"Good morning, Twilight!" Spike said.

It had just turned eight o'clock in Ponyville and already, Twilight was up and working on her studies. Despite the odd wave of her hoof, Twilight gave no response to Spike. She was way too busy reading some of the manuals that her mentor and yet another letter from Celestia was on its way to Twilight and once again the study bench that Twilight always worked on was covered by a sea of books, ready for learning and to be read from front to back. Paper, quills, ink and mathematical compasses were laid out in the correct places and positions and in close range for their owner to use. It looked like it would be a very busy day of learning for Twilight, but the lavender unicorn was ready for any form of learning.

"Hello, Spike!" Twilight replied, "Could you kindly pour me some of my favourite tea, please? I will need it to concentrate."

"Of course, Twilight." Spike wandered off into the kitchen, where he spotted the teapot and Twilight's favourite cup. He turned the kettle on, before looking through the cupboard to see if there were any teabags and sugar left. Spike quickly glanced his way through the shelves of storage, before spotting the teabags and sugar pot. He pulled them out and started making Twilight's tea.

After the tea was ready, Spike poured the tea into the cup and placed it on a tray, along with the sugar and milk. He walked over to Twilight and placed the tray next to her study bench. Twilight smiled, before giving her favourite assistance a friendly poke.

"Thanks, Spike." Twilight said, "This tea will really help me for the time being."

"Do you know when Princess Celestia is going to send that letter of hers to you?" Spike asked, "I mean, we've been waiting for days and there's been no response at all."

Twilight sighed, blowing the strands of mane that were falling into her eyes. Everypony knew that Twilight was not a good waiter and that she was too busy trying to find a friendship lesson at least every week, rather than trying to relax with her friends that she met in the last year. For the majority of the day, Twilight would sit in the Golden Oak Library and read, study, eat and sleep at her own pleasure. Ponies in Ponyville just couldn't believe that even though their newest resident had saved them from the deadly Nightmare Moon, Twilight was still an unsociable unicorn.

"The princess will send the letter to me soon, I assure you," Twilight replied, "I will not let her down! The letter will be the next important step in my friendship lessons, so to miss something like this will be a disaster!"

Spike rolled his eyes.

"It's a friendship lesson, Twilight," he said, "it won't be a massively hard thing to do."

Twilight suddenly turned round to face Spike, which made the baby dragon jump with surprise.

"But it could!" Twilight replied, "This could be a massively complicated test that no pony could ever do before! Or it could be something dangerous that could hurt one of my friends or anypony as a matter of-!"

"Think about it, Twilight!" Spike interrupted, "Would the ruler of Equestria, goddess of the sun and the most elegant of all princesses tell you to do something that could harm another being?"

Twilight paused like a statue. She didn't move for a while, during this strange process of thinking in her head. Maybe Spike was right; Celestia would go easy on this task that she was going to give to her most trusted student. Perhaps, it was just a simple task, like having a picnic with her friends or going for a walk with Winona, Applejack's dog. It could be going to the spa or going out to Sugarcube Corner for a drink. Why was she so worried about doing something nice?

"You know what, Spike?" Twilight eventually said, "I think you may be onto something there. Perhaps it's time to treat my friends to something. After all, they did pay the majority of the tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala, so in return, I will go out with them for a friendly day out. Maybe Princess Celestia won't give me something too hard to do. Maybe it'll just be a small task or just a tiny job."

Just as she finished, Twilight noticed that Spike was beginning to choke and make expressions as if he was going to be sick. Then, a scroll shot out of Spike's jaw and landed on the floor right in front of Twilight. Twilight picked the scroll up with her magic and began reading.

Dear Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student,

I understand that you were expecting a letter from me about your next friendship lesson. I'm sorry that I have sent it so late to you, but at least you can now understand what I would like you to do.

Enclosed in this letter is another piece of paper, which has been scribbled on. The writing is a spell that I would like you to use for your lesson. For it to work, I want you to stand in front of your mirror, looking directly into your eyes and saying the words of the spell on the separate paper. I assure you, there will be no pain and you will benefit it for your own good.

From your mentor,

Princess Celestia.

"That's it?" Twilight said, "I stand in front of a mirror and just say this spell?"

Spike went over to her and took the letter from Twilight. He read it; twice in fact. Afterwards, he turned to Twilight and nodded his head in agreement.

"That's what Princess Celestia's ordered, Twilight," Spike replied, "you might as well do what she says."

