Cider Number Five

The party at SugarCube Corner was in full swing. Rainbow Dash was celebrating her reunion with her friends Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. The five ponies had upstaged her by posing as The Mysterious Mare Do Well and then four of the five followed up with an extremely humiliating prank. Rainbow Dash was miserable after both events but her mood was brought back up by the help of her best friend Gilda the griffon and her former enemy Lightning Dust.

Lightning Dust was also a big focus of the party. While she had lived in Ponyville for a couple weeks she had never been seen by anypony in town. Gilda was the only one that knew her. The daredevil pony had kept herself cooped up in her house and if she ever had to go out in public she always traveled in disguise. However when her former friend Rainbow Dash was humiliated, Lightning Dust put her fears aside and helped the rainbow maned pegasus. Rainbow Dash returned the favor by defending the daredevil from an angry mob of ponies that wanted to hurt her. Lightning Dust had also told Rainbow Dash her life story which resulted in the light blue pegasus befriending and forgiving her.

Gilda and Lightning Dust did everything they could do to help Rainbow Dash. When she was confronted by her former friends, Rainbow Dash told them off and explained that she had always had a big ego but she swallowed her pride to avoid being kicked out of Ponyville and to maintain the friendships between herself and her five friends. The other five ponies realized what they had done and they apologized to Rainbow Dash and made sure that she knew that she that could always be herself around them. This combined with some well thought out gifts caused Rainbow Dash to forgive her former friends and their friendships to be rekindled.

This was what the party was celebrating. Rainbow Dash had gotten back together with her five friends and Lightning Dust was being welcomed into Ponyville. At first many ponies eyed the daredevil suspiciously, but when they saw her talking cheerfully to Gilda, Rainbow Dash, and other ponies they began to relax and accept her. The party just kept getting more and more fun. Everypony was enjoying themselves.

"Hey Dash." Lightning Dust began. "How often do ya have these kinds of parties?"

"You wouldn't believe it Lightning." Rainbow Dash replied. "There are parties for reasons you couldn't think of."

"Sometimes Pinkie throws a party just 'cause the last one was a good party." Gilda added.

"So there's a party whenever something good happens?" Lightning Dust asked. Her two friends nodded and the daredevil grinned. "Sounds like my kind of town."

Lightning Dust soon found herself surrounded by three very excited fillies. They introduced themselves as Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom. They called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they were very eager to hear about how Lightning Dust got her own cutie mark.

"Let me think." the daredevil began. The three little fillies waited eagerly for her to begin and they certainly weren't the only ones. Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and the rest of the Mane Six were all listening intently.

Lightning Dust had a flashback to when she was flying many years ago before she attended Wonderbolts Academy. She kept the sad and bitter details of her life to a minimum so that her story would be appropriate for the three fillies. Lightning Dust flew through the skies until something incredible caught her eye. A rainbow very far in the distance was shooting down from the sky and it created a massive explosion.

"I had never seen anything so awesome in my whole life." Lightning Dust told the ponies that surrounded her. "When I saw that rainbow I swore to myself that one day I'd fly as fast as the pony that created it."

Lightning Dust continued her story and said that she kept up her training for weeks. She never let herself forget the rainbow that she had seen. She drilled the image of it into her mind and let it inspire her. She would fly as fast as that pony one day. She pushed herself to the absolute limit and then something incredible happened. She flew so fast that she had a mach cone surrounding her body. Behind her was a trail that looked just like a bolt of lightning. The young daredevil was stunned. Was she really flying that fast? She was relishing in the speed and thrill of her flight as she soared upwards and did a bunch of loops, rolls, and other stunts. The bolt of lightning followed her every move. All of a sudden Lightning Dust got an idea. She grinned to herself as she flew.

Lightning Dust gathered her speed until she was certain that she couldn't go any faster. She flew high into the sky and then soared back down. Her speed was astounding. The wind was whipping through her mane and stinging her eyes. Lightning Dust continued her flight. This plan had to work. She saw the ground rapidly approaching and she sped up. She flew at breathtaking speeds and then something awe inspiring occurred. Lightning Dust felt a strange sensation and then she was pushed forwards at even faster speeds. Behind her was a huge explosion of lightning. The young daredevil landed and looked at what remained of her handiwork. She grinned to herself. It wasn't the same as the rainbow that she had seen the other day, but it was still awesome.

