A Dragon's Selection

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 16

Fluttershy trembled under the bed as Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie tried to coax her out.

Rarity said, "Darling, I know you've told us about your fears to Nightmare Night. But it's just going to be a party in the ballroom tonight, surely that won't affect you on what's going outside the castle."

"But what if a monster or something worst barges in during the party?!" Fluttershy whimpered

Applejack looked over to Fluttershy's parents as they had sheepish looks on their faces.

Mrs. Shy said, "We don't really celebrate Nightmare Night as it can be quite frightful…"

Mr. Shy added, "And we didn't want the kids to get scared by going out every Nightmare Night so we had them stay inside the house until it passed."

Zephyr came in then and addressed the bed, "Really Flutters, how do you expect the prince to choose you if you're going to be afraid of a little costume party?"

AJ muttered to Twilight, "Talk about guilt tripping the poor filly…" the unicorn slightly nodded in agreement.

Zephyr kept going, "When I was in mane therapy school I attended all sorts of Nightmare Night parties! Mom and Dad made too big a deal out of it! Nightmare Night is hardly scary at all! Now come out from under there!"

Fluttershy slightly poked her head out; "It may have worked for you, Zephyr, but it will never work for me!" she went back under the bed, completely hiding from the number of ponies trying to persuade her to come out.

Spike had seen the commotion and entered the room asking, "What's going on?"

Zephyr faced the dragon and put on a smooth smile, "Your highness!" he gave a quick bow, "Forgive my sister, she's just uneasy when it comes to this day of the year."

Mr. Shy took over, "I'm afraid it's our fault. We made Nightmare Night sound so terrible to her that it was enough for her to stay lock up in the house and hide under her bed every year."

Spike pondered on this and addressed them, "Would you all please leave for a moment? I would like to speak to Fluttershy alone." he heard the whimper under the bed and the worried looks on every pony's faces, and quickly said, "Don't worry, I'm not eliminating her." Yet. He added in his thoughts, and saw the relief on their faces as he stated, "I simply wish to talk to her."

Satisfied by that reply, the family and Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity left, while AJ lingered a bit when she saw the look Spike was giving her and her face flushed from the gaze. When she gone, he faced the bed and couched down so he could have his face under the bed to see the upset pegasus.

She began saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, Spike, I know it's not normal for ponies to be terrified of an Equestrian holiday but it's just…" she quivered, "so scary…"

"It's okay, Fluttershy. You told me yourself you have so many fears and how you had a fear of dragons before you met me. But I know you're a brave pony. I don't want to force to do something you're uncomfortable with but I don't like the idea of you being stuck up here while your friends and family are having a good time without you… So why don't I assign you a personal bodyguard for tonight? Would that make things easier?"

Fluttershy blink in bewilderment and pondered on it, then slowly said, "Well… I suppose so… but how can you know for sure they will be able to protect me without something going wrong?"

"I'll make sure I'll find someone who's very capable and magical enough to keep you out of harm's way."

"He means me." a voice said.

Spike bonked his head when he got out from underneath the bed and turned to see Discord floating in a relaxed position.

While rubbing his head, he asked, "How long have you been here?"

"Not long, but it looks like I came just in time as you were about to tell Miss Fluttershy about her assigned protector." he pointed to himself with a smirk.

Spike dubiously questioned, "You'll watch over her tonight?"

"But of course. I am very powerful being after all. It was I who created the safe room, was it not? In case those icky griffons got inside the castle during the Selection and it worked, didn't it?"

Spike thought it over and decided that the draconequus would be right for the job. He looked over to the pegasus who was poking her head out of the bed with intrigue.

"Fluttershy, are you alright with this arrangement? Will you be okay with Sir Discord accompanying you to the party?"

The pegasus had a slight smile on her face, no doubt remembering how the chaotic being made her feel comfortable during her interview and Spike noticed the small smile on Discord's face when looking at the mare. And suddenly it was clear why the draconequus was willing to help out, he obviously fancied the sweet thing. Spike inwardly chuckled at Discord's crush and found it cute.

