Twilight, with Spike on her back, emerged from the Ponyville Post Office with a slightly beaten up package, and they breathed in the beautiful weather.
"Ah, Spike, I love the smell of fresh air in the morning!" proclaimed Twilight, and excitably pointed at the small package, "Not to mention the smell of studying that awaits us in this box!"
And she turned to Ponyville's famous cross-eyed, mailmare, who stood outside the Post Office, "Thanks for sending us Princess Celestia's valuable artifact, Derpy!"
Derpy saluted at a job well done. Spike felt around the box, which had a few dents around it, "Eh, could be worse,"
And Twilight happily trotted back to her treehouse. She saw Rainbow Dash in the sky.
"Hey there, Rainbow!" yelled Twilight, "Look what we got from the-"
"Can'ttalknowmustmakereservationmymomiscomingtotown!" verbally blazed Rainbow Dash in a frenzy, and flew off.
"Usually you can understand what she's saying when she's in a hurry," commented Spike.
"I wonder what's gotten her so frazzled up?" said Twilight.
And before she could take two steps, a huge brown and pink mass ran right onto them, causing the screaming two to land onto the brown mass.
Turns out the brown mass was a wagon filled with flour and the rider was their baker friend.
"GAH! PINKIE!!" yelled Twilight, "Why are you in such a rush!?"
Pinkie creepily turned her head at a one-eighty-degree angle and yelled back, "Can't talk! Must send bags of flour! Big day coming up! Must look straight on so to avoid unnecessary collision!"
Which she did, and then with amazing strength, tipped her body to the right, which tipped the wagon just enough for Twilight and Spike to slide off and land on the ground safe and sound, if not more confused then ever.
"What the hay is going on!?" exclaimed Twilight, then she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Oh, hello there Derpy!" said Twilight, "What's this? A telegram?"
And Spike helped to pluck the letter out of Derpy's smiling mouth and opened it.
"Heh! Maybe it's our answer to all the rushing!" Twilight said sarcastically.
Spike quickly scanned the letter, and his eyes widened, "It... it is,"
Dear Twilight,
I hope this letter gets to you on time, as I am going to pay a visit to Ponyville to see how you and Spike are doing.
Hope to see you soon on Mother's Day. Please give my warm regards to that little baby dragon.
With much love from your Mother,
Twilight Velvet
"Spike?"
"Yeah, Twilight?"
"Mother's Day is in two days, right?"
"Yep,"
"Feel like screaming at the skies?"
"Yep,"
And so they did.
"AAAAARGHHHH!!"
Rarity was busy decorating her store with an assortment of Mother's Day-related decorations: photographs of her, Sweetie Belle and her mom, matching mother-daughter dresses, etc.
She heard her bell at the entrance and she instinctively answered, "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where for this week everything is motherly and unique! Oh! Hello my little Spikey-Wikey!"
"Hey Rarity," he said, his mind clearly somewhere else, "Umm, what did I come here for again? Oh yeah, Twilight would like a roll of purple ribbons,"
"Oh but of course!" And she took a roll and gave it to him, but noticed he wasn't looking too happy, "What's the matter, Spikey-Wikey? You seem awfully glum,"
"I am? Oh, err, nah!" he said in defense, "It's just that I've been running ragged from Twilight sending me off on errands! We've been so busy in our research that we completely forgot about Mother's Day!"
"What, the two of you forgot about Mother's Day??" Rarity exclaimed in shock, then laughed, "Oh course it would be the two of you! What with Twilight's nose stuck in her books all the time, and you not having a mo... mother... OH MY GOSH!!"
"Here we go again," Spike muttered to himself.
Rarity scooped him up and hugged him tight, "Oh Spikey-Wikey, I'm so sorry! All this buzz on Mother's Day must be so confusing on your cute widdle head!"
"No it's not!" he said, annoyed, and pushed off, "It's just, everyone's been bugging me about it every-time I go out on an errand the entire day! Pinkie Pie, the Quills and Sofas guy, everypony! I'm fine okay, I'M FINE!!"
He crossed his hands and sulked, and slumped on the ground, "In Canterlot, no one would bug me about it, but here..."
"But... do you have a...."
