Thursday Again
Early Morning: The day of Spike’s birthday dawned with little pomp. That was, however, only because Pinkie wasn’t awake yet. Applejack, on the other hoof, was able to watch the sun rise up over the horizon as she took a deep drink of her apple juice. Today held a good deal of work; they were right in the middle of harvest season, after all, and all today’s chores had to be finished before it was time for the party. There was a faint clatter behind her, followed by some big muffled thuds, and she perked her ears up.
“You two’re awake awful early.”
Apple Bloom trotted in first, Big Mac trailing her like a big old faithful hound. Their actual faithful hound, no doubt, was still curled up at the foot of Granny’s bed. “Aw, can’t we jes’ eat breakfast with our favorite sister?” Apple Bloom asked, smiling winningly.
Applejack smirked back. “Does that mean you’re Mac’s least favorite sibling?”
“Don’t drag me into this,” Mac grumbled. “Else Ah might change up th’ rankin’s.”
His sisters both chuckled as Bloom grabbed out the cereal. “Ah take it you both’re tryin’ ta get a head start on work today?” Applejack guessed.
“Well, Ah mean, duh,” Bloom shot back. “Pinkie said she was gonna throw th’ biggest party in town fer the biggest dragon in town.”
Mac swallowed a bite of his cornflakes. “Won’ actually be true if that Lord Ember comes round fer ‘nother visit.”
“Hey! Don’t go splittin’ hairs! What if Pinkie hears an’ only makes th’ second-biggest party she can?”
“Then it’ll still be a great party an’ we’ll all have a nice time,” Applejack said, spreading some butter on her toast.
“Maybe y’all’ll meet a nice mare there,” Apple Bloom teased. “Ah bet us Crusaders kin--”
“NO!” her siblings both shouted in unison, loud enough to shake the ceiling. All three glanced up, fearful of waking Granny. But no cantankerous old mare sounds came from upstairs.
“Was only a joke,” Bloom muttered, face red.
Applejack sighed. “Sugarcube, why can’t ya jes’ think that love is gross an’ kisses give ya cooties, like Ah did when Ah was yer age?”
Mac rolled his eyes and muttered something about how he’d never quite stopped.
“Honestly, Bloomers, don’ Ah get enough o’ that from Granny? ‘When you gonna settle down with a nice mare, adopt a kid, at least go fer a roll in th’ hay,’ all that stuff. Wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t get out all her stories ‘bout Grandpappy Jonagold all th’ time.”
All three winced. They all knew the stories about Grandpappy Jonagold. And all the stories about Apple Schnapps, Pink Lady, Cocktail Lemon, and all of Granny’s other old flings. They didn’t know all the ones about Red Delicious, but that was only because they forcibly repressed all memories of those conversations. And the letters. And the photographs. Also the slideshow. As cousin Braeburn had put it, it was a dang good thing that Red Delicious apples were so terrible, because he could never look at them the same way again. Much as she disliked hearing bad things about any variety of apple, Applejack had to agree both that that particular name was a lie and terrible travesty and that she would never, under any circumstances, put one in her mouth for a variety of reasons.
“Talkin’ of Granny,” Mac said. “Don’t ya reckon she’s bein’ awful quiet? We ain’t exactly keepin’ it down out here.”
Applejack frowned and opened her mouth to reply, when she was interrupted by a scratching at the door.
Bloom turned the knob and Winona burst in, panting and jumping around excitedly. “Whoa there! Down girl,” Applejack scolded. “Now, how did you get outside, huh? Usually, you wake up with… Granny Smith.”
Collectively, the three siblings glanced out the door, dead silent.
In the distance, they could hear the clear sound of hooves striking wood, followed by the unmistakable sound of apples falling into a bucket. “Guess she don’t wanna miss th’ party, either,” Mac said.
***
Midmorning: Spike rushed down the stairs, almost tripping over his own oversized feet as he stumbled along, still half-asleep. “Sorry I’m late, Twilight, my alarm didn’t go… off…”
Twilight smirked. “Forget your own birthday, Spike? You’ve got the day off cooking.”
Spike wiped sleep from his eyes while Starlight chuckled. “Only for a little,” he replied. “The whole ‘oh no, I’m late’ thing kinda took precedence.”
“And you didn’t stop to wonder why we didn’t wake you?” Starlight asked.
