Applejack turned in her sleep, as she did she accidently bumped her arm against Rainbowdash who proceeded project a loud snore which woke her up. She gave out a small scream and came to, to see herself surrounded by other ponies under one large blanket. It was just early morning and the wagon they were on was making small progress towards Dragon's Bane. VERY slow progress, actually, Applejack was surprised it was moving at all, the previous night they all had agreed that they would rest out on the wagon the Princess had given them to help transport. She looked around at the ponies in the wagon. Rainbowdash was sleeping rather stretched out while Twilight and Spike cuddled together. Blooming star was sleeping on her own, but she held a smile on her face. The only one missing was Silvercharger.

Applejack looked outside of the wagon, sure enough there Silver was pulling the wagon forward. His eye was dull as ever, but this time she thought it was simply because he woke up so early.

"Sorry." Silver said without turning his head to Applejack. "I tried to make sure to pull the wagon slow enough to keep everyone asleep."

"Uh, no no. I actually woke up on my own. You couldn't sleep?"

"I always wake up early. I didn't want to waste any time on getting back so I got out and started pulling."

Applejack wasn't sure how to deal with him. He is so dry, but somehow, she developed new patience for him after their little duel the previous day. The silence stayed for another minute or two, a period that seemed to last forever.

"M-maybe I should pull the wagon for a bit." Silver turned his head slightly.

"Why would you want to do that?" Applejack looked a little nervous when he finally looked at her.

"Well, you've been working so hard...you should rest for a little." Silver looked forward again and said.

"You're starting to sound like Miss Bloom.

"Why do you call her 'Miss'? She seemed to be close to you."

"Why do you refer to Princess Celestia as 'Princess'? You seem to be close to her too." Applejack kept quiet as she began to see his point. "It's the same thing. From where I come from, Miss Bloom is like royalty. Very important royalty , the only one in this generation which can push back the dragons if they get too close..."

Silence fell upon their conversation again and AJ started to get fidgety. She decided to join Silver in walking. Moving her hooves would help her keep calm. She made her way to Silver's side who other than given her a quick glance, kept looking forward not minding her. Applejack started to pay attention to how Silver looked up close. His charcoal mane swayed back and forth over his right eye and slender face. This grey coat seemed to chimer as the sun slowly began to rise over it. His necklace and cutie mark of the same design still seemed mismatched to his whole character. The Bright pink and yellow didn't seem to go with him at all. He didn't seem bothered by it. His ears flickered slightly, she saw that they somehow seemed larger than most stallions. Silver noticed how she was looking at his ears.

"Do they bother you?" Applejack became a little embarrassed that he noticed how she was looking at him.

"Back when I was a child my ears were much larger than others I was made fun of because of them. In time, I grew into them, so to speak. I'm not ashamed of them, they help me keep track of sounds and wind currents. It's how I was able to beat your blue friend yesterday."

"Oh really? Well that explains it...you know about the duel, I was wondering if we could forget about it and start over." Silver glanced over to Applejack for a second.

"I don't really have anything against it, but may I ask why?" Applejack looked away, unable to bring her words out.

"If there is one thing that I hate more than pampered ponies, it's being pitied. I'm aware that you saw my scarred eye yesterday, was it really a coincidence that you decided to stop the duel? I can handle myself just fine with one eye." Applejack looked at the stallion next to her and quickly spoke out.

"You've got the wrong idea! I just felt really bad. I was just so caught up on how you sounded all high and mighty, constantly talking down to Rainbowdash and me. I didn't realize there was a reasonto your madness...Twilight caught Dash and I on you and Bloom's background. I just think we got off on the wrong hoof." To this, Silver looked over at AJ and raised his eyebrow.

"I see, you're quite honest aren't you?" Applejack laughed a little and replied.

"Yes sir, that's kinda my thing, you know." She said with a smile, the mood lightened up a little, though Applejack still had a hard time making conversation with Silver. From behind a sheet on the wagon, Bloom smiled as she saw Silver and Applejack interact. It made her happy to see Silver start to warm up to their new friends.

