//------------------------------// // The Request // Story: For the Ones we Love // by FlimFlamBros. //------------------------------// Though your heart may glitter with marvellous gold, When touched, it’s still, icy and cold Rarity was still at Twilight’s house. She had finally been able to drag herself out of Spike’s room, and after drawing a face on his pillow, she even admitted she may have been a bit overdramatic. But, the two still missed him. They were the two closest mares in his life. They were cleaning up the library. Twilight protested Rarity’s offer for help, but the white mare insisted that she owed her for her hospitality. She had tried going back to the Boutique, but she became depressed when she was alone. Sweetie Belle did still live there, but she was always out with friends or at school. So Rarity sought comfort in being with the only other mare that missed Spike as much as her. A tear dropped from Rarity’s eye. “I miss him…” she moaned, levitating a book onto its shelf. “How long has it been, Twilight?” She sighed. “Over two weeks. Sixteen days to be exact,” she tried to suppress her own tears. “I’ve never been away from him for this long! Even when he went to Canterlot on official business, he would only be gone for a week!” Rarity sniffled. “This must be so hard for you, darling!” she ran over and hugged the lavender unicorn, breaking to a fit of tears. “You’ve known him all his life!” “What about you?” she cried back, digging her teary face into the white mare’s shoulder. “You love him! You two were happy and then they just took him away!” “Oh Twilight! What could they possibly be doing with him?” Before Twilight could answer, there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it Rarity,” said the bookish unicorn, slowly unwrapping herself from her friend and opening the door. A flurry of letters exploded in the mare’s face as Derpy stared at Twilight with her crooked yellow eyes. “Here’s your mail Twilight!” she shouted, before taking off in the air to her next delivery. Twilight looked at the mail mare as she flew away. She shook her head carelessly as she picked up all the letters with her magic and neatly piled them up on a nearby desk. Rarity looked curiously at the stack of letters. “Is there anything from Spike?” she asked hopefully. Twilight looked at the pile. Sure enough, a letter from the dragon was sitting right on top. “Umm, nope!” she said, quickly trying to hide the letter behind her back, in fear of Rarity having a breakdown. The white mare frowned at her. “Twilight darling, you are simply a terrible liar, I can see right through you. Now show me the letter, dear.” “Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t want to see you get upset.” “Now Twilight, I may have been a little…let’s say ‘overdramatic’ these last two weeks. But I have calmed down since then and can take whatever that letter has to say! I just need to know how my Spike is doing!” Twilight sighed, she knew she was beat. She slowly levitated the letter to Rarity, who took it and quickly opened it up. She cleared her throat as she read the letter out loud. Dear Twilight, Sorry my letter last time was so sloppy, but I’m probably not even supposed to be sending these. My training has been officially completed; I am now a member of the Celestial Guards! Also, speaking of Celestial, I have good news! The princess is sending for all of you in three days! I’ll finally be able to see you all again! But try and act surprised when they get here. Can’t wait to see you all again! Spike, P.S. Twilight, could you give this letter to Rarity? This next part is for her eyes only….. Rarity smirked a little, as she continued to read the rest of the letter in silence. Rarity, ever since I was whisked away to Canterlot, there has not been a moment that goes by that I don’t think about you. I wish I could be with you right now, to hold you, to feel your lips against mine. I long for you touch, my love. Ever since that night on the balcony, I vowed that night on the balcony that I would never leave you, and it pains me that my promise was broken so quickly. You must know that it was never my intention. I never wanted to hurt you. Also, you must know that it is because I love you, that I need to see you again. My life has been threatened, and I feared not that I would die, but that I would die without ever seeing you again. I must see you again, Rarity. I love and miss you so very much. Forever yours Your Spikey Wickey She finished reading the letter with a tear drop in her eye. She quickly wiped