//------------------------------// // Birthday Dragon? // Story: As Sweet As Lavender // by Draconian Soul //------------------------------// Spike leaned up, stretching his arms. Yawning loudly and scratching his back, he smiled widely, knowing that his day was going to be excellent all because of what day it was. “Today’s the day,” he softly said to himself, smiling at the still sleeping Rarity. He leaned over and began kissing tenderly on her cheeks, causing her to giggle. “Spike, stop. You know I’m ticklish there…” Rarity mumbled and smiled in her sleep, avoiding contact with the elated dragon next to her. “Hey, Rarity, if you get this message in your peaceful sleep, I just want to say I can’t wait for what you have planed for me today.” With a goofy grin, he laid back on the bed and closed his eyes, anticipating what would happen in the following hours. When he decided to get up, he noticed that Rarity was not in the bed with him. A smirk formed on his face, knowing what she was doing. His stomach was rumbling in anticipation. “Don’t worry, boy. You’ll get fed a nice breakfast soon,” Spike said, patting his belly. “I’m expecting something nice for today.” He hopped off the bed and walked into the bathroom to wash his face. He didn’t want to look bad on this momentous of days. After straightening himself out, he walked downstairs with a huge, goofy grin on his face. He hummed to himself and entered into the kitchen, seeing both Rarity and Lavender setting up the table. “Ah, isn’t that cute!” Spike said, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “My precious little daughter helping my lovely wife make breakfast.” Lavender giggled and wagged her tail as she balanced Spike’s plate of french toast and eggs on her head. “Lavender, don’t play with your fathers food,” Rarity giggled. “We don’t want to have to clean up Papa’s mess off the floor now do we?” “No, Momma!” Lavender chimed, glowing with pure happiness. “Well, I’m just glad to see that you girls decided to wake up and do something special for me this morning,” Spike responded. “It is a special day, afterall.” Rarity raised an eyebrow, looking at Spike in a confused manner. “What are you talking about?” “Well, you know, the day of all days for me? A very, special day?” Spike hinted constantly, trying to get a reaction out of Rarity. She tapped her hoof on her chin, shrugging afterwards. “Well, I can’t think of anything,” she bluntly replied. “Our anniversary isn’t for another six months!” Spike’s giddy grin melted into a saddened frown. How could she not remember his special day? “Lavender, do you know what Spike is talking about?” “Noooo?” Lavender answered, unsure of her answer. “We just decided to fix breakfast like normal.” This was the final nail in the coffin for Spike. His hopes were crushed right in front of him, and by his own family no less. “You two really don’t know what day it is?” They both shook their head. “I see…” Without another word, Spike sat at the table, staring at his breakfast. His normal, unspecial, ordinary breakfast. Lavender watched as Spike poked at the French toast with heavy disappointment. “Daddy, are you okay?” she asked. “Yeah, princess, I’m fine…” The breakfast was awkwardly quiet; Spike didn’t wolf down his breakfast like he normally did. In fact, he didn’t seem to enthralled to eat his breakfast. For once in their relationship, Rarity had finished her food before him. “Spike, aren’t you going to finish your food?” Rarity asked. Spike looked down at the last bit of toast he had left, sighing loudly. “Nah. Don’t think I can finish the rest of this up.” “Well dear,” Rarity began, kissing Spike on the cheek, “if you are finished, Twilight requested your assistance over at the library. If I were you, I’d go ahead and see what she wants.” “Yeah, I suppose.” Spike’s special day might have been neglected by his wife and daughter, but he couldn’t imagine the sister he had lived with for almost his entire life would forget. He dismissed himself from the front table and headed for the front door. “Oh, Spike, I almost forgot!” Rarity called out, causing Spike’s eyes to widen. Maybe she did remember. “Yeah?” he replied in anticipation. “I’m going to need you back here in about four hours. We have a lot of work to do.” Work? On Spike’s special day? He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Alright,” he groaned before leaving the house. Rarity let out a small sigh and went back to the kitchen to clean. As she walked in, Lavender began tugging on her tail, concern filling the little dracony’s eyes. “Mom, why couldn’t we tell Daddy happy birthday?” she asked. “He looked… upset.” Rarity leaned down and patted Lavender on the head. “Well, dear, we’re throwing Spike a surprise party, so we want to keep him in the dark for as long as possible. He might be upset now, but trust me, by the end of the day he’s going to be bursting with happiness!” “I don’t know. It looked like he was about to burst with sadness a moment ago. What if he…” Rarity giggled and kissed Lavender’s forehead. “Now sweetie, I might have married a man child, but I’m pretty sure he can handle