High Moon ch. 54:

Saints That Want to Fall

Small threads of sunlight crept into the valley as the early morning rolled over the Everfree. Still lying in bed, Lily slept happily with her beloved Spirit after a much-needed intimate night. As she kept her arms around the strong chest of Fang, Lily’s wings began shimmering and involuntarily fluttering from the small beads of light entering her room, causing her to stir awake and be greeted with the sight of her lover.

Lily let out a small giggle at Spirit peacefully sleeping underneath her, happy that she had finally been able to convince Wolf to allow them to stay in High Moon. She would’ve simply stayed with Spirit and the other two newcomers at their mountaintop cave if it wasn’t for her believing that the valley - High Moon specifically - was a far safer place to call home. So Lily had remained in High Moon until she believed that she would be able to convince Wolf to allow them to stay.

And after four years of trying, she had done it.

Moving up to Spirit’s lips, Lily stole a kiss from the slumbering dog, inadvertently waking him. A soft moan came from Lily as Spirit moved his hands up Lily’s naked body, running his claws against Lily’s sides. Lily had missed Spirit’s gentle touch after a few months of going without seeing him or the others. But now she could see him as much as she wanted.

“Good morning Lily,” Spirit said before opening his crystal-blue eyes to meet Lily’s snow-white ones shining above him. Spirit laughed as Lily rose up from the bed, causing her mane to cascade over her shoulders. “Did you sleep well last night? I know how you hate the nighttime.”

Lily giggled at the dog underneath her, moving her hands across his chest. “Good morning to you too Spirit,” she whispered, giving her dog another quick kiss on the lips, feeling more cheerful this morning than she had in a long time. “And yes, I did sleep wonderfully last night. Despite the lack of actual sleeping we did.”

“H-heh, can you blame me?” Spirit joked as he reached down to Lily’s slender thighs, grazing his claws through her fur. “After having not seen you in forever, then you suddenly show up a week ago, I couldn’t help myself.”

A rosy color came onto Lily’s tan cheeks at the pleasant memories of last night, wings unconsciously fluttering behind her in happiness. “Hehe, I wouldn’t mind a few more moments of that right about-”

“Hey Lily,” Spike’s voice came from the closed door, causing both lovers to jump a bit in the bed. Lily quickly turned her head to, much to her relief, see that the door was indeed still closed. “I just wanted to let you know that the others are already up to start getting a place set up for the sentinels.”

“It is that time of the morning,” Lily sighed in a soft voice. She raised her voice so the drake would hear her, “Okay Spike, Spirit and I will be out shortly. We just need to get dressed and we’ll meet you out in the city ruins, thank you,” she said as she sat up in Spirit’s lap.

“Alright Lily, see ya out there. Come on Cyclone, we’d better go wake up Veil,” Lily heard Spike say before his and Cyclone’s footsteps were heard leading away from the bedroom door.

Lily waited for a moment until she was sure that the younger couple had left to go wake the only hound in the pack. Once she was sure that they had left, Lily looked down at a confused Spirit for a moment, need in her eyes.

“Maybe a little quick moment wouldn’t hurt…”

Back outside, Spike and Cyclone walked out to the parlor, and greeted Night Blade and Fang. The two were already up, with Kiri running along the wooden support beams to greet the phoenixes. As the three animal companions conversed in their own language, Spike went to talk with the two newcomers while Cyclone left to go wake up Veil.

“Morning you two, sleep well?” Spike asked, coming to a stop at the bottom of the stair railing, placing his hand on it.

Fang flashed a smile towards the drake before nodding, while Night Blade just tried to hide underneath her hood and behind her dog. “Heh, yeah thanks man,” Fang said as he walked down the stairs with Night holding onto Fang’s shoulders. Yet Fang either seemed to not notice, or not care. Spike assumed this must be a fairly normal thing between them. “So how’d you and your dragoness sleep?”

“Oh fine, but uh, is Night Blade alright? She still looks pretty out of it,” Spike said, trying to look over Fang to see the bat-pony, but only getting a hiss thrown at him for his trouble. “Scratch that, she looks really sleepy.”

Fang smiled as he rolled his eyes at the drake in front of him, thinking back to the time he thought the same about Night. “Yeah, Nighty’s fine. She’s just not a ‘morning pony,’ as she calls it,” Fang laughed for a moment before Night began digging her claws into his shoulders. “Ow, ow, ow Night. It was just a joke, c’mon.”

Night Blade began mumbling under her breath before she eased her claws off of Fang’s shoulders, only to wrap her arms around his neck. “You want me to carry you, don’t you?” Fang asked rhetorically, while Night was already wrapping her legs around his waist. Night Blade quickly nuzzled into Fang’s neck, brushing it with her fangs, which sent a slight shiver down his spine.

“Hey uh, Fang?” Spike started, pulling Fang’s attention away from the mare from a moment. His eyes lingered on Night Blade’s fangs for a moment before meeting the dog’s eyes. “I know this is a weird, and sorta personal question, and you definitely don’t have to answer it. But um...does Night ever, you know, bite?”

A bright blush came to Fang’s light-brown cheeks from the drake’s question, already giving Spike all the answer that he could he need or want. However, a dark-sounding giggle from Night Blade stole his attention away from the blushing dog. “More than you know, Spike,” she huskily giggled again as she moved one of her hands to the side of Fang’s face while the other one lightly caressed the side of Fang’s neck. “Sometimes I drool at the thought of just one, little, quick bite.”

“Okay, I’m never asking questions again,” Spike said with a blush shining on his own cheeks as Cyclone returned with Veil in tow. He smiled as he went to greet the hound, she, in turn, awkwardly looked away from him before meekly waving. ‘Seems that Cy was able to talk her down last night after all,’ Spike thought to himself before greeting Veil. “Morning Veil, you sleep well last night?”

A moment passed before Cyclone gently nudged Veil’s arm with her elbow. “Huh? Oh yeah, morning Drake.” She rubbed the arm Cyclone bumped with her elbow, finally meeting Spike’s green eyes. “Hey, uh, Dra- Spike. Listen, I’m sorry the way I freaked out on you yesterday. It was uh… it was out of line. So, uh, we cool?”

Spike smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah Veil, we cool. ‘Sides, Quill was literally threatening to force-feed me my tail. And besides, I know you were only thinking about Cy.” Veil hesitated before nodding her head, once again having trouble keeping eye contact with Spike. “Now come on, we all got some work to do today.”

Veil snorted lightly as she raked her hand through her scruffy black and white hair, giving Spike a clear look of her face as she arched an eyebrow. “What? We haven’t even eaten anything yet and you’re already talking about work,” she said, the displeasure clear in her voice.

