The Herd

Chapter 5

Twilight Sparkle stumbled in through the front door of her library home, needing to keep a death grip on the door handle to stay upright. She closed the entrance by way of leaning against the door until it snapped shut, and then remained there as she tried to get her wavering legs to cooperate. While her muscles weren’t actually worn out and tired, the lingering effects of the Sensation Sharing Spell were insisting otherwise, and her body just couldn’t accept that what she was feeling was only illusionary. She’d barely managed to limp home with a gratuitous amount of teleportation spells, and the expenditure of so much magic had left her feeling even more worn down.

It actually took her more than one attempt to magically light the lanterns in the main room, and only her pride kept her from literally crawling over to a chair to slump down in. As soon as she was seated however she gave fully into her exhaustion, both real and spell induced, letting out a whimpering groan of relief at just being off her feet. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and tried to organize her thoughts through the physical discomfort.

Her mind didn’t hold back on her despite her condition, but slammed her right away with a doozy of a question: Was she still a virgin?

‘No one actually touched me,’ she pointed out to her mind.

‘And yet, you took an active role in the giving and receiving of sexual pleasure of another person. Three other persons in fact,’ her mind shot back.

‘It was involuntary,’ she tried to counter.

‘The first time, maybe…’ her mind instantly retorted. ‘The second and third time though…’

‘I wasn’t really actively pleasuring anyone,’ she argued, dropping back a point in the debate. ‘I was just providing a means of allowing them to greater enjoy themselves.’

‘While getting your fair share of the fun,’ her mind pointed out dismissively. ‘It might have been Pinkie Pie that Big Mac was plowing during the second sensation spell, but the way both of them were looking at you…’

‘I still haven’t actually had anyone inside me,’ Twilight thought through a rising flush.

‘Semantics,’ her mind scoffed. ‘If your senses can’t distinguish otherwise , then what meaningful difference is there between reality and illusion? Especially an illusion whose sensory input is a copy of something you know to be real?’

Twilight was saved the trouble of trying to come up with a counter by a sudden ruckus in the next room…or maybe a fracas?

“Ugh, too much Pinkie in my mind tonight,” Twilight groaned. She pushed herself upright in the chair and focused on the door. Whatever the cause had been, she had at least recognized the sound itself, having heard it more than a few times. It had been the sound of books falling, a pile of at least twenty if her guess was good. “Spike, is that you in there?”

“Twilight?” the almost familiar voice of her dragon companion and assistant responded. The tone wasn’t quite right though, somewhat too deep and rough. Not to mention nervous sounding.

“Spike? You okay? You sound…different.” Twilight tried to stand up, but her legs weren’t having any of it and she remained seated.

“Do I? Uh yeah well, I think I might be coming down with something.” There was a series of forcibly loud hacking coughs. “Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I don’t feel so good.”

“Well come here so I can give you a look over,” Twilight called, managing to get to her feet despite her body’s protests.

“Uh uh ummm…” came the frantic reply. “Uh no! I uh, don’t want to risk getting you sick! Especially with the Gala tomorrow and everything!”

“Don’t be ridiculous Spike,” Twilight said, hobbling to the door. “We’ve never caught each other’s illnesses before.”

“Gah!” Spike cried out as Twilight pushed the door open, and he tried to hide behind the half fallen stack of books covering the table. He would have had better luck if he hadn’t been a good three feet taller than normal.

“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed hotly, her weariness momentarily forgotten. “You’re hording again!?”

“I’m not!” Spike replied, peering nervously out from around the pile. “I swear!”

“Then what’s all this?” Twilight demanded, pointing at the collection of books.

“Research material,” Spike told her.

“Oh come on,” Twilight scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“I’m serious,” Spike said, a bit of hurt coming into his tone. “Look, see?” He picked up a book and held it out to her. “It’s about dragons. They all are.”

Twilight remained skeptical, but she did take the offered book and give it a glance. “Spike,” she said curtly. “This is a book on dragons in myth and legends.”

“Yeah well,” Spike said meekly. “Most of them are actually. I think I found all of just two books about dragons that aren’t just stories.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, taken aback enough to forget to be stern. “That can’t be right.” Turning to the pile, she gathered the mess up, absentmindedly counting as she did. “Twenty one, close.”

