My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92


Molt Down

"So, what are we doing out here in these woods?" Riku asked curiously, escorting Rarity and Spike through a forest out to the east near the Dragon Lands. "And why did you need me? Couldn't you have asked the others?"

"I had an idea for a beautiful design for one of my new dresses, but I require something that is a little bit hard to come by," Rarity said. "Last time we were around here, Spike was hanging out with those brutish teenage dragons when he went off on the dragon migration a couple years ago."

"A pretty big mistake on my part when I thought trying to fit in like a real dragon would help me discover who I was," Spike said.

"And while we were here, we heard them mention there being phoenix nests around here," Rarity continued. "Although, they wanted to plan a raid and smash innocent phoenix eggs to test Spike to see if he's a real dragon."

"Let me guess: those dragons were Garble and his friends?" Riku guessed, to which both unicorn and baby dragon nodded in response. "Figures. Do they have a single brain cell in their tiny bit of gray matter rattling in their thick skulls? They were born from eggs. That's basically homicide."

"I told him how wrong it was, too, but of course, he doesn't listen to anypony but himself," Spike said. "He'd better change his ways now that Ember's the Dragon Lord and dragons are learning to be friends with other creatures."

"We'll rough him into shape eventually," Riku promised. "But, speaking of phoenixes, why are you looking for them, Rarity?"

"I just want to collect a few of their feathers for my design," Rarity said. "They would be perfect for my ensemble, and if we're nice to a small family, maybe they might offer some of their molted feathers."

"I don't know why you couldn't have asked Princess Celestia to take some of Philomena's feathers instead," Spike said.

"Who's Philomena?" Riku asked.

"The princess's pet phoenix," Spike said, surprising the Keyblade wielder. "Phoenixes aren't really supposed to be domesticated. Twilight says they keep to themselves quite often."

"I'll bet if they're creatures that can be reborn from their own ashes," Riku said. While searching around for any bird nests, Riku glanced at Spike, noticing something odd since they set out to this forest around the mountainous bowl where the dragons rested on their migration. Spike had kept a hand over his right cheek, never dropping his arm for a single second. They didn't run into any trouble on the trip over, but what he might be hiding was a bit concerning. "Hey, Spike, is there something wrong with your face?"

Spike flinched, looking a lot more nervous when Rarity noticed the dragon's claw concealing part of his cheek. "What are you hiding? Did you get bullied by somepony?" Rarity asked.

Giving in, Spike just sighed. "It's a stone scale. It's not magical or anything like the call of the Dragon Lord. It's just red. And itchy. And...embarrassing."

Slowly, Spike removed his hand, revealing what the stone scale looked like. Riku and Rarity grimaced at the odd sight: part of his purple scales lifted up by what looked like a red, almost diamond-shaped blemish on his skin.

"Yikes. That is one nasty looking pimple," Riku commented, making Spike quickly hide the stone scale under his claw again. Rarity leered at the stallion and nudged his side. "Oh! Uhh, I mean...I think that's just...a natural sign of growing up?" he rephrased nervously, then leaned over to whisper to Rarity. "Do dragons go through puberty?"

"Ignore Riku's HARSH comments, Spikey-wikey," Rarity said. "I can see that looks really uncomfortable, but even I get the odd blemish from time to time. Nothing to feel embarrassed about."

Riku frowned at Rarity's jab at him. "Harsh? I know you were thinking the exact same thing seeing a dragon with a zit," he mumbled.

"Maybe you could pay a visit to Zecora," Rarity suggested. "I'm sure she could make a marvelous cream to clear that right up. Just...don't get the shampoo."

Riku and Spike grimaced, remembering the unfortunate mistake where Rarity and Pinkie had similar colored vials Zecora made that had different effects: one being a shampoo that safely rinsed out hair from any sticky or greasy gunk in hair while the other was more like a cleaner that heavily cleaned even the stickiest of residue off of any surface. Pinkie wound up taking the one that was the shampoo while Rarity took the other, and the result was her losing a lot of her mane and tail, shattering her confidence in herself and, in the worst sense, unable to be recognized by anyone else in Ponyville without her luscious purple curls.

