started to ask, “Who are-” but before she finished the question Spike himself wanted to ask, the dragoness cut her off.
“S-sorry for barging in like that, I-I’ll just get out of your hair… Sooo… BYE!” with that, she turned around and disappeared out the door at what Spike imagined was at least twice as fast as she came in.
Pinkie quickly stood up, “Drat, she ran away again!” As soon as she said that, Pinkie ran out the door to follow the stranger, ignoring Twilight’s question of what was going on. Spike didn’t know what was going on or what he was doing, but he knew that whatever was happening involved him and he wouldn’t stand idly by. Spike sprinted out the door after the two females, ignoring Twilight’s yells behind him. He could barely see Pinkies tail flash in the distance before disappearing around a corner, but he kept running anyways. Spike knew that even at his full speed, he couldn’t keep up with his stubby legs. This wasn’t the first time he cursed his small stature, but the ones he was following left a trail of stunned and confused ponies in their wake that he could at least follow.
He kept the pace for about two blocks before he started slowing down, feeling a stitch in his side. “Curse *huff* you *huff* Sugarcube Corner *huff* and your *huff* cupcakes!” Spike said between breaths. Just as he was about to collapse, a shadow fell over him.
Looking back, Spike saw Twilight smiling down at him, “Need a ride?” she said. Spike smiled up at her and she bent down to let him climb onto her back. With a stronger pair of legs to carry him, Spike directed Twilight on what way Pinkie and the dragoness had went, confident that they would get the bottom of this.
Up ahead they heard a ruckus and a raspy voice joining the bubbly one. Turning the corner, Spike and Twilight came upon an interesting seen. Their friend Rainbow Dash, a sky-blue pegasus mare with a prismatic mane and tail, was standing in front of the dragoness with front legs bent and her wings flared. The dragoness was stumbling to her feet, holding her head as she did. Pinkie was sitting to the side, holding up a card with 8.5 drawn on it, congratulating Dash on her dismount.
“What’s going on here?” Twilight asked as she came up, moving her eyes back and forth between her brash friend and dragoness.
Rainbow Dash puffed a small cloud of steam from her nostrils and said, “I saw this suspicions dragon running away from Pinkie and scaring everypony, so I put a stop to her criminal schemes. Don’t worry Twi, whatever she did, she’s not gonna get away from me.”
Spike stopped listening to the ponies when he once again made eye contact with the dragoness. They stared at each other, Spike silently asking who she was and she was pleading something of him. Before he could voice what his eyes were asking though, the dragoness inhaled deeply through her nostrils and Spike could see wisps of smoke seep from between her lips.
Twilight tensed underneath him and screamed, “She’s going to breathe fire!” The purple mare grabbed both her friends and erected a shield around them as the many ponies around her screamed and ran away. Spike could only watch in shocked silence as the dragoness opened her mouth wide, and then everything went black.

~8~

Amy would look back at this moment and admit it was probably the most awkward exit she had ever made in her life. When she saw him, she could barely keep herself from breaking down and begging for forgiveness, and if it wasn’t for that insane pink mare dropping in when she did, she probably would have. As it was, she now found herself once again running through the town with Pinkie Pie on her tail.
“Stop following me!” Amy shouted over her shoulder.
“Not until I throw you and Spike a party!” Pinkie shouted back.
“Argh! You are the craziest mare I’ve ever met!”
“Thanks!”
Amy was going to tell the mare that she wasn’t complimenting her, but she stopped when she heard a shout from above. In most any other situation, Amy easily would have dodge the blue blur and delivered a counterattack that would have left the offender unconscious. Unfortunately for Amy, and fortunately for the pegasus, the dragoness was exhausted from a long day of mental stress and the recent emotional turmoil she had just experienced.
Amy was tackled from behind and they both went rolling across the street. The blue pegasus didn’t falter for a moment and jumped from the roll, landing as if ready to pounce right in front of the dragoness. “Stop right there, punk! You’re not getting away from Rainbow Dash!” yelled the pegasus, Amy assumed she was Rainbow Dash. As her eyes continued to spin she could hear more hoof steps getting closer. Soon enough, she could hear the ever-present Pinkie Pie congratulating Rainbow Dash for catching the “shindig skipper” and the voice of who she could only assume was the Twilight Sparkle asking what had happened.
When Amy’s eyes stilled in their sockets and she was back on her feet, her sight was instantly pulled to the set of eyes so similar to her own. “I can’t speak to him, I can’t let him know the truth, I can’t let him know what I did to him, I have to get away, and no one can follow me!” were some of the thoughts that ran through her head when she acted on impulse. Taking a deep breath through her nose and directing all the air to her inner fire, Amy caused it to swell inside her. Using the magic prowess that made her kind unique, Amy immediately snuffed that fire out and pushed every shred of smoke up and out.
The ponies had no idea what happened when the entire area was shrouded in a cloying cloud of smoke. Amy felt bad when she heard ponies choking on her fumes, but she couldn’t talk with him because…she just couldn’t. Running away, she soon emerged from the smog and climbed up to a roof. From there she could see the train station and wasted no time in going to it, leaping from rooftop to rooftop like it was child’s play.
Amy touched down on the platform moments later, startling a few ponies as she had been doing all day. She wasted no time in entering the train, ignoring the protests of the ticket stallion as she passed. Amy quickly made her way to her compartment and flopped face down on the cushioned seat, the adrenaline from all that had happened finally leaving her. The creation of her biggest smokescreen to date had also reduced her inner fire to more of a simmer. Before she managed to fall unconscious though, the door to her compartment slid open, revealing a very agitated ticket stallion. “Miss, I am sure you are in a hurry, but that does not exempt you from having to buy a ticket like everypony else. If you do not, I will be forced to have you removed from the train.” The stallion said in a strict voice.
Amy just groaned and reached for her things under the seat. Pulling out the journal, Amy removed a piece of paper from between its pages and handed it to the pony, keeping her claw in the spot where the paper had resided. The stallion merely quirked an eyebrow as he took what was offered to him and scanned over it. His eyes went wide and he stuttered, “I-I apologies for bothering you madam, pl-please enjoy the remainder of your trip.” With that, the stallion returned the ticket, and made a quick exit.
Amy sighed as she looked at the ticket in her hand. It bore the crest of the royal pony sisters and was good for one round trip all the way from Ford Junction to Canterlot. “I really hope I’m not making a habit out of spooking ponies… What am I going to do now? No doubt Twilight will go to ceremony when she realizes the crazy dragon from Ponyville is Amethyst Thistle… and she’ll bring him along.” Amy thought. Her thoughts soon turned a bit bitter, “What was she doing in a small town like this anyways!? She’s Princess Celestia’s personal student and the Element of Magic, for crying out loud! She should be under constant guard somewhere safe to prevent assassination attempts, not in a public library anyone can enter!”
The anger left her quickly however when her thoughts turned back to the ceremony she was headed to. Amy had originally planned on keeping her hood up, hiding her appearances from even the princesses. Surely they would respect her wishes and not push to see her face if she did not wish it? It would have been a quick little thing, a few words exchanged with the princesses and some of the other guests, Lore Finder made it quite clear she had wanted a Amy to talk to some unicorn named Fancy Pants, after all, and then she would turn in early, claiming exhaustion from the long journey and festivities. As soon as Celestia raised the sun, Amy would be off and on her way back home.
Now she was unsure of what would happen. She could run and not go to the ceremony at all, but skipping out on royalty would definitely not earn her any favors. It was a slippery slope either way, and Amy found it difficult to see how to get out of this one unscathed. Perhaps it was for the best that the voice over the intercom said the train was fixed and was preparing to depart.
Amy would figure this out in time, but for now, she needed to rest. Shutting her eyes, Amy was fast asleep in no time.

