Twilight Sparkle was going about using her magic to draw the curtains across every window in the Golden Oak Library, then lit a lone candle for illumination. "No distractions," She whispered to herself. "Today is too important to be interrupted," And with a smile she declared. "Re-shelving day! A librarian's favorite day of the year!"
Re-shelving day meant that all the books within the library had to be pulled down and set upon the floor. Then they would be organized and sorted back into whatever shelves they belonged to. This was intended to make sure books were not missing or in the wrong place for their subject matter. Given the amount of concentration it would take, Twilight knew she couldn't afford to be distracted or interrupted. That's why she had done what she'd done.
It was a good thing Twilight was so skilled with her magic. That violet-red aura surrounded every book in the library and brought it down to the floor with ease. Now came the fun part, the sorting and shelving. Twilight read the titles aloud as the books floated by her one by one. "Understanding Ancient Equestria, that goes in the Pony History section, a no brainer." She used her magic to place said book in its properly labeled shelf.
Another book soon came up, and the studious unicorn read aloud its title. "Modern Spellcasting," She beamed a bit before declaring. "That's a classic for sure. So it belongs in Classics," She placed it on another shelf and then picked up another book. Its title instantly caught her eye even though she'd seen it multiple times before. "The Art of the To-Do List," She paused a bit, thinking to herself. "Well, actually, kind of wanna read you again." And she pulled the book close, holding it near her chest.
But then the studious unicorn mare's thoughts were interrupted by an audible giggle, which caused her to drop all the books she'd been holding straight onto the floor. And the giggle was coming from none other than Spike. Twilight groaned, trying not to sound too annoyed. "Spike! What are you laughing at? Couldn't it wait until I was done re-shelving?"
"Sorry, Twilight," Spike apologized as he made his way down the stairs, a small red gem clutched firmly in his claws. "I was just admiring this little beauty. A genuine fire ruby. It's my birthday present to me, seeing as my birthday's next week and all!"
"Yes, Spike. I know." Twilight groaned a bit. She'd already had that date marked down on her calendar.
The baby dragon just giggled again while looking at the fire ruby. "Then you also know that I've been working on aging this thing for months now, and it's almost ripe!" He then tapped a tuning fork against the ruby, admiring the pings that echoed off the fire ruby as a result. Then he noticed something else as well. "Hey, you finally took my advice!" He teased. "Just use the whole floor as one big shelf."
Twilight let out a sigh. "Very funny, Spike. Don't make me go back on my word to throw a birthday party for you. It's the first one you'll have here. We didn't get a chance to hold one last year since we were so busy moving in."
"I remember, Twilight," Spike nodded. "Oh, I can hardly wait! A birthday party with all my friends! What could be better?" The little dragon had no idea that his birthday party was going to lead to an unexpected development in himself, one that was going to be quite a surprise, for all the wrong reasons.
As Twilight went about trying to sort out the mess she'd made when Spike had interrupted her concentration, there came a knock at the door. "It's open, come in." Twilight called without bothering to look towards it.
The guest turned out to be Rarity, who quickly revealed the reason for her surprise visit. "I just came by to see if you had any books on historical fashion I could borrow," But then her wandering eyes happened to spot something else that quickly attracted her attention, causing her to gasp! It was the bright red jewel she saw Spike had in his clutches. "Is that a fire ruby?!" She exclaimed in disbelief!
"You bet it is!" Spike proclaimed! "Been aging it myself, fact I'm very proud of. They're very hard to come by naturally, but that just makes them all the more delicious." He licked his lips.
Rarity blinked slowly. "Did you say 'delicious'?" She had to remember that Spike was a dragon. To him gems were probably like candy or other tasty treats to snack on.
The little dragon happily proclaimed. "Sure did! It's gonna be my birthday dinner for my birthday next week."
The fashionista unicorn replied by biting her hoof and turning her head, hoping for a distraction from such a magnificent sight. Lucky for her, she got one when Twilight floated over a book with a green colored spine. "Here, start with this one." Twilight encouraged.
"Thank you, Twilight," Rarity replied as she took hold of the book with her own magic and began to scan over its pages. "I read in a magazine that ruffled taffeta capes are going to make a huge comeback this season. Always gotta be prepared for whatever changes come your way if you want to succeed."
"Always happy to help." Twilight sincerely replied without looking up, so focused was she on her re-shelfing.
Unfortunately for Rarity, that meant she had no one else to engage in a conversation with. There was nothing to take her mind off the fire ruby in Spike's possession, or the fact that it was going to end up a meal for him in about a week's time. It pained her greatly to see such a rare gem be treated like a local delicacy. But then again she wasn't a dragon like Spike was.
The fashionista couldn't help herself. She turned towards Spike and spoke to him, never once taking her eyes off his most treasured possession at the moment. "I... sure hope it's as tasty as it is beautiful, Spike," She sincerely commented while looking ever so ashamed of herself. "I've never seen anything quite so stunning before. Really."