"I don't think so," said Spike, "You guys already know I was hatched by Twilight, and then she, Princess Celestia, and the Castle staff were the ones that raised me,"
Rarity pulled him in close for a hug, Spike would've pushed away again in frustration, but simply laid his head on her neck.
"But not having a mother, I hope it's not bothering you?" she asked,
"It's not! Well, I don't know!" he exclaimed in frustration, "Everyone else has one, and I don't..."
He sighed, "Now I remember why I don't like to think about it,"
Rarity hated to see her favorite dragon look so down, "Spike, you should talk to Twilight about it,"
"Twilight? Why Twilight?"
"Well isn't it obvious? You said yourself you were raised by her, and though she calls you her assistant all the time, it is perfectly obvious that the bond you have with her is something very special,"
"Oh yeah, I guess you're right," he said, cheering up a bit, "Hmm, and with that logic, Twilight is my-"
Sweetie Belle entered the store with a light-bulb on her horn, "Rarity! Spike! Look what I can do!"
Spike looked up and a light-bulb lit up above his head.
"Sweetie Belle! Don't stick appliances in your horn! It's dangerous!" Rarity said in disapproval.
"Yeah... she is! SHE IS!!" said Spike in increasing excitement, "Aww, I gotta' tell Twilight! Thanks for the ribbon, Rarity! High hoof, Sweetie Belle!"
And she gave him a high hoof, "Yay! Bye Spike! Wait, why'd he high hoof me?"
Spike jogged back happily, "Oh, how could I not have seen it before! Of course Twilight would be my mom, it makes perfect sense! And that would make me her son!"
And his internal cogs were moving, "Hmm, Mother's day is tomorrow, so I'll have to make a present for her pronto and tell her there and then! Tomorrow is gonna' be the best day ever! Nothing could ruin it!"
"Well, almost nothing could ruin it," muttered Spike when he got back in the library.
Twilight was in her frantic multitasking zone again.
"Decorations! Gifts! Wishing Bone! Decorations! Gifts! Wishing Bone! DECORATIONS! GIFTS! WISH-"
"TWILIGHT!" yelled Spike, which stopped her tracks.
"Spike! Great! You got the ribbon!" she said still frantically, and magically snatched it from his claw, which she used to tie up two identical boxes with.
"There! My gifts for Princess Celestia and Mom are finally done!" she squeaked proudly, "Wait, which one is for who again?? AARGH!!"
Whilst she unwrapped the boxes to check, Spike asked, "Why'd you have a gift for the Princess?"
"Because, Spike," started Twilight, "Princess Celestia is the one that practically nurtured me in all things magic! She's like my second mother!"
This brought a smile to Spike's face, "Really! That's cool! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few things I need to do myself!"
"Spike, there's still so many things to do!" exclaimed Twilight, "We still need to make a reservation, I haven't planned a schedule for tomorrow, this gift needs to be mailed, and worst of all, I haven't sealed in the Wishing Bone's magic yet!"
She pointed to the silver-colored wish bone. "Can't that wait?" asked Spike.
"Spike, the Princess has sent us a magical item far more powerful than I thought. If I don't lock its powers in, anypony, even those with little or no magic, can just touch it, say their deepest, darkest wish, and it will come true!!"
"Wow," said Spike,clearly impressed, "Well! My suggestion is that you just store it away safely for now and get on with the other stuff!"
"That's a great idea, Spike!" complimented Twilight, giving him a quick hug, which made Spike smile again, "Now, I'll just tie these bows in a different way..."
"Yeah, you do that, while I-"
"-while you deliver this box to the Post Office! Extra Express!"
"Aww, Twilight! I've got things to do!"
"And did you tell me what these things were before we got started preparing for Mother's Day?"
"Well, no..."
"Then priorities first, Spike! I taught you better than that! Oh, and then you can make a reservation in that swanky cafe, purchase more flowers, clean up the library..."
And Spike said under his breath, "Lemme' rephrase. Twilight Sparkle could ruin it,"
It was nighttime and Twilight was sleeping soundly, left hoof wiggling.
And Spike was at the reading room, making his gift over candlelight.
