Having known the mare his entire life, Spike had grown rather used to the odd things that happened around and to her. Heck, barely a week went by when something did not happen to her, and he was usually the one who had to clean up the mess afterward. Granted, it had become less so ever since she had risen to the High Throne of Equestria. But still. But seeing his big sister like that? Took the cake, and the entire bakery along with it.

"Twilight. Why are you a dragon?" He asked, before pinching his nose. "Better yet. How are you a dragon?" Spike finished, crossing his arms and giving the former alicorn a pointed look.

Twilight, for her part, looked rather sheepish, as she tapped her claws together. "Long story short? I released a spirit trapped in one of the books in the Canterlot Archives. One who happened to be a dragoness. And since she needed a body while hers reforms, I offered her mine. And here I am!"

Spike sighed. Only Twilight could read a book and have this happen to her. Just his luck. "So. Do I need to call the girls and have them use the Friendship Lazer of Death on you? Does Canterlot need to worry about losing its new princess already?"

Twilight gave him a rather deadpan glare. "I wish you would stop calling it that, Spike." She sniffed as she crossed her arms. "And I will have you know that I feel fine. I have no plans to go on a city-wide rampage, thank you very much. Neither does Cinder for that matter."

Spike's brows rose. "And who is Cinder I might ask?"

Twilight blinked, before smiling. "That is the name of the spirit I share my body with, now. She is rather cute once you see her. You know. For a dragon at least."

Spike rolled his eyes. "I will be the judge of that, Twilight. So, what does this mean for you now?"

Twilight sighed. "I do not know, Spike. I can't keep this a secret for long. Ponies have already seen me. The whole castle knows by now probably. All of Equestria will soon enough."

Spike could see how much this was tearing Twilight up inside and ran over and hugged her as best he could. "Come on, Twilight, Sure ponies will talk about this. A lot. It is about the only thing they do anymore it seems." His smile grew. "Besides, you have friends who'll stand by your side no matter what. Who cares what other ponies think when you have got us?"

Twilight hiccuped, as her own smile grew and kissed the top of Spike's head. "Thanks, Spike. I needed that."

Spike grinned. "That's what I'm here for!"

They held the hug for a moment, just enjoying the peace and quiet. Spike, though, finally broke the silence. "So, uh. How did a book with a dragoness in it end up in the Canterlot Archives? How did she even end up trapped in a book in the first place?"

Twilight blinked back to the present. "I am not sure, Spike. The book was in the Restricted Section. This means only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna knew that it existed."

Spike couldn't argue with that. "Come on, Twilight. You need to stop calling them that title. You know they're just normal ponies now. They made it a Royal Order too."

Twilight snorted. This was not the time for this argument. "Not the point, Spike."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Fine. Do you think they could have done this? I mean, they are pretty powerful. I wouldn't put it past them."

Twilight thought about it for a moment. "I am not sure. This seems cruel and unusual to do to someone. Even for them on a bad day."

Spike folded his arms. "Yeah? Tell that to the Legion of Doom."

Twilight growled. "They deserved their fate, Spike. They showed time and again they didn't care about friendship. Not the way we know it. Maybe in a thousand years, I will change my mind and let them out. But until then, they can stay that way."

Spike winced. This was almost universally what all were saying following the Battle of the Bell. While a few said that it was cruel and unusual, especially to a filly Cozy Glow's age, they were in the minority. He decided to move past this. "What about Discord? Sounds like something he could do."

Twilight tapped her chin. It was true. This did feel like something Discord could do. The trouble was, nopony knew where the Chaos Spirit was. Not even Fluttershy. Once it was revealed that he had instigated the entire thing with the Legion of Doom by posing as Grogar, the world turned on him, what little trust he had been able to build, now destroyed beyond repair. Fluttershy's protests and attempts to make ponies see why Discord had done what he had, were roundly ignored by all. Not even her friends stood by her in this matter, though they never once held the Pegasus responsible for any of what had happened.

