//------------------------------//
// What If? 
// Story: Gems or Apples? 
// by AlenasWorldGal 
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Spike sat at Donut Joe's, sitting at a window seat, staring out into the dark night at the glowing stars. An uneaten donut was in front of him, while Joe was finishing cleaning up. He sighed as he looked down at the donut sadly, remembering that Fluttershy and Discord's wedding was earlier that day, and how Rarity told him she didn't think him the same way he did towards her
“Hey Spike” A tender country accent said next to him. He looked up and saw Applejack standing in the doorway of the donut shop. She trotted over to him slowly and quietly sat next to him, staring out the window like he was before but he was staring at her, daring not to say anything.
“So uh...do ya still like Rarity?” She looked at him, hoping for an answer to the question that had been on her mind since they danced.
“I don't really know...but I know now that I have no chance with her anymore”
“But...what if she did like ya back?” She looked at him with her emerald green eyes. He looked at her, shocked by her question.
What could he say? What should he do? He remembered that Applejack had danced with him, and it was one of the most amazing moments of his life, but what if she were Rarity? Would he keep going after Rarity even though she pushed him away? . He knew ponies were said to do foolish things when they’re in love, so when he wanted to date Rarity, was he secretly in love with Applejack ever since he saved her life, but didn’t grasp it? He looked out the window, and he closed his eyes, and everything felt like it was spinning, he opened them again to see Applejack had disappeared, including the Donut Shop, Joe, and even...gravity? He was floating in a dark abyss, all alone until bright glowing stars started appearing where his clawed feet were. They were creating a path of stars, through the abyss, and into the unknown. He was pushed onto the beginning of the stars, and he didn’t know why, but he started running on the path, towards where they were leading him.
“Follow the stars Spike, they will help lead you to what you most desire”. A woman's voice called and echoed through the darkness. As he ran, he noticed a dark blue light ahead of him on the path, and he smiled knowing that was the end of the trail, but he stopped when he noticed that it was a dark blue Alicorn, whose back was turned to him. He started approaching Princess Luna, who turned to him with a blank stare.
"Young Spike, we have come here to assist thou." Spike stared back at her.
"Assist me?" He asked.
"We know many things, we enter thy's dreams, and protect thou from nightmares, and thou hast no clue as to what thy wants." After Spike translated what she was saying, he looked down.
"Well yeah, I'm still in love with Rarity, but-"
"We knowest about her, but we want thou to choose between her or a honest cow pony." Luna told him, walking up to him.
"We brought thou here to tell thou to choose wisely, and follow the stars and your heart." She smiled.
"Thou art a strong Drake, you follow thy brain, but follow thy heart, for he knows where to lead thou." She started flying into the darkness and once again the world swirled around him. He closed his eyes shut, and heard a voice call him.
"Spike, wake up!"
He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the tan ceiling above him. He attempted to sit up, but his entire body ached, as he let out a groan.
"Don't try to sit up, it will hurt even more." He turned to the source of the voice, and he saw Applejack's warm smile on her face as she knelt beside him, along with Joe, who looked at him with concern. Spike realized he was on the donut store floor, which he asked:
"W-what happened?" 
"Ya suddenly blacked out, and I didn’t know how to wake ya up. I was planning on getting Twilight, but ya woke up when I was planning to.” As Spike stared into her eyes, he remembered what Luna told him.
“So um about that question you asked before..." He said awkwardly, to which Applejack slowly looked down.
"I guess that's my cue to leave now..." Joe said awkwardly, walking into the back room but placed his ear to the door to hear what was going on.
"I probably would date her, but later realize it was the worst mistake I've ever made." He motioned for AJ to sit next to him, and she sat down, not taking her eyes off of him.
"I realized that this entire time I was trying to get Rarity to notice me, my heart was secretly yearning to go after you instead...and I just put it aside." Applejack's eyes widened.
"Wha-what do ya mean?"
"What I'm trying to say is that...I think I might have a crush on you,AJ." Applejack started blushing as she smiled, tears forming in her eyes.
"You really do?"
"Yeah why would I not love your smile, personality, eyes…” He smirked at her, as her face became beet red.
“To tell ya the truth, ever since the Timberwolf incident, I've-"
“hey Love Birds, could you quiet down the romance level you have right now? It’s getting obnoxious!” Rainbow called out. They looked down to see the others staring at them, with Rarity grinning evilly at them. They both blushed quickly as they both awkwardly stood up, daring not to look at the other. They all walked out of the shop, towards the train  station, and on the train in silence, but Pinkie would blurt something out every now and then, but that was normal to them. As they made it back, Applejack started going towards Sweet Apple Acres, but she stopped when Spike suddenly kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and turned to him, but he already had his back turned as he walked the opposite way towards Twilight's castle. She smiled as she walked through the apple orchard, remembering all that had happened, for the past year or so. "Maybe I have  a chance with him after all!" she thought to herself and she walked into the house, blushing a little.
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Applejack didn't know that in the Everfree Forest, Discord had seen the entire scene through his mirror. He rubbed his chin in thought, with an evil grin on his face.
"Hmm....it seems the two of them need another nudge..." He chuckled a little, as he started coming up with a plan, but Fluttershy walked in slowly.
"What are you doing, Discord?" He quickly snapped his fingers, causing the image in the mirror to disappear.
"Um, nothing" he looked away innocently, while Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what he was planning next...