The gentle light of morning slid through the curtains. Applebloom woke up and immediately started getting ready for a new school day. As she took a shower, combed her hair, and put on her favorite red bow, she couldn’t avoid making noise and waking up her roommate.
“Just five more minutes.” Spike yawned.
“It’s okay, you can go back to sleep. I’ll leave in a minute,” Applebloom responded while looking on the mirror checking if everything was in place.
Spike closed his eyes for a moment, in any other day he wouldn’t think twice about just curling on his bed and going back into the realm of dreams. However, he didn’t want to look like a lazy dragon in front of Applebloom, even though she already knows he is, he wanted to look like someone she could count on that was ready for anything at any time.
He removed the blanket on him in a single motion, then he stretched his arms and let out a yawn as big as his mouth could take, showing all his dragon fangs.
“If I didn’t know you, that would be scary.” Applebloom giggled.
“Oh, you should be scared,” Spike crawled on the bed like a wild animal “Because this dragon is going to eat you!” He leap towards the pony who faked a cry for help. He grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed. Applebloom laughed and followed the game.
“No! Don’t eat me Mr. Dragon!”
“Cry all you want. No one can stop me from eating you… With kisses!” The dragon began putting his lips on his beloved’s neck. Spike was the only one who knew that Applebloom’s neck was her weak spot, a simple touch could make her laugh uncontrollably.
“No! Haha! Please- Ha! Stop! Hahahaha!” She laughed and protested, her front hooves were held firmly while she kicked with her lower hooves. After some more kisses and laughs, Spike finally stopped. He was still on top of her, but now they were only looking into each other’s eyes as the room went completely silent. They had come this far, their families approved their relationship, they knew that their filly was growing healthy, and most importantly they were going through this together.
Spike leaned forward closing his eyes, Applebloom did the same, it wasn’t a long distance for them to meet. Their lips touched, their arms covered each other, and their hearts accelerated. For a long time they had not had the time to show their love.
“What’s going on? Is everyone- Oh gosh!” The door opened and a hurried Twilight Sparkle came in, putting her hoof on her eyes when she witnessed what happened inside the room. She heard all the commotion and galloped there as quickly as possible, she didn’t know it was a game “I-I’m so sorry, I thought something bad- I’m sorry!” She shut the door tight and returned her activities.
“Her timing is impressive sometimes.” Spike said while rolling to the right side, he let himself lay on the bed. Applebloom got up from the bed, she marched to the mirror and check her hair once again.
“Spike, I think we need a place of our own,” She said while combing her mane.
“Huh?”
“This is getting common, I don’t want Twilight’s image of me being ruined… More than it is now. Also, when Apple Jewel comes we need a bigger place for the three of us,” She kept her eyes on the mirror and to those pesky hairs that never seem to collaborate with her.
“Yeah, I guess you are… Apple Jewel?!”
“I’m still thinking about her name. I thought you’d like that, you know, gems and all.”
Spike giggled as he remembered Applejack dressing up in a ladylike fashion some time ago.
“I take it you don’t like it.” Applebloom said.
“Maybe we should make a list or something. No need to rush.”
Finally, Applebloom she was ready. A quick look to the clock on the wall informed her it was time for her to leave the house.
“Well, I’ll be going now.” She leaned on him and left a warm kiss on his cheek. She turned away and marched towards the door.
“Have fun,” He responded.
Applebloom left and he stayed on his bed for a moment, staring at the sealing although his mind was in another place “Apple Jewel,” He mumbled “ Apple Bloom… Apple… Rose?… Apple… Apple Blossom.” As the names came from his mouth, the image of a little filly came to mind. He couldn’t picture her face nor the color of her coat, he only imagined him playing with her.
Half an hour later he stood up and walked down the stairs to the kitchen where Twilight pretended to be busy to keep her mind occupied.
“‘Morning, Mom” He greeted.
“Oh! Good morning, you want some breakfast?” Twilight Sparkle smiled nervously.
“Not for now. Listen, about what you saw… Is not what it looked like.”
“Spike, you know I don’t mind what you guys do, but I think there’s a correct way to do it.”
