> Where Was Spike?
>  by powerpony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Sweet and Ellite
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning had hit the Golden Oak Library and Twilight had just woken up. She let out a big yawn before getting out of bed. She made her way downstairs where she saw that Spike was busy sweeping the floor. 
Spike quickly looked up to see that Twilight was awake and he smiled. He then placed the broom on the floor before walking up to Twilight and giving her a big hug. 
“Happy Birthday, Twi,” he said. 
“Aw, thanks Spike,” Twilight said as she returned the hug. 
Twilight had been so busy with her studies that she was happy that just for today she could just hang out with her friends. 
“So, you have any big plans today?” asked Spike. 
“I sure do,” said Twilight. “Pinkie Pie has a huge party planned, as usual, and Rarity is coming home from her trip to Canterlot and she said that she has made a lovely birthday dress for me. Knowing Rarity, it will be simply beautiful.” 
Spike was about to continue his sweeping when he suddenly burped up a flame and a rolled up scroll fell on the ground. Twilight quickly picked it up with her magic and unrolled it to see what it said. 
“It’s from Rarity,” said Twilight. 
Spike watched as Twilight read the letter and judging by the frown that suddenly appeared on her face, he knew that it wasn’t good news. 
“Is something wrong?” he asked. 
“I’m afraid so,” said Twilight. “Apparently, Opal has gotten sick and Rarity won’t be able to make it home in time.”
Twilight gently dropped the scroll and let out a sad sigh. Her birthday party just wouldn’t be the same without Rarity. Then at that moment, an idea popped into Twilight’s head. 
“I’ll just bring the party to Rarity,” she said. “Spike, take a letter.”
Spike quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a writing quill and wrote down what Twilight said:

Dear Princess Celestia,

As you know, today is my birthday and my friends have planned me a huge party in honor of my special day. But sadly, my dear friend Rarity won’t be able to make it. She just sent me a letter telling me that she has to stay in Canterlot a little while longer to take care of her sick cat. So, I was hoping that with your permission, I can have my party in Canterot so that Rarity won’t be able to miss anything.

-Your faithful student, 
Twilight Sparkle. 

When Spike finished, he rolled up the letter and blew his fire breath onto it, making it disappear. Just seconds after he sent it, Spike burped up another letter. He unrolled it and read it to Twilight:

Dear Twilight Sparkle, 

I would be more than happy to allow you to come to Canterlot. You can use the main ball room to throw the party. It has been empty since the last Grand Galloping Gala, so you and your friends can have the whole place to yourselves. There will be a fancy garden party happening just outside the ball room, but I’m sure they won’t bother you. 

Signed 
Princess Celestia. 

P.S. Happy Birthday. 

“Perfect. I’d better tell the others about this,” said Twilight before walking out of the library. 
A few minutes later, Twilight returned. 
“Well, all my friends know about the party,” she said to Spike. “You should have seen Pinkie’s face. When I told her that she’ll be throwing a party in Canterlot, she had the biggest smile on her face. My head is still spinning from watching her bounce around me so fast. Well, we better get going. The others are already on their way to the train station.”
Twilight was just about to leave, when she saw that Spike was still sweeping the floor. 
“Aren’t you coming, Spike?” she asked. 
“No, that’s okay,” said Spike. “I have a lot of stuff to do today.”
Twilight was a bit shocked after hearing this. She would have thought that Spike would love to go to Canterlot, especially to see Rarity. 
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll be all right. You go and have fun. And tell Rarity I said ‘hi.’”
Twilight simply shrugged it off and walked out of the library.
As soon as she left, Spike went to the window and watched Twilight walk away. When she was out of sight, a big smile appeared on Spike’s face. He quickly went to the kitchen and put on his signature baker’s hat. He then opened the cupboards and pulled out a number of items, including a mixing bowl, a carton of eggs, a bag of flower, an egg beater, a carton of milk, some sugar and a wooden spoon. 
“Twilight is going to love this,” said Spike as he cracked an egg into the bowl. 

It was night time when Twilight had returned to Ponyville, still wearing the birthday dress Rarity made for her. She kept thinking how great her party had turned out. Not only did she get to party with some of Canterot’s elite ponies, but she got complimented by the Fancy Pants. She never actually thought that she would actually meet one of the most famous ponies in Canterlot, let alone get a compliment from him. 
Twilight made her way to the library and when she went inside, she saw that all the lights were out. She assumed that Spike had already gone to bed, so she decided to tiptoe her way to her bed without waking him up. Just then, the lights turned on and Twilight saw Spike in the middle of the room, holding onto a big cake covered in purple frosting and topped with a bunch of birthday candles. 
“Surprise,” said Spike. 
Twilight walked up and looked at the cake and saw that on the top were the words, “Happy Birthday, Twilight” written in red icing. 
“I made this myself,” Spike continued. “I thought that we could share it and have our very own little party. Just the two of us.” 
Twilight was so happy at her little assistant’s surprise that she felt like she was going to cry. 
“Oh, Spike, this is the most lovely surprise ever,” she said before giving Spike a little kiss on the forehead. 
Spike then placed the cake on the floor and blew a small green flame that was used to light up the candles. 
“Time to make a wish,” he said. 
Twilight just smiled as she thought of what to wish for and then blew out all of the candles. 
“So, what did you wish for?” asked Spike. 
Twilight replied by wrapping her front leg around Spike and gently pulling him into a hug. 
“That you will stay a sweet, little dragon."
After the cake was done, Twilight and Spike sat beside each other, both rubbing their bellies. 
“That was the best cake I ever had,” said Twilight. “You should give your recipe to the Cakes.”
“Aw, I don’t think it’s that good,” said Spike blushing. He then sat up and said, “Oh, I almost forgot.”
Spike then got to his feet and quickly walked upstairs. When he came back down, he was holding onto a rectangular shaped gift wrapped in purple wrapping paper with a big red bow on top, which he handed to Twilight. 
“What’s a birthday without a present,” he said. 
Twilight lifted the gift up with her magic and then used it to unwrap it. It was revealed to be a brown book and on the cover it read The Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac to All Things Astronomy. 
“Isn’t this the book you accidentally burnt up?” asked Twilight. 
“Yeah,” said Spike. “Somepony was having a yard sale and he just so happened to have that book on sale. He told me it’s in mere mint condition.”
Twilight kind of felt bad when she looked at the book. It reminded her of how she told Spike she was disappointed in him for burning the book up, even though she knew it was an accident, but she soon smiled again knowing that Spike bought it to make up for his mistake. 
“Thank you, Spike. I love it,” said Twilight as she gave Spike another hug. 
Just then, Twilight and Spike both let out a big yawn. 
“Well, I’m beat,” said Spike. 
“Me too,” said Twilight. “Two parties in one day can really tire you out. I don’t know how Pinkie Pie does it.” 
The two then made their way upstairs to their bedroom. Spike got into his small basket as Twilight used her magic to gently lift up Spike’s blanket and place it on top of him before giving him a kiss on the forehead. 
“Goodnight, Spike.”
“Goodnight, Twilight, and happy birthday.”
Twilight then got into her own bed and watched as her little dragon assistant slowly closed his eyes and went to sleep before going to sleep herself. To her, today was her best birthday. 


> Putting Your Hoof Down
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike pulled his wagon though the Ponyville market place. Twilight had asked him to pick up a few things and he stopped and eyed the items he got to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. 
“Strawberries? Check! Apples? Check! Cherries? Check! Tomatoes? Check! Carrots? Check! Well, it seems like I got everything,” Spike said to himself.
He was just about to head home when he heard a familiar voice. 
“Ten bits for one cherry is outrageous!”
“That sounds like Fluttershy,” Spike said as he followed the voice.
He then stopped when he saw Fluttershy talking to the owner of the cherry stand. He overheard her trying to lower the price of the one cherry the owner had left, but she was actually increasing the price from ten bits to twelve. Before she could hand them to him, Pinkie Pie and Rarity stopped her, saying that twelve bits is just too much for one cherry and they tried pulling Fluttershy away from the stand. But Fluttershy broke from their grasp, claiming that Angel needed that cherry and she didn’t care what it cost. 
But just as Fluttershy was about to grab the cherry, the stand owner quickly changed the price to twenty bits. Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks and reveled that she didn’t have that much money. 
“Then quit wasting my time,” the cherry owner said rudely. 
Spike just stood where he was with his jaw dropped. He was shocked at how rude and selfish the cherry owner was to Fluttershy. He was shocked even more when another pony walked by the stand and offered three bits for the cherry and the owner gave it to her with no fuss at all. But what really disgusted Spike was what the owner said to Fluttershy just after that. 
“Tough break, kid. Next time, don’t be such a doormat.”
Fluttershy then simply walked away with a sad look on her face. 
Spike was furious at what he just saw. Fluttershy was the one of the kindest ponies he knew and she did not deserve to be treated like that. He then walked up to the cherry stand and shouted “Hey you!”
The cherry owner looked down and saw Spike glaring back at him. 
“You talking to me, kid?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you,” said Spike. “How could you treat Fluttershy like that?”
“What? I didn’t do anything,” said the owner
“Liar!” said Spike, adding a little bit of volume to his voice. “I saw what you did. You tried to cheat Fluttershy out of all of her money for one measly cherry.” 
“Cherries can be quite expensive,” the owner said, a bit irritated. 
“Oh really?” said Spike. “Then how come you gave that one pony the cherry for only three bits?”
The cherry owner was about to say something, but Spike stopped him.
“Actually, you don’t have to say it, because I already know the answer. You knew that Fluttershy really needed that cherry and you took full advantage of it.”
The cherry owner soon noticed other ponies were hearing what Spike was saying and were looking at him with disgusted looks, making him feel a bit nervous. 
“Hey c’mon, kid. Give me a break,” he told Spike. “I’m just trying to run a business.” 
Spike could feel his blood boil as he kept getting madder and madder. He clutched his little fists together before talking again, this time in a more infuriating tone. 
“You’re not running a business, you’re just being greedy! What you did to Fluttershy was downright terrible, and I didn’t like it one bit!”
“That goes double for me,” said Pinkie Pie as she and Rarity walked up to the stand and stood beside Spike. “You’re just a big meanie.” 
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Rarity. “Fluttershy is a dear friend of mine, and I will not stand by and watch ponies like you take advantage of her.” 
Spike then walked up to the stand owner until he was looking at him right in the eyes. 
“I’d better not catch you doing something like this again, or you’re going to be very sorry,” he told him. 
The cherry owner just scoffed at Spike and let out a nasty chuckle. 
“What are you going to do about it, you little runt?” he said. 
Rarity let out a sharp gasp before giving the owner a huge glare. 
“How dare you talk to Spikey-Wikey like that,” she said. 
“It’s okay Rarity, I got this,” Spike told his friend before looking back at the cherry owner. “You have no idea who I am. Do you?”
“Yeah, you’re the guy who’s annoying me and trying to ruin my business,” the owner said. 
“Wrong,” said Spike. “My name is Spike. I’m the assistant of Twilight Sparkle, the star pupil of Princess Celestia. I can simply go to Twilight, tell her what you’ve been doing and she will send a letter to the princess that talks about you and your misdeeds. And I should warn you, Princess Celestia doesn’t take too kindly to ponies who try to cheat others out of their money.” 
“Oh, I’m so scared,” the cherry owner said in a mocking tone. “What is she going to do? Give me a slap on the wrist?”
The owner let out a small laugh but then stopped when he saw Spike looking at him with a sinister smile. 
“Actually, the princess can do way worse,” he said. “When me and Twilight were back in Canterlot, we heard a story about a pony who was selling counterfeit tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. Princess Celestia heard about it and was not too happy. Last I heard, the pony was spending time in an underground prison where he’s fed nothing but moldy bread.”
Spike saw that the cherry owner had a look of sheer terror in his eyes. His whole body was trembling and he had sweat pouring down his forehead. 
“Now, am I going to see you trying to steal an innocent pony’s money again?” asked Spike. 
The owner let out a big gulp before letting out a small “No sir.”
“Good. Thank you for your time,” the little dragon said before walking off with Pinkie Pie and Rarity. 
“That was amazing, Spike,” said Rarity. “I didn’t know you had it in you.” 	
“Thanks, Rarity,” said Spike. “Nopony messes with my friends and gets away with it. 
“Spike, I have a question,” said Pinkie Pie. “Did the princess really send that pony to an underground prison and forced him to eat moldy bread?”
Spike let out a small chuckle before answering his friend. 
“Actually, the princess just let him off with a warning. But that cherry pony doesn’t know that.” 
The three friends all joined each other in a laugh as they walked away from the market place. 

A few days after the whole Iron Will incident, Fluttershy was back at the market place. She had gotten everything on her list and now all she needed was a cherry. She made her way to the cherry stand and just like before, the owner only had one cherry left. Fluttershy took a deep breath and walked up to the stand. 
“Excuse me, sir. I don’t care how much that cherry is,” she said. “But I really need it. So just name your price and I’ll be on my way.” 
“One bit.”
“That is outrageous…” Fluttershy started before realizing what he just said. “I’m sorry, did you say ‘one bit?’”
“Yes I did,” the cherry owner said, a bit nervously. “One bit for one cherry.”
“Oh, well, um, thank you,” Fluttershy said as she handed the owner a bit and then took the cherry and placed it in her saddlebag. 
Fluttershy was a bit confused at the way the cherry owner was acting, but she was happy that she got her cherry. 
Nearby, a young purple dragon smiled as he saw his Pegasus friend walk away. 
“You did good, Spike.”  
	

