The gentle vibrations and clicking of the wheels ran against the rails of shining steel, awaking Rarity. She felt the urge to stretch herself out but unfortunately her new confines where did not permit any movement besides a few small trashes of her tail and the wiggling of a claw or two. She then sighed and let her head sink to the floor as she looked about her claustrophobic container. It was made of a greyish metal ,wrought iron perhaps? And everything in the car was coated ice (probably a result of Rarity’s freezing breath.)
Rarity groaned out of boredom when the iced over door to her car slid open, and Spike entered the room carrying a motley mountain of foodstuffs into the chilled car. Rarity chuckled when she saw Spikes amusing display of appetite.
“R-Rarity!” The little drake said. He had frozen stiff out of surprise and had dropped all of the snacks. “Y-You're awake!!”
“You say that as though it is a bad thing,” Rarity comment with a serious look on her face.
Spike gave a small cough and then began to pick up the food. “Of course it isn’t; you just surprised me. Thats all.”
"I see," Rarity said. A wide grin became plastered to her face as she though about how much she loved the way the little dragon acted when he was embarrassed. He was just so cute while he was stammering and trying not to blush.
"So umm, they said we should be arriving soon." Spike said as he thought of some sort of small talk. "How do you think Princess Cadence will react to you being a dragon?"
"I honestly haven't thought about that yet.” Rarity said as she raised her head in though. "I suppose I'm not really concerned about Princess Cadence."
This peaked Spike's interest. "Oh. Then who are you concerned about?"
"I worried more about Shining Armor's reaction," Rarity said with an uneasy tone. "I mean, with his militaristic background he'd be naturally wary of a dragon coming into the city."
Spike smiled and set a reassuring claw onto Rarity's. “I'm sure Twilight will talk him out of any kind of crazy ideas."
Rarity smile and looked spike in the eyes and said. "I know she will. I honestly don't understand why I was worried in the first place." She said before the train screeched to a halt, tossing her to the other end of the car and smashing herself and Spike into the wall.
Spike teetered across Rarity’s palm and weakly said, “I think we’re here!” He then promptly fell face-first into Rarity’s open palm.
“Dear me...” Rarity said as she drew her claw close to herself and began to stroke the unconscious baby dragon lightly with her index tallon.
“Rarity?! Spike!? Is everything ok?” A concerned Twilight said.Her voice was muffled scene she was talking from behind the steel wall.
Rarity stumbled a little as the thought about what she would say. “Uhh... Spike, He is slightly unconscious at the moment.”
“Unconscious!!” The princess howled hysterically. .
In an attempt to calm her friend down Rarity said. “He just was knocked against the wall.”
Meanwhile on the other side of the wall Twilight was doing the deep breathing exercises she learnt from Princess Cadence. Then, when she felt sufficiently calm, she said. "Cadence and Shining are waiting for me on the platform, I will talk to her and try to explain the mess we’re in."
Twilight then stepped off the train. She smiled at the brother and sister-in-law with a look of what she hoped was calmness.
Cadence walked to her side, and asked her in a concerned tone. "Twilight, what's wrong? In you letter it seemed you needed to talk with me about something of great importance. Has something happened?"
"It’s..a little complicated." She said, before showing the couple to the steel container, which had been set apart from the rest of the train. "You remember how I told you about the new spell I was working on?" She asked as she tried to not let panic show in her voice or mannerisms.
"You mean the one that would let a pony turn into a dragon temporarily?" Shining Armor asked as some of the workers on the train undid the padlock and chains holding the doors of the container closed. "Yeah, I remember it. What’s that got to do with anything?"
"Well, um, temporary isn’t the right term anymore...." She admitted as the door broke open revealing Rarity in all her draconic glory. "You remember my friend Rarity, right?"
Rarity, always remembering her etiquette bowed herself a little and gave a cordial. "Your highnesses."
Shining was speechless. An equally shocked Cadence gave a shaky. "H-hello, Rarity."
"You see," Twilight began to explain, "Rarity volunteered to be a test subject for my new spell. I was certain that the spell’s effects would only last an hour or two, but that turned out to be wrong. Due to Rarity's new nature as a snow dragon, she cannot reside in Ponyville during the summer months as I work on a cure for the spell. So in short, I would like to request accommodations here for Rarity as I figure out a way to return Rarity to the way she was."
The long winded explanation of her sister-in-law seemed to have calmed Princess Cadence from the shock of seeing Rarity as a dragon. After taking a deep breath she spoke. "We'd love to help you Twilight, but why couldn't you have put that in your letter?"
