The Dragon of Coltonville.

The luster of the sun's rays slid through the panes of the windows and held no shame in disrupting the fillies' slumber. Grudgingly rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, each of the ponies slid out of their respective sleeping bags or beds and commenced the morning ritual of stretching out their legs and disposing of any remaining drowsiness with heavy yawns that could put a lion to shame; all except Sweetheart that is, who upon attempting to stretch out her left foreleg felt it being constricted and quickly found that it was the result of a still sleeping Spike wrapping his scaly arms around the white coated filly and nuzzling his head to her side as if she were a giant teddy bear.

"That's so adorable!" Bon Bon gushed before the cute display she was observing.

Wanting to regain control of her foreleg, Sweetheart used the only one that was free of Spike's grasp to smoothly rub the top of his head, which proved to be enough to make the dragon stir from his torpor state.

"Twilight?" The awaking dragon hoped that he was merely dreaming of his current predicament, only to be greeted by a grim reminder that he was no longer in Equestria.

Before anyone could even utter a sound, a loud series of knocks from the door made everyone jump up and was quickly followed by the voice of the white coated filly's mother. "Sweetheart, breakfast will be ready in five minutes, make sure your friends have packed up their things before heading home."

As soon as the clopping of Sweetheart's mother's hooves became more distant, Clover was the first to start talking. "Oh dear, how are we going to explain Spike to your parents?" Knowing fully well that keeping a dragon a secret from her parents would only prove to be a fruitless endeavor, the pink maned filly had to quickly discuss with her friends a straightforward but still cautious way to introduce their newly arrived guest to the two grownups.

...

Five minutes was all Sweetheart's mother needed to prepare breakfast. Slipping some toast onto a plate next to scrambled eggs with a spatula (and adding the finishing touch of spreading butter over it), the white coated mare delivered the meal to her loving husband--who in turn gave her a kiss on the muzzle as a gesture of gratitude. Aside from sharing the same coat color as his wife, Sweetheart's father possessed a moderately long periwinkle mane and thick eyebrows, in contrast to his spouse's long coral red mane that's braided into a ponytail. Of course, there is not a single pony in all of Ponyland who could deny that the two were meant for each other; after all, they both have known one another ever since they were foals, they were practically inseparable during their years at school, and each of them have a level of compassion that anypony could see whether it be Sweetheart's mother providing medicine to a sick pony in her family pharmacy or Sweetheart's father constructing a house for his fellow pony. (And it's the same compassion that the two of them passed onto their first child, in addition to the three newborns they had brought into this world a year ago.)

It was by the time that the motherly mare placed hers' and Sweethearts' breakfast on the table when her daughter and her six friends finally made their entrance. "Good morning little ponies. Did you all sleep well?"

"Mom, Dad," Sweetheart took her seat, "there's something I gotta tell you."

"What is it, dear?" Her father took his eyes off his paper.

"Last night, the girls and I heard a noise coming from the attic and we found a lost boy taking shelter from the storm."

"Oh dear, I can't imagine how scared the poor thing must be." The red maned mare's sympathy started to kick in.

"I didn't want him to go out in the rain, so I let him sleep in the guest room with the rest of us."

"That was an amiable thing you did, Sweetheart," her father commended her good deed. "Though I wish you had told your mother and I first; we'd never shut our doors to a pony in need."

"Yeah, well here's the funny thing, Mr. Tender, this lost boy isn't exactly a pony," Patch let out a nervous chuckle while rubbing the back of her head.

"If he's not a pony what else could he possibly be?" Mrs. Tender wondered.

"It would make more sense if you both saw him for yourselves." Bright Eyes cut to the chase. With that said, Bon Bon received a nod from her white coated friend which pretty much told her that now is the time to reveal their unexpected guest. Once the yellow coated filly was out of sight, the two grownups watched as she slowly made her return, only to immediately feel their jaws drop, pupils shrink, and breath held back when their eyes caught view of the purple scaled dragon walking beside her.

