• Published 18th Jul 2014
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Their Knight of Scales - Radiant Dawn

Spike spent much of his young life trying to find his place in the world, only to realize it was with those who had become his family. Now, he must decide what to do with new emotions and desires.

Their Knight of Scales written by Radiant Dawn
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Chapter 12

“WHAT?!”

Twilight really had a pair of lungs in her, that was for sure.

The end of the previous night had been simple, with me regaling Applejack about what had happened during the day as we munched on fresh apple pie, washed down with her special spiced apple cider. There were some parts I left out, of course (the embarrassing bits of what happened between Ember and I, for example), but all the important bits were covered, and Applejack was awed at my story. And, while she seemed unhappy about me choosing to give into my greed like I did, she also was pleased that Rainbow Dash, Lyla, and I had all come out of it alive, and relatively unharmed.

Twilight, however, was another matter entirely.

I met Twilight at the door to the castle when she arrived home sometime around mid-morning, and her smile immediately dropped when she saw the brand on my neck. This, of course, led to me having to explain to her what had happened, which was why I had taken a blast of the “traditional Ponyville librarian voice” at point-blank range.

I did a yawning motion a few times in an effort to get my ears to pop so I could hear again. When they finally did so, I looked to Twilight with a deadpan expression. “Are you ready to calm down and listen, or do I need to get some earplugs?” While externally, I was calm and even seemed bored by the outburst, inside, I was making plans on how I would keep Twilight from rushing to the dragon lands and “putting that blasted dragoness in her place” (her words, not mine).

Twilight did the motions for the breathing exercise that Cadence had taught her so long ago, and it still worked to calm her down. After getting herself under some semblance of control, she looked to me with righteous fury, though it was tightly contained. With clenched teeth, she growled, “This had better be good, or that dragoness is going to get a personal visit from me, and the dragon lands is going to become short a few mountains.”

The statement caught me a little off guard, so I had to ask for clarification. “Wait...you’re not mad at Ember?”

Twilight held her angry regality for a moment before slumping, her wings hanging listlessly instead of folding properly. She looked tired, and worn out, as if she hadn’t slept all night -- which, if she was as worried about me as I assumed she was, that was probably the case. She shook her head wearily as she walked over to her throne in the map room, flopping down on it with a lazy exhalation of breath. “No Spike, I’m not angry with Ember. I understand that dragons do things very differently from ponies, and I know that most ponies would find it absolutely abhorrent that part of their traditional practices involves branding their mates with their name -- which I didn’t think was possible, due to the nigh-immunity to heat. But, I traveled with you through the dragon lands, and I learned that I can’t relate their practices to those of ponies, because they are very different. This is just a part of their culture that I have to accept, and I’ll make sure the others are aware of all of it so they don’t completely lose it.”

I winced as I thought about the reaction Rarity and Fluttershy would have. “...yeah, I’d appreciate that.”

“Anyhow,” she continued quietly, “besides the fact the dragoness was essentially going to foalnap a member of the royal family -- which, legally, you are -- she was taking you away from me, and Rarity, and Lyla...you see where I’m going with this?” She let out a long sigh, bringing a hand to rub between her eyes. “Because of your status within Equestria, there are quite a few laws that can be brought against her.” She raised her free hand and began counting off, “You’re a diplomat for relations between the dragon lands and Equestria, you’re a part of the Council of Friendship, you’re close friends with Thorax, the leader of the new changelings, you’re a citizen of great importance to the Crystal City for your work there, not to mention the fact that you’re the adopted son of one of the Two Sisters, and the beloved nephew of the other. Spike,” she breathed out a few more times, likely trying to keep from having another outburst, “...this could have started a war -- you’re that important, and this idiot dragoness thought she was going to subvert our laws and your rights as an Equestrian citizen. The only -- and I mean only -- reason the entire special forces unit hasn’t been mobilized with Luna at the helm to take her into custody by force is the fact that it would cause too many problems for Ember and our relationship with the rest of the dragon clans. But,” she removed her hand from her face and looked at me sorrowfully, “we can’t let this lay as it is, Spike. As much as I wish we could just sweep this under the rug and forget about it, the collapsing of a mountain and the sounds of a dragon fight nearby has been witnessed by too many, and it’s only a matter of time before this event goes public in some way. We have to take action, and there are only two possible options that will lay this to rest without too much fallout.”

Taking my seat in my (thankfully resized) throne beside her, I propped my head up on my hand and nodded to her. “All right, so what can we do?”

“Well,” she began, pulling herself up to sit more properly and fluffing her wings to settle them, “if we can somehow get the other dragon lords to denounce the actions of this one dragoness, we can call for a summit between Equestrian dignitaries and the other dragon lords so that we can come to a consensus about how to enact justice on the dragoness.” Twilight stopped suddenly, chuckling dryly. “Did she ever introduce herself? Do we even know her name?”

I shook my head, chuckling as well once I realized how stupid the situation was. “No, that never happened. She was basically handling me like a toy until I grew, at which point I wasn’t exactly in a talkative mood. To me, she’s just ‘the jerk dragoness,’ so that’s what I’m gonna call her.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, that got a giggle out of Twilight, and she whapped me with the tip of her wing before she composed herself and nodded to me with a grin. “All right, fair enough. Anyway, I’m really hoping the first option is the one that works, because the second is...less desirable.”

I couldn't help but frown at her words. “Exactly how much less desirable are we talking?”

Again, Twilight began rubbing the space between her eyes. “If the other dragon lords are unwilling to denounce her actions and/or engage with us, it'll likely lead to Equestria marching sixty-thousand strong to the border, and Luna threatening to drop meteors on them if they don't give us the dragoness. I don't think I have to say why that route would be bad for dragon-pony relations.” Letting out yet another annoyed sigh, she shook her head ruefully. “If and when ponies find out what happened -- even if it’s just the most basic points about the event -- they are going to ask us what we did to handle the situation. Very few ponies know about what you did for us, but sooner or later, one of them is going to talk, and the public is going to demand answers. And, when what the dragoness tried to do finally comes to light, we either need to have already done something about it, or need to be in the process of bringing the aggressor to justice.” She opened her eyes and looked over at me, an expression of grim acceptance. “Ponies have to know that if something like this happens, the royal family is going to make sure they are safe and protected. To keep from losing the support of the public majority, we have to do something about this.”

I stared at Twilight for a few moments before dropping my head into my hands with a groan. “This is why I hate politics. Nothing can ever just be simple when politics are involved.”

“Don’t worry Spike, we’ll handle this.” she replied, and I felt as she rested her hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to take some clever diplomacy, but one way or another, we’re going to prevent an all-out war. I promise.”

I could only nod as I removed my face from my hands, looking forlornly to Twilight. “Of course, I’m sure the nobles are going to have a hayday with this. There are a few of them that still think I should be banished for being a liability, and they still haven’t let go of what happened on my tenth birthday.”

“They probably will kick up a fuss,” Twilight admitted with a resigned frown, “but they also know there isn’t much they can do about it. Legally, there’s nothing me, the girls, or even Celestia or Luna can do if they start causing trouble for you, so long as it's within the bounds of the law, but they also know that our political power and influence will overcome theirs, especially since you grew to protect Equestria, even though you weren’t aware of it during the fight itself. Motive determines quite a bit when it comes to politics, and your motive takes quite a bit of the heat off of you for ‘becoming a raging beast,’ as I’m sure they’ll try to say. Besides that, losing the support of so many powerful members of Equestrian society isn’t worth them pushing an agenda or narrative of some sort, and they know it.”

“Have I ever told you I hate politics?”

Twilight smiled gently at me and got out of her chair, walking to me and leaning down to hug me tightly. “Yes, quite a few times. I don’t particularly like them either, but I’m good at playing the game. Celestia’s basically been training me to be royalty since I was a filly, so I’m well aware of how to handle things should they try and somehow turn this against you. Don’t worry about it, Spike. You just focus on making sure you stay out of trouble, and...just keep being yourself. Your day to day life is mundane and uninteresting, so if you just stick to it, chances are they’ll lose interest when they find that there’s nothing they can do to ruffle you, at least not without hurting their relations with fifteen important political leaders across Equestria, the Crystal City, the badlands, and the dragon lands. As much as I know you don’t like using your friendships with us all to get favors, in instances like this, it helps to know people in high places.”

She was right, on the latter note. The only major incident that had happened was my first greed growth -- and, being a non-pony citizen, I made sure to keep a positive public reputation -- but I still didn’t like knowing that, if it weren’t for my relationship with these “Pillars of Equestrian Society” (as they had been called in the media, on a few occasions), I might have been banished or imprisoned for causing so much damage, even if it had been fixed. As it was, the only reason we were going to be able to spin this one as a positive was because there had been another dragon that had willingly illegally entered Equestrian borders and had outright refused to initiate a dialogue with the guard scouts that had found her. When it came down to it, even if they were more than willing to do so, I didn’t like knowing that my friends and adopted family had to stick their necks out for me because some of the less-accepting members of Equestria still had a hate-boner for me, after all these years.

Regardless…

“I think I should make a public appearance of some sort, before all of this comes to light through the rumor mill.” I grudgingly suggested. “As you said: they’re going to find out anyway, so I think it would be better if we released the details as a cohesive unit rather than let it happen without our hand in it. It’ll look better that way for all of us, and I’ll get to prove to the dissenting citizens that I’m not afraid of their petty slings and insults.”

Twilight nodded before standing, and unceremoniously taking a seat sideways in my lap. I wrapped my arms around her midsection without hesitation, and released a pleased grunt as she leaned against me. She released a gentle sigh as we sat silently for a few moments, before she nodded against me. “I was thinking the same. I’ve already passed the idea on to Celestia and Luna, so we’re going to be gathering for a public announcement tomorrow to ‘nip this in the bud’, as Applejack would say.”

