It was a warm, sunny day down at Sweet Apple Acres. All of the apple family were out doing their chores, except for Granny Smith, who was asleep in her rocking chair by the front door. Big Macintosh towed apple carts at his usual slow and steady pace. Applejack, on the other hand, was bucking with all her might, each kick making the earth tremble. With one final blow to the last apple tree, the fruit tumbled down into some perfectly placed baskets, leaving the tree bare. Applejack looked up, sweat pouring down her face.
“Whew, finally finished! Though we probably could’ve finished faster without Applebloom messin’ around with all this cutie mark nonsense. Say now, where is Applebloom anyways?” Applejack gave a quick glance around, hoping to spot her miniature apple helper, she noticed a rustling in one of the bushes, followed by the sudden appearance of her tiny, ribbon wearing sister. Applebloom trotted out slowly with puffed out cheeks.
“Now what were y’all doin’ behind that bush? And why are your cheeks all puffy like that?” Applejack asked. Applebloom gave a small smile and spoke, spitting pieces of apple out as she did.
“mmph mm, mmrph!”
Applejack glared at her younger sister.
“Have you been eatin’ all the apples again?”
The mini filly took one big gulp and gave her sister a large toothy grin.
“Uhh... no?” She said still smiling, although the smile quickly faded under the sinister eyes of her sister. “Alright fine! I took ‘em! I only had a couple.”
The orange mare gave one final glance towards her sister before walking over to the bush her sister emerged from and peering behind it, finding a large pile of apple cores and an empty bucket.
“Okay, maybe it was more than a couple” Applebloom said with a sheepish grin. Applejack gritted her teeth and walked over to her now cowering sister.
“That’s it! You’ve been nothin’ but trouble today, you ain’t takin’ this work seriously! I told ya’ ten times now not to eat anymore apples until you’d finished helpin’ me! We can’t afford to be wasteful like that. not since that storm took out almost half of the south field.”
Applebloom looked down to the floor.
“I-I’m sorry sis, I didn-” Applejack cut her off.
“Why don’t you just go into town and play with your lil’ friends, me an’ Big Mac can finish this by ourselves.” Applejack said sternly.
The little pony bowed her head in shame and began walking away towards town, hearing her sister sighing softly.
Applebloom neared the town and decided to head to Rarity’s Boutique to see Sweetie Belle in the hope that they could do some crusading for their cutie marks. She neared the door and started to knock when she heard some commotion from inside.
“Sweetie Belle! What have you done to my kitchen!?”
“You were working so hard, so I made you some cereal.”
“How does one manage to set fire to cereal!?”
Applebloom grimaced but knocked on the door anyway. A small, white pony with a lavender mane opened the door and greeted Applebloom.
“Hi Applebloom, what are you doing here?”
“Hi Sweetie Belle, I was wonderin’ if ya’ wanted to come out to play, maybe we could try to get our cutie marks.” Sweetie Belle gave a small frown and looked inside at Rarity, who was trying to clean up the mess in the kitchen.
“I’d love to Applebloom, but I think Rarity still needs my help with her new dresses.”
“Oh, that’s ok.” Applebloom frowned but gave a nod to her friend and turned to look for Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle shut the door and returned to Rarity.
“So, what else can I do to help?” Asked Sweetie Belle. Rarity placed her head on the counter and sighed.
A short while later, and Applebloom found herself at Scootaloo’s house. She tapped on the door and a moment later was greeted by the small orange filly.
“Oh, hey Applebloom, what’s up?”
“Hey Scoot, I got kicked out an’ I was wonderin’ if you wanted to come out an’ play” Applebloom said with a smile.
“ah jeez Applebloom, I’d really love to but my parents are making me go to this stupid family reunion in Fillydelphia, I’m gonna be gone all week.”
“aw that’s ok Scootaloo, I’m sure I’ll find somethin’ to do by myself!” Applebloom said with a fake smile.