It didn't take a genius for Spike to realize how much Rarity probably wanted the fire ruby right now. He gave it a glance with his own eyes and had to agree that it was a sight to behold. "You really like it, huh?" He questioned even though he knew the answer.
"Like is far too small a word," Rarity confessed. "It's absolutely magnificent!" But then she stepped back, hesitating. "No, I really shouldn't. It's not mine to take. You made it yourself, you deserve to keep it. I'll..." She bit into her hoof again. "I'll be fine... somehow. I'm sure I can find something just as rare and valuable if I look hard enough."
However, Spike wasn't going to take no for an answer. Something stirred deep inside him when he saw how much it seemed to grieve Rarity not to have the fire ruby. "If you really want it that badly, you can have it," He insisted as he held out the claw holding said ruby. "My birthday dinner isn't that important. Besides, it would mean more to me if you were happy with it." And before the unicorn could object, Spike placed the fire ruby delicately in her hooves.
The fashion loving mare was taken aback by this display of generosity. Usually, she was the one doing such things for others. To have it be done to her was a surprise. She forgot all about her earlier feelings of guilt, now seeming much more sure of herself. "Gosh, I don't even know what to say... this is so thoughtful," Then, after taking hold of the rare gem with her magic, she leaned forward and cooed. "Oh, my little Spikey-wikey!" She proceeded to plant a kiss on his left cheek.
Spike was speechless! In fact, he was so shocked he fell to the ground like a statue.
"Really, Spike," Rarity declared as she paced around the room. "Thank you so much! I'll make this up to you somehow, I promise! I'll see to it that you have the best birthday present ever next week!" And with that she exited the library with her book and the fire ruby.
Twilight had heard everything even while she'd been busy trying to sort out the mess of books. "I'm proud of you, Spike," She smiled as she looked over at him. "That's one of the kindest, most generous things you've ever done for anyone. I don't think I've ever seen Rarity that happy before."
"It was nothing," Spike played it off before turning to the cheek where Rarity had planted her kiss. Right then and there he vowed. "I will never ever wash this cheek again." And he dreamily sighed.
A week later, Spike was helping Twilight hang up the last of the banners and streamers that decorated the interior of the library. All of it was for one purpose: Spike's birthday party.
"You just about finished, Spike?" Twilight called to the birthday dragon. "The guests will be arriving soon. Pinkie Pie's sure to notice if we didn't finish decorating in time."
Spike nodded as he set a streamer over the ceiling into place. "Perfect! Everything looks perfect!" He happily declared.
"Not quite everything." Twilight replied as she levitated over a washcloth.
The little dragon blinked in surprise, he didn't see the need for such a thing. "I don't get it, why would I..." He began only to realize what Twilight was so fixated on when she held up a mirror depicting his left cheek (the same one Rarity had kissed). "No way, Twilight!" He protested and backed up. "I meant it when I said I wasn't going to wash that cheek! Do you have any idea how much that kiss meant to me?!"
"But it's all dirty and grimy now," Twilight frowned. "I have to wash it. I didn't raise you in a cave, and I don't need others to start thinking I did," She floated the washcloth over. "Please, don't make this harder than it needs to be! This is happening one way or the other!"
"You'll never take me alive!" Spike vowed and ran away! Of course, he couldn't really get far when Twilight was capable of teleportation. Every time he got too far away from her, she'd just teleport him back to her. And the process repeated itself several times over.
"I could do this all day if I had to, Spike," Twilight warned. "Give up already!"
Spike was about to utter a protest. But before he could do so, Pinkie Pie unexpectedly popped up and threw confetti into the air as she loudly shouted! "Happy birthday, birthday dragon!" And she blew on a party blower. The distraction gave Twilight the opening she needed to wash the cheek, removing all evidence of the kiss.
Fortunately, Spike's mood was soon improved when he noticed the rest of his friends had also arrived, and each of them had a present for him. All together, their gifts created a large stack of presents in bright colored wrapping papers of green, blue, red and pink. And they were all topped with bows of similarly bright yellow, pink, blue and red ribbons. "Wow! I've never had so many presents before in my life! Pinkie Pie was right, birthday parties are fun!"
Rainbow Dash chuckled and somewhat jokingly questioned. "Of course they are, Spike. What? Haven't you ever heard one before?"
The little dragon unhappily sighed as he admitted. "Not really. If I was lucky, Twilight's parents would throw a small party for me with just her, me and the rest of the family. But Twilight was almost always too busy to find time to throw me a party when we lived in Canterlot. Heck, she almost never took me the few times she did go to spend time with ponies besides her family or Princess Celestia."
Twilight looked a little bit ashamed. Ever since the incident with Owlowiscious she had been trying her best to be more considerate of Spike's feelings. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't really done the best job in the past of treating him like family. Sad to say, she now realized she unknowingly had been ignoring him and taking his assistance for granted. It also made her realize her intended gift to him this year was likely to be inadequate to make up for it. "I'm going to need something much better than a newly published book to show him how much I really do care about him." She thought to herself.
