Love is the Best Lubricant

Spike and Sweetie Belle walked through the door to the Ponyville library. Inside they saw Twilight Sparkle humming to herself as she floated various books into a number of different shelves. The purple unicorn looked over to the door and saw her two guests.

“Oh, hi Spike, hi Sweetie Belle! Just give me a moment and I’ll be right with you.” Twilight quickly placed a few more books on the shelves and placed the others in an organized pile by the stairs.

Spike and Sweetie Belle walked over to a couch. The white mare was walking with a slight limp in her hind quarters and leaned against her husband for support. Twilight turned to the couple and smiled happily.

“How are you both doing? How’s working for the Apple family working out for you Spike? And how are you taking to your job as a marriage counselor Sweetie?” Twilight glanced over at the kitchen quickly. “Would you like tea?”

“No thanks Twi,” Spike stated morosely, looking down at his feet.

“Oh! Well, what about work?” the lavender mare asked.

“Work is fine Miss Sparkle,” Sweetie answered. She winced slightly at the pain in her nethers. A dull throb and rash had formed from the previous night’s failed attempt at intercourse.

“Sweetie Belle, is something wrong? You seem pained.” Twilight lowered her head concernedly as tried to look into her technical adoptive daughter-in-law’s eyes.

The alabaster unicorn gulped as she turned away from the purple mare. “Spike and I... have been having difficulties.”

Twilight pulled her head back. “Oh dear! How bad is it? You’re not considering divorce are you?”

“No!” Sweetie yelped as a tear flowed down her muzzle. She leaned against Spike who was tearing up himself to emphasize the point. “We love eachother very much. But we’re having trouble...”

“Showing it to eachother,” Spike completed the statement as he reached a padded foot around his wife’s shoulders.

“Showing it? You’re doing that right now. Leaning into one another, completing each other’s sentences,” Twilight chuckled. Spike looked up at his adoptive mother with a hurt pout. Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized what she had done. “Omigosh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make light of-- I thought you two had gotten through that.” She frowned at her social ineptitude.

Spike sighed and started to talk. “We tried that spell you offered, the one to surround my... Sweetie couldn’t keep it up when she... uuuuhhhh... arrives and so we didn’t want to risk it cutting out while I was... Celestia, is this hard to talk about.”

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat and looked up at Twilight. “That was when we tried creams, lubricants, even medications to help me be... receptive. It hasn’t worked. Do you think that there’s a spell you could think of that would help us?”

“Well, that shield spell would require me to be present if you can’t hold it on your own,” Twilight said.

“No, you’re not watching,” Spike hastily exclaimed. “It was bad enough with the wedding guests waiting for us downstairs after we had our wedding at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that I was just thinking out loud.” Twilight turned away and lifted a hoof to her chin as she bit her lip. “Channelling spells cast by Sweetie Belle won’t work. That eliminates shield spells,” Twilight muttered as she stood up and began pacing. “A general anesthetic spell wouldn’t prevent damage. Medication hasn’t alleviated it.” Twilight turned to Spike and asked “Would you be willing to undergo surgery to have them...? No, that could cause nerve damage. Maybe there’s a spell...”

Twilight stopped pacing as she looked into empty space. Spike got up from the couch and took a few steps towards the purple unicorn. “Twilight did you--”

“Shh!” the Element of Magic hastily hissed. Her eyes were moving from side to side as though she was reading a book. Slowly, oh so slowly, the darting of her eyes became less erratic as a smile formed on her face. “I think I might have a solution,” the mare declared. She turned to Spike and Sweetie Belle and nodded. “Just give me a minute, I have to find one of my more esoteric texts.”

Before the interspecies couple could offer any protest Twilight winked out before them as she teleported. Spike lowered the claw he had lifted and placed it back on the ground. He looked back at Sweetie Belle who was smiling.

“What?” he asked with a shrug.

“She hasn’t changed one bit in all these years,” the mare replied. “She’s never been one to catch the subtle details. She still gets so focused when there’s a problem she’s convinced she can solve. Not to mention how she’s always there for friends and family.”

“Yeah, that’s Twi,” Spike said as he reached up to his face. “Sharp as a whistle in everything except the more sensitive social topics. Much to the chagrin of the stallions in Ponyville... and several mares.”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “Maybe when this is done with I can start pointing out the signs to her. Make it a little easier for her to notice?”

Before Spike could reply Twilight returned in a flash of purple light. “Found it!” she yelled. “I knew there was a reason I kept this book. Okay, just need one other thing...” Twilight floated over a textbook on dragon anatomy and set it beside the book she had teleported in with. Spike walked over to the two books as Twilight opened both and continued her speech.

