“Dreadwing bells a’ringing”
The library was awash with brightly coloured balloons, long streamers and a large cream coloured banner with the words “Happy Birthday Spike,” painted across it in very neat bright blue letters. Twilight Sparkle pinned the last streamer in place and nodded as the purple light faded from around her horn. Not too shabby, she thought to herself. Spike’s party was all set to get underway. All she needed now was her friends and the guest of honour. It wasn’t Spike’s first birthday. That had been a fairly exciting event, when Spike’s Dragon greed had caused him to turn into a giant gift-guzzling beast, and went on a rampage around Ponyville. This though was his third birthday and she was pretty sure that Spike had gotten a hand on his supernatural lust for hoarding possessions and she was looking forward to celebrating her friend’s birthday without any unnatural occurrences. Twilight set about arranging the party hats and drinking cups next to the Punch bowl as she thought about the young Dragon. She always remembered him as being so small. Small enough to ride around on her back, or climb up high on the bookshelves to reach books hidden deep at the back. Small enough to fit, snuggly in his small bed that sat at the foot of her own. She smirked to herself as she realised that she had always been caught between seeing Spike as her friend or as her pet. Nowadays the distinction was a lot easier to make. She pondered upon the fact that Dragons, like many animals grew up quite quickly. Getting larger and larger by the month, but once a dragon reached adulthood they could live for centuries, if not millennia afterwards. Spike was only three years old but he was already as big as she was. At least when he stood on all fours. When he stood back on his hind legs he was twice her height and he had a habit of doing exactly that. It was of no fault on his part of course. Dragon’s, unlike ponies, had opposable thumbs so Spike made good use of them around the library and about the town. Especially now that he was getting bigger Spike loved to help out wherever he could. Twilight was never sure whether it was because he loved the attention or if it was because he wanted to make sure no-one ever saw him as a terrifying Dragon, but he was always helping out wherever he could. No more so than at Carousel Boutique. More than once Twilight had gone searching for the young Dagon only to find him eagerly following Rarity’s instructions for whatever task she needed help doing. Spike’s affection for Rarity was no secret and he snapped up every opportunity to impress the elegant unicorn whenever he could. Twilight’s reverie was broken by a knock at her door. She put the ladle in the punch and trotted over to the old oak wood door. The door swung open almost before she’d taken off the latch and Pinkie Pie exploded into the room shrieking, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” This was instantly followed by an explosion of colourful confetti and the blowing of a large party blower, which trumpeted in Twilight’s face. Pinkie bounced around the room, braking into song and dance, something about Spike’s blue scales and shinning smile, before Twilight called out over the din.
“Pinkie! Spike’s not here yet!” Instantly the pink pony stopped still, skidding to a stop on the floor and simply stated,
“Oh.” She grinned, a wide grin and started gathering up her confetti again, apologising while she did, “Sorry Twilight, I just get so excited over birthday parties. I love’em!” Twilight rolled her eyes,
“You love any party, Pinkie.” Pinkie Pie grinned again,
“That’s true, I do!” Twilight used her magic to help quickly gather up the confetti and return it to the two small canons Pinkie had placed right in front of her door, and wheeled them in.
“Did you bring the cake?” She asked swinging her head back out of the door. There was nothing out there except the usual bench, green grass and tall trees.
“Yup,” Pinkie replied, “I brought it round the back, like you asked so Spike wouldn’t see.” Twilight turned to look at her with an arched eyebrow.
“You hid the cake around the back but jumped in through the front door screaming ‘Happy Birthday?’” From her grin, Twilight could see that Pinkie had not understood the contradiction of her actions so she dropped it with a sigh. They brought the cake in and hid it in the back. Then Twilight made sure the last of the preparations were ready, while Pinkie Pie set about double-checking all of Twilights own checks. She was the foremost authority on parties in Ponyvile after all. The rest of the guests arrived shortly afterwards. Apple Jack came, reliably on time as usual and Flutter Shy and Rarity arrived together. Rainbow Dash, however, showed up late, claiming that her attention had been consumed by some new aerial acrobatics that she was trying to perfect, and arrived only just a few minutes before Spike. He arrived, strolling through the door, talking over his shoulder to Twilight’s pet Owl, Owloysius, about the quality of some Equestrian cleaning products, when the Ponies cried out,
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” Owloysius hooted in panic and shot into the rafters. Spike jumped and laughed, a wide smile spreading across his scaly face.