Twilight simply shrugged, before taking the spell and walking over to her mirror. She looked at the spell again and read it in her head, before saying it out loud. It was almost in another language, which Spike couldn't understand whatsoever. It was like a mixture of old Ponyish and Latin, but all jumbled up and not making any sense at all.

"Er, Twilight?" Spike asked, "What on earth are you reading? It doesn't sound good."

Twilight ignored her assistance and continued reading the strange spell, that seemed to go on forever. As she read, bright crimson coloured magic started surrounding her, until it transformed into a bright red light. Spike was beginning to freak out and started breathing quickly. This was far from normal; this was paranormal.

"TWILIGHT!" Spike cried, "PLEASE, STOP!"

But it was too late. The light had become so bright, that Spike had to close his eyes. It consumed the whole library and made the floor shake like an earthquake. Books flew off the shelves and Owlowiscious the owl hooted in distress, before flying off to another branch.

The light soon died down, giving Spike a chance to have a look at the destruction. He rubbed his eyes, for he couldn't believe what he was looking at. In response, he gasped and dashed behind one of Twilight's bookshelves. Spike couldn't stop shaking, for he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"You see, Spike!" Twilight said, "It wasn't that bad. Princess Celestia knew what she was doing when she commanded me to do this task. Everything's okay- wait, why are you looking at me like that?"

Spike came out from behind the bookcase and walked closer to Twilight.

"Oh it's nothing," he replied, "I agree with you, Twilight. I'm sure Celestia knew that this was going to happen. I mean, she was surely expecting your hooves to turn to paws, your ears to become pointed, your tail extremly fluffy and your teeth as sharp as fangs."

Twilight pulled an expression of curiosity, before walking closer to Spike.

"What are you talking about, Spike?" Twilight asked, "What happened?"

Spike started breathing heavily again, before putting his claws into his mouth, in order to stop himself looking suspicious.

"It's just.... you've become... a puppy!"

Twilight's eyes opened widely in fear, before rushing over to the mirror and looking at her reflection. Before herself was the reflection of a giant puppy, that represented her original pony form. She had her purple hair still on top of her head, those beautiful lavender eyes and purple tail, but instead of hooves, Twilight had paws and a dog-like tail. Her pony fur had been replaced by a dog's and worst of all, Twilight's horn had disappeared.

Twilight gave an ear-piercing scream, before going over to the mirror and looking closely at her new doggy features.

"Oh, sweet Celestia!" Twilight cried, "How could this happen to me?! How, Spike?! Why would Celestia allow me to turn into a giant puppy?! How is this possible? Oh my gosh, I can't breathe! I'm hyperventilating!"

Twilight started going into a breathing fit, whilst still looking at what she had become. She turned around and looked at her new tail again. Twilight wagged it in the way a puppy would, before kneeling down to Spike's eye-level.

"Spike, you need to get me to Fluttershy's at once," Twilight ordered, "she knows about all sorts of animals, so she should know what to do, right? I can't turn myself back into a unicorn without my horn!"

"I... guess?" Spike responded, "But Twilight, this may not be such a bad thing. Princess Celestia surely must know what she's doing. After all, why would she do something to you like this without a decent reason? It wouldn't make any sense."

"Come on!" Twilight said, "We need to get there without anypony seeing me. Got a plan?"

Spike put a claw to his chin and thought about what they could do. He hummed as he thought of all sorts of ideas, before clicking his claws and going over to Twilight.

"I've got an idea," Spike said, "but you'll need to do exactly what I say..."

Spike hurried off somewhere before Twilight could stop him. Knowing that she could do nothing about her situation, Twilight sat on her flank and waited. After all, Spike wouldn't be too long. Twilight looked around and sniffed the air. She could smell that pages of each and every one of her books and smell of the flowers leaning out on the balcony on each of her windows. At least there was one thing that she saw as a positive whilst being a puppy.

"Psst!"

Twilight's ears picked up at the strange noise. She looked around the room, trying to see who or what made that sound. But she couldn't see anypony outside near her house. What was that sound?

"Psst! Up here, you idiot!"

Twilight looked up to where she could hear the creature. The only thing she thought that could have said anything was her pet owl, Owlowiscious, but she knew that owls couldn't talk. Or could they?

"Yeah, me. Glad you noticed!"

Twilight gasped silently.

