CMC Love Operation!

After the earlier encounter with Scootaloo, Spike finds himself heading towards the Sweet Apple Acres, with a troubled mind along the way. If he wasn't trying to deliver a letter right now, he would be in his bed, sleeping, not giving a single care about the world, but since his friend said it was urgent (according to her), he couldn't say no. That would have been low or rude.

Spike was scratching the back of his head so fast, that it almost seemed like it was trying to burn his own head. He tilted his head upwards and let out a deep groan.

"Argh... why did Scoots had to remind me about that? It was an accident! It's not like I wanted to see in the first place," he said, only to be followed by a blush and a slight head scratching, "Although, there are a few things that I did want to see and saw..."

Spike reacted to what he was saying a few moments ago and shook his head in an attempt to shake off those kinds of thoughts, "No, no, no! They are my friends and nothing more. I can't be thinking dirty things about them..."

He sighed and looked to the stars in the sky, "Things sure can be complicated, can they?".

In a red painted, two stories tall house, there were a quad of ponies. One, wearing a red coat and short blonde mane, was sitting on a chair next to a round table, the other pony, who was in her eighties to say the least and had a silver mane, was entering the dinner room where our first pony was located. The last two ponies were having an argument in the living room.

The silver maned pony heard the fighting ponies from the dinner room and sighed, "Ah wondah what ar' they fighting 'bout t'is time".

The blonde maned pony answered quickly her question, "Applebloom arriv'd late and Applejack is trying' t' teac her it ain't good f'r her t' do that, but it ain't good lookin'". He quickly changed his attention to the apple pie in front, raising his spoon to take a bite. Her grandma stopped him before he could eat it.

"Now hold on, we ain't eatin' 'till everypony has sitted," she nagged and looked to where she was still hearing the arguing ponies, "We all 'now that losin' your parents is hard, 'specially when your parents leav' t'ree kids wit' mahself. Ah 'now Applejack is only tryin'  t' look out f'r her, but she has t' 'nderstand she ain't a filly no more"

Sighing, thinking about the past, Grandma Smith turned her head around and noticed that Big Mac was about to eat a piece of apple pie. She gave him a death stare and he inmediately dropped the filled spoon next to his plate. She nodded upon seeing this and proceeded to sit down.

Across the room, two ponies were arguing about something and the heat was slowly increasing.

"Ah told several times that yah can't be out that late at nig't! Who 'nows what might happ'n to yah!" said a very upset Applejack, trying to make understand Applebloom her message.

Applebloom, using a slightly upset tone, spoke back, "Sis! Ah ain't a foal or a filly! Ah'm a gro'n up now! Ah ain't in need fer a foalsitter!". Applejack got into an even angrier mood after she heard her lil' sister talk to her like that.

"Now yah listen little sister! As lon' as Ah'm aroun' t'is house, either yah follow mah orders or-....", Applejack was going to finish her sentence, but she stopped and tried a more passive approach, "Listen Applebloom, ah 'now yah ar' a big pony now, but that changes nothin' t' th' fact that Ah'm just tryin' to take care of yah... also does Big Macintosh an' Grandma Smith."

"But they ain't nagging mah ways like yah do" she assured.

"That is 'cause they ar' ain't youn' or aggresive as mahself, but what Ah'm doin' is f'r yer sake, 'lil sis" explained Applejack, trying to convince her what she did was wrong.

"That means ah'm not goin' wit' Sweetie and Scoots tomorrow fer campin', right?"

"Eeyep"

Normally, Applebloom would give up and let this conversation end, but this wasn't the young and innocent (well, maybe she is still innocent at some points) Applebloom we all knew back then. She was growing up and she felt like a need for independence.

"Ah can't beli've yer talkin' t' Rarity and Rainbow 'bout this! We are just tryin' t' git our cutie marks! Why won't yah let me go!?" she complained.

"Hold on! First of al', yah ain't talkin' t' me like that, 'nless yah want a real red mark on yer flank!" threatened Applejack, "and secon' of al', yah'll only go t' that trip, if only, and ah repeat, if only someone 'nocks on th' door in th' next 5 seconds!"

Not even a second passed before a knock could be heard at the main door. Both Apples had a surprised face as they inmediately changed their expression into one of joy and another of confusement.

"Well, ah'll be... either ah summon'd a g'ost or it was simply th' wind." Applejack thought as she walked towards the door to open it with Applebloom behind her. To her surprise, it wasn't the wind. It was a young, purple, teen, fellow dragon standing right in front of them, completely clueless of what is happening.

