It sat there, on a bright red pillow. "Huh." Twilight had been given it, an artifact just moving through, actually. A relic of ages past. Spike leaned in to study the plaque. "Long ago, this crown rested on the head of those who would rule." He chuckled at the idea, imagining himself as some great king, the crown on his head.
That would have been something... "People wouldn't laugh at me then..." He put his hands at his midsection as if he were straightening out a shirt and puffing it, despite wearing no shirt. "King Spike. As powerful as he is merciful, loved by his people!"
He reached for the crown, picking it up and turning it slowly in place. It didn't feel that heavy. It didn't even seem that important, looking at it. But appearances could be tricky. He wasn't all that important looking, but he'd saved Equestria and the Crystal Empire! "I won't misjudge you, promise." Not that the crown responded to his well wishes.
He held it up over his head, turning towards a mirror. "King Spike," he repeated, fondly thinking of the possibility. Down came the crown on his head, his fins going... lose, running out like a mane instead, giving him hair as they became a curtain across his eyes. He brushed them aside and back as he wobbled, feeling off balance. "What the?" he asked with a new voice, higher pitched.
There, standing in the mirror, was a very female dragon, oddly proportioned, for a dragon. He... she... She was built like a human... dragon. "Woah," she said with her new voice, turning to look at herself. Her tail was longer, but shaped about the same way. "I'm..." Changed? Deformed? "Kinda pretty."
Suddenly he was back to normal, the crown bouncing away from him. "Spike," came Twilight's harsh voice, shaking him back to reality. "That is a dangerous artifact that has led to wars!" She threw that hoof wide as she ambled towards where the crown had landed. "Something awful could have happened to you." She was chastising him and worrying about all the things that could have gone wrong as she gathered up the crown, plopped it back on the pillow, and hurried it away.
"But..."
The Spike he had seen in the mirror was really nice looking, and... It hadn't hurt him, or done anything bad. He hadn't even considered taking over the world! What kinda evil thing is that? Not a very good one. Spike rolled his eyes with a huff. Twilight was panicking over nothing, which was a Twilight thing to do.
It was also a Twilight thing to hide the crown in a very obvious place. It wasn't obvious to her, at least in her opinion, but she really only had like two places she put things in like that. She'd usually bounce between the two places, thinking she had thought of a new place each time. Spike knew both of those places.
"Option B." There it was, tucked under her bed, where most other ponies would never stick their snouts.
Good thing he was a dragon. He pulled the cushion free, the crown still resting on it. "I don't even see the big deal." He popped it right on his head, becoming the svelte she-dragon version of herself. "I don't look as much like a Spike." She coiled her tail and ran a finger along it. She still had spikes, sure, but... "Spine," she decided to herself with a nod, feeling satisfied with it, and herself.
She rushed, not for a mirror, but to escape the castle entirely. She rushed along, noticing her legs were longer, making her jog more of an actual run than the toddling motions she had been used to. It wasn't a bad change, she decided as she descended the hill, bouncing in new ways that made her giggle. They amused her more than anything else. "Spine is visiting Ponyville!"
Her body felt lighter in some places, heavier in others, but as she pranced and twirled, she couldn't erase the smile on her face. It was, ultimately, better, in her view. Ah ha, another dragon! "Hey Smolder!"
"Hey... whoever you are?" Smolder cocked a brow at the strange dragoness with a crown. "You new in town?"
"What? No!" It was only then that Spine realized her mistake. Smolder didn't recognize her. Though she felt certain Smolder would eventually put it together. As funny as hiding would have been... "It's me, Spine, Twilight's little sister?"
Smolder blinked softly. "Headmare Twilight has exactly one dragon sib." She raised a finger. "He's..." She trailed off, it was hitting her. "Spike?!"
"Spine," she corrected, gesturing over herself. "Cool, huh?"
"Uh... Spi...ne... I hate to break it to you, but you're not a guy anymore."
"You noticed, huh?" She set her hands on Spine's shoulders, reaching them so much more easily than before. "Why didn't you ever tell me how cool it is to be this way?"
"How do you even start to describe that?" she counter-challenged. "And you're alright with this?! Oh, wow... If Gar Gar could see us, neither of us would hear the end of it."
"Why not?" innocently asked Spine. "Is something off?" She turned and flexed, looking herself over, however odd she was compared to her old self. She had hips! She had more, well, round parts, less flat parts. She felt... ornamented, in a good way. "I think I look pretty good."
"Perfectly good," agreed Smolder in uncertain terms. "For... Look." She gestured at herself. "I'm a girl, been one forever. You are not shaped like me. What's up with that, leaving out the fact that you're a boy dragon."
Spine didn't have an easy answer for that. "But I know who might!"
"Might what?"
"Know. Ember. She's the dragon lord, bet she knows all kinds of stuff." Spine clapped her hands together, a hopeful smile on her face. "And she gets to see the new me."
"New... Spike, er, Spine, hold up. I need you to be flat with me here." She crossed her arms at what was still the younger dragon. Younger and very confusing. "Is it the crown?" It was the only new thing. "Did it make you a girl? Why are you alright with this?"
