Love Measured in Scales

A roll of newspaper whistled through the air and landed on the final doorstep of a young stallion’s route for the town of Ponyville. At the same time, various restaurants were seating their first customers of the day after opening, and the marketplace sprang to life with the hustle and bustle of citizens haggling for the food and products they needed. It was the start of another busy day in the town of Ponyville.

Despite the hustle and bustle going on through the town, it was quite a different story inside the Golden Oaks library. Motion and noise were scarce throughout the place, save for the heavy snoring of Spike, asleep in his own basket. With his claw draped over his round belly, Spike’s chest rose and fell with each snore, his apple spotted blanket hanging off to the side of his sleeping body. Drawing in a rather deep snore, the little dragon let out a hack and shook his head. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, his sleepy mind trying to cope with the fact that he was awake.

Aw, man. Spike thought to himself as his blurry vision began to clear. And I was so close to saving the space princess from the clutches of Lord Kanstic. He pulled his claws over his chest and over his head, pushing his little arms and legs outwards as he yawned and stretched over the edges of his bed. “Twilight?” he called out sleepily, wondering if the alicorn who gave him shelter was still in her bed, and if she was awake.

Reluctantly, he rolled out of bed and crawled out on all fours, only stepping up on his two legs once he reached the top of the stairs. He noticed before climbing down that Twilight’s bed was empty and neatly made. Spike called out for her again once he reached the bottom of the stairs, again hearing no response. He looked around at the empty library, seeing nothing there whatsoever. The only movement came from a short brown owl who sat perched on the edge of a window, running his beak through his feathers to keep his wings properly groomed.

“Morning, Owlicious.” Spike called out, walking closer towards him. “Any idea where Twilight is?”

“Hoo!” Owlicious replied to him.

“Come on, you know Twilight, she’s—nope, nope not doing that again.” Spike stopped himself short and walked away, leaving the owl looking at him quizzically. He rubbed the scales on top of his head as he looked over the empty room. Heck, if she’s not here, I’m going back to bed, he thought silently, Maybe I can get back to my space adventure if I hurry. Just before proceeding to walk upstairs again, his stomach gave out a small rumble, demanding that he fill its void soon. Spike let out a frustrated groan, turning about and proceeding towards the kitchen.

If Twilight wasn't there, at least he could take the time he needed to make himself an awesome breakfast. Some gemstone pancakes sure sounded tasty right about now! Spike excitedly walked into the pantry and climbed the walls up to where Twilight kept the pancake batter and carried it down in his mouth. He made his way to the cabinet on the bottom level, where he kept his personal stash of gemstones, licking his lips as he decided which ones he felt like using today: Pyrite? Sapphire? Jasper? Or, why not a little bit of each? With an eager smile, Spike threw open the doors of the cabinet. His excited expression turned to one of confusion when he saw that each of the buckets that held a different variety of gem had been cleared out. What? How did this happen? I still had a little bit of each bucket last time I checked! Spike turned away, then looked back to make sure that he wasn't missing them in his grogginess. He slammed the doors shut, rubbing his face in frustration. Maybe Twilight had moved them for some reason? He moved to another cabinet next to the one he checked: nothing there. Then again at the one next to that one: nothing there either

Spike made his way to the table, thinking it might be better to gather his thoughts for a moment. He climbed up into his chair, and noticed a plate with some food on it. He recognized it as hash browns. He wasn't really a big fan of hash browns. …Then again, he had never tried them before. But the rumble in his stomach told him that he shouldn't really be picky at the moment. He reached for one and took a bite, raising his eyebrows and nodding his head at the taste of warm crispiness filled with fluffy potato inside. “Not bad,” He said aloud with a full mouth, “But, it’s missing something. It needs…”

“Ketchup!” he heard a bubbly voice complete his thought for him, followed by several hushes in response.

“Yeah, ketchup!” Spike replied with enthusiasm, before his face twisted in puzzlement. Wait, where did that come from? Spike pushed back in his seat and looked under the table, finding nothing but empty space. Pulling his head back up, he thought he saw a fleeting ball of pink fluffiness scurry away. He was about to stand up and look into it, until he noticed a bottle of ketchup next to his plate of hash browns. “Oh, nice!” he said, squirting himself a little spot to dip in. The sweet, red paste gave his crispy treat a whole new flavor as he took another bite. They weren't gemstones, but they were delicious nonetheless.