"Mom, Dad, this is Spike; he's a dragon." Their daughter made the introductions.

"Hello," the dragon gave a little wave, which in turn made the still agape ponies wave back. "This may sound a little hard to believe, but I'm from an alternate world that's also ruled by ponies, and I was sent here through a little magical mishap."

"Of course, that makes perfect sense," Mrs. Tender attempted to regain some bit of her sanity.

"Mom, Dad, this may seem sudden, but is it OK if Spike stayed with us for awhile? He has nowhere else to go."

Her father managed to shake all the shock out of himself in order to give a response. "Sweetheart, your mother and I have always been cordial ponies, and we'd never deny any guest our hospitality--even if said guest happens to be a dragon."

This proclamation gave the seven fillies cause to let out sighs of relief, until Mrs. Tender brought up, "How do you all plan on letting the whole town know?"

It was at this moment that the girls realized that neither of them had thought further than this. "Gee Mrs. Tender, I figured that we would just keep Spike hidden until he miraculously returns to his home world." Clover offered a passable, albeit flimsy, suggestion.

"Now girls, concealing Spike from the rest of the world would only delay the inevitable," Mrs. Tender gave them a reality check. "Besides, if you had no problem introducing him to us, why would the whole town be different?"

"Well what if they freak out the moment they see him?" Patch's paranoia went into play. "And what if some secret organization decides to kidnap him and perform all kinds of experiments?"

"Now Patch, it seems to me that you've been watching too many movies." Mr. Tender spoke up. "Besides, if Spike were to let everyone know his predicament and let them see him for who he truly is, they'll have no reason to be afraid of him."

Little did anyone know, Starlight had been pondering to herself on a perfect approach for introducing the very first live dragon to all of Coltonville, and a solution had sparked inside her head like a lightbulb.

...

Words spoken by a mayor tend to spread faster than wildfire; and when all of Coltonville received word that the mayor was throwing a welcoming ceremony for an unknown visitor, everypony just couldn't resist a wonderful distraction from their monotonous routines. All the ponies of Coltonville--young and old--were mesmerized by the wonderous display of balloons floating in the air which conveyed a kaleidoscopic effect to the eyes, their ears enthralled by the symphony of trumpets, trombones, flutes, bass drums, snare drums, and cymbals, which complimented the pink banner that stretched across town hall and containing a message inscribed with bold red letters for everypony to see: WELCOME TO PONYLAND!

Just about the entire population of Coltonville was gathered around by the time their honorable mayor finally stepped up to the podium. The pale lavender stallion has been serving the ponies of Coltonville for thirty years since he was twenty five. His once black mane had slowly turned gray as a result of being mayor for so long; many ponies never wear too much articles of clothing, but that doesn't stop anypony from accessorizing and the mayor is no different, as the only threads that he'd ever don were a red ascot and a blue sash.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming together for this extraordinary occasion," the honorable mayor announced in front of the ponies and three cameras that're televising this event throughout all the corners of Ponyland. "Many of you must be wondering who this esteemed guest of ours--on which this celebration has been made in honor of--is. I can't answer that since I myself have yet to be acquainted with said guest, which is why I'm allowing Miss Starlight to enlighten us about him."

Stepping aside from the podium, the mayor gave the light pink filly permission to address in front of her fellow ponies. "Hello everyone, I know all of this seems confusing at the moment, which is why I'll try my best to elaborate everything. Last night, my friends and I were having a sleepover at Sweetheart's home, when we all found a lost boy named Spike hiding in her attic." As expected, many of the ponies started to let out sympathetic sighs and gasps. "Since we couldn't let him go out in the storm, we opted to let him spend the night with us, and after we introduced him to Sweetheart's parents, they both advised us to present him to all of you--hence why we asked the mayor to help arrange this welcoming ceremony for us. To be honest, we were all a little reluctant to expose Spike out of fear that none of you would like him, mainly because he's not from this world." Her statement was followed by a series of confused murmurs amongst the crowd of ponies. "There's really no easy way of saying this, so I'll just be blunt with all of you...Spike's a dragon."