"Ah, finished!" he exclaimed triumphantly, but quietly, showing it to an observant Owlowiscious. It was a beautifully painted picture of Spike joyfully hugging a quietly happy Twilight. At its corner written with elegant cursive, said, 'Happy Mother's Day, Love, Spike,'
"Hoo," said Owlowiscious.
Spike looked at it, and his smile turned to a frown, "Yeah, it's dumb,"
He tossed it aside, and sighed, "What am I gonna' do? Tomorrow's the perfect day to tell her, but she's got so much planned out with Miss Velvet already! Oh, anything could happen if I tell her I'm her son!
"Would she overreact? Would Miss Velvet freak out? Would it make things between me and Twilight awkward forever and ever!? Would Twilight send me away and to never come back!??"
"Hoo," said Owlowiscious, which snapped Spike out of it.
"Oh, thanks Owlowiscious," he said and scratched his chin in thought, "I need to reduce as many variables as possible to get the best results, so what can I do?"
And a devious thought came, and a devious smile followed.
He tiptoed quietly all the way to the bookshelf under the letter 'E', and pulled out an unassuming flat parcel. He opened it to reveal the Wishing Bone.
Owlowiscious flew to him and hooted.
"I know this is a little extreme!" whispered Spike defensively, "But desperate times call for desperate measures! And it's not as if I'm wishing for anything bad, or anything that will point the evidence at me. I'm just gonna' wish for Twilight to understand what it's like for me to be a dragon in a pony world, that way, she'll accept me as her son for sure!"
He twiddled his fingers, and picked it up. Immediately, the Bone began to glow a ghostly silver.
"Okay, here goes," said Spike, "I wish that Twilight would understand what it's like for me to be a dragon in a pony world-"
"Spike, you down there?" asked Twilight groggily from a distance.
"AARGH!!" screamed Spike in a fright. He placed the box back in its slot and hid the Wishing Bone behind his back just in time before Twilight came out.
"Oh, sorry Spike," apologized Twilight, "But what are you doing down there? It's way past a baby dragon's bedtime,"
"Umm, err, I couldn't sleep!" lied Spike, "I am just so excited for tomorrow!"
Twilight chuckled, "I can understand that. There's plenty for us to do with Mom tomorrow. But get to bed, Spike, or you'll be worn out,"
And with a yawn, she headed back to bed.
Once she was at a distance, Spike breathed a sigh of relief, and let his hands down. Then his eyes widened. Then he raised his paws up. And there were two separate pieces of the Wishing Bone in his claws.
"Uh oh," he squeaked.
He rushed to the table, picked up a stick of glue and very carefully glued the two pieces back together.
"Stupid-stupid!" Spike hissed, "Must've broke it when I hid it behind me!"
And he raised it, and it looked almost as good as new, and placed it back in the box and hid it. He was still hyperventilating.
"Alright keep calm, Spike! It's fixed, you already made the wish before you broke it, that means it should already be made without consequences right?" And he began to slowly calm down, "Yeah, and my wish wasn't a big cosmic one, it should be alright!"
And he headed back to his basket, still a little jittery.
And in the box, where the Wishing Bone was cracked, a silver energy surged.
Spike muttered in his sleep, mumbling in fear.
"No... no Twilight... I don't... forgive... mean..."
"Spike! Spiiiike!" yelled Twilight from downstairs.
"WAAARGHH!" screamed Spike in a jolt.
"Spike?"
And he ran down as quick as he could to meet Twilight.
"I'm-here-morning-ready-to-assist-nothing-wrong-is-there??" he rushed, with a salute to boot.
Twilight chuckled at his silliness, "No silly! Nothing's wrong! It's just that you slept in a little!"
"Oh no! I did!? I'm so sorry Twilight-"
"There's nothing to be sorry about! I just wanted to wake you up! It's early in the morning, so I'd thought I'd go to the edge of the Everfree Forest to pick some exotic flowers, which I'm sure she'll love!"
"Oh, umm, okay?"
"We should be expecting her pretty soon, so I'll see you later!" said Twilight as she exited the library.
And when the door closed, that's when Spike finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Twilight happily trotted at the edge of the Everfree Forest as she picked the flowers, which were near Fluttershy's, while she drank through a straw from her bottled soda.
