A Dragon's Heart

by NightShadow-z

Chapter 11

As the train slowly pulled into the station in Ponyville, Spike leaned against the open-air railing of the caboose, wondering what he was going to do for the rest of the day while his friends got ready for his birthday the following day. He could head down to Sweet Apple Acres for a while and chat with Big Mac. Or he could go see what the Crusaders were up to. He soon realized that he mostly did chores for Twilight or Rarity, and barely had any free time to himself, which was kind of sad, if he thought about it.

The train suddenly stopping ripped Spike from his thoughts as he stumbled a bit, realizing that he might want to get off. After meeting up with Twilight, he soon found out that he would be able to return to the castle at around 8 PM which gave him around six hours to roam around Ponyville. Now all he needed to do was figure out what he was going to do for that time.

Deciding to just walk in a random direction, he soon found himself walking to the schoolhouse. Most of the fillies and colts were playing in the yard around the slide and swing set, and he easily spotted the big red bow of AppleBloom, one of the few ponies who actually helped Spike through his growth spurt. That reminded him that he’d have to thank Big Mac, Carrot Top, and Noteworthy again when he had the chance.

Before he could move on and leave the foals to their playing, he heard someone calling out to him.

“Oh, hey, Spike!” He heard Starlight call.

Turning around, he saw Starlight and Trixie were making their way over to him.

“Oh, hey, Starlight. Trixie.” He replied, letting them approach. “What’s up?”

“We were wondering if you’d like to help us with something?” Starlight asked him.

“What, exactly, would that be?” He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She blushed a bit, no doubt understanding his meaning. “Nothing like last time, I swear!” She defended quickly, flailing her forelegs, causing Spike and Trixie to chuckle a bit at her.

“Alright, alright!” He chuckled before noticing the saddlebags that the two mares were carrying. “Uh, what’s in those?” He asked.

Starlight looked confused for a second before Trixie spoke up. “They contain secret materials for Trixie’s next greatest show!”

Spike and Starlight just stared at Trixie as she posed as if waiting for the fireworks to commence. After a few moments, she seemed to notice their stares before coughing awkwardly into her hoof.
“A-anyway…” Trixie began. “We were wondering if you could lend us some of your magical fire. You once said that it won’t go out or burn anything unless you want it to, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Why do you need some of my fire?” Spike asked.

“Well….”

*****

Twilight opened the main doors to her castle, her five friends in tow behind her as they all entered the main entryway.

“Alright, y’all,” Applejack started. “We need to get this place looking nice and dandy fer Spike’s birthday party tomorrow.”

The other girls gave their own sounds of confirmation as they headed up to the main hall to start decorating for the party.

“Oh, Spike wanted to say thanks again for the weights, Rainbow,” Twilight told her friend. “He says it helps curb his greed, plus, I think he likes working out.”

Rainbow’s ears perked as she heard this. “Oh, really? I didn’t think it’d be that helpful to him.” She replied as she and Fluttershy lifted the ‘Happy Birthday, Spike!’ banner up to hang it.

Rarity’s own ears perked as she listened to them, not realizing how much the drake had to do to keep his dragon instincts under control.

Applejack chuckled before looking over to Rainbow. “Come now, Rainbow, y’all should know Spike better than that by now.” She told her. “Ah mean, Spike was talkin’ ta me about possibly helping out on the farm a few weeks ago. Said somethin’ ‘bout wanting to expand his exercise routine or somethin’.”

As the girls continued setting up the decorations for Spike's birthday, Rarity quietly listened to them talk about everything he's doing to control his dragon greed.

*****

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course Trixie is sure! She is always sure!"

Starlight sighed. “Yes, we’re, sure, Spike. We just need you to breathe your fire into these jars and make sure that they only burn fuses.”

Spike looked at the glass jars in front of him and nodded, picking one up before blowing his magic fire into it. Once he was sure there was enough inside it, he closed the jar and set it aside before he repeated the process with three other glass jars. Once he was done, he looked around the backstage area. Most of the boxes were covered in tarps or still sealed up, and he knew from experience to not look inside any of those unless he wanted a magical boot to the flank. The only box that wasn’t sealed or had tarps on it was the box of fireworks that they showed him for proof that they were going to use his fire to light them off.

“Well, I have a feeling this show will be amazing.” He told the two mares.

