Spike had begun his morning chores a bit earlier than usual today. He was woken up when Owlowiscious mistakenly roosted on his head and started sleeping, confusing Spike’s upright tail for his perch. It felt odd for the small dragon, but he actually liked being woken up this early. He somehow felt perkier and noticed that he got his work done a lot faster for some reason. It had only been two hours, but he’d already finished everything on the list. Twilight would be happy.

“Wow. That went by pretty quickly. I should do this more often.” He looked around and saw the library looking spotless and organized as the morning sun rose. Twilight had finally woken up to see her home looking immaculate so early in the morning.

“Spike! Did you clean this place up already?” The proud dragon didn’t even say anything, simply nodding his head with a smile on his face. “Great! That means you can help run my errands for me then. I’ve got a lot of work to do for the Princess, so it’ll really help. Thanks!” Spike certainly didn’t expect that response from her friend as she quickly went off into the kitchen to get some breakfast. He looked at the list of places Twilight had just given him and sighed. He had hoped that with all his chores done he’d be able to find some time to have fun, but that wasn’t going to happen now. With nothing left to do, he went off to the first place on the list, Quills & Sofas.

While Spike had heard of specialty shops before, he felt as if this particular shop was a bit ridiculous in its premise. It only sold two kinds of items, each unrelated, and somehow managed to stay in business. He walked into the place and was greeted by an enthusiastic colt.

“Welcome to Quills and Sofas! How may I help you?” he asked. Spike was about to order a box of quills as was usual, but decided to double-check the list.

“Let’s see. Um, according to the list, Twilight needs,” Spike had to stop for a moment as he was fairly surprised by the list. “She needs three sofas, specifically the Psychologist Brand of flat sofas. Purple scheme.”

“Huh, a sofa order then. Tell me son, how old are you?”

“Eight years old!” he proclaimed. The shop owner murmured to himself when he heard that. Spike could hear that and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Yes, well, the problem is that in order to place orders of that size, you must be an adult, at least eighteen years of age. I’m sorry, but I cannot process this order.”

“Come on, Davenport! I’ve bought tons of quills from you before. You know I’m good.”

“Sorry, but on the name of my family, I cannot break the laws by which my father, Dan Quillxote, established for this fine establishment. I’m afraid somepony else would need to order them for you.” Frustrated, the library assistant left the shop and went to the next location on his list, the market.

About eight in the morning, the market was still getting set up. Not all the stalls had been prepared yet, but Spike didn’t worry since he knew that the stalls the items were listed to be at always opened early. The first item to get was several eggs. Easy enough. He went over to the mare at the stall and placed his order.

“I’d like a basket filled with a dozen eggs please,” he asked. The mare looked down from her stall to see a tiny baby dragon asking her for some eggs.

“Aww! Aren’t you just the cutest!” she said in a baby voice. “Where’s your mommy at, little one?”

“I’m not a ‘little one’ mam. Could I have the eggs now?” Spike was annoyed whenever anypony talked to him in that manner. He might’ve been a baby when it came to dragon terms, but he was still eight and pretty smart for his age. He remembered before that the main reason he never went to school with the other fillies was because his testing scores were too high for somepony of his age and that he’d just have to stay with Twilight and work as her assistant.

“Okey then! I’ll just get your eggs then. Don’t you wander off,” she said in her patronizing tone. If only Spike could use his fire breath and not get in trouble. “There you go! That’ll be ten bits. Do you know how many ten bits is?” This lady was really getting on Spike’s nerves.

“Yeah, I know,” he told her as he slid the money forward. The mare put the money away with a smile on her face while Spike just grabbed the eggs and left as quickly as possible. He hated it when others looked down on him just because they didn’t understand what the term “baby dragon” meant when compared to their short lives. He saw that the other item needed at the marketplace was sugar. Normally he would purchase this from the Cakes, but they recently had to stop selling it since they couldn’t afford to not have any of the stuff around. He found the gruff looking colt selling the stuff and approached the stall.

“What’ya want?” he asked Spike, scaring him a little with his gravelly voice.

“A pack of sugar,” Spike ordered.

“That’ll be fifteen bits. Can I see the money first?” he ordered. Spike found this request to be pretty odd.

“Why do you need to see my money first?”

“So I know that you actually have it and don’t run off with the sugar when I hand it to ya. Can’t be too careful with you kids. So, you have it?” Spike honestly could not believe what he was hearing. He wasn’t being trusted simply because he was a kid! Spike ponied up and showed the colt the money before being handed the bag of sugar. This day was getting to be real annoying.

“Alright, let’s check out what’s next on the list.” Looking over the list, the last place he needed to visit was Zecora’s hut for some rare herbs. He went off into the Everfree Forest, hoping things could get better.

Things did not appear to get better as Spike thought over the events that led to him currently running for his life against Timberwolves. He came across them when he was travelling along the path that was supposed to be safe in an ambush. He attempted to scare them away by blowing some flames and puffing out his chest, but the wolves just laughed at the sight of a small lizard trying to act tough. He’s been running for a good hour since then, ducking under rocks and branches while trying to lose his predators. It wasn’t any good, as they soon cornered him across a cliff, leaving no room for escape. If only Applejack could save him now.

“Stop now, you large wooden creatures, before I beat in your facial features!” Zecora rhymed as she jumped out of a bush with her staff in her hoof. The zebra slammed down and started beating away the beasts, reducing the pack to splinters in mere moments. Spike, curled up in defense, saw his savior standing on top of a pile of branches.

“Wow. Thanks Zecora. Didn’t know how I’d get out of that one.”

“No trouble, dear small reptile. I have not seen your face for a while. I must know however what brings you to these woods. Are you here for my goods?”

“Yeah! Twilight sent me to get some for her.”

“I know exactly what you need. Come with me, and use great speed.” The two of them went back to the hut and Zecora gathered some potions. Twilight must have placed an order and sent Spike to pick it up, seeing as there wasn’t anything on the list. She put the potions in a bag and handed them over to Spike. “Here you go, dear friend. Before you leave, are there any wounds to mend?”

“Just the one in my ego. I’ve had a pretty bad day so far with being a tiny dragon. I mean, nopony really gives my much respect and they all treat me like a baby. I have my own job, for buck’s sake; I’m not just some kid.” Spike growled as he remembered the way the shop owners had treated him earlier that morning. They either didn’t take him seriously or just didn’t trust him. It’s hard being mentally older than how old you actually are, especially when you’re a member of a species that can easily live for a thousand years.

“I am sorry to hear about your troubles, young one. At least as a child, you’re free to have fun.”

“Really? Does it look like I’m having fun to you? I’m constantly working as Twilight’s assistant and don’t have any friends of my own. All of my friends are Twilight’s friends. I wish I could just be myself for a bit, you know. Be more respected, more,” Spike thought over what might solve his issue, before coming to the conclusion, “older!  Yeah! I just need to be a bit older and that’ll solve things.” Zecora giggled as she heard the so-called solution to Spike’s troubles.

