Chapters Chapter 1 - A Noticable Change
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,
Chapter 2 - Pinkie's Basement
"You want me to what, again?" Spike asks, rather particularly unamused by Pinkie's insistence. They stand behind Sugarcube Corner, in Sugarcube Alley, an alley that Spike is completely, utterly, totally, fully, entirely, wholly sure wasn't there yesterday. Spike had earlier that day pondered the... instability... of the town's infrastructure, as far as the consistency of the layout is concerned, anyhow.
Pinkie gives an exasperated sigh, as though she's had to explain it a thousand times, quite literally, despite having only explained once. "I need you to help me clean and load my party cannon!" She whisper-yells in his ear. Spike stares blankly, his blackened scales blending nicely with the surrounding darkness, giving him and his crimson accents a truly menacing and diabolical appearance.
A diabolical appearance quite utterly ripped to pieces by his attitude. "I am afraid that your words and my ears are... uncooperative. I seem to be hearing you requesting my assistance in the maintenance of a cannon." Pinkie smiles widely and nods. Spike sighs resignedly, rubbing his temples with one of his hands, and jerks into smooth motion, grabbing his bottle of water, and nodding to Pinkie for her to lead the way.
Pinkie opens the door, and steps aside bowing deeply while gesturing for Spike to utilize the glorious and regal back entrance. Spike raises an eyebrow at the sheer oddity of his temporary companion, but shakes it off, knowing full well, that trying to understand the eccentric never ends well. After all, he was there when Twilight nearly went insane trying to decipher Starswirl the Bearded's personal journal. Spike gives a slight, wistful smile at the memory as he steps into the kitchen.
Pinkie nudges his thigh, grabbing his attention, and redirects him to the basement door. How does Spike know that this is the basement door? Well, the fact that it's open to show downward stairs is a pretty good clue. The fact that the door is labelled 'Basement' on the frame helps too. "Ms. Pie... How did you get the cannon down these stairs?" He asks quietly, genuinely curious.
"I don't know!" She cheerfully replies, and Spike raises an eyebrow. He shakes his head dismissively, before carefully walking, though, due to scale issues, it is more like lumbering, down the stairs.
The basement is an odd sight for such a cheerful town. Lit oddly by red gemstone lanterns, giving it a horrifyingly disturbing, crimson glow. The cannon itself looks to be coated in blood, while Pinkie's mane has been tied back in a bun... a bun that makes her usual grin look horrifyingly disturbing. In short, Spike was particularly unnerved by the environment.
"Ms. Pie... This... 'Party Cannon'... It is not an actual weapon... is it?" His teeth seem as bloody as the cannon appears to be, and though it would unnerve a pony of a normal disposition, Pinkie is completely oblivious, the pink mare more focused on how cool it looks. She shakes herself from ogling his teeth for long enough to explain, "No, no. It shoots artillery shells of FUN, not death."
"FUN could be interpreted as death, Ms. Pie." Spike looks around the room nervously, hoping for some sort of out in case of... emergency. Not that he doesn't trust Pinkie, mind, but, he doesn't trust Pinkie. Nopony is quite that happy all the time.
"Oh, don't be such a silly-billy, Spikey! Death isn't fun, it's sad, and boring," Her smile slowly fades, "...and traumatizing..." It returns full force. "Anyway, help me find the main light switch, will ya, Spikey? It's around here somewhere!" When Spike backs away to search without taking his eyes off Pinkie, she turns to do her own search, muttering, "I swear, the thing moves on its own, like a roach or something..."
'I'm glad Twilight was busy today,' Spike nervously thinks to himself, 'Dragons are tougher than ponies... This eeriness would have given Twilight a heart attack...' The main lights suddenly come on, bathing the grey concrete room in light, revealing the cannon to be blue... and completely covered in red frosting, rather than blood. "Yeah," Pinkie enunciates like a car repairman, "It ain't much, but she gets the job done. Needs a bit of a cleanin' fore she can go around blastin' tables fully loaded with sweets at the drop of a hat, but..."
Spike stares lightly at the unbalanced mare. "How are you an Element of Harmony?" He thinks aloud, but catches himself and finishes with a respectful, "Ms. Pie." Pinkie trots into the other room, a look of consideration on her face. 'How... AM I an Element?' she ponders, grabbing a bucket and brush. 'I give ponies fun, I guess,' she considers as she fills the bucket while picking up a wrench. 'Then again, I'm rather... unnerving... and random... or at least that's what ponies say...' She collects a few bottles of industrial soap, laughing a bit humorlessly at the thought of the cannon's latest, and only, misfire.
"OH CELESTIA!" "The HORROR, the HORROR!" "AW JEEZ! Now my suit is covered with cake. Mmm. Cake." "WHERE DID ALL THIS FROSTING COME FROM?!" "THIS IS GOING TO TAKE FOREVER TO CLEAN UP!" "Hey, Pinkie, could you help me scrape this frosting off? I wanna put it in a bowl and eat it." "HAZARD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" "YEAH, QUIT FRATERNIZING WITH THE ENEMY YOU TURNCOAT!" "I just wanna eat frosting..."
