The rumbling of volcanoes could be felt from a distance. The smell of sulfur filled the air. The thick, gray clouds blotted out the sunlight, making the sky a washed out blue. It was a familiar sight and smell to a tall and slender Ember as her asher metallic boots clanked along the rocky landscape. She was dressed in her golden and brown armor that covered most of her body, but it was designed to allow her wings to stick out and let her fly whenever she needed to. Her helmet was as golden as her armor and had fangs and horns on it to make her more ferocious.

She heard somebody talking nearby and looked over to see a rather chubby green dragon in a black shirt and faded blue jeans talking to a muscular white dragon in a red tank top and black shorts. The green dragon was saying something, but the blue dragoness couldn’t hear it. She did hear the white dragon laughing and the green one soon joined in. She smiled and continued on her way.

It’s good to see dragons interacting better with each other, she thought to herself. I have to admit this is rather strange though. Usually dragons are not this friendly to each other. They’re either bragging about what they’ve destroyed, or what treasures they have.

She laughed a little to herself. It’s silly that most dragons talked like that a lot. Now things actually feel a little more quiet and peaceful. I have to say that I don’t think this would be possible if it weren’t for Spike.

At the mention of his name, her smile faltered a little and she felt a nagging feeling inside her. She looked up at the sky and let out a sigh.

… Spike, she thought to herself. Hard to believe a little over a month ago you showed me about friendship. It’s silly, goofy, and cheesy, but… it seems to have made some dragons happier now. She looked down and frowned to herself. As weird and bothersome as he could be, I kind of wish he was around to see the changes I made.

“Lord Ember!”

She looked back down and saw an emerald male dragon with a rounded snout, two long and sharpened horns on his head and dark green spines, and dressed in silver armor, similar to Ember’s, running up towards her.

“Hey, Matches,” she said. “What do you need?”

“Just thought I’d come see you,” he answered. “Isn’t that something you wanted us dragons to do to become friends? Hang out and talk with each other?”

Ember nodded. “I know about that. The way you were running though, you acted like something really big was happening.”

“I did try calling to you,” said Matches. “You were looking up into the sky though like the sky was falling or something.”

Ember grimaced a little. “I was just thinking is all. I have a lot on my mind.” Her eyes looked down and saw some brown paper in his hand. “What’s that?” she wondered.

Matches looked down and slapped his forehead. “Oh, that’s right! I forgot that this came in through the Dragon Mailing Service.” He held out his hand and opened it to show a rolled up parchment paper with a purple ribbon in the middle and a golden seal with a star on it.

Ember took the parchment and smirked. “Princess Twilight Sparkle is writing to me again, huh?”

“Do you think she wants to know something else about dragons?” Matches wondered.

“If she does, I hope it’s nothing too embarrassing like last time,” Ember said as she shuddered a little. “Let’s see what she wants this time.”

Ember ripped the seal and ribbon off the parchment and opened up the scroll. Matches walked up next to Ember and both read the scroll together.

Dear Lord Ember,

I hope I’m not disturbing you with this message. I know things have been rough for you since you became Dragon Lord. However, I’m happy that you’ve devoted some of your time to telling me about dragons and their customs. They’ve really helped me learn more about your society and biology!

I know that you are trying to help dragons change their ways, but the reason I’m writing to you is not because I want to know about any holidays you celebrate or anatomy. I am writing to you because I am growing concerned about Spike.

Truth be told, a couple of weeks before we came up there, we celebrated Spike’s eighteenth birthday, and while he has grown a little and is a bit taller, he still feels discouraged about his overall height and lack of wings. It hasn’t helped that he saw all of those dragons that easily towered over him in height. He tries to say he’s fine, but I’ve heard him talk about it when he’s alone and I’m worried about him.

Perhaps he needs some more insight into dragons in general. Do you think you can send any information about what makes a dragon truly grow? We know that being greedy is one way, but Spike has rejected that and learned about being generous from his close friend, Rarity. Is there anything about how a dragon really grows and possibly gets wings? If you can, please let me know as soon as possible.

Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle

Ember put the letter down and frowned to herself. She felt pity as she looked back at the letter and read about what Twilight said about Spike. “I didn’t think the little runt there felt so sensitive about his height.”

Matches laughed and said, “Well, we dragons are known for our height and strength. You have to admit that little guy was short for a dragon.”

Ember whirled around and had a fierce look on her. “Hey! Watch what you say about him!” she berated. “He’s the one who helped make me Dragon Lord after all!”

Matches held his claws up and stepped back. “Whoa, whoa! Alright already,” he hastily said. “No need to get angry about me making fun of your drakefriend.”