“Again, panicking. And, well, I can certainly see why.” Spike eyed the pony-sized plate of pancakes. “How long did it take you to make all these?”
Twilight shrugged. “Not as long as it could have. I made a whole batch of batter all at once, and Starlight cooked them.”
“Well, for a given value of ‘cook’,” Starlight admitted. “I don’t know if enchanting a frying pan to move by itself counts.”
Twilight grimaced. “Yes. Most of the actual work time was trying to get it to stop.”
“Oh. Wow.” Spike looked at each of them in turn. “Thanks! Uh, you wanna take yours off the pile first?”
“Oh, we already ate ours,” Starlight said. “Encasing an enchanted frying pan in stone takes a lot out of you.”
“Ah. Okay, then.” Spike slumped forward a bit.
Twilight noticed. “I could eat another one or two with you, Spike.”
He brightened slightly. “Alright.”
Twilight took a couple off the pile and put them on her own syrupy plate. “So, got any big plans for today?”
“Well, I’ve gotta go over and get my final fitting at Rarity’s, and magic lessons with Lyra. Other than that… uh, no. I guess not, except for the party tonight.”
Twilight nodded. “Alright, then. By the way, you got the day off breakfast, but all your other usual chores still apply.”
“Aw, c’mon Twilight…”
“And when you’re done, I'll give you your birthday present.”
Spike paused and gestured at the pancakes. “You mean this wasn’t it?”
“Yep.”
Spike considered this. “Okay. Pass the syrup?”
Twilight grinned. He might have sprouted less like a weed and more like bamboo, but she still knew how her baby dragon ticked.
***
Meanwhile, at Fluttershy’s cottage, the pegasus was sipping her morning cup of tea and wrapping her birthday present for Spike, a book on bird-spotting for his hoard. Just as she was tucking in the ends of the ribbon, there was an explosion on the other side of the table. She didn’t even look up. “Good morning, Discord. Would you like some breakfast?”
“That’s very kind of you, my dear, but I’ve just come from tea with my old friend the Hatter. Perhaps I should introduce you to him sometime; his best friend is a hare, you know, you’ve got that in common.”
Fluttershy smiled politely. “That sounds very nice, Discord. But if you aren’t here for breakfast, is there anything you wanted to ask me?”
Lika ‘would you go on another date with me?’ she thought, though she held out little hope.
“Well, as it happens,” Discord said, eyes gleaming. Fluttershy’s heart sped up. “I thought you might like to take a peek at my present for dragon-boy before its grand reveal at the party.”
Her heart slowed again. She smiled, regardless. “I’d love to, Discord.”
They grinned and pulled from out of nowhere a book. Its cover was black-- or was it very dark blue? Embossed on it was a white image, some kind of octopus-- or was it gold, and the light was just making it look white? “The Alicron,” Discord said with pride. “For his hoard. He can’t read it, obviously, not unless he wants to risk potential punishments ranging from death to madness to papercuts, but I feel that no library is really quite complete without it.”
“Hhhheuuuuh,” Fluttershy whimpered.
Immediately, Discord looked contrite. “Oh. Yes. The cover is also slightly maddening. Best get a dust jacket on there.”
They clicked their fingers, and suddenly the book was clad in a parka and Fluttershy’s head was much clearer. “It’s, um, nice,” she said cautiously. “What exactly is it about?”
“Me,” Discord said breezily. “And Sunbutt and Moonbutt, naturally, Princess Candyflanks, even our dear local egghead, and all the other immortals as well. A very interesting read, if you’ve the mind for it.”
“Oh. Um, well, perhaps you should consider something he can actually use.”
Discord frowned. “He can still use it. He could sleep on it and receive feverish dreams of prophecies and unearthly cities. Or he could use it as a paperweight!”
Fluttershy bit her lip. Discord rolled his eyes. “Fine. I only got it because Mac already got him the latest O&O hoofbook. I’ll just get him some nonsense verse or something. What are you giving him?”
Discord took the jacket off the book, revealing that it had turned into something called Llapit Snoodgramp. Fluttershy pulled out her own gift. “It’s for birdwatchers,” she explained. “There are some very nice pictures.”
Discord looked at the present enviously. “That’s some very nice wrapping, Fluttershy.”
She knew what came next. “Thank you, Discord. Would you like me to wrap your present, too?”
“That would be lovely. Thank you, Fluttershy.”
