This story is a sequel to Lightning Struck Home
Apple Bloom is well aware that Spike is a dragon. She's well aware that there are a million issues standing in the way of romantic relationships between ponies and dragons. Between the uncontrollable strength, the impenetrable scales, and the fiery breath, there's no shortage of good reasons to stay away.
Knowing that didn't stop her from falling head over hooves.
So she finds herself on a date with Spike, unsure and unsteady. She wants everything to work out, but it might take more than they've got to succeed. How do you grow closer when your own physical makeup gets in the way?
Rated Teen and Sex for
Innuendo
and
Muchas Smoochas
Part of The Heart's Promise Continuity
Lord Mayor Applejack
Fahr Drill
The Unmitigated Disaster
Scootaloo Will Fly!
Nature in the Wild
DayBreak
Lightning Struck Home
In the Absence of Sunset Shimmer
An Equestrian Griffon
If You Weren't Afraid
The Worst Kept Secret
Rhythm and Rhyme
In the Absence of Twilight Sparkle
The High Pariah of Breezy Bastion
The Heart's Promise
Welp, this is a good addition to the series. It's interesting to see a story cover something that most Sparity fics won't touch, even if they should.
Did Applejack even know they were "dating"?
I know this is a joke on his part, but is he subconsciously picking something up?
That's a very good question. Other questions include: would it be permanent, if not is it reversible, and why not use it yourself for the opposite reasons?
EDIT: Whoa, whoa, hold the phone!
We know cows can talk in this world. We know cows can talk in this town. Is there also a non-talking variety or something?
Nice
I'm from (and in) Tennessee, and I identify very much with the Apple family, but I believe the extra "r" inserted in words like "worsh," "worter," and "dorg" is Indiana Hoosier. I only know I've never heard it in Tennessee. Of course, I'm in West Tennessee, and it could be different elsewhere.
Poor Spike and Applebloom!
7123151
It's Appalachian. My family is from eastern Kentucky, and random 'R's popping up where they don't belong reminds me of family.
--Spade
Something's telling me that Apple Bloom has already thought about the point where she and Spike would 'go all the way' to be SFW (obviously if you know me well, by my previous comments, I don't really go PC on things usually, so you probably know what I'm hinting, Hell, I can't help it, my mind tends to stay in the gutter at times). Why else would she even be theorizing a possible transforming potion similar to that spell Twilight used to turn herself and her friends into Breezies? Personally I believe that if she really does love Spike, then she loves him for him, scales and all. There shouldn't be any sort of qualifier or anything. If they like each other, then they like each other, and who gives a flying feather what other ponies think about a dragon and a pony (well a filly) going steady?
You had me at Muchas Smoochas!
It's a little sweeter and more up-beat than its prequel, and I like that. Spike has turned a corner, and its reflected in how he treats AB.
So AB is working out of a wagon in the Barn, and still living at SWA then. Is she still planning to move into town and get her own place once she saves up enough?
I feel like this will have intellectual property ramifications. Whoever the military contractor that makes royal guard armor is, they are going to want the rights to Apple Bloom's new Stoneskin potion.
It's weird how Applejack is one of the primary protagonists of the series, and I am constantly rooting for her to lose her job.
And how's the future looking for all of your coltfriends, Applejack?
Mares who live in glass barns shouldn't throw stones.
Probably my favorite line of the story! Someday you will end this series, MyHobby, and when you do, I hope there is a nice chapter about everyone in Ponyville remembering all the time they spent with Silver and Merry and just kicking themselves for not seeing it.
As Sweetie would say "Awww, come on!" You know, I get why Spike doesn't feel comfortable talking about this with Apple Bloom. What about Rumble? He's one of Spike's closest friends, and by now he's finished guard training, which means he's been trained in how to kill, if necessary. He would be a great confidante.
I think Shining Armor is now a 9 out of 10 on the Spike Scale.
Well, after ItAoSS, we know Spike would be losing hundreds of years of his life if he did that. What if Apple Bloom turns into a dragon? Then she would gain centuries of life, and they could both keep Twilight company!
7128189 Huh. I never thought of that. Still would have liked to see this cleared up, but this will work until then.
7128195
7128189
I'll comment more when I'm not busy, but for now, I'll just say that they're archaeopteryx steaks. I meant to mention the species, but it completely slipped my mind. I'll be editing that soonish.
7128215 Dragons eat dinosaur birds . . . head canon accepted.
This was a nice story. I don't know what else to say but I liked it!
7122751
She didn't think it was as serious as it is. Last she heard, Spike just offered her shelter from frostbite, and they've been hanging out a lot.
Maybe, but if even Pinkie doesn't realize there's evil afoot, what hope does the resident dragon?
But that's... another story.
I have it on good authority that archaeopteryx is a delicacy in many carnivorous and omnivorous diets, including griffons and chimeras, and is the favorite food of the notorious immortal criminal Ahuizotl.
7123088
7123151
7124116
The folks are a hop, skip and jump from the mountains. I won't say exactly where, being the paranoid type, but I'm willing to bet it's above sea level.
7124388
For a long time in the writing process, "Apple Bloom is horny" was the only major theme.
Eventually, I got to work in lighter stuff like trust and relational troubles and politics, but it all starts because one little pony likes one little dragon very, very much.
Of course she loves him for him, dang if she wasn't excited for the date, after all, but, like we said before, she'd really, really like them to be in total and complete unity. It's not a qualifier for the relationship, it's a qualifier for actually, you know, being not safe for work.
7124766
The world needs more smooches, fictional or otherwise.
I'm happy to say there are plenty of smooches in store for the future.
