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// Family Appreciation Day  
// Story: Where Was Spike? 
// by powerpony 
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Twilight was sleeping peacefully until she was woken up to someone bouncing on her bed. She quickly jolted up to see Spike on her bed, jumping up and down like a hyperactive bunny. 
“C’mon, Twilight, wake up,” he said. “Today’s the day.”
After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Twilight looked at her alarm clock and saw that it was ten after seven.
“You’ve never up this early, Spike,” she said. “Usually it’s me waking you up.”
“I know, but today is Zap Apple jam day,” said Spike. “I want to be the first in line.”
Twilight chuckled at her dragon friend’s excitement. She knew how much he loved Zap Apple jam. He tried some while at the Apple family reunion when they first came to Ponyville and it had become one of his new favourite foods. Twilight would catch him peeking at the calendar, counting down the days to when it was time for the jam to be ready. 
“Okay Spike, settle down,” said Twilight as she got out of bed. “Just let me get ready and we’ll head on down to Sweet Apple Acres.” 
“Let me help you,” said Spike.
And before Twilight could do anything, Spike grabbed her comb and started to brush Twilght’s mane at an alarming speed. He then grabbed her toothbrush, smeared a large glob of toothpaste on it, and shoved it into her mouth, moving it up and down super fast. Spike then grabbed a can of hairspray and sprayed almost the whole can onto Twilight, causing her to cough. 
“There you go. You are set to go out into the world today,” said Spike. “Now let’s go.”
The little dragon then grabbed Twilight’s front hoof and dragged her out the front door as they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres.
When they got there, they could already see a small line forming. Twilight smiled a bit as she saw that the first pony in line was Pinkie Pie, who was always the first in line for almost any sweet treat that was being sold. The two stood in line and Spike got more and more excited as they were moved closer to the front. Finally, they made their way to the front, where they saw Applejack and Apple Bloom standing in front of a small stand which had stacks of jam jars on top of it. 
“I had a feeling you’d be there,” Applejack chuckled when she saw Spike. “I got a nice jar of jam just for you.” 
She then handed the jar to Twilight, who handed Applejack a couple of bits. 
“Care to try a free sample?” asked Apple Bloom who was holding onto a small plate with pieces of toast on it, each of them smeared with Zap Apple jam. 
“Don’t mind if I do,” said Spike, licking his lips. 
He picked up a piece of toast and took a bite. His eyes widen, as he took another and another. 
“This is the best jam this year,” he said. 
“You can thank Granny Smith for that,” said Apple Bloom who pointed to Granny Smith, who was over by the barn, jumping over a bunch of watering cans in a bunny costume and reciting the alphabet with a bunch of young foals doing the same thing behind her.
Twilight and Spike thought what they saw was a bit odd, but then they remembered Applejack telling them that it was all part of getting the Zap Apples to grow so they understood what was going on. 
“I heard that Granny Smith talked to your class yesterday for Family Appreciation Day,” Twilight said to Apple Bloom. “How did that go?”
“It was awesome,” said Apple Bloom. “Did you know that Granny Smith was one the ponies that founded Ponyville.”
“Really? Wow, that’s amazing,” said Spike. 
“It sure was. My whole class gave Granny a standing ovation,” Apple Bloom said before her smile disappeared. “Well, almost the whole class.”
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight. “What happened?”
“Diamond Tiara happened,” said Apple Bloom angrily. “After everypony applauded, Diamond Tiara had the nerve to call my Granny a kooky old lady.”
Spike was so shocked at what he heard that he started to cough up bits of the toast he was eating. Twilight quickly patted Spike on the back until he got his breathing under control. 
“She WHAT?!” Spike yelled. 
“That’s right,” said Apple Bloom. “And the worst of it is that in Granny’s story, one of the ponies who invested in the Zap Apple jam was Diamond Tiara’s grandfather. So Granny helped her family get rich.”
Spike started to feel his anger boil up inside him. He could not believe that Diamond Tiara would say something so disrespectful, especially to the pony that helped her family. At that moment, Spike saw Diamond Tiara walk past the farm. Spike clenched his little fists as he stormed off towards her. 
“Spike, where are you going?” said Twilight. 
“I’m going to give that little brat a piece of my mind,” the little dragon said. 
Twilight quickly ran up next to Spike to make sure he didn’t do anything dangerous. Even though she had to agree that what Diamond Tiara did was awful, she was still a filly and didn’t deserve to get hurt. 
“Hey, Diamond Tiara,” Spike called out to the filly. “I’d like a word with you.”
Diamond Tiara turned around and simply rolled her eyes when she saw Spike and Twilight walk up to her. 
“What do you want, furnace breath,” the young filly sneered. “This better be important. I’m late for a hair appointment.”
“You got a lot of nerve, you know that,” Spike said. “Apple Bloom told me how you disrespected her granny in front of her whole class. Didn’t anyone tell you to respect your elders?” 
“Well, you didn’t see what she was like,” said Diamond Tiara. “After she told that boring story she started licking the chalkboard.”
“I don’t care if she was chewing on her own tail,” Spike snapped back. “You had no right to talk to her like that. You may think you have everything, but you definitely don’t have any manners.” 
Diamond Tiara was starting to get annoyed at what Spike was saying to her. She then looked up at Twilight. 
“Could you please take your little pet away,” she said. “He’s getting on my nerves.”
Now Twilight was starting to get mad. 
“First of all, Spike is not my pet. He’s my assistant and one of my closest friends,” the purple unicorn said. “Secondly, I have to agree with him. What you did was mean and rude. I have half a mind to tell your father about this.” 
“I already know,” came a voice from behind Diamond Tiara. 
She turned around to see her father, Filthy Rich, looking at her, and judging by his face, he was not happy. 
“Oh, um, hi Daddy,” Diamond Tiara said nervously. 
“Don’t ‘hi Daddy’ me,” said Filthy Rich. “You’re in a lot trouble. I just had a word with your teacher, Cheerliee, and she told me about how you disrespected Granny Smith. I expected more from you, Diamond Tiara. I’m very disappointed in you.”
Diamond Tiara then hung her head in shame. 
“Am I grounded,” she asked. 
“No, but you’re not going to be unpunished,” said Filthy Rich. “I want you to help Granny Smith with her Zap Apple duties.”
Diamond Tiara gasped upon hearing this. She then looked up at the farm and saw Granny Smith bouncing around in her bunny costume, which gave her a look of sheer terror.
“But dad, I can’t do that,” she said to her father. “I don’t even have a bunny costume.”
“I can help with that,” said Twilight, who had a big smug smile on her face. 
She teleported herself away, only to return in a matter of seconds and stick a pair of large bunny ears onto Diamond Tiara’s head. 
“I got these from an old Nightmare Night costume I had when I was a filly,” she said. 
“Thank you, Miss. Sparkle,” Filthy Rich said before giving his daughter a little shove forward. “Let’s go, young lady.” 
Diamond Tiara let out an annoyed grunt before walking towards the barn with her father walking behind her. 
“That was very impressive there, Spike,” said Twilight. “And a little bit scary.”
Yeah, sorry you had to see that,” said Spike, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just that Granny Smith is such a sweet old mare and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.” 
“Oh, it’s okay, Spike,” said Twilight, patting Spike’s head. “It just proves that you care a lot about other ponies. Now what do you say we head on home and enjoy some of our new batch of Zap Apple jam.” 
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” said Spike as he jumped on top of Twilight’s back and the two made their way back to the library.