“Mmmm, quadruple choc chip, grated turquoise….” A young purple drake drooled in his prolonged sleep, emerald-green spines drooped against his scales. He lay curled up in a ball in a shallow, open basket-like bed within several layers of light cotton sheets, snoozing peacefully. The large tree husk room around him was impeccably clean; books had been individually dusted and reorganized in their shelves, the walls and floors polished, windows hoof-washed. Sound was devoid of the area though, something that was more than a rare occurrence in recent weeks.
Spike woke suddenly as his delicious dairy dream was invaded by a stampede of cows, a recurring instance in his dreams that had resulted in an increased awareness and mild paranoia around Sweet Apple Acres. Shooting up into an upright sitting position, he panted heavily.

“Aw, not again. Dumb cows, not like I’m the only one gorging on their delicious ice cream.” He scratched his chin for an extended moment. “….why would they care, anyway? I've never seen a cow eating ice cream.”

“What the hay are you going on about….”

A cold shiver racked his spine. “Huh? Who said that?”

Several curtains around the room shook, alongside whispers and what was perhaps a soft thump. Several colourful ponies of various ages and genders jumped out from behind them, yelling ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPIKE!’ ….all except for one butter-yellow pegasus, who spoke the phrase at a regular volume whilst standing half-behind the curtains for the duration of the shout. A certain tan-grey stallion did a double-take at the purple mare beside him, wearing a bad poker face in lieu of her indistinct scolding stare.

“Wow, thanks guys!” Spike scanned the room for a moment, taking it all in. Of course, he was also looking for a certain somepony.

“My hooves are so sore….” whispered an agitated Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe y’all should spend more time runnin’ and less time flyin’….” Applejack whispered back.

“We were hiding there for two hours!”

“Ya know he loves his sleep, Dash.”

The rainbow-maned mare grumbled in response.

Spike wandered over to the staircase, only to be halted by a sudden explosion of confetti and streamers. A hot-pink mare with a mane not dissimilar to cotton candy fell from the ceiling and landed upside down, cushioned by her mane.

“Gah! What the hay?”

“Where ya goin’, silly? The fun’s all in this room!” she swiftly flipped onto her hooves and pulled a large, comical-fashion cannon out of her mane. “See? We brought the party to you!”

“Oh I’m not leaving, Pinkie, just wondering where Rarity is.”

“Oh she’ll be here shortly, she’s just prettying herself up with makeup and all that.”

“She doesn't have to do that, she’s gorgeous without it.”

The mare scruffed up his head spines. “You’re such a little sweetie, Spike. You know Rarity, though, she likes to get all dressed up for parties.”

“Thanks Pinkie.” He smiled heartily. “I’ll go hang out with everyone else until then, I guess.”

“Okie dokie lokie! Happy birthday! OH, and don’t forget your present!” she hurriedly sped off, then shot back into exactly the same spot not a moment later. She held a small, sky-blue box in spotted yellow and red wrapping.

“Gee, thanks! Can I open it right now?”

“Sure, it’s your birthday, silly!”

Hastily tearing through the wrapping paper, he lifted the cardboard box lid to find an inkwell container, bearing the image of a hollow tear-drop on its front in a dotted white line.

“Is this what I think it is?” he queried with a smirk.

“Yup! Invisible ink. Have fun!” she gave a sly smile and hoof-bumped his claw, then bounced off amongst the crowd of chatting ponies.

“Heya Spike, how ya feeling?” a coffee-tan pegasus approached.

“Great, thanks! How are you?”

“So you’re not still mad at those cows?” he snickered.

Spike rolled his eyes and sighed. “One point to you, Chain.”

Chain hoof-pumped in triumph.

“Hey, we’re still 35-18, bud.” The drake crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

The pegasus immediately paused, pupils shrunk. Rubbing the back of his head, he put on a bad poker face and chuckled nervously. Quickly thereafter, he shrugged it off and smiled warmly.

“Anyway, happy birthday buddy, here.” He passed Spike a flat, flexible package wrapped in diamond-print wrapping paper. This time, the item revealed a stately long white overcoat lined with purple silk, paired with a matching, elongated fedora sporting a vivid purple feather.

“Dear Faust, this is awesome!” he hugged Chain tightly for a brief moment before releasing his grip to marvel at the gift once more.

“You’re welcome, my scaly friend. Go forth and strut like Fancy Pants!”

“I will! Thanks!”

The party raged on for hours, the birthday drake almost feeling like he was in a pass-the-parcel game as his attention was directed back and forth between various ponies, each with unique and thoughtful presents to give. Applejack gave a jar of zap-apple jam, Fluttershy a white bunny costume, and Rainbow Dash a pair of novelty dragon wings, which Spike deadpanned at thinking it a joke, until she demonstrated that they were mechanized to fold and unfold via a latch where the wings joined on the back, which he could trigger with his tail. Surprise guests showed up, including Trixie, who was surprisingly content with street magician tricks, adding her own unique touch to the trade.

Rarity eventually arrived, three hours into the event. Jaws dropped as she entered the room, adorned with a long, gleaming white dress with delicate gold lines darting about in various directions on its surface. She wore almost as much makeup as back in the Best Young Flier competition, but she pulled it off remarkably well given her extensive knowledge and experience with the art. She had decided on a brilliant blue-violet eye shadow with plain black eyeliner, embellished by faint gold glitter. Her drakefriend almost collapsed upon laying eyes on her, which incited an adoring chuckle from the mare.

Later, music flooded the room as ponies danced freestyle to popular hits such as Pony Rock Anthem. Trixie gawked a little too long at Big Macintosh’s muscular form, prompting an irritated Fluttershy to stare her to the other end of the room. Applejack resorted to chasing her marefriend around the room after Dash’s constant tickling her with her tail pushed her nerves a bit far. Spike did indeed strut about the room at one point, forcing laughs all round. Halfway through the act, Rarity joined him, matching his strut with a graceful canter, creating a dazzling combo.