> Daring Don't
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie watched as Rainbow Dash paced back and forth in Twilight’s library. 
“Rainbow, will you take it easy on the pacing?” asked Applejack. “My neck’s getting stiff.” 
“I just wish Twilight will hurry up and find that address,” said Rainbow Dash. 
The address that Rainbow Dash was talking about was the one to the home of Daring Do author, A.K. Yearling. After hearing that the latest Daring Do novel was going to be delayed for another two months, Rainbow Dash had asked Twilight, who was a bigger Daring Do fan than Rainbow, to try and find the address of Miss. Yearling so they can ask her why she was taking so long with her book. 
Finally, Twilight had come and joined the others. 
“Well I checked the address book,” she said. “And it seems that A.K. Yearling lives in a cabin just on the edge of the Everfree forest.”
“Why in Equestira would she be out there?” asked Rarity. 
“She probably likes the peace and quiet,” said Fluttershy. “Being out in the middle of the woods is so nice. It is the perfect spot to get some writing done.”
“Well then let’s go,” said Rainbow Dash. “The longer we wait here, the longer it will take me to get the new book.”
The six friends were just about to leave the library when a thought hit Applejack. 
“Isn’t Spike coming with us?” she asked. “Meeting a famous author would be pretty neat for him.”
A look of guilt suddenly appeared on Twilight’s face. 
“Well, I’d asked him to come along but….”
“But I’m afraid I can’t make it,” said a voice behind the ponies. 
They all turned to see Spike standing behind them with a cast on his leg. 
“Good heavens Spike. What happened?” asked a shocked Rarity. 
“It’s my fault,” said Twilight. “I was using my magic to help me get a book off of one of the top shelves, but then I sneezed, which caused me to lose my grip on the book and it landed right on Spike’s foot.” 
“Twilight, will you stop blaming yourself?” Spike said. “It was an accident.”
“I know,” said Twilight. “But I still feel awful about it. And now thanks to me, you’re going to miss meeting A.K. Yearling. And I know that you’re a bigger Daring Do fan than me and Rainbow Dash combined.”
“I didn’t know Spike like those books too,” said Rarity. 
“Are you kidding? I’ve read those books about a million times,” said Spike. 
“Actually, it was only 3,497 times,” said Twilight. 
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with a confused look. 
“You actually counted how many times he read them?”
“I was bored.” 
Spike simply rolled his eyes at what Twilight said and let out a small chuckle. Just then, he came up with an idea. 
“You know, there is one way you can make it up to me,” he said. “When you meet Miss. Yearling, you think you can get me an autograph?”
“Sure thing, Spike,” said Twilight as she patted her dragon friend on the head. “I just hope Miss. Yearling isn’t too busy.”
“We won’t know if we stay here yapping,” said Rainbow Dash, who started to sound very irritated. “Let’s get going.”
The six ponies said their goodbyes to Spike as they left the library. As soon as they were gone, Spike was reminded at how great the Daring Do books were and he decided that he wanted to read them again. He then went to a huge shelf where Twilight had kept her entire series of the books and grabbed his favorite one, Daring Do and the Emerald Dragon Tears. The plot centered around Daring Do befriending a clan of young dragons and helping them find a number of magical jewels before an evil wizard pony could get at them and use them for a magic spell that would make him a powerful sorcerer. Spike then wobbled his way to his bed, got comfortable and started to read. 
After Spike finished his book, he looked out the window and saw that the sun was starting to set. 
“Man, I keep forgetting how long this book is,” he said to himself. 
Just then, he heard the sound of the door opening and Twilight calling, “Spike, I’m back.”
“I’m in the bedroom,” he called back. 
Twilight then came up the stairs and smiled when she saw Spike. 
“So what was it like meeting the author of Daring Do?” asked Spike. 
“It was more amazing than I thought,” said Twilight. 
Even though Spike did feel a bit jealous that Twilight got to meet A.K. Yearling and he didn’t, he was still happy for her. 
“That reminds me. Did you get an autograph for me?” Spike asked. 
The smile on Twilight’s face grew even bigger. 
“Even better,” she said as she turned to the stairs and called down, “You can come up now.” 
Spike’s eyes widen and his jaw dropped at what he saw. There, coming up the stairs, was none other than Daring Do herself. Spike was so surprised that he pinched himself to make sure whether or not he was dreaming. 	
“Hi there. You must be Spike,” said Daring Do. “Twilight has told me a lot about you.”
“Y-yes. That’s me,” Spike stammered. “I can’t believe you’re here. I always thought you were make-believe.”
“Nope. I’m very much real,” Daring chuckled. 
She then noticed the book that Spike was holding onto and smiled. 
“The Emerald Dragon Tears. How could I forget that adventure? Do you like that story?”
“It’s my favorite in the whole series,” said Spike. “Are you still friends with the dragon clan?”
“Sure am,” said Daring. “I had tea with them just last week.”
As Daring Do spoke, Spike just sat in his bed in amazement. He just could not believe that the one and only Daring Do was standing right in front of him.
“So Twilight told me that you want my autograph,” Daring Do said. 
Spike simply nodded his head in excitement. 
Daring Do then took off her pith helmet and pulled out a pencil from it. She then asked Spike for the book. When he handed it to her, she opened it up to and wrote something down on it. When she gave it back to Spike, he saw that she had written her signature. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw that Spike had the biggest smile on his face.
But Daring Do was not done yet. She then then bent down and wrote another signature on Spike’s cast. 
“There you go. Two autographs for the price of one,” she said. 
Spike didn’t know what to say. He not only got to meet one of his favorite literary characters, but he also her autograph twice in one day. He then quickly got up off his bed and hugged Daring Do. 
“Thank you, Miss. Do,” he said. 
“Please, call me “Daring.” Well, I’d better be getting home. I got a book to finish.” 
Daring Do said her goodbyes to Twilight and Spike and then left the library. 
Spike then waddle his way to Twilight and gave her a big hug. 
“Thank you, Twilight,” he said. “You just made me the happiest dragon in all of Equestria.”
“Anything for a friend,” said Twilight. 


> Hearts and Hooves Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was walking through Ponyville on her way back to her library. She had just gotten her book about the history of Hearts and Hooves Day back from the Cutie Mark Crusaders and couldn’t help but laugh after hearing the adventure the three fillies had with it. She found it extremely funny when they told her about the mushy baby names that Cheerilee and Big Macintosh called each other. She decided that when she got back to her library, she would write a letter to the princess, telling her what happened, knowing that she would probably get a laugh out of it as well. 
Twilight finally made it to the library and went inside. She then walked up to her writing desk only to stop dead in her tracks and let out a horrified gasp at what she saw. Her desk was a complete mess. It was covered in glue, glitter and bits of red construction paper. Twilight soon started to get angry as she started to realize who did this. 
“SPIKE!”
The small dragon heard his name being called and he walked up to Twilight, who could tell by the bits of glitter stuck to his belly that she was right about who the guilty party was. 
“Is something wrong, Twi?” Spike innocently asked. 
“Yes, there’s something wrong,” snapped Twilight. “Look at my desk! It’s a mess! And I was about to write a letter to the princess! What were you doing?!
Spike’s ears soon drooped as he looked at the ground in shame. 
“I’m sorry, Twilight,” he said. “It’s just that it’s Hearts and Hooves Day and I was making a special something.”
“Let me guess,” said Twilight, still angry. “You were making a big card for Rarity.”
“No, actually it was for…” Spike started before Twilight cut him off. 
“I don’t want to hear it! I don’t care how great your card is! You ruined my desk!”
“I’m sorry, Twi,” Spike said for a second time. “I’ll clean it all up.”
“No,” Twilight snapped. “I think you’ve done enough. I’ll clean it myself. Just get out of my sight.”
“But Twi…”
“I said leave!”
Spike just stood still in shock. He had never seen Twilight so angry before, especially at him. He soon started to feel tears forming in his eyes. And before Twilight could see him cry, Spike ran upstairs to the bedroom. 
Twilight used her magic to pick up all of the bits of construction paper and put them in a nearby waste paper basket. She then went into the kitchen, placed a bucket in the sink and filled it up with water that she would use to clean up the glue and glitter. 
Twilight was just about to leave the kitchen when she saw something on the table. She went up to it and saw that it was a bunch of pages of red construction paper glued together like a book. In the middle of the front page was a big red heart with bits of glitter sprinkled around it. Twilight soon realized that this was what Spike was working on and even though she thought he did a good job on it, she was still a bit mad that Spike made such a mess in order to make it. That is until she saw what was written inside the middle of the heart. Twilight was expecting to see Rarity’s name on it, but instead the heart said TO TWILIGHT. 
Twilight flipped the book open and saw that the first page was a letter which read. 

Dear Twilight, 
Since today is Hearts and Hooves Day, I decided to make a little something for you to show you that whether or not you have a special somepony to spend the day with, you will always be special to me. 
Love, your #1 assistant and close friend,
-Spike. 

Twilight flipped through the rest of pages of the book and was amazed at what she saw. Each page was filled with photos of Twilight and Spike doing things together over the years. There was one of Twilight holding onto Spike when he was a baby and feeding him a bottle and one of Spike sitting in a high chair while Twilight fed him a spoonful of crushed gems. There was a photo of Spike snuggling up next to Twilight as she read him a story, one of a teary eyed Spike with a scrap on his knee and Twilight kissing it better and one that took place during the Nightmare Night festival that showed Twilight and Spike bobbing for apples with Princess Luna. The final photo showed Spike and Twilight sharing a big hug with each other.  
A small smile appeared on Twilight’s face. She was so touched that Spike had done something so thoughtful for her. But that smile soon disappeared when Twilight was reminded of how mean she was Spike just now. She felt terribly guilty over how she treated her little dragon friend. He had worked so hard on his gift for her and she just yelled at him. Twilight knew that she had to go to Spike and apologize. She just hoped that he wasn’t too upset with her. 
Twilight made her way upstairs to the bedroom and her heart simply broke at what she saw.  Spike was sitting on top of Twilight’s bed with small tears dripping from his eyes while Owlowiscious sat beside him and gently rubbed his back with his wing. When the owl saw Twilight, he could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to talk to Spike, so he gave Twilight a small nod before flying off and resting on his perch. 
Spike looked up and saw Twilight staring back at him. Neither of them said anything for a second until Spike finally spoke. 
“I’m really sorry, Twilight. I didn’t mean to make a mess.”
And before Spike could say anything else, Twilight ran up to him and embraced him in a tight hug. 
“No, Spike. You don’t have to apologize for anything,” she said. “I’m one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have been so angry with you.”
Spike looked at Twilight and saw that she was getting teary-eyed. 
“Do you really mean that?” he asked. 
Twilight slowly nodded her head before talking again. 
“I had no right to yell at you like that. You were only trying to make me something nice. I saw the little photo album you made.” 
“Did you like it?”
“I loved it. It was the most thoughtful gift I have ever gotten.”
Spike soon smiled after hearing what Twilight said and soon returned her hug. 
“Thanks, Twilight. That means a lot.”
The two just stood in the room hugging each other for what seemed like an eternity. Then Twilight let go of the embrace, wiped the tears from her eyes, and smiled at Spike. 
“I want to make it up to you though,” she said. “How about I take you down to Sugarcube Corner? Pinkie Pie told me that she baked a bunch of fresh heart shape cookies for this day. My treat.”
“Sounds great,” said Spike as he jumped off the bed. 
Before they left, Twilight saw that Spike still had some glitter stuck to his belly. 
“Let’s get you cleaned up first.”
Twilight then used her magic to lift up a nearby feather duster which she used to clean the glitter off of Spike.
As soon as the duster touched him, Spike went into a big giggle fit. 
“Hey! Twilight cut it out! That tickles!”
Twilight found Spike’s laugh to be quite contagious because she started giggling as well. When she finally put the duster away, she could see Spike looking at him with a mischievous grin on his face. 
“Two can play that game,” he said. 
“Don’t you dare,” said Twilight. 
Spike then pounced right onto Twilight, causing her land on her back, and he began to viciously tickle her belly, causing to Twilight to laugh hysterically. 
“Spike, stop! Please! I give! Uncle!” 
Spike stopped his tickle attack and smiled at Twilight, who couldn’t help but smile back, and the two shared another hug. Twilight couldn’t help but feel proud that she had such a loving and caring dragon for a friend. 
“I love you, Spike.”
“I love you too, Twilight.” 
	    

> Flight to the Finish
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike looked out the window of the train with the biggest smile on his face. He was just so excited about where the train was headed. Rainbow Dash had told him about how she was heading to the Crystal Empire to help all the young fillies and colts with their routines for the completion where the winner got to carry the flag for the Equestria Games. Spike had begged Rainbow Dash to take him along and she was more than happy to bring him. She thought of it as a way to make up for Spike not being invited to the Empire when she and her friends went there to welcome Ms. Harshwhinny. 
All of a sudden, the train made a sudden stop, causing Spike to fall out of his seat. When he got up, he saw Rainbow Dash opening up a back door and telling Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to follow her. 
“Rainbow Dash, what’s going on?” Spike asked as he walked up to the blue Pegasus.  
“Sorry Spike, but I have to get Scootaloo,” said Rainbow Dash. “Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle told me that she is feeling self-conscious about herself and didn’t want to come. I have to go try and convince her. I’ll meet you at the stadium.” 
Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle then jumped out of the train and made their way back to Ponyville. 
Spike was about to go back to his seat when he heard someone say:
“Sorry you can’t make it! We’ll send you a photo from the winner’s circle!”
This was soon followed by a mean sounding laugh. 
Spike turned to where he heard the voice and saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon calling out the two fillies from an opened window. Spike was not too happy at what he just heard. 
“Haven’t you two heard of the saying ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all?’” he asked them. 
“Whatever,” said Diamond Tiara. “The point is that with those three blank flanks out of the way, we’re a shoe in to win the contest.”
The two fillies then did their famous “Bump, Bump, Sugar lump, rump” dance before giggling away. 
Spike made his way back to his seat and thought about how awful Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were. Although, it wasn’t the first time they did something mean. Spike remembered the Cutie Mark Crusaders talking about all of the bullying Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been putting them through. Like how they constantly make fun of them for not having cutie marks, or when Diamond Tiara became the editor for the school newspaper and forced the CMC to write hurtful gossip about their friends, even going as far as to blackmailing them with embarrassing photographs if they quit. But the worst, in Spike’s opinion, was when Granny Smith came to the school for Family Appreciation Day and Diamond Tiara called her a “Kooky old lady” in front of the whole class. Spike had never heard of anything so disrespectful. The more he thought about it, the more Spike wanted to make the two fillies pay for all of the terrible things that they had done. 
When the train made it to the Crystal Empire, Spike got off and made his way to the stadium. When he went inside, he saw all of the young foals practicing their routines. Some of them included jumping through hoops, fancy dances and even a few scooter tricks. 
Just then, Spike saw Rainbow Dash in the center of the arena, along with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and, on her scooter, Scootaloo. 
“Looks like you three beat me here,” Spike said as he walked up to his friends. 
“It was easy. What with this little speedster here,” said Rainbow Dash as she ruffled Scootaloo’s mane. 
Spike then walked up to Scootaloo with a look on concern on his face. 
“Rainbow Dash told me about how you were thinking of not coming here,” he said. “What happened?”
“I was just feeling sorry for myself,” said Scootaloo with a sad look on her face, which quickly turned into a look of anger. “Thanks to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.”
Those two names pierced through Spike’s heart like a hot poker. He had a feeling that those two fillies had something to do with this. 
“What did those little brats do this time?” he asked Scootaloo.
“They tried to make me feel like I was a loser just because I can’t fly yet. But that doesn’t matter now. Rainbow Dash was able to talk me back into coming here and I am so ready for this competition.”
She then turned to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. 
“Now let’s win this thing!”
The three fillies all cheered as they ran off to go practice their routine. 
Spike had a little smile on his face as he saw the CMC run off, but it soon disappeared when he saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon practicing some sort of dance. He couldn’t believe that the two would do something so cruel to poor Scootaloo. This was even worse than when Diamond Tiara disrespected Granny Smith. Just even thinking about it made Spike sick to his stomach.
He then saw Ms. Harshwhinny on her way to a small stage when he knew he had to do something about this whole thing. He then quickly ran up to her and called out. 
“Ms.Harshwhinny! I need to talk to you.”
“Oh, hello, Mr. the Dragon,” Miss Harshwinny said. “Is this important? Because I really need to get to the stage. The judging is about to begin.”
“Yes. It is really important.”
And Spike told Ms. Harshwhinny everything. 

