“I have excellent news!”
“I beat Cadance here even though she cheated and started running before me!” Cadance elbowed Shining Armor, who laughed it off. Still smiling, she continued talking despite the interruption.
“Today, we have reservations to see a play about you two in theatre opening day!” Spike let out a sort of astonished laugh, a single chuckle that conveyed his disbelief. Thorax on the other hoof, had gone completely wide-eyed. “ Relax, it won’t be as bad as you think. I had been a consultant so that it wouldn’t be so…”
“Ridiculous?” Spike offered. Cadance nodded.
“Hopefully they didn’t exaggerate what I had un-exaggerated. You should be pretty glad you hadn’t seen the first draft, it was a bit of a mess. Well, a bit may be an understatement.” Shining Armor shook his head, not remembering the initial draft fondly.
“They made Spike so… Shakespearean.” Spike outright snorted, and Shining Armor gave a dull smile. “If I remember correctly, at one point they had you call someone a ‘cur’.” Now the both of them were chuckling, and Cadance rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, but no one has been called a ‘cur’ for at least five-hundred years.”
“That aside, I helped them work out the kinks, and they invited us to the first showing tonight.” Cadance explained. “If you all want to go, we get to sit in one of the private boxes.”
“I don’t know…” Spike sounded somewhat concerned, and his brows were furrowed in thought. “Even if you did go through and fix some of it, the Crystal Ponies’ perception of me has always been a little skewed. That combined with Thorax probably being the antagonist, doesn’t sound like it’ll add up well.” Spike’s expression went from a furrowed brow to a worried grimace as an upsetting thought ran through his mind. “If anything, they’ll probably go out of their way to make it seem like I was some sort of superhero that magically turned Thorax from a mindless monster to something good.” Cadance hummed, considering the issue, but Shining Armor was a bit more hesitant to consider the possibility.
“I don’t doubt that they’ll play you up a little Spike, but the Crystal Ponies love Thorax. I don’t think it’ll be that bad.” Spike still seemed hesitant, but Thorax at least seemed a little eager, and that was the deciding vote.
“Well, it’s settled. Tonight, we’re going to see a play!” While the rest made plans on what to wear and when to head out, the negative thoughts lingered in Spike’s head, regardless of how he tried to drown them out with excitement. He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself.
It can’t be that bad.
“Holy woah, this is bad.”
It had started off alright. It was understandably ridiculous from the beginning, both due to the general blandness of the actual events, and due to the altered perception of Spike in the Crystal Empire’s eyes, the actor for Spike was a crystal pony in an exaggerated muscle suit. They had a good laugh at that, but it quickly went downhill during the first meeting with Thorax.
It was quite literally everything Spike had been afraid of.
The four sat in stunned silence as an exaggerated caricature of Spike battled with an oversized, monstrous facsimile of a pre-metamorphosis changeling. Spike looked downright enraged, like he was barely containing the urge to fly down and set the actors on fire. Meanwhile, Thorax had practically and literally shrunk down in his seat, transforming into a miniaturized version of himself and bowing his head to minimize his profile. Cadance was more in a state of shock than anything else, staring on with the same rapt attention you’d give a carriage crash. Shining Armor was somewhere between Cadance and Spike, and seemed to be the only one in a working enough state of mind to comment at all.
“Cadance, honey.” Shining Armor began. Cadance nodded dully, mouth fallen open. “Can we leave?” She wordlessly closed her mouth, nodded, and gathered her coat.
Outside the venue, Spike looked on the verge of an explosion, claws flexed as if he were prepared to wring someone’s neck. He’d gone completely wide eyed, pupils shrunk to pinpricks as his eye twitched in anger-veiled horror. Thorax had yet to shift back to proper size, and was around the height of a foal, practically hiding beneath the now larger form of Spike.
“Remind me to never have faith in anyone ever again.” Shining Armor said bluntly. “You all are the only exception. Anybody else is under immediate suspicion. Always.”
“I don’t even know what to say. Doesn’t Twilight have that time travel spell? Can we use that?” Cadance asked desperately. Spike shook his head.
“If we used that, we would’ve already seen past you. It’s all on the same timeline.” She groaned out loud, and she turned to the dragon and changeling, bowing her head in apology. “I wish I had listened to you Spike. I really wish I had. I’m sorry.” Spike sighed, rubbing at his temples.
