Spike isn’t surprised when a hoof lightly rests on his shoulder, trying to comfort him with a solemn pressure. He is surprised to find it is white and not lavender. He wants to brush it off, prove that he is a tough dragon who can be on his own, but he gets as far as reaching his curled claws up and preparing to flick her off when she speaks.

“Oh, Spike,” Rarity starts, the gentleness in the unicorn’s voice a sharp contrast to the wariness or commands Spike normally hears. “It must feel terrible, what you are going through right now.”

“Tell me about it,” Spike replies gruffly, shrugging her hoof off him. She frowns but doesn’t press forward, displaying a similar betrayal that Twilight had earlier, if less intense. He ignores it, grumpily crossing his arms. “The path is winding and treacherous; I just didn’t think it would start so early. But treachery always surfaces when you least expect it.”

“Treachery?!” Rarity exclaims, taking a step back while her hoof presses against her chest. “This isn’t you, Spike! Surely you don’t think that somepony making a choice that you don’t agree with is betraying you?”

Rarity and Spike turn as Ember strides up to them while a defeated Garble sulks and nurses his claw behind her.

“What else would it mean?” the teal dragon demands, slapping a fist into her open palm. “A Dragon Lord rules with absolute authority. My father, Dragon Lord Torch, defies any to deny his dominance at their peril. And Spike should rule the same way. As a dragon, not as a weak and simpering pony.”

“Excuse me!” Rarity objects, rising up and glaring at Ember. “Just because Spikey-Wikey is a dragon does not mean-”

“Hey!” Spike interrupts, stepping away from Rarity to stand next to Ember. “I’m not a foal you can boss around any more! Maybe you don’t like the new Emperor Spike.”

“Hatchling,” Ember corrects as Rarity sputters. “Or baby. You certainly aren’t a foal.”

“Well, he kind of is,” Garble states disdainfully.

“But not for long.” Ember slaps Spike’s back with a vicious smile, raking her claws along his scales. “See? He’s growing up!”

Spike howls in agony as the top layer of scale rips off, exposing a pattern of angry red diamonds. He whimpers as he lays on the ground, curling into an abject ball.

“You… you brute!” Rarity rushes in between Ember and Spike, rearing up to plant a hoof on the taller dragons’ chest, her experience with Doug’s taller stature helping her keep the pose without wavering. Twilight Sparkle also stands, ready to intervene.

“Hah!” Ember laughs in Rarity’s face as she smoothly parries the push, leaving the unbalanced unicorn barely able to catch herself as she falls. Ember points at Spike, cackling. “You ponies always think you’re so superior! You don’t care what happens to everycreature else; you don’t have a clue what he’s going through!”

“Then explain,” Twilight says firmly as she steps up to Spike. The young dragon is no longer writhing in pain; instead, he has a content look, the same kind Rarity might after a session at Aloe’s. “It’s true that we don’t know enough about dragons, or everycreature else. But we want to learn. We’re willing to listen to experts like you. But that doesn’t mean we should be going around tearing scales off each other!”

“See?” Ember points out with a self-righteous smirk. “Perfect example of pony primacy at its worst. That’s exactly what you should be doing.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight asks, befuddled. She glances down at Spike; he’s gone from content to busily itching at a piece of scale on his face that is beginning to peel away. He winces every time his claw brushes against the red spot underneath, unable to do as Ember did and rip the offending scale off. “I should?”

“Yeah! He’s molting!” Ember points at the shards of scale littering the floor. “It’s super painful to go through. Every minute you delay is a minute he spends suffering. But it’s a part of growing up dragon.”

“Growing up?” Spike asks from the floor, his voice hoarse and nearly unhearable. He glances down at his arms and legs, still as short and stubby as always. “But the last time I grew up, I nearly destroyed Ponyville!”

“What was that?” Twilight asks, straining to hear him.

“I said,” Spike repeats, infuriated but still silent, “that I almost destroyed Ponyville!”

“I’m sorry, Spike, but we can’t hear you.” Twilight grabs Spike’s parchment and quill. “Maybe write it down?”

Spike clenches his claws, starting off quiet before erupting into a deafening shout and an accompanying uncontrolled spout of flame. “I said that I almost defiled Sweetie Belle and destroyed Ponyville!”

“Oh, yeah!” Ember says, laughing as a golden glow from Celestia’s horn diverts the flame upward, dispersing it in midair. Her snicker shuts up Spike and gets Twilight to twist her head. “I heard about that. Good times! But this isn’t Greed Induced Bigness, though you have to tell me how you gibbed to save the Crystal Empire.”

“Oh, that?” Spike says, his voice hoarse again. He flexes his arms, quickly going back to scratching at a new spot on his face. “I just thought about how valuable the Crystal Heart in my claws was, and that it was mine.”

“You’ve gone quiet again,” Twilight says, cautiously watching for another belch of flame.

“He said, ‘oh, that?’” Celestia interprets as Spike clenches his claws with an infuriated glare, the glow from her horn fading. “Then, ‘I just thought about how valuable the Crystal Heart in my claws was, and that it was mine.’”

“Thank YOU!!” Spike bellows, releasing another torrent of flame that Twilight is ready for this time.

“You are most welcome,” Celestia says with a soft smile.

All the other creatures have grown quite interested in the proceedings, gathering closer than before; even the Storm King has stopped lounging. The ponies regard them with a quick glance before going back to Spike.