They sat there for the rest of the morning while Discord changed their mind about what book they ought to give Spike no less than thirty-seven times.
***
Late Morning: Rarity hummed to herself as she pushed the needle through the lining for the last time. Binding the thread to the fabric, she looked over her work. “There,” she sighed. “Very nice.”
She didn’t often work with tweed. It wasn’t very fashionable these days, and never had been as far as the upper classes seemed concerned. Only a very few commissions came her way that requested tweeds, except for a few of the more down-to-earth landowners. For Spike, however, it worked. The suit was a nice, warm shade of brown, like early autumn. She had included a deep green tie to match his eyes, and the buttons were made from carved bronze. All told, it was not typical of the Carousel Boutique’s output, a singular garment that didn’t quite seem normal for an evening out. And yet, it was beautiful. Rarity smiled to herself. A perfect fit, once again. She had cherished the measuring sessions and frequent fittings for this outfit, partly because it had helped her to work out Spike’s final dimensions and partly because-- well-- he had been more open with her than she had ever known him. Some wall in him had crumbled, and now he was able to pour out his old fears and concerns.
All his life, Spike had told her on one such occasion, he had felt like a contradiction; a dragon dreaming of heroics, a civilized beast, full grown and still childlike in aspect. Drake and pony, adult and infant, avarice and generosity all warred for control. He had felt like a paradox. His desires and ambitions seemed to disagree with his physical form. Or, well, he hadn’t put it like that exactly. Rarity had been obliged to put that little monologue together from what he had told her.
Now it seemed that paradox had been resolved; Spike had learned a valuable lesson, likely something about true character lying on the inside or not needing to be only one thing, was therefore much more content with himself, etc., etc.
There was a squeak in the floorboard just outside the door. Rarity smiled softly. “Yes, Sweetie Belle?”
“How did you know I was there?” Sweetie asked, pushing open the door.
“Elder sister superpowers,” Rarity returned with a smile. “Was there something you wanted?”
“Just wanted to see if you’d finished Spike’s suit.”
“As it happens, you’re just in time.” Rarity lifted up the suit. “What do you think?”
“Wow,” Sweetie said. “It looks really nice. I bet he’ll love it!”
“Certainly he will. It’s a Rarity exclusive, after all.” She noticed that Sweetie’s face had suddenly darkened. “Is something the matter, dear?”
“Well… no, not really.” Sweetie hesitated. “It’s just, won’t he outgrow it soon? Like, maybe really soon?”
Rarity set down the suit on the table once more and gave it a once-over. “I shouldn’t think so. According to Twilight and Ember, he should be about at the end of his present growth.”
“Well, yeah, but I mean-- he just grew ten times his old size in three months!”
“Five times, dear. Don’t exaggerate.” Rarity looked at the suit a little more closely. Was the stitching even all the way around?
“You know what I mean, though,” Sweetie argued. “He isn’t gonna stop growing anytime soon, right? How quickly is he going to outgrow the suit?”
Rarity considered this. “Difficult to say. I suppose it depends on how much he’s willing to grow. Even with improved relations with the Dragonlands, we still know very little about draconic biology. I suppose that's a bridge we'll cross if we arrive at it.”
“Oh. I really hope he likes it, Rarity. I guess he seems more like somepony who would wear a suit these days.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I dunno. He just seems more grown-up these days, haven’t you noticed?”
Rarity raised a brow. “He still reads comics and eats entire tubs of ice cream.”
“You eat entire tubs of ice cream. Anyway, he’s been helping out at Sweet Apple Acres, and he knows magic now, and he can pick up a pony without even breathing hard, and he’s started reading lots of other books besides comics, too.”
“We do not change as we grow older, darling. We simply let ourselves shine through a little more clearly.”
At least, I hope we do, she thought as Sweetie Belle continued to chatter on about how the Crusaders might get their marks as dragon doctors.
***
Early Afternoon: The 1:08 from Canterlot screamed as it pulled into Ponyville Station. Cadence peered out the window, frowning. “That’s odd.”
“What is?” Shining Armor asked, hauling himself to his hooves and pulling Flurry Heart’s portable train seat onto his back.
“I don’t see Twilight anywhere. No Spike either, or Starlight, or any of her other friends.”
“Maybe she’s just running late?” Shining suggested, levitating the snoozing Flurry Heart over to her mommy.