Ember gasped and her cheeks flushed. “What did you just say!?” she yelled. She stomped over to Matches and got in the nervous dragon’s face. “You did not just imply that I like Spike that way, did you!?”

He rubbed the back of his head. “Well… he did seem to take a liking to you, and you seemed really friendly around him.”

“That’s because he’s my friend,” argued Ember. “It’s not that I like Spike in that way at all. He showed me about friendship and its benefits. It doesn’t automatically mean that I’m going to go prancing around with him in a flower field and kiss him. He and I are just friends, and that’s it.”

Matches backed up and laughed a little. “Lord Ember, relax. I was just having some fun is all. It was nothing personal.”

Ember closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She opened her eyes and smiled a little. “I know some dragons like you think that what happened between me and Spike was something romantic, but the truth is that he’s just my friend. You make friends with one little half pint of a dragon, and suddenly every dragon thinks you’re in love with them or something.”

“Well you do talk about him a lot,” said Matches. “You keep bringing him up like you’re really close to him.”

Ember’s face went red again and turned away. “That’s only because I’m remembering about what Spike told me about friendship. I’ve been trying to spread what Spike taught me to other dragons, and I’ve seen it work with most of them.”

Matches’ face twisted into a frown. “Not every dragon is on board with that idea,” he solemnly said. “A lot of dragons aren’t exactly ready to change the customs and ways they’ve been following for years in favor of friendship.”

Ember’s smile faltered into a frown. “I know that,” she said. “But at least dragons like you are willing to give it a shot.”

Matches smiled and put a claw on Ember. “Well you are Dragon Lord and while I don’t really agree on this whole friendship thing, I want to give it a shot and help you out.”

Ember looked at Matches and smiled a little. “Well thanks for that,” she said. “Now if only–”

The sound of a horn blaring drowned out her words. She looked over to a nearby stone castle in the distance and saw several figures in the sky flying towards it.

Ember’s eyes went wide. “Oh, no! The Dragon Council meeting! I forgot that was today! I have to hurry!” She looked over at Matches. “Come on! I need to be there to address the dragons!”

“What about the letter?” wondered Matches. “Princess Twilight wants some help for that little runt.”

Ember stopped and groaned a little. She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. Think, Ember, think! It’s already enough that I have dragons disagreeing with my rule, but now there’s Spike again. What am I even supposed to tell Twilight? I can’t describe something like growth to her through a letter! The only way I could help her with that is if I…

An idea suddenly clicked inside Ember’s head. She smiled and looked over at Matches. “I think I know of a way to knock out two birds with one stone.”

“What do you mean?” inquired Matches.

“I’ll tell you later,” answered Ember. “We have a meeting to get to.”

“Right, let’s fly to the castle,” said Matches.

Ember slapped her forehead and groaned. “That was really cheesy of you to say.”

Matches laughed and the two dragons took off into the air and towards the building.

The main room in Carousel Boutique was normally clean and well organized. Rolls of fabric, mannequins posing in clothing, and desks that had some papers and clothing designs drawn onto them. Today though, the floor was littered was several large bags of gems of various colors. The sound of somepony grunting could be heard and then a loud thud and jingling of gems could be heard.

Near one of the bags, a rather muscular Spike wearing a green polo shirt and blue jeans put down one of the bags. He stood up and wiped his forehead as he looked around the room. Each bag of gems were all filled to the brim with them and glistening in the light. He smiled to himself and nodded.

“Rarity, I finished organizing the gems!” he called out.

She walked into the room, she was wearing a red shirt, a black miniskirt, and a pair of red glasses. She looked at each bag and then at the dragon and smiled.

“Spike, you did a wonderful job,” Rarity said with an applause. “With all these gems, who knows what I could think of next?”

Spike blushed a little and kicked his foot. “Ah, it was nothing, Rarity,” he said. “I’m always happy to help out and be your assistant.”

Rarity giggled and walked over to give he a hug. He froze a little as he felt her warm touch. He slowly returned it and tried to hide the red on his cheeks.

Rarity broke the hug and smiled. “Well, Spikey Wikey, I think you deserve a reward for your hard work so far. How about I take you out to lunch and then when we come back, we start on designing the dresses?”

Spike couldn’t help but grin. “That sounds great!” He looked down and saw his clothes were a little dirty. “Maybe I should go home first to change.”

“Why did you say that, darling?” she wondered.

Spike flinched a little. “Um… I was just wondering if I should change,” he nervously stated. “I mean, I want to look good in front of you instead of being dirty and sweaty from helping you. I just didn’t want to look bad for our lunch… meeting.”

