Applejack continued to watch the clock to determine exactly how long Spike had been gone. He left at around ten, but now it was almost two in the afternoon! Applejack looked out her window to try and spot the young dragon, but she couldn't find a trace of him. So, she passed the long and weary hours by watching Big Macintosh hard at work.
"Jumpin' horseshoes!" She exclaimed when Big Mac nearly kicked down a full grown tree. It creaked underneath the blow and almost snapped right in half had Apple Bloom not intervened and straightened it back out.
"You OK, big brother?" Apple Bloom inquired.
"Yep," The red stallion did not make eye contact with Apple Bloom as he moved on to the next tree.
"I don't believe ya!" The stubborn filly yelled, running to catch up with him. "You're big brother to the Element of Honesty, so ah can tell when yer lyin'!"
Big Mac sighed and half-heartedly kicked the next tree. He winced in embarrassment when three apples landed straight on Apple Bloom's head. Her eyes went derpy for only a few seconds before she shook her head to get the fogginess out. Big Mac smiled when Apple Bloom gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.
"Come on, what's wrong?"
Big Mac grumbled, still refusing to let Apple Bloom lecture him.
"Don't make me tickle you!"
He rolled his eyes and then sat down on the floor as he gave in to Apple Bloom's talking.
"Ah miss workin' with Applejack."
Applejack flinched when she heard the sorrow etched into her brother's voice. She watched as the two cuddled close together in the apple field and comfort each other.
"Ah miss that, too, big brother." She noticed a tear on Big Mac's face and she wiped it away with her hoof. "But there ain't nothin' we can do about it! Applejack needs us and we ain't gonna let 'er down... are we?" Big Mac stood defiantly and sniffled a few times to compose himself.
"Nope!"
"That's mah big brother!" She leaped to her hooves as well and then they both went back to work.
Applejack whimpered as she watched them working together. She looked on them with lust and jealousy as they turned their working day into a game. Big Mac bucked the tree while Apple Bloom balanced a basket on her head and caught them. Applejack's stomach turned to knots when they collapsed onto the ground and started laughing their hearts out.
"Ah miss workin' with you two, too." Applejack sighed. She looked down at her sorry excuse for a leg and scowled at the bandages entwined around it. "And who says ah can't?!"
"Care to try one, Rarity?"
The uncomfortable unicorn gazed steadily at the young dragon in front of her as he held up his plate of 'roasted apples'. Rarity's nostrils cringed when the scent wafted up them, but quickly tried to cover her disgusted expression with a smile.
"I had a big lunch!" She lied.
"It's... 10 in the morning. You sure have your lunch awful early each day!"
"Breakfast! I meant breakfast!"
"Oh, that's right! I remember now." He lowered the plate and placed it on her kitchen table. "Perhaps Sweetie Belle will try them?" He suggested.
"Oh... uh..." She started thinking of excuses to tell him. "She's... at one of her silly Cutie Mark Crusader meetings and won't be back until much later in the day. I don't think these apples will be quite as... delicious a few hours from now."
"Oh, OK. I understand."
...
"Ahem..." Rarity cleared her throat as the awkward silence continued. Spike couldn't help but stare at the beauty before him.
Just look at the flowing purple mane! It cascades perfectly down her neck! And her deep blue eyes remind me of sapphires! And her white coat... so... beauti-
Spike smacked himself across the face and gave her an embarrassed smile.
"So, what are you doin' today?" He asked.
"Oh... uh..." She glanced around her shop. PLEASE tell me there's something I need to work on! "Ah!" She ran over to a pony mannequin and smiled. "I haven't completed the... uh... dresses for Sapphire Shores yet! She just ordered... uh... eight new gowns that she wants by tomorrow!" She quickly pushed Spike out the door along with his apples. "So sorry that I don't have time to talk!"
Then she slammed the door.
"Huh..." Spike thought out loud. "Rarity's kind of a procrastinator when it comes to things like this. She's always rushing to fill every order!" Then he froze and actually thought about this. "Or maybe she's coming up with excuses as to why she doesn't want to hang out with me!"