“We certainly hope so.” Starlight replied a bit sheepishly.

*****

Twilight was sitting in her “throne” by the Cute Map with 5 of her other friends in their respective “thrones”. The decorating was finished, now, all they had to do was wait for Spike to show, have a small party the next day, then take him to Trixie’s and Starlight’s show where they would perform a special birthday show for the drake of honor.

While they were waiting, they began telling stories about their best memories of Spike, which had evolved from talking about what he had to do to keep his Dragon Greed from spiraling out of control.

“And he managed to pull Applebloom outa the frozen lake, despite him riskin’ his own hide ta save her.” Applejack was telling them, recounting the time he was watching the Crusaders at the farm. “We got him warmed up by the fire after that. Least we coulda done, after all.”

Twilight was still wide-eyed after hearing that Applejack’s sister had fallen through some thin ice on her family’s farm.

“Seriously?” Dash asked her orange friend. “That big old lug has gotten a lot gutsier recently. Remind me to stop teasing him about that.” She continued. Everyone laughed of course.

“Speakin’ o’ gutsy.” Applejack suddenly spoke up, looking to Rarity. “I think it’s time y’all told us why ya decided to destroy Spike’s heart like that.” She told the seamstress.

“Whatever do you mean, Applejack?” Rarity asked as if she had no idea what they were suddenly talking about.

“Don’t play dumb with me, I’m talking about when Spike finally confessed his feelin’s fer ya.” Applejack replied, her eyes narrowing.

Everyone gathered was watching the scene unfold between the two friends with wide-eyed anticipation of what was to come.

“I simply just told him that Dragons should be with Dragons and Ponies should be with Ponies.” Rarity finally replied after a few moments of silence.

Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy to speak up next.

“Rarity! How could you be so insensitive?!” The usually timid mare asked. “Think of how Spike felt at that moment. What if you were Spike and you were in love with a pony? How do you think you would feel if that pony suddenly told you that you should be with your own kind when Spike is nothing like his own kind?”

Everyone stared at Fluttershy in shock, obviously not expecting their shy friend to reprimand Rarity.

“Is… is that why he’s been refusing to talk to me these past few days?” Rarity asked, not realizing how her words hurt her friend until now.

“Uh, duh,” Rainbow replied, looking a little annoyed. “Everyone here kind of already knew why he wasn’t talking to you.”

Rarity looked down at the Cutie Map, regretting the way she treated one of her oldest friends. “Oh. I… I see.” She muttered, disheartened.

Suddenly, the sound of the main hall opening snapped them all out of their stupor.

“Twilight! I”m home! Is it safe for me to head up to my room now?” Was suddenly called up the stairs from the very same Drake they were all just talking about.

Looking over at the clock on the wall, Twilight noticed that it read eight-thirty in the evening. They had spent over an hour just talking about Spike.

“Well….” Pinkie spoke up cheerfully. “This isn’t awkward at all.”

Author's Note:

OOF. It's been a while since I managed to update this story. Sorry, all life got in the way. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully, I can get the next one out sooner.

Comments

[beirirangu]

A bit too on the nose with the keeping greed in check... I mean, you hardly gave any examples to Rarity, nor how much he worked to control it, just that he does something about it...

And Fluttershy should've said something more like "Rarity, he's our friend, he's lived with ponies all his life, and I KNOW he's struggled to be accepted by the only beings he's ever known... Then you go and tell him that he shouldn't have feelings for them... Not just you, you practically told him he'll never be accepted by us, that he's too different, that he should leave..."

[NightShadow-z]

10057949
I know, I was just struggling with this chapter for 2 years and was ready to be done with it, so, I kind of rushed to get it done in the end. I'll go back later and fix stuff throughout the whole story. I still need to edit every chapter again to fix some continuity errors and other stuff that I just don't like anymore, so, I will be fixing some issues with this chapter, just, not right now at 3 am

[beirirangu]

10057966
Completely understandable.

[Benjamin981]

10057966
Sweet, I don't mind reading it again, I'm a sucker for Splight anyway.

[NightShadow-z]

10058679
Well, that's one way to look at it positively

[The_11th_doctor]

Great update. I also love how, this makes me picture the story and the characters acting like this. They seem so like the shows characters. I can’t wait for more, and keep up the great work.

[NightShadow-z]

10060629
Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far