It wasn't long before everyone else began to wake up. Silver continued to push the wagon as he heard everyone interact with one another. Bloom and Twilight seemed to have lost themselves in conversation again as they sat on the seats behind the reigns. Rainbowdash and Applejack bickered. The earth pony walked a little behind Silver with the pegasus flying around complaining about how slow the wagon was going.

"Can we hurry it up tall dark and brooding?" Raibowdash asked Silver, causing Applejack to argue with her. He DID believe they were lagging behind schedule, but going faster now would only make the blue pony believe she had won over him, and his pride wouldn't allow him to move faster, if anything, he began to walk slower to pester her passive aggressively.

"Are you sure you don't want me to pull the wagon? Even for a little bit?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Why would you do that? Let the guy do all the hard work." Rainbowdash said trying to insult him. Again the two 'friends' bickered. Silver could feel a vein on his forehead pop out as he grew more and more annoyed.

"...so then Silver comes up to him and whacks him right in the jaw." Bloom said to Twilight as they sat comfortably.

"Wow Bloom, if I didn't know any better I'd say Silver was just being a jealous boyfriend." Twilight replied as they both began to giggle to themselves. Somehow, that annoyed him more than the constant bickering that was taking place beside him.

"Oh Twilight, you don't know the half of it. Back home, Silver inspects everyone that gets close to me. It was cute at first but it's become a hassle now." Again they giggle. To makes matters worse, Rainbowdash had overheard the girls talking and began teasing him with it.

"Oh Miss Blooooom." Rainbowdash said as she flew around and sat next to her, pushing the girls closer together.

"What are you up to girl?" Applejack asked from beside the wagon. Silver didn't want to feed Raibowdash's urge to poke fun at him, but he couldn't ignore anything that had to do with Bloom.

"Oh nothing, I was just wondering if I could sit here next to them, my wings got tired after all." Twilight raised an eyebrow and said,

"But Rainbowdash, you've always been able to-" Twilight's mouth was covered by Dash's hoof before she could finish. Since Bloom was between her and Twilight, Rainbowdash now had her arm technically around Bloom. This really angered Silver, it was clear as he sent a death glare in Rainbowdash's direction. He clenched his teeth as he tried his best to hold back the urge to pick a fight with his new 'comrades'.

A long loud yawn came from behind everypony. Out from behind the wagon's sheets came Spike. Everyone except Silver and Bloom held a blank expression on their face. "Good morning..." Spike began stretching as he stepped out onto the seat where almost everyone was sitting. He sat down next to Twilight who looked at him, jaw opened.

"I-is something wrong Twilight?..." Asked Bloom as she saw how petrified the purple pony looked. Spike, who used to come only leg height to Twilight, was now at eye level to her. His body proportions were different, his baby fat was no longer noticeable and his wings seemed bigger than before.

"Umm...Spike, I think you had another growth spurt..." Applejack said from the side. Spike opened his eyes wide as he looked straight forward. He quickly inspected his body to see what was different, and before anyone could say another word he jumped up joyfully."

"WOOOHOHOHO!" He screamed out as he flew around. "I'm just as big as you guys now!" Excited by his new proportions everyone looked worried as he flew around.

"Is he going to get a growth spurt every night?" Twilight asked out loud to which Silver responded.

"I certainly hope not. It's going to be hard enough to get him in without causing a panic as it is."

Spike came back down and Bloom petted him on the head. "There's no need to worry, I'm sure they'll let him in if I say he's ok." Silver looked off into the distance and thought to himself. The problem isn't whether or not they let him in, it's whether or not they'll try to kill him once he's inside.

The day continued rather boringly. Second night came along and everyone made a campfire next to the wagon. They all sat in a circle as Silver went off to collect fire wood. Spike sat on a log alongside Rainbowdash as they talked about how big he was getting and how excited he was for his next growth spurt.

"Say Miss Bloom." Began Applejack.

"Just Bloom is fine" The yellow pony responded with a smile.

"Umm, Bloom. Is Silver always as uptight? Or is it cause we're around." Bloom smiled before responding.

"Silver has a hard time expressing himself sometimes that's all. But she always has everyone's best interests in mind. He's a big teddy bear underneath it all."

