The sun shone down on yet another warm and pleasant day in Equestria, the landscape bathed in soft warm light, from the rolling fields filled with golden and yellow crops and the orchards and forests that lined them in a plethora of natural colours as the people working them continued their hard work they began the moment the sun had crept over the horizon, with Ponyville being chief among them with the Apple Acres having perhaps the hardest workers of all completing their jobs for the morning in times that would make a Bison sweat at the thought.

Many of them were still working their very hardest even as the time creeped towards mid-day, truly displaying loud and clear that earth ponies were never afraid of hard, honest work. In fact, some were so invested in their hard work that it took a full 10 minutes of repeated pleading to make them take a break to come and have lunch with them, but then to Applejack the concept of a day without work was simply alien to her.

After those long minutes of persistant pleading from the most recently crowned princess however, a quick and enjoyable walk up along the long road leading to the farm resulted in the scene playing out before both of them right no: a very well acquainted group of friends gathered inside of a restaurant run by an old aquaintance of the Apple family, waiting eagerly for their meals to arrive as they spoke about a matter that the crowned princess of magic, and unofficial group nerd, had called them together to discuss.

“So y’all are sayin’ that you got some fancy mirrors hooked up together just for us to see and speak with each other?” Applejack spoke up in her trademark southern style drawl, the unmistakable voice of the orange-furred mare who had become the chosen element of honesty, and direct to a fault by nature, complete with straw-yellow mane tied up into a ponytail rolling down her back against her work overalls as she reclined in her chair. She was the living embodiment of of a working woman both in mannerisms and physique; her tight jean pants and cheque jacket that was pulled over the top of her knot-tied shirt to let herself cool-off under the constant heat of physical labour, displaying far more muscle on her arms alone than many had on their entire bodies. With years of hard work, bucking trees for a living, and having one of the most admirable diets of all the mares in the room, she didn't so much appear strong as she simply radiated the fact in an unseen aura around herself.

She was also looking across the table with a very quizzical expression at being asked to effectively trial out a magic mirror for a friend she knew to be a little over-eager in magical enthusiasm, and more than a little prone to going too far sometimes.

“Exactly Applejack, it’s a small test run for a larger project I plan to start rolling out across equestrian soon.” Came the excited reply of the princess of magic herself, Twilight Sparkle, her purple fur and multi-coloured mane in pristine condition as she excited laid her hands on top of each other on the table, eyes beaming with enthusiasm at having something new to test out. Though perhaps a little too inclined to stay indoors reading all day on her days off, the fact she was prone to having to help save the land and had appearances to keep up now meant that Twilight had been spending more time considering her appearance lately, and instead of the quick decision of whatever jumper was clean and some pants to match that she’d have worn a year or so ago, then she was sporting a long-sleeved violet shirt and black trousers, finding the whole “fairy-tale princess” look much too gaudy for her outside of ceremonies, but found the whole "smart girl" look a nice compramise when she wasn't on official business.

Besides, wearing crowns in public kind of causes a scene when all you want is an iced bun to eat in peace.

Beneath her hands and clasped against the table were order details for the 5 mares at the table, and 1 dragon standing behind her chair, a sentence few, if any, other mares in the land could say with complete honesty.

The dragon without a chair was spike, and though it may have seemed a little off-putting for him to be standing or perhaps even a little over-protective through some eyes, his reasons for doing so were purely practical: the restaurant only had closed-back chairs meant for accomodating tails made of horse hair, and his broad powerful tail made sitting incredibly uncomfortable on anything more complex than a stool or a sofa if he wasn't leaning off to one side.

The years had been both long and transformative for spike. The striking drake stood easily a head higher than even Applejack at full height now, his scales a mixture of light emerald green along his front or “underbelly”, such as the underside of his tail and bottom of his jaw, as well as the triangular ridges along his back, neck and head, while everywhere else scaled and in view was a strong purple hue, brought out even more by the sleeveless black waistcoat and pants that he was wearing, finding such a combination of body colours so damn difficult to buy clothes for that he just wore black more often than not. The waistcoat was a compromise much like Twilight's; he needed to wear something casual yet smart, but simply found his now bulking shoulders and rough scales tended to take a heavy toll on anything that wasn't sleeveless.

