“Mmm… That feels so good, Spike…”“Geeze, Starlight, you should’ve come to me sooner.”

“I’ve just been so busy helping Trixie learn some new spells. I’m so glad I finally have some time alone with you.”

“Me too. Now, relax and let me do my job.”

“Mmph. That’s the spot…”

“I’m going to go a bit harder, you ready?”

“Give me all you got, Spike!”

Spike quietly laughed and did as he was told, filling Starlight’s room with the moans of its owner. Shifting his position on the bed and straddling his legs over Starlight, he pressed his hands into the Starlight’s back and continued massaging the mare’s tense muscles.

Applejack had told the others about Spike sometimes giving her a massage during their cuddle sessions. It did not take long for Spike’s other friends to become curious and request Spike to do the same for them from time to time. While Spike’s massage skills could not compare to the ponies at the Ponyville Spa, his friends all agreed that there was something unique about his hands that more than made up the difference in technique.

Spike was delighted that he had another way to help his friends relax and give them more pleasure, such as right now. Starlight had missed several cuddle sessions in a row, and the both of them had full intentions to catch up on their neglected needs.

“Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight! Help!” somepony suddenly started yelling from somewhere within the castle, causing Spike and Starlight to sit up and look toward the door.

“Well, so much for our session,” Spike lamented, hastily leaping off the bed and running toward the door. “Come on, Starlight! Somepony needs our help!”

“Or, you know, we could maybe ignore them and keep on cuddling,” Starlight suggested.

Spike spun around back to his friend. He frowned when he saw that Starlight had not budged from her bed. “Starlight…”

“What? I was really enjoying our time together. I bet whoever is out there doesn’t even have a real emergency.”

“Help! Ponyville is under attack!” the distressed pony yelled.

“See?” Starlight uttered weakly with an uneasy smile.

Spike narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across the chest.

Starlight sighed loudly. “Yeah, yeah, I’m going,” she grumbled, finally getting out of bed and dragging herself toward the door.

Spike and Starlight followed the cries of help to the castle entryway to find an earth pony mare scampering around the hallway, her eyes nervously searching around.

“Roseluck?” Spike called out, quickly recognizing the mare.

“Spike! Starlight!” Roseluck galloped up to the pair, her eyes wide with fear. “Where’s Princess Twilight?!”

“She’s off on a friendship mission,” Starlight informed.

“What?! That’s horrible! Ponyville is under attack by a dragon!”

“It is?!” Spike yelped.

Spike and Starlight rushed over to the castle’s front doors. Starlight flung the doors wide open with her magic, and they immediately began looking around to assess the damages.

Monster attacks usually meant ponies would be running around screaming, and dragons tended to breathe fire, so scorching infernos raging across town as smoke darkened the sky was to be expected. However, all Spike saw was clear, blue skies with not a single trace of fire or terrified ponies. Well, except for the whimpering Roseluck behind them.

“Uh, Roseluck, Ponyville doesn’t seem to be under attack,” Starlight pointed out, turning to the other pony with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure there’s a dragon?”

“Yes, I definitely saw it!” Roseluck protested.

Starlight took another look outside. “Well, I don’t see one, and they’re pretty hard to miss. I mean, they’re supposed to be huge, right?” She glanced down at Spike. “Uh, present company excluded.”

“Gee, thanks, Starlight,” Spike flatly replied.

“Well, it wasn’t a big dragon,” Roseluck informed. “It looked to be around Princess Celestia’s height.”

“Really? Well, that makes it a lot easier to handle,” Starlight remarked.

“I’d still be careful. Who knows what that dragon is planning.”

“Just wondering, what exactly has this dragon done?” Spike asked.

“Um… Well…” Roseluck shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not exactly sure…”

“But you said it was attacking Ponyville…”“It is!” Roseluck bit her lip. “Er, at least I think it is…”

“Has this dragon actually caused any damage?”

“Um, n-no, not really… At least, none that I have seen…”

Starlight groaned and planted her hoof in her face. “Roseluck, no offense, but you and your friends have a tendency to overreact. Is it possible that you’re mistaking this dragon for something else?”

“But I did see a dragon, Starlight, I swear!” Roseluck cried out.

“Okay, okay, how about you just tell us how you first saw this dragon?” Spike suggested.