“Sorry Veil, but we’ve got no idea when the sentinels will be coming, so Wolf, Isis, and Blaze all think it’d be best if we get a spot at least picked out,” Spike said, not only telling Veil, but letting the two newcomers know as well. “And since Wolf said that they’ll probably be a big help during the winter, he wanted as many hands on this as possible.”

“And he also wanted me to keep an eye on Clan-Mother, but knowing her, we’ll be down there soon anyway. With breakfast, too,” Cyclone added after wrapping her arms around Spike’s right arm, pressing close enough that she knew Spike could feel her breasts through her thin white dress. “So, I’ll see all of you guys sometime today.”

“Guh, fine. And I was actually looking forward to foraging today, too,” Veil mumbled as she continued to move her hands through her hair, scratching the back of her gray and black tipped ears.

“Oh, that’s alright,” Fang said, not really having noticed the white dragoness’ move. However, Night Blade did, but decided not to say anything about it - for the moment. “If the rest of those sentinels are as cool as Rydder, then I wouldn’t mind having a few of them around. And if they’re half as good as you guys said they are, they might be good to train with.”

Night Blade rolled her eyes at Fang’s typical mindset, despite it normally being harmless in nature. “Fang, let’s get to work first, then you can mess around,” she deadpanned, flicking her thumb over Fang’s cheek in a playful manner that told Fang she was finally getting used to being up this early. “Alright Spike, lead the way.”

“Sure, they’re not that far from here anyway,” Spike said before Cyclone let his arm go, telling him that she was about to head off to Blaze. “Hey, Cinder,” Spike spoke, looking up towards the wooden support beams to the three pets. “Quill wants you to go on with Cyclone. Peewee, bud, you’re with me. We’re gonna need ya for some stuff.”

After giving each other a quick nuzzle, Peewee and Cinder flew from their nest with Kiri running her way down with them. Once Cinder landed on Cyclone’s shoulder, the dragoness gave the phoenix a quick scratch under her beak as Peewee landed on Spike’s shoulder. Kiri took the time to hop on top of Fang’s head before taking two more short hops to nestle into Night’s hood.

“Guess I’ll see ya in a little while, Cyclone,” Spike said to Cyclone as she continued to show affection towards Cinder. The sight got Spike to laugh for a bit, as it was fun to see Cyclone play with Peewee or Cinder. “It shouldn’t take us too long to get this set up.”

Cyclone nodded her head before giving Spike a quick kiss on his lips, pulling him down by the collar of his blue shirt for a moment before she let go. “Bye Spikey,” Cyclone giggled at the blush on Spike’s face. “See ya guys, good luck with finding Rydder’s friends a home.” Cyclone turned to leave, intentionally brushing her tail against Spike’s groin before leaving with a sly smile on her face.

The moment the dragoness was out of the mansion, Veil let out a small growl at Spike as she stared at him with her gray eyes. “Wipe that smirk off your face Drake,” Veil said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. She shook her head at the sheepish blush on Spike’s face, but decided not to berate the lovestruck dragon further. She had remembered at the last moment that, according to Cyclone at least, she could be with the drake and dragoness before too long. The last thing she needed to do was make him think she actually disliked him. “Didn’t you just got done saying the Alphas wanted us to get stuff done? Well, lead the way, would you, Drake?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. They should be just outside here,” Spike said as he started to walk past Veil to the door leading out to the city ruins, leading the group through a corridor before they finally made it out.

Both Fang and Night took in the sight of the ancient city that was now their new home. It was definitely better than their mountaintop cave near the Swayback Mountain. Granted it would take some work, especially now that they had all agreed to help with anything in the pack, but they could already tell that it was going to work out better for them.

“C’mon, last I saw they were by some cathedral-looking building in the center of the city,” Spike said as he led the three down a smooth grassy hill before walking through the city towards the last spot he’d seen the others. When they got there, Spike was miffed to find that there wasn’t anyone there anymore, now stumped on what to do. “Hey bud, fly up and see if you can find them, but stay close alright?” Peewee nodded his head before he spread open his wings to take to the skies.

With nothing to do, Spike took a seat on a stone step as Night Blade had Fang sit her down near the drake while Veil leaned against a wall. “So where do you think they went off to Spike?” Night Blade asked Spike, thinking that the drake would have an idea.

“Mm...well,” Spike paused to take a moment to think to himself. “I think Isis said that they would be going underground or something. So they might be checking out a tunnel. Personally though, I think that Quill is gonna think of something else.”

“Something else like what?” Fang asked as he stood in front of his marefriend, not sure if a whole squad of walking suits of armor would fit in one single tunnel. “How many are there anyway?”

Spike took another moment to think to himself, trying to remember if there had been an exact count of the sentinels. “Well I th-” was all he got out before a feeling he hadn’t had in a long while erupted in his gut, causing him to let out a loud burp that changed into mystical green flames.

The other three watched as the flames swirled up into a tan parchment with a red ribbon tied to it, a purple starburst on the seal. “Dude did you just…” Fang asked, unable to make sense of what he just witnessed. However, Spike knew full and well what it was as he reached for the scroll. “Can dragons even do that?”

“Nah, only dragons that’ve been hatched by magic can,” Spike cleared up the three’s curiosity, or at least part of it. He too was just as curious as the others, but his curiosity was strictly on the reason the scroll was sent to him. “This is just a letter from an old friend. Knowing her it’s either to tell me and Quill about how things are going since yesterday, or maybe…”

Spike quickly undid the ribbon, unrolling the scroll to find that the letter was indeed from Twilight. “Yup, now we know just how many sentinels there are,” Spike said after quickly reading over Twilight’s handwriting, which read:

Dear Spike and Quill Dragul,

I hope you guys are taking it easy after the battle yesterday. I’m just writing this to tell you guys how smoothly everything is (sort of) going. As of now, we officially know how much of Canterlot has been damaged in the attack, and I have a rough estimate of how long it will take for everything to be back up and running. From my estimations, it will take roughly around six weeks (give or take a day or two) for all the damage to be repaired, and that’s only with the sentinels’ help.

Sorry if this is any inconvenience for you or the rest of your ‘pack,’ but the damage done is fairly extensive. So I hope that it isn’t too much trouble for us to keep them until then. These guys move fast, and are able to do twice the work a normal construction-pony can, but there still seems to be a limit of how long they can go before even they need to rest.

Celestia said that the sentinels once drew their power from one of the masked unicorns called Saint. That explains why Dusk and Wave said that Saint barely had any magic when they fought him. Now that his horn has been removed, the sentinels are now running on the natural magic of the world. I’m not sure how they changed their source of magic, but I plan on finding out how. I’ll have to run some tests to see how long each sentinel can go without rest, but I can tell that the flyers can go the longest, yet the titans are able to do twice the work they can while the normal kind seem to do a fair amount.