“What?” Spike asked.

“Nothing, never mind,” Twilight replied as she started sorting through the books, stacking them into twin towers. Or more accurately, one tower and something that would barely qualify as a foundation. She picked up the meager three books that had earned non-fiction status in her sorting.

“This can’t be right,” she repeated, trying to think back to her last re-shelving day. “You got everything we have about dragons here?”

“Everything,” Spike said certainly. “I double checked. I even triple checked to make sure I didn’t miss anything while double checking.”

Twilight’s eyebrows went up, and she turned back to the tomes in her hands. Draconic Magic, by Starswirl the Bearded. Dragon Danger: Dealing with the Direst without Drastic Drama, by Golden Band. And finally, The Dragon Diaries, by Honey Badger.

“What exactly were you looking for?” Twilight asked.

“Anything that might explain why I’m growing like this again,” Spike answered, shuffling out from behind the books. He was only a few inches shorter than she was now, though the gangly awkwardness of his limbs suggested at more height to come. “And how to make it stop.”

“There might not be any way to stop it Spike,” Twilight said seriously.

“But, why not?”

“Well, if you really aren’t hording again…”

“I’m not! I swear! I Pinkie Promise even!”

“Alright, alright,” Twilight relented. “Well then, you might just be growing because you’re getting older.”

“But…I don’t want to get older!” Spike protested.

“Heh, Spike,” Twilight chuckled. “Everyone gets older, it’s part of life. It’s not a bad thing.”

“Yeah well, most people don’t turn into rampaging monsters when they grow up,” Spike said direly.

The smile dropped from Twilight’s face. “Oh…Spike…” she said softly.

“Please Twilight, you have to help me,” the dragon begged. “I don’t want to be like that. But I’m afraid I won’t be able to help it if I get that big again. And if that happens, I’m going to have to leave, or I might hurt someone.”

Somewhere in her chest, Twilight felt a hand seize her heart and squeeze.

“It’s not going to come to that,” she said, trying to shake off the feeling.

“How do you know?”

“Because I won’t let it!” Twilight said, startling herself with the fierceness of her own words. “If there’s a way to keep you you, I’ll find it. And if there isn’t, I’ll make a way!” Her magic yanked a chair out of the corner of the room, and she sat down with only a minor protest from her legs. She dropped two of the books in her lap, opened the third, and started reading with the determined resolve normally reserved for those about to engage in battle.

Starswirl’s book, while quite interesting, proved mostly useless, being all about magic spells as applied to dragons. She did find one entry that she mentally bookmarked for possible later use though. She magically levitated the book back on the table, taking a moment to stretch a little. She caught Spike’s eye from where the dragon had taken a seat on the floor, his knees pulled into his chest and his arms and tail around his legs. Neither said anything, and Twilight quickly picked up the second book.

Golden Band’s work threatened to put Twilight into a coma. Her initial boost of worried energy had long since faded, and only the interesting subject matter of Starswirl’s writing had kept her general exhaustion at bay. It came creeping in as she started the second book though, which was about as educational as it was gripping and exciting. Which was not in the slightest. While the opening chapter had declared the book’s intent to be ways and means for the average person to deal with dragon related problems, the vast majority of the text could have been condensed into a single sentence: Whenever possible, avoid any and all interaction with dragons. The little remainder could have been covered with an additional sentence: When not possible, seek professional help.

Only the practice gained from several years of late night cram sessions during her tutelage under princess Celestia provided Twilight with the will and means to power on through the book, and she unceremoniously dropped it on the floor beside her chair when finished. Spike gave a tiny startled sound, but didn’t completely wake up from the sleep that had claimed him. He had fallen over on one side, still curled up tight around himself. Twilight took a few minutes to get up, stretch out, and grab a blanket for Spike, and some hot chocolate for herself before attempting the final book.

Luckily Honey Badger proved to be a rather amusing author, as well as having something of real interest to write about. The book was a documentary about several years Honey had spent getting to know three different wild dragons, and was full of remarkable accounts, anecdotes, and random trivia. It was however, still pretty well useless as far as providing anything to help with the current predicament. While Honey had found out some very interesting things about the dragons she studied, most of it was about those individual dragons as opposed to dragons as a species. And none of those dragons had been anywhere near as young as Spike.

