I realize it's been a while. I just got so excited with other projects that I nearly forgot I was working on this too! Truth is though I've missed writing AppleSpike, so...here we go!


Drakeville truly was a desert town, having no patch of green within a fifty-mile radius. If not for the small lake on the outskirts of the city, its citizens would surely perish from heat exhaustion. It also helped that many of its inhabitants were dragons who could withstand such heat. Ponies and creatures of other sorts also walked the streets of rundown, towering buildings.

The Lord of Drakeville's castle was embedded into the nearby mountain, its cliff so steep, one had to fly up to get there. Non-flying guests had the use of a zeppelin, of which the city's port had many. Several feet below the mansion was the gem mine, which had been the main source of Drakeville's income, until about a few years ago when the gems had run out. The city had to rely on the trade of whatever goods they could find, from inexpensive cloth to cactus juice.

In the castle's throne room, Lord Tirek was discussing matters with Lord Garble. He was a tall red dragon with a long jaw filled with sharp teeth. He wasn't particularly large, but he could still tower over ponies, being twice their size. He lay sprawled on his throne as he picked his teeth with a thin emerald shard

"The young lady comes from good family," Tirek said, leaning forward in a bow. "And she's been trained in proper etiquette—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lord Garble said, waving his claw boringly. "You said in your letter that this girl has an impressive dowry."

"She does. It'll be yours once you marry her, provided that her land inheritance remains in my possession."

The dragon sat himself up. "Why? There any gems on that land?"

"Oh, no, no, no. It's a mere apple farm."

Garble crossed his arms. "I understand this mare's also captured the interest of a certain group of outlaws."

"Yes," Tirek said, gritting his teeth. "My former ward, Spike de Dragon, has every intention of marrying her himself, so he can claim her inheritance."

"Which would explain why she's still unattached."

The centaur frowned. "Well…my soldiers are doing what they can to arrest him and his criminal comrades—"

Garble held up his claw. "How rich did you say she was again?"

Tirek told him the amount, causing the dragon to grin toothily.

"You're lucky Drakeville's desperate for money, and that we dragons can never resist a challenge from another dragon. I would like to see this mare though." He shrugged. "I have no interest in love or anything, but I'd still like to know what I'm tying myself down to."

With a grin, Tirek bowed further. "Of course." He turned to his soldiers. "Rover, go fetch Miss Apple Jewel, will you?"

Rover saluted and exited the room. Garble stepped down from his throne.

"This mare better be worth it if she's got a boyfriend sending out death threats." He narrowed his eyes at the centaur. "I get the money, but why go through so much trouble just to get her apple farm?"

"My people are desperate for apples," Tirek said with a shrug.

"Must be some apples."

Rover returned with Applejack and Rarity, who both kept their gazes towards the ground.

"Apple Jewel," Tirek said, faking a fatherly tone. "Come say hello to Lord Garble."

Applejack looked up briefly at the tall dragon and held back a nervous gulp. Stepping forward, she curtsied, muttering, "Your lordship."

Rubbing his chin, Garble slowly circled Applejack. Her heart skipped a beat as he suddenly clenched her jaw in his claw, opened her mouth and looked inside. She glanced at Rarity, who gave her an encouraging look.

"Well," he said, stepping away from her, "she's not completely unfortunate-looking. For a pony, anyway."

He then took one of her braids between his fingers, which made Applejack narrow her eyes. This dragon had no sense of decorum, which made her sick. However, the fact that he didn't seem attracted to her made her hopeful that he'd disagree to the match, which would buy her some time. Flitting her gaze towards Tirek, she feared angering him, but if she was subtle in her defiance, she might get away with it.

Decidedly, she slapped his claw away and clutched her braid. "Beg your pardon, your lordship, but it is impolite to pull on a lady's hair."

She then met his astonished gaze for two full seconds before returning hers to the floor. Tirek growled angrily as he clenched his fist. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Garble started laughing.

"She's got spunk," he said, placing his claw on his hips. "I like it." Applejack was stunned as he cupped her chin. "At least you won't be boring."

"Get off me!" she exclaimed, stepping away from him, which only made him chuckle.

"Oh yeah, this'll be fun." He turned to the centaur. "You've got yourself a deal, Lord Tirek."

Applejack's jaw dropped. "B-B-But—"

"You should be grateful, Apple Jewel," Tirek said, laying triumphantly his claw over her shoulder. "I thought you liked dragons."

Applejack shrugged his claw off.

"Oh don't worry," Garble said, grinning toothily as he leaned down to stroke her cheek. "I know ways to make you forget all about that treacherous boyfriend of yours."

She shivered under his touch.

"Show Lord Tirek's guests to their rooms," Garble said to his dragon guards, straightening up, "while he and I discuss the betrothal contract."

