Chapter 9 - Light The Candles
"I think he's out cold."
"Oh dear, did we surprise him too much?"
"He's not wakin' up…"
"Don't worry. I got this."
SPLASH!
A bucket of ice cold water splashed Spike square in the face. The last thing he remembered was a loud noise, faces everywhere, and then nothing. Now, he was laying on the library floor, covered in cold water, his spines shivering slightly.
Spike dared to open his eyes. He was immediately greeted by seven pairs of eyes (one of them derped) staring at him. All of their faces bore soft smiles of relief.
"He's awake!"
Before Spike could stand up to dry himself off, Pinkie Pie lunged in for a hug, squeezing him tightly as her mouth went a mile a second.
"Oh my gosh, I thought you'd never wake up. First it was all a disaster, then everything was all WOOSH, BAM! And then I came in with my Party Cannon, and it was all BANG! And then everything was better. And then it got dark, and you came in, and there was a lot of yelling, and you made Twilight cry, and then you were crying, and that made me so sad, I just wanted to jump out and hug you, but Rarity held me back. And then you started getting mad, and then Twilight gave the signal, and we all yelled SURPRISE, and then you-"
"Ok, Pinkie," interjected Twilight was she pushed Spike out of her grip to let him breath. "I think he gets the picture now."
Spike's eyes spun around in confusion. The first thing he noticed were the brightly-colored decorations: streamers and balloons, cups and plates, food and punch and all sorts of jewel-encrusted goodies, all in shades of purple and green.
"Wha…what is this?" he asked in a daze.
"It's your party, sugarcube." informed Applejack.
"My…party?"
Spike took another look around. Now that the frustration had left his head, everything suddenly made sense to him now: the errands, the pranks, and everything he assumed as neglect and abuse; all just a bunch of errands to keep him away from the library!
"So…" Spike looked at Twilight. "..you weren't doing this because you hated me?"
Twilight scoffed and patted the little dragon's head affectionately.
"Of course I wasn't. We just didn't want to spoil the surprise!"
"Huh…" From around the corner, Pinkie Pie nudged Applejack and whispered in her ear, "I'm getting a reeeeally weird feeling of déjà vu. Has this happened before?"
Applejack rolled her eyes and chuckled.
*****
It didn't take long for Spike's attitude to skyrocket back to its original self. All that seething frustration and anger he had towards Twilight and the others vanished once it found a way out.
The birthday dragon sat on the table, snacking on a few small rubies and wearing a bright green party hat. Party music played in the background, most of the ponies attempting to dance along. Suddenly, a lively salsa beat congaed out of the gramophone, making Spike's ear perk with intrigue. Before he could turn around, something came up behind and blinding him! Rainbow Dash had stuck a blindfold over his eye.
"What's going on?" yelled Spike as he stumbled around the library floor, seeing nothing but darkness. Giggling to themselves, Pinkie Pie held up a piñata and Ditzy handed Spike a baseball bat.
"Pinata time!"
"Ohhh," grinned Spike from underneath his blindfold. He readied the bat, but somepony spun him around in circles, messing up his sense of direction. Spike took a blind swing, barely missing Twilight's head as she ducked out of the way. Another wide swing almost caused him to topple the punchbowl, if Fluttershy hadn't moved it in the last second.
"Let me help ya," said Applejack as she nudged Spike into the right direction. One more wide sing, and BOOM! The library floor became littered with colorful gemstones and candy wrappers. Everypony lunged at the floor, but Spike was at the ready, slithering underneath to grab the stones.
"Did you know that the first piñatas weren't filled with candy, but with different types of seeds?" Twilight asked as she unwrapped a hoof-full of candy and placed it in her mouth. "They were originally decorated with symbols that represented a favorable climate for the upcoming growing season. In fact, after these traditional piñatas were broken, they often burned it and kept the ashes for good luck. They didn't start adding candy until way after the…"
At this point Spike would have hushed Twilight from rambling on, but his mouth was too full of sweets to stop her, as was everypony else's. Plus, he still felt incredibly bad about yelling at her earlier. He wanted desperately to talk to her, but it was too noisy to get her alone.
"Um, Twilight…about earlier, I-"
"CAKE TIME!"
