//------------------------------// // The Pony and the Dragon Part Three // Story: Stories of True Love // by MiraculousDragonMaster //------------------------------// Stories of True Love The Pony and the Dragon Part Three "Wait a minute!" Apple Shield interrupted. "Ember wanted Dad to come with her to the Dragon Lands? But, Dad had his life here, with Mom and the rest of our aunts. He couldn't leave all of a sudden." "That was what he was probably thinking." Apple Bloom said. "But remember, according to dragon customs from what he had told us, his love with your mom was considered immoral." "What does that mean?" Pear Gem asked. "It basically means that their love is forbidden." Apple Jewel explained. "Meaning they can't be together." "But they did get together." Apple Pear piped up. "Or else, we wouldn't be here." "You're right about that, little bro." AS said, rubbing AP's head playfully. "But still, it's hard to imagine that you're not allowed to love whoever you want. So what if Dad's a dragon and Mom's a pony?" "Well, it wasn't easy trying to tell that to Ember, knowing what might happen if he did." Apple Bloom said. "You want me to come with you to the Dragon Lands?" Spike asked, not believing what he had heard. "Uh, you know there are certain dragons over there who would try to burn me into a crisp if they see me." "Don't worry, I'll make sure that they won't lay a claw on you." Ember tried to assure him. "But, what about my friends?" And Applejack. He thought. He couldn't bear the thought of not seeing her for who knows how long. And with Trenderhoof still in town, he would try anything just to have AJ, even by any means possible. "Well, they can visit you." Ember suggested. "But, you might have to stay a while; just until the dragons know a little more about friendship." Spike felt as if there was a humongous weight pressing down on his shoulders. Ember turned to fly away. "I'll give you until tonight to think about it." With that, she was off. Spike was devastated. He knew he couldn't say goodbye to Applejack, but how was he going to explain that to Ember? He might get in big trouble for falling in love with a pony. Yet, he can't bear to leave her, not knowing when he will see her again. "I need to talk to AJ about this." He quietly said to himself, and he started for Sweet Apple Acres. When he got to his usual meeting place with Applejack, he found the mare in question sitting there, looking like she wanted to cry and shout insults at the same time. "Applejack, what's wrong?" He asked, coming up to her. Applejack looked up at him. "Did something-" He didn't even finish his sentence before she quickly stood up, wrapped her hooves around his neck, and pressed her lips roughly against his. This kiss was very different from the one they shared last night. While the last one was sweet, loving, and gentle, this one was rough, demanding, and searing hot; fuelled with fire. So hot that it was turning his brain to mush. He had never seen this side of Applejack before. But, it was still just as pleasurable; maybe even more. Spike gave into her demands, deepening their kiss further. Unsurprisingly, she tasted just like apples. (Once again, they adults left out this particular scene because of much younger ponies listening.) Once they finally broke apart for air, Applejack moaned in frustration as she held her dragon close to her. "I hate this, Spike." She said. Spike got out of his heat filled trance and looked down at her. "What happened, AJ?" He asked. "That Trenderhoof is now givin' my family bargains!" AJ answered angrily. "WHAT?!" Spike growled loudly. Forget about what Ember had told him. This was much worse. "And that last bargain he just made, he promised my family a hundred bits for their permission to marry me! And I ain't a prize to be won or a sow to be sold!" Applejack continued, getting out of Spike's arms and giving a nearby tree a very firm and hard buck with her hind legs. How the tree didn't turn into a stump, he didn't know. But every single apple and even several leaves fell off the branches and into the baskets underneath. "I stormed out before I heard their answer, but I know they said no!" "Okay, now he has crossed the line!" Spike exclaimed. "When I find him, I'll show him that I can be really scary!" He threatened. "And I know what Ember had said was bad." Applejack's anger vanished and turned into confusion as she lifted up a brow. "What did Ember tell ya?" She asked. Spike mentally kicked himself for letting such a thing slip up so easily. But, there was no avoiding it now, not with her keen sense for detecting lies. "I think we both should sit down for this." Applejack raised her curious brow higher, not too sure if she liked where this was going. "What happened?" She asked as they both sat down on the grass. "Ember wants me to come with her to the Dragon Lands." Spike said, not looking in her eyes. "I don't know how long before I can come back." "What?!" AJ shouted in disbelief. "You can't leave!" Spike finally glanced at her, and he felt his heart being stabbed when he saw the sadness in her eyes. "I know." He said, holding her close to him. "I don't want to leave, either. But, I'm not sure what Ember will do if I say no. She is pretty unpredictable." "But, who knows what might happen while you're gone?" Applejack replied, almost sounding like she was about to cry. Spike then had a crazy and ingenious idea. He moved a little bit away so that he could look AJ straight in the eye. "What about we run