...
"NAH! That couldn't be true!"
Spike skipped down the road, humming a lovestruck tune as he made his way towards Twilight's house.
"Twilight is sure to like these!"
He approached the library and was about to knock on the door, when he noticed a note hanging from the mahogany wood. He placed his apples on the ground and ripped the note off.
To anypony who comes by here,
I am terribly sorry that I am not here to help you with your book rentals (or other matters), but I'm afraid that Princess Celestia has called me to Canterlot to stay there for a few weeks. If you need me, then contact Spi-
Spike noticed that most of that word was scribbled out and smudged, so he continued reading what Twilight had put in its place.
... Derpy Hooves so that she can bring your letters to me.
Thanks again!
Princess Twilight Sparkle
"She never told me that she was going to Canterlot!" Spike yelled angrily, tearing up the note and snorting fumes of smoke. "Why wouldn't she tell me that?!" He took in a deep breath and set the note on fire. The green flames soon engulfed the paper and left only a pile of ash.
"And furthermore, why would she tell them to bring their messages to DERPY?!" He roared in fury. "I'M the one who's responsible for sending mail anywhere when it concerns Twilight! Me! Me! ME!"
"Uh... you OK, Spike?"
Spike quickly turned around to see the bright pink earth pony staring right at him.
"No, I'm not OK, Pinkie Pie." He sat down in sorrow, sending up a cloud of dust that flew right into Pinkie Pie's nose. She gasped a couple of times, preparing for the sneeze, but then sighed in relief when no sneeze came.
"Well, why not?" She sat down beside him and cuddled his arm.
"Twilight didn't tell me that she was going to Canterlot!" He yanked his arm away from her and crossed them in front of his chest.
"Twilight went... WHERE?!"
"She didn't tell you either?!"
"No sirree bob!" She said with a smile. Spike rolled his eyes at the obnoxious mare, but then sniffled in a cry. "Oh, don't cry, Spike." She placed her hoof on his shoulder.
"I'm not crying!" He stood up quickly and started to walk away from her.
"Wait! Aren't these yours?"
Spike turned around to see Pinkie Pie holding the plate of roasted apples high into the air. She then sniffed and let out a pleasurable sigh.
"Ooh! These smell delicious!" She brought the plate back down and closely examined the closest one. "May I have one?"
"Sure. Why not? Nopony else wants one!" He grumbled.
"Oh, thanks!" She popped an entire apple into her mouth and chewed contently. Spike watched in anticipation as the pony dragged her jaw this way and that (to be honest, only Pinkie Pie could make chewing look hard).
Then she swallowed and sat stock still.
"Well? Did you like it?" Spike asked.
"That..."
"Yes?"
"Was..."
"Yes?!"
...
"WELL?!"
"Delicious!" Pinkie Pie sprung up into the air and playfully threw party streamers. Spike smiled briefly and then picked up his plate of apples to head back to the farm.
"Thanks, Pinkie," he said, slowly walking home. "That really... helped."
As Spike walked off, Pinkie Pie grinned with pride.
"Told ya I could make anypony smile... err... any dragon!" She collapsed onto the floor in a pile of laughs at her own joke and continued to repeat the punchline over and over and over and over and over and... well, you get the point.
Then, she finally sneezed.
The crickets outside were unusually loud tonight as Applejack wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. She shivered when a cold breeze blew into her room from the orchard and brushed up against her coat.
"No backin' out tonight." Applejack whispered to herself as she steadily clambered into her wheelchair. She opened up her bedroom door and cringed when it creaked on the hinges. She looked around to see if anypony had heard, but when she noticed that nopony had, she rolled into the hallway.
Thankfully, Granny Smith had added a little concoction to the wheels to help Applejack grip them better and for her to actually be able to move on her own. She smiled with pleasure as she drifted through the hall and towards the ramp that led downstairs.
"Oh, my..." She muttered when she saw the angle of descent. Spike had been the one to push her up the stairs, but now it looked like it was trickier to get down.