He was wearing quite a sheepish expression though, he was realising just how little dress sense he seemed to have when he saw several of the serving staff had initially whispered about Twilight supposedly being there to "get her dragon to sort them out", presumably believing she was there to scold her friends. He had to admit he did come off looking like something of a bodyguard or hired tough. The former was definitely true when it came to twilight though, so he didn't let it bother him too much.

He knew to be worried about Twilight's excitement as a defence mechanism though. if people asked him how he moved out of his teenage bedroom with Twilight's help, he always answered "through the roof".

“Oooohhh sounds fun, does that mean I can pull funny faces to 6 people at once?” spoke up the unquestionable party animal of the group, Pinkie Pie, master of mischief and bringing smiles onto new faces and breaking the fourth wall to make sure nothing in this paragraph about her was mean. To see her first-hand would be like seeing a cotton candy mascot brought to life but in the most positive sense possible, bright childishly gleeful eyes, a curly pink mane that seemed to explode outwards from her head in all directions at once, ceaselessly positive attitude and encouraging of all her friends at their most down, she kept all of them going through some of their most troubling moments, as well having no regard for the laws of physics. She was a self-confessed foodie and loved anything and everything sweet and sugary, and as such had wider hips, thighs and waist than the other mares, but that only added to her charm of being the big bundle of fun that she was, and it was virtually impossible to not walk away from her smiling. The fact she was wearing a loose low-cut strap-topped shirt and snug jogging pants like she was planning to run off her meal later certainly added to her random aesthetic.

She was in the process of leaning up over the table to seemingly get more of her over-excited expression closer to Twilight’s face, though the mare who had sat next in the chair next to her pulled her back down into her chair with a quiet bump and knowingly smile as she too turned to Twilight to voice her thoughts on the group project.

“Forgive me for pointing this out Twilight, but you do know smartphones and laptops exist right? People aren’t exactly starved of ways to communicate long distance now?” came the quick response from the characteristically fastest Pegasi Mare in perhaps all of Equestria, Rainbow dash. Dressed in slightly ripped jeans and worn trainers that wear always different colours to each other, somehow, and wearing a striped t-shirt beneath a faux-leather aviator-jacket, even fresh from being on duty it would be difficult to describe her as anything other than tomboy-ish in appearance, but it suited her upfront personality perfectly, and she pulled it off very well with her rainbow coloured mane. The Wonder-bolt and exceptional athlete flashed a quick wink to Spike, the dragon sighing in relief just outside of everyone else’s notice; Pinkie’s top had shuffled down a bit when she leant forwards, and though everyone else had been too focused on Twilight to notice, the male dragon had a much better view of “the valley” she’d accidentally put on show, and Rainbow had decided to stop it before Spike got too flustered.

“W-Well, m-maybe it could be better for people who don’t uhm… don’t like using them, or who live away from electricity a lot of the time?” came the timid, almost angelically soft voice of Fluttershy from the corner chair, her large long-sleeved green jumper allowing her to almost hide the bottom of her beautiful yellow-furred face behind the large soft collar of it, the mare’s soft pink mane and beautiful blue eyes making her already cute appearance outright adorable, though her ample round hips filling out her soft denim jeans and the very enviable bust filling out her jumper had drawn more than few eyes her way previously, many more than friendly and a fair few out of envy. The mare was undeniably one of the kindest hearted beings to ever walk the earth or take to the sky, the timid Pegasi constantly caring for and even raising the animals who needed it, even going so far as to re-habilitate the manifestation of chaos himself into a functional member of Equestria, a feat even the immortal princesses couldn’t achieve. “There are older people who find using advanced things like computers or smartphones… well, a little scary… or a bit too intimidating… and I think it could really help them to see someone face-to-face more easily.”

“I couldn’t agree more Fluttershy dearest, in fact I think it could be a great opportunity to give people the chance to speak to each other who couldn’t afford it before.” Came the refined, proper and always elegant tones of the fashionista mare seated next to Fluttershy, her snow-white fur and immaculately curled dark purple mane highlighting a face decorated with just the right amount of make-up to accent without over-shadowing the beauty wearing it, the lady the unspoken and unquestioned apple of Spike the dragon’s eyes for years, though she still was oblivious to it. As always she wore clothes of her own creation, today’s light summer day calling for a sky-blue summer-dress that boasted fabric so soft to the touch it would put silk to shame and yet allowed subtle colour changes to mimic the view of a rolling sky up and down the garment, the very top and very bottom fading seamlessly to white cloud-like hues that matched her fur while the main body mirrored the colour of her eye-shadow, the clearly very well kept figure filling out the dress completing the visage of a truly rare beauty.