“Shiny, think for a second just who it is that you’re talking about here.”
“Fair point. But it is kind of a big day today. Getting so distracted by the fine details that she forgets to pick her own family up at the station? Not exactly the most out-of-character thing she’s ever done.”
The door to their compartment slid open, revealing the concerned faces of Night Light and Twilight Velvet. “Cadence, dear, you’re an alicorn. Is Twilight being late a sign of the apocalypse?” the latter asked.
“Maybe she just doesn’t care about us anymore,” Night Light worried. “We’ve spent too much time up in Canterlot and never once came to visit in the last four months!”
Cadence raised a brow at Shining, who merely shrugged in surrender. “Now you know where she gets it from,” he said simply.
Cadence smirked. “Yeah. Where she gets it from, Mr. ‘The-Guards-Need-To-Be-Trained-For-The-Yeti-Invasion-Slash-Snowmageddon-Slash-Zompony-Uprising’.”
Shining looked away and grumbled as all five of them exited the train carriage. As they left, a grey pegasus mare trotted up to them. “Hi there! I’m guessing that, given that one of you is a princess, that you’re Twilight’s family?”
Twilight nodded. “That’s right, dear. Has she sent you to take us to the castle?”
“Mhm! Ditzy Doo, local postmistress. I--” she broke off, regarding Night Light with interest. “Hold on. You’re Dr. Night Light! I knew that was Twilight’s dad’s name, but I never made the connection. I’ve been following your research on massive failures.”
Shining Armor squinted. “What, like Betamax?”
Night Light grinned. “No, son. More like black holes. I didn’t realize that many ponies in Ponyville were all that interested in astronomy.”
“My late husband was an astrophysicist. I used to be an engineer. I still follow both fields. Sometimes I even contribute a paper or two.”
The older stallion hummed in recognition. “That’s right, I read something you wrote about electrical power. Interesting stuff, though a little impractical.”
“There’s a great deal of joy to be found in impracticality.”
Cadence shifted awkwardly. “As interesting as this is, can we head up to the castle, please? Flurry Heart will be waking up from her nap soon…”
“Not yet, your highness,” Ditzy said. “You aren’t the only ones I’m escorting today.”
Twilight Velvet tilted her head. “Really? I wish Twilight had told us. We could have met them on the train.”
Ditzy shrugged. “Maybe she didn’t want any accidental diplomatic incidents.”
Shining scowled. “Diplomatic incidents? Miss Doo--”
“Doctor Doo,” his father corrected.
“--We’re all well-versed in international diplomacy. I hardly think--”
He was cut off by a crashing noise behind him. They all turned around to see Flurry Heart, now awake, magically pounding a rack of postcards against the wall, sending pictures and pieces of wood flying in all directions. “Oh,” said Shining. "Point taken."
Ditzy sighed. “Gimme a sec. I brought along a little something for this sort of thing…” She pulled out a large device from her saddlebags, a wheel covered in hieroglyphic symbols, with a carved arrow sitting in the center. “Gift from my sister. It was my daughter’s favorite toy as a baby.” She pulled a length of cord on the side.
The Cow goes MOOO.
Flurry Heart turned around, fascinated. Ditzy pulled the cord again.
The Pig goes OINK OINK.
Flurry let the postcard rack fall to the ground and soared over to Ditzy, who let the infant grab the artifact.
“...Huh,” Twilight said, fascinated.
“Well, that was quite impressive!” a new voice said.
Everypony turned around again, startled. Shining recovered first. “Thorax! You’re here for Spike’s party, too?”
The king of the changelings nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes! I’m very interested to see it. I’ve never been to a birthday party before. I’m given to understand it’s an annual ceremony, where the celebrant is surrounded by loved ones, accepts wrapped sacrifices made to their honor, destroys a sacred image of a donkey to receive blessings in the form of sweetmeats, then all the guests gather around a flaming object to chant the annual words of blessings and goodwill before stabbing said object and devouring a piece each. It sounds much more interesting than a molting ceremony! I was honored to attend.”
There was a moment of awkward, horrified silence as the ponies all became suddenly very aware of just how creepy birthday parties could sound. The hippopotamus goes HHHRUNG! said the artifact.
“We’re… all very glad you could make it, dear,” Twilight said, rallying quickly. “Dr. Doo, is this the entire party?”
