The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and there isn’t a cloud in the sky as we join Rarity in Ponyville. She’s happily walking down the road greeting ponies as she makes her way to the Castle of Friendship. She comes to the castle door, knocks on it and waits for an answer. She soon hears a familiar voice from inside the castle say, “Coming.” As the door opens, Twilight is standing there with a smile on her face as she says, “Rarity, you made it. This is great. Everypony else is already here. Come on in.”
“Thank you, Twilight, dear. I do hope I’m not too late.” Rarity says with a warm smile as she makes her way inside the castle and the friends begin to walk down the corridor towards the dining room.
Twilight chuckles and says, “Not at all. You’re fashionably late as always, Rarity.” This made Rarity giggle along with her before they come to the dining room door and open it to walk in. As the mares do, a loud bang goes off and confetti comes down over them as Pinkie Pie goes running up to Rarity and pulls her into a bone crushing hug as she says, “Rarity, you’re here! Now we can start the party! YAY!”
As Pinkie releases her from the hug, Rarity gaps for air before smiling at her friend and removing some confetti from her mane as she says, “Yes, I suppose we can. Sorry for making you wait, Pinkie dear. I know how you like a good party.”
Pinkie Pie happily bounces over to her seat and says, “It’s ok. You’re here now. That’s the main thing,” as she lands in her seat with a smile. Twilight and Rarity make their way over to some seats around the table and join the others.
“Hello girls,” Rarity says with a smile. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“That’s ok, Rarity,” Fluttershy says as she smiles at her friend.
“Yeah, don’t fret about it, sugar cube. You haven’t missed anything. It’s just nice to be able to take a break from the farm every now and then,” Applejack says as she looks at her friend, with a smile.
“Says you. I’m starving. What kept ya, Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked as she glared at her friend with folded arms in annoyance at having to wait.
As Rarity clears her throat, she says, “Yes. Well, sorry, Rainbow Dash. I was just finishing off my latest creation and it took a little longer than I would have liked.”
“Called it,” Rainbow Dash said as she sniggered before holding out her hoof to Applejack. Applejack had a disgruntled face as she placed some bits into Rainbow Dashes hoof before saying, “I was so sure it was gonna be something else this time. Guess I should of known better.”
As Rainbow continues to laugh, Rarity looked shocked and said, “You bet on why I was going to be late?”
Rainbow stopped laughing and said, “It wasn’t much of a bet if you ask me.”
“Well, I never,” Rarity said looking a bit annoyed at her friends.
Applejack looked at Rarity and said with a smile, “We don’t mean anything bad. It was just a bit of harmless fun between friends.”
As Rarity takes a breath, she says, “Well I suppose you have a point,” as she smiles back at Applejack. Just then the dining room door opens and Cadance walks in.
“Oh, Rarity, you’re here,” Cadance says happily as she makes her way over to a seat next to Twilight and sits down.
Rarity smiles back and says, “Hello, Princess Cadance, what a pleasant surprise. I had no idea you were coming to our little lunch date today.”
Cadance giggled and said, “Please, Rarity, just call me Cadance. We’re all friends here. As for this little get together, Twilight invited me last night. I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it, but Shining Armor insisted that I come. Although I don’t like the idea of leaving him and little Flurry Heart at the Crystal Empire, he said that I never get any time off, so I should come and enjoy myself for a change. So here I am.”
As Cadance looks around the table and smiles at everyone she says, “Between you and me, it’s been such a long time since I got to just relax and be one of the girls. I’m really looking forward to just being able to let my mane down and not having to worry for a change.”
As everyone smiles back at Cadance, Rarity says, “Yes, I can’t imagine how hard it must be to be a princess with so many responsibilities. You must be worn out with all the work you have to do.”
“Hey! I’m a princess too you know, and I have to run the school of Friendship. It’s no picnic for me either, you know.” Twilight says as she folds her arms and looks at Rarity.
