Disguised Dreams

Contrary to what the ponies believe, a dragon matures when it begins to embody a sin or a virtue.

Spike was no exception.

Two years ago, on his birthday, A dragon's greed overtook him. He grew monstrous, and thus, became the beast many dragons came to be. For greed was the most common thing.

Most drakes and dragons are usually older, ready to mature before their trait becomes them. Ready to face their shift into adulthood.

Spike was unprepared. Thus, he turned to an existential rampage to rid himself of fear.

And it was the mare of generosity that saved him.

Now, the assistant of Ponyville's librarian was maturing again. At this point, he was only an adolescent, but that's not the point. For it wasn't sin he was being subjected to, rather a virtue.

Defiance.

He would not be a slave to a tyrant's student any longer.

Then there was Fluttershy.

She was sheepish, quiet, and a bit of a recluse from time to time.

And it all started with that race.

When she fell, no one seemed concerned that she was falling to her death.

And in the end, the filly believed death would be a welcome concept.

But those butterflies caught her.

Intentionally or accidentally, she'd never know.

It was the first time she had truly seen beauty.

The first time she had felt a single glimmer of hope.

Then she met angel.

A bunny whose mother was about to die…

She promised the mother she'd care for her little bunny.

The Everfree Forest was dark, and a little chilly.

Spike didn't take it as a good sign.

All he took from his home was a rucksack filled with a few gems.

He tightened his grip on the bag and walked further into the darkness.

Despite the darkness, the Everfree forest was terraformed into a rather peaceful place.

Warblers sung high in the forest foliage. Reeds whistled in the light breezes. In a less dense part of the forest, he saw a two rabbits and their litter of kits. Luna and Chrysalis had done a good job making the Forest a hospitable place.

With the new beauty of the forest, he wondered what the new town would hold. Last time he was in the castle there, he thought a ghost infested the ruins of the palace. It turned out to be Pinkie, but still…

Also, ruins.

He'd been warned that some of his companions would be…different. But he already knew that. Twilight was proof enough about this war changing its citizens.

Somewhere in the distance, the roar of a Timberwolf sounded, reminding Spike he shouldn't dawdle long.

But based on the path getting more hospitable and less plant infested, he would be there soon.

The roar sounded again, but this time, it was much closer. The creature's foul breath was distant, but it was strong enough to make Spike vomit.

Spike bolted but it was too late, the creature caught his scent, and it was hunting him.

He ran off the path, hoping he could lose the Timberwolf in the thick flora, but where he ran, the forest turned stony.

He tripped on a rock, and tumbled into a crevasse.

Spike was trapped inside the plateau.

And just as he finished his assessment of his situation, the Timberwolf dropped down in front of him.

The creature licked its muzzle, Spike may not have been a full grown dragon, but he would make a decent meal.

Then something else arrived.

A pegasus, completely coated in obsidian armor.

The armor was heavily layered on her back. the shiny black stone was also used as padding for its knees even its wings. What fur he could see was bright yellow.

Then there was the mask.

It completely covered the pony's head. Two horns from a ram were plastered, and the majority of it was covered in a crimson paint.

The pegasus jumped into the crevasse with a spear. It let out a war cry, and Spike recognized it as female.

She hopped onto the Timberwolf's back.

The creature roared in an effort to frighten this little annoyance away, but she held strong.

In the end, the pegasus fluttered her wings and shot into the sky, though Spike didn't understand how she could fly with such heavy armor. As she began to fall, she raised her spear. The second she landed, she swung her spear.

Chopping the Timberwolf's head right off.

After the hulking beast fell still, she swiped her spear on the ground, setting it on fire. She threw into the wooden mass.

She turned to Spike, and lifted her helmet.

Pink hair fell, and he found icy blue eyes staring at him.

Fluttershy.

She galloped over to the dragon and hugged him.

"Look at you! You've grown so much!"

He opened his mouth, gestured to the now burning mass of wood, back to Fluttershy, and uttered a simple "What!?"

Fluttershy snickered. "Let's just say I found out healing little animals isn't the only way to help pony kind."

Spike felt as if he didn't belong in the Republic.

He also knew why he was warned about his friends being different.

He had experienced Fluttershy's new intensity first-hoof.

Pinkie was depressed, very much so. She preferred being called Pinkamena now, and she spent most of her time at her home, but Spike didn't know why.

AppleJack was almost the same, but she spent the majority of her time in the castle's library, studying previous equestrian wars and battle strategy. Spike found out he didn't want to mess with her when she was reading.

He didn't exactly knew what he could do.

But after a week of being there, Pinkamena approached with a smile. The first smile he'd seen her flash since before the war, genuine smile, that is.

"Spike, I know you're unhappy. Everyone here was."

"Was?"

Pinkie chuckled and took his claw to her suite. Along the way, she told him of a bat pony who struggled to get to the republic.

She finished when she got to the door.

"This is the fruit of her labour."

She opened the door, and there it was.

A half bat-pony half Changeling filly, nudging letter blocks into a position that said "Pinkee Pi".

She looked extremely young, she could only have been a year younger than the two other foals playing around her.

"Hope!" Pinkamena called.

The tiny filly stumbled clumsily over to her.

"Mummy?"

Pinkamena lifted her up and put her in Spike's arms. "This is Spike, the dragon I liked to talk about, remember?"

"Dragon," Hope repeated. She put her hoof on Spike's snout. "Hi!" she said happily. She smiled widely, revealing two fangs.

"This is Hope, she's three weeks old."

"Three weeks? That can't be! She looks like she's two."

"We can answer that!" Pumpkin and Pound Cake shouted.

"Pwincess Wuna and Chwissy said she matures fast natuwally." said Pound.

"Hope has a TON of magic in her. It makes her gwow." said Pumpkin.

Spike bounced Hope up and down, making her laugh.

Pinkie smiled, maybe things weren't SO bad.