For Spike, there were three things in the world he loved - Rarity, gems, and sleep. The third one had been sorely lacking the night before, and the baby dragon now found himself slowly climbing the steps out of the basement, grumbling to himself with every step forward. As quiet as the basement was, it was also cold and damp, and neither one ever contributed towards a good night's rest. A faint frown upon his face, Spike kicked open the door and slowly made his way towards the kitchen, dragging his blanket behind himself and letting out a yawn. Not only was he still sleepy, but now he was hungry, and such a thing would not go unpunished.
"Ngh... what do I even want?"
The baby dragon glanced around the kitchen and made his way towards the pantry, throwing open several doors and pulling out shelf after shelf as he searched for the most delectable of treats - gems. He still had no idea which kind he even wanted, of course, but he was more concerned with simply feeding himself at this point. No matter where he looked, however, he simply couldn't find a single gem. Such a thing was always a possibility, but typically never happened, as Twilight Sparkle usually made sure to keep a gem or two stashed away for such an event.
But such a stash simply did not exist, it would seem. There wasn't a single ruby, sapphire, or emerald within the house, and Spike wasn't about to resort to eating 'pony food' - though he could stomach daffodils and other flowers, he had never particularly enjoyed the taste of any of them, and they certainly couldn't compare to a ripe gem. He had just about given up when he heard a rather loud crash from upstairs, and the baby dragon rolled his eyes. "Twilight probably knocked something over again..."
Still, that meant that the unicorn was up and about, and if so, now was the perfect time to ask if there was anything decent to eat within the library.
-----
"Mornin', Twi."
"...good morning to you too, Applejack." Twilight Sparkle let out a loud yawn and shuddered as she stretched, blinking as she stared into the earth pony's eyes. "Two questions, though... how long have you been up, and why are you on top of me?"
"Oh, uh... well... I've always been a bit of an early-riser. Farm pony an' all." From her spot on top of the lavender mare, Applejack casually shrugged and smiled as she stared back down. "I got a lil' bored, but I didn' wanna wake ya either, so I uh... did this. Besides, it's jus' like we're cuddlin' or somethin'."
Twilight smirked and slowly shook her head. "Except it's vertical instead of horizontal?"
"Mhm. Not much ya can do when I've got ya pinned either, an' quite a bit we can do."
As Applejack leaned down and gave Twilight's neck a gentle kiss, the unicorn was already finding it incredibly difficult to keep herself from blushing. "...l-like what?"
"Plenty of things, darlin', and even a few things that are a lil' more... intimate, if ya catch mah drift." The earth pony grinned slyly, and both her expression and choice of words had caused Twilight to blush furiously. As the lavender mare began to nervously chew on her lip, Applejack chuckled softly. "Oh stop that, Twi. I was only jokin'. I know ya ain't ready fer that sort of thing jus' yet."
Twilight let out a small sigh of relief and smiled faintly. "O-oh, uh... good. Now get off of me, and let's get some breakfast."
"Nope."
"...why not?"
Applejack grinned once more and leaned down to give the unicorn's ear a quick nibble. "I ain't done with ya jus' yet."
"A-Applejack, stop that." Twilight was already beginning to squirm around, chewing on her lip as her blush quickly resurfaced.
Undaunted, the earth pony gave the unicorn's ear one last bite before leaning back a bit. "Yer so cute when yer flustered."
"Honestly, AJ... I hope you don't act like this when you're with me in public." The lavender mare looked up at Applejack with just the faintest hint of a frown, and it was enough to make the earth pony raise an eyebrow.
"What do ya mean?"
"Well... the ear nibbles and the kisses, and... everything else." Twilight sighed and stared Applejack in the eye. "It's not that I don't like these things - I do, because... well, it makes me feel wanted by you. I don't really know how to describe that feeling, aside from 'fuzzy'. But those sorts of things aren't exactly... appropriate out in public."
"Well shoot, I know that. Was probably jus' gonna give ya nose rubs or somethin'." The earth pony rolled her eyes and sat up a bit, lightening her hold on the unicorn. Sensing a chance at her freedom, Twilight began to sit up, only to feel herself be pinned down once more. "Oh no ya don'. Yer not goin' anywhere jus' yet."
With a scowl on her face, Twilight's horn briefly glowed as she picked a pillow up off the floor with her magic and flung it at Applejack - only to miss and have it topple over a vase that was sitting upon her dresser. Both ponies winced as the porcelain shattered upon the floor, and the unicorn let out a sigh. "...okay, apparently my aim isn't too great while I'm lying down. Lemme uh... go clean that up."