Applejack hung her head sadly as the guards led her and Rarity away.

"You should have stuck to my lessons," Rarity whispered.

"You were the one who told me to stand up for myself if he got too touchy," Applejack whispered back.

"Well how was I to know he would actually like your boldness?"

The earth mare groaned. "No way am I gonna spend the rest of my life with that!"

"Oh, I agree, darling. Clearly, not all dragons are as gentile as yours."

"I wouldn't call Spike gentile, but at least he wasn't a…a…"

"Vulgar, inconsiderate beast with no sense of personal boundaries?"

"Exactly!"

The dragon guards were sending them suspicious looks, so Rarity lowered her voice further. "Do not worry. You-know-who might be here before you have to go through with this."

"How? We're in the middle of the desert. He'll be out in the open! He's got wanted posters all over the country! He wouldn't even make it past the city gates!"


At the city gate, a large purple wagon approached. Two stallions pulled it with a stout, blond-bearded stallion at the reins.

"Halt!" one of the two dragon guards said, pointing his spear. "Who goes there?"

"Name's Lilypad," the driver said, tipping his wide-brim hat. "Hear there's a wedding happening, so my band and I have come for entertainment."

The second guard narrowed his eyes at the wagon. "Mind if we take a look back there?"

The driver shrugged. "Be my guest."

The first guard stayed with the driver while the second went around to the back of the wagon. Spear ready, he opened the door.

There was a great cry as several belly dancers covered their half-naked bodies, making the guard blush immensely.

"Do you mind?!" a pink mare screamed.

"Don't you males even bother to knock?!" a rainbow-maned mare demanded.

"The nerve!" a young purple dragon exclaimed in a squeaky voice.

"Shut the door before we pound you!" a griffon shouted, reaching out her claw.

"Sorry!" the guard said, slamming the door.

Too embarrassed to talk, he sent his colleague a thumbs-up.

"Proceed," the other guard said, opening the gate for the wagon.

Once they were through the gate and clear of the guards, Cattail reached behind his head and knocked on the wagon three times. Inside, the Society of the Lavender Arrow released a collective sigh of relief.

"What did I tell ya?" Pinkie said, ripping off her veil. "The old belly-dancer caravan routine gets them every time!"

"Times like this it actually pays to be female," Rainbow said, placing her hooves proudly on her hips.

Spike tugged at his skirt. "I've never felt more ridiculous!"

Rainbow laughed. "You fell in love with a mare while she was dressed as a stallion and this is what you're worried about?"

"Okay, so we made it into the city," Gilda said, crossing her arms. "Now what?"

"Twilight said we must check into an inn and wait until nightfall," Spike said.

"In the meantime," Pinkie said, thrusting her hips into Spike's face, "let's boogie in the streets!"

There were many groans, especially from the stallions in disguise.

"No way am I dancing to satisfy males' disgusting desires!" Gilda exclaimed. "Especially while wearing this!"

Pinkie smirked. "Not even for a few extra coins?"

Gilda stared at her a moment and then sighed. "You're the Devil."


When night fell, the Society of the Lavender Arrow gathered in the cellar of the Duckworth Inn. Spike asked for two flying volunteers to carry out the first part of their plan. Rainbow immediately jumped at the opportunity, while Gilda surprised everyone by raising her claw.

"What?" she said. "I wanna mess with Tirek as much as the rest of you. Besides, if you're gonna do what I think you're gonna do, Dragon, you're gonna need me to carry ya."

She was right. The only way to get up to Lord Garble's castle was to fly, and given how much Spike had grown in the past two months, she was probably the only flyer in the group big enough to carry him on her back.

The party of three was careful enough to stay close to the ground as they flew up the mountain, so as not to be seen. Due to the dragon guards circling the mountain, they made slow progress by hiding in the shrubbery. Eventually, they made it to the castle walls. Fortunately, there was enough rock surrounding the castle to allow Rainbow and Gilda to land and catch their breaths.

"Man, that's a steep mountain!" Rainbow exhaled.

"So now what, Dragon?" Gilda whispered. "We scout the terrain? Look for weak spots in the walls? You can't expect the three of us to take on Tirek's and Garble's troops on our own! And even if there were more of us, Discord probably put up another force field!"

Spike pulled a dagger out of his belt. The curved blade was the color of ivory.

"You're gonna fight them off with a dagger?" Gilda asked.

"It's not for fighting," Spike whispered. "It's for cutting through the force field. Twilight gave it to me." He traced the edge of the blade with his finger. "This is Discord's other fang."

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Where did she get that and how long has she had that?"