it away and resumed a face of emotionless dignity. She quietly headed towards the door. “Rarity, where are you going?” asked Twilight. Rarity looked back at twilight and gave a little smile. “Why, home to pack of course! Didn’t you hear the letter? They’ll be sending for us in three days, and that’s not nearly enough time to pack for a trip to Canterlot.” “Umm… Okay?” Rarity scratched her chin in thought. “Three days really isn’t enough time. Tell me Twilight, what does one pack when going into battle?” The violet mare just stared blankly at her friend. “I don’t know. Armour, I guess?” “Hmm,” she pondered. “I suppose, but armour would make my fur all frizzy. Maybe I’ll just pack a nice sweater…” She realized that she was rambling. “Well, regardless, I will see you in three days Twilight, and thank you again for the hospitality. You are a true friend.” Twilight smiled. “No problem, I’ll tell the others to get ready.” She closed the door behind Rarity and headed upstairs to begin packing for the upcoming trip. ***** The past three days seemed to take forever. Spike woke up early with the morning sun. Spike could hardly sleep, which in itself was a gift because he wouldn’t have to deal with Conquest. The green and purple dragon leapt out of bed and hopped into the shower. Today was going to be perfect. He let the hot water soak him. It was a great feeling as he thought about finally being reunited with all his friends. It would be nice to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack and Pinkie Pie would definitely want to throw him a party. Hopefully, Fluttershy had recovered from the little incident. Twilight would probably squeeze the life out of him, but it will be nice to see her. Of course, there was no doubt that it was Rarity that he would be happiest to see. He wondered how she would react. Would she be overjoyed with happiness and jump into his strong arms as they would passionately kiss in the light of the sunset? He could only imagine. He got out of the shower and shook the water off. As he left the bathroom, he noticed a tall dark mare sitting casually on the edge of his bed. Luna played with her hair as she glanced towards the dragon. “Did you have a nice shower?” she asked. “Oh crap,” he thought. “Hello Luna” he said nervously, slowly inching himself towards the door. She giggled at the dragon. “Relax Spike, it’s early in the morning. I am not in the mood right now anyway.” “Oh,” said the relieved dragon, “that’s good.” “That’s good?” repeated the princess, wondering what he meant. “What do you mean by ‘that’s good’?” “NOTHING!” quipped the dragon quickly. “Is there a reason you’re here?” Her concerned face quickly turned into a smile. “Well, as you know, your friends are coming in tonight and therefore have been assigned rooms to sleep in.” “Really?” asked Spike. “Yes, and I have made special arrangement to have Rarity to be bedded in this room.” Spike’s face lit up like the sun. “Really!” he shouted excitedly, his wings springing open at the very thought of him and Rarity being alone in his room. “Yes, which means you’ll be moving rooms!” she cheered. Something in Spike’s mind shattered like a pane of glass. “Really?” “Yep, you’ll be moved to a different room!” she said. Spike gulped, “And where am I being moved to exactly?” he asked carefully. “Well, since all the guest rooms are filled up, and I simply refuse for you to sleep in the barracks with the guards, I have seen no other option than to have you sleep in my room!” Spike’s eyes contracted, as the words ‘my room’ echoed over and ever in his head. “U-u-umm are y-you sure?” he stuttered. The princess got up and walked passed Spike, brushing his face with her starry tail as she headed to the door. “Don’t worry Spike,” she whispered, “there’s plenty of room in my bed.” She winked before disappearing down the hall. “Oh! And before I forget, Curb Hoof wants to see you in the dungeon!” she called out. Spike quickly walked down the opposite hallway from Luna. This was terrible! He had completely forgotten that Luna had decided to have this strange obsession with him all of a sudden. What was up with that anyway? He’d admit that though the princess had…desirable features, his heart belonged to Rarity. Rarity! She couldn’t find out about this affair, even though they hadn’t done anything except kiss, which she always forced on him! This was a lot of crap that he couldn’t deal with right know as he headed into the dank passage that lead to the castle dungeon. It smelt like mold and stale water, and every wall was covered