//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: Awoken // by Dashie1791 //------------------------------// Spike made his way to where the gigantic cake was, standing on the table almost exactly in the middle of the room. The cake had been decked out in candles, and the light that came off it lit up the room. Spike thought it was the most delicious looking cake he had ever seen, even though it was chocolate he didn't mind one bit. Besides ponies can't eat gem cakes. All of Spike's friends and eveypony else had now gathered around the cake and began to sing 'Happy Birthday' to the birthday dragon. This made him crack a smile and then he took a deep breath and blew out all of the candles in one go. The crowd cheered loudly as every candle had it's flame snuffed out, but then the cheers went to utter shock as a wave of chocolate icing went splattering in every direction. Spike looked up at the half destroyed cake that had a rather ecstatic pink pony practically swimming in the cake. "PINKIE!" Twilight screamed loudly. Pinkie then took a massive gulp from the cake and then let out a toothy grin. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. This cake is just soooooo goooooood!" Everypony began to laugh and even Spike had to chuckle. Only Pinkie could act this way and there was no changing her. Spike was then handed a large piece from the half that wasn't ruined from Pinkie and then dug into the tasty dessert. Soon all the guests and his friends were soon munching on the cake and were all agreeing that it was definitely the most tastiest cake they have ever had. "So Spike what did you wish for when you blew out your candles?" Asked Applejack. "Was it something exciting?" Pinkie asked. "Was it something awesome?" Rainbow Dash asked with curiosity. "Was it something good?" Fluttershy added. "Was it something that's beautiful?" Rarity put in. Spike looked at his friends and shook his head. "I'm not telling. It's bad luck to say what you wish for on your birthday when you blow out your candles!" Spike said trying to sound serious. His friends groaned with disappointment. "Of course Spike! You don't want nothing bad to happen because of that! No sireeeee." Pinkie Pie agreed. "I'm sure that whatever the wish was, it was something that hopefully comes true in the end. Right Spike?" Twilight asked with a smile on her face while facing him. "Yeah heh-heh, me too." Spike replied while doing a slight gulp. Shining Armor then came up and gave Spike a noogie while wrapping his forehoof around his shoulder. "So big guy, now since you're one year older, you think that Twily here will finally let you go on some of those serious friendship missions with her and the others?" The guests chuckled after hearing his question. Spike was just about to give his reply when Twilight barged in to the conversation. "Don't be silly Shining, Spike doesn't need to go friendship missions with us. Some of them are dangerous and I don't want him to get hurt." Spike then looked at his Alicorn friend and his attitude changed. 'I can't believe she said that!' He said to himself. Spike began to feel his uncontrollable breathing creeping it's way into his body. He tried to fight it, but the conversation just made it to difficult. "I understand that sis, but I mean look at Spike. He's now older than he was when he saved the Crystal Empire, so I'm sure that he can go on a few missions here and there!" Shining Armor proclaimed. Spike's breathing then began to get more uncontrollable. "What I decide for Spike to do is my business as I have told you earlier. Spike is not suited to go on friendship missions with us, he is better off at home where he is safe!" She declared while the others all nodded in agreement. Spike could then feel the frustrations and the anger returning and his breathing was now becoming difficult. Starlight then budged into the conversation. "But Twilight, don't you think Spike has deserved to go on more missions with us? I'm sure he'd like it if we brought him along more often! It beats sitting around here all the time by himself." Spike then began to pant rapidly and sweat profusely while his vision began to get blurry. "No Starlight. I'd love to but Spike is still a baby dragon!" There were those words again. The words that caused Spike more emotional pain than being denied by Rarity. He could feel the anger beginning to boil inside of him, like a pot of water being left on the stove. He clenched his teeth and then released all the pent up anger in one massive scream. "I AM NOT A BABY DRAGON!" The sound of Spike's massive scream echoed throughout the entire banquet room. Twilight and the others were completely shaken after what he had just