Everypony in attendance paused in silence; none of them even knew how to react to what Starlight just said. But much like the lifespan of a mayfly, even the briefest of lulls can only last for so long, as it was soon shattered by the guffawing of a certain blue coated colt with an orange mohawk with sunglasses situated atop it.

"A dragon! Ooh that's rich! Did he bring a pixie with him as well?!" The brash colt continued his outpour of laughter while a gold coated colt wrapped his foreleg around his comrade and joined in on his mirth.

"This is no laughing matter!" The curly blonde maned pony stomped her hoof upon the wooden surface of the podium in a gesture of pseudo authority. "My friends and I really did see a dragon with our own eyes, and he's as real as Teddy or Ace!"

"Come on, Starlight," the light blonde maned colt known as Ace wiped a single tear after his fit of chortling, "I could hear this kind of hooey from Patch, but not from you."

"Besides, if this dragon's so real, why doesn't he show his face?" The blue colt known as Teddy brought up a point that caused many ponies in the crowd to fill the entire town with an outpour of vocalism. Just as Starlight was starting to fear that the inquisitive group would turn into an unruly mob, the mayor quickly came to the rescue by quelling the consternation that was close to erupting. With the clamor of the audience finally subdued, the mayor permitted Starlight to resume her addressing of their anonymous visitor.

"Before I pass the mic to our mystery guest, I just want to make it clear that Spike is just as hesitant about showing himself to all of you as we are. As natural as it is to be alarmed by something so bizarre, we would all appreciate it if you would hear him out before making any kind of reaction. With that said, I shall now bring my speech to an end and present to all of you, Spike the Dragon."

Shifting her gaze away from the crowd, the normally firm filly pointed her hoof towards the entrance of town hall expecting to show the eventual debut of the first living dragon to set foot in Ponyland, only to have her eyes looking upon an exposed doorway with nobody stepping out. Silence loomed over the area as everypony patiently awaited to witness the dragon Starlight hyped up so much, some of the more anxious ponies were even using those closest to them as boosts in the hopes of gaining a better view. Teddy and Ace, however, were in preparation of letting loose a flurry of laughter upon the light pink filly who is about to be given a brand of eternal embarrassment should this dragon not appear before the audience as promised. The only thing to even be seen near the entrance was the peeping head of Sweetheart, who saw Starlight and the rest of her friends deliver her a series of nonverbal gestures which implied that time is running short. Receding herself from everyone's sight, the white coated filly switched her attention to a more than hesitant Spike who has become numb with the same stage fright that plagued him at the Equestria Games.

"Come on, Spike," the tender pony snapped the nervous dragon out of his paralysis, "everyone's waiting for you."

"What if everypony freaks out like Patch said? I just don't know what I'm going to do if they all decide I'm some kind of threat."

"You just show them the kind and loveable dragon that you are, and they'll have no reason to be afraid of you."

Letting her encouraging words sink in, the formerly nervous dragon felt all of his trepidation completely subside and received a swell of diligence. After all, this is the same dragon who saved the Crystal Empire on numerous occasions, put his own reputation within said empire on the line in order to vouch for a changeling, spared Equestria from a war by hindering a pony hating dragon from becoming the next Dragon Lord, saved Applejack from being devoured by a giant timberwolf, prevented a mass conflict between dragons and yaks, saved his friends from being eaten by a Roc, and even fought alongside the Elements of Harmony against three of the most nefarious villain's in all of Equestria; so speaking in front of a crowd of strangers ought to be child's play compared to all of the past ordeal's he had to face before.

