> Love's a Drag-on
>  by The Lord Thunder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The afternoon sun shone brightly upon the meadows on the outskirts of Ponyville, where Spike busied himself collecting Dragon Peppers for Twilight Sparkle's research. Bag in hand, his cat-like eyes locked onto a Dragon Pepper bush just ahead with plenty of ripe red pods ready for picking. He hurriedly plucked them off one by one by the stems, anxious to get back and be with his friends, especially Rarity. Sweet, beautiful Rarity. With those gorgeous blue eyes that sparkled like diamonds. Sweet, delicious diamonds. There wasn't a more beautiful pony in Ponyville. No, in all of Equestria!

Distracted as he was in his thoughts, Spike yelped in surprise as something slightly warm and damp pinched his arrow-tipped tail.

“Ow! What was that?”

Spike snapped around, but there was nopony there. After a shrug he went back to his picking, unaware of another creature’s presence on the other side of the bush. Something nipped at his tail again. He wheeled around, faster this time. The leaves of the bush danced, leaving Spike wondering if whoever was messing with him brushed against the leaves in retreat or jumped inside the bush to hide. Focusing, his eyes narrowed, Spike crept around to the other side of the bush. Still, there was nopony to be seen. 

Spike scratched his chin in thought. There was only one pony in Equestria who could be that fast.

“Rainbow Dash?” Spike yelled. Only complete silence answered him. As the little dragon stood there, perplexed, something rammed his back hard enough to knock him face-first into the grass.

“Tag, you’re it!” Spike heard a female voice yell.

“Okay, Rainbow, you asked for it!” Spike shouted as he righted himself, making a mental note to slip a couple of these peppers in her food for revenge.

However, as Spike rolled over onto his rear, his spines drooped in shock and embarrassment when he saw a creature that made his every sense save for sight go numb—and he was sure that sense was fooling him. Standing before him was not Rainbow, but a cute dragon girl, about Spike's age if her size was any indication. Icy blue scales sparkled in the sunlight with beautiful blue eyes looking down at him. Pale blue hair, almost translucent, dropped down to the base of her neck.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the pretty stranger. “I didn’t ram you too hard, did I?”

“N-n-n-n-not at a-a-a-a-a-all,” Spike answered, ignoring the pounding pain in his spine.

The she-dragon giggled and smiled down on him. “I’m Sapphire!” she said warmly. “What’s your name?”

Spike’s jaw hung open, frozen in place. Sapphire. It was the most beautiful name he’d ever heard in his young life.

“My name is… uh….” A silent struggle for the answer left Spike clamping his eyes shut in thought. Oh, come on, think! What is your name? Hello! Equestria to Spike! 

“Spike?” he answered his thoughts out loud. Oh yeah, that's right. “My name’s Spike.”

Sapphire giggled a sweet little giggle that made Spike’s heart skip a beat. “Nice to meet you, Spike!” She offered a forepaw to help him stand up. Taking her paw into his own made every nerve in his body tingle. He was holding hands with the most beautiful dragoness he’d ever laid his eyes on. Of course, she was the first dragoness he’d ever laid eyes on, but he was still sure this particular one was exceptionally beautiful.

Spike stared at the paw that had just grasped Sapphire’s, making a silent vow that he’d never wash that paw again. 

“Hey!” Sapphire’s voice pulled Spike from his trance-like stake. He looked back up at her to see her tilting her head, smiling. “Weren’t you ‘it’?”

“Huh?”

“Catch me if you can!” With that, Sapphire ran in the other direction, her blue hair flowing behind her.

Spike’s heart pounded like it was trying to crack his ribs. This friendly and pretty girl dragon was openly inviting him to play! For a moment he thought he was dreaming, but the throbbing pain in his back assured him he was very much awake.

What was there to lose? Spike chased after Sapphire, and for the first time noticed the big blue ribbon she wore on her tail. It made Spike think that Sapphire was on a level of beauty that rivaled even Rarity’s.

For the next hour the two young dragons chased each other around, wrestling, laughing and giggling as dragonlings do. Their romp made Spike forget all about his duties to Twilight until their games returned them back to the bush with the sack full of peppers still sitting there.

“Oh no!” Spike held his paw to his face. Judging from the position of the sun, he'd lost track of time. Twilight insisted on punctuality!

“What’s the matter, Spike?” Sapphire asked.

“I forgot all about Twilight! I’m sorry, Sapphire. I have to head home. She’s probably worried about me.”

Sapphire tilted her head, giving Spike a quizzical look. “Twilight? Who’s that?” She frowned, her eyes betraying a hint of sadness. “Is she your girlfriend?”

“Who, Twilight? No way!” Spike waved the idea away. “She’s a unicorn from Ponyville. I’m just her assistant. That’s why I was picking these peppers.”

Sapphire flashed a big, toothy smile. “So you don’t have a girlfriend, then?”

“U-u-um…” Spike stammered as his cheeks flared. If Sapphire had just given an open invitation, this was turning out to be the best day ever! “I don’t.”

“So…” Sapphire lowered her head bashfully, cupping her claws behind her back and twisting her foot into the ground. “Do you want to meet here again tomorrow?”

“Would I ever!”

The dragoness’ eyes seemed to light up as she giggled out loud. “Great! See you tomorrow!”

“You bet!”

“Okay, bye, Spike!”

“Bye, Sapphire!”

“Goodbye!”

“Goodbye to you, too!”

“See ya.”

“See ya.”

“Later!”

“Yup, later!”

Their exchange made the two dragons laugh. Sapphire turned her head shyly away from Spike.

“Okay,” Spike continued once he’d caught his breath. “I’m really leaving this time. See you tomorrow, Sapphire!” He then took off running in the direction of Ponyville.

“Bye, Spike!” Sapphire yelled to the running, shrinking form.

As hard as he fought it, Spike couldn’t stop smiling his entire run home. Sapphire was friendly, playful, beautiful. To have found another dragon his age in Equestria, and she was interested in him! Spike couldn’t believe his luck. Rarity hadn’t even come into his thoughts since he’d met his new friend.

Okay, Spike. Better take it down a notch. Spike forced himself to calm down as he reached the outskirts of Ponyville. He couldn’t afford to let Twilight find out about his new friend. If she did, she might think his sudden interest in Sapphire was nothing more than an excuse to avoid his chores, and what would that do to his reputation as her number one assistant? 

A casual stroll took him through the village of ponies, all of them minding their own business and oblivious to the little dragon’s inward glee.

“I’m home!” Spike shouted as he stepped into the library.

Twilight busied herself with dusting off the shelves with a feather duster that hovered in midair from the violet unicorn’s magic. “Wow, Spike,” she answered as she glanced out the window, then back over her shoulder at him. “What took you so long? It’s almost sundown.”

The dragon fidgeted. “Well, uh, you know how rare these Dragon Peppers are. They only produce every few years. I wanted to make sure I picked enough.”

As Spike set the potato sack down on the floor, Twilight rested the duster on the top shelf and trotted over to get a look at the pickings. The sack was full almost to the top. “Spike, my goodness, this is more than enough. You’ve really outdone yourself this time!” Twilight gave him a gentle noogie of praise. “My number one assistant. I’ll start my research on them tomorrow. Why don’t you take the day off?”

Spike's eyes widened in sudden glee. “You mean it?”

“Absolutely, Spike. You earned it.”

No duties to Twilight, nothing planned for the day. He was completely free to meet Sapphire again! In his mind he did a fist pump as he jumped for joy. On the outside, he managed to remain cool and calm.

“Thanks, Twilight. You’re the best.” Spike couldn’t stop himself from embracing the unicorn. Twilight smiled and patted Spike on the back.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash cruised through the skies of Ponyville after her morning weather patrol. Apart from kicking a few clouds it was same-old same-old and she looked everywhere for some excitement. After a long ten seconds, her eyes latched onto something strange.

“Hey, where’s Spike going?”

It was unusual for him to leave Ponyville alone, and he seemed in such high spirits. As much as she hated flying slow, Rainbow Dash couldn’t fight her curiosity and trailed Spike from behind a low cloud bank, careful not to alert him to her presence. It hardly seemed ethical to spy on the little dragon, but Rainbow reasoned that if he got into danger, he could use her help. She was the embodiment of loyalty, after all. Yeah, that was it. She was following him to protect him, not to spy on him.

Although it had only been ten minutes, it seemed she'd been following Spike around the countryside forever. How much longer was he planning on torturing her? This espionage stuff was a lot more boring than Rainbow had thought. She'd just begun to consider heading back for Ponyville when they arrived at a small, sparsely-treed meadow where Spike finally stopped. 

Maybe I'd better stick around after all. Rainbow Dash darted behind the thick branches of a nearby tree to stay out of Spike’s view. What was he doing way out there? 

More interested than ever, Rainbow Dash’s eyes locked onto Spike as he wandered about the meadow, as if searching for something. Rainbow descended until her hooves pressed against the soft grass surrounding her tree.

***

The Dragon Pepper bush where Spike had met Sapphire came into view, forcing him to smile. She’d been on his mind ever since he left yesterday. As he got closer, the smile turned to a frown. The meadow was empty. Where was Sapphire?

A familiar giggle snapped Spike to attention. “Sapphire?” He turned in a full circle one more time to be sure he hadn’t overlooked her. 

A light breeze swept through the meadow, rattling the leaves in the trees, but no other motion could be seen.

“Sapphire?” Spike yelled now. Another giggle answered him. “Sapphire!”

“Over here, Spike!” the dragoness’ sweet voice rang across the meadow.

“Where is 'over here?’” Spike shouted.

“I can’t tell you,” she teased. “That would spoil the fun! Come and find me!” 

“I don’t see you!” Spike yelled again as he neared a patch of trees separate from the one where Dash had been hiding.

“You’re getting warmer!”

The little purple dragon walked into the center of the trees, shouting one more time. “How about now?”

“Okay. Stay right there!”

***

Something among the trees made Rainbow Dash hold her head high in amazement. Using her claws to climb down the trunk of the tree to Spike’s back was a small female dragon with icy blue scales. On all fours she crawled across the ground like a cat stalking its prey. She paused, twitching her tail in anticipation as she checked her alignment, then pounced on Spike from the rear. She and Spike disappeared underneath the tall grass, followed by the sounds of both dragons giggling.

Rainbow Dash had been about to fly to Spike’s aid at the sign of an attack, but now she clamped her hoof to her mouth in an attempt to cram the growing giggle back down. Little Spike had found himself a girlfriend! How cute was that?

“Rainbow Dash?” a soft whisper came from behind her.

Startled, Rainbow buckled her knees, but she held her ground and wheeled in a half-circle, where she found a pink-haired pegasus standing behind her.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing way out here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy turned her head away from Rainbow, winding her hoof in her hair with embarrassment. “Um, I was curious where Spike was headed. If I’m intruding, I’ll just go back to Ponyville.”

“Not at all, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy’s neck to reassure her. “Come take a look at this!”

“O-okay…”

Rainbow guided Fluttershy to the edge of the tree and pointed her hoof to the pair of romping baby dragons. “Get a load of that!”

Fluttershy gasped and drew her head back, her normally gentle eyes wide with shock and excitement. “I don’t believe it! ANOTHER BABY DRA-” Fluttershy’s rare exclamation was cut short by Rainbow Dash putting her hoof over her friend's mouth.

“Shh! I don’t want Spike to know I was spying on—” She paused for a few seconds to think of a viable excuse. “I mean, following him. To make sure he didn’t get into any danger.”

“But I’ve never seen a baby dragon in Equestria besides Spike. Where did she come from?”

“Beats me.” Rainbow's shoulders rose in a shrug.

Fluttershy smiled widely at the giggling, romping dragons. “That is so cuuuute!”

Rainbow Dash turned away from the meadow and waved a hoof, beckoning Fluttershy to follow. “Come on, let’s go tell Twilight! She’d love to hear about this!”

Fluttershy, however, held her ground. “Um, Rainbow? Maybe Spike should be the one to tell her.”

This suggestion left Rainbow staring at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow. The look made Fluttershy lower herself in submission and turn her head to avoid direct eye contact. “But if you want to tell her, I can’t stop you…”

Rainbow Dash sighed and drooped. “No, you’re right. Spike will tell Twilight when he’s ready.” She glanced over her shoulder to get one last peek at the laughing, playing dragonlings, then turned back to Fluttershy. “Look, we should get out of here before they see us.”


