Chapter 1: Growing Up Is Optional
“Aww! But we just got started partying!” Pinkie Pie pouted once Spike’s birthday party had ended, wishing it had went on a little while longer.
“Pinkie, it’s almost midnight, and we’ve been here for nearly six hours!” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I think that was enough partying for one night.”
“But Spike’s thirteen now! Doesn’t he have a later bedtime or something?” Pinkie asked, still buzzing with energy as usual.
The rest of Spike’s friends helped clean up the extra bits of paper and confetti that littered the library. It was a simple party that Spike had requested. There were no elaborate games, mounds of gifts, or even a night out at a nice restaurant; it was just him, his friends, and a nice set of sapphire cupcakes.
“Just because Spike is older doesn’t mean he gets a later curfew,” Twilight said, sighing in content at throwing the last trash bag in the can.
“Laaaaaaaame!” Pinkie said, sticking her tongue out playfully at Twilight.
“What she said,” Spike chuckled, dragging the last bag to the trash can outside the door. Suddenly, the bag was lifted out of his grasp by a magical force, coming from Rarity herself as she trotted by Spike.
“Spike, you shouldn’t be cleaning up your own party on your birthday,” Rarity told him, throwing away the trash for him. “I do hope us gals haven’t bored you too much.”
Spike gave Rarity a soft smile. “No way. I would never think someone as talented and generous as you to be boring,” said Spike, fawning over her. “Now, Twilight on the other hand…”
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a hefty book collide against the back of his head. He turned around and noticed Twilight dimming her magic, whistling and kicking her front hooves about.
“Hey, what was that for?” Spike hissed.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Twilight responded, smiling widely. Spike rolled his eyes and redirected his attention towards Rarity.
“But seriously, it means the world to me that all of you came here,” Spike said, not really directing that thanks to the rest of the girls. Rather, it was to one particular mare taking up his vision.
“No problem, Spikey Wikey,” Dash said, grabbing Spike under her arm and holding him in a hooflock.
“H-hey, lemme go!” Spike called out, kicking his feet in all directions to get released.
“Sorry birthday boy, but time for noogies!” Spike winced as he felt Rainbow’s hoof dig into his scalp quite painfully. “One for each year since you were born!”
“Ugh, knock it off!” Spike muttered, having been finally let go of by Rainbow Dash. Rubbing his red hot head, he glared at Dash.
“Um, don’t be too rough with him,” Fluttershy meekly requested, cleaning up the kitchen with Applejack. “I mean, he might be thirteen now, but he’s still a little baby dragon.”
“Fluttershy…”
“Oh… sorry Spike. I mean, you’re not a baby baby anymore, but… nevermind, I’ll be quiet now.” Fluttershy went back to her focus on the kitchen, leaving the two to sort out their roughhousing.
“Hey, had to leave you something good on your first year of teenage life.” Dash grinned and patted him on the back. “And don’t worry, I’ll make it up to ya. How does a PG-13 movie sound?”
Spike’s eyes went wide with excitement. “Ooh, ooh, Twilight, can I?”
“I suppose so,” Twilight agreed, which was rewarded with a tight hug from Spike.
“Thanks, Twi! You’re the best!”
“I try to be.” Twilight wrapped her wings around him, sharing a tender moment before Spike decided to break the hug.
“Well, it’s been a rad party and all that, but I gotta be off!” Dash said, making her way to her go-to exit of the window. Opening it and leaning her body outside, she saluted and flew off, shouting over her shoulder, “Have a nice one, birthday boy!”
“I think I’ll be going too,” Fluttershy said, done with her cleaning job. Going over to Spike and giving him a quick hug, she whispered, “Happy birthday, Spike. Can’t wait for the next one.”
“If only Spike could have a birthday everyday!” Pinkie Pie complained. “Then we can throw him a super duper one every single night!”
“If Spike had a party every single day, he’d be well over a thousand years old by now,” Applejack laughed.
“Oh yeah. Well, hope to see you at your next birthday party, Spike!” Pinkie Pie bounced out the door with Applejack trailing behind her, waving goodbye to the others. The only other mare left was Rarity, who was still standing next to Spike.