And so, after taking in a deep breath, Spike reinforced himself with a newfound sense of fortitude as he flapped his wings and fluttered himself towards the podium for all of Coltonville to see. To absolutely no surprise from any of the seven friends the entire town predictably found themselves becoming completely dumbstruck by the sight of the purple dragon standing before them. Everypony was muttering amongst each other in response to this new phenomenon staring back at them, even Ace whispered into Teddy's ear, "Looks like Starlight wasn't pulling our legs after all." Their hushed discourse had lasted until the entire surrounding had become muted to a point where even the sounds of a cricket chirping or a pin dropping couldn't be heard; but their eyes were still fixated upon the dragon as if he were a two in a half ton diamond gleaming in the sunlight, and Spike could feel the sting of those stares bleeding out the determination that had urged him to reveal himself. It seemed that the dragon was about to experience a repeat of his stage fright during the Equestria Games, but a brief look at the seven ponies who would be the closest things to friends within this world--who all returned his gaze with smiles and encouraging gestures--was all he needed to regain his composure. After counting to ten in his head, Spike commenced his orientation that would show the ponies of Coltonville just what kind of dragon he is.

"Hello everypony, I'm the aforementioned Spike that Starlight told you all about; and no, you are not imagining anything, I am a real dragon. I come from a land called Equestria, where I serve as the royal advisor to its newly appointed ruler, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and we had just finished the first day of her reign yesterday until a little magical mishap had teleported me to your world. I know that all of you have just met me and what I just told you might be hard to believe, but all of my friends have no idea how to find me and I don't exactly have anywhere else to go. So if it's not too much to ask, would it be OK if I stay in your town for the time being?"

Once the speech was finished, none of the towns ponies knew how they should respond; all of them just witnessed a living dragon convey his woes, but not a single pony even had the slightest idea on what to say or do. That is until a little pale orange filly with a pale green mane and wearing an orange ribbon stepped through the crowd and trotted up to the stage. Taking notice of the little filly's approach, the purple dragon opted to land himself to the ground in order to be at eye level with the pony. The filly had an unsure expression on her face as she scrutinized the dragon for a moment that felt more like an eternity in Spike's mind, but like any child the orange filly could only get a grasp on something if she touches it, hence why she slowly extended one of her hooves anent the dragon's face. Spike had almost expected the filly to pull back her hoof in revulsion upon making contact with his scales; but not only did her hoof remained on his temple, she also let her other hoof touch the other side of his head and used both hooves to pull the dragon's face towards her own and nuzzled him in a loving embrace. She then grabbed his claw and led him into the crowd of ponies, who all started to look upon the little dragon with welcoming smiles and each took turns patting him.

Eventually, the prominent dragon found himself being paraded around the entire town. One minute he would be in a restaurant where he would be treated to free samples of everything on the menu, then the crowd would carry him to a clothes store where he was permitted to try on any article of clothing that caught his eye, and then the masses of Coltonville would take him to jewelry stores where many of the proprietors would quickly learn that gems are a dragons' favorite delicacy.

"How did you know that dragons love to eat gems?" The dragon sampled a few sapphires.

"Uh...lucky guess?" One of the jewelry owners surmised to the best of her ability.

Naturally, it didn't take too long for the press ponies--who had all observed Spike's speech via their television sets--to track him down and commence their overflowing of flashing cameras and a million questions per second. In addition to a story hungry press, there soon came some certain ponies who sought to exploit the now famous dragon; such as a zoo owner who wished to turn Spike into a new exhibit, a ringmaster who wanted to acquire the dragon to be an attraction for his circus, and a scientist who planned to subjugate the dragon to a series of rather questionable experiments. Having absolutely no interest in relinquishing his free will, Spike respectfully declined all the offers, and fortunately for him none of the ponies tried to press the matter further and went off their separate ways.

Coltonville's latest celebrity was being treated to free ice cream at a local parlor by the time six of the seven ponies who discovered him had finally reunited with the dragon (after they all struggled through the mob of press ponies, of course).

"Looks like someone's enjoying their fame," Patch nudged the dragon's shoulder.

"I normally don't get this kind of reception unless I visit the Crystal Empire," Spike sprinkled a few gems over the strawberry scoop atop of the cone he was gripping.

"I gotta say, Spike, that hat really suits you." Melody complimented the white fedora adorned with a red feather that the purple dragon was donning.