“Exactly!” Twilight beamed, her wings fluffing slightly in excitement at hearing Rarity and Fluttershy’s responses, now looking back to Applejack with bright eager eyes and a slightly pleading smile.

“Alright now, y’all can cut back on the sweet-face begging look Twilight.” The orange furred mare sighed with a warm smile, tipping back the rim of the broad brown hat that she wore so often that it always seemed a little strange to see her without it. "Ah’d be happy to help you out any way Ah can, Ah just don’t know how a country gal like me can help solve some kinda magic bug the Princess o’ magic can’t?”

“That’s exactly it Applejack, right now what I actually need is to find out all of the problems with this I can so I can start fixing them.” Twilight responded, earning a suspicious expression from the southern belle seated across from her that prompted her to elaborate a little further. “To put it simply, if these two-way-mirrors are to work for everyone, I need to know exactly how they are currently working, and what goes wrong with them. I can fix things easily with my magic, but these need to be sturdy enough to last and keep working for people who don’t have any magic to work with. For Pegasi there needs to be some way of making this work even when they are in the air, like fitting them with some kind of levitation spell, or just making them really light so they can be carried. I can’t test these things by myself, and I need people I can trust to be honest and… well… maybe a little forgiving in case things go wrong.”

Applejack couldn’t help but smile and shake her head at that. Twilight was a genius what it came to all matter magical, but the problem with such an imaginative mind was the multitude of new ways they could make things malfunction, or the possibility become so wrapped up in their studies they loose common sense now and again. Twilight had been known to fall into the habit of doing the latter more than once.

“Ah think I get the picture, just be aware that our farm ain’t exactly a big fluffy duvet, it’s hard wooden surfaces and far harder work day in and day out, so even if it’s just hung up it won’t be getting’ the gentlest touch out there.” The orange furred mare warned with a shrug of her strong shoulders, Twilight nodding gratefully as she turned to look back to Rainbow Dash, who was now rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Yeah well… I guess it does sound like a lot better idea when you say it out loud like that. Sorry for being picky Twilight, it’s just I think I already have what I need. I just hope that I can give some advice that is helpful other than “where do I even hang this thing?”, I mean you’ve seen my house, you know there’s not much wall space left.” Rainbow pointed out with a shrug of her shoulders.

Twilight tilted her head in a sort of resigned acceptance, knowing Rainbow had virtually every horizontal surface in her house outside of the bathroom and kitchen either converted into holsters for her exercise equipment, covered in posters (or sometimes her own photos) of the wonder bolts, turned into shelves for her trophies, or in some cases just had enough spare stuff piled up against it that the wall was no longer visible. She was a Pegasus of many talents, but organised housekeeping and cleaning up after herself weren’t among them.

“That’s what I’m going to be looking out for, things like whether the stand on the back of them works well, if it need stronger mountings, all of the small details that need ironing out.” Twilight answered, the athletic mare across from her pondering this a little longer before shrugging her shoulders.

“Heck, why not? It’s something extra to play around with. And I get to try and break it!” Rainbow added with a hint of satisfaction in her voice, Twilight flashing her a patient smile while mentally and magically noting to have several spares made up for her ahead of time and to avoid using anything that was fragile like glass in the second version.

“Well Ah’m in the best position to test it long-term as I don’t plan on goin’ anywhere until we need to take our crop up to Canterlot for Quality regulatin’.” Applejack responded, leaning forward from her relaxed position and resting her forearms on the table as she looked over at Twilight kindly. “Count me in Twi, it may not be everyone’s cup of apple cider back at Apple Acres, but I’m sure we’ll get you some good info to use on it.”

“Thanks Applejack. Well that’s two down, so how does everyone else feel about trying these out?” the purple-furred alicorn beamed, her expression quickly growing happier and more energetic as the prospect of magic and alchemical research of her own drew closer and closer.

Spike couldn’t help but wear the unmistakable expression of a friend very well versed in how many of those experiments went wrong before they went right. He was silently glad he was a dragon, and by extension both physically about as tough as mortal beings got and quite resilient to magic, otherwise he likely would have had to construct a bunker inside her study laboratory by then.