"Well, while we're all on the subject of birthdays and presents, you'll be happy to know, Spike, that your birthday gift really inspired me!" Rarity happily proclaimed while floating over a series of colored dresses that looked like they had been made with very old fabrics. "And your fire ruby was just the icing on the cake as it were. I had planned to make a matching set of lovely taffeta capes for you and Twilight. But then I figured 'Why stop there?'". And so, I decided to expand the set to include all of our friends! And when that's done, I'll be making one for myself and integrate the fire ruby into it. That way I'll always have something to remember your act of generosity by."
"Enough chit chat!" Pinkie Pie stated afterward. "Let's stop talking and start partying!" And so the birthday party began.
The party was in full swing as Spike opened up his birthday presents from his friends (though he did find it odd that Twilight's gift was suspiciously absent, even though in years prior it was often the only present he'd ever receive on his birthday. He didn't dwell on the matter for very long, though). "Seriously, Applejack," He said at one point. "I can't thank you enough for this great blanket," He held out a blanket that had apples printed all over it and made to resemble trees from an orchard. "I really needed a new one."
Applejack was grateful for the acknowledgement, though decidedly less comfortable when Spike ran up and hugged her tightly. She had to force back a blush while declaring. "Shucks, Spike. It was nothin', 'least I could do for an honorary member of my family. Besides, you've already thanked me about a dozen times or so. Quite frankly, I'm startin' to get a little embarrassed. Once is enough."
"Sorry," The little dragon appeared to sincerely apologize. "But I really mean it. I'm really grateful for everything you girls have done. You're the best friends a dragon could ask for!"
Fluttershy couldn't help blushing. "Gosh, Spike. We're glad you think that way. Having you and Twilight for friends has been wonderful. We've made so memories in such a short amount of time. It's hard to imagine what our lives were like before we met."
Spike smiled. "I feel the same way. Friendship really is magical," And then he sighed. "I just wish this party could go on forever. Today has been the best day of my life!"
At that, Pinkie Pie (who had been bouncing up and down on a balloon until it had popped quite suddenly) declared. "Duh! The party can't last forever! And do you know why?" Without bothering to wait for a reply, she rushed right up to Spike and told him. "Because you still have to go to Sugarcube Corner. Your friends aren't the only ones with a birthday surprise waiting for you. Let's just say somepony told the Cakes about today. And they told me to tell you they'd have a little something to give you."
"No way?! Seriously?! Why didn't you tell me that before?!" Spike exclaimed and rushed out the door to get to Sugarcube Corner as fast as he could!
The pink party pony groaned and gasped as she shouted in vain! "Hey! Come back! I said the party couldn't last forever, I didn't say it had to end right now!"
Spike raced across town as fast as his little legs could carry him! He didn't know what exactly the Cakes would have to offer him for a birthday surprise, but he knew it was going to be something extra special if the gifts he'd already gotten from his friends were any indication.
At last, the familiar cupcake like roof of Sugarcube Corner came into view, and Spike could see that there was no line! Grinning from ear to ear, he rushed inside and made his way right up to the counter! He didn't see his surprise though, but he did see Mr. and Mrs. Cake. The two bakers seemed to have exceptionally bright smiles for today. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" He greeted, before his green eyes beheld a most interesting sight: Mrs. Cake was looking a bit more... well.. plump than usual. "Hey, Mrs. Cake, have you been helping yourself to too many sweets lately?" He innocently inquired.
Mrs. Cake giggled. Spike wasn't the first to ask her such a question, and she laughed it off with ease as a result. "Of course not, Spike. Don't you remember? I'm pregnant. Doctors say the new baby will be here a few months from now, just in time for spring."
"Oh, right." Spike replied and said nothing more. How silly of him to forget such a detail.
Mr. Cake only laughed as he stood next to his wife. "Besides, my honey bun is fine just the way she is," He playfully teased and then changed the subject. "Anyway, Spike, it's good to see the birthday dragon of the hour has finally arrived! We were starting to wonder if Pinkie Pie forgot to mention our surprise for you."
Mrs. Cake then added. "You should be sure to thank her, because if she hadn't told us about your birthday we'd never had found out. But we did, and we decided to try our hooves at a little 'experiment'," She pushed over a sparkling blue cupcake topped with blue gemstones that also sparkled. "A sapphire cupcake, just for you! And here's the best part, it's free!"
"Wow! Thanks a bunch!" Spike cheerfully commented as he claimed the culinary creation with a claw. He then exited the bakery while commenting to himself. "First I get a bunch of great presents from all of my best friends, and now an amazing sapphire cupcake from the Cakes! Oh, what a day! It really is the best day of my life!"
And because he was so fixated on this development, the young dragon forgot to watch where he was going. Suddenly, he bumped into somepony! After making sure his cupcake wasn't messed up, he looked to see who it was that he'd unfortunately collided with. It was a familiar looking earth pony mare with a moderate dark pink coat. She had a rose colored mane and tail with light grayish-pink colored stripes, grayish green eyes and a cutie mark depicting three smiling flowers. There was only one pony in Ponyville who looked like that! "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Cheerilee!" He apologized and rushed over to her.
