//------------------------------// // 2: The Monster Under the Bed // Story: Fiery Incantation // by SapphireStarlightPony //------------------------------// Chapter 2 The Monster Under the Bed “Now Rarity you listen up! Ah'm comin' in there whether ya like it or not!” Applejack felt like a right foal, was having a shouting match with the shut door. She'd knocked twice so far without an answer from Rarity and something about blossoming scales and claws had put the new dragoness in no mood to deal with Rarity's latest existential crisis. “Why don't we just go inside?” Spike grumbled from atop her back. “Door's locked,” Applejack answered, knocking again. “But I’m so hungry... can’t you just break it down,” Spike said, flopping on his back to stare at the sky. The library wasn't that far away, but something about the thought of all those gems on the other side of the fragile wooden door made Applejack eager to stay. She could knock the door down, the wall if needed, Rarity would understand... Applejack shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “C'mon Rarity, Spike told me what happened already. We're here to help.” The door swung open with a soft click. Sweetie Belle held the knob in one claw, looking up at Applejack in fascination. “Rarity says we're closed for the day,” Sweetie Belle said, measuring Applejack's response. “Sweetie Belle?” Applejack said, recoiling in surprise. She twisted her neck around, her transformation making it easy to look Spike right in the eye. “I thought you said it was just Rarity.” “It was,” Spike said, peeking over Applejack's broad shoulders. “Woah! Hi Sweetie Belle!” “Hi Spike!” Sweetie Belle waved a claw, grinning. “I'm a dragon too now!” “Oh trust me, we can tell,” Applejack said, looking back down at the little filly-turned-dragon. Swathes of the ruined gown were wrapped tightly around her altered frame, torn to shreds by her increased size. Spike hopped down to get a closer look and smiled hopefully. “Do you have gems? We're starving!” “Now wait just a minute Spike, when did all this happen Sweetie Belle?” Applejack asked, pointing a slender yellow talon at Sweetie. “Well...” Sweetie Belle said, stalling as she tried to straighten out her story. “So there I was in the kitchen, when all of a sudden Rarity starts screaming 'Out! Out!' and then she started crying, so I figured she was in trouble! So I crept down the hall, and jumped out! There was a HUGE fire-breathing dragon! And I yelled 'Don't worry Rarity! I'll save you!' And then I attacked!” The cotton candy colored spikes on the little dragoness's spine began to sway pendulously with each wave of her arms. Gesturing wildly in the whims of her creativity, Sweetie Belle danced clumsily around the porch. “Take this! And that!” she shouted, wielding her imaginary hoof like a rapier toward Spike. Caught off-guard by his sudden involvement in Sweetie Belle's epic battle, the baby dragon stumbled back and tripped over Applejack's claw. He landed flat on his back. “Take this you ruff... ruffi... bad guy!” Sweetie Belle shouted, sailing through the air. She pancaked Spike, hard. “Oomph!” Sweetie Belle grunted in unison with her surprised victim. She rolled off of the winded dragon and onto her back. Spike stood, staggering until he found refuge against Applejack's foreleg. The bigger dragon watched the proceedings with a soft grin on her face. “Easy there Sugarcube,” Applejack said, stifling a chuckle. “Now, Ah think we both know that's not what happened. This is important, okay?” Still flat on her back, Sweetie Belle frowned and sighed heavily. “Rarity was coming up the stairs to her room and I tripped and rolled down into her. I woke up at the bottom of the stairs like this. Now she's afraid of me.” “Aww I'm sorry Sweetie Belle,” Applejack said, fighting back a growing sense of indignation toward Rarity as Sweetie Belle began to sniffle, her cute little muzzle scrunching up at the unpleasant memory. Applejack could feel a cold growl creeping up her throat. “Applejack?” quavered Sweetie Belle. Applejack looked down to meet Sweetie Belle's worried gaze. “Oh uh... Ah'm just a little hungry, sorry 'bout that,” Applejack said hurriedly, stilling the growl. It was partly true, she thought. Normally her temper wasn't quite so difficult to control. “We've got lots of gems,” Sweetie Belle said, patting her stomach. With a silken groan, the remnants of the dress yielded to the inevitable. Seams parted