“No, the entire party is up around the castle. You can tell because there’s cake.”
Cadence opened her mouth to rephrase the question, but Ditzy was still staring up towards the sky. “We can’t head up just yet, though. There’s one more guest that needs to be collected.”
Thorax squinted. “She isn’t here yet? Really?”
“I know, I thought she’d arrive before the train, too. I hope she’s alright.”
“‘She’ who?” Shining asked.
The flap of leathery wings overhead was answer enough as a sapphire-blue dragoness the size of an oak tree came into view over the horizon. Ponies stopped in the streets to grab onto their hats and papers, or to shield their eyes from the vast clouds of dust that blew around the colossal figure as she landed. She glanced around, her orange eyes sweeping the crowd of ponies. When her gaze fell on Ditzy, she relaxed. “Good, you’re still here,” she said in a low boom. “I didn’t mean to be late. There was a hold-up back in the Dragonlands, some problem with the magma flow.” She shrugged. “But if the Dragon Lord can’t take the time for a party, then what dragon can?”
Ditzy smiled. “That’s very true,” she replied. “I suppose we’re all here, now. Shall we head up to the castle?”
The sacrifice to the great Hunthokar goes AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
“Oh, right! That’s why I put that toy up in the attic.”
Cadence held out her daughter’s Whammy toy, and the little princess dropped the wheel with a gasp of delight. Ditzy scooped it up, quick as a whip. “Sorry about that. Don’t worry, it’s not cursed anymore, my sister made sure of it, and it’s a hoof-me-down from her daughter, so I’m sure it’s fine.”
Thorax smiled. “Come on! Let’s go chant the ritual day of birthing song!”
So, with varying degrees of trepidation, six ponies, the king of the changelings, and the Dragon Lord went into Ponyville to celebrate Spike’s birthday.
***
Late Afternoon: “Happy birthday, dear Spi-ike! Happy birthday to you!”
Something approaching double the population of Ponyville was gathered outside the castle, with old friends from Canterlot rubbing withers with a group of crystal ponies who had come down to witness the momentous growth of Spike the Brave and Glorious. A group of changelings who had arrived with the birthday gift Thorax had accidentally left at the hive milled around with close Apple family relatives and friends-of-friends from Manehattan, Cloudsdale, and further afield still, including one very confused yak elder. All of them were gathered in the town square, singing the birthday song. In the center of it all, glowing red enough to be mistaken for a fire engine, was Spike.
“Now light the candles!” Ember shouted.
Spike took a deep breath and cast a light spell. Little heatless green flames popped into being over the nineteen candles on top of the cake. It had taken some doing to get him up to the top of the enormous cake; in order to feed all the guests, Sugarcube Corner had constructed a dessert that was nearly the same size as the bakery itself.
A wild cheer went up from the guests as Spike turned and waved to them all, grinning enormously. He heard a slight crack from his spine as he sprouted up a couple more millimeters.
***
Thorax frowned at the cake. “Hmm. Maybe I should have gone through with the whole ‘changeling dancers leaping out of the cake’ thing, after all. It would have been good for bringing in love, but Pharynx wouldn’t let me do it. Ponies do that, right?”
Celestia shrugged. “At some parties, yes. Not generally birthday parties, mind you, and never where parents are present. Anyway, it would have ruined the cake.”
“Huh.” Ember scratched her chin. “Boy, you ponies are weird.”
Luna grinned. “Hey, sister. Do you remember the time when you jumped out of a cake?”
“Luna, that was over fifteen centuries ago.”
“Pfft, as though that would be long enough for me to forget.”
Thorax blinked. “You jumped out of a cake?”
Celestia sighed. “Fine. Yes, I did, but not on purpose. I snuck into the kitchens to have a midnight snack, and it just looked so very tempting. Obviously, I couldn’t eat it normally, or else I should have been rumbled immediately. So, I levitated it off the platter and started eating upwards from the bottom. Before I knew what had happened, I had eaten a hole big enough to sit inside. I was so full and sticky and tired, I fell asleep there and then. I didn’t wake again until somepony tried to cut the cake--”
“Which had been made for a diplomatic meeting with Saddle Arabia,” Luna added cheerfully.
“Yes, quite. Well, I’m sure you can guess the rest. Fortunately, the Caliph at the time was all of ten years old, so the ensuing food fight ensured a good trade deal rather than ruining it utterly.”