I have a theory on how each one is based off a different race of equine, but I could be wrong, since there isn’t a sentinel type here that can use magic. Though, I still believe that it’s still one way to look at this. At least then we’d have a classification to go by for them. We already started calling the big ones ‘Titans.’ Obsidian, who’s been moved up in rank to Sergeant Major, seems to call the flyers ‘Gargoyles,’ the normal ones ‘Knights,’ and Rydder...well Rydder seems to be in a class all by himself, so I want to call him a ‘Saint.’

Ironic, I know.

Anyway, there seem to be ten Titans, eighteen Gargoyles, and twenty-six Knights from the main force that attacked Canterlot. At least, that’s what is left after the battle. And yet, even with their small number, they seem to be doing a lot of work. So they might be able to help you guys out greatly when they’re done here in Canterlot.

Now that’s that out of the way, I wanted to keep you guys in the loop about these unicorns, just in case you ever run into them again. From what we’ve been able to tell, each of the unicorns was someone of high-society upbringing, with some sort of connection into the political system here in Canterlot, and/or all been reported as unicorn supremacists.

I know how all of that sounds, but I don’t want you guys making any sort of assumptions just yet. It isn’t fully confirmed that the entire cult is full of unicorn supremacists, but that obviously is their goal from what each unicorn said before being defeated. Getting information out of the captured three is proving to be...difficult, to say the least. All but Angel Wing have been quiet about anything, and what she’s told us is very limited.

What she has told us is that there were nine of them and that their goal was for unicorns (more likely, just them) to take control and overthrow Celestia. The only other bit of information that we were able to coax out of her was that they are located somewhere in the Swayback Mountains. So be careful if you or any of your pack members need to go anywhere near the mountains.

I tried to get some information about Amethyst out of her, but all Angel knew was that their ‘master’ (the leader of the group, I’m assuming) was the one to find her. It frustrated me for a while, as it felt like she was lying to me, but I can’t do anything about it as of yet. SGM Obsidian, First Sergeant Astral Snow, and I then tried to get her to tell us some names. However, she refused, saying that we would have to see to a demand of hers.

It’s not a big one, as Angel obviously didn’t want to be kept in the dungeon with the other two unicorns, but Celestia isn’t willing to take any chances with these unicorns.

As much as I want to agree with her, Obsidian and some other members of the guard seem convinced that the information would not only put us on the offensive, but give us the winning edge we need to put this to an end now.

Though, Celestia hasn’t seemed wrong yet, so we’re not in too much of a place to question her. Still though, it would be just what we need.

A motion has been made to bring in a team from the Lunar Republics to wade through their memories. But it’s met quite a bit of resistance. I myself am still not sure whether or not it should happen. I’ve been told the experience is painful for the target, but it may be our only chance to move on the offensive and end all of this.

Furthermore, Celestia sent out an order of termination or capture for the rest of the unicorns. So, you guys don’t have to worry about anyone coming down on you about killing Blueblood.

She’s even got the other Elements and myself going through training to help us keep up with the threat.

Again, there are nine of them. That’s what Angel told us. So if this is correct, then we’ve already created a large dent into our enemy, with only five of them remaining. I was able to help clear up the appearance of Frost for you guys, so you don’t have to hide her from me or the other Elements any more. Though, I’m not so sure that Equestria, or even Ponyville, is ready just yet to forgive the changelings. But all of you guys are welcomed to come by the library anytime you need something.

And Quill, whatever made you think you had to hide Frost’s real nature from me… I’m sorry.

Oh, there’s something else I wanted to tell you guys. Amethyst is doing much better now that she’s gotten something to eat. I’m going to wait a few more days before I start to see about her magic, but she’s been so energetic it’s hard not to show her a levitation spell or two. Kinda reminds me about how Quill was when she was younger. Wouldn’t stay still for longer than a minute.

Both Rainbow and Shadow are doing much better too, in part thanks to Frost’s healing, so you don’t have to worry about them. I think that’s everything that I wanted to tell you about about so, I’m going to let you go. Talk to you guys later.

P.S. Celestia told me why you two came to Canterlot yesterday. And she told me what she told you. While I can understand why she did what she did, I’m still not sure how I feel about it, honestly. I don’t know that I would have done any different. I need time to think it through. I’m also very upset at her for having lied to us about your egg for so long. I haven’t spoken to her since, and I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive her for lying to us just yet.

P.P.S. Amethyst says ‘Hi,’ Spike. Seems you have a big fan.

Spike felt his claws clenching hard at the mention of what Celestia had done, rumpling one corner of the letter. Veil had been watching him as he read, and saw a tint of red entering his eyes. “Hey, Drake, you okay there?” She’d never seen his eyes do that, and it was slightly unnerving. Her own eyes, and the other diamond dogs’ for that matter, would turn a slight tint of red in the dark, to help them see better at night, but she’d never heard of anything like that for dragons. She’d have to ask Cyclone about it.

The hound’s voice brought him back to the group, and he pushed the anger away as best he could. It was over and done with now, he needed to come to terms with it. Looking at the hound, he told her, “Fifty-four sentinels in total will be coming here in six weeks’ time.” Spike read the letter once again to be sure to memorize any, and every, thing that would be important to note. He was happy to hear that Amethyst was doing fine under Twilight’s care, and also that Rainbow and Shadow were doing just fine.

With that bit of good news, they now had a time limit as to when the sentinels would be arriving to stay in High Moon. “That’s nine squads of six that’ll be coming here soon.”

“Whoa, fifty-four of them? Are you sure there’s enough space for all of them, Spike?” Night Blade asked before looking around the city to see if there would be enough space for the sentinels. “Because I was talking to Wolf about making a forgery for tools, and possibly weapons for hunting we may need.”

“You’re a blacksmith?” Spike asked the mare, remembering that Wolf had said something about seeing if either Veil or Cyclone could fit the role. But if Night really was a blacksmith, that would effectively negate that need.

Night Blade smirked at Spike before she flexed her wings out, holding up her right arm and patting her bicep with her left hand. “Yup, you’re looking at a third generation bat-pony blacksmith over here. Straight out from the bat-pony colonies in the south.”

“Heh, wow that’s amazing Night.” It really was impressive for a bat-pony to leave the colonies and venture into Equestria’s regions. It was something that was almost unheard of. Spike had been taught that bat-ponies born in colonies stayed there their entire lives, and that the colonies were everything to them. Most of the exceptions to that rule consisted of the bat-ponies that had all-but flocked to Princess Luna and Nightmare after they had returned.