The earth pony leaned down once more, pressing her muzzle against Twilight's and staring her in the eye. "I think somepony owes me an apology fer throwin' stuff at me."
"Applejack, now is not the time for... wait, do you hear something?"
-----
As he trudged up the steps, Spike's stomach let out another growl, and he promptly looked down and gave it a stare. "I know, I know! Hungry, I get it! I just gotta ask Twilight where all the food is..."
He had been up these same steps time and time again, yet now, they felt like they dragged on forever. It was likely just his own hunger that was warping his perception, but he still found it rather unsettling. As the baby dragon neared the top of the steps, he heard two sets of voices - it seemed both Twilight and Applejack were up and about. One of the voices spoke up once more, one that he easily recognized as belonging to the unicorn.
"...wait, do you hear something?"
Spike reached the top and let out another yawn as he walked towards Twilight's bed, his eyes squinted shut. "Twilight, is there anything decent to eat around here? I can't find any..."
The baby dragon opened his eyes, and blinked as he simply stared at what lay before him - Applejack on top of Twilight Sparkle, both mares under the covers and staring back at him. Though the earth pony seemed surprised more than embarrassed, Twilight looked absolutely mortified, and the unicorn laughed nervously. "Uhh... morning, Spike. I um... I can explain."
Spike looked from one mare to another, tapping a claw to his chin, and he struck a pose as the thought finally came to him. "Now I know what I recognized this from!"
"...r-recognized?"
"Yeah, I saw this same sorta thing in one of those magazines you hide under your bed!"
"SPIKE!" At this point, the unicorn's face was beet red, and her face had contorted into a look of horror.
Applejack blinked and redirected her own surprised look from Spike towards Twilight, a faint smirk on her face. "...you never struck me as the sort of gal ta own pornography."
"It was supposed to be private!" The lavender mare let out a groan and quickly shot a glare towards the baby dragon. "Spike, you're grounded for a month." Spike huffed in response, but quickly drew Twilight's ire once more. "Don't you huff at me. After all these years, you should know better than to rummage through my things."
The baby dragon sighed and hung his head. "...Sorry, Twilight."
"Apology accepted, but that still isn't getting you out of this grounding." The unicorn tossed a brief glance up towards Applejack and sighed before looking back at Spike. "Though... I guess since you're already here, I'll explain what's going on to you. Applejack and I were going to tell you this morning anyways. Spike, have a seat."
The dragon did as told, taking a seat upon the floor, and Applejack leaned towards Twilight. "Should we really be tellin' him this while I'm still on top of ya?"
"Doesn't matter now." Twilight sighed once more and quickly continued, staring at Spike throughout it all. "Look, Spike. Applejack and I weren't exactly... honest with you last night when we said we were having a sleepover. I mean, I did invite AJ to stay the night, but... not exactly to have fun. It was more so we could spend time with each other."
"An' there was a reason Twi kept givin' me 'funny looks', as you put it."
"Basically, Spike... me and Applejack are kinda... together now."
The baby dragon tapped a claw against his chin, tilting his head as he looked at the two mares. "So, is that 'together' as in... best friends? Or..."
The unicorn let out a groan and gave Spike a deadpan expression. "Dating. We're dating."
"...ohh. So... is AJ moving in?"
"Er, no. Well, not yet... I think. We um... haven't really planned that far ahead." Twilight looked up at Applejack and grinned sheepishly before returning her attention back to her assistant. "For the time being, Applejack is gonna be coming over more often, and I'll probably be going to Sweet Apple Acres more often too."
"So uh... Spike." Applejack brushed a bit of her mane away from her face and eyed the dragon. "Is there anythin' else ya wanna say or ask me an' Twi? Why we're datin' one another, anythin' like that?"
Spike's stomach gave another growl, and the baby dragon shook his head. "Nah. As long as Twilight's happy, I'm happy. I just wanna know where to get some food..."
Twilight Sparkle gave Applejack's chest a gentle prod with her hoof, and the earth pony rolled off of her. Finally free, the unicorn slipped out from underneath the sheets and headed towards the stairs. "I know we've got some gems, Spike. Lemme show you where they're at. Coming, AJ?"
"Coming? Shoot, I'm gonna show ya'll how ya make a real breakfast."
-----
"Twilight?"
