“Spike.”

“Spiiike.”

“Spike, please wake up sugarcube.”

“Mmm-whuh, What? What happened? Where am I?” Spike slowly came back to reality, and as his vision began to focus, he noticed he was in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack was looking down at him with a concerned look on her face.

“Y’all went and ran into an apple tree. I found you laying on the grass out cold.”

“Man, I must’ve been more out of it than I thought...” Spike muttered to himself.

“What brought you to Sweet Apple Acres anyway, and why’d you go and ram yourself into an apple tree? I found more apples lying on the ground than if I’d buck it ten times! Heck, even some of the green ones fell down.”

Spike looked away from Applejack, the memory of the past day rushing back to him.

“I don’t want to talk about it...”

Applejack could see something was seriously wrong; the little dragon looked more sorrowful than she has ever seen him.

“What is troubling you Spike? You know you can tell me anything...”

Spike’s eyes began to tear up. He really had nowhere to turn.

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course sugarcube, I am the element of honesty after all, and part of honesty is being able to keep the promises I make.”

“Well...”

“Look Spike, I want to help you, but I can only do that if you tell me what is wrong.”

“I’m in love with Twilight...”

Applejack’s mind almost burnt out at that statement, but after a moment she realized that it’s understandable. Why wouldn't he be in love with Twilight? Sure they are different species, and they are a few years apart, but why not? They’re closer than most ponies are to their mates as is. Heck, it could be said that they might be soul mates. She made the decision that she would help Spike in any way she could, and she wasn’t going back on her promise now.

“Um, so, did you tell her how you feel about her?”

“No, but she kind of found out on her own. I wrote poetry about her, and I hid it in our room, but she found it. Now that I think of it, I never really bothered to hide it very well...”

“So, what happened? Did she reject your love?”

“Not exactly...”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I kissed her. But, I, I sh-shouldn’t.” Spike was stuttering. He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. His heart was pouring out of his emerald green eyes. He cried dragon tears, and his tears started boiling. The steam of his heartache was sizzling on the ground, scalding all around him.

“Now, now Spike... Calm down. What happened? Did she pull back? Did she scream at you? What in tarnation is wrong?” Applejack was full of concern for the little dragon. There was no telling how Twilight could have reacted.

Spike pulled back his tears and tried to calm himself down.

“No, she kissed me back. It was wonderful... But I don’t deserve her love.”

“Now Sugarcube, why would you say something like that? Of course you deserve her love. You are as worthy of her love as anypony.”

“But, but I’m not a pony... I’m a cold blooded, scaly, reptile! I was hatched from an egg... SHE hatched me from an egg. I am not even worthy of being her SERVANT!”

Just hearing these words from Spike made Applejack’s heart bleed. She had to help the poor guy.

“Look at me Spike. It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside. It doesn’t matter if your blood is cold, or if you were hatched from an egg. Heck, it doesn’t even matter that you are from a different species than Twilight and me, you are who you are. Don’t let anypony ever tell you that you are unworthy of anypony’s love. Spike, Twilight can only count herself lucky to have somepony, or somedragon, as special as you.”

“Do you really mean that Applejack?”

“Of course I do! It is only the whole darn truth.”

Spike was feeling a whole lot better after what Applejack said; knowing that he can count on her to always give her honest opinion about something. He gave Applejack a huge hug.

“Thank you Applejack, you don’t know how much this means to me...”

“I’m just glad I can help you sugarcube...”

Spike was feeling completely spent. The events of the past day exhausted him. He fell asleep right in Applejack’s hooves, and Applejack gave him a soft smile. As she looked down at the dragon in her hooves, a tear rolled down her cheek, to drop down on the scalded ground beneath her.

She placed Spike on a soft pile of hay and got a blanket to cover him with. She figured he probably was not quite ready to see Twilight right now, so she decided it would probably be a good idea if he slept in the barn for the night. Twilight will probably be worried about the little dragon, but she made a promise to keep Spike’s secret, so she decided to tell Twilight that he was sleeping over with Applebloom and the rest of the CMC’s. It wasn’t the full truth, but she made a promise, and she NEVER breaks her promises.