"Well, at least you managed to find a way to make that accident into a fashion trend," Riku said. "You made the punk hairstyle thing look good. Maybe even better than Twilight's when we took her out for a spa day while renovating the castle to hep her feel at home."

"I'd rather not go through that again. I felt like I was having a midlife crisis. And I'm barely even twenty!" Her comment baffled Riku a bit.

Before he could ask just how old she and the other Mane Six were, they heard the sound of avian screeches flying overhead. The trio looked up, spotting a small flock of large, majestic birds with fiery red, orange, and yellow feathers, fitting the image of what a phoenix looked like. While gazing at the beautiful birds in awe, they spotted some feathers floating down from their wings, the old feathers flicking off of their impressive wingspan. Rarity caught them in her magic aura once they gently dropped close enough and placed them in her saddlebags after admiring their coloring.

"There they go," Riku said. His ears twitched when he heard Spike scratching himself, more specifically at the stone scale on his cheek. He was grunting and even winced a bit when he kept scratching at the tough, very painful blemish. "Uhh, might not want to irritate that, Spike. Maybe we should visit Zecora once we get back."

"No way. I don't want anypony else seeing this," Spike insisted. "Besides, I'm sure it'll clear up after a good night's sleep."

"I highly doubt that, but suit yourself," Riku said, then looked over to Rarity as she collected the last of the fallen phoenix feathers. "Got enough for what you need, Rares?"

"I believe so!" Rarity cheered. "Maybe even a little leftover for a small addition to Kairi's wedding dress."

"Hope that wedding planning's finally finished up. Can't wait for that day," Riku said. "Clearly, I'd be the best man."

"Ooh! I hope Kairi chooses me as her maid of honor!" Rarity squealed. "And this time, I might catch that bouquet. That was robbed from me during Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding."

"Didn't you push other mares out of the way before it was tossed way over you girls?" Riku questioned.

While Rarity argued with Riku about the bouquet as they began to head back to Ponyville, Spike walked behind them while grunting in irritation at his stone scale.


The next day, Riku stood in the center of training field in The Land of Departure, crouched in his stance with his Keyblade out with the Young Six surrounding him. Today, he was tasked by Aqua to give them a bit of sparring practice by working together as a team. He wanted them to come at him with their all with the intent to kill. In order for them to land a hit on him, they had to coordinate their attacks without revealing their plan to him and help each other if he pins them down or lands a hit on either of them.

After a few stressful minutes of an intense staredown, Sandbar took the initiative. Riku's back was turned to the teenage stallion, taking advantage of his blind spot. Riku's eyes shifted as he heard Sandbar's galloping hoofs, and in one swift turn, he blocked Sandbar's Keyblade with his own. Sandbar grunted, rearing his head back to take another swing, and while Riku prepared to block another, the rest of the Young Six charged at him. Backflipping away from Sandbar and heading right toward Ocellus, the changeling gasped, skid to a halt, and leapt back as he took a swing at her. Silverstream yelled and made an overhead swing down on Riku, which was easily blocked, though her battle cry served as a distraction for Gallus to attack from his side.

Riku leaned his body, narrowly avoiding a thrust from Gallus's blade. He pushed Silverstream back and blocked another swing from the griffon, stepping away as he guarded from the griffon and hippogriff teaming up on him. Ocellus tried to join in, but as she was about to swing, she stumbled when she suddenly tried to swing her Keyblade a bit harder than she intended, unintentionally mimicking one of her other friends' styles. Riku noticed, but continued sparring as he focused on Gallus and Silverstream.

