Spike let out a sigh of relief as he clawed at the desert sand beneath him.

Never again...

Out of pure joy, he began rolling around on his back, happy to be returned to the real world. It was pretty late, everypony in the group was already asleep, save for himself and Peppers, who was staring at the purple dragon with a confused look on his face.

"What on earth has gotten into you, hatch ling?" asked the red dragon, trying his hardest to hold back a laugh.

Spike chuckled. "Sand is just so... Amazing..."

Peppers shook his head and laughed. "I'm concerned for you. You aren't tired at all?"

"Not in the slightest, you?" asked Spike. The last thing I want to do is sleep and get stuck in the back of my brain again.

"Why would you even ask that? I slept for a hundred years, save for moving caves every once in a while. I no longer need sleep." replied Peppers.

"Makes sense."

Peppers looked at the purple dragon in thought. "Want to go flying?"

Spike laughed. "Flying? In the middle of the night? For no reason?"

"Yup."

The purple dragon grinned as he rose to his feet and spread his wings. He was quickly followed by Peppers, and the two took off as quietly as they could, hoping to not wake the sleeping ponies at camp.

Spike never really liked astronomy as much as Twilight did, but she did teach him how to navigate using the stars when he was younger. Peppers listened as Spike pointed out various constellations, and talked about one specific star in particular. The star was both light green and dark purple in colour, to match Spike. It was the largest star in the sky, and Peppers was almost as mesmerized by it as his new friend was.

"It must be amazing to have a star of your own colours, as if you belong under it." said Peppers.

Spike laughed. "There are plenty of red and yellow stars too, but the reason I love that star, is because it isn't a star at all."

The older, red dragon went slack jawed. "Uhm... What?"

"That my friend, is the Andromeda galaxy."

Peppers turned from Spike to look back up at the purple and green dot. "Why is it the same size as the other stars?"

"It's much, much farther away. The other stars are within our own galaxy. If we were to fly at the speed of light through space, it would take us hundreds of millions of years to get to Andromeda."

"That's... Breathtaking." replied Peppers, his gaze still fixed on the night sky.

They had been flying for just about an hour now. They weren't going anywhere in particular, just twisting and turning throughout the large desert. Spike had assured Peppers that he would be able to find their way back to camp, so he wasn't worried for now.

"How far is the everfree from here?" asked Spike.

Peppers raised a brow. "What sort of a question is that?"

"Can you answer it?"

The red dragon thought for a moment. "Assuming we've been heading north as you said, we could reach the outskirts of the everfree within two hours or so. Then we would have to fly back for another three hours. Why?"

Spike ignored the dragon's questioning, and thought to himself. "So that gives us just about an hour in everfree to do what we need to do, then get back, before the others wake up?"

Peppers let out a long sigh. "I guess so. Again, what do you need in the everfree?"

"Visiting an old friend."

----------

The hours passed like seconds as Peppers and Spike shared stories of their past adventures. Peppers was more the normal dragon, so it wasn't surprising that he was humbled to be around someone so close to the royal family and wielders of the elements, despite being there now himself.

"... And then Celestia turns to Twilight and says 'run'!" exclaimed Spike, laughing uncontrollably.

Peppers broke out in tears. "Ha! I never knew miss Fluttershy had that wild side!"

Spike broke the laughter as he looked down at the rushing river which split the forest in half. "We're here." he said in a serious monotone. "Put on your scariest face and follow me."

"What? I thought you were visiting a friend? Aren't all your friends harmony ponies who talk about spreading love?" asked Peppers.

"Tough love." said Spike, locking his wings and going into a nosedive. The red dragon followed suit as best he could, not really caring to protest at this point. They were very high up, and it was truly impressive how Spike managed to see the small orange speck which was his target. As he got closer he unfolded his wings again to skim across the water's surface. The small orange speck now moved about in an attempt to evade the charging dragons.

"Magnet!" called Spike. The orange speck rose from the water to reveal a huge purple serpent.

Pepper's eyes widened as he struggled to keep up with the younger Spike. "What the hell is that thing?"

Spike had to scream to be heard over the sound of slicing wind. "It's a basilisk! A very annoying one at that!"

