A Dragon's Selection 2: Follow Your Heart

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 6

The day had come when all thirty-five suitors from across Equestria would come for the hoof of Princess Apple Jewel. Ponyville was well prepared for the stallions' arrival, as each would be given a personal escort when they came from the train station and would be given a tour of the small village. Then they would be escorted to the castle to meet the princess and her family, and then from there they would be showed to the rooms they would be living in until the princess had no use for them anymore.

The entire Apple family plus Ember and Asher were in the foyer waiting for the first suitor to arrive.

Apple Jewel was closer to the doors while her parents, brother, cousin, aunts, and uncle were a few feet behind her. She glanced back at them with Spike telling her.

"You got this, sweetheart."

Jewel could see the nodding heads of her family members and went back to watch the doors. Just then a herald came in and blew his horn before pronouncing, "Announcing, Sir Trail Blaze from Appleloosa!"

An earth stallion with black boots and a cowboy hat walked in and bowed before Apple Jewel.

"Howdy, ma'am." he said in a deep country accent.

Apple Jewel replied with a smile, "And howdy to ya too, partner."

Trail chuckled, "I sure hope that'll be the case, your highness."

Applejack furrowed her brow in suspicion and whispered to her brother and sister, "A bit of a smooth talker ain't he?"

Apple Bloom agreed, "He sure is…"

Mac stated, "Eeyup."

AJ motioned, "We better keep an eye on this one…"

AB uttered, "Or better yet we write to Cousin Braeburn to see if he knows anything about this suitor."

Her sister nodded, "Good idea, we'll do just that."

They went back to watching the exchange before Jewel said, "Well it's very nice meeting you, but I'll need to be ready to see the others when they come."

Trail bowed again, "Of course, but it was nice talkin' to ya just the same, I hope we see each other real soon." he winked before his escort took him up the stairs.

The herald came back and declared, "Announcing, Sir Seam of Manehatten!"

Seam timidly walked in as he approached Apple Jewel, to Applejack, he seemed familiar with his light cream coat and light blue hair not to mention the square-shape glasses he wore.

"Hel…Hello, your highness…" Seam was shaking as he took a bow.

"Hello," Jewel responded pleasantly, "it's very nice to meet you."

"It's… nice to meet you too."

"I trust you like Ponyville so far?"

"I-I… do…" he quaked.

Jewel tried to ease his worries, "Well if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask."

"T-thank you…" he gulped and left with his escort to go upstairs.

Once he was gone, Jewel commented to her family, "Poor fella, he sure was rattling worst then a rattle snake's tail."

Caramel Apple stated, "He sure was."

Applejack said, "Still, there was somethin' awful familiar about him, but I can't seem to place him…"

Sugar Belle added, "You're right, he did look familiar but I'm not sure why either."

But before they could ponder on it further the next suitor was being announced in.

It took about ten suitors before the herald proclaimed, "Announcing, Sir Marsh Mellow of Vanhoover!"

A skinny earth pony colt with a snowy white coat entered in with a small smile on his face as he bowed before Apple Jewel.

She greeted him, "Hi there, it's very nice to meet you."

He lifted his head and nodded.

The family glanced at each other in confusion wondering why the colt wasn't saying anything.

Jewel was wondering the same thing and questioned, "Did you like touring Ponyville when you got here?"

He nodded again.

Jewel started feeling uneasy about the lack of conversation until her uncle Fancy Pants came up and explained, "I'm afraid Mister Mellow is mute, Apple Jewel."

"Mute?" she inquired.

"Mute?" her family repeated.

Fancy nodded, "His escort told me that his family explained to him that Sir Marsh Mellow was born mute, he cannot speak at all."

Marsh nodded his head in agreement before hanging his head in shame.

Jewel was taken aback by this and felt sorry for the colt so with a tiny smile of her own she lifted his chin and directly told him, "Well, I'm sure we can make this work somehow. I can tell by your eyes you have dozens of things you're dying to reveal…"

Marsh smiled at this and nodded again.

Asher suddenly volunteered, "I could escort him to his room."

Jewel was surprised by her cousin's claim and asked, "You're sure?"

"Of course, I'd be honored to." he smiled making her smile in return.

She asked Marsh Mellow, "Will you be okay letting my cousin escort you to your room?"

The colt eyed Asher in uncertainty until he nodded.

Once they were out of the room, the herald announced in the next suitor.

"Announcing, Sir Chic of Canterlot!"

Chic walked in with his head high and bowed before Apple Jewel, then he look up to the princess and took her hoof to kiss it.