Behind him, Yona yelled as she charged, lowering her head to ram Riku with her Keyblade and her horns, Smolder and Gallus keeping up after her to surprise him and attack if he dodged the yak. Riku avoided another thrust from Gallus, but he grabbed his arm this time, surprising the griffon before he yelped as he was flung toward Silverstream. Silverstream shrieked, which was followed by a grunt as she was knocked out of the air by the blue-furred projectile, causing them to collapse in a heap on the ground. Riku quickly turned around, spotting Yona, then smirked as she sprinted closer and closer. He leapt to the side, but he swung his Keyblade into Yona's, using his strength and the momentum of the yak's charge to swerve in a wide turn, sending her running right into Smolder and Sandbar. Yona gasped while the young stallion and dragoness yelled in shock at the surprise maneuver. Yona couldn't stop, slamming into her friends before the trio tumbled over, the yak pinning down her friends while they grunted under her weight.

"That...could have gone better," Smolder grumbled, being unfortunate to be right underneath Yona's rear.

Sandbar grunted as he came to, his eyes growing wide when he was face to face with Yona, their muzzles dangerously close to making contact. "Oops. Yona sorry," Yona apologized.

"Uhh, it's cool, Y-Yona," Sandbar uttered bashfully, his cheeks turning a shade of pink while Yona was unaware of the awkward situation they were in.

Riku let out a small laugh, but he dropped his amusement when he realized there was one opponent still left standing. He leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the curved white Keyblade belonging to Ocellus as she tried to lunge at him. She flew past him, then quickly turned around, copying Riku's exact stance, even his serious gaze. Sadly, that similar expression faltered and she lost her balance on her hind legs, dropping back on all fours as her Keyblade clattered to the ground, letting out a frustrated and miserable sigh.

"Not again," Ocellus mumbled.

Deciding to call their session a bit early, Riku eased up on his stance. "Alright, let's take a little break," he said. The two piles untangled themselves, Gallus blushing heavily after getting off of Silverstream while Smolder lifted Yona's rump before rolling away, where she dropped the yak's weight down on Sandbar, who wheezed as he got the air knocked out of him. Yona grinned sheepishly for hurting Sandbar accidentally, getting up and helping the poor stallion up on his hooves. Riku approached Ocellus, the changeling feeling incredibly flustered with her body constantly changing her fighting style without any warning. "You ok, Ocellus?"

"No. I don't know what's happening," Ocellus said as she picked up her Keyblade. "I've been trying to find my own style, but every time I do, I just keep copying somepony else's. It messed me up when I tried to attack you."

"Hmm...That can be a bit frustrating," Riku said. "Did Aqua figure out what might be the problem?"

"I don't know. I mean, she thought I did pretty well with combat, even though I haven't used my own style yet. I just hate how my body changes how I move or attack without any warning," Ocellus said, lightly kicking at the ground bitterly. "I wouldn't have learned Cure with the others if I wasn't able to fight."

Riku hummed in thought. "Well, earlier, you mimicked my stance perfectly," he said. "Maybe, since you're a changeling, you have a certain trait that lets you copy any wielder's skills, spells, and their stance."

"Trait?" Ocellus asked curiously.

"Not all of us fight the same way, and not all of us can use every sort of magic spell like Aqua or strike with incredible strength like Terra," Riku explained. He had an idea, hoping it would help Ocellus find her "unique" fighting style and try to master it. "Turn into me and copy my stance again."

"Uhh...Ok." In a flash of green light, Ocellus shapeshifted into Riku, transforming perfectly from his hairstyle to his attire. What startled Riku the most wasn't the perfect doppelganger standing before him; it was Ocellus's Keyblade. He expected it to stay the same with its simple white design and slightly curved blade, but it transformed along with her, matching Braveheart's design just as perfectly from the grooves on the blade to the keychain. The others seemed to notice as they gasped, seeing two Rikus, but their true teacher for the day was the one who was just as astonished as they were. Ocellus crouched slightly and held her "Braveheart" up to her shoulder and her other arm stretched out just like Riku in his stance. "How's this?" she asked, but in her voice, which sounded really awkward coming from the shapeshifter in Riku's image.