Saying nothing, Fluttershy followed behind her colorful companion back to Ponyville.

***

“Come back here!” Spike shouted as he attempted to snatch Sapphire’s tail in his paw. She only giggled and ran faster, leaving Spike to grab at empty air. “Where are you going?”

“Follow me, Spike! Keep up if you can!”

Spike chased that ribbon-clad tail across a sandy trail that cut through a thick blanket of pine trees, which finally led back into an open meadow several hundred yards away from the pepper bush.

“How much farther?” Spike panted. Judging from the way the trees were starting to thin out, they’d been running for almost half a mile.

“Almost there!”

As the trees vanished, Spike noticed the water of a distant pond sparkling in the sunlight with Sapphire running straight for it.

“Thirsty?” she yelled.

“You bet!”

It wasn't long before Spike and Sapphire reached the edge of the pond and both went to all fours to get a drink. Sapphire gasped, causing Spike to look up at her.

“What is it?”

Sapphire narrowed her eyes, staring hard at the water. “There’s something strange down there.”

“Strange?”

“Yeah. Come take a look.”

Spike stood up and moved closer to Sapphire in order to peer into the pond at whatever it was she’d seen. Before he had a chance to move out of the way, he saw Sapphire’s reflection come up behind his own and shove him into the water. Sapphire fell over on her back in a fit of laughter.

“Tricked ya, Spike!” She continued to giggle for a few more seconds, but her laughter faded as she realized Spike had not yet come back up for air. “Oh no!” she shouted out loud to herself. “He didn’t tell me if he could swim or not!”

Sapphire moved closer to the water’s edge, alert for any signs of Spike so she she’d know where to dive in and rescue him. As she scanned the water, a purple hand shot above the surface, grabbed her by the arm and yanked her off her feet into the water. For a few seconds she felt weightless, unable to breathe, unsure of what had just happened. By the time she got her head above water, Spike was already on the bank, having his turn to laugh.

“Hey!” Sapphire shouted as she wiped the water from her face.

Eyes locked onto the bobbing blue head, Spike held both arms into the air in triumph. “Spike’s revenge!”

“Oh yeah?” Sapphire asked with a sly grin. She drew her arm back and splashed a handful of water at Spike.

“Hey, come on, no fair!” he yelled as he leaped backwards to avoid getting splashed. Sapphire only laughed harder, swam closer and splashed with even more force.

“Alright, you asked for it!” Spike shouted in a loud, Tarzan-like voice as he made a beeline for the water, and jumped ten times his own body height (a physics-defying feat he’d learned from Pinkie Pie.) Whilst in midair, the dragon curled himself up and transitioned into a front flip with a shout of “Dragonball!”

Sapphire had been too amazed with Spike’s feat to realize what his intentions were and now it was too late to swim away. All she could do was shield her face with her arm as the splash consumed her like a tidal wave. Spike’s green finned head popped up from the water in time for Sapphire to give it another splash.

“You’re gonna get it now!” she taunted as Spike shook the water from his face.

Spike narrowed his eyes and gave off a playful smirk. “We’ll see about that!”

A giggle was Sapphire’s answer as she drew back from Spike, daring him to give chase. As soon as he started after her, Sapphire turned away, using her tail as an oar to propel herself through the pond while Spike did the same, chasing her for two full laps through the pond before she climbed up onto the soft sand of the bank. Sapphire brushed her hair from her eye, then turned to see Spike climbing up out of the water as well. With a sly smile, she placed her palm on Spike’s chest and shoved him back in.

Spike’s purple head emerged from the surface a few seconds later, watching Sapphire laugh at his misfortune. “Okay, this is getting old.”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it!” Sapphire said in a tone that let Spike know her apology was sincere. “Here, let me help you up out of there.”

For a few seconds, Spike stared at the blue paw outstretched towards him. Probably another trick. Even so, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hold hands with Sapphire a second time. He grasped Sapphire’s paw and felt himself being pulled up to the bank by her surprising strength. It felt good to be on solid ground again, but felt even better when he realized Sapphire hadn’t let go of his paw. He looked at their clenched paws for a few moments, then back up at Sapphire. She smiled at him, averted her eyes from his gaze and turned away, seemingly pondering the possibilities of the moment.

“Come on, Spike,” she finally answered as she looked back up at Spike, “I’ll walk you back to the meadow.”

Her hand guided him back towards the path of trees from where they came. Was it okay for him to keep hold of her paw? She didn’t seem to object. Still, in an act of politeness, Spike released his grip, only to find his paw once again warmed by Sapphire’s own soft, warm palm.

“I didn’t say you had to let go,” Sapphire said. There was a hint of coy embarrassment in her voice.

Spike's cheeks tingled like dozens of warm pricks. Was this really happening? Did she like him? LIKE like him? As he opened his mouth to ask, his own embarrassment held the words in. At the very least, he could enjoy the moment in silence. In those moments as they strolled through the wooded path, paw in paw, a startling feeling Spike had never experienced before began to swell within him. It was a pleasant, warm, fuzzy feeling that not even Rarity ever gave him.

Spike shook the thought from his head. He’d only known Sapphire for a couple days, and things like the L word don’t happen that fast. Do they? Maybe Twilight would know. But how could he ask without giving away any hints about his new friend?

“Spike, are you okay?” Sapphire’s voice snapped Spike out of his concentration.

“Who, me? Sure! Why, do I look sick?”

“Well, you seemed kind of nervous and distracted.”

“Maybe a little,” Spike answered, his voice shaky. Sapphire did make him nervous, but a good kind of nervous.

Sapphire pulled herself closer to Spike, so close their sides were nearly touching. “Why are you nervous?”

“Well…” Spike tried to think of an excuse. But he wouldn’t lie to Sapphire. He couldn’t. “Being with you kinda… make me nervous.”

“Awww!” Sapphire said. For a few seconds she rested her head on Spike’s shoulder, then quickly pulled it away. “To be honest, being with you kinda… makes me nervous, too.”

“Does that mean we like each other?” Spike hadn’t even thought about the words before he said them.

Sapphire giggled. “I don’t know. Maybe it does!”

***

Twilight Sparkle let out an annoyed growl. Of all the days to give Spike a free day, she had to pick today. Her entire afternoon consisted of searching for books on plants, only a few of which had any useful information about Dragon Peppers, other than the fact they got their name from a myth that they were hot enough to make a pony breathe fire. There was a stack of books piled on the floor next to the book case, Dragon Pepper flesh and seeds all over her table, and no one to help her clean it all up. For a second she considered leaving the cleanup for Spike tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be fair. She shook her head. Maybe she could use a little fresh air and a milkshake from Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight stepped outside into the late afternoon air. It was mild and pleasant—maybe a walk would do her some good. As she started for Sugarcube Corner, a streak of colors in the air stopped her in mid-step.

“Rainbow Dash. Am I glad I ran in to you!”

Rainbow stopped in midair, staring wide-eyed at Twilight Sparkle. “Uh, sure! Did you need some help, Twilight?”

“Actually, I could use a hoof with cleaning up the library. I hate to bother you with this, but I sort of gave Spike the day off and there’s nopony else around to help.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and put her hoof on her chest in pride. “Don’t you worry about a thing, pal! I’ll help you get cleaned up in ten seconds flat or my Element isn’t loyalty!”

“Great! I knew I could count on a good friend like you.” Twilight’s head followed Rainbow as she became a blur of colors that zipped through the library door.

“Just be—” A loud crash came from inside the house, followed by the sound of something ceramic shattering. Twilight winced and cringed and raised her forehoof. “Careful.”

Twilight wasn’t sure she wanted to find out what had been broken, but she galloped back inside the library nonetheless. In a far corner of the room, Rainbow had fallen flat on her back, laying among the ruins of what was once an intact statue of a stallion that had worn a large, frilly collar around his neck. As Twilight observed the pile, she let out a startled gasp. The face of the statue was still in one piece, looking up at her from the floor. 

“Hey, Twilight." Rainbow said, a hint of pain in her voice, "I think I ran into your statue of this stallion with the egg-shaped head.”

“Oh no. My one of a kind bust of Wilhelm Shakesfoale!”

Rainbow picked herself back up to her hooves and dusted herself off. Her eyes were averted to the floor as she scratched the back of her neck in what Twilight could tell was genuine regret. “Sorry, Twilight.” 

“Well,” Twilight said as she observed what remained of Shakesfoale. She then shot a glare at the fallen Rainbow Dash. “It's not okay! That was a gift from Princess Celestia! It was worth more money than every book in this room put together!”

“Yikes, no kidding? Who was he, anyway?”

Twilight groaned and did a facehoof. What pony never heard of Wilhelm Shakesfoale? “He was only one of the most prominent playwright ponies from Equestria’s Palladian Period!”

Rainbow Dash cocked her head at the mess she’d made. What was some special about some egg-headed stallion who hadn't even existed for more than seven hundred years? Angry eyes fell upon Rainbow, who wilted under the weight of the glare and gave Twilight an apologetic look. “Oh boy. I really screwed up this time, didn’t I?”

“I know it wasn’t on purpose, but… YES!”

A nervous chuckle sounded from Rainbow Dash’s muzzle as she looked at her right shank as if checking a non-existent watch. “Oh, silly me, look at the time. Gotta dash!”

As Rainbow Dash made a break for the door, Twilight vanished in a shower of magic sparks and materialized in front of the exit to halt Dash's retreat. “Not so fast, Rainbow. You’re gonna owe me for this one.”

Rainbow Dash groaned and looked around at the thousands of books on all the shelves. “Worth more than every book here put together? I figure I’ll be able to come up with that money sometime between now and the end of next century. Are you sure you don’t want me to just do some chores or something?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I think you’ve done enough.”
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike wasn’t in the library when Twilight reached the main floor the next morning. After walking into the kitchen, she used her magic to open a high cupboard and remove a box of Magical Trinkets cereal and a glass bowl, both of which remained suspended in midair until Twilight rested them on the table. She tilted her head. There was some sort of note scribbled out of a piece of parchment sitting next to the bowl. A sparkling aura surrounded it, causing the scroll to hover in front of Twilight so she could read it out loud to herself.

“Dear Twilight,
Sorry I didn’t tell you in person, but Celestia wanted me to take care of some royal business in Canterlot today. I’ll be home at sunset. Hope you’re not too mad.
-Spike.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof. Why hadn’t Princess Celestia told her about this “royal business?” Twilight shook off her irritation. It was probably none of her business, something strictly confidential between alicorns and dragons. Either way, the library was still a mess. With Spike gone, she’d have to clean up by herself and continue her research without any assistance. But that could wait until after breakfast. Twilight ate her cereal in silence, using her magic to manipulate the spoon.

***

Spike’s heart pounded as he made his way back to the meadow where the Dragon Pepper bush stood. He could hardly wait to see Sapphire since they’d arranged to meet up again the next morning. Lying to Twilight made him feel guilty about where he was really going, but he simply wasn’t ready to tell her about Sapphire.

For the moment, he could only think of his beautiful blue friend. What games would they play today? How much closer would they grow? How should he know when it’s appropriate to kiss a girl? So many thoughts raced through his head as he continued his trek for the meadow.

The Dragon Pepper bush came into view in the distance, along with a small blue form waving at Spike in a nearby tree. Despite his anxiety, the little dragon couldn’t help but smile and sprinted towards it. However, the closer he got, the more his smile melted to a frown. This wasn’t just any blue form. As he neared the bush, he realized this one had a rainbow mane and tail. This was not Sapphire, but a pegasus with a blue coat.

“Rainbow Dash?” Spike asked once he was within earshot of her. “What are you doing way out here?”

“Oh, just taking a morning flight, that’s all.” Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her forelegs, then fluttered down off the tree branch until she touched the ground. “How about you, Spike? Does Twilight know you’re out here all by yourself?”

“Um, well... she knows I’m not home. If it’s any of your business.”

“Being a loyal friend is my business. Well, next to winning races, that is,” Rainbow said as she flew in a circle around Spike. “And I don’t think I could call myself a loyal friend if I were keeping secrets from anypony.”

Spike narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. “What are you getting at, Dash?”

“Spike, I know about your new friend. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you. But if you’re going to be running off like this everyday, I think Twilight should know the real reason why. And if you won’t tell her about your little girlfriend, then I will.”

“You were spying on me yesterday!” Spike shouted, pointing an accusing claw at the pegasus.