Twilight sighed. "Maybe. But who knows where that no-good spirit ran off to. And if Discord has any sense at all, he will not be coming back to Equus anytime soon. So, I can't ask him."

Spike nodded. He knew better than to keep this line of thought open. "So. Celestia and Luna then?"

Twilight nodded. "Do you still have the Dragon Fire Mail Spell, Spike?"

Spike grinned as he pulled a quil and parchment. "Yep, Never thought I'd have to use it for this, though."

Twilight giggled. "Ready, Spike?"

Spike was about to answer, when he remembered something and winced, putting down what he had and grabbing another sheet. "Um. Hold that thought, Twilight. Smolder sent this in while you were out. We've got a problem. Someone's coming to see you."

Twilight blinked. "Okay? I am not sure how I'll explain all of this," she said, gesturing to her new body. "But I do not see how this is a problem, Spike."

Spike winced. "Yeah. But it's who is coming that's going to be a problem. Even more so now. Please don't panic?"

Twilight groaned. "Spike, spit it out already! Who is it?"

Spike gulped. "Tiamat."

Twilight took a moment to process that. And then began to panic. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"Spike, what am I going to do?!" Twilight panicked as she paced back and forth, pulling her mane out as she did. She was not ready for this. "I am so not ready for this. How the hell am I going to meet Tiamat? How am I going to explain this to her?"

Spike sighed. He was used to his big sister's freakouts by now. But it never got easier listening to them. "Twilight, you need to calm down. You can't meet her in this mood, that's for sure."

Twilight shot him a glare. "Spike. I cannot calm down. This is too important. The Dragon Queen never comes to Equestria. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna always had to go to her. Why would that change now?"

Spike shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because you freed her daughter? If she really is the Lost Daughter."

Twilight blinked, stopping in her tracks, even as she felt Cinder shift in her mind. "The what? What do you mean, Spike?"

Spike tapped his claws together. "Well. There is an old story in the Dragon Lands. Tiamat is the Mother of All Dragons as you know. But there are five that are directly descended from her. Not like most dragons. One for each of her heads. Supposedly, one of them was lost a really long time ago, and no one knew why."

"He is right," CInder said, taking over Twilight's mouth for a moment. "I remember my sisters. The five of us got into all kinds of trouble. Mother never cared of course, and we had to make our own way in the world. I wonder where they are now?"

Spike pinched his nose. Hearing another voice coming from Twilight was just too much for him. "Well, whoever you are. Can you talk her out of coming to Equestria? I do not think Canterlot is ready for this."

Cinder turned their head to look at him. Spike was surprised to see the different look in Twilight's eyes. "You really think she would listen to me? The Chromatic Dragon listens to one only. And I was the youngest of us. I have even less clout than the others."

Twilight blinked as she regained control of her body. "Who would Tiamat listen to? No one on Equus is strong enough to face her."

Cinder nodded. "Indeed. You know her as the Mother of All Life or the Destroyer. She is the only one mother will ever listen to. Not even my father could, though he was closer to her than most."

Twilight wondered who he might have been, but decided to hold off on the question for now. "So what am I supposed to do? Tiamat is coming for you, I feel. What is she going to do to me?"

Cinder did not reply for a time. "I cannot say, Princess Twilight. But mother can be peaceful when approached correctly. It is only when you do something to anger any of her heads that lead to carnage. If you anger one of them, the rest will quickly become the same. I can't teach you how to approach them. You must learn that yourself."

Twilight groaned. Just her luck. She could only hope that everything would work out in the end.

Author's Note

Redid this chapter. Everything after the scene break is new. I just wasn't happy with how I had it in my head. So, I combined the next chapter with this one. I know Cloverleaf and Redandready45 has said Cinder is lying about something. She isn't. There's no reason too. As for something Vaguely Demented said, Starswirl had nothing to do with her imprisonment.