"Because I feel great!" Spine did a twirl in place on one foot, landing with a big grin at Smolder. "Why? Something wrong with being a girl?"
"Well, no... I happen to like it plenty."
"So no problem," cut in Spine. "Let's go!"
"Not so fast." She thrust out an arm to bar Spine's progress. "Being a girl means a lot. Are you sure you're alright just... tossing aside everything it meant to be a guy and take up all the stuff it means to be a girl?"
"I have never felt more here than right now," spoke Spine with conviction. "You're a girl and a friend. You'll help me figure it out, right? Please."
Smolder tried to resist the pitiable look Spine was giving. "No fair! Ugh, Spine... This is probably not going to end well." A little smile tugged at her lips. "Starting with me razzing on you. Let's go."
Spine sprang to walk alongside his older sister of a dragon friend. "Thanks. It's nice having someone who understands this kinda stuff. You helped a lot when I was, you know... getting wings. Wow, that was a scary time."
Smolder tried to think if becoming a girl was less or more of a change than the process of getting her wings. Hm. "You made it through that... with friends." She smiled a little. "Which you still have."
"Yeah!" Spine pumped a fist, bubbling with energy. "It's hard to nail it down, but I feel like I got out from under a weight that was pushing me down forever and I never noticed it! Looking back, I feel kinda dumb not... doing something about it."
Smolder looked confused. She just... didn't get it. But she knew Spike, er Spine... They were a good dragon, a good person. If this made them happier... "Did you notice you're wearing a skirt?"
Turns out, Spine hadn't, grabbing it in her hands and doing a new set of turns to examine it. "How's it look?"
"Your first question, 'how's it look?'" Smolder hiked a brow. Teasing Spine about it wasn't much fun if she was so... comfortable... "Looks great," she decided, coloring in her cheeks. She could never admit to liking a skirt like that. It... wasn't fair. "Matches your scales spot on."
"Why don't you wear one?" asked Spine. "I bet you'd be pretty too."
Smolder's color increased in an intense wave of heat over her face. "No! I mean, nah... Not for me, you know." She puffed her chest out and looked tough. "I'm not in for that girly stuff."
"But you are a girl," Spine reminded, looking a little perplexed.
"It's complicated." She threw a hand. "You were a boy dragon yesterday, you don't get to lecture me on how I want to be a girl."
"Alright alright." Spine put up her hands in a placating way. "You're right, I'm being super rude right now. Sorry."
"Forgiven." She threw an arm around Spine's neck, dragging her closer for a one-armed hug. "You're still a dork, girl or boy."
Spine laughed, a half giggle as she wriggled free of Smolder's grip. "You're the expert, really. Like you said, kinda new to this."
"And you're cool with it," led Smolder quizzically.
"Yep." Spine nodded once firmly. "I mean... most of it hasn't changed. I'm still me. I'll still help Twilight! Oh no..."
"What's wrong?" She could see that sudden downturn in Spine's expression. "Did you leave the oven running?"
"Worse." She sighed sufferingly. "Once Twilight sees this, she's going to take it away again." She grabbed her crown and held it close to her head. "Why can't she just let me enjoy a thing."
"It is kind of a weird thing..." argued Smolder, rolling a hand in the air. "But she's still your sister..."
"A sister who makes up her mind and gets stuck in it," groaned out Spine, sagging against a signpost.
"Hey... I can try talking to her?" offered Smolder with a little smile. "I'm not her little br...sister. Maybe she'll listen."
"You're her student," noted Spine, clearly unsure if that was better or not. "But thank you... I'll go to the treehouse."
"Huh." Smolder tilted her head. "I didn't think you knew about that, but sure. Meet you there." She lifted on strong wings and took off towards the castle to talk with a princess.
Spine was left to head through town.
"Hey!" Pinkie bounced in front of Spine. "Wow, crazy new look there, Spike!"
Spine blinked softly. "How did you even..." But it was Pinkie. "Good job."
"Gee thanks! But what did I do?" She tilted her head at Spine. "You're taller! And..." She inclined her head the other way. "Built different."
"I'm a girl," noted Spine. "My name is Spine."
"Awesome name!" Pinkie threw her hooves up to either side, clearly sharing in the joy of this new thing. "Wow, this so calls for a party. Is this like a birthday? This feels like a birthday! Happy birthday, Spine!"
Spine could but smile at Pinkie's unabashed enthusiasm and unquestioning cheer in the face of something others were confused by. "You're not worried about me... not being Spike?"
"Why should I be?" She shrugged softly. "You're still you, and you're a great friend, last I checked. So you got a new name, big deal." She leaned in, brows waggling. "It does mean I get to talk girly stuff with you." She gigglesnorted at the idea. "Not that I do that a lot, to be honest."
Spine realized then that a lot of the females he was in contact were not very... girly. "You're a lovely mare just the way you are," she assured. But she knew exactly the pony to approach to get a full blast of femininity... and one she feared to even think about.
Would her boutique still be open?