“And you didn’t even have a clue? Heh heh, so awesome. I’m like a ninja pony!” She tossed her front legs out in front of her, tail twitching as she darted her eyes back and forth in a manner that said she was ready for anypony. She stood back up and returned her gaze to Spike.

Now Spike felt the panic rising. “Don’t tell her! I’m not ready for her to find out yet!”

“Do it,” Rainbow replied in a stern voice. “Soon. Or I will.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll tell her. Sheesh.”

“So glad you could see reason.” Rainbow Dash turned her head to look behind her. The little blue dragoness was approaching from the horizon. “Alright, looks like your little friend’s on her way here. Have fun! And remember what I told you. Twilight’s gonna find out one way or the other. Do the right thing, Spike.”

Spike growled to himself. Rainbow Dash had been spying on him! A couple Dragon Peppers would not do now. He’d need at least three of them to exact sweet revenge on the pegasus. Sweet, fiery revenge. Enough to kill her taste buds for at least a month.

“Spike!” Sapphire’s sweet little voice yelled as she ran up to the purple dragon. With no warning, she embraced him in a hug. “I missed you.”

Spike trembled in Sapphire’s grasp. He hadn’t expected that. Unsure what to do, he wrapped his arms around her to return her hug. “I, uh, missed you too, Saph.”

Smiling, Sapphire tilted her head. “Saph, huh? I kinda like that! And I know what we can do today. Follow me!”

***

Eyes narrowed in annoyance, Twilight Sparkle manipulated a wash cloth with her magic. She’d have to find someway to clean up two days’ worth of mess and still have time to get some research done. Why would Spike and Princess Celestia conduct royal business without telling her? The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she got. She scrubbed harder to fight her irritation, causing a Dragon Pepper seed to fly off the table and land square into her eye.

All at once Twilight dropped the cloth and held her hoof to her mouth in dread of what was sure to follow. She gritted her teeth and braced herself. It wasn’t enough, as a scream of pain echoed through the library.

“My eye’s on fire! Somepony help me!”

Half blind, Twilight ran frantic circles around the kitchen looking for something, anything to stop the burning pain

Pinkie Pie, who had been out for a stroll, overheard the screaming and charged headfirst into the library. “Holy macaroni and cheese with peas!” she exclaimed. There were books lying all over the floor, flasks and tubes strewn about, and the remains of what was once a whole statue of Wilhelm Shakesfoale.

“Burglars!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Twilight’s shouting and loud clattering came from the kitchen. Pinkie gasped in shock. “You picked the wrong library, robbers!”  

Pinkie took a breath of courage and charged into the kitchen, where she found Twilight Sparkle pouring a jug of milk over her face. Pinkie couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. “Hey, Twilight! If ya wanted to have a milk drinking contest, why didn’tcha invite me?”

“Pinkie?” Twilight Sparkle asked. She turned her head to verify she had actually heard her friend’s voice. Milk still poured down the side of her face from the upended jug. “What are you doing here?”

“Well first you were all like 'somepony help!’ Then I was like 'I’ll save you Twilight!’ And then I came inside and there were books and sci-ency stuff all over the floor so I thought there might be a burglar and I came in here to scare them off!" Only now was Pinkie calm enough to look around and see that nopony but she and Twilight were in the Library. "But it looks like you took care of 'em!”

“Pinkie, there were no burglars. I just got a pepper seed in my eye.”

Pinkie tilted her head inquisitively “There weren't? Then what about the messy mess in your lobby?”

“Spike’s been gone the last couple of days and I haven’t had time to do any cleaning.” Twilight Sparkle stopped then, raising a flattered forehoof. “Wait a minute. You were going to fight off burglars for me if there were any?”

“Sure!” Pinkie Pie said with a big smile. She wrapped a foreleg around Twilight’s neck and pressed their cheeks together. ’I’d do anything for a friend!”

Twilight smiled back and raised an eyebrow. “Aaaaanything?”

“You betcha!”

Twilight pushed Pinkie away so she could look her in the eye. “Then how about getting this place cleaned up while I go out for some supplies? And for pony’s sake, don’t touch anything breakable!”

“Okey dokey lokey!”

***

“The pond?” Spike asked after Sapphire had led him back to the pond they were at yesterday. “Why are we here again?”

“Wanna see a cool trick?” Sapphire answered, completely ignoring Spike’s question.

“Uh, sure.”

Sapphire held her little arms to the air, her eyes closed tight as she concentrated with what seemed to be great effort. Before Spike could inquire, a frigid air surrounded the pond, sending fingers of frost darting through the water until the pond became rock solid. Spike knelt down and tapped on the surface. It was cold and hard. Real ice and not an illusion.

“How did you do that?” Spike asked, barely able to contain his amazement.

“You couldn’t tell?” Sapphire asked. “I’m an ice dragon!”

Of course Twilight had told Spike stories about certain species of dragons that could manipulate nature’s elements. Red dragons could control fire. Yellow dragons had power over lightning. Greens could have power over plants or wind, depending on the species. Blue dragons were usually either water or ice dragons. But he’d never been sure if there was any truth to these stories until now.

“Sapphire, that’s amazing!” Spike said.

Sapphire giggled as she stepped out onto the frozen pond, waving for Spike to join her. “Come on, Spike!”

For a few moments Spike watched as the dragoness skated gracefully around the pond, hands cupped behind her back. She spun around several times, causing her hair to flow about in a manner that made Spike’s heart flutter. Sapphire really was beautiful!

Spike walked onto the ice, fighting to keep his balance as his feet slid across the surface of the pond. He fought too hard and fell face first onto the chilly ice, sending him spinning and sliding across the pond like a hockey puck.

Sapphire laughed at this as she skidded over to Spike. “Oh, that was smooth.”

Ignoring the comment, Spike picked himself back up to his feet, only to slip again and fall on his rear, causing Sapphire to laugh at his clumsiness. If Spike didn't know better he'd have though she found it endearing.

“Here,” Sapphire said, offering both paws to Spike. “Let me help you up.”

Spike accepted her paws and pulled himself to his feet. The two dragonlings skated in slow circles, eyes locked onto each other. Spike had never felt his heart pound so hard. He longed to kiss her just once, but was this the right time? Distracted as he was, Spike’s little feet slid out from under him before he could stop himself from falling. His weight pulled Sapphire down on top of him as he landed back-first onto the ice with a grunt. A few seconds passed before he realized Sapphire had him pinned down against the surface of the pond, her face only inches away from his. The little dragon trembled. Was she going to kiss him?

Though Spike had heard Sapphire do a fair share of giggling the past couple days, none made his nerves tingle more than the soft, nervous chuckle she gave off as her beautiful face looked down on him, lost in his eyes. Sapphire brought her face closer to Spike’s and touched his cheek with her muzzle, an action that set his heart on fire. The elation was short-lived, as an unpleasant sensation made Spike remember what it was he was laying on.

"Sapphire?"

"Yeah, Spike?" she whispered in a voice that told Spike she was still caught in the moment.

"My back's going numb."

"Oh, sorry," she replied with a chuckle She stood up. Spike held his arms up, which she took and pulled Spike back to his feet. "Sometimes I forget not all dragons are as tolerant of ice as we are."

A gleam lit Sapphire's eyes, followed by a coy smile. Spike could tell she was planning something, but what? His answer came before he could ask when Sapphire let go of his right paw and wrapped that arm around his waist. "Here, let's try this!"

Now Spike's whole body tingled warmly despite the surrounding ice. The smile was indomitable. "You don't have to ask me twice!"

Here they were, embraced, just the two of them enjoying the moment. And in that moment, Spike realized he may have found the best thing that ever happened to him.

***

A full backpack draped around her back, Twilight Sparkle dragged herself into the library a couple hours after leaving to gather some supplies for her research. As she opened her door, blaring music and falling streamers nailed her in the face—at least two dozen ponies had gathered in the library, drinking punch, dancing to the music, conversing and laughing amongst themselves.

Twilight groaned in annoyance and gnashed her teeth, but still found herself unable to suppress her anger enough to keep from yelling out, “Pinkie Pie!”

At the shout of her name, the pink curly-haired pony sprang up to the front door, eyes closed and smiling with glee. “Hiya, Twilight! Welcome back!”

“Pinkie, I thought you said you were going to get this place cleaned up!”

“I did get it cleaned! But you were taking so long to come back and I was bored so I decided to throw a party!”

Twilight's scowl hardened. “You mean make a bigger mess than the one that was here before I left!”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that!” Pinkie waved a hoof to dismiss Twilight’s outburst. “We’ll get this place cleaned up before you can say ’jelly beans!’ Okay, everypony! Anypony who wants to keep partying has to help clean up afterwards!”

All at once the party went silent. Everypony stared at Pinkie in horror. Only a few seconds later, a stampede shook the floor and rattled the books against the wall, leaving only Twilight and Pinkie in the library after the dust cleared.

Twilight narrowed her brow to give Pinkie a cross gaze. “You were saying?”

Pinkie took a moment to assess the chaos she'd orchestrated. There was confetti all over the floor. A streamer had fallen from the ceiling, draped over an oak chair. Frosting and sprinkles covered the counter. Candy wrappers, straws, paper decorations and other such trash was strewn all about the library, making Pinkie smile in embarrassment.

“Um… jelly beans?”

***

The sky started to darken when Sapphire and Spike returned to the Dragon Pepper bush, paw-in-paw. A beautiful orange sunset cast itself over the horizon, seemingly setting it on fire.

“Um, Spike?” Sapphire asked.

Spike turned his neck to see Sapphire brushing her foot across the grass, eyes looking to the ground instead of at him. “Yeah, Sapphire?”

“I um…” She choked on the words with a nervous giggle, took a deep breath to gather her courage and continued. “I don’t know how to ask this, so I’m just gonna come right out and ask. Would you... um... like to be... my boyfriend?”

Knees shuddering at the question, Spike took a few seconds to think. Boyfriend? As in boyfriendboyfriend? A special romantic friend to be closer to a girl’s heart than any other friend? “Do you mean, like, a-a-a boyfriend you’re dating? Like, I’m your boyfriend and you’re my girlfriend?”

“Of course that’s what I mean, silly!”

Like he was going to turn that down. “Would I ever!”

Sapphire continued to fidget. “So, we’re boyfriend and girlfriend then?”

“I guess so,” Spike replied as he scratched the back of his head.

For a few moments, the young dragons stared into each other’s eyes, slowly moving their heads closer together. They shut their eyes as both braced for the moment, hearts fluttering.

Sapphire dared a slight peek. She was only a few inches away from kissing Spike. But was she ready? No, she wasn’t. Not yet. Besides, there was something else weighing on her mind. Maybe Spike would know what to do about it, but no need to tell him just yet.

In that moment of indecision she lost her nerve and took a step forward to snare Spike in a hug instead.

“Thanks,” Sapphire said. She rested her chin on Spike’s shoulder as he wrapped his little arms around her. “Boyfriend.”

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie had inexplicably vanished in Pinkie Pie fashion, leaving Twilight Sparkle to fend for herself with the cleanup. Cake frosting still decorated the walls, a puddle of punch sat in the middle of the kitchen floor, and a mound of books rested against the library’s rear shelf. The exhausted unicorn flopped down on her belly in the middle of the floor and sighed. Until then she never realized how hard it would be getting work done without Spike here to help. The energy to pick herself up eluded her, so Twilight gave into the urge and shut her eyes. Within seconds she found herself pulled into a dream.

She and Spike had moved from Ponyville to Canterlot’s library in order to accommodate Spike’s size. Now a full grown dragon, he could easily reach the highest shelves. For a while, Twilight was happy that Spike had stuck with her until adulthood, then a pang of regret hit. Spike should have spread his wings and gone off on his own to see the world for himself, to see places and things Twilight had only read about in her books. More than that, she’d always looked forward to the day Spike could meet a nice young dragoness to spend his life with and eventually have dragonlings of their own. She could imagine the baby reptiles sitting around her as she read them stories from a children’s book.

The sound of the door opening pulled Twilight awake. She lifted her head to find Spike stepping into the library, whistling all the while.

“You’re in a good mood this evening,” Twilightmumbled as she rested her chin against her shanks. “Something to do with your royal business?”

Spike's eyes darted for a few seconds. He then waved away Twilight's question. “Oh, that. Nothing to worry about. It’s on a need-to-know basis, strictly between dragons and alicorns. Um, Twilight, why are you laying on the floor?”