"I...I thought it would be better if you saw my plight first hand." Twilight said, laughing nervously as she rubbed her foreleg in an ashamed gesture.
Just then, Spike groaned, sat up, and rubbed his head with a talon. "I have such a headache," he said. He then looked at his surroundings and noticed Princess Cadence looking at him. "Oh, umm, hello your majesty."
"Hello Spike," Cadence said before turning to her husband. "Shining, please send a message to the staff at our summer resort about guests. I believe Rarity will be comfortable there."
"What is this summer resort?" Rarity asked with curiosity about the place she would be staying at.
"It's some 100-acres of meadow in the foothills a few miles outside the city." Cadence explained. "It's a beautiful plot of land far away from prying eyes. We've also built a beautiful home there where you can stay Twilight."
"That is very kind of you Cadence." Twilight said with a slight bow of thanks. "It will suit our needs nicely."
"And Twilight." Cadence said with a smile as she remembered a certain somepony. "I insist you take some of our personal guards along."
Twilight, oblivious to her plot graciously refused, but after Cadence's insistence she finally agreed.
"Great!" Cadence said gleefully. "I'll assemble a group of the finest stallions."
"I'll provide some traveling arrangements." Shining said, "We need to find some way to get Rarity into the countryside without causing an uproar."
"Perhaps we could do it at night-time, when every pony is sleeping." Spike suggested.
"That's not a bad idea my small purple friend." The white stallion said as he went over the logistics of such the operation in his head.
"Of course you would stay here until it was time to go, Rarity." Cadence added.
"That sounds awfully dreary." Rarity said as she tried to make herself more comfortable. "I would have nothing to do all afternoon." Spike volunteered to keep Rarity company, but the white reptile politely declined.
"She’ll be alright by herself." Twilight said as she placed her wing about the disappointed looking spikes shoulders. "Come along, I'm going to need your help searching the library for a way to help Rarity." Twilight moved Spike along with her wing as stallions went to close the door to the container in which Rarity was being kept. Spike glanced back at her to see her wave farewell to him right before the doors were shut all the way.
Spike sighed as he walked the streets of the Crystal Empire, a pace or two behind Twilight. He did not take delight in the beauty of this place as he usually did. The thought of Rarity being alone in a dark area with nothing to do and nothing to see made his heart sink into a dreadful pool of sadness.
While in the library Spike remained zoned out in thoughts of Rarity as he let Twilight muse to him what useful or interesting facts she was learning. As day turned into mid afternoon Spike slowly was able to focus at least some part on what Twilight was telling him. He asked the occasion question to keep her on track but mostly he gave affirmative unn huns. As late afternoon turned to night, the little dragon found himself falling asleep. It was about half past ten when Twilight noticed her little drake was asleep. She smiled softly and put him on her back and put a wing over him as a blanket.
She looked up and the clock thought that it nearly must be time for the guards to move Rarity. So Twilight quietly backed up her things and started to make her way towards the station. As she walked she noticed a marked difference in the atmosphere of the streets. Instead of every pony hustling and building about, the street was dark and quiet. It wasn't erry or scary. It was more peaceful and serene.
When she arrived at the train station she saw about a dozen stallions preparing to move Rarity. Twilight walked next to her brother, who was directing the operation in hushed tones. “Can I just check on rarity one more times before we ship her out?” Twilight asked with a small pleading tone in her voice.
Shining Armor glanced about warily as he said in a hushed voice, “Just once more but then we really must get underway.”
Twilight nodded and gave her brother a thankful nuzzle before going over to the steel container and prying the door open with magic. The hinges where cold and creaked loudly as they slowed the process of opening the metal doors.
Despite the squeal of metal Rarity lay sound asleep within the container. Even as a dragon her snoring was effeminate and soft, she also murmured in her sleep. The only discernible word was “Spike” after which Rarity subconsciously reached out with her tallon as though trying to find something.Twilight realised what this gesture mean and giggled before levitating the sleeping Spike into Rarity’s tallon.
Rarity sighed happily as he pulled Spike close. She gently nuzzled the purple reptile with her muzzle as a soft dragonic purr started to sound from deep within her throat. The heart warming display would make even the most cynical old pony go “daww”
With this, Twilight let a smile grow on her face. She saw how much the two were bonding now that the species barrier was out of the way. It made her feel that warmth she felt when she discovered the magic of friendship for the first time. “Good Night you two...” She whispered calmly before she slowly shut the doors to the container.