Beware The Green Eyed Dragon
Nova was very nervous today as he sat with Twilight next to him and all his friends nearby in Sugarcube Corner. Not just his six original friends, but Derpy, Octavia, and Vinyl. His parents and little brother were present as well. This was big news he was about to deliver and he felt like he had jewel bugs in his gut. That would be the equivalent of butterflies.
Twilight sat next to him practically nuzzling him to try and comfort him as well as encourage him. Everypony there waited in anticipation for this important announcement Nova had. “Well dear, what is so important you had all of us come here?” Rarity asked.
“Yes son, what is going on?” Starla asked.
“Go ahead Nova, tell them.” Twilight encouraged.
Nova gulped first. “Well….you see……last night….me and Twilight were just sitting and talking outside my house and….I….kinda…sorta….offered her an item as a sign of my affection.”
Both Starla and Cosmos smiled widely. Starburst had a confused look on his face, as did the rest of the ponies there.
“You did what now?” Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash asked at the same time.
“Dude, what does that mean?” Vinyl asked.
“Yeah Nova, I’m kinda lost here.” Starburst pointed out.
“I think we all are.” Derpy said.
Pinkie suddenly let out a loud gasp and a big smile before going off. “OH MY GOSH! You gave Twilight an item as a sign of your affection which is the same as proposing to her like what we do and now you two are going to get married!” Pinkie expressed in one breath.
Nova’s jaw dropped at Pinkie knowing all that. “How…how did you know that?”
“Just a hunch.” Pinkie simply answered with a grin and a squee.
“Whoa whoa whoa, you two are getting married?” Dash asked.
“Oh honey that’s wonderful, congratulations.” Starla said.
Cosmos walked up to Nova and gave him a slap on the back. “HAH, way to go son, I always thought you two made a cute couple.”
“Oof, thanks….dad.” Nova strained after the slap on the back.
“So wait, Nova and Twilight are getting married?” Starburst soon smiled. “That means I’m getting a big sister in law!” He cheered. After a round of congratulations, Pinkie Pie threw a huge party for everypony there to celebrate.
A couple days went by after Nova made the announcement and everypony was getting ready for another party. Spike’s Birthday was coming up and Nova thought of a gift he thought for sure Spike would love. While he wasn’t like those rich fancy ponies who liked his fancy gems, he hoped Spike would like the one he had made for him. It was a green gem shaped like a small flame with a light green orb of magic at its center that moved like a small flame. He had the gem in a gold setting with a gold chain necklace.
“I hope Spike likes it. I know he likes to eat gems, but I hope he doesn’t eat this one.” Nova said to Starburst. The two were in their home getting ready to leave for Twilight’s.
“Don’t worry Nova, I’m sure he has some self-control right?” Starburst reasoned.
Nova turned to his little brother with a smile as he levitated the necklace into a box colored green with blue ribbons around it. “I’m sure he does. Are you sure you don’t want to come with me to the party?” Nova asked.
“Nah, that’s okay, I’ve got some crusading to do today with the rest of my club.” Starburst was eager to hang out with his friends today. “Besides, after the last party Pinkie threw, I think I’d prefer to hang out with my friends.”
Nova chuckled at Starburst’s comment. “Hm hm, all right then Starburst, you have a good time with your friends.” Starburst galloped out of the house after turning on his pony disguise. Nova did the same as he carried his present for Spike. “Oh, almost forgot something.” Nova then levitated a small green bag filled with pieces of gemstones from his other works for Spike to munch on.
Nova made his way to Twilight’s house and let himself in only to see an odd sight. Spike was running from Twilight and Twilight kept teleporting him right to her. Neither of them were looking pleased. “What the galaxies?” Nova asked himself.
“It’s over Spike, I’m cleaning that cheek!” Twilight declared.
“Twi….stop it.” Spike said after being teleported again.
“Never!” Twilight declared again.
“What is going on here?” Nova asked out loud.
After a couple more times of Twilight trying to teleport Spike over to her, one attempt ended with Pinkie Pie appearing instead with a noise maker in her mouth. She gave it a blow and zipped off. Spike reappeared and Pinkie cheered. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” She tossed confetti over spike.
Twilight took the opportunity to make her way over to Spike with the wash cloth she was levitating and rubbed it on Spikes cheek then gave a victorious smile.
