AJ and me looked up together, and with a whimper of fear from him the two of us jumped up faster than Winona when somepony steps on her tail. My little sister was comin' out to the barn to see for herself my hubby's new look. I saw one of two things happenin', and I wasn't too keen either. I could just hear her gigglin' in my head, Yer married to a dragon!. It was either that, or the little filly screamin' her head off so all of Ponyville would know what was in our barn.

I ran up to the door and cracked it open with the push of my front hoof. I could see her alright, and she wasn't wastin' no time on her way out here. How dare she interrupt snuggle time. When will we ever be able to just sit down and relax? Though ah' suppose we got some thinkin' to do too. Obviously she didn't know no better, but this whole thing has been mighty stressful, if you can't tell, and the best remedy for me and him was to be together, regardless of how he looked... Or felt. I looked back at him and saw that he was back on the ground, laying on his belly covering his eyes with his claws. Aw... he's embarrassed enough for me to see him like this! Now mah little sis? And despite everything I still found it all adorable, though I was annoyed out of my mind with whoever did this to him.

"Don't worry sugarcube, ah' got ya covered," I said, and just like before I lept out the barn door and shut behind me. There was my little sister, nearly to the barn just a few feet in from of me. She had a sly little grin on her face.

"You mighta told the truth, but ah' don't think you told them the whole truth, big sis," she said, coming to a halt in front of me and leaning over with her eyes at the barn door. "What was that noise ah' heard out here?"

I was able to talk my way outta Twilight and the girls, but Apple Bloom knows me better than they do. And she ain't afraid to be a brat sometimes. You ain't no dummy, little sis. Ah'll give ya that. But you ain't gettin' in.

"Uh, that was AJ," I said, and suddenly I was sweatin' all over again. She turned her head at me with a smirk, that little whippersnapper. There was suddenly another crash from inside the barn, and this one was even louder. Dagnabbit... I didn't even look back, I just kept on smilin' and tried my best to ignore it as the sweat came out of me in buckets. Her smug face just smugger.  

"Yer embarrassed about somethin'. What is it?" she said. I decided that pretending wasn't gettin' me nowhere, so I ditched the smile. My sister made that pretty easy.

"Listen Apple Bloom. You ain't allowed in here just yet. You ain't ready to see what's in there. Ah'm yer big sister, and what ah' say goes," I said, but bein' the little rebel she is, she just kept on goin' with how she was.

"Really? And is that what ah' should tell Big Macintosh?"

Big Macintosh? Granny Smith?That was a scary thought. Oh gosh, now that *is* embarrassin'... I was too distracted in my fear to notice that right away that Apple Bloom was making her way over to the side of the barn.

"Ya know ah' could just look in the window!" she said. I chased her down before she could get there.

"Apple Bloom, listen to me. Somepony done pulled a prank on AJ, and he's a little... different, at the moment. You gotta promise me that you won't tell no one," I said, but before I could get an answer, the little heathen took off towards the barn door giggling.

"Get back here!" I yelled as I galloped after her, but that was worth nothing, of course. I nearly caught her before she got to the door, but it was too late; I followed her right through the barn doors. Here we go!

"Don't freak out!!! Huh?"

I was expecting the worst, but he was nowhere to be seen. Apple Bloom looked around the barn in front of me, and I behind her at the door, but we saw nothing. Where did he-? Suddenly there was a loud creaking sound up in the lofts, as though something big was up there, and my sister and I looked up in unison. Uh oh... Over the summer, AJ put in an entire new loft up there, taking up about three quarters of the ceiling. I knew his work was strong, I didn't know it was that strong; he's mighty heavy as a dragon! Like I said, I ain't no mathmagician, but if I was to say, I'd say he could be a over a thousand pounds.

Apple Bloom looked back with another of her rascal smiles. I smiled back nervously, hesitated for a moment, and then galloped forward and bucked down the latter so she couldn't get up there.

