Never Ending Happiness

ONE MONTH LATER

"Honey, be sure to wear the fire proof gloves this time!" Spike called out from storage. "You don't want her to crisp you again!"

Applejack sighed in annoyance and slipped on the gloves.

"Ah know what Ah'm doin' now, Spike! Ah just didn't know she could breathe fire in the first place!"

Gala giggled in her high chair as Applejack gently set down a bowl of mashed up carrots. Gala sniffed the bowl and grimaced, pushing it away with her hoof.

"Oh, don't you start now, young filly! You gotta eat yer carrots!" Applejack ordered.

Gala looked over at her mother and whined pathetically.

"It ain't gonna work this time, sweetie." Applejack laughed. "Now, come on!"

Applejack scooped up a spoonful of the carrots and moved them towards Gala's mouth. She batted her reptilian green eyes in a pout, but then opened up her mouth to accept the spoon. Or so Applejack thought.

FOOM!

Gala laughed in delight after the vibrant red flames burst from her mouth, melting the spoon in Applejack's hoof and toasting the ends of her mane. She gave a quiet thank you to Spike for reminding her to wear the gloves and looked at her daughter sternly. But it was impossible to stay mad at Gala! She was just so adorable when she was laughing!

Applejack rolled her eyes in amusement and was about to walk away... when suddenly:

Sniff... sniff...

Applejack looked over at her daughter who was now sniffing the burnt carrots. She licked her lips slowly and lapped up the carrots like a puppy, even whimpering in pleasure as she chewed.

"Ah ha!" Applejack cried out.

"What?!" Spike hollered. "AH!"

Applejack grimaced when she heard Spike falling down the steps and landing with a loud 'thud' onto the floor. She could almost see the stars dancing around his head.

Gala laughed and banged her hooves on the high chair tray as Spike stood up. Applejack ran over to him and hugged him triumphantly.

"Ah did it!" She declared.

"You mean you screamed like that for-" Spike paused. "Did what?"

"Ah got 'er to eat 'er carrots!"

Applejack did a victory dance across the living room and kissed Spike long and hard. It wasn't for a while before Spike had to push her away to get some air into his lungs.

"And you're excited about that?" He laughed.

Applejack ran over to Gala and kissed her on the forehead, making her squeal with happiness.

Suddenly, the door bell rang.

"OH! I completely forgot!" Applejack gasped upon hearing it.

"Forgot what?" Spike asked, looking towards the door.

"Filthy Rich was comin' over this mornin' ta talk to ya 'bout yer apples." Applejack explained, running to the door.

"I thought I told you to tell him that I'm not interested in selling my stand!"

"Ah did! He ain't interested in yer stand no more, just yer apples!"

Applejack opened the door and smiled upon seeing Filthy Rich. He smiled back and held out his hoof for a shake.

"Thank you for letting me see you today, Mrs. Spike!"

"An' thank you fer seein' us today, Mr. Filthy!"

"Uh, I prefer 'Rich'."

"Oh, yes, of course!"

Filthy Rich, rather rudely, pushed his way into their home, looking around as if he was a critic or something. Then, without warning, another pony followed him inside.

"EW! Do you live in a barn or something?"

Applejack looked down and saw... ugh...

"Well... howdy, Diamond Tiara." Applejack said un-enthusiastically.

The prissy little pony held her snout up in a pout and marched into the home, gagging whenever she sent dust or dirt up into the air.

"Seriously, have you ever considered cleaning your house?!" She griped.

"Well, as a matter of fact, we're cleaning out storage right now." Spike stated. "That's why it's so dusty in here."

"Sure, OK, whatever," Diamond snapped.

"Now, honey, we aren't here to talk about their home." Filthy Rich lectured. "We're here to talk about their delicious apples!" He gently patted his daughter on the head and gestured for her to sit at the kitchen table. She did so with a sneer towards Applejack and bluntly sat down on Spike's seat.

"That's my chair..." Spike muttered under his breath.

"Just breathe, darlin'," Applejack whispered.

"Now," Filthy Rich began. "Let's get down to business!"

Diamond Tiara drowned out the boring discussions of the adults and panned her eyes around the room.

"Amazing," She said to herself. "Not a silver fork or china plate in this joint!"

She glanced down at the table and gagged when she saw the remnants of the burnt carrots. Quickly, she scooted away from it and diverted her gaze to the back door.

Suddenly, she felt somepony fling... well... something into her mane.

"AH!" She yelled when it hit her. The black and orange substance dripped down her styled mane and face, staining it and crusting. "EW! Who did that?!"

She darted her eyes across the room until she saw the filly in the high chair, happily laughing with its eyes tightly closed.

"Should've known they'd have a brat!" Diamond Tiara snapped, walking closer to the filly. "You think you're funny?!"

Gala giggled and stretched out her wings in delight.