Riku dropped his Keyblade, which disappeared in a flash of light once it hit the ground. He walked around Ocellus, making the double look nervous, but she kept her stance as she watched the master observe every detail.

"...Ocellus...can changelings transform other things with their magic?" Riku asked as he ran his fingers against Ocellus's copied Keyblade.

Ocellus glanced at her Keyblade curiously, letting out a gasp herself when she saw her blade had changed to Riku's. "M-My Keyblade transformed too?" Realizing she was asked a question, she quickly shook her head. "N-No! Not even if we touch another object, pony, or any other creature!"

"Have you never changed into anything with your Keyblade out?" Riku asked. Ocellus shook her head in response, trying to recall the last few times she used her shapeshifting powers since she gained her Keyblade. Riku stepped back, wanting to test something else with the changeling's natural powers. "Turn into Sora." Obeying his command, Ocellus's body changed in a flash of light and turned into Sora, her Keyblade transforming along with her and changing into the Kingdom Keyblade. Her stance even shifted into Sora's crouched stance with both her hands on her Keyblade held close to her side. "...Do Ven, and then Terra," Riku ordered again. Ocellus shifted into Ventus as her Keyblade copied his Wayward Wind Keyblade, then they turned into Terra and his Ends of the Earth Keyblade. She copied both male wielders' stances perfectly, and her Keyblade even changed its length when it transformed into the backhanded dagger-like Keyblade and the longer, heavier Keyblade respectively. "...Flawless..."

"Didn't changelings always look a lot like other creatures to steal love when they were evil?" Gallus asked.

"W-Well, looking exactly like others is one thing, but behaving just like them requires more...observation to get perfect," Ocellus said timidly, which made it look so strange to see Terra looking so nervous and sheepish. She looked at her Keyblade, staring at it with curiosity and confusion as it took on the Ends of the Earth's shape, length, and even the etches and grooves to a T. She changed back to normal, and her Keyblade followed suit as it changed back into its simple and plain form. "I'm...not that good of an actor. I thought Miss Fluttershy would have caught us when we tried to play hooky when I pretended to be Miss Rarity."

"But you were able to pull off mine, Sora's, Ven's, and Terra's stances without any faults," Riku mentioned. "Even their Keyblades. And yet, your kind of magic can only shapeshift your bodies, not other objects. Maybe it's possible that your Keyblade has a link to your magic, and you can mimic other Keyblade wielders' fighting styles just like how Aqua, Terra, and Ven use Dimension Links to borrow abilities from those they have a close connection with."

"Dimension Links?" Sandbar asked.

"Ooh! Is that gonna be part of our lesson plan as Keyblade wielders!?" Silverstream asked excitedly.

"We'll see if Aqua has that in mind," Riku said. "We'll end this sparring session early for now. Head on back and work up a new game plan to at least try to graze me." The Young Six nodded and began walking along the mountain trail to the portal back to Twilight's castle. "And Ocellus, I think you might have found your fighting style."

Ocellus stopped and looked over at Riku. "Umm...Fighting like everypony else is my fighting style?" she asked. "...Isn't that unfair? Or...cheating?"

"Mixing up how you fight can throw someone off, so that's a pretty decent combat strategy," he praised. "But practice on controlling them so you don't get flustered and be forced to use a different stance and ways of attacking."

"O-Ok," Ocellus uttered, then hurried off after the others.

Riku slowly followed them, still amazed at what he just discovered about Ocellus, along with her Keyblade. If she could, she would have been a master within a few days, but with her shyness and fear of getting into a fight, she would need a lot more training until she mastered her unique abilities. Hopefully Aqua would be thrilled with the good, and also shocking, news about the young changeling apprentice.

