Hours Loom

As the sun set, Rarity traveled with Spike on her back, the Cutie Mark Crusaders in tow. The skies had already darkened, storm clouds had begun to roll in from the distance. The castle’s shine of purple and blue dimmed from the encroaching darkness. Discomfort settled in Rarity’s heart as she opened the castle door with her magic.

“Oh dear, it looks like some storm clouds got loose from Cloudsdale. I hope they take care of them before they reach Ponyville. I’d rather not have my mane ruined by the humidity,” Rarity said.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes as she followed the other fillies into the castle. Rarity took one last look at the destructive storm before entering the castle, Spike grasping the handle and pulling it closed behind them. The Crusaders traveled up the stairs, Rarity pacing herself behind them.

After reaching the top, Spike hopped off Rarity’s back and rushed into the Great Oak hall. “Shining Armor! Cadance! You made it!” Spike exclaimed as he ran to them.

“Hey Spike! Of course we’re here, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Shining Armor wrapped his foreleg around Spike, giving the dragon a hug. “And just wait till you see what we got you! You’re going to blow your top!” he added.

“Really!? I can’t wait!” Spike turned to give Cadance a hug as well.

“You get bigger every time I see you, Spike,” Cadance noted as they hugged. “Soon, you’ll be as big as the statue we have of you in the Crystal Empire.”

Rarity eventually entered the room, greeting Twilight with a gentle smile. The two spoke shortly about the party, while the Crusaders were already off running amok in the dining hall. A loud commotion could be heard from the room away, followed by a frustrated yell.

“Apple Bloom! Get off the table! You know better than that!” Applejack shouted as she exited the room. The filly quickly apologized as she ran past her elder sister and into the dance room. Applejack gave a quick smirk and a shrug as she greeted Rarity.

As the two hugged, a scream of excitement could be heard from anywhere in the castle, startling the entire room. Rarity sarcastically asked, “Was that my little sister, or yours?”

“With a yell like that, it has to be yours. Apple Bloom sure ain’t got the lungs for somethin’ like that,” the earth pony quipped.

“After watching over those three for the entire day, it’s hard to tell which one is the loudest. I swear, I’ll have ringing in my ears for the next three weeks!” Rarity said, bantering with Applejack.

Twilight interjected, “Well, I just have to say how much I appreciate you watching over them and Spike. There’s no way this could have been put together without Spike seeing it.”

“Think nothing of it, Twilight. Nothing’s too good for Spike, and it was my pleasure,” replied Rarity with a pearly white smile.

Balloons and confetti began to shoot off all around the three mares. “You girls are getting way too mushy! Enough with the emotions, let’s get this PAR-TAY STAR-TED!” Pinkie exclaimed, followed up with a cheer from Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

“Hey now, we better eat before you start forcin’ ponies out on the dance floor. Don’t want no one to pass out from starvation while they’re dancin’.” Applejack pulled Pinkie into a headlock as she cautioned the party pony.

Pinkie reluctantly agreed and they gathered in the dining hall, all the guests taking their seats around the table. Twilight and Spike sat next to each other, she refused to be too far from the hatchday boy. Even though ponies surrounded the purple dragon, none of them were talking to him.

Rarity was going on about fashion to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash was exaggerating details of her latest exploits in the Wonderbolts to the Crusaders, and Pinkie Pie was chattering on to Applejack about the delicious food she made.

All the ponies were ignoring him, but he didn’t mind any of this. It wasn’t until a glistening tear rolled down his scaly cheek and onto the plate of half-eaten gems that somepony finally noticed. Twilight placed a hoof on the dragon’s shoulder, asking, “What’s the matter, Spike?”

With Twilight’s question, the room became silent as they noted the tears. Spike quickly wiped his eyes and stood up in his chair. The ponies sat and stared at him, curious as to what he was about to say.