“Guys,” He said, “I thought we agreed last year, no more surprise parties.” The ponies smiled at each other,
“That’s true,” Rarity chimed, “but what we agree and what Twilight and Pinkie Pie do are two different things.” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down on the spot grinning like an idiot,
“I can’t help myself! It’s an illness, really.” Despite his protest Spike took to the party with excitement and anticipation. Each of his friends wished him a happy birthday and presented him with gifts. Apple Jack gave him his own cask of Apple Acres Cider, Rainbow Dash gave him a pair of Thunderbolt Sky-beam tinted goggles, Fluttershy gave him her own blend of Lemon and Pine grass wood polish, Pinkie Pie presented him with a box of freshly baked strawberry and orange cupcakes and Twilight gave him a brand new writing set, with a quill made of Cockatrice feather and ink from the main academic library in Canterlot. Rarity gave Spike the same thing she’d given him for the last two years. A large sapphire gemstone from her own personal collection. Some people would get bored of the same gift but Spike always received each one as though it were the first gemstone he’d ever been given. Twilight smiled as she saw Spike struggle with same problem he struggled with each year. He drooled over the Sapphire, desperate to gobble up the precious stone, but he resisted, unwilling to simply gulp down Rarity’s precious gift. Rarity smiled proudly as Spike held it in his clawed hands, staring adoringly at it,
“Do you notice anything different about the stone this year Spike?” She tinkled teasingly. Spike glanced at her and then stared at the stone intently. Twilight leaned over his shoulder to look, as did the other ponies. They all saw it at once. The sapphire had a deep black vein throbbing through the heart of the stone, almost pulsing like it was alive.
“Oh my!” Fluttershy gasped.
“What is that?” Rainbow Dash asked, squinting at the stone. Rarity shrugged elegantly and said,
“I’m not sure really, but I didn’t find this stone in the usual place.”
“Well where did you find it?” Twilight asked Rarity moving around Spike to get a better look. She’d never seen a stone like that before. Not that she could recall.
“You remember when I took Sweetie Bell to visit our parents last month?” The Ponies nodded, “Well, we stopped in this darling little town at the foot of the Glitter Top Mountains, and this charming stranger noticed the gems I had in my hat and suggested that I might find some unique stones if I went looking in the hills. So I did and I found this in some old ruins at the foot of the mountains.” She pointed a well-manicured hoof at the stone and smiled proudly. Twilight arched an eye brow at Rarity’s story but the others had already lost interest. Pinkie Pie wanted to start the party games, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack wanted to start dancing.
The Party kicked into full swing and more guests’ started to arrive. Spike had made a lot of friends during his time in Ponyvile, especially since he’d gotten bigger and started helping around the town. The Cakes came by with a second cake to go with the one Pinkie had brought turning it from a three layer cake to a six layer cake. Ms. Cherilee came with a set of books Spike had been looking for to help improve his maths, so he could help the Apples with their accounting and Zecora arrived with Apple bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell, who’d been working with Zecora to make a special set of potions that could change the colour of anything you spread the mixture onto.
“We thought you could use it for decorating.” Sweetie Bell explained.
“Or so you could have all sorts of wicked, multi-coloured scales!” Scootaloo piped up, “You know, if you want.” Spike smiled and thanked each of his guests for their gifts, even as more Ponies and Colts arrived. Bon Bon brought a box of red, blue and yellow sweets, Golden Harvest brought a basket of fruits, Noteworthy sang a song testifying to Spike’s hard work and good nature, Heartstrings gave him a heartfelt thanks for his hard work along with a kiss on the cheek and Derpy Hooves took out the punch bowl and half the buffet table while trying to give Spike her gift: a flat squashed hat, which had clearly suffered some sort of mishap at the hooves of the accident prone pony. Eventually all of the guests arrived and the party spilled out of the tree house and into the garden and front yard. This year the party was much bigger and Twilight had begun to wonder if she’d brought enough food and drink for everyone, but the Apple family solved her worries when Granny Smith and Big Macintosh showed up with a parade of apple based treats and more cider. Twilight had never seen Spike so happy and active, surrounded by so many ponies. He’d forgotten all about the small pile of gifts he had received and was happily trying to ‘pin the tail on the Pony,’ while his friends called out directions and cheered him on. Applejack trotted up to her, chuckling as she watched Spike stick the Pony’s tail to her forehead,
“He sure has grown hasn’t ‘e?” She commented and Twilight nodded.