"Don't back down. Don't back down." She whispered as the front wheels came to the edge of the ramp. She took in a gulp of fear and then pushed forward.
"WHOA!" The wheelchair thundered down the ramp at an impressive speed, but too fast for Applejack to brake! She collided with the bookshelf in the living room and shuddered in worry when the books smashed into the floor. "Oh, no!" She didn't wait for anypony to come down the stairs to stop her, so she wheeled herself outside as quickly as she could.
"Nopony's gonna stop me!" She declared, a little too loudly, as she threw open the door. The icy blast hit Applejack like a hammer when she rushed through the night in her chair. She stopped more than once to catch her breath in the thin air, but continued all the same.
She was heading for a secluded part of the farm where she hoped nopony would find her until she had completed her task. Once she arrived, she slowly wheeled up to a tree and gazed up the long trunk.
"You've gotten big, Blumberg Jr." Applejack whispered and stroked the rough bark. Saliva oozed out of her mouth as she looked up at the delectable apples on the branches. "Just right."
Applejack steadily placed her front hooves on the ground, then her back left leg. She hopped over to the base of the tree, holding her bad leg high into the air so that it wouldn't bump into anything. Then she stared defiantly at the tree and glanced down to her bandages.
"Nothin' and nopony's gonna keep me from doin' mah job!"
She twisted around, aiming her back legs for the kick. Her right kicker tightened in pain, but Applejack shook the tears from her eyes and willed her leg to stay there. She took in a deep breath and sighed it right back out.
Now!
"Applejack! What are you doing?!"
She opened her eyes for a brief second to see Spike stampeding towards her, still wearing his sleeping cap that he had received from Pinkie Pie on his last birthday. Applejack growled under her breath and still prepared for the kick.
"Stop!"
Ignore him. Applejack took in another deep breath and-
"Don't!"
"Oof!"
Spike tackled Applejack to the ground just moments away from her kick. She yelped in pain when Spike's knee dug into her bad leg and gritted her teeth to keep her from crying. Spike quickly got up and helped her to her hooves.
"What do you think you were doing?!" The young dragon screamed.
"Mah job!" Applejack retorted.
"Applejack, you can't apple buck anymore! Unless you want the doctor to have to amputate your leg, then I suggest you do what he says and stay off of it!"
"Why should ah keep mah leg when ah can't even use it?!" She placed her weight on it and immediately cried out and fell to the ground. Spike leaned down to help her. "Ah don't need yer help!"
"Yes, you do!"
Then, Spike did the unexpected: he carried Applejack to her chair. She stared at the dragon and gasped quietly to herself when she noticed the differences in him. He had gotten bigger! She looked him over and soon even noticed something more shocking.
"Spike..."
"What?" He grumbled when he placed her into the chair.
"Ya have wings."
"I have what?"
"Ya... have... wings!" She gestured with her hoof to point out the two small wings protruding from Spike's back. His eyes widened in shock as he continued to spin around in circles to try and get a better look.
"How is that possible?"
"Ah don't know..."
Applejack immediately stopped talking when Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith came running up to them.
"What's goin' on? We heard a big commotion downstairs and found Applejack gone!" Apple Bloom hollered.
"We thought somethin' had happened!" Granny Smith added.
"Yep!" (Guess who said that)
"I'm fine." Applejack muttered, still staring at Spike's wings.
"An' when did Spike get back?" Apple Bloom asked. Spike blushed in embarrassment at the question and turned away from the group.
"I'd... rather not talk about it."
Applejack sympathized with the dragon at that point.
We BOTH have issues to hide.
"Well, let's get back in the house." Granny Smith declared as she placed her hooves on Applejack's handles. She quietly rolled Applejack back into her room and helped her back into the bed. Applejack sighed in contentment when she placed her head on the pillow and started to drift off.
But something kept nagging her at the back of her mind.
Why is Spike growin'? She thought silently. The last time he did that was when he got...
Applejack gulped in fear.
Greedy.