Pinkie Pie cheered out again as the others showed up with presents of their own. “Party time, WOO HOO!” She tossed more confetti. Rainbow’s present was a barbell with a ribbon while the other presents were wrapped up in a box like Novas.
“Are those, for me?” Spike asked.
Applejack tossed her present to Spike as she walked past him. “They sure are birthday boy.”
Fluttershy placed her gift on top of Applejack’s. “Happy birthday Spike.”
The other’s stacked their presents on top of one another with Rainbow Dash placing hers on top. Nova saw the stack looked like it was about to topple over and Spike was about to fall. He quickly rushed over and used his magic to take the stack from Spike. He set them down in a row and placed his at one end. “There you go buddy.” He then placed the bag of gem bits on top of his present.
Spike gave a grateful smile.
During this time, Twilight had rushed upstairs before Nova could greet her.
Spike looked at the line of gifts with confusion.
The girls looked at Spike as they wondered why he looked confused. “Spike, what is it?” Nova asked.
Rainbow hovered down. “Don’t you know you get presents on your birthday?”
Spike stood up as he began to explain. “Well actually, this is my first birthday in Ponyville. I usually just get one present….from Twilight….a book.” His voice fell with each part.
Nova noticed Twilight coming down the stairs with a rectangular object wrapped up. She apparently heard Spike and gave a blush and smile as she tried to hid the gift behind her and backed up.
Nova walked over to her with a smirk. “AHEM.” He said to get her attention.
When she finally noticed him, her face lit up. “Nova.” The two shared a kiss to greet one another. “I’m glad you’re here.” She nuzzled Nova.
Nova wrapped a hoof around her and nuzzled back. “Glad to be here.” Once they were done, Nove felt it would be safe for him to drop his disguise since they were inside and Twilight had closed the library for the party. He deactivated his metal necklace holo-emitter so his true alien form was revealed. He then asked the question that arose when he first stepped in. “Twilight, what was all that about earlier when you were teleporting Spike and he was running from you?”
“You see, Spike gave Rarity a fire ruby gem and Rarity gave him a kiss on the cheek in return. So Spike decided he didn’t want to wash that cheek again. However…” She trailed off.
Nova figured it out from there. “Spike kept to his word and it just started looking gross so you tried to wash it which is what I walked into. Is that right?”
“Yes.” Twilight said with a smile and nod.
Rarity then stepped in. It was also then that Nova noticed Rarity wearing a gold necklace with a red heart shaped ruby. “Speaking of gifts.” She suddenly brought out a purple cape. “This is from my new line of tafada capes. I’m going to be making one for each of you.” The girls sounded off in approval. Nova simply smiled at it. “I’ve been inspired by the generosity of my little Spikey Wikey who gave me this beautiful fire ruby. One of the kindest acts I’ve ever experienced.” Rarity nuzzled Spike in gratitude.
Nova smiled at the scene. “Looks like he’s almost there.” He thought to himself.
The party soon went underway and Spike opened Nova’s gift first, setting the bag aside for now. He opened the box and lifted the necklace out for all to see. “Wow, this looks great Nova, thank you.”
Nova walked over to Spike. “I’m glad you like it. I wasn’t too sure since you’re not the type into jewelry so I did my best to make it look more like something you’d like.”
He got up and gave a grateful hug to Nova. “It’s great, I like it.” Spike put his new necklace on.
Rarity trotted up to admire it. “Ooh Nova, that looks lovely, why haven’t you made gems like this for your clients?” She asked as she looked over to Nova.
“I really just came up with the idea when I decided to get something for Spike, the idea just came to me.” Nova stated casually.
“It looks fabulous.” Rarity complimented. “You really should add it to your line.”
The party continued on as Spike went through the rest of his presents and had quit the load of gifts. About half way through, he poked his head out of a box that was open at both ends with a blanket with apples on it. “Applejack, I can’t thank you enough for this blanket.” He removed himself from the box and walked over to Applejack to give her a hug. “I really needed a new one.”
Applejack gave an embarrassed smile. “That’s enough Spike, you already thanked me fifteen times.” She pushed him back with a hoof. “I’m startin ta get a little embarrassed.”
Spike smiled as he looked over the group. “I know I keep thanking you guys, but I’m just so grateful. I wish this party could last forever.”
