//------------------------------//
// An Urgent Message 
// Story: Honesty and Dragons 
// by MiraculousDragonMaster 
//------------------------------//


Honesty and Dragons

Chapter 4

An Urgent Message


The next afternoon, Twilight was wondering where Spike was, since she hadn't seen him since earlier that morning. She had looked all over the castle twice.

"Ugh!" She groaned in frustration. "Spike, where are you?" She called out.

No sooner did she say that, in a burst of yellow light, Spike appeared right in front of her, making her jump.

"Spike!" She exclaimed. "Where have you been?" She demanded. Twilight then noticed that her dragon assistant had a satchel slung around his shoulder. "What's that?" She asked.

Spike looked around, and then grabbed Twilight by the hoof. "Not here." He said, and he quickly dragged her to the library.

"What is going on, Spike?" Twilight demanded as soon as Spike closed the doors.

The dragon looked over at her with a big smile on his face. "I have gotten Applejack's birthday present!" He said.

Twilight's previous anger vanished. "Really?" She asked. "What did you get?"

Spike then began to explain. "Well, first I had to go to Canterlot to talk with Princess Celestia about the gift. Once she said it was okay, I took it and she was kind enough to quickly teleport me back to Ponyville."

Twilight was a little confused. "But what did you get for Applejack?" She asked.

Spike reached into his satchel and pulled out a single golden apple, almost into a perfect shape of a heart, though he probably didn't notice, glowing softly in the sunlight, and fit perfectly into the palm of his claw.

"You got her one of Princess Celestia's golden apples?" Twilight gawked. This was really an amazing gift for Applejack.

Spike nodded. "Yep." He then put it back into his satchel. "No telling AJ until I got it wrapped."

But as soon as he turned to leave the library, he felt his stomach lurch. Then, he coughed out a stream of magic green fire. A piece of paper appeared from the flames once they had resided. Spike caught it once it fluttered down for him to reach.

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"It's for me." Spike answered. "I'll handle this, Twilight. You go on and meet the girls for your picnic."

"If you say so, Spike." Twilight said hesitantly, then disappeared with a burst of magenta sparkles.

Spike began to read the message, and the further he read, the more his eyes began to widen. 



Minutes later, Twilight was having a picnic lunch with her friends. She magically lifted a teacup of punch to her lips and sipped it before putting it back down. "So, how have you girls been with... your, um..." Twilight trailed off, trying to think of a proper word. "Decision?" She finally asked.

"Honestly, it's been gnawing at me every single moment." Applejack admitted, rubbing her foreleg after she put down her sandwich.

"I feel you, AJ." Rainbow Dash said. "The only time I can get to not think about it is when I practice with the Wonderbolts."

"I think we're all still trying to wrap our heads around this." Fluttershy said.

"I wish I could say that I understand." Twilight piped in. "I mean, if Princess Celestia had told me ahead of time that I could be an alicorn princess, I probably would be feeling what you girls are feeling."

"Though I've always dreamed of being a princess," Rarity came in, "I can see why all of you would have some reservations about it."

"I think that would be an understatement, Rarity." Rainbow said.

Pinkie then decided to lighten the mood. "Can somepony pass me a piece of cake?" She asked. Fluttershy pushed a cut slice towards her. The pink earth mare then sent the plate flying, and she ate the cake slice in one bite. That made the other girls smile a bit.

Just then, Spike came running up to them, almost out of breath. "Twi... light." He panted. "I... have... news from..."

Applejack came over to the dragon. "Just take a deep breath, Spike." She said.

Spike panted for a few more seconds before he regained his normal breathing rate. "Thanks a lot for that, AJ." He said, and then turned back to Twilight. "I have some news from the Dragon Lands. It's urgent."

The girls all shared a brief, worried glance. 



Back in the map room, Spike was telling the Mane 6 about the message he recieved.

"In the message I got from Ember, she said that a threat had been made against her, saying that soon, her reign as Dragon Lord will end."

Twilight was deep in thought. "This is definitely something that needs to solved." She said. "Dragons don't form mutinies, no matter how stubborn they are."

"Exactly." Spike said. "And as the official Ambassor of Peace to the dragons, it is my responsbility to address this."

"Can I come with you?" Twilight asked him. "Not only do I want to learn more about dragon culture, but as the Princess of Friendship, there has to be a way to resolve this peacefully."

Spike thought about that. "I don't see why not." He said.

"Yes!" Twilight cheered, flying up in the air.

"You want somepony else to come along?" Rainbow Dash asked, wanting some adventure.

Spike nodded. "But I think I can take along only one other." He said. "Too many ponies can cause a lot of unwanted attention, and not really the good kind. I can take Twilight because of three reasons: she's the Princess of Friendship, she's already been to the Dragon Lands, and Ember knows her."

"So, who would you like to accompany you?" Rarity asked.

Spike thought about that for a minute. Really, Rarity and Rainbow were the only ones besides Twilight who had been to the Dragon Lands, but there was somepony else who really needed something like this.

"Hey, AJ. What about you?"

Applejack was taken aback. "Me? Why me?"

"If we need a trial, we need to know who's telling the truth, and nopony does that better than you." Spike explained. "Also, I think you need to ease up a little bit. You have been getting a little on edge since Princess Celestia told you about... eh, your possibility."

The dragon went up to her. "Come on, Applejack. What do you say?"

Applejack looked down at the floor, deep in thought. Spike did have a point. A trip could help ease her mind, and maybe it could help her come to her decision. Also, he was right. Honesty is her Element, and she can easily tell if somepony's telling the truth.

She then looked up and stared at Spike right in the eye, looking determined. "I'll do it." She said.

Spike smiled widely, making AJ return it brightly. But then, they both seemed to get hypnotized the longer they stare into each other's green eyes.

"Spike!" Twilight called, snapping the both of them out of their gaze. "Come on! We better start packing."

"Right." Spike said, turning away from Applejack. "I'll write to Ember and let her know that we will be coming over."

Applejack didn't know why, but she felt like her heart was thumping harder when Spike's draconic eyes came into her mind. Were they always that green? And though they were supposed to be frightening and full of greed, she knew that there was not a greedy bone in his body.

AJ turned away from everypony else and placed a hoof on her chest to calm her rapidly beating heart. What the hay? She thought, mentally scolding herself. What just happened? What is going on with me? She then shook her head. I guess I'm just nervous. Well, I better git back to Sweet Apple Acres and start packing. And explaining to my family about this.