I nodded as well, pleased that no matter what, I could always depend on Twilight to have forethought on important matters. “Sounds like a plan.”

I brought my right hand around her back and rubbed her stomach in slow circles, something that I’d found she especially enjoyed when she was stressed or feeling under the weather. Twilight released a pleased coo and I felt her nose nuzzle into the crook of my neck. For a few minutes, we just sat silently and bathed in the glow of our mutual love and affection -- much as work took up most of our daily life, it was important for us to remember to spend what little free time we had with those we cared about, even if it was only for a short time. Twilight had it the easiest, of course, since we lived together, but her days were also far more full than any of our other friends, so our time together was often spent a few minutes at a time between work, or the short hour or so during meals and before bed.

“So what about Ember?”

Though she wasn’t looking up at me, still comfortably nestled against my body, I still glanced down at her from the corner of my eye. “What about her? I mean, there’s not much to say, other than her promise that we’re going to keep in contact better from now on.”

Twilight reached up and rubbed below the brand on the opposite side of my neck. “Dragons don’t do this on a whim, Spike. A mate’s brand is permanent, as I’m sure you know, so Ember feels for you quite a bit stronger than just a passing fancy. She’s a bit hot-headed at times, and is still learning as far as friendship is concerned, but she doesn’t strike me as the type to jump headlong into something like this without it meaning something more.”

Slowly, I nodded my acquiescence. “Yeah, I agree, but she made it clear that unless something changes, there’s nothing that can really happen between us. Other than sporadic visits here and there, she has to stay in the dragon lands, and I need to stay here.”

Twilight was silent for a few long moments before she spoke again. “...I don’t want to get your hopes up, Spike, but I’ve been working on something in secret that could help. I don’t want to reveal what it is just yet, but if you had the opportunity to have a steady relationship with Ember, would you?”

I didn’t even need to think about it, after having all night to go over it in my head. “Yes, of course.”

“Good,” she answered lightly. “If nothing else, I'm sure Ember would be happy to know you take her and her feelings seriously.”

I shrugged, as if it were an odd thing for me. “I mean of course I do; I take all of your feelings seriously. It would be insensitive and mean of me to do otherwise.”

Before I could comment further, the sound of the bottom floor door opening caught our attention. Twilight and I glanced at each other briefly before we both stood, Twilight grabbing me with her magic aura as I closed my eyes to prepare for the imminent teleport. After the lurching sensation ended, I opened my eyes to see we had arrived in the “traditional” throne room, and at the long end of the hall stood a familiar pink-coated unicorn with a violet and teal mane, suitcase in hand and knapsack still secured to her back. She seemed to be simply basking in the warm feeling of the castle she called home, eyes closed and a gentle smile upon her lips.

Twilight, of course, couldn’t contain herself, and only briefly called out to our close friend and roommate before she practically cannonballed into Starlight Glimmer with all the excitement of Pinkie on a sugar high. I imagine Starlight would have been far more upset had Twilight not conjured a poofy plush purple pillow and teleported her luggage safely a few feet to the right. As it was, Starlight Glimmer just giggled as she hugged her friend back, obviously enjoying the welcome home just as much as Twilight did.

I slowly made my way over to the hugging mares, only barely restraining my laughter, and just allowed them to enjoy the affectionate moment in peace. I’ll admit, even though royal duties kept us busy, Starlight’s presence and support had been something we both missed over the past few months of her tour of Equestria. The once-student of Twilight was now an expert in her friendship studies, but even though Twilight had long ago said there was nothing more about friendship she could teach the unicorn, Starlight had voiced her desire to stay regardless, and Twilight had wholeheartedly replied that she also didn’t want her student to leave. If I was honest with myself, I liked having Starlight around as well, so I shared the sentiment. True that often meant having to tolerate Trixie, but the showpony’s friendship with Starlight had done her a lot of good, so it was “baggage” I was willing to accept for the sake of having a good friend around.

A few minutes passed before I finally cleared my throat, causing both mares to look up at me. Upon Twilight realizing she was lying on top of the unicorn, and upon the unicorn realizing she had been nuzzling Twilight’s face with great affection in front of another, they both lit up with fierce blushes that made me finally chuckle aloud. Twilight shot to her hooves immediately, and offered a hand to Starlight so she could stand as well.

Starlight straightened out her blue camisole and fixed her silky hair with magic before smiling and walking to me, embracing me tightly as well. Granted she didn’t tackle me like Twilight had her, but I could tell by the firmness of the embrace just how much she missed being home, and I returned it with gusto.

“It’s good to have you back, Starlight.” I whispered to her with care.

She nodded with a muted giggle. “It’s good to be back, Spike.” She pulled away briefly before her smile morphed to a frown. She again embraced me, pulling back, then doing so once again. I could only stare in confusion before she pulled away the last time and inspected me with her focused gaze. Just as I started to become uncomfortable, she asked, “Spike, have you grown?”

Thinking back to the odd thought this morning that my clothes seemed somehow more snug than usual, I glanced to Twilight, who nodded emphatically. “I knew I wasn’t just imagining things! Spike, you have grown, just since yesterday!”

“Did something happen yesterday?” Starlight questioned, concern flashing in her eyes.

I took a long inhalation and nodded. “Yeah. You might want to take a seat though, as this is going to take some time.”

Twilight had been kind enough to brew some tea for us as we chatted, which left us to relax as I recounted my recent “adventure”. To put it simply, Starlight was stunned.

For a minute or two, all Starlight was able to do was stare, slack-jawed, after I finished my recollection. I wisely chose to ignore the growl she had made earlier when I told her the larger dragoness had tried to foalnap me, but now it was clear she definitely felt strongly about all that had happened. I couldn’t say why exactly, but it was obvious she was shocked that something like this could happen without her hearing about it.

“...wow. Okay, umm…” she intelligently mumbled, again falling silent as she closed her mouth and sat back to think for a moment. “That’s certainly something. A whole lot of somethings, actually.” She pointed to my neck, upon which the brand was proudly displayed. “So, with that mark, you’re basically married to a dragon lord, now?”

I felt a flush crawl up my neck and face as I realized she was accurate in her analysis. “I can’t say I thought of that, but yeah, you’re right. Dragons don’t exactly have marriages like ponies do, but yes, we’re officially bound for life with these marks. Not magically or anything, but any dragon that sees them will know what they mean, and who we ‘belong’ to.” I shrugged helplessly. “This isn’t exactly the way I thought things would happen in my life, but I learned pretty early on to go with the flow and adapt, so here I am. Nonetheless, even though it wasn’t the primary reason for it, being bound to Ember can only help Equestria’s relationship with dragons, even if just in small ways.”

Again Starlight’s mouth had gone slack from the information, but she quickly shook her head to compose herself before chuckling softy. “I have to be honest, I always thought you’d propose to Rarity or something. Did you give up on that while I was gone?”

“…we're not married, but actually...”

She was staring again. “No way. Really?” She pouted adorably and huffed. “I swear, I missed all the fun stuff when I was gone.”

“I also, kinda sorta, started a herd…”

“Seriously, what the hay, Spike?” Starlight blurted, followed by a laugh. “Were you just waiting for me to leave before you did all kinds of crazy stuff?”

I brushed off her playful accusation with a chuckle of my own. “Nah, it just kinda happened that way. Anyhow it’s Rarity, Lyla, and…” I glanced subtly to Twilight.

Twilight decided to pick it up from there. “And me, Starlight. Spike and I are together. I um...I hope that doesn’t make things weird between us, y’know, with us living together and all.”

Starlight continued laughing and just shook her head. This continued for a minute before she finally calmed down enough to reply. “Honestly, I’m more surprised it took this long. You two were dancing around each other for years; I expected this sooner. I’m just a little disappointed I missed you two getting together.” She shrugged and took a long sip of her tea, closing her eyes and savoring the simple black tea with lemon. After taking a moment to enjoy the hot beverage, she opened her eyes and looked back to us. “Apparently you’ve forgotten all the embarrassing moments we’ve shared together, Twilight. I’ve walked in on both of you naked at least twice each, I’ve caught both of you reading less-than-innocent material more than a few times, and there was even that one time where I caught you in your study with a ‘private apparatus’ shaped like a dragon’s-”

“Okay, that’s enough! We get it!” Twilight cut in loudly, a furious blush on her cheeks that reached all the way to the tips of her ears.

Unfortunately for her, my curiosity was piqued. If what I assumed was true… “A dragon’s what, Twilight?” I’ll admit, my grin was decidedly predatory as I watched her freeze and shiver ever so slightly. She slowly turned to face me, still blushing brightly, as she did her goldfish imitation. After a few moments of her gaping silently, and me trying my darndest not to laugh, I prodded, “Twilight, have you been doing naughty things in the study?”

While most of the teasing was because Twilight was adorable when she was embarrassed, I admit, the thought of her pleasuring herself with something shaped like a certain part of me was more than a little arousing. Thoughts for another time, I suppose, when she’s comfortable enough to open herself up to me that way.

“Twilight, we’re just teasing you.” Starlight assured with a warm smile. She placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “What you do in private is your own business, and neither of us are going to judge you for it. It’s a natural act that everypony does at some point or another -- some more than others -- but it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’ve done it, Spike’s done it,” while I blushed a bit, I nodded, “and I’m pretty sure all your friends have done it.” Starlight paused briefly. “Except maybe Pinkie Pie. I don’t think she even knows what sex is.”

I wisely chose not to mention some of the teasing Pinkie Pie has given me over the years.

Twilight’s blush had not abated, and now she was holding her head in her hands, as if trying to hide away from the world as she grumbled, “That’s several images I won’t be getting out of my head anytime soon. Thanks, Starlight.”

