Spike sighs grimly, the little purple dragon waiting anxiously for Twilight to return. He sits on the edge of the kitchen table, kicking his feet. Idly, and looking for a distraction, he wonders exactly why the library is outfitted with living spaces, but his thoughts quickly return to Twilight. With a heaving sigh, he falls back onto the table, muttering to himself.

"They've been gone for three hours... they didn't get hurt, did they? I don't... UGH!" He throws his hands up in frustration, "I don't get it! Why Twilight? Why not, say, the Wonderbolts, or whatever? Why not a professional?" He slides down to the floor, bouncing a bit when he lands. "It's just ridiculous... Why send a scholar to defeat Nightmare Moon? A soldier would work better, wouldn't it?"

Spike's stomach churns slightly, and he fights off the nausea. "Ugh, shouldn't've taken part in Pinkie's party last night... OH WAIT IT'S STILL NIGHT!" He screams in frustration. His stomach churns a little harder, but he doesn't even notice. He just had a worse thought. "What if all this night made it so cold that the Everfree is having a blizzard?!" He shrieks in panic, "What if they all freeze?! Then what?! Then they're all dead, AND we'll ALL follow!"

His worry overtakes him, even as the churning intensifies, until finally, it stops. Spike quickly notices the sudden change. "Wha-AAAUGH!" He doubles over in pain, clutching his stomach, shuddering and spasming weakly as he falls to the floor. The sunlight warms his scales as the sunrise proceeds, but he can hardly feel it over the agony radiating from his core.

His thoughts slow, until he doesn't even think at all, just writhing on the ground, and the pain spreads to all his appendages. They groan in a combination of pain and stress, as his body rebuilds itself, right there on the library floor. He barely notices that his claws seem redder than usual before he loses consciousness.

Spike wakes up with a gasp as somepony dumps a bucket of water on him. He gasps, coughs, and furiously wipes the water from his face. He blinks once, twice, three times to clear his vision, and looks at the pony in front of him. Pink on pink, and poof on poof, Pinkie Pie resembles a pink lemon meringue pie, true to her name.

"Thank you, Ms. Pie," Spike drones, "I appreciate you waking me up." He looks around the library, taking in the mild disaster that is the pile of books Twilight had pulled out looking for the Elements Reference Guide. "I apologize for my rudeness, but I really must clean up this mess." He stands slowly, and stalks toward the mess, only to be stopped by a mass of yellow and pink. "Oh, no you don't, mister," Fluttershy scolds, "You've gone through a growth spurt, and you should be working hard, you should be resting until you're feeling alright."

Spike blinks, looking down at himself. Purple became black, and green became red, along with a much taller physique and more draconic figure. Looking at his back, he notes with mild disappointment that he still has no wings, but files that away for contemplation when he isn't busy. He grips his tail, to find that the spaded tip had become more like the end of a harpoon, mixed with a shark's tail. Rolling his joints, he waits for some spike of pain. There is none.

"I appreciate your concern, Ms. Fluttershy, but I am fine. I feel no soreness of muscle of stiffness of joint. I am fully capable of performing." He moves to continue on to his task, only for Fluttershy to stop him again. "Please? Just for today? I understand that you feel fine, but... please? Just in case?" Spike pauses for a moment, thinking. "Very well, Ms. Fluttershy, I shall rest today, if Twilight allows. You are the animal expert after all, and I am not exactly a pony." He turns to a lavender unicorn, Twilight, "If I could be-"

Twilight waves him off, "You can have today off, Spike. I imagine that after all the stress of last night and your sudden growth spurt, you need one." Spike nods, but recalls something. "Would we not be due back in Canterlot shortly? I would hate to disappoint her Highness." Twilight frowns at the consistency of his... odd speech, but puts a smile back on her face. "She's actually assigned me to stay here with my new friends and report to her what I learn about friendship."

Spike nods. "It seems the rumors of her Highness' students being... reclusive... is more based in fact than she might lead us to believe, if she should think of such a thing. It does not seem like a spur of the moment thought." Twilight pauses for a moment with a grimace. "Still, Twilight, it is good to see you back here and healthy. I would appreciate it if you might tell me what happened in your encounter with Nightmare Moon."

Twilight smiles. "Sure thing, Spike, but right after that I'm going to research dragons. I want to know what happened to you." Spike bows his head slightly. "Of course." He moves to climb the stairs, only to quickly encounter difficulty. Since pony towns, and therefore pony public buildings, are built with ponies in mind, the stairs are more than a little awkward for Spike to step on and try to climb.

Twilight watches Spike in concern as her prismatic friend Rainbow Dash tries her best not to laugh. Pinkie giggles alongside the alabaster Rarity as his claws fail to find purchase on the tenth step, and he has little reaction other than a dispassionate grunt of unconcerned effort. After several attempts, he decides to skip that step, and fails to find purchase on the next one as well. Though the tenth caused him mere difficulty, the eleventh sent him tumbling a proportionally small distance down to the floor.

"Heeeeee..." Rainbow manages to stifle all but one little giggle as Spike looks at the group, balanced on his neck, tail dangling in front of his face. "Stairs are unpleasant."

Author's Note

The first few chapters will be short and focus on the humor of Spike's sudden transformation. Twilight won't realize exactly how serious Spike's situation is for several chapters, at which point the chapters will become longer, and the "Harmonizing" thing I mentioned wont happen until Chapter 8 or 9. Any suggestions, guys? Also, if you're having trouble imagining Spike's new figure, think the Pokémon Charmeleon.

Gods be with you,
-Palladium