In the magical land of Equestria, in a quiet little town called Ponyville, there was a large tree that housed a library full of activity. Normally, a library would be quiet and peaceful, but tonight was a night for celebration. Ponyville's resident dragon was turning eighteen years old. The former bearers of the elements, the princesses, Discord, and several other ponies had all packed into the tree for the occasion.
Twilight was coordinating the other bearers in decorating while the birthday boy sat aside with his adoptive mother, Princess Celestia and his aunt Princess Luna. Their relationship was a closely guarded secret, only the assembled party guests knew of the connection.
"So Spike, how does it feel to officially become an adult?" Luna asked her nephew as she watched the decorating process.
"Not much different from before really." Spike said as he looked himself over. He was several inches taller than he had been when he had first arrived in Ponyville, but was still quite a bit smaller than a grown pony. His mother noticed his disappointment and looked to her son.
"I know it must be hard for you Spike, but we don't actually know enough about dragons to tell you when you'll begin to grow significantly. You are the first dragon to be raised in pony society, but even if you remain the same for centuries there will always be ponies who care about you." Celestia said attempting to console her son.
Spike nodded his head sadly, accompanying it with a mournful sigh.
"I know Mom, but most ponies will see me as a little kid until I get bigger." He said as he looked up at the alabaster alicorn. He loved his mother dearly, but he felt even smaller next to her, the biggest pony Spike knew of.
He was broken from his moment of melancholy by the sound of a powerful knocking on the door of the library. His mood immediately brightened as he knew who the knock must have originated from. He rushed off to the door and opened it to reveal the eldest Apple sibling, Big Mac.
The large red earth pony was carrying a large cask of cider on his back, his contribution to the event. He smiled at Spike as soon as he saw the little drake usher him inside. Big Mac walked in and placed the barrel on the food table and the pair began helping with the party's finishing touches. Unbeknownst to either of them Celestia watched the pair with great interest.
Neither of them said a word to the other, but could read each others thoughts with a look. The pair had become good friends over the years, while the girls were off on various adventures they had begun assisting each other with various chores.
Mac possessed size and strength Spike lacked, while Spike was good at problem solving and tasks where hands were far more useful than hooves. They had both began seeing each other as friends when they found they enjoyed each others company and had a shared work ethic.
After a while Spike could read the mostly silent stallion just as good as his sisters could, if not better. Spike had been a great boon to the soft hearted hulk when Granny Smith had finally succumb to old age a couple of years ago. Spike may have been several years younger than the big lug, but he was very mature for his age and had proven an excellent shoulder to cry on.
Big Mac had even gotten to return the favor when Spike's long-time crush on Rarity had proven one-sided. The two had developed mutual feelings for one another, but shyness and still fresh emotional wounds kept them from saying anything to the other. Neither of them could bring themselves to tell the other how they felt, but after so long they were both near the breaking point.
The princesses watched the silent exchange between the two with knowing looks that had come with their incredibly advanced ages. Celestia was often known to play the long game with her little ponies, sometimes planning centuries in advance for events that would greatly effect the world. She was glad she hadn't done so with her son, it seemed he was perfectly capable of finding his own happiness.
The regal sisters both looked over the pair with small but proud smiles. The moment was inevitably short-lived however, as a familiar patchwork god popped up between the princesses with a expression of feigned disgust.
"If those two were any cheesier there'd be holes run through the both of them. I swear, romance in this century is so overcomplicated. I remember when all you had to do to get married was offer the brides family a fat sack of gold or a share of your harvest." Discord said as he materialized the aforementioned bag of bits and a bushel of corn.
Luna nodded in agreement as Celestia face-hooved and made a mental note to speed up her fellow immortals reintegration into modern society.
I really need to make sure they get out more. She thought to herself.
After another hour or so of preparation under taskmaster Twilight's strict supervision the party was ready to commence. Since Spike was still most likely able to succumb to greed growth everypony brought food items as gifts to the event instead of material possessions. The annual birthday potluck was something everypony had grown to look forward to just as much as Spike did.