Cheerilee was more dazed than hurt, although a few paper shopping bags she'd been carrying with her seemed to lay scattered about on the road. "It's alright, nothing's broken or anything," She declared as she was slowly helped up. "Why were you so distracted? You seem... excited."
Spike explained while chowing down on the sapphire cupcake he'd just received. "Pinkie Pie told me I should come see the Cakes. So I did, and they gave me this one of a kind cupcake because it's my birthday today."
Cheerilee smiled upon hearing the wonderful news. "Oh! Well, happy birthday to you, Spike! Gosh, I wish I'd have known so I could've gotten you something," She put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought for a moment. "Wait, I know!" Reaching into one of her paper shopping bags, she produced a white straw hat with a purple feather sticking out on one side. "It's not much, but here you go!"
The little dragon was astonished, twice now in one day the mention of his birthday had caused him to be showered with gifts from others! "Really?" He asked with his heart all a flutter.
Cheerilee nodded. "Of course. After all, everypony should get gifts on their birthday! Or I guess everydragon too," She chuckled a bit as she corrected her sentence. "Sorry I didn't know sooner. I'll have to remember for next year."
"Need a claw with your groceries?" Spike offered, wondering if perhaps he might get another reward for doing that. After all, doing good things for others had been how he'd been rewarded with Rarity.
Cheerilee shook her head. "No, I'm good. Just a few essentials," And she went about picking up the bags. "I think you'd make a great student if you were in one of my classes, but I'm sure Twilight's been keeping you up to date on your education," And she added. "You're lucky to have a pony as smart as her raising you. She could probably take over my job if she wanted to. Celestia knows I could use a bit of a break from being the only schoolteacher in town." Then she was gone.
As the currently off-duty teacher departed, the baby dragon couldn't help but think to himself. "I wish every day was my birthday," Then something began to stir deep inside of him. "I wonder if..." And just like that, his little dragon mind started to scheme. He was going to make up for his lack of presents in years prior. Twilight would understand, books just weren't good presents when they were the only thing you got year after year.
Sometime later, when Twilight Sparkle went out looking for Spike, she just so happened overhear a conversation that caused her to worry.
"Hey, Junebug!" Spike hollered at an earth pony with a sort of grayish olive green coat, brilliant lime green eyes, a curly mane and tail two shades of orange and a cutie mark depicting three sprigs of leaves. "Guess what? It's my birthday today!"
"Oh? Well happy birthday, Spike." Junebug cheerfully greeted, suspecting nothing.
But Spike impatiently demanded of the mare. "So?"
"So what?" Junebug blinked, not appearing to understand what was being asked of her.
Spike decided to spell it out for the mare. "So, that means you gotta give me a present! Everypony else I've mentioned my birthday to did! How else do you think I got this cool hat?"
But Junebug stuttered and stepped back. "I... I don't have anything to give you, Spike. I'm sorry."
Spike wouldn't take no for an answer. "Come on, you must have something!" His eyes fell upon a basket of flowers the mare happened to be carrying, and his green eyes narrowed as he smirked. "How 'bout those flowers? You could give those to me, right?"
Twilight decided to intervene before things got out of control! "Spike!" She sharply rapped, catching the little's dragon attention. "I was wondering why you hadn't come back from going to Sugarcube Corner yet," She used her magic to pull him away while apologizing to Junebug. "Sorry about that, Junebug. Spike isn't usually like this. I don't know what's gotten into him today."
"N-no problem." Junebug continued to nervously stutter while she trotted away.
Twilight then turned to the little dragon and sternly scolded him in an almost motherly tone of voice. "Just what do you think you're doing?! Why are you out here, demanding gifts of everypony in town?! You're better than that!"
It seemed the little lecture was enough to get the baby dragon to come to his senses if the expression on his face was anything to go by. He didn't seem to be as "possessive" all of a sudden. "You're right, Twilight. I'm sorry. I really don't know what came over me. Thanks for setting me straight, though. I almost did something I shouldn't have."
"Exactly," The unicorn nodded. "Now, I assume you're gonna go give back everything you took that wasn't yours to take? Even the hat?"
Spike reluctantly sighed. "Yes, even the hat. I'll give it back to Cheerilee, I promise."
"Good," Twilight declared. "And then you're coming straight home, mister! It's getting late." She then departed, confident that Spike could be trusted to manage on his own.
Unfortunately, just after Twilight left, the greedy look in Spike's eyes returned. It wasn't fair that he should be denied presents on his birthday just because someponies didn't agree. "Who else has a present for 'Spikey-Wikey'?" He said with a hiss and set out to find his next unfortunate "victim".
The next morning, Twilight woke up to a most unexpected sight as she opened her eyes. Spike's basket was cluttered with objects and trinkets of all sorts, piling up towards the ceiling. Now that she thought about it, it had seemed strange when Spike had taken a long time to come home last night.
