Spike bounced in his seat excitedly with a large grin on his face. Twilight giggled at the sight.
“I’ve never seen you this excited before.” Twilight said with a laugh.
“This is my first birthday with new friends!” Spike said, still bouncing. The doorbell rang and Twilight opened the door. Pinkie pie cartwheeled in with a large grin and hugged Spike tightly.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPIKE!” Pinkie yelled. Spike winced at the noise.
“Thanks and please don’t yell.” Spike said.
“Oops I mean happy birthday Spike!” Pinkie said softly.
“The others will be here soon, but first I need to decorate.” Pinkie said. Spike blinked and everything was set up. He and Twilight looked around in confusion.
“How did-“ Twilight got cut off by the doorbell ringing. Twilight opened the door to see all of her friends standing there. Twilight let them in.
“Happy birthday Spike!” They all said happily.
“It’s time to get this party started!” Pinkie shouted as she pulled out a record player. Upbeat music played and the party started.
The party had went on for hours. It was way past noon, and it seemed like the party wouldn’t stop. Spike opened a present from Applejack, sitting in the piles of presents that he had gotten. It was a blanket with apples on it. He hugged her tightly.
“Thanks Applejack.” He said with a smile. Applejack patted him in the head.
“It’s no problem Sugarcube.” Applejack said. Spike pulled away from the hug and rubbed his arm.
“Sorry, I’m just not used to getting so many presents. I usually ask to not that many.” Spike said sheepishly. Pinkie jumped out from under the pile of presents.
“Talking about presents, the Cakes have a special surprise for you at Sugarcube Corner.” Pinkie said with a smile.
“You should go, I’ll clean this stuff up.” Twilight said. Spike gave an uneasy look.
“Are you sure? I can help.” Spike said. Twilight waved her hoof.
“Go out and have fun, you’re still a kid.” Twilight said. Spike nodded his head a left the library. Time to go find out what is special surprise was.
Spike entered SugarCube Corner and walked up to the counter. He had to get on his toes to see over it. Mr. and Mrs. Cake walked over to the counter with large grins.
“There's the dragon of the hour! Happy birthday, Spike!” Mr. Cake exclaimed. Mrs. Cake pulled out a cupcake with blue frosting and sapphires sprinkled on top of it.
“When we found out it was your birthday, we couldn't resist trying out a new recipe: sapphire!” Mrs. Cake exclaimed excitedly. Spike stared at the cupcake.
“How much does it cost?” Spike asked. Mr and Mrs. Cake laughed at the question.
“Spike it’s on the house, it is your birthday after all!” Mr. Cake said. Spike gave an uneasy look.
“Are you sure?” He asked.
“Yes we’re sure, just consider it as a present from the both of us.” Mrs. Cake said, pushing the cupcake towards him. When Spike grabbed the cupcake, he felt a small surge of power. He walked out of the store holding the cupcake with both hands. Something was different. Usaully, when the Cakes gave him free food, he would always slip some money into the register. But this time, it felt like he deserved it. It made him feel... powerful. Spikes eyes widened and he shook his head.
“No, I will not let myself get greedy. I just need to keep myself under contro-WHOA!” Spike exclaimed as he fell over. The uneaten cupcake fell out of his hands and landed on the ground with a splat. He looked up to see Cheerilee struggling to pick up her groceries. Spike rushed over to her and helped her.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Spike apologized as he handed her a grocery bag.
“It’s okay Spike.” Cheerilee said.
“Twilight told me today was your birthday so I got you something!” Cheerilee said excitedly as she rummaged through the grocery bag. She pulled out a white hat with a red band and a red feather sticking out.
“Sorry that I didn’t wrap it, I just bought it.” She said, handing him the hat. He felt another surge of power hit him when he held it. Spikes stomach dropped.
“It’s okay, you didn’t need to get me anything.” Spike said, trying to give the hat back. Cheerilee scoffed.
“Nonsense, everyone deserves something on there birthday.” Cheerilee said with a smile. She pushed the hat back into his hands and walked away. Spike stared at the hat with shaky hands.
“I don’t need this, I don’t need this, I don’t need this.” Spike repeated to himself as he mindlessly walked around town.
“Hey Spike!” Someone called out making Spike turn around. It was Applebloom with a large grin on her face.
“Oh hey.” Spike said. It appeared that she was hiding something behind her back.
