Another successful celebration from the Party Queen herself; Rarity’s birthday was as wonderful as ever. Pinkie was especially proud of her accomplishment, because she had received a letter from a fan of her pastries a couple months ago, suggesting she should try a new recipe called the Red Velvet. Only now was she able to attempt to make it, however, simply because she couldn’t think of any better time to unveil a new recipe then, for Pinkie, the most extravagant time of the year, Rarity’s birthday. And yes, it was a big hit. Rarity absolutely loved it, as well as the six gifts she had received from her friends.
“That one’s from me,” said Twilight Sparkle, as Rarity grabbed a small bag off of the table upon which the presents were sitting. She lifted out the contents to reveal...
“A scroll?” Rarity quizzically asked. “I don’t mean to sound rude, darling, but what am I supposed to do with this?”
“Oh, it’s an enchanted scroll,” Twilight replied with a wave of her hood. “It will enhance your magic, thus allowing you to multitask easier. “
“Oh, wow! That’s wonderful, dear! This is exactly what I needed!”
It was Rainbow Dash’s turn for her present to be opened. Rarity unwrapped the lightning striped container with her magic, revealing a new book that read: “Equestrian History of Fashion”. The light in Rarity’s eyes sparkled,
“Rainbow, how did you find this rather lovely book?”
Rainbow Dash gave a little chuckle,
“I was checking out Daring Do and the Legend of The Dark Knight, and happened to stumble across that book, I thought you might enjoy it.”
Fluttershy’s gift was a hoof-knitted purple and white scarf which, of course, matched Rarity’s coat and mane.
“Do I look fabulous with this sweater on?”
Rarity asked everypony, while receiving an obvious gratification and pleasurement, which was brought with a unified “hurrah!”
From Pinkie Pie, the recipe for Red Velvet, which was brought to Rarity along with the dessert.
Rarity opened her next present, finding a shiny new sewing machine inside.
“Oh thank you very much Applejack!” Rarity gave her gratitude, “I desperately need this!”
“Ah shucks, it was nothin’” Applejack smiled, while remembering the reason why she had bought Rarity a new sewing machine in the first place. Last time she had been to Carousel Boutique, she noticed that Rarity’s old sewing machine was getting a little rusty. Actually, a more accurate description would be that she wouldn’t shut up about how rusty it was, in which case Applejack decided to give her a new machine to quiet her down.
And finally, it was Spike’s turn for his present to be opened. What Rarity pulled out of a wooden box (that had some nicely carved decorates) was a set of Dragonscale sewing needles, which had been made from his own scales.
“Spike, but how?”
Spike had spent three months making them. Rarity was both shocked and touched by the sheer dedication that Spike had committed to something so small. Rarity’s emotion was too strong to let Spike answer.
“You’re the best friend any mare could ever have, Spikey-Wikey” she had cooed before kissing him on the cheek. Although the kiss was, to him, what would be a gift from Lauren Faust to us, Spike was saddened by what she had said, for he wanted so much more…
“Goodbye, everypony,” cried Rarity as her friends exited the Carousel Boutique, “See you at the field tonight!” Yes, it was true. Though the ponies were leaving, the party was not over just yet. They had planned to meet in the field on the outskirts of Ponyville three hours after the party to watch the skies for the once in a lifetime arrival of Faust’s Comet. Based on how many lights she saw were off, Twilight Sparkle surmised that they would be the only ones there. She hadn’t really told anypony about it, save for her friends. She figured the rest of Ponyville either didn’t care or already knew.
But out of all of her friends who were excited for the comet (that just happened to be coming around on Rarity’s birthday), none of them had shown more excitement about it than her Number One Assistant: Spike. He knew that this was going to be the only time he would be able to see it with the friends he now held so dear. A dragon’s lifespan is significantly longer than a pony’s, which meant that he was going to see the comet at least four more times over the course of his life. But this was going to be special. This would be the only time he was going to see the comet and have somepony to share the moment with, as far as he knew. Twilight stared in confusion as she saw Spike hang his head in sadness as they walked home from the party.
“Spike?” she whispered with motherly concern, “what’s the matter?” Spike barely acknowledged her existence with a low grunt. “You seemed like you were having a good time at the party. What happened?”
“I dunno, Twilight,” Spike groaned in reply, “It’s just… With what Rarity said… I feel kinda cheated… and hurt.”