“Um, shouldn’t you be getting home?” Spike asked. “I mean, I’m glad you’re still here, but aren’t you usually tired by this point?”
Rarity warmly smiled at Spike, causing his face to redden. “While I do require my beauty sleep, I wouldn’t dare leave without giving my little Spikey Wikey his gift.”
“You don’t have to do that, Rarity. I already said I didn’t want…”
Spike froze in place once Rarity’s lips met with his forehead. He felt like he just sprouted wings and was riding high on a kind of energy that never ran out. He was soaring through the clouds, dancing with the stars, and slapping high fives with the heavens themselves.
Once Rarity’s lips departed from his forehead, Spike swooned, on his back on the floor with his tongue rolled out and his vision blurred by hearts and images of Rarity’s face. Rolling her eyes, Twilight sighed and dragged Spike away from Rarity.
“Yeah, um… thanks for giving him his present, Rarity,” Twilight said, setting Spike off to the side.
“Oh, not a problem, darling,” Rarity replied, stepping through the door and leaving the two. “I’ll be seeing you two later! Ta ta!”
“Goodbye!” Twilight called out to her, closing the door. Spike stretched out his arms and let out a hefty yawn.
“Well, well, well, even the ‘grown up’ Spike succumbs to sleepiness,” Twilight teased.
“I’m not tired,” Spike denied, “I’m just stretching!”
Twilight hid a grin. “Whatever you say, Spike. Whatever you say.”
Spike flicked his tongue out at her and walked towards the stairway. “I’ll be at the balcony if you need me, Twi.”
“Why there?”
Spike shrugged. “Just want to look out at the night sky and enjoy the view before I hit the hay. Too good of a night to let it pass by.”
“Can’t argue with you on that one, Spike,” Twilight responded. “I’ll meet you up there in a little while.”
Spike smiled back and walked up the stairs. When Spike was out of sight, Twilight frowned slightly.
“Well, I don’t know if he’s going to like this,” Twilight said to herself, walking towards the bookshelf to find her gift to him, “but it’s worth a shot to find out.”
Spike opened the doors to the balcony on the second floor, stepping out to lean on the railing. He stood on his toes to glance over the top of the railing, staring down at the rest of Ponyville. He had grown used to this view over the years, never really changing in appearance. Ponyville hadn’t grown much over the years, so it stayed pretty much the same. It was comforting and oddly familiar to him.
Glancing back up, Spike gazed in wonder at the sky. It never really changed either, the night sky being the same as ever. Same stars, same moon, same distant planets. Yet it was such an intriguing and seemingly never ending sight, Spike never grew bored at looking at it. Still the same, yet still a different view each time he set his eyes on it.
Here the now teenage dragon remained, standing on his toes, staring up at a sky that never changed over a city that remained the same as well. The blissful peace that had descended on Spike was only broken when the balcony doors opened, signaling Twilight joining him by his side.
“Having a nice time?” Twilight asked, a small grin on her face as she stared down at him.
“Yeah, like always,” he replied, standing back down to his feet as he backed away from the railing. “Not much of a difference.”
“Being a teenager?”
Spike nodded. “Yeah. I was just thinking… you know, that something would change. But nothing.”
“Give it time,” Twilight assured him. “It’s only the first day. Something will change soon enough.”
“No it won’t,” Spike muttered darkly, a frown quickly appearing on his face before he turned back around.
“What was that?” Twilight asked, stepping closer to Spike.
“It doesn’t change,” Spike sighed, avoiding looking into Twilight’s eyes by having his back to her. “It never does.”
“Spike…”
“Not for thirteen years, Twi. How much longer!” he asked, glancing back at her with a glare.
Twilight stared at him, shocked, backpedaling from his glare. “Spike… what do you mean?”
“What was I a year ago?”
“Um… a dragon?” Twilight guessed.
“No, a baby dragon!” he replied, throwing his arms out. “What about two years ago? Three? Four? Always a baby dragon! Never a kid dragon! I thought once I was a teenage dragon, I’d change! Something, anything will! But it didn’t!”
“Spike, you don’t just change overnight!” Twilight tried to explain. “It takes time for these things to set in.”