The unicorn frowned as she approached the pile of hoarded things. "I can't believe you, Spike," She snorted. "I gave you a chance to fix your mistake, and this is how you went about it? Where did you even get all this stuff?"
But an even bigger surprise quickly overshadowed that question, for the things began to move as Spike slowly stumbled awake. When he emerged from the pile, Twilight could see that he was no longer the little dragon he'd been the night before. He was much bigger now. "Spike?!" She nervously questioned. This dragon sure looked like him, but was it really him?
The question was answered when Spike yawned and stretched his considerably large body. He was already taller than Twilight. "Twilight?!" He blinked while looking at himself. "What's happening to me?! How did I end up like this?!" As he spoke his voice sounded much deeper and lower pitched than it had been yesterday.
Twilight could only reply. "I don't know, Spike! You've changed somehow."
"That can't be!" Spike protested with a hiss.
Twilight wasn't so sure. "I don't know what else to believe, Spike. Something must've happened. Think back to yesterday, after I caught you trying to take flowers from Junebug. I told you to give everything back that wasn't yours. What did you do after that? Did you talk to anypony? Did you happen to see anything unusual?"
Spike tried to think. "Well... I... I went to... talk to... talk to..." But he trailed off, unable to gather his thoughts. And that was because something else was occupying his attention. His eyes became fixated on a globe Twilight had nearby and tried to reach out for it.
Twilight yanked the globe away with her magic. "Spike, concentrate!" She demanded of him. "Who was it you talked to?"
The not so little dragon shrugged his claws as he admitted. "I don't remember, it must've slipped my mind," Then he asked. "Hey, can I borrow that globe? You're not using it anymore, right?" And he tried again to claim it as his own.
The studious unicorn was not persuaded for even a second. "No, Spike! It's not yours and you've never shown an interest in it before!" Her frown grew deeper. "Something's definitely wrong! This isn't you, Spike!"
"How do you know that?!" Spike snapped! "You told me you love me like I was your son, but you haven't gotten around to adopting me like you said you were gonna!"
"Excuse me?!" Twilight angrily replied! "I've been working on it, Spike! It takes a long time to get all the proper paperwork and meet with the right ponies! I'm trying my best!"
The considerably large dragon then commented. "Wait, that just slipped out! I didn't mean that! Really!"
Twilight could only sigh and shake her head. "Well, it's obvious that more than just your size changed," And she then decided. "We're going to have to get some answers from somepony. This has got to stop!"
Pony and dragon made their way to the hospital, seeing as it was the quickest way to see a doctor or even just a nurse. With any luck, one of them would be able to provide some answers. Or at the very least point them in the right direction about what was happening to Spike.
As they were led to a small room to wait, Spike kept trying to reach out for the tongue depressors and other spare medical equipment that was lying around. And Twilight kept swatting Spike's claws away with a hoof. "Stop it, Spike! They're not for you!"
"I can't help it!" Spike insisted as he continued to try to reach out for something, anything.
"Well try to help it!" Twilight scolded as she slapped his claws away once again.
Just then, the door opened and in strolled a familiar earth pony (familiar to Twilight, that is). She had a pristine white coat, sapphire blue eyes, and a light pinkish-gray mane and tail. Her cutie mark matched the symbol on her nurse's cap perfectly: A pink cross outline with a red heart in the center as well as in each corner. "Hello, Miss. Sparkle," She greeted in a sweet and innocent tone of voice. "I'm Nurse Redheart. What seems to be the problem?"
Twilight did her best to explain the unusual situation to the nurse, all the while she kept having to pause to swat Spike's claws away before he could grab anything. "This is Spike, and he's my son. Or, he will be officially once I get around to filling all the right paperwork," She cleared her throat. "Anyway, something's wrong with him. He used to be half the size he is now. But he's getting mood swings and he keeps trying to take things that aren't his, as you can clearly see."
"And when did all this begin, might I ask?" Nurse Redheart inquired.
The studious unicorn replied. "Just this morning, actually. Yesterday, I caught him acting a bit strange after his birthday party. And when I woke up this morning he was like this," She then desperately pleaded with the nurse. "Please, you have to help me! I don't know what's wrong with him! He shouldn't be like this!"
Nurse Redheart simply sighed, writing down the information on a clipboard. "Well, let me do a quick examination. Maybe I'll be able to spot something," She suggested. Then she went about checking Spike's temperature with a thermometer, testing his reflexes with a special hammer, looking in his ears and down his throat, and listening to his heartbeat with a stethoscope. For good measure, she also used a tape measure to determine Spike's size and tried to measure his weight with a scale only for it to break. The nurse wrote down all the information she had gathered, and then made her diagnosis. "I'm afraid I don't know much about dragons, nopony really does. But there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with Spike physically."
"But something has to be wrong with him!" Twilight nervously insisted! "He's not supposed to get this big out of the blue! He's been with me for years, and he barely grew at all after he stopped being a hatchling."
Nurse Redheart put on a sympathetic face as she gently tried to explain to Twilight. "What Spike is probably going through is puberty. It happens to all young ones eventually. Mood swings and size changes are a part of it, and there's a good chance when that dragons go through puberty their body could be affected in ways similar to Spike's grabbiness. I know it's hard to accept, but even Spike can't stay a baby dragon forever."
