Chapter Six

The Truth Will Set You Free

Indeed, the thunderstorm that ravaged the island did not run itself out until the very early hours of the morning. Celestia awoke to a thick fog enshrouding the forest, the eerie calm unsettling her slightly. It was as if she and Spike had traveled back in time, back before the galactic rule of the alicorns; back to an age when primordial creatures lived and died under a much younger sun, uncaring of the galaxy-ruling scaly figures that watched over them. The Council of Dragons, and indeed the entire species, had conceded the throne of power after the extinction of their most favored creations by way of an asteroid, stating “it is time for a new age”, or so the princess remembered from her alicorn history lessons.

The princess knew she had nothing to fear from the forest, since there weren’t any dangerous animals or anything, but that didn’t stop her from feeling a slight tremble go up her spine. The fog eerily reminded her of an amorphous blob, blanketing everything in sight. Her stomach grumbled slightly, an evident sign that she had had little to eat since arriving on the island. Celestia could only guess as to what Spike was feeling inside, as he hadn’t made any notion of feeling better, save for the slight murmurings in his sleep. Grabbing the empty bag that used to carry the thorn wall’s bounty, which had been lost during the tumble in the river, she stooped over Spike.

“Spike? If you can hear me, I’m going to look for some food. I won’t be gone long, I promise.” She didn’t have anything to write on, so she couldn’t just leave him a note or something similar.

The dragon merely muttered “okay” or something along those lines. Celestia took it as a sign she could leave him alone, and so she set out, the cave’s entrance disappearing behind her as she set out into the fog. The undergrowth also obscured it rather well in this dim setting, but she placed a minor tracking spell on her hooves as she went along. It was a terribly simple one, and effective; in her mind’s eye, she could already see where her footprints would lead back to. A veritable trail of breadcrumbs, like out of a fable.

Right away, she found some rather delicious-looking berries, and after consulting her brain, remembered them to be a species of wild cherry ideal for jams and jellies, but perfectly scrumptious when fresh. Plucking as many ripe ones as she could reach, and using tiny bursts of magic to reach ones higher up, Celestia packed them away gently in her makeshift bag. She had already lined it with some of the grasses and sedges that grew along the banks of the river, after having carefully walked along the bank to collect them.

Already she could feel her magic beginning to return to her in force, and her wings were starting to feel better as well. Having not been terribly exhausted by the river’s wrath, the food she had managed to eat on the thorn wall was rejuvenating her in both body and magic. If only the surge of nutrients gained from that small meal could ease her conflicted mind like it did her body; then she’d be happier that they were safe.

“You’ll have to tell him, you know,” a whisper said, causing the princess to nearly drop her goodies in astonishment. Looking around, she saw nothing but plants and the thick fog. The sun had obviously risen already, as she could innately feel such things, but for the life of her she could not see where it was in the sky. The fog obscured anything farther than a few dozen feet, and the overhead trees did little to help with the situation.

“Who are you? Show yourself!” she said in a hushed shout, not wanting to scream for fear of Spike waking and losing himself in his quest to find her. Was the stress of the island finally getting to her? Was she starting to hear voices, a sure sign she was going completely cuckoo? Or had her feelings finally become so overwhelming that she could no longer hold them back and was experiencing some sort of paranoid delusion?

“I have always been here, Celestia; you know that as well as I do,” the voice said, oddly familiar and entirely feminine. “Why won’t you tell Spike the truth? You know dragons value and respect honesty, even if it isn’t exactly what they would like to hear. How else could you have concluded that peace treaty between those two dragon nobles seven hundred years ago?”

“What truth?” Celestia asked as she stooped over plucked a few leaves from some wild lettuce, still glancing around for the source of this conversation. “How do you know about Spike?” A dragon’s code of honor was always unique to the individual, and Spike was perhaps one of the most unique dragons in the entire world. He had been raised by ponies, far from other dragons and even farther still from the place where all of his kind had originated. Perhaps someday, far in the future, she would show him where that was.

“I know him because you know him, Celestia. You must tell him the truth of why you are here, my dear,” the voice said, its volume barely above that of a whisper. “The truth of why the world is in such danger, and of why you selected him specifically for this task. Of why his friends are in trouble for your foolishness, and how he can help you through this difficult time.”

Celestia suppressed a growl as she leaned up and plucked two ripe mangos from a small tree. “He... he will know in time, as we near the date. It is better that way.” She was beginning to recognize the voice, as it had a familiarity to it that even she could not deny.

