Warm beams of morning sunlight coming from her window hit Twilight Sparkle in the face, prying her eyes open for the morning. After a sleepy moan she lifted her head from her pillow and yawned. For a few minutes she sat upright in her sheets to allow the morning grogginess to subside before climbing out of bed. One by one she stretched her legs, yawned a second time, then trotted over to her bedroom mirror where a messy-haired reflection stared her down. Twilight's horn glittered with magic energy, and the brush sitting on the dresser lifted itself into the air to groom the unicorn's tangled and matted mane back to its straight-banged neatness. Now that the matter of her hygiene had been taken care of, Twilight pranced down the wooden stairs for some breakfast. A bowl of Magical Trinkets would really hit the spot.

Spike wasn't in the lobby of the library when Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs. He must still be asleep. Twilight shrugged. If he wasn't up by the time she finished breakfast, she'd have to wake him up. There was a lot of work to do today. After walking into the kitchen, Twilight used her magic to open a high cupboard and remove a box of cereal and a glass bowl, both of which suspended in midair until Twilight rested them on the table. She tilted her head. There was some sort of note scribbled out of a piece of parchment sitting next to the bowl. A sparkling aura surrounded it, causing it hover in front of Twilight so she could read it out loud to herself.

"Dear Twilight,

Sorry I didn't tell you in person, but Celestia wanted me to take care of some royal business in Canterlot today. I'll be home at sunset. Hope you're not too mad.

-Spike."

Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof. Why hadn't Celestia told her about this "royal business?" The unicorn shook off her irritation. It was probably none of her business, strictly confidential between alicorns and dragons. Either way, Twilight groaned. The library was still a mess. With Spike gone, she'd have to clean up by herself and continue her research without any assistance. But that could wait until after breakfast. Twilight ate her cereal in silence, using her magic to manipulate the spoon instead of her hooves like most ponies.

Meanwhile…

Spike's heart pounded as he made his way back to the meadow where the dragon pepper bush stood. He could hardly wait to see Sapphire since the two departed and arranged to meet up again the next morning. It felt bad to lie to Twilight about where he was REALLY going, but he simply wasn't ready to tell her about Sapphire, and was prepared for whatever work overload awaited him when he got back.

For the moment, he could only think of the dragoness. What games would they play today? How much closer would they grow? How should he know when it's appropriate to kiss a girl? So many thoughts raced through his head as he continued his trek for the meadow.

The dragon pepper bush came into view in the distance, along with a small blue form waving at Spike. Despite his anxiety, the little dragon couldn't help but smile and sprinted towards it. However, the closer he got, the more his smile melted to a frown. This wasn't just any blue form. As he neared the bush, he realized the form also had a mane and tail in a rainbow of colors. This was not Sapphire, but a pegasus with a blue coat.

"Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked once he was within earshot of her. "What are you doing way out here?"

"Oh, just taking a morning flight, that's all." Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her forelegs, then fluttered down off the tree branch until she touched the ground. "How about you, Spike? Does TWILIGHT know you're out here all by yourself?"

"Um…well…she knows I'm not home. If it's any of your business."

"Being a loyal friend IS my business. Well, next to winning races, that is," Rainbow said as she flew in a circle around Spike. "And I don't think I could call myself a loyal friend if I were keeping secrets from anypony."

Spike narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "What are you getting at, Dash?"

"Spike, I know about your new friend. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you. But if you're going to be running off like this everyday, I think Twilight should know the REAL reason why. And if you won't tell her about your little girlfriend, then I will."

"You were spying on me yesterday!" Spike shouted, pointing an accusing claw at the pegasus.

"And you didn't even have a clue! Heh heh, so awesome. I'm like a ninja pony!"

"Don't tell her! I'm not ready for her to find out yet!"

"Do it," Dash replied in a stern voice, "soon. Or I will."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell her. Sheesh."

"So glad you could see reason." Rainbow turned her head to look behind her. The little blue dragoness was approaching from the horizon. "Alright, looks like your little friend is on her way here. Have fun! And remember what I told you. Twilight's gonna find out one way or the other. Do the right thing, Spike."

Without another word, Rainbow zipped off in the opposite direction from the approaching dragonling, leaving behind a blur of colors that hung in the air for only a couple seconds before wisping into nothingness.

Spike growled to himself. Rainbow had been spying on him! A couple dragon peppers would not do now. He'd need at least three of them to exact sweet revenge on the pegasus. Sweet, fiery revenge. Enough to kill her taste buds for at least a month.