in grit or slime. He continued his descent. He heard the sounds of screaming. Some were cries for help, claiming false innocent, while others just laughed manically, cursing and shrieking gibberish. He turned the corner and walked down the hallway, cells on both sides. Different coloured ponies were locked up in the cages, along with a few zebras, two griffons, and even a creepy looking minotaur. At the end of the hall was a familiar looking guard. “Morning Curb Hoof,” said Spike. The pony just stared at him, not returning the good morning. “Well, how’s our friend?” “We know her name is Iris, and she used to be an eye doctor before she was ‘conquered’,” he grumbled. “Anything else?” “Yeah, her name is Iris, and she used to be an eye doctor before she was ‘conquered’,” Curb Hoof mimicked. “She keeps saying that over and over again. I wonder why he makes them kill themselves? She ain’t talking.” The dragon sighed. “Conquest doesn’t care about them talking, he just likes to watch ponies die.” “Well, you would know,” smirked the guard pony. “Anyways, she keeps saying she wants to talk to you, won’t shut up about it.” Spike knew where this was going. “So you want me to-” “Shut her up, yes.” Spike sighed as he pulled open the steel door of the prison cell. In the back corner was a blue pegasus wearing a tattered brown robe. She looked up and gave Spike a toothy smile. A few of her teeth were missing, and both her eyes were bruised. She also had several cuts on her face that had only started to scab over. “Dragon!” she cried happily. “So happy to see you formally!” “Nice to meet you too… Iris, was it?” asked Spike. She quickly nodded her head. “That’s right! Iris, I use to be an eye doctor!” “So I’ve heard,” grunted the dragon in annoyance. “But then I was enlightened!” she said. “I was ‘conquered’ if you will! I quit my job and joined something bigger than myself!” “Good for you…” “He was such a big help in my life, I had just found out that my husband, after three long years of faithful marriage, decided that he didn’t love me anymore and wanted a divorce!” she yelled, her smile getting wider and her words ending with childish giggles. “I was in distraught! I still loved him, but he didn’t! So he left me! He left me and my child all alone to be with some little hussy!” The purple drake paused. “…I’m sorry to hear that.” “Oh don’t be!” she giggled. “It was the greatest thing that could have happened! Because that night, when I was crying in my room, he came for me…” “He? As in Conquest?” asked the dragon. “The glorious one himself!” she cried, clapping her hoofs with excitement. “He descended to my mind and offered to take the pain away! Who wouldn’t want that, right? So he did! In mere moments, I felt nothing! The heartbreak, the sadness, all gone!” “Okay…” “With my heart empty of compassion, I did what I couldn’t do before! When my ex-husband came to me to deliver the final divorce forms, I stabbed him sixty-nine times with a corkscrew!” she laughed, slamming her hoof against the wall, gasping for air as she continued to cackle. “Then came the fun part! I found out where his little whore lived and I confronted her!” “I’m assuming that went well,” moaned Spike, rubbing his temples in frustration. “What did you do to her?” “Sanded her pretty little face off, is what I did! Then threw her in a swamp and let the gators have at her!” Spike paused from rubbing his head, “That seems like a very…let’s say ‘creative’ way to kill someone.” “Well, that’s what he does dragon!” she screamed, “He puts thoughts into your head, suggestions of things that you’d never act upon. He controls the way you think…” Her voice was getting quiet, the smile that had been on her face the whole time slowly faded. “He makes you do things you’d never do…” It was dead quiet. “Like what?” asked the concerned dragon. He heard her sniffle, quick little hyperventilation’s to keep her tears back. “He made me…he made me do…” “He made you do what?” She looked up, tears were swelling up around her eyes. “He made me kill my baby….” There was a deadly silence as she continued. “I-I wrapped him up in a towel, and placed him in the bathtub… I made sure I plugged the drain, and I turned on the water… I gave him a kiss before leaving the bathroom and locking the door… He was such a good little foal, never cried once…” She tried to force a smile but she couldn’t and burst into tears, crying as only a mother who lost her child could cry. “Why did you do that?!” raged the dragon, grabbing the mare by the throat. “I didn’t want to, dragon!” she