“A correct way?” Spiked asked.
All conversation stopped when they heard a knocking on the door. Twilight left the kitchen throating to the living room. Using her magic, she pulled the door open revealing an orange coated mare in the doorway.
“Howdy.” Applejack greeted. It had become common for her to visit them since her sister moved with them, the job of a sister never ends.
“Good morning, Applejack. Can I help you with something?” Twilight greeted back, inviting her to stay.
“No Twi, I’m fine. I just came to see Spike.”
“Me?” Spike showed from the kitchen. When she noticed her friend’s attention focusing on her assistant, Twilight walked up the stairs leaving the two of them alone in the living room, clearly this was something Apple related and she didn’t want to meddle with it.
“What is it, Applejack?” Spike asked.
“Spike, I need you to help me with some stuff in the farm. If you don’t mind.”
“Of course, but what about Big Mac?”
“He’s busy, and I really need to get this done. So, you in?” It took a moment of thought for Spike to come with an answer, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to help her, it was just that hearing probably the physically strongest mare in Ponyville asking for help was too unusual.
“Sure, lead the way.”
Without a word else the two of them left the library and headed to Sweet Apple Acres What kind of work would be awaiting for them that Applejack requires help?
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The Apple Farm seemed to be in perfect condition, Granny Smith doing her gardening, and Big Mac nowhere to be found. Spike looked around trying to spot what she could need help with.
“What did you say Big Mac was doing?”
“He’s doing a delivery. He should be here in a few hours,” Said the country pony as they arrived to the Apple barn “Wait here.” She said as she went inside of the barn, leaving the dragon alone for a couple of minutes. As the time went, Applejack finally came out pulling a cart filled with many roof shingles, asphalt roof cement, a long ladder, and a toolbox.
“So… I’m guessing we’re not having a picnic.” Spike smiled as he waited for his joke to sink in, Applejack replied with a smile and a giggle.
“The left side of the roof of the barn is damage and we need to replace all the shingles.” Applejack said.
“Alright, sounds… Easy… Why do you need me?”
“Well, to nail the shingles to the roof you need to use a hammer. Earth ponies have a bit of trouble with that; we need to hold the hammer with our mouth and smash the nails by tilting our heads, but we can only doing it for so long ‘til we get dizzy. I’ll tell you, the one who came with the idea of hammers was surely a unicorn,” She took a breath to return to his explanation “So, do you know how to replace shingles?”
Spike didn’t know many handy works, especially considering that his house didn’t really had a roof and because of one of Twilight’s spells some tools were enchanted to work whenever the house needed repairs. Regardless, he didn’t want to look like a dead weight or useless in front of her.
“S-sure.” He lied.
“Oh, well that’s a surprise. I thought you’d need an explanation or something, good thing you are so handy.” The farm pony left the tools on the ground and turned away.
"Wait! Where are you going." Spike asked.
"I trust you can do it on your own. I have some more work to do in the fields."
“Can I run back to the library? I… Forgot to tell Twilight. I promise I’ll be back.”
“Sure, just don’t take too much.”
The dragon ran as fast as his feet let him back to the Golden Oak Library. He slammed the door, making the alicorn inside startle.
“Spike! What is it?” Asked Twilight in concerned.
“Can’t. Talk. Need. Book!”
Being the librarian assistant, he knew where most of the books where. He took a ladder to reach one of the highest shelves in the library. The shelf was covered with dust and some spider webs, it was uncommon for even Twilight to read some of the books there. He used his finger as a guide to read on the titles of the books, some of them were barely readable because of the dusty. Finally he found the one he was looking for.
“Home Improvement, by Hayseed Turnip Truck. This will do!” He jumped off the ladder, using the momentum from the fall, he ran towards the door and returned to the Apple farm as swiftly as possible.
The Apples never noticed his absence nor his arrival, it didn’t take him more than ten minutes to run the long stretch, Spike is known to do some incredible feats when he is pushed to the limit, the life of somepony or his is in danger, or the new Power Ponies issue came out. He opened the book, the pages rolled while his eyes focused on finding the correct chapter title to help him out of the situation.