I was hoping for that. Both the lighter tone and the series-wide character progression. I've had a lot of moody stuff lately, and it's nice to show that not everything that happens in this world is horrible and heartbreaking. It also felt good to go back to a more slice of life scene and just hang out with the characters.
I'd like to do more like this, but I haven't the time.
Way back in Scootaloo Will Fly! she mentioned to her friends that she plans on moving out the very instant Applejack leaves office, and not a day before. She's ready to quit the farming life, but in the good and proper time.
Potential ramifications. It is no secret, though, that Apple Bloom is one of Luna's favorite young people, and she's got a personal friendship with Twilight, and a direct relation to an Element Bearer, and now an official courtship with the Hero of the Crystal Empire. I'm sure the rights holder is going to want to reach a mutually beneficial contract.
Weird on one hand, but it gets better once you realize it's because you want to see her happy again.
I'll have you know that her relationship with Mane Street is going swimmingly, even if she does have a tenancy to walk all over him.
I've planned lots of things, howard. Lots of things.
I wanted to include the conversation in this story, but it would have been too much too fast. otta save it for the moment when it'd be the most dramatic, right? Rumble for sure is gonna be a support and help, and I really look forward to bringing him back to the main cast. Look for him in Rhythm and Rhyme, coming eventually.
Ha HA!
Go, Spikey, go! You broke the mold, son, now bring it home!
Of course, if it's that simple, why hasn't everybody become a dragon and lived for centuries?
7125422
Thank you! That's been fixed. It's quite the ordeal to add a new story to all eleven fics in the series nowadays. I might have to rethink how I do that.
7130849
Then shh. Don't say anything. Just enjoy the moment.
7154078
That sounds awesome and delicious, but isn't Spike eating dinosaur meat a bit like us eating baboon meat? Just a liiiiitle bit close for comfort.
Oh yeah! Apple Bloom is an Apple, they don't leave family in the lurch. Now I really want Applejack to get fired!
Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more!
Is it? I'm worried about how AJ treats her coltfriend, recently he's looked pretty battered and broken. Though I guess this is time-skipped enough that things have been fixed up.
Oh nooooooooo.
I just realized he has a great name for being in the guard!
Arrrgghhh! I hate that you did that, because that's the exact logic I use all the time everywhere else! And I can't really argue with it, even with the drawbacks of being a dragon (learning to control one's greed) if a potion could turn non-dragons into dragons, the world would already be hip-deep in dragons. I would wager that dragons are the most magical race alive, except maybe alicorns, and that any permanent magical effect that changes your species has to change you to something with less inherent magic, or the subject doesn't have enough magic to make the transformation.
Who wants to be that Applebloom will be the one drinking that potion, not Spike.
Anyone?
I've read a lot of Spike shipping stories, but this is the first one I've seen that brings up how hard a physical relationship between a pony & a dragon would be. Usually, the thing that comes up is how Spike will outlive his partner. It's interesting to see it explored from that angle.
I really liked this fic.
It's... weird, the way everypony seems to jump straight from "date" to "you realize sex isn't possible". Not unrealistic, but it stands out to me.
Is it a coincidence, that the next Heart's Promise story after If You Weren't Afraid is one dealing with Spike's fear and how it impacts his relationship with AB?
Warning flag. Three sentences about changing Spike, and none about changing herself. I realize this is only one moment we're looking at, and it may not be indicative of what she actually wants or would say, but it's something to notice.
9078519
I tried to keep it condensed to a select few people who are close to AB and Spike, Applejack for example. Everybody else phrases it as "Huh, I guess you're into the whole interspecies thing, huh?" It's potentially a problem with repetition, insofar as I need to reintroduce the Big Deal in every story it's a plot point in.
Applejack talking about sex gets a little less weird if you consider that, in her eyes, Apple Bloom and Spike have been Dating In All But Name for months, now. And they've been actively researching "compatibility" for that entire time. And here Spike is, making an overtly romantic move, well before they've come to any sort of resolution. She's confused and trying to work it out in her head. When one is confused, one is not nearly as articulate and sensitive as one would normally wish.
Sometimes the author manages to get this across, sometimes they do not!
She sees her little sis going in over her head. Again. She wants to make sure these things are being thought of. Because she's the closest thing Bloom has to a mother at this point.
It doesn't help that Apple Bloom is immensely preoccupied with the very idea of it all. And I suppose that's the heart of the problem.
Fear is a central theme for the entire second part of The Heart's Promise story, and generally stems from some form of self-loathing. Spike is dealing with fear in both this and Lightning Struck Home, hating himself for what he's done and could do. Discord, Fluttershy, Pound, and Pumpkin all found themselves tackling their own worst nature in If You Weren't Afraid. Sunset Shimmer had to look her past right in the face and figure out what she wanted to do about it, while Sci-Twi dealt with strong insecurity. In An Equestrian Griffon, even King Andean Ursagryph is conflicted in his motivations and outlook, torn between the beauty his children show him and the ugliness he sees himself as having become.
It comes to a head in Rhythm and Rhyme, where just about every single main character has something they absolutely hate about themselves. The growth and catharsis will come from how they deal with it. If they deal with it.
Yes indeed, and you are one of the few to say they've noticed it. The question is, will they help each other grow and mature, or will toxicity control their relationship? Time and tide will tell.
C'mon, Spike, 🎶 kiss the girl 🎶
Interesting potion solution, but you kind of need sensation for any fun times.
That would be an alternate approach.
9319402
Now, this couple
They been through the thick and thin
They both got a lot to say
But there's something speaks louder
And the thing they sigh
As the days go by
He wanna kiss the girl
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Something's wrong
Looks like the boy's too strong
He's gonna squish the girl
(Whoa-whoa)
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Apple Bloom
Just wants to get a room
He's gone and miffed the girl
Careful applebloom that potion is dangerous.