Friendship is Magic: Growing up with Scales
By Winter Quill
--- Safe and Warm ---
After six months of being a dragon, Twilight Sparkle was coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t actually all that bad.
Gems had become an important (and delicious) part of her diet, with each type and even color having its own distinct flavor. She had a journal just for keeping track of them all. She had learned how to breathe fire, though she didn’t always have the best control when she got excited about something she was reading. Her parents had quickly found a fireproofing spell she could use on every book that she read.
Twilight had even discovered just how much she loved being a big sister, even when she had to change Spike’s diapers.
Though not everything that came with being a dragon had been good. Her bed hadn’t lasted more than a week against her new claws—even when they were dulled—and now she slept in a corner of her room wrapped up in blankets. There were always ponies that gave her wary looks every time she went outside, and a few had been outright nasty to her.
It had an effect on her parents as well, even though they tried to hide it. Some of their friends had stopped coming by, and invitations were canceled at the last minute. It had even ruined her father’s birthday dinner, after the restaurant had (politely) kicked them out. They had tried to pass off it as having change their minds, but Twilight understood what had happened. She told herself that it was only temporary, that sooner or later Celestia would find a way to turn her back into a unicorn, but until then she would have to bear it.
And then there was the cold. Twilight just couldn’t handle it anymore. It didn’t matter that she had a body temperature that was twenty degrees higher than the average pony—something she discovered after learning that being a dragon didn’t prevent her from catching the flu—the cold just seemed to sink in all the way to her bones. When Fall came around, she would keep her window open to allow the chilly night air in, and the first snowfall was always an excuse to run around outside, having snowball fights with Shiny and trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. She had never really thought about how much of that love came from the thick winter coat she grew every year… until she no longer had it.
The first snowfall had been terrible for her. She had woken up all excited to see the city covered in white, but she hadn’t gotten three steps out the door before she was shivering, the cold pressing down on her from every side. The scarf and hat she was wearing did nothing to help. She wrapped the scarf tight around her neck and shoulders, then pulled her arms against her side. Finally, she had resorted to blowing fire into her cupped palms, which warmed them up but that did nothing for the rest of body.
It hadn’t taken long for her mother to notice and take her back inside. The few minutes out in the snow had left her scales cold to the touch, and Twilight spent the rest of the morning sitting in front of the large fireplace in the main room, just soaking up the flames from only a few inches away.
As the Fall officially became winter, the fireplace eventually became Twilight’s favorite place to sit. It was as old as their tower and big enough to heat the whole of it, and in the depths of winter it often did. She would come from school, or her lessons with the princess, strip off the thick sweater she wore, then curl up in front of the fireplace to do her homework, keeping as close to the fire as she could. She would stay there until bedtime, and by the time Hearth’s Warming had come around she had made a habit of falling asleep next to the flames.
It was the worst when the Canterlot Weather Bureau scheduled a deep cold snap. Even inside the tower Twilight could feel it prickling at her scales, forcing her to do anything she could to stay warm as she studied. She found herself moving closer and closer to the flames in order to get all the warmth she could—
“Twilight, Dear,” her mother said from across the room. “You’re sitting in the fire again.”
Twilight looked up from her book. She noted the flames burning bright around all around her, her tail draped over the burning logs. The flames rolled harmlessly of her body, her lavender scales shining from the glow as the rising heat caused her mane to flutter around her horns.
“Ah! Sorry!” Twilight checked the fireproofing spell on her school book, relieved to see that it was holding steady even while flames licked across the cover. She crawled out of the fire and used a brush to clear the ash and soot from her scales, but the cold returned the moment she was free of their embrace. She quickly wondered if it would be worth getting into trouble just to climb back inside. It had become a habit for her, and there had even been a few nights where she had woken up curled up with the ember of the previous night’s fire.
Her mother gave her a small smile as she rocked Spike in her forelegs. He was half asleep, his head tucked up against her chest, the edge of one of his tiny hooves stuck in his mouth. Twilight thought he was the cutest thing ever. “You need to stay clean,” her mother said, using her magic to pick up the thick stack of papers she was editing.
“I know, Mom. I’ll try.” Twilight opened her text book to where she had left off. There was a test coming up at the start of the week, and that only gave her the weekend to review. She was re-reading everything tonight, and would spend most of tomorrow going over all her notes to make sure she didn’t miss anything. She never did, of course, but that didn’t mean she was going to become lax in her studying.
Suddenly, the front door of the tower burst open, sending it a blast of cold air across the main room. Twilight edged back slightly, allowing the tip of her tail to drop back into the flames even as she looked up at the door.
Her father came in, a huge smile on his face. “You’ll never guess who I ran into at the train station!” He was followed by Shining Armor, his own face beaming. The last time Twilight had gotten to see her big brother was right before he was deployed to the Badlands, and that was almost nine months ago.
“Shiny!” she squealed, dropping her book and rushing towards her brother, almost leaping over her mother to get to him.