“I heard it was your birthday so I got you something!” Applebloom said, revealing a yellow and blue bouncy ball. Spike slowly reached his hand out to touch the ball. His eyes turned into slits and he grabbed it.
“Thankssss.” Spike said with a little hiss. Appleblooms ears folded and she took a few steps back.
“Are ya feeling okay?” Applebloom asked. Spike blinked and shook his head, snapping himself out of the trance.
“Y-yeah, I just need to get some rest bye!” Spike said as he bolted in the other direction. Once Applebloom was out of sight, he slowed down.
“I can’t believe I lost control again. How could I be so stupid!” Spike spat bitterly at himself. Something shiny caught his eye. He trailed over to it and saw that it was a silver button. Spikes eyes turned to slits again.
”Mine.”
Twilights ears perked up when she heard the front door open. She turned around to see Spike, holding items that towered over his head. She levitated it out of his arms and placed on the floor.
“Where were you? The moon has been up for an hour!” Twilight exclaimed. It wasn’t like him to go out for long periods of time without any feedback whatsoever. Spike let out a chuckle.
“Sorry Twi, I guess I was to busy getting all of these cool presents.” Spike said, gesturing to the pile of items on the floor. Twilight stared at the pile. Some of these made for very wierd birthday presents. There was a hearing aid in there. Twilight let out a sigh.
“I’m just glad you’re safe.” Twilight said while hugging him. Spike yawned.
“I’m going to sleep.” Spike said. Twilight tilted her head. That was odd, he would always stay with her as she read, even if he was tired. It must have just been him trying to get into new habits. He even looked a few inches taller.
“Well aren’t you going to eat your fire ruby? You’ve been saving it for weeks.” Twilight said while handing him the heart shaped gem. His eyes turned to slits for a split second.
“You know what, I’m just going to keep it.” Spike said as he walked up the stairs, staring at the ruby. There was something off about Spike, but Twilight couldn’t figure out what.
Ponies screamed as loud stomping echoes around Ponyville. A loud distant roar, caused animals to flee. Ponies pushed pass a purple unicorn.
“I can get through to him, I know it!” Twilight shouted. A large, 80 foot purple dragon stomped through town eating, stealing, and burning everything in sight. The dragon approached Twilight, who stood in place. Tears streamed down her face.
“Spike I know this isn’t you, please snap out of it the real you would never do this!” Twilight shouted. Spike stared at her before a large, wicked grin spread across his face. He wrapped his claws around the purple unicorn, squeezing her tightly. She let out a strained wheeze as Spike brought her up to his face.
“NO PLEASE DON’T, YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND, I LOVE YOU!” Twilight screamed in terror. And with that, the dragon ate the unicorn in one bite.
Spike sat up in bed, breathing heavily. Beads of sweat dripped down his face and tears welled up in his eyes. He looked over to see Twilight still sleeping soundly in her bed. He looked around his bed to see various items surrounding him.
“I can’t let that dream come true.” Spike whispered to himself. His voice was a lot deeper than before. He got out of bed, only to realize that he had grown big enough to be considered a teenage dragon. He picked up the “presents” and brought them downstairs. Spike rummaged through a closet and pulled out a big backpack and a wagon.
Spike made his way to the front door and was about to open it when he paused. He turned around to see his birthday presents laying on the floor. He walked over to them and put them in the wagon.
“I don’t deserve these.” Spike muttered to himself as he left the library. The cold night air chilled his scales. Spike walked to the first house and rummaged through his bag. He pulled out a stuffed animal and placed it at the front door. On to the next house.
Spike stood in front of the door of Sweet Apple Acres, holding the blanket and numerous presents Applejack had given him. He placed it on the doorstep. The wagon was completely empty and Spike shrunk back down to his normal size. He turned around to walk away, when he heard something hit the ground. He turned around to see Starry laying on the ground. Spike held his breath. He picked her up.
“I must have accidentally put you in my bag.” Spike said to himself. He stared into Starry’s lifeless doll eyes and looked at the gifts he put on the doorstep.
“I don’t deserve you.” Spike muttered as he stared at the toy. Tears started to slide down his cheeks. He kissed Starry on the head.
“I’ll miss you girl.” Spike whispered as he put her on top of the blanket. He walked away, the wagon creaking behind him. Spike walked in silence, listening to the birds chirp. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon. Spike was so lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t realize that he was in front of the library. He opened the door and walked inside. He put the wagon and the bag back into the closet.