"I would like it if you refrained from calling me a teddy bear." Silver said as he made his way over to the group. He was carrying firewood with his front arms while walking on his hind legs. Everyone grew quiet as they saw him. Many ponies could balance on their back legs but no one had ever seen one walk on just two legs for long periods of time before. Silver put the wood down and sat down next to Bloom.

"Where did you learn to walk like that?" Asked Spike. "As far as I know, I was the only biped that lived with ponies.."

"It is exactly because dragons like you can walk on two legs that I taught myself to do the same. Ponies are already at a disadvantage when fighting dragons, being on two legs allows me to fight more efficiently." Silver explained. Applejack began to remember the duel they had the day before and how much he overpowered her and Rainbowdash. Was it really just cause he could stand on two legs?

"Silver always was a little different when it comes to fighting. Actually, he is one of the only earth Colts to be part of our army."

"How come there aren't many Earth ponies?" Asked Twilight as she looked over at Silver who was throwing in more wood into the flames. He looked up at her and responded.

"Think about it. We earth kind may have more physical power, but we can't exactly hold a sword very well. Unicorns on the other hand can use their magic to levitate and swing it around. Pegasi make excellent scouts cause of how fast they can fly. For the most part, Earth kind don't really have a use in an army against dragons."

"So what makes you so different?" Rainbowdash asked.

"I don't use weaponry. I fight with my hooves, something much more deadly than ponies give it credit." He turned to look at Applejack. "You're a farmer pony right? By your cutie mark I presume you work with apples? Bucking them I would say. Tell me, have you ever kicked another pony with your full strength?" Applejack seemed shocked. The thought of her using her full strength in her kick against someone made her chinch, something like that would do more than just hurt the other pony.

"Well, I know there would be a lot of broken bones..." She finally said.

"Yes. The pure strength of Earth kind is their own advantage, however, not many have the will power to use it."

The night progress as Silver spoke about the army he was part of and how it ran. The whole conversation made Twilight worry about what was in store for them. The way he spoke about fighting and how serious he was made her believe that their lives would be in danger soon. She took a look at Spike who had fallen asleep on her shoulder and pondered if bringing him along was really a good idea. They were going to enter a castle who's only purpose was to kill dragons. All she could do was hope Bloom was right and that they would listen to her when they got there.

The next morning was like the first. Silver woke up early and got up, but to his surprise, Applejack was already pulling the wagon.

"Sorry partner, couldn't have you do all the heavy lifting on your own." She said as he got out to walk next to her. Somehow he wasn't sure how to feel about having their roles reversed like this.

"Say..." Applejack began. "Do you think that we'll end up fighting dragons once we arrive at Dragon's Bane?"

"Yes, it has been a while since we had an attack, might be some time soon. There's this dragon that comes every week or so, almost like if its on some sort of schedule." Silver said nonchalantly, he was clearly used to fighting them on a regular basis.

"Do you think you could teach me to fight like you?" The orange pony asked a little nervously. Silver looked over at her and raised an eye brow.

"I could yes...but why would you want to? Do you plan to fight alongside Dragon's Bane if we are attacked?"

"Now that's a silly question. Of course I would. I'm sure I can speak for Twilight and Rainbowdash too when I say that we wouldn't stand in the background while ya'll do all the work."

Silver looked forward and he saw his town in the distance. Dragon's Bane, the only border stopping the dragon's from invading the rest of Equestria. He smiled and said to his orange friend.

"Sounds like fun, how about you enroll in our army as a temporary soldier when we arrive."

"Sounds like a plan." Applejack said as she looked forward and saw their destination. She quickly looked back and shouted.

"Hey ya'll, we're here!" Her voice woke up the rest of the group and they all peered through the sheets of the wagon. Twilight and Rainbowdash looked in awe as they grew closer to the castle. Bloom, who was behind them didn't have a smile on her face anymore. Though her home was right in front her, the responsibilities that came with being back in Dragon's Bane came with it. Alongside her was Spike who also had a worried look on his face. It seems he had another growth spurt after all...

Next Chapter: Finally Home Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 3 Minutes