The page with the title “Roofs” appeared, the dragon skimmed across it looking for a section about repairs, thankfully that was in the next one “To replace shingles.” He read out loud “The first step is to identify the damaged area. Run a hose around the different sections while sompony inside of the house inspects where it’s leaking. Well, Applejack said everything needed to be replaced, so I’m guessing I’ll skip that,” The dragon jumped into the next chapter “If the shingles are damaged, they need to be replaced. Alright, this is the one. To do that follow the next steps.”
Following the steps, literally by the book, lifted the singles and pried the nails carefully. Compared to his work in the gems field he didn’t even struggle to get every shingle out of the roof, the hard part was not falling by trying to get the ones at the top. With the roof completely peeled, he took a brush and cleaned the area just as the author said.
It didn’t take much to have the left side of the barn to be ready for the new shingles, he took a good amount of them in order to have them close when he climbs to the roof again with the asphalt and the hammer. He started from the top, as the book suggested, placing the shingle and nailing it down.
"Huh, it isn't as hard as I thought."
He only needed one hit with the hammer to have the nail firmly attached to the roof, with that he grew confident of himself, but with confidence comes carelessness, as he didn't notice his fingers were in the hitting zone of the next nail.
"Ouch!" He yelled, along with other curses Twilight Sparkle would have surely punish him if she heard him. The accident occurred many more time, if it wasn't for the hardness of his dragon skin, he would have suffered severe injuries; yet the pain was overwhelming.
One after one, the shingles were nailed, Spike almost forgot one important thing: To add the asphalt. He used his fire to heat the can, as the book said that the kind of asphalt he had needed to be hot in order to work properly. He went back to the first nails and carefully added the black mixture on them, he check if it covered everything, apparently it did. He resumed his work, placing, nailing, adding the asphalt. It wasn’t as hard as digging the ground, although he felt even more tired.
As the Sun stood in its highest point of the day, Spike was done with his job. Splinters, bruises, and sweat proved his hard work. When he returned to the ground, Applejack was waiting for him.
"You done?" The mare asked.
"All done.”
“Alright, lemme do a quick check.” Applejack used the ladder and climbed to the roof, she inspected every inch of the roof, looking for a missed spot, a badly placed shingle, or anything that could end up in a leak or damage; she found nothing.
“Well, looks like you did a nice work.” Said Applejack while returning with Spike.
“Thanks… Now what?”
"Now, we eat."
She guided him inside of the barn where two hay sandwiches awaited them. Spike didn't notice, but his stomach rambled, he remembered he skipped breakfast. He stopped for a moment, an image of the sandwich he had on the dinner with his beloved left a scar on his mind, making him think twice when he sees a sandwich. Thankfully, his hunger was bigger than his fear.
They sat on a haystack to enjoy their meal, each of them had a bite to their sandwich. It was a nice moment as the wind whistled softly. However, there was some sense of awkwardness in the atmosphere. As good as things between them were now, Spike wasn’t sure what to talk about with her.
Spike thought for several minutes until something good came, but that didn’t happen, he even forgot about the sandwich on his hands.
“So, what’s the deal with you and my sister?” Shot her question first.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, what are your intentions? Did you just mess up and now you’re taking responsibility? Or was it guilt? And be honest.” Spike lowered his head, a weak smile appeared across his face, his eyes glistened with the reflection of his past.
“I won’t deny, I thought about running away when I first knew about it,” Spike giggled. “I thought of some way to not being involved with it. I really feel ashamed of that. I wasn’t sure I loved Apple Bloom… I do now. I want to take care of her and our baby.”
Silence filled the room, the meal on their plates started to get cold as they were ignored almost entirely.
“I’m glad to hear that,” The pony said. “She’s my little sister, I’ve been taking care of her since she was a filly. I just wanted someone to care for her.” Applejack smiled.
Spike still had a question on his head, a question that appeared since he saw her reaction the day she knew about the pregnancy, and when Applebloom told him about what they spoke.
“Applejack… Do you see Apple Bloom as your sister?... Or as a daughter?” The country pony stared into his eyes, confusion on her mind.