“Don’t worry Twilight, or any of you. These are happy tears,” he said, raising his juice box over his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever realized how lucky I am to know all of you. You’re the greatest friends a dragon could have. I’m so glad you all could come today, you have no idea how happy it makes me. It may be my hatchday, but I’d like to give a toast to all of you… My friends.”

The ponies raised their glasses, tears in their eyes, and liquid pride for Shining Armor. Waterfalls sprayed from Pinkie Pie as Spike finished his speech, gushing all over those who sat next to her. She then ran across the table, knocking food and spilling drinks. She grabbed onto Spike and squeezed him against her body, tears still flooding like an unkempt hose.

“WE LOVE YOU SPIKE!” she screamed as she practically broke the dragon’s spine. Spike returned her hug as she yelled, “Get up here! All of you!”

All of the guests then got up from their seats, stepping onto the table and surrounding the dragon with a great big hug. As they stood and hugged, Apple Bloom worriedly asked, “I’m not gonna get in trouble for standin’ on the table again, am I Applejack?”

The entire party let out a bellow of laughter, but as they laughed the table collapsed underneath their weight. Platters, glasses, plates, and silverware fell to ground with the guests. As they sat covered in food, they continued their laughter.

After the party goers removed the food and drinks from their fur, they continued on into the Great Oak hall where the presents had been stored. The roots of the Great Oak Library held a banner with Spike’s name on it, wishing him a wonderful hatchday.

Spike let out a gasp, surprised by the amount of the wrapped presents that covered the table. He ran up, staring at the gifts, and bouncing up and down. He turned to look at Twilight, a contagious smile on his face. “Can I open them now!?” he asked.

Twilight looked around, making sure everypony else was in the room, and then gave a nod to the dragon. His face lit up as he turned back to the gifts, trying to figure out which he should open first. He grabbed one of cyan color, quickly tearing through the bow.

From the box, he pulled out a little red machine that barely fit in his claws. Letters were wrapped around the edge with a set of numbers on the inside. Double zeroes were fitted to the letter a, and each letter had the number after that, leading all the way up to the letter z.

“Oh hey, that’s my gift! You’re getting older, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a cool toy every once in a while!” Rainbow Dash said. Spike got up and gave her a hug before moving on to the next gift.

He opened Pinkie’s mustaches, Fluttershy’s dragon code cards, and Twilight’s famous gift, a book. It was a tradition for him to receive a book from Twilight, but this year was different. Instead of a regular book, she had given him a complete graphic novel of the Power Ponies series.

His face lit up once he realized what it was. “Thank you so much Twilight!” he yelled, giving her a hug just like the other ponies, but hers was definitely the longest.

The Crusaders had pulled their talents together to make one big, crayon colored picture of the purple dragon, drawn with love by the three fillies. Shining and Cadance brought a miniature version made of the statue of Spike from the Crystal Empire, one that would surely make his ego soar.

It wasn’t until he got to Applejack’s gift that he truly began to cry. He opened the long present, pulling the lid off and grabbing the wooden carving inside. It was a piece of timber, made into the shape of a bone with Spike’s name carved into the center.

“It’s somethin’ I’ve been thinkin’ of givin’ you for a long time, Spike. A good memory of how you saved me from those awful timber wolves. I’ll never be able to thank you enough. You’re the best scaly, fire breathin’ pal I’ve ever had,” Applejack said, her voice quavering as she spoke.

Spike got up and hugged her, tears running down his cheeks and staining her fur. They hugged for a bit until it was finally time to unwrap the last gift on the table. The most elegantly wrapped gift was all that remained.

Still wiping his tears, he lifted the bow from the box, pulling out a simple, white cloak. He wrapped it around his neck, fitting him perfectly. The warm satin smoothly rubbed against his spine’s scales.

“It’s fire-resistant,” Rarity said, a somber smile across her jaw as he finished putting it on. “I know how much you want to be a true knight, and true knights wear white. Perhaps one day you’ll be my knight.” Rarity blushed and turned her head away, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“I love it!” he shouted as he ran up and hugged Rarity, his cap flowing along behind him. “I’m going to wear it all night!”