The unicorn giggled and rubbed Twilight’s shoulder soothingly. “It’s okay, Twi. I’m just trying to help you realize that what you feel -- and sometimes do -- is completely natural, and normal. Honestly, with as much as an academic as you are, I had figured you to already think like that, but that’s beside the point.” She scooted closer to Twilight and pulled her into a tight embrace, setting her cheek next to her mentor’s. “You don’t have to be embarrassed around us. I can’t speak for your other friends, but with us, at least, it’s okay to talk about this stuff, and we’ll never judge you. If it wasn’t clear already, I’m perfectly fine with you and Spike being an item, and I’m actually happy for both of you. I just ask that if and when you both decide to become physical, please lock the door and activate the silencing crystal in your room. That’s one thing I’d really prefer not to walk in on.”

Twilight’s face was still flushed, but she was clearly enjoying the hug and had a warm smile on her face now as she affectionately rubbed her cheek against Starlight’s. “Thanks, Star, for being so understanding about all this. I really missed having you here to help me realize when I’m being silly.”

Starlight pulled away from Twilight slightly, just enough to look her in the eyes as she gestured to me. “I’m sure Spike will agree that your ‘silliness’ is one of the things we love about you. Never change, Twilight.” When Twilight looked to me, I offered a firm nod and a smile of my own, which seemed to comfort her.

“So,” Starlight began, pulling fully away from Twilight and levitating her knapsack to her lap, “let me regale you with my travels, if you both have the time.”

I caught Twilight’s eyes briefly before nodding to Starlight. “For you, we have all the time in the world.”

Starlight’s stories weren’t as wild as mine was, but they were still important, and told a lot about how the neighboring nations were living and growing. Griffonstone, for example, had just opened its first set of businesses and lodging specifically catered toward ponies, which meant their tourism industry was about to boom. Minos was still in the midst of a civil war, while the neighboring badlands were slowly becoming greener as the magic of the new changelings brought life back to the wasteland. The several zebra nations (none of which I could pronounce...or spell, for that matter) had just passed a law as one that would outlaw slavery within their borders, which was sure to bring in a new era of progress for their people.

The most interesting story, however, was about a place we long thought only a myth.

“Wait wait wait,” Twilight interrupted, her quill writing furiously as she struggled to take everything down, “Atlantis has reappeared?”

Starlight nodded excitedly. “It has! Oh, it was amazing to see the mythical ‘floating island’ for myself.” She then narrowed her eyes and pointed to the parchment in Twilight’s magical grasp. “You also might want to note that by ‘floating’, the legends apparently didn’t mean on just the ocean.”

I quite clearly heard as the tip of the quill punctured the parchment, and Twilight lowered it to stare intensely at Starlight. “You mean…?”

She nodded with an almost manic grin. “It’s in the sky, Twilight! An entire landmass, just floating in the sky! It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen! I wasn’t able to get close enough to get a reading on the energy fields, but there’s something very interesting going on to cause it, some sort of anti-gravity tech or magic.”

“That’s insane.” I voiced with no small amount of surprise. “I mean, up until now, that place was just a legend, from before the time when alicorns even existed. Imagine how differently the flora and fauna evolved, isolated from the rest of the world for ten thousand years. Did you catch sight of any seaponies?”

Starlight shook her head, still grinning. “No, I wasn't so fortunate, but I saw what looked like architecture built into the cliffs.”

Twilight nodded as she continued taking notes. “I'm sure Celestia will want to send research teams to scout the location as soon as possible. Where did you last see it?”

“In the Placid Sea, heading slowly northeast, about a week ago. I came home immediately after I spotted it.” Starlight answered with a frown. “I can only hope it hasn't somehow changed its heading, or it could be anywhere by now.”

“I don’t think it’ll be too hard to find a giant floating island, and there aren’t any flying species near that part of the continent anyway.” Twilight assured as she literally wrapped up her notes, rolling the scroll and tying it with a lavender bow before handing it to me. I blew a puff of emerald fire over the parchment and watched it turn into ash, carried away by magic toward Canterlot. Twilight then stood from her spot beside Starlight and stretched, her wings flaring wide in an impressive display of plumage. I admit, I stared for a few moments at the sight, wishing I could touch them.

Starlight stood as well, glancing between the two of us. “So, what do the two of you say to lunch at Sugarcube Corner? My treat.”

While Twilight and I were likely thinking the same thing -- Starlight shouldn’t waste her money paying for two people that practically have to fight with most restaurants to even pay -- the gesture was appreciated, and Starlight wasn’t even close to being poor. We both nodded our acceptance to her and I answered, “Sounds good, Star. I’m sure Pinkie will be happy to see you again, if she doesn’t already know you’re here.”

Walking through Ponyville with attractive mares was always a fun experience for me. Everypony in town knew Twilight and I were together by now, so seeing Starlight on my other side garnered quite a few interesting looks from the locals. The majority of the stallions gave me a thumb-up or a smile and nod, and I would often get a look of profound approval from the mares who had seen me grow up over the years.

The looks that made the walk interesting were those from tourists, or Twilight’s (thankfully few) would-be courtiers. Those from the smaller towns or neighboring nations were usually more focused on me than Twilight, since alicorns in Equestria were more common than dragons. The other looks were from the upper class ponies that tended to come from Manehattan, Canterlot, and Los Pegasus, and those tended to be a bit more...accusatory. As a younger, smaller drake, the looks made me uncomfortable, as if they were loudly proclaiming that I did not belong in the same town as ponies, let alone ponies like Twilight and her friends. Now though, it just made me giggle, since it reminded me of just how little they knew about Twilight, or any of the rest of us. Considering all that had happened in the past years since we came to Ponyville, a dragon in Equestria couldn’t even be called odd anymore. What I found truly entertaining, however, was just how many looks of envy would be directed toward us -- to me or the girls specifically, I was never sure, but it was always funny nonetheless.

This was why I took great pleasure in holding Twilight close to me with a wing, proclaiming to everypony that saw us that she was mine.

Luckily for Twilight, who was blushing profusely from all the attention we were getting, Sugarcube Corner was relatively close to home, and within only a few minutes, the three of us were stepping up to the front door. I pushed it open, the brass bell chiming merrily as always, and waited for both mares to enter before following in behind them. It was around lunchtime, so while only a few of the tables had ponies sitting down for a meal, there was a line to the counter where working ponies were grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading back to work. Starlight motioned to Twilight and I to find a place for us to sit, so I grasped Twilight’s hand in my own and gently pulled her along to sit in one of the booths off to the side of the room. Like always, the bakery was full of friendly faces, and both of us were on the receiving end of pleasant smiles and greetings from the ponies there, and a few of the out-of-towners even bowed to her (much to her chagrin). I merely chuckled at the embarrassed blush from Twilight, steadily making my way to an open booth and allowing Twilight to sit on the inside, so she could use me as a sort of shield from prying eyes.

A few minutes of silence later, Starlight slid in the opposite side of the booth, passing a paper cup of coffee each to me and Twilight, and by the smell alone, I was able to discern that Starlight had a good memory of what we liked. I brought the paper cup and sipped heartily, enjoying the sweet-yet-bitter brew that ran down my throat and into my stomach. I felt Twilight lean into my side, and reflexively, I wrapped my wing around her and grasped her hand in mine as we continued to enjoy our morning beverages.

When I looked across the table again, it was to see Starlight smirking at us. “You two are adorable, you know that? If I’d known you two would be this sweet, I would have asked Mrs. Cake to leave the sugar out.” She shook her own cup, still grinning.

I just snorted good naturedly, turning my nose up in a snooty manner. “I hope you know I’ll remember this when you get your own special somepony. I’ll be hazing the hay out of both of you.” I then smirked right back at her. “Speaking of that, how’s Sunburst?” I completed the accusation with a wiggle of my brows.

Starlight just stared at me, her smile having fallen away. “...you can’t be serious.” My look of confusion must have answered her question, as she just slapped her palm to her face. “By Luna, you are serious. Okay,” she removed her hand and pointed to me, “did you never notice just how friendly he was to you when we were visiting Flurry Heart on her birthday last year? You know, how he stayed by your side, laughed at all your jokes, and didn’t take his eyes off you even once while you were talking? Did you not notice how he would playfully touch your shoulders or your arms when he was conversing with you, and he was stuck to your side nearly the entire night?”

“Oh…”

I turned to Twilight in confusion, whose mouth was still formed into an “Oh” of realization. “What? What am I missing, here?”

At that, Twilight palmed her own face as well, muttering, “Sometimes, Spike, I swear…”

Starlight had reached across the table, and my eyes were drawn to her as she took my hand in her own and looked to me with a serious expression. “Spike, Sunburst wasn’t interested in you because you helped save the Crystal City, or even because you’re part of the royal family; he was interested in you because you’re a male.” She punctuated her statement with a raised eyebrow.

It took a few moments of thought before the reality struck me, almost physically, and I flinched in realization. “W-wait, so he…?”

Starlight just grinned as she pulled back to recline victoriously on her side of the table. “Do you seriously think I’d let a cute colt like that get away if he was at all interested in mares? I’ve never had a special somepony before, but I’ve known him since foalhood, Spike. If I had even the slightest chance, I’d have snapped him up faster than Rainbow Dash does cider during cider season. Yes, he’s very into stallions, and you certainly qualify.”

I now felt very awkward, thinking back on my previous interactions with the stallion. “Oh...wow. He does know I’m not…”

Starlight nodded with a faint smile. “Oh yes, he knows. I actually was forced to confront him about it years ago, since he spurned every one of my advances. In his own words, he did nothing to hide his attraction to other stallions, and honestly thought I knew beforehand. Since I learned that, I spoke to him after Flurry’s party, and told him that I knew for a fact that you were completely and utterly uninterested in stallions. I believe he’s holding out a hope that I was wrong and that he can somehow interest you, but I think we all know the answer to that.”

