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Just Another Boring Day1,602 words
Come one! Come all!2,548 words
Birth of the Circus3,107 words
A Friendship in Flames5,486 words
Revelations5,865 words
Rebuilding the Bridge2,944 words

Rebuilding the Bridge

Spike ran through the Whitetail Woods as fast as he could. He ran passed thick trees, over glades, and through little streams with beams of Princess Luna's moon lighting the forest's path. He could feel tears streaming down his face as he ran deeper into the forest, but he put that aside. Spike had only one thing on his mind: run away. He came to a clearing outside the woods. There was a small lake where a stream was connected to it, and on the side was a large cave like the one he saw when he first ran away. Spike reached up to a tree branch and took a large stick. He used his fire breath to light the stick, and entered the cave cautiously.

Spike walked through the cave, looking around to make sure there were no dragons or any other large creatures around. He discovered the cave was empty with no animals inhabiting it at all, not even bats. He saw in the center of a large clearing of floor was a huge hole in the ceiling that let Princess Luna's moonlight pour into the dark cave. Spike extinguished the flame and went over to sit by a huge bolder.

Spike sat there on the ground for several minutes, contemplating on what to do. "I can't go back." The baby dragon said to himself. "I can't face them, not after what happened. I don't deserve to be their friend at all or maybe no pony's friend."

Spike just sat on the ground feeling like he destroyed his own life, and blamed himself. The baby dragon not only lost his old friends with how he acted to them, but was also tricked and fooled by other ponies he thought were friends as well, and now he was all alone. Although he was glad to see that Twilight and the others came to save him he couldn't face them again. Spike believed that they were furious at him for what he did to them, and were ready to give him an earful. When he saw the Royal Guards, his fears intensified with thoughts of Princess Celestia banishing him to the moon.

He looked at the moon and saw something familiar, a star that was shining near the moon. The baby dragon recalled what happened last night and felt a surge of anger course through him. The anger quickly turned into sadness and looked down. Spike buried his head in his hands as tears built up in his eyes.

"I wish I never made that stupid wish." The baby dragon said with his voice starting to crack.

"Spike..." A voice said in the darkness.

The baby dragon recognized it as the voice of Twilight Sparkle, but refused to look at her.

"Please Spike." Twilight said. "We were so worried about you, and we want to help you."

The baby dragon still refused to look and tried to shut her out. Twilight went over and placed a hoof on her friend, but he quickly batted the hoof away.

"Spike, all we want to do is talk to you." Twilight said again. "I know your upset and you have every right to be and not only with us, but with those poachers as well. Please, talk to us and let us help you."

Spike built up the courage to look at his former friends and expected angry looks on them. Instead he saw that they were all had looks of concern on them.

"How...how did you all find me?" He asked.

Twilight's horn glowed and Spike saw green footprints that looked like his own shining. "I was able to use the tracking spell with your footprints Spike." The lilac unicorn said. "We followed your tracks all the way here."

"Whatever...just leave me alone." Spike said looking down. "I thought I said I didn't want to see you all again."

"Simmer down there Spike." Said Applejack. "We searched all over the place fer ya 'cause we were worried 'bout ya."

"Worried? You were worried about me?"

Twilight nodded and said, "It's because we care about you Spike and you're our friend."

Spike felt comfort in Twilight's words, but part of him still felt anger at them. "You all have a funny way of showing you care then." He said with resentment in his voice.

"What do you mean Spike?" Asked Twilight. "We do care about you and are very dear to us all..."

"You still don't get it Twilight." Spike interjected. "None of you still don't get what I feel. Ever since I moved to Ponyville with Twilight, I've worked harder than ever before. I've seen you all go out on adventures, sing along, and other fun stuff. What about me? All I've done is clean up messes, do chores all day, and be left behind."

"I thought it was great that Twilight was making friends, but I don't even got friends, and the other ponies seem to be afraid of me. All I asked for was a little thanks for what I do, and to hang out with all of you. Instead, I do the same thing everyday, clean up and be by myself."

Spike looked down shaking and felt tears run down his face. He made no effort in hiding it and saw the tears reflect in the moonlight.

"Listen I....I wanted to say thanks for saving me tonight. I'm sorry for what I said...and you won't have to worry about me causing anymore trouble." Spike turned around away from the others. "Goodbye Twilight...and thanks for everything."