“But why then? Why can he not know now, before an ultimatum is the only way for him to agree?”

The princess looked around for the voice once more, but could not find the source. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once, and the sheer lack of emotion in its words made her shiver slightly. “It will be an easier decision for him to make when the urgency of the situation overrides any possible repulsion he may feel.”

“Ah, repulsion,” the voice said, an almost humored tone emanating from it. “What would he have to be repulsed about? By how beautiful you are? By how selfless and passionate you are to creatures from all walks of life?”

“By how I tricked him,” Celestia said softly as she walked around, picking leaves from several edible plants as she did so. “I led him to believe there was a device or construct of some sort on this island that could aid us in saving the world. I never specifically said such a thing existed, but my words led him to believe such a falsehood nonetheless.”

“I know; I was there when you said all of that,” the voice whispered, sounding closer and closer with every spoken syllable. “I have always been there for you, after all. We can never be separated, you and I.”

“Where are you?!” Celestia’s nerves were getting the better of her. She wanted to shout, to scream, to throw branches around to find this maddeningly calm and all-knowing voice. It took much for Celestia, princess of the sun, to lose her cool, but right now she felt like losing her cool would be an appropriate thing to do. How else would any other pony respond to hearing a voice that belongs to something that they cannot see, but also apparently knows them as well as they know themselves? They’d probably think they’d lost their minds and check into a loony bin or something.

“I am here,” the voice said simply, and Celestia felt the urge to rub her temples. “I am your conscience, Celestia. You and I have been good friends for many millennia, with very few things ever coming between us. I am, after all, the collected thoughts, experiences and feelings of you since the day you were born. All alicorns are born with this secondary intellect, so as to help manage their many-millennia lifespans. All those years of life and the resulting experiences can take a toll, even on ones such as us.” Since her conscience was technically part of her, and yet slightly separate, it could us the terms “us” and “I” in equal measure.

“But why now? Why on this island should you make yourself known once more?” Celestia finally realized she was simply talking to herself, which meant this was all in her head, but that did not stop her from remembering; from remembering when her conscience had nearly taken a physical form just to talk with her about a painful decision. A decision that haunted her to this day, even more so than when she had accidentally wiped out all future chances of life evolving on the planet Mars.

“You and I have not had a good discussion since our sister Luna’s transformation into the dreaded Nightmare Moon,” the voice said again, softer in tone and yet having not diminished in volume at all. “We have not truly needed one, and so I have remained silent until now. Your deceit, however minor or important in your eyes, is eating you up on the inside. I can tell you are aching within, knowing you won’t tell Spike until it is too late for him to make a decision; too late for him to try and refuse you. With the fate of the world in the balance, he will submit, but forever hate you for this trickery. You and I both know how you loath to be hated by anypony, even your enemies.”

“But... but... what do I do?” Celestia asked, sitting down and putting her face in her hands. She felt like she was in front of her parents again as a little filly, asking why her cutie mark hadn’t made itself known as soon as her cousin’s had. She was thousands of years old, and yet she was asking herself, her subconscious, for answers she had battled with for days on end.

“Tell him the truth, Celestia,” the voice said once more, sounding as though it was drawing further away with every word. Her conscience, even in all its collective wisdom, never lasted very long when it made itself apparent to her. It wasn't designed to lead her all the way through life, but to just act as an occasional source of guidance and advice. “Tell him the truth today, and see where it goes from there. There yet may be a way to salvage this upcoming apocalypse if you tell him... everything.”

Celestia sat in silence, her head in her hands as she thought on the voice’s words. Of course, anypony who knew she talked with her incredibly more mature subconscious would think her completely crazy and petition for her to seek medical attention. However, she knew that the inner voice she had been talking with for the past few minutes was right; it was time Spike knew of what was going on, and what he would need to do to save his friends.

“Ugh, I feel just terrible about this whole ordeal,” the princess muttered to herself, both dreading the return to the cave and feeling relieved of no longer having to keep this secret from Spike until the very end. She would tell him, plain and simple; she would tell him upon returning to the cave what would need to be done, and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t hate her for the falsehoods she had bestowed upon him.

“I will tell him... right after I finish collecting some more food,” the princess said, walking a bit farther away from the river and along a rock face that lead towards the cave. “Yes, this sugarcane will do nicely, I think.”

Awhile later, and back in the cave...

