A Dragon's Selection

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 5

When she had almost gotten back into her room she heard crying and slowly took a peek in to see Coco was shaking and weeping much like how Fluttershy was during the attack. Sugar Belle and Night Gilder were trying to comfort her as Sugar said.

"It's okay, Coco, the attack has gotten under control…"

Night Gilder motioned, "Right! Those griffons will think twice before coming back here!"

Applejack wasn't sure about that but she did know that Coco needed this time to herself and tried to back away only to be spotted by Sugar Belle.

"Oh! My lady!" she exclaimed.

Coco looked up with tear-strain eyes and stammered, "M-miss A-Applejack, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

AJ went to her and patted her back, "Hush now… there's nothin' to apologize for…"

Coco insisted, "Oh, but there is! I would be deem unfit to serve you in this condition!"

Applejack raised her brow, "Say what now?"

Night Gilder explained, "You see Miss Applejack, we as maids must make sure we are at our best to serve guests of the castle and in Coco's case, had someone witness her breaking down like this then Ms. Harshwinny could discharge her in mere seconds."

Coco proclaimed, "And I really don't want that! I like where I am now, and I certainly don't want to back to Manehattan and work for my last employer, Suri Polomare again."

"Why? What happen?" AJ asked.

"Suri constantly ordered me around, making me work nights on designs she didn't finish herself, and…" her ears flatten and turned away in sadness.

"And?" Applejack inquired.

But Coco shook her head.

Sugar Belle said, "When Coco came to the castle she was covered in bruises."

Applejack's eyes widen and gapped, "You… you mean to tell me… that-that no good pony… abused her?!"

Night Gilder and Sugar Belle nodded their heads. Applejack's eyes burn in fiery and threw her hat on the floor in anger while cussing. That had startled the three mares and when Applejack saw the scared look in Coco's face she exhaled a breath and began to cool down as she put her hat back on.

"Sorry about that. But it just really ticks me off that somepony could do that to another pony… I'm sorry you had to endure that."

Coco gave a small smile. Sugar and NG smiled as well with Sugar saying, "That's why the attacks scare her so much, it reminds her too much of the times that…"

"I get it." then with another smile she said, "Don't you worry sugar cube, I ain't going to let anyone give you a reason to fire ya, you have my word. And I always tell the truth so you're safe."

Coco gave a bright smile as she embraced Applejack in gratitude. The cowgirl addressed them, "Now then, why don't y'all tell me a bit more about yourselves."

---

Spike sat across from Twilight in the library with dinner plates in front of them. After the attack today, Spike didn't want to waste a second to start courting these mares and went to Twilight shortly before the other girls went to dinner and they settled themselves in the library like in the good old days.

"So are you still that bookworm I came across when I first came here?" he asked.

Twilight rolled her eyes and magically took a sip of her drink before replying, "In a word, yes."

"What kind-of spells have you learn since I last saw you?"

"Transformation spells mostly."

"Really? So… could you turn me into a pony?"

"Well that would require some high advance magic I've yet to reach but why do you ask?"

"I just thought… that I could escape the role of being a dragon prince even if it was for a short while, I wouldn't care, and just knowing I've experience a sense of freedom would make me the happiest creature in all of Equestria…"

Twilight touched her heart in woe, "Spike… I had no idea you felt this way about your life…"

"It's not easy that's for sure. My father must make sure I obey his orders without question and Ember can't do anything about it even though she is his heir, she would risk losing the Bloodstone Scepter that controls all the dragons to our cousin, Garble. Would you want that kind-of life Twilight? As my princess you would be treated very well and be respected greatly. And we do have a grand library in the castle so you would still be able to study magic to your heart's content."

Twilight slightly smiled, "That does sound amazing, but we should wait and see if something happens between you and the other mares. Get to know some of them before we go on another date, I want to make sure you're making the best possible choice for yourself."

Spike grinned at that and nodded in agreement to her words.

---

Once Twilight and Spike were done eating, the unicorn started to go back to her room and when she was about to turn a corner she accidently bumped into an orange pegasus stallion with golden armor.

"Whoa! You okay?" he asked.

Twilight got a good look at him and a slight blush crept on her cheeks when seeing how handsome he was, "Um, yeah… I'm okay…"

He smiled, "Great, I wouldn't want any of Prince Spike's girls get hurt because of a stupid move on my part."

Twilight shook her head, "No, no, the fault was entirely mine, I was in a hurry to get back to my room and I didn't slow down."

He inquired, "You're Twilight Sparkle, right?"

"Uh-huh. How did you know?"

He chuckled, "Well it's hard not to know you. The entire guard knows your Princess Celestia's protégé and now that you're in the Selection, you've become quite famous."

Twilight felt herself blushing further and gave a cheesy smile, "I'm not trying to be something special…"

The stallion sighed, "That's too bad, because I think you'd make a wonderful princess even if you didn't marry the prince."

"You're too kind, Sir…?"

"Sentry." he beamed then he said, "I have to get back to my rounds, will you be alright going back to your room?"

