//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: A Dragon's Selection 2: Follow Your Heart 
// by CartoonNerd12 
//------------------------------//

Envelopes in thirty-five large piles sat in the foyer much to the princesses, Spike, Applejack, and Jewel's shock. Their friends and their families behind them were also in equal shock.

Pear Jam mentioned, "Wow, Sis, I knew you were a catch, but wow…"

Apple Jewel felt she should be flattered, but for some reason she felt so overwhelmed by this she was starting to feel dizzy. She began to waver that Applejack spotted it in time and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Oh, sugar cube… Don't worry, Mama went through the same thing when she got chosen for the Selection…"

Spike had wide eyes, "You never told me that."

She blushed, "It kind-of slipped my mind. Besides I didn't want you thinkin' that I was horrified by the idea of marrying ya especially since I met you and changed my mind."

A small smile appeared on his lips then he turned to their daughter and softly patted her cheeks to wake her up.

Jewel woke up but she tried not to look at the envelopes to avoid another faint spell.

Twilight went up to her, "I know there's a lot here but thankfully we just need thirty-five candidates and that's where the goblet comes in." she used her magic to float one pile toward the flaming cup. One-by-one the envelopes dissolved into the fire.

Luna inquired, "That pile was from Vanhoover, right?"

Twilight nodded, "Right." as the last envelope went into the fire.

Jam suggested, "Maybe one of our distant Pear cousins will get chosen."

Applejack stated, "We can only hope, sugar."

There was a pause as everyone stared at the goblet. Suddenly the flames turned pink and a slightly burnt envelope came out with Twilight catching it with her aura and opened it up.

"The contestant's name is… Marsh Mellow."

"Marsh Mellow?" Discord voiced, "What kind-of a pony name is that?"

Twilight just shrugged, "Strange name or not, he is now an official suitor for Apple Jewel's Selection."

Celestia had a quill and parchment out as she wrote down the stallion's name.

Twilight then grabbed the next pile and said, "This one's from Dodge Junction." and like before the flames consumed the envelope before one came out. "Golden Jubilee." The procedure was repeated over and over again until finally they made it to the last pile, "And finally, Ponyville."

"I wonder who it's going to be." Cotton said.

Gemstone gestured, "A lot of our old classmates did tell me they entered in so it could be one of them."

Jewel exclaimed, "Seriously? Ugh! I really hope it's not Barley or Saltshaker those two were the worst!"

Screwball agreed, "They were. They always made fun of us because we were half pony, half something else."

Hail suggested, "On the bright side if one of them did get chosen then you can just eliminate them right away because you already know them."

Screwy nodded, "That is true."

Pear Jam said, "One way to find out…"

They turned to the goblet as the flames turned from blue to pink. An envelope shot out with Twilight grabbing it and asked the kids, "Ready?"

They nodded and Twilight opened it up and when she looked at it her eyes went wide and slowly uttered out, "Fire Spark…"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"No, it's your name, it's on the form."

"WHAT?!" everyone gasped out.

Fire sputtered out, "But-but-but I didn't put my name in!"

Someone was whistling and they turned to see Screwball was doing it. Fire glared at her, "Screwy… what did you do?"

The earth pony with swirly eyes innocently replied, "Well I just couldn't stand by and let one of my oldest friends be unhappy for the rest of his life all because he was too chicken to pursue the girl he's like for a long time…"

Fire gritted his teeth, "You had no right to do that! So what if I have a crush on Jewel ever since we were kids! You can't just meddle like this!"

There was a large gasp and Fire realized all too late what he just said. He slowly turned around to see Jewel gapping and tears were threatening to escape her eyes.

"You… had a crush on me…?"

He winced as he admitted slowly, "Yes…?"

She yelled, "Why did you tell me?!"

"I was afraid to! I didn't know to express my feelings to you! Then all this happen and I knew I had to let you go…"

"You idiot! You honestly think I would have agreed to this if I didn't return your love?!"

"Wait… you had a crush on me too?"

"Of course! But I wasn't sure if you felt the same!"

There was an awkward pause as everyone around the duo was in utter bewilderment except for Screwball who was pleased to see her friends finally coming clean with their feelings until she frowned at their next exchange.

Fire started, "Jewel… I'm sorry… I wish I had known sooner…"

Jewel harshly stated, "Well it's too late for that now." she turned away from him and crossed her arms.

Twilight motioned, "Alright, let's all calm down and figure this out. Now Fire Spark's name was drawn from the goblet but I'm sure we can get a different name drawn if you don't want to compete, son."

Fire stared at his mother then Apple Jewel, for so long he had suppressed feelings for the dragon-pony hybrid, and now that he knew she had feelings for him in return he feared that the Selection could take his chances away from having her. He faced his mother with a determined look, "No. I want to compete."

There were more gasps from the parents.

Fire stated, "I should have told Jewel my feelings sooner but now I have a chance to make it right by earning the privilege to be hers."

Apple Jewel scoffed, "Good luck with that, because I'm not going to give you any favors despite our history."

Applejack muttered under her breath, "Oh, Jewel… no… you're bein' stubborn…"

Spike slyly whispered in, "Gee, I wonder where she got that from…"

She grumbled back, "Not now, Spike…"

Fire replied, "I'm okay with that. Because the other contestants will be in the dark and it's not fair that I have an advantage over the rest of them since I already know you. If I must win you back, so be it." he bowed humbly to her.

Jewel rolled her eyes.

Twilight cleared her throat to get everyone's attention again, "So, it's settled then, we officially now have the thirty-five suitors competing in Apple Jewel's Selection."