She took a big sip, and let out a satisfactory, "Aaahhh...!"
But she noticed her straw, "Huh, I don't remember biting onto it..."
She used to her tongue to check her teeth, and she yelped in pain.
"Yow! What in the...!"
She ran to a small puddle and opened her jaw. She was shocked to find that her blunt teeth were now razor sharp.
"What!? How did this happen?" she exclaimed before she realized her right hoof felt funny. And that was when she knew something was horribly wrong.
Her right hoof was now a clawed hand. She looked to her left hoof, and it was clawed as well.
And she felt her tummy rumbling something fierce.
Spike was dancing like a goof in his pink apron, dusting everything clean in preparation for Miss Velvet.
He was on one tiptoed foot, cleaning the edge of the shelf when he heard a very familiar, and very enormous roar.
"ROAAAAAARRRRR!!"
His pupils shrank. He took off the apron, and ran out as fast as he could to the source of the roar.
A dragon's roar.
"Okay Spike! Just calm down! CALM DOWN ALREADY!" he yelled to himself as he raced towards the direction of the roar, "I mean, yeah, it is that kind of roar, but what are the chances!?"
As he got slightly past the library, still a ways ahead of where Fluttershy lived, he saw a familiar but unusually fast pink and yellow blur closing in on him.
It was Fluttershy, and she kept screaming even as she flew past him without noticing, "Dragon! Dragon! Big, purple dragon, AGAIN! Dragon!"
Spike's heart raced even more, but he raced his denial even more so, "Okay, still nothing to worry about! I mean, it's just Fluttershy! She probably saw a photo of me or some-"
The first thing he heard, was a massive wind, bellowing from where the Everfree came.
The cottages creaked and cracked, sending ponies to look out their windows, the ominous feeling beckoning.
Then he saw her.
In the distance.
In the sky.
And instantly knew that what he did with the Wishing Bone, produced a most cataclysmic mistake.
A giant silhouette of a lithe dragoness up in the sky, creating a huge shadow, covering nearly the entire ground where Spike was.
She glided down, and down, and her massive frame, as large as any full-grown dragon and landed in a distance from the Library, landed without care, cracking the fragile pavement below.
Panic set in, and ponies began to scream and run away, echoing Fluttershy's words.
Spike hid at a corner of a cottage, and could see it clearly as it was standing on its hind legs: it was an enormous but lithe purple dragon, with darker purple spines with massive wings that she folded back down.
But most horrifically, Spike could not see Twilight in that massive frame.
Sure, the scales were the same color, but what he saw from a distance, in his fellow dragon's reptilian and cold eyes, was utter contempt for everything else, and greed all for itself.
...what have I done? thought Spike in horror.
Then, the dragoness turned it's huge and sleek head and saw that huge water tank that Spike once destroyed and for the matter, Twilight herself once used to banish the Ursa Minor.
She eyed it not with juvenile glee, but with a dangerous determination.
With four heavy feet and a smoky growl, she stomped her way through, not even looking where she was going, crushing food-carts and nearly trampling ponies along the way.
Wrapping her long whip-like tail around it, she ripped the water tank right out, once again flooding Ponyville with its reservoir and creating even more havoc.
She raised her head high, sniffing the air, and moved once again.
All whilst Spike looked on, keeping a close watch but a safe distance, but most importantly, still too much in a daze and panic to have any thought in his young mind.
"SPIKE!"
"Aarrgh!!" he screamed, and turned around to see a very terrified Rainbow Dash and a very worried Applejack.
"Oh thank Celestia yer' alright!" said Applejack and held his shoulders tight, "Now ah' know yer' scared now, pardner, but where's Twilight? We need her A.S.A.P!"
"Yeah!" added Rainbow Dash, "We need the big guns for this one, this one doesn't look like it's messing around at all!"
Spike's mind was at a flurry, the clock in his head ticking and tocking, as his friends looked to him for help... and all he whispered was, "I don't know..."
"What!?" demanded Rainbow, "Whaddya' mean you don't know!? You both live in the same tree!"
The screams intensified. No roar from the dragoness, yet.