Twisting my lips slightly, I shook my head. “Yeah, no. That’s never going to happen. I really like Sunburst -- he’s a great guy, a great friend, and a wonderful crystaller for Flurry Heart -- but that’s not going to change the fact that I just plain don’t feel anything toward other guys. I mean yeah, I can admire a stallion in a way like, ‘Oh, I wish I looked like him or had a voice like his,’ but there’s literally zero attraction whatsoever. I honestly feel kinda bad about it now, because I have a feeling I’m gonna have to break the guy’s heart some day.”

Again Starlight reached across to take my hand, and she gave it a firm squeeze as she focused her eyes on mine. “I’ll be sure to talk to him when that time comes. You’re both important to me, so I’ll make sure you both come out of that without hating each other.”

Taking a steadying breath, I nodded gratefully. “Thanks, Star. I’d appreciate that.”

“SPIKE!!!”

My free wing flared on instinct at the shout, and if I hadn’t already been sitting in the booth, Pinkie’s glomp would have mashed me into the ground. Instead, the right side of my face was shoved into Twilight’s lap, while the left side was pressed against a pair of warm, soft things covered only by a tee shirt and an apron. I returned Pinkie’s hug with my non-pinned arm and released a muffled laugh into my not-so-bad prison, only for the familiar tingle of Twilight’s magic to grab both me and Pinkie to sit us up properly...and remove my face from the skirt between Twilight’s thighs.

I wisely decided to ignore the full-face blush that had broken out on Twilight and instead just pulled her close with my wing again as I resigned myself to being suffocated by Pinkie Pie. I suppose there were worse ways to go than being forcibly mashed into a mare’s dirty pillows.

Of course, the gasp from Pinkie made me realize that my mark was in full view, and I cursed silently to myself.

Deciding to bite the bit and get on with it, I pulled away from Pinkie a bit -- who, thankfully, had relaxed her grip -- and looked into her confused and concerned blue eyes. “Long story short, Ember claimed me to protect me from a dragon that wanted to take me away from Equestria, as well as any future ones that might try the same. It’s similar to a pony marriage, except it’s more obvious, and it hurts more. And yes, it still hurts.”

Pinkie’s big, soulful blue eyes began to glisten with unshed tears as she more reservedly hugged me, nuzzling the top of my head comfortingly as she sighed loudly. “...I don’t like it Spikey. Why did she have to hurt you just to stop a mean ol’ dragon?”

Reaching up with my left arm, and wound it around one of hers and up to the back of her head, scratching softly behind her ears. “It’s just part of dragon culture. I did it so that something like this wouldn’t happen again. Lyla almost died, Pinkie. This,” I tapped just above the mark, “will keep a similar situation from happening again. A little pain is worth the life of somepony I care about.”

I felt Pinkie let out a long breath before she pulled away and wiped her eyes with her thumbs. She looked down at me, still with glassy eyes, and nodded slowly. “I don’t like that you had to be hurt Spikey, but I know you wouldn’t be saying it was okay if it really wasn’t.”

Seeing that she was still distraught, I pulled my wing away from Twilight and stood, wrapping both arms and wings around Pinkie as tightly as I could without crushing her. She immediately reciprocated, settling into the embrace and closing her eyes as she let out a content sigh. I held the embrace for a few moments before pulling away a bit reluctantly, using a hand to grasp her chin and force her to look up at me.

“I promise, I’ll be okay. I just didn’t want to have to leave any of you, so I did what I had to in order to prevent that from happening because of dragons.” I explained slowly, hoping she would understand the reason behind it.

Thankfully, by her more accepting expression, it seemed she did. She spoke in a low tone, still a bit somber. “I just don’t like thinking about my friends being hurt. It makes me sad, ‘cause I can’t do anything about it; I’m a baker, not a nurse.” Before I could even think about the statement, I noticed a twinkle in her eyes as she commented, “...I mean, unless you want me to be a nurse.”

“PINKIE!”

My face felt flushed, and I was sure she could see the blush on my spines, but she just giggled adorably as she reached up and patted me on the head. “You’re so cute when you’re all embarrassed, Spikey. Well okay, I guess everything’s okie dokie, so,” she reached behind her back, into nothing, and pulled out a tray that had three sandwiches and three muffins on it, placing it on the table, “I think some good eats will lighten things up. Anyway, I’ll see you later, Spikey! Be good!” She ended her farewell with another firm embrace, and was then gone faster than I could blink.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that pony.” Starlight muttered, mostly to herself.

I just shook my head with a quiet chuckle. “She’s definitely an acquired taste, but you’ll not find a more friendly pony in Equestria. I wouldn’t be who I am today without her, so she’ll always be special to me.”

Glancing back to Starlight, I saw her nodding to me. “Yeah. You were just a little baby drake when you first came to Ponyville, so I imagine she influenced you quite a bit as you grew up.”

“Not all of it good,” Twilight grumbled as she took a bite of her sandwich, and I knew she was referring to my love of pranks. Regardless, Twilight was smiling slightly, so I knew it was all in good fun.

For the next few minutes, the three of us just silently enjoyed lunch in the bakery, basking in the warm, homey atmosphere of the place. Before we knew it, however, lunch was finished, so the three of us simply offered our thanks to the proprietors before leaving.

Now out in the free air again, I noticed the distinct chill of the coming winter, as well as the many weather pegasi helping the ponies of Ponyville finish their preparations for winter, which mostly consisted of gathering up all the dead leaves and disposing of them. Rainbow Dash was absent, and that worried me briefly until I remembered she was likely still in Canterlot resting after her experiences the prior day; Rainbow Dash often joked about being the most awesome pony alive, but we all knew that even she had limits, and yesterday definitely qualified her for a good, long rest. Nonetheless, it was nice to see that Ponyville was still as friendly and helpful as ever, and were, at this point, a bit jaded to the events that took place nearby, or in the town itself. None of them were even glancing twice at us, even after the dragon fight the day before, and Twilight’s angered shout from earlier in the day. I could only assume they gauged their reactions off of the members of The Council of Friendship: if we weren’t panicking, whatever was happening wasn’t something to worry about.

As a group, we decided we should visit Rarity. Besides all of us wanting to check up on what winter clothes she had available, I was going to need a new wardrobe because of my slight increase in size (two or three inches in height was slight, right?). Besides that, Rarity needed to know what had gone on, and I needed Twilight there as a buffer to explain the culture of dragons to her, so she wouldn’t freak about a permanent scar given to me as a part of that culture. I also missed her, since it had been almost a week since I’d seen her, so there was that.

The Carousel Boutique came into view as we crossed the center of town, and I found my steps becoming just a bit lighter and a smile adorning my face as I thought about my beautiful, generous unicorn marefriend. I suppose it’s true what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder, and this was evidenced by the fact that I was not concerned whatsoever about how angry she was likely going to be with Ember, or how upset she was going to be with me for allowing someone to brand their name into my skin -- as long as I could be with her, I knew everything would be okay.

The three of us stepped up to the door, and I gave a firm knock on the door to let Rarity know she had company. A musical “~Comiiing~,” answered, so we waited patiently for the owner of the home to invite us inside.

The beautiful white-furred unicorn pulled open the door, eyes closed with a bright smile upon her face as she greeted, “Welcome to the original Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magni- Starlight, darling!” Rarity’s eyes had opened midway through her greeting, and she excitedly pulled Starlight into a hug without hesitation. Starlight, while initially looking a bit startled, soon relaxed into the embrace and returned it readily. After a few moments, Rarity pulled back with a much warmer smile. “Darling, it is wonderful to see you home again. How was your journey? Oh,” she scoffed, stepping back through the doorway, “where are my manners; come in, come in!”

The three of us entered the boutique, and just a cursory glance was enough to confirm we had caught Rarity in the process of finishing up her winter line of designs, if the half-finished outfits upon mannequins and scattered bolts of cloth were any indication. “Rares, we’re not in the way right now, are we? I know you get busy this time of year.”

She simply waved my concerns away. “It’s fine, dear. I can afford an hour or two for the ones I care about. Besides, I’m nearly finished and ahead of schedule, so it’s really no trouble at all, I assure you.” She led us to her sitting room and asked, “Tea, water, cocoa?”

The three of us glanced at each other, a wordless conversation briefly being exchanged, after which Twilight looked to our hostess and answered, “Some tea would be nice, Rarity. Thank you for the hospitality.” Nodding with that same warm smile, Rarity pivoted with practiced grace and strode into her kitchen to prepare us some fragrant hot tea, which was always nice to have during the cooler months. The three of us took a seat on the plush sofa Rarity kept for customers in the sitting room, me sitting on the end with Twilight in the middle, and Starlight on the other end. Rarity returned only moments later, however, her horn alight around a fine porcelain teapot as she carried a tray with the teapot and four cups and saucers into the room, along with a small set of containers that held the sugar and milk for the tea and a bowl for lemon wedges.

Though Rarity would never admit it, she was an expert at brewing the proper cup of tea, so much so that even Celestia had picked up her current favorite brew from Rarity herself, as well as the skills to properly make it. I had once asked Rarity why she had taken so much time to become a master at brewing teas, and she simply told me, “A properly brewed cup of tea can turn a battle negotiation into the end of a war, a business proposal into a successful deal, and a simple day with friends into a memorable experience. A good cup of tea can make a bad day better, it can soothe the soul from the crushing weight of life’s trials, and it can offer good friends a reason to be together, if only simply to relax with a good cup in each other’s presence.” I had to admit that Rarity’s tea brews had a way of giving us a respite from whatever might be happening during the day -- even if only for a few moments -- but sometimes, that little change in the day could turn things around for the better. Because of this, I deferred to her judgement on the matter, because even though I didn’t understand all the subtle nuances that she did, what we experienced from simply having tea together spoke for itself.