“And I’m sure that there’s someplace we can repurpose into a forge,” Spike said, quickly thinking about any spot that may help with it. “Anything you’re looking for in a spot? We’ve got about six weeks before the sentinels get here, so I’m sure we can find a spot before then.”

Night Blade crossed her arms as she looked up to the sky to think about everything that was necessary for blacksmithing. Heat obviously wasn’t an issue with the dragons living in the pack, neither was man-power thanks to Fang and Spirit. The only thing she could think of that would be an issue would be fresh water.

“Mm, anywhere near some fresh water would do for me,” Night said after a moment of thought before she looked back at Spike. “Any place like that here, Spike?”

“Oh yeah,” Spike answered, “There’s a river that cuts through the west side of here. It’s actually not that far away. And there’s already a building set up near it that we could easily make into a blacksmithing forge.”

“Wow, really?” Night Blade asked, impressed that any of the buildings were still standing, but grateful for it nonetheless. “That would be really great Spike. All we have to do is fix it up, I’m guessing?”

Spike nodded his head slightly, as he’d caught a few glimpses of the building while going to the archives for either Blaze or Lily. “There’s also a few books on blacksmithing in the archives. They’ll have to be translated into modern Equestrian first, though. I can get you some more books about it as well, if ya want.”

“Thanks Spike, that would really help out a lot,” Night Blade gratefully said, happy that the drake was so willing to help her out, especially after she and the others had suddenly showed up last night. “So what roles do you guys fill out here?”

“Oh well,” Spike started, reaching to rub the back of his head a bit. “I’ve been learning about potions to use from Blaze, helping her make some too. But um, that’s changed lately. I’ve been catching fish and training Cy on her water-magic with Frost, but guess I won’t be doing much of that when the winter comes.” Spike awkwardly laughed. He already knew fishing and hunting in general wouldn’t be easy during the winter. “Heh, to be honest, I dunno what Wolf really has planned for the winter. Me and Quill have only been here for about two and half months.”

“Probably nothing, really,” Veil spoke up, “Diamond dogs don’t really do much during the winter months. That’s why Alpha has been trying to get so much done now.” Memories of being trapped inside their old house with Cyclone for days on end came rushing back, making her frown bitterly at the thoughts. ‘All that wasted time…’ “I can’t say that Alpha would completely stop doing things, but we sure enough won’t be getting things done in one day.”

“She’s right Spike,” Fang added as he moved his hand through his black hair, laughing a bit at the times he and Spirit had literally slept through a whole day during the four winter months of the year. “Heh, there was this one time I had Nighty trapped underneath me for a whole day.”

A red hue easily shone through Night Blade’s midnight-blue fur from the memories of the years of being in an intimate relationship with the dog. She hit his shoulder. “Mm, Fang! Spike and Veil don’t want to hear about that!” she blurted out as the blush on her cheeks got redder, making her look that much more adorable in Fang’s eyes.

Fang laughed at the blush on Night’s face as he quickly lunged at his mare to wrap his arms around her torso, rubbing his cheek against her’s as she tried to push him off. “Aw c’mon Nighty, you know you enjoyed those sixteen hours,” Fang laughed, getting a sigh out of Night while Kiri jumped from the bat-pony’s shoulder.

After landing on the ground, Kiri activated the gem in her forehead, changing her form to the larger one. Kiri stretched out her forepaws as she let out a small yawn before she put her head on the ground with her body still stretched out.

“Heh, someone looks bored,” Fang joked at the vixen, only getting Kiri to let out another annoyed yawn as she closed her eyes. Fang soon let Night go to sit down next to her, allowing Night to lean over so she could scratch Kiri’s head behind her ears. “So Drake, these Elements of yours, how do they feel to use? From the sounds of it, as soon as you and Quill got them, ya’ll went beast on those occultists.”

“Huh, oh well…” Spike paused for a moment, thinking back to how easy, and natural, it felt to use his scythes. The fact that it was natural to use such a weapon worried Spike a bit, as he never thought he would ever use something like that. But then there were those dreams… “They feel, I dunno, natural. That was my first real fight, but it wasn’t my first time using a scythe before.”

“What do you mean, Spike?” Night Blade asked, just as interested in the story as Fang was.

Spike didn’t answer for a moment as he thought back to the dreams where he had been pitted against his ghost-heart. He then raised up his hand, activating the element in his gloves. As his scythe came to his hand in a blue light, Spike and the others watched as the sharp and curved blade shined from the light of the sun.

The scythe wasn’t the same from his dream, but the similarity was enough to bring back the memories. “Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that you can remember every bit of it?” Spike asked, not just to Night or the others, but to himself as well. He didn’t want to remember the dreams, but he couldn’t help it. “Like, a dream you do remember, but don’t want to?”

“Uh, like a nightmare dude?” Fang asked, a little put off by Spike’s sudden change in tone. It was dark and grim, almost like he had seen his own death play out in front of him.

Spike merely shrugged his shoulders as he willed away the scythe. “No, not a nightmare,” he answered. “That’s something you’d be afraid of, something that you were scared of.” Spike turned his head up to the cloudy blue skies as he continued to think about how to explain what he felt about the dreams he’d had a few weeks ago. “This was something different. I mean, yeah, at first I was scared of them, but then I honestly started looking forward to them until they eventually just stopped.”

“Dude, that’s some heavy stuff right there,” Fang said with a small laugh as Spike looked down from the cloudy skies. “But nah, I never had any dreams like that before. Heh, the best dream I had before was finding a cave filled with thick bones.” Fang began licking his lips with a hungry look in his green eyes. “What about you Nighty?”

“Actually,” Night sighed as she rested her head against Fang’s chest, ceasing her scratching of Kiri’s ears. “Yeah, I do know what Spike is talking about.” Another sigh came out of Night as she continued to bury herself against Fang’s chest, prompting him to place an arm around her.

“When I was a filly, I would have the strangest dream of waking up in a palace on the moon. Every time I was greeted by the same filly; pitch black fur like an empty night sky. She had a flowy purple and light-blue mane with teal eyes that looked like they belonged to a dragon. She was always nice to me, though she was...distant. But about four years ago, the dreams just suddenly stopped.”

Spike furrowed his eyebrows at the description of the filly as it sounded familiar to him. “Hm, black fur, flowy purple mane, and teal eyes...why does that sound familiar?” he mused for another moment, not noticing Quill landing on the top of the cathedral.

