Sugar Cube Corner stood out among the rest of the buildings in Ponyville. It almost looked like a literal gingerbread house. The roof had been painted to look like a graham cracker lined with white frosting. A large, cupcake shaped tower with three giant candles stuck out above the roof, and two poles colored like candy canes held up the awning above the door. It was easily one of the strangest buildings Sapphire had ever seen.

"Hey, Spike." Sapphire tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder to nab his attention; then pointed at the sweetsy looking house. "What's that building?"

"Oh, you mean Sugar Cube Corner? That's the local sweets shop. Hey! I'll bet Pinkie Pie would give us both a free ice cream cone if we stopped in to say 'hi.'"

Spike stumbled under the weight of Sapphire's forward momentum. She'd nearly pulled his arm off!

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sapphire shouted as she drug Spike all the way inside the bakery.

Behind the counter, Pinkie busied herself stirring some kind of batter in a glass bowl. She took one look at the dragons entering her shop, smiled and set the bowl down. "Well, if it isn't my two favorite dragons!" Pinkie hopped up to the counter. "Hiya Spike, Sapphy! What brings you to Sugar Cube Corner? Oh! Did you come to try those cupcakes with chocolate and sprinkles and cherries on top like I told you about? They're really good! I can eat fifteen of them in one sitting!"

"Actually, we just came in to say hi," Spike said.

Pinkie's smile grew even wider. "Awww, well that's so nice of you to come see me while I'm working! Why not take a couple ice cream cones. It's on the house." Lost in sudden thought, Pinkie stared up at the roof. "Or would that be, 'it's on the bakery?' I dunno. What I mean is, they're free!"

The ice cream cone wasn't the first free thing given to Sapphire that day. Spike had also taken her to Sweet Apple Acres, where she was treated to some of the Apple Family's sweet apple pie. Despite her parents always telling her that ponies, like many other creatures, had no reason to trust dragons, Sapphire knew that Spike's friends had all gone through a lot of expense and effort to welcome her into their home as if they'd known her her entire life. These ponies certainly weren't like the dragons Sapphire had met. These ponies were friendly and selfless.

The two dragons sat paw-in-paw on the balcony of Twilight's library, watching the stars appear in the evening sky. They'd cuddled so close together that the scales on their sides scraped against one another with the slightest movement.

"I really like your friends, Spike. They're a lot of fun. Especially Pinkie!"

"I told you so, huh?" Spike gave Sapphire a gentle nudge, which she answered with a kiss to his cheek.

"Ok, you got me there." Recalling the nickname Rarity had given Spike, Sapphire giggled. "Spikey-Wikey."

"Hey, don't call me that."

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

In an effort to pin Sapphire to the ground, Spike shifted his weight towards her. It worked; Sapphire fell over on her back, but Spike didn't take the opportunity to pin her has he'd planned. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her ankle as the dragoness gave him a confused look. "I'm gonna tickle you until you promise not to call me that again!"

Sapphire giggled and squirmed as Spike brushed the tip of his claw against the sole of her foot. Hard as she fought, she couldn't escape Spike's grip. "No! Stop! I-I won't say it again!"

The tickling finally stopped, which allowed Sapphire sit up and catch her breath from the giggling that had squeezed all the air from her lungs. "Okay," she panted, "my turn!"

With no warning, the dragoness sprang up to tackle Spike to the ground, grab him around the ankle and run the tip of her claw against his foot.

"Okay!" Spike laughed, kicking all the while in an effort to free himself. "Okay! I'm sorry!"

It was Spike's turn to drop to his stomach, gasping for air. Sapphire crawled over to him, bringing her side against his. She rested her neck over his, and their tails entwined like a pair of snakes. Spike's heart pounded.

"Spike?" Sapphire asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"I… I…"

"You what?"

"Um… never mind. Can we just lay here like this for a while?"

Twilight Sparkle yawned. The last dull light of dusk had faded, and it had been a long day. She could continue her studies in the morning. Her magic closed to book on plants she'd been reading and rested it on a nightstand. With one more yawn, Twilight trudged up the stairs to her room.

An adorable sight just out the window of the patio caught Twilight's attention. The baby dragons were cuddled up in a ball with Sapphire's neck resting on top of Spike's. A pair of little tails curled around each other like the stripes on a candy cane. Both had their eyes shut, apparently asleep in their cuddled position. Their heads made two adjacent lumps, with their bodies curving downward to form a single intersecting tip at their tails. Intentional or not, the two dragons had formed what resembled a scaly heart. How cute.

With a smile, Twilight summoned a bit of magic energy into her horn. A glittering aura engulfed the blanket tucked across Spike's bed. The cloth lifted into the air, waving like a flag as Twilight guided it outside to the patio and draped it over the sleeping reptiles, gently so not to wake them.

They hadn't moved. With that taken care of, Twilight nested into her bed to get some sleep of her own.