//------------------------------//
// Settling In 
// Story: Shakespony: Twelfth Night 
// by DisneyFanatic23 
//------------------------------//

	Their room was more of a closet, containing no furniture but a set of bunks and a single wooden chest. Caramel set the red trunk down and let out an exhausted breath.

"You two are lucky to have a room to yourselves," he said. "I have to share a room with three other stallions! Do you two want a minute alone or shall I take you back upstairs now?"

"Give us a minute," Applejack replied.

Caramel nodded and closed the door behind him. Applejack sighed in relief and fell back on the lower bunk.

"Thank goodness!" she exclaimed. "I was worried they wouldn't buy it!"

"I'd say you convinced 'em that you're a stallion," Applebloom said. "The Duke seemed mighty nice, even if a bit grumpy."

"He was downright rude, that's what he was! He called our accents funny!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that. At least the lady was nice."

Applejack smirked in agreement. "She seems to have more sense than her brother."

"I wish ya hadn't told them I could do housework though. Get real, Applejacqueline! I've never picked up a washcloth in my life!"

"It's not too hard, sister. Besides, you're a filly. I'm sure they'll go easy on ya. And quit calling me Applejacqueline! I'm a boy now, remember?"

"Sorry, sister. I forgot for a moment."

"Brother! I'm yerr brother!"

Applebloom groaned. "Sorry! You've been my sister all my life! Ya can't expect me to get used to ya bein' a boy so..."

Applejack covered her sister's mouth. "Keep it down! Ya want all of Illyrimane to hear ya?"

Caramel knocked on the door. "Is everything alright in there?"

The siblings pulled away from each other.

"Yeah!" Applejack called before whispering to her sister. "Look, I'm not comfortable with this lie either, but if any pony finds out who we really are, we could get in trouble. If any pony asks about our past, stick to the story I told ya."

"But what if they ask me somethin' ya didn't tell me?" Applebloom inquired.

"Then make somethin' up, just don't reveal anythin' about my real gender or our station."

"I still feel bad about this."

"It won't be forever, little sis." She knelt down and laid her hooves on the filly. "When the captain returns, we can go home. Just keep quiet, do whatever the Duke Spike and Lady Twilight tell ya and don't lose hope. Understand?"

Applebloom nodded. "I understand, sis...I mean...brother."





When the siblings returned to the throne room, the Duke was lying across his seat, his claw to his forehead, his eyes closed. A gray mare with a black mane was playing a sad tune on her cello. Lady Twilight was standing beside him, rolling her eyes at his behavior. Then she noticed Caramel and the new servants.

"Oh, you're back already!" she exclaimed.

Spike opened his eyes and looked over at the pair. "What took you so long?"

The unicorn nudged his head, gesturing for him to sit up. He grudgingly did so and turned to the servants.

"Caramel, you may leave now," Spike ordered.

The stallion bowed and exited the room. Octavia, thinking the Duke would be more focused on the new servants, ceased her playing. However, this was not what the dragon wanted.

"Don't stop!" he bellowed. "Keep playing!"

Octavia sighed and obeyed her master.

"So anyway," Spike said, addressing Applebloom, "my sister and I have decided that you will work in the kitchen and help our chef, Gustav le Grand, as well as attend Twilight whenever she calls for you. She'll give you the details."

Twilight approached the filly. She frowned when she finally noticed her tattered gown.

"Is that the only dress you have?" she could not help but ask.

Applebloom hung her head. "I'm afraid so, ma'am."

"Well, I have some old curtains and sewing materials you can use to make a dress. Come, I'll show you."

The filly was excited at the thought of getting a new dress and was about to follow the unicorn when she paused to look back at her sister.

"Be good," Applejack mouthed.

Applebloom nodded and ran to catch up with Twilight. Spike jumped off his throne and started walking towards the disguised mare.

"As for you, Applesauce..."

"Applejack," she quickly corrected.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving his claw dismissively. "As I was saying, your duties are simple, but you must stick to them. I don't like it when ponies are lazy. You must be at my beck and call every second of every day. I might ask you to fetch me something or to deliver a letter. When you are not running errands for me, I expect you to be sharing cleaning duties with the other servants. I have no housekeeper, you see. Mares are a pain to keep."

Octavia stopped playing for a moment to clear her throat, while Applejack resisted the urge to stomp her hoof and protest. She took a deep breath and calmed her frustration.

"I understand, my lord."

"Good," Spike said bluntly. He turned to Octavia. "Who told you to stop playing?"

"Apologies, my lord," the musician grunted. "I was distracted."

"Well, don't let it happen again!" He whispered to Applejack. "It's so hard to find good musicians these days. I mean the best I could find was a female!"

The disguised mare's face grew hot with anger. She did not know how much longer she could take his sexist comments.

Spike sat back on his throne and gestured to the space beside him. "Sit down."

