Applejack was lying on the roof of the Neighagra Falls Inn, taking in the sound of the roaring falls and watching the clear blue morning sky. It was peaceful, which was a wild thing to experience for Applejack, who was so used to the constant drone of stress and anxiety.
“Hey, Applejack!” Spike’s voice made Applejack’s ears perk up, but she didn’t feel the need to immediately jump to attention, though she did look toward the stairwell leading up to the roof that Spike was poking his head out of.
“Howdy, Spike,” Applejack said with a smile, “how can I help ya?”
“Well, I was wondering,” Spike scurried out of the stairwell and excitedly ran up to Applejack, pumping his fists, “if you could teach me how to fight!”
“Oh yeah?” Applejack hummed and sat up, crossing her legs under her and looking down at Spike. “Why ask me? Yer ma never teach you that stuff?”
“No,” Spike scoffed and crossed his arms in a huff. “You know how she is, she’s always saying how she doesn’t want me to get hurt and whatever.”
“I mean, I get that,” Applejack nodded, silently admitted that she may have possibly had an overprotective streak of her own. “When yer a good parent, yer kid’s safety’s like the most important thing to ya. But I’m not sure how you not bein’ able to defend yerself makes you any safer.”
“Right?!” Spike said exasperatedly, and Applejack chuckled.
“Alright, Spike,” Applejack said and stood to her hooves, “I can teach ya a thing or two.”
“Yeah!” Spike cheered and jumped in the air. “Thank you so much, Applejack! I knew I could count on you!”
“Heh, don’t mention it, Spike,” Applejack ruffled the kid’s mane. “Happy to help.”
It briefly crossed Applejack’s mind that Twilight might get mad at her for training Spike if she was insistent that she didn’t want him to fight, but Applejack shrugged that thought off in no time. She respected Spike’s autonomy more than she respected whatever Twilight had decided for him.
Then again, maybe making a dragon parent angry wasn’t in Applejack’s best interest, but what was Twilight gonna do? Eat Applejack?
That thought almost made Applejack laugh. The Twilight she knew was more likely to freak out and panic over nothing than to do something as ridiculous as that, and that thought made it suddenly dawn on Applejack that Twilight wasn’t just some monster like Applejack had always been told dragons always are. She was a person, with her own thoughts and feelings and beliefs and logic that she followed.
And that realization sent a shiver up Applejack’s spine, thinking about all the dragons that the Slayers had just casually butchered as if they were animals. That wasn’t a pretty thought at all.
So for now, it could get locked in the vault. Applejack needed to focus on Spike.
Applejack went a few rounds with Spike, showing him some basic strikes and counters that she’d learned over her bazillion years of hand to hand combat, and she was surprised at how quick he was learning.
“Yer pretty good, Spike!” Applejack said as the two took a break for a sec so Spike could catch his breath, Spike bending over and holding his knees, while Applejack just crossed her arms and smirked. “You might be a natural at this!”
“Thanks!” Spike beamed, and it warmed Applejack’s heart to see him don such a carefree smile. “I really wanna be able to protect my friends and my mom, so I’ve always wanted to learn this stuff! I’m super excited to learn all of your secret techniques, Applejack!”
“It ain’t about any ‘secret techniques’, Spike,” Applejack scoffed and ruffled Spike’s mane. “You gotta have a solid understandin’ of the fundamentals. You’d be surprised how far that can take ya.”
“Aww, but that’s boring though!” Spike pouted and crossed his arms.
Applejack just rolled her eyes and swept her leg under Spike’s hooves, knocking him flat on his back.
“Y’see?” Applejack said smugly. “If you had a solid grasp of the fundamentals, that wouldn’t’ve happened.”
Spike just laughed at Applejack’s comment, and Applejack laughed back, until the pair’s laughter was suddenly interrupted by a shrill gasp.
“Spike!” Twilight yelled worriedly, scrambling out of the stairwell onto the roof and hurrying toward Spike, masterfully disguising her tripping over her own hooves as a calculated dodge roll into a slide. “Are you injured? What happened? Are you okay? Wha—”
“Hon,” Applejack said flatly, “I just knocked him over while we were sparrin’. He ain’t even hurt.”
“Yeah, Twilight!” Spike huffed and flailed his arms at his ma, who was getting way too overprotectively touchy. “I’m fine! Applejack’s teaching me how to fight!”
“WHAT?!” Twilight stood straight up and looked worriedly at Spike before glaring at Applejack, her snout curling into a disgruntled frown. “NO, she is NOT!”
“I am, actually,” Applejack put one hand on her hip and cocked her head, dissatisfied frown etched across her face. “Least I was. You gonna tell me I need to stop?”
“Yeah, actually!” Twilight barked. “That is exactly what I was gonna do!”
“But Twilight—”
“Don’t you ‘but Twilight’ me, mister!” Twilight huffed at Spike, who puffed up his cheeks and glowered angrily at his ma. “We’ve talked about this! I don’t want you getting involved in anything dangerous!”
“The whole world is dangerous, Twi,” Applejack said calmly. “No matter where you go, there’s always gonna be danger. Bandits, monsters, bullies—hell, in your case you even got Slayers to worry about.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Twilight spat.
“Y’ain’t makin’ Spike any safer by not teachin’ him how to defend himself,” Applejack argued. “How can you not see that?”
“Okay,” Twilight exhaled sharply, her brow furrowed and her hands on her hips, “I’m pretty positive that ‘y’ain’t’ isn’t a real word.”
“Well I just said it, didn’t I?” Applejack grinned smugly. “And you understood what I meant, so…”
“It’s still not a real word!” Twilight huffed.
“You can pretend all you like, Twi,” Applejack shrugged, “but stickin’ yer head’n in the sand doesn’t change the truth.”
Twilight groaned under her breath.
Then she groaned very much out loud, tugging on her bangs and cupping her face in her hands.
“Twi,” Applejack cracked her knuckles, “why don’t you go a few rounds with me?”
“Eh?” Twilight balked.
“See for yerself what I’m teachin’ Spike, y’know?” Applejack said. “Maybe if you understand what he’s gettin’ into, you’ll realize yer frettin’ over nothin’.”
Twilight took a deep breath and arched her back before standing straight and staring Applejack right in the eye.
“Twilight…” Spike muttered, grabbing the hem of Twilight’s robes. Twilight looked down at him and her icy glare melted away into a sunny smile.
“Applejack,” Twilight returned her attention to Applejack and her icy glare returned, “do you realize what you’re asking right now?”
“Yeah,” Applejack chuckled and tapped her hoof against the ground; she was starting to get excited—or scared, she couldn’t quite tell which. “I’m askin’ to spar with a dragon. Who wouldn’t jump at that opportunity?”
“If that’s how you feel,” Twilight said, and suddenly a pair of batlike wings with constellations and galaxies etched into their form flared out behind Twilight, “then fine. Let’s go a round or two, Applejack.”