“Spike, dear dragon, I must tell you that in of notions of adulthood, few are true. Troubles are frequent and require many to have diligence, or results will be dire. Your troubles many seem many right now, but in this strange phrase I heard, ‘don’t have a cow’.” It was easy for Zecora to say this; she didn’t have to worry about all her friends dying out on her while she was still biologically considered a child. Spike wanted to grow with his pony friends so then he’s at least know what being older is like. After all, he had plenty of time, but not everypony else did.

“Hey, you have any potions that might make me older?” he asked. “I just wanna see what it’s like.”

“Sadly no potion like that exists, nor should I hope it ever appears on any lists. Such a potion could be used for abuse with evil hooves whose morals were loose. Somepony could slip the potion into a drink and the victim would become dust before they could think. Such potions can already be made, but I’d never try to make them, no matter what paid.”

“Oh, sorry then.” Spike looked distraught after hearing that. He wouldn’t be able to become an older dragon after all. He could try to ask somepony to perform an age spell, but dragons are fairly resistant to magic. Not only that, but the amount of magical energy required to age a baby dragon into an adult would be insane. The only reason Spike had become large when Twilight cast her spell while attempting to get into the Princess’ school was because it was actually a transformation spell (he was accidentally changed into a land serpent, not an older dragon).

“It’s not a problem for me, but would you listen to me kindly? I must go out for a moment to retrieve supplies and require the use of your eyes. Several plants are very dangerous to hold, as they can emit temperatures, hot or cold. With your thick dragon skin, I have a plan where we can both win. You retrieve the flowers that for me are a pain, and as a treat I’ll give you sugar cane.” Spike definitely paid attention after the offer of sugar cane. It was the best possible topping for any kind of gem and Zecora seemed to be the only one who ever managed to come across the stuff.

“You got it!” he declared, running out the door. Hopefully something sweet would brighten up his day.

Spike noticed that while Zecora was around, all the wild creatures seemed to stay away from them. This was a different experience for him as pretty much anytime he went into the forest bad things would happen. She probably gained a fierce reputation with that staff of hers and uses it to keep the animals in line.

“Now, the plant we must find has more than one hue, one deep red and the other blue. When you come across the plant, let me know with a pant. Yelling out in these woods can be a sign for predators to drop in on our line.” Spike felt as if Zecora was trying too hard with her rhyming today. She could’ve just told him to be quiet or just not yell.  He’d have to ask her about that.

After two hours, Spike had collected several of the fabled plants, each one being placed in individual jars. The flower seemed to both freeze and set grass on fire at the same time, the effects depending on what colored side it was facing. So far he’d collected eight of them and only needed to get one more.

“I can already taste that sugar cane,” Spike thought as he looked for one more of the flowers. He decided to climb up a tree and see if he could find any more from up there. After reaching the top and scouting, he noticed the faint red and blue colors of the flower. “Gotcha!” He jumped off the tree and ran over to where he spotted the flower. Looking closer, he saw the flower hidden in a tree hole. He got close enough to reach in and grabbed it as soon as he could. “Hey, Zecora, I got the last flower!”

“Great job Spike. That was quick. This job was done nice and spick.” Spike grabbed the flower out from the hole, but noticed that he had also grabbed another plant as well.

“Huh, don’t know what you are,” he said as he separated the tangled plants from one another. “What are you?” As if it could hear him, the plant let out a noxious cloud of gas that soon enveloped him. He coughed hard as he breathed in some of the gas. He then tripped and fell backwards right into Zecora. “Heh, smooth landing, am I right?”

“What happened there? I saw a mass of what looked like some noxious gas.” The botanist looked at the flowers in Spike’s hand and gasped at what she saw. “My goodness! It cannot be! That is the dealy plant, the Judablee!” Spike giggled when he heard the name, but then realized that the plant was just called ‘deadly’. “This is the plant I told you about. My warnings it seems you tended to flout.”

“Well, if it really were so deadly, then why am I still alive?” Zecora was about to respond, but then realized the dragon was right. He was still walking around right after being hit with a gas that could instantly take out a grown colt.

“It appears that to this poison, dragons are immune. For you, I say that this is a boon. Come now, let’s head back. I now want to give you your prized snack.” That was enough for Spike to hear. He placed the plant into the jar and rushed back with Zecora to get his sugar cane.

“Hey Spike! How did the errands go?” Twilight asked as Spike entered.

“Ugh!” he groaned as he laid the items on the floor. He placed the sugar cane he’d gotten into the basket of eggs when he’d gotten it from Zecora. While he left the forest, he had started to feel strange from the gas that he’d inhaled. The zebra gave him some medicine to help him out, hoping that he truly was immune to the plant and would survive. Right now he felt more tired than ill and just wanted to rest.

“Was it really that bad?” Twilight asked as she looked up from her book.

“Well, I couldn’t make your sofa order since I’m not old enough, then at the market I was patronized for being a baby dragon by several stall owners. Lastly, the forest had me chased down by Timberwolves and ended with me getting sprayed in the face by a lethal plant. I only survived thanks to the fact I’m a dragon and apparently don’t get affected from that stuff. So yeah, my day.” He trudged upstairs to his room, saying, “If you need me, I’ll be going back to bed. I’m tired and not feeling that well.” He closed the door and lumbered forward to his small bed. He then covered himself in his sheets and quickly dozed off. Hopefully he’d feel better when he woke up.

The sunrise had started to gleam through the windows and rays of light were now directly on Spike’s face. He tried to continue sleeping through the morning light but couldn’t stand it anymore. He somehow felt uncomfortable in his bed and started slipping out of it. Yawning, he got up and decided to head down to the kitchen. He didn’t see Twilight as he got up, so he assumed that she had already woken up and gotten herself something. While walking around, Spike had the strangest sensation that something was off and felt like he was half asleep. He felt that some corn flakes would help him regain his sense and went off into the kitchen.

“Morning!” greeted Twilight as she heard her assistant enter. She was too engrossed in today’s newspaper to look up and greet him face-to-face.

“Hmmm,” Spike moaned, still too tired to say much. Spike went to the cabinet that held his cereal and was surprised to find that he didn’t need to reach up to get the box. He must have placed it lower the last time he had some of it. He grabbed a bowl and started to pour some of the cereal when he remembered that he also needed milk. “Oh yeah, milk,” he said, surprised at the sound of his voice. It sounded a lot deeper than he remembered.

“Huh, sounds like you’ve got something in your throat. I suggest drinking some nice hot tea to help you feel better.” Twilight seemed to have the right idea, so Spike put some water in the pot and started to boil it on the stove. Twilight would then put the leaves together just the way Spike liked it and serve it to him. It was one of his favorite things for her to do for him. He then got the milk and ate his breakfast. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he took his first bites and quickly gulped the bowl down. He refilled the bowl and plowed through that one as well. The third one was able to fill him up, letting him finally feel some relief in his poor stomach.