“Well, when I was working at my flower shop, I heard some weird noise, like metal clinking together. When I looked around, I barely missed seeing the dragon rush into an alley. When it became clear that nopony else noticed it, I decided to try following it.”

“Wow, that’s actually really brave of you, Roseluck,” Spike complimented.

“Thanks, Spike, but to be honest, I was scared out of my wits. Still, I didn’t want it to cause any trouble in Ponyville, and I figured that I could easily call for help if something happened. Unfortunately, I only was able to tail the dragon for a few moments before losing sight of it. I can confirm that it was definitely sneaking around and doing its best to avoid ponies. Doesn’t that sound suspicious?”

“I guess,” Starlight conceded. “But maybe it’s just trying to pass through Ponyville without raising a fuss?”

Roseluck vehemently shook her head. “That dragon is definitely up to no good! Why else would it be wearing gold-colored battle armor?! It even had a scepter in its evil claws that had a large, red crystal on top of it.”

Wait a minute, this dragon is starting to sound really familiar, Spike thought.

“Alright, I guess you did see a dragon, Roseluck,” Starlight admitted. “However, since this dragon hasn’t done anything, I rather not do anything to provoke it. For all we know, it could just be passing by.”

“S-so, you’re not going to do anything?” Roseluck asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.

“We’ll keep an eye out. Hopefully, it will leave Ponyville by itself, but if it does start acting up, we’ll put a stop to it.”

“No! You can’t just wait for the dragon to make the first move! Who knows what it would do?! I already sent Lily and Daisy to round up the rest of your friends so that you all can hunt down that dragon!”

“We’ll see who hunts who!” a new voice bellowed right before a large figure landed right outside the front door.

It really is her… Spike’s suspicions were confirmed when he saw that the new figure was the same dragon he knew. He could not mistake the dragon’s light-blue scales, even when most of them were hidden behind the same gold armor that it had worn when they had met. He also recognized the scepter the other dragon was holding, which happened to be almost as tall as its wielder.

The armored dragon advanced toward Roseluck. “Alright, pony, I—”

“D-d-d-dragon!” Roseluck shrieked before flopping onto her side and passing out.

The dragon’s red eyes blinked from within its helmet’s eye slits. “Uhh… What just happened?”

“Roseluck is, um, easily frightened,” Starlight answered.

“Yeah, I kind of noticed.”

Starlight stepped toward the dragon. “As for me, my name is Starlight Glimmer, and—”

“The horror! The horror!” Roseluck suddenly shouted, only to faint once again.

Spike, Starlight, and the dragon stared at Roseluck’s motionless body. When it looked like there was not going to be any more outbursts from the seemingly-unconscious mare, they turned their attention back at each other.

Starlight cleared her throat. “So, as I was saying, I’m Starlight Glimmer, and I would like to welcome you to Ponyville. You seem to be a friendly dragon, and I would be happy to show you around, if you want. However, if you are here to cause trouble…”

Starlight tried to straighten up to make herself taller, but she came up almost a head shorter than the dragon. Despite the height difference, Starlight confidently continued, “You’re going to have to answer to me.”

“Uh huh, yeah, sure, whatever,” the dragon replied in a bored tone before shifting its attention toward Spike.

“Hey, Ember,” Spike cheerfully greeted.

“Hey, Spike,” Ember replied in a friendly tone.

“Ember?” Starlight looked down at Spike in surprise. She paused for a moment and then gasped. “Wait, you mean Princess Ember? The dragon friend you made in the Dragon Lands?”

“Technically, it’s Dragon Lord Ember now,” Ember corrected as she laid down her scepter for a moment and placed her hands on her helmet. She lifted the helmet off her head, taking a deep breath of air and letting it out as a sigh of relief.

“Yep, she’s the one.” Spike nodded once and then stiffened up as his eyes flew wide open. “Oh, right!”

Spike rushed up to Ember and bowed deeply. “Greetings, Dragon Lord Ember.”

Ember got down on one knee and nudged Spike back into a standing position with her hands.

“Spike, you of all dragons should not have to bow to me,” Ember stated. She grabbed the scepter with both of her hands and raised it up to Spike’s face. “After all, you were the one who willingly gave me the Bloodstone Scepter. Besides, you’re my friend, and friends don’t bow to each other.”