Pinkie was hopping on a balloon as Spike was talking. When he finished, the balloon popped. “DUH!” She expressed. She went over to Spike, knocking Twilight and Applejack over. Nova ran over to her and helped her up. Pinkie went off on a one winded speech. “The party can’t last forever because you have to go to Sugarcube Corner cause the cakes said they have a special surprise for you because IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY!”
“NO WAY!” Spike exclaimed happily before rushing out the door to the bakery.
“HEY, I said the party couldn’t last forever but it doesn’t have to end right now!” Pinkie called out after him.
Nova walked over to Pinkie and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Sorry Pinkie, guess the party is over. Can’t have a birthday party without the birthday dragon, it was fun though.”
Pinkie gave a small smile in return. “Yeah, it was.”
The girls and Nova worked together to clean up the library after the preemptive ending to the party. Twilight gave her thanks to her friends for the help as they left. Once gone, Twilight decided to go look for Spike. “I’m gonna go find Spike, he’s been gone for quite a while.”
“I’ll come with you.” Nova offered. He reactivated his disguise before heading out with Twilight.
Twilight simply smiled at the offer. The two walked side by side through the town as they looked for Spike. It was then Nova thought it a good idea to ask a certain question. “So Twilight, about the whole…..marriage I’ll say, do you want to have the kind of ceremony Your race usually has, or are you interested in the ceremony my race does when joining two loves as one?”
Twilight thought a moment. “Well…I am curious about what kind of ceremony the culture you come from has.”
“I see, you want to know what it’s like before deciding?” Nova asked.
“That would be nice.” Twilight stated.
“Okay then, later today, you can come by my house and I’ll explain it.”
“I’d love to.” Twilight stated as she nuzzled Nova.
The two soon found Spike near the town fountain with a mare. Nova had met her before but not enough to remember her name, let alone say they were friends. She had a yellow coat with a two toned, yellow and orange mane and tail. She had a pair of baskets with flowers hanging off her back.
Spike also had on a white hat with a red band and feather and a ball with him. Spike seemed to be asking the mare for a gift. “I don’t have anything.” The mare said.
Spike started eyeing the flowers. “Well what about those flowers, I’ll take those.”
Twilight then stepped in. “Spike!” She called. She used her magic to pull Spike by his ear fin. She stepped in front of Spike and faced the mare. “Sorry June Bug. I think Spike might have gotten a little carried away.”
“June Bug, that’s her name.” Nova thought to himself.
June Bug just gave a smile. “No problem, happy birthday Spike.” She said before walking off.
Both Twilight and Nova looked down at Spike disapprovingly. “Spike, what were you thinking?” Nova asked.
“What are you doing? You’re out here demanding presents now?” Twilight asked.
Spike dropped the ball he was holding and shook his head. “Wow, your right Twilight, I don’t know what got into me. Thanks for snapping me out of it. I’d better go give Cheerilee her hat back.” He removed his hat from his head.
Nova and Twilight gave Spike a smile. “Sounds good, see you at home later?” Twilight said.
“Sounds good.” Spike responded.
“Be sure to keep yourself in check little buddy.” Nova added as he and Twilight walked away.
The two went on to Nova’s house so Nova could tell and show Twilight the ceremony his race used when it came to marriage. Once inside, Nova dropped his disguise and went over to his computer. “Okay, let’s see here.”
Twilight looked on in wonder. Even after finding out about Nova being from another planet, the thought never crossed her mind to ask him about more of his technology. “Wow, so what is that?”
“It’s my ships computer, it has all the data about the world I came from. Animals, plants, diseases, history, spells.”
Twilight interrupted there. “Spells? Like what kind of spells?” She asked with a smile as she stood next to Nova.
Nova smiled, he had forgotten for a moment that Twilight loved learning about magic. “Some of the spells we have are the same as the spells available to the magic users here. Though the magic between our species is different, by that I mean that the magic my race utilizes comes from the universe itself. We evolved to the point where we can tap into the magical energies of the universe while your kind taps into the planets own magical energy. The magic of the universe is greater than that of magic from a planet that has it. Hence why Starburst is as strong in magic as he is.”
Twilight listened intently as Nova explained all this. “I see, very fascinating. So does that mean that your magic is stronger than the average unicorn of our world?”
