Ah Don't Need Help!

Applejack looked at the apple tree with a grin of determination on her orange face. She turned around, her leg free of bandages and completely healed. She lifted her plot in the air, wound up and gave the thick trunk a massive buck. A shudder ran through the sturdy fruit bearing tree, the red apples and leaves trembled and rustled before an apples almost as big as her dropped right beside her. She jumped to the side, feeling the smooth peel brush against her. It felt... weird. She went back over and ran a hoof along it, cocking her head in confusion. It felt almost like scales, cool scales. She gave it a tentative sniff, it smelt like fresh baked apple fritters! She wrapped her hooves around it an rubbed her cheeks against the odd surface.

~~~~~

Back in reality, Spike woke up wrapped in orange hooves with a very orange cheek rubbing against his. He flailed his arms wildly, trying to get free of the vice grip. "Forget it girls... This is MAH giant apple." Her sleepy voice answered his struggling and he was clasped tighter to her chest. He craned his neck and pulled one arm free, tapping her with a claw. "Applejack..."

~~~~~

In Applejack's dream, she gazed in confusion at the talking apple. "Apples don't talk..." She murmured. In the world of the waking, she snorted and moved her head a few times. "Wut..." She moaned sleepily.

Spike knocked on her head lightly. "Knock knock..." He whispered in her ear, a mischievous grin on his purple face.

Applejack moved away from his touch, grunting in annoyance. "Who's there..." She trailed off dreamily, a neutral expression on her dead-to-the-world face.

Spike drew in a sharp breath, filling his chest with air. "IT'S REALITY!" He hollered as loud as he could.

Applejack's eyes snapped open and she let out a cry, shoving Spike off the bed and scrambling to her hooves, holding her back one off the bed as she pressed against the wall, eyes wide with panic as her chest heaved, staring at Spike as she tried to register what had just happened. "Spike? What in Equestria do ya think yer doin'?" She snapped, regaining control of her breathing enough to talk.

Spike glared back. "I was stopping you from cuddling me! What gives AJ?" He demanded, getting back to his feet and crossing his arms, looking expectantly at her.

Applejack's jaw dropped. "Ah don't cuddle! Ah was havin' a dream about a giant apple, it was huge! It was so shiny and smooth, but ah never got ta bite it because ya woke me up!" She grumbled, turning away so that he wouldn't see the blush on her face. "What I wanna know is why ya were in bed with me." She got limped forwards and gave him a suspicious look.

Spike smiled guiltily as sweat formed on his brow. "I got tired waiting for you to fall asleep so I kinda passed out..." He mumbled, his own cheeks starting to develop a nice red color. "And so what? We're friends, friends can sleep in the same bed without a problem." He defended.

Applejack sighed. "Ah guess that's alright... But next time try ta go ta sleep in yer own bed." She reminded, settling back down, and stretching her leg out behind her with a slight wince as the stiff muscles were forced to move. "Ah'm right stiff... Must be the way ah'm sleepin' on ma leg." She muttered, looking at the slightly rumpled bandages.

Spike noticed how her bandages were slightly off and went into the bag he'd dropped by her bed yesterday, pulling out the roll of bandages. He hopped up onto the bed beside her and unwrapped the bandages, looking at her hoof. Without a word he put a fresh bandage on, clipping them together. "The swelling in your hoof's gone down, probably because you're not forcing yourself to work." He smiled at her.

Applejack smiled back. "That's good... Guess it was pretty silly to avoid gettin' help. Ah could've been out there buckin' if ah'd just told mah brother..." She trailed off and slumped a bit, resting her head on her front leg. She felt two claws rest on her leg but before she could turn around a soothing sensation took over her aching muscles. She bit her lip in ecstasy and turned to see Spike slowly massaging her leg, right where the stiffness was.

Spike turned to see her with an expression screaming her pleasure. He continued the massage, feeling her muscles loosen under his claws. He stopped and sat back, chuckling a bit. "If you could see your face right now..." He chuckled, putting a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing too hard.

Applejack blushed and turned away. "Not mah fault yer good at massages..." She defended.

Spike stopped laughing, but the smile never left his face. "I'll go grab breakfast, you just chill out. Twilight should be up soon." He said, jumping down from the bed and running into the kitchen.

Applejack closed her eyes again and tried to dream up the apple again. It came to her mind and she smiled, licking her lips. She was about to give it a hug when she recognized the way the peel felt. She looked down and realized she was holding Spike. She opened her eyes again with a little gasp as her face turned red again. Just ignore it Applejack...