Celestia took over, "Indeed. With this list, I will have copies sent out to all of the towns and cities of Equestria so that the leaders can announce their champions and have them ready to come here."

Luna motioned, "And for our part, we must be ready to receive them."

Twilight said, "Especially now that Fire Spark is in the competition we'll have to make some adjustments regarding sleeping arrangements. The plan was to have all of the contestants have rooms close to each other but if Fire already has his own room here…"

Apple Jewel sighed as she watched the princesses conversed. She eyed Fire once but turned away from him feeling so upset by his lack of a confession in the past. However, another part of her was angry at herself for not trying to confess sooner too.

It didn't help seeing her brother and his special somepony standing there whispering to each other and Cotton and Hail Storm were doing the same thing. The duos were instant childhood sweethearts that it made Jewel sad that her and Fire weren't like that in the beginning since apparently the both of them were too scared to admit their true feelings.

She looked to her parents as they glanced at her sympathetically, making her think, Well I ever have what they have…?




Jewel sat in her castle guest room looking over the forms that the goblet chose for her. She set aside Fire Spark's, given she already knew everything about him and the same applied to Screwball since she was able to fill out his form in the first place.

She was a little upset at her best friend for doing this without Fire's permission but she could understand why given that she was only trying to bring together her two oldest friends who had been harboring feelings for each other for years. Plus, the earth pony was the daughter of a chaotic spirit who was known to have a mischievous streak so it couldn't be helped.

A knock came at her door before someone entered in. Only that someone was…

"Aunt Apple Bloom!" Jewel exclaimed happily as she jumped off the bed and into her aunt's awaiting arms.

Apple Bloom smiled, "And how is my favorite niece doin'?"

Apple Jewel rolled her eyes playfully, "I'm your only niece…"

AB smirked, "All the more reason why you're my favorite."

"What I don't understand is how you're here. Your last letter said you were in Las Pegasus!"

"I was, but when Discord broadcasted that announcement about another Selection happenin' me and the girls knew we had to get home especially since it's my niece who has to choose from thirty-five suitors!"

Jewel smiled, "I'm glad you're here Auntie… I don't think I would get through this without your support."

Apple Bloom smiled back, "That's what I'm here for." they embraced in a tight hug before she turned to the forms sitting on the bed, inquiring, "Are those the suitors' documents?"

Jewel sighed, "They are…"

AB eyed most of them, "My goodness, you got a promising lot don't ya?" then she gapped at seeing Fire Spark's sheet.

Jewel explained, "Yeah, Fire's in there too, Screwball submitted it for him and the goblet chose him. And the strange part is, that it turns out he had a crush on me just as I had a crush on him, but we were both chicken to confess our true feelings."

Apple Bloom commented, "Well that's karma for ya."

"Only now I'm not speaking to him and I stated I wasn't going to give him any favors over the rest of the contestants."

"Seems a might harsh don't ya think? I mean Fire Spark is one of your oldest friends…"

"I know… but I must admit, he is right, the other suitors will be in the dark unlike him so it's actually a good thing I'm mad at him for not pucking up the courage to tell me how he really felt."

"But do you think you could choose him in the end?" Apple Bloom's eyes gave a glimmer of hope.

Apple Jewel frowned in thought and softly uttered, "I don't know." seeing her aunt's concern face, she quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, there were days I often thought to myself of what it would be like if I was his missus… Those dreams were very important to me and I wished with all my might that someday it could happen… but as we got older he didn't seem interested in me, and so I thought I might as well give up on the idea and just focus on helping my family around the farm. After that, Sweet Apple Acres became my new love."

"Okay, so Fire Spark will be a maybe but what about the rest of your suitors? Has the forms given you some sense of what they're like?"

"Somewhat. The forms tell me their names, where they live and what their occupation and accomplishments are." she grabbed a form, "This one for example, his name is Golden Jubilee and he's a cherry farmer in Dodge Junction."

"Hm, sounds like you two will have common ground, if he's a farmer and you're a farmer…"

"I will admit he does sound promising so I'm hoping I won't be disappointed when I meet him."

Apple Bloom noticed a form that was full of accomplishments and commented, "Well this one has quite the resume."

"Yeah, it says his name is Tre Chic and he's from Canterlot, he also a member of Canterlot's high society and he recently published a book on poetry and that's just the stuff he's listed on the top. There's like several other accomplishments he's listed."

"But status alone won't get him very far with your heart." AB smirked.

"You got that right."

Her aunt giggled.

"I really am glad you're here…" Jewel frowned, "Because I feel you're the only one in our family I can tell you this without the risk of disappointment hanging over me…"

"Of course, honey, you can tell me anything."

"Okay…" she took a deep breath, "I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"Yeah… this is such a huge change in my life, it just happen all of a sudden… I just never once thought this could happen to me."

Apple Bloom nodded sadly before a small smile spread across her face, "It was the same way with your mom… She never once thought she would get chosen for the Selection. In fact, she was so dead set against it that she was tempted to not sign the form at all!"

Jewel gasped, "But… I thought she decided to enter because money was being offered if you were a contestant?"

"It was the motive that got her to sign the paper at all! But the point is, your mom was scared too when she got chosen and she was plannin' on making sure your father would never chose her but… that all changed the moment she met him… Slowly but surely they fell in love, then they got married, and had you and your brother…"

Apple Jewel gawked.

Apple Bloom kept smiling, "So it's okay to feel scared, but you shouldn't have to be that way all the time since this just maybe the reason you'll find love just as your parents have."

Her niece went for another hug as she whispered, "Thanks Aunt Apple Bloom… I needed to hear that…"

"Any time, honey…"