Chapter 66: Secret of my Excess
A week went by after Twilight's birthday and everything was peaceful, for the most part as there were random moments when the Heartless would attack the town, attacking in small groups and striking random places in the town, but everytime they attacked, Spyro and his friends were always there and took them down before too much damage could be done. The attacks mostly consisted of Shadows and the few Large Bodies, nothing to big or threatening, but Spyro couldn't help that there was something off about the attacks as they were rather small and weak, not like the last attacks while in Equestria. While he had some free time, Spyro had gone to the Golden Oak Library to catch up on some reading, grabbing a tome or two from his library to see what he could learn when the lights went out, looking around to see there were candles lite and the curtains were drawn.
"Hey Twi, did you forget to pay your electric bill again?" Spyro asked, joking around with her.
"Very funny Spyro." Twilight replied, walking down the stairs. "I'm just going to reorganize the books on the shelves."
Her horn then started to glow as she pulled all the books from the shelves in the library, letting them fall to the ground of the library while Spyro just watched her, seeing the books levitating into the air as she put her full focus on trying to reorganize them, reading out the titles of each book as she said out loud where each one was supposed to go to. He shook his head in amazement at how she can find joy in reorganizing the books and while she was busy reshelving the books, they head Spike laughing about something, breaking Twilight's concentration as books fell all over the place, burying her under a mountain of books and poked her head out of them with a book on her horn, going through the spine.
"Spike, what are you laughing about?" Twilight asked, annoyed with her assistant.
"Oh, sorry Twilight." Spike replied. "I was just so excited about this little beauty." The two of them looked at what the baby dragon was laughing about and saw he was holding a ruby in his claws in the shape of a heart. "This is a Fire Ruby and it's my birthday present to myself. I have been aging this little baby for months and it's nearly ripe."
He took a tuning fork and hit it again the ruby, a tune being played due to the vibrations coming from the fork. He took a step to go down stairs, but ended up slipping on a book, falling down the stairs and dropping his ruby and it would have shattered, but Spyro levitated it in the air, making sure it didn't fall on the ground before returning it to Spike after he got up.
"Thanks Spyro." Spike said. He then looked at the room and to Twilight, pleased about something. "Hey, you took my advice and made the floor one big shelf."
Twilight leered at Spike as she growled, as she was getting out of the pile of books before hearing someone knock at the door.
"Yoo-hoo!" Rarity said, knocking at the door again, opening the door. "Anypony home?"
"Oh, hey Rare." Spyro said, turning to face her. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I came here to..." Rarity started to say, but stopped. She noticed the ruby Spike was holding, immediately fascinated by it and walked up to him. "Is that... a Fire Ruby? It has to be at least twenty carats!" She then looked the gem over for any kind of deformities or damage to it like an expert jeweler. "No inclusions, pristine facets..."
"And it's totally delicious." Spike added, licking his lips.
"Uh, if you don't mind me asking Rarity, is there something you need?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, oh yes, sorry Twilight." Rarity replied. "I was hoping you had any books on historical fashion." Rarity replied, before turning back to Spike. "Wait a moment, Spike, did you say delicious?"
"He did Rare." Spyro replied. "From what I can gather, Spike's planning on eating that thing."
"You got that right Spyro." Spike replied. "Next week is my birthday and this beauty if my birthday dinner."
Spike then walked away from the fashion pony, who looked distraught when she heard Spike was planning on eating the Fire Ruby, but Twilight walked over with a book she found and levitated it over to Rarity.
"Here, try this one Rarity." Twilight said.
"Oh thanks Twilight." Rarity replied. "I got a feeling rough on the top capes are going to make a comeback this season."
"Especially since winter is upon us." Spyro pointed out, closing his book. "They'll be great to help keep warm."
"Exactly." Rarity replied. She then looked back at Spike, who was putting the ruby into a box specially made for it. "I do hope it's as tasty to you as it is lovely Spike." The baby dragon then looked to Rarity, who was smiling at the little dragon. "I haven't seen anything so stunning and elegant before in my life."
The baby dragon looked down at the gem and picked it up, looking to Rarity and then back to his gem as if thinking about something.
"Well, gosh Rarity, you really like it?" Spike asked.
"Like it?" She asked. "It's Magnificent."
Rarity blinked her eyes a few times at the baby dragon, which left the little guy speechless as he stared at her, looking down at his ruby and then looking up to the white unicorn mare.
"Then, you should probably have it." Spike said, surprising everyone as he took her hoof and placed the gem in it. "This gem, it was meant to be with you."
"By the ancestors." Spyro whispered to himself.
"Oh Spike, I don't know what to say." Rarity said, levitating the gem. "Oh Spike, this is so thoughtful. Oh, my little Spiky wikey."
She reached down and gave him a kiss on the cheek, the love struck dragon instantly froze up and fell to the ground right as a whole bunch of hearts flew everywhere out of no where. Rarity was so happy that that she was leaping for joy around the room as she left the library, leaving both Spyro and Twilight surprised and proud of the baby dragon.
"Wow Spike, that was the kindest and most generous thing I've ever seen you do." Twilight said. "I have never seen Rarity that happy before."
"I agree with you on that Twi." Spyro said, walking up to the baby dragon. "Spike, I am proud of you for what you did."
"Thanks guys." Spike replied, getting up and touching the cheek Rarity kissed. "I will never wash this cheek ever again."