“Yes, though your magical strength seems stronger than that of the average unicorn as well.” Nova pointed out. “I’m guessing it’s because you worked hard at it didn’t you, hence your special talent being magic. Am I right?”
“You are. I am loving this discussion, it’s so fascinating.” Twilight said. “So are all Equinians who use magic as strong as you?”
“First, all Equinians are magic users, we aren’t as diverse in species as you ponies are.” Nova brought up a picture on his computer that showed a male Equinaian and a female Equinian. “There is only a physical difference between the male and female of my race as you can see. The males have fins while the females do not. The females tail is more sleek and has a ring at the end. The females magic comes from the tail ring while the males source is internal.”
Twilight was smiling more as she was learning more about another race. Nova figured she would enjoy it which is why he started on this in the first place.
As Nova continued his lecture, he used his computer to bring up different pictures to help with his presentation. “As you are aware, the magic your race utilizes is all internal. I find it fascinating that even though the pegasai and earth ponies have magic but can’t utilize it like you unicorns, it still manifests in different ways like how the pegasai control the weather and fly, and how earth ponies use theirs to tend to the land and help plants grow and take care of the animals.”
“This is all so fascinating Nova, so did you all use just magic to manipulate the weather and help grow plants then?” Twilight asked.
“We didn’t use our magic to control our world. We let the weather and animals do as they pleased. Though it was hard sometimes, we still managed to live in harmony with our world. We did use magic to help crops grow some, but that was as far as we went with our magic in controlling our world. We just used it for other things like entertainment, scientific pursuits, and exploration.”
“Gosh Nova, I wish I could have seen your world, it all sounds beautiful.”
Nova’s smile faded a little. “Yeah….it was.”
Twilight noticed his mood drop and realized what she said. “Oh, I’m sorry Nova….I…I didn’t mean to…”
Nova cut her off. “It’s fine Twilight. I think we forgot the whole reason you came by here. You wanted to know about how my culture gets married as you would say.”
Twilight nodded.
Nova turned back to his computer and began the explanation. “Firstly, we call it the bonding. It’s the bonding of two souls who find happiness with each other. The ceremony starts with us standing before an altar of our goddess Galea. I say my true feelings for you in my own words and why I feel the way I do about you. Then you do the same. After that, we both ask the goddess Galea for her blessing. If she grants it, the eyes of the statue will light up. That will mean the goddess approves and will be watching over us. If not, we will not receive her blessing but can still get married if we believe it will work.”
“It all sounds so interesting Nova. I think….I’d like to do it your way.” Twilight said with a smile.
Nova smiled back. “Really? That would mean a lot to me, but I have no problem in doing it the way your culture does.”
Twilight nuzzled Nova. “It’s fine Nova, I really would like to do it your way.”
Nova smiled bigger as he nuzzled Twilight back. “All right then. When should we do it?”
“I think we should wait a while. I still would like to introduce you to my family before we decide on that.” Twilight informed.
“Fine by me. I imagine I’ll have to tell them what I am won’t I?”
The next day arrived and Nova was in high spirits. He and his little brother were sitting at a table eating a breakfast of Starburst’s favorite fruit from their old world, snorbler fruit when a knock at their door came. “I’ll get it.” Nova said. He got up from his chair, grabbed his holo-emitter and put it on, then answered the door. “Whoa, Spike?” The first thing Nova noticed was Spike was standing before him, but he was taller. Twilight was next to him.
“Nova, I need your help. There’s something wrong with Spike.” Twilight said.
“Uh, but….”
Twilight cut him off again. “Do you think there might be something you can do? Maybe use something from your computer, information…something?”
“Well, I guess I could try. Come on in.” Nova stepped aside to let the two in.
Starburst immediately noticed Spike and ran over. “Whoa, Spike, what happened to you?”
Spike’s voice was a little deeper than usual. “I don’t know, I just woke up and was like this.”
Nova had deactivated his necklace. “Do you remember what you were doing yesterday after me and Twilight left you?”
“Not really.” Spike responded.
Nova thought a moment. “Hmm, I suppose I could use a scan spell on him to try and figure it out, but I’m not familiar with his physiology so I don’t have anything to compare it too…..” He thought more when he had an idea. “But Starburst does.”
“Huh?” All three said in unison.
Nova turned to his little brother. “Starburst, remember the first day we came here? When you saw Spike, you ran right up to him and used a scan spell on him.”