“Wow. Don’t usually eat that much,” he told Twilight.

“Guess it’s because you slept the entire day yesterday. I didn’t wanna wake you up after hearing about your trip with Zecora and knew how tired you were.  Glad to see your appetite wasn’t affected.” The whistle on the pot blew and Twilight got up to prepare the tea. This was one of those things she liked to do without using magic, as preparing the leaves was a calming experience for her. “A bit of Jasmine, some Chamomile, and some Ginseng to help you get through your…” Twilight stopped talking as she finally looked at Spike. What she saw was not her assistant, but some other large, purple dragon. “WHO THE BUCK ARE YOU?!” She yelled out, putting the tea aside and prepping her horn.

The large dragon turned his head side to side, looking around before asking, “Um, Twi, who are you talking to?” The dragon had just called her Twi, something that only her close friends ever called her. Taking this in, she realized what she was seeing.

“Spike? Is that you?”

“Um, yeah? I don’t see any other purple dragons around, do you?” Twilight honestly didn’t know how to respond with the shock of a grown Spike. To her knowledge, it was another dragon in her kitchen.

“I, uh, I think you should look in a mirror. Don’t be shocked though.”

“Do I have something on my face?” He went to the nearest mirror in the kitchen and decided to see what exactly Twilight was getting worked up about. He’d be able to simply wash off whatever was on him, no big deal. What he saw wasn’t a stray corn flake, but a strange face. Looking around to make certain he wasn’t near any other purple dragons, he looked at the mirror again and realized that he was looking at himself. “Is that…me?”

“Exactly! Spike, did you start taking things that weren’t yours again?”

“No, Twi, I haven’t been stealing. Hay, I don’t have a clue what could’ve cause this.” The two thought back to the previous day and wondered what odd things could have happened to cause this sudden change. Spike then remembered about the plant that had sprayed him while he was helping Zecora. “Wait, the Judablee!” Spike yelled out in realization. Twilight giggled when she heard the ridiculous name. She stopped when she remembered that that was the name of a deadly plant.

“You sure? I mean, that definitely was something different, but there’s a pretty big difference between a plant killing somepony and making a dragon turn into an adult. I mean, yeah, dragons are biologically different, but effects don’t vary THAT differently.” Twilight knew that there was something more to this than met the eye and decided that she would go to Zecora’s to find out what was going on. “Spike, I think you better stay inside. Otherwise you might cause a scare in town.”

“Alright. Better get used to this body then.” Spike walked around, trying to get a sense of his new height. He was around six feet tall, just about the size of Celestia. He noticed that when trying to move through doors he now needed to duck as well. His arms and legs were also longer, as well as his tail. He’d never needed to be careful with it before, but now it was long enough that it could knock things down easily with its size. For some odd reason, He couldn’t help but stare at it, mesmerized by its size. Twilight snapped him out of it with some nudging, feeling awkward since neither of them could tell if they had just seen something really weird and personal. He decided that for now he’d just sit and see what happens.

“Hey, I just remembered about those sofas,” Spike thought to himself, remembering that yesterday was considered ‘too young’ to order any. “I think I’ll go pay Davenport a visit.”

Spike managed to get out of the house while Twilight was away and sauntered through the town. Everywhere he went he got strange, shocked looks from everypony who knew the young dragon. Spike couldn’t help but grin as he strolled down the streets to the sound of whispering from ponies. He saw Quills and Sofas and had everything he was about to say planned.

“Hey, is anypony here?” he asked when he entered.

“Oh yes, sir, I’ll be with you in a…woah.” Obviously Davenport had never seen any dragons that were larger than Spike.

“Um, how may I help you sir?”

“Three sofas. Psychologist style. Purple. ASAP.”

“Yes! Of course! Um, where would you like them to be shipped to?”

“Twilight’s Library.”

“Excellent choice, sir! It’ll be there by the end of the week. Payment will be due on their arrival.”

“Glad to hear,” Spike said as he left the shop. The owner felt as if he had just survived the fight for his life. Never had he expected to sell sofas to such a large creature. Hopefully he wouldn’t break them immediately after sitting on them. Actually, that would be good for him, since then he’d have to buy more of his sofas. Maybe a large reptile buying your wares wasn’t bad after all.

Spike felt good about the little chat he had with Davenport. He felt like for once in his life he was respected. It was a good feeling for the dragon that had to deal with ponies pushing him around because of his age or size. He decided to continue his streak and head down to the market to talk to several other ponies that he remembered from yesterday. The first one he’d deal with would be the lady with the eggs. He approached her stall while she was distracted and started talking.

“Hey. I’d like half a dozen of your finest eggs.”

“I’d have to say that every egg here is our finest, sir. Half a dozen coming…” she stopped. She saw the new Spike right in front of her and her expression suddenly changed. That was expected, but how it changed was different from what Spike had expected. “Well, hello there, sir,” she said smoothly. “Six eggs, am I right?”

“Uh, yeah. Six eggs.”  Spike noticed the mare giggling while she put the eggs away in a small basket.

“Say, I saw another dragon come here yesterday that also ordered eggs from me. You two look similar. Was that your son?” The mare’s question completely surprised Spike. He quickly tried to come up with a response.

“Uh, no. I do have a little brother though. I guess you must’ve seen him. We actually live separately and usually far away, so you probably won’t see the two of us together.”

“Oh. Well, if that’s the case, is there a Mrs. Dragon?” Of all the outcomes Spike had thought of for this situation, this was not one of them.

“Oh, um, I gotta run! Dragon stuff! Sorry about the eggs!” he yelled as he ran away, leaving the mare looking disappointed.

“Great. The ONE dragon that is old enough for me and he’s too busy.” She then took out a novel she’d been reading, Of Scales and Tails, and continued fantasizing about herself being the lonely mistress in the novel.

After that odd encounter, Spike decided not to head over to the other stall that had wronged him yesterday, lest he find out that the colt there feels the same way about dragons. Feeling that he had received justice for yesterday’s events, he decided to head back home. At least that was his plan.

“Oops!” a familiar voice said as a pile of boxes came tumbling down. He looked to see the noise and saw that it was Rarity struggling with her new supplies. “I knew I should’ve hired somepony to help carry this.”

“Hey Rarity!” Spike called out. “I’ll help ya!”

Rarity couldn’t tell who was talking and said, “Now who exactly is offering to help me?” Her look of frustration soon changed when she saw the tall, muscular, handsome figure that had just offered to help her carry her boxes. She noticed the familiar purple scales and green trim and concluded that, somehow, that was her favorite dragon. “Spike?”

“Heh, yeah, surprised? I’m not sure what caused it, but it’s kinda neat, don’t ya think?”

“Oh, it’s definitely several things, darling,” she commented. Right now her mind had become a battlefield, weighing the rights-and-wrongs of the situation she was in. Normally she’d know the right answer, but being in the middle of something like this and having already come up with what you’d do are two completely separate things.