Twilight set the book down, and rubbed at her tired eyes. She was utterly exhausted; it had been a long and eventful day, and the clock on the wall informed her that it would probably be more accurate to call it an early morning than a late night at this point. She yawned, leaned back in her chair, and let her eyes close for a second, just to give them a rest.

“Twilight. Twilight? Twilight!”

“Huh, wha?” Twilight sat upright in a start. Spike stood beside her chair, scales gleaming in the bright sunshine streaming in through the window. “Oh no, I fell asleep!”

“Yeah, me too,” Spike said dully. “Did you find anything?”

“Nothing that had anything to do with dragon aging or growth I’m afraid,” she informed him. Spike drooped. “I did however find a possible temporary solution though.”

“You did!” Spike exclaimed, perking up hopefully.

Twilight nodded, and got out of the chair, wincing a bit as she did. Her back informed her in no uncertain terms what it thought about her sleeping upright with minimal padding. She wobbled slightly on over to the table, and retrieved Starswirl’s book, flipping open to the page she had noted earlier.

“Now remember,” she told Spike as she glanced over the spell. “This is just a patch, it’s not going to fix anything, only give us some more time.”

“Right, I gotcha.”

“Okay, here we go…” Twilight said, closing her eyes as she reached out for her magic. While not the best night’s sleep she’d ever had, she had gotten sufficient rest to let her horn recharge, and it was a simple matter to pull in the power she needed. Pushing it back out in the form of the spell she was trying to cast was somewhat more difficult, but she’d performed much more complicated forms of transmutation than this.

Spike gave a little shudder, his body lighting up with the dark pink aura of her magic. The shudder became a quiver, than a violent quaking, and then with a tiny “pop”, the dragon shrank in on himself. For a second he was little more than a purple and green blob with hands and feet, and then his body bounced back out, his proportions returned to his familiar stature.

“Awesome! Thank you Twilight!” Spike exclaimed, his voice also back to its youthful state. He leapt on her in a hug.

“You’re welcome Spike, but remember…”

“Right right, temporary,” Spike said. “But at least this way I won’t freak anyone out. I just hope it lasts through the Gala…”

“The Gala…” Twilight said thoughtfully. “The Gala? The Gala! The Grand Galloping Gala!” She gave a little shriek. “It’s tonight! And I slept in late! I should be getting ready!”

“But Twilight, we don’t have to leave for a few hours still,” Spike pointed out.

“Only a few hours!” Twilight panicked. “How will I ever get everything done in time! I need to go see Rarity right now!”

“…women,” Spike said to himself with a shake of his head as Twilight bolted out of the room.

“Women…” Spike gloomily echoed himself several hours later, as he sat dejectedly at the counter of his favorite Canterlot donut shop. He couldn’t believe they had all just abandoned him like that, running off on their own and leaving him all by himself. And after he had driven the carriage all the way from Ponyville at that! “Some gratitude,” he muttered, shoving half a glazed donut into his mouth and chewing as if the pastry had done him a personal wrong.

And just because his mind decided he wasn’t miserable enough, or maybe it just took sick pleasure in kicking someone when they were down, his thoughts turned to Rarity. Who was probably with…him…right now. Her prince, the one she had come to the Gala to find. She probably had the lucky sod wrapped around her little finger by now.

“And I just let her slip out of my grasp,” he moaned into his coco. He’d known why she wanted to come to Gala, had known for months. And in all that time, he’d never managed to work up the nerve to tell her how he felt, except for that one time when he thought they had been about to plummet to their deaths. He’d thought she’d understood what he had been trying to say, the way she had gently cut him off, looking at him with those big, tear filled eyes.

Only she’d never brought the moment up again after that, and any time he’d tried to edge the conversation in that direction either someone would interrupt, or she would suddenly start up a new topic. Maybe she hadn’t realized what he had been about to say after all. If so, he’d just blown it big time the day before. He’d had all day with her practically, helping her carve and shape gems for her dress and tiara. The very dress and tiara she had worn to the Gala, that had no doubt helped her already stunning beauty capture the attention of…him.