“Oh yeah, I did.” Starburst said with a smile. It soon faded as a question arose. “But how’s that going to help? I don’t know how to do a comparison.”
“You don’t have to, I can scan your mind and get the knowledge you have that way.” Nova pointed out.
“It won’t hurt will it?” Starburst asked nervously.
“Of course not, you won’t feel a thing. Now just relax and open your mind.” Nova instructed.
Starburst did as he was told and closed his eyes.
Nova shot a small beam of magic from his antennae to Starburst’s head. He scanned Starburst’s memory for what he was looking for, once he found it, he was able to copy it to his memory and cancelled the spell. “There we go, see, no sweat.” Nova then turned to Spike who seemed to be eyeing the rest of breakfast that was left. “Are you hungry?” He asked carefully.
Spike seemed to snap out of a trance. “Huh, uh, no, I’m okay.” He walked back over to Nova.
“Okay then, hold still.” Nova instructed. He performed his scan spell as a fan of magic went from his antennae and went down Spike’s body. When Nova finished, he raised a hoof to his chin.
Twilight came up next to him. “Well? What did you find?”
“I….I’m sorry Twilight, but I don’t know what’s wrong. Other than him being bigger, I just don’t know. I wish I could be more help.” Nova said.
Twilight gave a sigh. “That’s okay, thanks anyway. Maybe a doctor can help.”
“I’ll come with you.” Nova offered. “Starburst, you want to come?”
Starburst looked up to his brother. “Nah, I’m going to go spend more time with my friends, we have a crusader meeting today.” Starburst then galloped off after goodbyes were said.
“Guess it’s just us then. Don’t worry Twilight, I’m sure whatever it is we’ll figure out what’s wrong with Spike.” Nova tried to reassure Twilight.
He was rewarded with a grateful smile. “Come on Spike, let’s go.”
The three made their way to the doctor’s office and waited in the room for him to show. Spike was sitting on a kind of bed near a counter that had a bowl of lollipops. Spike tried to reach for it but Twilight slapped his claw away. The doctor finally came in. “Well now, what seems to be the problem?”
As Twilight explained, Spike kept reaching for a cup that had tongue depressors in them. “This is Spike. *Slap*. And something’s wrong with him. *Slap*. He used to be half this size, and he keeps trying to take things that aren’t his! *SLAP!*”
Nova watched Spike curiously. Once Twilight finished her explanation, he spoke up. “Think you can help him doc?”
“All right then, let’s just have a look see shall we.” The doctor positioned himself in front of Spike and started talking to him like he was a little foal. “Wittle guy not feewing too good?” He proceeded to hold Spike’s arm up and Spike was not looking too happy as the doc spoke to him like a baby. “Who’s a bwave wittle boy?” Spike tried to snap at him but the doc pulled back slightly un-phased. He continued with the baby talk. “Who’s the bwave one?” The doc then poked Spike in the knee.
The knee poke caused Spike to shoot out a large blast of fire that singed the top of the doctor’s mane.
“Can you find out what’s wrong?” Nova asked.
“Well, I think I know what the problem is.” The doc said. This got Twilight and Nova to smile, but Twilight’s was bigger. “He’s…a dragon!” The doc exclaimed.
Twilight now looked annoyed. “That’s not the problem, he’s always been a dragon.”
“Oh, well that explains it.” The doc walked over to a sink to clean himself. “Listen, I don’t know anything about dragons, I know about baby ponies. Why don’t you try a vet?” He suggested.
Nova noticed Spike collecting the lollipops from the bowl. He figured it was a waste to just try and stop him, he would just keep trying for them for some reason.
Twilight gave a disappointed sigh. “*Sigh* Okay, thank you doctor.”
On the way to the vet, Nova saw how sad Twilight was looking. She was so worried for Spike. He decided to try and comfort her. “Sorry the doctor couldn’t help Twilight, I wish I could have done something. It’s just, we didn’t have dragons on our world and I know next to nothing about them. I wish I could have been more help.”
Twilight looked up to Nova with a small smile. “It’s okay Nova, we’ll just try the vet.”