this in a mature manner. He’ll be just fine.” *** “And then they just went on like it was nothing! It’s like they didn’t even care about what day it was!” Spike traced the library with Twilight watching his every movement. She just rolled her eyes and flipped through her book while he complained. “I don’t ask for much! All I want is some acknowledgement… well, maybe a cake or something, but just some acknowledgement. I mean, it’s not like I forget their birthday or anything. I always pull the stops for Rarity when she has her birthday, and I don’t even get…” “I’m sorry, but what was that?” Twilight interrupted. “I kinda got lost in the book I was reading. So, what was it you were ranting on about?” “You weren’t listening?” Spike groaned. “Look, Spike, I’d love to hear you mope around and talk about how unfair life is, I really would, but I didn’t call you over for therapy. I called you here so you could do me a little favor.” Her too? “Fine! What is it?” Twilight could hear the frustration in his voice, but in order for the plan to go accordingly, she needed to keep her faux ignorance up. “Oh, nothing much. Just sort out all the books in alphabetical order. You know, the usual.” “Oh, of course! That’s what I wanted to do today!” Spike complained. “This is the perfect day to be sorting out your books because you want to go frolic around with your friends!” “Hey, it’ll be just like old times.” “Yeah… old times…” Spike walked over to the shelves and began mumbling under his breath. Twilight smiled softly, and walked out of the library. “Stupid Twilight, and her stupid books,” Spike muttered. “Just wanted to have a nice day and already they’re screwing it up!” “Woo.” Owlolicious flew on top of the bookshelf while Spike was alphabetizing the books. “You know what… I don’t even know who anymore. They act like they don’t even know me! I’m just some kind of work horse… um… dragon who doesn’t deserve a good birthday!” “Woo.” “ME!” Spike snapped at the owl, causing it to flinch and ruffle its feathers. Spike took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated right now. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, Owlolicious. Still…” Spike turned his head towards the clock. It was getting close to lunch, and the breakfast he had wasn’t exactly the most filling, though he was partially to blame for that. “Well, if they won’t treat me for my birthday, I’ll just treat myself to a little something. These stupid books can wait.” He climbed down the ladder, looking up at Owlolicous. “Hey, I’ll be back later. If Twilight comes back, you didn’t see me.” “Woo.” “Exactly!” *** Lavender licked her lips at the bounty of treats that were displayed in front of her. A wide assortment of emerald encrusted cakes, apple tarts, deli sandwiches with fish in it especially for Spike, and many little petite cupcakes to top it off. Both her and Pinkie were practically drooling over the delectable treats. They reached for one of the cupcakes, only to be popped on the claw and hoof by Rarity. “No, Lavender! You’re not allowed to eat the treats until the party. You neither, Pinkie.” “Awww,” the two deviants whined, lowering their heads in disappointment. “Ah, don’t be a sourpuss, Rarity,” Applejack replied. “Little Lavender can have a little something for being a helpful little cook.” Lavender’s eyes lit up, tongue hanging out and tail wagging like an eager puppy. “I’m not being a sourpuss!” Rarity defended. “And besides, she hasn’t even eaten anything substantial yet. She’ll ruin her appetite!” “Well gee, Rarity, I was just tryin’ to be nice to little Lavender. Wouldn’t kill ya to spoil her every now and then.” Rarity huffed at Applejack’s response. “Listen, darling, I’ve been a mother far longer than you have; I know how to raise my daughter. Just because you’re about to have one…” “Two,” Applejack corrected smugly, rubbing her belly with her hoof. Rarity rolled her eyes. “Fine, two… doesn’t mean you can start telling me how to raise mine.” “Um, girls,” Fluttershy began, “I don’t think we should be arguing since… you know… it’s Spike’s birthday. I don’t think he would want you two arguing with each other, that is, if you want to stop.” “I agree!” Rainbow Dash chimed in, placing some more of the food on top of the push cart. “You two can bicker with each other another day. Right now, we got a dragon to celebrate with!” Rarity turned towards Rainbow Dash and smiled, imagining the big, goofy grin Spike would have when he saw the effort they put into his birthday. “Yeah, I suppose we can act civil to each other for a while.” “Great!” Applejack chimed. “Then ya won’t get mad when I do this. Catch Lavie!” Lavender opened her mouth and caught the fritter, munching down on the crunchy delight. Rarity was about to turn around and tell Applejack off for her defiance, but decided to hold back, and went back to helping load up the cart. “Hey! What about me?” Pinkie asked, pointing at her mouth. “Actually, Ah think ya can wait a bit,” Applejack chuckled, causing Pinkie Pie’s mood to deflate. Lavender giggled and pointed at Pinkie’s misfortune, eliciting laughters out of Rainbow Dash