Health Hazard is such a nice stallion. Pinkie pauses to wonder when she left the other room. Then she notices Spike's slack-jawed expression, one that looks out of place now that, after a full two weeks of Mr. I'm Gonna Speak in Monotone and Never Use Contractions, she's rather used to a mostly blank look on his face. She shrugs, getting to work on scraping the icing into a bucket. She pauses with a groan that quickly turns to concern when Spike collapses.
She rushes over to check him for anything wrong, but upon finding nothing, she shrugs, figuring that he must have mentally exhausted himself. All that emotion after two weeks of nothing must be tiring to anypony... and any dragon. She gets herself back to work scraping off the frosting, making sure it all gets in the bucket, and when she finishes, she dumps the bucket in the sink in the corner, and washes it out. She returns, using the wrench to loosen the bolts in the chamber, opening the back for her to stuff the party stuff in.
She isn't the only pony who never really wondered why she can just jam stuff in the cannon and it all shoot out and arrange itself perfectly, making sure that everything is all evenly spaced so that nopony... and nobody... gets left out of the festivities. Most just assume it an enchantment, a persistent spell on an inanimate object, with some sort of variable compensator. In truth, it's just a regular old cannon, nothing special, short barrel and excessively blue paint job, but an ordinary cannon, and Pinkie is just really bloody amazing with cannons.
After loading all the stuff in the cannon, she closes it up, and tightens the bolts, before prepping to polish the exterior. She looks over at the till unconscious Spike, and says, "Thanks for the moral support, unconscious guy!" The weirdest bit? It's genuine thanks. Soon enough, after a bottle of polish is exhausted of it contents, though to be fair it was at, like, twenty percent capacity, and the application of a really nice rag, the cannon is polished. As soon as Pinkie nods to herself, and preps to congratulate herself on a job well done, Spike wakes up with a start, and panics loudly, but still in a rather unnerving monotone, "PINKIE IS USING MAGIC!"
Giving the pair of red dots that differentiate his eyes from his face a look, Pinkie tells Spike, "I'm an Earth Pony. I can't do magic." Spike just shakes his head, eyes wide in abject, yet unenthusiastic, terror, and points above Pinkie. "Then who is levitating the tools?" Pinkie glances upwards to find every tool she had used floating above her, ready to be grabbed unconsciously, and then used, most likely equally unconsciously. "'Huh,' she mutters, staring at the tools, 'so I am,' before passing out," she mutters, staring at the tools, before passing out.
Author's Note
I'd like to apologize for saying it'd be out Wednesday. That was clearly not the case, as it is now Saturday.
Gods be with you,
Chapter 3 - Twilight Panics
"Pesonally," Twilight lectures her friends, "I think it would be in our best interests not to use this new magic too much until we know what it does, and how it works, EXACTLY. In other words, we'll test it's capabilities in a safe environment, so we don't get hurt." "LAME!" Rainbow exclaims, and Spike cuffs the prismatic pegasus upside the head. He turns to his lavender boss, and says, "I apologize for my roughness, Twilight." He turns back to Rainbow. "You know this is important, Ms. Dash. Do not use this strange magic until we have a safe environment set up."
"It's still lame," She mutters, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. Spike gives her a level stare, promising that she will regret trying out her new magic in an uncontrolled environment, not because of anything Spike might do, but because of something the magic might do, like give her guy junk. She sheepishly backs off, speaking in a low tone, "Of course, the danger is rather much, even for me."
Spike scoffs dismissively at Rainbow, returning to his task of straightening the books while everypony but Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity file out. Rarity pulls Twilight to the side, asking, "Should we not teach them how to properly use their new magic?" Twilight hears clearly the concern in her friend's voice, but dismisses it. "We'll cover that Friday, so for now, just try not to use that variation." Rarity reluctantly leaves, and Rainbow places a foreleg on Spike's shoulder, adopting a cocky grin, "So how about them sports?" "Which ones?" Spike promptly replies, to which Rainbows sputters. "Sorry," She apologizes, "But nopony ever really answers straight, they try to make something up."
A strange sound echoes from Spike's throat, and it takes Rainbow a minute to realize that Spike is laughing. "HOLY HOREAPPLES! Twilight! I've revived Spike's humor!" And just like that he stops. "Dammit, dude." With a huff, she yells out to Twilight again, "Never mind, it died again!"
"It does that." Spike responds simply.
"Shut up." Rainbow scowls at the dragon for a minute, scoffs, and flies away. Spike stares after her through the broken window. With a sigh, he grabs a broom and sweeps up the mess. "So, Twilight," He begins slowly, "What do you think that the strange magic actually does?" Twilight puts a hoof to her mouth, thinking about it as Spike pieces the window back together. "I'm not sure. It could be just like regular unicorn magic, only usable by all races so long as they're connected to the Elements of Harmony," Spike runs a claw over the cracks in the glass to make sure it's just right, "It could be the effects of some sort of parasite that latched onto us after we were weakened by using the Elements," Spike nods to himself, taking a deep breath, "And then there's the possibility that it's just our magics sharing themselves between us all, using the Elements as a conduit."