did. "Spike?" Twilight asked with worry. "Wha...." "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!! I'M NOT A BABY DRAGON ANYMORE AND YOU ARE STUPID TO THINK SO! I MEAN LOOK AT ME TWI?! DO I LOOK LIKE A BABY DRAGON TO YOU? DO I LOOK LIKE A SMALL BABY DRAGON THAT CAN'T TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF? DO I LOOK LIKE I NEED HELP TO GET BOOKS OFF THE HIGH SHELF FOR YOU AT HOME? WELL NEWS FLASH FOR YOU TWILIGHT, THE ANSWER IS NO!" Spike continued to scream. He didn't care what the others would say or think, he had to get this out of his system. This was his moment! This was his time! Twilight just watched in shock as Spike tore a piece out of her and berated her for being a terrible friend. She began to cry as Spike continued his rampage. "ALL YOU MAKE ME DO IS WRITE DOWN ALL YOUR WORK, CLEAN YOUR CASTLE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, AND MAKE ME COOK ALL YOUR MEALS EVERY SINGLE DAY! AND YOU CAN'T EVEN GIVE ME THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. YOU TREAT ME LIKE A BABY, YOU NEVER TAKE ME WITH YOU ON TRIPS OUT OF TOWN OR ON FRIENDSHIP MISSIONS AND TO TOP ALL THIS YOU BARGED IN MY FIGHT WITH GARBLE WHEN I CLEARLY HAD EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL! YOU NEVER LET ME DO ANYTHING ON MY OWN ANYMORE, YOU WON'T EVEN LET ME HELP YOU HALF THE TIME. YOU TWILIGHT SPARKLE ARE A TERRIBLE FRIEND!" Spike finished trying to catch his breath. For the first time in her life, Twilight was completely speechless. She never thought that Spike would get so angry with her and call her out on all the faults that she did when she didn't realize what she had done wrong. "AND SO ARE YOU!" Spike shouted while pointing at the rest of his friends. "APPLEJACK, EVERYTIME I TRY TO HELP YOU AT THE FARM AND TRY TO TAKE THE HEAVY BUCKETS OF APPLES AWAY, ALL YOU DO IS MAKE OUT THAT I AM WEAKLING, YOU THEN TAKE THEM AWAY AND YOU DON'T LET ME HELP YOU WITH ANYTHING ELSE!" He berated to the farm pony. Applejack was shocked from Spike's ranting at her, she then pulled her stetson hat over her face to hide her ashamed look. "RAINBOW DASH, ALL YOU DO IS MAKE FUN OF ME FOR BEING WEAK AND YOU CONSTANTLY PULL PRANKS ON ME ALMOST EVERY TIME WE HANG OUT! DOESN'T IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT MAYBE I'M SICK AND TIRED OF BEING CONSTANTLY TEASED AND PRANKED ON? YOU'RE A SENIOR MEMBER OF THE WONDERBOLTS TRYING TO BECOME CAPTAIN FOR LUNA'S SAKE, ACT LIKE IT ALREADY!" The angry drake shouted to the cyan pegasus. Rainbow was known for being brave but seeing how angry Spike was at her made her very nervous, her ears drooped quickly and she looked away. "FLUTTERSHY, YOU TREAT ME LIKE JUST ANOTHER ANIMAL OF PONYVILLE AND NOT AS TWILIGHT'S ASSISTANT! I MAY BE A DRAGON BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN TREAT ME LIKE AN ANIMAL! EITHER TREAT ME AS ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS OR NOT AT ALL!" He bellowed at the shy pegasus. She let out a small 'eep' and then quickly hid under her mane trembling all over her body. She didn't like being shouted at, and having Spike shout at her made her feel small and very scared. "PINKIE PIE, YOU NEVER LET ME TAKE CARE OF ANY OF YOUR CAKE DELIVERIES FROM SUGAR CUBE CORNER. YOU JUST MAKE LIKE I CAN'T GET A SIMPLE DELIVERY DONE AND JUST PUSH ME ASIDE. WHAT KIND OF FRIEND DOES THAT?" He boomed to the normally happy pink pony. Pinkie didn't like seeing her friend getting upset with her and her mane slightly deflated and she went and hid behind one of the pillars in the banquet room. "RARITY, YOU SHOULD OF KNOWN THAT I HAVE HAD SERIOUS FEELINGS FOR YOU ALL THIS TIME WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER! IT TOOK A LOT OF COURAGE TO ASK YOU OUT ON THAT DATE WITH ME AND YOU STILL TURNED ME DOWN, EVEN WHEN I HAD EVERYTHING PLANNED FOR THAT NIGHT! ALL YOU DID WAS SAY I WAS TOO YOUNG AND JUST TURNED ME AWAY FOR SOMEPONY ELSE! DIDN'T IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT YOU HAD SERIOUSLY HURT My FEELINGS? IF NOT THEN YOU ARE NOT A TRUE FRIEND!" He loudly admitted to the fashionista. Rarity knew deep down that Spike was a good friend, and she did think that he looked cute in the suit he showed up in that day. But seeing him so upset and calling her out in front of everypony was not only embarrassing but made her feel really sad that she hurt him so much without realizing it. She then teared up and slunk down on the floor. But Spike wasn't finished, he still had to get what was on his chest out. "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I WISHED FOR? I WISHED SO THAT I AM NO LONGER A WEAK, PATHETIC AND USELESS DRAGON! I HAVE BEEN JEALOUS OF YOU ALL THESE LAST FEW