“Oh yes, yes. Of course, Twilight.” Rarity says with a sympathetic smile before saying, “All I meant was that Cadance has to run the whole Crystal Empire and never gets time to just relax like us, so I’m glad she was able to make it.”
Twilight unfolded her arms and laughed as she says, “I know Rarity. I was just playing with you. I think it’s great that Cadance was able to come. We hardly ever get to spend time together anymore... Well unless Equestria is in danger.”
“Well, my Pinkie sense isn’t going off, so nothing dangerous to worry about.” Pinkie Pie happily says with a big smile on her face.
“Oh, that’s good to hear. At least I don’t have to worry about my poor little animal friends getting hurt,” Fluttershy says as she takes a calming breath.
“Please, we’re amazing. Even if anything was to happen, we could deal with it within 10 seconds flat,” Rainbow Dash says with a smug grin on her face.
“Well, if you ask me the most dangerous thing is that ego of yours RD.” Applejack says as she began to laugh, joined shortly by all the others in the room.
Twilight stands up and says, “Let me just go get the food. I’ll be right back,” as she starts making her way out of the room.
“Hey Twily, let me help,” as Cadance starts to stand up before Twilight shakes her head and says, “Don’t be silly. You are all my guests. I’m quite capable of getting some food. Just sit back and relax,” she says as she walks out the room.
“Hmmm, that’s strange,” Rarity says as everyone looks at her, “Doesn’t Spikey-wikey, normally do that sort of thing? Come to think of it, where is he? He would normally be here to greet me by now.”
“Oh right. You weren’t here earlier,” Cadance says as she looks at Rarity. “Spike was here but was summoned to Canterlot Castle by Princess Celestia for some royal duties. He’ll probably be back later tonight.”
“Oh, I see. That’s too bad. I had hoped to see him today, but I guess it can wait till tomorrow,” Rarity says giving off a bit of a sad smile.
Just then, Twilight came back into the room carrying some big plates of food, smaller plates for her friends, drinks, and cupcakes and placed them on the table with her magic. After Twilight takes her seat, everyone starts to help themselves to the food and drink. All except Rarity. She clears her throat to get Twilight’s attention and says, “Twilight, I do hate to be a bother, I really do. It’s just I-“
As Twilight smiles at her friend a flash of purple light goes off in front of Rarity, cutting her off, as she looks down to see all her favourite foods on a plate for her and the daisy sandwiches with the crust cut off, just how she likes them. As Rarity looks back up at Twilight, she smiles as she says, “Oh, thank you Twilight. I do hope it wasn’t too much trouble. I don’t mean to be picky; I just can’t eat the crust.”
Twilight lets out a giggle and says, “It was no trouble for me at all. All this food was made by Spike this morning before he left. He knows how you like the crust cut off.”
As Rarity smiles warmly at the thought, she whispers, “Such a sweet little dragon.”
Just then, Pinkie Pie lets out a massive belly laugh and as everyone looks at her, she says, “That makes sense now. I thought these cupcakes tasted like Spike’s. I mean no offense Twilight, but you’re no baker.”
As everyone joins in on the laughter, Twilight says, “None taken, Pinkie Pie. I know where my talent lies and it’s not baking,” making everyone laugh harder.
As Pinkie pie scarfs down a cupcake, she says, “These are really good. I’m lucky he’s your number one assistant, Twilight, cuz if he ever went into business selling cupcakes, me and the Cake’s would have some real compaction on our hooves. Let me tell ya.”
Applejack joined in the conversation by saying, “I couldn’t agree more, Pinkie,” as she puts down her drink with a smile and then continues to say, “That little guy sure can cook.”
“Yeah, he’s not too bad,” Rainbow says as she finishes off her sandwich before saying, “He’s really come along in his flying as well. I mean, he’ll never be as awesome as me, but with a bit more training I recon he could even try out for the Wonderbolts. Hey, that’s not a bad idea. Just think about it. Spike being the first dragon to be a Wonderbolt. That would be so cool!”