Spyro just shook his head at the love sick dragon, walking out of the library to allow Twilight to finish reshelving the books as he returned back to the farm to continue to read and practice what he had learned. Throughout the entire week, Spyro was practicing a few new spells form the tomes he was reading while he had some free time for himself, learning new ways to use his elements and learning a few new tricks that he believes could be beneficial in the future. After he was done practicing, he started to head out into town to attend Spikes birthday party and getting him a special gift that he had grown himself that he knew the baby dragon was going to enjoy, but on his way to the library, he noticed Pinkie was looking around, zooming throughout town and appearing in barrels and from around corners as she looked for something. Chalking it up to her just being Pinkie, he just kept walking, but was suddenly talked by the pink party pony, dropping the present he had for Spike as she looked around while standing on him.
"And hello to you too Pinkie." Spyro said, standing up while Pinkie was on his back.
"Oh, hi Spyro!" Pinkie said, hopping off his back. "Sorry about that, I was just looking for somepony."
"Really, who?" Spyro asked, levitating the present he got for Spike.
"That's just it, I don't know." Pinkie replied.
"Huh?" Spyro exclaimed, confused by what she said.
"My Pinkie sense is telling me there is somepony new that came into town a little while ago." Pinkie replied. "I wanted to give them a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party, but everytime I get close, they just disappear."
"Pinkie, no one can disappear." Spyro replied. "Well, except for me when I use my camouflage spell."
"Exactly my point!" Pinkie replied, rushing over and looking in a vendor. "This pony is super good as disappearing without a trace. She's like a ninja. And with her black outfit, I think that-"
"Wait, hold on a minute." Spyro said, interrupting her. "Black outfit? As in a black trench coat?"
"Nope." Pinkie replied. "More like a cloak with a hood on it. And I got to see they were pink. Well, not as pink as me, but a light pink."
"A light pink pony wearing a black cloak and hood?" Spyro asked, feeling like something wasn't right. "That's odd."
"I don't know about that." Pinkie replied. "Maybe they don't want to be recognized. You think it's somepony famous?"
"Who knows." Spyro answered. "Maybe we can search for her later. Right now, we got a birthday party to attend Pinkie, remember?"
"Oh yeah, Spikes party!" Pinkie replied.
She then zoomed off towards Sugarcube Corner to get something and left Spyro alone in the middle of the road, shaking his head at Pinkie before he resumed his trip to the Golden Oak Library, but when he took his first step, he felt a sudden disturbance in the Force, feeling it was close by and looked around to pinpoint where the disturbance was, only to see nothing around him, so he took to the sky to see if he could find it. He landed on a cloud and scanned the town below him, seeing many ponies going about their day, some shopping, some doing their jobs, but found nothing as he reached out with the Force to find out what the disturbance was. However, a second later, he noticed a group of Large Bodies in the park, thinking that was the disturbance, he flew towards the group to handle them, but out of no where, one of the Large Bodies was destroyed in an instant, hovering in midair as he watched a second one be taken down before the third turned around and bounced something off itself, seeing it was the pink pony Pinkie was talking about, but the pony just flipped over the Heartless and flung something at it, destroying it with a single strike.
The pony looked to where the Large Bodies were before turning to walk away, but then looked up to see Spyro, feeling that the disturbance was coming from them and not the Heartless as they stared at one another, trying to gauge if they were a threat to the village.
"Hey Spyro!" Rainbow Dash shouted, getting his attention. "How's it hanging?"
"Rainbow, hey." Spyro replied, looking back to the park, but the mystery pony was gone.
"What are you looking at?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"There was a pony down there." Spyro replied. "And a few Large Bodies."
"Large Bodies?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You mean the big ball shaped Heartless?"
"Yeah, those are them." Spyro replied. "But the thing is, they were taken down by the pony I saw."
"Wait really?" She asked. "How?"
"I don't know." Spyro replied.
He looked back down to where the pony was at, still disturbed that whoever they were managed to defeat the Large Bodies so quickly and how they maneuvered themselves around the large Heartless as well as how agile they were.
"Hey, we'll worry about them later." Rainbow Dash said. "Right now, we have a party to attend."
"You're right Dash." Spyro replied. "Let's get going. We've wasted enough time just flying here."
Both he and Rainbow Dash flew in the direction of the Golden Oak Library so they can attend their friends birthday party, but failed to notice the mystery pony was watching them through the trees, pulling back the branch as she watched the two of them head towards Twilight's place for the party. A little bit later, Spyro and Rainbow Dash saw the rest of their friends in front of the Golden Oak Library as each of them had a present for Spike and as they landed, they all noticed a light flashing inside and heard a bit of shouting in there.
"What in tarnation is going on in there?" Applejack asked.
"Twilight's trying to clean Spikes cheek before the party starts." Spyro answered.
"How do you know that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I'm half dragon, so I have dragon like ears." Spyro replied. "If I focus, muffled sounds become crystal clear."
The girls all looked at each other as they heard this revelation, but shrugged their shoulders as they went in. When they went in, Twilight was still trying to clean Spikes cheek as she kept teleporting him, but a moment later, instead of Spike being teleported, it was Pinkie that appeared from the flash of light, blowing a party horn.
"Happy Birthday Spike!" Pinkie said. A moment later, Twilight took her chance and cleaned the baby dragons cheek, much to his disappointment. "It's party time!"
Spike looked over to his friends and saw the birthday presents, surprised by all the presents he was seeing right now.
"Are all those... for me?" Spike asked.
