//------------------------------// // First Day Drags On // Story: Fitting In // by PotatoJoe //------------------------------// Spike was moping. It wasn’t hard to tell. The little dragon was sitting in a armchair by the fire, his arms crossed, a fang-pointed frown on his face, and most tellingly, a trail of pitch black smoke trailing from his nostrils. He was so easy to read. “ Spike, what’s up?” asked Twilight, walking across the library towards where her grumpy little assistant sat. She was levitating a plate of rubies and a mug of boiling-hot chocolate, Spike’s favorite snack. “ Nothing.” said the little dragon, slumping so that one arm was propping up his head. His eyes lit up a little as the plate and mug floated down in front of him. Twilight walked around as he snatched a ruby and scarfed it down, choosing the large purple sofa facing Spike’s seat. “ Mmhp. mMmby sumbpgh.” “ Didn’t quite catch that.” said Twilight with a smile. “ Actually, maybe something is.” said Spike after swallowing a mouthful of gemstone, washing it down with the near molten liquid. “ That’s what I tried to say, sorry. It’s kinda stupid, though.” “ Well, you can tell me anyways.” said Twilight, sitting forwards. She wanted to appear attentive. “ I - uh, well, I’ve kinda thought about this for a while, but it’s not like, you know, a for sure thing - “ “ Spike, just spill it.” said Twilight with a fake sigh and comical eye roll. The little dragon chuckled nervously, a small smile gracing his lips. “ I want to go to school.” Twilight sat up straight, quite surprised. “ I don’t really have any friends my age, you know?” said Spike, scratching his spines with a little clawed hand. “ A-and all the foals, they go to school and make friends. It’s not that I don’t have any friends - theres you, and Rarity, and, uh, Pinkie. But I’m...i’m kinda your annoying little brother, like Sweetie Belle to Rarity.” “ You aren’t annoying, Spike.” said Twilight, standing up and walking over. She gave him a quick nuzzle. “ You do a lot of work and help me keep organized.” “ Well, yeah, I guess I’m useful.” said Spike with a smile and a chuckle. “ But, I do understand feeling lonely.” said Twilight, leaning against Spike’s chair. “ We could go talk to Cherilee and see if you could start. I’m sure they’d take you.” “ Really?” “ Come on, Spike.” said Twilight with a laugh. “ Cherilee’s a teacher. What kind of teacher turns away a student?” ++++++ “ What do you mean ‘no’?” barked Twilight angrily. “ Sorry, Twilight.” said Cherilee, standing up from behind her desk. Her classroom at Ponyville elementary was empty, the little wooden desks and fresh hay on the floor shining idyllically in the afternoon light. “ But we can’t take a dragon on into school here.” “ B-but it’s not like he can’t learn anything!” Twilight said, turning around and gesturing to the posters in the room angrily. “ He can read! He can do math!” “ It’s not about that.” said Cherilee, trying to calm Twilight back down. “ We’d love to have him, we would.” “....then, why aren’t you taking him?” asked Twilight with a frown, levitating Spike into the air. The little dragon struggled as she plopped him on the desk between herself and the schoolteacher. “ Because in elementary school, the sniffles and sneezes travel like parasprites at a picnic.” said Cherilee with a apologetic smile. “ And when Spike starts sneezing, we’d be in a lot of trouble.” Twilight glanced back at the room - straw floors, wooden furniture, and paper everywhere. “ Oh, yeah.” said Twilight, scratching a hoof on her cheek. “ That would be a problem.” “ I am sorry.” said Cherilee, walking around the desk. “ I’m sure you’d fit in, Spike - if Twilight’s been tutoring you you’d have no trouble with the classwork.” “ Heh, it’s okay.” said Spike, waving her off with a claw and smiling weakly. “ I shoulda known it’d be a problem for a dragon to go to school with ponies. Too bad I can’t just turn into a pony, eh?” “ OH!” blurted Twilight, far too loudly. Cherilee and Spike glanced to her. “ I’ve just had a wonderful idea!” ++++++ “ This is the second worst idea you’ve ever had.” said Spike, looking down at the magic circle that Twilight was drawing with sacred chalks. The floor of the library was covered with runes and diagrams Twilight had created as part of a very complicated spell. “ Wha wurs te furs?” asked Twilight, the chalk held in her mouth. “ Casting that spell on Mister Smartie-Pants.” said Spike with a cruel little smirk. Twilight blushed, remembering the disaster. “ And, if you’ll note, both of these ideas involved magic.” “ Well, this spell won’t fail.” said Twilight after spitting out the tiny piece of chalk. “ The amniomorphic spell is one I’ve researched thoroughly. It was invented by Star Swirl the Bearded - “ “ Ugh, him again?” moaned Spike, rolling his eyes as he sighed. “ I had enough of his spells with the one that let us walk on clouds!” “ Which, worked perfectly.” said Twilight with a smirk, taking her place in the spell-diagram. “ I spent eight hours cleaning up the mess you made!” protested