After announcing the winners, Miss. Harshwhinny was about to leave the stadium when she heard “Hold it right there!” from behind her. She turned around and saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking towards her, and judging by the looks on their faces, they were not very happy. 
“We demand to know why we didn’t win,” said Diamond Tiara. 
“Yeah, we had the best routine ever,” said Silver Spoon. 
“Well, your routine was quite interesting,” said Ms. Harshwhinny. “But I couldn’t let you win. Not after hearing about what you did to poor Scootaloo.” 
The two fillies were shocked at what they just heard. 
“Who told you about that?” Diamond Tiara asked. 
“That would be me,” said a voice from behind the two. 
They both turned around to see Spike glaring back at them. 
“Scootaloo told me what you said to her,” he told them. “So I decided to tell Ms. Harshwhinny about it to make sure you didn’t win.”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both let out small gasps before looking back at Ms. Harshwhinny, who had a look of disgust on her face. 
“Making fun of a young filly who cannot fly. I have never heard anything so cruel in all my life. You two should be ashamed of yourselves.” 
“You got that right,” said Spike before glaring at the two fillies again. “I think you two owe Scootaloo an apology.” 
“Oh, please,” Diamond Tiara scoffed. “We’re not apologizing to that lame blank flank.” 
“I wasn’t asking,” said Spike. “Go and apologize to Scootaloo. Now!
“Make us,” said Silver Spoon. 
A smug smile suddenly appeared on Spike’s face. 
“Okay. Since you’re being so polite about it.”
And before Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could do anything, Spike grabbed them both by the ears and dragged them away. Ms. Harshwhinny held her hoof over her mouth to cover up her laughter due to the sight she saw. 
Back at the stage, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were chatting away about their recent win but were soon speechless when they saw Spike coming towards them while dragging Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon by the ear. 
“Scootaloo, these two have something they would like to say to you,” said Spike before looking at the two fillies he was holding. “Go on. Say it.” 
“I’m not saying it,” said Diamond Tiara before letting out a small shriek of pain as Spike twisted her ear. “Ow! Okay! Okay! Scootaloo, we are sorry.” 
“We had no right to make fun of your wings,” said Silver Spoon. 
Spike then let the two bratty fillies go and watched as they rubbed their ears. 
“Listen carefully, you two,” he said. “If I ever catch you making fun of Scootaloo again, or any other pony for that matter, you’re going to be very sorry.”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do?” asked Diamond Tiara. 
Spike tried to think of a good reply to that when Sweetie Belle walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. Spike’s smug smiled reappeared as he looked at both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon right in the eyes. 
“I will tell your parents.” 
Upon hearing that, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had looks of sheer terror on their faces. 
“No please! Anything but that!” said Diamond Tiara. 
“We’ll be good! We promise!” said Silver Spoon. 
The two fillies then ran off as Spike let out a small chuckle.
Scootaloo then walked up to the young dragon and wrapped her front leg around him. 
“Thanks Spike,” she said. 
“No problem, Scootaloo,” said Spike. “Just remember, if those two are giving you a hard time again, just come to me. I’ll help you out.”
“I promise,” said Scootaloo as she pulled Spike into a hug with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle soon joining in. 

	



> Rainbow Falls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight and Spike made their way to the center of the Ponyville Park where they saw Rainbow Dash coaching Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps while Pinkie Pie was cheering them on. The ponies were getting ready for the Equestria Games tryout at Rainbow Falls that were tomorrow and Spike and Twilight decided to see how they were doing. 
The two watched as Bulk Biceps tried his best to lift himself off the ground, but he was only able to get up a couple of feet before falling flat on the ground. 
“C’mon Bulk Biceps, you can do it,” said Rainbow Dash. “You’re a powerhouse.”
“P” is for “Powerhouse!” shouted Pinkie Pie. 
“More like “P” is for “Pathetic,” chuckled Spike. “With wings like those, I’m surprised he can even lift himself off the ground.”
Bulk Biceps overheard the little dragon saying his little jokes and Twilight could tell by the unhappy look on his face that he didn’t think it was funny.
“Seriously, Bulk Biceps, it’s called a salad. Make friends with it.”
Twilight started to get a little annoyed at the insults Spike had been throwing at Bulk Biceps. 
“I guess I know why there are only three members of this team. Bulk got hungry and ate the other teammates.” 
Now Twilight was getting mad that Spike just wouldn’t stop  with the mean jokes. 
“I bet..”
“That’s enough, Spike!”
The young dragon turned to Twilight and was a bit shocked that she would raise his voice at him like that. 
“I have had it with those insults,” she said. “Can’t you see that Bulk has enough problems without you rubbing it in?”
“Twilight, calm down,” said Spike. “I was only kidding.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s very funny,” said Twilight. “And neither does Bulk. I am sick and tired of you always throwing insults all the time.”
“All the time?” Spike was a bit confused at what Twilight just said. “Name one time I’ve been insulting.” 
“How about during the last Winter Wrap-Up?” said Twilight. “I messed up trying to skate and you said I was a natural all right. A natural disaster.”
“Oh yeah,” Spike said while rubbing the back of his neck. He had forgotten all about that incident. 
“It pains me to say this, Spike. But with the way you’ve been acting, you’ve have been a very bad friend.”
Those words pierced through Spike's heart like daggers. Twilight soon started to feel awful for what she just said to her little dragon friend. 
"Spike. I'm sorry. I didn't mean...."
"No Twilight. You're right," Spike stopped her. "I am a terrible friend. I don't think I deserve to go to the tryouts."
"What!?" Twilight was shocked that Spike would say something like that. "But you've been looking forward to them all week."
"I know," said Spike. "But a bully like me doesn't deserve to enjoy them."
Spike then slowly walked away from his friends, feeling terrible that he hurt them. 

The next day, Spike was in the library, dusting the shelves, while still feeling terrible. Twilight tried to convince him to come to the tryouts with her, but Spike refused. He just could not believe that he was so mean to Bulk Biceps. He was starting to believe that he would never speak to him again after the way he treated him. 
Spike then pulled out a brown book from the shelf and began removing the dust from it. Just then, the book let out a small sneeze. 
“Bless you,” Spike said to the book before stopping dead in his tracks. “Wait a minute. Books can’t sneeze.”
All of a sudden, a pair of yellow eyes and a mouth appeared on the book’s cover. 
“There’s always a first time for everything,” it said. 
Spike was so shocked that he dropped the book on the floor. The pages of the book started to flip wildly as a huge tornado came out of it and when it died down; Discord appeared in its place with a huge smile in his face. 
Spike quickly pointed his feather duster at him. 
“Back off, Discord,” he said. 
But Discord just chuckled at the small dragon. 
“What are you going to do with that? Tickle me to death?” he said. “That wouldn’t work anyway. I’m not even ticklish.”
Discord then proved it by grabbing the feather duster out of Spike’s hands and used it to tickle both of his armpits, his belly, and the bottom of his lizard foot, but he didn’t laugh once. 
“I don’t need that,” said Spike. “One wrong move and I’ll use my breath to roast you.”	
Discord only rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. 
“How many times do I have to tell you? I am reformed. Do I have to spell it out for you?” 
He then snapped his fingers and three other Discords appeared behind him, all wearing cheerleading outfits. He then shouted to all of them, making them jump and do different moves. 
“Give me an R!”
“R!”
“Give me an E!”
“E!”
“Give me an F!”
“F!”
“Give me an O!”
“O!”
“Give an R! Again!”
“R!”
“Give me an M!”
“M!
“Give me another E!”
“E!”
“Give me a D!”
“D!”
What’s that spell?”
“REFORMED!”
“Okay! Okay! I get it,” said Spike. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Oh, just looking for something to eat,” said Discord. “Those pages from Twilight’s books that I ate the last time were so delicious that I decided to come back to see if Twilight had any other tasty reads.”
Discord picked up a book that said “The Big Book of Oceans” and licked his lips. 
“This is perfect. I love seafood.” 
Discord then placed the book between two large slices of bread and was about to take a bite when he saw Spike just standing with his arms crossed and staring at the ground with an sad face 
“What’s the matter with you?” asked Discord.
“Nothing. I’m fine,” Spike mumbled. 
“You don’t look fine to me."
Discord then sat down on a nearby chair and gently picked up Spike and placed him on his lap. 
“C’mon. Tell your Uncle Discord what’s bothering you.”
Spike then took a few deep breaths before letting it all out. 
“I was a jerk to Bulk Biceps. I made some mean jokes to him and Twilight told me that I was being a bad friend. And I think she's right.”
“Very interesting,” said Discord “Tell me, what kind of jokes did you actually say?”
Spike then told all of his jokes to Discord; the “P” is for “Pathetic” line, the joke of how Bulk Biceps should make friends with a salad and the one of how he ate his other teammates. 
“Well, I don’t think those jokes are bad at all,” he said with a little bit of sarcasm in his voice. “I mean, all they did was make Bulk Biceps feel like a loser, but that’s no big deal.”
Even though Spike was not too happy that Discord was rubbing it in, he knew that he was right. Bulk Biceps probably thought he was worthless thanks to Spike's jokes. He tried of think of something to make up for what he did when he got an idea. 
“I got to go to the tryouts,” he said, jumping off of Discord’s lap. “I need to apologize. Discord, you can send me to the tryouts with your magic. Just snap your fingers and we’ll be there in no time.”
“I don’t know,” said Discord. “This sounds like something that can get me into trouble. And that is something I’m trying to avoid, remember?” 
“Please. This is important,” said Spike, giving Discord the biggest puppy dog eyes ever. 
“Oh, all right,” Discord chuckled. “Even I can’t say “no” to a face like that.” 
He then picked up Spike, snapped his fingers, and in a flash of light, the two disappeared from the library, only to reappear on top of a huge mountain.
“DISCORD!”
“Whoops! Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Hang on.”
Discord snapped his fingers again and this time, he and Spike appeared in a large green field, surrounded by waterfalls flowing with rainbow colored water.  The two could see Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Bulk Biceps and Derpy standing a few feet away from them, each of them wearing a gold medal. 
Spike and Discord made their way to where the others were standing until they heard a happy "Spike! You made it!" from behind them. They both turned around to see Twilight, who was wearing a rainbow colored wig, smiling back at them 
“Oh, hi Twilight,” Spike said. “Did you do something different with your mane? It looks good.”
Twilight chuckled at what her little dragon friend just said.
"I'm so glad you're here," she said. "How did you even get here so fast?"
“I may have had something to do with it,” said Discord, who was holding onto a sign with a big black arrow on it that was pointing right at him. "Please. No need to thank me."
“Thank you, Discord,” Twilight said before looking back at Spike. "Do you wanna check out some of the other tryouts?"
"Not just yet," said Spike. "There's something I need to do first."
Spike then made his way to the other ponies and walked right up to Bulk Biceps. He took a deep breath and said what was on his mind. 
“Bulk Biceps, I’m really sorry. I’m sorry for saying those awful jokes to you yesterday. I thought I was being funny, but now I know that I was just being mean. That’s my problem, I never think before I open my mouth. I’m really sorry if I offended you. I just hope you can find it in you to forgive me.”
Bulk Biceps just stared at Spike for a few seconds. Then he simply smiled, picked up Spike and put him in a headlock while giving him a friendly noogie, causing the little dragon to giggle. 
“So, does this mean we’re good?” Spike asked after Bulk Biceps put him back down. 
“YEAH!” Bulk Biceps shouted, causing Spike to fall on his back. 
“That’s good to know,” Spike chuckled. 
Twilight, who had watched the whole thing, went up to Spike and smiled at him as she helped him get back on his feet. 
“That’s what I love about you, Spike,” she said. “You may be insensitive sometimes, but at least your heart is in the right place."
Spike couldn't help but blush at Twilight's comment.
"What do you say we look at some more of the tryouts? The ice archery is about to begin."
"I would love that," said Spike. 
Twilight then used her magic to remove her rainbow wig and place it on Spike’s head. 
“It looks better on you.”
The two chuckled as they then joined each other in a hug. 
Just behind them, Discord was watching them with small tears dripping from his eyes. But then he saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looking at him with silly grins on their faces and quickly rubbed the tears away. 
“What? I have allergies.” 