"Why of course they are birthday boy." Applejack replied, tossing her present to him.
"Happy birthday Spike." Fluttershy said, putting her present on top of Applejacks.
Then Rarity and Pinkie gave Spike their presents before Rainbow Dash out hers on the top, making the poor collapse to the ground, which Spyro raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash, wondering what kind of gift a dumbbell is for a kid, that is if they were into bodybuilding. As he was about to give Spike his gift, he noticed how confused Spike was as he looked at all the presents he was getting, sensing his confusion.
"You, do realize that you get presents during your birthday, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, yes I do know that." Spike replied. "This is my first birthday in Ponyville where I get more presents than I usually get at Canterlot. Back there I only get one present and it's usually from Twilight."
"And I can guess what that is." Spyro said.
He looked up to the lavender mare and saw she was carrying a present and it wasn't even wrapped, seeing it was a book, the unicorn hiding it behind her as she backed away.
"Speaking of presents..." Rarity said, pulling a cape with a large collar on it, colored hot pink. "This is from my new line of 'Top of the Capes.' I would like to make one for each of you. I was actually inspired by the generosity of my Spiky Wikey."
"I can see that." Spyro said, seeing the necklace Rarity was wearing that had the Fire Ruby in the middle of it. "You're wearing the Fire Ruby Spike gave you little diamond."
He and Rarity hugged each other, which the little dragon's face turned red as he felt jealous of his friend for having a relationship with the pony he liked, crossing his arms as he fumed with jealousy. Outside of the library, Maleficent was outside and was looking in, seeing her hated enemy with his friends celebrating a party, disgusted by what she was seeing, but then she saw the baby dragon, sensing his jealousy and smiling.
"So, we going to attack them or what?" Pete asked.
"In a moment you pea-brained brute." Maleficent replied, rubbing her chin. "The baby dragon is jealous of the prince. We could use that."
"How?" Pete asked. "The little purple lizard has seen who you are and probably won't listen to you."
"I know that imbecile!" Maleficent retorted, raising a hoof to Pete. "That just means we need to get a little creative. And I know exactly what to do."
She walked away from the window and Pete followed close behind, but nearby, the cloaked pony was nearby, watching them walk away as she remained on the roof tops. Back in the library, Spyro and his friends were having a blast, music blasting as they all danced, played games, and even enjoying the snacks and beverages in the party and once it got to time for the presents, Spike opened up the one from Applejack and it was shown to be a blanket for the little baby dragon.
"A new blanket?" Spike asked, running up and hugging Applejack. "Thanks Applejack, I needed a new one. It looks amazing."
"Aw come on Spike, ya'll already thanked me like fifteen times." Applejack replied. "I'm starting to get a little embarrassed."
"You? Embarrassed?" Spyro asked. "AJ, that's my job to embarrass you, little Appleseed." He wrapped his wing around her barrel and gave her a peck on the cheek, making everyone giggle as she started to blush. "Hey, open mine next."
Spike then opened his present and in it was a cyan blue crystal with what appeared to be a snowflake in the middle of the gem.
"A gem!?" Spike asked excitedly.
"Yes Spike, something I've been aging for sometime." Spyro replied. "You gave up your Fire Ruby and gave it to Rarity, so I want you to have this one, which is a Polar Ice crystal. One small piece on a piece of rock and in a cold environment and you have an endless source of icy delight."
"Awesome, thanks Spyro!" Spike said, hugging him. "I know I keep thanking you guys, but it's because I'm so grateful. Wish this party could never end."
As he said that, the balloon Pinkie was bouncing on suddenly popped, spooking Spyro as he suddenly broke a glass, looking spooked, which Rainbow Dash noticed and snickered.
"Well duh, of course this party can't last forever!" Pinkie exclaimed, appearing right between Applejack and Twilight. "Reason why is because we need to go to Sugarcube corner because the cakes said they have a special surprise for you, cause it's your birthday!"
"NO WAY!" Spike exclaimed, rushing out of the room.
"I know I said the party couldn't last forever, but that doesn't mean it needs to end right now!" Pinkie shouted, right as Spike closed the door behind him.
"Looks like he's happy." Spyro said.
"More than that sugarcube." Applejack replied. "Ah've never seen him this happy before."
"You said it AJ." Twilight said. "This is the first time I've ever seen him this excited before. I wonder what kind of surprise the Cakes have."
"Don't know." Spyro said. "Let's go find out."
Spyro and Twilight left the library to catch up with the birthday boy, see what the Cakes had, but all of a sudden he felt a disturbance in the Force again, looking around and saw the cloaked pony on the nearby roof top, watching them and immediately got his guard up, stopping in the middle of the road.
"Spyro, something wrong?" Twilight asked.
"No, at least I hope not." Spyro replied. "You go on ahead, I got to check on something."
Without waiting a moment, he took off into the air and flew towards the mystery pony, who didn't seem afraid of him as he flew towards the cloaked pony, gliding down and landing in front of the pony.
"Watching us, are we?" Spyro asked.
"And for good reason too, my prince." The mare replied. "One of your friends is in danger."
"What?" Spyro asked, surprised by the revelation.
Spike was just coming out of Sugarcube corner with a cupcake with a sapphire covered fronting on top of it when he ran into a pony, Cheerilee, who was carrying groceries when she ran into Spike.
"Oh, sorry Cheerilee." Spike said.
"Oh, that's ok Spike." Cheerilee replied, picking up an apple and putting it into her bag. "What's got you so excited Spike?"