The next morning Spike woke up to the fresh smell of apples and hay. A few golden rays of sun was falling upon him, warming his dormant body. The turmoil of the previous day had all but left him. Today was a new day, with new hope. He did not know what he was going to do yet, but that did not matter, all that mattered right now was filling his stomach.

As if on cue, Applejack opened the barn door, carrying a tray full of the farm’s famous produce.

“Oh, you are already awake. I brought you some breakfast.” said Applejack, setting the tray in front of Spike.

Spike looked at the tray filled with fresh, warm apple pie, toasted apple halves, and apple juice.

“Thank you Applejack, it looks delicious!”

Spike took a huge bite of apple pie; the spicy sweet taste of apples and cinnamon overwhelmed his senses. He washed it down with apple juice, with the crisp coolness flowing through him. Next he took a bite of the toasted apple halves. The sweetness and texture rivaled that of even the most perfectly matured rubies.

“Spike, when you’re finished with your breakfast, do you mind joining me in the orchard?”

“Sure, see you in minute, oh, and thanks again, this is the nicest breakfast I’ve had in years!” Spike answered between bites of apple pie.

After finishing his breakfast, Spike exited the barn and walked into the golden sunshine of the new day. Walking towards the orchard, the beauty of the farm surrounding him, he breathed in the cool, crisp air. The grass under his feet was still wet with the morning dew, and the sun shone in such a way that the entire ground seemed to sparkle like a field filled with small gems. Nearing the orchard, the trees looked to him as they were made of millions of gems, the emerald green leaves shining in bright contrast to the ruby like apples. He wondered if the orchard looked this beautiful every morning.

He found Applejack at edge of the orchard, already bucking the trees to get the apples to fall down into a basket down below the tree. Most of the apples fell into the basket, but there were always a few that ended up falling on the ground.

“Howdy Spike. I hope you slept well.”

“Like a rock. I feel like a new dragon this morning.”

“Good, because I’m going to need y’all to help out with these here apples. You see some of them keep falling outside the basket, and it always takes me forever to pick them all up. I can work double time if you can just pick the stray ones up and throw them all into the basket.”

“Sure thing Applejack, I’m always glad to lend a claw to a good friend.”

As the two worked together, neither spoke much for a while, focusing on the task at hand. After an hour or so, Applejack got a bit tired though. She had been bucking at a much faster pace than usual, since Spike dealt with all the stray apples. The two decided to have a bit of a break, and snack on some of the apples. They sat in silence for a few minutes, till Applejack spoke up.

“So, have you thought about what you are going to say to Twilight when you get back?”

“Not really. I mean, I really have no idea what to say to her. I never really intended to tell her how I feel about her, and I really haven’t said anything to her yet. She found out about everything herself. I don’t even know what she is thinking right now.”

“Well then, why don’t you tell her how you feel? I mean straight to her face, and not just on a piece of paper.”

“How is that supposed to help? I mean, she already knows how I feel about her. What difference will it make to tell her again?”

“Well, fer one thing, it’ll show her that yer not ashamed to admit it. There is something about being good and honest to someone’s face, you can’t replace it with some fancy words or nothin. Just tell her the whole darn truth, and if she can’t accept that, she doesn’t deserve you anyway.”

“You sure about that Applejack?”

“Of course I’m sure! If there is one thing I know about love, it is that honesty is always the best policy, even if ain’t easy sometimes.”

“You’re a great friend, you know that Applejack?”

“That’s mighty nice of you to say, and yer a great friend yourself. But I think it is time we quit our talking and get back to these here apple trees. They ain’t gonna buck themselves.”

As the two of them continued their work in the apple orchard, Spike’s mind couldn’t help but wander back towards the purple mare. For the first time since Spike could remember, he felt that his mind could accept the love that his heart held towards Twilight.