Rarity took her seat at her favorite chaise next to me, and set all the implements down on the table as she gestured with a wave of her hand. “Please, enjoy.”

I took the cup closest to me, poured a little sugar into it with a squirt of lemon, then grabbed the teapot still covered in a faint blue glow. Deeming it hot enough, Rarity’s magic faded from the teapot, and I nodded my thanks before pouring the dark, steaming liquid into my cup. Immediately the myriad of exotic spices and earthy scent of the tea itself filled the immediate area, and I inhaled deeply as I reveled in the smell. I had never really been one for tea before coming to Ponyville -- and, I’ll admit, my initial interest had been as a way to get closer to Rarity -- but now, I enjoyed it quite a bit; unless it was morning and I hadn’t yet had my coffee, it was generally my drink of choice. Tea truly had the ability to calm the nerves and relax the soul, with the right brew.

“So,” Rarity began, setting her own cup down on the saucer as she sat a bit straighter, “I’m pleased to see you back home, Starlight. I’ll admit I hadn’t expected you back today, but Spike here had- OH MY WORD!”

I cringed at her explanation, as well as the sound of a teacup and saucer shattering on the table. It was clear she had seen my brand.

Rarity had jerked to her hooves, hand held over her mouth as tears glistened in her eyes. Her arm was half outstretched, as if afraid to touch me, so I slowly reached out and grasped her hand in mine and slowly brought it to the mark, ignoring the uncomfortable warmth of her hand. She initially jerked away, but I held her hand against the mark and smiled guiltily at her. “I suppose I have some explaining to do.”

Rarity’s eyes were still glistening with tears as she took a seat on the plush armrest, nodding to me. “I suppose you should, yes.”

“Well,” I began, organizing my thoughts to the simplest explanation, “to be as direct as possible, this,” I pointed to the mark that was still covered by Rarity’s left hand, “is a mate’s brand. The odd writing is the draconic language, and it...spells Ember’s name. Basically, she had been watching me since before I went to confront the other dragoness, and in order to get her to leave, Ember claimed me as her own mate -- what happened between us during the Gauntlet of Fire gave her that right. The reason she did so was because the other dragoness wanted to do the same, and take me back to the dragon lands against my will. I gave the same mark to Ember, and both of them together mark us as bonded in the eyes of all the dragon clans -- no other female has the right to claim me now, and my name on Ember will make the other dragonesses aware that I’m off limits. This was the only way to end the possibility of more dragonesses coming to try and claim me for themselves, without starting a war.”

I watched as she gently wiped the growing tears away with a thumb, but the sour look on her face remained. “But why you, Spike? I mean no disrespect when I ask this, but what makes you so important?”

Holding up my hand, I began to count, like Twilight had earlier. “I’m a member of the Council of Friendship, I’m the intermediary between Equestria and the dragons, I’m connected in some way to all the Equestrian princesses, I’m a personal friend of Thorax, and I’m the adopted son of Celestia herself. Dragons place quite a bit of importance on status, and due to all the connections I have and the friendships I’ve made, I’m very important. Even though dragons don’t necessarily have a high opinion of ‘squishy races’ like ponies, there’s no denying the marvels they’ve created, or the fact they’ve survived and flourished in such a dangerous world. My connection to Celestia and Luna is also very desirable -- while they’re not worshiped or anything, ‘the Living Sun and Moon’ are highly respected and revered among dragons. While Equestrian nobles tend to believe I’m, at best, a liability, the other races know exactly how much power I hold because of who I am in Equestria, who I know, and what I’ve done.” I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “I’ve never really had reason to think about it before, but now that I have, it’s actually surprising it took this long for a dragoness to attempt this.”

Still rubbing the skin around the brand, Rarity frowned as she thought aloud. “I suppose it makes sense, then. I detest that the situation called for this, however. Also, ponies will talk about this downright…” she glanced to me, as if asking for permission.

I nodded to her. “Go ahead, you can say it.”

Smiling briefly to me, Rarity continued with, “This...barbaric practice is not exactly acceptable among ponies, Spike. It’s too detailed to simply pass off as an accident of some sort, so ponies will talk. I shudder to think of the rumors that will be created in response to this.”

Again I nodded. “Yeah, same. However, this was the result of a willing action between two participants, and that’s exactly what I’m going to tell ponies that kick up a fuss about it. What it means to Ember and I is not their business to know, so that’s all they’re going to get.”

Removing her hand from the tender mark, finally, Rarity leaned a bit onto my side and more comfortably settled herself. “Speaking of that, I think it’s a safe assumption that this is a rather intimate gesture, considering the fact it’s called a ‘mate’s brand’, but what specifically does it mean to you, Spike?”

I glanced to Twilight, and she nodded to me encouragingly. Taking a deep breath I prepared to explain as plainly as I could. “Ember cares about me, Rarity. A lot. It’s more than just friendship, too, but she refuses to push further due to the fact that we can’t be together for any length of time. She trusts me, and has clear attraction to me, but our respective duties are going to keep us apart. We both agreed that a long-distance relationship wouldn’t work, so while we care about each other, my place as her consort is merely a title that will work to our mutual benefit.”

“That’s...not very romantic at all, Spike. I’m rather disappointed, actually.” Rarity bluntly countered. “While I understand that a relationship of such a distance would be all but impossible to maintain, it is...frankly, it’s saddening that the two of you cannot explore your mutual affections for one another.”

I raised my brow at that. “Wait, I thought you didn’t like Ember.”

Snorting gently through her nose with a grin, Rarity shook her head. “I admit, she’s unrefined, completely lacking feminine decorum, and is rather brutish, but I don’t distinctly dislike her, Spike. We do not share much in common when it comes to personality or hobbies, it’s true, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like Ember. I simply don’t know her well enough, and we haven’t spent more than a few minutes together at a time, and she is hardly interested in gossip or dressmaking.” She placed a velvety hand on my chest as her smile changed to something warm and loving. “What I do know is that she cares for you -- deeply, it seems -- and she has nothing but your happiness and wellbeing in mind. That alone tells me she is a good person, and though I do not know her personally, that is good enough for me.”

I nodded gently, surprised and pleased. “Cool, works for me. Well, now that the main deal is out of the way, we actually came by to check on your winter line, and also…” I chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck, “I’m gonna need some new clothes.”

At the latter part of my statement, I saw Rarity’s eyes begin going over my form with a critical eye. Of course, the signs that the clothing was tighter was obvious: since Rarity made our clothes tailored to our respective bodies, they weren’t really made to stretch. The tightness of the relatively new buttoned, collared shirt was most visible around my biceps and chest, where the cloth and buttons could be seen straining a bit. They were still nice clothes -- and, I suppose if I were the type, they’d be good for showing off a muscular form -- but I didn’t regularly wear my clothes to be form-fitting, so it felt uncomfortable to me.

“My my, has someone been working out?” Rarity purred, reaching out to stroke my chest as she not-so-subtly felt me up.

While I reflexively flexed the muscles there to show off (don’t judge me), I released Twilight and stood, shaking my head. “Yes, but that’s not why I need new clothes.”

Again Rarity’s eyes roved over me as she also stood, when she suddenly gasped as she summoned a tape measure and dropped one end to the floor. Her magic held it above my head, and she brought it down to read off the marking, only to gasp again. “Seventy-six inches -- Spike, you’ve grown four inches in just a day! Did you-?”

“I had to grow and fight the other dragoness while Lyla and Rainbow Dash escaped to safety.” I answered guiltily. “They had both followed me, and Lyla transformed to take on the dragoness so I could get somewhere safe...but I couldn’t leave her. I knocked out the dragoness so Rainbow Dash could get Lyla medical attention, but I had to keep the dragoness in one place until Dash could get Luna to me. I don’t remember anything after the fight started, but the next thing I knew, I was waking up in Ember’s lap, and I was normal-sized again.”

Staring at me blankly for a moment, Rarity’s mouth hung open dumbly as she took in what I said. Following a quick shake of her head, her tape measure began flying all over my body, taking the many different measurements she normally gathered when making clothes. She meticulously marked down all the measurements on her notepad until she finished, at which point the tape measure unceremoniously dropped into a coiled heap on the floor.

Rarity lowered her red working glasses over her eyes and I watched as her eyes darted over the page. She flipped back a few pages -- presumably to compare my old measurements with the new ones -- before nodding firmly and lifting the glasses to rest on her horn as she looked up at me. “You haven’t just gotten taller, Spike. All of your measurements have increased -- you’ve grown. Even…” she quickly used her magic to ease open my wings, once again floating the tape measure up to take numbers before nodding again, “even your wings have gotten bigger. I think it’s a safe assumption that this is due in part to what happened yesterday, though I cannot say what.”

“Neither can I.” Twilight added from behind me. “His behavior hasn’t changed, so I’m not worried, but it is a bit jarring. There’s simply too much that happened yesterday to effectively pin down a cause.”

Rarity nodded while looking off to the side, biting her lip. She eventually looked up to me with a loving smile and a nod. “Of course I will make you a new wardrobe Spike, and I’ll only charge for the cost of materials and a quarter of the labor.”

Knowing how much Rarity normally was able to price her clothes, I raised my brow at her incredulously. “Are you sure? I mean, I’m thankful, but I would feel more comfortable paying in full for taking up your time.”