YEARS! THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME. ALL OF YOU GO ON THESE FRIENDSHIP MISSIONS AND ALL OF YOU GET ALL THE CREDIT AND YOU DON'T TAKE ME! I KNOW THAT I AM NOT STRONG, NOT ABLE TO FLY OR EVEN USE MAGIC LIKE YOU PONIES CAN BUT DIDN'T IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT MAYBE I'D LIKE TO AT LEAST OFFER A HELPING CLAW? I HATE BEING LEFT OUT BEING PUT ASIDE IN THE DARK WHERE NO PONY PAYS ANY ATTENTION TO YOU, BEING TOLD THAT YOU CAN'T HELP AT ALL AND MAKES YOU FEEL USELESS AND WEAK! I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE THAT ANYMORE, I WANT TO BE LIKE THE OTHER DRAGONS! THEY'RE WAY STRONGER THAN ME AND AT LEAST THEY CAN FLY! I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE THIS ANYMORE, I WANT TO BETTER THAN THIS! ALL I WANT IS TO HELP, BUT YOU ALL DON'T CARE ABOUT HOW I FEEL AND YOU JUST PUSH ME AWAY!" Spike finished while catching his breath. Tears were now streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably and he then collapsed to the floor landing on his knees. "I hate being weak and not being able to fly! I hate being useless! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!" Spike cried. The crowd of guests and friends of his that had attended the party were all wide eyed and remained silent. Some had even hidden themselves away behind the tables that contained the punch and the cake, some of them just looked down at their hooves. Spike looked up at Twilight who had tears in her eyes and had the most bewildered look on her face. The rest of his friends were also showing the exact same emotions. "Spike? Did you really mean what you just said?" She asked shakily. "YES!" Spike snapped, "I mean't every word of it!" Twilight then approached Spike and tried to put a hoof to his cheek but he quickly swatted it away. "Spike! I'm so sorry for everything that's happened over these last few years. I'm sorry for continuing to call you a baby dragon when you are clearly a teenager, and I'm really sorry for not letting you come on more friendship missions with us. Believe me Spike, I really am sorry!" Twilight apologized. Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy then stood up to face their dragon friend. "We're sorry too Spike. For everything! We didn't mean to hurt your feelings like that." They all said at together. Spike glanced at his group of friends and then looked away. Twilight then put a hoof on his shoulder to make him face her. "But Spike believe me when I say to you, you are fine just the way you are." Twilight mentioned while trying to stay calm. Spike then glared at her right in her eyes which sent a shiver down her spine. "What... What did you just say?" He demanded, "What did you just say to me?" Twilight then gave Spike a reassuring smile. "I said that you are fine the way you are!" "Yeah. Yah don't need tuh act like those other dragons. You are Spike and that's what makes you 'you' sugarcube." Applejack included. "You don't need wings to be cool. You just need to be yourself!" Rainbow Dash chipped in. "Being like one of those beastly creatures is just not what you are supposed to be darling. You are better than them in every way." Rarity beamed. "They're too uncouth for a dragon like yourself." Fluttershy then peeped from under her mane and spoke quietly. "Dragons are scary Spike. But not you, we don't want you to be scary. I know I don't want you to... If that's okay with you that is..." "That's right Spike. Everything about you is perfect the way it is!" Twilight finished. "So there's nothing about you that needs to change. We don't want you to change!" Spike frowned at them even more and raised an eyebrow. "You don't mean that! Do you?" He asked sternly. "Of course we do silly" Pinkie jumped in. "Just look in this mirror Spike. You are you and that's what makes you better!" The explanations that Spike had heard were all but a blur inside of his mind. His friends all but basically told him that they didn't want him to change or even get stronger. Spike just looked into the mirror that Pinkie had pointed out to him and stared deeply into the reflection of the sad, heartbroken and angered dragon that stared back at him. As he stared even deeper, tears began to trickle from his eyes and run down his cheek. Twilight and the others noticed and tried to get through to him. "Spike? Are you okay?" Twilight asked. Spike didn't say a word, he just continued to stare into the mirror at himself while being lost inside of his own mind. He began to envision laughter and the words 'useless', 'pathetic' and 'Baby Dragon' echoing inside of his head. Spike's vision began to get even blurrier until the anger and all the rage that had made it's appearance before