"She won it from Discord in a duel, back when they were still sort of friends. It can cut through Discord's magic, as it's a part of him. But only a small hole, and only for a moment. It can't get a whole army through a force field, but it can leave an opening wide enough for one or two."

"I see," Gilda said. "This isn't a sneak attack. This is a breakout."

Spike nodded. "Our first priority is getting Applejack out of there. Then when Twilight rejoins us, we'll launch a full attack on Tirek. I don't want my AJ married off before then. Or worse, she could get caught in the crossfire."

"So we cut through the force field, fly in before the hole closes, get your girl, cut another hole in the force field, then get out before anyone catches us."

"That's Twilight's plan," Spike said, pointing the dagger at the griffon.

"So, if Gilda's here to fly you in," Rainbow said, "what am I supposed to do?"

"You're here to keep a lookout."

Rainbow frowned. "That's it?"

"At least you've got a real job," Gilda grumbled. "I'm stuck playing piggyback. Aren't you dragons supposed to have wings?"

"Yes!" Spike scowled at her. "Mine just…haven't grown in yet!"

"How old are you again?"

"Can we talk about this later?" He turned to Rainbow. "Gilda and I are gonna go look for Applejack's room. If anyone comes our way, caw like a crow, but try to stay out of sight!"

Sighing in defeat, Rainbow saluted.

"What if a real crow starts cawing?" Gilda asked, flapping her wings to launch.

"Then I'll just cry," Rainbow said, "'Hey, guys! Guards coming your way! Get out of there before they see you or hear my really loud shouting!'"

The griffon rolled her eyes. "I was just kidding, Dash."

Gilda slowly rose to top of the wall, low enough so that Spike's eyes were peering over the ledge.

"There are a few Diamond Dog sentries posted about ten feet away from us," he whispered down to Gilda. "I see a light in the tower window. Hand me your spyglass."

"Don't scratch it," Gilda whispered, begrudgingly taking her spyglass from her belt and handing it to him.

Spike looked at the lighted window in the tower though the glass. He could see two mares: one at a vanity, and one at a bed. He recognized the mare at the vanity as the maid, Rarity. The other was an orange earth mare with long, braided blonde…

Gasping, he readjusted the spyglass as he studied the mare more carefully. She looked so…different in a dress, and with her mane braided like that. But there was no mistaking that beautiful, freckled face.

"Applejack," he murmured, his heart beating wildly.

Oh, how good it was to see her after all this time.

"Hey, Romeo!" Gilda whispered harshly. "Save the googly eyes for after the rescue!"

Lowering the spyglass, Spike shook out of his daydream. "Right."

He handed Gilda back her spyglass and took out his dagger.

"Alright," he whispered. "If you just fly up a little higher, I'll—"

A shrill caw-caw cut through the air. Spike and Gilda stiffened as the noise came a second time. They looked down to see Rainbow in the shrubbery below, gesturing for them to come down. Gilda wasted no time flying down into the shrubs. Spike crouched down so that he was pressed against the griffon's back. If they weren't in such a dire situation, she would've yelled at him to back off.

Raising one hoof to her lips, Rainbow pointed out to the far corner of the wall. Coming around it was a trio of ponies clad in armor. Two of them were pegasi, and the one in the middle was a big, burly earth stallion.

"I don't recognize them from my uncle's guard," Spike whispered.

"Must be Garble's," Rainbow replied, "or new recruits."

"So, do we take 'em out or what?" Gilda asked.

Spike was about to answer when the knights' heads turned their way. Quickly, he clamped his claws over the girls' mouths. The burly knight whispered a command to one of the pegasi and the latter flew cautiously towards the bushes. The three outlaws glanced at each other and nodded in silent agreement.

With a collective war cry, the three of them leaped out of the shrubs, surprising the knights as they tackled them. Gilda and Rainbow each went for one of the flyers while Spike jumped the burly leader. Rainbow pinned her pegasus to the ground. His green eyes looked up at her in a mixture of awe and confusion.

"You're…you're a girl," he said.

With a smirk, Rainbow drew her sword. "Mare."

Unfortunately, she had to use her hoof to get her sword, putting less pressure on her opponent's shoulders. Seeing the opportunity, the knight bucked his hips upward, knocking Rainbow forwards. He clasped his hooves around her elbow, brought it down to his chest, hooked his back hoof with hers and rolled her over. He flapped upwards and took out his own sword.

"Hey, no fair!" Rainbow said, springing up. "That's my move!"

Meanwhile, the burly knight only needed to stand on his hind hooves to get Spike to slide off his back. Both drew their swords simultaneously, bringing them together with a mighty clang!

"Oh no, you don't!" Spike said, moving his sword to meet with his opponent's blows. "I'm not letting you brutes get in the way of my AJ!"

The burly knight paused, his sword hanging above his head. "AJ?"