Returning to the castle library, the Young Six probably on their way back to the school to continue their friendship studies, Riku headed to the kitchen to get himself a snack. "Spike!?" Twilight came out around the corner, holding a stack of papers in her telekinetic aura with a slightly annoyed frown. She caught a glance at Riku down the hall and immediately approached him. "Riku, have you seen Spike this morning?"

"I was busy training the Young Six with some team sparring," Riku said. "Needs a bit more work, but you will not believe what I just discovered."

Twilight huffed, ignoring what Riku seemed eager to tell her. "Well, great. Spike probably slept in again. And it's nearly noon!" she complained. Riku gave his love a blank stare, which she noticed right away. "This is important for my lecture later this afternoon in my class!"

"...You do know I can also volunteer to be your fake audience for your lectures, right?" Riku reminded the grumpy alicorn.

"Yes, but whenever I see you, you're going to distract me if you're not even doing anything, then chide me about how lengthy my speech is and would be better if I took out VERY IMPORTANT details pertaining the lesson I have already planned out WEEKS in advance, and you would constantly pick on me for being a smarty pants, a bookworm, a nerd, or call me 'adorkable' and distract me more with cuddles and kisses and whispering sweet nothings in my ear," Twilight stated, keeping a straight face even as she mentioned the last bits of her calm, yet annoyed tirade.

Riku just grinned slyly, giving the princess a light boop on her snout with a hoof. "You know me so well," Riku teased. "And I know you just as much."

"Then if you know me so well, then go and get Spike for me and wake his lazy scales up," Twilight jabbed back with a boop of her own to Riku's muzzle. "Thanks, honey."

She turned tail and walked away with a grin while Riku gave her a mock bow. "As Her Royal Highness, Princess Sparkle Butt, commands!" he said loud enough for the halls to echo, making the princess squeak and turn her head to glare at him with a blush. She shot a small beam to zap the stallion, but he swiftly avoided the harmless shock and ran down the hall to find Spike's room with a laugh. He was definitely going to put holes in her lecture and tell her to tone it down after seeing that stack if he took Spike's place. He arrived at the sleeping dragon's room and knocked on the door. "Hey, Spike! You all good in there!?"

He opened the door, finding the purple dragon curled under his blanket and snorted a little while half asleep. "Five more minutes," he mumbled as he cocooned himself tighter under the sheets.

"I think you had a couple extra hours too many," Riku stated. "Twilight's been looking for you, and she doesn't trust me to be her lecturing guinea pig today."

"Huh? Ah! I almost forgot!" Spike scrambled out of his tangled sheets before popping free, the back of his head facing Riku. "I can't believe I slept like a rock! But maybe all that sleep probably cleared up that stone scale."

The moment Spike turned around to face Riku, the pegasus yelped, taken aback when he saw the baby dragon's face. "Uhhh...Actually, maybe you should take a sick day or something."

"What? What is it?" Spike asked.

Riku stammered and laughed sheepishly before grabbing the mirror in Spike's room to show him. When Spike saw his reflection, he screamed in shock; his stone scale did NOT clear up. There were several more red diamond-shaped blemishes all over Spike's face, displaying the worst case of dragon acne Riku had ever seen. Spike quickly ran back to his bed and hid under his covers, hiding his disturbing breakout. Riku put the mirror back where it was before checking on Spike.

"Uhh, it's not as bad as it looks?" he tried to assure the distressed baby dragon.

"Are you kidding!? It's so much worse!" Spike exclaimed, letting out a grunt as he began scratching the itchy red bumps, popping his head out from under the covers. "Your face isn't the one covered in itchy red spots!"

"No, but it's normal, natural occurrence for pre-teens going into adulthood...At least, I think it is for creatures in this world," Riku pondered. "For people, there's the usual breakout of acne, certain changes in their body, like girls'..." Riku paused, suddenly feeling awkward explaining the different effects of puberty to Spike, who was a growing boy dragon. "...Uhh, t-their uhh...their chests, err...A-And boys's voices can get deeper while their...Uhh, I'm...not sure if the same applies to ponies or dragons, but-"

Thankfully, Spike was too busy scratching his face to pay attention to the very embarrassing lecture Riku tried to give about growing up. Spike ran back to the mirror, staring at his face in horror, even trying desperately to pop one of them off his face, which resulted in him yelling in pain and worsening the burning, itchy feeling on that stone scale.