"C'mon big sis, don't be like that! Ah' wanna see what's up there!" she whined at the top of her lungs.

"Too bad, you ain't ready. Besides, ya didn't listen to me," I said, taking a few steps in the direction of the door.

"Applejack!" she cried, bouncing up and down with her eyes up at loft. "Ya can't put me through this! Ah' wanna know!"

Right then there was another loud creak that shook the dust down from the loft, and the two of us looked up in silence. I was beginning to worry he was gonna fall through. The lofts just couldn't take something his size for long.

"That don't sound like no AJ, sis," she said, the smile vanishing on her face.

Suddenly I saw the colors red and orange outta the corner of my eye, and I looked down and saw my big brother standing between me and Apple Bloom with a calm, straight face looking up at the lofts (if you haven't found out by now, he ain't known for his energy). Oh fer goodness-

"Big Macintosh!" I said, hoofing myself in the face.

"Eeyup," he replied, as the lofts creaked. If ya'll didn't know, my brother is a slow talker, usually not a whole lot of energy, he ain't exactly a male Pinkie. Now I knew my husband was just sitting up there scared he was gonna fall through; I could almost feel his feelings. I also had a feeling Big Mac wasn't gonna be too calm for much longer.

"Can you just... ah' don't know, go somewhere else fer the time bein'?"

"Eenope. Yer hiding something out here."

"She says AJ's up there," chimed Apple Bloom.  

I sat down, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, bracing for all kinds of hullabaloo. I knew they weren't going nowhere till they saw him. They were gonna find out sooner or later. There's no point shyin' away from it. We're all family, and family sticks together. They wanna see him, they're gonna see him...

"Yes. Yes he is up there," I said, and both their heads turned down at me. "He's up there alright. Like ah' was tellin' her, someone done pulled a prank on him, and he looks mighty different from what he usually does, and the ya'll gotta promise me you won't make him feel any worse than he already feels."

They're family alright; they anxiously raised their eyebrows at the same time. At least they had some warning. A moment later, the wood screeched and a huge, screamin' black and blue dragon came crashing through the lofts down onto the barn floor, with dust and wood chips all around him. I braced myself for my siblings' reactions as they held their hooves up to cover their eyes from the dirt cloud. AJ's dizzy dragon head rose from the cloud of dust, gave a himself quick shake, and then found himself looking my scared-stiff big brother square in the eye. AJ smiled (or at least tried to) in a desperate try to calm him down, but it wasn't worth a stick of hay.

"Whoa!!" he cried as he fell backwards and got up galloping for the door. He's usually the calmest stallion you'll ever meet.

"Oh no you don't!" I said, as I ran up beside him and threw my front legs around his front legs. I'm right lucky he didn't land on me; he lumbered to floor like a cow, though with the whinny of a stallion. "That's him, big brother! That's AJ!"

Big Macintosh seemed to ignore me, and got up to start running away again. It was no simple chore, but this time I grabbed his neck and wrestled him to the ground.

"Look!" I said, pointing his head towards AJ, and he slowly quit struggling as his mouth dropped. We looked on together, the barn in a dead silence. (A picture of "Dragon AJ" can be seen in Chapter 13)

When the dust cleared, we saw the morning sun shining through the windows on my new dragon, who, far from freakin' out, was sitting still and calm, his front claws on the ground with his tail moving around slowly behind him. It seemed he'd come to terms with himself, and stared down at my little sister with wide, harmless eyes, hopeful that she would recognize him. She was the real sight; she wasn't scared or hysterical in the least bit. She just looked at him with her youngin' curiosity, seeing if it was really the same one who'd read her bedtime stories with me, played with her, and taught her the Apple way of kindness. I must admit I was mighty proud of both of 'em, though she is a rascal. I'm happy she got a friend like him. He's had some lousy rope to work with in his life here, but he's been braver and stronger then I could ever ask for, and his eyes have never lost their special warmth.