yelled. “That’s what he does! He makes you think it’s your idea at the beginning, and you even enjoy it! But then he tells you to kill someone really close to you, one that you have no desire to harm. That’s when he takes over. You think I wanted to kill my son?!” “I think you wanted to take the easy way out!” retaliated the drake. “You’re so stupid!” she snared. “If you let him in your head, he’ll never leave! It happened to me, it happened to all of us!” “Then why are you telling me this?” ordered the dragon. She stopped crying. She closed one of her eyes, the left side of her face forcing itself up in a sadistic smile, while the other side stayed in distress. “Because I am letting her,” a deep voice said. “What?” She opened her eye, it was blood red, just like Conquest. “Iris my dear, did you really think that I’d let go of one of my little playthings like that?” the corrupted side of her face asked. “I’m sorry my lord!” the other side begged. “I was weak! Please forgive me!” “Now, now Iris, it’s okay, I forgive you,” the evil side of her face said. “You do?” she asked hopefully. “Of course! I’m not a monster. I mean I have to kill you, but I will always forgive you before I kill you!” he laughed. “Wh- NO PLEASE MASTER!” cried the blue pegasus, tears slowly rolling down her one non-red eye. “I can do better, I can be better! I don’t feel regret! I loved killing my son!” she said, forcing a laugh. The red eye rolled in its socket before staring at the dragon. “This is why I despise ponies Spike, they’re spineless, selfish cowards, willing to do or say anything to survive,” he sighed. “Life will be so much better when they’re all dead.” The red eye slowly returned to normal, Iris’s mouth slowly starting to relax. She looked at the dragon, she was panting for breath. “Oh god!” she screamed, grabbing her hair with her hooves. “Please!” she cried, her hooves sliding down her head, stopping on both sides of skull. “HELP MEEEEEEE!” She forced her head around, a sickening crack echoed through the cell as her body fell to the ground. Spike stared at the dead mare. She had broken her own neck, or rather Conquest made her. He walked out of the cell, heavy hearted from what he had just witnessed. Curb Hoof was waiting for him on the other side of the steel door. “So what happened? Did you find out anything interesting?” he asked. “Yeah” said the dragon. “I found out they’re not bad ponies…they just had bad things happen to them.” Curb Hoof furrowed his brow at the drake. “I have no idea what’s that supposed to mean,” he said. Spike walked by him in silent. “Is there anything else?” he asked. The guard pony nodded. “Yeah, they want you in the Den for fitting.” “The Den?” the dragon asked bluntly. “Why do they call it that?” “Cause it’s hotter than dragon’s piss down there,” joked Curb Hoof. Spike scowled at the joke. “You don’t know the first things about dragons, do you?” “I know they’re overgrown pests,” snorted the guard. “It’s down the grey hallway, the one that keeps going down. Spike didn’t acknowledge him any further. He just followed the direction that Curb Hoof had pointed out. ***** There was a knock on the Carousel Boutique’s door. Rarity was still in her bed, turning in her sleep as she ignored the knocking. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! Rarity took a pillow and pressed it on her ear. “Who could be knocking at such an early hour?” she mumbled. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNCOK! “Hello?” a voice called out. “Rarity? Wake up! It’s Twilight!” The white mare’s eyes shot open. Today was the day the princess would send out for them and bring them to Canterlot. She quickly scrambled out of her massive bed, levitating the large pile of suitcases she had packed after the letter had arrived and headed to the door. She kicked it open and ran past her friend, dragging her bags behind her. “Oh, good morning Twilight!” she said, stopping to turn around and look at her friend. “Good morning to you too,” she mumbled. One of Rarity’s suitcases had slammed her in the head as she was leaving the Boutique. “So where are they?” Rarity asked, looking around. “I don’t see them anywhere?” “Who?” wondered Twilight. “Oh, the guards are waiting at library, I came to get you,” she said, looking at the mountain of bags that her friend had packed. “I’m guessing you’re ready to go?” “Of course dear, a lady is always prepared,” she hummed as the two continued towards the library. It wasn’t long before they reached the tree house. Parked right outside were two sparkling