"I'll call it the Lightning Strike." the young daredevil pony said to herself proudly. She gazed admiringly at the very spot where the Lightning Strike was until it finally disappeared. Then she casually glanced at her flank and her jaw dropped in shock. Instead of being bare like it always had been, her flank now bore a cutie mark. It depicted a bolt of lightning as well as some white stars. The young daredevil pony was extremely pleased with and proud of herself. She had created a phenomenon and earned her cutie mark in one day.

"And that's how I got my cutie mark." Lightning Dust finished.

The three fillies exchanged awestruck looks as the daredevil finished her story. They were always very enthusiastic about getting their cutie marks and hearing about how Lightning Dust had earned hers only fueled their desires. All of Lightning Dust's other friends had looks of amazement and admiration on their faces. Rainbow Dash was particularly stunned by the tale that her friend had told them.

"Lightning Dust that rainbow that you saw was a Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow Dash said in an amazed tone. "My Sonic Rainboom." The rainbow maned pegasus was shocked that she had been the inspiration of yet another friend's cutie mark. Lightning Dust's eyes widened at Rainbow Dash's exclamation.

"I should have known." she said. "Only a pony like you could have pulled something like that off."

All of a sudden the doors to the bakery swung open and Spike stood in the doorway.

"Spike!" everypony greeted in unison.

"What's going on?" the young dragon asked in a confused tone.

Pinkie Pie ran towards him and rapidly explained the situation to him. This only confused the young drake even further so Twilight Sparkle explained it to him in a much calmer voice. Spike accepted the reasons for the big party and after introducing himself to Lightning Dust, he helped himself to a glass of cider. Little did the dragon know that there was something very wrong with the cider. While didn't have any alcohol in it, it wasn't a normal glass of cider. This drink was expired. The young dragon paid no mind to the somewhat strange taste of the cider since it still tasted pretty good despite its expired state. He finished his first glass and refilled it.

The party just kept going on and on. Everypony was enjoying themselves greatly. Lightning Dust started to get along well with Rainbow Dash's other friends. Pinkie Pie's antics put a grin on the daredevil's face while Twilight Sparkle talked to her about her cutie mark. Fluttershy was soft spoken but she was still fun to be around. Lightning Dust also really hit it off well with Applejack. After only a few minutes together, the daredevil and the cowgirl were laughing and joking as if they had known each other for a hundred years. All of a sudden Rarity approached Lightning Dust.

"Lightning Dust." she began. "Your mane is wonderful. I think it would look beautiful with some of the dresses that I have designed. Would you care to model them for me?"

Lightning Dust held back her laugh as she replied to the unicorn.

"I don't suppose any of them have a Wonderbolts design?" she asked. "That's the kind of outfit that I'd model."

Rarity groaned and stormed away mumbling about how every friend that Rainbow Dash introduced her to was a carbon copy of the rainbow maned pegasus herself. Lightning Dust was a little surprised by the unicorn's reaction but she shrugged it off and kept partying. Meanwhile Spike had finished his fourth glass of cider and filled it up for a fifth time. A clock then chimed eleven o' clock at night. It was definitely time to end the party. Everypony in the room said their goodbyes and after cleaning up, they were out the door and off to their homes. Spike downed his fifth and final glass of cider before he left with Twilight Sparkle.

Little did he know that he would soon experience the effects of the expired drink.

Twilight Sparkle arrived back at her castle with Spike. Trixie Lulamoon, who had been living with them, greeted the duo. The three friends talked for a while until Spike finally passed out. The two ponies took the hint and decided to go to sleep as well. Twilight Sparkle carried the young dragon to his basket and laid him down. Trixie then covered Spike with a blanket and the drake slept peacefully. The two ponies said their good nights to each other and they went off to their rooms and into bed.

That's when the strange effects of the expired cider began to kick in.

Spike turned over in his sleep and he had a very strange dream.

In the dream, Spike was standing inside SugarCube Corner. He was standing behind the curtain that hid the stage from the view of the crowd of ponies. He was waiting for his moment. Soon enough a pony gave him a signal and he walked through the curtain. He approached the microphone, tapped on it, and spoke.

"Fillies and gentlecolts." he said. "This is Cider Number Five."

All of a sudden music started playing. Spike waited for just the right moment before he began.

"One, two, three, four, five" he sang.

"Everypony in the sky, so come on let's fly,

To the cider store round the corner.