The dark purple basilisk failed to keep up the speed of the dragons, despite going along with the direction of the currents of the river. Spike eventually caught up with him and grabbed him by the chest with one arm, lifting him in the air.

"Grab his tail!" ordered Spike.

Peppers did so, with little resistance from the in shock basilisk. "Got it!"

They flew away from the river for a few minutes before landing in an open field that would fit the three of them. They had grown tired from the chase, and the last thing they wanted was to waste energy flattening out trees.

Spike dropped the basilisk next to him. He couldn't get away, he had very weak legs and could only move well in water. He looked intently in the eyes of his captive before bursting into laughter, quickly followed by the basilisk.

Peppers stared at the two, mouth agape. "I don't get it..."

"Fabulous flying, Spikey!" said the basilisk.

Spike calmed down from his fit of laughter. "You're getting better as well. If you could fly, I would count myself out."

"Who's your friend?" he asked.

Spike stopped and looked at the red dragon. "Oh, this is Peppers. He was the dragon that accidentally polluted all of Equestria with smoke a few decades back."

The purple basilisk smiled at Peppers. "So wonderful to meet you, big fellow! My name is Steven Magnet, but you can call me Steve."

"Pleasure, Steve." replied Peppers, still very confused on the whole situation.

Steve looked closely at the red dragon, and noticed a severe burn mark on one of his wings. "Oh dear, what ever happened to you?"

Peppers laughed. "Oh, this old thing? Well, my unit was on rou-"

"He fell." interrupted Spike.

The two stared at Spike, not sure how to respond to his horrible attempt at lying. The awkward silence lasted for quite a few moments, as the three looked at each other.

"Into a fire." continued Spike.

Peppers chuckled. "Nice save."

"Anywhoo, Spikey, what did you drag me out here for?" asked Steve.

Spike cleared his throat. "Well, Steve, I was wondering if you still had any idea where Rarity was? I know she studied under you for a few years to perfect her skills as a fashion designer."

Steve let out a wide smile. "Oh! Rarity! Well, it was like it was just yesterday. Rarity had come to me one day before usual lessons, asking for advice..."

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

No.

Spike covered Steve's mouth with his claws to prevent him from speaking any further. "You're my best friend, Steve, but were you planning on telling a long story about how Rarity got to where she was?"

Steve's eyes widened. "Uhm... Yeah I was, actually. How did you know?"

Spike let out a long sigh and hung his head. "Trust me. I just know. Can we skip that part, get to the point this time, and just tell me where you think she might be?"

The basilisk rolled his eyes. "Fiiiiiiiine. Rarity is most likely living somewhere in Manehatten."

Great. Flying blind through an overpopulated city that's racist against earth ponies, with two earth ponies on the backs of two huge dragons, alongside the former princess, Celestia, and former king, Discord. What could possibly go wrong?...

"One more thing." said Spike.

"Yes?"

"Do you know if Zecora still lives in the everfree?" asked the dragon.

Steve thought for a moment. "Why yes, she does. Always picking flowers or something."

Spike nodded. "Peppers, return Steve to the river, We'll meet back here in ten minutes."

"Gotcha." said the red dragon, picking up Steve and flying off.

----------

Zecora rose from her bed in a shock as she heard three swift knocks on her door. She angrily walked towards the door and fidgeted with the knob, unable to focus while this tired. She finally got a hold of the it and slowly began opening the crude wooden door.

As the door opened she faced the unwelcome guest and snorted. "Don't you know it's the middle of the night? Waking a pony up like that just is not ri-"

Zecora stopped talking immediately as she noticed who was standing there. Involuntarily, her jaw hung down. She quickly regained her composure and bowed before the visitor. "It... It's you..."

The black alicorn removed her hood and smiled at the frightened zebra. "Calm down, you may rise. I need your assistance in Canterlot, miss Zecora."

The zebra did as she was told and nodded. "I shall pack my bags your majesty, I was not expecting that I had to leave."

The black alicorn let out a small chuckle. "Don't worry about your belongings, I have prepared a room and workplace for you. It is important that we depart immediately, have you ever been teleported before?"