“Well I for one would be most happy to oblige. Heaven knows I could always use another mirror to help get all the angles right for my next piece. Just at long as it can still work like a regular mirror when I need to focus so that I don’t get distracted while I’m busy.” Rarity chimed in, Twilight, snapping her fingers at that and producing a small sheet of parchment from seemingly nowhere to jot that last point down, underlining the phrase “include messaging sub-hex” before looking expectantly towards the others.

Spike had to smile at that. Years may pass but old habits die hard, and he always found Rarity’s charm and radiating elegance went straight to his head whenever he heard her speak. Well, as the years passed he found everything about her tended to head both north and south very quickly when it came to his body. He had become much better at hiding it as time had passed, but if anything as he had grown up his opinion of her beauty had only become more and more refined. She could, and did, put almost every other lady he’d ever seen to shame through his eyes, and despite having had more than a little bit of his own experience on the side, he’d be lying to himself if he said that he’d never once thought of Rarity when dating another mare. Accepting it was a childish dream, absolutely, but giving up on Rarity? Never.

“Spike?”

“Whuh? Did you say something?” Spike quickly replied, causing a playful giggle from Pinkie and a knowing grin to spread across Rainbow’s face, while Rarity simply looked over patiently completely oblivious to the other two mares as Spike’s cheeks slowly turned a deeper, redder shade of purple.

“Yes, I said if everyone else is on board with this now, the last person I’d like to include in this test run is you Spike.” Twilight repeated, her expression still bright and hopeful as Spike blinked in surprise.

“Wait, me? You want me to test these mirrors out too by calling everyone else up or answering theirs if they need to?” he replied, pointing up at his own face in an adorably innocent gesture for a young man his age. “But I can already send messages by dragon’s fire, remember?”

“Precisely my point Spike. Not only will these have to work for different types of pony, and different species, but there would also be completely different types of magic that could interfere with them, and I need to test that dragon magic doesn’t break or disrupt them. Plus you’re both my assistant and my bodyguard, so who else can I trust more to give me an honest answer?” she concluded, beaming up at Spike from her seat, equal parts the warm caring smile of a lifelong friend and the over-eager student silently pleading him to give her a chance to research into his species unique form of magic again.

Spike had his answer ready in his head before she had even finished her sentence. “Of course, I’ll help out Twi, I’m always here for you.”

“Then it’s settled! I’ll have them all sent out to your houses for this evening and then we can keep in touch with each other and tell me what you think about them.” Twilight said clapping her hands together in excitement. Spike felt a gentle tug on his tail as the purple-furred princess of magic began talking with the rest of her friends like an over-excited teenager again, the Dragon turning to see the culprit was Applejack, who wordlessly motioned him to come closer with her hand as she dropped the tail-tip he hadn’t realised had been swaying behind him.

Walking over he leaned in closer as Applejack leant to the side to speak quietly up to him as the others fawned over the restaurant menus and other subjects they had discovered since their last get-together.

“Y’all know this is basically an elaborate excuse for Twilight to talk with her friends more, right?” the southern belle styled mare whispered.

“Oh absolutely. But I can't think of a better way that gives her written approval to do that instead of enduring countless meetings.” Spike replied smiling wide.

“And Celestia’s okay with that?”

“She sent her here to get out more in the first place, remember? Twilight’s been taking her duties so seriously that Celestia thought she needed a refresher course of sorts, so she asked me to keep an eye on her while she carries out this pet project she’s been working on.” Spike replied quietly. “Though keep that last part quiet. Honestly it feels kind of like when we first arrived here all those years ago, except now I know we had friends waiting for us.”

“Ah understand. Mah lips are sealed sugar.” Applejack replied with an understanding smile, pausing a moment and looking just of to the side of Spike for a moment before reaching out and pulling a chair over for him to sit in and motioning towards it. “Ah think y’all oughta sit down though.”

“Hmm? Why’s that?” Spike asked, his head tilted curiously as he rested one hand on the back of the chair.

“Because despite how ya may feel Spike, you’re big drake now, a big drake with a very strong figure to you, and a whole wardrobe of clothes meant for stallions and not dragons, meaning some places are clingin' to ya tighter than others. When y’all bent over to whisper to me one of the poor waitresses nearly walked straight into one of the tables while she was admirin’ the rear-view.” Applejack responded jokingly, Spike’s blush returning in full force as the mare continued. “So you either part that cute butt in the chair or I park it there for ya.”