Ember looked thoughtful. “Do you think if I--”
“No,” Celestia said firmly. “I was remarkably lucky to get away with it that time. You will not have the same results.”
“And think of all that wasted cake,” Luna tutted.
“I was going to say, do you think that I could deliver a massive cake to my enemies, filled with dragons ready to attack when the cake is cut?”
“It would certainly work on my sister.”
“LUNA!”
***
Evening: It had grown rather late. Between the enormous cake and the pizza party that followed, Twilight suspected that the local eateries might well be able to buy Ponyville, if they were willing to put up with all the admin and localized weekly disasters. Still, everypony looked to be having a nice time, and no major international incidents had occurred just yet, so she was going to chalk the party up as a success.
Virtually every guest had brought along a book for the birthday bo-- birthday drake. Ember had explained the necessity of a hoard to Twilight, Spike had explained his idea for building one, and she and her friends had made sure that this party would buoy him up sufficiently. And if Spike was willing to let Twilight and some other Ponyvillians borrow the odd text every now and again, well, so much the better. Her mouth was still watering over that copy of Lungbarrow that Doctor Whooves had just given away. She’d tried to point out that it could easily sell for a few thousand bits, but he had just smiled and said that he had more copies of it than he knew what to do with.
Spike had been particularly happy with the scrapbook she herself had made for him, detailing his growth from egg to present. He hadn't exactly minded the mint-edition Power Ponies #1 she'd tucked into the cover, either. Being royalty did have its perks.
There had been a couple of exceptions to that rule, naturally. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia had come with a stack of records, for instance, and Discord had eventually decided to give him a large self-portrait. And Rarity, naturally, had given Spike his suit.
On the subject of Rarity, where was she? Twilight had been searching high and low for her for the best part of an hour, but she was nowhere to be found. Nopony seemed to know where she was, either.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen Spike for awhile either. She twisted her lip, thoughtful.
“Hey, Twily! Have you seen Starlight anywhere? Cadence and I wanted to ask her something…”
Twilight lifted her chin, reaching a conclusion. “No, I haven’t, sorry Shiny. But could you take me to see Cadence? I need her help with something…”
***
Meanwhile, not far outside Ponyville, a unicorn and a dragon sat in quiet contemplation of the fading light. “Some party, huh?” Spike asked.
Rarity smiled. “Yes. It was terribly nice to see all those ponies again. I didn’t know that Sir Fancy Pants and Dame Fleur de Lis had been invited until I ran into them at the sundae bar.”
“I’m glad you had a nice time.”
“Did you enjoy yourself? It is your party, after all, and here am I, taking you away from it.”
Spike smiled. “I don’t think I’d rather be anywhere else, right now. I’ll be honest, it was all getting a little overwhelming.”
“Yes, I suppose I can understand that,” Rarity agreed. They lapsed back into silence for a long moment. Then, Rarity spoke again.
“Do you remember?”
Spike glanced up. “Remember…”
“A few years ago, you asked to court me.”
Spike looked blank. Rarity sighed. “I believe your exact words were ‘Hey, uh, Rarity, do you want to go to dinner sometime?’”
The dragon’s face split into a grin. “Oh, yeah. Good impression. And you said...” He coughed and strained to raise his voice to a higher register. “~My dear Spikey-Wikey…~” He coughed again. “Nope, can’t do the impression. But you were all ‘when you are of age, I would be glad of your courtship, should you still desire to give it.’”
“‘But for now, let us enjoy one another’s company,’ yes.” Rarity nodded. “I suppose, therefore, my question is this; do you still feel for me now as you did then?”
Spike took a bite of cake and chewed on it slowly. “Rarity…” he said slowly, then sighed. The unicorn’s heart plummeted. “That was puppy love, a kid’s crush. I don’t love you the way I did then.”
“O-oh,” said Rarity, biting her lower lip. “I see.” She slumped slightly.
“Wait, wait, I wathn’t finished!” Spike said, leaning forward, hands waving frantically and eyes going wide. “I wath gonna thay— say, my love for you now is far deeper and truer than any that I have before known!”
There was a silence. Then Rarity pointed an accusing hoof at the dragon. “That was the cheesiest thing that I have ever heard.”
Spike grinned sheepishly. “Sounded better in my head, yeah.”
“Did you get that from a romance novel?”