Jewel blushed as she looked back to her mother, aunts, and cousin as they were beaming but caught a glimpse of her father looking a bit put out.

Chic then spoke, "It is such an honor to be here and to meet you, your highness."

"Thank you; and I hope you have a pleasant stay."

"I'm sure I will with you around." he flashed a smile, till his escort took him upstairs.

When the stallion was out of earshot, Spike mentioned, "He's a bit too fresh for my tastes…"

Applejack uttered in, "Oh, hon, you're just being overprotective…"

"Don't I have a right to be?"

"Of course you do, as long as you don't overdo it."

The herald called in the next suitor, "Announcing, Sir Golden Jubilee of Dodge Junction!"

Apple Jewel quickly looked back to see her Aunt Apple Bloom's eager face since they went over the forms of Golden Jubilee possibly being a good match for her, they hoped they were right.

She turned to see a sturdy earth pony with bright red hair as he bowed before her.

"Your highness." he said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir, I understand from your form you're a cherry farmer."

He smiled bright at her for knowing that about him and stated, "That's right."

"I work on my family's farm here in Ponyville perhaps we can get together to exchange farming techniques."

He kept smiling, "I would like nothing better, your highness."

He was taken upstairs just as the next suitor was called in. About eighteen suitors came and gone until they reached close to the end.

The herald was nearly out of breath at this point as he wheezed, "Announcing… Sir Velvet Gloss… of Applewood…"

A slender looking stallion walked in and bowed as well to Apple Jewel.

"Your highness, I am honored to be in your presence."

"Thank you, sir. How very kind of you to say." she said in a weary tone.

Velvet noticed and commented, "It is rather tiring, isn't it? To meet so many suitors in one day."

"It sure is…" she slightly smiled.

"Well you needn't to worry about spending so much time with me, a girl like you deserves to go over her other options."

That peak her interest and said, "That's rather noble of you."

He smirked, "Helps me to stand out more, doesn't it?"

Jewel released a small laugh, "How clever of you."

"You could say it's my middle name." he grinned, "Velvet 'Clever' Gloss."

Jewel tittered.

Spike and Applejack exchanged concern looks of how charming this guy was acting and that their daughter was already taken in by his words.

AJ whispered to her husband, "Let's keep an eye on this one as well…"

Spike whispered back, "Absolutely."

When Velvet was taken to his room, the herald started to announce, "And finally, Sir- or is it Prince?" he pondered on it as Fire Spark entered in and told the herald.

"Don't bother, Fan Fare. I can announce myself in." he approached Apple Jewel who had a hard look on her face as he bowed to her and said, "My name is Fire Spark, your highness. I come before you on bended hooves to beg for your forgiveness of never speaking up in the past. I was too cowardly to express my true feelings to you… I ask that you give me a chance to prove myself in the days to come… Because I care for you greatly and to lose you forever would mean certain misery upon my very being…"

Jewel interjected in a deadpan tone, "Screwball told you to say that."

Fire blushed and rubbed his neck, "Yeah… she did."

She sighed and said, "Fire, I'm not mad at you anymore. If anything, I'm mad at myself for not saying something sooner either…"

His eyes widen, "Really?"

Jewel quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, I still wish you could have told me your feelings sooner but what's done is done… and I can't show you any favoritism in this contest."

"And I don't disagree about that. You're doing the right thing."

She felt herself starting to smile until she remember her family was still around and looked back to see their sly smirks. She glared at them and motioned them to leave.

Sugar Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged giggles while Caramel and Pear chuckled and began to leave with Big Mac following behind them with his own amused smile. Ember left as well.

Spike and Applejack remained but didn't say anything as they gave the duo a knowing smile before leaving.

Apple Jewel faced Fire Spark again with a smile and said, "Give me a few weeks to get to know the others and then we'll go on our first date…"

He smiled back and nodded, "Thank you, Jewel… I promise I won't let you down…"

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

Man, I'm so used to your next gen being related that shipping them with each other feels totally weird.

[CartoonNerd12]

8632362
What makes you think Jamstone isn't going to work out?

[CartoonNerd12]

8632405
I know, but remember this is like the canonverse where the Mane Six aren't related to each other and I also pictured that the Mane Six's kids would get together with each other so that the girls could be related.

[Godslittleprincess]

8632937
Isn't Seam in the story? Actually, that's my only reason.

[CartoonNerd12]

8632953
He is, but he's a bit different from his RCF counterpart.