Finding your Wings

As they pulled away from the kiss, Scootaloo turned around excitedly, looking at her wings. Unfortunately for her, nothing happened. She glanced at Spike's back, and it was flat, as it had been. Burying her face in her hooves, Scootaloo flopped down onto a bean chair, bawling.

Spike placed a claw on her shoulder. "Please don't be upset, Scootaloo. It's just a fictional story. It's not real. You can't have expected that to work."

"It worked the first time!" she sobbed. "I kissed you, and now I have dragon wings! I tried to kiss them back to you, and it didn't work!"

"Well..." Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "Why don't you just consider them a gift? My contribution to helping you learn to fly."

"It feels like cheating. Like taking performance-enhancing drugs or something."

"It's not cheating," assured Spike. "Despair Bolt won gold in the thirty-fifth Equestria Games distance flying competition, and he had a prosthetic wing."

Scootaloo looked up.

"And before that, Burnt Umber won the kilometre dash with a wooden leg. No ankle, no knee, just hard work and determination."

"That was the twenty-eighth," sniffed Scootaloo.

"And the first Equestria games had a silver medalist in archery who only had one eye. I forget what her name was, bu--"

"Cavalier Blast," answered Scootaloo.

"My point is, you're a magnificent pony, Scootaloo. You want to fly? We want to see it happen. If you signed up to be a contestant in the Equestria games, they'd let you in based on your skill, not based on whether or not your wings have been replaced."

"Thanks, Spike."

"Have you tried to fly with them?"

"No..."

"Why not?"

She wiped her face. "I thought they were stolen. I wanted to give them back, not rub in your face that I had them."

"Well, give them a try." Spike picked up a large cushion. "Try to grab a book off the top shelf."

Scootaloo remembered back to her training. She'd never managed to generate enough lift to move upward. Putting all of her effort into taking off, she smacked right into the high ceiling, and fell right back down onto Spike's cushion.

"Maybe just the third shelf?" joked Spike.

Scootaloo grabbed Spike's neck and shoulders, pulling him down into a hug on top of her. "They're better than I ever imagined," she smiled. "Thank you so much, Spike."

"It was nothing, really."

"It was!" she insisted. "Nopony's ever helped me actually fly before. They've helped simulate it, they've tried to help me figure it out, but nopony's ever actually done it. Except you." She leaned up and kissed him again.

"Scootaloo, that's not going to move your wings back. We tried that already."

"That was for being so good to me. I don't know what I'd do without you, Spike." She traced a claw along his chest.

Suddenly, she froze, bringing the claw up to her face. She didn't have claws, she had hooves. but here they were, claws, like a dragon had.

And yet, for as suddenly as the panic came, it was gone just as fast. "I must have misinterpreted the story," she chuckled, turning to Spike. "He loved her, and she loved him, and knowing that she wanted to be with him, she changed herself so they could be together."

"Is that what you want?" he asked. "I don't want you making this decision rashly. Being a dragon is okay, but there are times I would rather be a pony."

Scootaloo chuckled. "If I'm anything like you, Spike, I'm sure Ponyville wouldn't mind having an extra dragon flying about."

"We still don't have a way to change you back," warned Spike. "As far as we know, this is permanent. Are you absolutely sure?"

Scootaloo held up her claws. "I'm already changing, Spike. If I stop halfway, I'm just going to look like a freak. I'd rather be a good dragon than a poor excuse for a pegasus. Change me, Spike. Make me a better dragon."

Spike took a deep breath. "If this will make you happy..."

"It will."

"Then I shall see it done." Spike leaned down and kissed Scootaloo. For the first time, Scootaloo could feel the warmth that the story had talked about. It washed over her, making her body tingle and her heart beat faster. He had been there when she most needed help, and now he had given her the very thing she'd wanted most in her entire life. She could fly, and it was all because of him. She loved him.

As their tongues caressed each other, Scootaloo could feel her body changing. Piece by piece, she could feel herself becoming something else. Her lips, rather than the soft, supple lips of a pony, became the tough, firm, scaly lips of a dragon. Her teeth sharpened and her tongue grew longer, thinner and more forked. Her ears moved down beside her head, rather than above it, and the room seemed to grow longer, as Spike grew taller. This was not the case, as her round pony pupils were just changing to draconic slits, but all it did for her was make Spike more attractive.

The next part was a bit more painful. As her skull was reshaped, the bones moving around were not so much an issue. It was the growth of two new ones; a pair of horns, that caused her discomfort. However, as she winced and whimpered at the pain, Spike pressed his body against hers. The feel of his hot scales against her skin filled her mind with ease. Even if it didn't stop the pain, knowing that he was at least trying to be a comfort and ease the transition for her was more than she could ask of him.

With a gasp, the two of them separated, panting as they stared into each other's eyes. "Promise me we'll still be friends after this?" pleaded Spike. "I don't want to be used and then forgotten..."

"Friends?" chuckled Scootaloo. "We're going to be closer than grip tape to a deck! Who better to teach me how to be a dragon than the best dragon in all of Ponyville?"

Spike smiled and held her tightly. "I look forward to it."

Scootaloo smiled back, but that smile was short-lived. "Spike, what's that poking between my legs?"