"Howdy AJ!" said my sister finally. His ears perked up and he managed a real smile. It was great to see him happy. But my brother wasn't so sold just yet.

"He can't talk none sis', so don't ask him no questions." My hubby blushed and his ear twitched at the sound of it. My brother hadn't bought the bushel just yet, and he leaned over in my ear as Apple Bloom eagerly trotted over to feel his new hyde.

"Look at yer wings! And yer tail! Look at the spikes on his head!" she exclaimed.

"How do you know it's him?" whispered Big Macintosh. Remember, he don't know him as well as I do.

"Oh it's him alright. Here, ah'll show ya. AJ!" I called, and immediately he looked up at us. Seemed like he heard the rest of what we said, or at least had an idea, seein' as he locked his eyes on my brother. He looked down as though in thought, then still sittin' he raised his front claws and experimented with them; he struggled for a sec to get it right, but before long, his right claw was moving up and down like it was tryin' to play a banjo. It was sure was a cute sight.  

"Ha! Ya see!" He looked up to see if we knew what he was doin', but that was enough for my brother.  

"Wallop my withers!" he said. While he stood there in a dumb silence, I trotted forward and stood beside my hubby and scratched behind his ear. I never really tried it when he was a human, but I quickly discovered he likes it like this.

"Here's where we're at right now, Apples," I said. I stood myself loyally at his side and faced them both. "We don't know who done this or why. Or, how to change him back. Ah' guess the question is, uh... what now?"

Apple Bloom stood by Big Macintosh and suddenly puffed up like a pepper, while he still got his good look at AJ.

"Hey Big Mac. Ya know what this means?" she giggled, poking him in the leg. He went from her to the two of us and then back to her, and started gettin' all choked up too. Oh brother... "It means Applejack is married to a dragon!"

Of course Apple Bloom fell to the ground, shakin' her legs laughing so hard. Big Mac less so, but still chuckling in our faces like we were wearin' pink dresses. AJ stared blankly ahead with an expression duller than a bag of hammers. As for me I just sighed and rolled my eyes. And waited for 'em to stop. Which didn't seem to be happenin' any time soon, so I sat down and covered my eyes with my hooves. I turned my head up and peeked at my hubby. Sorry, sugarcube, I sighed. His face didn't change none at our siblings, beside a not-so-amused raised eyebrow. I found it strangely adorable, which is probably why part of me actually kind of liked getting laughed at. I had romantic feelings fer a human... now ah've got romantic feelings fer a... dragon. True as that is, I wasn't mad at him or myself or anything like that of course, I was just a little annoyed with whoever did it.

Apple Bloom sat up and was somehow able to stop laughing for two seconds.

"What's the matter, Applejack?" she sputtered, out of breath. "Ain't ya gonna kiss him?"

The little filly howled with laughter like a darn timberwolf, while Big Macintosh couldn't seem to stop either.

"Fer Pete's sake, Apple Bloom, shut up," I said, whilst AJ turned to me with a sad face that seemed to say he was sorry. I smiled reassuringly and gave him a wink. "Besides, maybe ah' think that's a good idea."

I trotted myself just in front of him and used my smile to encourage him down to me. His eyes widened eagerly, and he stood up and lowered his head, just enough for me to raise myself up and plant a tender kiss square on his forehead. He responded with delightful coo whilst his ear thingys twitched, to which I chuckled with glee. The two of them lightened up once the saw our happiness back.

"Has he tried flyin' yet?" she asked. AJ shook his head and stood up while he looked back at his wings, which he stretched out and played with a little at the question before sitting back around. "Ah' get to ride him first! And ah' wanna show him to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, too!"

"Slow down there, sis."  

"I don't think that's such a mighty fine idea," said Big Macintosh to my little sis as he stretched out his front leg so she couldn't go nowhere.

"Well why not? Just 'cause he's a dragon don't mean he have to sit around in the barn all day. Why not have some fun?"