"That's not the problem, Redheart," Twilight glumly replied. "I figured he'd start to grow up eventually. But not like this. He's turning into something completely different. If this keeps up," She shuddered. "I don't know if he'll even be my Spike anymore," She let out a sniffle. "Ever since he was given to me after I hatched him, I've always tried to be responsible for his upbringing and well being. Right now, though, when he needs me most I can't be there to reassure him it'll be okay. I can't tell him what's wrong with him or make it better."
Nurse Redheart extended a hoof to Twilight in sympathy. "These changes are never easy, Twilight. It's hard enough for ponies even though we know what to expect. Dragons are an entirely different field. There's much about them that we don't know. Even you can't know everything."
"I know," Twilight unhappily sighed. "I just wish I had some way of knowing what was causing all of this."
The earth pony nurse then suggested. "Well, if it's a second opinion you want, I know somepony who might be able to help you. Or I should say somezebra."
"Zecora!" Twilight's eyes lit up! "She knows about creatures and plants we've never seen before. She might know what's happening to Spike! Why didn't I think of her before?"
A short time later, a trek through the Everfree Forest brought Twilight and Spike to Zecora's hut. And Twilight told the enchantress everything. "Do you know about dragons?" She hopefully asked the zebra.
Zecora nodded. "For dragons, indeed I have learned a thing or two. Come inside, and I'll share my limited knowledge with you."
"Great!" Twilight smiled! It seemed she was going to get some answers at last.
Spike quickly followed Twilight into Zecora's hut. And soon he was subjected to a variety of unusual experiments. Not only did Zecora look at him very closely, she also did things such as hold out a pocket watch in front of him.
At last, Zecora turned to Twilight and informed her. "He is starting to mature. Of this fact I am quite sure."
"That's just what Nurse Redheart thought," Twilight responded. Already she was dreading what else Zecora was going to tell her. "It doesn't explain why he's so grabby, though. Or why he just got so big out of the blue."
Zecora just motioned for Twilight to come over to the bubbling cauldron in the center of the hut. There, Zecora displayed an image in the sickly green colored liquid that was boiling inside it. And as the zebra spoke the image changed, depicting that which was spoken about. "Dragons' hearts are prone to greed, a steady diet to make growth speed. Then, the resulting bigger size only makes their hunger rise," She quickly warned the unicorn. "If trying to reverse this is what you need, you must stop Spike from practicing greed."
"Easier said than done," Twilight Sparkle commented. "He's never really acted greedy before. Am I supposed to keep him sheltered forever and never give him any gifts?"
The zebra shook her head from side to side. "Greed cannot be defeated, only controlled. Most dragons learn how to do that, or so I've been told. They grow big all on their own, greed is but a shortcut from what I was shown."
Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good. You hear that, Spike? Someday you'll grow up big and tall on all on your own. So there's no need to speed up the process by hoarding stuff, right?" But when she turned to look for him she found that the dragon was already gone (having made off with most of the vials, bottles and masks in Zecora's hut in the process). This made her blush as she realized her mistake of not keeping a closer eye on him while talking to Zecora.
"I'd... better track him down." The studious unicorn nervously declared and left the hut without another word! It was anyone's guess as to where Spike was now!
It didn't take long for Twilight to find Spike. He was right in the middle of Ponyville, trying to steal something from somepony. In this case, he was trying to grab Scootaloo's scooter.
The tomboyish filly was holding onto one end of the scooter with all the strength she had, and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders were holding onto her to give her extra support. "You're not getting my scooter!" She yelled at Spike! "It was a birthday present from my parents! Get your own!"
"Spike want!" Spike screamed, having grown considerably taller since Twilight had last seen him. Just like Zecora said, the more he collected the bigger he would become (and the greedier he would become as a result).
Thinking quickly, Twilight picked up a broom with her magic and gave a whistle to get Spike's attention. "Hey, Spike! Check out this amazing broom I found!" She called while waving it back and forth almost like it was a stick she was teasing a dog with.
That did the trick, Spike lost interest in Scootaloo's scooter and turned his full attention to the broom! "Spike want!" He hissed and roared, pounding on his chest as he grew even bigger!
The studious unicorn, for her part, just ran back to the library as fast as her hooves would let her! She looked back every once in a while to be sure Spike was still following her. "That's it's, big boy! Come and get it!" She taunted as she reached the front door and swung it open! Then, when Spike drew close, she hurled it into a back room and slammed the door shut as soon as he went through it!
Spike trashed about and pounded on the door! But Twilight kept her back pressed up against it and refused to budge. "This is for your own good, Spike!" She told him! "You can fight all you want, but I'm not letting you out of there until you stop being greedy!" However, she then realized something she had forgotten all about in her haste to lock Spike in that room. There were a whole bunch of books stored in there, and while Spike wouldn't have been able to reach them in his normal size, he would definitely be able to reach them now that he was so tall.
