Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy arrived at a small village that circles a large stump with a large Changeling in the center and three other changelings around her. Twilight blinked in shock at the mainstyles the three smaller ones had. What was equally surprising was the one zebra that was sitting at the edge of the stump.

"Ya recognize any of them?" Applejack asked.

"The three in the center look like our other friends. And that Zebra looks like one I knew in my time." Twilight replied softly. "If I'm not mistaken. They're this time's elements of harmony."

Fluttershy smiled softly at Twilight's understanding as she led them to the stump and hops onto it, landing in a bow. "We have guests, my queen. Friends of the white stallion." She announced.

As Fluttershy stayed in position, the queen looked past her at the two ponies. Her calculated gaze held on them for a moment before turning to the zebra and nodding.

The zebra went over blowing a strange powder over them that after a moment caused them to glow lightly. "What she says is true." The zebra announced. "We can trust these two."

"Then come forward friends." The queen called. "Tell me what you need of our hive."

"I am Twilight Sparkle. And my request may sound strange. But I ask that you pramit Fluttershy to accompany us on our mission, your majesty." Twilight replied with a bow.

Applejack joined her and bowed. "I'm Applejack. And I still find it hard to believe myself. But I promise that what she says is true."

The queen thought for a moment before motioning for Fluttershy to come over. Once she was in front of the queen, the queen bent over and nuzzled her softly before lifting her head to speak to the others. "Zecora told me that something like this would happen."

"I felt something was arie. When I saw the volcano nearby." Zecora explained.

"You think he might be there?" Applejack asked.

"Whoever you're looking for darling. I would hope not." The changeling Rarity replied. "Why would anyone go near such a gruesome place like that? I doubt even a dragon would go there."

Twilight and Applejack shared a concerned look. "Speaking of dragons. We're looking for one. A purple dragon named Spike." Applejack informed.

The changelings looked at each other in concern for a moment before one whispered to Fluttershy who turned back to them with a look of terror. "They said one was spotted near the black pillars."

Twilight sighed and stepped forward. "I'll understand if you want to stay. But we need to find him."

Fluttershy looked back to the queen who nodded. Smiling, she turned back to the two ponies. "Then I'll show you the way."

Spike huffed as he flew towards the city through a forest and saw a bat pony with a familiar main pulling herself along the ground. It looked like she was nearly ripped apart by Timberwolves. Landing, Spike rushed over and knelt down next to her.

"Rainbow, hang in there!" He called as he looked around and quickly gathered a few things to make a slig. "What happened?"

Unable to fight back any more she huffed and let him do what he wanted to her. "My friends ditched me." She huffed. "As soon as those muts shown up, they split and left me behind. If I hadn't broken my wing and leg helping Rarity out of that bush, I would have been able to get away too."

Spike finished patching her up and sent a quick letter to Ember, before lifting her in his arms and starting to leave the forest. "Then let's get you to safety."

Rainbow blinked at his strength and kindness, and oddly felt wrong for letting herself get treated like a helpless mare. More importantly, she felt conflicted about being carried away from the castle she was heading for.

"Why?" Rainbow asked weakly before coughing up some blood onto her chest.

"To make a complicated matter simple. You would've done it for me." Spike replied softly before licking up the blood, much to her surprise. "Sorry. I remember how you don't like looking weak. So I thought I'd-"

"It's fine." She interrupted. "You're right. I normally don't like looking weak. But I think it's clear that we're past that." She laughed. Looking him over she bit her lip as a messed up thought came to her head. "So… how close would we be?"

Spike brushed a rock off before laying her down on it. "Well… you were mostly too interested in pulling pranks and practicing for the Wonderbolts mostly. But we did hang out when we both had free time." He explained sitting next to her before positioning her so she can rest her head on his lap. "Granted I did look different at the time. Mostly looking like a little kid."

Rainbow thought for a moment. This news didn't really do much to change her mind. And unless she intended on risking it, she had to come up with something to crush the option… or suggest it for him. "Would you have been interested in ponies? Or me?"

Spike rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "Well…"

"Crap." She thought.

"I did have a crush on Rarity… but looking back. I guess I latched onto her because I thought the mare I really liked was out of my league." He sighed with a blush.

"Crap crap crap." She thought as she gulped before asking. "And who was that?"

"You."

That was all she had to hear for her to make up her mind. If she was going to die. She was going out on her terms. "Then consider this your chance to find out if you are out of my league." She announced. "Rut me and show me how much you love me."

Spike gulped and picked her up carefully so he didn't cause her unwanted pain. "I don't want to hurt you any more than you already are. And I don't want to be the cause of-"

She silenced him with a hoof on the lips. "You're a smart dragon, right? I bet that letter was a call for help. So don't fret about it. Besides, if I'm going to die. I'd rather have my world rocked by you than internal bleeding." She countered before replacing her hoof with her lips.

Unable to come up with a counter argument that wasn't a lie or unfaithful to her or how he felt, Spike pulled her closer and lined her up with his crotch. This was going to be a risky action. But at the same time. It felt right.

Author's Note

... well... looks like Spike is taking advantage of the broken time deal. And Twilight is doing a nice job finding out about other time lines. Still, I wonder who will show up next to throw a wrench in their plans.