"Oh Pinkie Pie told me to come see the Cakes." Spike replied, helping the school teacher pick her groceries up. "She said they had a treat for me because it's my birthday today."
"Wait, your birthday is today?" Cheerilee asked. "Happy Birthday Spike. Which I had known so I could get you a gift." She thought about it for a bit before thinking of something, reaching into her bag and pulling out a white hat with a red feather on it. "Here you go."
"Wow, for me?" Spike asked.
"Sure, everypony should get fun gifts on their birthday." Cheerilee replied. Spike then jumped up and hugged Cheerilee, letting go to let her so she could head home. "You have a great birthday Spike."
"Wow, I wish everyday was my birthday." Spike said.
"Today's your birthday?" A mare asked.
Spike turned around to see who was asking, finding a black unicorn mare with a green mane, green eyes and a cutie mark of a magic charm with a staff behind it.
"Why yes it is." Spike replied. "I've never seen you before, yet you sound familiar. You new to town?"
"Oh yes, I am." She replied. "I'm Charm Maker. I just moved to town just recently and have set up my new shop. And you said that today is your birthday?"
"Why yes it is." Spike replied.
"Well, happy birthday little guy." Charm Maker said. "I think I have something for you." She reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a silver necklace with a green emerald in the middle of it, levitating it with a green aura around the birthday dragons neck. "There you go, you look great."
"Wow, thanks." Spike said. "So, what's your store called?"
"Oh, it's called Charming Magics." She replied. "It's a store where I make magical charms with mystical powers. This one is to help you acquire what your heart desires most, at least it should help you achieve what you desire on your own."
"Wow, maybe it can help me with..." Spike started to say before stopping.
"Aw, what's wrong little guy?" Charm Maker asked. "You seem upset."
"Well, I was hoping this charm could hep me win Rarity's heart." Spike replied, looking down at the amulet. "But, she's in love with another pony and he's my friend. I should be happy for them, but..."
"But you love her as well." Charm Maker said, finishing his sentence. "Don't worry little guy, love is a complicated thing. I'm sure things will change." She then used her hoof to raise Spike's head to where their eyes met, a green mist suddenly appearing behind her and turn the area green around them. "I mean, after all, you deserve so much more. It is our birthday after all, and you should get everything, including the mare you love."
"Including... the mare... I love." Spike repeated, his eyes glowing green as the amulets power activated.
"Spike!" Twilight shouted, making the two of them turn to her. "Oh, there you are Spike." She then saw the unicorn mare next to Spike and smiled nervously. "I apologize if he's bothering you."
"Oh, no dear, he's not bothering me." Charm Maker replied. "I was actually giving the birthday boy a present."
"Really?" Twilight asked. "Well, that's nice of you, miss...?"
"Just call me Charm Maker." She replied. "And it's my pleasure to give a gift to someone who deserves one on their special day. I should be getting back. See you around Spike."
"Oh, sure, bye Charm Maker." Spike said.
The unicorn mare turned around and walked towards the center of town, Spike waving to her as she left, but Twilight's instincts told her something was off with the mare she had just met, something telling her that she couldn't be trusted deep down. She was about to tell Spike it was time to go home, but saw that he was going around town saying it was his birthday, getting gifts from everyone he could, causing her to rush after him to stop him from demanding gifts. With Spyro, he was still standing on the roof top with the mystery mare, still surprised to hear that one of his friends was in danger, but his instincts told him she was hiding something and out tread with caution.
"Wait, so one of my friends is in danger?" Spyro asked. "Which one?"
"I'm not sure." The mare replied. "All I know was they were in front of the window to the library you and your friend walked out from. Other than that, I couldn't pick up what they were saying."
"They?" Spyro asked.
"There were two of them." The mare replied. "One mare and one dog, a big one I think, couldn't really tell."
"Maleficent and Pete." Spyro said, his blood boiling. "So, they're planning to do something with my friends, huh?"
"From what I could tell, probably." She replied. "Might need to keep a close eye on them for a while, just to be safe."
"Wait, how can I trust what you say?" Spyro asked. "After all, you've been spying on us for a fortnight."
"You don't." She replied, walking away. "Believe me if you want or not, just know one of your friends is in danger. And you may need my help."
Before he could ask what she meant, she leapt from the roof top they were on to another one three to four houses away, surprising him at how far she could jump in a single leap, probably giving him a run for his money. He wanted to chase after her, but his mind was replaying the warning she had told him about, wondering which of his friends was in danger and why Maleficent was making her move now after such a long time. He didn't want to dwell on it and just hopped off the roof, walking out of town and back to the farm to take care of the chores he was given before needing to go to bed. After he was finished and the night had finally come, he laid his head down to sleep, but the dream he had was strange as it showed all of Ponyville, green flames everywhere and some ruined buildings as he heard ponies screaming, including Rarity's as he looked to see a massive creature was holding her in it's grip, the white unicorn mare screaming his name as she reached her hoof out to him to be saved, but was then blocked by multiple dark shadows that lunged towards him. But instead of being hit, he was suddenly pulled away from them and thrown down a corridor where multiple voices played in his mind, a few of them his friends and some his enemies, but at the end of the corridor was a dark figure, but next to the figure was a Keyblade, a black one with a blooming rose bud for the teeth, the stem skinny and thin with the wing shaped guards with thorny vines over them and the black rose keychain at the end.