Frantically, Twilight opened the door! But it was too late! All she could see was a large hole at the other end of the room, indicating that Spike had grabbed the books and broken free. Now he was running loose in Ponyville again, likely growing bigger by the minute!
Twilight was nearly out of breath by the time she caught up to Spike, finding him carrying out an assault on Sugarcube Corner as he had become so big it was a miracle he'd managed to fit through the door.
Pinkie Pie was perched atop a display shelf in the kitchen, and from the looks of things she was trying to fight the dragon with nothing but cakes and other desserts that lay scattered around. "Back! Back I say!" She shouted, flinging cakes as quickly as she could grab them! However, her efforts seemed to just be "rewarded" with Spike snatching up the desserts and adding them to his collection of things he'd already hoarded.
"Pinkie Pie! Stop giving Spike cake!" Twilight demanded!
"That's not Spike!" Pinkie Pie protested! "Spike would know you have to pay for your cakes before you eat them! Besides, I'm not giving him cake, I'm assaulting him with cake! Nopony's messing with Sugarcube Corner while I'm around! I promised Mr. and Mrs. Cake I'd keep an eye on the store while they went out to do some shopping, and although it wasn't a 'Pinkie Promise' it's not one I intend to break!"
However, Spike decided he had grown bored of this game of catch. And so he swiped the entire display shelf as the pink party pony perched atop it made a desperate leap to safety!
"How dare you take the cake!" Pinkie growled! "You gotta pay for it first!"
Spike didn't reply. Instead, he just stood there for a moment. And then he grew to such a massive size that he broke through the roof of the bakery and destroyed it completely!
Pinkie Pie was rendered speechless by the result! All she could do was just sit there and look up in disbelief. The Cakes were never going to believe this! In fact, she was in such a state of shock that she had to be dragged away by the tail.
Worse was to come as the now massive Spike stormed through town. He quickly headed for Carousel Boutique, and snatched up an unaware Rarity (who was posing to her workshop mirror while wearing a long, pink colored dress with a matching cape. And a pretty old looking dress at that)!
"Put me down this instant!" Rarity demanded, not appearing to recognize Spike in his current state! She lit up her horn and fired off a blast of magic, but although it struck the large dragon square in the face it didn't even phase him.
Spike didn't seem to care. He just dragged Rarity away as he continued to snatch up things left and right, including the entire town water tower.
Fortunately for Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy quickly set off to the rescue as Spike fled to the edge of town and into the nearby hills.
The two pegasi soon flew to either side of Spike (not recognizing that it was him) and began demanding and pleading with him to release Rarity. "Okay, pal," Rainbow Dash all but shouted! "Fun's over! Put our friend down, right now!"
Fluttershy tried to more gently plead. "I-if you wouldn't mind, that is. No one has to get hurt."
"This is non-negotiable, Mr. Tall and Scaly!" Rainbow roared! "Release her now, or you'll answer to us!"
"P-please," Fluttershy nervously insisted. "We'll be ever so grateful if you'd just kindly set Rarity down."
"Drop her, scaly!" Rainbow demanded! "You have 'til the count of ten, or we do this the hard way!"
"Ignore her," Fluttershy tried to protest. "Just do the right thing and let our friend go."
Alas, Spike chose to ignore the demands and pleas. He instead swung at both pegasi using the tail he held Rarity captive in to do so!
"Hey!" Rarity protested as she was swung around! "I'm not some flyer swatter, you know!" And then she heard a ripping sound as her cape snagged both her pegasus friends, then tore itself apart from the weight. "Oh no! Now look what you've done!" She scolded. "You ripped my cape!"
Rarity worried so much about this that she failed to notice Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy get knocked to the ground, though thankfully neither of them were harmed.
With Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy out of commission, Spike let out a tremendous roar as he started to climb the hills! It seemed like he was intent on using it to store all that he had obtained throughout the day, his own little hoard.
But Rarity spoke up in a most bitter tone of voice. "Oh, be quiet, you! You've got nothing to be proud of. Just look around, aren't you ashamed of yourself?" She didn't bother waiting for a reply. "You've rampaged through town, stolen everypony's things and even used me as a weapon against my own friends. I get that you're a dragon and all, but I didn't think you were all this bad mannered and bad tempered. Yet that's not even the worst thing you've done today!" The fashionista complained as she held up her torn cape. "This is a crime against fashion!"
Suddenly, Spike turned around and took notice of a particular red gem in a necklace that hung around Rarity's neck. At that moment he froze, eyeing the gem as though he'd seen it before somewhere.
The fashionista unicorn noticed Spike looking at her, more particularly to her necklace, and she immediately protested. "Oh no you don't. You are not getting this gemstone, you fiend! This was given to me by my dear Spikey-Wikey, the kindest, sweetest, most generous dragon ever. And it is too precious to me to give to a greedy old beast like you! You may look like him, but the Spike I know would never be as rude and nasty as you've been! I don't know what you think you're accomplishing trying to make him look bad, but it won't work!"