"Thanks. A friend of mine back at Equestria actually gave me a hat just like this one on my birthday." The dragon took at least three licks from his ice cream before he took notice to the fact that a certain minty green pony was absent. "Where's Bright Eyes?"

It would seem that Bright Eyes had possessed a sense of clairvoyance, seeing as how she was pushing through the mob of photographers with a stallion in tow. "Spike, I'd like to introduce you to my father, Bartleby Page. He's a reporter for the Coltonville Newspaper and is wondering if you could spare a few minutes of your time for a private interview?"

"Gladly." Taking his claw out of the bag of gems, Spike shook the hoof of Bright Eye's dad. "How you do, sir?"

"No need to be so formal, Spike; I'm only a reporter, after all. Let's conduct the interview somewhere more private."

...

Night had blanketed the entirety of Coltonville by the time Spike had approached the abode of Bright Eyes and her family. It's a humble dwelling--aside from the colossal observatory protruding from the side of it--that rested upon a lofty hill, overlooking the small town that could provide anyone with a view that one would normally get to see from the top of a castle. Although the mass of photographers would never dare to step hoof inside of the jade house without permission, it didn't stop them from swarming around the place like vultures. While the shutterbugs were desperately searching for any kind of opening from the windows or even the keyholes of the doors to obtain more shots of Spike, the aforementioned dragon settled himself upon a cushioned wooden chair with Bright Eye's father sitting across from him with his pencil and notepad in hoof, and a tape recorder placed upon the dining table.

"How are you liking your stay in Coltonville, Spike?" The reporter initiated his first of many questions.

"It's been a real pleasure so far, Mr. Page." Spike licked the last bits of ice cream that remained in the bottom of the cone before munching the whole thing with his jaws.

"You can just call me Bart, everybody in Coltonville calls me that."

"Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"How come nopony ever says 'everypony' or 'anypony'?"

"I presume that inserting 'pony' in lieu of 'body' within certain words is a normal occurrence in that world called Equestria that you mentioned during your introduction?"

"Pretty much." Digging through the bag, the little dragon helped himself to some more gems before following up with another inquiry. "Do you always conduct interviews at home?"

"Normally I would prefer not to bring interviewees into my home, but circumstances do tend to force ponies to adapt to certain situations." After jotting down a few notes into his notepad, Bartleby continued his interview. "Bright Eyes informed me that you have been living amongst ponies your entire life."

"Ever since I was born."

"Then living in Ponyland ought to be a cinch for you, I suppose."

"To be honest, I was worried that everypony was going to be afraid of me; I never would've been able to even work up the nerve to speak in front of them had it not been for Sweetheart's and the others encouragement."

"That's what friends are for." Starlight recited one of the most overused of cliched phrases.

"Care for some orange juice?" The teal coated mare who was Bright Eyes' mother offered the dragon guest a refreshing glass of orange juice to wash his mouth down from the gems he had consumed, which the gracious dragon gladly gulped down. It was apparent to everypony that Bright Eyes inherited her brains from her mother, whereas her phenotype was taken straight from her father. In addition to being married to one of the most meticulous journalists in Coltonville, the brown maned mare also happens to be the proud wife to science. Every day is never a dull moment for her as she devotes all of her time observing the cosmos of space, analyzing the fossils of extinct species, creating new inventions that could better the lives of her fellow ponies, or even peer reviewing her daughter's science projects; and seeing a living dragon inside her home was enough to ignite every scholarly fiber in her body. "You know, Spike, your presence could serve as living proof of my Multiverse Theory."

"Constance believes that there exists infinite numbers of universes similar to our own with minute variations," Bart elaborated to his guest.

"There's some truth to that," Spike confirmed. "I remember this one time where Twilight and I walked through a mirror that sent us to an alternate dimension where everypony were these bipedal creatures called humans."

"I suppose that you and her were both transformed into these 'human' organisms as well?" The reporter inquired.

On the one hand, Spike could have easily just be upfront with the fact that entering the Human World changed him into a dog, but then again, the now celebratory dragon was practically being treated as royalty within this world and he wasn't entirely too keen on making the ponies view him any less by giving them the impression that he was seen as a pet where he was from. "Of course. What else could I have been?"

