First Rarity and then Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash crowd around Spike’s stone form and Twilight Sparkle. Their excited voices blend into one, poking and prodding and generally making Twilight feel like the thaumic equations she tinkers with.

“Darling, your coat!” “Ooh, can I join?!” “Don’t worry, Twi! We’ll get ya free!” “Spike! Are you okay?” “That was awesome!”

“I’m okay!” Twilight Sparkle blurts out as she looks up at Doug and Celestia, towering above all except Rainbow Dash. Both take their time to assess the situation rather than pull and tug at her like Applejack.

“Ow!” Twilight swats at the orange mare attempting to rip one of Spike’s arms from her side. It’s really hard to bend her leg with the weird angle, and it doesn’t help that her other foreleg is fused to his back. Applejack backs off, if reluctantly, with a sheepish smile. “That hurt! It’s like…” She sighs as she inspects the stone pressing against her. Spike’s rocky arms go from the base of her barrel around one foreleg, then deep against her chest. “Yup. It’s melded to my coat.”

“So what do we do?” Doug asks, frowning. “Get a pair of scissors?”

Rarity gasps, taken aback by Doug’s brutish suggestion. “But that will ruin her appearance! Surely we can figure something out! Like a teleport?”

“We could always fashion you a peytral similar to ours,” Celestia mentions, motioning to her golden regalia with a gold-shod hoof. “Molded correctly, it could cover any disfigurements.”

“Gold would be a dazzling color on you,” Rarity says, glancing apologetically to Luna. She returns a gloomy grunt. “But surely there is a better solution?”

“Mm,” Twilight considers, unconvinced. She shakes back and forth, and the ripples are more than skin deep. “I think he went past coat and into hide. I’m not sure what would happen if I teleported, even balefully. Especially when this effect fades; any pieces caught inside me might break up, sending chips of stone hurtling through my blood and straight into my brain. A teleport would exacerbate that risk.” She chuckles nervously, trying to keep a lighthearted smile. “But that’s not going to happen! Everything is going to be just fine.”

“Urgh,” moan the half dozen ponies surrounding Twilight, more than a few hooves slapping at faces.

“You can teleport others,” Doug says, ashen-faced.

Twilight nods, slightly confused. She’s done so in front of Doug before, right? Or at least talked about it. Never with the human, though; she has a hard time getting a lock on him for telekinesis, much less anything else. “It’s not much harder than teleporting yourself. As you get more familiar with the target the difficulty decreases exponentially.”

“No, no, no,” Doug says, staring a thousand yards past Twilight. “You can teleport pieces of others.”

“Well, not on pur…” Twilight’s eyes go wide, a hoof covering her mouth as she nearly retches up her lunch. The ponies around her share her… distaste, many patting her gently, though it’s unclear if they are attempting to reassure her or themselves.

“Perhaps,” Rarity adds, tremoring, “we shouldn’t tempt fate by discussing those types of horrid outcomes?”

“Exactly.” Twilight gathers her strength, taking a deep breath and calming herself down. “Everything is going to be perfect.” Twilight jovially searches for Ember. The dragoness, much like everycreature else, has gathered even closer than before, watching with an eagerness she didn’t expect. “It’s crystal clear what you meant about watching out for rocks. It’s certainly a corundum. Not that I have any hard feelings!”

“I’m going to give that two and a half Mauds,” Pinkie Pie says dourly. “And that’s being generous. You’re going to need way better rock puns.”

“And it’s a different kind of roc,” Ember states as Twilight grumbles. “R-O-C-S.”

Twilight stares at Ember, dredging up everything she knows about the giant flying birds.

“That does make more sense,” Rainbow Dash interjects, drawing a curious glance from Twilight.

“You know about those?” Twilight frowns at the revelation. She knows Rainbow Dash has to keep an eye out for monsters from the Everfree, like Astral Ursas.

“Well, yeah.” Rainbow Dash shrugs blithely, trying to not appear as eggheaded as she is. “They’re just one of the reasons you don’t blindly fly over the Everfree Forest. They shouldn’t go after equines, but if they do? Just scream ‘Celestia’ and ‘fried chicken’ and they should go away.”

“Hmm, that would be good to remember,” Rarity says, making a mental note.

“Perhaps I should update them,” Celestia muses. “Especially if Spike does grow wings.”

“That’ll be awesome!” Rainbow Dash repeats as Ember nods. She runs her hoof over Spike’s stone form and asks curiously, “What kind of rock is this? Granite? Shale?” Her eyes narrow as she smirks. “Cummingtonite?”