“I can’t even accept your apology because I don’t even think it’s your fault. You did what you could. This is on them. And forgive me, but I think we should leave before the actors come out, because I will not be responsible if I torch someone.” His smile held a slight mirth, but his eyes were dry and devoid of any amusement whatsoever. Still, Cadance chuckled, an exasperated sound much different from her usual giggle.
“Then let’s leave.”
Shining Armor did his best to keep the mood as light as possible, still making as many jokes as possible, but even he seemed remarkably downtrodden as they trekked back to the Crystal Palace, ready to let the night be over.
Thorax was still tiny.
He had still yet to transform back, even now that they were in the palace, in his room no less, away from everyone except for Spike. He’d since curled up into a ball under the covers, and despite Spike’s active attempts to, he couldn’t focus on anything but the lump under the covers that was Thorax, not even the new Power Ponies issue that Twilight had been kind enough to acquire for him. His attempt to let Thorax have his space was falling apart, and he eventually succumbed to the urge to try and cheer him up instead of letting it play out.
“Thorax, I’m getting really worried.” Spike knew it wasn’t the best way to start off the conversation, but it was better than asking if he was okay. “Do you want to talk it over? Can you come out from under the cover please?” He saw a vague motion underneath the comforter, but judging by the fact that there didn’t seem to be any neon green emerging from the red comforter, he assumed it was a no. He set down his comic. “Can I come under?” The nod yes was more easily interpretable, and Spike scooted along to the edge of the bed where Thorax lay, and stuck his head under. He came face to face with the changeling, and stared into the watery purple eyes with melancholy, sticking his claws under to pull the Changeling into a hug. Thorax accepted, scooting into the dragon’s arms. “I’m really sorry. I should’ve pushed harder for us to look at the script or something before going.”
“...Do they really think that’s what happened? Do they really think I was some mindless monster?” Spike sighed.
“I really can’t say for sure. For all we know, that was just the writers. But does it really matter?”
“Of course it matters. If that’s what people really think of me-”
“That’s what they thought of you pre-metamorphosis.”
“I haven’t changed at all though. Only thing that’s different is how I look. I still act pretty much the same, so if I was a monster back then, what do they think of me now?” Thorax sighed. “They never seemed afraid of me.”
“To be fair, those ‘Spike, The Brave and Glorious’ plays get really ridiculous. Did you see how they see me? It’s never good.”
“At least your reimagining was positive.” Thorax said bitterly. Spike grimaced
“Okay, I’ll give you that. Look, I’m not quite sure how to reassure you. All I can tell you is, I don’t see you like that. Cadance didn’t see you like that, and neither did Twilight or Shining Armor. If some random ponies decide to make you look like that in a play when people on the street greet you with smiles, and all your best friends think you’re great, then I think you should take the minority with a grain of salt.” Thorax groaned.
“I know, but it’s really hard.”
“Then there are the changelings, who think you’re an incredible king, Ember thinks you’re a great friend, Pharynx thinks you’re a great leader-” Thorax was smiling now.
“Okay, that’s enough Spike.”
“Rarity thinks you have great fashion sense, Starlight thinks you’re super reliable, Discord respects you which is usually pretty impossible-” Now he was downright grinning, and beginning to grow back to normal size.
“I said it’s enough.”
“Trixie thinks you’re ‘Spectacular’, Rainbow Dash thinks you’re a great flyer, Fluttershy says you were one of the easiest people to talk to and be aro-” A full sized hoof covered Spike’s mouth, and Thorax smiled at him.
“I’m feeling a lot better, Spike. You don’t have to keep going.” Spike pulled his hoof off of his mouth.
“But I didn’t even say the most important one.” Thorax rolled his eyes.
“Which is?”
“I love you.” Not like. Love. If possible, Thorax’s smile somehow got more intense, and he pulled Spike right off the ground, pulling him under the covers. They found their way into their default sleeping position, and Thorax curled in as close as he could go.
“I love you too.”
Spike found himself in an empty black space, infinite and so vast that he could barely comprehend the magnitude of it. It had an end, surely, but it seemed to only exist in the margins of his vision. Like if he walked from side to side, he’d reach a wall, but if he walked in whatever direction he was facing he could walk forever and never reach an ending. He glanced around, expecting some ghostly apparition to approach him as it had in the past couple of dreams he’d had, and sure enough, after he waited for some time, a familiar draconequus appeared in front of him, perched meticulously on a full length mirror.
“Hello Spike.” Spike blinked in confusion.
“Discord, what are you doing in my dream?” Discord sighed, and gestured at the mirror.