"Augh! I can't show my face to anypony!" Spike whined. "I can't see Rarity looking like this! She'll think I'm hideous!"

Riku snapped out of his awkward phase, bringing one of his wings to his face as he shook his head. "Rarity said yesterday that she's also had pimples, too, so her skin isn't that perfect either," he tried to explain. "It happens as you grow up, or even under stress. Like you're in right now."

"Spike, Riku, what are you two doing!?" Twilight called out. Spike yelped and tried to hide, but Twilight already entered her number one assistant's bedroom. Before she could question why they were wasting time, she yelped when she saw the stone scales on Spike's face. "What in the name of Celestia!?"

Spike failed to cover his face with both his arms, feeling embarrassed to be seen by Twilight. "He's got a bad case of some dragon version of acne," Riku said, patting the dragon on the head to calm him down.

"Oh, is that all?" Twilight giggled a little at the strange facial blemishes on her adoptive little brother's face. "I used to get terrible breakouts any time I had a final exam with Celestia...who probably never had a blemish in her whole life."

"You do realize she did used to be a normal pony before ascending as an alicorn, right?" Riku stated.

"Semantics," Twilight said with a wave of her hoof, brushing off the facts they knew of Celestia and Luna in their youth. "Maybe we can ask Zecora to make a cream. I bet it'll-"

"Work wonders," Spike interjected. "So I've heard. But I am not leaving this castle until my face is back to its adorable self."

"Ok, then. But you're still going to help me with my lecture." Twilight plopped the stack of papers in Spike's arms, then proceeded to begin practicing despite the baby dragon's insistence. Riku rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut, his lips curling to a smirk as he planned to mess her up just to tease her. "The element of generosity and its importance in relation to the other Elements of Harmony-"

While distracted by her practice speech, Spike suddenly began to gag and his cheeks bulged out. Riku noticed, about to ask him if he was alright, only to leap back with a startled yell when Spike suddenly belched out his green fire breath, though it was much more intense than him receiving a message from Celestia. Twilight looked over her shoulder, seeing Spike covering his mouth while scorch marks were left around the baby dragon, along with a pile of ashes that was her stack of a lecture.

"Jeeze! I almost got singed!" Riku exclaimed. "What did you eat to make your fire that intense!?"

"I-I'm sorry! I don't know what happened!" Spike apologized. "I just had a sudden case of-!" Spike grunted, feeling another fiery burp coming up. Twilight quickly teleported away while Riku yelped and dove out of the way right as Spike unleashed another louder, longer belch, singing more of his bedroom. Riku quickly summoned his Keyblade and cast Water to douse out the green flames, Twilight reappearing a few seconds later with a fire extinguisher, then sprayed Spike with the foamy substance and the stray flames near his feet. "...indegestion."

"Ok, that doesn't seem normal for you at all," Riku uttered.

Twilight looked back at the ashes of her lecture, not blaming Spike since it was an unfortunate accident. "It's ok. I'm sure I can rewrite my lecture from my notes."

"Why not just use the notes?" Riku questioned.

"I can help with that," Spike offered, though Twilight seemed a bit wary after seeing him have some indigestion problems.

"Er, maybe you should leave the castle after all," Twilight insisted. "And go somewhere less...flammable?"

Spike sighed and slumped out of his room, scratching his face while awaiting another bout of indigestion to sneak up on him. "That was kinda harsh, wasn't it?" Riku questioned Twilight.

"I didn't mean it to sound like that," Twilight said. "I know how hard it can be for Spike if he has uncontrollable fire burps, but I don't want him to accidentally burn us or anything else in the castle."

