Spike was really, really annoyed. One moment, he had been about to eat a beautiful and delicious diamond that Rarity had given him, and the next he had been stone. Literally. He was a statue. How had that even happened?! Had the gem been cursed? No, he would have smelled a cursed diamond from miles away. It would have smelled even worse than fresh griffon droppings on a hot summer's day. Somepony had interfered. Yet, the more he thought about it, the more he doubted that it was a pony. Ponies only turned dangerous creatures to stone. Then, it dawned on him. The only creature he could think of who would turn him to stone as a prank was a certain horrible old Draconequis. His name was Discord. Spike imagined Discord being unable to change reality and being turned to stone himself. He had already experienced it and had probably hates every second. Spike would have smiled if he could at the thought of Discord being as annoyed as he was now.
"Spike!" called Twilight. "Spike? SPIKE!" She was oblivious to the fact that he had been turned into a garden ornament. Then she turned to see him in all his stony glory.
"Oh... Oh no," she whispered, fearing for his life, "Spike. What... What happened to you?"
Had Spike been able to move his mouth and use his vocal chords, he would have screamed at her that Discord had done an elaborate prank to turn him into a statue. However, because he was a statue, even lip syncing was in the realms of impossibility for anyone but Discord. Thus why Spike imagined a statue of the Draconequis covered in ugly graffiti.
Twilight, after several minutes of constant pacing, came to the same conclusion and snapped at thin air, "Discord! Here! NOW!"
Discord materialised in the room and said as innocently as possible, "Yes, my dearest lady, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship?"
"You turned my assistant to stone."
"What assistant? I don't remember you having an assistant! You mean the green and purple dragon with no wings? What's his name? Pike?"
"His name is Spike, and you turned him into a stone statue."
"Who in Tatarus told you that I am behind this?"
"It is your idea of a hilarious practical joke."
"Now, you are right there, Princess."
"Exactly. Now turn. Him. Back."
"Ah."
"What?"
"What what?"
"You said ah. Why?"
"I can't turn him back to his... Normal state."
"You... You turned him to stone... Forever?!"
Spike was screaming in his head.
"Now, Twilight, I did not say that. I have actually done young Spike a favour. What I actually meant to say was that he will not turn back until he grows his wings."
Spike became very excited.
"How long will it take?" Twilight asked.
"Anywhere from an hour to six months."
Spike now wholeheartedly hated Discord.
Spike had very little to do as a statue. Twilight's friends visited every day, and they spoke to him to break up his day. However, Twilight had other things to do, and the rest of the day would go very slowly. He learned how to mediate after three weeks, and spent most of his time doing so. That helped the time fly by a lot quicker.
About two months after this, Spike felt different. At the top of his head, his spine could move. There were several little cracks running down the centre of the stone cage. He was nearly free. Twilight was over the moon. However, after a few days, the cracks had not spread far. Spike went back to mediation. He even stopped listening to Rarity. What was the point if he was going to be a statue for another four months?!
A week later, Spike realised that the cracks had spread! He had feeling in his claws! He could almost move them! Then, all of a sudden, the stone on either side of him parted and fell, and Spike was a dragon and not a statue.
"TWILIGHT!" he hollered. It felt absolutely amazing to use his vocal cords. He breathed out a long green flame and loved the roaring sound it made.
"SPIIIIKE!" yelled Twilight, galloping into the room. Her eyes widened. "You're - you're - you are back!"
"Yes, I'm not a statue any more. Spike the dragon is back in business!"
"Look at your beautiful wings!"
Spike had not even noticed them. They were exquisite. The tops were the same light purple as the rest of their scales, and the undersides were light green. They were small, sure, but they were proper dragon wings! He tried to fly, and managed to use them. He even touched the once impossibly high ceiling and walked on it while keeping perfect balance and not toppling to the floor. He would need someone like Smoulder to teach him everything that a dragon could do with wings, but that was beside the point. He had actual dragon wings.
There was a huge party attended by Twilight's friends, a few dragons and Discord himself. He tried to spoil it for Spike by claiming that he had allowed the baby dragon to have the gift of flight, but Spike told everyone of the last few months as a statue and let Discord know that, while he was happy to be able to fly, he did not want to be a statue again. Discord laughed, "Oh, Spike, of course! Stone just doesn't suit you, does it?! I understand, being stuck in stone is really really frustrating. I was once a statue. In fact, I have been a statue several times for different crimes. I had a misspent youth."
After a lot of showing off, being showered in gems, as was traditional when dragons grew their wings, and sharing cake with everyone, the party ended. Smoulder promised to teach Spike the basics of professional flying, but said that he should also spend some time learning the ropes with Rainbow Dash. Spike would have said yes, but Discord chose that moment to turn him into a diamond statue.
"Now," Discord laughed maniacally, "that suits you a lot better than stone." He clicked his claws and Spike turned back to his normal angry self, smothering the Draconequis in emerald green flames and marching him out.