He was wondering why he was seeing this, but wat he figure turned around and before he could see who it was, he heard the rooster crow and woke up, sitting up as he yawned, feeling how dry his mouth was as he got up and got ready for the day as he walked down the stairs to the main room where the rest of the family was.
"Mornin' Spyro." Applejack said.
"Morning AJ." Spyro replied, pulling a plate of apple-themed pastries to him.
"Spyro, ya'll ok?" Applejack asked. "I heard ya talking last night and thought ya might be havin' a bad dream."
"Honestly AJ, it was a strange one." Spyro replied, taking a bite from his food. "Felt more like a vision."
"A vision?" Scootaloo asked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, sometimes Force Sensitives like myself get visions through the Force when we're asleep." Spyro answered. "The visions are sometimes of the future or of something happening currently or in the past, depending on what the Force wants to show you."
"Wow, that sounds awesome!" Scootaloo said. "Hey, do your visions tell you when we get our Cutie Marks?"
"Yeah, do they?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Sorry little munchkins, it doesn't work like that." Spyro replied. "Anyway, anything on the agenda Granny Smith?"
"Not today youngin'." The old farm mare replied. "All the chores were taken care of yesterday and there are still plenty of apples to harvest."
"How in the world does the apple trees still have apples?" Spyro asked.
"Well, even though the apple trees leaves fell off, some of the smaller ones remain on them until spring." Applejack replied. "They bloom and wait for spring to start. Other times they ripen late and need extra time to finish before they need to be bucked. And during the winter, we sell some of the apples we have stored away and make cider out of them, this way we still have plenty of money for our livin' needs."
"I was actually going to ask that." Spyro said.
"Well, since there ain't anything to do, is it ok for us to go play Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Ah suppose it's alright." Applejack replied.
"Awesome!" Scootaloo said.
The two fillies finished their breakfast and both ran out of the room to go and find Sweetie Belle so they can start another Cutie Mark adventure, leaving the adults in the room.
"Well, as granny said, there ain't much to do today." Applejack said. "Might as well take some time off Spyro. Ah'm gonna check the trees and see if the last of the apples have ripen yet."
"Alright AJ." Spyro said, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Just give me a call if you need help."
Spyro finished his breakfast and took the plate over to the sink to be washed later, heading into town to see if any of his friends needed help with something so that he could keep himself busy, but what he really planned was to look for the pony he spoke to yesterday and figure out who she was and what her stake was in this entire thing. As he entered town, he decided to see what Twilight was up to and if she would like to go to the park today, have a little alone time, but as he approached the library, he froze up when he saw something he didn't expect to see; Spike looking like a teenage dragon coming out of the library with Twilight, who looked worried for him.
"Holy cow!" Spyro exclaimed, getting their attention. "Spike, did you hit a growth spurt last night?"
"Spyro, thank goodness you're here!" Twilight said, dragging the dragon with her, somehow. "Spike is acting really, really weird. When I woke up this morning, he had a whole bunch of stuff around his bed and when I moved it to scold him for taking things from some ponies, I found him like this."
"This... isn't good." Spyro said, noticing the silver necklace. "Where'd you get that Spike?"
"BACK OFF!" Spike snapped, grabbing the necklace and growling at him, instantly snapping out of it. "I-I'm sorry. I... I don't know what came over me."
"Ok, this isn't good." Spyro replied. "But... the way he acted... it seems... familiar."
"Whatever is wrong with him, I need to get him to the doctor now." Twilight said. "I need to figure out what this is."
"I'll come with you." Spyro said. "Might need someone to hold him down if he does anything."
The three of them then went to the local hospital and were lead into a room, waiting for a doctor to come and see them as Spike kept on trying got take candy from a nearby bowl, which Twilight kept smacking his claw to stop him right as the doctor walked in.
"Good morning." The doctor said. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"
"This is my assistant Spike." Twilight said, smacking his claw as he reached for something else while she talked. "He use to be half this size and... he keeps trying... to take things... that aren't his."
"Hm, well, let's just have a look, shall we." The doctor said, approaching the dragon, but instantly changed his attitude. "Wittle guy not feeling good? Who's the brave little boy? You are."
As the doctor hit him in the knee, Spike ended up blasting him with a face full of fire, which thankfully wasn't lethal, but the doctor's face was covered in soot.
"Well, what do you think doctor?" Twilight asked.
"Well, I think I identified the problem." The doctor said, cleaning his face off. "He's a dragon!"
"Nah, you don't say." Spyro replied sarcastically, getting jabbed in the side by Twilight.
"Spyro, behave." Twilight said, leering at him. "Anyway, we know he's a dragon doctor. He was born a dragon."
"Oh, well, that explains a lot." The doctor said. "I am sorry, but a little baby pony I can handle, but a dragon, that's a bit out of my expertise. Maybe try a vet, they might have better luck."
"Ok, thanks anyway doctor." Twilight said.
They then went to the Ponyville vet where the vet there admitted them and started to examine Spike, giving him the once over before stopping.
"Well, I'm flummoxed." The vet said. "Bring me a dog and I can get a diagnoses in seconds, a snake even faster, but I've never seen a real live dragon before. This actually my first time seeing one. Especially one wearing a silver necklace before."
She then patted Spikes head like he was a dog, which he seemed to enjoy before bringing out a dog treat and tossing it to him, which he caught instantly and put it in a bowl of candy he swiped from the doctors office, but that's when something hit his mind after seeing him do that, shivering at the thought.