> Leap of Faith
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike was in the kitchen of the library, making a cup of tea. Just as he was pouring the hot water into the cup, he heard a huge sneeze coming from the bedroom. Spike picked up the teacup and carried it upstairs, where he saw Twilight lying in bed. Her eyes were bloodshot, she was hacking and coughing and she had an ice pack on her forehead. 
“How are you feeling, Twi?” asked Spike as he placed the tea on her nightstand. 
“Terrible,” said Twilight with a raspy voice. “I can’t remember the last time I was this sick.”
She then used her magic to lift up the teacup and take a sip. 
“Thanks you taking care of me, Spike.”
“Hey, what’s a number one assistant for?” said Spike. “I’m going out for a little bit. Do you want anything?
“No thanks, I’ll be fine,” said Twilight before letting out a number of hacking coughs.
“If you say so,” said Spike who was a bit uneasy about leaving Twilight.
As he walked through town, Spike couldn’t help but feel terrible for Twilight and tried to think of a way to make her feel better fast. She told him that she just needed plenty of bed rest, but he figured there had to be another way. As he was thinking, he heard someone call out:
“Tonic! Get your tonic here!”
Spike looked up and saw a small stand with two ponies with red manes selling bottles of a strange green liquid. Spike reconized the two as the Flim Flam brothers. But what really shocked him was that Granny Smith was with them. The brothers were the last ponies Spike would see with Granny Smith after they tried to run the Apple family out of business the last time they were in town. 
“Howdy stranger,” Flim said to Spike. “Care to try our one kind tonic?”
“Guranteed to make anypony and dragon feel right as rain,” said Flam. 
Spike picked up one of the bottles and read the label: 
FLIM FLAM BROTHERS’ MIRACLE-CURATIVE TONIC
“Just one sip and any sickness you have will just disappear,” said Flam. 
“I don’t know,” said Spike. 
“Try it. It worked on me,” said Granny Smith and she demonstrated by doing a cartwheel right in front of Spike. “I couldn’t do that before without hurting my back. But thanks to that tonic, I can do about a hundred of them.” 
Spike was shocked to see Granny Smith so up and about. 
“And the best part is that it is approved by the most honest pony in Ponyville; Applejack,” said Flam. 
Spike thought about it for a second and figured that if Applejack, the pony who would never tell a lie, approved of it then it must be good. He started to realize that with the tonic, he could use it to cure Twilight. 
“I’ll take it,” Spike said as he slammed a few bits onto the stand. 
“An excellent choice, my friend,” said Flim. 
Spike ran back to the library and made his way to Twilight’s bed where she was still sneezing and coughing. 
“What is that?” Twilight asked when she noticed the bottle in Spike’s hands. 
“This is what is going to make you all better,” said Spike. 
He handed Twilight the bottle and she was not too happy when she read the label.
“You got this from the Flim Flam brothers?” she asked. “Those two con ponies who almost kicked Applejack out of her home?”
“You don’t understand, Twilight,” said Spike. “This tonic is guaranteed to get rid of any type of aliment you have. It can even work on your cold. You should have seen what it did to Granny Smith. She’s as spry as a filly. And Applejack approves it, so it must be good.”
Although Twilight didn’t trust anything made by the Flim Flam brothers, Applejack was one of the most honest ponies she knew, so the tonic must do what Spike just told her. 
“Well, if it’s Applejack approved.”
Twilight then popped off the cork of the bottle and said “Bottom’s up,” before guzzling down the entire tonic. 
Spike’s eyes lit up as he hoped that it worked. Twilight looked at him, and it seemed like she was looking a bit better as a smile appeared on her face. That is until she let out another huge sneeze and then began coughing hacking again. 
Spike was shocked that the tonic didn’t work. But then he figured that maybe Twilight just had to wait a bit longer for it to kick in. But come the next day, Twilight was still sick. In fact, Spike thought that she looked even worse than she was yesterday. 
“I just don’t get it,” said Spike. “That stuff worked on Granny Smith. Why didn’t it work on you?”
“I told you not to trust those brothers,” said Twilight.
“Yeah, you’re right Twilight. I feel like an idiot.”
“Don’t say that, Spike. Those brothers just have a way of tricking other ponies into believing everything they say.”
“Still, I can’t believe I wasted my money on a useless tonic,” said Spike, who was now getting a bit angry. “I’m going to those two jerks and give them a piece of my mind.”
Spike then stormed out of the library. As he walked through town, he could see Applejack walk towards him. He decided to have a little talk with her about the lousy product she approved of. 
“Applejack, I’d like a word with you,” he said, showing Applejack the empty tonic bottle. “How could you approve of a lousy product like this? I gave it to Twilight to help with her cold, and it didn’t do anything.”
“I know,” Applejack signed, looking disappointed in herself. “I’m really sorry, Spike. I knew all along that that tonic was a fake. But I kept my mouth shut because it seemed to make Granny Smith happy and I didn’t want to disappoint her. I understand if you’re angry at me.”
Spike could tell by the sad look Applejack had that she was truly sorry for lying and he just couldn’t stay mad at her. 
“I’m not angry with you, Applejack,” he said. “I’m mostly angry at those Flim Flam brothers. I was about to find them and demand my money back.”
“Well, good luck trying to find them,” said Applejack. “As soon as I revealed to everpony that the tonic was fake, those two took off faster than you can say ‘Cider.’”
“Don’t worry, I’ll find them,” said Spike. “And I’ll  get my money, and every other pony’s money back from them.”
Spike walked all through town, searching for the brothers. His search brought him to the center of the park where he could see fresh tire tracks in the field. He followed them and sure enough he caught the Flim Flam brothers pushing their wagon through the field, which was filled with dozens of bottles of their tonic. 
“Stop it right there, you two,” Spike said. 
The brothers stopped and saw Spike walk towards them with an angry glare on his face. 
“Let me guess, you came here to get your money back,” said Flim. 
“Not just my money,” said Spike. “But all of the money from the ponies you ripped off.”
“Sorry son, no refunds,” said Flam. “Says so right on the label.”
Flam then used his magic to lift up a magnifying glass and placed it on the label where Spike saw in tiny little writing the words: SORRY, NO REFUNDS. 
“That is just despicable,” said Spike. 
“Hey, that’s life kid,” said FlIm. “So why don’t just run along now and stop bothering us.”
Flam walked up to the cart and was about to push when something inside it caught his eye. 
“Um, Flim, we might have a problem here,” he told his brother. “The money’s gone.”
“WHAT?!” Flim then starred into the cart and saw that Flam was right. “But I put it in here before we left. This is all your fault!”
“How is it my fault?” Flam asked angrily. 
“The bag probably fell out because you were pushing the cart too fast. “
“You were pushing the cart too. You were the one who pushed too fast.”
"Did not!”
“Did too!” 
“Liar!”
“I know you are but what am I?”
Spike decided to walk away from the argument before things started to get ugly. As he walked away he heard someone say “Psst” from his right. He turned and saw a silver coated pony standing beside him.
“Who are you?” Spike asked. 
“My name is Silver Shill,” said the pony. “I used to work for Flim and Flam, but then I quit. I have something you might want.”
Silver Shill then went to a nearby bush and pulled out a large brown sack and handed it to Spike, who opened it up. Inside were dozens of gold bits. 
“That is all of the money from the ponies Flim and Flam ripped off,” said Silver Shill. “I stole it from their cart before they could make their getaway. I know stealing is wrong, but they didn’t deserve any of that money.”
“Thank you,” said Spike. “I’ll make sure this goes back to it all the ponies that were cheated.”
Sliver Shill smiled and shook Spike’s claw as his way of saying thank you and walked away. 
In the middle of Ponyville, Spike set up a small stand where he handed out all of the bits back to each pony who bought the tonic. The last pony he gave to was Granny Smith, who had tons of bits returned to her since she was the brothers’ “best customer.”
“Thank you kindly, Spike,” said Granny Smith. “I still can’t believe I believed everything those con ponies said what that tonic can do. I feel like a ninny.”	
“Don’t worry, Granny Smith, you’re not the only one,” said Spike. “I actually thought that tonic could work too. I even tried it on Twilight to help her with her cold.”
“Twilight has a cold? Well, I think I have something that I might help.”
Back at the library, Twilight was still lying in bed, coughing like crazy, when she heard someone come up the stairs. She looked up to find Spike coming towards her, holding onto a bowl of a steaming yellow liquid. 
“What is that?” she asked. 
“It’s Granny Smith’s spicy apple soup,” said Spike. “She told me she gave it to her family when they were sick and they were better in no time.”
Spike gave Twilight a spoonful of the soup and she licked her lips at how delicious it was. And sure enough, Twilight felt better the next day. She thanked for Spike for all his help and also told him how proud she was of him for learning an important lesson on how if something sound too good to be true, it probably is. 


> Wonderbolts Academy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike made his way to Sugarcube Corner. Twilight and the others were busy at the library checking out the new book Twilight got from Princess Celestia so he decided to go grab himself a little treat while they were reading. 
When Spike got to the bakery, he was just to go inside when he saw Pinkie Pie starring at her mailbox with a sad look on her face. 
“Pinkie? Are you okay?” he asked. 
“No, I’m not,” Pinkie Pie sighed. “I still haven’t gotten a letter from Rainbow Dash.” 
Spike understood what she meant. Rainbow Dash had left to attend the Wonderbolts Academy and Applejack told him how ever since Rainbow left, Pinkie has been standing by her mailbox waiting for a letter from her friend. 
“C’mon Pinkie. Rainbow’s only been gone for two days,” he said. “I’m sure she’s just too busy with her training to write. Give her time.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Pinkie said in a sad tone. 
Spike then went inside Sugarcube Corner. When he came back out, he saw that Pinkie Pie was still looking at her mailbox, looking more and more depressed. Spike just felt awful to see his pink friend so sad. She was usually all cheerful and bouncing and to see her with a frown just didn’t sit well with Spike. 
The next day, Spike heard about how Twilight and the others were planning on going to the academy to give Rainbow Dash a care package. He had hoped that doing that would make Pinkie Pie happy. Sure enough, when Spike went to Sugarcube Corner to see the others off, Pinkie Pie was super excited. She was bouncing up and down with the biggest smile on her face. 
“This is so exciting,” she said. “Rainbow Dash will be so happy to see us. That is, if she remembers us.”
“I’m pretty sure she’ll know who we are, Pinkie,” said Twilight. She turned to Spike and asked him if he wanted to come with them. 
“I’d love to, but I have a lot of cleaning to do,” said Spike. “Tell Rainbow Dash I said hello.”
“We will,” said Pinkie Pie. “But if we tell you that Rainbow Dash doesn’t know who you are, don’t be too upset.” 
Spike just rolled his eyes as he waved goodbye to his friends as they walked off. He was about to head home when he took one last look at Pinkie Pie’s mailbox. It reminded him of how sad Pinkie Pie was for not getting a letter and even though he knew that she would be happy to see Rainbow Dash when they give her the package, he still wanted to do something that would make her really, really happy. He then quickly came up with an idea and ran all the way back to the library. 
Twilight and her friends made their way through Ponyville. They had just gotten back from their trip to the Wonderbolts Academy. Even though there were a few mishaps, like when they got sucked in by that tornado or the shock they received when Rainbow Dash almost quit the academy, they still thought it was great to see their friend again and were very happy that she made lead pony. 
But no one was happier than Pinkie Pie. She was just glad that she saw that Rainbow Dash was okay, and that she remembered her. She almost hit a snag when Rainbow Dash flew off without receiving the care package they sent her, but luckily Spitfire took it and offered to give it to her. 
Now Pinkie Pie was excited because she thought that Rainbow Dash had already sent her a letter thanking her for the package and she eagerly told her friends to hurry up so they can get to her mailbox and check. The others were a bit nervous that Pinkie Pie was getting her hopes up as they had just gotten back and they hoped that Pinkie Pie wouldn’t be too disappointed to see another empty mailbox. 
As the friends made their way to Sugarcube Corner, they saw Spike standing beside the mailbox with a huge smile on his face. 
“Pinkie Pie, you won’t believe it,” he said as he ran up to his friends. “I went by your mailbox today and saw that there was a letter inside. I think it’s from Rainbow Dash.”
Pinkie Pie let out a huge happy gasp and quickly ran past Spike, almost knocking him over, and stopped at her mailbox and peaked inside. Sure enough, there was an envelope inside. Pinkie Pie took it out and saw that her name was on it. She quickly ripped opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. It read:

Dear Pinkie Pie,

Sorry I couldn’t be able to write to you earlier, but I’ve been so busy with my training that I haven’t had time. The Academy is awesome. The exercises are a bit hard, but they are not hard for a tough pony like me. I really miss you and the girls and I can’t wait to see you when I get back. I expect an amazing “Welcome Back” party when I return. Of course, knowing you, it will be super amazing.

Love your super awesome friend,

Rainbow Dash. 

When Pinkie Pie finished reading she couldn’t hold in her excitement. The smile on her face grew bigger and bigger as she pushed the letter to her chest and hugged it tight. 
“She wrote to me! She wrote to me!” she said. “I told her not to forget to write, and she didn’t forget to write. You know what this means? I gotta write back to her! I can’t wait to tell about all the stuff that’s been happening. She’ll be so happy to get my letter.”
Pinkie Pie then bolted into the bakery, dropping the letter on the ground. Twilight then picked it up with her magic and took a closer look at it. 
“Wait a minute. I recognize this handwriting.”
She then looked at Spike, who looked at her a bit nervously.
“You wrote this to her, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did,” Spike said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t do it to be mean. It’s just that Pinkie Pie looked so sad about not getting a letter that I decided to make one for her just to make her happy.”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile at her little dragon friend for what he did. She walked up to Spike and pulled him into a small hug. 
“You did a very kind thing Spike,” she said. 
“Thanks, Twilight,” said Spike who was very proud that he was able to get Pinkie Pie to smile again. 