Spike opened his eyes slowly and groaned, his entire face hurting as the muscles beneath moved. It was no longer swollen, but the flesh was still somewhat tender underneath his scales. Blinking a few times in the subdued light, he glanced out of the cave entrance, seeing a light fog bank obscuring anything more than a few dozen feet away.

“Rain must’ve stopped a while ago,” he muttered, sitting up from the bed of... mushrooms? The soft, spongy material beneath him had to have been rather thick to have supported his weight, and yet it did without any apparent effort. “Huh; didn’t expect that,” he muttered as he looked down on the soft bed-like area he had slept on. Glancing over, he saw another slight indent right next to the one he had apparently made.

“Celestia slept next to me again?” he whispered to himself, curious as to why he was actually a bit happy that had happened. Then, in a slow but definite rush, it all started coming back to him; the day before flashed before his eyes, slowing down at moments that seemed more important than others. The last thing he saw, and now remembered, was Celestia’s soft, puckered lips gently pressing against his own. Even now, many hours later, the mere memory of the event sent a strong tremor up his spine.

“Celestia kissed me,” he muttered, wanting to both shout it to the world and hide away from everything. Of all the things that could have happened to him on this island, by far, that was the... fourth or fifth least-likely thing he had thought could happen. He had been kissed by the most powerful being in all of Equestria. It hadn’t been some lightly-on-the-cheek, meaningless sign of affection, either; it had been full on the lips, with something far more meaningful that mere gratitude hidden behind it.

Spike felt so embarrassed by the encounter, and yet that little action brought a thought to his mind. Unheeded, unwanted, but still it presented itself before him; just why this island? Celestia had mentioned something being here that could help save the world from the sun’s... upcoming problem, but what exactly? Why would it need to be on an unknown island in the middle of nowhere, with no animals save for some little birds and pollinating insects? There were no buildings, no signs of civilization, no resources save for whatever food they could scrounge up, and in addition, no real way off of the island.

Perhaps most perplexing of all was not why the island itself, but why did she choose him? He was a dragon, sure, and dragons were known for being able to do things even gifted unicorns would find impossible, but... why? Did he have something she needed specifically? Was there some sort of ritual where he’d have to do something? If there was, would it be bad?

“Spike,” a voice said, snapping the dragon out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Celestia come into the cave, the bag she had made from her dress’s sleeves nearly filled to bursting. “I see you’re awake. Good; I need to tell you something.”
“What’s in the bag?” Spike asked groggily, rubbing his eyes as the princess laid out her harvest.

“Some cherries, wintergreen leaves, sugarcane, some wild rice, sedge, a few wild leeks,” Celestia rattled off, playing out each type of food in its own little pile. “I’d say we have enough food here for at least a week, unless we strain ourselves, that is.”

“Yeah, about that,” the dragon said, turning to face Celestia completely. “I’ve been meaning to ask something. I didn’t want to say it at first, but it’s been bugging me like crazy, and I really want an answer.”

Celestia paused for a few seconds, her face impassive. “Go ahead, Spike,” she finally said. “Ask away.”

“Well... why are we here? On this island?” Spike asked, watching Celestia’s face carefully without looking like a total creeper doing so. “It is completely isolated, there’s no real wildlife to speak of, and as you said before, nopony in the world knows it even exists. At first, this lead me to believe it was just hidden away until it was needed to save the world, but I doubt that is true.”

“Well, the reason we are on this island are precisely the same as to what you just said,” Celestia replied softly. “Isolated, uninhabited and far removed from the minds of the world; it is ideal.”

“That is my second question; ideal for what?” Spike asked, crossing his arms. He did so not in anger or some other similar emotion, but as a relaxing gesture whilst thinking. “You said this island would help save the world, but from what I’ve seen, neither you nor anypony else has been to this island in forever. The time it takes to get out here, coupled with the way it is all naturally built, leads me to believe there are no structures here of any kind.”

“The island is ideal for somepony to be alone from the rest of the world,” Celestia responded. “Your deductions, although very Twilight-like in manner, are correct as well. There is nothing on this island that can aid us, and the island itself is merely just that; an island.”

Spike inwardly blanched slightly at this; she was being awfully forward about this whole deal. Usually Celestia had some sort of grand vision or non-dubious scheme that would bring about a better future or result for everypony else, usually excluding herself from the fruits of said plan. But here, now? What was she getting at by being so forward?