“Alright so you and Sweetie Belle can’t copulate because your penis possesses barbs that in mating with another female dragon would normally prevent her from escaping. But female dragons are adapted to to this with scales that are resistant to tearing and also a ribbed structure that allows the spines to--”

“Twilight we know what the problem is and why it wouldn’t be if I had found a girl dragon,” Spike interrupted. “But how does this anatomy lesson help me be with Sweetie Belle without hurting her?”

Sweetie Belle stood up from the couch and approached Twilight and Spike. The purple unicorn took a deep breath before continuing. “Transfiguration,” she answered flatly.

Spike’s head fins twitched as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped loosely. “Transformation magic?” he mumbled.

“Exactly, I cast a spell to alter Sweetie Belle’s physiology to that of a draconic maiden, that way she’d be able to endure... well... you.” Twilight smiled sheepishly as Spike stared into the distance.

“But Twilight, w-what about the other way around? Why can’t y-you turn Spike into a pony?” Sweetie Belle asked with a slight shake in her voice.

“Dragons are immune to most magic that directly manipulates them, and it only becomes more so after adolescence,” Twilight answered. “Remember how I used to be able to give Spike a moustache? Not anymore,” she added with a shake of her head.

“Would this be permanent?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Thankfully not,” the amethyst-eyed unicorn responded. “The spell would only be a partial transformation, up to a point, I couldn’t mimic spell immunity. So eventually the magic would be rejected by your system, and you’ll change back.”

Spike and Sweetie Belle looked at eachother and gave wide grins. They turned to Twilight and collectively announced, “Do it.”

Twilight looked around nervously with her eyes before opening her mouth to speak. “Okay, just a few things. I’ll have to cast a numbing spell on you first, that will keep you from experiencing any pain. You’ll feel discomfort, but nothing excruciating.” She looked at Sweetie Belle until the white mare gestured with her hoof, moving it in a circle, to go on. “So the transformation will likely last a day without any reversion, maybe less if I put less magic into it. After that you’ll start changing back, that will be very slowly unless you come back here for another spell, in which case I could change you back quickly.”

“What if I wanted to uhhhh... have the spell refreshed?” Sweetie Belle asked as she leaned up against Spike, wrapping her tail around his left hind leg.

“I’m sorry, but this spell is really going to take it out of me. I’d need about a week to recover.” Twilight lifted up the transfiguration tome in her magic and began flipping through the pages as she continued. “Now, as a dragon you won’t have any magic, but you’ll be able to grab stuff with your claws. Be sure not to breath too heavily either or you might accidentally give a little shot of flame.”

Spike lifted an eyebrow in incredulity. Twilight noticed it and added, “Oh! But uh, Spike could probably teach you how to control your breathing in an hour. Fire control is mostly just a developmental stage rather than a skill. Once Spike grew his wings we never lost a book due to him sneezing.” Spike blushed slightly at the memory of several novels he had accidentally damaged or sent to Canterlot, only to have them return two weeks later by way of post.

Sweetie Belle looked down at her hooves before her face brightened in curiosity. “What about children? Is there any...” The white mare pursed her lips and and looked back down. “No, that wouldn’t work would it? I’d turn back before anything could be fertilized.” Twilight gave a short nod and reached over to Sweetie Belle’s shoulder with a hoof. “That’s okay, Spike and I plan to adopt.”

With one more resolute nod, Twilight stepped back. “Okay, Sweetie Belle, if you could stand over there.” Twilight pointed with her head to an empty corner of the foyer. “I can get started.”

Sweetie Belle gave Spike an affectionate nuzzle before trotting off to the corner Twilight had indicated. She tilted her head and asked her in-law, “Should I be sitting or standing for this?”

“Definitely lying down,” Twilight answered. Sweetie Belle lowered herself to the ground, folded her hooves underneath her and gave a quick nod. “Okay,” Twilight said to herself. “Starting with the anesthetic spell.”

Twilight’s horn glowed a deep purple as a same-colored aura surrounded Sweetie Belle. The white mare felt a tickling sensation at first, like a thousand pieces of string being trailed across her body. It started from the tail and worked up her flank, over her withers, and terminated at the end of her nose. After the tendrils had moved along her body she felt a slight sting wherever the spell had touched, and it was followed by numbness. As the sensation moved up her neck, Sweetie let her head fall on her forehooves. When the magic finally worked over her nose one final time she gave a sneeze.

“Are you okay Sweetie Belle?” Twilight asked.