“What?! Spike, that’s ridiculous! She said you were the best friend a pony could have! That’s the kindest thing I have heard her say about anypony, and that right there is saying something!”
Spike said nothing. Instead, he replied with a look that read ‘You know what I mean’.
“Oh… I get it! You feel hurt because Rarity simply called you a friend, and you want more than that. But, come on. You don’t think that’s asking a little too much from her?”
“I just wish she would at least acknowledge my feelings!”
“At your age, Spike, for her to even think of such a thing would be illegal! She’s an adult mare! You’re a baby dragon!”
“For how much longer?” This threw Twilight off.
“What?”
“How much longer do I have to be a baby, Twilight?”
Twilight thought about this for a moment. “Well, Spike… I can honestly say I don’t know. But even if you weren’t a baby, there’s still the dragon aspect to take into consideration. As far as I know, ponies and dragons aren’t supposed to mix. Do you honestly think it would work between you and Rarity?”
“I’ll have you know,” Spike retorted, “That it has worked in the distant past! I’ve read a couple of books on dragons in my spare time, and I found out that Discord himself, before he turned into the trickster you know and love today, was in fact half dragon and half pony!”
“Spike… That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard, and I have heard some pretty weird things in my life.”
“No, think about it! Draco is an ancient word for dragon, and Equus is an ancient word for pony... But, listen, we’re getting off track! I’m asking you, is there any possibility that a relationship between me and Rarity would work?!”
“I’m not sure…“ Twilight replied sadly. Then, suddenly, a brilliant idea formed in her head, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. “But I bet you there’s something at the library! Come on!”
The sun’s rays began to slowly diminish as it quietly vanished through the horizon. Twilight had just realized the time of day, and insisted that she and Spike should quicken their pace to the library. Just when they arrived at the front door, Twilight began looking through the large collection of books.
“Okay Spike” she said while her back was turned away, “I want you to help me find any books on dragons.”
“But Twilight”, Spike interjected, “last time we tried looking for books on dragons, we couldn’t find any! And why are we looking for them anyway?”
“Glad you asked Spike”, she turned towards him, “the answer is really simple actually. After finding out about my lack of dragon knowledge, I asked Princess Celestia if there were any books on dragons over at the Royal Canterlot Library. She said no… But luckily the Princess promised me at that time, that if her researchers find anything new and publish the information, she’ll have it delivered to me, in which she obviously did.”
Twilight had a hint of pride in her tone of voice, it’s not very common for a pony to own such rare books on anything dragon related! Twilight was thinking about starting her own collection of rare books, since this would be a great start, and she enjoyed knowledge that only few ponies knew of.
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Spike impatiently glared at Twilight while she was fantasizing.
“Oh, sorry about that, you can tell I get carried away sometimes.” She smiled, and then cleared her throat, appearing as though she was about to give a large, well thought out speech, which didn’t excite Spike one bit.
“I was just curious to see how the aging process of dragons work. By comparing them to a regular pony’s lifespan, I can calculate and see how long it’ll take for you to legally date Rarity.”
Spike’s eyes widened, “Can you really do that?”
“Sure!” She smiled at Spike, “well… Assuming that the lifespan of a dragon isn’t complicated. Other than that, it’ll be a piece of cake!”
Hope for knowing when to date Rarity gave Spike enough motivation to look through the books; He began to pick them up one-by-one, reading each title, and scanning for anything dragon related.
A moment of searching passed as Spike began to become impatient, which was followed by distraction. There was a book he found called: “The Fundamentals of Evolution and Nature”, which strangely caught his attention; so he began reading it until a loud noise startled him.
“Ah-ha!” Twilight squealed in excitement, “The Dragon Studies, one of the rare books I own!”
Twilight began vigorously reading through the printed pages as Spike waited for an answer. A moment passed as pages of the book were turning; finally Twilight said something to herself.
“That’s interesting.”
“Yes?” Spike said while peering over her shoulder.
“Turns out there are two ways a dragon can grow: through greed, and through generosity. All of the dragons we’ve seen have grown through greed. The Draconis Liberalis, as they named it, has a different form. Instead of having its body designed for being on all fours, like a pony, it is designed to walk on two. They are generally more slender and more flexible than the Draconus Avarus.”
“Walking on two? Just like I am right now?” Spike asked as he lifted and examined his feet.
