What would you do if you were to find a long-gone dragon?

It’s not a trick question, and you would probably do what any other rational and logical being would have done: take out a detailed map of your land and try to narrow down the search area first. But after months of fruitless work and losing a bit of hope with each place crossed out – reaching far from the glacial peaks of the Frozen North to the scorched earth of the Badlands – you would find yourself on a brink of despair, with only one thing to do.

You would travel beyond the edge of the map, with but an arrow for a guide and a cryptic note as a companion: Dragons Be Here.

And that’s exactly what Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria did.

Seven years.

Exactly seven years had passed since Twilight saw Spike for the last time. Seven years since that memorable, yet pretty unsuccessful diplomatic mission to the Dragon Dominion. Seven long and lonely years since Twilight realized that her irreplaceable assistant had to grow up one day…

After all this time, you’d expect her to get it over with and live on – and she did that, in a way. No longer did she spend her nights crying and her days seeking false relief in mounting responsibilities of a princess. At some point, she reluctantly acknowledged Spike’s pivotal decision, regardless of how devastating for her it was.

A few more years, perhaps, and Twilight would probably learn to fully cope with such issue, but in the wake of recent events, she could not afford to wait any longer. She had to bring Spike to Ponyville as soon as possible.

Spike and Ponyville – those names brought back all the memories…

“Enough!” Twilight rebuked herself. “It’s not a good time to ponder over the past, Twilight. What’s done is done. Now, you have a very important message to convey…”

Whenever she became nervous, Twilight tended to talk out loud to reassure herself and build up proper confidence. And today: oh, she was exceptionally nervous. But not due to unpleasant heat of a cave she just ventured into, or by a relatively tiny chance that the dragon she was after might actually be there.

Twilight was nervous because those few letters lying down in her periwinkle, star-encrusted saddlebag were a hope of bringing her and Spike back together. If only!

“Hello?” Twilight wandered deeper into the cave, her voice echoing from the rugged walls. “Is anybody home?”

Pshhh!

The hissing steam had to suffice for an answer.

As the cave was situated at the foot of a mountain – or rather, a dormant volcano – the occasional bursts of hot air through cracks and crevices in the floor were hardly a surprise, and neither was ash and pebbles brought alongside from underground lava pools. Twilight could only hope that the volcano wouldn’t suddenly change his mind and wake up.

“Hello? Anyone?” she chased off an emberslug which crept out from its burrow lazily. “Oh, this has to be the right place!”

At least according to a nomadic tribe of Diamond Dogs she encountered three days ago. However verbally limited they were as a species, they managed to direct her to this supposed ‘lair of the Beasty-beast’. Quarrelling among each other and dethroning their spiritual leader in the process.

All of a sudden, an unsettling growl was heard from the cave’s depths.

Now that was definitely the dragon’s growl. Not a frightfully defeating one you’d expect to hear – which was a good thing, considering that Spike’s primeval greed taking over usually had destructive consequences – but still forbidding enough to scare away a potential visitor who wasn’t really used to having a dragon around.

For Twilight, however, it was the melody of success.

“Spike!?” she looked around, trying to locate the source of inhospitality among ash geysers and basalt spires supporting the ceiling. She carefully moved towards a tight jungle of the latter. “It’s me, Twilight!”

“I know that,” a deep, resentful voice resounded throughout the cave. “What do you want?”

“I’d like to come in,” Twilight replied, slowly progressing further in. “May I?”

“Well, it seems to me that you already did.”

Curiously-yet-startlingly enough, it didn’t sound like a voice that bounced off the walls several times. Or even once! It was the voice straight to Twilight’s ears, and it came from a dragon standing right next to her.

She quickly turned around only to feel so… petite.

Although Twilight, being an alicorn, was naturally bigger than most of the mares and even some stallions, Spike could easily tower over her, surpassing her height two or three times. Resting against a warm basalt column, with long arms crossed on his chest and spines coming from his back spikier and sharper than ever, he did no longer seem like a cute baby dragon, but rather made an impression of a rebellious teenager who left home after some reckless misadventure.

Spike the Dragon had changed.

“Where are your guards, Princess?” he drawled, stepping dangerously close to Twilight. He walked in between two thins spires and grabbed them as if he was grabbing the bars of a cage. “I never thought you would dare to enter a dragon’s lair without an army… especially after that dragon-enslaving decree you’ve forced–”

“It’s not like this, and you know it!” she shook her head, unwillingly walking back to a more spacious section of the cave. “Besides, I don’t think I need to feel insecure by my Number One–”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Spike snarled, crushing the spires with ease and dashing forward. Twilight managed to slip away from the basalt labyrinth, but did not flee any further. Even though she found herself face to face with a dragon’s jaw armed with long fangs fraction of a second later, she remained calm and in complete control.

“Now get out!” Spike hissed, leaning over the mare.

She withstood his piercing stare long enough for the ash geysers to come idle.

“Please, Spike. It’s important.”

Twilight took out a small envelope from her bag. With a quick glance and a tip of magenta magic, she dispersed its protective arcane layer. “I have something for you.”

She passed it to Spike, whose nostrils had immediately widened.

Even before he put a claw on the envelope, he already had a feeling whom the letter was from, albeit he couldn’t really believe it. It had a delicate fragrance of lavender, with an equally gentle touch of refreshing vanilla that was simply impossible to forget. His heart was pounding. Could it really be…?

The letter itself was written on a thick paper of superb quality, and the senders’ style was most elegant, with perfectly round letters and decorative swirls here and there. Noticing a pricey, dark indigo ink – imported straight from Shanghay, without a doubt – Spike became fully convinced that only one mare in the whole world could have send that.

He turned back at Twilight and read the letter.

Dear Spikey-Wikey,

It has been quite some time since you and Twilight moved back to Canterlot! I sincerely hope that living the dream at the castle did not turn out to be too stressful for you two – it certainly wouldn’t be for me! Sophisticated parties, high society banquets and important events – oh, I envy you so much!

Now, enough of me already. I heard that you and Twilight are heading to the Dragon Dominion anytime soon? I believe it is perfectly safe to say that she’ll avert that impending crisis swiftly, especially with you as her advisor. ‘Ambassador Spike’, that suits you well!

Anyway, I hope that you’ll get my message prior to your departure (and if not, I hope you and Twilight are having great time on your little trip!), because I would like to ask a favor: could you get me a roll or two of Arabian silversilk on your way back? It’s really tricky to get it here at a reasonable price…

Hope to see you again!

Yours,

Rarity

Spike put the letter next to the heart and closed his emerald eyes.

Faded memories of a wonderful mare known as Rarity were back in their full vividness, and those were all good memories. He didn’t have much of those left. Perhaps he should leave the past behind, return to Equestria, see Ponyville again and, most importantly…

“Spike?” Twilight asked from behind. “Is everything alright?”

…strangle Twilight Sparkle for ruining such a beautiful moment!

“Why did you come to me!?” Spike exploded with condemnation. “Are you trying to use this letter as an excuse to bring up the past?”

Since her trembling legs could no longer carry the burden of a message she was about to deliver, Twilight sat at the dirty ground. In his wrath, Spike noticed neither tears falling from under her fringe, nor the fact that she was gasping for air.

“Cause I’m done with that, okay!?” Spike went on with his rant. “Cause I don’t want to talk to you, or see you again. Ever since you’ve become a princess–”

“It’s not about me!” Twilight raised her head, revealing round, violet eyes filled with heavy tears. “It’s about Rarity.”

Crestfallen, Spike withheld upcoming accusations and looked at Twilight questioningly.

“She’s dying, Spike.”