All that day to say something, and he hadn’t. Instead he’d helped her get ready to present herself to another guy! What had he been thinking?

“Hey, Joe,” Spike called grumpily down the counter. “Another donut.”

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” the proprietor of the shop asked.

“Another donut!” Spike insisted. “Extra sprinkles!”

Joe gave a sigh and a roll of his eyes, but plopped another confection down before the ornery dragon.

“Spike?” a familiar voice spoke up from behind him.

“Twoolluph? Spike garbled through a mouthful of donut, looking over his shoulder.

His friends stood in the entrance to the shop, looking like they had just barely escaped some kind of riot. Twilight’s mane had taken on the frizzy quality Spike recognized as a sign of stress and worry. Rainbow Dash was missing a shoe, and her dress had been ripped almost completely open on one side. Pinkie Pie looked as if she’d been trampled, with loose strands sticking out from her mane and her hat crumpled on her head. Applejack looked much the same, crushed hat and all. Fluttershy was a wreck, pieces of her gown falling off even as she just stood there, trying to flatten down her mane. And Rarity looked as if she’d been dunked in frosting and tossed to a pack of rabid dogs.

“…what’d I miss?” Spike asked as soon as he managed to choke down his oversized mouthful.

Spike’s mood vastly improved afterwards, as they all crowed around a table and swapped stories of their nights, laughing at how horrible it had all been. He wasn’t sure what was funnier, Pinkie’s disastrous attempt to get the uptight Canterlot elite to have fun, or Dash’s over the top efforts to impress the Wonderbolts. He tried not to seem too overtly happy at hearing that Rarity’s prince had turned out to be a royal jerk, though he had the impression that Twilight at least was aware of his feelings on that matter.

“Sounds like this was the worst Gala ever,” Spike commented at the conclusion of the recounting.

“I would say this was the best Gala ever, myself,” a cheerful, musical voice spoke from the door, and a set of surprised gasps went around the table.

“Princess Celestia!” they all chimed in at once, leaping from seats to bow as the princess came striding into the shop, the interior of which seemed to brighten by her very presence.

“I don’t understand,” Twilight spoke up as she straightened. “What do you mean? The Gala was awful, and it was all our fault.”

“Oh Twilight,” Celestia said with a radiant smile. “The Gala is always awful.”

“We thought the evening was progressing rather pleasantly ourselves,” a thunderous voice disagreed, and Celestia half turned to smile at Luna. There was another round of surprised gasps, as well as a muffled coughing from Dash, who had made the mistake of thinking nothing could be more surprising than Celestia showing up, and had taken a heavy sip of her drink. Everyone once again dropped into a bow as the Princess of the Night came in to stand beside her sister, though Applejack had to help Dash stand back upright afterwards as she continued to wheeze.

“Really now?” Celestia asked pleasantly. “You were enjoying that stuffy, uptight affair?”

“It was one of the few properly dignified events we have had the pleasure of attending since our return,” Luna confirmed, rattling the cups on the table. “At least, it was…”

“We’re really, really sorry about that Princess Luna,” Twilight said meekly. The princess glanced at the half cowering unicorn, and seemed to give a tiny start.

“Nay Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said after a momentary pause, her voice dropping to merely loud, as opposed to thundering. “Thou need not apologize. We would be amiss if we did not truthfully admit that thy antics and those of thy friends were...amusing.”

Celestia gave her sister a wry smile, and Luna sighed.

“And perhaps,” she went on with a resigned tone, her voice dropping even further in volume. “We were beginning to find the poorly disguised attempts of some to curry favor with us through badly phrased flattery a bit annoying.”

“Just wait until more of them find the courage to approach you,” Celestia said brightly. “It’ll be very nice to have someone else for the brown nosers to harass.”

“Princess, I’m still confused,” Twilight admitted. “If the Gala is always so dreadful, why host it every year?”

“Tradition,” Celestia answered with a shrug. “It wasn’t always so boring you know, but over time, it’s become less about having fun and more about trying to gain political advantages. Luckily, you and your friends managed to liven things up, just as I’d hoped you would.”