“Hmn,” Pinkie Pie says, inspecting the stone closely as Doug struggles to keep a straight face. She runs her tongue along the stone, completely serious as she smacks her lips. “Now, I don’t have a Rocktorate in minerals that actually exist, but I don’t taste enough manganese for there to be any cummingtonite.”

“I don’t know about that,” Fluttershy interjects with a broad, somehow innocent smile. Her herdmates snort, roll their eyes, or in Applejack’s case, both.

Ember raises an eyebrow. “You know, I didn’t believe Garble when he said you ponies were this obsessed with sex.”

“It’s Doug’s fault,” every single mare and Shining Armor chorus.

The human shrugs shamelessly.

Ember backs off a little, holding her claws up as if to keep Doug at bay. “Maybe it’s better that Spike stays with ponies, if any of that rubbed off on him. What kind of dragon would want to endure that nonsense more than every other decade?” She shakes her head, gagging, even though the earlier comment about partial teleporting hadn’t fazed her. “Where’d you get his egg, anyway? Some idiot must have stolen it from the hatching fields if he’s only going through his molt now.”

“Hatching fields?!” Fluttershy exclaims, twin cyan pools shimmering with excitement. “There are whole fields of baby dragons?”

“Not for another year,” Ember says, barely holding back the yellow pegasus doing an admirable job of clinging to her leg and beaming up at her. “Now get off! Dragons don’t do cute and cuddly!”

“Aww,” Fluttershy whimpers, slinking back to lay next to Twilight. Applejack consoles her with a pat of her back.

“I obtained the egg from the Scale Collectors,” Celestia answers, motioning with a hoof at Raikou. The Storm King confirms with a nod. “I had no idea it would hatch. Speaking of, I could use another. Sterile this time.” She sighs. “It was an excellent test of how a young pony would deal with failure, and much more effective than using a replica.”

“I’ll look into it,” the Storm King says with a small smile and bow. He glances at Ember.

The glance is enough to kindle an infuriated snort and humorless glare. “I told you the last time we’re not bailing out that worthless sack of dragon dung.”

“Hey, don’t go insulting dragon dung,” Garble says crossly. “I heard ponies pay gems for it.”

All eyes turn to Applejack.

“It’s true,” the farmpony admits. “Ah’ve heard other farms use it, ‘specially those run by a pegasus or unicorn. Just not at Sweet Apple Acres. We tend to the apple trees closely enough they don’t need it, and the wheat fields get their boost from the Everfree.”

“Ah, poo,” Garble pouts, scratching at his chin as he stares up at the ceiling.

“Not on our fields you ain’t,” Applejack returns merrily.

It takes Garble a second to realize why everypony is laughing. He grows cross for a second before joining in with a shake of his head.

It seems merriment is the cue Spike is waiting for as beams of white burst from seams in the rock. Everypony takes a step back, watching with bated breath. Except Twilight, still stuck to Spike. She, like the other unicorns and alicorns, watches through lenses of magic that leaves her eyes a solid white as they filter the blinding light.

Cracks spread from his head to his tail, chunks of stone breaking off and revealing the small purple and green dragon underneath. His claws sparkle as he flexes and flicks off the remaining shards clinging to his glistening scales. Twin wings, shaped like a bat’s with a purple leading edge and dark green fingers that extend through light green patagium, spread from his back. They look woefully undersized, especially for the rotund dragon, but the same could be said about nearly every flying creature.

“H-hey, everypony!” Spike exclaims, grinning nervously as he cranes his neck this way and that. He tries to pull away, but can’t. “Um, Twi, I know I went away for a minute or two, but you can let go of me now.”

“I-I’m not,” Twilight apologies. She tugs her hoof away to demonstrate, but it just stretches her coat away from her body. “Your new scales are kind of… attached to me.”

“Oh, no!” Spike exclaims, again trying to wrench himself free, but only succeeding in getting Twilight to wince in pain. He notes how her hair stretches, his face lighting up. “Don’t worry! I’ve got these.”

Spike brandishes his claws, though rotating them to reach his entrapped wrists proves only a momentary delay. Before Twilight or Rarity can stop him he slices through her coat, freeing his wrist, but continuing along his arm proves impossible.

“Ooh,” Rarity fusses, holding her hoof to her muzzle as her eyes water. Only Doug seems to care enough to comfort her by running his hand along her back, the rest a bit miffed with her melodramatic response. Rarity covers her eyes, yet can’t help but peek over to watch the carnage.