Ember paused. “Uh, they don’t, right?”

Starlight snickered. “Yes, you’re right. It was one of the first lessons Twilight taught me when I…” She glanced away and coughed. “You know what? Nevermind about me. Let’s talk about you, Ember, like what brings you here to Ponyville?”

Ember shrugged and stood back up, tucking her helmet underneath one of her arms. “Nothing important. I might be Dragon Lord, but I need a break now and then as well. Since Spike is the only real friend I know, I figured I could try spending some time where he lived.”

“So you’re just here for a friendly visit…” Starlight’s gaze lowered to Ember’s chest for a second and then went right back to the dragon’s face. “While decked out in armor…”

Ember flatly stared at Starlight. “And what would you wear if you were traveling to a land that you have never been to before and whose inhabitants would react to you like her?” She pointed at the passed out Roseluck.

Starlight laughed nervously. “Good point…”

“So was that why you were sneaking around Ponyville?” Spike asked.

“Yep. I know ponies tend to be afraid of dragons, and I didn’t want to cause trouble. I was kind of hoping to see you, Twilight, or Rarity on the way here so that one of you could vouch for me.”

“Sorry, I’ve been in the castle all day, doing…” Spike’s gaze flicked to Starlight for a split second. “stuff… As for Twilight and Rarity, they’re out of town on a friendship mission together.”“Figures… The two ponies that I do know happen to be gone right when I visit because of a… friendship mission? What is that?”

“In a nutshell, helping ponies with friendship-related problems.”

“Uh huh…”

“If you want to see them, they will probably be back after another day or so.”

“Well, I do plan to stay here for a couple of days so that should work out fine.”

“Sorry to interrupt, but should we maybe do something about her?” Starlight asked, pointing at Roseluck.

“She’s still alive, right?” Ember flipped her scepter around and used its tip to poke Roseluck a few times.

“Yes, she’s still alive, Ember, and please stop poking the passed-out pony.”

“Wait, didn’t Roseluck say that Lily and Daisy were going to round up our friends?” Spike reminded. “I bet that they’re also telling anypony they see that a dragon is in town, and knowing them…”

Starlight facehoofed. “They’re going to cause a panic.”

“Are all ponies this easily scared?” Ember asked.

“Not really,” Spike replied. “You just happened to get spotted by the most antsy ones in town.”

“Lucky me…”

“Not to worry, I’ll just find Lily or Daisy and explain the situation to them. I should also return Roseluck so that they can see that she’s safe and sound.” Starlight glanced at the unconscious Roseluck again. “Well, mostlysound.”

“And what should we do?” Spike asked.

“Just stay here with Ember until I come back, and try to keep her out of sight. I want to make sure that other ponies don’t have the wrong idea about her before we let anypony else see her.”

Ember shrugged. “Sounds good to me. I could do with some rest after the trip anyway.”

Starlight lifted up Roseluck in her magic and headed toward the door with the motionless mare floating behind her. “Then, I’ll see you two later.”

Spike closed the doors behind Starlight, hoping that the unicorn can settle things without any trouble. The last thing he wanted was for Ember to be harassed by misguided ponies,

“So, anything you want to do, Ember?” Spike asked, turning to his dragon friend.

Ember nodded. “Yeah, I could really go for some grub. I’m starving after all that traveling.”

“Sure, and I got the perfect thing for you. Come on.”

Spike led Ember toward the kitchen, but he had them stop at a nearby hallway closet and asked if Ember wanted to store her gear in the room. Ember eagerly agreed, swiftly removing the rest of her armor and then stashing it in the closet. She did keep the Bloodstone Scepter with her, stating that she was supposed to hold onto it as much as possible.

When they arrived at the kitchen, Spike had Ember sit down on one of the stools in front of the counter that occupied the middle of the room while he went straight for the refrigerator.

Although there were plenty of ingredients that Spike could use to make something really quick, he knew exactly what he wanted to serve Ember before he even opened the refrigerator. After a bit of digging, Spike emerged with a plate that held a cupcake and placed it in front of Ember.

“What is this?” Ember asked, curiously eyeing the blue-frosted cupcake with sapphires sticking out of it. “I can see sapphires, but what’s all this other stuff?”