As Twilight places her cup down on the table and grins at Rainbow Dash, she says, “Sorry, Rainbow. Not gonna happen. Spike’s my assistant and you can’t have him.” Rainbow shrugs her shoulders and goes back in for some more food.
As a few of the girls let out a few laughs, Cadance asks, “So what have you all been up to lately?”
Twilight smiles at her sister-in-law and says, “Well, since the students have broken up for the semester, I’ve just been working on plans for the new term.” As Twilight’s smile gets bigger, she says, “In fact, I worked out that if we can take registration more sufficiently. Then we could have 5 seconds off of form room and it will give the students more time to get to the first class.”
As the girls begin to snigger at what Twilight said, Cadance placed her hoof over her mouth and says, “Oh my, that is impressive, Twilight,” as she tried to hold back her laughter, so not to hurt Twilight’s feelings.
As Twilight stared at her friends with a look on her face that says, ‘See, I knew she’d be impressed,’ Rainbow Dash leaned back in her chair and said, “That’s Twilight for ya,” before saying, “As for yours truly, I’ve just been helping the weather team out and working on my routine with the Wonderbolt’s.”
Applejack put her drink down and says, “Well, as you know most of my time gets taken up by work on the farm. Fun thing though, I woke up this morning to go buck some apple tree’s and it was all done. In fact, the whole orchard was done.” Applejack turned and gave Futtershy a knowing smile.
Fluttershy let out a quiet little giggle as she looked back at Applejack and says, “Yeah, Discord was telling me that he wanted to talk to Big Mac about O&O. So, I may have mentioned that because of your work schedule, you and Big Mac don’t get a lot of time off. I may have also said that because of this, you may not be able to make it to our little lunch today. I guess Discord really wanted to talk to Big Mac about O&O,” as Fluttershy finished giggling, she says, “I do hope he didn’t cause you any problems?”
Applejack laughed and says, “Not at all. Gave us all a bit of a fright waking up to see all the apples in there baskets, but we were grateful for his help. Granny even made sure to make him an apple pie as thanks.”
Fluttershy smiled and says, “I’m so glad,” before looking over to Rarity and asking, “You just came back from your trip from Manehattan, right? How is Rarity For You doing?”
Rarity places her drink down and smiles as she says, “Yes, the shop is doing fine. Thank you for asking, dear. I just had to go over there and check up on things while dropping off some new designs. Although, I did meet a nice unicorn stallion while there by the name of Emerald Cloud and he mentioned that he was coming to Ponyville tomorrow, so I offered to meet up with him.”
“Oh, really?” Cadance asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
Rarity smiles happily and says, “Yes, apparently he likes to travel to places he hasn’t been to before and said Ponyville sounded like a nice place to come see. So, I of course told him that Ponyville is like no other place, and after talking about how much I loved it here he said he just had to come see it himself.”
Twilight looks over to Rarity and says, “That’s great Rarity, sounds like you made a new friend.”
As Rarity picks up her drink, she smiles at Twilight and says, “It appears so.”
As time goes on, the girls happily chat away, enjoying themselves. Twilight decides to go get some more drinks and leaves the room, Rarity finishes the last bit of her sandwich and wipes her mouth before saying, “That was truly delicious. I must remember to thank Spike for putting on such a lovely spread.” Just then an idea came to her as she says with a bright smile, “I know. I have some gems from our last gem hunt together that I saw him eyeing up. I’ll give them to him as a thank you for going to such an effort.”
Cadance stifles a giggle and says, “I’m sure he’ll like that, Rarity. You know how he likes a good gem to snack on.”
Rarity lets out a giggle of her own and says, “It’s the least I could do for him. He’s such a hard working baby dragon. Why, it wouldn’t be right not to at least thank him in some way.”
Cadance lets out a small sigh, as she says, “Huh, right, of course.” Getting a confused look from Rarity, Cadance takes a deep breath before saying, “Why do you keep calling him a baby dragon?”