“Because that sounds like Princess Nightmare Moon to me,” Quill said, startling the four, and getting them to look up towards her as she was sitting on top of the cathedral with a slightly thoughtful expression on her face. The dragoness still had a bandage covering half her face, though it looked like it had been replaced at some point. “I know we’ve only met her once, and for a really short time, but from what I remember that’s what she looked like.”

“How could that be? Nightmare Moon looks as old as Luna, and she’s thousands years old.” Quill rolled her eye at her brother, allowing him to continue to talk it out with himself. “There’s no way that Nightmare Moon could make herself look like a filly unless...Oh, I get it.”

“There we go, now he gets it,” Quill laughed as she put her elbow on her leg to rest her head in her palm. Spike started to scratch the back of his head with a small chuckle, seeming to not believe that he couldn’t piece together who the filly was. “Anyway, that was Nightmare Moon, Night. Wouldn’t know why she would do that to you. She doesn’t seem to be the type to play around with stuff like that.”

“How would you know that, Quill?” Spike asked as the dragoness leaped off of the building when she spotted Peewee leading the others back. After landing in front of Spike, Quill dusted off her blue jeans from all the dirt they had gathered up the tunnel Isis led her and the others to. “Like you said, we’ve only met the Lunar Princesses once. Unless you’ve…”

Quill started to nod her head, giving Spike the answer that he was about to ask. “Yeah, I had a few dreams about her after Twilight became an Element. And also a few other times after that for other reasons. But don’t you mind that, where’d that come from?” she asked, pointing to the letter sticking out of Spike’s pocket.

“Oh right, it’s a letter from Twi that came in just a few minutes ago,” Spike said as he handed the letter to Quill so she could read it herself. “We know how many sentinels that’ll be coming here and when they’ll get here.”

As Quill read the letter, Wolf, Isis, Frost, and Rydder with Peewee perched on his shoulder, all came around the side of the cathedral. “And that would be how many and when?” Wolf asked with his arms crossed over his chest, still trying to think of what to do with an army of walking suits of armor. But right now, he was more concerned about where to house all of the sentinels.

Spike opened his mouth, only for Quill to beat him to it. “Fifty-four in six weeks,” she said after she read the line where Twilight had all of the sentinels accounted for. “Rydder makes fifty-five I guess. That’s not that bad, just need to fix up this old cathedral, and boom you got a sentinel living space.”

“This cathedral, huh?” Wolf turned to look at the cathedral for a moment, trying to think if he had anything planned for the space other than a housing area for the sentinels. However, nothing else practical came to mind. “Fine, but you have to come up with the plans for it Quill. Before the end of the week, alright? I want to at least start on this before they get here.” Wolf looked up towards the skies, seeing the gray clouds rolling over towards the valley. “Winter’s coming.”

Everyone followed Wolf’s gaze up to the gray clouds, suddenly feeling a strong chilling wind blow past them. As the wind continued to blow through, Wolf closed his eyes to get the full feel of it. Once he opened them again, the wind began to pick up to a strong gust that rustled a few trees. “Come on everyone, it’s going to rain soon, and we have to make sure that the mansion's roof is all patched up.”

Wolf turned to head back to the mansion with everyone else following behind him, all surprised that the dog was able to tell Everfree’s weather patterns. “So Night Blade, have you told Spike your idea yet?” Wolf asked, turning his head back to the bat-pony riding on top of Kiri. “Because I want that planned out by the end of this week too.”

“Yes sir, I have,” Night Blade said with a small smile on her face as she continued to ride Kiri with her hands placed on the vixen’s neck. “And for what I have planned, it shouldn’t take long to set up, either.”

Wolf nodded his head before turning it back up the path to see Lily and Spirit chatting with Blaze and Cyclone. Before the group made it up all the way to the hill that the mansion sat on, Wolf gave Spike a quick order to take Fang, Quill, and Rydder to go grab the wooden planks out of the storage shack over on the left side of the hill so they could begin patching up the mansion’s roof while he sent Frost and Isis to go see what damage they could find.

“Morning, you three,” Wolf said after giving everyone their assignments as he walked up to the group. Blaze quickly moved to wrap her arms around Wolf’s chest, nuzzling into his fur as he placed a hand on top of her head. “Spirit,” Wolf pointed down the path behind him with his thumb, over towards the group he’d sent to get the wooden planks. “You head down the path with the others to help out. A storm is heading our way and we have to make sure that everything will be able to make it through.”

“Aye Alpha,” Spirit said with a nod before he left down the path to help with gathering the wood.

“Wolf, you don’t really think a storm is coming, do you?” Blaze asked, looking up into her lover’s forest-green eyes. She knew the possibility of a storm happening in Everfree was always there, but for one to come this late in the fall was out of the ordinary. Then again, the rain seemed to have been easy on them this year, which could only mean that the winter was going to be rough. “And just when I wanted to go visit Zecora too. Oh wait! Someone has to tell her so she can get ready for it.”

“Blaze calm down, would you?” Wolf laughed, ruffling up Blaze’s long red mane with his hand, none too surprised that Blaze would be worried about the mare. “Tell you what, you can go tell Zecora. I’ll get either Night Blade or Veil to go with you just to be safe,” he said, knowing that his pack wasn’t the only one still getting ready for the winter, and that outside of their valley anything could happen. “How does that sound?”

Blaze giggled a little bit from slight embarrassment before she nodded her head with a sheepish smile on her face. “Hehe, sure, that will be fine Wolf,” Blaze said with another giggle as Frost and Isis landed back on the ground to give Wolf their report about the mansion’s condition.

“Master,” Isis started after she had landed back onto the ground. “There are several places on the mansion’s roof that are indeed in need of repair. There are some places that require being replaced, and a few areas that will give no cause to worry.”

Wolf nodded his head towards the sphinx as Spike’s group started up the hill. “Alright Isis, think you can somehow mark the areas that need replacing? We’re going to start on that first, then move on to the smaller fixes.” Isis nodded her head before she flew back up to the mansion’s roof to carry out her master’s request.

Reaching the top of the hill, Spike and the others spotted Wolf and made their way over to him. “Hey Wolf, we got the wood,” Spike informed him, carrying three pieces of wood long ways against his chest while everyone else only had one or two in their possession. “Oh, and hey Blaze,” he greeted with a smile after seeing the mare behind Wolf.

“Hello Spike, how are you feeling this morning? Your injuries aren't bothering you, are they?” Blaze asked as she gave the drake a quick look over just like she had with Frost and Quill earlier this morning. Visibly they all looked fine, but she was just as worried for their mental health, especially since the twins weren’t very forthcoming about what they’d been told.

“Nah, I’m good. Well, legs are little sore, but I still can work,” Spike said with a cheerful smile before he followed the others over to the back wall of the mansion to sit the wooden planks down until Wolf told them what they were going to be doing with them.