"Oh no." Spyro said, getting Twilight's attention. "Oh nononononononono."
"What, you know what it is?" Twilight asked.
"I have an idea of what it is, and I hope I'm wrong." Spyro replied, looking to the lavender mare. "We need to get to Zecora for a second opinion, now."
After leaving the veterinary office, Spyro and Twilight dragged Spike all the way to the Zebra's hut, which thankfully she was home at the time, so she had a look at Spike to see what they were worried about. She did a few tests to see what was wrong with him before coming to a conclusion.
"He is starting to mature, of this i am quite sure." Zecora said.
"Mature?" Twilight asked, yanking a vase out of Spikes claws. "So, you're saying he's growing up? But, Spyro made it sound like it was way worse. And it doesn't explain why he keeps grabbing things"
"Our leader of the herd has a right to worry, and he did the right thing by bringing Spike here in a hurry." Zecora said.
"What does that mean?" Twilight asked, looking to Spyro.
"Dragon Fever." Spyro replied, confusing the lavender unicorn. "It's a sickness caused by a dragons greediness for gold and other kinds of things he or she sees as valuable."
"Spyro is right as a dragon's heart is prone to greed, a steady diet to make growth speed." Zecora said, putting green powder into the caldron as images appeared. "Then the resulting bigger size will only make their hunger rise. If this trait goes unchecked, the more Spike will collect, the more growth will occur, and then he will turn into a monster, that is known for sure!"
"Wait, you mean to tell me that the more things a dragon collects, the bigger and greedier they get?" Twilight asked, looking to Spyro. "Is this what you were afraid of?"
"Afraid so." Spyro replied. "Hit me when I first transformed into a dragon. It was not pretty."
"Then, how do we stop him before he is completely out of control?" Twilight asked.
"If his monstrous ways you wish to impede, you must prevent him from practicing greed." Zecora answered.
"Easier said than done Zecora." Spyro replied. "Take it from me, it's not easy. Took my friends a whole month just to track me down in the Land of Dragons and keep me from stealing everything but the kitchen sink."
As they were talking, Spike had taken everything in the room and had disappeared, Twilight smiling nervously as she felt embarrassed, but the two of them then went after the dragon, which they had a feeling on where he went, so they rushed back to town to find him, only to see him trying to take Scootaloo's scooter, which made his blood boil as he was about to jump in and knock some sense into him. But Twilight was quicker on the draw and got a nearby broom and used it to get Spikes attention, allowing the two of them to guide him back to the library where she tossed the broom into a nearby room and locked the door right as he was banging on it.
"Fight all you want Spike, I'm not letting you out." Twilight said.
"Twilight, you do know he's much bigger now, right?" Spyro asked.
"Yeah, so?" She asked.
"So, it's safe to assume he has the strength of teenage dragon now." Spyro replied. "Meaning he's strong enough to bust through walls."
Twilight looked to him in surprise, realizing that he was right, so she opened the door to see if Spike was still in the room and thankfully, he was, but he had just hordes all the books that were in the room into a single pile, protecting them.
"Ugh, Spike I just reshelved this room." Twilight said. She then used her magic to levitate the books out from under Spike, knocking him onto the ground and closed the door on him, breathing a sigh of relief, but then heard something crash and break, making her groan. "What now?"
"Taking a shot in the dark here, but I think he busted through the wall." Spyro said.
The stressed out pony looked at him in shock, opening the door to see there was a Spike shaped hole in the wall, making her groan again.
"And now he's loose in the town, again!" Twilight said. "Now how will we find him?"
"Give me a moment." Spyro said. He hopped through the hole and started to sniff the air, looking around as he sniffed until he found what he was looking for, looking in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. "He's heading for the apple orchard! Come on!"
The two of them then rushed towards Sweet Apple Acres to catch up with the rampaging, greedy baby dragon, following his scent until they reached the orchard itself, which had no apples on them and a very confused Applejack was standing underneath one of the trees wondering where the apples had gone to.
"Applejack!" Spyro shouted, getting her attention as they approached. "AJ, Spike's out of control and we need your help!"
"We need you to lasso him!" Twilight said, finishing his sentence.
The farm mare then started to laugh at the two of them, not believing a word she had said or what he had said.
"That's a good one you two." She said, walking up and patting their shoulders. "Sweet little Spike out of control." A moment later, the three of them saw Spike running past them with his arms full of the apples that were on the trees, ticking off the farm mare. "Spyro, get my rope."
After he got her the rope she needed, Applejack and Twilight both took either end of the rope and ran after the rampaging dragon while Spyro remained in the air, flying over them to provide some support. They managed to catch up to the baby dragon and were about to tie him up, but the dragon ducked down to pick up a fallen apple, causing the three of them to run into a tree and tie themselves up, letting the baby dragon get away as they called for help, which did come in the form of Rainbow Dash, who saw they predicament and just laughed at them.
"Don't tell me, you tied yourselves up!?" She asked, still laughing.
"Yeah, keep laughing lollipop fugitive." Spyro said, using the bladed end of his tail to cut themselves free. "We got a serious problem and-"
they then heard what sounded like someone screaming, looking in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage as the source of the screaming was coming from that direction. Not waiting another minute, the four of them rushed off to Fluttershy's cottage to see what was wrong, finding nothing to be damaged, but Spyro looked up and saw Fluttershy was in a tree again, holding on for dear life with a bunch of squirrels.
"Fluttershy, what's going on?" Spyro shouted so she could hear her. "What happened?"