“We need to figure out what your true form is. It’s integral to your progression.” Discord jumped down from the mirror, patting Spike on the shoulder. “So far, we’ve experienced three major surges of your power, and in all three you had very little control. The closest you got was in the cafe, when you managed a partial transformation, and even that was mostly unconscious.” Spike stared at himself in the mirror before turning back to Discord.
“...Are you going to give me any instructions or do I just have to guess?” Discord hummed.
“Just pull at what feels wrong until it feels right.” Well that wasn’t absurdly vague. Spike grumbled, before turning back to the mirror. What felt wrong?
Well for one thing, he felt absurdly compressed. His spine now had the constant feeling that he’d been sitting in a slump, and he felt like he needed to stretch out. He pulled his arms up, stretching as far as he could go before feeling a pop, and even then he still felt the compression.
“Keep going.” Discord instructed gently, and Spike listened, extending his spine as far as he felt it could go.
And then that limit disappeared.
He continued pulling until he finally felt a stretch again, and when he let go, he felt taller. Much taller. He opened his eyes, and realized that the mirror had accommodated his new height, stretching to remain around a foot taller than he was. He blinked, and realized with a start that he was just barely hitting Discord’s chin at this point. Discord hummed approvingly.
“I’m glad you’re no giant at least. That would be difficult to accommodate in a small space if you needed to. Is that all?” Spike shook his head, and thought about his next move. He felt a sort of itchy layer on his scales, and scratched dimly at his arm, watching as the purple fell away to reveal a very light, brown toned grey. He turned back to Discord.
“Can you summon a shower?” Discord shrugged.
“It’s your mind. You take a crack at it.” The draconequus leaned back, and Spike frowned at him. Sighing, Spike thought about his shower at Twilight’s castle, before hesitantly snapping his fingers. With a brief flash, the crystal walls of the shower formed around him, and pulling the curtain shut, he turned the shower on, and scrubbed away at his scales, the purple and green washing away to reveal uniform warm gray. When he was satisfied, he snapped, and the water and shower disappeared in another flash of light. He appraised his new appearance, and kept moving without prompting from Discord. Next up was the spines. He shook violently, and two more rows of spines broke through the scales on his back, and the ones that were there seemed to flex and sharpen, sweeping backward. Still, something still distinctly felt like it was missing.
“...Would it be weird if I said I need more eyes?” Discord scoffed.
“We all need more eyes at some point, Spike. Where, praytell, will you put them?’ Spike stood for a moment, before unfurling his wings. He glanced at Discord with a raised eyebrow, who merely offered a shrug of his shoulders. He flapped his wings, and one by one, four eyes opened on each wing. Well, calling them on was a little misrepresentation. They seemed to float on top of his wings, and he realized upon folding his wings back, that the eyes simply floated in place, only opening when his wings were unfurled. From then on, it was a few minor tweaks. Extend claws here, shrink waist, expand chest, simple things. Then he came to his tail.
“... What if-”
“Before you even ask, remember that this is you, Spike. I have no say in what makes you feel comfortable. Though, I will say I do think the eyes made for a wonderfully chaotic touch.” The draconequus waved for him to continue, and Spike waved his tail around, whippin it until it unfurled into several smaller tentacles, before reforming into one greater, interwoven mass. Discord squealed appraisingly, and clapped. “A genius design choice if I do say so. Is there anything else you want to add?” Spike turned around a few times in the mirror, looking over the changes he’d made. Towards the end, he’d become a bit bolder, and it was for the better in his opinion, given that it simply felt more comfortable at the end of the day. He hummed, mulling over the decision to include this last choice, before deciding to simply place the cherry on top and let it be. He blinked hard a few times, before his eyes lit up a pure bright white.
“I don’t know why, but this feels…” He trailed off, struggling to find the word.
“Right?” Discord offered.
“...Comfortable. This feels comfortable.” Discord shrugged.
“If that’s the better word for you, go right ahead. Glad we could work this out for you, however I would recommend containing yourself before returning to the material realm, if you don’t wish to drive your new boyfriend off the deep end. All things considered though, I feel that he might fare a bit better than we would initially anticipate.”
Spike stared back at his reflection, unfurling his wings one more time, letting his extra eyes open once more. He smiled, before allowing himself to recompress into a slightly larger version of his typical form. Apparently the difference was large enough for Discord to notice, who raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.
“What?” Spike exclaimed. “What’s the point of being able to control your appearance if you can’t stack a couple extra inches on?” Discord rolled his eyes, but flashed a mischievous smile, before snapping his fingers and disappearing.
The dream fell apart, and Spike woke up.