began to come flooding back until he was lost in a sea of red. His friends then noticed that Spike's expression had changed from sad to that of utmost anger. Spike began to breathe uncontrollably again, he clenched his teeth together and then he balled up both of his fists. "Spike? What's wrong?" Ember asked as she was beginning to get concerned as were the others. It had soon become aware by everypony in the room that the temperature had began to get slightly warmer. The ice sculpture had began to melt and the icing on the cake even began to turn to liquid and run down off the table and onto the floor. Then they all saw that Spike's face was now even angrier than before, and he had began to growl. "Spike!!!" Twilight and the others cried. But then............ SMASH! The mirror then cracked from side to side and had most of the glass removed. Spike had taken his right fist and slammed it into the mirror breaking it, which proceeded to repeat several times. "NO!" He shouted. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Spike had completely destroyed the mirror and then began to take his anger out on the ice sculpture. Everypony ran to the other side of the room and watched in horror as he began to destroy the sculpture while he was screaming at the top of his lungs. For now Spike had gone from the most important guest of the party to the horror of the party. He continued to show his rage and horrid temper while smashing anything that he could get his claws on, and then his body began to cover itself in what appeared to be smoke. He let out another massive scream as he then grabbed the dessert table with the cake and punch and threw it against the far end of the room with a loud bang. Twilight was in absolute shock and the fears of Spike rampaging on his birthday because of greed came back to haunt her. The visions of him that day still hung fresh in her memory, but tonight this was something different. This was a rampage of pure anger and rage, a side of Spike not her, her friends or anypony else had ever seen. Spike then appeared to calm down and the anger and the rampaging stopped. Twilight could no longer see Spike from the cloud of smoke that covered his body. She began to move closer with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Starlight, Ember and Thorax walking with her side by side. Cadence and Shining Armor also joined in and walked next to them ready for anything. As they approached the plume of smoke started to dissipate and Spike's body could be shown, he had his back turned to them and he was panting lightly. "Spike?" Twilight asked carefully. "Twi stay back!" Rainbow called. "Twilight, just please be careful!" Shining warned. Twilight nodded and tried to put her hoof on Spike's back. But then Spike quickly turned around and had a death glare directed at Twilight. She was now face to face with a creature that she had never seen before and had become frozen in fear. Spike's teeth were now elongated, his claws had now doubled in length, the fins on his head had become sharper looking and his once pleasant emerald green eyes were now a horrid bright shade of red. "Spike?" Twilight asked nervously. Spike looked at Twilight and then the crowd of guests. Then the crowd of ponies were scared even more when Spike unleashed the loudest and mightiest roar he had ever done. "RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRR!" The noise was deafening as everypony quickly covered their ears and then screamed loudly with fright. The force from the roar shook the entire building, and all the windows began to crack and then eventually shatter. "Everypony RUN!" Mayor Mare called. The crowd of guests then started to thin as ponies went everywhere to try and get out of the banquet hall. Earth ponies ran out through doors and windows, pegasi flew away as far as their wings would take them, and the unicorns used whatever magic they had in order to get away from the angry dragon. Spike continued to unleash his anger via a massive roar which continued to shake the town hall till parts of the roof came falling to the floor. Twilight and Starlight quickly managed to deflect all the pieces of the roof away from them and the others while using a magic barrier. But because of the vibrations from Spike's roar the force was too strong for the barrier to hold, it then broke apart sending Twilight, Starlight and the others flying across the room like it was from an explosion. Twilight winced in pain as she checked herself for damage, she then noticed that Spike had stopped roaring at the top of his lungs and was now looking straight at them. Spike just stood still stiff as a board while standing over them and looked at his friends