“You heading back to Carousel Boutique? I’d be happy to help, now that I’ve these bad boys.” Spike flexed his lean arms, the muscle not too large, but impressive enough to display strength. Rarity was so glad that she wasn’t a pegasus, otherwise her confusion would be fairly visible by her wings. Spike lifted up several of the boxes with ease and followed Rarity.

“So, Spike, what do you think of your new body? Anything…interesting?” Rarity could already feel her soul being judged as she spoke.

“Well, my tail is definitely larger. Don’t know why, but I don’t seem to have any wings still. Also, I have the strangest urges to do several things I’d never even considered before. Hay, I would’ve considered those things to be pretty gross, but now they actually seem pretty neat.” Rarity needed to ask. She simply could not contain herself.

“And what may those certain things be, darling?”

“Eating rice pudding and taking baths more than once a week. Never liked the pudding before, but now it seems pretty neat and I might wanna try it out. The bath thing is just annoying for me.” Spike noticed a sort of disappointment appear in Rarity’s face. He guessed that she must not like rice pudding. “Anyway, we’re here. Where’d you like the boxes placed?”

“Oh, please help me take them upstairs. My room, if you please?” The unicorn felt as if her very soul were about to explode as she said these things. It was as if she didn’t have any control anymore. This could only end very interestingly. The door to the store was opened. To Rarity’s shock (or relief; she honestly couldn’t tell anymore), the Cutie Mark Crusaders were meeting in her lobby.

“Hey sis! Who’s that?” greeted Sweetie Belle as she saw the new Spike.

“Oh, this is Spike. He just got big. No big deal. Anyway, I need you girls to leave. Now.” Rarity could now feel only dread as she said this. She tried to fight it, tried to ask the girls to stay, but those words would not come out her mouth.

“Aww. But we were gonna figure out how to raise money to try out one of those really expensive board games with the action figures.” Rarity quickly responded to her sister’s plight by opening her jewel box and taking out her most valuable jewels. She quickly put them in a bag and dumped them on her sister’s back.

“There. Pawn those for money. I need you three to stay away for a couple hours, understand?” Without a word, the three ran off, hoping that they’d still have enough to buy more than a couple of those figures with Rarity’s jewels. “Now, please follow me upstairs. I’ll show you exactly where to put them.”

“Alrighty!” Spike was feeling pretty awesome at that moment. His newfound size and strength was already being put to good use with helping Rarity out. Hay, he thought he caught her staring at his new body for a moment. Things were looking up.

“Now, before we enter, I just want to clean up some things, okay?” Rarity quickly entered her room and started to clean up the mess she had with all her designs and other personal effects laying around. Spike waited patiently before hearing, “Come in!” He opened up the door to find the room completely spotless. It also smelled as if scented candles were being burn as well. Rarity soon came out of the closet wearing one of her dresses. This one must’ve been new as Spike had never seen it before. It was an elegant red dress with sequins covering it. He thought that this was one of the new ways that Rarity gained inspiration for her designs.

“So, you want these boxes right next to your drawing stations?” he asked.

“Sure, darling. That’ll be perfect.” Rarity’s tone seemed to be a bit different than what he’d heard before when they were downstairs. He felt that the way you would describe it was, sultry maybe. Actually, it sorta sounded like the tone the mare at the stall had when he was chatting with her. He placed the boxes down and was about to leave when Rarity called him over. “Spike, dear, do you have some time? I heard this great joke recently and wanted to see what you thought of it.”

“Sure.” The dragon sat down comfortably on a chair and began to listen to the joke. The thing opened with what Rarity described as a “handsome dragon” and a “lovely mare” both entering the office of a talent agent. The agent asks them to begin their routine and for the next several minutes Rarity describes things that Spike doesn’t fully understand. He hears mentions of mannequins, silk, and other things, but doesn’t really know what the characters are doing. Hopefully the punch line would make sense.

“…with the last bit of fabric. When they finish, the agent is shocked and asks them ‘What is the name of your act?’ Do you wanna know what it is?” Rarity was now close to Spike’s face. Obviously the big punch line was coming.

“What?”

“You and I in about a minute.” It was at that very moment that Rarity’s soul cried out ‘Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!’ as it fell into the abyss. This was it for her as her physical form had smile on its face when she said this. Spike was completely silent for a minute before responding.

“I don’t get it. Sorry, but it sorta seems like a lot of buildup for an ending that’s pretty disconnected from the rest of the story. Pinkie Pie would probably know of a way to fix it up. Anyway, see you later, Rarity!” Spike left the room, leaving a confused/exhausted/disappointed/relieved Rarity to comprehend what had just happened.

“OH THANK CELESTIA!” she cried out right after Spike had left. She could feel her soul returning to her at that very moment. It seemed as if Spike didn’t know what she was talking about in the joke and actually thought that she was trying to make an actual joke. He was far too innocent to know what she was talking about. Rarity could hardly believe what she was about to do and felt ashamed of herself. “It appears that the will may be strong, but the flesh is weak. Until this matter is resolved, I shall chain myself down to my bed and wait it out!” She thought this over for a moment, before realizing that she didn’t actually own any chains, among several of the other reasons. “On second thought, I might just pay Twilight a visit.”

Spike had returned home just before Twilight came home, just in time to pretend that he’d never left. He grabbed a book from the shelf along with his bubble pipe and fez and flipped to a random page.

“Hey Spike! I’m back, and I brought Zecora as well.”

“That’s good to hear. I’ve just been reading while you were away.”

“Huh,” she said not buying it. “I’m guessing that’s why you’re holding the book upside down.”

“Why, yes. Actually makes reading the story a lot more interesting when everything is upside-down.” Twilight didn’t have any time to bother with whatever Spike had been doing.

“Anyway, I brought her back with me to look you over closely. She’s the best thing we have to somepony who knows about dragons. You ready, Zecora?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Just leave him for a moment with me.” Twilight exited the room as the zebra began her analysis of Spike. She began poking around the dragon, checking his longer limbs and tail. Spike felt incredibly odd when she tried doing something that involved her rubbing his tail. “Tell me Spike, when I touch this, does something feel very amiss?”

“Arkalwooldodablee,” Spike garbled out while it was stroked. He couldn’t tell whether what she was doing felt good or bad, but just knew he pretty much fell apart while his tail was rubbed.

“This is most interesting. Some more tests I’ll be requesting.” Spike gave the okay while she opened up his mouth and looked into. For several seconds, she even entered his mouth and looked down his throat, creating an awkward moment for the dragon where the idea of chomping down came to mind. He quickly put it out of his head though and didn’t want to think of that again. She then felt the rigid scales on top of his head and then performed a swift buck into his stomach. He expected it to hurt and braced himself, but found that he really didn’t feel any pain. Zecora took note of this and wrote it down. She then left the room and seemed to be talking with Twilight just outside the door. After several minutes, the two entered.