"Yes, thank you, I'll be fine. It was very nice meeting you, Sir Sentry."

"It was nice meeting you too, Miss Twilight." with a final look he went on his way while she stared after him in awe.

---

Spike was heading to his room when he heard giggling and turned to see Applejack in a room with three other mares when the one with poofy hair said.

"Miss Applejack you certainly have an exciting life back in Ponyville."

"Aw shucks, just call me Applejack and my life wasn't that exciting."

The blue mare with silver hair cried out, "Are you kidding?! You're a rodeo champion and you help run a farm!"

Applejack chuckled, "I guess that can be exciting for some but for me its old hat." she pointed to her Stetson hat for emphasis.

Spike took that as his cue to enter and said, "An old hat it may be but you make it look brand new."

They turned to him in surprise as the maids quickly bowed while saying, "Your highness."

"At ease." he told them with a smile. They quickly excused themselves, leaving the dragon and cowgirl alone.

AJ slightly smirked, "That was a mighty fine compliment you just gave me."

Spike smiled coyly, "What can I say? You so look so natural in that hat that if I saw you without it, I wouldn't be able to recognize you."

She chuckled before moving over to her vanity where pictures of her family she brought from home were there. Spike noticed the photos and asked.

"Is that your family?"

"Sure is! That's Big Mac, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom."

He softly chortled, "Your little sister is cute."

"She maybe cute but she is mighty energetic." she smiled until it faltered and she gave a longingly sigh at the pictures.

Spike's own smile faltered, "You miss her, don't you…?"

"I haven't been here that long and already I want to go back home."

He slowly went up to her and touched her shoulder in comfort, "I can't thank you enough for doing this. I know how hard this is for you."

"Of course, as much as I want to be home, you need help on finding a wife that makes you happy."

"Tell me about your family, what are they like?"

"Well, Granny Smith is the one in charge of Sweet Apple Acres, no matter how much Big Mac and I kid ourselves…" she jested causing a smile to play on her lips which made him smile as well then she continued, "Apple Bloom tends to get too active and sometimes it's hard keepin' up with her."

"What about your parents?"

That question caught Applejack completely off guard and unsteadily asked, "What about them?"

"Aren't they around to keep track of her?"

Applejack looked away in forlorn and quietly replied, "They ain't with us anymore…"

His eyes widen and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…"

"It's okay, you didn't know."

"No, but I do know what it's like of not having parents around…"

She raised a brow at him in intrigue.

"You see, I lost my mother when I was very young and I hardly even remember her… And my father… was so busy being a ruler that I didn't get to spend any time with him…"

AJ gapped at this information.

"You seem to value your siblings very much, Ember is the same way for me. In fact, I think after Mom passed on she took it upon herself to raise me and I am so grateful for that."

"She sounds like a great sister." she slightly smiled.

He returned a tiny smile, "She is. And I bet you're an awesome sister too."

She vaguely blushed at his sentiment, "Thank you… that's very sweet of you to say so…"

Spike started heading to the door then asked, "By the way, do you have an idea of who I should ask a date for? I already met with Twilight and she wants me to expand my horizon a bit more."

"Oh, well… I think Fluttershy or Rarity is a good place to start. They had a lot of nice things to say about you this afternoon."

"Excellent! You're a great friend, Applejack and I promise to keep you as long as I can so your family will have plenty of bits."

The gesture made her beam as he said goodnight and left. Leaving her to her thoughts.

He's the most noble dragon I have ever met, not even the stallions I've met back in Ponyville would have his sense of generosity… He's more of a gentlecolt then actual colts are! He's endured sadness in his life but that doesn't stop him from being kind… Her eyes widen suddenly when she realized that she was getting a bit deep here as told herself, Whoa there, Nelly! Don't go losing your head here! Just because you found something in common with him and that his caring nature is helping your family doesn't mean you're falling for him! You made your choice so you stick to it! Okay? There was a pause then she sighed, thinking, Okay…

But her heart was making her have second thoughts…

Author's Note:

Okay yes, I will admit it, I ship Flashlight BUT that's not why they're getting paired up in this story. Spoilers Ahoy! In the book series, Carter is a guard and how he meets Marlee is eerily similar to how Twilight and Flash met in the first Equestria Girls movie plus their personalities are similar as well. So yes, it worked to the benefit of my ship just like how I have Spike and Applejack as Maxon and America because it worked out so well with their characters! Just thought I clear that up before anything else.

Comments

[Silver Topaz]

I ship Flashlight to.

[Valiant Hearts]

I was honestly expecting to see some hate comments for Flashlight, but there are none. Nice to know.

[Godslittleprincess]

Spoilers Ahoy! In the book series, Carter is a guard and how he meets Marlee is eerily similar to how Twilight and Flash met in the first Equestria Girls movie plus their personalities are similar as well.

How wonderfully convenient. Although, this makes me question just how much of this story is original and how much is adaptation.

[Deathclaw2014]

This makes me feel so sad for Coco that It makes me want to see her get her own ship.