“Yes’m.” Spike replied, sitting down at the spare section on the table and tucking his tail beneath the chair legs so no-one would trip over it. He did however notice out of the corner of his eye one particular waitress who now seemed to be very flushed red in her cheeks, and who seemed to be letting her eyes drift over towards him whenever she wasn't engaged in her job.

The rest of their lunch meet went without incident, and they simply delighted in getting to enjoy each other’s company again, hearing how times were changing for Apple Acres, how Fluttershy’s animal expertise was now reaching further to newly discovered species, Rainbow’s achievements in the Wonderbolts, Rarity’s dazzling new lines of designer and boutique clothing, Twilight’s excursions at the newly appointed princess and of course Pinkie Pie’s latest bonanzas and parties.

Spike almost felt sheepish for answering questions directed at him about his time in the royal guard, but more than ever he felt like part of the group as the topics were passed back and forth, never left out of the conversation or passed over for his turn to speak, it felt so comforting to take the time to just be together like that again, and to be part of the circle this time.

As was expected though, eventually the meal came to an end and everyone had to head their separate ways for the afternoon. Part of being an adult was the responsibilities that came hand-in-hand with the freedom to chose what you did with yourself.

As they were getting up out of their chairs and starting to walk out, having left their bits on the table, Rainbow smirked to herself behind Spike as Rarity walked a few paces in front, the Drake always playing the part of gentleman and never once getting too close for comfort as Fluttershy and Applejack said their goodbyes and walked off towards their homes. It was as they rounded a corner onto a quiet street that Rainbow took the chance to speak up over Spike’s broad shoulder while Twilight and Pinkie Pie debated about why she couldn’t include the ability to project party-poppers from behind the mirror for birthday calls.

“Hey Rarity, I think the laces on your right-side foot are coming a little loose.” The blue-furred sports mare commented from behind the green and purple scaled drake, who was in the middle of opening his mouth to deny this when Rarity stopped instantly mid-step and bent over double in front of him to re-tie her laces to be sure, the dragon clamping his jaw shut like a vice as the snow-white furred mare bent herself into an inverted “L” pose, causing Spike to be instantly overcome by the burning desire not to give her any reason at all to stand up straight too early.

Putting it simply, Rarity's beautifully rounded backside was now being unintentionally pointed right back at him, and the fashionista was exceptionally gifted at creating clothes that accented the figure perfectly, and Rarity's figure was exceptional. Her rounded rump filled out and the fabric that clung almost scandalously tightly now she was busily fussing over her lace, even the valley between her buttocks now highlighted in the folds as the helpless male dragon behind her was bombarded with the vision of his childhood crush in a pose straight out of a play-colt magazine.

Spike’s eyes drank in the deliciously rounded sight of her curves, committing every last detail of the sight to his permanent memory, before quickly shaking his head and looking to the side as if momentarily distracted by the hanging basket display as Rarity stood back up, while Rainbow grinned almost from ear-to-ear and stepped in front of the poor blushing drake so she was the first thing Rarity saw when she turned back around.

“Thank you Rainbow, it was a little loose it turns out, though hardly about to cause a fashion disaster or some unsightly trip.” Rarity commented as they resumed walking, Spike now having a desperately difficult time keeping his eyes above Rarity’s hips as she walked in front alongside Rainbow, who was flashing him the most impish smile he’d ever seen anyone wear in his life.

You sly troublemaker of a mare…

Unable to get his thought’s off Rarity’s rear-end for the moment, and mostly likely stuck that way for the rest of the evening, Spike resigned to stick his hands into his jacket pockets and walk alongside Twilight as she was finally able to convince Pinkie that confetti cannons were not an essential part of a magic mirror as they reached the Sugar Cube Corner where Pinkie still visited frequently, said Pink-furred and almost perpetually fluffy-maned mare bouncing in through the door and saying her goodbyes quickly as she got to the last of her bakery chores for the day.

Spike always found Pinkie one of the most unique people he’d ever met, and not just in the fact she somehow seemed to be only as adherent to the laws of physics as most people were familiar with the finer details of meringues. You felt warmer, somehow more visible, when you were around her. Even rebounding off scenery with the pace of an over-excited spring and speaking faster than even rainbow dash could keep up, for the most part you still didn’t feel worn out by spending long days with her. Almost anyone else would have been considered “tiring” or “exhausting”, but Pinkie’s constant determination to make everybody smile really rubbed off the more you witnessed it, and somehow days with her in them always seemed brighter.