"Look, she just went out in the morning, okay!?" yelled Spike to himself, "I haven't seen her since!!"
Suddenly, the trio heard a familiar, high-pitched and shrill scream close by.
"Rarity!!" the trio yelled, and headed straight for Carousel Boutique.
It was a short gallop away, and they saw the dragoness ripping the Boutique with its bare claws, clawing further and further into it.
And inside, they saw a desperate and disheveled Rarity, screaming at it and whacking it with her rolls of heavy textiles.
"STOP! DESTROYING! MY! HOME! MY! MOTHER! IS! COMING! SOON!" she yelled desperately with each hard whack.
It didn't seem to phase her at all, but once Rarity whacked the dragoness right on the snout, that was when she stared most foully at Rarity.
And Rarity saw the pure, deadly malice in its cold eyes, and roared.
With green fire.
All ponies who saw it froze in terror at what they saw.
And when the flames died down, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Everything the flame touched was frozen. Blue ice covered the floors, the wall and even Rarity herself, her terror for all to see.
The dragoness raised her claw.
"No...!" whispered Spike in horror, running to save his Rarity, but Applejack grabbed him and turned him away from the imminent horror.
But her claw did not smash upon Rarity; instead, a huge treasure chest broke wide upon with a thunderous thump, revealing a hoard of shining gems.
The dragoness cast a wicked smile, and scooped up the gems into the water tank, and proceeded away.
Spike broke free from Applejack's grip, rushed to the frozen Rarity and very carefully blowed his own green flames to thaw her out. Rainbow Dash catches the still conscious but still shocked Rarity.
"Oh my, I thought I saw my life flashing before me!" she commented in a daze, "But it turns out it was just the ice over my really large eyes!"
"She's okay!" added Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright, Rarity!" exclaimed Spike with a hug, which Rarity daintily returned back.
"Spike, why did that dragon blow green fire?" asked Applejeack worriedly, "And why was it able to make ice!?"
"How should I know!? I've never seen another dragon that could do that!" he insisted. But secretly, he had a terrible hunch as to why Twilight could do what she did.
"AAAARGHHH!" it was another familiar scream.
"That's Pinkie Pie!" yelled Rainbow, "C'mon girls, we gotta' go help her!" And she flew with Rarity still hanging on her forehooves, whilst Spike got onto Applejack.
Mr and Mrs. Cake were busy as usual, tending to their twins, Pumpkin and Pound Cake, and also tidying up their new shelf. It sold Mother's Day cards, flowers and assorted candies for the slightly forgetful clients (Twilight and Spike came to mind).
Sure they heard that huge roar a few moments ago and there was even some screaming, but there was always something roaring and screaming in Ponyville and their family have weathered the storm plenty of times.
But what does get their attention however, is when Pinkie Pie is upstairs stomping up in the above level, especially since her mother, Mrs. Pie, was there also.
"Huh, what do you think Pinkie and Mrs. Pie are doing up there, honey bun?" asked Cup Cake.
"Not sure, but she sure does sound-" but before Carrot cake could finish his words, Pinkie was already racing down the stairs with her mother up in her hooves.
"SORRY-I-WAS-SO-LOUD-BUT-I-LOOKED-OUT-THE-WINDOW-AND-IT-WAS-A-DRAGON-AND-WE-GOTTA-GO-GO-GO-GO!" screamed Pinkie rapidly as she also scooped up Cup Cake and Carrot Cake on one hoof, stuffed them into a pram, stacked her mother on top of them, then very gently placed the now excited twins in Mrs. Pie's hooves.
And she wheeled them right out Sugarcube Corner, smashing through the door in the process.
And then Cup Cake said, "Pinkie! What is the matter with you!? Why-" Then she saw the dragoness, "Oh, a giant purple dragon ready to destroy our home again, good call,"
Carrot Cake fainted again.
Twilight stomped almost arrogantly towards their home, and the other three ponies (plus Spike) got there just in time to witness the dragoness pull off a new trick: she blasted a very thin, very concentrated beam of fire, barely a pony's breadth, at Sugarcube Corner, crudely cutting out a large hole.