Applebloom wandered the streets of Ponyville looking for someone to talk to. She felt sort of out of place without her two friends and wasn’t really sure what to do. She kept walking, out of ponyville until she reached Ghastly Gorge, where she sat on the side of the crevasse and stared blankly. She didn’t want to risk going back home since her sister may still have been angry, or worse, Big Macintosh may have been angry at her. Any amount of yelling that Applejack could muster simply paled in comparison to the silent stare of her big brother. Applebloom curled up into a ball and lay there, tears forming in the corner of her eyes at the thought of the disappointment she would face.
“You look like you could use some cheering up.”
Applebloom was startled by the presence of a voice and she quickly looked up to see a familiar purple and green dragon, pulling a small wagon filled with gems.
“Oh, spike, it’s just you...” She whimpered.
The small dragon sat at Applebloom’s side and looked at her, smiling softly.
“So, what’s got you so upset?”
“Applejack doesn’t like me anymore.”
Spike looked confused.
“I’m sure you’re overreacting, Applejack wouldn’t hate you.”
Applebloom felt more tears welling up in her eyes.
“Why shouldn’t she! I can’t do anythin’ right, that’s probably why I don’t have my cutie mark yet. Cause I don’t have any talents. I’m useless.”
Applebloom sat up and thrust her arms around Spike and began to sob. Spike was taken aback for a few moments before he tentatively placed his arm around the crying Applebloom.
“You’re not useless, you’re a great pony with lots of good points.”
Applebloom sniffed and looked up at Spike with big eyes.
“really, like what?”
Spike put his finger up to his chin.
“W-well, umm... You’re really sweet and nice and you always try hard at everything and, uh... I like your ribbon.”
Applebloom stared at Spike with a smile and a small blush on her face.
“Y-you really think all that spike?”
Spike nodded and wiped off a tear from under her eyes. Then, he stood up and walked over to his wagon.
“Here, I know what’ll cheer you up. I just found this and I was saving it for later, but I think you should have it.”
Spike walked back to Applebloom and revealed a large blue gemstone, the light shot through the stone and out at all angles, giving it a beautiful glow. Applebloom gazed at the stone with an open mouth.
“This is a blue diamond, it’s really rare, and tasty.” Spike said, licking his lips.
“Wow... It’s beautiful, I couldn’t possibly take that from you”
“It’s fine, It would make me happier to see you happy, I won’t take no for an answer.”
Applebloom slowly took the stone from his hands, then started jumping up and down.
“Oh, thank you Spike, thank you! I love it!” She said with glee.
Suddenly, she pounced on the dragon and placed her lips tenderly on his. Spike was too startled to process what was going on. After a few seconds, Applebloom released her hold on the dragon and backed off.
“Thank you spike, I gotta go home an’ show Applejack an’ Big Mac!
And with those last words, she scampered off with her present, leaving Spike on the ground still in shock.
“Uh, What just happened?”
It was past sunset when Applebloom finally returned to the family farm. She was still jumping with joy and had galloped all the way back home, completely forgetting about the events of the morning and her sisters anger towards her. She charged through the door only to be greeted with a worried looking Applejack and Big Macintosh.
“Oh Applebloom you’re alright! I’m real sorry about the way I yelled at ya’ today, I shouldn’t have done that.”
Applebloom looked on in confusion before remembering what had happened. She smiled widely at Applejack.
“That’s ok Applejack, look at what Spike gave me!” She said as she retrieved the gem from her saddlebag.
“Woah! That’s one fine lookin’ gem. You say Spike gave that to ya’?”
“Yup, he said he thought I was sweet an’ nice and he liked my ribbon too! Isn’t he just the greatest dragon ever.” Applebloom said with a dreamy sigh. Applejack looked quizzically at her sister who was daydreaming and clutching her gift.
“Well, I’ve gotta go to bed! Night big sis, night big brother.” Said Applebloom as she darted up the stairs, leaving Applejack and Big Macintosh alone again. Applejack turned to her brother.
“Well that was mighty strange don’t ya’ think?”
“...Eeyup...”