He returned to surveying the kitchen, contemplating where his gems went. He knew Twilight had her annual re-shelving day coming up sometime soon. But did re-shelving also cover kitchen utensils and supplies as well? Or maybe…

Spike felt something tap his left shoulder. He turned to look behind him and found no one there. He turned back around and saw another plate next to his hash browns, one with a piece of toast smothered in blackberry jam. The little dragon’s eyes darted from side to side as he nervously reached for the bread, hearing a number of high pitched giggles coming from somewhere in the room. Spike began to feel a touch paranoid as he munched on his toast. He thought he was either being spied on, or the library was haunted. But in all of the strange tales he had heard, he’d never heard of a super secret spy or a ghost that fed its victims breakfast. His eyes scanned from side to side in search of something that might be out of place. He saw Twilight’s coffee grinder, the large fridge, her spice rack, a group of ponies sitting across from him and watching him eat, the stove top—

Wait a second… Spike straightened his head and looked in front of him to see a pink curly maned pony looking at him with a party blower in her mouth standing on top of the table, mere inches from his face. With a happy smile, she blew the party favor loudly, and the soft paper tapped him on the nose.

“Waaaaaaugh!” Spike yelled out as he fell back in his chair.

“Morning, birthday boy!” the pony burst out, her friends trotting over to help Spike up. “We were starting to think you wanted to have a sleepover for your party instead, but none of us brought our sleeping bags!”

“B-birthday?” Spike mulled it over, and remembered that today was in fact his birthday. He looked up at the five mares staring down at him excitedly—wait, five? That wasn't right. Pinkie Pie had just surprised the heck out of him, and he was currently being helped to his feet by his caretaker Twilight, as well as the apple farmer, Applejack. Timid Fluttershy was hovering a bit off the ground, lifting Spike’s chair upright again, and Ponyville’s star pegasus athlete, Rainbow Dash was still on the floor cracking up at how Pinkie Pie had spooked him. “Wait a minute, where’s Rarity?” Spike asked, disheartened.

Rainbow Dash ceased laughing and exchanged nervous glances between each of her friends. Twilight Sparkle was the one to break their silence.

“Bad news, Spike. Rarity’s tied up with some emergency dress orders today, and she’s not going to be able to make it.” Spike’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “But--! But while we were over at her boutique today, she did give me something she wanted you to have,” Twilight assured him, floating a beautifully wrapped package topped with an envelope, Spike's name embroidered on the front with Rarity's elegant caligraphy. Or rather “Spikey-Wikey” was what it actually read. Spike hurriedly tore the letter open, and his eyes scanned the parchment.

Dearest Spike,

I am truly truly TRULY sorry to say this to you my dear, but a few snoody agents from Canterlot have requested my service this morning to make the most stylized dresses for their models, and they want them done by the end of the night. Even Opalescence has decided not to approach me with how infuriated I am at these clients for demanding such a task from me at the VERY LAST minute, and not even apologizing to me for being such an inconvenience. As much as I wish I wasn't serving such bad etiquette, I’m afraid that I must comply with them or else risk tarnishing my reputation as a business owner for a lifetime. And the amount of work these projects will entail will more than likely fill up most of my afternoon. Words cannot express how apologetic I am to miss out on your one special day of the year.

Even though I am missing out on your festivities, I do not want to cast you out entirely. If your party is finished before sunset, I hope you wouldn't mind paying a visit to my boutique today, as I should be done with my (very inconsiderate) client’s orders by then. I would be more than happy to be a generous host to you and present you with the birthday present you wholeheartedly deserve. Hope you have an absolutely splendid birthday nonetheless.

-Sincerely

Rarity

Spike finished the letter addressed to him, and his head sunk in disappointment. His eyes were locked to the floor until Twilight lifted his chin with her hoof.

“I’m so sorry, Spike. I know how much Rarity means to you.” As she attempted to console him, Twilight’s friends reached under the kitchen table and placed a number of packages on top.

Spike closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. “Well, she did say that she would be done later today. I’ll drop by her place later today after the party here is finished.”