“It’s a blue sapphire cupcake. One of my friends works in a bakery, and the ponies there invented this recipe for my first birthday in Ponyville. It quickly became one of my favorite desserts.”

“Uh huh… So what’s a cupcake?”

“Right, I forgot that the Dragon Lands don’t have stuff like this. It’s like, um, a sweet, dessert thingy… Uh, you know, it’s hard to describe, but I promise you it tastes good, Ember. Just try it. Oh, but make sure to also remove the paper wrapping on the bottom.”

Ember propped the Bloodstone Scepter up against the side of the counter and picked up the cupcake. She eyed it carefully before peeling the paper off, a task made easy with her claws. After staring at the confection for a few more seconds, she shrugged and took a bite. Her eyes shot wide open a second later.

“Spike, this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” Ember proclaimed before devouring the rest of the dessert, much to Spike’s amusement.

“Got anymore, Spike?” Ember asked as she licked her claws after demolishing the cupcake.

Spike shook his head. “Sorry, that was the last one.”

Ember froze with one claw still in her mouth. Her hand dropping back to her side, she frowned. “Dude, even I know taking the last of anything is bad. Tell me that you didn’t give me that cupcake just because I’m the Dragon Lord.”

Spike chuckled. “No, I wanted you to have it because you’re my friend. Besides, I can get more whenever I want, whereas this was your first time. It was worth it just to see you enjoy it.” He smirked and pointed toward his nose. “Especially since you got some frosting left on your muzzle.”

“What?” Ember brought her hand to her muzzle and then stared at the frosting that was left on her claws. She groaned, and a faint shade of red tinged her cheeks.

Spike snickered and tossed a towel to Ember, who quickly wiped away the cupcake remains.

“Anyway, if you’re still hungry, I could either try cooking up something really quick, or you could have some gems I got stashed in my room,” Spike suggested when Ember was clean.

“Some gems sounds good,” Ember answered, throwing the towel to the side.

“My room it is then.”

Again, Spike led Ember through the castle, going through the hallways and up the stairs to the second floor. During their little journey, he noticed that Ember had slowed down to take in the sights of the castle, and so he slowed down his pace as well to walk side by side with his friend.

“This place is really cool,” Ember remarked, her gaze slowly panning around. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen so much crystal, let alone a castle made up of one.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty sweet place,” Spike cheerfully agreed.

“Speaking of sweet, did you ever try eating a part of the castle?”

Spike almost tripped upon Ember’s inquiry, but he quickly regained his balance and kept silent. Even though he tried to pretend he did not hear the question and kept his gaze focused straight ahead, he knew that his behavior clearly gave Ember her answer. He could sense the devilish smirk his dragon friend was giving him.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“Um, let’s just say the taste is not worth the lectures I could get from Twilight,” Spike admitted, earning himself a few snickers from Ember.

When they arrived in his room, Spike went straight for the bookcase that was carved into the wall. Reaching into the back of the bookcase, he pulled out a small box filled with gems that he obtained during his last gem excavation with Rarity.

“Alright, Ember, I got a nice selection here. I got rubies, topazes, emeralds, and…” Spike trailed off when he turned around to find that Ember had set the Bloodstone scepter to the side and was now lying in his bed. Since the bed was made for his size, Ember’s feet slightly stuck out from the edge of the bed.

“Uh, sorry, Spike,” Ember apologized with a sheepish smile when she noticed Spike staring at her. “I couldn’t help it. Your bed looked nice, and I had to try it out.” She let out a happy sigh as she stretched. “Gotta say, I’m not disappointed at all. I can see why some of the other dragons are obsessed with taking pillows from ponies.”

Spike chuckled. “Well then I’ll be sure to pack you a few pillows for when you go back to the Dragon Lands.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Gem?” Spike asked, walking over to Ember with the box in his hands.

“Actually, I think I’m good for now. Thanks anyway, Spike,” Ember replied. As Spike put the gems away, she sat back up, and her eyes began combing the room. “In all honesty, I actually wanted to see what your room was like. It’s not what I expected… which is kind of what I expected, if you get what I mean.”

“Um, not really.”

