Love's a Drag-On, Chapter 4

The sunset cast all of Ponyville in a fiery orange hue that shone through the windows of Twilight Sparkle's library. Pinkie Pie had since inexplicably vanished, leaving the unicorn to fend for the cleanup on her own. 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.

To the best of her ability, Twilight placed a book in an empty space between two others on the top shelf with her magic. The sparkling aura of magic hadn't even vanished before the exhausted unicorn flopped down on her belly and sighed. Until then she never realized how hard it would be getting work done without Spike there to help. The energy to pick herself up eluded her, so Twilight shut her eyes, within seconds lapsing 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 in Canterlot's library. 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 book.

The sound of the door opening pulled Twilight awake from her short-lived slumber. She lifted her head to find Spike stepping into the library, whistling all the while. "You're in a good mood this evening," the unicorn mumbled as she rested her chin against her flanks. "Something to do with your royal business?"

"Wha-?" Spike began to question Twilight's statement, as he couldn't recall going to Canterlot, but quickly remembered the letter he wrote that morning. "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. "But…" With a sigh, she rested her head back against the floor. "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, the unicorn already had her eyes shut, pulled into another dream.

There was a stash of gems Spike had hidden under Twilight's bed to save for a rainy day, and the little dragon could think of nothing better to do with them than to share them with Sapphire in the morning. Spike covered his mouth to stifle a sleepy yawn as he walked to the top of the stairs; then snuggled into his bed to get some sleep. The sooner morning, came the better.

Morning's golden light shone in through the window above Spike's bed, forcing him awake for the day. Twilight wasn't in her bed. She must have already gotten up, or was still asleep on the floor downstairs. Either way, Spike couldn't afford to waste any time. He sat up, yawned, rubbed his eyes and crawled underneath Twilight's bed to retrieve the basket of gems stashed there. As if the smell of those delicious gemstones wasn't tempting enough, the sight of them made Spike's stomach rumble in anticipation of just one sweet, delicious ruby. Spike shook his head in an effort to stave his appetite. 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 miss a step and trip. A snoring that grew louder as Spike neared the bottom of the stairs assured him that Twilight was still sound asleep. How perfect. He shuffled his feet across the floor so to not make any noise, and inched his way out the front door.

Ponyville was all but dead and quiet at such an early hour; most of the ponies were still asleep. 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 felt more of a stumble, but he used his desire to share his loot with Sapphire 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, afterwards collapsing onto the top of the pile of gems.

"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 climbed off the top of the basket to present Sapphire with the load of sweet, delicious gemstones. "I brought us some breakfast."

"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?" Spike asked as Sapphire let Spike out of the hug.

"I'd love to!"

A bright, flawless ruby sat among the gems on the top of the pile, sparkling in the morning sunlight. It looked the most delicious of the gems she could see, so Sapphire plucked it from the pile and popped it in her mouth, giving a slight belch afterwards. "Mmm! You really know how to choose your gems!"

"That's what they tell me," Spike replied suavely. He grabbed the next gem, a dazzling yellow slab of topaz with a delicate flavor something like a mix of lemon and pineapple. As Spike licked the remaining flavor from his fingers, Sapphire helped herself to another gem.

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 the last gem 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 fash 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, glued his eyes to hers. In that moment, the diamond no longer mattered. His entire world seemed to 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. If it ever came and she didn't chicken out this time.

At long last, something soft, warm and moist pressed against Spike's snout. The little dragon trembled harder. He could smell Sapphire's breath as she exhaled through her nose. Time seemed to stand still; it was impossible for him to tell how long their snouts had actually touched. It could have been only a second, or five seconds. Sure, Rarity had kissed him on the cheek before, but this was his first kiss on the maw.

Spike's body tingled as the world around him faded in 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 shade of purple from blushing mixed with her blue scales.

"Wow," she said. "That was…nice."

"Yeah." Spike was too stunned to say much else, for as he looked at Sapphire, a startling realization hit him full force. He hadn't realized until now, but after that kiss, there was no doubt in his mind. Sapphire had SURPASSED the unicorn who had captured his heart. As he stared at Sapphire, he knew now that there was a creature in Equestria more beautiful than Rarity!