Once the planks were set down, Wolf nodded his head towards Blaze, telling her that she could go whenever she wanted to. “Alright everyone, Isis is marking the places we’re going to replace with these wooden planks. Be sure not to waste any of them, and be careful when you’re up there.”

Everyone nodded their heads as they got ready to carry out the job. While everyone was making their way to the rooftop in their own ways, Night Blade slid off of Kiri’s back, kneeling down to the vixen’s eye level and scratching the back of her head. “Kiri, you stay down here with Blaze and Cyclone, keep guard okay?”

Kiri let out a small howl in response before she walked over towards Blaze, brushing her head against Blaze’s leg. Blaze smiled down towards the vixen, gently patting on her head as she sat on the ground while Kiri continued to submissively move around her. The vixen was still a wonder to the mare, the shine of her coat, the jewel in her forehead, and her abilities. All of it was something that Blaze had never seen before.

Satisfied that Kiri was behaving herself, Night Blade opened up her wings to help lift some of the wooden planks onto the roof. After handing the wooden plank off to Night, Quill looked back at Rydder. “Rydder, you do the same thing too.” Quill took the last plank from Rydder before she opened her wings to follow the others up to the roof.

Rydder merely returned his hands to his sides before he turned to walk back to where Blaze and Cyclone sat on the soft grassy hill, removing his sheathed swords from his waist and back. Rydder soon began sitting down with his legs crossed and his swords resting against his chest as he did his active duty of watching over the pack.

Turning her head back while still stretching a spot behind Kiri’s ears, Blaze watched the sentinel with just as much interest as she had with the vixen. The way Isis spoke about the sentinel last night made her wonder what other kind of spells were left buried from Equestria’s past. And why the kingdom was unprepared for such a threat.

“She’s really something, isn’t she Clan-Mother?” Cyclone asked, taking her spot next to Blaze, and taking a turn to gently scratch her claws into the back of Kiri’s head. Kiri let out a small purr as she moved further into Blaze’s lap, resting her forepaws and head on it. “Kiri I mean, she’s no ordinary vixen.”

What Cyclone just said got Blaze thinking for a small moment, finding her curiosity growing. “Yes, I think you’re right Cyclone,” Blaze said in a blank tone of voice that got both Cyclone and Kiri’s attention. As Kiri gazed into the mare’s crimson eyes, and the mare back into Kiri’s crimson eyes, both felt a small connection between them. “Cyclone dear, remember that little secret I told you to keep for me a few weeks ago?”

“Y-yes Clan-Mother, I do,” Cyclone answered, remembering back to the day Blaze had told her the story of why she was able to use dragon-magic and speak their language. The truth had shocked Cyclone as much as it saddened her. “I won’t tell anyone, promise.”

Blaze nodded her head as she sparked her horn, allowing a small portion of her dragon-magic to manifest. As black markings began to form from the tip of Blaze’s horn, pale-purple, almost lavender markings moved out from the red jewel in Kiri’s head, giving Blaze all the answers she needed as of now.

“Ah, I see.” Blaze ceased the light from her horn before the black markings began to fade away, consequentially ending the light from Kiri’s jewelry along with the marking on her forehead. “So you’re really are something special. Isn’t that right Kiri?” Blaze asked as she raised a hand in front of Kiri, getting her to nudge against it.

Blaze went back to petting the vixen as she continued to let out small and playful howls. Whatever magic was locked inside the vixen was something Blaze had never seen before. Whether its origins were holy or unholy didn’t matter to the mare. “My, my, you really are one of a kind, Kiri,” Blaze said, moving her hand underneath Kiri’s neck, and getting what almost sounded like a purr from her. Giggling, Blaze continued to play with the vixen while Cyclone watched idly by.

While the two females enjoyed the peace of the midmorning day, everyone else in the back continued to go hard at work on the roof, carefully following Wolf’s instructions so not to cause any cave-ins. Things were going quickly and smoothly with Isis’ magic able to meld the new planks of wood into the parts that they had to cut out, allowing some of the members to start working on the repairs while the others did the replacing.

The job was going along smoothly and quickly, which was a good thing because clouds began gathering over the city ruins, forewarning the pack that it was going to rain soon. “Blaze, go on to Zecora’s if you still want,” Wolf called down, still standing on top of the roof after he had finished hammering in a plank. “Night Blade, I want you to go with her too. The same goes for you, Rydder.”

Sitting on the edge of the roof with her dogfriend, Night Blade nodded her head towards the alpha. “Yes sir,” Night Blade said before she placed a kiss on Fang’s sweaty neck, purposefully breathing in the dog’s heavy scent. A small shiver went down Night’s back before she hopped off the roof, safely gliding down. “Anytime you’re ready Blaze.”

Rydder merely looked back at where Wolf was on the roof, before turning to look at Quill. She noticed that he hadn’t moved, and called down to him. “Go with her, Rydder. Wolf’s in charge around here, so follow what he says like you would for me, ok?” In reply, the sentinel merely nodded before turning to watch Blaze.

Blaze nodded her head as she started to get up from her spot on the ground after Kiri moved out of her lap. The moment the mare moved, Rydder began getting out of his spot on the ground, placing his swords on his sides and back, ready to follow the mare wherever she was going.

“Cyclone dear, you don’t mind staying here, do you?” Blaze asked in a calm gentle voice that carried something else behind it. “We’re not doing anything else besides going to see Zecora for a moment. We can do something about your fire-magic tomorrow or the day after. Is that alright with you, sweetie?”

Cyclone nodded her head, wondering what had made Blaze change her mind so suddenly, but she wasn’t going to argue with the clan’s mother. “That’s fine Clan-Mother. I need to talk with Spike anyways,” she said with a smile on her face, giggling a little when Blaze scratched the scales on top of her head.

Blaze then turned to leave through the mansion with her ‘escorts’ following behind, stopping at the door when she remembered something. “Oh, Spike,” she started, looking up to see the drake looking over the edge after he heard Blaze calling for him. “Be sure to bring in the sage and other herbs before the storm. I’m going to be working on some stuff after we get back.”

“Okay Blaze,” Spike nodded, “I’ll get to that as soon as I can. And can you tell Zecora I said hi for me?” Blaze returned Spike’s nod before disappearing inside of the mansion with Night and Rydder behind her to leave on the simple task of seeing about the zebra.

“My, my, events have surely come and passed,” Zecora said after Blaze had shown up at her doorstep with a bat-pony, and odd-looking fox, and a suit of living armor. She wasn’t one to question this, however. Living in Everfree for nine years had taught Zecora a lot of things, and one of those was to never question something until you heard something about it.