white carriages, with a pair of large white pegesi hooked up to each. All their friends were already accounted for, except for one… “Where’s Fluttershy?” asked Twilight. “Rainbow Dash, I thought I asked you to so to her cottage to get her.” “I did,” the rainbow maned pony said defensively “But when I got there, she wasn’t home.” Applejack scratched her chin. “Now that I think about it, I say I haven’t seen her at all recently.” “Where do you think she could have gone?” asked Twilight. Just then, a green, walking bush started to make its way around the corner. A familiar yellow mare’s head poked out. “D-did they f-f-follow me?” Fluttershy asked nervously, her head darting in every direction, looking for any threat. “Who, sugar cube?” “Lyra and Bon-bon!” she squeaked. “They’ve been following me for the past three weeks! I don’t know why, but I don’t want to go back in the closet!” “Go back in the what?” questioned Pinkie. There was laughter coming from around the corner. Fluttershy gasped as she ducked back in her bush just as the green unicorn and her cream coloured companion came into vision. Lyra spoke first. “Hey girls, what’s up?” “Have you seen Fluttershy?” asked Bon-bon. The mane six looked around. Not wanting to blow their friend’s cover, all shook their heads. “Oh, okay!” said Lyra. “Hey, is Spike home? We have something to show him.” “Umm,” began Twilight. “Spike’s been away in Canterlot…” “What?” stammered Bon-bon. “For like what? A few hours?” “No…like three weeks,” said Twilight. “Wow,” Bon-bon said, looking towards Lyra. “We really lost track of time.” “Yeah,” she said. “Well, if you see Spike, tell him we said hi.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Will do,” she giggled, as the two ponies left. Rarity tapped her hoof on the ground with irritation. “Well, if you are all done, I would like to see my Spikey again.” “Chillax Rarity,” said Rainbow, “we’re coming.” ***** Spike walked into ‘The Den.' As it turned out, it was actually the castle armoury forge room. All around were piles of metal, stacks of spears and swords, heaps of armour, and waterfalls of lava. It had to be as hot as a volcano down here. “Hello?” he called out. He heard the clanging of a hammer pounding on metal as he looked towards a shadowy figure. The figure stopped pounding his hammer and glanced in his direction. He was too far away for Spike to see him, but he was big. Bigger than any pony he’d seen before. “Hello there,” he said, his voice was low and grumbly, and sounded aged. “They’d said you’d be coming today.” “Hi there,” said the dragon, “I’m Spike, and you are…” The creature chuckled. “Forgive me, I don’t get many visitors down here” he said. “Ponies don’t like this level of heat, but we’re not ponies are we?” Spike looked confused, “I’m sorry, we’re not ponies?” The figure stepped out of the shadows. He was about eight feet tall, a few feet taller than Spike. His outer scales were the colour of weathered rubies, while his stomach and neck were yellowish gold. He had many scars on his long, crimson snout, showing off his many yellow teeth. One eye had a small metal plate welded to it, and his good eye was shining like a golden medallion. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen another dragon,” he smiled, offering a hand to the purple dragon. “You mean--all this time—there was--?!” stammered Spike, unable to get his thoughts together. The red drake chuckled. “I’ve been down here for almost five hundred years making armor and weapons for her majesty. Oh, and the name is Varnal-koknot a la Forgo.” The dragon shook his head. “I’m sorry what?” The strange named dragon smiled as he rolled his eye. “Just call me Forge,” he said as he turned around, picking up a large sheet of metal and examining it. “So, you need a set of armour?” “I do?” asked the violet drake. “That’s why I called you down here,” Forge said. “You’re going to be fighting Curator or Conquest or whatever that dragon killer is calling himself now.” “You know about Conquest?” “Know him!” snorted Forge. “I fought him! About a thousand years ago, when he broke out the first time.” Spike’s heart skipped a beat. “He’s escaped before?!” “Three times actually,” Forge said. “First time was about a thousand years ago, then again four hundred years ago, and most recently less than a century.” “I can’t believe it!” shouted Spike, his voice echoing through the blazing forge. “This isn’t the first time this has happened?!” “Nope,” said the red dragon, placing the metal on Spike’s chest, bending the edges around his shoulders with