> Somepony To Watch Over Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Big Macintosh pulled his pie cart through a large dusty field that was surrounded by large rocks and dead trees. As he was walking, he heard someone call “Hey Big Mac,” from behind him. He turned around and saw Spike walking towards him while pulling a wagon that was filled with gems. 
“Well howdy, Spike,” said Big Mac. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m gathering myself some gems,” said Spike as he pointed to his gem pile. “I’m going to try to make myself a jewel cake. If I don’t eat these ones like last time. What are you up to? Pie delivery?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac Said. “Care to join me? I could use the company.” 
“Sure,” said Spike. 
The two began to walk through the dusty fields. They were quiet for a bit until Spike stroked up a conversation. 
“That’s a lot of pies you’re delivering.”
“Eeyup. But you should see the pies Applejack has to deliver. She has at least ten times more pies than me. I just hope she delivers them on time.” 
“What do you mean?”
“Well, today we decided that Apple Bloom was old enough to stay home alone.”
“That’s good. Apple Bloom is getting bigger.”
“Well, try telling that to Applejack. When we had the conversation, it took a lot for me and Granny Smith to convince her that Apple Bloom is not a baby anymore and that she can take care of herself. But just now, as we were on our way to make our deliveries, she went back home to go check on her. Applejack can be very overprotective after Apple Bloom.”
Spike then let out a small chuckle. 
“What’s so funny?” asked Big Mac.
“Oh nothing,” said Spike. “It’s just that what you just said reminded me of how Twilight use to be very overprotective of me.”
“Really?” 
“Oh yeah,” Spike chuckled. “When I first became Twilight’s assistant, she was so worried that a little dragon like me would get hurt in such a big library. She tried everything to make sure I didn’t get hurt. If she wanted a book from a large shelf, she would use her magic to levitate me because she was afraid that if I got on a ladder, I would fall off. If I was reading a book, she made me wear gloves so I wouldn’t get a paper cut. She was even overprotective of me when we weren’t in the library, like if we were taking a walk through Canterlot, she would make me wear boots because she was afraid that I would step on a rock and hurt my foot. She even scolded me once just for saying hi to a pony on the street; telling me that I shouldn’t talk to strangers.” 
“Yikes,” said Big Mac. “Were you able to convince her that you can take care of yourself?”
“Yep,” said Spike. “One time, I decided I was sick and tired of Twilight treating me like a baby all the time, so I decided to prove to her that could do things on my own. She asked me to get a book on a very large shelf and just before she use her levitation spell on me, I rushed towards the ladder and started to climb up it. Twilight tried to order me to come down, but I just kept climbing until I got the book and made it back down the ladder. Twilight was really impressed that I was able to do that without any help and she soon stopped babying me and allowed me to do things by myself.”
“That’s quite impressive,” said Big Mac. “I wonder if that will happen with Apple Bloom and Applejack.”
“Apple Bloom is a clever little filly, she’ll probably think of something,” said Spike. “Who knows? Maybe she’ll deliver Applejack’s pies herself.”
Big Mac let out a small chuckle after hearing that. 
“Yeah, right. What are the odds of that happening?” 
Big Mac then soon stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a big brown sack lying in the middle of the field. He walked up to it and saw a note attached to it that read;
JUST LEAVE THE PIES HERE
Big Mac then opened up the sack and saw dozens of gold bits inside it. 
“Are those from the person you’re selling your pies to?” Spike asked. 
“Eeyup,” said Big Mac. “Guess they’re too shy to pay me in person.”
Big Mac then untied himself from the cart and walked away from it. 
“Well, I guess I should be heading home,” he said. “Granny’s probably got dinner ready. Thanks for keeping me company, Spike.”
“Hey, it was my pleasure,” the small dragon said. “I should be heading home too. I got a cake to make.”
As the two walked away, a hole appeared out of the ground and Rover, the red coated Diamond Dog, popped out of it, noticed the pie cart and smiled. 
“Hey, Fido! Spot! Dinner’s here,” he yelled down the hole.
Just then, the two other Diamond Dogs, large one, Fido, and the small one, Spot, both jumped out of the hole. 
“Well it’s about time,” said Spot.
“Yeah, I’m starving,” said Fido.
The two then each grabbed a pie from the cart and were about to take a huge bite out of them when Rover stopped them. 
“Hey! Where are your manners?”
The two dogs then extended their pinkie fingers out and when Rover nodded his head in approval, they gorged themselves with the pies. Rover then grabbed a pie himself and soon joined the others. 
	

> Sonic Rainboom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike had just woken up and noticed that Twilight wasn’t in her bed. He expected her to be exhausted after organizing all the books in the library yesterday. He then made his way downstairs and noticed that Twilight wasn’t anywhere in the library at all. That’s when Spike noticed a letter on a nearby table. He picked it up and read it.

Dear Spike. 

Gone to Clousdale to watch the Best Young Flyers contest. Rainbow Dash is competing in it and me and the girls are going to cheer her on. Make sure the library is spotless when I get back.
Love Twilight. 

As Spike finished reading the letter, a thought had entered his mind.
“Why didn’t Twilight invite me?”
Spike had heard all about Clousdale from Rainbow Dash and was amazed at the stories he heard about it. How the clouds and rainbows were made there and how it was the birthplace of the Wonderbolts. Spike had hoped that one day he could get to visit Clousdale and he got a little upset that he just missed his chance. Then he got angry. He didn’t think it was fair that Twilight didn’t even bother to tell him about going to Clousdale, or even invite him to come along. 
“It’s not fair,” Spike said to himself. “Twilight gets to go to the one place I’ve been dying to go to and instead of inviting me, she makes me clean. It’s not fair!”
Spike was so angry that he crumpled up the letter and threw it out the window. Just then he heard someone say “What in tarnation?” from outside. He went out and saw Granny Smith rubbing her head while the crumpled up paper lay next to her. She then picked it up and looked at it in confusion. 
“This is one weird looking raindrop,” she said.
“Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry, Granny Smith,” Spike said as he ran up to the old mare. “I didn’t see you. I just threw that out the window.”
“Out the window? Last time I checked, you were supposed to throw paper in the garbage,” Granny Smith chuckled. 
Spike then let out an awkward laugh. 
“Sorry. I threw it out because I was just upset about something.”
Granny Smith then got concerned as she looked at the small dragon, who was now looking at the ground with a gloomy face. 
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked. 
“I don’t think you’d want to hear it,” said Spike. 
“Try me. I made be old but I am a good listener. I was on my way to the café to have myself a cup of tea. Why don’t we talk there?”
Spike let out a small “Okay” before following Granny Smith.
At the café, Spike and Granny Smith were sitting on a table in the patio. Spike talked about how upset he felt that Twilight went to Clousdale without him while Granny Smith listened while sipping on her tea. 
“I just can’t believe Twilight gets to go to Clousdale and I don’t,” Spike said as he finished his rant. 
“You’re right. That doesn’t seem that fair. But I’m pretty sure Twilight didn’t mean to leave you behind,” Granny Smith said before taking another sip of her tea. 
“I know,” Spike signed. “I guess I just don’t like being left out.”
“I know just how you feel,” said Granny Smith. “Applejack went through the same thing.” 
Spike’s ears perked up as he listened to what Granny Smith had to say. 
“When Applejack was just a filly, she always wanted to go with Big Macintosh when he did one of his big pie deliveries. But Big Mac always refused to take her with him, mostly because he thought she would embarrass him. I could tell that Applejack was upset about being left out so I tried to convince Big Mac to let her tag along next time. But of course he refused. I swear, that stallion could be as stubborn as…uh…you know who.”
Granny Smith pointed to a mule that was sitting at the table beside them, looking at a menu. 
“But then one day, Big Mac once again refused to bring Applejack along with him and that’s when she decided that she had enough. She looked Big Mac right in the eye and told him just how upset she was about him leaving her behind. She said that it made her feel like Big Mac didn’t love her and I could tell that she was almost in tears when she said that. Well, Big Mac felt just terrible about the whole thing. He apologized to Applejack and promised to bring her along on all of his deliveries.”
Granny Smith then took another sip of her tea and then smiled at Spike. She then put a hoof on his shoulder before continuing. 
“I think the best thing to tell Twilight how you feel. Tell her how you don’t like being left behind.”
“But what if she gets mad at me?” asked Spike. 
“I don’t think that will happen,” Granny Smith chuckled. “Twilight loves you and she always will. She’ll understand.”
Spike then smiled as he got off his chair and gave Granny Smith a small hug. 
“Thanks, Granny Smith,” he said. “I needed to hear that. I better get going. Twilight might be back by now.”
He then walked off and waved goodbye to Granny Smith, who smiled and waved back at him. 
Spike walked all the way back to the library. When he went inside, he saw Twilight look at him. 
“Hi Spike. I was wondering where you were. I got so many stories to tell you about the contest,” she said smiling. 
But her smile soon faded when she saw Spike look at her with an angry glare. 
“Spike? Is everything all right?” 
“No. It isn’t,” Spike said. “I’m very upset with you. You went all the way to Clousdale and didn’t even bother to invite me. You know how much I wanted to go here. How do you think it makes me feel that you get to go to this amazing place and I don’t?”
Spike just stood there, waiting for Twilight to respond. Finally, Twilight looked at him with a look of guilt and a small tear started to form in her eye. 
“You’re right, Spike,” she said. “It was wrong of me not to invite you. I am so sorry. I was so busy thinking about how to cheer for Rainbow Dash at the contest that I forgot all about inviting you. After Rainbow won, I started to realize that you would’ve loved to come with me and I felt terrible for not inviting you. I want to make it up to you though.”
Twilight then used her magic to lift up seven pieces of paper out of the saddle bag she was wearing and showed them to Spike. 
“These are tickets to the Wonderbolts’ next air show. Rainbow Dash was able to score them for us when she went on her date with them. There are seven tickets here, and one of them is for you.”
Twilight then levitated one of the tickets and placed it in Spike’s hands. A huge smile appeared on the little dragon’s face. He was happy that Twilight remembered him and that she was willing to make up for her mistake. He walked up to Twilight and gave her big hug. 
“Thanks, Twilight. You’re the best friend a dragon could ask for.”
Some tears of joy formed in Twilight’s eyes as she hugged Spike back. 


> The Last Roundup
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was lying in his bed, reading one of his many comic books. Just as he was about to get to the part where the Power Ponies were about to stop the Mane-iac from covering all of Maretropolis with nail glue, he heard the door to the library slam open and Twilight came running up the stairs, grabbed her saddle bag from under her bed and used her magic to place the number of items into it. 
“Twilight, what’s going on?” Spike asked, but the purple unicorn didn’t answer. 
Spike then noticed that Twilight had a huge look of worry on her face, which made him a bit nervous. He remembered before Twilight left that morning, she was going to help her friends set up a huge welcome back party for Applejack, who was supposed to return home that day from her trip to the Equestria rodeo. 
“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Spike tried again. “Didn’t Applejack like her party?”
“I wouldn’t know Spike,” said Twilight. “She never showed up.”
“Never showed up?” Spike was a bit confused that what Twilight just said, so she explained. 
“Applejack never came to her party. We got a letter from her saying that she’s not coming home. I think something might have happened to her. Me and the girls are heading to the rodeo to see if she’s okay.”
When Twilight finished packing her saddlebag, she gave Spike a small kiss on the forehead and said a quick “Be good now,” before running out the door. 
Spike just stood there in shock. He could not believe that Applejack would leave like that and say that she’s not coming back. She loved her family and friends too much to just walk out on them like that. That’s when he realized that the rest of the apple family must be worried too and he decided to head off to make sure that they were all right. 
When he made it to Sweet Apple Acres, Spike went to the front door and gave it a gentle knock. 
“Come in,” said a quiet voice from inside. 
Spike went inside and his heart almost broke at what we saw. Granny Smith was slowly rocking back and forth on her rocking chair and gently stroking a teary-eyed Apple Bloom on her lap. 
“Oh, hello, Spike,” Granny Smith quietly said. “What brings you here?”
“I came to check on you,” said Spike as he walked up to the elderly mare. “Twilight told me about Applejack and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” said Granny Smith. “We could use the company.”
Spike then saw Apple Bloom look up at him. Her eyes bloodshot from all her crying. 
“How are you holding up?” Spike asked as he gently wiped some of the tears from Apple Bloom’s eyes with his claw. 
“I just don’t understand,” Apple Bloom sniffed. “Why would Applejack just run off like that? It’s probably my fault. I’m always getting into trouble and she couldn’t take it anymore sp she ran off to get away from me.”
“Don’t say that, Apple Bloom,” said Granny Smith. “Your sister would never do something like that.”
“Granny Smith is right,” said Spike. “Applejack loves you too much to just give up on you like that. She once told me that you, Granny Smith and Big Mac are more important to her than all of the apples in Equsestria.”
Apple Bloom couldn’t help but smile at Spike’s comment. He was right. Applejack loved her family more than anything and she would never abandon them. 
Spike then looked around the room and noticed that one pony was missing.
“Where’s Big Mac?”
“He’s out in the orchard,” said Granny Smith. 
Spike went out back and searched through the whole orchard until he found Big Mac. He was bucking hard on one tree that Spike noticed didn’t have any apples on it at all. That’s when Spike looked at Big Mac’s face, which was full of anger. He could tell right away that he was kicking the tree in frustration. 
“Whoa, Big Mac! Settle down,” Spike said as he walked up to the stallion and patted his shoulder. Big Mac then stopped his bucking and slumped on the ground and let out a big sigh. 
“You’re worried about Applejack, aren’t you?” asked Spike.  
“Eeyup.”
“It’s okay. I know exactly how you feel.”
Big Mac looked at the small dragon in confusion before he continued talking. 
“I know how you feel because I went through the same thing with Twilight many times. Like when she went to the Everfree forest in search of the Elements of Harmony. I was so scared that something was going to happen to her. When she came back, I was so relieved that she didn’t get hurt, but a part of me knew that she was going to be okay because I knew how determined she was to find the Elements and I knew that when Twilight has something on her mind, nothing will stop her.  I also know that she is out there right now looking for your sister and she will not stop until she finds her. And I wouldn’t worry so much about Applejack, she is one tough pony. Whatever trouble she is in, I know that she get out of it.”
Big Mac just looked at the small dragon for a few seconds and thought about what he just said to him. He knew he was right. Applejack was tough and wouldn’t let anything get in her way. 
“Are you sure she’ll come back?” asked Big Mac. 
Spike looked at Big Mac with a smile and said one word. 
“Eeyup.”
“Hey, that’s my line,” Big Mac chuckled. 
The next day, Spike joined the Apple family at the train station as Twilight and her friends left the train, with Applejack. The young dragon couldn’t help but smile as he saw the family all embrace Applejack in a huge group hug. As they all let go of the embrace, Spike was caught by surprise when Apple Bloom came up to him and gave him a big hug. 
“What’s this for?” he asked. 
“For being there for us,” said Apple Bloom. 
Pretty soon, Granny Smith, Big Mac and Applejack joined in the hug as well. 
“Thanks for helping my family, Spike,” said Applejack. 	
“Aw, it was nothing,” Spike said blushing. 
The other ponies watched Spike being hugged by the Apple family and couldn’t help but all smile. Rainbow Dash even began to shed a few tears. 
“Darn it! There I go getting all sappy again,” she said. 