“Yeth,” the white mare responded. She gave a weak smile at her lisp. “Ah thoun’ liake Twitht!” she giggled. Her eyes felt heavy, not that she was tired, but her eyelids were simply numb. She closed her eyes and smiled contently when she felt Spike place a hand on her side.

“Okay, Sweetie Belle, do you want me to cast a sleeping spell as well?” Twilight asked. “It’d drain me a little more, which means less time to spend with Spike after the transformation. But that also means no discomfort.”

Sweetie opened a single eye and looked between her husband and Twilight. Spike was looking worriedly at her. “No thleep thpell Twi,” Sweetie answered. Spike opened his mouth to protest but was cut off when Sweetie Belle added. “Ah put ahp with pain. Ah can han’le thith.”

Spike nodded and patted Sweetie Belle one more time before he stepped back. He cast a quick glance to Twilight to see her looking at him. She inclined her head and then faced Sweetie Belle. The purple unicorn’s horn began to glow again as she focused her energies into the difficult spell before her. She’d attempted it twice on herself in Spike’s adolescence, in a rather bull-rush attempt at resolving his claims of ‘you just don’t understand’. Those had been a long two weeks. Waiting to get her magic back, hiding from her friends, and Spike smugly laughing every time she damaged a book with her claws.

Arcs of magical charge leapt from Twilight’s horn. At first they fell a few inches in front of her. The unicorn winced as she concentrated on the pool of magic she would need to draw upon. As more power was added to the spell the arcs bounded the distance towards Sweetie Belle in increments.

“HHHHNNNGHH!” Twilight grunted as her knees began shaking. At last the whips of arcane energy lashed around Sweetie Belle in a furied mass. The white unicorn quivered slightly at the immense energies crackling around her. Spike took a step towards his love when he was stopped by Twilight’s voice.

“Don’t interrupt, it’s almost over!” she yelled in an ethereal voice. Spike looked over and saw that her eyes were glowing white. He backpedalled out of the way in compliance and observed from a distance.

The purple tendrils touched Sweetie Belle on occasion as they twitched erratically. When they did so they stuck fast and ceased moving. As the final piece of the spell fell into place, wrapping around the mare’s horn, Twilight smiled. The purple unicorn began focusing on dragons, not what they looked like, or any particular image of how Twilight imagined Sweetie Belle would look like as one, but the idea of a dragon in and of itself. Stripped of all variable components Twilight visualized the base form of a dragon. When the form was locked, she released the final component of the spell and there was a flash of white and purple light from Sweetie Belle as the tendrils flew away in a blast.

Twilight finally allowed herself the luxury of sitting as she slumped to the ground. Sweat beaded all over her body as she panted. “You should have... twenty four hours... before she... starts...” Twilight gulped and took a deep breath. “Turning back,” she finished.

Spike lowered his arm that had shielded him from the light show and looked over at where his wife was lying. “Uh, Twilight? Sweetie’s isn’t a dragon.”

“Give it a minute,” she replied dryly. “I already took notes from seven years ago. I really need a glass of water. Be sure and keep her calm. That means tell her what’s going on.” With that the purple mare stood back up and stepped wearily to the kitchen.

Spike stood up and approached his wife slowly. She still had her cutie mark, her mane, her soft fur. “Sweetie, are you awake?” the purple dragon asked cautiously.

“Bawely,” the still pony before him replied.

“Do you feel anything? Pain? Discomfort?”

“Thight,” Sweetie Belle answered with an angry undertone.

“Tightness? Where?” Spike took another step towards his wife and arched his neck so his face was level with hers.

Sweetie Belle stretched and worked her lips a little bit. “Shoulders, b-spine! Stomach! Everything!” Sweetie’s sides started heaving outwards as two bumps started forming on her shoulders. “Ugh,” Sweetie groaned as she stretched out her legs. A snapping sound emanated from each as she did so. Spike flinched at the sound as he watched the process unfold.

By Celestia, Twilight had to go through this alone? Spike thought as the bumps continued to stretch the skin along his wife’s back and sides. “Doesn’t that hurt?” he asked.

“Too numb, but-- ARGH!”

“What is it? Tell me where it hurts!” Spike yelled as he rushed to his love.

Sweetie Belle’s face contorted as she snarled. Spike could see her teeth all lengthen and sharpen to a killer’s edge as blood trickled along her gums. Spike’s attention to his wife’s new dental equipment was drawn away when he looked to her back. The two bumps had extended over her head and stretched the skin taut. The two fleshy spires quivered from the resistance until the fur gave, and a claw pushed through each.

“Spike? What’s happening to my back?” Sweetie Belle asked meekly.