Shining Armor turned to look at her, the smile on his face suddenly falling away. His blue eyes opened wide for a moment only to narrow, his mouth pressing into a line. “Dad, lookout!” he said, rushing forward and shoving their father to the side, his horn starting to shine with magic.
Twilight only had a moment to process all of this before she ran snout-first into the familiar rosy glow of her brother’s magic. It stopped her in her tracks even as it wrapped around her, trapping her inside one of his shields. She slid to the bottom of the sphere, her claws pressed up against the field as she looked at her brother.
He looked back at her with a horrible expression on his face. His jaw was clenched tight with a hint of his teeth showing, his ears pinned back and his blue eyes glaring at Twilight like she was some sort of monster. It was an expression she had seen hundreds of times since she had changed, she had learned to ignore it on other ponies, but on her brother? It cut through her like a knife, hurting like nothing she had ever felt before. It was as if her heart was sliced in two.
Both parents reacted at the same time. “What are you doing?” “You put her down right this instant!”
Shining Armor kept looking at her, the anger on his face slowly fading away, his ears twisting forward before his eyes went wide. His mouth opened slightly for a second as he tried to speak. “Twily?” he finally asked, the word almost a whisper.
Twilight burst into tears. She felt the shield pop around her, dropping her to the ground. The moment her feet hit the floor she turned and ran, heading for the only place where she knew she would be safe. She leapt over the couch and dove headfirst into the fireplace, scrambling as far back behind the burning logs as she could.
She was only dimly aware of her parents yelling across the room. She curled herself up into a tight ball and cried,, her back pressed against the soot covered stones, her tears boiled away by the flames.
Twilight was slowly pulled awake by the shivering of her body. The cold air nipped across her scales even as she pressed up against what little heat she could find. She cracked one eye open, not at all surprised to find that she was in the fireplace again. She was covered in a layer of ash, and the remains of that night’s fire still smoldering up against her belly.
She started to crawl out of the fireplace when her eyes focused on the couch. Shining Armor was sprawled out on it, a blanket tucked over his chest. Everything from the night before came back to Twilight, the way he had looked at her, the fear that had been in his eyes. She scrambled back into the fireplace until she was once again pressed up against the far wall, watching and waiting.
There was no more fire to protect her, but that was something that could be fixed. She reached out with her magic, her twin horns glowing as she picked up some logs her field and brought them into the fireplace with her. She quickly stacked them on the ember, blowing in a blast of her own fire to help them light. It was only a small gout, just enough to catch the wood, but no more. Too much of her flame would turn the wood to ash in moments instead of igniting them.
That was when she realized Shining Armor was watching her.
Twilight sank down against the back of the fireplace. Maybe she could make herself as small as possible, just enough until the fire grew large enough to hide her—
“Twily. I’m so, so sorry for what happened,” he said as he slid off the couch. “I didn’t… I just acted on my training, and it was wrong.”
Twilight pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t look away either.
Shining Armor picked up a bowl from beside the couch, using in his magic to move it closer to the fireplace. It was filled with small gems of all sorts of shapes and colors. “Mom says you like these, and you didn’t get any dinner. You can have them if you like.”
Who did he think he was, trying to bribe her with food? She thought it was insulting that anypony would think something that primitive would work to get her to come out. Unfortunately her stomach was in complete disagreement, letting out a rumbling growl that shook her belly.
Twilight’s glared down at her body, then back to the bowl as it came to rest on the edge of the fireplace, almost within reach. It was covered with the rose glow of Shining’s shield, keeping her from just grabbing it with her magic and pulling it to her.
Reluctantly she moved forward, clawing over the logs until she was sitting just inside the fireplace. She reached out with one claw, letting it hover just above the shield, which vanished a moment later. Quickly, her hand shot out and scoop up a number of the gems and shoved them into her mouth. The mix of gems had a weird taste to them, all the different flavors mixing in her mouth and becoming a muddled mess that tasted more like dirt than gems.
A second handful followed, and a third before her stomach finally quieted down. All the while Shining Armor sat watching her from only a few feet away.
Twilight looked at him, her eyes narrowing as she grabbed the bowl and pulled it closer to herself. She could feel the fire growing behind her as the fresh logs started to burn, the heat making her feel a little better. “Why?” she finally asked.
Shining Armor seemed to deflate. “Mom and Dad had told me that you got your cutie mark, and that they adopted our little brother, but they never said anything about what happened to you. If I had known…”
“I’m not a monster,” she finally said.
“No… at least, no more than any other little sister,” he replied with a forced chuckle.
Twilight snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Then why did you treat me like one?”
Shining Armor bit his lip, looking away from her for a few moments before he turned back to face her. “I didn’t think. At all. I just… reacted, like I was trained to react. If I had just stopped for just one moment to think, I would have realized that Mom and Dad would never allow a random dragon in the house. I would have seen it was you and hugged you like you deserved. But I didn’t, I just saw a dragon and reacted like a guard, and I was wrong.”