> Stare Master
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike was busy dusting the shelves of the library when he saw Twilight about to walk out the front door. 
“Where are you off to?” he asked. 
“I’m just heading to Zecora’s,” said Twilight. “She has a fresh batch of my favorite tea ready.”
When Spike heard this, he started to feel a bit nervous. Mostly because Zecora lived all the middle of the Everfree Forest and Spike knew about all the scary and dangerous creatures that lived in it. 
“Are you sure you want to go all the way to Zecora’s for tea?” he asked. “You can just stay here and I can make you a cup of tea myself.”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at how protective Spike was being. 
“Don’t worry, Spike,” she said as she patted the small dragon’s head. “I’ve been to the forest many times before and I know the way to Zecora’s hut inside and out. I’ll be fine.” 
Spike was still a bit nervous, but he smiled at Twilight and allowed her to go. He looked at Twilight as she left through the window and waved at her and Twilight smiled and waved back before going on her way. 
“I got nothing to worry about,” Spike said to himself. “Twilight is not a filly. She can take care of herself. She’ll be out of that forest in no time.” 
Spike quickly went back to dusting the shelves. When that was done, he started on his other chores, such as sweeping the floor, cleaning the windows and making sure Twilight had some fresh paper and a new quill on her writing desk. 
When he was finished, Spike noticed that Twilight still hadn’t come back yet. He didn’t worry about it though; he just assumed that Twilight stayed at Zecora’s hut to have a small chat with her. At that moment, Spike’s stomach started to growl, so he went into the kitchen, opened up a cupboard and took out a bowl full of gemstones that he had been saving. He then grabbed one of his comic books from a shelf and went up to the bedroom where he laid down in his bed. He then opened up his comic and began to read while munching on his gemstones. As he read, Spike started to feel a bit tired, so he covered himself with his blanket and took a nap. 
A few hours late, Spike awoke from his nap and noticed that it was already dark outside. He quickly got out of bed and went downstairs to see if Twilight was back yet, only to notice that she wasn’t home. 
Now Spike was really starting to worry. Twilight should have been back by now. He began to pace back and forth and started to imagine all of the terrible things that could have happened to Twilight. What if she was attacked by a timberwolf? Or fell into a hole? Or fell into a raging river? Or fell off a cliff? Or got lost? Spike could feel his heart pounding like a jackhammer and sweat came pouring down his forehead as he got more and more worried. 
At that very moment, Spike heard the front door open. He turned around and to his relief, there was Twilight. Before Twilight could say anything, Spike ran up to her and embraced her in a tight hug. 
“What happened to you?” Spike said. “I was worried sick.”
“Oh, Spike, you won’t believe it,” said Twilight with a bit of fear in her voice. “When I was on my way to Zecora’s, I was attacked by a Cockatrice.”
Spike let out a small gasp when he heard this. He had read all about Cockatrices in one of Twilight’s books. They were creatures that had the head of a chicken and the body of a snake and they could turn anyone into stone just by looking at them. 
“He turned me into a statue,” Twilight continued. “Luckily, Fluttershy found me and used that Stare of hers to get the Cockatrice to turn me back to normal.”
As Spike was hearing all of this, his hug on Twilight soon got tighter and tighter. This was causing Twilight to have trouble breathing so she gently pushed Spike away from her only to notice that the small dragon had tears in his eyes. 
“Sorry Twilight. I know you hate to see me cry,” said Spike. “It’s just that I was so worried about you. And hearing that you became a statue only makes it worse. What if Fluttershy wasn’t there to help you? If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.” 
Twilight soon felt her heart sink as she saw her little dragon friend cry. She was the only family he had so she didn’t blame him for crying. Twilight soon started to form a few small tears of her own as she wrapped her hoof around Spike and gently pressed him against her belly. 
“Oh, Spike. I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to make you worry. “
The two friends just stood there holding each other for what seemed like forever. Finally, Twilight let go of Spike who wiped the tears from his eyes. 
“Sorry for being such a blubbering mess,” he said. “I bet I look like a big baby.”
“Not at all,” said Twilight as she gently rubbed Spike’s back. “It just shows how much you care about me.”
Spike smiled as he gave Twilight one last hug before letting out a small yawn. 
“Guess it’s time for bed,” said Twilight before yawing herself. “All this excitement can really tire you out.”
The two friends went up to their bedroom. Twilight got into her bed and placed her blanket over herself. Before she could go to sleep, she saw Spike looking up at her. 
“Uh, Twilight,” he asked. “I know I’m a bit too old for this, but can I sleep with you tonight?”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile. She then used her magic to lift Spike up and gently place him right next to her on the bed and placed the blanket over him. That’s when an idea popped into Twilight’s head. 
“How about I sing you a lullaby,” she asked. “I know this great one that Flutterhsy just taught me.”
“I would love that,” said Spike. 
Twilight then wrapped both her front hooves around Spike, who snuggled himself next to her, and she began to sing.

Hush now, quiet now
Time to lay your sleepy head….

> Family Appreciation Day 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
> Bloom and Gloom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Luna walked through the dream world, passing by a number of different doors, which lead to other ponies’ dreams. It had been a very long night for the princess, as she had to deal with three bad dreams from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Each of them had the same kind of nightmare where they got a cutie mark that didn’t suit them. Sweetie Belle dreamt that she got a cutie mark in mopping floors when she wanted to sing, while Scootaloo dreamt that she got her mark in baking when she wanted to do extreme sports. Apple Bloom had it the worst though as she suffered three nightmares in one night. First she dreamt she got her cutie mark in exterminating and was ridiculed for it, then she dreamt that she got her cutie mark before her friends and they kicked her out of the crusaders, and finally, the last one, and possibly the worst one in Luna’s opinion, had Apple Bloom dreaming that she got a cutie mark that wasn’t apple related and her family kicked her out of the house. Luckily, Luna was able to round the three fillies together to help them realize that when they do eventually get their cutie marks, it will never change who they really are. 	
The princess was about to call it a night and get some rest herself when she heard a small voice crying out. 
“No! Twilight please! Don’t leave me!”
“Oh dear. Not again,” Luna said to herself.
She made her way to were she heard the voice, which was coming from a light blue door and used her magic to open it and go inside. 
Luna found herself just outside Twilight’s castle where she saw the purple alicorn near the front entrance with Spike sitting by her front hooves, tears streaming down his eyes. 
“Please Twilight. Don’t do this,” Spike said. 
“I’m sorry, Spike,” said Twilight in a very cold tone. “But I’m a princess now. I don’t need you anymore.”
“But where will I go? Where will I live?” Spike frantically asked. 
But Twilight didn’t answer. Instead, she simply shoved Spike away from her and went back inside her castle, slamming the door behind her. 
Spike just stood next to the door in silence for a few seconds before collapsing onto the ground and cried. 
As she was watching this, Luna could not help but shed a few tears of her own. She quickly wiped them away with her front hoof as she walked up to Spike and gently tapped him on the shoulder. Spike turned around and was surprised to see the princess of the night staring back at him. 
“Princess Luna, what are you doing here?” he asked. “Are you coming to take me away?”
“Of course not, Spike,” said Luna. “This is all just a dream. “
Spike was a bit relieved when Luna told him that, but the princess could tell that he was still a bit uneasy. 
“I’ve noticed that you’ve been having this dream for quite some time now,” she said. “Is something going on? Did you and Twilight have an argument?”
Spike shook his head no as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He then took a deep breath before talking again. 
“I guess it all started when I went with Twilight and her friends to save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra. As Twilight and me were searching for the crystal heart, we came upon a doorway that Sombra created with his dark magic that leads to your worst fear. When a took a look, I saw Twilight telling me that she didn’t need me anymore and that she was going to send me away. When I came out of it, Twilight assured me that that would never happen. But ever since then, I haven’t gotten that vision out of my head and I can’t help but think that it might happen for real. It’s gotten worse now that Twilight is a princess and she now barley has any time for me. What if it does happen, Luna? What if Twilight decides that I’m no use to her? 
To Spike’s surprise, Luna let out a small chuckle.
“Forgive me, Spike. I don’t mean to sound rude, but what you just said is just plan silly,” she said.  “I know for a fact that Twilight loves you. During some of our princess meetings, she will go on and on about how much of a wonderful assistant you are and how you are always there for her when she needs you the most.”
A small smile appeared on Spike’s face. He was happy to know that Twilight still cared about him, even if she was busy being a princess. 
“Thanks Luna. I really needed to hear that,” he said. “I feel like such an idiot to think of something like that.”
“Oh, you’re not the only one,” said Luna as her horn began to glow. 
In a flash of light, Luna was back in the dream world with Spike by her side. She led him to a door that looked exactly like the one to Twilight’s castle. As they entered, they found themselves inside the castle. Spike then saw another version of himself holding onto a small suitcase and heading towards the front door. Before he could open it, Twilight came running up to him with tears in her eyes. 
“Please, Spike, don’t leave,” she said. 
“Sorry, Twilight,” said Spike. “But I’ve outlived my usefulness. Besides you’re a princess now, you don’t need a little dragon following you around anymore.”
And with that, Spike opened the door and walked outside. Twilight ran after him, but when she got outside, Spike was already gone. She looked around the area, calling his name, but he was nowhere to be found. Twilight then sat down and looked at the ground as she let out a small cry. 
Luna then teleported herself and Spike back to the dream world. Spike just stood in shock at what he just saw. It was almost the exact same dream that he had been having. 
“Has she been having this dream for a while now?” he asked Luna, who simply nodded her head. “But that’s ridiculous. I would never leave Twilight’s side. She’s the one who hatched me.”
“You are correct, Spike,” said Luna. “But she still has these dreams from time to time. She needs to know that you still care about her.”
“I let her know that. Thanks, Luna,” said Spike as he went up to the princess and gently hugged her front leg. 
Luna smiled as she wrapped a hoof around the little dragon’s back. All of a sudden, the doors began to swirl around them. 
“Time to wake up,” Luna told Spike as she spread her wings out and flew up into the air. 
Spike then woke up in his bed. He looked out his window and saw that it was still night out. He jumped off his bed, left the room and made his way to Twilight’s bedroom. He slowly opened the door and saw Twilight asleep on her bed. She let out a few small groans that made Spike realize that she was still having her nightmare. He then tiptoed his way to the bed and climb onto it. He then gently rubbed Twilight’s forehead and whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I’m not going anywhere.” 
Spike then got under the blanket, nuzzled next to Twilight and shut his eyes. As he slept, Spike could feel a large wing place itself on his back, which made him smile. 