his incredible strength. “But try not to think about it too much, and hold still! I have less than a week to make you some armor, and I haven’t made a set for a dragon in over…well ever.” “Really?” asked Spike, as the dragon smith placed thick bands of steel around his purple wrists. “I told you, not many visitors, and I’ve made the pony’s armor so many times, I could do it in my sleep,” Forge said, turning around to get more metal. “What happened?” Spike asked, trying to steer the conversation back to Conquest. “With Conquest?” Forge asked, reaching into a pull of lava with his bare claw. “I defeated him.” “YOU DEFEATED CONQUEST?!” “Barely,” groaned the red dragon, still digging in the pool of lava. “But the bastard tore my damn wings off.” He showed Spike his back and sure enough, there were two little stubs were his wings should have been. “He also ripped out my eye.” “I’m guessing you didn’t kill him?” asked the purple drake. Forge shook his head, finally pulling out a plate of steel. “Not as much as I would have wanted, but the princesses zapped him back into his little prison.” “Why?” “Don’t know,” admitted Forge. “But they should have done something better, otherwise it just keeps happening.” “Didn’t you say this happened three times?” asked Spike. “Yeah, and every time, it’s taken a dragon to put him back,” smiled Forge, slamming his hammer into the plate of metal. “You see Spike, if there is anything this Conquest guy is even the slightest bit afraid of, it’s dragons.” “Why a dragon?” questioned Spike. “Strongest things on the planet,” replied Forge. “Also, there’s the prophecy.” “What Prophecy?” “Did they tell you anything?” asked the forging dragon. Spike shook his head sheepishly. “Well, the princesses believe that Conquest is going to destroy all life as we know it, right? And according to them, the only thing that can stop him is a dragon. Well, that’s what they thought I was. Guess they were wrong.” “But you defeated him,” said Spike. “Yes but I didn’t stop him,” said Forge. “And neither could the other two. But hey, fourth time’s the charm, right?” Spike couldn’t help but smile, “I guess” he said. “So…how did they find you? Were you raised by a pony too?” Forge sighed. “Nah, I was born and raised in Volcanna, the city in the volcano, and capital of the dragons. You’ve never been?” he asked. “Farthest I’ve ever gone is Burntwood,” said Spike. “I see. Well, as I was growing up,” started Forge as he continued to pound at the sheet of steel, “I always had this desire to create things, while other dragons only wanted to destroy. The elders found out about this and banished me for creating the tools of demons.” “What do you mean?” “Dragons think that tools make them weak, that using them means you can’t survive with what you got. They thought I was weak, so they banished me and I traveled to Equestria.” “And that’s where you met the princess?” “Exactly,” smiled Forge. He stopped hammering the sheet and picked it up. “Been working the forge ever since, with a small break to save the world. Now hold still.” He placed the bent metal around Spike’s head. “So we’ve talked about me, now tell me about yourself. You said you’ve been to Burntwood, meet any nice dragonesses?” Spiked laughed. “I did meet one, but things didn’t really work out.” “I meant, did you leave any girl dragons crying for you? You know, some dragon to go back to when this is all over,” said Forge. Images of a certain white mare flashed through Spike’s head as he blushed. “Well, actually there’s this mare…” Forge lifted his good eyebrow. “A mare huh? Haven’t heard about a pony and a dragon together since the dark ages, and even then it was for the treaty, not love. Then they rewrote it and ponies didn’t have to do that anymore.” He turned Spike around, placing another sheet of iron on his back. “So is she pretty?” he asked. Spike broke out in laughter at the comment. “She’s absolutely beautiful! But she’s more than that. She’s generous, caring, smart, funny, kind. She’s perfect in every way.” “Sounds dreamy,” said the sly red dragon. “So what about you? Do you have a special somebody?” Forge stopped working for a moment. “I did,” he said, resuming his hammering. “But that was once upon a time.” “Oh,” said Spike, picking up the signal that he didn’t want to talk about it. “Anyways,” said Forge, “I think I’m done here.” “Really?” asked Spike, looking at his body, the metal plates on him was barley hung together and looked like it would fall apart if he moved. “This is my armour?” “Of course not!” laughed the red