"Owlowiscious? You can talk?! But, how?"

Owlowiscious rolled his eyes, before flying down closer to his master.

"Honestly, Twilight. I have always been able to talk. But you pony-folk have become deaf of hearing other creatures since you started ruling Equestria. I can see you're in a bit of a pickle, but the good thing is that you can now understand every word I say. Understand? Good, now I can tell you what I want, instead of feeding me frozen mice all the time. I fancy an ice cream today; it would ever be so kind if you could get it for me. I always wanted to try ice cream."

Twilight blinked in silence. She was just too shocked about what she was witnessing.

"Wouldn't Spike be able to understand you, though?" Twilight asked.

"Dragons are greedy and deaf as well as you ponies," Owlowiscious explained, "they can't hear the cries of the animals that they rob from. They are thieves and thieves are deaf from greed. But dogs, like other animals, have clean hearts and can understand owls."

"I see," Twilight replied, "tell me, Owlowiscious. Am I a good owner to you? Do I look after you enough? Am I kind? Am I too commanding?" Am I nice to you?"

Owlowiscious laughed happily.

"Well, I haven't flown away yet," the owl said, "does that answer your question? Oh, I think I can hear your friend coming up. Don't worry, Twilight. I still love you, but I ask you this; do you admire yourself as a pony or a dog? Think about it."

Spike appeared from the basement with something in his claws but stopped suddenly.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked.

Twilight laughed nervously, trying not to look up at Owlowiscious.

"Oh, er, no pony. What have you got, Spike?"

Spike opened up his claws and presented the item to Twilight. His friend immediately shook her head and frowned.

"No. Way."

Spike was holding a red dog collar and its lead. He knew that his best friend wouldn't enjoy being dragged around like a pet, but Spike had no choice. By order of the council of Ponyville, all dogs needed to be walked around a lead. Twilight hated being led by anypony, as she felt that she was always the leader of the group. A collar around her neck and attached to a lead would be the last thing she wanted to have.

"Come on Twilight," Spike pleaded, "it's the law here. All dogs must be on a lead whilst walking around the town. I promise you, when we get to Fluttershy's cottage I'll take the lead off you."

"But I'll look stupid."

Twilight suddenly raced off into her bedroom and went underneath the bed sheets. Spike was beginning to get annoyed by this, so decided to change tactics.

"Twilight, you're now a puppy. You have no choice but to follow my commands."

Then Spike had another idea. One which could easily end his friendship with Twilight, but would be extremely effective. It would be a sinister plan, though, and Twilight wouldn't enjoy it.

Spike left Twilight for a moment and went into their basement. Inside were some of Twilight's tools for bribing animals, such as a bell for a cat or a bone for a dog. Spike picked up the bone but placed it down. Spike felt that it wasn't right to force his friend into chewing on an old bone. Instead, he found something better.

A laser pointer.

Spike chuckled evilly and picked up his latest weapon. He then left the basement and walked back into Twilight's bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Spike said, "but you leave me no choice."

Twilight lifted her paws off her head and looked directly at Spike. She saw the laser pointer in Spike's claw and gulped nervously. Twilight hoped that her new puppy instincts didn't include chasing a red light all over the floor. However, a sudden urge came to her mind after looking at the tiny red light scrolling around the room and Twilight eventually gave in.

Twilight pounced out from her bed and landed on the tiny red light. Lifting her paws up, Twilight saw that the light had moved off to another place. The red dot had landed on the front door. Twilight leapt up into the air like a wolf and aimed towards her target, before crashing face-first into the door. A loud thud followed afterwards from the impact of her landing. Spike gave off an enormous laugh, before turning off the laser pointer and going over to his friend.

After coming to her senses, Twilight turned over to Spike and gave a deep growl of disapproval. Spike immediately stopped his series of laughter.

"Well, that got you out of bed."

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Very funny. Fine, I'll wear that blasted collar of yours, but only to Fluttershy's."

"Thanks, Twilight. I promise I'll take it off when we go inside."

Twilight walked over to her companion and bent down, allowing Spike to put the dog collar around her neck. After tightening it without strangling Twilight, Spike attached the dog collar to the red lead and wrapped his right claw around the loop at the end of the lead. He then put the laser pointer and a few other items into a tiny travelling bag and took Twilight to the front door.

"You ready?" Spike asked.