Twilight lifted her head in irritation and surprise. What would the princess not want her to know about? “But what did Celestia—”  With a sigh, she rested her head back against her forelegs. “Oh, forget it. I’m too tired.”

Spike scratched the top of his head. Had his absence really made things so difficult for Twilight? 

The little dragon bit his lip in an effort to think of something he could do for her, but he’d promised Sapphire to meet her again tomorrow morning. Indeed, he had something very special in mind for the dragoness, but how much longer could he keep juggling between the two? Eventually, he’d have to make a choice. The unicorn who hatched him from his egg and cared for him since his first breath, or the girl who had made him feel happier than he’d ever felt before?

“Uh, Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked. However, Twilight's eyes were already shut and she started to snore.

Spike decided it would be better to let Twilight get her sleep. He went upstairs to her room, where he saved a stash of gems for a rainy day, and he could think of nothing better to do with them than share them with Sapphire in the morning. Spike covered his mouth to stifle a sleepy yawn as he snuggled into his bed to get some sleep.

When morning came he found Twilight absent from her bed. Probably still asleep downstairs, if she wasn't already up. Spike crawled underneath her bed to retrieve his basket of gems. The smell of the precious stones alone was tempting enough, but once Spike caught a glimpse of them his stomach rumbled in anticipation of just one sweet, delicious ruby. He shook his head in an effort to stave his appetite and refocus his thoughts. It could wait until he met up with Sapphire.

As best as he could, carrying a basket almost as large as his own body, Spike eased his way down the stairs, careful not to mess a step and trip. The snoring that grew louder as Spike neared the bottom of the stairs assured him that Twilight was still sound asleep. He gingerly shuffled his feet across the floor then inched his way out the front door.

Ponyville was all but dead quiet at such an early hour. This gave Spike the perfect opportunity to sneak out of town unnoticed as best as he could, carrying the heavy basket of gems. His walk resembled stumbling, but his desire to share his loot with Sapphire gave him the strength to press on.

After what felt like a couple hours of traveling, Spike finally reached the quiet meadow with the Dragon Pepper bush, where Sapphire’s blue waving form awaited him. Spike’s fatigue seemed to wash away at the sight of the dragoness, who ran after Spike to meet him head on.

“I…I made it...” Spike panted as he dropped the wicker basket onto the grass. He collapsed onto the top of the pile of gems it held.

“You took so long, Spike! I was worried you might not show up.” Sapphire looked at the basket underneath Spike’s collapsed, wheezing form. “What’s this?”

“Well, I—” Spike hesitated. This had gone so much better in his head. He climbed off the top of the basket and peeled back the blanket to present Sapphire with the load of sweet, delicious gemstones. “I brought us some breakfast.”

Sapphire's eyes went wide. She licked her lips hungrily.“Wow! Nice haul, Spike! Where did you find all these?”

Spike looked to the ground, scratching the back of his head. “Well, I’ve been saving them for at least the last year. No one else I know likes to eat gems, so I thought I’d share them with you.”

A coy smile formed on Sapphire’s face before she lunged forward to embrace Spike in a hug. His heart began to thump from the gesture.

“That’s so nice of you, Spike. You’re the sweetest dragon I know.”

Spike’s heart pounded harder. Rarity had told him the same thing before, but it was different hearing it come from another dragon. “Um, don’t mention it. You want to eat the first gem?” 

“I’d love to!”

A bright, flawless ruby sat among the gems on the top of the pile, sparkling in the sunlight. It was the most delicious of the gems she could see, so Sapphire plucked it from the pile and popped it in her mouth. A scarlet wave of flavor danced on her tongue as her sharp teeth shattered the precious stone into pieces small enough to swallow. Sapphire licked her lips and gave a slight belch  “Mmm! You really know how to choose your gems!”

“That’s what they tell me,” Spike replied suavely, slicking back the spines on top of his head. He grabbed the next gem, a dazzling yellow slab of topaz with a delicate flavor something like a mix of lemon and pineapple, devouring it with gusto. As Spike licked the remaining flavor from his fingers, Sapphire helped herself to an emerald.

“Hey, Sapphire,” Spike said, picking another ruby off the pile of gems, “where did you and your parents come from? You don’t see too many dragons in Equestria, especially blue ones.”

“Well, we’re ice dragons so we came from the northern mountains beyond the Crystal Kingdom.”

“That would make sense.” Spike gulped down the shards of his ruby and swallowed. “So, why did you come to this part of Equestria? Doesn’t it bother you that it’s not cold here?”

“Um...” Sapphire turned her head to the ground and nervously scratched the back of her neck. A look of unease spread across her face. “Doesn’t really bother me, but lately my parents have seemed restless. I think it’s starting to get to them, but this all started when we went to join the Great Dragon Migration. That turned out to be a mistake.”

“Why?”

“We weren’t treated well by the other dragons. We tried to fit in but the others were all just a bunch of bullies, so my parents and I broke off from the migration. I guess ice dragons are different, probably because we’re so isolated and there’s so few of us left. We kind of like it in Equestria, so we’re staying here for now.” 

“Bunch of bullies, huh?” Spike asked. It reminded him of the time he joined the Great Dragon Migration. “Yeah, I don’t have a hard time believing that.”

Sapphire looked back up and giggled before picking out a clear blue gem. She smiled warmly at Spike. “Good thing you’re not like them.”

“It’s because I was raised by ponies, I think.”

“And it’s lucky for me you were.” 

It went on like that, both dragons taking turns at the gems until a single diamond remained in the bottom of the basket. For a moment, Spike gazed at Sapphire, contemplating whether to give the diamond to her or take it for himself. The dragoness giggled and shied her eyes away from Spike’s gaze. For some reason, Spike couldn’t bring himself to ask if she wanted it, so he reached his hand into the basket to claim the diamond for himself. As the jewel became veiled under Spike’s paw, something soft warmed the top of it.

Sapphire had reached for the gem at the same time he did, Spike realized, but after a few seconds she still had not lifted her paw from his. He could feel his face flush red as he looked up to see if Sapphire was blushing as well. Something in her eyes, a feminine sort of sparkle he’d never seen before, captivated him. In that moment, the diamond no longer mattered. His entire world seemed cradled in silence as the dragoness shut her eyes and brought her head slowly closer to Spike’s.

Responding in kind, Spike felt more of the world around him vanish. Here, it was just Sapphire and him as he trembled in anticipation for the moment to come. Slowly, so slowly that time itself seemed to break down, she came ever closer.

At long last, something soft, warm and moist pressed against Spike’s snout. The little dragon trembled harder. He could smell Sapphire’s bejeweled breath as she exhaled through her nose. Time seemed to stand still now. It was impossible for him to tell how long their snouts had actually touched. Sure, Rarity had kissed him on the cheek before, but this was his first real kiss.

He felt like he was floating in a sea of bliss, perfectly calm and peaceful, as he vaguely sensed Sapphire’s arms around him now. He’d rarely felt this safe, this happy. He sensed it was something rare, something that he might never feel again so he held onto the wondrous moment, light tears of joy bathing his eyes as he held her in her arms.

Spike’s body tingled as the world around him returned, just in time to see Sapphire pulling her head back from his. He pressed his paw to his lips, noticing that Sapphire was doing the same thing, her face a deep shade of purple from blushing mixed under her blue scales.

“Wow,” she said. “That was…nice.”

“Yeah.” Spike was too stunned to say much else, for as he stared at Sapphire, a startling realization hit him full-force. He knew now that there was a creature in Equestria more beautiful than Rarity! Sapphire had surpassed the unicorn who had captured his heart.

Only now he’d given his heart. And received one more precious in return than any jewel.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle stepped into the library later that afternoon with a saddlebag thrown over her back, loaded with various supplies for studying peppers and for cleaning. After dragging herself from the floor that morning, she had left the mess behind to run some errands and was in no hurry to get back to it. As soon as she stepped in, every muscle in her body froze.

The library floor had been wiped clean, polished to the point that it sparkled in the sunlight coming from the windows. All the books were neatly arranged on the shelves and all the dishes washed and put away. Fluttershy was in the back of the library, dusting the top shelf with a rag as her little wings fluttered gently. Pinkie Pie helped Rarity with tying some decorative ribbons, while Rainbow Dash scraped a final blotch of cake frosting from the ceiling and Applejack arranged the dishes neatly where they belonged.

“What is this about?” Twilight asked the four other ponies in the room.

Pinkie Pie hopped over Twilight’s way as she entered. “Hiya, Twi! Lookee what we did! Lookee what we did!”

Fluttershy turned around to face the source of the sudden voices, giving a startled little gasp as she did. “Oh, hi Twilight. Rainbow Dash told us you were having trouble keeping up with your chores and convinced us to help clean up.”

“Wow. Thanks, everypony. This is so thoughtful of you.” Twilight turned her head to pan the library, still in awe at how clean it had become in only the hour since she’d left.

“Aw shoot. Don’t you fret none about it, sugar cube.” Applejack gave a wave of dismissal. “After all, what’re friends for?”

After descending to the floor, Dash stood on her rear hooves, cupping her forehooves behind her back apologetically. “I’m really sorry I broke your statue, Twilight. I might never be able to make up for it but I figured this was a start.”

“Ahem! About that,” Rarity said as she stepped in from a separate room with the fully restored statue hovering in front of her. “Rainbow Dash, you simply must take more care. If this bust had been broken into anymore pieces I’m not sure there would have been anything left for me to fix.”

“Rarity, that’s marvelous!” Twilight took a few more moments to look around at the sparkling clean library and the repaired statue. She supposed she should have been happy, but all she could do was exhale and hang her head in disappointment. “Thanks.”

The other five watched their friend mope up the stairs to her bedroom, then looked at each other in apparent confusion. Something was definitely wrong with Twilight and it was obvious it wasn’t the messy library.

Rarity went upstairs after Twilight and followed her to her bedroom, the others trailing silently behind. They found Twilight Sparkle stretched out across her bed, face buried into her pillow.

“Twilight, dahling, whatever is the matter?” Rarity’s voice was filled with genuine concern.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said from behind Rarity, “were we intruding? I’m sorry. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“No, I appreciate it. Really,” Twilight replied, her voice muffled into her pillow.

“Then let’s turn that frown upside down!” Pinkie shouted with a smile. “We worked really hard to clean this place up!”

“I’m fine,” Twilight answered in a tone that contradicted her statement.

“Don’t sound much like yer fine to me.” Applejack looked around the room at the other ponies, then back to Twilight. “I can’t speak for the rest of us, but I ain’t budgin’ ’till you tell me what’s eatin’ you.”

“Yeah, we cleaned up your library and fixed your statue, so what’s the problem?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight lifted her head from her pillow. Here eyes, puffy and wide, scanned each of the five ponies in the room. All of her friends were there, and they had worked so hard to help. All except for one little dragon who normally would have been the first to help her. “It’s Spike. I think he’s been avoiding me on purpose the last few days, and I don’t know what it is I said or did to him. He left this morning without even telling me! He always tells me where he goes. Did I work him too hard? Did I violate some sort of dragon code of conduct?” Frustrated, Twilight slammed her face back down into her pillow.

“Oh, for cryin’ out loud! It’s got nothing to do with you, Twilight,” Dash said. “Spike just found himself a girlfriend, that’s all.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash in confusion. “Since when?”

“At least the last couple of days. He’s been spending all his time with her.”

“Um, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy whispered, “I thought we weren’t going to tell.”

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but I hate to see a friend so down like this,” Dash replied.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy, looking incredulously at the pegasus. “Fluttershy? You knew, too? And you didn’t tell me?”

As Fluttershy wilted under the tone of Twilight’s voice, she felt a sympathetic hoof touch her shoulder. Twilight turned her head to find Dash with her foreleg stretched out to her. “We were going to let Spike tell you himself, but I guess he lost his nerve.”

A look of confusion that melted into a smile spread across Twilight’s face. “Spike… a girlfriend? Is this a joke?”

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash answered, “maybe I’m the kind who might pull a fast one like that on you, but would Fluttershy?”

“It’s true,” Fluttershy replied. “A girl dragon. A really cute blue one.”

A few silent moments passed as Twilight assessed the situation. Spike had a girlfriend? That little dragon was growing up faster than she’d realized. How long would it be before last night’s dream came true and Spike was fully grown? With the way the years had flown since she’d hatched Spike, he’d be an adult in no time.