dragon. “Those are just the measurements; I’ll be making the actual armour out of something a lot tougher than pony steel.” “You give pony’s bad armour?” “No, I give them steel cause it’s the hardest stuff they can lift. Your armour is going to be heavier, but thrice as tough,” Forge said. “Oh, okay,” said Spike as he tuned to leave. “OH WAIT!” he said, quickly turning around. “Before I leave, could I ask you to do something for me?” “And what that might that be?” asked the forge dragon curiously. ***** The two pegasus pulled chariots were soaring through the sky, and was approaching the courtyard of the castle with great speed. Twilight looked idly at the castle. “No matter how many times I see it, the castle still gives me goose bumps!” she said excitedly. Applejack nudged Rarity on the side and pointed. “Look it’s the princess and Spike!” “Spike!” gasped Rarity, poking her head out of the window. “Where?” “Over there by the princess, on that big empty field,” said Applejack. Sure enough, there was the tall white majestic mare, and standing by her side was the purple dragon. Rarity tapped one of the pegasus. “Excuse me sir, but do you think you could go a little faster?” she asked. The stallion nodded as he motioned for his companion to pick up the pace. Soon, they had almost doubled their speed. They were headed straight toward the princess and the dragon. Spike looked at the oncoming carriages. “They look like they’re coming in a little fast,” he said. “Don’t worry,” said Celestia. “They’ll slow down.” The carriages continued to pick up speed as they descended. “Princess, are you sure?” asked a worried Spike. “Spike, they are highly trained and disciplined escorts, I think that they wou-“ “DUCK!” screamed Spike, throwing himself to the ground and dragging the princess with him, the flying carriage barely missing their heads. It parked close to the two and the ponies on board quickly unloaded themselves. Spike rose to his knees as he saw his friends jump off and start running towards him. He began to slowly make his way towards them as well, until he was tackled by a purple blur. Twilight knocked him off his feet as she embraced her little brother. “I missed you so much!” she cried, burying her head into his chest. “I missed you too Twilight,” the dragon said, stroking one of his claws through her deep purple mane. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you.” “HEY SPIKE! CATCH ME!” Pinkie screamed as she leapt into the air and cannonballed towards Spike. “What?” he shrieked, but it was too late, the bouncing pink pony had collided with his face. “OHHHH SPIKE!” she screamed excitedly, “We all missed you so much so how have you’ve been I heard that you were training to fight that’s soooooooooooo cool! Hey you know what that calls for? Do ya do ya do ya do ya?” “A party?” the dragon grunted from underneath Pinkie. “Nope, a party!” the pink mare cried happily, finally getting off of Spike’s face. Fluttershy quietly made her way to Spike, followed by Rainbow and Applejack. “Oh....hello Spike. It’s so nice to see you again,” the timid yellow mare whispered. “Yeah,” said Rainbow, “you have no idea how boring it is without you around. I had to start racing Scootaloo again, and she still sucks at flying!” “And Big Mac hurt his ankle again for the millionth time,” mumbled Applejack. “Could have used you on the ranch!” Spike smiled as he looked around his group of friends. “Trust me, I missed you all more than you missed me,” he said. “But could you maybe get off of me? Together, you’re all a little heavy.” A little disgruntled from his ‘weight’ comment, the five mares got off Spike and let him get up. Back to his feet, he noticed that the one pony he wanted was still at the carriage, her hooves wrapped in her forelegs as she stared a stare that could freeze the hottest fire. However, Spike was still smiling. Applejack let out a little chuckle. “You’re in trouble now, cowboy!” “Oh dear…” whimpered Fluttershy. “You don’t think that she’s mad. Do you?” “Of course she’s mad Shy!” laughed Rainbow Dash, “Can’t you tell by that death stare?” “Rainbow please!” grunted Twilight. She turned to Spike. “Go to her, I’m sure she’s not that mad.” “You sure?” asked Spike. “Positive,” she smiled. Spike gave Twilight a quick, loving hug before he slowly began to walk towards Rarity. “Dead drake walking!” called Rainbow, quickly being shut up by Applejack’s hoof. Spike kept walking towards Rarity, her stare not changing a bit as he approached, he could feel the coldness being emitted from her eyes. As he got