Spike came out of the kitchen, sporting his favorite apron and carrying a tray of toasted daisy sandwiches. He set it down in front of her and took out his own bowl of gemstones, munching down on them hungrily. They made sharp cracks as they snapped between his powerful jaws, the sweet flavor seeping onto his tongue.

Applejack lifted a sandwich and bit into it. She gave a satisfied smack of her lips and devoured the first sandwich, crumbs and petals being thrown onto her face. "This sure is good Spike!" She complimented, licking the crumbs from her lips. She picked up the second one out of the five that there were and bit into it hungrily, her mouth watering as the delicious daisy petals seemed to melt in her mouth. It didn't take long for the other three to find a nice home in her belly. She smacked her lips and turned to look at Spike, only to see him with his face buried in his bowl of gems. "Yer a hungry little dragon aren't ya?" She teased.

Spike pulled his face out of the bowl and looked at her, a sheepish smile on his face, which was covered in gem dust and multi-colored crumbs. "Says the mare who just ate five daisy sandwiches like it was no problem. Do they even feed you on that farm?" He retaliated.

Applejack chuckled. "Ah could eat y'all if ah wanted. We eat plenty back at the farm, but workin' all day is enough to make anypony hungry." She explained, sticking her tongue out playfully.

Spike nodded in agreement. "True. Anyways, you still hungry? I could whip up a couple more sandwiches if you want." He offered, crunching on a rather large sapphire. The gem dust sprinkled across his face, making him glow like a Crystal Pony.

Applejack shook her head. "No thanks. Ah'm afraid that if ah have another one than ah'll stuff mahself until ah can't move at all." She giggled, putting a hoof to her mouth to control her urges to ask for at least five more trays. She looked at her bandaged leg and laughed again. "Ah can't move that much anyways, but better ta move a bit then not at all." She reminded herself.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Anything else I can get for you? I have no idea what Twilight's gonna be doing all day, probably gonna lock herself in her room and study for the next week. Again." He sighed, looking up at the closed door of a certain lavender unicorn's room.

Applejack shook her head. "Ah don't know what ah'm gonna do for the next month. Ah'll be in bed the entire time, so ah'll have ta find somethin' ta keep me busy or y'all are gonna find me climbin' the walls." She teased, bopping him lightly across the shoulder.

Spike nodded. "There is a book series we have here you might like. That one Rainbow reads, Daring Do. I have a feeling you'd like it." He offered, biting down on a ripe and juicy ruby. He stood up and walked over to the shelf, pulling the book out from its spot and handing it to her. "This is the first one; Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue." He informed her.

Applejack took the book from Spike and flipped it over, reading the back of it. A thoughtful look crossed her face and she flipped it back over, opening it to the first page. Her eyes scanned over the first couple of sentences and a spark of interest entered the green irises, going over the first paragraph, then another and then another. Soon she was absorbed in the adventures of the pegasus adventurer. She didn't even notice Spike was he walked away with a smirk of satisfaction, time just melted into the words, paragraphs, pages and chapters of the book. She was oblivious to the sun inching across the sky until she looked up and realized it was going to the opposite side of the sky and her stomach was grumbling, signalling it was time for lunch, or maybe dinner she wasn't entirely sure. Applejack realized she was halfway through the book already and chuckled, putting it down.

Spike peeked out from the kitchen and cocked an eyebrow. "Reads like Twilight." He mused, picking up a tray with five lettuce and tomato sandwiches. He ran out and put it on the bed, smiling up at her. "'Bout time you put down that book. I swear you read like Twilight, which is pretty darn impressive. It's pretty much time for dinner, so here's a few lettuce and tomato sandwiches, considering ponies don't eat bacon I left that out." His jaw salivated when he brought up bacon, which he had cooked 'accidentally on purpose' and would now proceed to eat.

Applejack took a sandwich in hoof, anticipating another delicious creation of the little chef. She took a bite and felt the mayo seep through her mouth, warm from the toasted bread. The lettuce crunched and leaked its juices, along with the softer tomato. Her eyes sparkled and soon her maw was flecked with little spots of red and white as she devoured the sandwich. With a hoof she wiped the spots away. "Spike are y'all sure that yer not secretly a chef?" She asked jokingly, tousling his scales with a hoof.