"Howdy Spike," she greeted with a fake smile, "How can ah help ya?"

"Oh, good night, Applejack! I just came here to deliver a letter to Applebloom from Sweetie Belle", said Spike as he pulled out a letter from his handy bag and showed it to her. Applebloom's instincts kick in as she proceeded to stand in front of them, grab the letter and walk away. Applejack couldn't believe the amount of disrespect she just showed.

"Holy ropes, ah swear that pony som'times... so sorry Spike, she is just a tad upset 'bout som'thing" she explained.

"Actually Spike, yer just in time!" she said as she looked at him, grateful of his convenient arrival, "Thanks to yah, now ah can go campin' wit' Scoots and Sweetie"

"And what makes yah thin' that is goin' t' happen?" asked Applejack.

"If mah memory ain't wron', yah said 'Yah are going to that trip only, and ah repeat, if only som'pony knocks on th' door in th' next 5 seconds'". she confirmed.

"Alright, ah know ah said that, but yah need Rarity''s and Rainbow's permission to 'llow Scootaloo and Sweetie to tag along" she said, confident that Rarity must have rejected Sweetie Belle's offer. She had another thing coming.

"Okay then, sis. Let's hear it. Spike if yah can, please"

"Eh, sure..." he said as he took the letter and and held it in front of him.

From Sweetie Belle To Applebloom:

Dear Applebloom, I'm asking Spike to deliver this letter to you to let you know that we will gather tomorrow at 4 pm at the treehouse to go camping.

My sister, Rarity didn't liked the idea in the beggining for the whole thing about the forest been dangerous and mysterious, but since Rainbow was somehow in her house, after she heard what my sis told me, Rainbow managed to convince her to let us, Scootaloo and me, go camping like we planned.

Even though Rainbow helped us, she said there was a thing we are supposed to do tomorrow, in exchange for allowing us to go camping. You could say it was deal of some sort... We have no clue what she is preparing us tomorrow, but it's the least we can do to thank her.

So! Without any more delays, we will see you tomorrow.

P.S. Don't forget all your camping equipment!

Applejack couldn't believe that her friends allowed their younger sisters to go at such dangerous place. With all the back support they had, it was almost impossible to neglect their appointment. She sighed and spoke.

"Argh... ponyfeathers... well, it looks like yah win, Applebloom," she admitted only to show a devious grin and point to where Spike was standing, "But!.... Spike is goin' wit' yah"

"WHAAAAAT!?" yelled both teens, showing a shocked expression.

"That's right, Spike is comin' wit' yah whetha' yah like it or not" she ordered. "Let's see how you handle this one, little sis!" were her thoughts.

Applebloom was sick of having someone looking out for them, even if that someone was a guy that was about their age. Sure, Spike may be a little older than the CMC, but her point stood the same. She wanted that piece of independence all teenagers go through as they grow up, and rejecting her deal would only cause her to skip the camping plan, in other words, Applejack would be obtaining what she wanted for Applebloom in the first place.

After thinking throughly her proposal, she accepted.

"Fine, he can come alon'"

"Glad t' hear-", Applejack was suddenly interrupted by her little sister.

"Hold on, ah ain't done yet. Ah said he can come alon', but he is only takin' us there. He ain't stayin' wit' us," clarified Applebloom only to recieve a lifted eyebrow from Applejack, "After he takes us, he is goin' back on his own. Then yah pick us up t'morrow at 5 p.m. Got it?"

Applejack looked at her for a few seconds, thinking about the condition. She sighed, approached to where she was and held her close in a warm hug.

"Alright, alright, yah win. It looks like ah taught yah well, yah devilish kid"

"Ah learn'd from th' best!"

Soon after, both sisters performed a brohoof. And it was awesome.

Spike was looking at them, grinning to the scene he was witnessing. Even though his opinion didn't matter to them, he didn't feel the need to object the sudden involving issue. He shook off a bit and headed to the door.

"Well, since I'm suddenly involved, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow at 4 p.m." said Spike as he spreaded his wings and was getting ready to take flight, "Make sure you don't forget anything!"

With that said, he flew away waving goodbye at the sisters on the ground. They waved back and headed back inside the house. The only problem was that Big Mac already ate the apple pie, leaving the sisters with nothing to eat for dessert. They went to bed and the big day was coming soon. Suddenly, Without noticing, everyone went to sleep.