“So then... why me?” Spike asked, unsure of what else to ask. She had pretty much shot down every other question he had thought of by simply telling him the apparent truth on the first two.

Celestia sat down and let her legs lay out besides her, as if she were reclining on a royal sofa. “Spike, you are the only one in all of Equestria to whom I could not only trust to complete this, but who would also do so selflessly and without want for some reward.”

“Do what?” the dragon asked. “I am sure anypony out there couldn’t refuse a direct request from you, even if they wanted to. You are the princess of the sun, after all. Who would say no to any request of yours?”

“That is just it, Spike,” Celestia said softly, her tone sounding slightly sad. “I could not ask any other to do this, as I knew nopony would refuse. I could not choose them, no matter how magically inclined or intelligent; no matter how strong, or brave, or selfless. Why? Because I knew they would not survive, could not survive, what I would ultimately show them. I could not bear to have their death on my hands, even if it meant saving the world.”

“Wait, survive?” Spike asked, visibly blanching at the word “survive”. “Survive what?”

“Spike, you have lived in Ponyville long enough to notice things change around certain times of the year, yes?” the princess asked.

“Well, yeah, of course,” the dragon mumbled, not sure where this conversation was veering off to. “Leaves change color and fall, birds migrate before and after winter, most flowers bloom in spring and early summer... you know, that stuff.”

“I assume you have noticed how mares act during one especially troublesome time of the year?” Celestia knew such actions did not go unnoticed around the young dragon. Ponyville did, after all, have a rather sizeable population of mares, unlike some of the larger cities along the coast.

Spike put two and two together, and upon realization of what she meant, he blushed a bright crimson through his purple scales. “Oh, uh, yeah... the heat, they call it. Do you... do you get it too?”

“Yes Spike, all alicorns experience the same mating instinct as do pegasi, zebras, unicorns and earth ponies,” the princess said, noticing how Spike’s blush darkened slightly at the word “mating”. “Alicorns however have very intense periods of heat, though they do not last as long and occur every one thousand years, so as to accommodate to our very extended biological life cycle. Compared to a normal mare’s several-week long cycle, an alicorn’s usually only lasts a few days; four or five at the most, with three being the average.”

“So then... when was your last heat?” Spike asked, his blush somehow deepening even further than before at the word “heat”. Would he ever become used to talking with Celestia about something like this?

“Approximately two and a half weeks short of one thousand years ago, give or take a few days,” Celestia said calmly. Spike, on the other hand, looked anything but calm.

“So, uh... you needed me to help with your... heat?” he asked, his blush fading slightly as a realization dawned on him. “But... what about that solar whatever that’s gonna kill us all? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything, Spike; it has to do with everything,” the princess said as her wings folded and unfolded behind her. “I am tied to the sun, and as such, it fluctuates as I do. When I experience my heat, it can cause the sun to fluctuate greatly in both the inner and outer layers. The last time my heat occurred, that same type of solar ejection erased all life from Mars; it was all my fault, as this one will be as well unless we “do” something about it.”

“Wait, there was life on Mars, and you killed it?” Spike asked, confused as well as embarrassed. It had been easier to simply believe the princess had no hand in what was going on with the sun, but now, in light of this new evidence, he had no idea what to believe anymore.

“Yes, though that no longer matters,” Celestia said softly, her will refusing to let her eyes shed one single tear. “As I mentioned before, during our relatively brief reproductive bout, we become unstable in our earthly forms. I assume you have heard of where alicorns come from?”

“Well, yeah; from the stars,” the dragon said, uncrossing his arms and instead folding them into his lap. “I thought those were all just myths and weird explanations for things ponies don’t understand.”

“No Spike; they are all true. Alicorns do come from the stars, and when the heat hits us in our earthly forms, we become very, very different from what we are now,” the princess said, glancing out at the cave’s entrance. “Are... are you mad? Mad at me for not telling you this sooner; for not confiding in you before we were stranded on this island?”

“Well, maybe; I don’t... know,” Spike said, his eyes inadvertently being drawn to Celestia’s body as the thought of her in heat plagued his mind. “You... technically didn’t lie to me, but you weren’t entirely truthful, you know.” Oh, this was so hard! He should be furious with her for not telling him outright, and yet... he wasn’t. How could he be, after all? He, along with the rest of Equestria’s population, was subconsciously influenced by the majority’s belief that Celestia always had their best interests at heart. So, even in the light of this belief-altering evidence, he was having a really hard time trying to figure out exactly what to do.