Zecora raised a brow. "No I've never had the chance to try it out, can you assure that I'd be safe without a doubt?"

"Of course. For somepony such as myself, to mess up a teleportation spell would be as rare as you being unable to mix lemonade correctly." joked the alicorn.

Zecora blushed at the compliment. "Then why waste time, let us go, I'm sure there is much I need to know."

----------

Spike landed in the clearing, frustrated.

"What did Zecora have to say?" asked Peppers.

The purple dragon snorted out a large plume of smoke. "She wasn't home."

"Odd."

"We're running out of time." realized Spike. "Let's go back?"

"Yeah."

The two took off at a more hurried pace then the one they flew at when they came to everfree. It was almost four in the morning, and Celestia's internal alarm clock usually woke her up around six thirty to get ready and raise the sun, back when she was princess. They would have to fly fast in order to make it back to the camp before they woke up.

"We need to gain some altitude." said Peppers.

Spike grunted. "Won't that just waste more time?"

"A bit yes, but there's much less wind resistance up there."

Spike shrugged as he followed the red dragon to the sky. He was right, it was much easier to fly up here then it was closer to the ground. It was also quieter, the sound air made when you break through it is intolerable.

"So, Spike." began the red dragon.

"Hmm?"

Peppers considered his question before asking it. "I've been wondering how exactly a dragon got together with a pony. Not just any pony at that, an alicorn."

Spike's body shivered as he was assaulted by thoughts of Celestia. He grit his teeth as an unwelcome voice rang in the back of his head, repeating it's taunt.

How much of your grip on reality will you sacrifice to save your broken soul?

Silence fell over the two as Spike could feel himself slipping back into the darkness. Peppers soon became invisible behind the black wall which was slowly closing in around the purple dragon. Looking around at his growing prison, Spike grinned and closed his eyes.

None of it.

Spike opened his eyes and let out a powerful jet of green and purple fire, illuminating the darkness around him. He thrust forward through the flames and left the ethereal world behind him, as it vanished into the night sky. Spike, now quite far ahead of Peppers, turned around to fly beside him.

He let out a laugh and smiled warmly at the older dragon. "That's a funny story, actually."

----------

Macintosh jolted upwards from his sleep as the two dragons landed at the camp in unison.

"Where were you two fellers?" he asked.

Peppers laughed. "Perfectly good dead bison, why let them go to waste?" Spike simply nodded in agreement to his lie.

The stallion was taken back with disgust. "Ee... Yup?"

Overhearing the conversation, the other five slowly woke up. It was just after dawn, and the sun was slowly rising over the eastern lands. Repeated yawns from the other ponies quickly began to annoy Spike.

"I don't feel like taking our time this morning. Luna is sure to get the report of yesterday's events soon, and she will not be happy about it. We no longer have the luxury of dilly dallying." he said.

Celestia gave a look of concern as she nuzzled Spike's head. "You seem really worried. Is something else bothering you?"

Spike returned the gesture and sighed. "Yes. But that can wait for later."

"Mhm..."

"You heard the man, everypony! The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can all enjoy some nice, refreshing, cold chocolate milk." urged Discord.

Rainbow Dash shot the draconnequus an angry glare. "You aren't getting your element back."

"You're no fun."

Applejack stepped in between the feud. "Ah think Spike's right, we should move along now. Time's ah runnin' short."

----------

The eight arrived at Pinkie's rock farm within moments of flying, it wasn't but a few miles from where they camped out. They landed near the main house and took a brief look around. Everything was covered in dust, even the rocks themselves.

"It doesn't look like anyone has been here for quite some time." said Peppers.

Applejack growled. "Nonsense! Pinkie's gotta be here somewhere! She just might not be awake yet."

"Uh huh."

Spike looked at the group. "I suppose we split up. This is a lot of area to cover."

And so they did. The silence was only broken by hoof steps, and the occasional "Pinkie!" call. None of which were answered, however. This only served to make the old place more ominous then it was before they arrived.

Spike came across a small shed that everypony else had seemingly overlooked. It had a very odd smell to it, and curiosity got the best of the dragon as he carefully opened the door...