Spike, gesturing around. “ And this one’s way bigger - have you ever mopped blue chalk off of hardwood floors? It stains, so you have to use this really noxious remover!” “ Tell you what, Spike - if this DOESN’T work, I’ll clean it up.” said Twilight with a smirk. “ And if it does, I’ll help you.” “....kay.” said Spike, sensing no trickery. “ Well then, here we go!” said Twilight, focusing her magic. There was a flash as her eyes and the chalk lines lit up which slowly intensified. Spike could feel his body beginning to tingle just as the light became blinding.... ....there was a feeling like bathing in pudding..... ....a sound of a duck quacking.... ....two quick stomachfuls of butterflies.... .....and the light faded. Twilight Sparkle had been replaced by a dragon about the size she’d been - which was part of the spell. It couldn’t increase mass, only change it. She was purple scales with darker spines, a bright streak running along one side. She stood awkwardly on two legs, obviously unused to the sensation of being able to stand erect for so long. With a “eep!” and a swish of her tail she tumbled over. “ A-are you okay, Twilight?” Spike asked, dashing over. His usually silent skittering had been replaced with loud clopping. “ Yeah, just surprised.” said Twilight, sitting back up. “ I’ve seen you stand like that a million times without a problem and I couldn’t keep it for a second.” “ Eh, it gets easier.” said Spike, trying to reach to help her up. However, when a hoof stuck out, he remembered he was now a pony. “ Oh, hey, it worked!” Spike the dragon had been replaced with a unicorn foal with a purple coat and green mane and tail. He reared for a moment as he looked over his new body, laughing as he came back down to the floor. “ Huh, kinda miss my fingers.” said Spike, looking at a hoof. “ But wow! I feel a lot warmer - it’s because ponies are warm blooded, right? Usually I feel cold all the time so I have to breath fire alot to stay warm. ....Twilight? Twilight?” Spike looked to his newly bedragoned friend, who was staring at her her hands, flexing the fingers in and out, curling them, and rolling them. She twisted her wrists experimentally as she did so, visibly enraptured with the process. “ Woah.” said Twilight, binging one hand up to her face and tapping her middle finger and thumb together to make the clawnails clack. “ Woah, I have fingers.” “ Uh, yeah.” said Spike, cocking an eyebrow. “ Equestria to Twilight. You okay?” “ I can move aaaaal of the joints.” said Twilight, here eyes wide and sparkly as she made a fist. “ Oooh my Celestia.” “ Oookay, gonna go get you some tea.” said Spike, turning towards the kitchen. “ No!” said Twilight, getting up onto two feet. She wobbled before flexing her tail rigidly, giving her a third point of balance. “ No, let me do it - I wanna try heating it with fire like you always did.” “ Uh, Twilight, your having a little trouble being a dragon so far.” said Spike with a wince. “ Maybe you wait until you’ve settled in before breathing fire?” “ Fine.” sighed Twilight as they walked into the kitchen. She looked over to the stove and focused a moment to light it. It didn’t light. “ Wait, my magics gone!” said Twilight in alarm, putting a hand to her head and feeling the hornless space above her eyes. “ I-I didn’t know the spell will take away my magic!” “ Well, uh, good thing it only lasts a week, right?” said Spike with a chuckle, sensing a Twilight Sparkle Epic Freakout coming on. “ Right? Wears off after one week, no matter what?” “ Oh....oh yeah.” said Twilight, breathing a little raggedly. “ Just a week without magic. Won’t be a problem, I can just read. And do normal things.” Spike took shelter under the table. “ EEEEEE!” screeched Twilight, running in a circle. “ I want my magic back! I’ve never lost my magic - except for the poison joke and Discord and I really - I can’t do anything - I, I - AAAAAEEEEE!” There was a crash as the front door to the library was thrown open. “ Twilight!” shouted Rainbow Dash’s voice. “ I heard screaming! Is everything all right?” “ No! No no no no no!” shouted Twilight, running into the library and leaping at Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus shrieked and scampered, as from her perspective a dragon with bared fangs and claws had just lunged at her. Twilight landed with a whump as Dash flew to the ceiling. “ W-who are you?” said Rainbow Dash, looking scared. “ Do you know Twilight and Spike? Did you hurt Twilight and Spike?” “ Twilight, calm down!” shouted Spike, running in and tackling her. The dragoness was writhing in panic, crying incoherently. “ Uh....what?” said Dash, looking from Spike to Twilight. “ We heard the screaming!” declared Pinkie, stampeding in with a ladle held in her mouth like a sword. Rarity followed cautiously behind. “ What’s going on?” “ Twilight’s freaking out!” shouted Spike, struggling to keep Twilight pinned - he couldn’t grasp her with hooves and he was too enough to weigh her down. “ Oh, I get it!” said Rainbow Dash, her face lighting up. “ Twilight messed up another spell! Like with that mule doll!” “ Actually, we did this on purpose.” said Spike sheepishly. “ But, uh, she’s kinda having problems with not having magic. Wait, I got it! Twilight! You have fingers!” “....woah, I do!” said Twilight, coming to a halt immediately. Pinkie Pie laughed as her friend ceased panicking in an instant, watching her hands with rapt attention. Rainbow Dash choose to facehoof. ++++++ “ So, the amniomorphic spell switches species between two creatures for a short time.” said Twilight, enjoying some near molten tea as she recovered. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were assembled in her living room as she explained, Spike the Unicorn struggling to levitate a teaspoon in the background. He was having success - more than the average unicorn colt his age - and was managing to twirl it in air. “ Short time as in hour, day, week, forever...?” asked Dash, looking skeptical. “ We set the spell for one week.” said Twilight, setting her teacup in its saucer with a flourish on finger-waggles. She giggled at her growing mastery of the fine appendages. “ It’ll wear off then and we’ll change back. It’s a really safe spell - Star Swirl the Bearded invented it.” “ Mmm, and he had such magical pedigree I’m sure.” said Rarity with a slight grimace, sipping her more modestly warm tea. “ But Twilight, you should have told us. This is a rather big change and you reacted so poorly. Next time, tell us so we can be on hand to help.” “ So, can you breath fire?” asked Pinkie, leaning in close. “ Breath some fire!” “....I think i’ll try that outside first.” said Twilight cautiously. “ Sorry I worried you all.” “ Eeeh, no problem.” said Rainbow Dash with a laugh. “ It’s pretty cool to know I’m faster than a pouncing dragon. You should have seen yourself, you were all “ARRG”. If Fluttershy’d been here she’d have had a heart attack.” “ Probably for the best she didn’t come by, then.” said Twilight, watching as Spike floated three teaspoons past her head. “ So, could I get you three to spread the word around town? I kinda want to get a grip on being a dragon before I go outside.” “ This is awesome!” laughed Spike, revolving slowly as he levitated himself. “ Wwwoooah! Woah, wait, turn around! There, there we go! Ha ha! Hey, lets see if I can teleport!” There was a burst of light as Spike vanished. The three mares and Twilight looked around. A moment later, the lid to the long-emptied teapot on the table popped off “ Hey, uh, guys, had a little problem here.” “....that’s.....that’s exactly what happened to me the first time I tried teleporting.” said Twilight, raising an eyebrow. “ Spike, I think you might have gotten all my magic.” “ Really? Cool!” came Spikes voice as the teapot shook. “ Uh, still need some help.” “ Well, we’ll be off then.” said Rarity, standing as Twilight began to ponder how to get Spike out without breaking the teapot. “ Pinkie, come with, will you? And Rainbow, would you go tell Fluttershy? It’s a long trip to go see her, so if you’ll do that we’ll tell everypony in town.” “ Right. See ya!” said Dash with a salute, flying out one of the windows. “ Well, see ya later, Twi!” said Pinkie, nuzzling Twilights spines. “ Ooh, that feels cool. Whoops, sorry!” she said, pulling her head back. She crouched down and picked up something with her mouth, then set down a small purple scale on the table. “ One of your scales came off.” There was a crash as Spike broke out of the teapot, looking serious as he stood on the short table. “ Wait wait wait.” said Spike, looking to Pinkie and Twilight, then to the scale. “ The scale just came off? As in, came off came off? As in, it just fell off?” “ Well, yeah.” said Pinkie, shrugging. “ What’s the big deal?” “ If it just fell off, that means she’s going to start shedding!” said Spike with concern. “ This is a really big deal! Like, cutie-mark big! The first time a dragon shed its skin it goes though a huge growth spurt!” “ Uh, how huge we talkin’?” asked Pinkie, inching away as she watched Twilight. The purple dragon had gone ridged, breathing heavily as her panic started to return. “ Well, up, probably double or triple in size.” said Spike, shying back and running behind Rarity. “ It’s, uh, big change. It’s when a dragon gets it’s wings too - see, if we had wings as babies, we’d get too far from our moms.” “ And how quickly will this happen, exactly?” asked Rarity, looking nervous. There was a sound like every spring in a mattress breaking at once as all of twilights scales fell out, leaving a fleshy pink dragon. She began to swell like a balloon in great fits an starts, her hindquarters growing first. Her torso, chest, and then limbs grew as she took on the the more magnified proportions of a juvenile dragon. Two lumps appeared had appeared on her back, then burst into to draconian wings which unfurled across the living room, the gust knocking the books off of the shelves and sending the ponies tumbling headfirst, save for Pinkie, who turned it into a cartwheel. Little scales began to appear all over