"Spike!" Sapphire's sweet little voice yelled as she ran up to the purple dragon. With no warning, she embraced him in a hug. "I missed you."

Spike trembled in Sapphire's grasp. He hadn't expected THAT. Unsure what to do, he wrapped his arms around her to return her hug. "I, uh, missed you too, Saph."

Smiling, Sapphire tilted her head. "Saph, huh? I kinda like that! And I know what we can do today. Follow me!"

Eyes narrowed in annoyance, Twilight manipulated a wash cloth with her magic, wiping it against the table to clean up the mess of dragon pepper seeds and crushed red flesh. She'd have to find someway to clean up two days' worth of mess AND still have time to get some research done. Why would Spike and Princess Celestia conduct royal business without telling her? The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She scrubbed harder to fight her irritation, causing a seed to fly off the table and square into the unicorn's eye.

All at once Twilight dropped the cloth and held her hoof to her mouth in dread of what was sure to follow. She gritted her teeth and braced herself. It wasn't enough, as a scream of pain echoed across the library.

"Ahh! Ahh! My eye's on fire! Somepony help me!"

Half blind, Twilight ran frantic circles around the kitchen looking for something, anything to get the burning pain out of her eye.

Pinkie Pie, who had been out for a stroll, overheard the screaming and charged headfirst into the library. "Holy macaroni and cheese with peas!" the earth pony exclaimed. There were books lying all over the floor, flasks and tubes strewn about, and the remains of what was once a whole statue of Sir Wilhelm Shakesfoale.

"Burglars!" Pinkie shouted. Some sort of noise came from the library. Well, who else was going to fight them off? "You picked the wrong library, robbers!"

Pinkie took a breath of courage and charged into the kitchen, where she found the purple unicorn pouring a jug of milk over face. Pinkie couldn't help but giggle at the sight. "Hey, Twilight! If ya wanted to have a milk drinking contest, why didn'tcha invite me?"

"Pinkie?" Twilight asked, her left eye shut in pain. "What are you doing here?"

"Well first you were all like 'somepony help!' Then I was like 'I'll save you Twilight!' And then I came inside and there were books and sciency stuff all over the floor so I thought there might be a burglar and I came in here to scare them off! But it looks like you've got it taken care of."

"Pinkie, there were no burglars. I just got a pepper seed in my eye."

"Well, what about the messy mess in your lobby?"

"Spike's been gone the last couple of days and I haven't had time to do any cleaning." Flattered. Twilight raised a forehoof. "Wait minute. You were going to fight off burglars for me if there were any?"

"Sure!" Pinkie said with a big smile. She wrapped a foreleg around Twilight's neck and pressed their cheeks together. 'I'd do anything for a friend!"

Twilight smiled back and raised an eyebrow. "Aaaaanything?"

"You betcha!"

Twilight pushed Pinkie away so she could look her in the eye. "Then how about getting this place cleaned up while I go out for some supplies? And for pony's sake, don't touch anything breakable!"

"Okey dokey lokey!"

"The pond?" Spike asked after Sapphire had led him back to the pond they were at yesterday. "Why are we here again?"

"Wanna see a cool trick?" Sapphire answered, completely ignoring Spike's question.

"Uh, sure."

The blue dragoness held her little arms to the air, her eyes closed tight in what seemed to be great effort. What was she doing? Before Spike could inquire, a frigid air surrounded the pond, sending up steam from the water as the entire water hole solidified in only a few seconds. Spike kneeled down and tapped on the surface. It was real ice, and not an illusion.

"How did you do that?"

"You couldn't tell?" Sapphire asked. "I'm an ice dragon!"

Of course Twilight had told Spike stories about certain species of dragons that could manipulate nature's elements. Red dragons could control fire. Yellow dragons had power over lightning. Greens could have power over plants or wind, depending on the species. Blue dragons were usually either water or ice dragons. But since he hadn't seen any dragons other than the one he encountered in the Everfree Forest, he'd never been sure if there was any truth to these stories. Until now.

"Sapphire, that's amazing!"

Stepping onto the frozen pond, Sapphire giggled. "Come on, Spike!"

For a few moments Spike watched as the dragoness skated gracefully around the pond, hands cupped behind her back. She spun around several times, causing her hair to flow about in a manner that made Spike's heart flutter. Sapphire really WAS beautiful!