Spike breathes out, melting the glass and fusing the shards into a single pane once more. He wipes his mouth of the liquid dribbling from the side, and turns back to Twilight. "These are all certainly possible. However, Twilight, there is the possibility that the Elements are not so benevolent as they seem. Just before the sun rose, about when you used your Elements," He gestures to himself, "This happened. Maybe it had something to do with our own connection, the Elements cutting it off to make its own, or," He points up, "It might have a mind all its own, and does not want its precious bearers communing with a beastly dragon, and so is trying to alienate me with a change in appearance and mentality."
Twilight stares up at him. "I... But... WHAT?!" She slowly works herself into a panic, "But... That doesn't make sense, the elements turned Luna into a good pony... turned... pony... OH NO WHAT IF YOU'RE RIGHT?! WAIT!! YOU KNEW YOU WERE ACTING DIFFERENT?!" Spike grabs Twilights face, the whole thing fitting in his palm. "Calm," he simply states, waiting for her breathing to become regular again. Releasing her face, he explains.
"I knew I was acting differently. I went from a comic book geek to a rather... unamusing butler sort of personality overnight. That does not happen. That does not go unnoticed. Of course I knew. But, it felt right. I didn't try and be my old self. Yes, I still like comics and gems, but no, I will not actively pursue either unless I have the day off, unlike before." Twilight gawks. Not at anything in particular, but she gawks ahead. It's evident to Spike that she is processing all this, trying to remain calm like he'd asked.
She shakes herself free of her stupor, and Spike smiles happily. It's good to see her calm and collected after bad news, it does wonders for his- oh, no, she's tearing through the library like no tomorrow in search of dragon books. The smile falls of his face with a heaving, disappointed sigh. "Well. Alright, then. I will... clean. I suppose."
Several hours pass of Spike cleaning up the continually growing mess that Twilight makes in her search for knowledge of dragons and how they work, but is completely and utterly stumped and disheartened when she found one entry on dragons in the entire library that was more specific than a definition or a description.
Dragons are highly susceptible to depression should their hoard be stolen or lost. This is why most dragons will defend their hoards with their lives, often dying to protect it, because their lives are often not worth living without one.
That's it. That's all she found. Spike didn't lose his hoard, so the information is utterly useless. She lets out a wail of failure. There is a difference between a wail of despair, and one of failure. A wail of despair is what you give when you have no hope. A wail of failure is what you give when you have even less than that. Needless to say, Twilight is rather unhappy.
"I'll never fix thisss..." She sobs into the table. Spike looks at her, then looks at the calendar, then at the ceiling, then back at the calendar, back at her, and then with a jolt of shock, his head snaps back to the calendar. "Twilight, "He mutters in his now usual monotone, "You need to see this..."
Twilight groans, throwing her head back with many more tears, "What is it national 'Twilight Bucked Up' Day?!" Spike just stares at his crying sister, a bit uncomfortably, and after a pause, slowly begins, "...Noooo... BUT. In three days, the Dragon Migration will pass over Ponyville." Twilight's tears don't dry, or come anywhere close, but her ears perk up. "Dragon... Migration...?"
"Yes... I have heard of this before. There are a large number of dragons that fly over Equestria in the summer every... three years?" He flips through the long-term calendar. "Yes. Three years. If we follow them to their destination, we may find the answers we seek." Twilight still cries, but she has a big smile. "Thanks, Spike. I'll gather the girls tomorrow, and we'll see what they think. If they don't want to come, then I'll be there with you, don't worry."
"Hmm." He smiles gratefully, but his already black scales seem to darken. "There... is yet a problem. This... abnormal magic. If we do not get it under control as soon as possible, then... We may be in danger. It might be better to wait for three years to get these answers, than to get them now, and come back to find Ponyville in shambles, brambles, or possibly just as a pile of nothing but ash."
Twilight sucks air through her teeth, pupils contracting at the thought as she looks up at the ebony dragon, fearfully picturing the first, the second, the third, then all three at once. She shivers, and Spike grabs her before she can have another panic attack. He pats her head, running his claws through her dark blue mane, and sets her down when she's calm. "There is a third option. Knowing you, I might as well go ahead and do it."
He moves to a table, writes a short letter, then burns it. "You're contacting Celestia?" Twilight asks softly. Spike nods. "Yes. She will be here for the briefing tomorrow. I will inform Ms. Pie, and she will undoubtedly inform everyone." He pauses, then clarifies. "About the briefing, not Celestia. Ms. Pie will not know until she gets here." He moves to walk out the door, but pauses. "Do not concern yourself over the mess. I will fix that. Perhaps begin construction of a stable environment for practice? Maybe the basement? After all... Trying new spells tends to burn things. We live in a tree. Just put two and two together, Twilight. I'll be back." And with that, he walks out.
Author's Note
As promised, about... *Checks Clock* Three years ago! Wait. *Checks accurate clock* Two HOURS ago!
Gods be with you,