Rejuvination

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, nor am I profiting off this literary venture.

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"How are you feeling?" Twilight Sparkle looked over the unicorn, still lying in the hospital bed.

He'd put on weight.

A little, at least.

"Not too bad. They think they've just about got me figured out." At least, that's what one doctor told him.

The rest had no idea.

"That's good. I brought a few books with me, since, well, you are kind of a long term patient." Her saddlebags opened silently, a trio of books floating to rest on the table next to him.

"Daring Do, Hairy Trotter and The Hardy Colts?" Two mystery novels and one mystifying novel?

"I thought you'd like something to keep you occupied." She rubbed the back of her head.

He appreciated what she was doing, honestly. Keeping up appearances.

If she'd brought the trashy romance novels he really preferred, well...

He had more in common with Rainbow Dash than he really liked to admit.

"How are Spike and Twilight... You know, we really need a better way to refer to them. I bet everypony else is thinking the same thing." He knew it'd been a little confusing for the Human Twilight, but really it had just been Spike and Spike, confusing but not terrible.

"They're doing fine and Rarity may have brought that up, actually. Pinkie Pie has had zero trouble with it, of course."

"Of course."

It was Pinkie Pie. That mare could tell twins apart.

"Have you discussed it with her?" That was important, wasn't it?

"Not yet. She's still settling in, and it hasn't really been easy. She loves magic, no surprise there." Both Twilight and Spike shared a deadpan look.

A Twilight who didn't love magic? It'd be an invasion of the body snatchers before that came to pass.

"But she's doing really weird things with it. She levitated a pencil for a minute and had a breakdown. Something about violating gravity, Newtonian physics and the basic rules of the universe. I... Might not have helped matters."

Spike rubbed a hoof over his nose.

"What did you do?"

"I... Might have mentioned that, well, that's kind of the point? Of magic?" In her defense, it really was.

"Did you explain it to her?" That would have taken a lot of the edge off, at least he hoped.

"Yes, of course I did! Not. She's still in the waiting room, I'll explain to her how Magic is the means of expressing will upon reality in a little bit." It was the most basic understanding of magic that existed.

Cheerilee taught it to foals!

Twilight probably hadn't thought of that, not in any significant manner, since she'd been accepted into Celestia's School.

"Should I go explain it to her now?" And there was the guilt.

She hadn't done anything wrong, hadn't meant any harm. She was just involved, she took things too close to heart.

"Would you want someone to find you as soon as they knew the answer to something troubling you?" Of course she would. That's a part of who she was.

"If I'm done before visiting hours, I'll come back soon, alright?" She bolted out the door before he could so much as wave.

Still, he smiled. It was Twilight, it was just who she was. Excitable and quirky and too clever for her own good.

Either of their own goods.

He reached for the Hairy Trotter book and settled in, he was going to be here a while.

...Why did he feel like he was missing something important?

----

Spike set the book down, a grin on his muzzle.

Twilight hadn't returned, nor had Twilight shown up with Spike in tow and wow he really needed to figure out a better way to refer to them.

The rest of the Elements not showing up wasn't too terribly surprising, though it was a bit disappointing.

They all had responsibilities, lives to live and a trip by train to the nations capital was neither fast or quick.

Though regardless, it certainly wasn't going to ruin his good mood. The Hairy Trotter series wasn't his favorite, but it was up there pretty high.

A young colt off to learn magic, in a school where anything and everything was possible...

Spike felt like hitting himself.

It was obvious. It was so blindingly obvious!

Underneath all the flavors and inclinations, what was magic?

Will made manifest!

And he had magic!

With a grin he latched on to the fire roiling within his soul and exhaled.

Not enough to expel a tongue of flame, but enough to calm his beating heart.

Fire was a lot of things, to a poet it could be anything.

To Spike, it was synonymous with magic. One was the other, but one could always be more, if you could imagine it!

He pushed his desire into the flame, shaping it and directing it.

Scales replaced fur.

This was it! This had always been it!

The unicorns couldn't change his form, not permanently.

But him changing himself?

It had been his goal from the beginning.

Scales pushed out fur and made their way up his neck.

Okay, maybe this was a bit... A lot uncomfortable.

Bones audibly cracked as flesh split and reform, new claws latching on to the rails of the bed as the magic moved on its own, heedless of its container.

Spike's mind reeled as it tried to decide what was hurting more, his head, his back or his claws! At least, that was before the long bones of his limbs creaked and protested the changes forced through them.

He was twisting the metal, a distant part of him realized.

It was sheltered from the agony of years of growing pains all coming to bear at once, and it was his refuge.

He could feel, it was different from everything else, the way his claws were twisting the groaning metal.

Not a lot, not enough to shear, but more than enough to warp.

And that same part took notice of wide eyes staring in fear through fiery rims.

Twilight.

"H-hey Twilight. Don't-don't you know it's, it's rude to walk in on someone changing?" And it was the part of his brain that enjoyed making bad jokes.

Wonderful.