Spike walked onto the ice, fighting to keep his balance as his feet slid across the surface of the pond. He'd fought too hard and fell face first onto the ice, sending him spinning and sliding across the pond like a hockey puck. Sapphire laughed at this as she skidded over to Spike. "Oh, that was smooth."

Ignoring the comment, Spike picked himself back up to his feet, only to fall on his rear and Sapphire to giggle at his misfortune once again. "Here," she said, offering both paws to him. "Let me help you up."

The two dragons spun in slow circles, eyes locked onto each other. Spike had never felt his heart pound so hard. He longed to kiss her just once, but was this the right time? Distracted as he was, Spike's little feet slid out from under him before he could stop himself from falling. His weight pulled Sapphire down on top of him as he landed back-first onto the ice with a grunt. A few seconds passed before he realized Sapphire had him pinned down against the surface of the pond, her face only inches away from his. The little dragon trembled. Was she going to kiss him?

Though Spike had heard Sapphire do a fair share of giggling the past couple days, none made his nerves tingle more than the soft, nervous chuckle she gave off as her beautiful face looked down on him, lost in his eyes. Sapphire brought her face closer to Spike's and touched his cheek with her muzzle, an action that set the purple dragon's heart on fire. In the passing few seconds, he realized he might very well have found the best thing that ever happened to him.

A full backpack draped around her back, Twilight pushed open the door to the library a couple hours after leaving to gather some supplies for her research. Immediately she was nailed in the face by blaring music and falling streamers. At least two dozen ponies had gathered in the library, drinking punch, dancing to the music, conversing and giggling amongst themselves.

Twilight groaned in annoyance and gnashed her teeth, but still found herself unable to suppress her anger enough to keep from shouting out. "PINKIE PIE!"

A pink pony with curly hair sprung up to the front door, eyes closed and smiling. "Hiya Twilight! Welcome back!"

"Pinkie, I thought you said you were going to get this place cleaned up!"

"I did! But you were taking so long and I was bored so I decided to throw a party!"

"You mean make a bigger mess than the one that was here before I left!"

"Oh, don't you worry about that!" Pinkie waved a hoof to dismiss Twilight's outburst. "We'll get this place cleaned up before you can say 'jelly beans!' OK, EVERYPONY! ANYPONY WHO WANTS TO KEEP PARTYING HAS TO HELP CLEAN UP AFTERWARDS!"

All at once the room silenced. everypony stared at Pinkie in horror. A stampede shook the floor and rattled the books against the wall, leaving only Twilight and Pinkie in the library seconds later.

Twilight narrowed her brow. "You were saying?"

There was confetti all over the floor. A streamer had fallen from the ceiling, draped over an oak chair. Frosting and sprinkles all over the counter. Candy wrappers, straws, paper decorations and other such trash had been strewn all about the library, and the sight made Pinkie smile an embarrassed smile.

"Um… jelly beans?"

The sky had begun to darken when Sapphire and Spike returned to the dragon pepper bush, paw-in-paw. A beautiful orange sunset cast itself over the horizon, seemingly setting it on fire.

"Um, Spike?" Sapphire asked.

Spike turned his neck to see Sapphire brushing her foot across the grass, eyes looking to the ground instead of at him. "Yeah, Sapphire?"

"I…um…" She choked on the words with a giggle, took a deep breath to gather her courage and continued. "I… don't know how to ask this, so I'm just gonna come right out and ask. Would you… like to be… my boyfriend?"

Knees shuddering at the question, Spike took a few seconds to think. Boyfriend? As in BOYFRIEND boyfriend? A special romantic friend to be closer to a girl's heart than any other friend? "Do you mean, like, a-a-a boyfriend you're dating? Like, I'm your boyfriend and you're my girlfriend?"

"Of course that's what I mean, silly!"

Like he was going to turn THAT down. "Would I ever!"

The blue dragon continued to fidget. "So… we're boyfriend and girlfriend then?"

"I guess so," Spike replied as he scratched the back of his head.

For a few moments, the young dragons stared into each other's eyes, slowly moving their heads closer together. They shut their eyes as both braced for the moment, hearts fluttering. Sapphire dared a slight peek. She was only a few inches away from kissing Spike. But was she ready? No, she wasn't. Not yet. In that moment, she lost her nerve and took a step forward to snare Spike in a hug instead.

"Thanks," Sapphire said. She rested her chin on Spike's shoulder as he wrapped his little arms around her. "…Boyfriend."