So the three made their way to the vet and Spike now had himself a bowl of lollipops. Spike was now standing on all fours on a table as the veterinarian looked him over. “Well, I’m flummoxed. Bring me a dog, I got it diagnosed in seconds, snake even faster. But to be honest, I’ve never seen a real live dragon before.” She stated. Spike gave a snort with smoke coming out his nose. The vet started petting him on the head like he was a pet. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?” She brought out a jar of dog biscuits and held one up in front of Spike. “Sit.” She commanded.
Spike sat up like a dog and was rewarded with the dog biscuit. He didn’t eat it though, instead, put it in the bowl of lollipops he had.
Twilight hung her head in dissapointment. “Thanks anyway. Come on Spike.” The trio left the vet. “What do we do now, how do we find out what’s wrong with Spike?” Twilight asked.
Nova began to think. “Hmm, maybe Zecora can help, she’s pretty smart.”
Twilight’s mood perked up. “Of course, Zecora, great thinking Nova.” Twilight nuzzled Nova gratefully. They rushed off straight for Zecora’s next.
Zpike was sitting on a stool in Zecora’s hut. Zecora gave Spike’s head a squeeze and tapped it. Then, she hung a watched in front of him and let it swing. Spike tried to grab it, but Zecora pulled it away before he could get it. She took hold of one of Spike’s claws with her mouth and waved it up then down. Spike’s other arm followed suit and flung upwards. It ended up slapping Nova in the face as he was closest. “OW!”
“Nova, are you okay?” Twilight asked with worry.
Nova rubbed his muzzle as he responded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Uh, sorry.” Spike said.
Zecora gave her analysis. “He is starting to mature, of this fact I am quit sure.”
“Mature? So he’s just…growing up?” Twilight asked.
“Really, is that all? But why does he keep trying to take things?” Nova asked.
Zecora walked over to her cauldron with Twilight and Nova. “A dragon’s heart is prone to greed, a steady diet to make growth speed.” She threw in some green powder. “Then the resulting size only makes their hunger rise. If this trait should go unchecked, if Spike continues to collect more growth will occur, he is going to turn into a monster.”
“That does not sound good.” Nova commented.
Twilight looked to Zecora with worry. “You mean the more stuff he collects the bigger and greedier he gets?”
“How do we stop this from happening?” Nova asked. He was really not liking the sound of this situation.
Zecora informed them of a solution. “If his monstrous ways you wish to impede, you must prevent him from practicing greed.” After she gave her advice, they noticed all of Zecora’s stuff was gone.
Twilight gave a nervous smile and laughed.
“Uh, don’t worry Zecora, we’ll get your stuff back. Come on Twilight, we’d better find Spike.” Nova said. The two exited Zecora’s house and made their way back to Ponyville.
“Come on Spike where are you?” Nova asked as he and Twilight were frantically running around town to try and find Spike.
As they were searching, they heard a familiar voice cry out. It was Sweetie Belle. “Get away from her you brute!”
Nova and Twilight looked over to see Spike trying to take Scootaloo’s scooter while the girls and Starburst were trying to keep him from taking it. “Spike want.” Spike said as he tried to take the scooter.
“Spike NO!” Nova cried out.
“You’re not getting my scooter.” Scootaloo said.
“Stop it Spike, let go!” Starburst strained out.
“Spike want.” Spike said again.
Both Twilight and Nova looked around for something to get his attention and draw him away from the kids. Twilight spotted a broom nearby and levitated it up. She started swinging it in front of Spike as she called out to him. “Hey Spike, check out this amazing broom.”
Spike finally released the scooter and eyed the broom. “Spike want!” He said more demanding and grew more in size.
“Come and get it big guy!” Nova called out. He and Twilight led Spike back to the library where Twilight tricked Spike into another room by pulling the broom out of his reach at the last second. Twilight leaned on the door with her back while Nova braced it with his forelegs.
Spike seemed to be knocking at the door to try and get out but the two were able to hold the door. “Fight all you want, we’re not letting you out.” Twilight said.
“Spike, please try to come to your senses!” Nova pleaded. The struggling stopped. “Did that work?” Nova asked.
“I doubt it, but why did he stop?” Twilight asked. They stepped away from the door so Twilight could open it. When they stepped in the room, Spike had gathered all the books in the room into one pile and he was on top of it, holding on to it greedily. “Spike, I just re-shelved this room!” Twilight complained.