“Yes, I do,” Celestia said, looking back up at the dragon with a sincerely sorry look in her eyes. “Can you forgive your princess for not acting prudently when such an explanation would have been sufficient? I should have told you much sooner than this, but I was afraid of what might happen if you refused me.”

“Well, I doubt I would have said no... gosh, this is hard,” Spike muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Not at Celestia, no, but at himself: just what was he supposed to do? Tell the princess the deal was off and not help save the world? Act like a selfish moron and doom his friends to death?

“Yes; yes, I can say I honestly forgive you, but you’ll have to make it up to me,” the dragon said finally. “So, how am I supposed to help with your heat? Mate you or something?”

Celestia blushed slightly at his words. “Well, Spike, that is the general idea,” she said softly. She almost wanted to say something along the lines of “when a mare and a stallion love each other very much”, but ultimately decided against it; too inappropriate at a time like this.

Spike’s blush returned slightly, but he seemed to be holding back pretty well in the princess’s eyes. “Well, okay, but what... what do we do? I’m not exactly sure of... you know... that.” Surely the princess had some sort of experience or knowledge of the subject... right?

“We will take it slow, as we will not technically need to... mate for some two and a half weeks,” the princess said slowly. “However, that does not mean we cannot... learn more about each other.”

Spike was silent for a few moments as his brain took time to process just what the princess was not only saying, but implying as well. He would have to sate the princess’s heat in order to save the world. To be perfectly honest, the idea of sex for the first time terrified him, as he didn’t exactly have anything to go on for when it came to the act. He was woefully a virgin, probably even more so than he realized, and if he messed up, he’d likely be embarrassed about it for the rest of his life.

Yet the more he thought of it, the more relaxed and intigued he became about the whole idea. Celestia was an unobtainable prize to any stallion, and even if the sex with her wasn’t the best, he’d still be held in such high accord by stallions and mares alike for this dutiful service, that he’d likely have mares from all over throwing themselves at him. Who wouldn’t want to bed the stud of a dragon that was specifically chosen by Celestia to provide her with some “personal time” on a deserted island? Stallions would want to buy him drinks and curry favors with him, as this little “rendezvous” with Celestia would likely put him on the upper end of the political spectrum. He would have to mate, to rut, to breed Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and princess of the sun, so that the world and by extension his friends, would live, and he himself would advance within society without having to sell his soul to do so.

He was rather okay with that, to be honest. “Okay, so... where do we begin? This is all rather new to me.”

Celestia sat up and got on her knees, crawling over slowly to Spike. “Well, back by the river... I did kiss you,” she said slowly as she drew herself up to the dragon. “It wasn’t much of something at the time, but I would like to do it again.”

Spike, in any normal situation, would have likely tried to retreat in both confusion and fright. Now though, knowing both what was at stake and (mostly) why the princess had chosen him in particular, he stayed put. “Yes, I think... that would be a good starting point,” he said softly as Celestia pressed her body gently against him. Tenderly pulling her up so that her eyes were level with his, Spike gently puckered his lips. Celestia did the same, and gently pressed them against one another’s. They closed their eyes and simply chose to revel in the feeling of being so close to one another.

Celestia could not help but revel in the surprising softness of Spike’s lips. Like most of his outer body, they too were comprised of scales, but the sheer smallness of them rendered them as flexible, and thus as soft, as the skin of any pony. The latent heat that he gave off made them, in her mind, almost as smooth as silk, and though they were warm to the touch, it was a pleasant sort of warmth. His warm body, covered by her own, exuded not only heat, but an inner masculinity that even she had not been aware of when they had first lain together on the beach. Oh, it felt like it was weeks ago, when in fact it had only been about two days, but she could still remember the feeling of his against her then, and then again last night. But now, now that she told him the truth and he had accepted what he would need to do, she felt something different lying next to him; or on top of him, to be precise.

His shirt, torn to shreds first by the thorns and then more so by the rocks and boulders of the river, hid nothing from her. Celestia could feel his pectorals against her chest; not immensely large, since he did not partake in the sort of work that would develop chest muscles, but they were indeed broad and very firm. Her hands, holding herself close to him by grasping onto his shoulders, could feel knotted muscles move ever-so-slightly underneath, just waiting to be used. The sides of her arms, pressed against his own arms as she held on for the kiss, could feel his enlarged biceps and triceps move underneath his scales as his hands roamed over he back. Oh, those hands; large yet soft, timid yet confident. Their movement across her back sent pleasurable chills up and down her entire body.

