//------------------------------// // Fame and Misfortune // Story: Where Was Spike? // by powerpony //------------------------------//  “Are they still out there?” asked Rainbow Dash.             Twilight looked out the window and sure enough, nothing had changed. Right outside the front door of the castle were hundreds of ponies arguing with each other. Some were holding signs while others were wearing t-shirts with the mane six’s faces on them.             Twilight let out a sigh of annoyance at what she saw. This had all started when she found her old friendship journal and decided to have it published.             Twilight had hoped that the readers would learn from the lessons she and her friends wrote about, but that didn’t work out at all. Instead, the readers seemed more interested in how the mane six had acted in the journal and things did not turn out okay.             Fluttershy kept getting hounded by ponies who were complaining about she was always learning to be more assertive, Applejack’s farm got swarmed with fans and admirers who took her “your friends are your family” lesson too seriously, Rarity’s boutique was boycotted by ponies who found her to be selfish and arrogant, Rainbow Dash couldn’t go anywhere without fans following her and telling her how awesome she was, Pinkie Pie was getting annoyed by ponies who kept laughing every time she spoke, even when she wasn’t trying to be funny, and Twilight was not too happy after hearing ponies talk about how her “character” would be a lot better if she never earned her wings and stayed in Canterlot, despite the fact that Twilight was a real pony, not a character in a story.             It all just got worse as the ponies all gathered at the castle, arguing over which was the best in the journal. Even after the mane six told them that they were all weren’t flawless through a very heartfelt song, they ponies still continued to fight.             “This is getting ridiculous,” said Applejack, “Twi? Can’t you at least order those ponies to beat it? You are a princess after all.” But before Twilight could answer, she heard the sound of the front doors opening from behind her. At first, she was worried that the ponies wanted to break into the castle, but she was relieved when she turned around and saw that it was just Spike. But she became concerned when she saw Spike’s face. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a few tears streaming down his cheeks.             “Spike, what happened,” she asked.             “Nothing,” Spike said as he wiped away his tears, “I just got some dirt in my eyes, that’s all.” But Twilight was not buying it. She walked up to her little dragon friend and wrapped a comforting wing around him.             “C’mon Spike,” she said. “You know you can tell me anything. Now what’s wrong?”             Spike looked up at Twilight, who has a small smile on her face, before taking a deep breath and telling her what happened.             “Those fans of yours out there were total jerks! When I saw all of them arguing with each other, I tried to break it up. They all took one look at me and said they knew who I was from the journal. At first, I was proud that they knew who I was, but then they started insulting me. Saying that I’m a terrible friend to all of you, that I cause nothing but trouble, and that your lives would be a lot better if I wasn’t even hatched!”             Needless to say, Twilight and the others were not happy after hearing this.             “They said that?” said Twilight angrily.             “How dare they?” said Rarity.             “Those meanies,” said Pinkie Pie. Applejack simply snorted in anger while Fluttershy just stood with her jaw open, shocked that some ponies would say such things, and Rainbow Dash pounded her front hooves together, like she was about ready to pick a fight. Twilight then stood up and began to walk towards the door.             “I think it’s time I gave our ‘”fans” a piece of my mind,” she said.             “Count me in,” said Applejack.             “Me too,” said Rainbow Dash.             “Me three,” said Pinkie Pie.             “Mmm-hmm,” Rarity and Fluttershy nodded.             The mane six all stepped outside, the ponies still arguing with each other, and Twilight let out a loud “Everypony quiet,” which stopped them all in their tracks. They were all silent as the mane six glared at them all.             “Which one of you insulted Spike?” asked an angry Twilight.             No one answered.             “ANSWER ME!” Twilight shouted. All of the ponies jumped back a bit at this outburst. They all then started pointing hooves at each other, which just annoyed Twilight even more.             “You all should be ashamed of yourselves,” said Fluttershy.             “How dare you insult my Spikey-Wikey like that,” said Rarity.             “I got half a mind to buck you all into next year,” said Applejack.             “Save some for me,” said Rainbow Dash.             “I can take you all badmouthing me and getting carried away with your own little fandoms, but nopony, I mean nopony, upsets Spike and gets away with it,” said Twilight, who had to take a few deep breaths to calm down.             “We’re real sorry if we’ve upset you,” one of the fandom ponies finally spoke. “But we were just telling the truth.”             “Yeah,” said another pony. “Spike has been nothing but trouble in that journal.”             “Give me one example,” said Twilight.             “Well, what about that spell he cast that transported you all into that Power Ponies comic,” said a fan pony.             “That was an accident,” said Applejack. “He had no idea that comic was magical. And besides, we all enjoyed that little adventure we had in the comic.” Applejack’s friends all nodded their heads in agreement.             “What about that Inspiration Manifestation book that made Rarity go nuts,” said a pony.             “Again, he had no idea that would happen,” said Rarity. “I was going through a terrible case of creator’s block and Spike only gave me that book as a way to cheer me up. And he’s also the one to snap me out of it when I got carried away.”             “He butchered the Cloudsdale anthem at the Equestria Games,” said one Pegasus.             “That was a mistake,” said Rainbow Dash. “He thought he was going to do the Canterlot anthem so he had to improvise. And besides, it’s a very difficult anthem. Even I have trouble remembering the words. And I’ve lived in Clousdale since I was a filly.”             “Also, did you skip over the part where he saved the entire stadium from a giant ice ball,” said Pinkie Pie. “And that’s not even the first time he saved the Crystal Empire.”             “That’s right,” said Twilight.  “Spike is also the one who saved the Crystal Heart from King Sombra and was able to bring peace to the Empire. Also, he has done many other amazing things that we didn’t even put in the journal.”             “That is correct,” said Rarity. “He won the Gauntlet of Fire and was crowned Dragon Lord. But he gave the title to Princess Ember instead, knowing that she would an excellent ruler. If it weren’t for Spike, the dragons would have been ruled by someone who wanted to make burping a greeting or steal all of Equestria’s pillows.”             “And try to burn Equestria to the ground,” Twilight reminded Rarity.             “Oh, yes, that too,” Rarity said before letting out a nervous chuckle.             “He also convinced the Crystal Empire to befriend Thorax, who happens to be a Changeling,” said Twilight. “This helped Thorax see what true friendship is like and was part of how he became the new ruler of the Changelings.”             While this was going on, Spike stood behind the mane six and couldn’t help but feel happy that his friends were always there for him.             The fan ponies all stood in silence. Some felt ashamed at what they said, while others tried to think of something to reply with, but couldn’t think of anything.             “Now then,” Twilight continued. “It has been a long and tiring day and I’m quite fed up with all this fighting. I don’t mean to sound rude, but could you all kindly please GET LOST!!” After that outburst, the fan ponies all ran off, some even dropping their signs on the ground.             Twilight and the others all turned around to head inside when they saw Spike standing in front of them with tears in his eyes. At first, they were worried that he was still upset, but were relieved when they saw the smile appear on his face. Spike then ran up to Twilight and embraced her into a tight hug.             “Thanks girls,” he said. “Thank you all. You all really are the best friends a dragon could ask for.” Twilight was so touched by those words that even she started to tear up. She then wrapped her hooves around Spike. The others soon did the same and embraced him a big group hug.