“There were moments I thought that I might as well just told her I was her mother,” A single tear fell on the ground from her eye. “I took care of her all the time. Granny was too old to do it, and Big Mac was taking care of everything in the house. I could’ve just say she was mine, but I couldn’t. I can’t replace my mother, I can’t give her the same love a mother could.”
Spike waited for a river of tears, or sadness to take over her, that didn’t happen. Instead a small laugh was came from the pony. The dragon couldn’t help but frown her face in confusion.
“You know, we used to make fun of Apple Bloom with you,” Applejack hid her mouth with her hoof, trying to not laugh any harder. “When she was a filly we always saw the crusaders hanging out with you, especially Apple Bloom. We used to tease her telling her that you were a couple and that you’ll end up together. Turns out the mocking was right.” Spike found the anecdote not laughing material, maybe it was because he wasn’t part of it, but he giggled with Applejack.
They finished their meal, this time they felt like a heavy weight was lifted from their shoulders.
“So, is that all?” Spike asked while he cleaned the crumbs on his claws and stretch up his arms.
“Not yet, there’s one more thing, wait right here” Applejack said and walked out of the barn.
When Applejack stepped out, Spike could hear a second voice from the outside, he sat there waiting patiently until the barn door swung open, instead of Applejack, there was a yellow coated pony coming in.
“Hey Spike, I’ve been looking for you.” Applebloom said.
“Hi Bloom. Your sister wanted me to help him out with the roof. Apparently using a hammer makes her dizzy.” Applebloom frowned when she heard this.
“Hammer? She doesn’t need a hammer, she can nail everything with her own hooves. Actually, this whole side of the barn was built by her.”
Spike shook his head in confusion. What reason would Applejack have to ask him to help? As questions emerged, the barn door opened once again, now two ponies walked in.
“Oh! Welcome home, big bro.” Applebloom greeted. Applejack and Big Mac stepped in carrying a paint can.
“Follow me, Spike.” Big Mac said as he continued walking to the back of the barn.
Spike had been there many times, but never seen the wall at the back. The wall was covered with hoofprints that were all kinds of colors from many ponies and their signatures. Spike rolled his head around looking for the hoofprint of Applebloom, it didn’t take him long, it was near the middle of the wall next to Applejack’s and next to her’s, there was a big empty space.
“This is the family wall, every Apple has left their mark on it. Those who are considered an Apple have helped in raising, protecting, restoring, or decorating the barn,” Applejack stopped when she saw her big brother opening the paint can. “And today, I can proudly say… We welcome you to the Apple family!”
Applebloom clapped with her hooves in excitement, she didn’t know what her siblings had planned. Spike froze, his jaw dropped, and his limbs felt like they could bear his weight.
“So, if you don’t mind, put your… Claw in the paint and leave your mark.” Big Mac said.
Nervously, he put his hand on the paint until his palm was covered with red paint. He turned and looked for an empty space for him to place his hand. Thankfully he remember the blank space next to Applebloom’s. With that he left his mark. Using his finger, he wrote his name beneath it. Now he was an Apple.
“Why did you leave so much space between us?” Applebloom asked.
“That place is reserved... For our baby.” Spike responded. They embraced right there, as the others clapped welcoming him to the family.
“Wait, if this is the family wall, where’s Pinkie’s signature? I don’t see it anywhere.” Spike wondered.
“Oh, she needed a bigger place.” Big Mac answered while pointing his hoof to the ceiling.
The word “PINKIE” was written with hoofprints of four different colors: Pink, blue, yellow, and purple.
“How did-?” Spike was about to ask.
“We have no idea.” Applejack interrupted.
With the job done, his mark on the wall, and the sun about to set, the time to leave the Apple farm has come. As much as the family wanted their little one to stay, she wanted to be with his partner.
“So… I’m Apple Spike now.” He said
“Why don’t we just leave it as Spike. I like it that way.”
“Things are looking brighter now, don’t you think?”
“Yup, we’re a huge family now.”
The two of them looked in the sky. They saw the same two early stars that always appear before the sun sets. There was a word that they wanted to say, but they didn’t need to. They knew exactly what each other felt.