Twilight noticed Rarity had remained silent during the discussion. Her eyes quivered, darting, as though in deep thought, torn between emotions. Twilight could understand why. There was the joy of knowing that a friend was happy, and the idea of Spike giving his heart to a young dragoness was endearing, but Twilight also knew of Rarity's desire to find a special somepony herself—somepony sweet and generous. Somepony like Spike, if he were only about eight years older and a pony.

“Well, that is certainly splendid news,” the white unicorn finally spoke, putting on her large covering smile. “I’ll bet they look simply darling together.”

“What’s with that tone?” Applejack asked. “Rarity, yer not jealous, are ya?”

Rarity giggled, gnashing her teeth to fight the sudden embarrassment. “Who, me? Come now, Applejack. That is a ridiculous implication. Why should I be jealous?”

Smiling wide, Pinkie Pie resumed her cheerful bouncing in place. “Ooh! Ooh! We should tell Spike to bring her to Ponyville! We could throw her a great big party with cake and ice cream and punch and soda and candy and games!”

Twilight ignored Pinkie's excited rant as she rubbed her hoof on her chin in thought of what to say to Spike when he came home.

“Feelin’ better now, Twi?” Applejack asked. She patted Twilight on the shoulder.

“A little bit,” Twilight said. “And when Spike gets home I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

***

The two little dragons walked paw-in-paw through a sandy trail that cut through a thick blanket of trees, their leaves dancing slowly in the breeze. Spike looked down at his waist. He’d strapped a small leather belt with an attached pouch to his waist that morning just before leaving the library. Recalling how Sapphire had frozen the lake the day before, Spike stopped and rubbed the pouch with his free hand.

Sapphire, jarred from Spike’s sudden stop, dragged him forward a couple of steps. Taken by surprise from the sudden movement, Spike fought to maintain his balance and buckled his knees.

“What’s wrong, Spike? Why’d you stop like that?” Sapphire asked.

“Well, I was just thinking,” Spike began. “You showed me a cool trick yesterday. Would you like to see a cool trick of my own?”

“Sure!”

From the belt strapped to his waist, Spike produced a scroll of parchment and a feather quill. He unrolled the scroll and scribbled something on the sheet before rolling it back up to belch a small jet of green flame on the scroll. In an instant, the parchment faded away. Before Sapphire could make anything of the display, a belch of her own forced its way out of her maw, along with the same scroll Spike had just made disappear. Without a word, she grabbed the scroll from midair, unwrapped it and read the letter Spike had written.

Hi.

Sapphire looked up at Spike, amazed. “Hey, that’s fun! Let me try it.”

Without asking permission, Sapphire snatched the quill from Spike’s paw and scribbled a note of her own on the parchment.

“So how do you send it to who you want?” Sapphire asked.

“Just think about who you want it to go to,” Spike said. “Picture them in your head.”

“Okay, here goes.”

She held the scroll in front of her mouth and belched a cloud of icy breath on it. Within a second, the scroll vanished and Spike spat it back out.

Hello.

Spike looked at Sapphire for a few seconds, impressed. He hadn’t been sure it would work with any dragon besides him, and now Sapphire wanted to make a little game with it.

With a sly smile, Spike took the quill back away from Sapphire to write another, much longer note underneath hers. Sapphire attempted a peek, forcing Spike to turn around to hide the letter from her prying eyes. A duet of belches followed, and Sapphire unraveled the scroll to read Spike’s note out loud.

"You are the most beautiful dragon in all of Equestria."

Smiling wide, Sapphire looked back up at Spike, who was blushing and twisting his foot into the sand.

“Awwwww!” she said, then took the quill one more time and wrote yet another note underneath Spike’s before belching the scroll back to him.

Spike grabbed the scroll from midair and unrolled it. "You are the sweetest dragon in all of Equestria."

Spike looked up at Sapphire, who was smiling and blushing at him. Their eyes locked for a few moments; then both dragons fell over on their backs, clutching their stomachs in laughter.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike entered the library that evening, whistling and dancing his way up the stairs, all the way into his little basket bed. This oddly jubilant behavior brought Twilight’s attention away from the book she’d been reading. Now was the time to get to the bottom of things. She shut her book with her magic then followed Spike up the stairs to her room.

“Spike?” The echoes of Twilight’s hooves against the wooden steps filled the library. “Oh, Spiiiiike!”

Spike opened his eyes as he lay on his back to find Twilight Sparkle standing above him.

“Yeah, Twilight?” Spike answered with a lovesick sigh.

“I know you’ve been keeping something from me, Spike.”

Uh-oh. Busted. Spike forced the smile away in an effort to play innocent. “What are you talking about?”

Twilight flashed a knowing smile as she looked Spike right in the eyes. “Who is she, Spike?”

“Who’s who?” Spike scratched the top of his head to augment his attempt at playing dumb.

“Don’t ‘who’s who’ me. I know about your new girlfriend.”

Gritting his teeth to fight the sudden frustration and embarrassment in his gut, Spike sat up. “Rainbow Dash spilled the beans, didn’t she?”

“I’m sorry, Spike. I didn’t ask her to.”

Spike risked a look up at her. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

“Maybe a little annoyed that you kept it a secret.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “But mostly I’m happy for you!”

Spike twirled his thumbs, hanging his head in shame. “Well, I thought if you found out, you might think I didn’t want to be your number one assistant anymore.”

“Of course not!” Twilight sat down beside Spike and draped a foreleg over his shoulder. “Why would you think that, Spike?”

“Because I’ve been wanting to spend time with Sapphire instead of with you?”

“It just means that you really like this girl. I would’ve understood if you’d just told me. In fact, why don’t you bring her on over to Ponyville sometime? I’d love to meet her!”

Spike stood up from his bed to embrace Twilight around her neck. “Thanks, Twilight. You really are the best.”

Bring her on over to Ponyville. That thought brought an idea to Spike’s mind as he let go of Twilight and turned back for the stairs.

“Where are you going now?” Twilight asked.

“I gotta go talk to Pinkie Pie really quick. Don’t worry, I’ll be back within the hour.”


***

The next morning, two tiny dragons topped the horizon just outside Ponyville. 

“I don’t know about this, Spike,” Sapphire said. “Most other creatures get a little anxious with a strange dragon around. We’re not exactly known as the type of creatures who make new friends.”

Spike could feel Sapphire’s paw trembling in his and saw her nervously looking around.

“Don’t worry!” Spike answered. “They’re my friends, Sapphire. They aren’t going to kick you out of town or anything like that.”

Most of the ponies enjoying the mid-morning sunshine went about their business paying little attention to the two dragons. Some of them were tending to the gardens in their yard; a few of them had spiraling horns coming from their foreheads. A few even fluttered about with feathered wings.

“My parents told me about unicorns and the winged pegasi but I never thought I’d see them with my own eyes, let alone so many in one place,” Sapphire said.

Several ponies, including a lazy-eyed blonde pegasus, stopped what they were doing at the sight of the strange dragon walking through their village. Wide untrusting stares followed Spike and Sapphire.

“Spike?” Sapphire pulled herself closer to her new boyfriend for comfort, still shivering. “Why are they staring at me? Maybe we should turn back.”

“Uh, we don’t get a lot of strangers in Ponyville, that’s all. Don’t let it get to you,” Spike answered, unable to come up with any other consolation.

Spike led Sapphire through the town of ponies until the dragon duo reached a building carved into a tree on the edge of town. “This is where I live,” Spike explained. He held an open palm towards the door. “Why don’t you go on in first?”

Sapphire turned the knob and stepped through the door to be greeted by a loud “surprise!” that nearly knocked her off her feet.

Six ponies were inside the library, all smiling at their new arrival. Hanging from the ceiling above them was a large tissue banner that read, “Welcome, Sapphire!” Streamers flew through the air. A few balloons were scattered about the room, and a delicious looking cake sat on a table against the far wall of the room.

“Wow,” was all Sapphire could think to say at first. “This is neat! Did you set this up, Spike?”

“Um, yeah. I did. Pinkie Pie did most of the work, though.”

At the mention of her name, a bright eyed smiling pink pony bounced up to the two dragons. “Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie, and let me be the first to welcome you to Ponyville, Sapphire! Spike’s told us all about you. It’s great to meet you. It’s so cute that little Spike has a girlfriend! So where are you from? How old are you? Do you like cupcakes? I love cupcakes! Blueberry cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes! Cupcakes with sprinkles and chocolate frosting and cherries on top!”

Sapphire turned away from Pinkie’s seemingly infinite rant to shoot a shrug at Spike as if to say “what’s going on?”

“Eh, don’t mind her,” Spike said as Pinkie continued with her incessant monologue. “She’s just being Pinkie Pie.”

“Nice to meet you, Pinkie.” Sapphire turned around to shake Pinkie’s hoof. “If you’re Spike’s friend, then you’re my friend!”

Pinkie’s big blue eyes seemed to glow at Sapphire’s last word. “Friend!” With no warning, the pink pony snatched Sapphire in a hug that nearly crushed her spine. “Oh, I’m so happy to be your friend! Because I’m everypony’s friend and now I’m every dragon’s friend, too!”

It took Sapphire a few seconds to catch her breath after Pinkie set her back down. After such a tight hug it was a miracle she was even breathing properly. “Wow, thanks. I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t think I’d be welcome here.”

“Not welcome?” a mare with a wide brimmed hat and blonde ponytail stepped forward and smiled, raising an eyebrow. “Why in Equestria would you think you wouldn’t be welcome here? This here town’s got the friendliest buncha ponies I ever met!”

“Because I’m a dragon who didn’t grow up here?”

“Aw, shoot. Don’t y’all give it another lick of thought. Any friend of Spike’s is welcome here! Especially one he speaks so fondly of.”

Sapphire blushed and fidgeted at the mention of Spike telling his pony friends good things about her. “Well, I have only good things to say about Spike, too.”

“Name’s Applejack. Pleased ta be makin’ yer acquaintance!”

“Likewise,” Sapphire replied as Applejack gave a polite bow.

A violet unicorn with wide bangs was the next one to step forward from the crowd of ponies. “Hello! I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

Sapphire smiled wide, shaking Twilight’s hoof. “So you'rethe Twilight Spike’s told me so much about. I'm Sapphire.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sapphire. I can tell you, you’re one lucky little dragon for winding up with Spike.”

Smiling, Sapphire leaned her head on Spike’s shoulder. “I already know that.”

A white unicorn stepped forward to greet Sapphire now. “So, you’re the one who’s been looking after Spikey-Wikey this past week. It’s a pleasure, I suppose.” 

The name Spikey-Wikey forced the purple dragon into a facepalm.

“I guess that would be me,” Sapphire said, taking notice of Spike’s reaction. “And you are?”

The unicorn held one hoof to her chest, which she held out in pride. “Rarity, of course. I’m sure Spike’s mentioned a thing or two about me, right?”

“You might have come up once or twice. I’m sorry, he hasn’t said much about you.”

Though Rarity feigned a smile, her right eye twitched with effort to restrain growing frustration. Spike had seen this display on numerous occasions. 

“Oh, well that’s quite alright, darling. After all, not everypony can be popular, right?” Rarity's purple curly mane danced as she gave her head a little shake.

A blue pegasus hovering in midair suddenly caught Sapphire’s attention. A rainbow of six different colors streaked down her mane and tail. “Let me guess,” Sapphire said, pointing a claw at the pony suspended in midair, “you’re Rainbow Dash.”

“The Rainbow Dash!” Just to show off a little bit, Dash did a midair backflip. “Why? Have ya heard of me?”

“Not much other than what Spike’s mentioned.”

There was one pony among the crowd who had not taken the initiative to introduce herself—a pegasus who radiated tense nerves behind two locks of long pink hair.

“Oh, you must be Fluttershy. The quiet one.”

Drooping under the weight of the sudden attention, the pink maned pegasus scraped her hoof across the floor, her eyes averted to the wall. “Um… yes.”

“Isn’t this great?” Pinkie bounced up and down in place, eyes shut tight with glee. “Now you’ve met all of us and we’re all your friends! Come on, everypony! Let’s cut the cake and have some fun!”

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent playing games, eating cake and drinking punch. Sapphire had proven to be talented at Pin the Tail on the Pony, as well as a skilled dancer thanks to her dexterous footwork, which Spike had seen before on the frozen pond.

Spike’s friends told her the stories of their adventures, plus how they’d had several run- ins with dragons in the past, which only amazed her further that she was welcome in Ponyville.

