//------------------------------// // Visiting the City Part 1 // Story: SpikeBelle Honeymoon // by Darth Redbeard //------------------------------//         Spike and Sweetie woke up the next day, ready to finally see the city. The first stop on their trip is the the Royal Palace, the site of the Dragon throne. The same place that the Governor would meet up with them and give them a personal tour of the old building, the oldest building in the world.         As they finished getting ready, the door to their room opened as their breakfast was brought in to them. Fruit, eggs, toast, and some coffee were placed on the table as the bellhop finished bringing in more bags.         “We never got your name yesterday,” Spike said. “What is it?”         “Edward Johnson,” he replied as he left the room.         After Spike and Sweetie Belle finished eating, they went down to the carriage that was waiting for them. Unlike the last one, this carriage had the markings on the Dragon Royal Family, now used for other royals that were visiting the city. The bright orange paint and the dragon on the doors made it unique to Spike.         As they passed through the main part of the old city, they saw people walking around greeting each other or shopping at the stands for food. While it seemed peaceful enough, there was something about it that seemed haunting, as if the war between the Imperial and Dragon Empires had left its scars far deeper than any sword could go.         Spike moved his hand to his left cheek, the scar from years ago still there. While some like Diamond Tiara had shunned him, saying it was his fault that Equestria was invaded, Silver Spoon had spoken up in his defense, saying that they didn’t even need to go after Spike, that the Lennex forces were wanting to conquer all of Equestria, not just go there for one person. Last Spike heard, Diamond and Silver hadn’t spoken to each other since.         Sweetie saw Spike place his hand over his scar, and took it away and kissed it. While the scar did look strange, she wouldn’t want Spike any other way. She didn’t fall for him because of his looks. She fell in love because of the way he treated others. He always placed others before himself. He would help others whenever he could, even if it meant that he’d be late getting home. Twilight always said that Spike had a big heart and he kept it over the years. Now, that heart belonged to Sweetie and she would do her best to keep it.         “Spike,” Sweetie said. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t care if you have a scar, Dragon DNA, or if you had pink hair.” They laughed at the thought of Spike having pink hair. Spike did have to admit, it would be a good costume for Nightmare Night. “Your looks don’t matter to me. It’s who you are on the inside.” She snuggled up to him, enjoying his warmth as they passed through the gate leading to the Palace Ring.         The Palace sat on a hill surrounded by many other military buildings. The trench from the Dragon Empire’s defense was still visible from the siege. While Equestria’s lands that were touched by the war had been reborn, the ghosts still seemed to haunt many cities here.         “I wonder why no one ever got rid of it?” Sweetie asked. Spike had heard that there were many things from the war still in and outside the city, but he never thought it would actually be in the parts they were visiting.         The door opened as a man in dress robes walked over to them.         “Greetings Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle,” he said. “I am Minister Yang How. We are pleased to meet you.” He bowed as the two stepped out of carriage. “Now, allow me to give you both a tour of the Dragon Palace.” He walked over to the massive structure.         The building stood tall and proud over all the other buildings, showing the might of the royals of old. The doors themselves stood forty feet high painted in dark brown. Two golden dragon heads stood out of the doors, as if watching over the palace.         Inside, the palace was almost the size of the castle in Canterlot. Paintings and tapestries hung all over the walls, depicting the many royals from the Dragon Empire. From older ones that brought glory to the nation, to ones that caused many wars that nearly destroyed the empire.         “This building is the oldest building in the entire Dragon Empire,” the minister began. “The Old City was built in the third era, long before we began our unification of the many tribes. Many nations joined willingly, but there were some that had to be conquered. After the wars were over, the full reign of Emperor Drakus began.”         “Drakus’s son, Yi Su, began his expansion and later colonized many other places, including what would later become the Empire of the Knights. This led to an era of peace and prosperity throughout the empire.”         “It was centuries later that one of our first cruel leaders came to power. A man named Yu Di. He began to overtax and did many unspeakable things to the colonies. They eventually revolted and later formed their own empire. Throughout the years, the two nations began fighting and eventually colonized another land. After a few wars over it, it fell to the Knights, leaving us with no more colonies.”         “Was that land you fought over the Imperial Empire?” Spike asked.         “Yes it was,” Yang answered. “We kept up with what was going on there, in case we could try and take it back, but the Knights did the same thing we did to them, allowing a massive rebellion to take place, giving birth to a new empire.”         “Over the years, we were always at war with the Knights, but to get to us, they had to deal with the Imperials. Eventually, the Imperial Navy was defeating the Knights at every corner. It wasn’t until our last ruler, that we never fought with the Imperial Empire. The last leader we had made a deal with some pirates to attack Imperial shipping. It turned out to be the worst mistake we could make. The pirates were wiped out and Imperial troops attacked, taking away some territory. We signed a peace agreement with them, but we soon had to fight them one last time in the Imperial/Dragon War.”         As they continued walking down the hall, the minister gave a brief history of the war, even though Spike and Sweetie already knew it, thanks to the books they read. The books covered the war from both sides. While the Dragon version was more brief, the Imperial’s gave more detail, knowing that people should see the reality of war, rather than people just seeking adventure.         “And that was the Battle of Drago City,” he finished as they arrived at the doors to the throne room. As the doors opened, Spike’s eyes almost popped out of his head. The throne room was decorated in dragon banners and statues.         “This is the throne room,” Yang said, hoping to impress the young couple. He had never really given any tours, mostly due to him being the governor, but today the tour guides were on break, making him the only one around for this task. “We chose this place for the palace because of a massive dragon that protected this area. He made sure we were safe until the more ruthless leaders came to the throne.”         Yang led the two over to the throne. The throne itself was made of gold with dragon wings coming out of the sides, giving it the feel of a Dragon Emperor.         “Sit on the throne.”         “So this is where the end was?” Sweetie asked.         “Sit on the throne.”         “That would be correct, Mrs. Sparkle,” Yang replied.         “Sit on the throne.”         Unknown to Sweetie and Yang, Spike kept hearing a voice saying “Sit on the throne”. As the two of them were talking, Spike went up and sat down on the throne, as a bright light shone down on him.         Just as Sweetie and Yang looked and saw Spike on the throne, a golden light surrounded him and soon began to surround Sweetie. They began to rise off the floor as the light kept growing brighter by the minute.         As the light settled down, the two were brought back on not one, but two thrones. Spike was sitting in the original throne as Sweetie Belle sat in a smaller one, this one having a crown above it.         “What happened?” was all they could say.