“Hold on, Spike, let me help,” Twilight insists as Spike grows frustrated with his lack of progress.

“Hey, Celestia,” Rainbow Dash whispers as the two slowly carve through the hairs locking them together. “Any chance you can send Twilight a letter? It might speed this up.”

“Ah, but I would not wish to cut their bonding short,” Celestia returns. She pauses to wipe away the tear forming in her eye as she watches them. “And it would be remiss of Twilight to not be at least partially flame-retardant.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Rainbow Dash sighs, disappointed. She watches Twilight free Spike’s elbow, the dragon severing strands of hair as Rarity whimpers in abject sorrow. She whispers to Pinkie Pie, “How long do you think it takes for him to notice?”

“Notice what?” Spike asks as he pulls himself away from Twilight’s shorn chest. He has bits and pieces of lavender sticking up from his entire frontside, and he glances down at it. “Oh, this?” A quick burst of green flame sears away the hair, leaving him pristine once again. “Simple!”

“It’s okay, Rarity,” Twilight consoles. She looks like a filly who didn’t so much as fall asleep with a bit of bubblegum in her mouth but dove forelegs first into a barrel of it. “It’s just hair. It grows back!”

“But that won’t be until winter!” Rarity bawls, flailing about at anything in reach. Which ends up being mostly Doug. “Until then you’ll be hideous!”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Twilight objects with a roll of her eyes. “Besides, you can always make me a dress to cover it up, right?”

“Or a frock!” Pinkie Pie adds, grinning. “Like Maud! Or a smock, or an apron, or some overalls, or-”

“A dress, you say?” Rarity says as she bolts upright, hiding her grimace at Pinkie Pie’s… suggestions. This knocks Doug back, not that she notices or he minds. She studies Twilight’s mangled coat, frowning at the specks of blood welling where Spike nicked her. “I believe I have just the thing! We were all going to be fitted for that merchant’s garments. Oh, I knew shopping would one day save the day! And that day is today!” She flashes a grin at Doug, who merely rolls his eyes as he dusts himself off.

“How do you feel, Spike?” Twilight grins down at the small dragon, staying encouraging. “That was quite the fright you gave us!”

“I feel great!” Spike holds up his arms, flexing. Unlike before, where one couldn’t really tell, just the tiniest bulge of muscle pushes up against his scales. “Super energized! Like I could just take off, you know?”

“Oh, yeah?” Rainbow Dash exclaims from above, flapping her wings with extra gusto.

“Yeah!” Spike spreads his arms out wide, like Doug would when he plays ‘pegasus’ with the young foals of the herd. His wings mirror the action behind him. He runs around in a wide circle, shouting, “Weeee!!”

Chrysalis slinks up to Doug. She whispers, as the rest of the ponies chuckle, “Is that how an… airplane flies? Fixed wings?”

“That’s part of it,” Doug whispers back, shocked that Chrysalis could have picked that up from the lack of flapping. “A curved wing, to get the airflow right. You have to be going a bit faster, but…”

He trails off as Spike rises into the air, suppressing the rancor in his mouth. Magic.

“Trixie, cut it out!” Spike cries as his legs windmill uselessly, unable to reach the ground a few inches away.

“Trixie isn’t here,” Twilight calls back, unable to keep the mirth from her voice. “It’s all you!”

“Me?” Spike glances around, bewildered, as he glides through the air. Every time he sinks low enough to touch the ground the barest contact bounces him back up. He barely clears a lot of the obstacles in the room, riding up chairs and across tables. He twists around, looking for the culprit, only to spot the wings on his back.

His wings.

“Ahh!” Spike exclaims as he spins uncontrollably, slamming into one of the walls. He hangs there, upside down, staring at his wings.

“Spike!” Twilight shouts, rising into the air to swoop to the downed dragon.

“Twilight!” Spike calls, unable to believe it. He has wings! “I did it! I have wings!”

“Not so much of a baby dragon, huh?” Rainbow Dash beams from next to Twilight. “Now, come on! Let’s put those puppies to use! Race ya!”

Spike can only watch, mesmerized, as Rainbow rings rainbow rings around the room. He can barely keep up, his head spinning as she skids to a stop next to him.

“Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash yells, the berating tone she copied from Spitfire in full effect. “I want to see those wings flapping!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” Spike tries to shout back, his wings flapping. He barely raises into the air, his feet never leaving the ground.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Rainbow Dash bellows. “Harder! I’ve seen butterflies flap their wings harder!”