As the morning rolled on, Spike’s friends left one by one until only the two dragons and Twilight Sparkle remained inside the library. With the party over, Twilight suggested that Spike show Sapphire around Ponyville while she went about the cleanup.

“So what’s there to see?” Sapphire asked.

“Well, Ponyville’s not anything like Canterlot. Just a small town. But it does have its charms, and you’re about to see one of them.”

Spike led Sapphire over to Ponyville’s sandwich shop, where Rainbow Dash was preparing to have her lunch. Having vengeance in mind before he left Twilight’s library, he’d managed to sneak a couple Dragon Peppers out with him.

“Sapphire,” Spike whispered to the dragoness holding his paw. Without a word she leaned in for Spike to explain the plan to her.

“You sure?” Sapphire asked.

“Oh yeah.” Spike let out a malicious chuckle. “She was spying on us the other day, you know.”

Sapphire hadn’t known that; in moments she shared Spike’s sinister grin. “Do it.”

“Okay, on three. Ready?” Spike asked. “One, two, three.”

Spike darted inside a nearby bush. Sapphire sauntered innocently up to Rainbow Dash as she was about to take the first bite of her sandwich.

“Um, Rainbow Dash, I hate to bother you, but I need your help with something,” Sapphire said.

Rainbow brought her attention away from her sandwich to look at the little dragon. “What’s the matter, shrimp?”

“I can’t find Spike. I was wondering if you could fly around and see if you can spot him for me.”

“Playing hide and seek, is he? Well you’ve come to the right pegasus! I was queen of hide and seek when I was a filly! You just wait right here, kid. I’ll find him in ten seconds flat!”

More eager to show off to a stranger than to actually help, Rainbow Dash bolted into the sky and out of sight. Sapphire waved for Spike to go.

The coast was clear. Peppers in paw, Spike crept out of the bush, ran onto the patio of the restaurant and slipped three peppers inconspicuously into Dash’s sandwich. The trap was set. Spike jumped back inside the bush just as Dash came back into view in the sky.

“Sorry, kid. Couldn’t find him. Guess I’m a little rusty,” Rainbow Dash said.

Sapphire shook her head. “No, that’s okay. Thanks for looking.”

“Why not go find Pinkie Pie? She loves hide and seek!”

“I might do that. Thanks again!”

The sandwich beckoned for Dash’s attention at the growl of her stomach. Sapphire had walked away. With no further interruptions, Rainbow opened her mouth wide and took a voracious bite.

Something was different.

Blinking her eyes in confusion, Dash chewed more slowly. For some reason, her mouth was growing warmer. The tingling sensation in her mouth grew from warm to hot to absolutely volcanic in a matter of seconds. Dash held her hooves to her mouth to stifle a groan of pain, sending out a puff of smoke as she did.

“Water! WATER!“

She shot into the air, swinging her head from left to right, desperately searching for relief. There was a small lake off in the distance. A plume of smoke trailed after the rainbow pegasus as she shot off and a loud splash of water followed soon after.

Both baby dragons fell over on their backs, their stomachs tightening with fits of uncontrollable laughter.

“Nice one, Spike!” Sapphire laughed.

Spike grinned, satisfied, puffing his claw like a smoking pistol. “Nothing for the old master. Now, let’s see Ponyville.”
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sugarcube Corner stood out among the rest of the buildings in Ponyville. It almost looked like a gingerbread house. The roof had been painted to look like a graham cracker lined with white frosting. A large, cupcake- shaped tower with three giant candles stuck out above the roof, and two poles colored like candy canes held up the awning above the door. It was easily one of the strangest buildings Sapphire had ever seen.

Sapphire tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder to nab his attention, then pointed at a gingerbread-looking house. “Hey, Spike. What’s that building?”

“Oh, you mean Sugar Cube Corner? That’s the local sweets shop. Hey! I’ll bet Pinkie Pie would give us both a free ice cream cone if we stopped in.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

Spike stumbled over sudden movement as Sapphire dragged him all the way inside the bakery. She'd nearly pulled his arm off! 

“By the way, what IS an ice cream cone?” Sapphire asked. 

Spike laughed. “You’ll find out. And then you'll be hooked for life.”

Behind the counter, Pinkie busied herself stirring some kind of batter in a glass bowl. She took one look at the dragons entering her shop, smiled and set the bowl down. “Well, if it isn’t my two favorite dragons!” Pinkie hopped up to the counter. “Hiya Spike, Sapphy! What brings you to Sugar Cube Corner? Oh! Did you come to try those cupcakes with chocolate and sprinkles and cherries on top like I told you about? They’re really good! I can eat fifteen of them in one sitting!”

“Actually, we just came in to say hi,” Spike said.

Pinkie’s smile grew even wider. “Awww, well that’s so nice of you to come see me while I’m working! Why not take a couple ice cream cones? It’s on the house.” Pinkie stared up at the roof, lost in sudden thought. “Or would that be, ‘it’s on the bakery’? I dunno. What I mean is, they’re free!”

“Oh, thank you,” Sapphire said as she took the cone, then studied it. “Where’s the ice?”

“It’s frozen cream,” Pinkie Pie said. “Lick it. It’s super yummy!”

Sapphire flicked out her blue dragon tongue and taste-tested the treat. “Wow, it’s sweet! Our ice treats are just ice. I wish we had things like this.”

***

The ice cream cone wasn’t the last free thing given to Sapphire that day. Spike took her to Sweet Apple Acres, where the Apple family treated her to some of their sweet apple pie. Despite her parents always telling her that ponies, like many other creatures, had no reason to trust dragons, Sapphire knew that Spike’s friends had all gone through a lot of expense and effort to welcome her into their town as if they’d known her her entire life.

That evening, the two dragons sat paw-in-paw on the balcony of Twilight’s library, watching the stars appear in the sky. They’d cuddled so close together that the scales on their sides scraped against one another with the slightest movement.

“I really like your friends, Spike,” Sapphire said. “They’re a lot of fun. Especially Pinkie!”

“I told you so, huh?” Spike gave Sapphire a gentle nudge, which she answered with a kiss to his cheek.

“Okay, you got me there.” Recalling the nickname Rarity had given Spike, Sapphire giggled. “Spikey-Wikey.”

“Hey, don’t call me that.”

“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”

In an effort to pin Sapphire to the ground, Spike shifted his weight towards her. It worked—Sapphire fell over on her back, but Spike didn’t take the opportunity to pin her as he’d planned. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her ankle as the dragoness gave him a confused look.

“I’m gonna tickle you until you promise not to call me that again!” Spike threatened.

Sapphire giggled and squirmed as Spike brushed the tip of his claw against the sole of her foot. Hard as she fought, she couldn’t escape Spike’s grip. “No! Stop! I-I won’t say it again! Promise!”

The tickling finally stopped, which allowed Sapphire to sit up and catch her breath from the involuntary laughing that had squeezed all the air from her lungs.

“Okay,” she panted, “my turn!”

With no warning other than that, the dragoness sprang up to tackle Spike to the ground, grabbed him around the ankle and ran the tip of her claw against his foot.

“Okay!” Spike laughed, kicking all the while in an effort to free himself. “Okay! I’m sorry!”

It was Spike’s turn to drop to his stomach, gasping for air. Sapphire crawled over to him, bringing her side against his. She rested her neck over his, and their tails entwined like a pair of snakes

Sapphire could feel Spike’s pounding heart. “Spike?” she asked softly.

“Yeah?”

“I… I…”

“You what?”

“Um… never mind. Can we just lay here like this for a while?”

***

Twilight Sparkle yawned. The last dull light of dusk had faded and it had been a long day. She could continue her studies in the morning. Once she closed the book on plants she’d been reading and set it on a nearby table, Twilight trudged up the stairs to her room with one more yawn.

An adorable sight just out the window of the patio caught Twilight’s attention. The baby dragons were cuddled up in a ball with Sapphire’s neck resting on top of Spike’s, a pair of little tails curled around each other like the stripes on a candy cane. Both had their eyes shut, apparently asleep in their cuddled position. Their heads made two adjacent lumps, with their bodies curving downward to form a single intersecting tip at their tails. Intentional or not, the two dragons had formed what resembled a scaly heart.

“Good night, Spike.”

With a smile, Twilight summoned a bit of magic energy into her horn. A glittering aura engulfed the blanket tucked across Spike’s bed. The cloth lifted into the air, waving like a flag as Twilight guided it outside to the patio and gently draped it over the sleeping reptiles, being careful not to wake them.

They hadn’t moved. With that taken care of, Twilight nestled into her bed to get some sleep of her own.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A bright beam of morning sunlight pried Spike’s eyes open for the day. He stretched and yawned, a bit surprised to find his blanket draped over him. More surprising was the fact that Sapphire was not laying next him as she was before they fell asleep. Spike crawled out from under the blanket and stepped into the library.

Downstairs, Twilight busied herself making breakfast, but still no Sapphire. A sleepy-eyed Spike dragged himself down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Oh, good morning, Spike,” Twilight said as she stirred a pot of oatmeal with a wooden spoon manipulated by her magic.

“Morning, Twilight. Have you seen Sapphire?”

“Actually, yes. She left about an hour ago. She didn’t say where she was going, but she gave me a note to pass on to you. It’s on the table.”

Spike turned and walked towards the table, where he picked up the paper and read it to himself.

***

Spike,
Sorry I didn’t tell you this myself, but I didn’t want to wake you. My parents can talk to me over long distances with magic. They woke me up and said they had something important to tell me. I’ll be at our usual spot if you want to meet me again later today.
Your girlfriend, Sapphire. XOXO.

***

“Twilight,” Spike said after placing the note back down on the table. “Would it be all right if I went and saw Sapphire after breakfast?”

Still stirring the pot of oatmeal, Twilight mulled it over. “Well, I suppose. But I get you all day tomorrow, ok?”

“You got it!”

After eating his oat-laden breakfast, Spike walked along the countryside path that lead to the little meadow where he first met Sapphire. She wasn’t there when he arrived. Was she playing hide and seek again?

“Sapphire?” Spike yelled. He stepped closer to the pepper bush in the middle of the meadow. “Sapphire, I’m here!”

No answer from Sapphire. Something was wrong. It was too quiet. Maybe she was at the pond. Spike turned to walk down the thick blanket of trees that lead to the pond. A sense of ill omen started him running down the dirt path until he could see the water sparkling in the distance. As the trees thinned out there was Sapphire, sitting on the bank of the pond with her feet in the water.

“There you are.” Spike stepped closer and sat next to her. She didn’t answer.

Something Spike couldn’t see tapped the surface of the pond, creating a series of small ripples that cascaded across the water. Looking up, Spike watched Sapphire wipe her eyes and sniff.

“Sapphire, are you crying?”

Sapphire trembled, visibly gritting her teeth. She sniffed again, eyes shut tight as if in great pain. Sure enough, a tear crawled its way down her cheek, leaving a wet trail along its path before it dropped off her face to send another series of ripples across the glittering surface of the pond.

“Hey, you are crying. What’s wrong? Does it have something to do with that important thing your folks wanted to talk to you about?” Spike scooted closer to embrace Sapphire for comfort. Almost immediately she buried her tearful face into his shoulder.

“Spike!” Sapphire sniffed again. “My parents…”

Spike felt Sapphire tremble harder, as if the words were too difficult to speak. Had something bad happened to her parents?

“What happened?” Spike asked after a few seconds of silence. “Are your parents okay?”

“They're leaving Equestria today, and I have to go with them! I just found out. That’s why they wanted to talk to me.”

A chill ran through Spike that had nothing to do with being near an ice dragon. His fins drooped, along with his heart. “But, if you leave Equestria—when will we ever see each other again?”

“I know! We won’t! Why do you think I’m so upset!” Sapphire grabbed Spike so tight he could barely breathe, but he wasn’t about to push her away in a moment of need. “I don’t want to go, Spike!”

“Well, maybe you don’t have to. You can come live with Twilight and me. I know she’d let you, and she could always use extra help.”

Sapphire pulled herself away and placed her paws on Spike’s shoulders. A negative shake of her head dismissed that idea as she looked Spike in the eyes. “No, I can’t. They’re my parents. I can’t just leave them. They’re my only family. Don’t you understand what that means?”

Spike sunk under Sapphire’s gaze, with a defeated sigh, his eyes turned to the ground. “I guess I don’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Twilight’s not my real mom, of course, but she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to one. I don’t know my real parents or even if I have any brothers or sisters.”