“Wings, your wings are coming in,” Spike replied.

Sweetie Belle could feel a new presence on her back but wasn’t quite certain what to make of them. She tried moving her shoulders and she felt the alien appendages shift. As she continued to move what she assumed were her wings, the tightness that had been plaguing her dissipated. As she continued her movements however a new tightness formed in her tail. It felt like it was ballooning up.

Spike looked at his wife’s flayed side. The constant shifting of her newly formed wings had torn up most of the skin and fur. It hung on by a few strands here and there. Below the white flesh were pristine white scales. They were bright and pearlescent, reflecting the sunlight that reached into the library. A thumping sound caught the purple dragon’s attention before he could admire the luminescent qualities of his wife’s new draconic hide. He looked at her flank and saw that her tail had distended, lengthened, and swelled to the point that it was of the same mass as his own. Her tail hair had fallen out and lay on the ground.

Sweetie Belle moved her tail again and a small jolt moved up her body from the impact. The partially formed dragon could feel a tension along her neck and underneath her ears.

“Spike is my neck all stretchy?” she asked with a little more vigor than when Twilight had first cast the spell.

Spike looked over at his wife’s head and neck. It had lengthened, and fins and spines were poking out of her mane. Her ears were bent at odd angles.

A cracking sound emanated from Sweetie Belle’s face and she crossed her eyes to look at her muzzle. It was stretching, becoming longer and somewhat pointed. Sweetie could hear more cracks but they were muffled, any attempt she made to move her ears was useless.

Spike leaped back slightly when the mare’s ears fell off to reveal a set of soft purple and pink head-fins. A set of spines running down her neck where her mane had been stood up and cut some loose strands of flesh.

Sweetie Belle breathed gently as all the sensations of growth, cracking, snapping and bending ceased on her face and body. “Spike? How do--”

CRACK!

A final snap caused Sweetie Belle’s hooves to fly off. Below the Spike could see four newly clawed feet.

“Okaaaay... that’s long enough,” the white dragoness announced with exasperation as she stretched herself out. Loose bits of skin and fur that were still attached soon fell off. Sweetie placed her four feet on the ground on the ground and lifted herself up, allowing Spike to take her all in.

Her scales were white, whiter than her fur had been. They were polished and shining to a crisp glint that threw off light every time she moved. Her wings had folded at her side. The membranes were the same soft pink that had once suffused her mane. Sweetie Belle turned to Spike and he noticed her pupils were still round. On her head were fins and dreadlock-like tendrils that were either a soft purple or pink.

Sweetie Belle sat on the ground and a dreadlock fell in front of her eye. “Woah,” she said as she reached up with a claw to the hued mass. Her hand stopped once it entered her vision. She turned her arm in front of her and was dazzled by her scales. The new dragon flexed her tongue slightly, and noted it felt much thinner. She reached it over to her teeth and stroked the calcinous spikes that formed a neat row along her jaw. She smiled as she looked over to Spike.

“How do I look?” she asked. The ivory dragon turned her head while maintaining eye contact with Spike, trying to give was she imagine was a demure look.

“As beautiful as on our wedding day,” the husband answered. “Can you walk?”

In response Sweetie Belle stood up and sauntered over to Spike. She made sure to flex every muscle that could possibly be used in locomotion so that her love could see them all flex underneath her skin. She walked past Spike and flicked his nose with her tail. She put a little too much force behind it and made him grab his nose briefly.

“Sorry!” she exclaimed as she turned around quickly.

“It’s alright, I’m sure we’ll get it all worked out in the next little bit,” Spike answered as he looked at his wife fondly.

Sweetie Belle gave out a deep sigh but quickly shut her mouth when she felt flames. She grinned sheepishly when smoke seeped out of her nostrils. It was then that Sweetie Belle’s stomach growled. The dragoness blushed deeply as she shot a quick glance downwards.

“I suppose I’ll have to share some of my gems with you when we get home,” Spike stated amusedly.

“You better, when I cast that spell on myself way back when I was famished!” Spike and Sweetie Belle turned to the kitchen door to see Twilight leaning against the door frame with a smile on her face and a warm shine to her eyes.

“Twilight I can’t thank you enough for this,” Spike said as he took Sweetie’s front paws in his own.

“We can’t thank you enough,” Sweetie amended as she leaned in to kiss Spike.

“Hey now, I thought you said you didn’t want me to be around for this sort of thing!” the purple unicorn chuckled.

Spike pulled himself back prematurely to feel a blush matching Sweetie Belle’s spread over his muzzle. “Heh, we probably should take this home.”