“How long though?” Spike responded in an upset manner. “What, will I have to be three hundred to even be considered a regular teenage dragon? Oh wow, that’s wonderful! Only when everypony I care about is long gone will I ever be labeled anything other than a baby!”
Twilight frowned at how upset Spike was. When Spike saw how distraught he made her, his expression softened as he walked towards her and leaned in for a hug.
“I’m sorry, Twilight,” he apologized. “I’m just… tired of being the small, helpless dragon, you know?”
“I understand, Spike,” Twilight softly said, pulling Spike in closer. “I knew this would upset you immensely. That’s why I decided to… to tell you something I should have said years ago.”
“What is it?” Spike asked, wrapping her wing around his small frame like a blanket.
Normally Twilight found it cute whenever he did that, but now, seeing his face so near tears, she couldn’t help but feel saddened. “Spike, you know how ponies don’t know much about dragons, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it’s just that I did some research. Took me a long time, but when I finally got it I felt so happy. Because now I’ll be able to find something to relate to you, something that could help me raise you better. Instead…” Twilight’s voice quivered. Fighting back tears, she gulped and said, “I found something that can take you away from me forever.”
“Twilight, what do you mean?” Spike asked, eager yet fearful at what this news could mean.
“Spike, dragons are different than ponies. Much different. Even with magic.” Twilight paused, wiping away a tear that had streaked down her face. “L-like how ponies get their cutie marks when they reach adolescence, dragons have their own certain maturity magic. It has to do with greed.”
“Like that time at my last birthday when I grew all huge and stuff?” Spike remembered, shivering at those memories. He didn’t enjoy the time when he terrorized Ponyville as a huge monstrosity one bit.
“Yeah, just like that. Greed makes dragons bigger and more powerful. It’s why they collect treasure hoards in the first place. To get bigger. And… And…” Twilight shook her head, bringing Spike in closer. “And to grow up.”
Spike heard Twilight’s heart thumping from how close he was to her chest. The gentle thump, thump noise was comforting. So much so, he didn’t answer for a few seconds.
“So… so dragons need greed to grow up?” Spike asked.
“Not entirely. Only to adolescence to adulthood. Basically, a dragon will remain in their late hatchling stage until they get greedy enough and remain greedy enough for them to become a teenager. Then they keep on collecting a bigger and bigger hoard until they become a fully adult dragon.”
“How long?”
“What do you mean how long?”
Spike sighed. “How long does a dragon remain a hatchling until they become a teenager? Without greed changing them?”
Twilight bit her lower lip. “Spike… dragons live very, very long lives. They’re basically immortal.”
“How long?” Spike asked, his tone more forceful.
Twilight didn’t answer at first, instead choosing to gently stroke the spikes atop his head. They had a soft, scaly texture that resembled a mane more than the sharp spikes dragons were famous for.
“Forever,” Twilight finally answered, stopping her hoof atop his head. “A hatching will stay the same size and shape forever if they don’t become greedy.”
Spike looked down, tears starting to well in his eyes. “Great! Not only am I cursed to be a whelp for life, I find out I’m nearly immortal. Who wants to be a runt forever?”
“I know it’s hard to bear,” Twilight responded in a soothing voice, “but that’s why we need to have this talk. I need to make sure you’re okay with this.”
“Okay? With what?”
Twilight sighed heavily. “I need you to promise me, that you will not overreact when I show you this.”
“I promise, Twilight,” he responded with growing curiosity. “Pinkie promise, even!”
“Spike, I need to make sure you’re taking this seriously.”
“I couldn’t be more serious about this if I tried. Just show me what you need to show me!” Spike begged.
With the confirmation, Twilight walked into the bedroom. “Wait out here for a moment.” She trotted towards her bed and picked up the present in a glow of her magic. It was carefully wrapped, attention put into every inch into making sure it was perfect. Frowning deeply at the gift, Twilight returned to Spike with it presented to him.
“This is it?” Spike asked, holding out his claws for Twilight to drop the present in. Weirdly enough, it felt heavier than he thought.
“It’s what’s inside that counts, Spike,” Twilight replied, not daring to take a step closer, just leaving him to his own space. “I just hope that… that if you do go through with it, this will help you remember me. Ponyville, Equestria, the rest of the girls, all of us I hope you’ll still remember if you hold onto it.”
