“Twi? I think we have a problem!”
Twilight Sparkle looked up from the book she had been reading. She hadn’t even noticed that dawn had come and gone until Spike called her. Curse interesting books and curse comfy couches. And curse caffeinated teas while she’s at it. Spike sounded like he was still at the top of the stairs.
“Are you alright?” She called back. “You sound a little strange. Did you catch a cold?”
“I, uh, don’t think so?” he replied. He still sounded off.
There was a scream and the loud crashing that accompanied someone falling down a flight of stairs.
“Oh my stars! Are you alright?” she jumped off the couch, already charging a healing spell. She stopped when she saw exactly what their ‘problem’ was.
He was bigger, almost the size of a full-grown pony. Just like when he nearly destroyed the town.
“Oh no,” she muttered. “Oh no no no no no no! We barely figured this out last time! Okay, what do I do? Rarity helped last time. But that was because of your crush, and it’s moved on, so she won’t work. Someone could help, right? I should get someone! But I can’t just leave you to-“
“Twilight calm down,” Spike said, getting up off the floor. “I don’t know if that’s happening.”
“Spike you’re almost as big as I am!” she said.
“Okay, but I’m not hoarding everything like a lunatic,” he offered. “Actually, I think I’d go nuts if I was going Berserk in a castle made entirely of gems.”
“Still, there has to be something,” she said. “Ugh. After last time I searched the entirety of Canterlot’s library for a book on dragon biology. Absolutely nothing. I’d ask a dragon, but it’s not like I know where to find one!”
She considered her options. It didn’t seem like taking a usual trip anywhere would be good. Ponyville citizens would freak out, and most other towns aren’t used to having a dragon around. She could teleport, but even she had limits. And if Spike was going Berserk again, it’d be best for him to stay somewhere she could contain him until she could figure out how to fix it.
“Is this effecting your magic at all?” she asked eventually. “I think sending a letter would be best.”
He shrugged, then took a breath in. He breathed out a spurt of green flames much bigger than expected. Twilight was thankful that her reflexes let her put up a shield with only minor singeing on her mane.
“I think that’s a bad idea!” Spike exclaimed, covering his mouth as soon as the fire stopped.
“Okay, other options,” Twilight murmured, pacing back and forth. “Teleporting still might work… no. Too taxing on my magic, especially if I need to restrain you at some point. Sorry for that if it happens.”
“Totally understandable,” he half-chuckled.
“I could always ask Princess Celestia,” she said, as if he hadn’t replied. “I can’t send a letter, but Canterlot isn’t too far a trip. I could ask if any of the restricted books have any- oh ponyfeathers. She and Luna are in Zebrica.”
“Zebrica! That’s it!” he said.
“Spike, I can’t exactly travel to Zebrica,” she replied.
“No no no, that’s not what I meant,” he said. “Last time Zecora helped. If she knew about Berserk Mode, she might know about, well, this!”
He stuck out a leg for emphasis and nearly fell over again.
“I should be able to teleport us to Ponyville’s outskirts without using too much magic,” she said. “The path to Zecora’s isn’t too difficult, so we should be good.”
“I’d say we hurry,” he agreed.
In a flash of magenta and a stomach-flipping feeling, the two of them were surrounded by trees. Once they were sure no pony had seen them, they headed into the forest. Thankfully, very few creatures crossed their path.
Soon enough they reached Zecora’s home in the woods. Only after knocking did Twilight realize how early it was. She hoped wouldn’t be waking Zecora up, but her fears were quelled when the door opened after just a moment.
“Hello Miss Sparkle, and Spike the Dragon too,” Zecora welcomed. “The looks of your face show there is something I can do. Come in and sit a spell, I will help if you will tell.”
“Thank you, Zecora,” Twilight said, walking into the house. “Well, as you can see, our problem is-“
“I’m growing again!” Spike interrupted. “And it doesn’t feel like last time because I’m not hoarding stuff but it’s still freaking me out!”
“Yeah, that,” she said. “I have no idea what’s going on and I don’t know if this is his berserk mode again and the hoarding is just delayed, or if it’s worse than that and I’ll have to get the princesses back here as an emergency because the entire town and the Wonderbolts couldn’t do anything last time and-“
“Do not call in your backup yet,” Zecora stopped her. “There is no need to fret. It is not greed or other terrors you see, merely the beginning of a Dragon’s puberty.”
“Wait, what?” they both asked.
The two of them stared at Zecora in shock.
“But he’s only six?” Twilight questioned.
“Almost seven,” Spike corrected,
“With magic, Dragons are an unstable few,” Zecora said. “Because of this, they grow times two.”
“So, dragons age twice as fast as ponies?” Twilight asked, beginning the math in her head. “So Spike is almost a fourteen year old pony?”
“Correct my dear,” she said. “But there is more to be clear. Once they begin to grow, their aging will slow.”
“So I’ll age like a pony from now on?” Spike asked.
“Correct but not completely,” she said. “An adult will age five to ten times slowly.”
“So, one year every five to ten years,” Twilight calculated. “So, Dragon Puberty. Anything weird I should expect?”
“Few I know of, for the most part,” she shrugged. “Just magic outbursts, growing, and certain maturities, for a start. Knowledge of a pony’s journey would do, which reminds me, I have something to give you.”
Zecora stepped away and began grabbing ingredients from her shelves and putting them in her cauldron. It was a little weird to see it boil and change color. At least the smell was fairly nice. Twilight took the chance to plan.
“I can give a basic rundown of puberty,” Twilight paced back and forth. “I know we have some books in the library to help. Stars, ‘the talk’ will be awkward. Maybe I could get Dad or Shining to do that part-“
“Twilight, it’s fine,” Spike stopped her. “I kinda already know the basics.”