and the soft fabric gave way to free the little dragoness’ gem-swollen belly. “Stupid gown,” she muttered, picking a few of the larger shredded rags off her scaly belly. “Rarity will be soooo angry.” Applejack thought a moment, looking down at the two youngsters in her company. Sweetie was trying to roll back onto her belly, and Spike was doing his desert island routine again, making grasping motions toward one of Rarity's gem-studded hats. Even Applejack had to admit she'd taken notice of the ruby's scarlet glinting like a ripe red delicious atop a feather bedecked hat. Eating the hat did not seem nearly so far beyond the pale as it should have been. The orange dragoness grimaced. Desperate to avoid what was quickly beginning to seem like the inevitable, Applejack spoke up. “Sweetie Belle why don't you take Spike and get him something to eat. Something that's not part of one of Rarity's fancy get-ups, okay?” With a renewed sense of purpose, Sweetie Belle sprang back to life, hopping up off the ground with a smile. “Okay I can do that!” “Ah'm gonna go have a talk with your sister. Where is she now?” Applejack asked. “She's upstairs with Fluttershy,” Sweetie announced. Applejack flinched like her new tail had just been slammed in the door. “Fluttershy's here too?” Applejack trying to smooth down the rising spikes on her back with willpower alone. Having no luck with that, she stroked them back like an unruly strand of mane with a sweep of her claws “Yeah! She and Rarity go to the spa every week,” Sweetie Belle explained. Compelled to explore the horrible possibilities all the way to the bitter end, Applejack prompted, “Is she a dragon too?” “Yeah but she really doesn't like it.” The little dragoness shook her head. “Not at all. She started freaking out and ran upstairs to hide. I tried to warn her that Rarity was already hiding in there but I don't think she could hear me over all the screaming. I didn't know even know Fluttershy could scream that loud!” “And they're both in the bedroom upstairs?” the orange dragoness asked, hoping beyond hope that the former pegasus hadn’t fled into town. “Yup! Fluttershy's on the bed, and Rarity's under it, and they won't. Come. Out.” Sweetie Belle's slender-bladed tail tip flicked sharply against the ground with each word. She huffed, slouching her weight onto her forelegs til her belly was pressed to the floor and she flopped to the ground in a sprawl. “That's weird, why not?” Spike asked. “Rarity says she's a monster,” Sweetie Belle mumbled. “And Fluttershy?” Spike asked. Applejack's claw smacked into her own face as she shook her head. “Ah'll handle it, you two stay out of trouble.” The stairs felt awfully narrow to the frustrated dragon as she scrambled up each step. The clacking of new class on the wooden floor was still taking some getting used to. The way the digits parted slightly as she put her weight on each altered foot; the ease of gripping the wooden steps with her talons. It was hard to avoid putting fresh gouges in the wood, but Rarity and Fluttershy had already left plenty. Shortly she found herself at another locked door. “Rarity!” Applejack called, knocking. It was irresponsible, what the unicorn had done to her own kin, but the orange dragoness was raised better than to barge in unannounced. She wasn't born in a barn, just near one. “Don't come in!” Rarity shouted, her voice cracking. “Ah have to,” Applejack said sternly. “Now come open this door.” Applejack could hear something bulky shifting beyond the door. In her mind’s eye Applejack could imagine Rarity gesturing with one white-scaled paw, the other pressed to her forehead, as the distressed fashionista cried out, “No! I can't possibly bear the humiliation! I won't be seen in the light!” “Applejack there's a monster under the bed!” Fluttershy gasped out. Applejack rolled her eyes, having just barely heard the pegasus' warning over Rarity's wailing. Applejack snorted through foreign nostrils, surprising herself when it produced a little puff of smoke. Moving carefully so as to not scrape up anything with her sharp-tipped horns, the dragoness put one ear to the door. “So you're not comin' out?” “No! Never again!” Rarity bawled. “That's all Ah needed to hear,” Applejack said, stepping away from the door. “...wait! Applejack?” Rarity peeked out from beneath the bed. The growling presence on the other side of her bedroom door had suddenly gone silent. Rarity knew the farmer mare