“What is it?” Spike asked, already unwrapping his gift. His excitement waned as he saw the color and texture of the present given to him. He slowly unwrapped the rest of it to confirm his fear, unhappy with what he saw.
“Twilight, this isn’t funny,” Spike stated, staring into a red hued reflection of himself in his gift. “I’m not in the mood for jokes, especially not…”
“Spike, this isn’t a joke,” Twilight corrected. “This is your gift.”
“Bu… But I thought…”
Twilight sat down and explained herself. “Rarity and I have been discussing this situation, and we both came to an agreement that this should be as much of your choice as it is ours.”
“Choice?” Spike looked into Twilight’s glossy eyes, seeing the pain she was going through just trying to explain herself. He returned his gaze back to the ruby. His ruby. The one he made so many years ago, only to give to Rarity as a gift. He never thought it’d ever return to be his again.
“Spike, that fire ruby is your chance to finally age yourself. It only takes a little greed to have you grow into an adolescent dragon, but it comes with a price. Once you have a little taste of greed…”
“It’ll just grow like last time,” Spike said somberly, nodding his head. “Yeah, I remember that.”
Twilight held back tears from that dreadful day and continued explaining the situation. “When we were talking, Rarity suggested it would be safer to let your greed grow with something that could revert you back if you ever… well… started to slip.”
Spike looked into the fire ruby. The reflection from the gem showcased a dragon full of regret and sadness; it also showed a dragon of desperation and longing, finding the temptation of being able to grow again almost too much to resist.
“Twilight,” he began, “I might want to grow up badly, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of your well being. I love you guys too much to put your lives at risk like that again. If it means being a baby dragon for eternity, then so be it.”
“Spike, you can’t let the girls and I hold you back like this,” Twilight replied, casting her eyes up to the sky. “I already found a place you can live if you do decide to go through with this. Plenty of open space, gems, and other dragons as well. So you can be with your own kind… if you decide to.”
“But I want to be with you guys! Not with some dragons I don’t even know!” Spike said, feeling an overwhelming urge to throw the ruby over the railing to never see it again.
Twilight just smiled, not in happiness, but for another reason entirely. The stars reflected in her teary eyes, but she just grinned nonetheless. “Spike, you’re always so caring. Putting others before yourself. But you’ve already done so much for us; it’s our chance to do something for you.”
Spike tried to loosen his grip of the cursed gem, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The longing to finally be mature; the fact that it was a gift for Rarity; how it was the gem that snapped him out of his rampage. His arms began to quiver as tears started flowing down his face. Not willing to toss such an important memento, he let it drop on the balcony and ran back to Twilight, who accepted him with embracive hooves.
“I know, Spike. This isn’t the easiest decision for you to make,” Twilight said, stroking his back.
“Not easy? Do you realize how much of an understatement that is?” Spike cried out. “I don’t want to be that dragon again! I don’t want to cause so many ponies pain! But…” Spike began choking up. “... But at the same time, I don’t want to be this little kid anymore.”
“Spike, listen,” Twilight said, lifting up his chin with a hoof so they stared eye to eye. “No matter what decision you make, whether you decide to stay or grow up, I’ll still love you. You’ll always be Spike to me, and forever the dragon I love.”
Spike stayed in her embrace, just crying silent tears into her coat. His entire soul seemed to weep as the battle of the decision raged inside himself. Finally, after so long remaining with her, Spike dislodged himself from Twilight’s grip and made his way to the dropped fire ruby on the ground.
He stood there, staring down at the ruby. His reflection stared back, still the same old Spike that hadn’t changed a bit over the years. Still short, still a runt, and still a baby. Something he’ll have to live with literally forever.
Looking up, Spike stared at the stars. The night sky remained the forever beautiful sight that he never got tired of. Something majestic that he could always look up at to be amazed each time.
Maybe he was more like the night sky than that reflection. No matter what he decided, he’ll still just be Spike. Forever young, becoming new as an adult, it’ll be Spike making the decision and Spike coming out at the end.
In the end, did he really want to be the same forever, or finally have the chance to grow up, only to leave everything behind?
And just like the night sky, no matter where the stars were aligned, it would remain eternal. Forever.