After taking another deep breath, Applejack took a seat on the floor next to the Duke. The dragon leaned his head on his claw as he listened to Octavia's cello. Applejack waited patiently for him to give her another order or at least say something. The silence was awkward, despite the music playing.

"How do you like this song?" Spike asked abruptly.

It took her a second to realize he was genuinely asking for her opinion. She did not expect a noble like him to do such a thing.

"Oh, uh..." she stammered.

She took a moment to listen to the tune herself.

"Personally, I think it's quite depressin'. It makes me think of..." She paused. "Some pony I lost."

Spike nodded in understanding. He flipped onto his belly and leaned his head on his fists.

"Apple John..."

"Applejack."

"Right. Applejack, have you ever been in love?"

The mare blinked in confusion. That question had come out of nowhere.

"No, my lord," she admitted. "I've never had the fortune to..."

Spike scoffed. "Fortune, indeed! Let me tell you something, Apple Pie..."

"Applejack."

"Whatever! Let me tell you something! Love stinks! Oh, it's wonderful at first, until the lady rips your heart out, throws it on the ground in front of you and dances on it!"

She grimaced at the image that came to mind. Octavia's playing slowed down for a second as she heard the Duke's passionate statement. The dragon slumped in his seat, his tiny arms crossed. Applejack saw a tear fall from his eye and for the first time, felt pity for him.

"I reckon there's a mare involved here?"

She already knew the answer, but she learnt from her brother that the best way for one to ease pain is to talk about it. Spike looked at his page and nodded.

"Is she pretty?" she asked with a smirk.

"She's beautiful!" the dragon breathed. "The moment I saw her, her pure white fur, her gorgeously styled mane and her sapphire blue eyes, I was turned into a lovesick school pony. Even her name is beautiful. Rarity!" He sighed dreamily. "Oh, it's like the sound of diamonds delicately falling one by one into a crystal bowl."

He then furrowed his brow angrily. "But she couldn't care less about it! I tell her I love her, I send her gifts, and she still rejects me!"

"Have ya tried flowers?" Applejack suggested.

"That was the first thing I tried! Then I tried poems, jewels...and let me tell you, those were not easy to give away!"

"I've heard of this Lady Rarity and that her brother died recently."

"Yes! Now she refuses all my messengers, telling them that for seven years, in honor of her brother, she will walk around with a veil, refuse any male from seeing her face, dress in black and will not admit any kind of suit."

"Wow," Applejack uttered in surprise. "That sounds...dramatic."

She, herself, was upset with her own brother's death, but she knew Big Macintosh would not want her to stay sad forever. If anything, she would prefer the company of others. That way, she would not feel alone.

"If I may speak freely, my lord," she said carefully, "wouldn't it be best to court a mare more...available?"

"What?!" Spike shouted. "And betray my love for Rarity?!"

"But my lord, from the way you describe her, I'd say the lady is...uninterested. After all, she is more concerned with her brother's death than..."

"Don't you see? This vigil of hers makes her all the more desirable!"

Applejack blinked. "Ya lost me, sir."

"If she can have this much love for her brother, imagine how much love she'll give her husband!"

"Good grief," the mare said under her breath.

Applejack never really considered herself a romantic, though she preferred to choose her own husband. After watching the dragon, she did not plan on becoming romantic any time soon. If this was what happened to romantics, she figured it was not worth it.

"Enough!" Spike said suddenly and Octavia stopped. "It's not so sweet now as it was before. You can take a break now, Miss Octavia."

"Finally!" the mare breathed.

The Duke jumped off his throne. "You know what I feel like? A walk in the garden! Why don't you join me, Apple Core? I'll give you a tour of the castle grounds."

The orange mare gritted her teeth as she followed him. "It's Applejack!"





"What do you think of our garden?" Spike inquired.

Truthfully, Applejack thought it was quite impressive. There were flowers of many kinds: roses, buttercups, violets, lilies, tulips and more.

"Very well tended," she said in awe.

"I'm sorry there are no apple trees," he said with a shrug. "I hear Haystings grows the best apples in the world, am I right?"

Applejack smiled at the memory of the orchard back home. "You'd be right, my lord."

"That explains your name." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Speaking of which, sorry I didn't get your name right a few times. It's nothing personal. I'm just bad with names."

The mare shrugged. "Well, what's in a name? That which we call an apple by any other name would taste as sweet."

Spike stopped and turned to her with a smirk. "You weren't kidding when you said you had a way with words."

She did not know why, but she found herself blushing. It was strange, for this was not something she often did.

"That's why I hired you," the dragon continued. "I have a job to be done and I think you're the colt to do it."

"What kind of job, sir?" Applejack asked.

"I'll tell you later."

He walked a few steps and leaned forward to sniff a rose.