Upstairs, Applebloom lay on her bed with her bedside lamp on. She stared up at the ceiling and thought about the events of the day.
‘I can’t believe Spike was so kind to me. I wish there was some way I could show him how much I like him too...’
Applebloom continued to reminisce about her dragon friend until she gradually dozed off.
The tiny filly awoke early in the morning with a flash of inspiration. She tiptoed over to each of her family members’ bedrooms and peered through the keyhole to check they were still asleep. When she had confirmed that they were she made her to the front door and silently slipped out. She walked over to the barn where she examined its contents with a smile.
“Perfect!” She exclaimed.
A gentle breeze flowed through an open window of the Ponyville public library. On its perch, a coffee coloured owl cooed softly in its sleep. Upstairs, the library owner Twilight sparkle was just awakening from her slumber. Twilight stretched her hooves to the ceiling and yawned softly. Although it was early, Twilight was soon fully alert and ready to work. She walked downstairs and poured herself a glass of water. Spike, who was her helper, came down a few minutes later clutching his blanket.
“Oh spike! I’m glad you’re up early today. I need to go help Rarity with some of her dresses, she said that there was some sort of big disaster over there. Anyway, I need you to finish categorising and stacking the books for me please.” Twilight said with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I just gotta wake up first.” He replied with a yawn.
Twilight giggled and walked towards the door. She opened it and stared out for a few seconds before calling to Spike.
“Uh, Spike? I think there’s something here for you.” She said hesitantly.
Spike walked over and peered around twilight. He was met with the sight of 5 buckets of apples, all filled up so much that they towered over twilight. Some of the apples had fallen onto the floor, leaving a pool of fruit on their doorstep. On one of the buckets was a note which Twilight began to read.
“To Spike, you’re the best dragon ever. Love Applebloom. Kiss, kiss...” Twilight looked at Spike with confusion. “Care to explain what this is about?”
Spike was still staring at the piles of apples in surprise. He snapped out of his stupor and looked up at the unicorn.
“I dunno, but it’s about time I got the recognition I deserved!” He said as he dived into one of the apple piles.
“But this couldn’t have been for no reason at all, did you do anything for her?”
“Hmm.” Spike thought as he popped another apple into his mouth and swallowed it whole. “Oh yeah! She was pretty upset about something the other day and so I gave her a gift.”
“A gift?” Twilight looked at him suspiciously. “What kind of gift?”
“A blue diamond.”
Twilight gave out a small sigh, finally figuring out what this was all about.
“Spike, I think you may have given Applebloom the wrong impression with that gift.”
“What do you mean? I just did it to make her feel better.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Just go and talk to her Spike, she might get the wrong idea... And don’t eat anymore apples, I have a feeling Applejack may want them back.”
Spike nodded and watched Twilight walk off towards Raritys’ shop, before shoving three more apples into his mouth and walking in the opposite direction.
Light shone through applejack’s window, hitting her closed eyes and softly coaxing her out of her dream. She sat up and collected her hat from its place at the side of her bed, then she proceeded to walk downstairs. She went into the kitchen to see Applebloom sitting at the table facing away from her. She appeared to be drawing something in a notebook. Applejack walked over and sneakily peered over her shoulder at the book. The pages were filled with hearts that contained the words ‘Spike + Applebloom’. Applejack couldn’t suppress a small giggle, which made her sister jump up in shock before she turned around. Applejack spoke as her sister tried to cover up her drawings.
“Well, well! Looks like some lil’ filly’s got a crush!”
Applebloom’s face turned a bright red shade as she tried to utter a few words.
“W-what! No I ain’t! I was jus-.”
“Don’t even try an’ hide it missy! I can see it all over your face.” Applejack giggled again and looked off into the distance. “I remember my first crush, I must’ve been ‘bout as young as y’all are... So, are you an’ Spike a couple yet?” Applebloom had a look of apprehension on her face but decided to confide in her sister anyway.