Since their bodies were flush with one another, she could feel his abdominal muscles move beneath her with every breath he took through his nose. Each one was defined perfectly; not semi-obnoxiously bulging, but as one part of a series of muscles. The long, sinewy cords felt ridged, even under his scales. His waist, nowhere near as slender as hers but by no means large, felt strong and limber, as if it were used to carrying around a great weight all day long. Oh, who did she think she was fooling? It helped hold up his strapping, utterly attractive masculinity all day long!

In Spike’s mind, he felt like he was on fire, in both body and mind. This was a curious thought, seeing as how dragons technically were burning within and were basically immune to fire, but to him the metaphor stood true. Celestia’s lips were soft, softer than he remembered from the day before, and their silken touch sent unbidden tremors up his spine. The softness of her pelt around her lips did little to help those feelings, as the small hairs tickled the edges of his lips slightly.

He could feel her soft hands pulling her body closer to him, the weight settling onto his body with a surprisingly comfortable sensation. Her hips pressed against his own, the large but not fat muscles feeling utterly feminine, and attractive, to him. Her waist, slender and yet toned somehow, pressed against his own, the dress doing little to hide the fact she had a toned abdomen to boot.

But perhaps the most evident part of her femininity, or the two most evident parts, was pressed up against his chest. Her great globes, round and soft and all sorts of good, felt utterly foreign against his chest, but at the same time, so utterly fantastic. Her nipples pressed through the fabrics of her tattered dress and his shredded shirt, rubbing gently against his pectorals as they moved with the kiss. He could feel his body wanting to react to such a touch, but for the sake of his sanity, he held it back, though just barely.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two broke apart, their eyes opening as their lips parted ways.

“Well, uh...” was all Spike could say, the heat in his cheeks threatening to consume him.

“Yeah,” Celestia replied, out of breath even though both she and Spike had been breathing through their noses the entire time. “Again?”

“Yes,” Spike said immediately, pulling Celestia more firmly into him as their lips reconnected, a bit more passionately this time. Their hands pulling one another closer, the two pressed more firmly into one another, continuing to revel in the other’s presence. Spike’s forked tongue slipped past Celestia’s lips and started to intertwine with her own, though the princess soon responded in kind, her tongue pulling on his own as if to draw him further in. As the kisses deepened, their embraces tightened as well, pushing their already tightly-compressed bodies against one another.

Spike, even amidst all of this much-wanted physical contact, felt the urge to remove his tattered shirt. It didn’t mean anything to him anymore, and it was so tattered, it made no difference to him. He gently pushed Celestia away from him, their lips losing contact with one another’s.

Celestia panicked slightly after Spike had pushed her away. Was she kissing him wrong? Was he having second thoughts about forgiving her? Was he-

He started tearing his shirt off, completely revealing his sculpted torso to the princess. Celestia’s embarrassment immediately turned to intrigue and giddiness. As soon as the last shreds of the useless shirt were gone from Spike, she half-tackled him, pulling him as close to her as she could as their lips met again in a churning of passion and desire.

Celestia knew her body’s response to Spike’s body, and as such her own mind’s response, was not some overly-complicated notion of courtly affection or political maneuvering; it was the reaction when a pony had found the one they wished to breed them. Her alicorn mating instincts, though long overdue for a test drive, were starting to make themselves known to her. Her inhibitions were less guarded, her mind becoming more observant of the dragon’s physical presence, the daydreams she began experiencing of Spike coming upon her and having his way with-

“Ooh,” she moaned into Spike’s mouth as their tongues continued to wrestle one another, their saliva exchanging once more. Breaking apart after a few more minutes, she settled herself on Spike’s chest, her hands propping up her head, her mane falling elegantly past her shoulders and over their bodies.

“Spike, while I do wish to continue, I need to ask you two things,” she said, her voice sounding dreamy, even to her. She felt lighter than air after their kissing marathon, and sincerely wanted to continue. Her wings were starting to feel the effects of Spike's roaming hands and would likely soon experience what she had overheard the Wonderbolt captain Spitfire refer to as a "wingboner".

“Yes?” Spike said in reply, his own voice sounding spine-tinglingly husky. Oh wow, he sounded so sexy in that tone; she would have to ask him to talk like that more often.