With that same loving smile and a gentle rub of my cheek, Rarity nodded resolutely. “Of course I’m sure, darling. As I said, I’m nearly finished and ahead of schedule with my current orders, and I have nothing on the calendar after that, other than a visit to my Manehattan shop in two weeks. That is more than enough time to make a few necessary items for you, and I would not think of charging a friend or lover the same as a normal customer. If,” she began, silencing my attempted counter, “you still feel indebted to me, you can take Twilight and I to La Porte du Paradis for dinner tomorrow night, and we can call things even.”

I held my brow high. “Taking two of my mares on a date? That still doesn’t sound like I’m losing anything in this deal.”

Fluttering her lashes with a saucy smile, Rarity stood as tall as she could, a mere few inches from my face, as she whispered, “Well, I suppose you will just have to endure taking two beautiful mares out, won’t you? Oh dear, I don’t know how you’ll cope.” With a more coy lip bite and a challenging raised eyebrow, she punctuated her statement with a gentle rub of the unbranded side of my neck.

Shivering slightly from the teasing, I cleared my throat and nodded. “O-okay, yeah. I think I can do that.”

“Wonderful darling.” Rarity replied as she pulled away and released me, levitating her notepad back to her hands as she began walking toward her sewing room. “Now, the winter clothes I have planned for all of you should be ready tomorrow. Spike, I should have something ready for you by tomorrow as well, though I’ll need to make a few alterations to the original design. Twilight if you could…” she looked to see Twilight had already repaired the cup and saucer, as well as cleaned up the spilled tea. Rarity gave her a bright smile in response, “Thank you, darling. Now, I hate to talk and run, but inspiration calls, and I must prepare for tomorrow. Twilight, do be sure Spike gets a good rest tonight. Ta, dears!”

I watched Rarity leave briefly before reaching down and pulling Twilight up with me, then jerking my head to the front door. “Guess we should leave her be. I know Fluttershy’s really busy this time of year, so it would be pointless to visit her until tomorrow, earlier in the day. So, what do you two want to do for the rest of the day?”

As we made our way out of the boutique, and Starlight shut the door behind her, Twilight took her place at my side and looked up at me with a smile. “Well, we don’t have any work to do until tomorrow, so I’m up for spending the day at the park, unless you have a better idea.”

I shrugged. “Not really, and some fresh Ponyville air sounds nice.” I glanced to the other mare, who was waving to one of our fellow residents. “What about you, Starlight? Feel like spending the day together?”

At hearing her name, Starlight’s ears twitched my way before she swung her gaze around and looked at me incredulously. “Really? I mean, I don’t want to cramp the two of you.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I’m having a date with my girls tomorrow, this is just a casual outing between friends. Besides, Twilight and I both missed having you around, so we should spend some time together. You’re not intruding or anything, I promise.”

“Spike’s right,” Twilight added warmly, “we’d love to spend time with you. Please join us; we’ll pick up some fizzy drinks from Barnyard Bargains, some snacks from Sugarcube Corner, and we’ll make a day of it. Frankly, I think we could all use some real downtime, and the weather is still warm enough to enjoy time outside without warmer clothing.”

I looked back to Starlight with a raised brow. “So? I mean, if you have other things to do, we don’t-”

“No, I…” Starlight blurted, wincing slightly before continuing more confidently, “I’d love to join you two, if you really don’t mind. It feels like forever since I’ve been here, and I did miss my friends while I was away. A day in the park sounds nice.”

“Cool.” I answered, giving a thumbs-up. I nudged Twilight and suggested, “You go with Starlight to Barnyard Bargains, and I’ll pick up some eats from Pinkie. We’ll meet by the great oak in a half-hour. Sound good?” With nods from both mares, I turned on my heel and began walking back toward Sugarcube Corner.

Only a short time later, the three of us had reconvened and were settled in the shade of a massive oak tree growing near the center of town. Even in the late fall, the air was still warm enough that even in the shade of the old tree, it was a pleasant and enjoyable day. Twilight and Starlight had bought a couple of bottles of pop, and I had gathered a few sweet pastries from Sugarcube Corner. With our snacks and drinks gathered, we whiled away the day in pleasant company, mostly reminiscing about the past. I was pleased to notice that Starlight had settled into Ponyville life again just fine, since she was on the receiving end of friendly greetings from the local populace. It was always nice to see all my friends being accepted as just another citizen, regardless of their past.

For over an hour, we just enjoyed each other’s presence in a rare moment of completely free time.

The relaxing day was disrupted by a deep rumble in the distance, which could easily be mistaken for thunder, if not for the fact that it was a clear day. Looking toward the source of the sound, I caught sight of a familiar rainbow contrail heading directly for Ponyville, which only one pony alive could make. I pointed to it, drawing the attention of the two mares sitting with me, and we all stood and waited for the speedy pegasus to arrive -- due to her flying at such a speed, I was pretty sure it was because she would be looking for me.

I came up with an idea to keep Rainbow Dash from frantically flying all over town at dangerous speeds, so I looked to Twilight and suggested, “Could you send up a flare so she can find us?” Twilight’s face brightened at the idea, and nodded before lighting her horn. A moment later, a bright lavender spark shot up into the air, through the branches of the tree and into the open sky. I knew that for a pony with eyes as good as Rainbow Dash, it would be foals play to find the origin of the flare.

Just as I planned, we were all able to see exactly when the approaching pony changed course, flying directly for the base of the tree, and though I had seen it hundreds of times, it was always amazing to see the power and control over flight that Rainbow Dash had. Even after flaring her wings and bleeding much of her speed away, she was still approaching at a velocity that would make most pegasi sick from being so close to the ground. It only took me a second to realize what was about to happen, so I casually stepped away from the other two mares and extended my arms and wings, waiting for Rainbow Dash to-

WHAM!

...grind me into the ground like a plow blade. It took a moment for my head to stop spinning, but when I was finally able to see clearly, I looked down at the messy head of rainbow hair and wrapped my arms tightly around her. Just from the look of her, it was clear she hadn’t slept very soundly the night before -- and likely only got the little sleep she did due to a spell from Luna -- so I just held the embrace silently and waited for her to ease up, regardless of the new soreness in my chest and back. After a minute or so, her grip relaxed slightly, enough so that I could maneuver my arms to push us up to a sitting position with help from my wings. From there, I was able to get my legs underneath me to stand, and when I did, Twilight and Starlight joined the hug from both sides.

Reaching up with both hands just under her wing joints and pulling her closer, I nuzzled the top of her head with my nose, reassuring her. “I’m okay, Rainbow Dash. Everything’s okay. Lyla’s safe, the dragon’s gone, and everything’s okay.” It took another minute or so for the anxious trembles to die away, and eventually Rainbow Dash calmed enough to look up at me with a critical eye. Like Starlight, it took a few moments, but a gasp suddenly escaped her, followed by my preemptive, “I’ll tell you all about the mark. And yes, I’ve gotten bigger.”

“I’ll say.” she breathed almost reverently. I watched as her gaze roved over my chest and arms, silently amused at her sudden interest in the way my shirt now barely fit. Seemingly realizing what she’d said, she shook her head and couldn’t quite keep from blushing as she amended, “I mean, it’s kinda hard to ignore you growing bigger when I just saw you yesterday. That’s all.”

I decided not to tease her -- now wasn’t the time for that -- and instead motioned to the collection of snacks and drinks by the base of the oak tree. “Why don’t we take a seat and I’ll catch you up on everything that happened after you left, hm?”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the food, and immediately her stomach roared angrily. With a deeper blush, she admitted, “...sounds good. I kinda slept in, and skipped lunch to make it here.”

The four of us sat down and allowed Rainbow Dash to eat in peace for a few minutes before I began to recount the events that took place after she had fetched Luna. She didn’t speak the whole time (which made sense, since she couldn’t eat, breathe, and talk all at the same time), but it was clear to me that she was listening intently to the story. She had a look of distinct concern when I went over my forced growth -- like, for example, the fact that I didn’t consciously notice myself getting bigger -- but the expression changed to wonder when I talked about how I fought and won against the dragoness. Surprise colored her as I spoke about my next conscious memory of waking up in Ember’s lap, followed by a chuckle at how Luna had needed to Goddess-punch me in the face (her words, not mine). Concern washed over her as I talked about what the mark was, as well as how it was given to me, but her worries were apparently sated when I assured her that I wasn’t going anywhere, and we’d be hearing more from Ember from now on.

She had finished her stand-in meal by that point, and sat in silence for a quiet minute or two as she mentally went over everything I had told her. Finally, seemingly coming to a conclusion, she looked to me and shrugged. “Well, you didn’t get to bang that one dragoness, but Ember’s a good prize. She’s pretty hot.” Her teasing smirk was enough to force a mirthful chuckle out of me at her antics.

“Really Dash? Just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” I mildly chastised, without any real heat behind it.

She only grinned like a dork. “What? I mean, at least you got something out of this. Ember’s a catch; heck, if I swung that way, I might make a pass.”

I rolled my eyes at her and shook my head. “This ‘union’ is largely for our mutual benefit. We can’t be anything more due to the distance. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. For now, this is just the best of a bad situation. Although, I will admit that it was good to see her again, and she promises to send messages back and forth again.”

Rainbow Dash’s playful mirth receded, leaving only a warm affection in its place as she reached out and took one of my hands in her own. She gave it a firm squeeze and smiled at me with relief. “All kidding aside, I’m glad you’re okay, Spike. When you sent me away yesterday…” she momentarily glanced away and caught her bottom lip in her teeth before continuing, “gosh, I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before. I flew like a bat out of Tartarus after I dropped off Lyla with the thestrals, and I’m pretty sure the castle staff isn’t happy I destroyed pretty much an entire section of the garden when I landed outside. I couldn’t stop thinking about what might be happening without me there, but my wings were shaking, and I could barely even fly after all that. I got Princess Luna and told her what was going on, and then the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a guest bed today.”