With the party at an end, guests departed and made their way home under the late afternoon sun, nearing dusk but allowing a few precious hours of warmth and light. Couples leaned against each other as they walked away, discussing their recollections amidst the haze of hard partying and unusually inebriating blueberry punch. Twilight succumbed to the nagging of both Spike and Rarity towards allowing the drake to spend what was left of the day at the fashonista’s house, and as they headed off, the couple just barely overheard the purple-coated mare make an ‘Uncle Spike’ joke in reference to Sweetie Belle.

Trixie left with a gleeful smile and wave, only to briefly turn to Phoenix and whisper “7am, sharp. Or you’re fired.” to which the stallion smiled nervously. The cerulean-coated mare trotted off happily, voicing “The Great and Apologetic Trixie loves her new job!” with a delightful tune.

Moments later, Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle came galloping toward the library abode, panting heavily and covered in dirt, manes and tails a mess. The two unicorns glanced at each other, then faced the fillies once more. It was a confusing sight, but nonetheless common as the trio of Veteran Crusaders still managed to get up to all kinds of shenanigans, earning their cutie marks merely serving as a reminder of all the adventures they had shared, both good and bad.

“Uh, girls? What’s up?” queried Twilight.

“No time…. gem hunting…. Diamond Dogs…. golem…. ran here…. “

“Gem hunting this time? Well then, what’s this about the Diamond Dogs? And a, uh, golem, did you say?”

The tan stallion rested his hoof on Applebloom’s shoulder, motioning them to take a breath. After several long moments, they calmed down and spoke, heavy worry evident in their voices.

“We, w-we went gem hunting, and the Diamond Dogs ambushed us when we were about to leave.” blurted Scootaloo.

“But they just stared at us with wide eyes, looking really scared, before they ran off.” Sweetie Belle added.

“And we turned around to see this HUUUGE rock monster- uh, golem,” Applebloom intoned, “that growled really scary-like, and tried to hit us, ‘cept we ducked and ran away. We tried to be brave, really, but that thing was ENORMOUS!”

The trio dived into the hooves of the two unicorns, to which the latter exchanged silent looks before nodding confidently. Simultaneously they announced “Don’t worry girls, we’ll sort this out.” before sprinting off.

Within the minute, they passed Spike and Rarity, and Twilight motioned for Phoenix to stop.

“Darlings, what’s the rush?”

“Rock golem in the gem fields. Spike, we need your help!” the purple mare exclaimed.

The drake stared blankly. “Me? How could I help?”

Twilight had already started off again, followed closely by Phoenix. “Bring your wing toys!”

“They’re not toy-“ he sighed, then turned to his marefriend, waiting expectantly.

“Oh go on, Spikey Wikey, surely Twilight has a plan.” She kissed him on the cheek, and removed his white overcoat and fedora with her magic, revealing the mechanized wings he was still wearing. “Smite that beast, my valiant knight!” she giggled as he darted off.

Surprisingly, the drake caught up to the duo of unicorns rather quickly. “So what’s the plan guys?”

“Spike, remember when I tried to develop an illusionary age spell?”

“Uhh, yeah, you combined a growth spell with a modified version of that wing spell you used on Rarity.” He paused for a moment, then gasped. “Oh, I get it! But are you sure you’re up for it? It took a while to cast last time.”

She nodded at Phoenix. “Oh, I’m ready, don’t you worry.”

Arriving at the vast, tapered plains between ochre-brown canyon-like cliffs, the trio scanned the area intuitively. After several minutes, Twilight cautiously nudged an ornate greyish stone atop a rock cairn with her hoof, which abruptly shot up several feet in the air, followed by similar rocks surrounding it. Within moments, spiraling, levitating stones had formed a semi-humanoid entity, with smaller, finer rocks making up a crude face of sorts, which quickly appeared to frown.

“Yikes!” the mare leaped backward, almost knocking over the tan-grey stallion.

“How original, it looks like a Storm Atronach….” he muttered.

“Spike, behind that shrub, quickly!” she exclaimed. “Phoenix, help me out here!”

The stallion swiftly engulfed her in an orange aura, and simultaneously conjured a matching translucent bubble shield around them. Spike ducked behind a nearby patch of foliage, dense enough to hide his anti-camouflage purple and green form. Twilight’s horn glowed brightly, before a flash of light momentarily stunned all in the area, revealing thereafter an enormous, terrifying Spike, with menacing serpentine eyes and elongated, glimmering spines running down his back. He stood on all fours, enjoying himself as he splayed out two massive reptilian wings.

The golem remained still, apart from the orbiting grey stones that formed the mythological creature. Releasing Twilight from the auburn glow, the two unicorns galloped over to Spike and hid behind him, unable to instinctively lay a hoof on his shoulder given his newfound stature. The dragon in question allowed a sly smile before releasing a deafening, ground-shaking roar, causing the golem to simply collapse into a pile of rubble.

Spike rapidly shrunk back down to drake size, his wings now returned to a mere contraption on his back. He showed no disappointment, having no interest in such a bestial form after his various experiences, both as a larger dragon, and among larger dragons. The trio cheered and shared a group high-five before slowly trotting off back toward Ponyville.

“Boss defeated, move on to stage three.” commented Phoenix. This prompted a laugh from Spike, but Twilight merely raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Author's Note

Welp, in Australia this is just over 12 hours late from the deadline I promised, but hey, I was drunk on chocolate yesterday. Don't look at me like that, it was Easter, and I bucking love chocolate.
Finnnne, yeah I'm sorry. Won't happen again :)