“Hey, uh, Spike? I think we know what’s going on. See, the plant you were sprayed with before was originally known to turn ponies into dust with its poison,” explained Twilight.

“Yeah, I know that already. How does it explain me getting bigger?”

“Well, it turns out that the gas wasn’t actually any kind of poison, but actually a growth accelerant. It appears that the reason most ponies die when they get affected by the gas is because the gas actually ages the pony far beyond the amount of time they could live.”

“Exactly how long are we talking?” Spike asked. Zecora whispered something into Twilight’s ear. She looked surprised for moment and then returned to face.

“Well, according to what Zecora found with your body, you’d be around, um, two hundred years old.” Spike suddenly looked like he’d seen something horrifying. He just now understood that this is what he’d look like at age two hundred.

“Wait, so I’ve got the body of a dragon that’s several centuries old?” He looked himself over in the mirror, getting all the possible angles. “Actually, I kinda like this,” he said grinning.

“Spike, come on. We need to find a cure for this. You can’t be in a body like that while you have the mind of an eight year old. That just isn’t right!”

“I’m sorry Twi, but I’m a dragon. To me, spending about a hundred or so years as a kid just doesn’t seem worth it, especially when I can’t even really act like one and all my so-called friends are adults.”

“Spike, what do you mean ‘so-called friends’? What, we aren’t actually friends?” Twilight was starting to get frustrated by Spike. “And what’s this about never being allowed to act like a kid?”

“What I mean is that I never have any real opportunities to hang out with other kids my age with all the work you give me. The only real time I have to hang out with anypony is when you have your friends over. I don’t even get a say on who I hang out with!” he yelled. He’d obviously wanted to tell her this for a long time, but never had the heart to do so. Now that he was bigger, he finally had the courage to stand up for himself.

“So what, you don’t like the ponies you hang out with?”

“No. What I’m saying is that I don’t have any real choices. Most things in my life have been decided by you, and now that I’m older, I can actually make some decisions. I’m not some helpless kid who can’t do anything. I’m a grown dragon now.”

“Yeah, a grown dragon with the mind of an eight year old that’s clearly being shown with the way you’re acting at the moment.” Twilight heard what she had just said and immediately regretted it. Spike looked angry and taken aback at that statement.

“I’m, I’m going to my room now,” he said as his voice croaked. Twilight was about to chase after him, but then heard a knock at her door.

“Great. Right in the middle of something.” She opened it up to find Rarity standing outside, looking like she had something on her mind. “Rarity? What bring you here?”

“Oh, I just thought about taking out several books, you know. Um, do you have anything with the topics of ethics and magic, laws regarding age, and laws dealing with magic?”

“Yeah! These are some pretty neat books,” Twilight said as she magically picked out three books and set them down

before the mare. “Just wondering, what’s the interest for law and magic?”

“Hey, um, sorry for the outburst, but I need to get something real quick,” Spike said as he exited his room, looking around for his sugar cane. He bent over, trying to find where it could be under while Rarity just gazed at him with a huge smile, completely oblivious to both Twilight and Rarity (to her defense though, Zecora was being fairly quiet, not wanting to get mixed up in all the drama. “Found it. Oh, hey Rarity. Did you fix your joke yet?”

“Oh, um, not yet, darling. I was thinking about doing so this evening.”

“Hey, why not do it right now with Twilight here? She’s actually pretty good when finding the flaws in jokes. She can’t make any, but she’s actually a pretty good critic.”

“Um, I actually don’t seem to remember how it went. Guess it can’t be corrected if it’s not remembered,” Rarity said nervously as Twilight started to look into her inquisitively.

“No prob! I actually remember the joke word-for-word. Here’s the thing she told me,” Spike said as he told Twilight and Zecora the ‘joke’ that Rarity had told him earlier. Rarity somehow managed to look pale as he went over all the details, from the pancake syrup to the mannequin hooves, even remembering in detail the part about the spatula. Twilight’s expression somehow managed to appear more horrified with each new face as the horrors mounted onto each other (not a pun) and increased the terror of the mental image that she was attempting to not see. Zecora just sat there, listening intently. “…and then the talent agent asks what the act was called. That’s when she asks me what it was called and if I wanna know what it is. You want to hear the punch line?”

   “Sure!” Pinkie Pie yelled. Without anypony else noticing, the rest of the gang had apparently been inside the library for the past several minutes, listening to the ‘joke’ with mixed emotions.

“Well, Rarity then says ‘You and I in about a minute’.” Pinkie Pie and Zecora burst out laughing when they heard that, while Rarity was attempting to figure out quickly either a mind wipe spell or teleportation. Rainbow Dash, who’d been drinking a soda, spit out whatever was in her mouth for a good fifteen seconds, giving the impression that she was doing more than spitting up soda. Fluttershy had turned a deep hue of red that looked as if she had painted her entire body. Applejack and Twilight but shared the exact same facial expressions of shock. “Well, let me know how you guys would improve the joke. I’ve got myself some sugar to eat,” he said as he went back upstairs. When he’d left their presence, the six mares looked at Rarity, who was now wearing the most awkward smile ever.

“Um, well, it wasn’t that good of a joke, was it?”

“Are you KIDDING ME? That was one of the funniest uses of the Aristocats joke I’ve ever heard! But yeah, the context is horrifying,” Pinkie Pie added casually.

“Rarity, just, Rarity,” was all Rainbow Dash could say.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said in a squeaky voice. “I think I better lie down someplace. I think I’m going to faint.”

“Rarity, what the BUCK were you thinking? Can’t you understand that he’s still got the mind of a child? Of all the things you could do,” both Twilight and Applejack said at the exact same time, synced with each other in movement.

“I know! I’m terrible! I just couldn’t control myself! I mean, LOOK AT HIM! He’s like a beefcake and cheesecake rolled up into one surprisingly tasty dish! Didn’t any of you think the same when you saw him? Rainbow Dash, what did you think?”

“I can’t really tell. I’m not really into dragons. You know that I like fillies,” she said to the surprise of her friends. She

suddenly realized her mistake and quickly tried to correct herself. “I MEAN FOALS. I LIKE FOALS.” Her friends’ surprised

faces turned to horror before she realized that she’d made another mistake. “COLTS. That’s it. Mare, it always gets confusing when most ponies think they can judge you purely on the color of your hair.”

“Pinkie Pie, you have to admit that he was pretty buff. Wouldn’t you like to take a bite out of that cake?”

“I plead the fifth, knowing that there is literally no good way to answer that,” Pinkie Pie said, probably giving the best possible answer.

“Fluttershy?”

“I, uh, uh, UM,” she said before falling to the ground.

“Applejack? Please, don’t make me feel like I’m all alone here.”

“Sorry Rarity, but you know I ain’t into that kinda canoodling.”

“What if I told you about something interesting about dragons like him,” Rarity told her in a desperate attempt to not be alone in the matter. “She went over and started whispering into her friend’s ear, causing her face to change expression.