“Uh...No, I haven’t asked him yet... But I don’t wan’t him to laugh at me! How do I know if he likes me back?” Applebloom asked with a frown. Her sister laughed at the question which surprised the young pony. Seeing this, Applejack looked at her with a serious expression.
“Of course he likes ya’ Applebloom! After all, he did give ya’ a diamond. Ya’ don’t give a diamond to just anybody. I bet he’s probably workin’ up the courage to ask ya’ right now!”
Applebloom’s eyes lit up.
“Really, ya’ think so!?”
Before Applejack could reply, Big Macintosh lazily strolled into the room.
“Applebloom, Spike’s here, says he needs to talk to you about somethin’.”
The yellow filly exploded with joy at her brothers words. she leapt out of her chair with joy.
“He’s here! he’s gonna ask me to be his special some-pony!” She exclaimed, and charged past Big Macintosh with such a force that it could’ve toppled him over.
Applebloom barrelled out the front door and spotted spike sitting on the fence by the barn. Spike also noticed her and began walking towards her.
“Hey, listen Applebloom, I think I may have given you the wrong impres-.” His sentence was cut off by Applebloom tackling him to the floor and peppering him with kisses.
“Of course I’ll be your special some-pony Spike!”
“Special wha-!” Spike was cut off again by a direct assault on his lips by hers. Applejack and Big Macintosh stood watching from the watching from the side of the house, Applejack looking happy for her sister and Big Macintosh looking utterly confused. After this scene carried on for a while, Applejack saw fit to intervene, if only to save spike from being smothered to death.
“Okay you two lovebirds, break it up... I know y’all probably wanna spend some more time together but Applebloom’s got chores to do. Ya’ can come an’ see her afterwards... Oh I know! You two should go on a date somewhere, wouldn’t that be great! Why don’t we say around eight, that sound good? Alright’y, I’ll bring her over then. see ya’ later!”
Applejack and Applebloom galloped off into the apple orchard, leaving Spike to process what had happened. Somehow he had been roped into a date with Applebloom.
“I should’ve just eaten that diamond instead...” Spike said as he wandered back home, thinking about whether he needed to wear a suit to this date.
“A date! You’re going on a date with Applebloom!? How did this happen? I told you to talk to her!” Twilight yelled up the stairs at Spike.
“ I know, I’m not really sure what happened, the whole thing kind of got away from me after she said I was her special some-pony?”
“What!?”
Spike walked down the stairs sporting a fancy tuxedo and a small red bow tie. He flicked a top hat onto his head and whipped out a telescopic cane from his sleeve. Standing in front of the purple unicorn, he struck a pose. Twilight forgot what she was mad about when she saw the debonair dragon.
“Aww, Spike, you look adorable!” She cooed.
“No! I don’t wanna look adorable! I wanna look mature and sophisticated. I know, give me a moustache again!” Spike said. Twilight rolled her eyes then looked at him questioningly.
“You sure are putting in a lot of effort for her... Do you think that maybe there’s a part of you that likes Applebloom... You know, in a special way?” She asked.
“What? no way, I just don’t want to hurt her feelings. She was really happy about this date.”
“But you did give her that diamond. The only other person you’ve ever given something that precious to is Rarity, and we all know how you felt about her.”
Spike shook his head and turned away from her.
“This is totally different, I don’t feel the same around Applebloom as I do around Rarity...”
“Well, how do you feel around Applebloom.” Twilight asked with a smile.
“I dunno, it’s kind of like this tingly feeling in my stomach like butterflies... Though that could just be all the apples I ate.”
Twilight giggled at her clueless companion. Even though she had never been in love herself, she could still read the signs that her friend was displaying, she had read numerous books on this subject. It being somewhat of a guilty pleasure of hers.
The doorbell rang and they both knew who it was. Spike began sweating and fussing over his attire. Twilight used her magic to straighten him up and handed him a towel to dry himself off.
“Spike, just relax. I have a feeling that your emotions will all become clearer tonight.” Said Twilight as she guided him towards the door. “Oh, and lose the cane.” She said as she teleported it out of his hands. “It makes you look a bit silly.”