“Just as?” Luna asked skeptically.

“Okay, maybe a bit more lively than I expected,” Celestia admitted. “Regardless, it was very entertaining, and it ended the evening far earlier than usual. Why, I think I actually have nothing else planned for the day!” She smiled cheerfully. “It’s been ages since I’ve had a completely free night.”

“And what pray tell will thou do with this freedom, dear sister?”

“Oh, I have a few ideas…”

So it was that Spike and the others found themselves invited back to the palace, into the private halls that lead to the royal living quarters. Celestia had insisted that they were to stay the night as royal guests, and tasked her guards with making sure no one disturbed them for the rest of the evening. Once some food, drink, and a change of clothing had been delivered that was.

The royal living quarters, while as beautiful and well maintained as the rest of the palace, weren’t as overtly grand. The halls didn’t stretch off endlessly, the ceilings didn’t soar far overhead, and the walls were more sparsely, but more intimately, decorated. Stepping through the entrance from the general palace into the royal quarters was like walking into an entirely different building, one meant for comfort and ease, as opposed to the overwhelming awe that was the design approach of most of the sprawling structure.

“This is so cool,” Rainbow Dash stated, glancing around.

“Darling, this is far more than ‘cool’,” Rarity corrected. “This.Is.Incredible!” She gave a swooning gasp. “The royal quarters, oh I’ve always dreamed but never truly believed I might…” She gave a giddy giggle and bounced excitedly.

The sense of comfort and ease built into the decor was momentarily challenged as they followed Celestia down a hallway towards her personal rooms, and a door swung open to reveal prince Blueblood. The prince was wrapped in a thick, heavy bathrobe, his mane damp and matted. He gave a start of surprise when he noticed the gathering.

“Good evening nephew,” Celestia said politely. “We’re going to be having some guests tonight.”

“Oh, I see,” Blueblood replied, taken aback. He barely managed not to be openly disapproving about the idea. “Well that’s very…” He trailed off as his gaze swept over the royal guests, and landed on Rarity. The frosting speckled unicorn favored the prince with a flat glare that should have set him ablaze on the spot. “…uh, very nice,” he finished, his voice cracking a bit. He edged back away from the group until his back hit the wall, one hand groping along blindly beside him. His speech picked up to a slightly rushed pace. “Well don’t let me keep you, have a good evening and…” His hand found a door handle, and he cut off in mid-sentence to quickly ducked inside, shutting the door loudly. There was a click.

“Oh dear,” Celestia said with mock concern as she glanced at Rarity, who instantly composed her features into a neutral mask. “I do think you traumatized the poor fellow.”

“Indeed,” Luna agreed, not even bothering to pretend to be concerned. “Allow us to offer thou our congratulations.”

“Luna,” Celestia chided playfully.

“What? He is an arrogant, poor mannered, blustering, loud mouthed, good for nothing.”

Pinkie Pie gave a snort of laughter. “Loud mouthed, that’s funny coming from you princess.”

“Pinkie!” Twilight hissed in alarm, casting a fearful gaze at the princesses. Celestia was too busy giggling behind a hand to really notice though, and Luna seemed more puzzled than anything.

“Ah!” the younger sister said, comprehension crossing her features. “We see the irony now. Well spotted Pinkie Pie, very humorous.”

Twilight gave a shaky sigh of relief as the party started back up, and they soon found themselves in a moderately sized room that they were informed served as a bridge between Celestia’s and Luna’s private bedrooms. Even more so than the rest of the royal quarters, it was a comfortable, personal feeling room. There was actually some disorder, the floors and walls didn’t shine as if scrubbed and polished daily, and the layout of the furnishings and decorations didn’t have a professional touch to them.

“Oh, oh my,” Fluttershy meeped as her gaze came to rest on a small vase holding a trio of delicate looking flowers, whose wispy petals emitted a soft, pale light. “Are these, lunar lilies?”

“That they are,” Luna answered, surprise evident in her voice. “We are impressed fair Fluttershy, that thou could recognize them. They have not been present upon the earth since…for several centuries.”

“Oh, well,” Fluttershy said with a faint blush, “I’ve read about them. I never thought I’d get to actually see any though. They’re very lovely.”