That’s when Blaze began explaining everything that had happened since she was able to visit her friend like this. Zecora was amazed at the story of how far the twins and the pack itself had come in such a short time.

“The twins seem to be growing quite fast,” Zecora finished with a small giggle before she handed Blaze a cup of tea she had began fixing during Blaze’s story. All the while, both Night and Rydder kept mostly quiet against the far right wall as the two mares caught up with each other. Night Blade declined a cup of tea politely when Zecora offered her one. During Blaze’s story, Night had been given a better grasp of what kind of struggles the pack had to go through for the last few weeks, and the achievements that they had all overcame.

“Yes, those two are coming along nicely,” Blaze said with a small smile on her face before she took a sip of the fresh herbal tea. “Every day they seemed to grow stronger. The same goes for everyone, really. Cyclone has been getting much better with her magic, according to Wolf, Veil is quite the fighter, and Frost seems to be getting closer to her dreams each day.”

Zecora began to nod her head at Blaze as she was partaking of her own drink, pleased to see that her old friend had been doing just fine, along with her growing family. “That is very good to hear, but what of winter drawing near? Knowing Wolf will not take a chance, plans surely have been made in advance.”

“That they have, Zecora,” Blaze answered with the knowledge that the winter coats were almost ready for the pack to use. The newcomers had already finished making their plans to survive in the winter months with the pack as well. “But what about you Zecora? Are you going to be alright this winter? Wolf thinks it’s going to be a bad one this time around.”

A small laugh left Zecora’s lips after she set her cup back on the table. “Yes my friend, I will be fine until winter’s end. I have food of plenty that could happily feed many. There’s no need for worry.”

Blaze smiled towards the zebra, happy to see that the mare was set for the winter just as much as the pack was. “Well that’s good to hear, Zecora. And remember, if there’s anything you need, you can come to us. It’s never any trouble.”

“Blaze please, put yourself at ease,” Zecora said before she took another sip of her tea with Blaze doing the same. “There is no need for any cause of alarm, you just have to worry about the child you will soon carry in your arms.”

A gentle smile came onto Blaze’s face as she reached a hand to her half-exposed stomach to begin rubbing it with a dreamy look on her face. “Yes...from what Quill told me, I should be expecting just before the spring months. Oh, I just can’t wait any longer,” Blaze said with a giggly smile on her face before she went back to talking to Zecora.

On the other side of the room, Night Blade watched as Blaze continued to caress her pregnant belly with a glee about her. It was the joy only a mother could know, and it was something the mare was looking forward to.

“I’m sorry to chat and leave, Zecora,” Blaze started as she rose from the ground after finishing her drink, causing Rydder to be fully aware of his surroundings again. Zecora soon stood up after the mare, knowing that she needed to get back to High Moon soon. “But there’s a storm brewing over the valley and Wolf has everyone running around. Are you sure that you’ll be okay here? I can’t help but have a bad feeling.”

Zecora shook her head at the mare with a slight smile on her face. “Blaze, I will be just fine in my abode, you just start on the road.” Blaze giggled a bit at Zecora as she gave Zecora a quick hug before she started out of the door.

“Goodbye Zecora, you stay safe,” Blaze said with a wave as Night Blade gave the zebra mare a bow of her head before they started out of the door, hurrying back to High Moon before the storm could kick in.

And did it ever.

The very moment Blaze and the others got inside the safety of the temple, the rain started pouring down so fast that much of the pack was trapped inside of Blaze’s work area. Spirit and Lily were able to make it to the mansion before the storm had began. According to Veil, Cyclone had led Spike off almost as soon as Blaze had left for Zecora’s. This left everyone else to find something to do while waiting out the storm.

Veil ended up helping Blaze take stock of potions for the winter, Wolf went over ideas for things during the winter with Isis, while Quill and Frost took the time to get to know the newcomers a bit more.

Much to Quill’s surprise, the two newcomers admitted to having dreams of becoming Fallen Saints one day. When both Frost and Veil said that they didn’t know what a Fallen Saint was, Quill went on explaining the difference between the two classes of bounty-hunters.

“See, Saints are like your everyday vigilante or bounty hunter,” Quill explained with Frost sitting sideways in her lap while Fang had Night in his lap, Veil to the side of Quill. The only reason Quill knew anything about the bounty hunter classes was because she had been raised in Canterlot, where she overheard a few nobles talking down about them. “They do things like take down local criminals, but tend to stay within the law while doing it, right?”

“That’s right,” Fang answered with a nod while Night continued to feed Kiri freshly cut orange slices, who was sitting on the table in her smaller size. “See, the reason we were in that mountain cave was because we were trying to train to get stronger. That way we would be able to take on threats like those unicorn guys.”

Quill nodded her head, despite actually believing that the three newcomers would have troubles in a fight against even one of the unicorn supremacists. “Yeah, it would’ve been nice to have some Fallen Saints with us that day. Speaking of which, Fallen Saints are something different from Saints. They tend to go for bigger prizes, and they do it outside of the law.”

“But they get the job done,” Fang added as he locked eyes with Quill, who only returned his gaze with her one unbandaged eye. “Sure, there are Saints and Fallen that look only for money, but there are others out there. Good ones. Ones that want to see good win, that want justice.”

“Well Fang, as noble as a cause that is, justice is only as just as we see fit,” Frost said, knowing the type of manner the three newcomers were going by. “There is no true just way in everyone’s eyes, only the one we see fit for it to be. Remember that you two, it’s a very important lesson that I had to learn young and the hard way.”

Fang and Night quickly turned towards each other for a moment, as if to see if there was any change in the other. When they found none they both turned back to Frost to give the mare a nod. They already knew it took a lot to do the things that Fallen Saints were known to do, but they had dreams about it, and they’d made a vow to reach this goal.

“Speaking of which, since you guys are trying to be Fallen Saints, there’s something that I’m sure would help with that,” Quill started, chuckling as she looked slyly at Frost in her lap.

“And what is that, Quill?” Frost asked, cocking an eyebrow at her younger lover.

“You remember how the letter from Twilight said that the unicorn’s hideout was somewhere in the Swayback Mountains, right?” Quill asked, making Frost frown as she already had an inkling of Quill’s idea, if she knew the dragoness at all. “Well I got a plan.”

“Hold on, let me guess,” Frost started with a flat look on her face, as if she was seeing into Quill’s mind. “The plan involves us using the sentinels to find the unicorns’ hideout, taking them on, and turning them into Celestia, doesn’t it?” Quill snorted at the mare in her lap with a smile on her face that easily told Frost that she was wrong. “I’m...wrong?”