"I was helping my squirrel friends with a dance step, but a giant, rampaging, d-d-dragon stormed through and took my chicken coupe." Fluttershy replied.
"That was Spike!" Twilight said, confusing both Pegasi.
"Spike?" Fluttershy asked. "Why would he take my chicken coupe?"
"Ugh, it's getting worse." Spyro said. "Combined with Dragon fever, his greed with be insatiable. We need to find him before he get's even bigger."
They then heard someone else scream and this time it was coming from town.
"That sounds like Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash said.
"Hurry, we need to stop him." Twilight said.
Once Fluttershy was down, they all ran into town to see what was going on and rushed all the way to Sugarcube Corner, entering to find that Spike had taken the kitchen utensils and Pinkie was throwing cake at the greedy dragon, grabbing some of them.
"Pinkie, stop giving him cake!" Spyro shouted.
"I'm not giving him cake!" She replied. "I'm assaulting him with cake!" She threw two more tins of cake and reached to get more, but Spike reached over and took all the cake from the shelves, making the party mare fall to the ground and annoy her. "HOW DARE YOU TAKE THE CAKE!"
As he put the cakes into the makeshift box, but grew even bigger, busting through the top of the roof of the bakery and used his tail to grab the box, walking through a wall of the ruined bakery cafe and heading off in another direction, leaving Pinkie Pie completely horrified at the complete destruction of the store and her home.
"He's completely out of control!" Twilight said. "Spyro, we need you to use your dragon form, NOW!"
"On it." Spyro said.
He spread his wings and flew into the sky, awakening his dragon side as his eyes glowed a royal purple as he suddenly burst into flames, surrounded by the purple fire as he himself grew even bigger and bigger until a blinding light shined throughout the sky and he became a dragon, this time his dragon form had darker shaded scales with the spines going up his tail and stopping on his rear and had four dragon wings instead of two, roaring in the sky as his transformation was complete. He scanned the town for any sign of Spike while his friends got out of the ruined bakery to find him, but he then heard Rarity scream, looking to her Boutique and saw Spike, but this time he was even bigger as he had collected more stuff, but what scared him the most was the fact that Rarity was being restrained in Spikes tail, screaming and pounding on it to get free as he rampaged through town as the towns local tornado alert was going off, which Spike took that as well. He looked around for something bigger to put all the stuff he took in and saw the Ponyville water tower, instantly grabbing it with his mouth and ripping it off and letting all the water fall out of it, about to hit a group of bystanders who ran or braced for impact, but Spyro was quicker on the draw as he used his ice breath, freezing the water as he hovered in the air and flew towards the rampaging dragon.
Right as Spike put the stuff he took into the makeshift basket, he was uppercutted by Spyro, which he didn't appreciate as he grabbed him by the tail and slammed him into the ground, dropping his things to get ready to tussle.
"Spike, this isn't you." Spyro said, getting up and dodging a blast from Spikes fire breath. "You need to snap out of it! You're putting a lot of ponies at risk! Including Rarity!"
"Especially Rarity!" She shouted, screaming as Spike swung around to hit him.
Spyro and Spike immediately started to exchange blows, both of them receiving massively devastating hits from one another as Spike, despite only being a baby in an adults dragons body, could hit pretty hard. A moment later, the Wonderbolts flew in to see if they could help, spotting two dragons fighting eachother, so they took action, dive bombing both dragons as Soarin and Fleetfoot distracted Spike while Spitfire dove down and kicked Spyro between the eyes, making him stagger backwards as she flew back.
"What was that for!?" Spyro shouted.
"For destroying this town you overgrown lizard!" Spitfire responded.
"Destroying the town!?" Spyro shouted back. :Have you lost your mind? I'm trying to protect it!"
"Yeah right!" She shouted.
She then dove down to get another kick in to try and harm him, but he just growled at her, but looked over and saw Spike had shaken the two other Wonderbolts off and was about to hit him with fire, looking up to the speeding mare as she was going to be in the line of fire, so he reached up and caught her, cupping his claws to make sure he didn't crush her as he turned around, letting his back take the brunt of the flames while the other two looked on in terror, right as Spike ran away to some other location. When the flames died down, Spyro looked up and saw Spike was gone, so he opened his claws and allowed Spitfire to fly up to him, surprised at how he willingly protected her.
"W-what? Why?" Spitfire asked. "Why did you protect me?"
"Because despite what you think, I'm not the one destroying this town." Spyro said. "I'm here to protect it from a dragon with Dragon Fever."
He then looked to Spike and saw he was heading to the nearby mountain, taking off into the air to follow him as Spike still had Rarity in his tail while his friends ran close behind. but along the way, Charm Maker walked out from behind a building and got in their way, causing the five ponies to stop.
"Charm Maker, what are you doing?" Twilight asked. "We need to help our friends."
"I'm afraid that's far enough for you imbeciles!" Charm Maker said.
A moment later, green flames erupted from behind her as the flames blocked the way, spooking the girls as more green flames surrounded them, trapping them.
"Charm Maker, what are you doing!?" Twilight asked.
"Ya know this varment?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, you want to know what I'm doing?" Charm Maker asked, the flames surrounding her and revealing herself as Maleficent. "Taking care of the fools who follow an even bigger fool!"
"Maleficent!" Twilight shouted.
Everyone trapped in the flames called their Keyblades, ready for a fight, but the evil enchantress just smiled, laughing t herself as she looked at the five ponies.