"Ah," he sighed. "So lovely!" His face fell. "Just like her."

Applejack shook her head. She hoped the captain would hurry back soon. She was not sure how much more of this nonsense she could take.





Iron Will searched the town for a stable, or at least a cart that would take him to Haystings. Perhaps if they had traveled by land before, though it would have taken longer, they would not be in this mess.

The minotaur did not look where he was going and bumped into someone. He fell backward into a melon cart, bursting a melon open and squirting juice onto the shirt of the pony he had collided into. He looked up and saw that it was not a pony, but a well-dressed, very cross donkey with a head of black hair. He glared at the minotaur.

"You...you..."

"Iron Will apologizes, sir!" the captain said as he rose. "Iron Will was not watching where...

"YOU'VE RUINED MY SUIT, YOU IDIOT!"

The minotaur scowled. He did not like it when others yelled at him.

"Excuse me, sir!" he shouted. "But perhaps you should watch where you're going! You do not want to make Iron Will angry!"

The donkey gasped. "Are you threatening me?"

"What if I am?"

"Guards!"

Two unicorn officers rushed to the donkey's aid. He pointed accusingly at Iron Will.

"This...this...monster attacked me!"

The minotaur blinked. "What? But I..."

"Arrest him at once!"

Iron Will held out his hands in protest, only to have a pair of metal cuffs slapped onto his wrists.

"Come along quietly, sir," one of the guards said, "and you will not be harmed."

"But Iron Will is innocent!" the minotaur cried as the soldiers took him by the arms.

He ripped himself out of their grasp, but the unicorns used their magic to trap him in a bubble. Iron Will was paralyzed, but he could still think. He was thinking about Applejacqueline and Applebloom and how they were going to get home now.





"Do you like it?" Applebloom asked as she twirled around, showing off her new dress.

"It's nice," Applejack said indifferently.

"The Lady Twilight said she's goin' to bring me new fabrics so I can make more gowns! She's so nice! She showed me the whole manor! Oh, have you seen the library? It's huge!"

"I've seen it."

"And did you know the chef is a griffin? Do ya know what a griffin is? He's half eagle, half lion! He's Prench, too!"

"That's nice."

"Then Lady Twilight showed me her dresses." She stuck out her tongue. "Not only do they need a good mendin' but a head to hoof makeover! She may be nice, but she has poor taste in fashion. So how was the Duke?"

Applejack groaned and fell back on her cot. "He's unbelievable! He wouldn't stop talkin' about that mare! Rarity this! Rarity that! Rarity's so pretty! Not only is he a nervous wreck, but he's so rude! All those things he said about mares! He's no better than Prince Blueblood!"

"Oh, come on," Applebloom said. "I'm sure he's not that bad."

"You weren't there! Ugh! That dragon is a snob just like all the other nobles! I don't see why he wants me anyway. All I did was follow him around all day and listen to him jabber on and on about how miserable he is! What does he take me for? A psychiatrist?"

The filly was about to respond when some pony knocked on the door. Lady Twilight's voice was heard.

"May I come in?"

Applejack climbed down and straightened her jacket. "Of course, milady."

The unicorn entered, carrying a stack of cloth with her magic.

"I found some fabrics for you, Applebloom," she said. "I hope they will do."

Applebloom's amber eyes glinted with excitement as she took the material in her hooves.

"Thank you, milady!"

The unicorn giggled. "Oh please, sweetie. You can call me Twilight."

"Okay, Twilight!" The filly set the fabrics down on her bed and examined them. "Gee, where can I start?"

Applejack smiled at her sister and turned to Twilight. "This was very kind of ya, milady, but you didn't have to bring these down yourself."

"Oh, I don't mind," the unicorn said with a shrug. "You're probably wondering why we have no housekeeper or maids. Well, housework relaxes me, so I prefer to do it on my own."

The disguised mare nodded. "That's a practical hobby, not something you'd expect from a lady of the court."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "It's just a stupid title. It doesn't mean anything. Spike is the one with power."

"Why'd your father make him heir and not you, milady?"

"Society expects a male heir." The unicorn chuckled. "You think I'm jealous, don't you? Well, I suppose it's a little strange that Father gave the title to his adopted child and not his blood child, but honestly, I don't mind. I'm not really interested in politics anyway."

"I'd think you'd make an excellent ruler, milady."

Twilight blushed. "Thank you. Hey, I wanted to tell you that I'm really glad you two showed up here. I'm amazed at how much my brother favors you after only knowing you for a day!"

Applejack scrunched her nose. "Favors me?"

"Of course! Didn't you see him smiling today? He hasn't smiled in months! And I saw him giving you a tour of the manor. He never does that for any pony! Don't forget he gave you two a room to yourselves! Why, he hasn't been that generous since... What else did you two do?"

