Growing Heart

Twilight paced back and forth. She looked up at the clock on the castle library wall then levitated the calendar that was resting on her desk closer to check the date. It felt as though she had checked for the date 20 times on that same day. She sighed and placed the calendar back onto the desk. "Okay sugar cube, what's wrong?" Applejack asked, sitting on the floor, along with the others, resting on either the floor pillows or chairs. The rest looked at Twilight with worried looks, having a feeling of what Twilight was actually thinking.

"Huh? Oh. Sorry girls. It's just…" Twilight started.

"Is it about Spike?" Rainbowdash asked.

"Yes. It's been months now and we still have a few days before he comes back! And…"

"And you're afraid that Spike might be different aside from his look like those meanie dragons from the migration and be all jerky and mean to the other ponies and us instead of the sweet nice Spike we know and love?" Pinkie said in one breath, inhaling a deep gulp of air after giving her exact explanation of what Twilight was thinking.

"Y-yes…" Twilight stared at Pinkie Pie before snapping out of it. "I'm worried that he would change more…"

"Oh darling. I'm sure that after we see him, Spike will still be the sweet, cutesy woosy dragon we all know." Rarity said, reassuring Twilight.

"I suppose." Twilight looked out the window. Pinkie sprang up. "We still have a few days before he comes back! That is still enough time to throw him a 'welcome back' PARTY!" She shrieked the last part, bouncing in excitement.

Fluttershy nodded. "And he would be so happy to see us again after being asleep for so long."

Twilight smiled."And we'll be greeting him with open hooves. I just hope Spike is okay, after sleeping all alone for so long…" She looked out the window again, seeing the snow, or the last of it fading away. Spring was coming, since Spike decided to sleep almost the beginning of fall. "Please be okay…"

Darkness. The first thing that Spike saw was darkness. He looked around, seeing more darkness. His eyes are open, a bit drowsy from the long sleep. He yawned a bit before stretching out his limbs. Slight pops were heard in the space he was in, the joints in his limbs finally moving for the first time in months. "Man, that felt gooooood. But I don't feel any different…" He got up and found the rock that was blocking the way to keep anypony out and started pushing it away. The rock felt lighter than usual, it was a bit heavy when he moved it in place before he started his hibernation. The first rays of light flooded the small cave, blinding the young drake for the moment. He moved a hand to shield his eyes and noticed that his hand was bigger. His eyes went wide and he started to look over himself.

He was taller. MUCH taller. He still had his purple and green scales but he noticed that his build was a mix between slim but with some sort of muscle build. His chest was more defined and his shoulders were brouder. And his arms looked thicker and his tail was longer with a slight scale tiff at the tip. He reached up and touched the scales on his head and behind his back. They were bigger and tougher. As he reached more, he felt slight bumps on either side. Weird. He went back into the cave he slept in and found a shiny large gem, using its surface as a mirror and saw his facial features. His muzzle was longer and his face was firmer, almost the same structure as Big Mac's. In other words, he was one good looking dragon.

"It worked… IT WORKED!" He cheered and jumped into the air. His tail wagged as he danced around a bit. "I can't wait to show the others!" He quickly put the rock back in front of the cave to be sure his stuff doesn't get stolen and ran off. He jumped and swerved through the trees, smiling as how fast he is moving. How excited he was, he didn't notice somepony was walking about in a familiar spot. "OOF!" Both figures grunted and Spike fell, the other falling ontop of him.

Clearing his head, he looked to see who he ran into. His cheeks tinted with blush when he saw it was Milkyway. Milkyway shook her head and looked down to meet Spikes eyes. "SPIKE?! Is that you?!" Her eyes were wide as she looked at him, not believing this was the same dragon she met months back. "M-Milkyway!" Spike stood up and help her onto her hooves so he could get back on his feet. As he did, Milkyway smiled and jumped to hug the drake. "Oh Celestia Spike I can't believe it's you! I mean, look at you!" She laughed a bit as she let go and took a few steps back to look at him better. He was taller, much taller than her!

"Yeah, it's me." Spike said sheeply as he rubbed the back of his head. "Has it really been four months?" Milkyway nodded. "Yes. It was sort of quiet without you. After you visiting my shop so many times, I ended up talking to air after I forgot you were sleeping." Milkyway chuckled, Spiked chuckled a bit. "But it's so good to have you back Spike." She smiled at him, making Spike feel that familiar feeling again. "Same here Milkyway. I was heading to Ponyville to see my friends. My guess they're at the castle. Do you want to come? I never really got to introduce you to them."

Milkyways eyes widen a bit. "Really? As in meeting the one of the princesses and the mares that saved everypony?" Spike nodded. "Even though they have their moments or titles, they are nice and are like anypony. So what do you say?" Milkyway pondered a bit, then nodded. "Of course! Let's go to my shop first and get some of my flavored milk to celebrate!" Spike nodded and smiled. "Sounds like a plan!"

"How are those streamers coming Pinkie?" Twilight was levitating some the decorations onto the walls of the castle, turning her head to where the excited pinky pony was to see her firing her party cannon like crazy. Every bang shot out confetti, balloons and streamers that decorated all the places they were shot at in no time at all. "Almost dooooone!" Pinkie called out. AppleJack and Rarity were setting up the snacks on the table while Fluttershy and Rainbowdash settled up the banner on the root chandler that read 'Welcome back Spike!.'

Fluttershy tied her end onto one of the roots. "My goodness, I can't wait to see how happy Spike will be when he sees this." She timidly said. "Yeah! He's gonna have a cow seeing this!" Rainbowdash boasted.

Twilight smiled. "It looks like everything is ready, so now the only thing to do is to go wake and bring Spike." At those words, there was a knock at the door. The girls looked t each other and were confused as to who that was. They heard the doors opening and heard two different steps. One was obviously from a pony but the others were heavier. The visitors finally reached where the others were and all six mares gasped. "SPIKE?!"