Her brother looked smaller then she had ever see him, hunched down, head lowered, ears sagging to the side. One of the strongest stallions Twilight had ever known, and now he looked as small as Spike. She didn’t know what to do, he was hurting as much as she was, yet he was the one who had hurt her. She couldn’t just forgive him for that, could she? He treated her like a monster, how could she just forgive that?
Because it was a mistake. A horrible, terrible mistake, but it was just a mistake. It was her brother, they were family, and she loved him even when he was acting stupid.
Twilight crawled out of the fireplace and hugged her big brother tightly around the neck. “I forgive you,” she said.
“Thank you,” he replied, wrapping a leg around her and pulling her tight against him.
They held it for a few moments before she pulled away, discovering an ash image of her face in Shining’s white fur. Blushing, she picked up the brush in her magic and quickly brushed away most of it, then started working on cleaning off her scales.
“I can’t ever do that again. Not to you, not to any creature,” Shining said to himself, watching his sister work, her natural lavender color being revealed from under the gray ash. “It’s early, but want to go to Donut Joe’s?”
Twilight’s eyes light up for a second, before she sighed and returned to brushing off the ash. “No,” she admitted.
“Why not?”
Twilight paused for a moment, then sat down across from her brother, her back to the hot flames of the fire. “Because a lot of ponies treat me like a monster, and I’ve had enough of that today.”
Shining frowned, and reached out with a hoof, placing it gently on her shoulder. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that. I promise, I’ll protect you from anypony that tries to treat you like that.”
That was the brother that Twilight had always know, the stallion who was always there to protect her, the stallion who would do anything for her. The one stallion she trusted more than any other pony outside of the Princess. She was safe with him, even after what had happened, she knew she was safe with him, and he would always be there for her.
It allowed her to give voice to her deepest fear. “What if I never turn back?” she asked, looking down at her claws, clenching them together for a moment.
“Do you think that’s likely?” he asked.
Twilight looked away. “Princess Celestia is trying to find a way to turn me back, and I was sure she would find it right away, but she hasn’t yet. Last time we talked about it she said she still doesn’t know how I did this to myself. I had thought it would only take a few days, but it’s been half a year and nothing has changed. I don’t know if I’ll ever be a pony again.”
Lifting his hoof, Shining motioned for her to come to his side. She reluctantly did so, not wanting to leave the warmth of the fire, but still pressed up against him. He placed a foreleg across her back, pulling her to his flank. “Whatever happens, you will always be my sister. That won’t change even if you never get turned back. Though I’m sure Celestia will find a way.”
“But what if Princess Celestia never does?”
Shining smiled down at her. “Is it really so bad being a dragon?”
Twilight made a face. “Of course it is! There are so many things I want to do that I can’t until I turn back. I haven’t even made any friends because I want them to know me as a unicorn, not the weird dragon.”
Shining nuzzled the top of her head, discovering that her mane was still filled with ash. “Twilight, you can’t put your life on hold waiting for something that you’re not sure will ever happen. Don’t wait for things to be right, or for them to change. Go and make friends, eat gems, be a dragon. Your friends will be happy for you when you turn back because it doesn’t matter if you have fur or scales, you’re Twilight Sparkle, and that’s what is important.”
“But I’m not supposed to be a dragon,” Twilight replied.
Shining smiled at her. “Maybe not, but you’re still the prettiest dragon I’ve ever seen,” he replied, pleased to see a hint of a blush that colored her scales. “You’re supposed to be you Twilight, nothing else, and you get to decide what that means. Those that really care about you will do so no matter what you are.”
Twilight closed her eyes, considering her older brother’s words. Was he right? Was it up to her to decide who she was, if she was a pony, or a dragon, or just herself? She didn’t know, but it sounded like it should be true.
Shining bent down and gave her another hug. “Whatever happens, I will always be your big brother, and you will be my little sister. Nothing will ever change that.”
She returned the hug, pressing up against him before slowly pulling away. “Even if I’m a big, ugly dragon?”
“Even then. Though I doubt you could ever be ugly,” he replied, using his magic to push some of her mane out of her face.
Twilight laughed and pulled herself out of his grasp. “I’m so glad you’re my brother.”
“I’m glad you’re my sister,” Shining Armor replied.
She looked back at the fire, it was burning hotly now, the flames pushing away the morning chill and warming the tower. It really was her favorite place in the tower, a place where she was safe, held in the hot flames that danced off her scales like water off a fish. If she could, she would stay there, warm and safe in the fire that cut her off from everypony else. Protected from the world and all of those who saw her as a monster, protected… but alone.
But fire wasn’t the only thing that could protect her.
Twilight smiled at her brother as she ran her claws through her mane, shaking out the last of the ash that was still clinging to it. “Why don’t we go get some donuts, just the two of us?”
“I would love that,” he replied. He lowered himself down and motioned for her to climb on his back. She quickly scrambled on, then grabbing her sweater and winter gear, they headed out the door.