Before Spike could attempt to apologize, Pinkie Pie rolled in from the kitchen, carrying a birthday cake. It was carefully decorated with purple frosting, and what looked like real emeralds carved on the sides, each as big as Spike's fist! The sigh of such a delicious cake sent Spike's mouth to watering.
As the cake reached the center of the room, Twilight stood next to him, leading everypony into a rousing birthday song. As they all sang around him, Spike looked at each of him friends, his face beaming with gratitude. Once they finished singing, Applejack furled her eyebrow in confusion.
"Ain't the candles supposed to be lit at this point?"
Applejack was right. Sat atop the cake were five white candles, but each of them were unlit.
"Actually, Applejack," began Twilight. "It's a dragon tradition to-" she stopped mid-sentence and looked back at her assistant. "why don't you tell us, Spike?"
Spike cleared his throat, glad to have a chance to explain his own culture. "When a dragon reaches the day of their birth, we celebrate it by lighting our own flame to signify health and a long-life. It's like a ritual to celebrate each new yea we have to grow and live. My mom said it's like taking a new step every year to becoming a man…stand back!"
Spike's eye glistened with excitement as he took in a breath. He closed his eyes and thought about everything that had happened the last year: moving to Ponyville, coping with the stress of settling into a new town, meeting new friends, and recounting all the precious moments they shared. Next he thought about the future: growing older, becoming more mature, and maybe, just maybe finding the right way to finally tell someone special to him how h really felt…
He gathered all of those thoughts into a single moment, and exhaled. A bright green jet of flame slowly escaped Spike's mouth. It moved as if slowed by time, curling and floating like smoke, softly gliding over the top of the candles. Everypony held their breath as the fire skimmed across the wicks of the candles, leaving behind a perfect teardrop of emerald-green flame in their wake, until it passed through them all.
Spike opened his eye to the sight of five brightly-lit flames and the cheer of everyone. Twilight stood by his side, gazing at him with the eyes of a proud mother as a soft smile came across her lips.
*****
After a large portion of the cake had been devoured by the guests, everypony sat down and presented Spike with presents:
Applejack had woven him a lasso from scratch. "I'll sure have fun practicing with this!"
Fluttershy presented him with a beautiful quill made from a phoenix feather. "The tip is so sharp. Looks like it'll last for a long time!"
Rainbow Dash handed him a backstage pass to the next Wonderbolts show. "How did you get this?! I heard these are super-rare!"
Pinkie Pie gave him a magic kit for beginners. "Adrakadabr- oops…well Twilight, at least now we know yellow isn't a good mane color for you…"
Ditzy made him a basket full of blueberry muffins. "Aw man, these look deliscio- ohhh, maybe I should wait for tomorrow."
Twilight placed a small jewelry box in Spike's lap. He opened it carefully, his eyes opening wide at what he saw.
"I…is that?"
Twilight nodded. "I saved it all these years. It's a piece of the egg I hatched you from."
Spike carefully held it in his arms. Its shell was the same purple hue as his scales, dotted with a few green spots.
"It's because of you that I was able to awaken my powers. Whenever I get discouraged, I take it out and look at it, and it always makes me feel better."
Spike gently placed the fragment back in its box and hugged Twilight warmly.
"Ahem.."
The soft sound of somepony coughing made him turn his head.
"There's still one more gift," chimed Rarity as she held up a large rectangular shaped box.
Spike held the box in his hands, slowly untying the intricately-wrapped ribbon. It felt heavy on his lap. The young dragon pondered over what it could be as he tore open the wrapping paper and opened the box. But as he gazed at the contents of the gift, he suddenly realized that what was really inside trumped all of his fantasies:
"It's a tuxedo! And a top hat!"
As Spike held it up for everypony to see, it was met with a few awes of approval.
"Rarity beamed proudly. "Custom made, every stitch. Go on dear, try it on!"
Spike rushed to the closest mirror, and before anyone could say "puttin' on the ritz," he secured the last button, strutting down the room with the widest smile he could make. The suit fitted him perfectly, as well as the hat. Twilight and Rarity started clapping for him.
"You look smashing!"
"Nice threads, dude!"
"Lookin' sharp!"
"Super Duper!"
Spike blushed with thankfulness.
"Best…birthday…ever!"