The door opened to reveal Applejack, standing there with a happy expression. If you looked closely, you could barely see a glimpse of a smaller figure behind her.
“Well howdy Spike, don’t you just look like a perfect gentleman! And hello Twilight.”
“Hey Applejack, so, where’s Applebloom?” Twilight asked.
Applejack shot her a grin and stepped aside, revealing the filly. Spikes jaw dropped when he saw her. She was wearing a pure white dress adorned with yellow coloured flowers on the trim. She also wore a sparkling silver necklace which was dotted with rubies, although she still wore her trademark pink bow. The soft glow from Twilights porch light illuminated her clothes and in Spikes eyes she glistened like an angel. Noticing his expression, Applebloom crossed her front hooves and blushed slightly, looking down at the floor.
“Um... Hi Spike...” She whispered, suddenly uneasy about going on a real date with him. Spike was only able to stutter incoherently until Twilight delivered a swift hoof to the back of his head, almost knocking off his hat.
“Hey Applebloom. So, uh, you ready to go?” He asked nervously.
Applebloom nodded and they waved goodbye to their chaperones, who stood by the door smiling.
“Well ain’t they just the cutest couple you’ve ever seen!” Applejack said.
“I wonder what they’re planning to do?” Asked Twilight, to which Applejack gave her a mischievous look.
“I know one way to find out!”
Applejack grabbed Twilights hoof and proceeded to trail the young couple.
Applebloom and Spike walked in awkward silence for a couple of minutes. Both of them were too preoccupied with what the other was thinking.
‘ Oh, What should ah’ say? I’m all nervous now. I wonder what he’s thinkin’ about?’ Applebloom gave an inconspicuous glance towards the dragon, who was looking straight ahead. ‘ What if he doesn’t like me? Maybe he thinks I look silly, I knew I shouldn’t have let Applejack take me to Rarity’s store!’
Applebloom was so deep in thought that she failed to notice that she was still staring at Spike, which he saw. This caused them both to blush and turn away. Suddenly, Spike spoke.
“So, do you wanna go to Sugarcube corner?” He said whilst trying to maintain eye contact in spite of his nerves.
Applebloom nodded and they both headed off in that direction. Behind them, a large bush with orange and lavender coloured legs followed their path.
Walking into Sugarcube corner, they were greeted by the ever smiling face of Pinkie Pie, who was holding a tray of cupcakes with rainbow coloured icing. The pink pony seemed oblivious to the tension that followed the duo, which actually seemed to calm them down slightly.
“Hi! You guys are lookin’ fancy. Is there a party somewhere!?” Pinkie Pie asked while bouncing on the spot, though oddly not dropping the cakes with her movement. The two looked at her with blushes on their faces until Spike spoke up.
“Well, actually Pinkie... This is sort of, a date.”
Pinkie Pies eyes widened as she gasped loudly. The sudden outburst startled the two, and no one noticed the two ponies that had sidled through the door wearing comical face masks.
“That’s great! I always knew you were perfect for each other! That’s why I made this!” She exclaimed in joy as she pulled on a rope hanging from the ceiling, causing a banner to fall down with the words ‘Congratulations Spike and Applebloom’ Written in cake icing. Spike barely had time to question the weirdness of Pinkie Pie. “This one’s on me! For the happy couple.”
She sped of into the kitchen and returned a second later with a massive ice cream sundae dessert and two spoons. Both of their eyes lit up at the sight of the creamy heaven that lay before them. they decided to boycott the spoons in favour of ploughing through it with their faces in a way that would make most farm animals cringe. Pinkie Pie giggled and left to tend to her other customers.
“Hey Twi’, hey Applejack! Why are you wearing those funny masks?” Pinkie Pie said innocently. The two masked ponies scowled at their clueless friend.
“Pinkie, shh! We’re trying to blend in!” Twilight said in a whisper.
Pinkie Pie cocked her head in confusion but left them both a cupcake and hopped back into the kitchen. Meanwhile, the The ravenous couple, Applebloom and Spike had just finished their free meal and were now sitting opposite each other. The previous tension had dissolved and they were both starting to feel more comfortable.