> Rarity Investigates 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was walking through Ponyville with a few sparkles on his lips. He had just gotten back from Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie had made him a nice new jewel encrusted cupcake, which he gobbled up in less than a second. 
He had just licked the sparkles off his lips when he noticed Rainbow Dash walking by with a saddlebag on which contained a few rolled up posters that were sticking out. 
“Hey Rainbow,” Spike said as he walked up to the rainbow mane Pegasus. “What you got there? A few more Wonderbolt posters to hang up on your wall?” 
“Actually, I’m going to the dump,” said Rainbow Dash. “It’s where these things actually belong.”
Spike noticed Rainbow Dash had a bit of an angry look on her face when she said that. He wondered what she meant by that, so he took out one of the posters from the bag and unrolled it. On the poster was a picture of a grey stallion wearing an aviator jacket and a white scarf around his neck. Spike recognized him as Wind Rider. He remembered Rainbow Dash talking about how Wind Rider was one of the greatest Wonderbolts of all time and how he held the flight speed record at the Mustang Marathon. 
“Why are you throwing these out?” he asked. “I thought you liked Wind Rider.”
“I use to,” said Rainbow Dash. “But that was until I realized what an egotistical jerk he was. “
Rainbow Dash then explained to Spike about how she was at Canterlot as a reserve for the Wonderbolts at their latest air show. She got the chance to fly with them when Spitfire left after receiving a note saying that her mother was sick. But everyone knew something was up when Spitfire’s mother appeared at the show and had no idea where her daughter was. The Wonderbolts then accused Rainbow Dash for sending Spitfire away so she could take her place and gave her 24 hours to prove she was innocent or else she would be kicked off the Wonderbolts reserves for good. 
Rarity decided to help Rainbow Dash with the investigation, but even with her help, Rainbow Dash started to believe she really was the culprit due to the clues they found, including a chunk of her hair that was found in Spitfire’s room. Also, they interviewed the owner of a bakery who made a cake the culprit had bought to distract the guards, and she said that whoever bought it had a gruff voice, just like Rainbow Dash. But thanks to Rarity, they were able to find out that Wind Rider was behind the whole thing after seeing the chocolate stain he got on his scarf from the cake. 
“Wow, I can’t believe Wind Rider would do something like that,” said Spike when Rainbow Dash finished her story. “Why did he go through all that trouble just to frame you?” 
“Because he was afraid I was going to break his flight speed record,” said Rainbow Dash. “He figured that with me out of the way, his record would be preserved.”
“And it would have worked too, if not for your friend,” said a gruff voice. 
Rainbow Dash looked up to see Wind Rider walking towards her with an angry glare on his face. 
“What are you doing here?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I want to talk to you,” said Wind Rider. “Thanks to you, I’m the biggest pariah is Canterlot. Everywhere I go, ponies are booing me and saying how terrible I am and it’s all your fault. “
“How is it my fault?” demanded Rainbow Dash. 
“You were the reason I got kicked off the Wonderbolts, that’s how,” said Wind Rider. 
“You have no one to blame but yourself,” said Spike. 
Wind Rider was shocked when he heard Spike say that. Spike then walked up to him and glared at him right in the eye. 
“This all wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so selfish and petty,” said Spike. “Rainbow told me how you tried to frame her and get her kicked off the Wonderbolts all because you didn’t want your precious record broken.”
“Hey! That record is very important to me,” snapped Wind Rider. 
“It that all you care about,” Spike snapped back. “Don’t you care that you almost destroyed Rainbow’s future? Becoming a Wonderbolt has been her lifelong dream and you almost shattered it.”
Wind Rider tried to retort, but Spike held up his claw to shush him so he could continue talking. 
“Not only that, Rainbow Dash looked up to you. She would tell me that she thought you were the greatest. How do you think she feels now that one of her idols tried to destroy her?”
“I never asked to be her idol,” Wind Rider blurted out.
Rainbow Dash let out a small gasp at what he just said. Spike just continued to glare at Wind Rider. 
“Yeah, well you’re not her idol anymore. Not after what you did,” he said. “And now you have the nerve to come here and blame Rainbow for something that was entirely your fault. You are nothing but a selfish, egotistical jerk.” 
“I don’t have to take this,” said Wind Rider. 
“If you don’t want to hear anymore, then just leave,” Spike snapped back. 
Wind Rider just snarled at Spike for a few seconds before spreading out his wings and flying off. 
“Wow Spike. That was awesome,” said Rainbow Dash as she walked up to her little dragon pal. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Aw, it was nothing,” Spike blushed before he and Rainbow Dash shared a hoof bump (or a hoof/claw bump in this case). “Besides, I knew what it’s like for someone you look up to let you down.”
“You do?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Spike simply nodded his head yes before he explained. 
“You know that I’m a huge fan of the Power Ponies right? Well, one time Twilight took me to a huge comic convention in Canterlot, where the one who drew the Power Ponies comics was going to be signing autographs.  I was so excited to meet him, but when I did, he was a real jerk. He saw that I was a dragon and treated me like I was a menace. He thought I was going to burn down the whole convention with my fire breath and actually ordered me to leave.”
“What? That creep,” said Rainbow Dash. “I’m surprise you still read those comics after what he did.” 
“Well, I was thinking about burning all of my comics,” said Spike. “But at the convention I met someone else there. The pony that actually created the comics. That jerk may have drawn Power Ponies, but this one came up with the idea. He came to the convention as a surprise to all the fans and he turned out to be a really nice guy. He was actually happy to see me because he never met a real live dragon before and he gave me an amazing autograph. I still have it framed and hanging on my bedroom wall back at the castle. I learned something that day. There will be ponies out there that you look up to who may be let you down, but there are others you can still see as heroes.”
Rainbow Dash thought of what Spike just said and realized he was right. Even though Wind Rider turned out to be a jerk, she still idolized the Wonderbolts and was still looking forward to the day where she would join them. 	
“Thanks Spike,” she said. “I really needed to hear that.”
Rainbow Dash then picked up Spike and placed him on her back. 
“How would you like to go for a little ride?” she asked. 
“That would be awesome,” said Spike. 
Rainbow Dash then spread out her wings and took off into the air. 

> Look Before You Sleep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Canterlot, Spike was walking through the market place. Princess Celestia had asked him to come and help her with some of her errands. Her regular assistant had called in sick and Spike was more than happy to help out. 
He was going through the list Celestia had given him, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. When he checked off every item he quickly headed back to the castle. 
“Thank you, Spike for doing this,” Celestia said as she saw all of the items she wanted were there. “I can see now why Twilight calls you her #1 assistant.” 
“Thank you, Princess,” Spike blushed. “That means a lot coming from you.” Anyway, I better get going. Twilight hates it when I’m away too long.”
Spike made his way to the front entrance, but as soon as he opened the door, he saw a huge flash of lighting in the sky and a large booming of thunder. The rain soon followed, pouring down in buckets. 
“Oh dear,” said Celestia, as she looked outside. “The weather ponies really did a good job with those storm clouds.”
She then looked down at Spike, who looked a bit uneasy going out in the rain.
“I can’t allow you go out and get soaked, Spike,” she said. “How would you like to spend the night here in the castle with me?”
“Are you sure about that?” asked Spike. “I don’t want to be a burden.” 
“Nonsense,” said Celestia. “You can have the guest room down the hall. And I’ll send a note to Twilight that you’re here so she doesn’t worry.” 
Spike couldn’t help but feel very grateful for what Celestia was doing. 
“Thank you, Princess,” he said smiling. 
That night, Spike was lying down in the large bed in the guest room. The only problem was that he had trouble falling asleep. Every time he shut his eyes, he was awoken by the sound of the thunder outside. Also, when he looked around the dark room, he couldn’t help but feel scared. It reminded him of when he was back in Ponyville and some nights, he felt afraid. Be it either a storm outside or he just had a nightmare he would curl up in his little bed and be filled with fear. The only comfort he had was knowing that Twilight was there with him and sometimes, if he was really scared, she would let him sleep with her. 
But this time, there was no one there to comfort him. Spike was alone in the room, and that made him more and more terrified. 
Spike then thought his mouth was a bit dry, so he got off the bed and walked down the hallway towards the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. 
As he walked down the hall, the darkness of the room made Spike even more scared. It made him think that some monster was going to come out and grab him. And every time he heard the thunder, it caused him to jump with fright. 
“I really wish Twilight was here,” Spike said to himself. 
All of a sudden, Spike could hear heavy footsteps in the darkness coming right towards him. He quickly ran off, hoping to get away from whatever was following him, but the footsteps kept getting closer and closer. Then, Spike tripped over his own tail and fell to the ground. As he sat up, he could hear the footsteps coming right towards him.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Spike yelled as he cowered in fear. 
“Spike?” came a soft voice. 
Just then, a big bright light filled the hall. Spike looked up and saw Celestia looking at him with a look of concern on her face, using her magic to light up the room. 
“Spike? Are you okay,” the princess asked the small dragon. 
Spike then stood up and was silent for a few seconds. Then small tears appeared in his eyes as he ran up to Celsestia and hugged her front leg. Celestia placed a front hoof on Spike’s back as she tried to figure out what was wrong. It wasn’t until she saw a flash of lighting from the window that she had a good idea of what was going on. 
“Spike? Are you scared of the storm?” she asked. 
“It’s not just the storm,” said Spike as he let go of the embrace. “I’m scared of the dark and Twilight not being here to help me. She would always comfort me if I was scared, but now that she’s not here, I feel terrified.”
“Oh, it’s okay, Spike,” said Celestia. “Tell you what. How would you like to sleep with me? My bed has plenty of room for the both of us.” 
Spike felt a bit better after hearing this as he wiped his tears away and smiled. 
“Thanks, Princess,” he said. “I would really like that.” 
Spike then followed Celestia to her bedchambers and quickly jumped onto the bed and got under the covers and fell asleep almost instantly. Celestia couldn’t help but smile at how adorable Spike looked. She then got into bed herself and went to sleep. 
The next morning, Celestia followed Spike as he made his way to the front entrance. 
“Thanks again for everything, Princess,” said Spike. “Sorry for being such a scardey cat.” 
“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Spike,” said Celesaia. “”Everyone gets scared sometimes.”
“Really? Even you,” Spike asked. 
“Yes, even me,” Celestia said as she looked over her shoulder and saw Luna talking with one of the guards and a sad smile appeared on her face. 
Spike said his goodbyes to the princess and made his way to the train station. 
Back at Ponyville, Spike entered the library to find the room covered with feathers while Twilight was using her magic to sweep them up with a broom. 
“What happened here?” Spike asked. “It looks like a stampede of chickens came through here.”
“Actually this was caused by a little pillow fight,” said Twilight. “Applejack and Rarity came over for a slumber party and things got a little carried away.”
“You had your first slumber party?” Spike said, a little proud of Twilight. “How did it go?”
“It was a bit rocky at first,” said Twilight. “Applejack and Rarity had a big argument beforehand, so they had a little trouble getting along. But they were able to put aside their differences and we all had a fun night. “
Spike then smiled as he walked up to Twilight and gave her a hug. 
“What’s this for?” Twilight asked. 
“I’m just happy to be home,” said Spike. 

> Fame and Misfortune
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 “Are they still out there?” asked Rainbow Dash.

            Twilight looked out the window and sure enough, nothing had changed. Right outside the front door of the castle were hundreds of ponies arguing with each other. Some were holding signs while others were wearing t-shirts with the mane six’s faces on them.

            Twilight let out a sigh of annoyance at what she saw. This had all started when she found her old friendship journal and decided to have it published.

            Twilight had hoped that the readers would learn from the lessons she and her friends wrote about, but that didn’t work out at all. Instead, the readers seemed more interested in how the mane six had acted in the journal and things did not turn out okay.

            Fluttershy kept getting hounded by ponies who were complaining about she was always learning to be more assertive, Applejack’s farm got swarmed with fans and admirers who took her “your friends are your family” lesson too seriously, Rarity’s boutique was boycotted by ponies who found her to be selfish and arrogant, Rainbow Dash couldn’t go anywhere without fans following her and telling her how awesome she was, Pinkie Pie was getting annoyed by ponies who kept laughing every time she spoke, even when she wasn’t trying to be funny, and Twilight was not too happy after hearing ponies talk about how her “character” would be a lot better if she never earned her wings and stayed in Canterlot, despite the fact that Twilight was a real pony, not a character in a story.

            It all just got worse as the ponies all gathered at the castle, arguing over which was the best in the journal. Even after the mane six told them that they were all weren’t flawless through a very heartfelt song, they ponies still continued to fight.

            “This is getting ridiculous,” said Applejack, “Twi? Can’t you at least order those ponies to beat it? You are a princess after all.”

But before Twilight could answer, she heard the sound of the front doors opening from behind her. At first, she was worried that the ponies wanted to break into the castle, but she was relieved when she turned around and saw that it was just Spike. But she became concerned when she saw Spike’s face. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a few tears streaming down his cheeks.

            “Spike, what happened,” she asked.

            “Nothing,” Spike said as he wiped away his tears, “I just got some dirt in my eyes, that’s all.”

But Twilight was not buying it. She walked up to her little dragon friend and wrapped a comforting wing around him.

            “C’mon Spike,” she said. “You know you can tell me anything. Now what’s wrong?”

            Spike looked up at Twilight, who has a small smile on her face, before taking a deep breath and telling her what happened.

            “Those fans of yours out there were total jerks! When I saw all of them arguing with each other, I tried to break it up. They all took one look at me and said they knew who I was from the journal. At first, I was proud that they knew who I was, but then they started insulting me. Saying that I’m a terrible friend to all of you, that I cause nothing but trouble, and that your lives would be a lot better if I wasn’t even hatched!”

            Needless to say, Twilight and the others were not happy after hearing this.

            “They said that?” said Twilight angrily.

            “How dare they?” said Rarity.

            “Those meanies,” said Pinkie Pie.

Applejack simply snorted in anger while Fluttershy just stood with her jaw open, shocked that some ponies would say such things, and Rainbow Dash pounded her front hooves together, like she was about ready to pick a fight.

Twilight then stood up and began to walk towards the door.

            “I think it’s time I gave our ‘”fans” a piece of my mind,” she said.

            “Count me in,” said Applejack.

            “Me too,” said Rainbow Dash.

            “Me three,” said Pinkie Pie.

            “Mmm-hmm,” Rarity and Fluttershy nodded.

            The mane six all stepped outside, the ponies still arguing with each other, and Twilight let out a loud “Everypony quiet,” which stopped them all in their tracks. They were all silent as the mane six glared at them all.

            “Which one of you insulted Spike?” asked an angry Twilight.

            No one answered.

            “ANSWER ME!” Twilight shouted.

All of the ponies jumped back a bit at this outburst. They all then started pointing hooves at each other, which just annoyed Twilight even more.

            “You all should be ashamed of yourselves,” said Fluttershy.

            “How dare you insult my Spikey-Wikey like that,” said Rarity.

            “I got half a mind to buck you all into next year,” said Applejack.

            “Save some for me,” said Rainbow Dash.

            “I can take you all badmouthing me and getting carried away with your own little fandoms, but nopony, I mean nopony, upsets Spike and gets away with it,” said Twilight, who had to take a few deep breaths to calm down.

            “We’re real sorry if we’ve upset you,” one of the fandom ponies finally spoke. “But we were just telling the truth.”

            “Yeah,” said another pony. “Spike has been nothing but trouble in that journal.”

            “Give me one example,” said Twilight.

            “Well, what about that spell he cast that transported you all into that Power Ponies comic,” said a fan pony.

            “That was an accident,” said Applejack. “He had no idea that comic was magical. And besides, we all enjoyed that little adventure we had in the comic.”

Applejack’s friends all nodded their heads in agreement.

            “What about that Inspiration Manifestation book that made Rarity go nuts,” said a pony.

            “Again, he had no idea that would happen,” said Rarity. “I was going through a terrible case of creator’s block and Spike only gave me that book as a way to cheer me up. And he’s also the one to snap me out of it when I got carried away.”

            “He butchered the Cloudsdale anthem at the Equestria Games,” said one Pegasus.

            “That was a mistake,” said Rainbow Dash. “He thought he was going to do the Canterlot anthem so he had to improvise. And besides, it’s a very difficult anthem. Even I have trouble remembering the words. And I’ve lived in Clousdale since I was a filly.”

            “Also, did you skip over the part where he saved the entire stadium from a giant ice ball,” said Pinkie Pie. “And that’s not even the first time he saved the Crystal Empire.”

            “That’s right,” said Twilight.  “Spike is also the one who saved the Crystal Heart from King Sombra and was able to bring peace to the Empire. Also, he has done many other amazing things that we didn’t even put in the journal.”