Tomorrow, the Cutie Mark Crusaders will be camping for the first time on their own.

A beautiful day was shining and it seemed luck was today with with the group's side. A couple of ponies could be seen from far, checking up the necessary things for the trip. Sweetie Belle, with Scootaloo next to her, was holding a paper and a pen scratching the things that were on list.

"Mosquito Repelent?" asked Sweetie.

"Check!" answered Scootaloo.

"Bottle of water?"

"Yup!"

"Food for two days?"

"Yeah... I don't know why so much, but yeah, it's here"

"I know you are just like Rainbow. Both of you have a fierce stomach, that's why we are taking that much."

"Yeah, yeah... but anyways!"

"Real life size Rainbow doll?"

"Got it! ....."Wait a moment, how did you-"

"You just told me, besides" pointed Sweetie at Scootaloo's backpack which was undoubtable bigger than yesterday, "Your backpack gave it away"

"Darn it, I knew I should have brought the inflatable one" whispered Scootaloo while looking away.

"Oh? You have TWO Real life size Rainbow dolls~? I'm quite surprised Scootaloo~"

"S-Shut up. I brought the doll and that's that" she affirmed.

"Okay, okay, don't take my head off, alright? Just messing with you" replied Sweetie as she gave her a mocking stare.

"Please, don't mess with me right now. I'm already having quite a battle over some feelings about a guy..." confessed Scootaloo as she blushed at the thought.

"Scootaloo? Having a crush? Well that's news I never thought I would hear" said Sweetie as she approached Scootaloo, "So.... Who is the lucky guy?"

"S-sorry. Can't say..."

"Awww, c'mon tell me!" she insisted.

"Please, I'm asking you to drop the topic. I'm not ready to confess to him anyways..." she said while vlushing into a deeper red. Sweetie noticed she was getting ahead of her and backed off a bit.

"Sorry, I won't ask... but I'm sure you will tell him eventually, just wait for the day to come and you will when is the time, okay? I'm sure the stallion will drop to your feet when you confess!"

"Hehe... yeah... stallion...", Sweetie didn't care much about her last phrase and focused on when was Applebloom arriving.

"Geez, where is Applebloom? She is late!" said a desperate Sweetie.

"Right here, Sweetie" said a voice in a distance, revealing to be Applebloom, "Geez, yah soun' just like mah sister"

"Tell me about it" said a voice behind her. Sweetie and Scootalo looked behind her and noticed a green, teen dragon carrying all of Applebloom's stuff.

"SPIKE!" said in harmony the two ponies.

"Hehe, hey girls. How are you doing?" answered back the dragon. Sweetie and Scootaloo turned their heads towards Applebloom, who was surprised at the sudden stare she received.

Sighing at their stare, she took a normal pose, "Long story, girls, Ah'll explain later. Anyways, did yah fin' any good spots aroun' here?"

"Oh? Right! Yeah, I found two great spots,", then she took a big map with two marked spots on it, "The first option would be near a waterfall, which there is a cave next to it where we can camp. The other one is located next to a river with a great sight of the forest. So? Which one?"

"Waterfall" said the ponies.

"Great! Let's get going then!"

Then the group started to move to where the waterfall was located.While they were traveling to the marked area of the forest, Applebloom took that time to explain why did Spike came along. The two ponies understood and thought the reason was justified.

"So, that's he ended up here" said Scootaloo.

"Eeyup!"

"I only need to take you girls there. After that, you will be on your own" affirmed Spike.

"It's a shame you aren't a pony, Spike. Otherwise you could have gone with us in this trip" pointed a very relaxed Scootaloo. She stretched her arms in the airs and placed them on her back, chilling.

"Yeah, it's a shame," said Spike while scratching his cheek, "But it doesn't matter that much though. It's you girls having fun and finding your cutie marks that matters"

"Still, ah'm sorry mah sis tagged yah alon', Spike. But thanks to yer help, ah could come wit' Scoots and Sweetie t' go camping, so... thanks"

"Don't worry, and even if she hadn't forced me to do it, I would have helped you anyways. Anything for a great and cute friend!" said Spike as he blushed a little as he noticed what he said at the end of his sentence and looked away bashfully. Applebloom wasn't the exception, as she proceeded to do the same.

"E-eh... t-t-hanks, Spike... yah really are a gentl'man..."