as well. The crew went on, helping load up the food and desserts for the party. They carried on light conversations throughout the process, until Twilight walked into the shop. “So, how are things coming, girls?” Twilight asked. “Everything’s going great, Auntie!” Lavender replied, pushing the cart to the door with Rainbow Dash, who was doing more pushing than Lavender was. “Daddy’s going to love it!” “I’m sure he will,” Twilight replied, smiling back at her. “But if I know my little brother, he has a very short fuse, especially when it comes down to something important of his being forgotten.” “Oh dear, I hope he isn’t too upset” Fluttershy stated. “He was kind of upset this morning,” said Lavender. “I don’t want to see daddy mad on his birthday.” Twilight nodded. “He might be a little agitated now, but once he see’s what we’ve done, he’ll calm down. Still, we should get these carts totted to the boutique as soon as possible.” “What’s the rush?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You said you were going to keep him busy with organising the books?” “Rainbow Dash, when have you ever seen Spike do anything properly when he’s agitated. Additionally, where does he usually come when he is agitated.” “Huh, good point,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Well, what are we waiting for? We need to get these to the boutique before you know who finds out!” “Glad you understand,” Twilight responded. “You and Applejack, stay here while we set up the rest of us set up the party.” “What!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Why?” “Well, we need Pinkie there to help set up the party, and with too many of us here, they’ll get suspicious. Just say you two are filling in for the Cakes while they’re out and we’ll be fine.” “Um, if ya haven’t noticed, Twi, I’m not really the best at keeping secrets,” Applejack objected. “Couldn’t you get somepony else to do it.” “Well, you’re the only one who can make pastries, and Rainbow Dash will be able to cover for you if he comes. “Well, okay. If ya say so…” “Great! Now girls, we should get going before you know who shows up.” The rest nodded in agreement as Twilight lit up her horn, cloaking her, her friends, niece, and pastries, wheeling them outside without being noticed. “Well, looks like it’s just you and me holding down the fort until we get the call,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Yep. I just hope that nothing goes bad until they get back to…” And just on cue, Spike stormed into Sugarcube Corner. “Oh… um… howdy, Spike,” Applejack greeted with an awkward grin. “Yo, whatsup, Spike?” Rainbow Dash followed. “Having a good day so far?” “Actually, it’s been quite terrible so far,” he groaned, leaning against the counter. “It’s as if my entire family has turned against me.” “That’s unlikely!” Rainbow Dash replied. “I think you’re just overreacting!” “Overreacting? OVERREACTING?” Spike pounded his fist against the table. “All I wanted was to have a decent birthday, and they slam chores onto me! It’s like I’m their slave! My own daughter doesn’t even know what day it is.” Applejack patted Spike on the head. “Ah’m sure they’re still thinking about ya. They could be doing som…” Rainbow Dash punched Applejack on the shoulder while Spike wasn’t looking, smiling back at him. Spike raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Wait… why are you two here and not Pinkie?” he inquired, noticing Applejack sweat up. “We’re just covering for Pinkie while she’s helping the Cakes,” Rainbow Dash lied seamlessly. “So, she needed both you and Applejack to cover for her, why?” “I just volunteered! Got a problem with me helping out?” “No…” Spike glanced at Applejack, trying to avoid looking him in the eye. “Okay, Applejack. Where exactly is everypony? Applejack gulped and wiped her forehead. “Well, I’m just here filling in for certain ponies while they do their thing…” “I didn’t ask why you were here,” Spike huffed. “I’m asking where they are!” Applejack eyes twitched; she couldn’t keep it up too long. “Hey, Spike, Back off!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “Don’t take out your personal issues on us! We’re just doing our jobs!” Spike glared Rainbow Dash down, his rage building. “Well, if you guys would be straight with me instead of leaving me in the dark!” The two continued arguing with each other, grating at Applejack’s ears. She gritted her teeth as Spike and Rainbow Dash continued yelling at each other. “Will ya’ll shut up so Ah can think! Ah’d rather be at the boutique with the others instead of here!” Applejack covered her mouth, but it was too late. Spike looked at Applejack pensively. “So, they’re at the boutique. And for what reason exactly?” Applejack looked down. She was already embarrassed for blurting out her friends locations; she didn’t want to tell what they were doing as well. Spike wasn’t amused. “Well, it’s high time I go payed them a visit!” The two tried to stop him, but Spike was determined to give the other ponies a piece of his mind. He stormed out of Sugarcube Corner, leaving the two ponies to sit in their failure. “Great job, blabbermouth!” Rainbow Dash scolded. “You had to go and tell him what we were up to!” “Hey, Ah didn’t want to be here to do this in the first place,” Applejack defended. “Wasn’t my bright idea.” They both sighed, placing their head on the table. “So… now that this is a bust, think we should be there for the welcoming committee?