"Is this what you and Pinkie meant by 'one of those days', Cup Cake?" asked Mrs. Pie, her tightly wound bun now a little frazzled, due to Pumpkin Cake chewing on it.
"Think today is particularly bad," commented Cup Cake.
Twilight reached deep into the bakery and her prize turned out to be the shelf with all the cards and flowers and chocolates on it.
As she was about to proudly store it into her 'baggage', she was met face to face with a very angry Rainbow Dash.
"Alright, I've had just about enough with your fancy fire and wanton destruction! Drop the stash and get outta' town NOW!!" she ordered.
Twilight, stared at her, then raised an eyebrow, smirked, and blew out a gust of ashy smoke at the pegasus pony, sending her tumbling away.
"WAAAAH-AH-AH-AH-ARGHH!" she screamed as she flew halfway across town.
"Rainbow's got the right idea, girls, we gotta' high tail outta' here!" Pinkie exclaimed, and led the group away from the menacing beast, still strolling her family away.
Now, Twilight would've went on with her business as usual, but then, she smelled something, almost a someone, almost. A familiar and mysteriously comforting scent, something useful, and small.
A final sniff in the air confirmed it; she looked down to her right and saw a bunch of ponies running away from her... including a baby purple dragon riding on top of that prickly white unicorn.
"BREY...BEY..." struggled the dragoness, not used to moving her vocal cords but managed to squeeze out in a reverberating, raspy, female growl, "BABYYY DRAGON...!"
Rarity's ears pricked in shock as she ran, "Did that monster just say 'baby dragon'!?"
Spike turned to look at Twilight; was there some Twilight still left in her completely altered form!?
All Spike saw was that the dragoness launched a small, but deadly fast fireball right at them.
"Aargh!!" screamed Spike, "Hard left! Hard left!"
Everyone immediately took a sharp corner to the left past some cottages.
And so did the fireball.
Before anyone could react, the fireball homed in right on Spike.
He would've screamed, but the fireball enveloped him completely, and for a few seconds, all he saw was green fire.
What everypony else saw was that Spike got transformed into the very kind of smoke trail that he himself uses to send Princess Celestia letters.
Rarity shrieked and tried to grab her little dragon, but all she got were little hoof-fuls of smoke.
Suddenly, the dragoness unfurled her massive wings and took to the air. The little smoke trail followed suit, flying towards her head.
Rarity and the others could just barely make out that Spike popped out of the smoke and landed onto the monster's head and is now hanging on for dear life on her top spine. She then flew towards Golden Oaks Library.
"SPIKE-WIKEY NO!!" screamed Rarity, wanting to chase after the dragoness.
"Hold on there, sugarcube!" said Applejack, stopping her with her hoof, "We can't just rush in willy-nilly like this! That thing'll roast us, ice us, or worse!!"
"Are you saying we leave that she-beast alone with Spike-Wikey!?"
"Ah'm sayin' that whatever that dragoness wants ta' do, it doesn't seem ta' involve hurtin' Spike!" insisted Applejack decisively, "So it's best we regroup with the others, put all the mothers out of harm's way, and have a plan ta' fix all this!!"
Then Pinkie Pie brought up an interesting point, "So then, what does that beastie want with Spiky?"
Author's Note
I had a lot of difficulty finding out how to make this chapter work, 'cos with twilight as a dragon I ran into a lot of potential narrative roadblocks that will just create a lot of plotholes would I to continue. My solution? SMAUG. Smaug from The Desolation of Smaug, regardless of what you thought of the 2nd Hobbit movie, is pretty much the best dragon in any live-action flick ever, and it inspired me to make Twi this practically monstrous being. It steered this fic into a very different direction (hence why the 'sad' tag is there), but I think this fic will be better for it.
http://www.derpibooru.org/11053?scope=scpe5ef6aae77b2fcf139b78f1d40dda0da60b391c44
http://fyre-flye.deviantart.com/art/Dragon-255847083
- I decided to release this chapter earlier than my intended due date as I see that it's still getting some traction. In truth, I had this chapter done a long while back, but I withheld it for a very specific, non-narrative reason, and yes, this does mean that the next chapter update will be a very long ways ahead, but I have a lot more planned in the future. So now I made this public to see how you guys react to it.