At that very moment, it all came flooding back to the dragon as he remembered where that gem was from: It was the fire ruby he'd given to Rarity a week ago. He still vividly recalled the memory, even down to Rarity giving him a kiss on his left cheek after he'd parted with it. And it was those memories that caused his eyes to shrink. Suddenly, he didn't feel like being greedy anymore.
Rarity was unaware of any of these developments as she just grumbled. "Why are you looking at me like that? I suppose now you're going to eat me or something?"
Suddenly, Spike reverted back to his original size. He and Rarity were suspended in mid-air for a moment.
The unicorn with a snow white coat could hardly believe her eyes! "Spike?!" She commented in uncertainty. "It was you rampaging through town?!"
Before Spike could say anything, he and Rarity began to fall! It was all up to their pegasus friends to prevent them from plummeting to the ground and to certain death! But because the little dragon couldn't be sure of the outcome, he decided the time had come for him to make a confession. He looked across to the unicorn and shouted at the top of his lungs in order to be overheard! "Rarity, there's something I have to tell you, just in case we don't make it! I've always sort of had a crush on–"
But the fashionista just moved a hoof to Spike's mouth to silence him. The expression on her face conveyed more than words what she had to say in reply. She knew, and she was glad Spike had finally worked up the courage to tell her.
Fortunately for the two, they were saved by a timely intervention from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy (who made good use of the torn part of the cape that they had fallen into the river with). "Oh goodness, that was too close!" Fluttershy declared afterward.
"Heh, all in a day's work!" Rainbow Dash boasted as Spike and Rarity were floated gently down to safety.
However, once he was on solid ground again, Spike looked out over Ponyville and immediately became overwhelmed with grief. He saw nothing but damage and destruction as far as his green eyes could see, and he knew he was the one who had caused it all. "I'm a monster!" He whimpered with tears in his eyes.
"Darling," Rarity spoke up as she slowly trotted up to the grief stricken dragon. "You most certainly are not! And don't you ever think otherwise for even a minute! You were not in control of yourself back there, you were most definitely not the same kind and caring dragon I've always known you as."
Spike just looked away. Normally, this kind of talk from Rarity would've been much appreciated. He would've given anything to have this much attention from her, except at this current moment when he could only think about his greed induced rampage. "You're just saying that because I gave you my fire ruby." He glumly remarked.
Rarity shook her head. "It's not just because of that, Spike. It's true that I greatly cherished that ruby and will continue to do so. But it's not the only time you've done nice things for others," And she pointed out. "You've come gem hunting with me on multiple occasions. And we certainly can't forget you risking yourself to try and rescue me from those diamond dogs."
The little dragon just sniffled. "All those times I did it because of my crush on you, because I thought maybe I could impress you or maybe you'd give me a reward. And you almost always did acknowledge my efforts."
"So, what about all the things you do for Twilight?" Rarity pointed out.
"That's just to make her life easier," Spike remarked while looking down at the ground. "And I already said and did things to her that I shouldn't have said, shouldn't have done."
"Yet it was you who stopped... well... you," The fashionista declared. "And you clearly regret everything you did. That's nothing something a monster would be capable of," She then offered. "Please. If only for your own sake, you must forgive yourself. You're my hero, Spikey-Wikey! I can't stand to see a dragon I love so upset." And with that she kissed him on the cheek again, this time on his right cheek.
Spike was in a considerably better mood when he returned to the Golden Oak Library later. He was surprised to see Twilight greeting him with a most unusual smile. And soon, he knew why.
"I saw everything," Twilight told the little dragon. "I know about your confession. That was a very brave thing for you to do."
Spike blushed bright red. "You... don't mind?"
"We can discuss that later," Twilight replied. "But for now, I think you've learned a rather valuable lesson. One that I'm sure Princess Celestia will want to hear," She floated over a scroll, a quill and some ink. "Go ahead. This one's all yours."
"Really?! You mean it?!" Spike inquired. He had written a letter with Twilight before, but he'd never written one all by himself before.
The studious unicorn nodded. "Yes, Spike. And you should also know that I'm not mad at you for anything that happened today. Obviously, we know now what to watch for to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"Agreed." Spike nodded back, and then he began to write his first ever solo friendship letter to Princess Celestia. Surprisingly, his thoughts came to him very easily as he wrote down on the scroll:
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned a great lesson about friendship. You might think that it would feel good to get lots and lots of stuff, but it doesn't feel nearly as good as giving something special to somepony you really care about. Hoarding things to yourself will just leave you feeling empty and unsatisfied.
I've learned that it truly is better to give than to receive, and that kindness and generosity are what lead to true friendship. That's something more valuable than anything in the whole wide world.
Well... almost anything.
Sincerely,
Spike
After Spike sent the letter, he noticed Twilight looking at the cheek Rarity had kissed. He sighed. "Come on, Twilight. Please? Just for one day?"
The studious unicorn reluctantly agreed. "Oh, alright. But I'm gonna have to wash it sooner or later. It's the memory that matters more than the kiss itself."