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Yeah, might as well.” *** The living room of the boutique was decorated with balloons and confetti, with a banner on the ceiling for Spike. Everything was set in place for the celebration. “Well, Pinkie, you sure have outdone yourself this time,” Rarity complimented. “Spike will be thrilled!” “I’m already thrilled!” Pinkie exclaimed, “I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees what we’ve done for him!” “We’ll find out in a little while, that’s for sure,” Twilight replied. “With any luck, he’s still at the library, or at the very least still with the others at Sugarcube Corner.” “But… what if he’s not?” Fluttershy meekly asked. “W-What if he found out about the party?” “Well, then we’ll have to deal with it when that time comes,” Twilight answered. “But my brother is reasonable enough. I’m sure he’ll understand why we did this.” The door swung open, revealing the dragon in question. Only, he didn’t look like the happy Spike they came to know and love. He looked agitated, frustrated, and worse of all… furious. “So, this is what you girls were up to!” Spike snarled, inching his way closer to them. Rarity stepped towards her husband and tried to explain. “Spikey, you need to calm down. I can…” “I don’t want to hear it, Mrs. I Don’t Remember What Day It Is! I wasn’t really expecting much! Something simple would have been nice! But no, you all don’t seem to care!” The group of ponies eyes widened at the pent up rage generating inside of Spike, Fluttershy and Lavender especially showing concern. “Spike…” “And as for you, Twilight, my supposed sister, you didn’t even care when I was talking to you! You just kept on reading your stupid books, then proceeded to make me organize them! It’s like none of you cared!” “Spike…” “And then I come here to find out you girls are having a party by yourselves, without even inviting me! Shows how much you all care for me; and I could have put all this behind me, if you all didn’t do this on my…” “...Birthday, right?” Twilight finished. Spike’s anger melted into looks of confusion. “Wait, you knew?” “Yes, silly,” Rarity chimed in. “We all knew it was your birthday. How could we forget something like that?” Spike rubbed his head. Though still a little sore about the situation, he had calmed down significantly; at least they acknowledged it. But that begged the question… “Wait, so if you all knew, why did you all act like you didn’t know?” “Look up, Spike. I think that’ll answer your question.” Twilight pointed towards the banner reading “Happy Birthday Spike” in bold letters. Spike’s face flushed in humiliation. “Um… happy birthday, Daddy!” Lavender chimed out, which made him feel even more like Hades for his action. “Oh, so you girls were throwing me a surprise party,” Spike chuckled. “Well, duh! You’re the only one here who has a birthday today!” Pinkie winked at him, displaying the effort that the girls put together for him. “I’m surprised you didn’t see this coming!” “Yeah… I am as well…” Spike slapped himself in the forehead. “And here I was being irate about the entire situation. I feel like such an idiot.” “As you should,” Rarity harumphed. “Your reaction was immature and unnecessary!” “Yeah, I’m sor…” Spike’s apology was interrupted by a set of warm lips pressing against his. It was short, but sweet and effective. “Still, it pains me to see my Spikey Wikey all discombobulated on his birthday, so I’ll let it slide today.” The two shared a tender moment together, causing everyone in the room with the exception of Lavender, who was gagging at every sappy moment, aww. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie shouted, slamming down a record player on the table. “Wait, what about Rainbow Dash and Applejack?” Fluttershy asked. “They’ll get here when they get here,” Spike stated. “Right now, I’m ready to indulge!” “You heard the birthday boy,” Rarity replied, patting Spike’s stomach, “he’s ready to get started. And with that, the crew began to start the celebration. Pinkie forced Fluttershy to dance with her, much to her dismay while Lavender went straight for the treats. Spike was about to join in on the fun, but Rarity pulled him back for one last thing. “Before you go, you should know that Lavender is staying over Twilight’s tonight,” she cooed. “Oh, and why is that, Rarity?” “Well, let’s just say that I pulled out all the stops for our little solo session tonight. I can guarantee you’ll like your present.” Spike’s cheeks reddened, but he gave a confident look, anticipating the reveal of his present. “Oh, and why is that?” She leaned into his ears and whispered, giggling as she did so. This time, there was no hiding it. She had turned Spike’s cheeks entirely crimson. “Happy birthday, Spike,” she hummed. “Yes… happy birthday indeed.”