            “That is correct,” said Rarity. “He won the Gauntlet of Fire and was crowned Dragon Lord. But he gave the title to Princess Ember instead, knowing that she would an excellent ruler. If it weren’t for Spike, the dragons would have been ruled by someone who wanted to make burping a greeting or steal all of Equestria’s pillows.”

            “And try to burn Equestria to the ground,” Twilight reminded Rarity.

            “Oh, yes, that too,” Rarity said before letting out a nervous chuckle.

            “He also convinced the Crystal Empire to befriend Thorax, who happens to be a Changeling,” said Twilight. “This helped Thorax see what true friendship is like and was part of how he became the new ruler of the Changelings.”

            While this was going on, Spike stood behind the mane six and couldn’t help but feel happy that his friends were always there for him.

            The fan ponies all stood in silence. Some felt ashamed at what they said, while others tried to think of something to reply with, but couldn’t think of anything.

            “Now then,” Twilight continued. “It has been a long and tiring day and I’m quite fed up with all this fighting. I don’t mean to sound rude, but could you all kindly please GET LOST!!”

After that outburst, the fan ponies all ran off, some even dropping their signs on the ground.

            Twilight and the others all turned around to head inside when they saw Spike standing in front of them with tears in his eyes. At first, they were worried that he was still upset, but were relieved when they saw the smile appear on his face.

Spike then ran up to Twilight and embraced her into a tight hug.

            “Thanks girls,” he said. “Thank you all. You all really are the best friends a dragon could ask for.”

Twilight was so touched by those words that even she started to tear up. She then wrapped her hooves around Spike. The others soon did the same and embraced him a big group hug.



 
> The Mean 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was inside the castle, dusting the many bookshelves in its library. Twilight and the others were still off on their friendship retreat and he wanted to make sure the castle was spotless when they got back. 
When he was finished, Spike’s little stomach began to growl. 

“Dusting can sure work up an appetite,” Spike said to himself as he made his way towards the kitchen for a light snack. 

But as he entered it, something caught his eye. On the kitchen counter was a small tin. Spike remembered that it was filled with teacakes that Starlight had made for the trip, but must’ve forgot to bring them. 
Spike knew that Starlight had made the teacakes just for the trip and she would probably be disappointed when she realized she forgot them. 

“I gotta bring these to the girls,” Spike said. 

He then grabbed a satchel from his room, grabbed the tin and placed it inside, along with a map of the Everfree forest that Twilight made a while back, and ran out of the castle towards the forest. 
He only ran a few feet before he stopped and looked at the new wings he had.

“What am I thinking?” he said. “These babies will get me there much faster.”

Spike then spread his wings out and flew up into the air. He staggered a bit as he was still getting use to the wings, but he was able to steady to himself and flew all the way.

Spike made his way to the Everfree forest and flew inside. As he landed, Spike took out the map and looked it over.  As he was trying to remember where Twilight said the retreat would be, he heard a low sound like someone grumbling coming from behind a few trees behind him. Spike took a peak from behind one of the trees and there was Queen Chrysalis, walking back and forth, grumbling to herself. 

Spike felt a shiver go down his spine. He still had nightmares about her ever since she invaded the Canterlot wedding and then kidnapped him and her friends and took them back to their hive and trapped them in those slimy cocoons.  The last time Spike saw Chrysalis was when she sworn revenge against Starlight after she convinced Thorax and the other changelings to change their ways. 
Spike started to wonder what Chrysalis was up to in the forest, when she started talking. 

“Curse that Tree of Harmony! If it hadn’t been for that magical firewood, my revenge against Starlight Glimmer would have been completed! But no, those lousy clones of mine had to turn against me! It is so hard to find good help these days. No matter. I will figure out another way to get my revenge!” 

Spike tried to lean in so he can hear better, only to lose his balance and roll all the way down towards Chrysalis. The changeling queen turned around and stared at the little dragon that was lying down beside her, letting out a nervous chuckle. 

“H-hello, you insect-ness,” Spike said. 

“Wait. I know you,” Chrysalis said as she gave Spike a quick look over. “You’re that pesky dragon that follows Twilight around.”

“Pesky?” Spike asked, a little offended. “I happen to be Twilight’s number one assistant and close friend.”

“So you are,” Chrysalis said, as a devious smile appeared on her face that made Spike more worried.  “And she would do anything if something happened to you. Like say, exchange Starlight for you.”

Chrysalis then tried to grab Spike, only for him to quickly spread out his wings and fly up in the air. Chrysalis looked up and was shocked to see flying above her. 

“Since when did you have wings?” she demanded. 

“They’re new,” Spike said with a smug smile. 

“You come down here this instance! I command you,” said Chrysalis. 

“If you want me, you’ll have to catch me,” Spike said as he flew off into the forest. 

Chrysalis groaned as she spread out her own wings and flew off after Spike. 

Chrysalis flew right through the forest before stopping to catch her breath.  As she landed on the ground, Chrysalis looked around to see if maybe Spike has stopped as well. 

“Where are you, you little brat?” she asked. 
She then heard “Right here” from behind her. Chrysalis turned around to see Spike holding onto a branch that he had bended back. He gave a small wave before letting go of the branch. Chrysalis could only let out a small “Oh-no” before the branch whacked her in the face, causing her to fall flat on her back.

Spike then stood there and laughed at Chrysalis as she slowly got up, rubbing her nose. He soon stopped laughing when he saw Chrysalis snarl at him. He quickly spread his wings out and tried to get airborne again. 

“Oh no you don’t,” said Chrysalis as she lunged at Spike and wrapped her front hooves around him. 
Spike tried to break free, but Chrysalis had a good grip on her. 

“Struggle all you want, little one,” the changeling queen said. “There’s no way I’m letting go.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Spike. 

He then lifted up his tail and used it to tickle Chrysalis’ belly. Chrysalis tried to hold in her laughter, but it wasn’t’ easy. Even though she’d never admit it, she was quite ticklish. Then Chrysalis couldn’t take it anymore and soon burst out laughing. Spike continued to tickle her until she loosen her grip on him. Spike couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw Chrysalis lying on her back, laughing hysterically. 

“Not so tough now, are ya?” he said as he spread out his wings again. 

But before Spike could fly off, he was trapped inside a green magic bubble. It then carried him towards Chrysalis, who was glaring at him with her horn glowing a bright green. 

“You’ll pay dearly for that,” she snarled. “If there is one thing I hate, besides Starlight Glimmer, it’s being tickled.” 

“What are you going to do to me?” Spike gulped. 

“Well, all of this running around has made he quite hungry,” said Chrysalis as she gave Spike a sniff. “And I think your love for Twilight will make quite a delicious meal for me.”

Spike quivered in fear as Chrysalis licked her lips at him. 
“Help! Somepony! Anypony! Help,” Spike called out.

“Go ahead. Scream all you want. It just makes me even hungrier.” Chrysalis said before letting out an evil chuckle.  

All of a sudden, a loud growl was heard behind Chrysalis. She quickly turned around and saw a vicious grizzly bear coming towards her. The bear glared at the changeling queen before letting out a huge roar in her face. Chrysalis began to quiver in fear as her magic bubble around Spike disappeared, causing Spike to fall to the ground. 

“Please, Mr. Bear, don’t eat me,” Chrysalis said. “Here, take the dragon. He’s more delicious.”

And with that, Chrysalis spread her wings and flew away as fast as she could. 

Spike began to shake in fear himself as the bear looked at him. But then he simply looked in confusion when the bear smiled at him. Then, the bear was engulfed in a green flame before turning back into it’s true form,  a creature who Spike knew all too well. 

“Thorax!” 

Spike quickly got up and ran to Thorax and gave him a big hug. 

“I am so glad to see you,” he said. “”How did you find me?”

“I was flying above the forest on my way to pick up Ocellus from school for the weekend,” said Thorax. “When I saw Chrysalis in the woods. I knew she was up to something so I came down to check it out. That’s when I saw her trying to attack you and knew I had to save you.”

“Well, I’m glad that you came,” said Spike. “If you haven’t come along, I don’t know what Chrysalis would do to me. 

“Well, it’s all over now,” said Thorax. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Oh, I was delivering some teacakes to Twilight and her friends,” said Spike. “They went on a retreat here and forgot their snacks.”

“Well you’re not far from them,” said Thorax. “I just saw them near the castle of the two sisters. If you hurry, you can catch up to them.”

Spike thanked Thorax again before going on his way. He made it all the way to the castle and saw his friends walking away from it. Spike quickly ran up to them and gave Twilight a huge hug.

Well, hey there, Spike,” said Twilight. “What are you doing here? You didn’t miss us that much, did you?”

“Actually, I came to drop something off,” said Spike as he went into his satchel and pulled out the tin. 

“My teacakes,” said Starlight who picked up the tin with her magic. “I knew I forgot these. Thanks, Spike. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble to get these here.”

“Oh, uh, no trouble at all,” Spike chuckled.
> No Second Prances
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was busy cleaning up what was left of the fancy dinner Twilight had with the princess. Even though things didn’t turn so well as Twilight left Celestia with the other guests to look for Starlight, the princess was very understanding about when Twilight told her what happened between her, Starlight and her new friend, Trixie. She even invited Trixie to the dinner.  

And even though Spike still held a grudge against Trixie for the last time she was in town, where she used the Alicorn Amulet to turn him into a basketball and ban Twilight from Ponyville, he was happy that Starlight was able to make a friend.   

As Spike had just finished wiping up the water on the floor from what was left of the ice sculpture, Starlight entered the room.
“Need a little help?” she asked.

“Thanks, Starlight,” said Spike. “But I’m just about finished. By the way, congrats on making a friend.” 

“Thanks, Spike,” said Starlight. “I gotta tell ya, it wasn’t easy. I was starting to believe I would never make any friends. I got Applejack pretty mad when I put that spell on Big Mac to make him talk more.”

“Hey, that wasn’t your fault,” said Spike. “You had no idea that Big Mac doesn’t like to talk much. I just talked to Applejack and she wanted to let you know that the spell has worn off and she wanted to say she was sorry for being so moody with you.”

“I guess you’re right,” Starlight sighed. “But I hope Mrs. Cake isn’t upset with me anymore either.”

Spike stopped what he was doing when he heard that. 

“I didn’t hear about that,” he said. “What happened?”

“Well, Pinkie Pie took me to Suagarcube Corner, hoping for me to make friends with Mrs. Cake, who was busy making a cake,” Starlight explained. “I decided to try and help her by making a cake myself using my magic. But when Mrs. Cake saw it, she got mad at me. She thought I was trying to make her lose business. “

Spike was a bit shocked when he heard this. For as long as he’s known her, Mrs. Cake has always been a sweet pony. He still remembered the sapphire cupcake she made him for his birthday. And to hear about her getting mad over something as baking a cake just didn’t sound right. 

“That doesn’t sound like Mrs. Cake at all,” Spike said. “C’mon, Starlight. We’re going to go talk to her.”

“Are you sure?” Starlight asked, sounding a bit nervous. “What if she’s still upset with me?”

“Don’t worry,” said Spike. “I’ll be with you. If she’s still mad, I’ll tell her that you were just trying to help. I’m sure she’ll understand.” 

Although she was still a bit nervous, Starlight decided to go with Spike and the two headed towards Sugarcube Corner. 

When they got there, Starlight and Spike entered as saw Mrs. Cake at the front counter, adding some a new batch of cupcakes to the display case. When she saw the two enter, Mrs. Cake had a big smile on her face. 

“Well, hello there, dearies,” she said. “ Would you like to try our cupcakes? They’re fresh out of the oven.”

“Actually, Mrs. Cake. We came to ask you something,” said Spike. 

“Sure. Go ahead,” said Mrs. Cake. 

“Well, I would like to know why you got so mad at Starlight,” said Spike. “She told me how you got mad at her for making a cake for you. Said you thought she was trying to make you lose business.”

Mrs. Cake let out a small gasp as she remembered what happened between her and Starlight and the cake she made. 

“I was bit shocked when I heard this,” Spike continued. “You’re always such a nice pony and you never get upset over something like that.  Also, you make cakes for a living, so wouldn’t Starlight making one give you more business instead of losing some?”

When Spike was finished talking, Mrs. Cake lowered her head in shame. She then walked up to Starlight and lifted up her front hoof and rubbed it. 

“I am so sorry, Starlight,” she said. “I had no right to talk to you like that. That cake you made was one of the prettiest ones I’ve ever seen.”

“Then why were so upset when I made it,” asked Starlight. 

“Well the truth is…..I was a having a bad day,” said Mrs. Cake.  “Everything went wrong today. The twins have both come down with bad colds so I had to spend a lot of time taking care of them. If that wasn’t bad enough, I burnt two cakes, we ran out of flour, and I accidentally added salt instead of sugar to the latest batch of cookies and got a lot of complaints because of it. So I guess I was just so stressed out that I took it out on you. Which was wrong of me, and for that, I am truly sorry.” 

Starlight then gave Mrs. Cake a comforting smile. 

“It’s okay, Mrs. Cake,” she said. “Everyone has bad days from time to time. “

The two then shared a small hug. 

“Still, I wanted to make it up to you,” said Mrs. Cake as she walked into the kitchen. 

When she came back out, she had a tray in her mouth that she placed on top of the counter. On it were cake slices all with the same design as the one Starlight made. 

“This is from what’s left of your cake,” said Mrs. Cake. “Pinkie Pie was right, it is delicious. So I took what was left of it that fell on my head and sliced them up and decided to serve them. Here, you two should have one each on the house.” 

Starlight and Spike each grabbed a slice and took a bite. They were definitely delicious. 

“This is the best cake I’ve ever had,” said Spike. 

“I knew you’d like it,” said Mrs. Cake.  “And Starlight, dear, if you ever want to come by and help me make another cake, I’d would really appreciate it. “

“I would love to,” said Starlight as she finished her cake. 

She then looked at Spike and smiled before giving him a hug. 

“What was that for” asked Spike. 

“Just for being such a good friend. I wouldn’t have been able to come here and find out what happened if you hadn’t convinced me,” said Starlight before placing a small kiss on Spike’s forehead, causing the little dragon to blush. 

“Aw, shucks.”