“So, Applebloom, do you mind if I ask you something?” Spike said. Applebloom shook her head. “What’s happening here? is this like, a ‘date’ date?”
“Well, I guess so... I mean, we are pony-friends now, aren’t we?” Applebloom replied with a hesitant smile.
Spike pondered the question for a moment. He wasn’t as reluctant as he thought he would be to the idea of being Applebloom’s special some-pony, in fact, the thought made him experience a shot of happiness that he couldn’t quite explain.
“Yeah... I guess we are.” He said with a smile, making Applebloom smile too.
The night started to go smoother from that point on. Both of them felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders and they could start acting like themselves. They left Sugarcube corner shortly after their discussion and went for a walk in the cool night air of Ponyville, still unaware they were being tailed. They talked about an assortment of things such as Applebloom’s school and friends, the farm, and Spike’s home life which consisted mainly of cleaning up piles of books that Twilight had abandoned after her all night study sessions. As they were strolling along the outskirts of the town, they were startled by a sudden noise from above.
“Well, well, well! Looks like you two are havin’ a good time!” The two looked up to see Rainbow Dash perched on cloud, trying to contain her laughter. “Try not to get too lovey-dovey will ya’!” She said, making kissing noises with her mouth.
Applebloom hid behind Spike with a large look of embarrassment on her face. Spike grinned.
“Watch this.” He said.
Rainbow Dash was so preoccupied her laughter that she didn’t notice Spike grab a rock from the ground. He threw the stone with enough force that it hit the cloud she was sat on, destroying it on impact. Rainbow Dash yelped as she hit the floor, then glowered at Spike.
“Fine, I was only playing around Spike...” She said as she stomped off in the opposite direction. Applebloom giggled at Spike’s act.
Rainbow Dash walked down the road, past a large bundle of hay.
“Hey Applejack, hey Twilight.” She said as she passed the bundle. Two frowning faces popped up out of the hay.
“I think we need to get better disguises.” Applejack said.
Twilight nodded.
The night was almost over for the young couple. They had walked a long way now, not noticing the time when they were in each others company. Their walk had brought them up to Ghastly Gorge, where Spike had first gifted Applebloom the diamond. The two sat down with Applebloom resting her head on Spike, watching the moonlight dance along the edge of the canyon. Fireflies flitted over the great expanse, giving the area an ethereal atmosphere. The two were amazed at the beauty of the normally barren landscape.
“I had a wonderful time tonight Spike... Thank you.” Applebloom said quietly. She looked up at Spike with big eyes. Spike looked down at her.
“I had a great time too Applebloom.”
Spike placed his hand on her chin and pulled her into a soft kiss. Both hearts skipped a beat at the sudden sensation. Neither one expected the rush of feelings caused by this kiss. They stayed locked in their embrace for a long moment before slowly pulling away, not even having the ability to blush.
That was it. Spike’s first kiss, ‘first’ meaning the first one where he actually realised what was happening and wasn’t pinned down to the floor. In the distance, a distinct ‘awww’ sound could be heard coming from a suspiciously large barrel of apples with a unicorn horn sticking out of the top.
Spike and Applebloom stared at each other with a newfound understanding of what it truly meant to care for someone in a way they had never imagined.
“Let me walk you home.” Spike said comfortingly. Applebloom nodded and stood up.
The two walked in silence back to Applebloom’s farm, although this was a different silence than before. This was a comforting silence, a silence with an air of safety and acceptance. It was more than enough for them to just be in each others presence. The absence of any other ponies in the streets served to further encase them in their own emotions.
A small kiss was shared on the Apple’s doorstep. Although they would have been comfortable staying with each other for the rest of the night, they knew their time together was only just beginning. Spike said his goodbye and returned back to the library. Applebloom went to her bedroom and gazed at her lustrous gem on her nightstand, memories of her special dragon reflected in its faces. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.