away?" He suggested. "What?!" Applejack shouted again. "Are you crazy?" "Hear me out, AJ." Spike said, calming her down. "You want to be away from Trenderhoof, and I can't face Ember if I don't know how she'll react to my answer. So, if we're somewhere where they can't find us, then, they'll leave. After that, we can come back home and come clean with our friends." Applejack thought deeply about this. She hated the thought of running away from Ponyville, but she also wanted Trenderhoof out of her fur. But Spike needs to tell Ember why he can't leave. However, who knows how she'll react when she realizes that he's in love with AJ. A pony and a dragon, it can't be. Yet, it did happen. And she wanted him as much as he wanted her. She gazed into those green draconic eyes that always had an entrancing effect on her and sighed. "All right. But where will we go?" "Well, it's either Dodge Junction or Las Pegasus." Spike said. "Your choice." "Ya know that I won't go back to that crazy party city on yer life." Applejack stated. "I'd rather head to Dodge Junction. Cherry Jubilee can cover us there." Spike smiled. "Then, it's settled." He said, bringing his beloved closer to him. "We'll meet here at midnight." "I can do 11:45." AJ said with a loving smile. Spike returned it as he held her face. "Not soon enough." The two then touched lips once more, but Applejack pulled away too soon for his liking and started running towards the farmhouse. He smiled a lovestruck smile, and then headed towards Twilight's castle. "Hang on!" Apple Jewel cried out. "Mom and Dad were actually planning to run away?!" Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah, and me and your uncle were just as shocked when she told us in secret. But, since we knew the stress they were feeling then, it seemed that they just needed each other and some space to figure all that out." "Figure what out?" A familiar voice asked. The adults froze and turned to the doorway of the kitchen, along with the Apple Dragon siblings. There, standing there, was the middle couple of the Apple family. "Mom! Dad!" The four pony-dragon hybrids exclaimed. "Some pony wanna tell us what's going on in here?" Applejack asked, turning to her brother and sister. "Don't get mad, Mom." Apple Pear pleaded. "Uncle Big Mac and Aunt Apple Bloom were just telling us your and Dad's story about how you fell in love." Pear Gem explained. Applejack and Spike looked at each other, then at their kids. "We're not mad, but how much did they tell you?" Their father asked. "Up to the point where you and Mom were planning on running away." Apple Shield answered. AJ sighed. "Well, we were planning on telling you four one day soon." She admitted as she and Spike sat down at the table. "We just didn't know exactly when." "So, what happened next?" Apple Jewel asked. "Well, after we secretly packed a few things, we met up over at our usual spot in the orchard." Spike began to recall. In the quiet of the night, Applejack quietly trotted through the orchard toward her meeting place with Spike. On her back was her saddle bag, which was packed with some of her stuff. She still couldn't believe she was doing this. She loves her home, her family. She would never leave it. At least it's not for forever. Finally, she saw Spike waiting on the hill, carrying a knapsack tied around a long staff. His scales and spines had a silver sheen from the moon. She slightly chuckled at the sight of him, making herself known to the dragon waiting. Spike felt a soft smile come up on his face when he saw the beautiful mare standing at the foot of the hill. Her emerald green eyes were like bright beacons in the darkness, and the pearly silver glow of the moonlight illuminated her orange coat and blonde mane. He ran down to her, dropping his knapsack and taking her in his arms. "Are you still sure about this?" He asked her. "I know you don't want to leave Ponyville. I don't, either. But, I'm tired of all this pressure we're facing." Applejack looked up into those green draconic eyes. She moved her hoof to caress his face. "I still probably won't be okay, but as long as I'm with ya, I know that everything will be all right." Spike smiled softly. Then, he carefully leaned in closer to her and kissed her lips, gently yet passionately. AJ returned it as she wrapped her hooves around his neck, and he in turn wrapped his arms around her. But they didn't notice that their touching moment was being watched. From in the shadows, two hazel draconic eyes weren't believing what they were seeing. Ember was shocked. So, this was why Spike was acting strange for the past few weeks, and one particular reason why he seemed against going with her to the Dragon Lands. He was in love. And it was obvious that this mare felt the same. Applejack was her name, she remembered, since it was a name that didn't have "light" in them. At first, she felt like she should confront them, saying that whatever was going on between them can't happen. But instead, she remained in her hiding spot. They knew that their love is forbidden, so that is why they kept it a secret in the first place. Besides, Spike has lived his whole life with ponies, and still isn't too keen on dragon customs, so even if he wasn't in love, he wouldn't care about it. Unbeknownst to every one there, someone else was seeing the romantic scene, but he had a very different reaction than Ember. A violet blast of magic came towards the couple, but the two of them broke their kiss just in time to split apart and dodge the