Spike chuckled. "I've been making food for Twilight for the past five years, after a while you get good, really good. Speaking of Twilight I wonder when she's gonna come out of her room, she hasn't come out today and I'm worried that she'll drive herself crazy again..." He muttered. After some quick thinking he turned back to Applejack and informed her, "I'm gonna go check on her. I've seen her read a ton of books before but she never really forgets to eat." With that he ran up the stairs and knocked on the door. "Hey Twilight? You alive in there-GAH!" What looked like a hoof that was made of bone broke through the door and he could see walking skeletons inside and Twilight standing on the ceiling fan.

Twilight looked at the zombies and saw Spike through the new hole in her door. "I tried to do a spell in chapter forty-eight, one that can open up portals to a parallel universe with us as the opposite gender or something and it went wrong and now there are ZOMBIES IN MY BEDROOM!" She shrieked, looking at the gaping portal that had comically appeared under her bed.

Spike sighed and facepalmed. "APPLEJACK I'LL BE BACK SOON, I HAVE TO HELP TWILIGHT DEAL WITH ZOMBIE PONIES!" He called over his shoulder. He jumped through the hole in the door and readied his fire, eyes blazing. "Lets do this." Green flames erupted from his mouth and magenta blasts of magic combined with the fames as they assaulted the living dead, trying to drive them back to the portal.

~~~~~

Two hours later, Applejack looked up from the book and saw Spike stagger down the stairs while Twilight was literally dragging herself down. Her eyebrows lifted when she saw that they weren't injured but completely exhausted. "Never. Again." Twilight gasped, panting to catch her breath. Spike flopped down on the bed and was asleep instantly, not even caring that Applejack was beside him.

Applejack laughed, setting down the book. "So he wasn't kidding. Who knew. Guess it's high time ta get ta bed, ah'll let him stay here, looks like he won't budge. Y'all go on up ta bed now Twilight, ya look like yer ready ta collapse." She giggled as her unicorn friend dragged herself to the small couch and climbed up there, falling asleep instantly. Fighting zombie ponies must be hard.

Applejack turned out the light and rested her head on her pillow, smiling at the sleeping for of Spike. "Good night partner." She whispered and closed her eyes, sinking into a comforting and warm darkness.

~~~~~

Spike ran underneath the rock pile and felt something crash just behind him. He turned around and saw Applejack laying down on top of the pile, coat slick with sweat but a proud look on her face. The three predators had been crushed to pieces by the boulder. He gave her the thumbs up and smiled when she wiped the sweat from her brow, but jumped in surprise when the rock she was laying on slid and fell. His eyes failed to notice the rock land on her back leg, everything was silent. But something caught his eye and he gasped, no noise coming from his mouth as the huge Timberwolf started forming. He gestured wildly, trying to scream at her to get up, but her reply fell on silence. Terror filled her eyes as the huge beast finished forming and stomped towards her.

Spike ran over and tried to pull the rock off her leg, but another roar made him fall, blasted by the sheer force of wind. A pebble rolled into his and and he jumped in front of his trapped friend, hurling the small rock at the huge predator. It sailed towards the jaw of the drooling animal and lodged itself inside his windpipe. There was silent coughing as the Timberwolf tried to dislodge the stone.

A stick hit the ground and the little dragon grabbed it, jamming it between the orange hoof and the rock and pulled with all his might, muscles pulled taut underneath his scales. He could feel Applejack struggling as well. He felt the rock shift and he smiled triumphantly.

Until the stick broke.

Spike went flying backwards, along with a saliva-covered rock. He opened his eyes just in time to see the huge clawed paw swipe Applejack. There was a sickening snap as her trapped leg broke and suddenly he could hear her howls of agony as the paw was brought down again, aiming for her throat.

~~~~~

Applejack woke up to see tears running from Spike's eyes, his horrified yell waking her. Without hesitation she wrapped her hooves around him and pulled him close, feeling tears instantly soak her chest. She bit her lip as his horrified cries filled the air and she looked up at Twilight, who was dead to the world. She looked back at the sobbing dragon, still in his nightmares. She could hear him crying her name, repeating it over and over as he blamed himself for what had happened in his dreams. An idea came to mind and she hugged him closer, leaning down so that he could hear her, "Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed~" She sang soothingly, repeating he lullaby over and over until he calmed, the tears ceasing their fast descent down his face. Without thinking, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek in a comforting way and rested her head again, falling back asleep with the calm drake in her forelegs.

What she didn't notice however, was Spike's blush.