“Yes,” Luna agreed, her tone actually dropping enough to qualify as soft. “I have spent some time enjoying their beauty.”

There was a knock on the door, and a handful of palace servants swept inside. In short order they had a pair of tables set up and piled high with snacks and beverages, and a dressing screen was erected in one corner. An empty clothing hamper was set to one side of the screen, and a rack of nightgowns of various sizes placed on the other. The servants then swept back out of the room, the entire process having taken less than a minute and being done with a degree of grace and precision to make a professional dance team envious.

“The door right beside the screen leads to a washroom if you need it,” Celestia informed them.

“Oh thank heavens!” Rarity proclaimed dramatically, just barely not running to be the first to get washed up and changed.

It was a rather enjoyable night that followed, as they all sat around and just talked. Twilight tended to hog Celestia’s attention, but Luna was more than eager to play hostess for their guests, and as the evening went on, she managed to lose most of her stiff formality as she become more and more engaged in the various conversations. Pinkie in particular seemed to be able to get Luna to relax and just be herself, likely due to the pink mare’s seemingly complete indifference to the princess’s royal status.

Spike had been trying to work out a way to get into a private discussion with Rarity when he felt it. A sharp, sudden prickling sensation that washed over his scales and put his spines on edge. Somewhere in his chest, he felt a pressure starting to grow.

“Oh no, not now!” he moaned to himself, jumping to his feet and looking around wildly.

“Spike?” Hearing Rarity’s angelic tones pronounce his name gave the little dragon the briefest of pauses as his heart fluttered, but then the panic reasserted itself even harder. “Are you alright darling?”

“Fine!” he replied, a bit high pitched. “I just need to…I gotta…berightback!” He finished in a rush, darting for the door out into the main hallway.

“What in tarnation was that about?” Applejack asked.

“No idea,” Twilight answered, not entirely truthfully. While she didn’t know for certain, she did have a hunch at what had made Spike flee the room so quickly. “I’ll go check on him,” she said, reluctantly excusing herself from her discussion with Celestia.

Stepping outside, she glanced up and down the hallway, but saw no immediate signs of her runaway dragon. She was about to just pick a random direction and go looking, but the bit of her mind that wasn’t pouting over having to abandon a perfectly good conversation about magical theory managed to toss out a better idea.

“Duh, Twilight,” she said to herself, firing up the gem locating spell she’d picked up from Rarity. Celestia had remembered Spike’s craving for gemstones, and had made sure that a bowl of them had been provided along with the other snacks.

She felt a gentle tugging behind her as the spell took hold, back towards what was left on the table. She also felt a pull to her right, and Twilight smirked. “Gotcha.”

The spell lead her around the first bend in the hallway, and to the third door on the left, which she knocked gently upon.

“Spike? You in there?”

“Hey Twilight,” came a voice that she wouldn’t have ever guessed belonged to Spike. Even with the depressed edge to it, the tone was a deep, rich timbre. It was the kind of voice to make a mare swoon. “Come in.”

Twilight pushed the door open, and found herself stepping into a small library that was crammed full of books, most of them quite old judging from the sea of worn and faded spines facing her from the shelves. She froze for a moment as realization hit; she was in princess Celestia’s personal library. Princess. Celestia’s. Personal. Library! She felt a nearly orgasmic squeal of delight start to claw its way up her throat.

Then her gaze fell on Spike, and all other thoughts were wiped from her mind. He wasn’t just taller this time, he was flat out tall. She couldn’t be certain without a direct comparison, but he was at least on a level with Big Macintosh now, possibly even a bit taller. He wasn’t as heavily built however, though he was by no means scrawny. He had a leonine musculature, the compact, iron hard type of muscles common to many apex predators. His face had lost its chubby cheeked roundness, becoming more angular and sharply defined. His spines had likewise traded in their softer edges, and his scales had picked up a metallic sheen.

He was also far more obviously male than before.

“Oh geez, Spike,” Twilight said with a flush, turning her gaze aside. “Okay, step one, we need to find you some pants.”

