“There, there, let it all out.” Rachel rubs Spike's back as he was emptying out his stomach for the third time. This time graciously was given a bucket. “First crossover is always the hardest.”

Spike groaned, clinging to the bucket. “Felt like someone kicked my stomach a dozen times.”

“The worst is over now, you won't get like this on the return trip.” Rachel assured. Looking over to Thorax who was looking after Iggy for a moment.

“Does it also count for the first time on that side?”

Rachel sees Helen, the once Leader of the Resistance and a fellow Mordi during the early stages of the War, now in charge of managing this side of the portal, protecting the temple just in case any UN soldiers try to take it back.

Originally, the Mordi had their human form with only pointed ears, sharp teeth, draconic eyes as well as fire-like abilities of their own, but when crossing over via mirror, they get their pony forms.

When approaching the two rulers, Helen gave them a bow. “Your highnesses. Congratulations on winning the War.”

Rachel nodded. “How are things holding up here?” she asked, letting Spike catch his breath.

“Had a few idiots try and take it back, your other friends and their dog helped push them off before leaving.”

While the two talked, Spike turned his head to look at the Temple. Seeing the once grand throne room was now a central hub between worlds.

Rachel had told him her time here. Remembering how she described it as something out of a horror flick. Everything looked remotely better.

“Say, where's Malik?” Helen asked Rachel then.

“Going through the mirror portal with Gloria. They wanted to visit relatives and not look like flaming ponies.” Rachel explained. “Malik will meet up with us at the Assembly.”

“Like those guys?” Helen gestured to the other Mordis who kept their flaming pony forms.

“Eeyup.”

“Is everyone here? The other Leaders besides us?” Spike asked, gesturing to him, his mate, son and the two Changeling Rulers.

“Yes sir. You guys were the last ones to arrive. Figured since normal accommodations with human enmities doesn't quite fit for Equis beings, I had taken an opportunity to have our men fix up the temple so you all stay here and just teleport over to New York when you're needed since a lot of you can do so.” Helen explained. “Is that alright?”

Rachel gave her look. “You cleaned up everything?” She emphasizes that. Since there was still a faint stench of death all over the tall structure.

“Come see for yourselves.”

So Helen escorted the group to where the rest of Equis leaders were being housed. Rachel took in how much they changed the Temple since she last was here. Seeing a lot more modern structures, lighting, central air conditioning still fused with the ancient structure and integrity of the building itself.

Some of the old worn out paintings on the wall were getting restorations, the enormous statues.

Rachel half expecting the walls to shift again.

When they came past one of the chambers, Spike stopped and glanced in it. “Whoa, it looks like a museum here.” He commented.

There were many artifacts in glass security cases that were on display in the room. From weapons, jewelry, old clothes. The Golden Dragon idol that was present all over the Temple.

The changeling brothers looked and were surprised as well.

“Figured we need to keep our history and legacy alive. Spent centuries not knowing who we were and those who ruled before us.” Helen explained. “We're still looking for the lost ones and bringing them here and educating the ignorants who force the dragons to leave their home.” Helen said.

“Good work.” Rachel said, looking at it.

Iggy was turning his head around trying to look at what he thought was a new playground.

“And who tagged this wall?” Pharynx asked then.

Everyone looked as they saw a green X marked on the wall. Rachel grunted at that.

“This world’s RD.”

They all soon were taken to the living quarters. Before Spike could take in the quarters he was greeted by a voice.

“SPIKE!!” Twilight Sparkle called out his name. Getting up from her spot, she ran over to him,jumped and gave him a huge hug.

Spike quickly wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

To his surprise, Shining Armor, once seeing his brother was up and running again, runs up to him and both siblings hug their baby brother.

“You have got to be the craziest son of a bitch I ever knew!” Shining exclaimed, so happy to see Spike well again.

“Save room for us!” The voice of pony Rainbow Dash calls out.

Soon Rainbow, AJ and Fluttershy came running and jumped on Spike.

The impact of all of them was enough to knock Spike backwards to the ground, holding every pony with a laugh.

“Well hi guys!” Spike laughs, hugging all of them.

Rachel watched with a smile. This was the first time any pony had seen Spike since after the War.

After Rachel got Spike out of those crystals he created, he had to be put in a healing stasis since he did suffer damage from the nuke.

Thank God he made it out virtually in one piece.

“Sorry for not telling you guys he got out, I wanted to make sure he was well enough for this.” Rachel apologized to them.

“We understood.” Fluttershy squeaked, enjoying the hug pile.

“Dude, you took on a fucking nuke and survived, do you know how cool that is? A gazillion times cooler!” Rainbow Dash cackles.

“I don't ever plan on taking on another.” Spike said.

“We're just happy to see ya, big guy.” Applejack said.