This gets the attention of the other girls as they all now look at Cadance, before Rainbow Dash says, “Err hello, cuz he is. I mean, he’s a baby dragon after all.” All the girls had the same look on their faces at Rainbow Dash’s answer, a look that said that’s right.
Cadance lets out another sigh as she shakes her head before looking at all the girls and saying, “Yes, technically, Spike is a baby dragon, however, do you even know how old he is?”
As the girls all look around at each other, not one of them could give an answer to Cadance’s question. Cadance gave them a saddened look as she said, “Spike has been in Ponyville for years and has even had birthdays here and you’re telling me not one of you even knows his age?”
As Cadance watched the girls looking around at each other feeling dejected, Pinkie Pie, looking sorrowful with her mane a bit deflated, says, “We have celebrated Spike’s birthday, but every time I try to find out how old he is, I was shot down by him. Even Twilight wouldn’t tell me.”
After hearing Pinkie’s answer, Cadance closed her eyes before saying, “It’s not hard to figure out if you put some thought into it. In fact, given how well you plan things, Pinkie, I thought you of all ponies would of figured it out.” As Cadance opened her eyes to look at them all, she continued to say, “Twilight hatched Spike when she got her Cutie Mark, as you all know since that is when you got your marks too.”
As a look of realisation washes over them all, they all sit there for a moment in shock before Pinkie asked, “What, are you saying Spike is only 4 years younger than Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy? This means he’s only 3 years younger than me and Rarity.”
As they all watch Cadance nod her head, Rarity shouts, “What!?! How can that be? I thought dragon’s age differently to ponies?”
Cadance looks around the room and says, “They don’t. They age at the same rate ponies do, only they live longer so their bodies normally take longer to grow like with the molt effect. However, a dragon can also grow in other ways, rather than growing naturally, they ca-
Just then, Fluttershy cuts in and asks, “You mean, like when Spike grew from his greed?”
Cadance smiles gently at her and says, “Yes, greed is one way they can grow, but from my understanding it isn’t greed that makes them grow, rather it’s the need to protect what is theirs that makes them grow. Most dragons grow when there is an overwhelming need to do so, be it to protect their treasure or for other reasons.” As Cadance sighs, she continues to say, “Which is why, because of his age, Spike is still seen as a baby dragon by dragon culture, but here in Equestria, where he was raised and lives, for all intense and purposes, Spike is an adult.”
As all the girls still sit there in shock of this new information about Spike, Rarity starts to stutter as she says, “B...bu...but Twilight still calls him her baby dragon!”
Cadance looks at Rarity and says, “Of course, she does. He is her baby brother after all. Not to mention Twilight and Spike have been together since she was young. She did hatch him after all. I mean, seriously, did none of you think it was strange how Spike was working as Twilight’s number one assistant if you thought he was only a baby? Or how about all the help he gives each of you when you need it? Not to mention the work he does for the other Princesses. What exactly do you think Spike does when he is summoned to Canterlot Castle for royal duties? Play games?”
As Cadance continues to look around at everyone looking shocked, she says, “Spike isn’t just Twilight’s number one assistant. He is without doubt one of the most trusted creatures in all of Equestria. It isn’t an exaggeration when I say that the Princesses, me included, have come to depend on him greatly. The help and support he has given us over the years is not something just any creature could do.” As Cadance smiles warmly at them all, she says, “The title of number one assistant truly is a title only he could hold. That is how amazing Spike truly is.”
After taking a quick drink and still seeing the girls sitting there in silence, Cadance says, “Admittedly, we have only come to understand this much about dragon culture because of how things are with the dragons now. Since the school of Friendship opened, Spike and Twilight have learnt all they can from Smolder about dragons, for instance, when a dragon reaches adulthood they gain the ability to control their size and can choose to be whatever size they wish.” As Cadance takes a breath, she asks, “Did none of you think to even inquire into dragon culture when there was a dragon at your school?”