“I-I’m trying!” Spike ekes out, already winded from trying to get his wings to flap like Rainbow Dash wants. The unfamiliar muscles don’t respond like he thinks they should, especially from how Twilight described getting and using her wings.

“Well, try harder!” Rainbow Dash points at Twilight, the alicorn unsure of the teaching methods but letting the more experienced flyer lead. “Or do I need to put somepony in danger? I’m sure we can get the Storm King to swipe Sweetie Belle, or get a roc to take off with Rarity!”

The unicorn does not look amused to be a mere object of their pursuit, especially when it appears to be quite the motivation. It only gets worse when Doug scoops her up from behind with a loud grunt, depositing her on his shoulder and shuffling to the opposite side of the auditorium.

“Doug! Unhand me this instant!” Rarity’s eyes go wide as his free hand threatens to tickle her exposed belly. “Spike! Help!”

“Don’t worry, Rarity! I’ll save you!” Spike’s brow furrows in concentration, kicking off with his legs as his wings beat at the air. He rises, higher and higher, before overbalancing and faceplanting into a yak’s backside. He bounces off the surprisingly springy material, flipping head over tail before his wings manage to right himself.

“No! Eee!” Rarity calls melodramatically as Doug rolls her, exposing her pristine belly for all to see. Her tail fruitlessly lashes, tyring to swat him away, only for his grin to go wide as he savors the moment before he unleashes the dreaded raspberry.

Spike soars through the air, one beat of his wings carrying him nearly to the ceiling. He points his claws as he screams, charging downward toward the dastardly villain and his helpless quarry.

Only for Doug to drop down, dodging Spike’s strike by blowing on Rarity’s exposed tummy.

Rarity’s high pitched laughter and the loud, warbling ‘pfff’ compete with Spike crashing into the wall for who can be the loudest. At least, until Spike runs over and kicks Doug in the shin.

“Bleargh!” Doug shouts as he collapses, unceremoniously dumping Rarity onto Spike.

“My hero!” Rarity calls to the smothered dragon, planting a kiss on his green frills.

“You’re doing great, Spike!” Twilight cheers as Spike pulls himself out from under Rarity. “Way better than when I first got my wings!”

“And Twilight wasn’t even half-bad!” Rainbow nods knowingly. “Although, from what I can tell, she had the opposite issue. She kept putting in too much power without enough control.” She chuckles to herself. “Not that I’ve ever had that problem.”

The rest of the mares chuckle along with Rainbow, that being exactly the problem she had both when she didn’t get into the Wonderbolts initially and then years later when she lost her magic.

Doug withdraws as Spike again takes to the air. He still wobbles, but eagerly, trying out everything Rainbow Dash and the others can think to yell at him. He reaches Celestia’s side and sits down; she lays ponyloaf next to him.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Doug asks quietly, noting the pride and joy the alicorn radiates just from watching Twilight and Spike.

“It truly is,” Celestia whispers back. She utters a soft coo as one hand slips under her wing to massage her growing belly, nuzzling her head against his as her mane stills. “I have borne witness to it many, many times, but I fear observing the maturation of a student pales in comparison to guiding one’s own progeny.”

“Yup,” Doug agrees sympathetically. His smile joins hers, thinking back to how each of his foals has grown and matured, especially the Crusaders. And, though he’s certainly happy for Spike, how much happier he was when they found their calling in life. He finds himself glumly asking, “Did you…”

Celestia glances over as Doug trails off, the thin line of his lips indicating he is mulling over something distasteful. She waits for him to grow bold enough to ask, even as she misses his hand’s motion as it pauses against her side.

Curiosity wins out over jealousy as Doug asks, “Why did you stop looking for this?” His arm sweeps from Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle encouraging Spike to Cadance and Shining Armor sitting close and nuzzling, eyes locked on each other. “I know… I know family is one of the most important things to me. I would have left Equestria, or tried, if it wasn’t available for me here. You tried for centuries to find the same, and I like to think I would have done no less. But then you stopped.”

Doug waits for an answer, wincing as Spike crashes into the floor. Ember straightens him up, giving him a pointer by spreading her wings. When Doug doesn’t feel Celestia react he glances over.

The white alicorn has her head twisted away, eyes clamped shut. Her breathing slows, controlled, a bulwark against something raging within.

He ventures, timorously, “Did something happen?”

Celestia nods imperceptibly. He has to strain to pick up her whisper. “His name was Rising Heights.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 36 - The Red Dream, Part One Estimated time remaining: 26 Hours, 25 Minutes