Spike began to walk away into the shadows of the cave when he was suddenly seized by a pair of hooves embracing him. The baby dragon looked up and saw Twilight hugging him with tears running down her face. One by one, the others embraced Spike as well with tears in their eyes as well. They stayed like this for a few minutes and then pulled away from each other.

"You don't need to apologize Spike." Twilight said. "If anypony's going to apologize, it's us."

"Twi's right sugarcube." Said Applejack. "We were treatin' ya like dirt."

"It wasn't cool how we treated you." Rainbow Dash stated.

"It was unfair and rude of us Spike." Rarity said. "A good lady should never take advantage of their friends."

"It's no fun to make others feel bad. It feels super horrible." Said Pinkie.

"I just feel so awful over this." Said Fluttershy. "We never wanted to hurt you."

"We're sorry Spike." The six ponies said in unison.

Spike looked at the others in awe, and gave a small smile. He felt though there was a part of him that made him uneasy. "Why though?" Asked the baby dragon.

"Why, what?" Asked Twilight.

"Why would you forgive me? Even after all I said to you?"

"Spike, when you said those things tonight we realized that what you were saying was true." Said Twilight. "I took advantage of you and your skills as my assistant. I never thought about how you really felt until what you said to me and the girls tonight. We felt terrible about what we did to you."

Spike then felt a hoof on his shoulder and saw that it was Applejack. "Y'all work so hard and do yer best fer all of us sugarcube. Y'all work harder than mah whole family on Applebuckin' season."

"Spike darling, you are quite brave as well." Rarity said. "You helped us defeat those nasty ruffians."

"I...I did?" Spike asked. Everypony nodded and smiled.

"You were really cool out there Spike." Said Rainbow. "Well not that I didn't have it under control as well, but you gave those guys what for."

"You made those meanies think twice before messing with you again." Said Pinkie joyfully.

"You rocked Spike." Said Fluttershy.

The baby dragon looked at all of the ponies and gave him a smile. He felt tears build up in him again, but not of sorrow, but of joy. He went over and hugged all his friends.

"I really am sorry everypony." Said Spike. "I guess I just forgot who my real friends were."

"It's okay Spike." Said Twilight. "It's okay. We're just happy to see you again."

"It sounds like a lot was learned tonight." Said a majestic calm voice.

Twilight and the others looked to see a white alicorn, escorted by two guards, come out of the shadows.

"Princess Celestia!" The group cried out and bowed.

Spike looked up at the ruler and felt nervous about how she would react, but built up the courage to speak to her. "Princess Celestia...I'm sorry for what I did. I understand if you're upset with me and I'll accept any punishment."

Spike looked to see Princess Celestia give a gentle smile. "There's no need to Spike." Said the white alicorn. "You've learned a lot tonight, the hard way." Spike smiled at this, feeling relieved that Princess Celestia was not mad at him.

"Pardon me, Princess." Said Twilight. "I have learned something tonight as well."

The princess raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh? Tell me then. What have you learned about friendship tonight?"

Twilight looked at her mentor with a smile. "I've learned that you should never make your friends feel left out and to never neglect them. It can not only hurt them, but it can hurt you and other friends as well as destroy the bond you have. Always make sure that you show them the same love you show for your other friends as well and make them feel appreciated and accepted."

"Well it sounds like you all had quite a day." Said Princess Celestia. "I think though its time you all headed back to Ponyville. We'll finish up here and besides it seems your assistant needs his sleep."

Twilight and the others turned to see Spike had fallen asleep and was snoring peacefully. Twilight and the others chuckled as Twilight placed Spike on her back.

"He's not my assistant, he's my friend." Twilight said with a smile.

The six ponies bid farewell to Princess Celestia and boarded a chariot that took them back to Ponyville. As Spike laid there asleep in the back, Twilight and the others looked at him with smiles and talked to each other in whispers. They all entered Ponyville, said good night, and each pony went their separate way. Twilight entered the library and went up to her room. She put Spike into his bed and gave him a kiss on his head. She smiled a little before going to bed herself.

Spike woke up the next day back in his bed at the Ponyville Library. He felt dazed at first, but remembered what happened last night.

'It was all a dream.' Spike thought to himself. 'It wasn't real at all and everything's going to be back to normal.'

Spike looked at the clock to see that he overslept and panicked. He bolted out the door and saw that the main lobby was pitch black and all the blinds were shut closed. He made his way downstairs carefully to open a blind.