Nova helped Twilight get the books away from Spike and out of the room. Nova closed the door behind them once out. However, there was a loud bang in the room. “By the galaxies, what now?” Nova asked. They went back in and saw a Spike sized hole in the wall. “Great, he got out.”
“We need to find him and find some way to stop him. Maybe Applejack can help tie him up.” Twilight suggested.
“Then what are we waiting for, let’s go.” Nova said. They galloped out of the house and headed for Applejack’s.
They soon made it to Applejack’s orchard and found all the apples and leaves were gone. They spotted Applejack looking confused at the condition of her orchard. Twilight was the first to reach her. “Applejack help, Spikes running wild and we need you to lasso him!”
“Please Applejack, this is an emergency!” Nova added.
Applejack was silent a moment, then she started laughing. “Hoo, that’s a good one you two, heh heh, sweet little Spike running amuck.” Spike suddenly ran past them carrying a pile of apples and leaves. “Twilight, Nova, get my rope.” Applejack said seriously.
Nova and Applejack were each holding an end of the rope in their mouths as they galloped after Spike. Twilight was galloping along behind them. Nova and Applejack dove for Spike to rope him. Unfortunately, Spike stopped and ducked down to pick up an apple. Applejack and Nova ended up hitting a tree and got tied up to it themselves. Spike looked up and saw them, he roared out at them and went on.
“Nova, Applejack, you two okay?” Twilight asked as she came up to them.
“Yeah, were okay.” Nova answered.
Rainbow Dash had been flying by overhead and saw the situation. She flew down and fell to the ground laughing at Nova and Applejack. “Ah ha ha ha, don’t tell me, you tied yourselves up?”
“This isn’t funny Rainbow, help me get them untied!” Twilight scolded.
Rainbow Dash ceased her laughing and helped Twilight free Nova and Applejack. As soon as they did, they heard a scream. “What was that?” Applejack asked.
“Sounded like Fluttershy to me.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Come on, we gotta make sure she’s okay.” Nova declared as he took off with the others close behind. The group soon arrived at Fluttershy’s place.
“Fluttershy? Fluttershy!” Twilight called out.
“Fluttershy, where are you!” Nova added his voice.
Fluttershy’s voice answered back. “I’m up here!” The group looked up and saw her in a tree with a few squirrels.
“What happened Fluttershy? Are you okay?” Nova asked.
Fluttershy began to explain. “I was helping my squirrel friends with a dance step when all of a sudden, a giant rampaging d-d-d-dragon stormed through!”
“That was Spike!” Twilight informed.
“Spike? But why would Spike steal my chicken coop? He just pulled it out of the ground and filled it with a bunch of apples and stuff.”
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Another scream rang out.
“That sounded like Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow informed.
“Come on everypony.” Twilight declared.
“This is nuts.” Nova said. “How did this even start?”
The group arrived at Sugarcube Corner to see Pinkie sitting on top of a shelf throwing cakes at Spike. He was holding Fluttershy’s chicken coop with a bunch of things in it. “Pinkie Pie, stop giving him cake.” Twilight said.
“We’re trying to stop him from collecting things.” Nova informed.
“I’m not giving him cake, I’m assaulting him with cake.” Pinkie she tossed two more cakes at Spike and went for more, but Spike reached over and grabbed all the cakes on the shelves. Pinkie had fallen off and glared at Spike. “How dare you take the cake!”
Spike suddenly started to shudder a bit and grew bigger, so big that he bused the roof of the bakery. He then walked off to find more things. “Quasars, he’s gotten even bigger!” Nova said. “This is iimpossible, how are we going to stop him now?” Pinkie Pie was left stunned as her jaw hung open. Nova went to her side and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry Pinkie, I’ll help fix it, but we need to stop Spike first.”
Pinkie snapped out of her stupor and followed the others. Spike had grown to an enormous size and let out a roar as ponies started panicking and running around. To make things worse, he now had Rarity in his tail. Spike went and grabbed the water tower off its stand which caused the water to fall out and flood the area. He used the tank to store more things he had.
Nova zapped up his wings and flew up to Spike with Dash. “Don’t worry Rarity, we’ll get you out of this somehow!” Nova took one side of Spike’s ear while Dash took the other.
“Put her down right now!” Dash said angrily.
Nova tried another way. “Spike, please snap out of it, look what you’re doing!”
“I mean it dragon boy!”