who had the most frightened looks on their faces. They were shaking with fear and adverting themselves from trying to make eye contact with him. Twilight then noticed that Spike's fins started to form back into their real shape, his claws then retracted, his elongated teeth disappeared back inside his mouth and his eyes returned to their colorful emerald green color. She also saw Spike began to look at his claws that were all scratched and cut up from his earlier rampage. Afterwards he then looked up showing that he had a horrified look on his face. "Twilight?" The confused dragon asked while trying to come to grips with everything that happened. "What did I just do? What just happened to me?" Twilight didn't know what to say at this point, she was completely taken off guard by Spikes massive temper tantrum and the way he showed an incredible amount of power that she had never expected to see. Neither of them had! Spike continued to look at his friends who seemed to be keeping their distance from him, the looks on their faces told him that whatever he did had really terrified them. Tears then began to start streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably, the gut feeling of potentially hurting his friends that he cared about dug into his heart like a knife. He quickly turned around and ran out of the door as quickly as he could and disappeared into the night. "SPIKE!" Ember called. She quickly went after her friend with Thorax right behind her. Starlight looked over at Twilight and the others. "I'm going with them!" Starlight using her magic quickly teleported from the banquet room, leaving the others behind. Cadence and Shining Armor were a bit surprised by what Spike had done, but deep down they felt bad for him. Shining then gave a Cadence and Twilight both a hug and took off after Spike to help bring him back. "Twilight?" The Princess of love asked her sister in law, "Are you going to be okay?" Twilight looked over at Cadence and then began to cry. She hugged her sister while burying her face into her shoulder. Twilight couldn't come up with any words as they just couldn't seem to find their way to come out. Cadence then noticed that the others had also began to tear up as well. It had become a sad night for all of them, it should of been a night for celebration but it turned out to be one of the saddest nights that they have ever experienced. Meanwhile Spike was running through the darkness, going as fast as his legs could carry him with the outskirts of Ponyville getting further and further behind him. He could hear Ember, Thorax and Starlight calling for him in the distance and he could swear that he heard Shining Armor calling his name as well. But Spike didn't want to talk to anypony, especially his friends. How could he? He had almost destroyed the entire building of city hall and had almost seriously hurt Twilight and the others. He had let his anger take control of his emotions and it led to him turning into a monster. He saw that he was close to the everfree forest, and then began to run even faster into the dark void. 'Nopony will find me in there!' He said to himself. He ran through the forest, his chest burning deeply from running so much but he didn't stop and continued till he eventually came to a rather large pond deep in the middle of the forest. The young drake then looked into the still and calm water to look at his reflection. The only light that could be seen was the moon high above that barely penetrated through the thick brush and trees, but Spike could get a full glimpse of himself. The dragon looked deeply into the eyes of the reflection of himself, and began to get the same feeling of anger building deep inside him once more. He then growled loudly while jamming his fists into the water over and over again, splashing himself with every thrust of his fists jamming into the water. He then finally stopped while panting heavily and trying to catch his breath. He then could see that his eyes had returned to that bright fiery shade of red, the fins on his head had become sharper, and could also see the smoke forming around his whole body. Spike then took several deep breaths and tried to calm down as much as he could. He then could see the new form of himself beginning to disappear and return himself back to normal. When Spike saw what he looked like after this strange transformation he began to cry again and this time he broke down falling to his knees while caressing his head in his claws. "What have I become? Why is this happening to me?" He screamed in his mind. He wailed into the night, the noise echoing throughout the area of the swamp with no animals or anypony to hear him. End of Chapter Four.