"Hehe, you know me. Spike, the gentleman..."

After a long hour and a half walk later, they arrived at their destiny. The waterfall looked as beautiful as the group thought it would look like. After staring at the waterfall for a little longer, they proceeded to enter it. The end of the cave couldn't be seen, but it mattered since they stayed at the entrance of the cave, which had enough room for all of their euqipment to fit in.

The group started placing things up meanwhile Spike went ahead and collected some firewood for them. Upon his return, he noticed the camp was set up already and after a quick check, he noticed everything was in order. After a small stretch from Spike, he spreaded his wings and waved to his friends before taking flight back to Ponyville. The group sat down after he left and started talking about how are they going to get their cutie marks.

"I say we go deeoer into the cave and maybe we will find something that will help us find our cutie marks. Something like an ancient relic or something awesome!" said an excited Scootaloo.

"Okay, Scoots, we all know that is really dangerous. Who knows what might be lurking in there...", she shivered just at the thought of what could be deeper into the cave.

"Well, we coul' try goin' out at night t' see who is th' bravest amon' us and git a bravery cutie mark!" suggested Applebloom.

"Nah-ah. I rather stay inside, if I must say so. How about we tell ghost stories? It's safer!" she suggested.

"No, it's way toooo boring. We need something exciting! Not a bunch of silly stories..." said Scootaloo.

"Yah say 'cause yah are afraid that it will repeat what hapenn'd last time" pointed Applebloom.

"Okay, first of all," said an annoyed Scootaloo, "It only happened once, and second, I'm much braver tha last time"/ Suddenly, a low howl was heard from the other side of the cave. It almost sounded like someone was saying something.

"WHEEERE ISSSS MYYYY IIRRRROOONNN PIIIICCCCKKKAAAXXEEE...."

"Okay, nice try girls," said Sweetie, who was a little nervous, "Now stop trying to scare me..."

"Ah din't do it..." replied a equally nervous Applebloom.

"Me neither...", Scootaloo wasn't the exception.

"B-b-b-b-but.... we are the only ones here.... s-s-s-so.... who....?". Without any warning, the voice was heard again, only closer this time.

i]"WHEEERE ISSSS MYYYY IIRRRROOOOONNNN PIIIICCCKKKAAXXEEE...."

"Hey, this isn't funny anymore girls... stop using your magic Sweetie..." said Scootaloo, who was even more scared.

"Uh... Scoots, look...", she pointed to Sweetie's horn, which it wasn't showing any kind of glow. Scootaloo was shocked and looked back at where the voice was being heard. She managed to spot at silhoutte moving in the dark, at a slow pace. This caused the momentum to break and so did Scootaloo's bravery.

"...R....R.R...R.R.RRRRUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!" yelled Scootaloo as she pulled both girls into the tent. Applebloom didn't notice the Mo growing in one of the rocks and slipped, rolling into the edge of the waterfall. She managed to hold on to one of the branches that stood out from the cliff.  The others didn't notice that.

"Oh Celestia! If only ah had heard mah sister, ah wouldn't be in t'is situation! Please, somepony save me!" she thought as she held on to her dear life.

Back at the tent, Scootaloo and Sweetie were thinking of what would have happened if they hadn't come to this trip.

"Oh no, I'm too young to die! I haven't reached my goals yet!", said Scootaloo as she grabbed her Rainbow doll and hugged with might, "Oh Rainbow, I wish you were here..."

"Dear Celestia! Rarity was right! I'm too young for this! I can't handle this kind of situations! Please someone, help us!" thought Sweetie as she hid her head between her legs.

The footsteps were louder and louder as the unknown figure approached the tent. The ponies were at verge of crying and the moment the silhoutte opened the tent, they yelled in fear. The silhoutte revealed itself to be a miner working at the night shift.

"Excuse me girls, haven't you per chance seen my iron pickaxe anywhere?" said the miner as he ignored the pain in his ears from the sudden yell. The two of them shook their heads and the miner sighed. Out of nowhere, a familiar voice was heard behind the miner.

"Do you mean this pickaxe?" said the familiar voice, revealing to be Spike.

"Ah! Yeah, that one! Thanks son!"

"You are welcomed. If are wondering where it was, it was next to a rock in the end of the waterfall" he explained.

"So that's where it was! I guess I forgot where it was. Anyways, thanks son!" said the miner.