“Exactly” Twilight replied, “it is such a rare thing to see, or even hear of a Liberalis, dragons are usually… Well, very greedy!”
“And how does this solve the age thingy?” Spike coughed.
“Oh! Sorry!” She blushed a little, “I got carried away again.”
The reading lasted for what seemed like hours to Spike, after calculating everything from what Twilight read, she finally broke the silence with some grim news.
“I’m sorry Spike.” She said with a frown, “since dragons live for a very long time, it takes a while for them to grow.”
“What do you mean Twilight?” Spike had a confused expression.
“This means… That by the time you are at a legal dating age, Rarity would probably pass away through old age.”
The news hit Spike like a two ton brick wall, crashing down at him all at once. The shock made Spike’s body shake. He let his knees fall to the ground, and began hitting the floor with his claws.
“No! This can’t be! I love Rarity, and now when I can finally be old enough, she’ll be gone?!”
Twilight felt a bit ashamed of herself for upsetting Spike, while watching Spike cry to himself, she finally thought of something to say to calm him down.
“Don’t worry Spike, all is not lost.”
“What are you saying?” Spike lifted his teary face from the floor.
Twilight gave a grin, “I have heard that when you see Faust’s Comet, you can make a wish.”
Spike calmed down, “Are you sure Twilight? That idea seems a little-”
“Trust me!” She interrupted with an even bigger grin, “you just have to try it for yourself.” She looked outside and realized the time, “Oh! The girls are meeting us right outside of Ponyville. Let’s go!”
Spike hastily got up and joined Twilight in her rush to their destination.
Twilight and Spike met with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who were all laying on a green hillside, watching the last glimpses of sunlight vanishing from the clouds. “Sorry we’re late” Twilight apologized.
“Ah shucks, it don’t matter. You weren’t even that late at all!” Applejack gracefully responded, “Now come an’ take a seat, and wait with us fer the comet!”
The mares, and Spike, conversed with each other until Fluttershy spotted a bright light in the sky. The light grew larger and larger, until it was close enough to reveal its heavenly shape. Everypony had a surprised expression as the large comet slowly made its way across the sky. Spike smiled and closed his eyes, I wish I can be good enough for Rarity, for her to understand my love for her, and to acknowledge it.
Suddenly, Pinkie’s tail began twitching, and then spazzing. This, of course, shocked the company, and brought their searching eyes to the sky. Even though the comet was about to leave their sight, a small flicker of light began flying towards their direction. It came closer, and closer, and closer, until it crashed through the clouds, and into the fields ahead of them.
“Whoa! What was that?!” Rainbow Dash yelled in a nervous, yet excited fashion.
“That was a meteor” Twilight exclaimed, “I guess a piece of Faust’s Comet broke off or something. Come on girls, let’s check it out!”
“Is that a really good idea?” Fluttershy quietly said while hiding behind Spike, who didn’t notice her until she spoke up. Twilight gave a good laugh over Spike’s surprised expression, “don’t worry Fluttershy! As long as we don’t get hit by its landing, which we obviously didn’t, we’re safe from it! Now let’s check it out!”
A large dusty crater replaced the once peaceful grassy fields. The group made its way to the edge of the crater. Everypony became a bit nervous, except for Spike, who found this whole situation an answer to his wish. After the dust cleared, an area of green light was shown. Spike decided that he should check it out, and began to run down the newly formed crater.
“Don’t get near that rock, Spike!” Twilight yelled at him.
“I thought you said that this was safe?” Rarity asked, Twilight gave a thoughtful expression.
“The thing is… I have a weird feeling about this meteorite. I don’t know why, but I just feel uneasy.”
Twilight noticed that Spike wasn’t listening to her, and kept on running. Twilight began to panic, and began yelling at him.
“Spike! Stop!”
Spike didn’t hear Twilight’s yelling, and continued to travel down the steep slope. Twilight panicked even more, and began to gallop down the crater towards him. After what seemed like forever to Twilight, Spike arrived at the dusty impact zone.
Spike approached the meteorite, and began to examine it; the meteorite looked like a large, glowing, green crystal that had an interesting mossy texture. Spike curiously observed the extraterrestrial rock for a bit longer, until noticing that he was feeling light-headed. His nose was also unexpectedly bleeding. It seemed as though the world was spinning as his body fell to the ground. The last thing Spike remembered seeing was Twilight Sparkle frantically galloping towards him, and then his mind went blank.