"Yes, Spike?"
"Can Applejack come over more often?"
The reason for the dragon's request was soon explained - the earth pony had prepared a veritable feast, with all manner of foods to choose from, and the most surprising thing was that few of the foods actually involved apples at all. There were sandwiches of various sizes and flavors, salads, pancakes and waffles, hay fries, and countless other items. Spike was already salivating at the prospect of sampling them all, but his jaw dropped when Applejack brought out the last bit of food. Sitting upon the plate was a stack of pancakes, covered in syrup and emeralds, and some of the gems were actually embedded inside the pancakes themselves. The orange mare set the plate down in front of him and grinned widely. "I told ya'll that I was gonna show ya how ta make a real breakfast, an' a promise is a promise. Hope ya like it, Spike."
The baby dragon was already digging into the stack of pancakes, and that alone seemed like evidence enough that he was pleased. Satisfied with her work, Applejack took a seat beside Twilight at the table and leaned over to give her cheek a kiss. In return, the unicorn grinned and slowly shook her head before looking back at the earth pony. "I don't think I've ever seen so much food in my life! Well... aside from when you introduced me to your family."
"Eh, it's a special occasion, so I thought 'Why not?'. Besides, I don' get ta cook that often back home anyways. Macintosh usually beats me to it."
"Well, you did a wonderful job, Applejack. Thanks for making breakfast." As Twilight leaned over to give the earth pony a kiss in return, Spike caught sight of it, and quickly gestured as if he were about to throw up. In spite of that, however, breaking the news to the baby dragon had gone over far better than either of them had expected, and Twilight found it rather endearing that Spike simply wanted her to be happy in life. "Spike, I've changed my mind about the grounding."
"Mmf?" The dragon looked up at her and attempted to speak, bits of pancake and gems falling out of his mouth. He quickly swallowed the rest and repeated his sentence. "Yeah?"
"Yep! You're only grounded for a week now."
"...oh. That's it?"
Twilight narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "Should I make it a month again?"
"No, no! I uh... I think I'm good with the week."
A smile upon her face, Twilight pulled a bowl of salad towards herself with her magic and nodded. "That's what I thought."
Spike simply grumbled in return.
That's right, I wrote a chapter about something that would probably only take 3-4 hours, tops.
Good work.
Fun and short chapter. Glad to see that Spike's taking it well....and what a naughty girl Twilight is! That was surprising, to be perfectly honest.
Now let's see how the rest will think.
Is 4 views right? If so, I am first! Your comment doesn't count. I'm glad Spike reacted the way he did, and for some odd reason I'm liking these mini chapters- they're sort of like slices of life, but they're more interesting. Keep on
Too, too cute!
Spike's too innocent and adorable for his own good. Love the lil' guy.
Though Twilight better keep an eye on him. He just might find Applejack a better crush than Rarity. Nothing gets to a boy like his stomach.
Found a tiny error at the beginning: and the baby dragon now find himself slowly climbing the steps
Should be: found instead of find
Lovely stuff! Now for the rest of the crew to find out.
it's always the smart ones, secretly when no ponys around dig out the old porn stash , loved the chapter as always, your an awesome writer
229731
Fixed, appreciate it.
229721
Well I do have the fic tagged as being slice of life as well.
My goodness Twilight, maybe you're not so innocent afterall
A smidge underwhelming, but a satisfying chapter nonetheless, and a promising start on the whole "telling their friends/family" thing, especially as Spike is both
Nicely paced with good description, as I can actually picture this going on in my head, and it's probably a good thing that they're figuring out their boundries as they get used to their new situation.
Keep it up, I'm looking forward to more
I especially like chapters like this, we don't have enough simple everyday stuff in most stories.
Please don't stop doing chapters like these.
is short eh?
I dont have time now XD
tomorrow I comment!
I just love your story!!
I feel obligated to comment after read it XD
This was an absolutely wonderful break from the huge, arching chapters of some of the other fanfics I've read. Short, simple and sweet. A great chapter in my mind, and definitely a wonderful few gems in there as well. I still can't quite get over Spike recognizing the pose from porno before caring about the why.
FUUUUUUUUU
Need more!!!
Short, but overly sweet. Can't complain.
230207
THIS. THIS WAS AWESOME.
asdfdsgjiodsf
More please.
You can't ground Spike, Twi, you're not his mother!!
Anyways . . . this chapter and the last has served as a nice break(kind of toning things down) after the love confession.