“Dragon’s grow faster than Pony’s,” She explained, “He’ll probably be as big as some of the buildings in Ponyvile by the time he as old as us.” Applejack cut her off,
“Ah don’t mean size Twilight I mean grown up. He def’nitley don’t act like a baby no more.” Twilight smiled warmly. She understood what Applejack meant and it was true. It had only been three years since she’d hatched Spike from his egg, but already he was growing up. She thought about what would happen when he reached adolescence, when he actually would be as big as the buildings in Ponyvile. There was no way she’d be able to keep him in the library; she might not be able to keep him at all… The thought was sombreing so she dismissed it and simply said,
“Yes, he certainly has.” The party went on late into the night, until Mrs Cake fell asleep at the table and Mr Cake led her home, wishing Spike a happy birthday. Other ponies and colts started to drift away into the warm night, some still giggling or singing as they left, each one wishing Spike a happy birthday as they went. Twilight could easily remember when Spike would already be asleep by now, but tonight he was still wide-eyed and awake as the last of his guests left, leaving him with the mane-six. Spike turned away from the door as he waved Derpy off, flinching as she crashed into a tree on her way out, and smiled at his friends,
“Well that was fun.” The other ponies smiled in response but their weariness was evident on their faces. “You’re not tired are you guys?” Spike asked in mock shock. Applejack stifled a yawn and said,
“Oh No Spike, we’re not…” This time she couldn’t help herself and she yawned loudly. Spike chuckled and said,
“Why don’t you guys go home? I can take care of the cleaning up.”
“Oh no no no,” Fluttershy fluttered forward, “We couldn’t do that. You shouldn’t have to clean up your own birthday party.” But even she couldn’t keep the weariness from her eyes. Spike put a hand on her shoulder and told her,
“It’s okay, really. I’m still wide awake anyway.” Despite his reassurance the others insisted on staying to help clean up. It didn’t take too long to tidy up the inside of library, but they decided to leave the outside until the morning, and they said their goodbyes and happy birthdays and went home for some rest. That night, as she slept, Twilight had a dream. She dreamt that Spike was all grown up and taller than any building in Ponyvile, and when he tried to crawl inside the library he collapsed the wall all over his head. It ended when he flew off over the rooftops of Ponyvile, away into the mountains never to be seen again. The dream had been so real that Twilight awoke with heart pounding and her eyes tearing. She quickly pushed the covers of her bed back and leaned over the foot of her bed to check on Spike. His bed at the foot of her bed was empty, but then again he hadn’t slept there for months now. He was too big. She climbed out of bed and trotted over to the stairs and looked down into the main library, which doubled as her living space. Spike was curled up in a corner. For a moment she thought he was asleep, but she realised he was awake. He was curled around something staring at it. She realised that her eyes were still wet from un-fallen tears and she chastised herself for being so silly. It had only been a dream and there was no reason to be acting so silly. Despite that she still couldn’t help herself and she wanted to talk to him. So she tottered down the steps and Spike’s head came up as she approached. He looked at her and was about to speak when he stopped and stood up. He was already so big. Had he gotten even taller, in the time it had taken to throw his party? Twilight found that she was annoyed at herself for allowing the dream to have affected her so badly. “Is everything alright Twilight?” Spike asked concern clear on his face, “You look a little flustered.” Twilight smiled reassuringly and shrugged,
“Couldn’t sleep.” She said in way of an explanation. She looked down at Spike’s hand and saw that he was holding Rarity’s Sapphire. “You’re not still mooning over that gem are you?” She teased, but Spike smiled and looked down at the stone.
“I can’t help it. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a stone like it.” Twilight smirked,
“Even more beautiful than Rarity?” Spike’s face flushed and he suddenly became very interested in the bookshelves.
“Of course not! You know that’s not what…” Twilight giggled as he spluttered. Once Spike realised she was only teasing he stuck his tongue out at her. She returned the gesture and excused herself to the get a glass of water. She felt immediately better for having talked to him. It was only a silly dream. She told herself. She slept the rest of the night undisturbed by dreams, until morning broke over Ponyvile and sun light poured in through her window.