Fluttershy spoke, "Well… if it's alright with Sir Discord, I… I don't mind."

Discord clapped his hands, "Excellent! I shall escort you to the ballroom at seven sharp then. Make sure you're ready by then."

"Oh, okay…" she gave him a timid smile.

Discord then patted Spike's back, "Now if you excuse us, I must speak with his highness." he gestured for the dragon to get going.

Spike was vaguely annoyed by this but he went out of Fluttershy's room and into the hallway where it was secluded enough as Discord said.

"Your cousin Gargle has arrived this morning."

Spike groaned, "I was hoping he wouldn't get here until after I made my choice."

Discord gasped out, "Does that mean Miss Applejack has accepted your proposal?!" his eyes with all starry.

Spike yelled, "No! Not yet!" then calmly said, "But I'm hoping she will, after tonight… I need to talk to her to make sure. The good news is, her family has approved of us together and since I've decided to be a father, it increases my chance to have her as my wife."

Discord guffawed and smacked Spike's back almost making the dragon fall. "It's about time! You two had hit off since day one so why wait any longer?!"

"Like I said, we have to wait and see. Now, where's Garble and please tell me he's behaving himself…"

"He's sleeping right now but he'll be awake in time for the party."

Spike muttered, "Wonderful…" then said, "Make sure he stays away from Fluttershy then, the last thing I want is for her to be afraid of dragons again when I was able to nullify her fear of them."

Discord smirked, "It would be my pleasure."

Spike rolled his eyes.

---

The ballroom was crowded with costumed ponies that it was hard to tell who was who. But Applejack as Dorothy Bale with her blue dress and pigtails was able to get a few of her friends and their family members including her own. Twilight was dressed as Hormione Grazer, Pinkie was a black cat with a tall red and white hat. Rarity was a princess you would find in those old stories what with her short purple pointed cone hat and a dress with frilly borders with purple dots, a pink top, and a deep purple skirt. Fluttershy was wearing a simple black dress so she didn't know what she was. Discord was next to her and he was dressed in a black suit and cape with only half a white mask which made AJ guess he was the Pony of the Opera. Sunset had a smug look on her face as she showed off her costume that was flashy in its bright orange and red color. It was plain to see she was a phoenix with her wings up high in the air and she had a headpiece that resembled a phoenix's head.

Looking at the families and their costumes, most of them were comical. Applejack noticed Pinkie's family was the only ones not wearing costumes except for Maud who was dressed up as a boulder with a sword on top of it. Rarity's family was dressed up with Sweetie Belle as a butterfly and her parents a king and queen. With Twilight's family they were Shakespony's characters with Cadence and Shining Armor as Poneo and Juli-neight and Twilight's parents were Mark An-pony and Cleopatrot. The Shys were dressed as white rabbits much to Zephyr's annoyance. And finally her own family was dressed up with Big Mac as Frankenstag's monster, Granny was the Olden Pony, and Apple Bloom was a pirate.

Silver Shill was also there with Sir Hoity-Toity and most of the Canterlot Elite as they showed off their costumes. There was no sign of Spike or his sister anywhere but the Royal Sisters were presented with Celestia dressed up as a majestic-looking lion and Luna an enchantress of some kind. A DJ known as DJ-Pon 3 was playing the music to the dancers on the dance floor.

She figured this would give her an opportunity to finally talk to her brother since she hadn't had the chance all morning. Call her crazy but seem Big Mac was avoiding her. She was about to go to him until Silver Shill approached her.

"So how did it go? Does your brother and grandmother approve of you and his highness?"

Applejack replied, "Granny does. But I still don't know about Big Mac and every time I try to talk to him, he keeps away from me! You think he's mad that I might leave? Spike said they got along the other day but if he's upset at me…"

Silver shrugged and eyed the ballroom to find the stallion but he was nowhere in sight. Applejack followed his gaze and grunted in frustration. She was so close to making her final choice but she still needed her brother's approval and Spike's desire to be a parent. Spike… the way he was looking at her today made her blush heavily. There was something about that look like it was supposed to mean something. But what? Before she could dwell on it Silver said.

