The golden ship slowly arced into the unexplored sector of space, the light of the orbiting sun glinting off its armored exterior as it streaked towards the single planet in the system. The pilot gazed at the unusual planetary configuration. One planet, orbited by a sun and moon. She had never seen anything like it. Then again, considering her passenger, he would have to come from somewhere unlike anywhere else in the universe. "This is the place?" she asked.

The purple head snaked up beside her. "Yes, Mom," he said softly. "In my vision quest, Gray Voice was very specific. These are the coordinates of my home world...at the moment."

"At the moment?" Samus asked, confused.

"Take a look at the readings," Spike pointed out. "The planet is moving through the cosmos on its own, taking its sun and moon with it."

Samus examined the scanners, seeing what her draconic son had spotted. "You're right," she replied. "I wonder where it's headed?"

Spike chuckled to himself. "I doubt even I'll be around to see that at the rate it's travelling," he replied. "But this is where my egg came from. Took a while to get here, though. Gray Voice said the one from my dreams would be waiting for me."

Samus nodded. "Setting landing coordinates," she stated, plotting the course. "Calculating reentry vectors."

As the ship entered the atmosphere, Spike gazed out the window, wondering what it would be like to be home again after all this time. "What's the gravity like?" Spike asked.

Samus glanced at the readouts. "According to scans, about .8 Gs. You're going to have to keep the armor on."

Spike sighed, scratching at the gold-edged white plate over his head. "Had a feeling that would be the case," he muttered.

"We're going to land in that forest outside that small settlement," Samus explained. "I'll stay in the ship right at first. If you're normal for this world, odds are I'm not. And since I'm not detecting any industrialization at all, they probably don't have space flight, meaning they probably aren't used to visitors from outer space. Gimme a ring when the locals are ready for me."

Spike smiled. "I will, Mom."

As the ship landed, Samus pulled out a datapack. "Here. I've kept a log of everything since I got your egg. If they want your story, it might help fill in the blanks, especially from back before you started talking."

Spike smiled, slipping the datapack into his chest plate. "That should help."

"Scanners have picked up a few large wild animals in the forest, some possibly hostile." Samus then grinned at the drake beside her. "Not that you'll have a problem with them."

Chuckling, Spike hugged the bounty hunter. "Be back soon, Mom," he promised before leaving the ship.

---

Spike left the forest carefully, uncertain what sort of reception he would get on entering town. He had spotted from the forest that most of the houses weren't exactly sized for a creature his size. He had spotted small equines - he found himself calling them 'ponies', though he didn't know why - going back and forth, but they were maybe a third his size at the largest. However, he knew the one he was looking for was one of these 'ponies', and he would have to meet these ponies to find her.

And so, taking a deep breath to steady himself and praying to Gray Voice and the other ancestral spirits that there wouldn't be a language barrier, he stepped out of the forest. The sunlight glinted off the white and gold armor plates on his forehead between his horns, on his back between his wings, on the front of his neck, on his chest, on the upper portion of each leg, the open clawed gauntlets and greaves, and the length of his tail. The spiked blades on the spade tip also caught the light. He hoped he wasn't too frightening to these creatures.

As he passed by a small cottage, a yellow pony with a pink mane and tail and wings on her back took one look at him, screamed in fear, let out a bleat that sounded like a goat, and fell flat on her back.

Spike groaned, burying his face in his claws. "So much for first impressions," he grunted. "I never expected anyone to be so shy..." Something stirred in his head. "Wait...Flutter...Shy?"

The pony blinked, rolling away from the 'big scary dragon' and back to her hooves, her eyes wide. The way he knew her name and how familiar his voice was... "...Spike?" she gasped softly.

Spike smiled softly. "I...I know you-Ooomph!"

Fluttershy had dashed across to tackle him in a tight hug. "Oh Spike, you're back! Ever since that spell of Twilight's went wrong and you disappeared in that quantum vortex, we were all so afraid we'd never see you again! We've missed you so much!" She pulled back. "It...it is you, isn't it?"