Rarity blushed a little and hid a smile. She walked over and put a hand on the dragon’s chin. “That sounds like a good idea, Spike,” she said.. “Since you insist that you need to change out of those clothes, I can probably whip up something for you really quickly.”

“There’s no need to do that, Rarity,” said Spike. “I can go home and–”

“Nonsense, Spike,” stated Rarity. “I still know your measurements and can put together a new set of clothes for you. After that, we’ll get lunch together.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks, Rarity,” he said.

“Anything for my favorite little dragon.”

Spike chuckled a little weakly and his smile drooped a bit. “Yeah… little.”

Rarity frowned. “Darling, what’s wrong? You used to like it when I called you that.”

“It’s nothing, Rarity,” said Spike as he waved a claw. “I’m just a little tired is all.”

The fashionista shook her head. “Spikey, I’ve known you long enough to know when something isn’t right with you. You’ve been acting a bit distant lately anyway, and I just want to help you.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.” Spike began to move away, but was pulled back by Rarity’s hand and forced to look at her stern expression.

“Spike, I’m not going to let you walk away from this,” she said firmly. “I will not let you suffer from whatever is making you so distant any more. Now please tell me what’s wrong.”

Spike looked into the sad eyes of Rarity and he let out a sigh. “Well… you know how last month you, me, and Twilight went to the Dragon Lands?”

“How can I forget? Those dress ideas really helped me out and ponies loved them,” answered Rarity. “What does this have to do with anything though?”

“Do you remember seeing all those dragons around? How big they were and how all of them had wings?”

Rarity scratched her head and then something dawned upon her. “Spike, are you trying to tell me that you are feeling upset about how tall those dragons were?”

He blushed and slowly nodded.

“Why, darling?” wondered Rarity. “They’re just dragons and are not really much different from you.”

“But you saw what they looked like and how huge they were,” argued Spike. “Some of them were as tall as giants. All of them even had wings and could fly. Me? I may be as tall as to your neck, Rarity, but I’m still considered a runt there, and have no wings.”

Rarity shook her head in dismay. “Spike, you are overreacting,” she chastised.

“But, Rarity–”

“No buts,” she interrupted. “Spike, I don’t care what those dragons thought of you not having wings or being very tall. You’re perfect in my eyes, and you shouldn’t let stuff like what you saw in the Dragon Lands get you down.”

Spike said nothing for a minute, and then smiled a little. “I guess you do make a point,” he softly said. “I’m just wondering why I’m still short by dragon standards and have no wings. I mean I’m an adult now, but still have no wings like other dragons.”

“The only thing I can tell you to do is wait,” replied Rarity. “Remember, Twilight is writing weekly to Ember about the customs and lore of dragons. Maybe she can find out something about your problem.”

Spike let out a sigh. “I do wish I could see Ember again,” he said. “Maybe if I saw her myself, she would have the answers.”

Rarity felt some sort of emptiness in her stomach at the mention of Ember’s name. She shook it off and said, “Spikey, she’s much too busy with her new duties as Dragon Lord. I doubt she has time right now.”

“Well I wouldn’t mind seeing her again,” said the dragon. “I mean, it would be nice to hang out with her again since she is really my first dragon friend I’ve had.”

Rarity felt the emptiness in her start to change. She felt a bit angry and resentful as Spike talked more about Ember. She shook it off again and took a deep breath. “Spike, I understand you want to see your… friend, but she’s very busy,” she said in a strained voice.

“I was just saying it would be nice to see her again,” said Spike. “I do kinda miss seeing her, and I think she could help me with this.”

“Well she isn’t here!” snapped Rarity.

Spike flinched again and stepped back and held his claws up. He saw her cheeks had turned red and had a glare on her face.

“Hey, what did I do?” asked Spike. “I just wanted to see Ember again and talk to her.”

Rarity saw the worried look on Spike’s face and quickly realized what she just did. Her anger quickly melted into remorse as she looked down and frowned.

“I’m sorry, Spike,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to overreact like that to you. It’s just that I’ve been rather stressed about making all these new dresses. I have no problem with you wanting to talk to Ember or anything.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Look, why don’t we just forget this?” he asked. “If you’re not feeling that well, we can always do this tomorrow when you’re not feeling so stressed.”

Rarity shook her head. “That’s not necessary,” she assured. “I’m just trying to remind you that despite her being your friend, Ember is very busy with her new role as Dragon Lord, and while I’m happy that you have made a new friend with a dragoness like her, she’s probably got her plate full.”

Spike looked dejected and kicked into the air. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said sadly. “Maybe I should give her some more time before I talk to her again.”