“Then let’s get this party started!” Rainbow Dash cheered, flying in between Applejack and Pinkie Pie, while putting a hoof on each of their shoulders. The pegasus darted through the air into the main room of the library, where Spike had previously been too tired to notice that the area was decorated with bright and colorful streamers, balloons, tables with food and snacks, as well as a large banner adorned with the name of the main dragon of the evening. Spike reached a claw towards the wrapped package, but pulled it back after hearing Twilight clear her throat.

“Let’s save presents for later, Spike.” She instructed him.

“Aw … okay.” Spike sighed, placing Rarity’s gift on the breakfast table, along with everypony else’s gift.

Rainbow Dash let the needle touch the record in its player, and the room was filled with an upbeat party track. The other four ponies cantered towards her, with Twilight and Spike tailing behind, and the whole group began to boogie down for everything they were worth. Spike found himself passed between each of the mares as the music progressed, spending a good amount of time in particular with Twilight once a rather spicy song began to play.

The two cut loose, breaking into a fiery salsa as they began to shimmy, stepping towards and away from each other in rhythm. At one point, Twilight stood on her hindlegs and spun Spike around like a top, with him twisting his claw around her hoof, and dipped him down to the side just as the song had finished playing. They found their eyes locked, until a round of applause snapped them out of it. They both looked around to see the other four ponies off to the side of the room and clopping their forelegs against the wooden floor and cheering their performance (Pinkie Pie even whistled through her hooves, a very rare talent among most ponies). Twilight quickly dropped Spike, who managed to catch his footing before falling, and the both of them offered sheepish smiles to their friends.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy softly called out to them, “I had no idea you two could dance like that!”

“Yeah, heh heh,” Twilight stammered, “Not sure where it came from actually.”

“Well heck, now that we’re all warmed up, what’s say we step outside for a bit?” Applejack suggested, moving towards the door and pulling it open. “It’s right perfect weather for a game of hoofball.”

And indeed it was. With fall just setting in, the weather outside was delightfully warm, with a cool breeze blowing through to keep the heat from being overwhelming. With Fluttershy as the scorekeeper, Spike and Rainbow Dash squared off against Pinkie Pie and Applejack. The game went rather smoothly, except for the few times that Rainbow Dash “accidentally” used her wings to avoid a tag or catch a pass when they had agreed at the start of the game on no wing use. After a squabble between her and Applejack, and some new restrictions put in place with a bit of rope, the game was won in favor of Pinkie and Applejack.

Fluttershy traded her spot as scorekeeper with Pinkie Pie in order to join in on a game of badminton. The others were surprised to see how gracefully Fluttershy soared through the air without even using her wings, and Spike found himself glad that he had been paired up with her. With the final serve, Spike and the timid pegasus claimed victory over Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Fluttershy feeling so overjoyed that she scooped up Spike in her forelegs and hovered up in the sky cheering with an unexpected amount of jubilation.

Once back inside, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lifted up the large unicorn head statue to remove the table affixed at the center, and draped over its horn a lengthy rope, the end of it carrying a large piñata in the shape of a rather silly-looking King Sombra’s head. With a blindfold properly in place, Spike swung wildly with a wooden bat in an attempt to break open the large vessel, while Pinkie Pie tugged at the rope to keep it bouncing up and down. Having grown tired of the giggles of the mares watching him, Spike jumped up and swung down, hearing a large crack and a resounding cheer from those around him. He lifted his blindfold and saw all four mares crowding around to pull their share of candy in, and he dived in head first to make sure he didn’t get cut out of the cut he had earned.

“Don’t fill up on too much candy, Spike,” Twilight cautioned him light-heartedly, “Or else you’ll be too sick to open your presents!”

Spike poked his head through the pile of candy he had buried himself in and sprinted to the kitchen table, looking at the pile of gifts before him with an eager grin. “Oh man, you guys always get me the coolest gifts! But, can I open Rarity’s first?”

“I don’t see why not. Go for it, birthday boy!” Twilight assured him.

Spike slid the tip of his claw down the front of the package, slicing it open and pulling the wrapping back. Inside was a small outfit wrapped in plastic, a dark black two-button vest, a solid white long sleeve undershirt with cuffed sleeves, and a small red bowtie at the collar. “Whoa, nice!” Spike said, holding the outfit up for the others to see.

“Ooh, that there’s fancy, Spike!” Applejack complimented his gift, “Betcha’d make a real sharp-lookin’ butler wearin’ that.”