“Have you ever kissed another pony before?” She needed to know, as that sure felt like some good lip-to-lip contact in her mind. It would have been downright funny, or sad, depending on how one saw it, if Spike had more expreience with kissing than she, a many millennia-old princess.

Spike was silent for a few moments, as if his brain were trying to regain blood-flow and redirect precious energy back into his thinking abilities. “Well, uh... no, not like this,” the dragon said softly. “I mean, I’ve been kissed on the cheek and returned that same kind of affection, but this... this is something I’ve never experienced before. What about you?”

“No Spike, I too have never had the pleasure of kissing somepony like this,” Celestia responded, lightly tracing the outline between Spike’s pectoral muscles with one gentle finger. She could feel his heartbeat through his muscles and scales when she reached the upper part of his ribcage. “I have kissed knights and such on the head, as a sign of my gratitude for an accomplished mission or to bestow my royal favor upon them, but I have never been so... intimate with somepony before. I must say, you’re... rather good at it; kissing, that is.”

Plus ten points to Spike’s ego; the princess of the sun thought he was a good kisser! Sure, she didn’t have any experience to draw upon personally, but that didn’t matter... right? “Oh, I, uh... you’re not so bad yourself, Celestia,” Spike said softly, cupping her chin and giving her a small, tantalizing peck on her lower lip. “So... want to continue?” He felt like he could do this all day, and in a not-so-small part of his brain, he really wanted to.

“I would love to, Spike,” the princess said slowly, pressing the palms of her hands against his chest.

“I’m sensing a “but” in there somewhere,” the dragon said in a bit of a disappointed tone. Oh well; maybe they could continue “learning about each other” sometime later. They didn’t have to worry about food for a while now, judging from how much the princess had brought back.

“But... we ought to keep moving,” the princess said, removing herself from Spike’s personal space, even though her body protested such an action. “We can’t stay in this cave; there’s a much better place for us to stay, high up in that volcano. A secluded place with plenty of food, fresh water and anything else we may need. Plus, it is a bit cramped in here for what we must... do later, don’t you think?”

Spike glanced around the cave, sighing as he did so. She did have a rather valid point; if they were going to do this, and if it was going to be anything like what he had heard about offhand from mares at the market, they’d need quite a bit of room indeed, and this cave was far too small for such... activities. “I guess so,” he said, rising to his feet as Celestia rose to her hooves. “How long do you think it will take to get to this secluded little alcove of yours? It’s not exactly just an afternoon’s walk from here, judging from how large this island truly is.” That, and the fact there was likely another obstacle somewhere out there for them to conquer made him think the journey would likely take even longer than he predicted.

“I am not sure, but it can’t take us more than three or four days, depending on the weather,” the princess said, handing him the bag of food as he walked over to her. “Do not worry, Spike; we will have plenty more opportunities to... explore one another until the time is required for us to save the world.”

“Right, yeah, about that,” Spike said as they exited the cave. By now, the fog enshrouding the island had lifted entirely, and much of the dew had already been absorbed by the numerous plants. “Can I ask you something about that?”

“Yes; there will be no more secrets between us on this journey, Spike,” Celestia said. “I am sorry there were in the beginning, but now you shall know everything you wish to.”

“Right,” the dragon said. “When you picked me for this, did my dragon heritage have anything to do with the decision-making process? You did say regular ponies wouldn’t be able to... handle you when your heat hit in full force.”

Celestia looked him square in the eyes, but in a somewhat sweet manner. “Of course, Spike,” the princess said, quickly giving him a small peck on the cheek before walking ahead. “You were the only one I could select for this “task”, so to speak.”

“Why, exactly?” Spike asked as he followed her away from the cave and out towards the end of the forest. It would not be far for them to go, but it would still likely take some time to leave this thickly-grown place behind.

“A very simple reason, my dear friend,” Celestia said as they walked through the forest. “Dragons simply cannot burn.”

Spike didn’t know what to say to that.

Author's Notes:

Well, there you go: Spike knows what he has to do, but will his mind and body both be up to the challenge? Will he be able to handle the pressure? Will Celestia be able to handle him? Stay tuned to find out!

I'd like to thank my proofreaders for (mostly) getting back to me in so short an amount of time. I am sorry to say a few have dropped out due to complications with their lives, but that is okay: I understand we can't all live on this site.

Also, I'd like to thank Mr-Afrox for submitting THIS WONDERFUL musical piece they created after being inspired by this fanfic!