“Uh, okay…” Spike said with obvious obliviousness. Despite herself, Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine as that voice vibrated into her ears. She shook her head, and cast her gaze around for something to impose a level of decency on her not so little dragon.

“Sorry princess,” she said softly as she magically seized a set of curtains and pulled them off the window. She floated them over to Spike, wrapping one around his waist and draping the other over his shoulders.

“Really?” Spike protested.

“Hush,” she told him, concentrating on what she wanted. The curtains flashed, and the material shifted and flowed like water before settling again, having become a passible if somewhat baggy shirt and pants. “That’s better.”

“If you say so,” Spike agreed, his tone still clearly confused. He stared at her for a moment, and she stared back, her mind trying to take in just what she was seeing.

“This is really weird, looking up at you,” she said finally.

“Yeah,” Spike replied. “It’s really weird to be looking down at you.”

“Uh, how do you feel?”

“Tall. Really tall.”

“Besides that,” Twilight sighed. Spike shrugged.

“Okay I guess. At least, I don’t feel like I did back, you know, when I was growing last time.”

“Well that’s good. And you seem to be yourself, and capable of full sentences and proper grammar.”

“Do you think that means I’m not going to become a monster then?” Spike asked hopefully.

“I…I don’t know Spike,” Twilight admitted reluctantly, cringing a little as he deflated at her words. “But I do know what we can do to find out.”

“You do?”

“Yup. We’re going to go talk to the princesses about it.”

“Uh…you mean, now?” Spike asked hesitantly.

“Yes.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now!”

“But, what about…”

“What?”

“Well, can’t we wait until everyone else goes to bed or something?”

“Spike, this isn’t something you need to be ashamed of.”

“I know, I just…I don’t want to scare them or anything.”

“I know, but trust me,” Twilight said, taking a step forward and reaching up to put a hand on his shoulder. She was surprised at how pliable and warm his scales felt. “They’re your friends, they’ll understand.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“…well…okay…”

Twilight took Spike by the hand, and gently lead him back down the hall. She pushed open the door, and cleared her throat for attention. “Excuse me everyone, if I could…”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Pinkie’s shriek cut her off. The earth mare pointed a trembling finger passed Twilight. “Spike’s on the rampage again! Quick, protect the cake!” She suited actions to words, diving across the snack table and snatching the remains of the chocolate cake that had been provided.

“Really feeling the understanding here,” Spike said in a sarcastic whisper, and Twilight split a glare between him and Pinkie.

“Pinkie, knock it off,” she said sternly. “He’s not rampaging, and he’s not going to steal the cake.”

“Why’s he big again then?” Dash demanded.

“Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in, hugging the cake protectively to her chest and getting frosting all over herself.

“Because he’s growing!” Twilight shot back.

“The last time he started growin’…” Applejack began, but Twilight cut her off.

“This isn’t like last time.”

“How can ya be sure?”

“Because he’s not hording this time,” Twilight said hotly. “He’s just getting bigger because he’s getting older, like everyone else does.”

“Ah don’t know anyone else that done grows four feet in an evenin’,” Applejack said mulishly.

“Worry not Applejack,” Luna spoke up from behind the cowgirl, making her jump. “This is not a growth of greed.”

“Do you know what this is then?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“We believe so,” Luna said, glancing over the unicorn’s shoulder into the hall. “Prithee Spike, come in where we can see thou more clearly.”

Twilight stepped aside clear the doorway, and Spike nervously edged out of the relative darkness of the hall and into the brightly lit room.

“Whoa nelly,” Applejack said.

“Dude…” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy gasped.

Pinkie and Rarity both remained silent, the former still clutching the increasingly smushed remains of the cake she was trying to protect, though some of the tension had gone out of her to make room for shocked disbelief. The latter was openly goggling at Spike, her mouth half open.

“He’s freaking awesome looking now!” Dash broke the momentary silence. Spike’s head snapped up, and he blinked at her.

“You…you really think so?” he asked.

“My goodness!” Fluttershy squeaked. “His voice! It’s…it’s… gorgeous…” Everyone turned to look at her, and she blushed. “Well it is,” she added with timid stubbornness.