The dragon went pink. “I— no, I…” he bit his lip. “Look, will you forget I said anything if I invite you to dinner in Canterlot?”
Rarity smiled. “I will gladly accept your invitation,” she said, “but I am never going to forget anything about this moment.” She was delighted to see the darling drake blush even harder.
“It’s a beautiful sunset, isn’t it?” she said, leaning into the drake’s side as she gazed out onto the horizon. “Celestia certainly is putting on a show tonight.”
“Yeah,” Spike agreed, staring in the same direction. “Second-best birthday present I got today.”
“Oh?” Rarity pulled away. “And what was the first?”
He smiled, gazing out at the setting sun. “Not having to be afraid anymore,” he replied simply. Then he glanced at her and gave a slightly goofy smile. “Well. Maybe Celestia’s present is third-best.”
Rarity cogitated for a moment, then pulled the dragon in close and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Happy birthday, dearest.”
Spike turned his head slightly, still blushing. “Uh, can I…” he tapped his lips.
“Of course.”
They both leaned in. Their lips met, and they stayed that way for a good half a minute, Spike rubbing Rarity’s ears and Rarity holding tight to his shoulders. Eventually, they broke apart, with Spike stopping only for a moment to lick the unicorn’s lips.
Once they had both caught their breath, Spike said, “Actually, all things considered, I think the sunset might be the fourth-best present today.”
Rarity broke into peals of laughter, and after a moment, Spike joined her.
From their vantage point high overhead, Cadence smiled at Twilight. “They grow up so fast, don't they?”
Twilight nodded. “Literally, in this case.”
Cadence glanced down again. “I think we should leave them be, now, don't you?”
Twilight hesitated, but then nodded firmly. “Yes, I think so. Neither of them needs a chaperone. Back to the party?”
“Back to the party,” Cadence agreed, turning around. The duo fluttered back to the castle, leaving the two lovers in privacy.
The End
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This is a fantastic way to end it, even if my heart is breaking from the realization that this fic is now over. I greatly enjoyed this and I eagerly await the next.
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Thanks for writing!
Thanks for the story, i enjoyed reading this, i always like a good spike story lol i always love a happy ending for spike/rarity
Thanks again for the fun read
This was great. Funny, sweet and emotional. Despite some of the subject matter and the odd raunchy joke, this almost feels like an episode and the comedy is brilliant. Also, the way the chaos spreads and drags in so many characters is very well done. So many fanfic feels kinda empty or tunnel-visioned, so the amount of characters you included and how well you did it, is impressive.
Some surprisingly creepy nightmares too.
Odd choice to use they as the pronoun for Discord, seeing as he is pretty firmly identified as a male in canon, but I guess if anyone should eschew traditional gendered pronouns, it would be the Spirit of Chaos.
That's about all I had to say. Great work, I'm glad I stumbled on this. Well done, have a like.
Epilogue where Spike grows bigger than Dragon Lord Torch when8964150
But "they" don't give the idea of no gender, but of quantity... but whatever you say man...
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Here's a blog post explaining my reasoning for the pronoun choice.
This is my single favorite Rarity / Spike ship, ever.
Not to mention the Sisters and cakes, Dr. Whooves and Lungbarrow, and, well, so much awesome. I laughed a lot.
I also wonder if Fluttershy and Discord shall further discuss... things between them? That strikes me as a fascinating discussion, regardless of where it might go.
And, Spike grows up. Awesome.
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Thank you so much! I did my best to wind all the plot threads and characters up into a neat ending, sort of Wodehouse-style, but it's always good to have that confirmed. As for Fluttershy and Discord, well. Let's just say that I'll come back to that later...
This story deserves its high like:dislike ratio. I would have liked to see Spike get a higher percentage of screen time, but he certainly gets enough. All plot threads tie in neatly to the main storyline, and it begins and ends with Spike.
And Hollywood Movie Executives would cream their jeans at how much shipping and miscommunication was fit into this romcom.
Marvelous stuff. The only fly in the ointment is how doubling the size of the Crusade meant they were still looking by the time Starlight came to town. Of course, you could have something planned for the founding members other than metadestiny, but still...
Aside from that, a magnificent comedy of errors with a crunchy, dramatic center. Thank you for it.
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no problem. it's an easy thing to miss. only reason I caught it is because I researched forest animals to put in my story.