The disguised mare shrugged. "I don't know. He just had me follow him around, talked about the Lady Rarity, asked me what I thought of the music and the garden..."

"He asked you for your opinion?! He never asks any pony for their opinion! He never even asks me for my opinion! He doesn't listen to any pony else's opinion unless it matches his own!"

She stared at Applejack in awe. "How do you do it?"

Applejack could not respond, for she was trying to process the lady's words. Did the Duke really favor her? Despite his arrogance, had he been giving her special treatment all this time?

"Well," Twilight said, "you've certainly made a change in him. You know, he may seem thick-skinned, but he has a good heart. I hope you'll stay with us long. We're going to be good friends, you and I!"

Applejack could not help but smile. She had never had a female friend her age before. The maids back home were either too old or too young and all the noblemares who came to visit were either too snooty or wanted nothing to do with her. She wanted to get better acquainted with the unicorn, but then remembered she was supposed to be a stallion and should be careful. She did not want Twilight or any pony to get the wrong impression.

"I look forward to servin' ya, milady," Applejack replied.

"Please," the unicorn said. "Call me Twilight. 'Milady' makes me feel so old!"

The two mares giggled. Applejack then realized how shrill her laughter was and coughed deeply to cover it up.

"Well, I must be off," Twilight said. "It's getting late and I want to finish that chapter of Magical Myths and Legends before bed. Goodnight, Applejack! Goodnight, Applebloom!"

"Goodnight!" the siblings said in unison.

Once the lady was gone, Applejack turned to her sister. "You're right. She is nice."

"Told ya!" Applebloom exclaimed. "Wow, Applejacqueli...err, Applejack! Only a day at work and you're already in the Duke's favor!"

"Yeah," Applejack uttered.

"And he's really not that bad. I'm sure you'll like him better once ya get to know him."

"Sure."

The filly looked at her slyly. "He's kinda cute too."

The mare blushed a deep red. She then laughed and playfully nudged her sister.

"Oh, you little whipper-snapper! The very idea!"

"Why not?" Applebloom inquired.

"First of all, hon, he's our master. Our relationship must remain professional. Second, I'm supposed to be a stallion, remember? Third, ya know he's in love with some pony else."

The filly shrugged. "Hey, I was just teasin'."

"Well, don't."

As Applejack flopped down on her bed, she muttered to herself. "Me and the Duke...of all the..."

She then thought of Spike's adorable eyes, his adorable face and his adorable smile and could not help but blush.





At first, he could only see shapes. Then his vision came into focus and he saw a straw ceiling.

"Oh, thank Celestia!" said a female voice. "I nearly thought you dead!"

The stallion turned his head to see a blue unicorn maiden with platinum hair sitting in a chair beside him. A wide grin was upon her face, her violet eyes shining with joy.

"Who are ya?" he uttered, attempting to rise. "Where am I?" He stopped and clutched his head. "Why does my head hurt?" Then he looked down and realized that his fur had changed color. "And why am I orange?"

"Take it easy!" the mare urged, trying to get him to lie back down. "You had a nasty blow to the head. I tried to use a healing spell on you, but..." She blushed with embarrassment. "It instead turned your coat a lighter hue. The effects should wear off...eventually."

"But how did I get here? And who are you?"

The mare's smile faded and she hesitated in answering. "My...name is...is...Trixie. Trixie Lulamoon. You're in my cottage, just outside Illyrimane. You were lying on the beach and I brought you here."

She remembered how she had found him nearly dead. His brilliant emerald-green eyes had opened for a moment and locked with hers before closing again. She blushed at the memory of how in the process of feeling his pulse, she had felt his strong muscles.

"Illyrimane?" the stallion said. "The beach?"

He rubbed his head. He rememberd now. There was a storm, his little sister had fallen in the water, he had rushed to save her, he had placed her on a raft, the ship had exploded, he found his other sister and pushed her onto the wood and then...everything went black.

He gasped and sat up. "My sisters! Where are my sisters?!"

"Your...sisters?"

"Where are they?!"

The unicorn looked at him sadly. "You...you were the only one I found. I...I didn't see others."

Tears formed in the stallion's eyes. "Then they are drowned." He buried his face in his hooves. "Oh, sweet Applejacqueline! Dear little Applebloom!"

Trixie sympathetically put her hoof on his shoulder. "I am sorry. I lost my family as well. But cheer up. At least you survived."

The stallion raised his eyes to meet the mare's and sighed. "You shouldn't have saved me. If you had not, I would have died with my sisters! We could've been together!"

The unicorn shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. That's no way to talk! If your sisters were here, I'm sure they'd want you to live instead of sulk. Now lie down. I'll make you some soup."

The stallion nodded to her. "Thank you, madam."

Trixie smiled, her cheeks blushing again. "What's your name, sir?"

Like her, he hesitated in answering. "Big Mac. My name is Big Mac."