The blinds suddenly opened by themselves. "SURPRISE!" Yelled several voices.

Spike jumped back and nearly fell over. He regained his balance and looked to see a banner say WE LOVE YOU SPIKE! Below the banner was Twilight and her friends grinning at him.

"W...what is this?" Asked Spike.

"It's a celebration for you Spike." Said Twilight. "To thank you for what you've done for us."

"For me?" The baby dragon asked in shock.

"We planned this last night while you were asleep." Said Rainbow Dash.

"Y'all deserve this sugarcube." Said Applejack.

Spike was feeling overwhelmed by all this and hugged Twilight. "Thank you Twilight, thank you all."

"You're welcome." The ponies said in unison.

"So what do I do now?" Asked Spike.

"You can do anything Spike." Said Twilight. "It's your day."

"Why don't Ah take y'all down to the farm?" Asked Applejack. "Ah'll teach ya how to whip up a homemade apple pie that's sweeter than any Red Gala Apple."

"Pfft! Forget that!" Rainbow interjected. "How about I take you to Cloudsdale? I'll show you the factories, the city, and then a Sonic Rainboom!"

Rarity shook her head in disapproval. "Spike, I never did get to thank you properly for helping me escape those disgusting Diamond Dogs. Why don't I take you down to the boutique? I'll make a suit for you and then treat you to a fine dinner."

"Spike, I would love to show you my animal sanctuary." Fluttershy said. "It's so wonderful, peaceful, and quiet. Um...if that's okay with you that is."

Pinkie then jumped in front of Spike and hoped around him. "How about a super awesome party just for you!? We can play Pin the Tail on the Pony, eat tons of sweets, and sing together!"

Spike thought it over and noticed Twilight was missing. He looked and saw the lilac unicorn looking through a book. "What about you Twilight?" He asked. "What do you want to do?"

Twilight looked up with a small smile on her face. "Oh, I won't be going anywhere. I've got to work on finishing some notes."

Spike looked in disbelief and went over to Twilight and the books she was surrounded by. He tossed the books aside and looked to see Twilight give him a shocked look.

"Twilight, you are not working or studying." The baby dragon said. "Today I want to be with all my friends, even you."

Twilight looked at him and saw he had a stern look on his face. She gave him a smile and nodded. "Alright, Spike I'll go." Spike and the others cheered at this and made their way out of the library.

"Twilight?" Spike asked. "What happened to Alec and the others?"

"Well Spike." Said Twilight. "Princess Celestia decided to sentence Alec to death for not only poaching, but she found out about the previous circus owner and performers as well through some old paperwork that had the old ringmaster's handwriting on it."

"So they did find them." Said Spike gloomily.

Twilight nodded and said, "The others got life in the Stalliongrad Prison with no parole. They got it by revealing the location of where the bodies of the previous circus owners were and for controlling the circus employees. The other circus employees had no idea what was happening and their memories were restored by Princess Celestia. They promise to keep the circus going, but they will be hiring honest performers from now on."

Spike was glad to hear that it was all over and that the circus would be back, but he thought to himself he wouldn't go to one for a long time.

"So where do you want to go Spike?" Asked Twilight.

Spike thought about the choices he was offered. "There are so many things I want to do with you all, and they all sound so good."

"Don't worry sugarcube." Said Applejack. "If we don't git t'do everythin' today there's always tomorrow."

"Really?" Asked Spike. He saw Twilight and the others give nod. The baby dragon thought over his choices for a few minutes before making his decision. "Well...I've never been to Cloudsdale before. I also wouldn't mind spending time with Rarity as well."

Twilight and the others cheered and went to get the hot air balloon out.

"One more thing Spike." Twilight told him as her friends prepared the balloon. "I promise from now on I won't be making as many messes and having you clean them up. I'll also do my share of cleaning as well."

"Wh...what about hanging out with you and the others?" The baby dragon asked.

Twilight smiled and said, "You're more than welcome to be with us Spike. Only after you finish your share of the chores though."

Spike grinned and gave Twilight another hug. "You got it Twilight!"

Twilight and Spike got into the balloon, and took off into the sky towards Cloudsdale. Spike talked and laughed with the other ponies, feeling happier than he did in a long time. He looked around at his friends and smiled to himself with content.

'I guess my wish did come true.' The baby dragon thought to himself. 'It's not just an old mare's tale after all.'

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