“Huh, that does seem interesting.”

“NO! NONONONONO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Nopony is doing anything like anything at all with anyone anytime ever!” Twilight yelled out. She’d had enough to deal with already. The last thing she needed were her friends getting worked up about her roommate.

“Twilight, I really am sorry for it in the first place, so now I ask that you do me a favor,” the white unicorn asked.

“What?”

“Please, tie me down with chains tightly so I cannot get out.”

“Rarity, we just had a discussion about how wrong this situation is and now you want me to-“

“Not like that! I just don’t know how I’ll react with Spike in his current handsome, hunky state. I need somepony to keep me away until the matter is sorted.”

“I’m afraid that will for that to be fixed, you see, we need items not great in quantity. First is the tear of an alicorn, followed by a piece of minotaur horn. Next is the scale of a large sea serpent, lastly mixed with an item that is named, but torpent.” Zecora made this sound like it would be a difficult task for the girls, but then remembered that Pinkie Pie was near.

“Wait, that’s it? I have each of those things with me right now!” Pinkie Pie pulled out a bag and started listing the items. “This vial holds sad tears from when Celestia visited the Cake’s shop and was told we had no more cake, while these are happy tears from when we found another one we’d somehow forgotten about! I got this scale from when we met that giant purple serpent with a mustache in the Everfree Forest. This little horn piece is from that Iron Will guy, and lastly is a piece of rock that came off of Tom!”

“Uh, Pinkie Pie, why exactly do you have all of that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Mementos! Always collect something after each little adventure.”

“Well, that was easier than any of us had expected. Let’s hurry this up before Rarity gets herself arrested.” Zecora gathered the ingredients and placed them in her pestle & mortar and started mixing them together. Her concoction was an anti-aging potion that would be mixed with the gas of the Judablee flower to cancel out its effects on anypony who drank it.

“Alright everypony, looks like things’ll be back to normal soon,” declared Twilight. Everypony looked happy at this news, except for Rarity.

“Uh, girls? I’m fairly certain you’re going to need some chains VERY soon. I feel like I won’t let my precious Spikey Wikey go without a fight. Trust me when I say that inside of me a storm is brewing, and when it strikes, you WILL know.”

“You really think it’ll be that bad?” Applejack asked.

“You have absolutely no idea.”

“Alright then. I’ll go to the barn an’ rustle up some rope. If anypony has anything else at home, now would be the time to help.” The other three mares dispersed, ready to gather anything they could to control Rarity when the time came.

After half an hour, Rarity had been tied to a wooden pole outside of Ponyville by ropes, chains, magic bonds, and rope candy. The five mares had been careful to tie each knot as tight as possible with interlocking loops included as well. Zecora was at the library, preparing the potion while Spike was still in his room, unaware of what was going on. Fifteen minutes after being tied up, Rarity began to squirm and try to escape.

“Um, Twilight, would you mind using some of your magic to scratch a part of me on my back? It’s starting to bother me.”

“Sorry Rarity, but you’re not going to make me lose my concentration.”

“Please? It’s starting to get worse.”

“I can’t. You know why.”

“STOP USING YOUR BUCKING MAGIC AND LET ME OUT!” Rarity finally yelled. Her face was contorted and vicious looking. Everypony had been expecting this not to be pretty, but not in the literal sense.

“Hey kid, take it easy. You know we’re doing this for your own good. Once Spike drinks that potion, he’ll return back to normal and won’t be able to be affected by that Ju-something plant anymore,” Rainbow Dash told her, trying to calm the wild pony.

“No! When that happens, Spike will just be a child again. He won’t be, well, an adult anymore,” Rarity looked troubled when she said this. “Spike has been the sweetest, most caring person I have ever met in my entire life. He looks past my flaws and sees the goodness in me that even I don’t know. The thing is that he’s a dragon, so compared to us he’ll always be a child. Such a mature and caring dragon being called a child for over a hundred years feels like it’d be such a horrible experience. Not only that, but I’ll always be older than him. That’s a true tragedy. No matter what happens, we would never be able to be together. This is my one chance to give show him that if he truly were older, well,” she soon trailed off, not able to put the rest into words.

“You might feel that way now, but you’ll feel better once he’s back to normal,” Twilight told her. Rarity couldn’t handle that answer. She had to do something now, or else lose the dragon of her dreams.

“Twilight dear, you need concentration for magic, correct?” Rarity had a plan forming.

“Yes. Why?”

“What do you think of Big Mac?”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Applejack commented.

“I think he’s a very industrious and helpful pony always willing to put his family first. That’s what I think.”

“Oh really? Nothing about his incredibly luscious coat, or strong haunches, or that simple but spellbinding smile of his?”

“Um, I don’t really,” Twilight was blushing a little when she heard this.

“Alright, I’m getting the ball gag, or whatever the least suggestive thing we have here is to shut her up,” Applejack

commented, knowing something was going to happen involving her brother.

“Here, I’ll tell you something,” Rarity said. It was time for her to go in for the kill. “Twilight and Big Mac go into a talent agent’s office, each of them wearing a saddle and stockings-“ Rarity managed to have her new inappropriate tangent go on for a solid fifteen minutes, not skipping a beat at all with a tale involving an interesting use of the alphabet, apple seeds, and making the act of wearing saddles seem like something no decent pony should do. Nopony could move out of unstoppable curiosity/horror of what she was saying. She ended by saying, “because that began with the letter ‘z’. Now, if you excuse me, I have my precious Spikey Wikey to see.”

“Wha- how did she break out of those chains?” Twilight realized that the different chains were interwoven, so when she lost her concentration during the tangent, the rest became lose and came off easily. “Great, we need to get after her before she ruins everything. Rainbow Dash, you go ahead and stop her.”

“Uh, I don’t think I can. My wings are kinda stuck after hearing that.”

“What about Fluttershy?”

“She passed out about halfway through. You could say she’s out HOT! Get it? Like, out cold, but, well, you know. Actually, she is pretty hot right now. I MEAN, BURNING UP, from how hot she is and…I’m really bad at overthinking these things.”

“Pinkie Pie? Applejack?” Pinkie Pie was too busy laughing at the joke. She honestly thought that the delivery was perfect and that all the right taboos, especially the one dealing with politics. Applejack was still horrified to the point where her face was stuck. It was up to Twilight now to stop her.

“Looks like I’ll have to get there quickly. I’ll just teleport there like I did with the scene involving the cookbook and OH MY GOODNESS I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT.” She realized that any attempt at using magic would have her thinking back to the story, immediately stopping her in her tracks. She and Rainbow Dash would have to quickly run back to the library if they wanted things to work.

Spike was finished with his sugar cane and headed back downstairs. He’d felt somewhat better after his fight with Twilight, but still felt like he said what needed to be said. When he entered the lobby, he saw Zecora pouring a finished potion into a flask.