As every pony detangled themselves from the Dragonlord to greet the Queen and their son, all the allied leaders were hanging out with their own entourage. The common space in the living quarters had a bunch of large lounge couches and chairs to fit everyone, and end tables with books. A cozy roaring fire pit in the center of the room.

And to accommodate for the prince, a bunch of toys for him to play with.

Igneous wiggled and fussed in his mother's arms, wanting to play with the toys.

“Okay, okay okay,” Rachel gave in and puts Iggy down on the ground.

The baby gets on fours and races over to the toys and jumps in with pure glee. Jumping on one of the large plushies in a full tackle, his arms and legs locked around it. When it squeaks he just continues to make it squeak.

So far, they could see the Zebras, Hippogriffs, Griffons, Kirins were mingling.

“Where's Pinkie Pie and Starlight?” Spike asked the girls.

“Starlight is handling things at the school and Pinkie Pie wasn't allowed to come due to being pregnant.” Twilight explained, her dragon and alicorn wings flexed. She then leaned close to the couple and whispered. “Do you really want two Pinkie Pies in the same world?”

Spike paled at that. The last time there was more than one Pinkie Pie in one place.

So…many….pink.

“Smart move.” Rachel said, also fearing the thought of two Pinkie Pies in the same universe. And one of them has raging hormones.

They just survived nearly one world ending calamity, they did not need to undergo another one with so much Pinkie Pie power.

“Where's Ember?” Another voice chimes in.

They turned and immediately Rachel scowled, her ears pinned back.

Celestia and Luna approached them. Both alicorns greeted the couple.

Celestia, though did attempt to cover up, the left side of her face was heavily bruised and had a crack on her long horn.

A punch worth remembering.

Twilight avoided looking at her former mentor in the face. The other girls and Shining didn't say anything.

Spike stared at Celestia. “What happened to your face?” He asked.

The white alicorn slides a nasty glare to Rachel who flashed her the double bird. “You're lucky it was one punch for dropping the goddamn sun on the goddamn battlefield and killing more of our soldiers than Sombra.”

Spike puts a hand on her shoulder and massages it a little to get her to reel back. “Ember is in charge of Dragon's Lair until we come back. So it's us and Malik who will be joining later.” Then looks at his mate and mouthed damn on the fact she sucker punched Celestia.

He knew she punched her, but not how severely it was. Made his punch from his mate look like a light love tap.

And grateful not having his face rearranged.

“I apologized profusely and paid retribution to all families. I'm going to be stepping down after the Assembly.” Celestia said.

“I told her others want more than that.” Luna grunted.

“We'll see where it goes during this talk.” Rachel said.

“Now everypony, it's been a day of traveling for all of us.” Thorax comes in between the Alicorns and the Dragons. “We're all stressed and worn out. The War is behind us, we should be celebrating the victory. Maybe that's why the Humans brought us here to celebrate.”

“That's nice, but we all really know why they summoned us, to try and clean up the shitstorm they created.” Rachel muttered but calmed down though. Putting her hand on top of Spike’s.

As they talk, Cadence comes up to her husband, looking at Spike with a knowing smile.

Spike caught it and motioned her to not say anything right now.

“Hey Cadence. Where's Flurry?” Twilight then asked her.

“Playing explorer. Took a couple of the Mordi and she's exploring the temple. Hard to keep track on her.”

That's when Rachel blinked confusedly. “So literally everyone's here?” She asked.

Spike smirked. “like I said, family vacation.”

He knew he'll get to spend time with their little flower filly.

However, he needs to talk to his mate, alone.

And he does later on that evening. Spike had found the lava pools within the Temple. The Human Mordi and other ponies don't come in there so unless the other dragons need something, he wouldn't be disturbed.

The Blood Staff rested on a rock, it lit up a little being near the lava but won't get destroyed from it.

Spike lounged up against a rock as he was partially submerged in the molten lava, discarded the clothes before coming in. Since Dragons were lava proof, they wouldn't be harmed.

But it’s the closest thing he could feel like he's in a hot bath.

He smiled to himself when he was hit with Rachel's scent and listened to her hooves coming up to him.

He looked up to see Rachel wearing a robe, arms crossed and smiled back at him. “Got room for one more?” Rachel asked.

“With you? Always.”

Rachel soon disrobes, exposing herself fully to her and letting the robe fall. The Blood necklace rests comfortably below her collarbone. Glowing also being near the lava.

Spike watched her entering the pool. The Lava being more like liquid putty so they wouldn't sink completely yet.

Rachel pushes through the lava and swimmed up to him. Spike slid an arm around her and pulled her close.

“Little one asleep?” he asked.

“Yeah, he's asleep.” Rachel hummed, placing one hand on his chest and the other around his back.

“Good,” Spike then kisses her lips. Moaning softly against her.

Rachel kisses him back before looking at up. “You doing okay?” She asked him.

Spike nodded. “Yeah, I'm okay.” He looks around the lava room. “I still can't believe I never came here before now, this place looks awesome.”