Spike felt himself being squeezed in another one of Sapphire's bear hugs. “"I’m so sorry, Spike. I never knew.”

He grabbed her tightly, too, hoping it would help ease his sorrow as much as hers. “Not your fault.”

Sapphire trembled. All the tears and all the sadness in her face she’d been holding back came out when Spike rubbed her back for comfort. She cried and sobbed into Spike’s shoulder, a sound that chilled Spike’s heart with regret. He began to cry too, realizing he wouldn’t be able to be there for her the next morning. Or her for him. The happiness that had boiled up in him over the past few days began to wither.

“Spike?” Sapphire’s shaky voice asked. “You’re not gonna cry, too, are you?”

“I’m trying not to. I really am.”

“Please don’t. I’m crying enough for the both of us.”

Though it took every fiber of his being, Spike managed to choke down the tears long enough for Sapphire to calm down. Once her sobbing had stopped, she let go of Spike and turned back to her reflection on the surface of the water. Both dragons sat down on the bank of the pond and dipped their little feet into the water as they wiped the moisture from their eyes.

“You know,” Sapphire began, “I wasn’t lying when I said you’re the sweetest dragon I’ve ever met. All the other boy dragons I’ve met have been mean and rude. They’d push me down, throw rocks at me, pull my hair. Some of them would even hit me.”

“Are you sure they weren’t just teasing you because they like you?”

“No, this was different. All of them lived by the old dragon rules: if you can beat another dragon up, you’re better than them. If you’re mean to someone and they don’t fight back, they’re weaker than you. If you can take something from another dragon, it’s yours. They’d steal from me, steal from my parents. Sometimes they would even…” Sapphire shut her eyes tight to fight back more tears. “Call me ugly.”

“Well, you’re by far the prettiest dragon I’ve ever met, if that helps.” Spike watched his reflection blush at his own comment.

“And that’s what I like about you.” Sapphire scooted closer to lean her head on his shoulder and wrapped her tail around his. “You’re not like them at all. You’re sweet and kind and giving. What if I never meet another dragon like you?”

“Eh, not like I’m much of a catch,” Spike answered as he looked his reflection over. “Look at these short little arms.”

“It’s the strength of your heart I like, not the strength of your body.” Sapphire gave Spike a kiss on the cheek to reassure him, then pulled her feet out of the water and stood up. “Maybe we should stop this. Maybe you should go before we make my leaving harder than it already is.”

A mournful sigh escaped Spike’s snout before he stood up, face to face with the girl who had enraptured his heart. The girl he could be seeing for the last time. Spike struggled for something appropriate to say, etching the sand with his foot to help him think. What WAS the right thing to say when your heart was in pieces and this could be the last thing you say to the girl of your dreams?

“I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. Or what to do. I wish I did.”

It was too hard for little Sapphire to look Spike in the eye. Instead her sights were set towards the ground as she twisted her foot into the sand. “Maybe just a quick goodbye would be easiest.”

More tears welled up in Spike’s eyes. “But, I don’t want to say goodbye!”

“Me either. But do we have a choice?”

Sapphire’s head still hung towards the ground, prompting Spike to step within arm’s reach. Gently, he lifted Sapphire’s chin up with a finger to force her to look him in the eye. “Goodbye, Sapphire. Don’t worry, we can still write to each other, right? Just remember that trick I taught you“.

Sapphire sighed as she stepped forward to embrace him one more time. “I don’t want to leave, but I have to. I—I love you, Spike. Don’t ever change.”

Love. The word set Spike’s heart on fire. No one except Twilight had told him they loved him. Was that what Spike had been feeling for Sapphire? That sensation, warm and fuzzy yet alarming at the same time?

Spike took a few seconds to look deep within for the answer, then spoke. “I love you, too.”

Two enormous shadows spilled over Spike and Sapphire from a nearby hill. Spike’s mouth hung open in shock as he gazed up at a pair of approaching blue-scaled dragons. They were magnificently huge, but it was the kind looks on their faces that really amazed him.

“Young one." The larger, darker dragon's voice was so tremendous it tickled Spike's feet with vibrations sent through the ground. “we thank you for your friendship with our Sapphire. She’s regained the joy that we’ve always known with her. In fact, I've never seen her smile so wide.”  

“We knew of her feelings for you, which is why we have remained here this long." The sleeker, lighter-colored dragon's voice was more feminine and far less harsh.  

Spike tiled his head in confusion. So these two were Sapphire's parents. “‘This long?’ You mean, you wanted to leave before now?”

Sapphire’s father nodded. “Yes. We ice dragons have lived in the frozen north for eons, and have become accustomed to its wintry properties. When we left the Migration, we hoped we could remain in the high mountains here, but the changes caught up with us.”  

“Changes?” Spike took a second to contemplate the meaning of the father’s words. “You mean, just by being here?”  

“Indeed.” He nodded again. “They started out as mild annoyances, waking nightmares. But as we stayed here, they grew into an unbearable agony. What might be a pleasant warm day for you is more akin to a hundred red-hot needles being jabbed into our sides.”

“Daddy!” Sapphire yelled, a concerned expression now on her face. “You said you and mother were just a little uncomfortable.”  

“I know, child. We didn’t mean to deceive you. We stayed here for your sake, because you were happy.”  

Spike wondered at these two noble dragons. They were willing to sacrifice so much just for a little happiness for Sapphire. “Sir? Ma’am? Thank you.”  

“No, we thank you, young Spike,” Sapphire’s mother said. “What you have done for Sapphire we cannot repay, but perhaps your travels will bring you close to our realm. You would be a welcome guest.”

“Thank you.” Spike turned to Sapphire now, visibly shaken. “Sapphire, I don’t know who my real parents are, but I hope they were like yours.”  

Sapphire couldn’t keep herself from embracing her friend one last time. “Oh, Spike!”  

Sapphire’s mother’s wings split the air like the winds of a tornado as she stretched them. “If you are finished with your goodbyes, climb on my back, dear. It is time for us to leave.”  

“Yes, Mama.”

Sapphire afforded one last look back at Spike, waving as her mother took to the air once again.

“Goodbye, Spike!” Sapphire yelled. “I hope we can meet again someday. Until then, don’t forget to write!”

“I won’t forget!” Spike shouted back. Like I could

Spike watched as the three blue dragons flew higher into the matching sky and felt like collapsing right there on the sandy bank and crying. He’d heard the phrase “love hurts“ before, but until now he had no idea exactly how much. It felt like Rainbow Dash had gone into a Sonic Rainboom and crashed right into his heart, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Once he was sure he was alone, Spike rested on his back, watching the clouds roll by. When he could no longer fight it, the tears flowed down his face.
> Final Chapter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponyville seemed much duller than usual when Spike returned, dragging his drooped body along the dirt road that led back to Twilight’s library. A strange, empty feeling persisted inside his gut ever since Sapphire left. Was she really gone for good? Would he never hear her voice, the soft sweet sound of her giggle, or feel the warm touch of her paw again?

Not even the rainbow-colored pony following above was enough to make him lift his head.

“Boy, you sure got me good yesterday, Spike. Those were some mean peppers. Nice prank!” Rainbow Dash bantered on. “But don’t let it go to your head. You just caught me off guard, that’s all, and I’m giving you fair warning that I’ll find a way to get back at you!”

Spike had heard Rainbow Dash’s voice, but her words washed over him. He simply maintained his moping posture without making a sound.

Rainbow stopped her forward movement, holding her hoof to her mouth in an apparent mix of awe and sympathy as she watched Spike walk solemnly along towards the library. Were those tears going down his face? She’d watched him come into town from the direction he usually took when he left to visit Sapphire.

“Uh-oh.” Rainbow hovered in place as she observed Spike, then slowly followed.

***

“I still don’t understand why you’re so jealous of Spike and Sapphire, Rarity,” Twilight said. The two unicorns stood in the middle of the library, where Rarity had paid a visit in order to complain about her lack of a love life. Of course, Twilight was the smart pony that everypony came to when they had a problem.

“It isn’t fair!” Rarity’s curled mane danced as she stomped her hoof in protest. “Why haven’t I found love yet? They’re probably ten years younger in pony years than I am! Why must it take me so long?”

“Probably because you’re too picky?”

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “You could have at least given me the dignity of hesitating before you answered.”

The sound of the door opening brought the unicorns’ attention away from their conversation to see Spike walk into the library.

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight said. “You’re back sooner than I thought you’d be.”

Without paying any heed to Twilight or Rarity, Spike moped across the lobby and up the stairs to Twilight’s room. Not so much as a sound followed.

“Spike?” Scratching her head in confusion, Twilight looked to Rarity for an answer.

“Oh my. Didn’t you see the look on his face? The poor little dragon is crushed.”

Rainbow Dash fluttered in through the still-open door, the worried look on her face telling Twilight that Spike was on her mind, too.

“Hi, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “Did you see Spike just now?”

“Nope." Rainbow's eyes darted as she locked her front hooves behind her back. "Just wanted to check on him because, uh...” She paused to work up an explanation for her being there besides the obvious. “Because I have nothing better to do and we're all friends here, right?”

“Um, excuse me.” Fluttershy appeared underneath her rainbow-colored companion. Once she noticed all eyes were on her, she hung her head, scraping her hoof across the floor. “Oh. I hope I’m not interrupting, but I saw Spike looking really sad. Is he alright?”

Twilight paused to look to the top of the stairs for a few moments then turned back to her friends. “I think he and Sapphire just broke up. He should be all right, in time.”

“We simply must check on him,” Rarity replied.

The other ponies wordlessly nodded in agreement. As a group they crept upstairs into Twilight’s room. The little dragon was there, curled up in his basket, a sobbing, shivering ball of scales.

Rarity was the first to approach Spike and rubbed his back to comfort him. “Spikey-Wikey, sweetie, whatever is the matter?”

“What happened, Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, tell us what’s up!” Dash said.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy added.

All Spike could do to answer was shake his head no.

Twilight tapped her hoof impatiently as she awaited further response. “Are you gonna tell us what happened or not?” she asked once she realized waiting for Spike to answer on his own was futile.

Spike blinked as he hugged and stroked his tail, trying to find form for the words. “It’s over.”

“Over?” Rarity asked.

“Sapphire’s gone. She left Equestria with her parents.”

Dash gritted her teeth in sympathy as the other ponies puzzled for something to say. “Oh. Bummer, huh? Look, never mind what I said about paying you back for yesterday’s prank. I won’t do it.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight snapped.

“I mean, um…” Rainbow cupped her hooves behind her back, slowly working her mouth until she spit out, “I’msorryokay?”

The cross gaze remained pasted on Twilight’s face. Rainbow Dash sighed and wilted before planting her hooves to the ground so she could rub Spike’s shoulder in sympathy.

“Look, Spike. I’m sorry it happened and it stinks. Is there anything I can do to help?” Rainbow dared a glance over her shoulder at Twilight, who smiled and nodded in approval.

Again, Spike answered with a negative shake of his head.

“Are you sure?” Rarity asked. “I can bring you some nice, delicious gems.”

“Not hungry,” Spike mumbled.

Tears welled up in Fluttershy’s kind blue eyes and streamed down her face, wetting the yellow fur on her delicate features as she listened to Spike's words. Twilight could understand why. She and Fluttershy both knew that Spike would never turn down gems. It hurt to see a friend so sad, and Fluttershy was especially sensitive to her friends' feelings. Fluttershy wiped away the tears and sniffed.

“Look, everypony,” Twilight’s voice called the other ponies’ attention away from the heartbroken dragon. “I think Spike just needs some time to himself.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes glossed with tears.

Twilight looked behind her shoulder at poor Spike, who was still curled up tight. “He’ll be fine… in time.”

"Thank you, Dr. Twilight," Spike grumbled. 

Twilight didn't say anything in response, for she hadn't expected Spike to find comfort in those words in such an devastated state.


***

The herd of ponies left the room and trotted downstairs, save for Twilight who remained at Spike’s bedside. Only when he heard the door shut after the last pony left did Spike pick himself up and wrap his arms around Twilight’s front legs. He buried his face into her chest and cried.

“Twilight, it’s not fair! Why does it have to hurt so much?” Indeed, he’d never felt pain like this before.

Twilight shook her head as she rubbed Spike’s back to comfort him. “I wish I knew what to tell you, Spike, but it’s just part of being in love.”