The group was also sure to take many pictures so the event wouldn't be forgotten in years to come without the gifts. Food & fun were had by all as the night carried on. Eventually Pinkie Pie somehow ended up in a cider drinking contest with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Luna. Spike was watching intently until he felt a hoof tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see Big Mac who wouldn't directly meet his gaze.
"Spike, could ah see you outside for a minute?" The bulky earth pony said, seeming somehow redder than usual.
Spike knew whatever this was about it was serious, Big Mac was not one for words & they had long since lost the need for them. That, and under normal circumstances he would have wanted to cheer for his sister.
"Uh, sure. Let's go." Spike replied to Mac, who merely nodded and headed for the door. Spike followed close behind after making sure the others were distracted. After the pair made reasonably sure nopony was listening to them Mac took in a breath and released it before speaking.
"Spike, ah'm not a very social fella as ah'm sure you know... but ah'm able to be mahself with you. You understan' me better than AJ even. Ah've been thinkin' about you an awful lot the past few months, but ah wanted to wait until you were legally an adult to tell you." He started nervously, obviously beginning to sweat.
Spike was having trouble processing what he was hearing. It certainly wasn't unwelcome news, but he wasn't sure that this was really happening. He was always a vivid dreamer, making him think this could be nothing but his own mind telling him what he wanted. Regardless, he didn't want this to stop no matter what it was.
"Macintosh? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Spike said with signs of blush visible through his scales. He hadn't ever had a conversation like this with anypony except Rarity, but now he was on the receiving end of the heartfelt confession and he knew his response wouldn't be the same as hers had been if that was where this conversation was truly headed. Big Mac swallowed his nerves and answered the question exactly as Spike had hoped he would:
"Ah love you Spike, more than ah've ever loved anypony." Macintosh admitted proudly.
Spike had swam in boiling lava on a couple occasions up to this point in his life, but had never felt warmer than he did standing outside his home in the dark with Big Macintosh.
"I love you too Big Mac, I have for awhile now. I was just afraid that you'd reject me just like Rarity had and then I might have lost my best friend. I thought having you as a friend would have to be enough, but I've never been so happy to be wrong about something." Spike said as he wrapped his little arms tightly around Mac's neck for a hug.
The stallion wasted no time in reciprocating and held the drake to him with one of his forelegs. After a time the two separated and looked at each other with content smiles. Spike was the next to speak, a thought coming to his mind:
"What do we tell the girls... and my mother?" Spike asked as he nervously twiddled his thumbs while looking over to the door of the Library. Mac looked to the door as well before turning back to the much smaller dragon.
"Ah reckon we don't need to tell anypony anythin' just yet. We can keep it quiet until we're ready." He said hoping Spike would agree, his silent prayers had apparently being heard.
"Yeah, that seems like a good idea for the moment, we should get back soon though. Pinkie might notice us being gone from the party." Spike reasoned, if anypony would notice it would likely be the party mare herself.
The pair snuck back inside, just in time to see princess Luna and Pinkie Pie both slam cider mugs onto the table in front of them. This was a signal for a refill, but when none came Princess Luna looked to the ponies spectating the epic battle of drink.
"Why have you not refilled our cups, Twilight? The challenge is far from over." Luna said turning to the youngest alicorn who had been put in charge of distributing the drink.
"You two have finished off the last of this year's cider. There's none left." Twilight said while overturning the empty barrel with in her magic. Pinkie and Luna locked eyes and donned serious expressions.
"Next time." The mares said simultaneously as they made their promises to out drink each other. The pair even completed the Pinkie promise wordlessly to the other, making certain the challenge was to continue.
The rest of the party continued and it was soon time for Spike's special jeweled birthday cupcake. Pinkie seemed to just pull it from nowhere behind her back, but at this point nopony thought to question it.
Atop it was an already lit candle shaped like the number eighteen. Spike thought about his wish, as not to waste it. Once he decided on something he blew the candle out and repeated it to himself:
I wish I could be more like an adult for Big Macintosh. He silently prayed.
After a few more hours the party began to run down and the guests had begun to leave. The princesses wished him a happy birthday and for many more, Celestia and Luna receiving big hugs for attending. Big Macintosh gave him a smile and a nod and was off, he was the last to leave. The young dragon wandered up the stairs into his bed and fell asleep, eager for whatever tomorrow held.