“Come on Spike, your better than this, think about Twilight, think about your friends!”
“Drop her scaly!”
Their efforts were fruitless as Spike started swinging his tail about to shoo them way. Rarity was not pleased. “Hey….I’m not just…some sort of…….common fly swatter!”
Nova went to try and grab her and pull her free from Spike’s tail with Dash. The cape Rarity was wearing stopped them and wrapped them up. They fell into the river with the ripped piece of cloth around them. The others had gathered at the bridge. Spike gave out another loud roar. Three pegasi wearing the wonderbolts uniform flew in overhead. “Look, the wonderbolts!” Dash declared.
They flew around Spike and came up behind him, they managed to knock off a couple of his spines up the back of his neck. They flew around him some more. Spike climbed up the side of a mountain. “Oh galaxies, I hope they don’t hurt Spike too bad.” Nova commented.
Spike had emptied out the tank he had into a hole in the side of the wall as the wonderbolts continued to try and attack him. The swooped in on him but were tricked into the tank Spike had. He slammed the open end of it into the side of the mountain and trapped the wonderbolts. “Oh no, what do we do now?” Twilight asked with worry.
Nova looked to Twilight with equal worry. “I don’t know Twilight, I don’t know.” They watched helplessy as Spike was looking at Rarity. She seemed to be saying something to him but Nova couldn’t hear. But then, somehow out of nowhere, Spike just shrank down and back to his normal self. “What? He’s back!” Nova declared. It was then he noticed another problem. Rarity and Spike were falling.
“Somepony do something!” Pinkie cried out.
“We’re on it, come on Nova!” Rainbow Dash declared.
Nova flew up and followed Rainbow, she and Nova grabbed the cloth they got caught in before and flew as fast as they could to catch Spike and Rarity. They were successful and caught the two before they met the ground. They brought them back to the bridge where the others cheered in delight at the rescue and to see their friends safe.
The tank on the side of the mountain fell off and freed the wonderbolts. They flew off back to cloudsdale. “All in a days work.” Dash said.
Twilight walked up to Nova and nuzzled him. “Thank you for saving them Nova.”
“Hey, don’t thank just me, Dash was the other half of the rescue.” Nova said with a smile.
“Thank you both so much for rescuing us like that.” Rarity said.
“Awe, it was nothing.” Dash said with a hoof wave.
Both Rarity and Nova noticed Spike sitting on the edge of the bridge looking sad. They both went over and Rarity started. “Spike I just have to tell you how proud I am of you.”
“Proud of me?” Spike asked.
“Yes, it was you who stopped you from destroying Ponyville. Your my hero Spikey wikey.” Rarity then gave Spike a kiss on the cheek.
Spike smiled at first, but it soon faded. “But, I caused so much damage. I’m no hero. I let myself become a monster and nearly destroyed the town.” Rarity frowned at his words.
Nova stepped up to Spike and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Spike, this was an accident. None of us knew how you getting so much stuff for your birthday would affect you. If anything, we’re all to blame for this. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Even though you went a little crazy there, in the end, you were able to stop yourself. That is something to be proud of.” Nova gave a smile.
Spike smiled back. “Thanks Nova, your right.” He gave Nova a grateful hug.
Nova hugged back. “No problem.”
Once they broke their hug, Twilight walked over and gave Spike a hug of her own. “It’s good to have you back Spike. I was really worried about you.”
Spike hugged back. “I’m really sorry Twilight.”
“It’s okay Spike, like Nova said, this was just an accident.” Twilight assured.
After all was said and done, Rarity had every pony meet her back at her boutique to give every pony a cape. Nova’s was green with a yellow collar and orange lining. With everything now settled, it was time to begin the arduous task of fixing the damage done to the town, but with everypony working together, it wasn’t too bad.
At the end of the day after all the work, Nova returned home feeling exhausted. He was greeted by his little brother. “Hey Nova, welcome home.” He was playing with Zippy when Nova came in.
Nova gave a tired smile. “Hey Starburst, you and your friends okay after what happened?”
“Yeah, we were okay, but what happened to Spike, how did he get so big and why was he acting so greedy?” Starburst asked.
“I’ll tell you later Starburst, right now, I just need some rest.” Nova made his way to his room to turn in for the night, Starburst decided to follow as well. They said their goodnights and rested their heads to sleep so they could greet the next day.