Spike chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Yes, I'm certain it is me now. Memories are coming back from dreams...and Gray Voice did say that time itself had unwoven from my journey..."

"Gray Voice?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

Spike chuckled. "It's a long story, and I'd rather just tell it once. And...there's someone I need to find...lavender with wings and horn..."

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, Twilight! You really need to go see Twilight right away! She's been so worried about you! You've been missing for a whole month!" She pushed Spike towards a massive crystal castle. "She's in the castle over there. You go see her right away. I'll gather everypony else and let them all know you're back!" She then gave Spike one last hug around his neck. "Oh Spike...welcome home!" With that, she flapped off into the town.

Spike stared after her, rather flummoxed. "Twilight..." he muttered, tasting the name. "Yes...that's her...I need to see her..." He began moving towards the castle at a steady gait.

As he passed through the town, many ponies waved to him happily. Apparently, word had spread fast, and everyone was happy to see him. However, he would have to talk to them later. Reaching the castle, he pushed the massive doors open. "Twilight?" he called out. "Twilight?"

There was a resounding crash from nearby. "Spike?" an agonized voice called out.

Spike ran towards the voice, and he heard rapid hoofsteps rushing to meet him. Within moments, a lavender pony with wings and horn - the one from his dreams - crashed into him, wrapping forelegs and feathered wings around as much of his neck as she could hold. For his part, he wrapped one leg around her in a gentle embrace. He felt her tears on his neck, and he knew tears of his own were wetting her mane.

He was home.

---

When the both of them finally calmed down, Twilight stepped back from Spike. "Spike...what happened to you?" she asked in surprise. "You...you got swallowed by that quantum vortex a month ago, and...and..."

"Only a month ago?" Spike asked, surprised. "It's been years for me."

"Years?" Twilight asked as her eyes popped open wider. "Well, I guess you have grown a great deal...but where have you been? And what's with this armor?"

Spike chuckled. "It's a long story, Twilight. I think I'll wait until the others get here. I bumped into Fluttershy on the way here, and she said she'd gather everyone-"

"Spike's back! Spike's back! Spike's back! Spike's back! Spike's back! Spike's back! Spike's back! Spike's back-" Pinkie Pie's excitable squeals were cut off as her rocket propelled hug ended with her landing between Spike's wings heavily. She blinked for a time. "-is huge!" she finished.

"What in tarnation do ya mean by that, Pinkie-whoa nelly!" Applejack reared back as she saw Spike. "What have ya been eating this past month?"

"Damn, Spike!" Rainbow Dash added as she flew circles around his spread wings. "Look who's grown up and gone airborne!"

"What's everypony saying about dear little Spikey-Wahahahai!" Rarity's question was cut off by her reaction to Spike's sheer size. "You...you're ginormous!"

Spike chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I don't need to be this big, huh?" He closed his eyes to concentrate.

"What do you-" Twilight's voice stopped as they all watched.

Right before their eyes, Spike started to shrink in on himself. His overall body shape remained the same, but he went from being the size of Princess Celestia to being about the size of Big Macintosh. His proportions remained the same, but he was now at eye level with all those around him. His armor shrunk with him, although his musculature became - if anything - even more defined.

"...woof," Rarity muttered under her breath.

"...woof," Fluttershy agreed, blushing.

"Woof!" Pinkie proclaimed for no apparent reason other than because other ponies were doing it. "Are we being doggies now?"

Spike chuckled. "I'm glad I'm not as intimidating like this," he admitted. "Took a while to master that trick."

"That's mighty impressive!" Applejack praised. "But where ya been all this time?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "I mean, that armor makes you look like some kind of comic book space warrior! What's up with that?"

Chuckling, Spike pulled the datapack from his chest compartment, its size unchanged. "Girls...it's a long story..."

"I'll get the snacks!" Pinkie shouted, dashing off to the kitchen.

Next Chapter: Spike Log: Zero Entry Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 2 Minutes