"No problem"

"SPMMMIIMKNNNN!" yelled a nearby voice as Spike somehow noticed somepony was calling him. He went out and spotted Applebloom who was holding to her dear life. He got scared about this and reacted.

"HOLD ON APPLEBLOOM! I'M COMING!"

Spike jumped and spread his wings as he took flight and got closer to where Applebloom was. He took hold of her and lifted her to where her friends were. After Spike dropped Applebloom safely to the ground, she inmediately went into a hug as an expression for saving her. He was taken back by this, but gave back the hug as well.

Soon after, when the trio was finally calmed down after what it seemed to be the worst scare of their lives, the miner went back to his night shift inside the cave, thanking Spike once again for helping him find his pickaxe and Spike proceeded to place Scootaloo and Sweetie in their beds, where they stayed with them until they fell asleep. Applebloom was the only one who wasn't sleepy after such incident. That's a tough pony for you.

Applebloom and Spike headed to the edge of the cliff, carefully walking to avoid slipping again. After they sat down and watched the moonnight together, Spike was the one to break the silence.

"So, aren't you going to sleep like the others?" asked Spike.

"After what happen'd, ah don't thin' ah'll be catchin' any sleep that easily," she said as she started to yawn, "'Sides, after seein' them hold on t' somethin', it makes mah wanna hug somethin' as well, just t' feel safe..."

Spike carefully listened what Applebloom told him and started to think something quite daring. After a couple of minutes of thinking, he spoke, "You know?", Applebloom looked at him curious of what he was gonna say, "You can..... hug ME if want to.... just fall asleep I mean..."

Applebloom blushed after hearing that, but didn't hesitate to do so. She went and hugged Spike in a spilt of a second. He sure was surprised to see such a fast answer.

"Spike, thanks. Yah always know how t' make somepony feel nice d'spite th' situation" she said. Spike smiled at her flatter and held her close with his wings.

"You don't have to thank me, I was raised this way, so it's natural for me to do so" he said.

"Spike, ah have a doub'"

"What is it?"

"How did yah know we were in dange'?". Spike was ready for a question like this.

"To tell you the truth, I never left actually," this caused Applebloom to lift an eyebrow without looking at him directly, "When you girls saw me leave, what I really did was to take a detour and fly to another part of the waterfall, just to make sure you weren't harmed or anything. I would never forgive myself if something happened to one of you. After I heard the miner's voice, I remembered I saw a resemblance of a pickaxe nearby the waterfall and went down to look for it"

Spike looked and sighed to the horizon, thinking of what happened next. "I thought that if I went looking for the pickaxe, I would have enough time to come back to avoid... THAT to happen. I guess I was wrong. I arrived at the ast moment and you girls had a horrible experience, a trauma if possible.... I'm guessing you girls won't be camping anytime soon, right?"

Applebloom looked at the tent's location, with a serious expression on her face.

"Maybe nevah again" said Applebloom.

"Yeah I thought that might be the case...", then Spike remembered what Applebloom went through as well, "Also, when I didn't see you with the girls, I was worried something actually happened to you, if you hadn't yelled my name (well, at least what seemed to be my name) at that moment, I wouldn't have noticed and Celestia-knows what would have happened to you. I'm glad I was right on time to help you out"

Applebloom blushed into a crimson red as she heard that coming from Spike. She saw his reflection on the water and thought carefully what happened back there. If she remembers correctly, he didn't help her. He did more than that and she was gonna make sure he knew that.

"When yah didn't notic'd mah pres'nce, ah realiz'd yah cared 'bout me and yah evan took the liberty to search fer me. Yah didn't help me out. Yah saved my life and that makes yah mah hero, Spike..."

"I guess that is true..." said Spike as he scratched the back of his head, "I mean, why shouldn't I have worried about you?"

Applebloom looks at him, confused of what he said.

"After all,", he proceeded to look at her face and stroke it gently, "You are one of my best friends in the whole wide world". Somehow, after Applebloom heard that, she wasn't sure if she was either happy or sad. Maybe she expected another answer from him, but who knew how she felt. Not even herself knew what she felt like.

Later, the exhausted Applebloom began to feel the aftermath of the sleepness. Before she knew, she felt asleep, hugging Spike. He noticed how she was slowly sleeping and thought she looked cute when she was sleepy.

"Hehe, sweets dreams, Applebloom..." were his last words as he looked at the horizon once again. The night was mighty in that moment and everything seemed to be falling back into peace mode. Soon after, everything went dark....