A small groan sounded from Spike. Why did everypony insist on making love seem so grand and fantastic, as if it were the key to ultimate happiness? How come nopony ever told him love could hurt this much? They never talked about the ugly side of it. Of course, most ponies avoided unpleasant topics in general so that might account for it. Even so, nothing could have prepared him for this sort of emotional torture.

“Well, make it stop!” Spike cried.

“Sorry. I don’t know any spells to cure a broken heart. You just need time. Can you be a tough little guy until then?”

The only answer from Spike was a loud sniff.

“Look, I’m going to give you some time to yourself and catch up on my studies. I’ll be right here in the library if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay. ” Spike whispered.

After gently pushing Spike away, Twilight gave him a smile to assure him everything would be fine then retreated downstairs. Once she’d disappeared, Spike threw himself back onto his bed.

***

That night, Twilight’s mouth opened into a big, gaping yawn. She looked out the window and saw a reddish glow trimming the horizon. Easy to lose track of time when you’re pulled inside a good book. After a big stretch of her legs, she set her book on the table and stood up. She hadn’t heard so much as a peep from Spike since earlier that afternoon. Better check on him on the way to bed. As she walked up the stairs, a startling thought came to mind.

He was growing up fast. Maybe this would be the right time to let him go off on his own, to spread his wings with a certain young dragoness, just as she’d dreamed about earlier that week. The idea extracted quiet tears from both her eyes, but she was determined to do the right thing. She couldn’t keep Spike shackled to her forever.

“Spike?”

No answer. Twilight walked further up the stairs, wiped her eyes and approached Spike’s bed.

“Spike?”

Still curled up in his bed, Spike’s answer was a weak moan.

“Listen, Spike.” Twilight dropped to her haunches next to Spike’s basket bed. “You’re—you’re a big dragon now, Spike, and part of being a big dragon means having to make some tough choices.”

Spike could only sigh at Twilight’s words. 

“Just hear me out,” Twilight replied, knowing that Spike’s yawn was a half-hearted protest. He buried his face more, as if trying to shut out her words. “Now, I’m going to let you make one of those tough choices. If—” Twilight had to turn her head and gulp down the tears before she could bring herself to continue. “If you want to leave and go find Sapphire, I promise I won’t get mad and I won’t try to stop you.”

For the first time since he laid down earlier that day, Spike moved. He rolled over on his back to look Twilight in her violet eyes. “What?”

“You’re growing up, Spike. I can’t keep you forever.”

“You’d just let me leave?”

“You don’t know how lucky you are, Spike. I don’t even know what it’s like to be in love. If being with her really makes you happy, then I’d be happy.”

Spike could only look up at Twilight, mouth agape in awe.

“I’m going to get some sleep.” Twilight said, more for her benefit than his. “I’ll let you think about it. Whatever you decide, I know it’ll be the right choice. Good night, Spike.”

The next morning, warm beams of sunlight greeted Twilight as she opened her eyes for the day. Stretching and yawning, the memory of the night before filled her with a strange sense of dread. She closed one eye and dared to aim the other at Spike’s bed. Except for his blanket, it was empty. Twilight sighed and climbed out of bed.

So, this was it. Spike was really gone.

A framed picture of Spike and Twilight on the unicorn’s desk caught her attention. It only took a second for tears to run down her cheeks. As long as she lived, she would never forget that little purple dragon. Twilight let out a sigh. Best to get some breakfast, if she could keep it down. Slowly, Twilight stepped downstairs, head hung in sorrow.

***

Spike watched the horizon from the hot-air balloon he’d hired to take him to Baltimare, where according to Sapphire’s latest letter she and her family had passed through that morning. At the rate the balloon drifted, Spike figured they’d overtake the ice dragons tomorrow.

For a while now, his thoughts were full of Sapphire, but when he looked back he could see Ponyville like a tiny toy village. Twilight was there, along with all his friends. He felt their pull on him, but he felt Sapphire’s too. She was waiting for him now, her latest letter full with the joy of their soon-to-be reunion.

So why can’t I be totally happy about it?

***

Twilight’s library was oddly quiet. The unicorn sat in her favorite spot, unable to even open a book. When she made that offer to Spike last night, she wasn’t prepared to miss him so much so soon. She pondered what the dragon was up to, where he was, if he was safe or if he had found Sapphire. It was a deep sorrow that disabled Twilight to do anything but mope.

“Oh, Twilight!” Rarity said as she invited herself into the library, “How is Spikey-Wikey doing? Is he okay? I just felt terrible seeing him in such a miserable state yesterday.”

The mention of her former assistant’s name only caused Twilight to sigh through her nose and shut her eyes to block the tears. Rarity gave her friend a look of concern.

“Twilight, are you alright? You look ill.”

Twilight couldn’t bring herself to look at Rarity, only hang her head in regret. “If you’re looking for Spike, you won’t find him here. He’s gone.”

“G-gone?” Within seconds of hearing that word, Rarity became misty-eyed and held her hoof to her mouth in disbelief. “What do you mean, ‘gone?’”

“He left to go look for Sapphire.”

Rarity slammed her hoof down with a stomp of protest. “Oh. It. Is. ON! She hooked up with Spike and made him happier than I've ever seen him. That's perfectly precious and everything, and I'm happy for it.” The white unicorn began pacing the room with a cross, unblinking look of fury. “But now she’s taken him AWAY from us? I shall not, no, I cannot stand for this! We must go get him back!”

“Forget about it, Rarity,” Twilight answered with a shake of her head. “I gave him the option to leave.”

“You what?” Rarity stopped her pacing and sat down by Twilight’s side so she could wrap her foreleg around her friend’s drooping neck. “Twilight, that was a grand thing to do, letting little Spike follow his own heart without thinking of yourself.”

Twilight grimaced and let the tears flow. “Maybe, but I miss him so much already.”

Once again, Rarity held her hoof to her mouth. As much as she resented the idea of getting her well-groomed coat messy and wet with tears, she scooted closer to allow her friend to cry on her shoulder. “There, there, dahling. Things have a way of sorting themselves out. I too will miss little Spike.”

***

It was evening by the time Baltimare loomed on the horizon. All Spike could do was look up at the clouds as stars appeared in the sky and listen to the whistling wind. It was so lonely out here. Lonely and quiet. Spike shifted his body a bit as he saw a sight he couldn't help but smile at. One of the clouds was round with curly facets framing it and a thin, long wisp emerging from the top of the cloud. It almost looked as if it were a white head with a horn and a curly mane. 

“That’s funny. That cloud looks kinda like Rarity,” Spike mumbled to himself. There was a puffy round one next to the Rarity cloud, with an indentation in the middle that vaguely resembled an open-mouth smile. “That one looks like Pinkie Pie.”

My little Spikey-Wikey! This is so generous!

Happy Birthday, Spike!

My number one assistant.

Aw, shucks. He’s such a hard little worker!  

I’ve never seen a baby dragon before. He’s so cute!

You know what, Spike? You’re actually pretty awesome!

Like an echo chamber, Spike’s mind rang with the voices of his friends; the friends he’d left behind. Up here, he was so alone. Nopony to talk to. Nopony who cared. He was doing this to be with Sapphire, so why did he feel so empty? In that moment, tears ran down his cheeks. It hit him full-force. What had he done?

But what about Sapphire? Spike knew his friends were special, but were they more special than the most beautiful dragon in the world? Twilight told him she understood, that she couldn't hold him back from love's destiny.

And yet Spike remembered what Sapphire said about the other dragons, and he remembered how abusive they were. What if the other ice dragons were that way, too? Would they accept him the way the ponies had?

Spike stared into the sunset and knew the choice he made would affect the rest of his life. Dragons lived extremely long lives, but to him every day was precious. Love or family? For several minutes he sat there, wrestling with it in his mind, his eyes closed. It felt like he was being pulled in half from both sides in a fierce game of tug-of-war.

When he opened his eyes, he knew. He pulled out a scroll and scribbled a quick letter to Sapphire then sent it on its way.

***

Two days later the morning sun shone through Twilight’s window, prying her eyes open for the day. Begrudgingly, she sat up and rubbed them. It was still hard knowing she wouldn’t wake up and find Spike downstairs preparing breakfast, but Twilight Sparkle was determined to fight her depression as best as she could. What better way to start than with some breakfast?

As Twilight descended the stairs, she slowed down at a familiar scent coming from the kitchen. Oatmeal? Twilight lifted her head to peer into the kitchen. There was Spike, with his heart pattern apron, preparing breakfast.

“Spike!” Twilight cried.

That voice snapped Spike’s attention to the lobby, from whence Twilight ran into the kitchen.

“Morning, Twilight.”

Twilight ran to Spike, picked him up and hugged him. “Oh, Spike. I was so lost without you!”

“I missed you too,” Spike said, returning the hug.

“You came back! But why?”

Once Twilight put him down, Spike stepped down off his stool to let the oatmeal come to a boil. “I’m not going.”

“Why not? She meant a lot to you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, but—” Spike walked forward to embrace Twilight. Not even Sapphire’s hugs could beat the sense of security that his surrogate mother’s soft fur gave him. “You mean more.”

More tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes, happy tears this time. She was wrong to ever think Spike didn’t love her anymore. “Oh, Spike.” Twilight wrapped a foreleg around his back. “I’m so proud of you for making such a tough decision.”

Spike let go of Twilight and looked to the floor. “I’m gonna miss her though.”

“Do you want to write a letter to Princess Celestia about it?”

As he looked up at Twilight, Spike smiled. “I think I will!”

***

Dear Princess Celestia,

It’s Spike. This past week I was given the opportunity to learn a bit about friendship, both good things and very hard things.

I learned that new friends can seem to come out of nowhere, even when you think you’re alone. I also learned that one of the hardest things about friendship is having to say goodbye to a good friend. But just because you’ve said goodbye doesn’t mean you won’t see each other again sometime.

And even if you fall in love with a new friend, sometimes it’s your oldest friends who stay the closest to your heart.

Your faithful servant, Spike

***

After a deep inhale Spike blew on the parchment, which vanished into a streak of magic sparks and shot off towards Canterlot. However, the little dragon could only stare sadly at the ground.

“Feel better?” Twilight asked, placing her hoof on Spike’s shoulder, causing him to lift his head up and look behind his back.

“Eh, not really,” Spike replied.

“You’ll feel better, in time.”

Spike’s eyes shot open in astonishment at a rumbling deep in the pit of his stomach. A few seconds later, a belch forced a scroll from his maw.

“Well, that was a fast reply,” Twilight said as she watched Spike unravel the parchment. “What’s it say?”

“It’s from Sapphire!” Spike answered. He clutched the full, flat parchment in his paws and read it out loud.

"Dear Spike,

I’m so sorry things couldn’t have worked out the way we wanted them to. My parents are already better, being closer to home. You know how worried I was about them.

I miss you so much already, but I can’t blame you for going back to your friends. Don’t ever change; you just keep being the sweet, wonderful dragon I know you are in case we meet again someday.

We’re in the Crystal Kingdom now, and I got to meet Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. They told me all about the Equestria Games and I’m going to ask my parents if I can come see them. Maybe we can meet up there.

I won’t forget about you! Write back soon! -XOXO, Sapphire."

“See?” Twilight prodded, “keep writing to her and you’ll know where she’s at. And we’re going to the Equestria Games, of course.”

“Yeah.” Spike sighed as he rolled the parchment up. “But until then…”

The little dragon walked over to the desk where Twilight had kept a series of pictures printed from the day he brought Sapphire to Ponyville. He shuffled through them, searching for the perfect one. His paw stopped on a photo with him and Sapphire embraced in a hug, smiling widely. With a deep breath, he held the picture in front of his face and sent it on its way.

***

In the snow-capped mountains of the Frozen North, Sapphire walked on beneath her parents, head hung in sorrow. It felt like it was all her fault for breaking Spike’s heart. She only hoped he wasn’t hurting as much as she was. Her parents had tried to convince her she would meet many more nice boy dragons, but she knew none of them could be as generous as her Spike. Dragons simply weren’t known for generosity.

As she entered their home cave, a startling but familiar rumble formed in Sapphire’s stomach before she belched out a flat piece of paper. She snatched it out of the air to take a closer look at it. There she was in the picture, hugging Spike tightly.

Despite her sadness, looking at the picture made Sapphire smile as she held it firmly against her torso. She ran to her room, putting the picture on a stone shelf that held the rest of her treasures.

“Thanks, Spike. Thanks for everything.”

~Fin