Twilight turned to Applejack and raised her eyebrow at her with a sly smile on her face, before shaking her head. “If it’s okay with you girls, I’d like Spike to open my gift next.” Twilight said, pointing to the rectangular object wrapped in glittering, purple paper. “I know what it looks like, but I promise you that it is not a book,” She assured him. Spike pulled up Twilight’s package and inspected it before tearing the wrapping to shreds.

“Whoa, a comic!” Spike cheered excitedly, looking at the cover of the tome in his hands, and flipping through the various colored illustrations inside.

“A graphic novel to be more specific.”

Behind the alicorn, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. “Still technically a book—ow!” Dash felt the sting of a rather fierce jab to her sides from Applejack, who flashed a wide smile at the pegasus as she subtly shook her head.

“This is a series called Blaze. It’s about a pony-dragon hybrid that fights against monsters. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Spike flipped the comic book back to its front to properly examine the cover. The character that took up the most visual space was a bulky red pony with pointed ears and scales on his body rather than a hairy coat, as well as a pair of pointed dragon wings jutting from his back. His nostrils were flared as a tiny flame shot out from them, and his eyes were veered, looking off to a distant mountain where a gathering of fearsome looking creatures stood looking down at him. “He looks really cool …” Spike replied, admiring the center of the piece. He placed his gift on the step behind him, and rushed over to throw his arms around Twilight’s shoulders. “Thanks, Twilight.”

Twilight lowered her head and wrapped a purple wing around his back. “You’re very welcome, Spike. Now go on, you’ve got plenty more presents to open.”

Spike resumed opening up each package from his friends: a pair of custom-made inline skates from Rainbow Dash, an assortment of plant seeds from Fluttershy that she had recommended were wonderful for brewing tea; from Applejack a set of darts as well as a board bearing her colors and a small red apple as a bullseye. Pinkie Pie had given him a pogo stick, saying that he might enjoy bouncing around as much as she did. She also had a second gift for him from Pound and Pumpkin Cake: a small piece of construction paper with an assortment of macaroni glued in various places. “Hey, looks just like me!” Spike said, eliciting a warm giggle from the mares.

“Who’s ready for cake?” Twilight asked.

“Ooh, me me me me me!” Pinkie Pie responded, darting out of the kitchen and sprinting back with a large round confection surrounded in pink and yellow frosting. Bucking it off of her hips, the cake did a quadruple somersault in the air and landed with the plate side down on the table, the top of it wobbling left to right several times before coming to a rest in the center. A collective sigh of relief rang out from the other mares watching in worry.

“That looks absolutely scrumptious, Pinkie,” Fulltershy praised exuberantly.

“I’ll say!” Spike concurred, reaching a claw out towards the large pastry.

“But Spike, if you fill up on this cake, then your little tummy won’t have any room for the cake that Twilight made you!” Pinkie Pie cautioned.

“Say what … now…?” Spike’s voice left him when Twilight’s magic levitated a smaller cake from one of the higher shelves down to his level, making his jaw drop once he realized what was so special about it: the cake was lined with a light golden pyrite frosting, chunks of blue sapphire sticking out of its layers, and sprinkled all over with a fine coat of jasper flakes. There was even an assembly of solid rubies in the shape and color of his smiling face at the center of the cake. “Is this… is this gem cake!?”

“Happy birthday Spike.” Twilight said to the dragon, his tongue hanging out as he admired his cake.

Spike shook his head to clear his daze, and looked at Twilight astonishingly. “I didn’t even know you knew how to make one of these.”

“Pinkie Pie helped a lot!” Twilight assured him, the pink pony herself looking up a moment from stuffing herself full of her own cake. “I’m not much of a cook, so she supervised me most of the time. I think the hardest part was putting enough magic into a spell to crush, slice, and grind those gems without ruining them completely. This is the first time I’ve ever made anything like this; I hope it’s okay.”

Spike reached down and grabbed a bit of his dessert, eating it out of the palm of his hand. His eyes opened wide at the wonderful sensation overwhelming his taste buds: the cool pyrite icing provided a smooth entrance to the soft moist layers of bread, which had absorbed a sweet raspberry-esque flavor from the crunchy chunks of sapphire in them. “Mmm ... oh man, Twilight…” he said, scooping up an even larger helping and stuffing his face to the point where his cheeks puffed out a bit. “Thith ith the betht thing I’f evah eathn! Thak you tho muthch!” Twilight giggled joyously, levitating a slice of Pinkie Pie’s cake for herself to munch on while she glanced back and forth from her pony friends to Spike making short work of the treat she had made for him.