“When would you have-?“ she asked.
“Twi, you hatched me when you were ten,” he said, rolling his eyes. “By the time you were twelve, I could read well enough to get through most books, and smart enough to get a dictionary for stuff I couldn’t. I’ve read nearly every book you have since then, including the books Mom got you when you hit your own puberty.”
"And you remember them well enough?” she asked, trying to feel less embarrassed by the whole thing.
“Pretty much,” he said. “I could probably recite a few of them by memory.”
“Considering my notes, I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said.
“Huh,” he said, sounding as if he hadn’t heard her. “‘Memory’ is kinda a nice word, isn’t it? Memory, Memory, Memory!”
He had this sort of far-off look in his eyes as he repeated the word, giggling once. She could almost swear his eyes glowed for a moment. Before she could ask him if he was okay, Zecora gave her a bottle of a potion.
“Have him take this when the time is right,” she said. “I believe you will need it before tonight.”
“What is it?” she asked, inspecting the blue liquid.
“Something to help with one of the different parts,” she said. “You should get home before it starts.”
“Alright?” she agreed, slipping the bottle into a pocket dimension. “Thank you for your help. I should probably tell the town not to freak out about Spike’s size.”
“That might be wise,” she agreed. “In that case, let us say our goodbyes.”
It was a short trip out of the Everfree forest. Once they got to Ponyville’s outskirts, screams popped up just as expected. Twilight had to assure many ponies that no, Spike wasn’t going Berserk again.
Spike groaned in embarrassment every time she had to explain exactly why he was so much taller now. Half way he’d taken to walking on all fours, just to help stay out of sight. It was surprisingly comfortable.
"I think I’m going to go take a nap,” Spike said as they finally entered the castle. “My backs hurting. Probably from growing in size and falling down stairs.”
“Alright,” Twilight laughed. “I’ll make you something to eat when you wake up. And despite what you said about your memory-stop laughing at that word!- I’m going to grab a few books from the library for a refresher course.”
“Night Twilight!” he rolled his eyes and headed towards the stairs.
He didn’t make it half way across before he collapsed to the floor.
“Spike!” she screamed. “What happened?”
“I-it hurts!” was the only thing he managed to say between grunts of pain.
There was a sound like bone snapping, and then there was blood. Twilight was frozen, trembling with terror as she watched him writhe and scream. She couldn’t even think of a healing spell to help. She didn’t know how long it was before it stopped, leaving him breathing heavy on the floor.
She summoned the potion Zecora gave her, believing it was the ‘right time’. Still trembling, she managed to get the blue liquid down his throat. She breathed a sigh of relief when his breathing went back to normal.
“Get the plate on the carriage that hit me?” Spike joked.
“Don’t you dare make jokes right now,” she said, laughing anyway.
“What actually happened?” he asked, trying to sit up. “It hurt. But I’m pretty sure Zecora’s potion was some strong painkillers, because it’s gone.”
“Well, I have an idea,” she answered, staring behind him.
Spike looked over his shoulder.
“Oh,” was the only thing he could say.
Now that they were no longer in pain or panicking, they could see a pair of wings. Purple and green, and very much unlike a Pegasus’s wings. Spike jumped when he figured out how to move them.
“That’s really weird,” he said, moving the wing, his wing, around. “It’s like suddenly having another arm?”
“Welcome to my life,” Twilight deadpanned, lifting her own wing. “Glad these were magic and painless.”
“Lucky you,” he laughed. “Except you got a crown too.”
“I’m sure we can find you a crown if you really want it,” she rolled her eyes. “Though now I really want to know why Princess Celestia didn’t warn me about this.”
“Well, now that we’re not on a time or magic limit,” he said, “we could try to send a letter?”
“Let me fireproof a few things first,” she agreed.
After fireproofing a few things, including herself, she wrote a letter while Spike cleaned himself off. The fireproofing was definitely a good idea, as Spike’s firebreath was still overly powerful. Still, it did do its job. It wasn’t long before their letter was answered.
“Dear Twilight,” Twilight read, “I did send you a stack of books on dragons and their biology. However, due to the regular postal service somehow taking them to Griffonstone before making their way to Ponyville, they arrived the day before we found out Tirek had escaped Tartarus, and they were most likely destroyed along with Golden Oaks Library. They slipped my mind when you were ordering replacement books. Do not worry, the books were replicable, and I will send another copy to your castle.
“Fortunately, there are only two more things you should know,” the letter went on. “First, Spike will not get any bigger than a large pony, unless he purposely chooses to do so. Second, while Dragons do not get ‘Cutie Marks’, they do have a magical attachment to a talent. It takes the form of a name. So if Spike begins seeming attached to a word or asking you to use a new ‘nickname’, he has most likely found it.”
“Well, that explains that,” Spike said. “’Memory’. It kinda fits, considering. Remembering things was always easy.”
“You were first to get your lines down for the Hearth’s Warming play,” she said. “And you can keep up with my organizational skills better than even Mom.”
“Bet you ten bits Pinkie’s planning the Dragon version of a Cuteceañera,” he said.
“You’re probably right,” she chuckled. “You should probably get a little used to those wings first. Don’t want to smack ponies in the face.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he said.
“And once you get that down, you can start flying lessons,” she said.
“Forgot about that,” he said. “And you’re already making a list of what I should learn when.”
“I’ll have to see if Rainbow can do it,” she muttered, beginning to pace. “Of course she’ll say she can, but considering the wing differences I wonder if she even could. “
“We’ve lost her,” he sighed, rolling his eyes.