better than to think she'd gone. Applejack was persistent. It wasn't like her to leave... “Applejack what are you doing out there?” Rarity called, her tears drying up. She scrambled forward on her belly, poking her head out. The door was still shut. Atop the bed, a sunny-scaled dragoness stared down at the back of Rarity's head in wild-eyed terror. With her eyes growing wider by the shadonw, Fluttershy let out a quiet squeak of horror. The bat-winged dragoness took a few steps back, nearly treading upon her long, serpentine tail with a shaking hindfoot. The door burst off its hinges from the force of Applejack’s charge. It clattered across the floor, ruined. Rarity shielded her face with her forelegs. Fluttershy stiffened up like a statue, wings flaring on instinct to steady her as she reared up onto her muscular hind legs. The former pegasus inhaled sharply, as though to let out a banshee-like wail, but the sound never came. Instead, the yellow dragoness wilted like a scorched daffodil, her head pointing skyward for a moment as she let out all her air and then sank heavily into the sheets of the bed. “My door! How brutish!” Rarity barked, quickly retreating to the darkness under the bed. “I told you not to come in. Honestly Applejack! Your manners are wont for improvement.” “Now listen, you,” Applejack growled, her tail snapping against the ground. “You left yer little sister out there all upset. That's not right. Now Ah want you to come out from under there, and behave like an adult.” “No. I won't,” Rarity said, huffing. Applejack couldn't see her, but she was sure the former unicorn was turning her nose up. The farmer peered under the bed to see Rarity's slitted sapphire eyes reflecting back at her. “This whole dragon thing's got everypony, not just you,” Applejack said, hoping to coax out her prissy friend. She was strongly considering coming back with a broom to poke and prod until the uptight unicorn dragon had no other recourse but to emerge. “I don't care,” Rarity said calmly. Applejack could tell Rarity was in for the long haul. She stood up and searched the room, quickly finding something she was fairly certain the seamstress would care about: about a dozen purple gems carefully laid out in a velvet case on the nightstand. “Say Rarity, what're these?” Applejack asked, stuffing a claw full of the bright purple gems under the bed where Rarity could see. Even in the dark the amethyst continued to sparkle from inner lights, crackling like distant exploding stars. “Th-those are my Sparking Amethyst!” Rarity said. “They're very rare, perfect for my new evening wear. They'll be all the rage in Canterlot this autumn I just know it... Applejack I must insist you put those down at once.” Applejack lay on her back, her tail swishing back and forth in slow, deliberate strokes. She tilted her head, watching an upside-down image of Rarity. The unicorn dragon furrowed her brow in confusion. Applejack grinned, holding one of the gems up to the light between two talons. Her beak-like snout parted as she licked the surface of the shimmering gem. The taste was tantalizing to the hungry dragoness. She clutched the case of gems tighter against her side like a bowl of freshly popped corn. “...you wouldn't!” Rarity gasped, her own claws digging into the floor as she looked on in horror. “Wouldn't Ah?” Applejack smirked. She tossed it up into the air and caught it in her mouth like a grape. It crunched easily beneath the force of her draconic jaws. The flavor was surprisingly bright, pouring down her throat like fresh squeezed juice. The delicacy only served to wet the dragoness's appetite further. She'd downed a second before she noticed Rarity was standing next to her now, screaming for her to stop, and a third before the snowy-scaled dragon tackled her, bringing the meal to a violent halt. After a very brief struggle, Applejack retrieved her hat, quickly finding herself in a staring contest with a very angry white dragoness. “You... you... you you … you ATE my Sparking Amethyst! Three of them! Gone forever! Do you know how hard these are to find?” Rarity looked forlornly at the velvet case's three empty sockets. “And they were delicious, Ah'm sure you can find more... but ya only have one little sister. Now, march yerself downstairs, and apologize to Sweetie Belle. Ya called her a monster and then locked her out of yer room for an hour and she's goin' through the same thing you are.” Applejack