Rarity smiled and felt something in her that felt like triumph. “I agree, Spikey.” She waved a hand at him to come forward. “I think maybe you are right that we should continue tomorrow. Why don’t we both go get lunch anyway?”

Spike smiled and nodded. “That sounds great!” he answered.

“Well let’s not waste any time then. I think maybe Sugarcube Corner has–”

The sound of a door opening interrupted Rarity’s sentence.

“Spike, are you here?” a mare’s voice asked.

Spike raised an eyebrow as he heard a familiar voice and looked at Rarity. She shrugged back at him and looked confused.

“I’m in here, Twilight!” he called out.

The sound of approaching footsteps could be heard, and a moment later, Twilight walked in. She was wearing a black formal shirt and a blue skirt that reached to her knees. Spike noticed two things with Twilight; that she had a scroll in her hand, and an excited smile on her face.

“What are you so happy about, Twilight?” wondered Spike. “Got a new Daring Do book?”

“I think Rainbow would’ve been the first to tell us, darling,” said Rarity.

“It’s even better than that, Spike,” said Twilight. “I just got a letter from Ember!”

“Ember?” both Spike and Rarity asked in unison.

Twilight nodded and held up the scroll. “She just sent me this letter not too long ago. She says she’s coming to Ponyville and wants to see you, Spike!”

Spike felt very enthusiastic and jumped for joy. “Alright! I can’t wait to show her more about what ponies do! Maybe I can introduce her to the others! Doesn’t that sound exciting, Rarity?”

She said nothing.

“Rarity?” asked Twilight.

Spike looked at Rarity and saw she had a shocked look on her and her eye twitching a little. “Are you okay?” he wondered.

Rarity shook her head and laughed a little. “Oh… I’m feeling fine,” she said in a shaky voice. “I’m just shocked that she would decide to come here. I thought her being Dragon Lord meant she would have to stay there. Didn’t she say she wanted to try and help dragons by changing their ways?”

“That’s the thing,” said Twilight. “She says the Dragon Council has agreed to allow her to come to meet me and learn more about Equestria. Since Spike was the one who showed her about friendship, they want him to be her guide as well.”

Spike looked like a foal who got something they wanted on Hearth’s Warming Day. “I… I don’t know what to say!” he said enthusiastically. “There’s so much to do and so much to show her!”

“Well, let’s get the others and we’ll meet up in the castle to discuss this more,” said Twilight.

Spike gave a salute. “You got it, Twilight.” He looked back at Rarity. “Come on, Rarity. Let’s get going.”

Rarity said nothing, but slowly nodded and moved with her friends out of the boutique and out into the bright sunny outdoors. She could see Spike talking with Twilight and smiling while the alicorn smiled back at him and nodded, but she couldn’t hear the words. She felt hollow on the inside, but yet couldn’t understand why. A friend Spike had made not too long ago was coming, and yet she wasn’t feeling happy.

I should be happy for Spikey Wikey, she said to herself. It’s just a friend he made coming to learn about Equestria and visit him. I shouldn’t be getting so worked up over a dragoness coming to see Spike.

She tried to smile, but other thoughts started crawling through her mind and made her feel worse.

A dragoness that’s beautiful in her own way, showed some affection for Spike, and is considered a close friend of Spike. Rarity looked down and was shaking a little. What’s wrong with me? I shouldn’t be treating Spike’s friend this way, especially when he talks about her, but I just feel… something inside me that makes me upset, and I don’t know why. Spike has a dragoness as a friend, and yet here I am acting so… so…

Rarity stopped as the realization hit her and she gasped.

“... Jealous,” she whispered.

Author's Notes:

So here's something I've been meaning to do for a while; a Spike romance story with two love interests. While I've had some ideas for Spike being paired with two potential love interests, I didn't really do much on those ideas. When it came to Ember though, I had to do something like this.

As you all know, Sparity is my OTP, but I do like Spember as well. I think it's a rather cute shipping and kind of adorable. I don't ship it super hard or anything, but I do like the overall interactions between Ember and Spike as they became friends.

I know since this episode's release, there's been some drama between the Sparity and Spember shippings. While this story contains both of those shippings, I ask to not bring any of that in the comments section. The last thing I want to see in my comments section is a flame war between the two shippings instead of criticism or the overall presentation of the story. I expect you all to please keep it civil and not bring any of that mess into this.

I may also bring in Starlight Glimmer to the story, but I haven't decided it as of yet. I haven't thought much about what to do with her, but I may ultimately cut her from the story. I'll think about it though.

Finally, thanks to all my friends on Skype and this website for their help in proofreading and editing this story. With that said and done, enjoy the story and I hope to have more to come soon.