Spike made his way upstairs to see Twilight still sleeping peacefully. He looked at his bed to see the fire ruby sitting there. Spike picked it up and walked over to Twilights bed. He slid the ruby next to her and gave her a soft kiss on the head. He walked back downstairs and walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs, butter, and milk.
He might as well make himself useful if he wasn’t going back to sleep. He went to the cabinet and pulled out flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. He slipped on his pink apron and got to work.
Spike had been in silence for so long, he almost didn’t hear Twilight walk into the kitchen. She let out a yawn, making him turn around.
“Morning Spike.” Twilight said as she sat down at the table. Spike mumbled a greeting.
“What are you doing up so early?” Twilight asked.
“You know, just making breakfast.” Spike mumbled. Twilight noticed something was off. Spike was usually happy to see her. Now he seemed bland and upset. He also had heavy bags under his eyes. Did he not sleep?
“I noticed that you put your fire ruby in my bed.” Twilight stated.
“I don’t want it anymore, you can have it.” Spike said. Twilight blinked in surprise. Before she could say anything, Spike put a stack of pancakes onto the table. Twilight levitated a few pancakes into her plate and poured some syrup. She took a small bite and her taste buds exploded.
“These are really good.” Twilight complimented. Spike stared at his pancakes.
“Thanks.” He mumbled while picking at his pancake.
“Are you not going to eat?” Twilight asked. Spike pushed his plate away.
“I’m just gonna go lay down for a bit.” Spike said as he got up from the table and walked out of the room. Now something was definitely wrong. Spike never lost his appetite unless he was sick or something bad happened. Since he was sick a few days ago, something had to be wrong.
Twilight stood up from the table and was about to go upstairs,but stopped when she noticed Spike laying in the middle of the library floor. He seemed to be staring at the ceiling. Twilight walked over to him.
“Spike what’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“There’s nothing wrong, I’m just laying here.” Spike said. Twilight went upstairs to get his comfort item. She looked inside of his bed to see that Starry wasn’t in there. She looked in her bed but Starry wasn’t there either. Twilight walked back down stairs.
“Spike what happened to Starry? You never let her out of your sight.” Twilight said. Spike seemed to stiffen up at the question. Before he could answer, the doorbell rang. Twilight walked over to the door and opened it to see all of her friends with concerned looks.
“Hi girls, what are you doing here so early?” Twilight asked. They walked in, holding very familiar presents.
“We found our dear Spikey Wilkey’s presents on our doorsteps when we woke up.” Rarity said. Twilights eyes widened in shock.
“That’s unlike him, but he had been acting weirdly all morning.” Twilight commented.
“He even gave me back the blanket that he said he loved so much.” Applejack said.
“But I don’t remember giving him this.” Applejack said as she pulled out a dark blue and purple plush bat. Twilight was taken aback.
“Thats Spikes favorite toy, he would never give her up that easily.” Twilight said.
“I think we need to get to the bottom of this.” Rainbow dash said. All mares nodded and walked over to Spike, who was now laying on his face.
“Spike we need to talk.” Twilight said sternly. Spike let out some muffled words that couldn’t be deciphered.
“Why did you give the presents back? If you didn’t like them you could’ve just said so.” Pinkie Pie said. Spike still laid there in silence. Twilight levitated Starry from off of the floor and nudged Spike in the head with her. Spike sat up slightly and his eyes widened. His eyes welled up with tears and he grabbed her as quickly as he could. Twilight sat down next to him.
“Now are you ready to talk?” Twilight asked. Spike sniffled and nodded his head.
“There’s this thing call dragon greed, where when a dragon get too greedy, they start to grow and lose sight in what important. All of the presents you gave me made me too greedy and I started to lose control of myself. I started to steal thing from ponies and then lied and told you they gave them to me. I would have hurt anyone just to get something meaningless. I thought if I gave everything back, I wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Spike explained. Twilights eyes widened and she hugged him tightly.
“Spike I know that would never ever happen to you. You are one of the most selfless people I know and you would never go that far.” Twilight said. Fluttershy walked over.
“Next year we don’t have to give you as many presents so you can still be happy.” She said. Spike nodded.
“I think that for the best.” Spike said. All of his friends walked over to him and pulled him into a group hug. With all of these loving friends, Spike knew he wouldn’t lose control in a long time.