The mares say they want some apple juice,

But I really don't wanna,

Go broke, like I did last week.

I must stay clear, 'cause juice ain't cheap."

Some upbeat music was playing as the dragon continued his song.

"I like Pinkie Pie, Lightning Dust, Gilda, and Trixie." he sang.

"And when they drink some cider you know they're always happy.

So what can I do for Celestia and Luna?

Cider always sends me to the moon.

Any flavor's fine, they're all good let me chug it

And sit at the drum set!"

Spike nodded his head to the beat for a moment and then he continued singing.

"A little bit of Applejack her eyes shine.

A little bit of Rarity she's so fine.

A little bit of Trixie this whole week.

A little bit of Rainbow's what I seek.

A little bit of Gilda she's got looks.

A little bit of Twilight with her books.

A little bit of Fluttershy by the lake.

A little bit of you makes me your drake." he sang in a voice that was much unlike his own.

Spike stayed silent and nodded his purple head to the beat for a while.

"Cider Number Five!" he sang.

The music played for a couple more moments and then Spike sang again.

"Fly up, fly down, move your wings all around." he sang.

"Leave your troubles at the door.

Put your hooves on the floor.

Fly one foot left and one foot right.

Soar when you're inside and soar when you're outside.

Stomp your hooves once and stomp your hooves twice.

And if you're havin' fun then just do it all night."

The music played for a while and then Spike sang again.

"A little bit of Applejack her eyes shine." he sang.

"A little bit of Rarity she's so fine.

A little bit of Trixie this whole week.

A little bit of Rainbow's what I seek.

A little bit of Gilda she's got looks.

A little bit of Twilight with her books.

A little bit of Fluttershy by the lake.

A little bit of you makes me your drake."

"Drum set!" he sang.

"The drum set!

Cider Number Five!"

After these lines he let out a short laugh.

"A little bit of Applejack her eyes shine." he sang.

"A little bit of Rarity she's so fine.

A little bit of Trixie this whole week.

A little bit of Rainbow's what I seek.

A little bit of Gilda she's got looks.

A little bit of Twilight with her books.

A little bit of Fluttershy by the lake.

A little bit of you makes me your drake."

"I do all I do," he sang.

"To have the love of a mare like you.

We can run and we can fly,

'Cause you and me gonna rule the sky."

Spike stayed silent and let the instruments play their music for a couple moments.

"Cider Number Five!" he sang as the last notes were played and the song ended. Everypony in the bakery cheered and applauded as the purple dragon took a bow and the curtain closed.

Meanwhile inside Twilight Sparkle's castle, Trixie Lulamoon woke from her sleep. She walked off into the kitchen and filled up a glass with some water. She was feeling a bit thirsty and the water did her some good. She was about to go back into her room and fall asleep again when she heard some soft noises. She peeked her head into the main room of the castle and saw Spike singing. The showmare grinned to herself, quickly went into Twilight Sparkle's room, and shook the alicorn awake.

"Trixie what-" Twilight Sparkle began, but the blue unicorn put a hoof on her lips.

"Shhh." Trixie whispered. "Keep silent and follow Trixie."

The blue unicorn left the room with Twilight Sparkle right behind her. Trixie lead Twilight Sparkle into the main room of the castle and she had to put her hoof over the alicorn's mouth again to prevent her from laughing. Twilight Sparkle had tears in her purple eyes as she watched her assistant sing and dance as if nopony was watching.

"This is hilarious." Twilight Sparkle whispered as she fought the urge to burst out laughing.

"This amuses Trixie greatly." the showmare agreed. "Twilight tell Trixie that you have a camera."

"Even better." the alicorn responded. She ran off and came back with a camera. "This one records video." she said with a grin. She pressed a button on it and started it up at the same time that Spike started his song for the third time. The two ponies recorded Spike's song and once he finished, Twilight Sparkle pressed the button again to stop the recording. Then Twilight Sparkle and Trixie agreed to keep this between themselves and they went to bed. As they laid down on their beds they could hear Spike singing his song for the fourth time.

The End!

Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story. I had this idea and I decided to upload it. I think this is probably the funniest and at the same time dumbest thing that I have ever written. In case you were wondering the song that Spike is singing is a parody of Mambo Number Five by Lou Bega. That song is awesome and I would highly recommend that you listen to it because that will give you a better feel for the rhythm of the song. Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always appreciated.