Scribbling a few more notes into his pad, Bart opted to move onto the next topic. "During your introduction speech, you mentioned that you were transported here due to a 'magical mishap'. Could you go into more detail on how that transpired?"

"Twilight and I were just finishing the first day of her reign when all that was left for her to do was to use her magic to lower the sun and raise the moon."

"You mean your planet doesn't merely orbit around the sun?" Constance interrupted.

"Nope, it's all done with magic. Just as Twilight was in the middle of raising the moon, the Secretariat Comet suddenly appeared out of nowhere and overwhelmed her with a magical surge that she had to quickly let out, which happened to be directed at me, hence why I'm now here."

"Incredible." Bart marveled over the dragon's account. "I can't even begin to imagine how more convenient our everyday lives would be if we were all capable of using magic."

The minty green stallions' remark left the dragon rather puzzled. "Aren't there unicorns in Ponyland?"

"Nothing but ordinary ponies as far as anyone is concerned."

The girls took notice of the way their dragon friend's mouth droop and the look in his eyes that seemed to have all joy completely sapped out. Patch was watching all of this play out from the living room; the peach coated filly positioned her head onto one of the arms of the couch which provided her with a fairly decent view of her friends sitting around the kitchen with Spike and Bright Eye's parents. She was getting close to dozing a bit, but she could have sworn that she picked up a glance of what appeared to be tears building up in the dragon's eyes, and her ears could even make out the sounds of rapid exhaling. If the curly pink maned filly was hoping for a brief respite, she was going to have to wait a little longer as she--and everypony else--were suddenly disrupted by a swift force that caught them all by surprise (and even made Clover lose her footing on a chair she leaned on which led to a domino effect of her falling backwards from the chair, spinning her whole body towards a nearby pedestal holding a vase with flowers in it, and having her head collide into said pedestal causing the vase to fall off and land on her cushioned belly). It didn't take too long for anyone to come to the deduction that a certain dragon is no longer in sight. Feeling an impulse to rush to the door, Patch galloped in all haste to find a wide opened door with swarms of photographers shouting to the sky, which only confirmed the peach coated filly's suspicion that Spike flew away.

...

Reports of a missing dragon got everypony in Coltonville to form search parties in a unity of community. The second word reached out that somepony had spotted what appeared to be a purple dragon flying to the Old Woods, everypony hurried onward. It was pitch black by the time all of the search parties arrived to the Old Woods, but fortunately for everypony there was plenty of flashlights to spare. The seven friends got to join in on the hunt for the runaway dragon (albeit through some convincing on the parts of their parents); Patch led the girls with flashlight in hoof, while the others trotted behind with Clover leading the rear. Nopony has ever fully explored the Old Woods enough to make a map of it, so there was a slim chance that a single pony could get lost within this dark forest; but those worries were nominal for the seven friends, seeing as how each of them had the advantages of other flashlights being shone in the distance along with the echoes of ponies crying out Spike's name to prevent themselves from going adrift. They managed to leave behind a thousand yard trail of hoofprints before the party was brought to a halt by the moaning voice of the pale lavender filly.

"Wait girls, I think we oughta rest for a bit."

"How could you possibly rest when there's a lost dragon alone in these woods?" Patch stood upright upon her hind legs while pressing her hooves to her hips in a chiding gesture.

"Like this." Seating her flank upon the surface root of a nearby tree with a loud plop, Clover huffed for breath while rubbing the soreness out of her aching hooves. Seeing no point in proceeding their search without her, the other ponies opted to take a breather as well, much to the irritation of their peach coated friend.

"I don't believe this!" Patch cried out in disgust. "Spike is somewhere in these woods, probably scared out of his mind, and you all want to just slack off?!"

"The whole town is looking for him too, Patch," Melody brushed off her friend's mild outrage. "Anyone of them is bound to find him before we do."