"Amusing." Maleficent said. "His little friends now have Keyblades. And here I thought he did all the heavy lifting."
"We got these because we were worthy!" Rainbow Dash said. "And now we're going to kick your flank."
"Hah, I can tell from where I stand you only just begun your training little over a month ago." Maleficent said, raising her staff as a massive storm of meteors appearing above her. "You're even weaker than that fool Sora when he got his Keyblade. I shall end this with my Rain of the-"
She didn't finish as she was suddenly hit from above with a fire ball, making everyone look up as the mystery pony appeared above her and landed between her and the five ponies, removing her cloak to reveal she was rosy pink with a black mane and tail, long like Applejacks, but with an elegant curl about it with a few purple streaks in it tied together with a blue ribbon at the end. Her Cutie Mark, to their surprise, was a Keyblade like Spyro's, but her blade was completely different, calling it as she levitated it with a red aura on the handle.
"Another Keyblade!?" Maleficent asked. "How can this be!? Only six appeared on this world, not seven!"
"Guess I'm the exception." The mystery pony said, raising her blade to the dark fey. "Go, help your friends, I got this wingless fey."
The five ponies were stunned to see another Keyblade wielder and had a lot of questions, but did as she said and ran past Maleficent, who waved her hoof as several Soldiers appeared to stop them, but the ponies easily struck them down and ran past them and towards the mountain while their mystery guest handled Maleficent. At the mountain, Spyro was flying as fast as he could towards Spike and Rarity while the Wonderbolts flew ahead, one of them actually giving the little drake a hair cut, shortening the spikes on his head, which he didn't like. He dumped everything he took into a cave and used the water tower to trap the Wonderbolts in it. He flew as fast as he could to help them out and was about to reengage in a fight, but then saw Spike's eyes change from a greedy dragon to the same friendly dragon they knew and loved, which he so happened to turn back into a baby dragon as the two of them fell. Spyro thankfully managed to appear in time and caught the two of them as they were falling, Rarity looking up and smiling as she saw him while Spike was lost for words.
"Spyro?" Spike asked. "Is... that you?"
"Surprise little guy." Spyro said.
"Wow, Twilight told me you can change into a dragon, but I didn't think you could actually do it." Spike said.
"Surprised me too Spiky Wiky." Rarity said. "He was so dashing when he first transformed into a dragon, looks even more so now."
The baby dragon crossed his arms, jealous of Spyro as he flew back to town where his friends were waiting for them, setting down Rarity and Spike first before changing back.
"You did it Spyro." Twilight said. "You save them."
"All in a days work." Spyro said.
He then looked over and saw a very unhappy Spike sitting on the rails of the bridge, looking at all the destruction he caused as his heart was filled with sadness. Spyro walked over to the depressed dragon, hopping up and learning on the railing, looking at the damage and smiling.
"Spike, I must tell you how absolutely proud of you I am." Rarity said, walking up behind them.
"Proud of me?" Spike asked. "For what? For destroying the whole town? For almost hurting you?"
"The towns not completely destroyed." Spyro said, looking to the village. "A village can always be rebuilt. But life, you only get one. You managed to stop yourself and fight off the Dragon Fever, freeing yourself from its hold."
"He's right Spike." Rarity said. "You freed yourself from the illnesses hold. Though, it was rather sweet that you like me, I'm afraid that-"
"I know Rare." Spike said, smiling. "You are happy with Spyro. And, I should be happy for you. I, guess I can try and live with that."
Before they could say anything else, they heard what sounded like a battle ground, looking to the other side of the bridge to see the mystery pony hand just grabbed Maleficent by the horn and spun her around, throwing her to the ground as she unleashed a massive stream of fire down upon her, the witch landing hard onto the ground, but get blasted by a storm of inferno flames, a twister of fire surrounding the severely injured with, disappearing when the pony landed on the ground, dusting herself off.
"Wow." Spyro said.
"You said it." Rainbow Dash said, hovering over him. "Kinda looks like something you could do."
The group rushed over to see if they could give their new friend a hand, but Maleficent managed to get back up and saw they were coming, shakily getting up as she glared at her opponent.
"This isn't over, little pony." Maleficent said.
A dark corridor then opened up beneath her, dragging her down into darkness as Spyro and his friends approached, saddened to have missed the fun, but now had a better look at their new friend, but most of all, her weapons.
"So, you have a Keyblade?" Spyro asked.
"I do in fact." The pony said, dismissing it. "I call it the Black Rose. Got it when I was twelve."
"Twelve!?" Spyro asked, surprised. "Wow, you're basically the youngest to ever get one. Got mine when I was seventeen."
"We can compare who got their's first later." Rainbow Dash said. "Now, who are you and why'd you help us?"
"I guess introductions are in order." The mystery pony said. She then lifted her head and revealed her eyes were bandaged, confusing them on how she managed to fight and defeat Maleficent without sight when she removed the bandaged, revealing, to their surprise, that she was in fact blind, her eyes gray in color and clouded over. "My name is Rosy Hearts. Keyblade bearer and master of Fire and Nature magic. And..." She then lifted her hoof up, nothing happening at first until they saw, to their complete shock, she had lifted multiple massive chunks of a ruined building. "Force user."
"But... how?" Spyro asked, Posy Hearts lowering the chunks of building. "How's this possible?"
"You probably have a lot of questions for me." Rosy Hearts said. "And I have a lot of answers. So, what do you want to know first?"