The dragon couldn’t help but feel his smile growing a little wider as precisely on que the pink mare rushed by the window giving him a friendly wave as she through herself wholehearted into her own unique brand of organised chaos indoors.

As they walked away to drop off the next of their group, Fluttershy, off at her cottage, they began to drift into their own little “bubbles” of conversation, with Twilight eager to catch up on everything she’d missed while busy with her dutires and in ravenous conversation with Rainbow Dash, whilst Rarity and Fluttershy quietly chatted to each other about the changing seasons, the former having the fashionista’s eye for the changing tastes of her clients, while the latter was always attentive of the needs of the animals throughout the year. Indeed, Spike couldn’t recall at time where, without magical mishap, that Fluttershy had ever been surprised by any of the seasons, always being ready for each one weeks in advance.

That left himself and Applejack in the middle of their now slightly stretched convoy heading towards the quiet cottage.

He liked speaking with Applejack. She was as direct and uncomplicated in her words as a sledgehammer, and that meant he could always be sure that her feelings were front and centre when he asked her opinion on personal matters.

“So, y’all spoken to Twilight about this?” the orange furred mare was replying, arms currently behind her head as she stretched out some of the aches of being an all-day working pony on Apple Acres.

“Once or twice, but… well…” Spike turned his head to quickly check the Twilight was safely out of earshot and deeply in conversation to not be overheard before continuing. “As much as I love her like a big sister, she can get pretty intense when I tell her something doesn’t feel right, so I kind of… keep the more personal parts of my life to myself.”

“Ah can imagine.” AJ replied with a soft sigh, lowering her arms and stuffing both hands into her jacket pockets. “Her heart’s always been in the right place, just wish she’d put ‘er head there too sometimes.”

The pair shared a mental image of Twilight’s typical reaction to something going wrong in one of her perfect plans a few years ago, both wearing a smile of exhausted patience after remembering how long it had taken to clean up the aftermath.

“So things didn’t pan out with that gal from Canterlot in the long run? The one from the messengers division of the royal guard?” Applejack enquired, her hand rotating as she spoke in the manner of someone doing their best to remember the name of a person they had only ever heard of through someone else.

“Vapour Trails.” Spike finished with a quiet nod, shrugging his shoulders a little and cocking his head to the side as he recalled how their relationship had ended. “She was very cute, certainly energetic, and it really seemed like we were getting along well. But she wanted to be constantly moving from place to place, I knew I’d still be with Twilight to look after her, and so we both decided to part as friends rather than push for something that we knew couldn’t last.”

“Ah’m sorry it didn’t work out in y’all’s favour Spike, but in mah opinion ya did the right thing being honest early. Better to address the problem in front of you than to pretend it ain’t there.” The orange mare chipped in with a friendly pat on the dragon’s shoulder.

That was something else that Spike found very comforting about Applejack. Whereas many ponies of any kind, and in fact many other species who were inclined to be intimidated by large sharp teeth, a massive wingspan and the ability to breath supernatural fire, tended to keep their physical distance, she was always a very hands-on person.

Her greetings were friendly punches to the shoulder that could leave bruises on metal, her congratulations were slaps on the back that could make body-builders wheeze and she had a handshake that could grind concrete. In fact, Spike had personally witnessed her pulling dead branches of a tree bare handed when something like a sharpened metal axe no longer did the job.

But this wasn’t really a problem for a species like his to whom the term “thick skinned” would be considered a species-wide understatement, and were by nature designed to withstand high-speed collisions with the ground in the process of hunting.

“By the way fly-boy, I caught where your eye was wondering during dinner.” Applejack spoke up quietly, bringing Spike back out of that calming mental headspace and back to the conversation in an instant, turning his head to face hers with a carefully blank expression.

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“You still carryin’ a torch for Rarity?”

A younger more inexperienced spike would have jumped on the spot, maybe breathed fire through his nostrils and immediately started spinning a long and needlessly loud sentence to deny it. The More mature male dragon that he was now simply felt his scales change hue from purple and green to a deep rosy pink and quietly coughed into his hand to try and keep his dignity.