"Well I hope he does approve. Because you deserve to be happy. His highness is certainly lucky…" he said that last part with deject.

AJ's brow rose at Silver's wording. "Shill? Is there something you want to tell me?"

Silver sighed, "There's no fooling you…" he rubbed his neck, "the truth is, Applejack, I've had a crush on you since we stopped Flim and Flam with their scam. I had hoped with time, that maybe you could feel the same way… Then when you enter into the Selection, I was so sure you would come back home but when you didn't… well, never let be said that Silver Shill was a poor loser. You should decide on who you should be with."

Applejack gapped, "Shill, why didn't you tell me this sooner? Had I known you were interested I would have gone on a couple of dates with ya."

The colt perked up, "Really? You would have?"

"Well, sure, you're a nice enough fella and you have keen sense for business so yeah, I wouldn't have mind it. But… given how things are now…"

"Yeah… well, at least it's nice to know that I could've had a chance with you…"

She slightly smiled, "How would you feel about a dance between two old friends?"

Silver smiled, "I would love it."

They made it on the dance floor and danced with the other partygoers.

Spike dressed in armor made his way into the ballroom with his sister and cousin. Garble wore nothing and was looking bored while Ember actually dressed up a warrior princess. Spike eyed the room and found his Selected mares wearing costumes and mingling but his eyes laid on the mare wearing a blue dress and pigtails as she danced with that Silver Shill guy. The bubbling in his stomach came back until he reminded himself that they were just friends and nothing else. So since she was busy dancing might as well do the same.

He found Pinkie close by and asked her to a dance. He quickly regretted it when she started twirling him around and he barely got a word in edgewise.

"So-how-are-you-enjoying-the party?!" he had to shout out quickly.

Pinkie joyfully replied, "It's the best! I'm having so much fun! And so are my parents and sisters!"

Spike got a quick glimpse of her folks standing on the side and they looked indifferent but he guessed that Pinkie was better at reading their emotions than anybody else.

"I've yet to find my sister, Marble in this crowd, she just disappeared."

"That's weird." he commented. "Good luck finding her."

"And I like your costume! Are you are a knight?"

"Close, I'm the dragon knight: Burn Inferno from dragon lore in my country."

"Oh, cool!"

Then the song ended and they stopped dancing. Spike saw AJ was still talking with Silver Shill and decided to ask Sunset to a dance next much to her delight.

"How are you this evening?" he asked her.

"Just great." she smirked, "I was hoping to have a dance with you before the night was up."

Spike chuckled, "I like your costume, it reminds me of my pet phoenix, Pee-wee."

Sunset's eyes lit up, "You have a pet phoenix?!"

"Yup. I first met Pee-wee during the Great Dragon Migration. I found him as a lonely egg that I took him in and hatched him by myself and we've been inseparable ever since."

"That's so sweet! I would love to meet him! Phoenixes are my favorite birds in all of Equestria." she smiled bright.

Spike smiled himself as they kept dancing.

Applejack had finished talking to Silver when she spotted Spike dancing with Sunset! A knot formed in her belly as she watched the two. She had to remember Spike's words of him choosing her over Sunset.

I'm sure he's just being polite… Don't worry, he said he would you pick you over her… you have nothing to worry about… And as long as he's busy dancing you can go find your brother…

She headed over to the refreshment table where Granny Smith was and asked, "Hey, Granny, have ya seen Big Mac?"

"Gosh, child, I thought I saw him talkin' to that one mare whose sisters with that pink mare that's in the Selection with ya."

"You mean Pinkie?"

"That's the one."

"Her sister, huh? Which one?"

"Sure as heck beats me… Girl's got so many of them I can hardly tell who's who."

At this point, Applejack could see Spike was dancing with Rarity this time. Another knot formed in her stomach.

Stop it! Look he obviously likes ya since he keeps telling ya that he likes ya and that he has a hard time keeping away from ya. You have nothin' to worry about!

Apple Bloom came up to them, "Actually, Granny, it's easy to tell who's who with Pinkie's sisters. Maud is the one dressed up as a rock because she likes rocks just like how we like apples and her sister, Limestone is always complaining about being away from their rock farm. And Marble is the quiet one and I saw her going off with Big Mac somewhere."