I nodded my understanding. “I kinda figured Luna would have put a spell on you to make you sleep. She probably knew she could get things handled at that point, and you needed to sleep to keep you from basically killing yourself flying in your state. Don’t be mad at her, Dash. She did the right thing, and everything turned out fine.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I’m not, I just wish she would have let me know what she was gonna do before she did it. It was...um…” she snapped her fingers a few times and looked to Twilight.

“Jarring, I believe.” Twilight answered with a faint smile. “Luna’s sleep spells usually are, due to her connection with the night. Other similar unicorn spells make a pony get progressively sleepier until they finally succumb, but for Luna, they just...knock you out.”

Rainbow Dash nodded her thanks to Twilight before looking back to me with a smile. “Well, I’m glad everything’s cool, now.” When Rainbow Dash looked away, I shot a subtle glance at Twilight, only for her to shake her head. She was right; Rainbow Dash didn’t need to know this was a lot more complicated than it seemed, since she couldn’t do anything about it. I hated keeping secrets, but this one wouldn’t do anything but upset her, and she’d feel helpless.

“So, when did you get back, Star?” Rainbow Dash chimed, sipping from her glass of sarsaparilla as she looked at the pink unicorn.

Starlight smiled at Rainbow Dash, shrugging slightly. “Eh, not too long ago; just a few hours before now, actually. I figured it was time to come back home and tell some stories. Oh, speaking of,” her grin turned slightly smug, “you’ve got fans all the way at the southern cape, past the Black Forest. I told them I’d come all the way from Equestria, in Ponyville, and a few of the minotaurs and even gryphons immediately asked me if I had met any of the Elements. When I said yes, I did know all of you, this little chick named Griselda would not shut up about you. It was all ‘Rainbow Dash’ this, and ‘she’s so awesome’ for hours. So, if you ever need your ego stroked, keep in mind that there are people all over the continent that know who you are.”

I was able to witness the pride practically filling Rainbow Dash’s body, and if it weren’t for the fact she was already a pegasus, I imagine she’d be able to fly on ego alone at that point.

“Hah, little chick has good taste, then!” she answered, her smile brighter than the sun at that moment. She thumped her chest and closed her eyes with a pleased smile. “I mean, I guess it’s only natural word’s gotten out. You can’t keep this much awesome contained in Equestria!”

From my place next to her, I reached with a claw and poked Rainbow Dash in the ribs, eliciting a girly, adorable squeak from her as she practically jumped away from my finger. I just smirked back at her scowl and teased, “Yeah, awesome. So awesome she squeaks like a dog toy when you poke her, and she still squeals like a fanfilly when a new Daring Do book comes out.” She blushed and visibly deflated, so I reached out and gave a pat to her shoulder patronizingly, and she mockingly snapped at my hand like an angry dog. I only found the gesture all the more adorable, and I had to restrain myself from laughing at her embarrassment. The foalish raspberry she blew at me broke my composure, and she soon joined me in laughter, along with Twilight and Starlight.

After a few enjoyable moments of laughter, we got ourselves under control and just sat together, smiling happily. Rainbow Dash was okay, Starlight was back, and there was no dragon pillaging Ponyville, so today was a good day.

The day ended with a heartfelt goodbye from Rainbow Dash to the three of us, and a promise from her that she would be swinging by to visit tomorrow after she finished work. We all exchanged parting words -- and me, gratitude for what she’d done yesterday -- before she flew home to leave Twilight, Starlight and I alone for the rest of the night.

The night was relatively boring by comparison to the last few days, but I told myself that was a good thing. It was mundane in the sense that we simply ate a modest dinner, bathed, and then gathered in Twilight’s room to watch a movie as early evening progressed to night. Termarenator was one of my favorites, but a worry that had been politely knocking on the back of my mind became impossible to ignore, now that I had very little to distract me.

I was worried about Lyla. I knew that, as a soldier changeling that was practically gorged on love and positive emotions every day, she was quite capable of holding her own in combat against most of the dangerous things of the world, but that didn’t mean I liked that she was hurt. I also knew that thestrals, with the help of modern Equestrian medicine, would be able to adequately provide for her and make sure she made a speedy recovery, but I still felt a little sick to my stomach knowing that she was likely laying in a bed right now, alone, with nothing to do but wait for her wounds to heal enough to safely make the trip home. Part of me wanted to blame her for putting herself in harm’s way for my sake, but I knew I had my own list of stupid decisions I’d made in life, so I couldn’t judge her.

Before I knew it, much like the slumber party Twilight and the others had invited me to some time ago, we had all progressed to laying down, eyes half-closed, as we tried to continue watching the movie -- even I was unable to resist the call to sleep. Twilight was the first to fall, quite literally faceplanting into her pillow in a comical manner. Starlight glanced sleepily at her, before catching my eye with an unsaid question. I nodded toward the video player and television, and with a light of her horn, both shut off for the night as the room was bathed in darkness. I yawned, relieved that I hadn’t had to get up from the comfortable spot, before I rested my own head on the pillow in front of me as I surrendered to sleep. Distantly, I felt who could only be Starlight nestling her pillow against my side as she also settled in, but paid it no mind as Luna’s realm welcomed me. Tomorrow was sure to be busy for all of us, but for tonight, it was nice to just enjoy a nice day with friends.

Or at least it would have been, if not for a tapping on the far window.

With a muted growl, I lifted my head and glared at the window in question. At this height, it could only be a pegasus or alicorn, and for this window (which was just a plain wall when viewed from the outside), it had to be somepony that knew the layout of the castle. I let out a pitiful whine before carefully extracting myself from the soft bed and comforting presence of two best friends, and I would have stomped over to the window if not for the fact that I didn’t want to disturb my two roommates. Regardless, the snarl on my face could have curdled milk.

I flung open the window, darted my head out, and growled, “This had better be important.” A part of me was screaming in self-admonishment -- what if it had been Fluttershy that I had just rudely growled at? However, besides the fact that it was also rude to knock on someone’s window late at night, I was tired. Tired dragons get cranky.

I admit I was surprised to see a rainbow-patterned mane and powerful wings the shade of a beautiful blue sky.

Still, my annoyance bled through my surprise and was audible in my tone. “And what can I do for you, Rainbow Dash?” We only called each other by full names when we were upset, so I’m sure that would be enough anyway. I admit, I felt guilty at the flinch my words caused, and it made me aware enough to take in her appearance: splayed ears, crossed arms against a hunched form...oh, and she had apparently flown over without a shirt on, only wearing her sports bra and a pair of mesh shorts. Concern overrode my crankiness, and I opened the window a little wider as I whispered, “Dash, are you okay?”

I couldn’t see her eyes, since her bangs were in the way, but I could see her catch her lip between her teeth as she continued hovering silently outside the window. Without another question, I backed up and motioned her inside, and she took the invitation immediately. With a strong flap of her powerful wings and aerial precision that could only come from nearly twenty-five years of rigorous training, Rainbow Dash entered the bedroom, and landed nearly silently on the fluffy rug. Her wings folded tightly at her side, little tremors running through them as she continued to do the impression of a pony trying to melt into herself. At this point, I was almost fully awake, so I silently led her out of the room to the commons area, where we could talk without waking the other two.

I took a place on the plush loveseat, and to my surprise, Rainbow Dash took the spot right next to me. She still wouldn’t look at me, which worried me, but I knew that trying to pry out things Rainbow Dash didn’t want to tell was going to be nearly impossible, so I just waited silently, offering what I could with my (hopefully) reassuring presence. It took a few somewhat-awkward moments of silence before she spoke, but when she did…

“It was a nightmare.”

I raised my brow at the nearly-silent words. “A nightmare?” She only nodded faintly, her posture still defensive. I rolled the thought around my head for a moment, and thought about the impact of it.

Since Luna’s return to Equestria, nightmares had become increasingly rare among the populace. As the princess of the night, dreams were a part of her realm of power, and she could influence them, as well as banish them completely, if needed. I had once asked Luna why she didn’t banish all of them, and she simply replied that, “Not every nightmare is without purpose, Spike. Sometimes, to spare somepony from a greater evil within his or her life, I must allow the nightmare to run its course so that they can learn from the experience.” Luna’s power within the dream realm was without equal, so if she wanted to banish every bad dream that happened every night, she could. By her words though, sometimes, people needed a bad dream to push them to confront something in the waking world. Sometimes it was a simple fear, much like the dreams themselves, but sometimes it was far more complex than that. What this all told me was that, while Rainbow Dash was undoubtedly shaken from the nightmare, there was a reason Luna had let it run its course.

I had to choose my next words carefully, since I didn’t want her to completely shut me out. Thinking for a few moments, I eventually settled on, “Is there anything I can do to-”

“It was about you, Spike.”

My mouth seemed to stop working at her words. I just sat there with what was likely an amusing look on my face for a few seconds before I closed my mouth and nodded. “I see. Well, as you can see, I’m safe, and I’m not going anywhere.” I slowly reached out to grasp her hand, and while she initially flinched away, Rainbow Dash eventually allowed me to make the contact with her. Though she still wouldn’t look at me, I tried my best to soothe her. “Yesterday was...it sucked, but we’re all okay, and everything’s the way it should be. Sure, I’ve got a new scar, but we’re all okay, and even Lyla will be coming back in a day or two.”