“Ah, Spike, such great timing. You missed some pretty spectacular rhyming. Here is the potion, poured into this flask. First, there is something that I must ask. Are you content in your current form, with years passed by and heart not so warm? It feels as if you’ve grown so fast that you’ve missed important events for you in your past. We all change as we go through our life, with moments of joy and moments of strife. That does not mean however we should overlook events, now or ever.” Spike knew what Zecora was trying to do, but he didn’t know if he should go through with it. He actually enjoyed the respect he got, but knew that she also had a point. Sure, for a dragon, two hundred years may not seem like much, but for him in those adolescent years they were important. He sat down and thought the situation through.

“Zecora, I really need to think about this. It’s not so simple a choice for me. Right now the thing I’m most conflicted about is Rarity. Specifically, I don’t know how I feel about her right now. I mean, before I had grown I thought that it’d be awesome if somehow I’d be old enough for her one day, and here I am. What I didn’t expect is to NOT feel that way about her anymore. While I was upstairs, I finally understood what she was talking about in her so-called joke and what she was trying to do and just felt really conflicted. To be honest, I can’t tell whether if I would have accepted that offer if I knew what she was talking about. I mean, I admit that I do still think like a kid, so I think it would’ve been really weird in the end. This would probably be my only chance though at us being together but right now I have an important question; do I still even want to be together with her?” Spike and Zecora were suddenly surprised when Rarity burst in through the door of the library, breathing heavily from all the running.

“Spike, darling! I managed to escape! Oh, I can’t hide it any longer! Please, Spike will you be my special somepony?” she said with her big eyes.

“Rarity, I’m sorry, but not now. I’ve gotta think some things through.”

“What’s there to think about? You’ve had a crush on me since you met me, and now you’re old enough that we could actually be together.”

“Yeah, well, right now it feels sudden for me. I pretty much became an adult in just one day, so it’s not so easy for me to just say yes to something like that.”

“What’s wrong? I mean, sure you became a lot bigger, but what’s that change for how you feel about me?”

“What it changes is exactly that! I don’t feel that way about you now! Hay, I don’t even know what to think about you with the sudden way you’ve been acting to me. Honestly, you’re creeping me out to the point where I don’t even think I like you! Just let me have some bucking peace while I think!” Spike had no idea why he was saying this. He knew how hurtful his words really were, but he didn’t even hold them back. He saw a Rarity that had been ecstatic moments before now looking as if she’d seen a ghost. She slowly backed up away from Spike and just sat down in a corner.

“Is that really how you feel?” she asked him.

“Maybe? I don’t know. It’s just that you never liked me until today, and somehow I just now don’t feel the same. Everything’s moving so fast that I can’t think things through. Problem is the only other way is for everything to move really slowly and to miss out on everything at the moment. I just need to get out and think these things through, alright? None of you know what I’m going through, no matter how much you say you do. You won’t live long enough to see everypony you care about leave before you felt like had enough time with them.” He then stormed out of the library, just missing Twilight and Rainbow Dash as they burst through the door.

“Rarity, stop!” Twilight yelled out, only to be surprised by the lack of Spike anywhere and Rarity looking like she’d lost something very dear. She wasn’t crying or anything; just looking hopeless. “Um, are you okay?”

“Spike has broken her heart in way that to my worst enemies I would not pray. He has told her of outgrown emotion and then left in sudden commotion. I feel as if he’s grown so much that for us, he’d be impossible to touch. The seeds of confusion have clearly been sewn. Now, we must let him be alone.”

Spike wondered through the dark streets of Ponyville, thinking his situation over. He felt as if he was stick in the middle of being a child and adult and didn’t know which one to choose. Neither one seemed to appeal to him anymore, and yet he was unhappy where he currently was.

“Wow. I wonder how many other ponies or dragons have gone through this feeling,” he thought to himself. He saw a park bench and laid down on it, trying to rest and finding no solace as he realized he was too big for it. He continued to wonder around, until he heard an old and unexpected voice.

“Geez, where are the dragon babes at?” Garble said to his gang of teenage dragons.

“Dude, you took us to a place named Ponyville. What’d you actually expect to find here?” one of his unnamed companions said.

“Wyrm, just shut up will ya?” Garble said to the purple dragon. The fat one started to laugh at their situation. “You too, Smough. Ugh, I think we’re lost now.”

“What’re you guys doing here?” Spike asked them.

“Oh, hey man. We were just trying to find some babes, but I’m fairly certain that we’re in the worst possible place to find them, you know?” Garble responded.

“Yeah, there aren’t any here. You should leave now before you cause any trouble.”

“Woah man, what’s the big deal? We’re not looking to cause trouble. We’re just a couple dragons out for a good time.” He looked over the strange, purple dragon, trying to figure out where he’d seen him before. He somehow seemed familiar to him. “Say, do I know you from someplace?”

“Remember that one time where you were trying to harm baby phoenixes?” Garble suddenly realized where he’d seen that scale color before, along with his buddies, the three of them wearing the same expression of shock on their faces.

“Wait, YOU’RE the baby dragon? Dude, that’s one heck of a growth spurt.”

“Not a growth spurt actually. I apparently got some gas from this plant that made me two hundred years older, and now I have to deal with all these new feelings and other stuff.” Spike had no idea why he was telling these jerks about his personal problems. Probably because they were the closest thing he had to anyone else knowing what he’d gone through. “Ponies I once cared about I now feel apathetic to, and I feel like I’ve missed a big part of my life. Thing is, it’d take me two hundred years naturally for me to get where I am today again, and by that point everything will have changed. I could take a potion that’d revert everything, but I also remember not feeling respected then. I don’t know what to do.”

“Really? Hey, Wrym, Smough, let me handle this wimp, alright?”

“Sure thing, bro!” The two of them flew off, just leaving Spike and Garble alone. Spike didn’t care of he was about to be beaten up right then.

“Sorry, but I had to get those two away. Listen man, EVERYONE of any species goes through what you’re going through. It’s called growing up. You might think you’re alone in all this stuff, but the truth is that you’re just like everyone else. Yeah, the entire thing about you suddenly growing super-fast by not stealing anything is different, but the emotions aren’t. Sometimes our feeling about other change, and that’s normal. You shouldn’t skip out on those years though because the way that others act with you during those years will help you form into the dragon you hope to be. Also, you’re only young once.” Garble was surprisingly wise for being a teenage jerk.

“Wow. Thanks man. Surprised to see you hang out with guys like that when you really seem smarter than them.”

“Yeah, but those guys help keep me young. After all, a dragon’s physical state isn’t directly affected by age, but by maturity. Those large guys are just like that because they decided to hoard. I’m like this because I wanted to be reckless and have fun. Heck, between you and me, I’m not actually the dragon equivalent of a teenager. I’m actually a thousand years old.”

“Wait, how?!”

“Hey, we live for a pretty long time. I just keep an immature state of mind and keep myself looking fresh. Also lets me pick up the chicks easier looking like this, you know?”