“It’s just that other dragons fill their living space with as much stuff as they can get, especially when it comes to gems and other valuables. You, however, are different. You kept things pretty simple. All you got are some books, toys, and furniture. Considering the kind of dragon you are, I should’ve known your place would be different.”

“So you’re saying that I’m not a normal dragon?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, but in a good way, and look at what that has gotten you. You live peacefully with ponies, get to eat delicious food, a huge, crystal castle is your home, have a comfortable bed to sleep in…” Ember smiled softly at Spike. “Most of all, you got a bunch of friends who would follow you into the Dragon Lands to help you out. You wouldn’t have all that if you weren’t different, so don’t be a normal dragon, Spike. You’ve got a good thing going on here.”

“Wow, thanks, Ember,” Spike said gratefully. “Truth be told, I get a nagging thought every now and then that makes me wonder if I’m weird for acting more like a pony than a dragon. You telling me all of that really does help put me at ease. I guess I shouldn’t have to worry if I’m being a norma dragon if the Dragon Lord says I’m alright.”

“Heh, well, I’m not exactly like other Dragon Lords as well. I’ve seen how much working together can accomplish when we went through the Gauntlet of Fire. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since you left the Dragon Lands, and I have to say that I’m starting to buy the whole friendship thing.”

“So does that mean you want to try spreading friendship to other dragons?” Spike asked hopefully.

“It’s a possibility. I am the Dragon Lord, after all. Granted, I’m not expecting anything big. While dragons might follow my orders, they can be very stubborn as well. Still, if I can at least get dragons interested in the idea of working together, I’ll call that a success.”

“I knew I made the right choice by giving you the Bloodstone Scepter,” Spike cheered. “You’re gonna do great, Ember!”

“Yeah, well, it’s going to take a lot of work. You should’ve seen the look on my dad’s face when I tried to settle an argument between two dragons by talking to them instead of telling them to just duke it out. I’m going to have to ease them into accepting friendship. That’s actually the other reason I came here. I was hoping to learn a bit more about friendship.”

Spike nodded. “You can count on me, as well as Twilight, when she gets back. I’m sure that she’ll be thrilled to hear what you’re trying to do, and the both of us will do all we can to help you out.”

“Sounds good, but for now though…” Ember put her hands behind her head and lay back down on the bed. “I just want to relax. That trip really got me beat.”

As Spike stared at the dragoness laying in his bed, an idea popped into his mind. “Hey, Ember, why don’t we try a little friendship thing right now?”

“Does it require a lot of work?” Ember asked without sitting up.

“Nope, and you don’t even have to get out of bed.”

“Alright, I’ll bite. What is it?”

“Cuddling.”

Ember sat upright in an instant, staring at Spike with wide eyes and pink tinging her cheeks. “W-what?”

“Cuddling, it’s like hugging but—”

“I know what cuddling is!” Ember interrupted loudly.

Spike reeled back from the outburst. “Er, sorry, Ember, I just assumed since you didn’t know what hugging was…”

“I-I knew what hugging was.” Ember turned her gaze to the side, showing that her cheeks were more red than blue. “You just happened to give me my first one, so I was caught off-guard.”

Spike blinked. “I gave you your first hug? Uh, wow. I didn’t mess up anything, did I?”

Ember let out an amused snort, her blush slowly fading from her face. “No, you didn’t, Spike. You should know that other dragons aren’t into that sort of thing. It’s not like hugs are that special, although, I’m actually kind of happy that you were my first… in a weird sort of way.”

Spike chuckled nervously. “Heh, well, that’s good.”

“Cuddles, on the other hand… Isn’t that a bit, uh, much?”

“I thought so too, at first, but after thinking about it, it’s just another way of showing that you care about your friends. I do agree that cuddling may be a bit much in some ways, so that’s why I only do it with my closest friends.”

“Closest friends? So does that mean you count me as one too?”

“Of course I do!” Spike replied immediately with conviction.

Ember smiled softly. “Spike, I’m flattered, but isn’t it a bit premature to call me such a close friend? After all, we hardly spent a day together before today.”

“We worked together to overcome a series of deadly traps, you fought off Garble for me and my other friends, and I gave up being Dragon Lord to you. You think close friends don’t do those sort of things for each other?”

Ember chuckled. “Good point.”