"Hmm..." Diamond said, observing them with harsh eyes. "Not the strangest wings I've heard about. I remember Rarity's temporary ones: now THOSE were wings!"

Diamond Tiara did the best she could to dance gracefully across the room. Usually, she had her butler do it for her, but he was on his vacation now, unfortunately.

"Like a beautiful butterfly!" She complimented herself.

Gala opened her eyes wide at the spectacle, revealing her reptilian green eyes. Diamond Tiara had just finished her final... uh... 'delicate' turn when she laid her eyes once more on Gala.

"WHOA!" Diamond gasped, sharply stepping away. "What IS that thing?!"

Gala laughed at Diamond's outburst and scooped up some more carrots in her hoof. She looked over at Diamond Tiara and aimed the carrots towards her face in a playful game of 'food fight'.

"AH! DADDY!"

Diamond Tiara raced into the living room and tried to hide herself underneath her father's legs.

"Why, Diamond, dear, what ever is the matter?"

"There's a MONSTER in the kitchen!"

Applejack and Spike chuckled under their breath.

"A 'monster', darling?"

"Yes, daddy, go look for yourself!"

Filthy Rich coaxed his daughter out from under him and cautiously walked into the kitchen. He looked around the room and saw mashed up carrots spewed about the walls.

"Uh, Applejack? Spike? Were you experimenting with carrots this morning?" He called out to them.

Before they could answer, Filthy Rich's eyes landed on Gala. Her wings were stretched to their maximum and her eyes were wide open in amusement.

"GREAT SCOTT!" He shouted. "A MONSTER!"

Filthy Rich slowly walked over to Applejack's kitchen counter and started opening all of the drawers. Eventually, he found what he was looking for.

Suddenly, Applejack and Spike ran into the kitchen, each of them sighing in dismay at the carrot stains all over the walls.

Then, Applejack's eyes landed on Filthy who held a long, sharp knife in his mouth.

"Filthy..." Applejack said calmly. "What are ya doin'?"

She watched as Filthy crept closer and closer to Gala's chair as if he was trying to sneak up on her.

"This monster needs to go back where it belongs!" He said through clenched teeth.

Slowly now, he was right next to Gala and leveled the knife in his mouth.

"Filthy, that monster is mah daughter."

The knife clattered to the floor. Diamond Tiara's gasp could have been heard from miles away. Filthy Rich looked up at them with utter perplexity in his eyes.

"H-How?" He stuttered.

"She just is!" Applejack barked, running up and blocking Gala from Filthy. Diamond Tiara couldn't take it anymore and ran out of the house screaming.

Filthy Rich looked from Applejack to Gala and then over to Spike. His cheeks turned into a bright red and he hung his head in shame.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"'Sorry'?" Spike snapped.

Filthy cowered onto the floor as Spike marched up to him, baring his teeth.

"Sorry?! You almost killed my daughter!"

Spike spread out his wings and roared terribly, making Filthy Rich go pale. Green flames shot from his mouth, engulfing around Filthy's hooves.

"The deal is OFF!" Spike roared.

Filthy Rich nodded in terror and galloped out the door.

Gala started crying in her chair and wrapped her wings around her eyes. Applejack ran to her side and cuddled her into her arms, quietly hushing her and giving her kisses.

"Don't worry, sweetie." She cooed. "Daddy was just upset, that's all."

Spike shrunk down to the ground and almost smacked himself for the way he behaved.

"I'm sorry, AJ..." He whispered. "I don't know what came over me."

"Don't be. Filthy got what he deserved!"

Applejack walked over to Spike and placed Gala in his arms. She gazed up at her daddy and whimpered only once before snuggling into his warm chest. Spike sighed and gently rocked her to sleep.

"Filthy was willing to kill her." Spike said once Gala was quietly snoring in his arms.

"Yeah..." Applejack sighed.

"What do you think other folks will do when they see her?"

"Ah don't know."

"From now on, she only leaves the house at night when everypony's asleep!"

Spike flew over to Gala's crib and placed her inside, wrapping her favorite blanket tightly around her body. He kissed her forehead and then flew up the stairs into storage.

"What're ya doin' up there, Spike?" Applejack called up to him.

"Taking precautions!"

He came back down quickly and Applejack gasped upon seeing what he had grabbed.

"Good heavens, Spike! Where'd ya find that?!"

"Granny Smith said it was her husband's during the war."

"Ya can't be serious!"

Spike stared down at the item in his hands and quickly loaded and cocked it.

"No one threatens my daughter!" Spike snorted, aiming the dusty old rifle towards the front door. "No one!"

He fired the rifle and watched as it sent splinters flying through the air and scattering onto the ground. Applejack watched in horror at Spike's new attitude and raced over to Gala's crib since she started screaming after the gunshot. Spike growled deeply and stared at Applejack gently rocking Gala back and forth.

"And no one will be stupid enough to try and take her from me..." He whispered to himself.