~8~

It was odd, the only light to see with was that coming from Twilight’s horn and the bubble surrounding them. It was Rainbow Dash who spoke first, “What the hay just happened!? Twilight, pop this thing so we can catch that dragon!”
Twilight, who could most likely here the coughing of the ponies outside her force field just as well as Spike, set some priorities. “No, the dragon will have to wait. Right now we need you to clear this smog before somepony gets hurt. Do you think you can do that Rainbow Dash?”
“Are you kidding Twilight? I’ll have this cleared out of here in ten seconds flat!” Dash said with a cocky grin. Twilight nodded her head and lowered the bubble, the smoke slowly started drifting in when Dash shot straight up, leaving a tunnel through the smoke. In just a few seconds the whirling of winds could be heard and the smoke started being pulled by it into the funnel of a newly formed tornado. The prismatic pegasus then pulled the tornado up into the sky and sent it in the direction of the Everfree Forest where it wouldn’t harm anypony… Unless a pegasus somehow got in its path.
Rainbow Dash came down fast and landed in a dramatic pose to the cheering of the ponies around, the loudest being Pinkie Pie. “Now come on Twilight we have a dragon to catch!” She said confidently.
“So you saw what direction she went?” Twilight asked as she and the others walked up to the pegasus. Spike hoped so, he couldn’t see the dragoness anywhere and the ponies were to frightened by the sudden smoke too have paid attention to the fleeing culprit, meaning no trail of stunned ponies to follow.
Dash's ears fell flat and seeing them caused Spike’s spirit to do the same. He knew what she was going to say before she even said it, “You didn’t, did you?”
"Well… no. But I’m sure we can still find it, I mean, there aren’t a whole lot of places a dragon can hide in Ponyville.”
The conversation was broken into by a familiar southern drawl, “What in tarnation is goin’ on here?” They all turned to see Applejack trotting up hitched to her apple stall. Spike remained in silent dejection as the girls explained what had just happened, but perked up when Applejack said, “Ya’ll mean Amethyst? Well shoot, I was just takin’ the stall back to the farm so Ah could come tell you and Spike about her.”
“You know who she is!” Both Spike and Twilight exclaimed at the same time, leaning in.
Applejack took a step back at the sudden intrusion and spoke nervously, “Aw… Yeah Ah do. She stopped by the stall earlier, said she was on her way up ta Canterlot for a ceremony.”
Twilights eyes widened, “Wait, wait, wait. What did you say her name was again?’
“Amethyst Thistle, if’n Ah recall correctly. Why?”
Spike and Twilight turned slowly to each other, staring wide-eyed at the revelation. Spike spoke first, “Twilight… I think I want to go to Canterlot with you.”
“…Yeah.”
Rainbow Dash walked up between the two and said, “Okay, now I’m confused. Who’s this ‘Amethyst’ dragon, why was she being chased, and what’s with the ceremony thing you’re talking about?”
Applejack scratched her head, “Ah reckon I’m a bit confused to. Exactly who is Amethyst and what’s her relationship with Spike?”
Twilight turned to them, a steely look entering her eyes, “I don’t know, Applejack, but I’m going to find out.”
The group stood in silence until Pinkie exclaimed, “Woohoo! Drama Party in Canterlot!”