“So, do you want to try cuddling? I’m confident that you’ll like it. I do it all the time with my friends, and we all love it so much.”

“Alright, alright, you win, Spike. I guess after all the things we did, it would be a bit silly to be afraid of trying some cuddling. I had my first hug with you, seems fitting that my first cuddle will be with you as well. Plus, I have a feeling that I won’t get the chance to try cuddling when I head back to the Dragon Lands.”

“Sounds good to me! So, how do you want to do this?”

Ember glanced around the bed, and a mischievous smirk soon appeared. She grabbed the pillow, propping it up on the backboard. She then splayed out her wings and rested her back on the pillow, allowing herself to comfortably sit upright.

“Come on, Spike, let’s get this over with,” Ember said in a teasing voice, patting a spot on the bed next to her.

Spike hastily moved toward his new cuddle partner and climbed onto the bed, but when he got close to Ember, the dragoness suddenly picked him up by the armpits and raised him up to her eye level with a giggle.

“H-hey!” Spike yelped, squirming in Ember’s grasp.

“Relax, dude.” Ember’s smirk grew even more. “Or should I say little dude? You’re still as light as I remembered when I carried you during the Gauntlet of Fire.”

Spike groaned. “Ember…” he whined.

“Just playing around, Spike. There’s just something about you that makes me feel like I could let loose a bit.” Ember brought Spike closer, hugging the smaller dragon to her chest and wrapping her arms around his back.

Spike mourned the fact that his arms were too short to circle around Ember and had to settle with moving his arms to Ember’s sides. Good thing the cozy, cuddling position he was swept in swiftly chased away the sour thought.

“This is nice,” Ember cooed, giving Spike a little squeeze.

“Told you. Cuddling is the best.”

“It really is. I’m going to be honest, Spike. I really liked the hug we shared before, and I was hoping to get at least another one during my visit here.”

“Guess I took it a step further by asking you to cuddle, huh?”

“You sure did, and I’m glad you did. Just, um, don’t tell anyone. I still have an image to keep as Dragon Lord.”

Spike giggled. “Whatever you say, my lord.”

Cuddling with Ember was much different than doing it with all of his pony friends. While his pony friends were all soft and squishy, sometimes reminding him of marshmallows, Ember’s scales were a hard contrast. There were no hairs to tickle him, and Ember’s scales delightfully rubbed against his own. Spike was having a hard time deciding which one he preferred, so he settled with saying that he liked both. After all, variety is the spice of life.

Spike slowly slid his hand along his friend’s sides, admiring Ember’s body. While Ember was smaller than other dragons, she had a lithe, graceful figure that Spike found more appealing than the other dragons. Although, he might be a bit biased since Ember was also more closer to his size. He also knew that despite Ember’s smaller stature, the dragoness was strong, as evidenced when she wrestled with Garble and even threw him away like a ragdoll.

Ember was also noticeably much warmer than his pony friends, her body heat fueled by the internal fire that burned inside all dragons. The pleasant warmth they shared with each other felt divine, even more so than the rare lava bath he got to treat himself to.

After some time of enjoying each other, Spike felt Ember start shifting around. Before he could ask if there was something wrong, he felt something brush his tail. He turned his head to find that Ember was maneuvering her own tail to come from his right side. Ember’s tail snaked to Spike’s back and made a single coil around the middle of Spike’s tail.

Spike had experienced similar treatments from Applejack and Pinkie, but their tails consisted of hairs and acted more like a blanket. Ember’s tail was strong and dexterous, firmly holding onto Spike like another mini-hug. While Spike’s tail was not as long, he did manage to curl it to drape over Ember’s.

A shiver ran down Spike’s spine when he felt one of Ember’s hands move up and began stroking his head. Some of his pony friends had done the same for him during their cuddling, but hooves were no match for the magic of fingers. After letting his friends enjoy his fingers, it was nice to receive the same treatment himself.

Feeling Ember’s hands run from the top of his head and down his back made him coo in delight. Looking up at Ember, he saw his friend staring right back at him with a peaceful smile on her face. He held back a giggle when he saw the faint blush on Ember’s cheeks, a sight that he found rather adorable.

With a happy sigh, Spike buried his face into the crook of Ember’s neck, allowing his friend easier access to his body.