Since the presents were unwrapped and the tears were shed, the ponies began to move down into the dance hall. They spent the next hour dancing and socializing with one another. It wasn’t too long that the little fillies were tuckered out, while Pinkie still continued to party on the dance floor.

As the night drew to a close, Spike said his goodbyes to the guests before falling asleep in the Great Oak Hall. Twilight pulled his cloak over him and ushered the ponies out. The Crusaders were carried by their adult counterparts, down the steps of the castle.

“Thank you all so much, I think you guys made this the best hatchday Spike’s ever had,” Twilight said as they arrived at the castle door.

“Think nothing of it Twilight, it was our pleasure. Spike’s our friend too, after all,” Rarity whispered, not wishing to disturb the snoozing Sweetie Belle.

“I’m so glad we were able to make it, this night has been wonderful,” Cadance auspiciously said.

Twilight casted her magic on the door, attempting to pull it open while she said, “It couldn’t have been possible without all of you, and-“ she paused, noticing the door wasn’t budging. “The door is stuck.”

“Let me try I guess,” Shining said as he tried to open the door with his hooves. No matter how hard he pulled, the door remained sealed.

The sudden cause of commotion awoke the Crusaders who stood back onto their own hooves. Scootaloo gave a loud yawn before asking, “What’s going on, Rainbow Dash?”

“The door’s jammed. Hey AJ, let’s give it a try.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash grabbed onto the door handles, pulling as hard as they could before failing and falling onto the ground. “What is with this door!?” Rainbow yelled as she laid on her back.

“How about we try a window?” Fluttershy suggested.

Cadance attempted to open the shutters to one of the windows, but just like the door, it refused to open. “You would think two alicorns and the ex-captain of Celestia’s royal guard could open a simple path. Whatever your castle is made of Twilight, I want it in mine!” she said.

Twilight peered out the shutters before replying, “I can’t see anything. It’s so dark.” She then witnessed a flash of lightning striking the ground, lighting up the surrounding area. “Well, I’m not sure you guys should be heading out in this horrid weather, you guys can stay here ton-“ She was then interrupted by the loud clash of thunder and the castle’s lights going dark.

The ponies shouted and screamed in the darkness, the stomping of hooves could be heard rushing off in all directions.

“Calm down, everypony!” Shining Armor yelled as he lit up the foyer. As the light shined, Twilight noticed that only Shining and Cadance remained in the room. Cadance had wrapped herself against her husband, the overwhelming fear of darkness had stayed with her. The feeling of being trapped underground by the changeling queen was something Cadance could never fully shake.

“Are you two alright?” Twilight asked as she used her own light spell.

“I-I’ll be fine,” Cadance stuttered, lifting herself back to her hooves.

Twilight nodded. “Did you see where the others went?” she asked, looking to the two corridors on both sides of the stairs.

Shining shook his head and answered, “No. We should go find them. They couldn’t have gotten too far in the darkness.”

The three royal ponies traipsed up the steps of the castle as the lights began to flicker on, eventually returning all together. Cadance took a quick inhale as she gave a comforting smile to Shining.

“At least the lights are back. Maybe now we can-“ Twilight was interrupted by three high pitched screams that could be heard throughout the castle. “This way!” she yelled.

Another set of screams led the three all the way up to the second floor, where they caught up with the other five elements. “Girls!” Twilight yelled, only to have it overshadowed by the screaming.

“Twilight!” the five hollered in unison.

The screams got louder as they reached the corridor that held the Great Oak Hall. They skidded to a halt in front of the entry door, another scream piercing their ears as they rushed in. They found the three fillies screaming, crying, and holding one another. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash grabbed onto the girls, holding them tight.

As the group surrounded the fillies, Twilight turned to see what had frightened them so badly. Her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach as she noticed the bloody corpse. Covered in blood, this mangled, distorted body still held a sliver of purple in coloring. It was the hatchday boy himself, Spike.