I do wonder where things will go from here. Is the focus going to cover A.J 's dark past with relationships or will most of the energy for the rest of the story be geared towards trying to break the news to the others?
231069
Not gonna say.
Curses . . . but I think I have an idea. Something tells me it will be very down to earth in theme compared with the tone set earlier in the story or Forbidden Fruit.
This might affect things in a couple different ways(of course I could be wrong).
I'll just wait to see how you pull this off.
229749 Well how else would a bibliophile learn about loving if not from the printed word?
Spike is adorable, hands down cute and awesome. :p
Well written, the only thing that I personally found out of place was that Applejack said "pornography". She'd strike me as one to say "that kind of material" or something around those lines.
Loved the banter between them. You've got a real knack for dialogue.
232552
I tried shortening it to 'porn' in an earlier version, but it simply didn't sit right with me. For some reason or another, 'pornography' sounded more along the lines of something she might say.
I still think I probably could have picked a better word for it, but it was the best I could come up with.
Thank god Spike's as understanding as he is. Though Twilight's clearly going to need a new hiding place...
I have read a lot of stories, where the main char..well in this case Pony, had those magnetizes under there bed, But this was was by fare the most subtle and funny once I have seen
235299
I did get some comments on the music, but not as many as I initially thought I would. While it is indeed a rather somber melody (and some folks have interpreted it to be about dying within the world of Bastion), the lyrics themselves fit everything Twilight and Applejack have been through, from Forbidden Fruit up til now.
Wonderful story so far, I enjoyed reading it a lot. I like that you took your time with the shipping and did not have them declare undying love by the end of chapter 1 and then put them through one soap opera drama after another. It feels more "real" that way, at least to me. Especially considering there is also a whole prequel where you have their relationship as friends grow. Such a slow apporach is sadly uncommon in most fanfiction and admire that a lot (so many authors try too fast to deliver on the ship promised in the story summary).
I have to admit I didn't finish reading Forbidden Fruit (couldn't really get into it when I first tried), but I think I'll give it another try. I have a feeling I'm missing out on a good story.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to more chapters of this story, keep up the good work
247868
It really is a shame when shipfics dive straight into the relationship itself. They miss out on a lot of potential for characterization and relationship-building.
This is a really nice story to read, made me feel all warm inside, though I'm kinda worried about Granny Smith's reaction to all this. Perhaps she might be a little more tolerant considering she owes Twi and AJ her life and all. Keep up the great work!
Word of advice Spike, when you get a punishment lessened, you take it much gratitude and never bring it up again or your pretty much screwed!
This fic is adorable!
You know, I was originally going to do something else for the next chapter, but... let's just say a certain heartbreaker will be back, and things are going to get messy.
^ Yes yes yes yes, things are really going to heat up when that person shows.
By the way there's something interesting that pops up on collegehumor: My Little Brony. There's a familar title that shows itself, coincidence?
300369 'things are going to get messy'
Translation = Big Macintosh catches sight of him and turns him into an orange-flavoured smear on the sidewalk? We can only hope.
Steadily working little by little on the next chapter. Apologies for the lengthy wait.
So twilight has a secret stash hmm......welllllll guess it is just bound to happen when she is Molestia's favorite student huh? Also I enjoy how AJ is the friskier one of the two, fits well with their character dynamics in such a coupling. Never really could picture Twilight being the one in charge of a relationship unless it was with Fluttershy -not sure if there are any Flutterlight fanfics that are good but best example I could think of with Twilight being the friskier one-
Hmm, what? Who, me? A heartless, selfish bastard who would just rush onto the next chapter instead of leaving a full comment and whatnot? Of COURSE not! What kind of charlatan do you take me for?! <.< >.>
I lost it at this point, so amusing.
I think I was laughing for a good minute before I continued reading
Like AJ said, Twi doesn't strike me as the pony to have porndl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Redheart_gasp.png
Twi doesn't strike me as the sort to have a porn stash, but I'm glad you are violating my expectations. Because what I'm really saying is that I have a bad habit of projecting myself onto Twilight (and one real person I can think of) and that I don't strike me as the sort to have a porn stash (and I would think I would know), and I need regular negative reinforcement to remind me to beware.
(I also have a bad habit of the box ghost)
I wonder, does it work backwards? If there were a canonical way Twilight acts when drunk, would I project that onto myself for lack of knowledge? I need to look for a way to test this.
1772673 perhaps for studying purposes