“Close, but you’re a bit off point, Icy,” Quill said rubbing the side of her head as she continued to think about an idea that would satisfy everyone. “Nah, I got a better idea. I’m just hoping that these unicorn guys don’t wise up and leave the Swayback Mountains. If they do, I’ll have to think of something else.”

Frost titled her head with an arched eyebrow. “Yes, and what sort of plan would that be? I highly doubt that the unicorns will be staying in the Swayback for very long. If I was them, I would leave Equestria altogether.” Frost could almost hope that the unicorns had fled Equestria. If that was the case, they could just be done with them.

However, Frost knew better to than to believe that it was going to be that easy. “They wouldn’t try the same thing twice, would they? I mean, their whole plan depended on Amethyst, and we saw how that turned out for them.”

“Frost, I doubt that they would give up so easily,” Quill said, despite wishing the same thing Frost was. “If they really want to take control of Equestria, they would look for more than one way to do it.”

A heavy sigh came out of Frost as she dropped her head slightly. She knew that Quill was right. Though it didn’t help that she wanted this to be all wrapped up. “You’re right, Quill. These guys do not seem like the quitting type,” Frost said.

“If you’re sure your plan will work, Quill, then we’ll help,” Fang nodded his head firmly, Night at his side with a determined look in her lavender eyes. “And this isn’t even about us wanting to be Fallen Saints, this is to protect High Moon. These unicorn guys are starting to sound too big for their horns, and I want to help shave them down a notch.”

“You sure, guys? I’m sure we can figure something else out,” Quill said as she glanced over at the two lovers with a concerned look in her eyes. “It’s not really fair for us to suddenly push you into a fight that you guys aren't ready for.”

“Quill, it’s guys like these unicorns that give us the reason to become stronger,” Night Blade said, one of her eyes hidden behind her mane. However, that didn’t diminish the look of pure determination on her face. In fact, to Quill it seemed to have heightened it. “We’re becoming Fallen Saints so we can take on guys like this. To help defend our home, our family.”

Quill smirked at the two’s courage. Their determination reminded her of Twilight and the other Elements. Quill found herself respecting the two for their dreams.

“Guys,” Quill said in a low tone of voice with a slightly dark gleam in her eyes that earned a shiver from Frost. The scorpio mare couldn’t tell if the feeling she was getting from Quill was good or bad. Either way, she enjoyed the thrill it sent down her spine. “Get ready to train like you’ve never had to before. We’re gonna be killing so many birds with one stone.”

Back in the room they shared, Spike and Cyclone were enjoying the time alone, and the sounds from the storm outside had an oddly calming effect on the two. Cyclone was sitting in his lap sideways, with his arms wrapped around her waist. She had her own arms wrapped around one of his as he lightly caressed her thigh over her dress. Sighing, she nuzzled against Spike’s neck and gave him a soft nip.

Spike jerked against Cyclone, looking down at her to see the impish smile on her face. Grinning back, Spike started, “So that’s how you want to play, huh?” Growling at her, he earned a giggle from the white dragoness as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders to hold her in place, moving his lips to her neck. The other hand slipped down along her leg, and slowly began lifting Cyclone’s dress up along her leg.

Grinning, and with a sudden blush painting her cheeks, Cyclone pressed her chest against Spike’s and slid one hand up underneath his shirt. Breathing in deeply to squish her breasts against him more, her other hand slid down along Spike’s arm to guide his claws up the side of her leg. She shivered from the feeling of his claws against the soft scales on her thighs, delighting in Spike’s touch.

“Someone’s enjoying themselves,” she moaned softly into his ear-frill, earning another growl against her neck. She kissed the side of his head by his ear-frill, and moaned again as his claws trailed over the large curve of her ass. She could feel his excitement pressing against her hip, and she ground herself against it.

Spike was losing himself in everything that was Cyclone. Her scent, her taste, her scales against his claws… she was just intoxicating. It felt like his mind was fogging up. Spike turned his head up to seal her lips in a kiss, and pushed his tongue into her mouth to curl against hers. Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Spike’s hand began sliding up past Cyclone’s ass to her back.

Immediately, Cyclone froze in his lap and broke the kiss.

“Spike!” Cyclone all-but yelped, her hand shooting to grab Spike’s wrist, holding it in place before it could go any higher than the dip of her lower back. “Spike, please…” Her eyes were wide as she watched him. ’It’s ok Cyclone, you stopped his hand in time, he didn’t feel anything...’ Her mind raced as she tried to reassure herself.

Spike wasn’t sure what had gone wrong, but he knew he’d crossed a line. He pulled his hand away from her back and smoothed her dress back down. “Cy, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to try and push you into -” The pale dragoness in his lap silenced him by putting a finger on his lips, her eyes having softened, a smile back on her face.

“Shush,” she commanded softly, replacing her finger with her lips. After kissing Spike for a few short moments, after which he untensed and pressed back into it, Cyclone pulled back. “You stopped when I needed you to.” She pressed her forehead against Spike’s and closed her eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want to be yours completely, Spike, it’s just…” Cyclone faltered for a moment. She didn’t want to lie to Spike, but then she wouldn’t really be lying to him if she only told him one of the reasons she wanted to wait. The other… she shivered, tightening her grip on Spike’s arms momentarily.

“Spike, I know you weren’t raised by dragons, but for clan dragons, it’s considered traditional to wait until both members have undergone their growth-spurt before… claiming one another.”

Spike was quiet for a moment, before tilting his head up slightly to kiss the smaller dragoness in his lap. “Cy, you don’t need to give me a reason. If you want to wait, then we wait. As long as you need.”

She giggled huskily before placing a kiss on his nose and leaning in close to his ear-frill, whispering, “Spikey, I promise you, after your growth-spurt, I am going to wear. You. Out.”

Spikes eyes went wide, and his face turned a bright red. He tried to stammer something out, but Cyclone silenced him with a slow, teasing kiss.

“Now, Spikey,” Cyclone said as she moved to straddle Spike’s waist, pressing her chest forward and up against Spike’s chin, “We have something very important to talk about.”

Spike’s blush was still present, and he was doing his best to keep his emerald eyes locked onto Cyclone’s pink ones. “Y-yeah?” Spike gulped, the scent from Cyclone invading his mind again. Her large breasts pressing against him were serving as a very tempting distraction. His hands moved down to her thighs, massaging them softly through her dress.

Nodding, Cyclone leaned her forehead against Spike’s again. “Yes, Spikey. Very important.” She took a deep breath to calm herself, inadvertently pressing her chest against Spike harder for a moment. “It’s about Veil.”

Spike’s mind shorted out for a moment, and it took another second for it to restart.

“What?”