Seeing the downtrodden looks on all their faces, Cadance snorts as she laughs and says, “I mean come on, I know Aunty Luna can be a bit scary at times, but not even she would put a baby to work,” getting a few half smiles from some of the girls at her attempted little joke.
A million thoughts begin to run through Rarity’s head as she says, “But, why didn’t he ever tell us? Tell me!?”
Cadance sighs before saying, “Can you imagine how hard it must be for him? A dragon living amongst ponies and looking like a baby, always being looked down upon? I guess he just figured it would be easier to play the part rather than having to try telling the ponies around him that he was actually around the same age as them each any every time. He did try to once or twice back in the day, but the ponies didn’t believe him and even worse, teased him about it. So I guess that’s why he never told any of you and knowing Spike, he probably asked Twilight not to say anything either.”
“But we’re his friends. We would have believed him!” Rarity said getting a bit angry at the idea of Spike keeping such a secret from her.
“Yeah, it doesn’t make a difference what age Spike is. He’s still our friend, no matter what!” Fluttershy said as a smile returned to her face.
Cadance couldn’t help smile at them all hearing Fluttershy say that and seeing them all nod in agreement. All except Rarity, who just sat there quietly, as Cadance looked over at Rarity with a sympathetic smile, she said, “I’m sure this isn’t easy for you all. But, Spike must have his reasons for not wanting to tell you- to tell all of you. In truth, I shouldn’t have told any of you this, but it wasn’t hidden from any of you. You just didn’t look into it. Maybe because it was easier not to do so.”
Rarity gives Cadance a small but yet sad smile before Cadance looks around at them all and says, “I would greatly appreciate it if you could all keep this to yourselves and not tell anyone, and not even discuss it with Twilight. Best to wait for Spike to come out and tell you himself,” as Cadance takes one last glance at Rarity and smiles, she says, “Maybe then you will find out the reason why he chose to keep this from you.”
As Cadance watched the girls give her a Pinkie promise, she smiles at them and says, “Thank you girls. I know it must of been shocking to find this out, but I wanted you to know, so you would have time to get used to the idea before Spike told you himself.”
As the girls all give Cadance a nod of understanding, she smiles and picks up her drink, saying, “So tell me, what’s it like being teachers?”
As the girls told Cadance about their experiences at teaching, they were happy for the change in conversation, none more than Rarity. Even though she joined in on the conversation, however, she was more quite now than before.
Just then, Twilight came back in with a smile on her face as she placed drinks down on the table and said, "Sorry for the wait, girls. How about some fresh drinks?” Before anyone had chance to answer, a scroll appeared in front of Twilight. As she used her magic to open it, she says, “It must be from Spike. I’m glad Celestia taught me the spell to be able to send and receive letters from Spike like her now.”
As she quickly scanned over the letter, she said, “It’s from Celestia. She says that she’s sorry to ask this, but she needs your assistance with a matter at Canterlot, Cadance.”
Cadance stands up and smiles as she says, “A princess' work is never done. Sorry to eat and run everypony, but it’s been nice speaking to you all. Twilight, could you tell her I’m on my way?” As Cadance watches Twilight send a response she smiles at her sister-in-law and gives her a quick hug before saying, “Thanks for the invite, Twily. Sorry about this and thanks again, girls. This was fun. Let’s do it again sometime,” before saying her final goodbyes to everyone and leaving for Canterlot Castle.
After she was gone, the girls stuck around for a few more hours to enjoy themselves before all deciding to call it a day and go their separate ways. Later, at night, as Rarity was getting ready for bed, she sat in front of her mirror and opened a drawer. She pulled out a box and took out the fire ruby Spike had so generously given her on his first birthday in Ponyville. As she touched it with her hoof, her thoughts went back to that day they were falling to their doom and of him going to tell her how he felt. A tear starts to form in her eye as she whispers, “Oh, Spike, why didn’t you tell me about all this?” before slamming the box closed, placing it back into the draw and climbing into bed.