closer, he noticed the little smirk on her face and he felt a little warmer as he closed the last few feet between them. He stared into those blue, gemlike eyes that he had missed so much and finally let out a very humble, “Hey Rarity, did ya miss me?” Rarity replied to the dragon’s kind gesture with a hoof across the face. He cringed from the surprisingly strong force behind it. “What was that for?” he asked, rubbing his sore cheek. “That’s for leaving me without telling me where you were going!” she barked. “How dare you do such a thing! I don’t care if it was too protect me or if it was too dangerous don’t you ever-“ “Rarity,” pleaded the dragon. “-Leave me behind again!” she continued to shout. “I won’t leave you no matter what, do you hear me Spike!” “Rarity.” “And another thing! Do you think that it’s funny to send Twilight letters and not me?!” she yelled. The dragon rolled his eyes. “Screw it, I’m doing it.” “Doing what Spike?” she asked. She was caught off guard as Spike picked her up, dipped her down, and locked her in a kiss. It had been a long time coming, the warmth of her mouth as the two lovers were finally reconnected after all this time. Rarity quickly tried to hit the dragon’s side, still angry with him, but her body went limp as she gave in to the intoxicating kiss, her quips of anger quickly becoming moans of delight as she wrapped her hooves around the dragon’s neck. After minutes, they parted lips, Rarity was still dazed by bliss as she stared lovingly onto the dragon’s emerald eyes. “I’m still mad at you,” she cooed. “We can’t have that know, can we?” smirked the dragon, pressing another kiss against his mare’s lips. They quickly parted again, Rarity’s eyes were hot and she pressed her nose up to the dragon’s snout. “I’m actually quite furious with you,” the sultry mare whispered. “We’ll have to do a lot more than kiss to make up.” Spike flashed his teeth in a devilish grin. “What did you have in mind?” The white mare lifted her head to his ear and whispered something that made Spike’s heart stop. Without saying anything, Spike whisked up his mare and look off flying towards the castle, leaving everypony else with the princess. Pinkie scratched her head. “Where do you think they’re going?” she asked. Twilight blushed a little. “Umm, I think they went to bed Pinkie.” “Why?” wondered the party pony. “I’m throwing a party tonight and everyone is going to be invited and the princesses will be there too.” She looked up to Celestia. “Will you come Princess?” Celestia smiled. “Of course, my little pony. My sister and I would love to come.” Applejack looked around. “Speaking of your sister, where is she?” “Oh Luna should be back from raising the moon right about now,” Celestia looked around. “I wonder what’s taking so long.” ***** Luna had just finished raising the moon for that night and began her decent back to the castle, though of her finally being able to spend her long night with the one she lusted for. She noticed a flying carriage below her and decided to investigate. She landed on a large hill that overlooked the field where her sister and Spike waited for the carriage. “The elements have arrived,” she smiled as she decided to watch them from a distance. Of course Twilight was ecstatic to see him, along with Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy. She let out a small giggle as they all jumped on top off him. “He’ll be happy tonight,” she said to herself. “And happier later…” she smiled at the thoughts of what she and her love would do that night. Then he walked over to Rarity. “I guess she missed him too” she smiled. Watching the dragon as the white mare slapped him and then began to yell at him. Luna laughed some more as she saw the little pony try to beat up the big dragon. Then something strange happened, out of nowhere Spike just grabbed her and then he- “YOU’RE KISSING HIM!!!” she screamed, with shock as she continued to watch the two as they kissed for a second time. “Oh, you did NOT just kiss my dragon!” she snarled, gritting her teeth in anger. Her wings sprang open as her long horn glowed. She stared at the two with absolute fury as they flew off together. As she grew angrier, large dark clouds started to manifest behind her, until the night sky was blotted by her stormy clouds of rage. “Nobody steals my drakefriend!” she yelled, lighting flashing and thunder echoing behind her. ***** “Did y’all here that?” said Applejack, looking up towards the sky, seeing the storm clouds quickly approaching. “We better get inside, there be a storm a-brewin’.”