"Well, she does kinda have a point," I said, looking up at him (I was standing right beside him at this point). "Ah' don't want mah sugarcube sittin' around bored till we get this fixed."

"How do you think the town would react to him?" he said. AJ bellowed and snorted out smoke on accident.

"What 'er you talkin' 'bout? Look at him, he's a little cuddle machine!" I said, walking out in front of him. He was clearly flattered outta his mind seein' as he fell back on his back and wiggled around, his tail stretching all the way to the opposite wall. "Well, maybe not little." It was the cutest thing I ever did see, but Big Macintosh didn't think so.

"You see your soulmate, who you spend time with every day, but they probably ain't gonna see him," he said, as AJ struggled to sit himself back up. He had a point, and it wasn't no pleasant thought. "All I'm saying is that they will see what I saw; a dragon, Applejack. His teeth are knives. His claws are sickles. And they got no reason to believe us if we told 'em it's him."

"Alright ah' get it," I said, shutting my eyes and tryin' not to think about it. We hadn't even seen the worst part of a dragon, that bein' his breath. I know he wouldn't hurt a soul unless they was threatening me or one of the family, but I wasn't so sure about the townsponies. "Ah' don't know how they'd react, and ah' don't wanna find out."

Apple Bloom couldn't keep quiet, though. She's a filly who likes to have fun, and ain't gonna stop until she does.  

"Alright, but he can still hang out around Sweet Apple Acres, can't he? He just can't go nowhere else. And what about after dark? Look at that black belly, ain't no gonna see him flyin' around come nighttime," she said, as AJ looked down at his belly and felt it with his claws, before looking up with an innocent curiosity.

"We might be able to do that," I said, smiling at him. I wanted him to feel comfortable, but to do that, he had to enjoy a little bit of himself. Suddenly he hiccuped, but what caught us all by surprise was the ball of orange fire that came out with it. He stared straight ahead with wide eyes for a moment, then covered his mouth with his claws. Thankfully there wasn't much to it, and it was gone just as soon as it came.

"Ah' think dragon AJ's cute!" shouted Apple Bloom. Too bad we got all this hay everywhere, though.

"Ah' reckon the barn ain't the best place fer a live dragon, but it's all we got. At least we know he's fireproof," I said, looking around. I guess he can always smother it with his body should he accidentally catch some hay on fire.

"So we got no idea who did this, or why?" chimed my big brother.

A dreadful growl straight through his teeth came out AJ's mouth at the question, and I saw my siblings take a step back, and they didn't look too comfortable. I looked back and saw he had his head turned away from us.  His eyes were full of anger no doubt at whoever done this, and he looked to be about the last thing to be messin' with. Dragon wrath is a thing of nightmares around here. I felt terrible to see him like that, and I wasn't gonna sit around and watch it when I could do somethin' about it.

"Hey, it's alright sugarcube," I said, trotting forward and throwing myself against his belly. His eyes softened until they finally shut, and a small cry escaped his mouth as he lowered his head. I could tell he felt better already, and I sure as sugar did. I already missed his voice, but I could hear and feel him in my heart thanking me. My siblings didn't know about our secret, and that was causin' him a little extra stress too. I really don't have a problem with this as a temporary thing; as long as I'm with him, my heart's content. I find him right adorable either way. Though it's a darn shame he can't talk. So I made sure we hugged good and long, until he was back to his usual sweet self. And until his belly rumbled.

"Ah' think he could go fer some breakfast," said Apple Bloom. I had almost forgot they were still here.

"Ah' agree," I chuckled, pulling away and looking up at him. "Though ah' think maybe a little more 'n he's used to."

"Eeyup," nodded Big Macintosh.

So I made for the barn door to get my boy some breakfast. A basket of apples, that should do it! I made my way towards the trees; it was a beautiful day, but I wasn't much concerned about that. The future's cloudy. Real cloudy. But I'm gonna take things one moment at a time, startin' with AJ's breakfast. At least ah' got him in my arms. Ah' just hope a storm ain't comin'.