She breathed a shuddering breath before croaking, “But what about the next time? I feel like every time we do this, we’re just pushing our luck now. This wasn’t a friendship emergency or anything, so you could have just said ‘no’ to the guard when he came to ask you.” She looked up at me finally, with glassy magenta eyes. “Why didn’t you? I could tell you were scared, so why didn’t you tell him to shove it up his plot? You didn’t have to do any of that, Spike!” Her voice had risen considerably by the last word, and she suddenly shot to her hooves to begin pacing. “I mean, surely if it came down to it, Luna could have gotten involved, or we could have flown to the dragon lands before this and gotten Ember involved!”

“And we would have shown Equestria, as well as the rest of the world, that Twilight and the others in the Council of Friendship are either incapable or unwilling to handle threats to Equestria.” I answered blandly, but firmly. “I measured the distance; this dragoness was much closer to us than any other settlement, so it was technically our jurisdiction on this. If we have to call on Celestia and Luna to handle problems every time, it’s going to look like Twilight’s not able to do it on her own. Legally, I’m Twilight’s registered honor-guard -- it was the only way to keep from having to spend tax bits to build a guard barracks in Ponyville; I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we don’t exactly have the room for a building of that size anywhere near town. I did this because it had to be done, and if we needed to call on the other two princesses to help, it would have looked bad that me -- another dragon -- couldn’t deal with this threat.” I snorted a bit at the thought; it still irked me. “I didn’t want to be the one to do this, and, to be honest, I was practically shaking in my scales. I did it because it had to be done, and because me handling it had the most positive outcomes to it.”

Rainbow Dash glared at me, with tears in the corners of her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest again. “I thought I was talking to Spike, not some Canterlot diplomat. Who gives a flying feather about all that; what about you? Don’t you matter?”

“Not to Equestria, no.” I answered immediately. At that, Rainbow Dash’s mouth dropped open in shock, and any other time, I would have laughed at the look. At the time, however, I could only sigh heavily and rest my face on my hand. “Here, I’m just a number, and as a part of the ruling class -- though only as Twilight’s second, in the eyes of the public -- I have a duty to do what’s best for our people.” Removing my hand from my face, I focused on her face as I stood and made my way over to her. I stopped only a few inches from her, and bored my gaze into her eyes as I poked her in the sternum. “But in my heart, I did it for you, and all my friends.” Her lips began quivering, though she kept silent, so I soldiered on. “In my mind, as a dragon, Ponyville and all of you are a part of my hoard, and even though you don’t know as much about dragons as Twilight, I know you know how dragons are about their hoard. You and all the other girls are what’s most important to me in the entire world, and I’d rather face my fears than let something happen to you.”

She continued gazing at me for some seconds before she whispered, “S-so…” but took a moment to clear her throat before trying again, “...so, you really were scared?”


I snorted at the innocence of the question, and I couldn’t quite stop the small jet of fire that shot out of my nose. “Are you joking? Of course I was scared. Remember what I was like when I was smaller? Yeah, that hasn’t changed at all. I’m still a big scaredy-drake when it comes down to it; I’ve just gotten better at hiding it. ‘Fake it until you make it’ is what Shining Armor always told me, so I’ve gotten really good at acting.” I released a long breath before smiling at her, giving an affectionate squeeze to her shoulder. “But you showed me how to be brave, when I was younger. You taught me that being brave doesn’t mean we’re not scared, it just means that even when we’re afraid, we can overcome it to do what we need to do.”

The expression on Rainbow Dash’s face changed to one of mild pride at my praise, and I counted that as a win. She still looked a little shaken up, and it was clear this was going to be bothering her for awhile yet, but she looked reassured that I hadn’t been acting needlessly recklessly, and I had a good reason for it. And, most importantly, that I was afraid, just like everypony else could be.

Since when did she place me on a pedestal?

A squeaky, cute yawn escaped her as the exhaustion became clear to her once more, and while she pouted with a blush at my chuckle, she didn’t try and deny it as I gestured to her to follow me again. “C’mon, you’re staying the night. We both need sleep, and I think you’ll sleep better with some friends nearby.” She didn’t deny the attractiveness of my suggestion, and just quietly followed me back to the bedroom.

Twilight, as usual, had stretched out in my absence -- so much so that she now had a leg and wing draped over Starlight. I chuckled quietly at the sight, but walked forward to gently make room for me again. Twilight slept like a floppy stuffed animal, her limbs everywhere, but loose, so it was relatively easy to move her into a more comfortable position. Starlight, for her part, hadn’t actually moved much at all, other than to flip from her back onto her side, so I carefully stepped onto the princess’s oversized bed, nestling myself into the area between the two slumbering mares, extending my wings over Twilight’s body and Starlight’s legs.

Rainbow Dash, after looking around for a few moments, fluttered into the air behind me out of sight. I felt a weight settle onto my back and between my wings as her compact chest pressed against the skin just under my wings. Any other time, the feel of that particular type of softness would have brought a flush to my face, but with the talk we had just shared and exhaustion again creeping in, I just enjoyed the warmth and the way she nuzzled the back of my neck as she got comfortable. Eventually, she lay still, which left me in silence for the next few minutes.

“Hey Spike?”

While my eyes didn’t open, I couldn’t help the raise of my eyebrow, even if she didn’t see it. “Yeah Dash?”

A long silence followed. I didn’t think she was going to say anything, but eventually she answered with a nearly-silent, “...thank you. For everything.”

I reached around the back of my head and playfully tousled her hair before murmuring, “Anytime, Dash. I mean that.”

Again silence descended, and within only a few minutes, I found myself welcoming the embrace of Luna’s dream realm as the world faded away.

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Comments ( 23 )
Bronze_drake
Bronze_drake #1 · Apr 7th, 2018 · · ·
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looks like spikes addin a few to his herd. I cant wait to see the results...

DarkDMan
DarkDMan #2 · Apr 7th, 2018 · · ·
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Another great chapter! Feels like this story is about to wrap up? If so, it was a great ride.

Can't wait for more, later!:moustache:

Radiant Dawn
Radiant Dawn #3 · Apr 7th, 2018 · · ·
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8848944
Hah, no. Not even close. Still plenty more to go, I assure you.

DarkDMan
DarkDMan #4 · Apr 7th, 2018 · · ·
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8849154
Yay! Happy to be wrong!

Continue with the crazy, scaled ride!:moustache:

OmniFox
OmniFox #5 · Apr 8th, 2018 · · ·
Reply

Spike the Swagon!!

PheonixTv
PheonixTv #6 · Apr 8th, 2018 · · ·
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So Lula, rarity, twilight, ember (ish) And now (hopefully) rainbow and starlight to be added soon. God I love your writing it's just a shame that good things take time to make, keep up the good work dude.

Fusion Blaster
Fusion Blaster #7 · Apr 9th, 2018 · · 3 ·
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ugh starlight..... iwas hoping worst pony wouldn't show.

Well I can tolerate her in a good story which this is so far.

Hirow
Hirow #8 · Apr 11th, 2018 · · ·
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awwww ho ho ho ho yeah juts the thing i need after a hard day of work, a really good night reading material ;)

Radiant Dawn
Radiant Dawn #9 · Apr 12th, 2018 · · ·
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8852027
Eh, I kinda like Starlight Glimmer. While she's the classic "villain redemption" character, she's also unique in a lot of ways. Besides that, she's a big part of Spike and Twilight's life, so I had to include her in the story. Just don't let your preconceived notions of a character ruin the story.

Fusion Blaster
Fusion Blaster #10 · Apr 12th, 2018 · · ·
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8859082
Like I said I can tolerate her in small doses. It'swhen she becomes a focus charater that my annoyance with her overwhelms me. If some how i met her IRL i'd punch in in the face.

beirirangu
beirirangu #11 · Apr 12th, 2018 · · ·
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wow... over 16 thousand words just to say "I got home, told my friends what happened, and found out that Rainbow is traumatized."

Hirow
Hirow #12 · Apr 12th, 2018 · · ·
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8859082
Cant wait for the next chapter now :D ill re read the whole story again just for the fun of it heh but to be honest i thought Dash would finally confess to spike in this one, well i will have to wait a little longer ;) Keep the good work !

Radiant Dawn
Radiant Dawn #13 · Apr 13th, 2018 · · ·
Reply

8859715
Dash is gonna take awhile, just to warn you. Backstory will be explaining why she is the way she is when it comes to relationships, and why she teases Spike while still keeping distance.

Hirow
Hirow #14 · Apr 13th, 2018 · · ·
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8861247
Aw i believe i can figure that out but i wont spoil anything here with my theories

Cawfee
Cawfee #15 · Apr 15th, 2018 · · ·
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I can't be the only one hoping GlimGlam jumps in on this herd.

It's mostly since I just love her and feel she treats Spike the best with her friendly, yet no-nonsense approach to literally everything.

PheonixTv
PheonixTv #17 · Apr 18th, 2018 · · ·
Reply

8865991
Yeah, seen a bit oh starlight hate in the comments but honestly she's my fav character. And Sparlight? What a great ship

Cawfee
Cawfee #18 · Apr 21st, 2018 · · ·
Reply

8871394

Such is the fandom, sadly. She gets as much hate as she does love.
I see why she might be hated, but that don't mean she needs to be.

Hirow
Hirow #19 · May 4th, 2018 · · ·
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daaaaaamn i need a new chapter of this like right now D: im out of stories to read and i already went threw 3k pages of fanficks

TheBob5991
TheBob5991 #20 · May 17th, 2018 · · ·
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I'd really like to see Discord show up in this story. His wacky personality would allow a great commentary on how his old 'Boy's Night Buddy' is finally getting lucky...as well to potentially see his jealousy over Fluttershy's eventually joining of Spike's herd (if you so choose to do so).

Comment posted by TheBob5991 deleted Jun 5th, 2018
Hirow
Hirow #22 · Jul 14th, 2019 · · ·
Reply

"She raised her free and and began counting off," i think you lost one letter there ;p

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