Rachel snorted. “You wouldn't be saying that after having to deal with cursed mordi and my father.” She glances up to the exposed hole of the treasure room above them. “Last time there were cages, prisoners, oh and this is actually the final resting place of the bastard sperm donor. Right over there.” She points to the spot where she killed him.

“Oh shit, seriously?” Spike's eyes widened before looking where she was pointing. “Ruthless and beautiful, a dangerous combo.” He grinned, nuzzling against her head and neck.

When he went to grab her hand, he noticed the ring wasn't on her finger. “Where's your ring?” He asked, giving her ears a tug.

Rachel giggled as the sensation. “I don't want it to get destroyed by chance from the lava. So it's in our room. The only reason I'm still wearing the necklace is because the stone is protecting itself.”

Spike hummed. “I see your point.” He said. His fingers then began to play with her necklace. Tugging on the chain and the stone. “How are you feeling with this?’ he asked.

“Feels like a weight hanging off me.” She said, relaxing in the lava. “Thinking when we get back I put this in a safe place but have a necklace looking similar to it to wear.”

“Why?” Spike asked. “You've earned this. This jewel, the power.”

“It's the temptation of using its power.” Rachel explained. “The power of both stones combined is something that literally no one possessed since their creations. It saved you, yes, but this power…it's dangerous to have it out, especially when our son has his eyes on this since bringing him home. Last thing we need is to wake up and Igneous has it in his claws and disaster happens. Or him eating it. He's starting to put gems in his mouth and gum them up.”

“Yeah, that's smart. I understand that.” Spike said, seeing that scenario play out and just seeing potential chaos.

That small piece of the Bloodstone could still do a lot of damage if in the wrong hands. Seeing Rachel wanting to play it safe only confirms more of his decision of giving it to her was one of the best things Spike could have done.

“Hey baby, there's something I need to talk to you about.” Spike said. “I may have fudged the truth about this trip.”

“What do you mean?” Rachel asks, pulling away from him a little.

Spike continued to gaze at her. “This may sound crazy and literally spur of the last moment but… When I proposed to you, I had every intention of us having a wedding. And I was wondering that after we deal with the Humans is to have our wedding. Here on Earth.”

Rachel's eyes widened. “A wedding? Spike, with everything going on, a wedding is the last thing on my mind.”

“I know.”

“We don't have to have a ceremony to say we're married. As far as I'm concerned and everyone else, we're already husband and wife. I'm happy to have just that.”

Spike smiled when she referred to herself as his wife, loved that even.

“With everything we've been through in the past couple of years, a wedding is exactly what we need. To celebrate our love and relish how far we came from from our early beginnings. Every pony we know is already here and more will be arriving soon. I want to give you everything you deserve Rach. No expenses limited. You said you wanted one moment without violence, without War breathing down our neck, this is that moment.” He said before pulling her close to him again.

This time having her sitting on his lap facing him.

“I appreciate that, I do, but there's so much to do with planning a wedding especially on such short notice. There's the venue, the guest list, decorations, catering, the cake, the dresses.” Rachel groaned. “I don't even have a dress.”

“Baby, baby, relax. We have that covered, we do. We basically have an army here at the Temple that can help with the majority of the planning. We also have friends on this side that could help. Especially with my bride's dress woes.”

Rachel knew exactly who he meant. “You sure you will mind being around her?”

“Not the same Rarity, it's all good.” He assures her. Having no problems with Elizabeth/Rarity.

Spike slides his hands up her back, feeling her soft fur and the small spikes on her spine. “So, are we getting married?”

Rachel took in everything he said. Couldn't argue his logic. She wraps her arms around his neck. “We're getting married.” She sings.

Then the two kissed. It was slow, lips grazing. But with the second and third pass, a passion ignited between them. Lips parted and their mouths fused, their long tongues wrestled and twisted together. Moaning as they shared a single breath, panting as the intensity grew.

And when Rachel feels his dragonhood getting hardened underneath her, she moans and pulls away from his lips. “Hmm, someone's getting excited. Are you sure you're ready for this?” She asked in an alluring tone. “We could wait until our wedding night.”

Spike grinned, his hands roamed to her ass, cupping both of her cheeks. “Oh, I got something planned for our wedding night, don't you worry about that.”

Getting a good hold of her, Spike hefted his mate up, carrying her out of the Lava pools, carrying her further on the walkway until putting her down. Laying her down on the ground and laid on top of her.

“Waking up from stasis, when I first saw you, all I thought was having you.” He purred, nibbling on her neck.

Rachel moaned softly, her legs wrapped around his waist.

“Then have me.”

Without waiting anymore, the two enjoyed themselves for the evening.

Because when morning comes, their ten days here on Earth begins.

Author's Note

Let's hope the planning, the Human Assembly doesn't become a huge cluster fuck 🤣