"But he's so little," Bon Bon voiced her concerns, "I don't know if I could sleep again should we find out Spike got eaten by a big animal and we failed to save him in time!"

"Highly unlikely, Bon Bon," Bright Eye's countered the yellow filly's claim. "Given the fact that Spike is equipped with wings, he's most likely spending the majority of his time in the air away from any land predators (and I highly doubt that any birds of prey would ever consider him to be much of a sufficient meal). Even if he did decide to return to the ground, his teeth, claws, and fire breathing capabilities ought to prove to be more than efficient defense mechanisms."

"One thing's for sure, we won't find him if we linger here any longer." Starlight got up on her hooves.

Right as Clover was going to raise up her haunches, something wet had tickled her muzzle. "Oh no, it's starting to rain."

Observing the droplets perpetually pelting her friend had provided Starlight with an inkling. Swiping the flashlight from Patch, the light pink filly directed the glow to the source of the "rain" and discovered what appeared to be some sort of purple figure hunched atop a branch. "It's Spike!"

Feeling their maternal instincts kicking in, the rest of Starlight's friends joined alongside her as they all called out to Spike and pleaded for him to come down from the tree. Hearing their voices made the runaway dragon turn to look down on them, which led to the seven ponies being given a clear view of the forlorn expression that was practically glued to his face. Granting the fillies their request, Spike hovered to the ground with short flaps of his wings while still holding his head down in a glum manner. Upon letting his scaly feet make contact with the earth beneath him, Spike was promptly enveloped into the caressing and motherly embrace of Sweetheart.

"You gave us quite a scare back there, little guy," Patch wiped off the sweat from her brow. "What got over you to bolt out like that?"

"I'm never going home." Spike sniffled faintly.

Hearing that declaration made everypony look back in disbelief. "What made you come to that conclusion?" Bright Eyes inquired.

"There aren't any unicorns in Ponyland." Spike responded.

"Yeah, but neither did dragons until you showed up," Melody spoke up. "So what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that magic is what sent me to this world in the first place!" The dragon's melancholy quickly changed into outrage. "If there aren't any creatures who are capable of casting magic, then I'm never going to return to Equestria!"

None of them could fathom what it would be like if they all found themselves going through the same predicament that Spike is experiencing right now. But the seven friends knew deep down that the rage that the despondent dragon is exhibiting would be the same reaction that either of the ponies would have if they were stranded in a foreign world and having to face the possibility that they may never see their loved ones again, although that didn't deter a certain minty green filly from attempting to calm the dragon's fury.

"I realize that the dilemma that you're currently experiencing may seem to be hopeless at the moment, but you mustn't permit yourself to perpetually plummet into this pit of despair if you ever expect to return to your dimension."

"Easy for you to say!" Spike smacked Bright Eye's hoof away from his shoulder. "You're not the one who's trapped in a strange world and separated from those who you care about; so you'll excuse me if I'm not brimming with optimism at the moment!" Letting all of his frustration pour out, the dragon's pique was instantly followed by profound shame for lashing out at the well-intentioned filly; he was so much ashamed that he couldn't bring himself to look any of the ponies in the eye as he continued to relate the rest of his distress. "Sometimes I wonder how different my life could have been if I got to live in the Dragon Lands with my real parents; not knowing my true origins may have been nerve racking but having so many friends got my mind off of it. Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Jeffrie, Big Mac, Discord, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Zecora, Shining Armor, Cadance, Gabby, Smolder, Ember, Thorax, Starlight, Sunburst, Mina, Celestia, Luna, Cheerilee, Moon Dancer, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Minuette, everypony and everycreature who mean the most to me are now in a distant world that I can't get to, and it seems I'm never gonna get to see any of them again."

"Gosh, that's a lot of friends to lose in a single day." Clover's unintentionally insensitive comment garnered her some collective glares from her friends.