After a while, Spike noticed that Ember had stopped stroking him. A sudden sound that suspiciously sounded like a snore made him glance up to see that Ember’s eyes were closed, and her head had drooped slightly to the side. Bringing himself back to reality, he also realized that the grip the dragoness had on him had slackened.

“Ember?” Spike whispered. “Are you asleep?”

The silence Spike got in return answered his question.

Guess she really was tired from the trip, Spike thought. He was playing with the idea of staying with Ember and taking a nap with her, but a “Pssst” made him turn his head.

Spike saw Starlight waving at him from right outside his door. Curious to see if Starlight managed to calm everypony down, he started to carefully extricate himself from Ember’s hold.

Ember was, evidently, quite the heavy sleeper, but that did not mean it was easy for Spike to free himself. Untangling his tail from Ember’s slack tail took only a few moments. The hard parts was getting out of her hold. Even though Ember did not wake up when Spike peeled her arms off him, she would instinctively grab Spike before he could escape, returning them to their sleepy cuddles.

Spike shot a flat gaze at Starlight when the mare giggled and made no move to help.

It took a few tries, but Spike eventually escaped without waking the sleeping dragon. Quietly, he made his way over to Starlight in the hallway, making sure to close the door behind him.

“So, how did it go?” Spike asked.

“All clear,” Starlight said with a nod. “Lily and Daisy were actually on their way here with our friends when I found them, but I managed to explain everything to them. Our friends are now spreading the word that they don’t have to worry about Ember. Unsurprisingly, Pinkie is also setting up a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for Ember tonight.”

“Of course she is,” Spike remarked. “I’ll let Ember know when she wakes up. A party will be a great chance for her to learn more about ponies, as well as letting the ponies see she’s a good dragon.”

“Mmm hmm…” Starlight’s gaze flicked toward the closed door and then back down to Spike. “So… I see you wasted no time in getting Ember into your bed… That’s quite naughty of you, Spike.”

Spike felt his cheeks heat up. “W-we’re just cuddling!”

“Oh, I know.” Starlight’s horn started glowing, and a photograph suddenly popped into existence beside her, floating in her magic.

Spike’s eyes widened. “You took a picture of us cuddling?!”

“I couldn’t help it! You two looked so cute!” Starlight grinned mischievously. “I bet everypony at the party would love to see this.”

Spike gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

“Maybe, maybe not…”

Spike glared at Starlight. “If you do, we’re never going to cuddle again.”

Starlight’s grin crumbled instantly. “Hey, now. Don’t even joke about that.”

“Then give me the picture, Starlight,” Spike demanded, reaching out with the palm of his hand.

“You’re no fun,” Starlight grumbled. With a sigh, she floated the picture into Spike’s hand.

“Thank you, Starlight.” Spike quickly rolled up the picture and wondered what he should do with the incriminating evidence. Setting it on fire quickly leapt to the front of his mind.

“You know, before you do anything to that picture, I think a certain dragoness might like to keep it as a memento,” Starlight nonchalantly commented. “Just saying…”

Spike blinked. Slowly, he unraveled the picture and took another look at the picture. It was still embarrassing because Ember was holding onto him like a stuffed animal, but this time, he also noted the blissful smiles they both were sporting. He had to admit, they did look cute together.

“Yeah, I guess she would like this,” Spike conceded, still looking at the picture with a smile. “Thanks for the picture, Starlight.”

“No problem. I got another copy in my room anyway.”

“Wait, you what?!”

Starlight’s evil grin returned. “You can pick it up the next time we cuddle!” she proclaimed before trotting away.

Spike watched Starlight head to her room with a bemused smile. Shaking his head, he reentered his own room, finding the still-snoozing Ember right where he left her.

Spike placed the picture at the base of the bed so that it would be within easy reach when Ember woke up and crawled back up onto the bed. He slowly maneuvered himself back into the cuddling position he had previously been in, but as soon as his leg brushed his cuddle partner, Ember’s arms promptly wrapped around him again, resuming their clutch on him.

Chuckling softly, Spike hugged Ember and placed his head back in the crook of her neck. He was rewarded with a hum of contentment from Ember.

Letting out a yawn, Spike soon found himself drifting off to sleep in the arms of the Dragon Lord, and more importantly, his dragon friend.