Spike swung at his knees, but his opponent jumped in time. "You're not gonna stop me from saving her!"

"Saving her?" said one of the pegasi, who was being crushed beneath Gilda's hindquarters.

"But aren't you Lord Tirek's guards?" asked the other, who was still clashing swords with Rainbow.

"Please," snorted the mare. "Like that misogynistic pig would actually hire us to guard him."

"And if we were, why would you fight us?" Spike asked, pausing when he realized his opponent wasn't attempting a blow. "Aren't you Tirek's guards?"

The burly knight shook his head. "Nope."

"We're here to rescue Miss Apple Jewel!" cried Rainbow's opponent.

Rainbow stopped swinging. "Wait, what? That's what we're here to do!"

The battle suddenly ceased and all became quiet. The only sound was the second pegasus' grunting as he attempted to get out from under Gilda.

"It appears we have a common goal," Spike said, slowly sheathing his sword.

"Eeyup," the burly knight said with a nod.

The dragon eyed the huge stallion closely. It was so dark, and his armor and helmet hid so much he couldn't make out much of his features.

"Who are you, and what interest do you have in Miss Apple Jewel?"

The burly knight opened his mouth to answer when Rainbow caw-cawed again. They could hear the trudging of Diamond Dog paws.

"They must've heard the fighting," Gilda whispered, finally jumping off the pegasus knight.

"We'll talk later," Spike whispered to the leader. "If you truly also wish to free Apple Jewel, meet us in the cellar of the Duckworth Inn in an hour."

"That's where we're staying!" said the knight who'd been dueling Rainbow.

"Perfect," Spike said, mounting Gilda. "Perhaps we could be of use to each other."

The burly knight nodded as his pegasus companions each grabbed one side of him and flapped their wings. They flew in one direction while the outlaws flew in another, before any of the Diamond Dogs could spot either.


An hour later, the outlaws once again made use of the cellar. They had bribed the innkeeper not to let any pony in. Rainbow was keeping a lookout upstairs for the trio they'd battled earlier.

"Still not sure we can trust these guys," Gilda said. "I mean what if they do work for Tirek and are just pretending to be rescuing your girl just so they can lead Tirek to our hideout?"

"Tirek doesn't care about the rest of you," Spike said. "I'm the one he's after. If they really worked for him, they would've just slaughtered me on the spot. Besides, they were scared of those Diamond Dogs too. We've got to trust them."

The cellar doors opened and the Society of the Lavender Arrow looked up as Rainbow entered with three armored stallions. The pegasi had removed their helmets. One of them was light blue with indigo hair and bright green eyes, likely the one who'd fought Rainbow. The other was black with a white buzzcut and yellow eyes. The burly leader looked down at Spike curiously, his green eyes peering through the slit of his helmet.

"Our captain still has trouble trusting you," said the light blue pegasus. "Before he reveals his identity, he wants to know why you also seek Miss Apple Jewel."

Spike reached into the front of his shirt. Thinking he was going to pull out a weapon, the pegasi knights grabbed the hilts of their swords readily. They relaxed when they realized it was just a locket.

"Well, you see," Spike said, holding the golden apple pendant up to the knights, "she's my sweetheart."

The burly knight's eyes widened as they focused on the locket. He held out his hoof, silently asking to get a closer look. Reluctantly, Spike removed the locket and handed it to him. The burly knight brought it to his eyes and opened it up to reveal the pictures inside.

"W-Where," he croaked, "where did you get this?"

"Applejack—" Spike shook his head. "I mean Apple Jewel gave it to me."

The black pegasus took a step forward. "How do we know you didn't just steal it or buy it in some thieves' market?"

Spike twiddled his fingers unsurely. "Well…I don't know if this means anything, but…she told me to give a message to her brother."

The burly knight's head shot up. "What's the message?"

The dragon cringed. "I'm not sure what it means but…something about an orchard blossom?"

He stiffened a moment, then the burly knight let out a laugh. "That's AJ, alright."

After handing back the locket, he removed his helmet, revealing a red, freckled face framed by a thin, orange mane. Squinting, Spike found something oddly familiar about this stallion. Then, looking back at the picture of Applejack's father, he knew why.

"Are you…?" he said.

The big knight nodded. "I'm Sir Big Macintosh of Applewood, Apple Jewel's brother."


Garble=Lord Shoreby

Lord Foxham=Big Mac

Yeah, Richard's meeting with Lord Foxham pretty much happened this way in the book. They were simultaneously trying to save Joanna but just ended up fighting each other, thinking the other was a guard. Except in the book, Foxham is Joanna's guardian rather than her brother.

Duckworth Inn is named after Twilight's character, Ellis Duckworth.