“Yes, as we suspected,” Luna commented as she looked Spike up and down. “This kind of growth in a dragon is most likely the result of…”

“Something Spike might not want revealed in front of everyone,” Celestia broke in, laying a hand on her sister’s shoulder. Luna gave Celestia a questioning glance, but then shrugged.

“If thou thinkest so, dear sister,” she allowed.

“Spike,” Celestia said, turning towards the dragon. “Why don’t we take a walk, and I’ll explain what’s happening to you.”

“Yeah, okay,” Spike agreed. Twilight started forward, but Celestia held up a hand to stall her.

“No Twilight. I know Spike is precious and close to you, but this could easily be a personal matter for him. If he feels comfortable with you knowing, he can tell you himself after I explain it to him.”

“But…I…” Twilight tried to hedge, but Celestia gave her a rare, stern look. “…as you wish princess,” Twilight relented.

“Come along Spike,” Celestia said, taking hold of him by the arm and leading him out of the room.

The door had barely swung shut when Dash turned towards Luna.

“Soooo…what’s the deal?” she asked.

“We do believe that our sister made that matter clear,” Luna replied. “It is a personal issue, and Spike shall reveal it if and when he chooses.”

“Oh come on…” Dash whined, but Luna merely crossed her arms. And then blew a raspberry at the pegasus.

“New Spike is kind of hot,” Pinkie spoke up, licking chocolate off her fingers. She glanced up to find everyone staring at her. “What? He is.”

“And wicked cool looking,” Dash put in.

“And that voice,” Fluttershy said softly. “Uh, Twilight, does Spike know how to sing?”

“Not that I know of,” Twilight answered distractedly, only half listening to the conversation, being more engrossed in her own thoughts.

“Do you think he’d like to learn?” Fluttershy asked, twiddling her fingers nervously.

“Heh, look who suddenly wants to spend some alone time with Spike,” Dash teased.

“I just thought he might enjoy it, if he’s got such a nice voice now…” Fluttershy muttered from behind her hair as she ducked her head.

“Hey, where’d Rarity git to?” Applejack suddenly asked.

“She was just right here a second ago,” Pinkie said, pointing at the empty space a few feet away from herself.

“She’s probably just in the washroom,” Twilight interjected.

“Nope!” Dash called out a second later, having zoomed on over and peeked inside.

“She’s not in Luna’s room!” Pinkie announced, poking her head out from the doorway to the royal bedchamber.

“Pinkie Pie,” Luna protested. “We would appreciate thou not helping thyself to…”

A pink blur rushed by the princess, blowing her mane out to the side and cutting her off in mid-sentence.

“Not in Celestia’s room either!” Pinkie yelled from the other side of the room.

“Pinkie Pie!” Luna repeated, exasperation bringing with it the beginnings of the royal voice.

“Would ya’ll settle down?” Applejack told Pinkie with a nervous glance at the princess. She caught the hyperactive mare by the tail and hauled her into the nearest seat. “Don’t make me tie ya there.”

“Where do you think she went?” Dash asked. “I mean, there’s only one other door out of here. You don’t think she went sneaking after Spike and Celestia do you?”

“I don’t think Rarity would do that,” Fluttershy said.

“Ah agree,” Applejack said with a significant look at both Pinkie and Dash. “Just ‘cause some folk here can’t respect other’s privacies, don’t mean the rest o us…”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Dash demanded.

“Ah think ya’ll know right what ah meant,” Applejack told her.

“Girls!” Twilight exclaimed before Dash could shoot back. “Please, no fighting. I’ll go find Rarity, okay?”

Not waiting for a reply, Twilight shoved open the door and stepped back out into the hallway again, swinging it shut behind her just as she heard Dash start up. Thankfully the door was thick enough and heavy enough to cut off the pegasus, and Twilight was in a mood to let herself believe that Dash wasn’t going to say anything provocative to Applejack.

“Rarity, what are you up to?” Twilight asked of no one, once again finding herself glancing up and down the royal halls for any signs of a missing friend. She didn’t see Rarity, and luckily she didn’t see Spike or Celestia either. She didn’t want the princess thinking she was trying to eavesdrop on them.

“You better not get me in trouble with Celestia,” Twilight muttered towards wherever Rarity had gotten to, before setting off to find her.