“Ugh, right now I’d rather not think of that. I just had two ponies hit on me today, one of them being a close friend who apparently wanted to do ‘things’ with me. Honestly, I can see where going young again might help me become a bit more mature if I still don’t know how to properly deal with things like that. Thanks for the advice, man. Hopefully you find some babes soon. Actually, hope you find them at all, seeing as I’ve never actually seen any.”

“Trust me bro, you NEED to check them out. See ya.” Garble then flew odd to join his friends. Spike was still amazed at how that conversation had gone down. The last thing he expected was to get advice from another dragon he’d considered a jerk before. Anyway, Spike went back home, knowing what he had to do.

“Hey guys, I’m back,” he declared as he entered the library.

“So, ya know what you’ll be doing?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah. I’ve decided that right now I’m not ready to become an adult yet, so I’ll spend those years preparing myself to be a better dragon for all of you.” He then walked over to Rarity, who was being consoled by Rainbow Dash, and addressed her.

“Rarity, I’m really sorry for the awful things I said. I was feeling confused and annoyed and didn’t know how to react, so I just lashed out at you to make things simpler for me. I was a jerk and you didn’t deserve to get hurt that way.”

“Oh dear, it’s not your fault in the least,” she responded. “I was acting like an infatuated schoolgirl without self-control. I also did some very awful things that obviously led to your confusion, so anything you said to me while you were angry had a very good basis.” She seemed to cheer up a little and flashed a little smirk, letting the mature dragon know that things were alright now. “Besides, I really was acting like the creepiest kind of mare after all. Why, those jokes I told you all will probably require you all to receive counseling.”

“I’d say I’m the one that needs it most,” Applejack told her, trying to block out the story involving Twilight and her brother.

“I’m completely fine, so you won’t have to worry,” Twilight said in a tone that was far too happy for Applejack’s comfort.

“Anyway, time for me to return to the rabbit hole,” Spike said as he grabbed the flask.

“Wait. Before you do anything, I just have one small request to make,” Rarity asked. She was blushing and everypony could see it. They all braced for the worst. “Could I…please give you a goodbye kiss? Nothing too much. It’s just that I feel like you’re a version of Spike that I may never see again, and that I’d regret not doing something about it.” Spike knew what Rarity was talking about; he knew that this version of himself would change the moment he became younger. Not only that, but this would the closest they’d ever have of being together.

“Sure. Just something quick,” he told her. Both of them were intending to give a small peck on the cheek or forehead, but that changed when they got closer and simply ended up kissing each other.

“Um,” both Applejack and Twilight said as the kiss started to last around ten seconds. The couple realized this and backed off each other, each blushing as they realized that it lasted longer than intended.

“Hey, Fluttershy didn’t faint this time!” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“That’s because those other things were really, um, naughty. This is sweet.”

“Huh, I’m not sure whether I’m kissing the Spike that could’ve been, the Spike I’ve always hoped for, or the Spike of

now, Rarity pointed out. “Whatever it is, I’m just glad it could have been.”

“You know what? Same here. Don’t worry though; you never know what will happen.” Spike chugged the potion and soon felt heat surrounding him. In a flash, he suddenly became a lot smaller, but interestingly enough, not as small as he originally was.

“Wait, I thought the potion would revert him to his normal state. He’s still a bit bigger than he normally is,” Twilight told Zecora.

“I think I know why. See, a dragon’s physical state is supposed to correspond to his mental state apparently. The reason why I’d been feeling so wrong in that body is because my mind wasn’t ready for it. I’m guessing that I mentally matured in my time of being an adult dragon.” Spike looked at his new body, noticing that when he stood up, he was about as tall as his pony friends. His limbs were a bit longer as well, matching his new size. Even the scales that stood upright were a bit bigger. “I’m guessing that I’m a teen dragon now. Still don’t have any wings though.” His friends laughed when they heard this, knowing how it always seemed like something that he’d just never have.

“Well, this was an interesting evening. I’ll go home and do some basket weaving,” Zecora announced, leaving the group behind.

“Same here. Come on girls. Time for some R&R,” Applejack announced. The ponies soon left for home while Twilight went to her room to get some sleep. Rarity was the last one to the door before being called out by Spike.

“Hey, Rarity, you mind waiting a second. Need to do something.”

“What is it dear?” She was caught by surprise as she was suddenly lifted off her hooves and kissed straight on the mouth while being bent back.

“That wasn’t from the Spike that could’ve been, the Spike you wanted, or even the Spike that never could. That was from me, the one and only Spike.” Rarity didn’t have any reactions for a moment, until she suddenly blushed and giggled.

“Oh, Spike. That’s why we love you.”

“Yeah, I totally know that,” he said with newfound confidence. “Hey, Rarity, I know that the entire age thing for dragons is a bit difficult to understand, with me somehow becoming an adult while a kid and then becoming mentally mature enough to suddenly become a teen, so let’s not focus on it too much then, okay? I mean if we ever somehow do get together, let’s accept each other for who we are at that time. At that point I might become the Adult Spike you know and love WAY too much, or maybe I’ll have this same body and just be more mature and become a different version of older me, so let’s not focus too much on it if it ever happens. Oh, and if it does ever happen, I have one request.”

“And what would that be, dear?”

“Please let me be the one to initiate. Honestly, you become crazy otherwise.” Rarity and Spike both laughed when they thought of that. It’d be far too awkward to deal with that again. “Well, goodnight.”

“Night,” she said in return. He watched her as she walked away, only to be interrupted by a giggle behind him.

“TWI! How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough, lover boy,” she teased him. She soon started humming the song usually heard at wedding to the embarrassment of poor Spike.

“Hey Twi, I just need to tell you something. It’s kinda personal, so listen. With the way I’m growing up, I’m not really sure where exactly we stand in relationship with each other. I mean, I know that I’m your assistant, but I mean the other, personal relationship we share. What exactly would you say to describe it? What are we to each other? How-“ Twilight cut off Spike with a tight hug, relieving him of whatever worries he might have.

“Let’s just say ‘It’s complicated’ and leave it at that, okay?”

“Hay, that might as well describe every kind of relationship, you know?”

“Well, that just makes it more fitting then, doesn't it? After all, it pretty much covers any possible relationship we could have with each other in the future or the past then.” Twilight was making way too much sense for Spike. He really must have been getting more mature if that was the case. They both went to the bedroom and decided to get some sleep, but Spike encountered a problem when he tried to get into bed.

“Uh, Twi? I’m way too big for my basket,” he said as he started crushing it slowly while trying to get into sleep position. “Not to sound awkward or anything, but, um, would you mind-“ Without another word, Twilight scooted over in her bed to make room for him. He got under covers and hugged her while asleep,  giving the two of them the comfort of each other’s presence. He couldn’t tell whether what he was doing would be something a child would do with his mother or what lovers would do, or even close siblings who genuinely cared for each other to a creepy extent. Whatever it was, it was now, it was complicated, and it was perfect.