Though the fact the orange mare next to him was now wearing a smile so wide it was practically reflecting the moonlight meant his male dignity had likely changed hands the moment she asked him.

“I didn’t even realise I was looking that much myself.” He added in hushed voice. “I didn’t mean to ogle one of my best friends like that-”

“You weren’t oglin’ Spike, you were adriming. One is bein' respectful about it, and the other is letting your urges do the driving. Ah know the difference, and I know you.” She replied, winking to him as they continued walking, Twlight and Rarity now so deep in their conversation they were practically in their own little isolated bubble of business and fashion trends and upcoming events. “I know you’ve had a thing for her as long as I can remember, and I ain’t seen you treat her with anything less than complete respect. Ah’m just kinda surprised you still feel that strongly about her after this long is all.”

“I am too honestly.” Spike confessed. “I know I can move on, and I have done a few times, but some part of me just wants to be able to come home to her and make her happy… I don’t know, maybe it’s silly, but somehow just knowing she is doing okay makes my day better when I hear it… and that never really faded.”

Applejack’s smile softened as she listened, glancing over to Rarity once or twice as Spike spoke. She’d been a good friend to both of them, in their best and their worst moments, and part of that was being able to keep everything between the pair of them private from the other when they wanted it to be. Celestia be damned though if she was about to let a golden opportunity go past spike again without giving him a helping hand.

“You know what Spike, I think perhaps you should tell her that yourself sometime.” She replied quietly, looking up the garden path they were now stood at the mouth of, Rarity and Twilight saying their goodbyes to Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash already hovering in mid-air for the opportunity to get back into the clouds.

“But I uh… I mean she could… what if she already-” Spike began, by Applejack had her response ready before he could finish.

“There ain’t no shame in asking someone out only to find out they’re taken, Spike. If you get a no, then you’ll know you tried your best, and then you’ll find it easier to move forwards after. Heck, one of the stallions I know in town is married to a girl he asked out while she was dating someone else, so it ain't always a dead-end to try. But I’ll tell you this: what I think a lot of gals would really appreciate in a partner is honesty, safety, and reliability. You’re as honest as they come, you’re sure as hay dependable, and you’ve come a huge way since you were a young’in still finding out what it means to be a dragon. Understanding yourself matters, and a the right lady for you will see that too. Knowing the man she picks will always be there for her without having to check can go a long way further than most guys think.”

Spike felt the cool night breeze brushing past his scales and his emerald green spines as her words sank into him. It was all true, there really wouldn’t be anything to lose from trying, and he could still be friends with her even if she said no to him. He was much more in control than he used to be, more experienced, more confident, more… more… more of a dragon than he used to be.

Taking a deep breath in through his nostrils, he nodded at applejack. “Thank you very much for listening, I appreciate it.”

“Anytime Spike, just you let me know when you tell ‘er what she says, okay sugarcube?” she adds, accenting her comment with the full stop that was her fist at shoulder height, Spike feeling his upper arm tingling in the after-shock as he looked up the garden path to where Rarity was framed almost perfectly in the moonlight, the specular highlights in the immaculately curled purple mane cascading down her slender shoulders, her snow-white fur contrasting perfectly with her exquisitely tailored dress that helped every one of her beautiful curves pop so beautifully in front of his eyes that he froze mid-step just to admire her once more.

“I’ll tell her first thing in the morning.” He spoke automatically in a quiet awestruck tone, Applejack chuckling quietly to herself behind him.

*I’m going to need some backup to help get these two off the starting line.* the farm mare thought to herself as she glanced over at Rarity, just barely catching the way that hair had curled over her eye from this angle, or rather is obscured Rarity’s eye from Spike’s view as he looked over towards them. From the point of view of the marble-white mare however, she could likely still get a perfect view of spike’s very nicely defined and very distinctly male outline with the moonlight bouncing off his scaled shoulders, and the arms that were bare all the way to the fingers past that.

*Luckily, I think I know where I can get it.* she added, watching the rapidly ascending blur that was rainbow dash heading back towards her beloved skies as vertically as was achievable.

Author's Note

This is my first story submission to this site, and a current work in progress that I am interested in seeing people's thoughts on. Please let me know what you like and where you'd like to see this go in future, or if I can write a story for you at some point through comissions (shameless plug I know, but if I don't tell people I will write for money, then they don't know ;) ).