attack. Then, Trenderhoof jumped out and tackled Spike, pinning him to the ground. "What are you doing with her?" He angrily demanded, jealousy burning in his eyes. Applejack ran over and tried to pull the jealous unicorn stallion off her dragon beau. "Let him go, Trenderhoof!" She shouted. Finally, she managed to kick him off of Spike. Trenderhoof looked over at the angry mare, his own anger diminishing a bit, but he was still pretty mad. "You'll come back with me to your family, and you will be mine." He said. "Just as you should've been years ago." Applejack glared at him viciously as she spat out her answer. "Never!" Trenderhoof ignited his horn and tried to pull Applejack closer to him with his magic. She dug her hooves deep into the ground to try and slow herself down, but it wasn't enough. Spike quickly tackled Trenderhoof, releasing AJ from his magic grip. "Keep your hooves off her!" He snarled, sounding like an animal protecting his mate. The unicorn stallion pushed the dragon away, leaving the two in a face-off. "You took her away from me!" Trenderhoof shouted. Applejack was about to yell at him, saying that she isn't a prize to be won, but Spike beat her to it. "She was never yours!" Trenderhoof fired blast after blast at Spike, but he dodged them all, while Applejack snuck behind the stallion and bucked him in his ribs. "I ain't your anything, Trenderhoof." She said. "And I never will be. It's over." "Not yet." The stallion said, before igniting his horn again. Applejack quickly found herself floating with the help of purple magic enveloping her. She felt herself getting constricted, and couldn't move. "LET HER GO!" Spike roared, his pupils dilating in anger at the sight of his beloved being trapped. He charged at Trenderhoof, but this time, the unicorn stallion fired a magic blast at him, and he got knocked into a tree. "Spike!" Applejack shouted. But then, she found herself being pulled in Trenderhoof's direction again. "Come along, Applejack." He cooed, making AJ growl in disgust. "I said no, you giant piece of-" "Ah, ah, ah." The unicorn stallion teased. "That's not nice language." He then turned to Spike, who was a little battered and bruised from the last attack and struggling to get up. "What were you thinking, dragon? A beast like you falling for a beauty like Applejack?" That last comment made the country mare quickly charge at him, fighting against his hold on her and screaming angrily. But, he tightened his magic grip on her, making her stop a couple of meters away from him. "Who's the beast here?" She asked, glaring furiously. Trenderhoof only rolled his eyes and began pulling her closer to him once more. Suddenly, a pink stream of fire came out of the shadows, forcing Trenderhoof to finally loose his magic hold on Applejack and dodge it. Ember then came out, surprising the three of them. "I believe the mare said, no." She said, growling. Trenderhoof froze at the sight of the larger dragoness in front of him. AJ immediately went to Spike and helped him get back on his feet. "Get lost, before I torch you, and I think you don't want that." Ember threatened. The unicorn stallion glanced over at Spike and Applejack, who were staring daggers at him. With that, the frightened stallion ran out of the orchard. Ember then turned over to the two lovers. Spike froze, realizing that his secret was out. "Ember, I..." He started to explain. "It's okay, Spike." She cut in. "I understand why you didn't tell me." She looked over at Applejack, who got a little bit closer to her dragon. "I'm sorry you couldn't trust me enough." With that, she took off into the air. "Ember!" Spike called after her. But, the dragoness was already out of sight. Spike looked down, feeling downcast. A hoof was then placed gently on his shoulder. He turned and saw his lovely marefriend smiling softly at him. That gave him a little reassurance. He then had her in his arms, knowing that the worst was finally behind them. "So, Ember just left without saying anything?" Apple Jewel asked once the story was finally finished. "Eeyup." Her mother confirmed. "Just up and left, not angry or happy or disappointed that your dad kept things from her." "And your mother and I never saw her again, not even when I would visit the Dragon Lands on my ambassador errands." Her father added. "Well, guess who Gem and I saw in the marketplace yesterday." Apple Pear said. "And it seems that she is willing to talk." Applejack and Spike looked at each other, wondering if it is who they think it is. Soon, the Apple Dragon family were in the marketplace, just as it was beginning to close. The twins led their older siblings and parents to the hill just on the outskirts where they had met Ember. And there she was. "Excuse me. Ember?" Pear Gem asked. The cyan dragoness turned towards the voice of the youngest Apple Dragon and froze at the sight of her old friend and his wife. "Hey, Ember." Spike greeted with a soft smile. "Spike." She breathed. "I'm sorry." She said. "I just...didn't know what to say all those years ago. After what had happened, I thought that what I would say would only make the situation worse. So, I ran and hid." Spike went up to her and hugged her. "It's in the past, Ember." Applejack then joined in the hug, then the twins, and then the other two Apple Dragon siblings. Ember felt her tough exterior melt away, and all that guilt had washed away. The comfortable silence was enough for her to shed a few tears. At least everything between them was cleared up at last.