The group chatted amongst themselves for a while after both cakes had been consumed, sharing stories and news about Ponyville, plans for vacation and travel. Applejack was the first to step away from the table, wobbling a bit as she regained her stance.

“Hoo-ee, that cake’s going straight to my thighs” She said humorously, “It’s been a real pleasure y’all, but I best skedaddle. I’ve got Mac’s workload to add to my own in the morning since he covered me today, so I’ll need to get to bed a little early tonight.” The others chimed in with their own reasons for departing, before they all stood up and near each other. Twilight and Spike joined them for a final group hug, the little dragon jumping up to wrap his arms around Twilight and Fluttershy, all of their heads leaning in to press against each other.

“Thank you so much for coming guys. Today was a blast!” Spike expressed whole-heartedly.

“No problem little guy.” Rainbow Dash replied. “On a scale of one to ten on the awesome scale, this party was definitely an eleven!”

“Thank you for having us Twilight. Goodbye Spike," Fluttershy uttered softly, The group hug disbanded and the mares stepped away, Twilight and Spike waving good bye to them as they each stepped out the door. Once the door shut behind the last one, Spike turned to Twilight and looked at her with a wide grin on his face, a bit of a bounce in his stance.

“You’re ready to go to Rarity’s, aren’t you?”

Spike scratched the back of his neck and chuckled. “That obvious, huh?”

“I know you’ve been wanting to go over there since you first read the letter. You’ve been very patient with me and the others. I’m proud of you.”

“It wasn’t that hard to do. It’s not like I wasn’t having fun anyway, just … yeah, I was really wishing Rarity was here.”

“It’s fine, Spike, go ahead. Just make sure you’re back before dark, okay?”

“I will. Thanks, Twilight.” Spike gave the alicorn a small hug before he headed towards the door. He was just about to step outside when he paused and looked up, then turned around and ran back inside.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked him.

“Nothing. Just figured before I go over there, I might wear this.” Spike explained, picking up the plastic wrap that held his vest and long sleeve outfit. “Seems only fitting, doesn’t it?” Spike stepped behind the post where the golden unicorn head was mounted while he changed; not so much for privacy, but in order to let Twilight see him once he had it put on completely.

Spike pulled open the plastic wrap and unfolded the outfit. He reached an arm inside the long sleeve and felt something else there. He pulled it out and saw that there was another piece to his outfit: a pair of black shorts. Spike shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t really have a need for pants, but he wasn’t going to complain about an outfit Rarity had put together for him. It was most likely her creative genius being displayed in a way only her refined eye could see.

Spike hung his shorts and vest up over the wooden post while he pulled his shirt over his body, pulling together all four buttons before slipping his bowtie underneath. It took him a few tries, but he managed to get the tie exactly right. With the shirt done, Spike pulled his smooth black vest and buttoned that up as well. Spike reached for his shorts and pulled them down to his feet, stepping through each leg hole. He pulled them up, and found that they were more snug than he was expecting. They hardly were able to encompass his tail, which hung out the back and made it difficult for them to stay upwards correctly. And it felt somewhat tight around his thighs and groin area. Did Rarity forget that Spike had a little bit of a growth spurt in the last two birthdays he’d had?

Well, they weren’t so bad really. Spike was still able to walk out from behind the podium without too much discomfort.

“All finished?” Twilight asked, turning towards him. “Let’s see—oh … oh, wow.” Twilight trailed off, her eyes looking him up and down.

“What do you think?” Spike asked proudly. “Looks pretty ritzy, don’t you think?”

“It looks pretty interesting alright.” Twilight replied, her eyes still looking downwards at him. She smiled sheepishly as he turned around, giving her a full view of his back before turning back to face her.

“Alright, I’m headed out then.”

“Spike, I don’t know if-!”

“Yeah yeah, I know, back before dark!” Spike called out to her, shutting the door behind him. Twilight took a deep breath and fanned herself with her hoof, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink.

“Wow, Rarity,” she murmured to herself, “Your taste in fashion has taken a pretty interesting curve.”