That snapped AJ out of her trance, "What?! Big Mac and Marble are together?!"

Apple Bloom shrugged, "That's what it looked like to me."

"Land sakes! Now I'll never be able to talk with him about Spike!"

By then Flash Sentry came up her and asked, "May I have this dance, miss?"

Applejack looked at him then at Spike who was still dancing with Rarity and said, "Sure, why not?" she took the guard's hoof and he led her on the dance floor.

Spike finished with Rarity only to see Applejack dancing with a guard now and deeply sighed. How am I suppose to tell her my surprise if I haven't had a moment to talk to her?

Twilight approached him and followed his gaze and with a smirk on her face, said, "How about a dance, Spike?"

Spike turned to her and nodded as they made their way on the floor. They danced for a little while until Flash and Twilight caught each other's eyes and with a quick wink they moved closer to each other with their dancing partners. When they suddenly switch and Applejack and Spike ended up in each other's arms. Confused on what happen, they turned to see Twilight winking at them before she danced some more with Flash.

Spike chuckled, "That sneaky mare!"

AJ chuckled as well, "Gotta hand it to her, that was smart of her to have that guard Sir Sentry to go along with it."

"Twilight was always too smart for her own good. Good thing I won't have to choose her for my wife after all."

Her eyes widen at that. "Does this mean she told ya?"

"Told me what?" he raised a brow.

"Oh, I thought… never mind. What exactly do you mean by not choosing her as your wife?"

"Because I've already made my choice." he stated.

She gasped. "Does this mean it's… over?"

"Absolutely. And we got a lot to plan for Applejack. There's the wedding, moving back to Dragonia, my sister's coronation, starting our family…"

"Whoa! Whoa! You mean to say…? You… you want to be a…" tears of joy welled in her eyes.

"Father?" he smirked, "That's right. Thanks to some votes of confidence and after playing with your sister and Rarity's sister I found out that I really like the idea of having little fillies and colts around. And to top it off I have your brother's seal of approval of us."

"Wait… what?"

He smiled warmly, "I visited him last night, and told him of my intentions. He approves and made me swear to keep my promise of keeping you happy. Now I have to know… do you want this? Do you want to marry me now that we have your family's blessings?"

Applejack was completely speechless before she wrapped her arms around his neck and twirled him around while saying, "Yes! Yes, Spike!" then rested her head on his shoulder.

Spike's heart burst out of pure happiness by that touch alone and wrapped his arms around her tight, not caring a wit about what anyone else thought. It was just them in their own world and nothing could ruin this moment for them.

Author's Note:

Thank you to everyone who made suggestions for the costumes! By looking over the costume ideas, I realized I could make the costumes have a book theme to it! Given I technically was spoofing this from a book series, so it just fit! Just to clarify some of the costumes, Twilight as Hormione Grazer was indeed Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, Pinkie was the Cat in the Hat from Dr. Seuss, Rarity's costume was actually a callback to A Dog and Pony Show, just as Fluttershy's costume callback to Scare Master. Maud was the sword in the stone from Arthuran legend. Celestia was Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom's costumes were actually costumes wore by America and Maxon at their Halloween party that was in the second book, The Elite. Every other costume is fairly noticeable and spoken for so no need to explain other then it was dumb luck that Spike and Applejack's costumes managed to fit with the book theme before I decided to do that!

Speaking of our happy couple… At least it was great they were able to have this one last sweet moment before… (says quickly) something-bad-happens! (Ducks for cover as the readers angrily shout or boos at the writer)

Comments

[Silver Topaz]

Great chapter. Something bad is going to happen, I can't wait to see what it is.

[MySisterBroughtMeHere]

I'm betting Garble has some plan to take the throne or Sunset allies with the Griffons upon hearing Spike's decision.

[Mrof]

aslong as their is no death from no were your good.

[Moon Glow]

Murphy's Law is right around the corner. I just know it!

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Great chapter.

[Godslittleprincess]

Let me guess. Garble?