Twilight, quickly darkening into the familiar purple as her spines lengthen, taking on the appearance on hair. “ ‘bout that quick.” said Spike, getting up. He focused for a moment and his horn began to glow with magic. “ Not good not good not good!” gasped Twilight, looking afraid to move. “........well, see you guys at eight!” said Pinkie with a giggle, trotting towards the stairs down to the enterance. “ I’ve a Shedding Day party to plan!” “ A party? Now?” said Rarity, standing up and shaking the scales from her. “ Pinkie, this is a disaster! Twilight needs - ooh, these scales are quite fetching really - I mean, she needs our help! Spike, be a dear and gather up these scales, will you?” “ Uh - one moment!” said Spike, glancing to her as a book flew towards Twilight. “ Twi, that’s Star Swirls book! Look up the spell and see what it says about this!” “ Oh, these would make the most exotic of buttons!” said Rarity as Pinkie Pie vanished, levitating a number of the scales into a pile. “ Or I could mesh them together for sleeves - the armor looks in at Canterlot this year, and these would be nice and lightweight - oh! Or I could use them for flaking on that jeweled headdress I’ve been working on!” “ - mass cannot be increased using this spell, for that, turn to ... uh, in the event of drastic change in mass during the amniomorphic event, see section fourteen....” muttered Twilight, flicking though the pages. As she was roughly the size of a haycart this would normally have been a problem, but her deft little fingers could manipulate the pages with ease. “ Ah! Yes! All I need to do is cast a shrinking spell! If the spell ends before I do I’ll just end up a giant pony, but the spell will fix that, and if I do it in advance, I’ll just go back to normal!” “ So, no worries?” said Spike, looking up at her with relief on his face. “ No worries.” said Twilight with a sigh, slumping back and letting out a stream of smoke. “ I was worried I’d be stuck as a dragon or something.” “ Spike, when you shed, would you pass along your scales to me?” said Rarity, tying a ribbon on the bag of scales. She’d cleaned the room of them - and cleaned the torn up room while she was at it. “ Sure thing.” said Spike. Rarity gave him a smile and trotted downstairs. “ Welp, Twilight, want to go see about me getting enrolled in school for a week?” “ I think a little prank on Cherilee is in order.” said Twilight with a evil and toothy smirk. A moment later, a similar look crept over Spike’s face. ++++++++ “ Hey, Applejack, you seen Fluttershy?” said Rainbow Dash, flying down into the orchards where Applejack was hard at work. “ You checked her cottage?” said Applejack, pulling her hat back as she came to a halt. “ First place I did - but Angle told me she was with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” said Rainbow, picking up an apple and taking a bite out of it. She chewed for a moment before continuing. “ And I figured, with one of them being your sister - “ “ Ah, I know where they are.” said Applejack, looking towards Ponyville. “ They were going to be crusading around the schoolhouse today - “ Suddenly, several shrieks of terror filtered though the trees. “ T-that came from the schoolhouse!” said Applejack, her eyes popping wide with surprise. “ I’ll check it out!” cried Rainbow Dash, taking to the air. She was gone in a blur. Dash put on her fasted speed as she flew, her wings beating so quickly they hurt. Another scream took to the air as the schoolhouse began to come into view. “ No no no! Fluttershy, stop!” shouted the familiar voice of Spike. Dash spotted the commotion - the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spike, and Cherilee were watching as the yellow pegasus threw around a purple dragon four times her size. With a martial arts scream Fluttershy hefted the dragon into the air and threw it, wrapping the scaled beast around a tree. “ Aw, crud.” said Dash, slowing down as she Fluttered down next to the gasping, still-in-a-killing-stance Fluttershy. “ Hey, Fluttershy.” “ Oh, Dash, it was terrible!” said Fluttershy, switching into her shrinking violet voice and posture in an instant. “ I was leading the Crusaders towards the school so we could give Ms. Cherilee a cake we’d baked her when I saw this big, awful dragon pounce that little colt!” “ Yeah, Fluttershy, that was - “ “ I knew I couldn’t just let him get eaten so I had to attack. Oh, I was so loud, I’m sure I hurt someone’s eardrums!” “....uh, Fluttershy, that was Twilight Sparkle.” Fluttershy looked to the dragon, which was lying on the broken tree, Twilight’s Cutie Mark stars spinning around its head and it’s tongue lolling out. “ Yeah, um, it’s me. Spike.” said Spike, trotting forwards. “ Me and Twilight changed species with a spell and we decided to prank Cherilee.” Fluttershy looked to him, then to Cherilee, then to Twilight, then to the Crusaders, then to Dash. “ Oh.” said Fluttershy, looking embarrassed. “ Well, at least I was assertive for once.” “ Hey, uh, Spike, how quick do dragon’s ribs heal?” Twilight asked weakly.