Taking her gaze away from her scatterbrain of a friend, Sweetheart felt a jolt in her heart once her eyes made sight with the pitiful state Spike's now in. Completely drained of any iota of anger or frustration, the now empty dragon could only muster enough energy in himself to bow his head down with fresh tears falling upon the dirt beneath his feet, while hugging his arms together by the elbows as if all of the warmth in his body has been dissipated. The white coated filly must've thought that the dragon's depression is contagious, as she was getting close to letting out a downpour of tears of her own just by looking at him. Given her devotion to wanting to help those who are in any form of pain, her parents have often told her that she'd make a great doctor when she grows up. Despite not having any of the same amount of knowledge her friend, Bright Eyes, has, the kindhearted pony's intuition told her that the prescription that Spike was in desperate need of was the motherly warmth of a loving hug.

Scooping up the sniffling dragon with her hooves, Sweetheart nestled her chin atop of his scaly head while permitting Spike to bury his tear-soaked face into her chest. The warmhearted filly who could only tolerate seeing anybody weeping for more than three seconds permitted the sobbing dragon to drench her pristine coat with tears for a solid minute before lifting up his face by his chin and saying, "Spike, we can't promise that you'll return to your world anytime soon, but we'll really truly make sure you feel right at home for the time being."

Wiping off a stray tear from his cheek, the once grieving dragon felt enough of the sadness that overtaken him seep away in order to respond to Sweetheart. "Why are you so concerned about me? It's not like you're responsible for me."

"We became responsible for you the moment we found you in the attic." Starlight spoke up.

Upon turning his gaze to the light pink pony, Spike felt his scaly head being rubbed by the hoof of his fellow orphan. "Besides, we never would've met you if your princess hadn't sent you here."

It wasn't too long for Bright Eyes--and the others--to follow suit as well. "Neither of us could ever take the place of any of the plethora of friends back at your dimension, but we guarantee to be just as devoted as they are."

"I'm sure your princess would want us to watch over you for her." Bon Bon chimed in.

"And you can bet that we won't let anyone hurt you." Clover assured him.

Melody felt obliged to orate something inspirational to the dragon as well but given that all of her friends had more or less taken all of the good motivational phrases before her, the dark pink filly decided that Spike would have to settle with hearing her say, "What they said."

Listening to all of their friendly encouragements provided the lost dragon with a sense that Twilight and the others were still with him. Despite being light years away from Equestria, Spike could still feel the sisterly warmth of Twilight Sparkle, the unimpeachable honesty of Applejack, the staunch loyalty of Rainbow Dash, the selfless generosity of Rarity, the tender kindness of Fluttershy, the mirthful laughter of Pinkie Pie, and even some of the caring sympathy of Starlight Glimmer resonating in each of these seven fillies who might be the only friends he has in Ponyland.

After soaking in enough of their affection, Spike took the opportunity to bring up a crucial issue. "So who will I be living with?"

This little conundrum gave the fillies cause to stand still in contemplation, until Starlight decided to share her idea, "We could each take turns letting Spike live at our homes for a week."

"But who does he get to live with first?" Bon Bon brought up.

Before anypony could even take a breath, Bright Eyes was already in the process of picking up a nearby twig and snapping it into seven pieces, which she later bunched up into her hoof. "We shall determine the disposition in which Spike will reside within each of our respective dwellings by drawing out the sticks that I hold, and whomever draws the shortest one shall have Spike as a houseguest for a week. Agreed?"

Since nopony had any particularly exceptional alternatives, they all opted to go along with their gifted friends' suggestion and wasted no time in drawing sticks from her green hoof. Upon displaying their collective twigs, it became apparent to everypony that the shortest stick is laying upon the white hoof of Sweetheart.

"Looks like you'll be living with me first." The kindhearted filly rubbed the dragon's head.

With their arrangement well established, the fillies decided that now's the time to let all of the search parties know that the runaway dragon has finally been found. With the entire town swarming to them, it didn't take too long for the seven friends to seek out their parents amongst the gathering crowd. Feeling his energy being exhausted, Spike chose to stay right where he stood and observe his seven new friends prepare themselves for the challenge of convincing their parents to go along with their little plan.