Twilight nodded. Spike opened the door and walked Twilight out of their home and onto the streets of Ponyville. They had begun their epic trip to Fluttershy's cottage, trying to look as normal as possible.

It was market day in Ponyville and the streets were lined up with stalls, ponies, animals and attractions. The streets were busy, crowded and exposed. This was a problem for Twilight and Spike, for they feared that somepony would recognise them both. After all, Twilight's fur still had its lavender colour and her eyes were easily recognisable, so she kept her head low and tried to act like a puppy should act like. Thankfully though, no pony raised an eyebrow in thought.

"Are we nearly there yet?" Twilight asked, "I can't stand being looked at like this."

"Yeah, it's just the last corner now," Spike replied, "just hold on for one mo-."

Spike was interrupted when a certain pony bumped into him and Twilight by accident. All three landed on their flank.

"Oh hey, Spike. So sorry for walking into you."

Pinkie Pie got back onto all four hooves, before trotting over to Spike. She lent a helping hoof, which Spike accepted.

"I'm sorry too. It's nice to see you Pinkie," Spike said, "had the day off from working at Sugar Cube Corner?"

"Oh yeah! Mr and Mrs Cake are on holiday and the store's closed, so I'm having a break as well. I'm going to help Applejack on the farm today and meet Winona and play with her. Hey, where's Twilight? Isn't she going to see Fluttershy today? And who's this puppy? What's her name?"

Once Spike had managed to catch up with what Pinkie was on about, he tried to answer her question.

"Twilight's... em... ill today," Spiked lied, "I'm taking one my friends' pet puppy for a walk. She's um... called... Twinky."

"Oh what an adorable name! Hello, Twinky! Aren't you just the cutest thing ever?!"

Pinkie rubbed her hoof on top of Twilight's head, which in response Twilight flopped her tongue out and panted. Strangely, Twilight enjoyed being stroked by another pony, especially if it was by one of her best friends.

"Where are you taking her?" Pinkie asked Spike.

"To Fluttershy's," Spike said, "we received a private invite. She wants to have a check on Twinky here."

"I see!" Pinkie replied, "well, have fun you two. Send my wishes to Twilight, will ya?"

"Will do!"

Pinkie hopped off down the path, allowing Spike and Twilight to carry on their journey to Fluttershy's. Luckily for them, no other obstacle got in the way.

At last, Twilight and Spike reached Fluttershy's cottage. However, when they walked into her garden, Twilight couldn't help but notice that there was a sign nailed to the door in red ink.

Seeing patient. Please come back another time.

All Twilight and Spike could hear was the cluttering of items that were being thrown about inside the cottage. It seemed that Fluttershy was indeed busy, but it was a mystery on what was exactly was going on inside. Sitting on a tree trunk was Harry the bear, reading a book in animal language. He looked up and saw the two visitors.

"Sorry you two," Harry said, "she's trying to calm her newest patient at the moment. Sorry for all the disturbance from the noises inside."

Twilight went over to one of Fluttershy's windows and looked at what was happening inside. It wasn't too clear, though, but she knew that Fluttershy was near the door. Fluttershy was chasing around the cottage after Angel the Bunny, who seemed to be refusing to take any medication that his owner was offering.

"Come on, Angel!" Fluttershy cried, "You need to have your medicine. I don't care if it's disgusting, but it will help you get better, I promise!"

Spike knocked on the door, before walking in. Twilight followed from behind and stopped next to Spike. Fluttershy stopped running around when she noticed that she had guests.

"Oh, hello, Spike," Fluttershy said, "what are you doing here?"

"Hi, Fluttershy. I need your help. You see, it's complicated." Spike said, trying to sound normal.

"Just one question, where's Twilight? I thought she would be with you."

"Well, she's... erm... allow me to introduce my new friend. This is Twinky, my new puppy. I was wondering if you could check on her?"

"Why of course!" Fluttershy replied. She then turned her attention to Twilight. "Hello, little one! How are you feeling? Not good?"

"No," Twilight replied, "not good."

Author's Note

If you're confused, this story is set in between Seasons 1 and 2.

Also, how the heck did I get over 270 views on the first day?! Thank you guys for all your support. Yes, I will sort out my grammar and mistakes that I've made.

Also, I am quite depressed at the moment, which is why this story may not see a lot of effort going into it, unlike The Lieutenant.

I must thank BluePuddlePonyGhost for giving me lots of ideas for this story. Props up to him, check his stories out as well.