“This… molt process you are talking about,” Twilight starts. A smile that might be considered maniacal on anycreature not so cute spreads across her muzzle. She zips next to Ember, quill in aura and ready to jot down anything she says. “Is there anything else you can tell us? Is it like getting a cutie mark for a pony and the start of puberty? What sort of horrendous side effects are there? How long will it last?” She beams at Ember, all toothy smiles and eager eyes.

“Horrendous side effects?” Spike whimpers.

“Is he going to get wings?” Rainbow Dash excitedly demands, looking between Ember and Garble’s wings. “Because that would be awesome!” She slaps Spike on the back, drawing a sharp intake of breath as his eyes bug out in pain. “‘It’d make you forty-four percent cooler!”

She looks around at the blank, questioning stares everypony gives her. “What? Each wing makes you twenty percent more cool. Unless he just gets one massive, unbalanced wing.” Her eyes grow wide in horror. “That’s not gonna happen, right?”

Ember chuckles, shaking her head. Her purple wings flare out, looking comparably small on her body. “They might get to be massive, but that’ll take a few centuries. Right now there’s the volume shifts and uncontrolled fire breath. That’s bad, but what you need to worry about is the smell. It’s so bad a dragon will kick their young out and make them fend on their own. Run away from rocs. Survive and find a hoard of their own.” She takes a deep whiff of Spike, claws ready to pinch her nose and gag. Except she doesn’t really react, getting closer and taking another sniff. She remarks, “That part hasn’t started yet?”

“That would be me,” Celestia says apologetically, her cleansing spell from earlier still active. “I could take it away, but…” She flicks her head at Doug, his pungent lunch unnoticeable.

“Hey!” he retorts dourly.

Celestia smirks, leaning her head back to kiss him. “Got you,” she whispers, earning a tender scratch of her belly.

“Yeah,” Ember says, rolling her eyes at the affectionate display. “Is that what you’re thinking? That it’s easier on all of us this way?”

Twilight taps her quill against her chin. She frowns, turning a hard expression toward Ember. “You think Spike would be better off if he’s forced to endure these trials. The smell, the itching, the pain. Being forced to go alone.”

Ember nods. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

Twilight beams at Spike. “That might improve your fortitude and make you a strong and ferocious dragon. But I do not believe following that course makes you the best you can be. Remember your friends, Spike. They can help when you are feeling low. They can provide alternatives you didn’t think of. They can even remind you when you go wrong. And you can do the same for them. And that is a strength that is stronger than any muscle, sharper than any claw, and more durable than any scale.”

In the background, Garble exchanges a grumpy snort with the griffons. The yaks seem similarly unimpressed while Iron Grip slams two meaty hands against each other. The ponies of the Realm of Clouds, along with the two Saddle Arabians, giddily stomp their hooves. The Storm King merely steeples his hands in front of his face, regarding the Equestrians with a calculating stare.

Spike stands tall. “There’s nothing saying that I can’t do both. You know, pick and choose the parts from each that I like. I don’t have to do things the pony way, and I don’t have to do things the dragon way. I can be a strong, ferocious leader who accepts no impasse, and at the same time equally share the essence of our empire among all of our citizens.”

“Hah!” laughs Ember. “That’s quite the dragon thing to do. Take what’s useful and torch the rest. Good on you.”

“Thanks.” Spike groans, writhing along the floor. “Now, can we go ahead with this whole scale removal thing? They’re getting really bad.”

“Would you like me to?” Twilight asks, Spike nodding eagerly. Ember grumbles, claws on her hips, put out that he didn’t pick her. “Also, I think Rarity has something she wants to say.”

Spike shrugs as Ember points out to Twilight which scales she should be removing. She starts with her hooves; her horn might give her greater strength and control, but she’s worried about ripping off too much at a time. Spike grits his teeth through the pain, but endures, watching as layer after layer of purple scales fold onto neat stacks.

It’s no easier for Twilight, every gasp and wince and shudder nearly enough to get her to stop. But she can see how Spike fares no better if he is left alone, the spaces she hasn’t gotten to yet just as itchy and irritating, if not more. She continues along his legs, his arms, even his head, carefully peeling away the offending stone scales to expose the pulsing red and purple diamonds underneath.

“Spike,” Rarity starts solemnly as Spike stretches, the distressing process finally over. She sighs at herself. “I can understand why you are frustrated with me and with Sweetie Belle. Nopony, err, nocreature likes it when things don’t go their way. I know that, all too frequently, I played the part of the protective dam, making sure the ‘stallion’, as it were, didn’t take advantage of my precious filly. But you have to understand, she is going through a lot of changes, just like you are. I’m sure this came as a surprise to her, just like it did for you. Please don’t hold this against her, especially if she ends up changing her mind. That’s all I wanted to say earlier, and I’m sorry we got off track.”

“I get that,” Spike says, able to keep his smile going. “I do. I still have feelings for her. And I hope she changes her mind.” He turns to Twilight. “I know I chafed at the restrictions you put on me. But I know how important following the rules is.”

Twilight nods, putting aside her notes on the molting process. “You showed us you are a responsible dragon in the little things, Spike. And that makes me more than willing to put you in charge of the big things. And I know,” she grins, poking Spike in his rotund stomach, drawing a short laugh, “even though you might feel a little small at the moment, that you will go on to do great things.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” Spike says as a red glow surrounds his body. He reaches up, embracing his oldest friend in a tight hug. “I’ll always remember the lessons you taught me, about how…”

Spike glances down at the unfamiliar glow, his eyes growing wide. “T-Twilight? What’s going-”

Gray stone encases the purple and green dragon, pinning him against the lavender alicorn.

Next Chapter: Ch. 35 - Izaro's Turmoil, Part Six Estimated time remaining: 26 Hours, 38 Minutes