was practically growling by the end of her lecture. Rarity withered miserably under Applejack's stern gaze. “I suppose I... should... go see how Sweetie Belle is doing...” Rarity said with her beak-like muzzle pointed at the ground. Her eyes strained upward but were only able to rise to about Applejack's chest. “That's more like it,” Applejack said with a satisfied nod. Rarity scurried down the stairs with what grace she could still manage, leaving the farmer to deal with the pink and yellow heap on the bed. Applejack made her appearance in the kitchen not long after. She halted at the foot of the stairs to straighten her hat, still trying to get used to way it rested against her horns. Fluttershy was not with her. “Ah left her a note, thought it best to let her sleep it off,” Applejack said in answer to the questioning faces all turned toward her. “Oh, that's good,” Rarity said. She was meticulously snipping bits of cloth off of Sweetie Belle. The dragoness’ careful claws placed the few surviving pins into a jar. The cloth went into a hamper to be washed and evaluated later. For her part, the young dragoness was smiling now, enjoying the attention despite the bizarre situation. “I sent a letter to the princess just like you said,” Spike said. Gems were disappearing from his bowl, one by one into the baby dragon's mouth. “Speaking of letters,” Rarity said, combing her claws through Sweetie Belle's mane. “I was just wondering Applejack... you see there are no quills in my bedroom.” Rarity stopped what she was doing and looked questioningly at the other adult dragon. For a moment Applejack just stared back, waiting for a question. “Oh,” she said, realization dawning in her slitted emerald eyes. “Just used some of that makeup you've got lying around.” “I see, well that was very resourceful, good thinking, Applejack.” Rarity's voice struggled to maintain its poise. Her right eyelid twitched for a moment before she returned to grooming Sweetie Belle. “Uh huh, thanks...” Applejack said, aware now that this was probably not an appropriate use in the eyes of Ponyville’s most cultured female. “Say, Spike...” Applejack said, eyeing his bowl of colorful gems. She could still taste the sweet flavor of the Sparking Amethyst lingering in the cleft of her bifurcated tongue. “Want some?” Spike asked, pushing the bowl over to her. Needing no further invitation, Applejack lowered her muzzle to delve into the bowl of shimmering delights. She wolfed down several mouthfuls that seemed far juicier than something made of crystal had any right to be. It was hard to stop, but she resisted the urge to gorge herself, stopping with a fourth (or was it fifth?) foray back into the bowl. “Okay,” Applejack said, pushing the bowl away, but keeping her eye on it. “I think we should go over to Twilight's, and see if she can fix this... whatever this is that's going on.” “Is she a dragon too?” Rarity asked. “Yup!” Spike said, fishing the bowl back away from Applejack. “Since this morning.” “So it's very important, that none of us go infectin' anypony else,” Applejack said. “The less movin' around the better. So we're gonna go together to see Twilight. Sweetie Belle, Ah need you to stay here with Fluttershy. Make sure when she wakes up that she doesn't leave, ya got that?” Sweetie Belle nodded sharply. “I'm on it! Should I get Scootaloo and Apple Bloom to come help?” “No, you need to stay here too,” Rarity said. “Watch the shop, make sure the door stays locked. Okay?” “Okay,” Sweetie Belle said. She scampered over to the stairs and took position like a guard dog. Rarity cringed inwardly at the thought of leaving her there alone... unsupervised... with the kitchen. A thin shaft of light fell across Applejack’s eye, narrowing her already thin-slitted pupil further as she peered out into the streets of Ponyville. It was only a short trot to Books and Branches through the center of town, through a bustling market, brimming with shopping ponies. Of course, there were other ways to get to Twilight Sparkle’s, but the orange dragoness could only imagine the havoc a small parade of dragons would cause, even in the sparsest edges of town. It had been hard enough avoiding detection when she had made the short jaunt to Rarity’s with Spike. “Uh... Ah’m thinkin’ maybe we should wait ‘til after dark,” Applejack said, looking out through the crack in the door at the passing ponies. Behind her, she could hear Rarity heave a sigh of relief.