"And ignore the strange problems he's been having that comes from a growing dragon?" Riku asked. Twilight sighed, lowering her head in guilt. "I have no idea what sorts of things dragons go through when they hit puberty, but I'm not sure if the weird indigestive fire burps are part of him growing up."

"I don't know either. Celestia had taken care of Spike when he hatched for a while, and baby dragons are much more difficult to raise than a pony," Twilight said. "And before the dragons opened up to ponies, we have no idea how they grow since nopony was crazy enough to study them for eons."

"Hmm...Maybe Smolder might tell us," Riku mumbled. "She's a teenage dragon. She might have gone through the same things Spike went through."

"I hope so," Twilight said.

"Just go do your lecture with those notes. I'll keep an eye on Spike if things get worse for him or anyone else around him." Riku gave Twilight a small peck on the cheek before he hurried after the baby dragon.


Riku left the castle, finding no sign of Spike anywhere in the rest of the castle. He doubted the young dragon would go off into town with his stone scale breakout, and the only other place he could be near was the school. Just as he was about to take to the air to get a bird's eye view, he spotted Rarity coming from the school.

"Hello, Riku!" Rarity greeted.

"Rarity, did you see Spike come by?" he asked.

"What was that, darling?" Rarity asked, holding a hoof up to her ear. "I'm having a little trouble hearing for some reason. My ears must be waterlogged from the shower this morning."

"Have you seen Spike?" Riku asked, raising his voice a bit more, though he was a bit confused by what happened to her hearing when she was fine yesterday.

"Why, yes, I have, and he was wearing quite a dapper noire-esque trench coat and hat," she said. Riku recalled Spike wearing something similar while they, Sora, Twilight, and Starlight went to visit the Crystal Empire a while back when they encountered Thorax. Riku figured the baby dragon was hiding his face from his crush and everyone as he got to the school. "By the way, have you seen Aqua? Or maybe even Kairi? I thought one of them might be perfect to model my dress with the phoenix feathers we gathered yesterday."

"No, I haven't seen them," Riku said, making sure to shake his head if Rarity didn't hear his response.

"Oh. Ok. Thank you, anyway. Ta ta!" Rarity trotted back home, hoping to run into either of the wielders to try out her new dress.

"Weird. Now Rarity's got some clogged up hearing," Riku mumbled to himself. "I hope I didn't catch anything. I almost turned into a tree last time I got sick."

As he made his way toward the school, he saw Pinkie hopping back into town, singing about a "free day". He remembered that today was the day some tourists around the world were going to be taking a tour of the school and learn about what it had to offer for those wanting to learn about friendship. Pinkie was supposed to be doing said tour. Finding it odd, Riku thought someone else must have offered to give a tour instead. And he had a hunch he knew who it was.

Entering the school grounds, Riku looked around for a group of tourists, though the small pauses he expected to explain the different features of the building and the educational system seemed to be skipped in a more rushed tour. Luckily, he didn't have to search the whole building when he heard a loud belch and a stream of green flames coming from the hall leading to the library. Rushing down the hall, he turned the corner, barely missing Spike as he rounded the corner, but he could see some smoke billowing out of the library from Spike's case of indigestion fire burping. Smolder stuck her head out, looking around for Spike when she spotted the white pegasus.

"Hey, Master Riku," she greeted.

"Was Spike just in the library?" Riku asked.

"Yup, and annoying everyone by shouting at the top of his lungs while some of us were busy studying some friendship lessons and doing homework," Smolder said.

"In a library?" Riku questioned. "He's been around Twilight all his life. I think he knows not to be too loud in a library."

"He even burned off those weird clothes he'd been wearing by accident," the dragoness added. "And a wicked bad case of stone scales. Must be that time for him."

"That 'time'?" Riku asked. "You mean...you know what's going on with him?"

"Of course I do! What dragon doesn't?" Smolder asked with a shrug.

"...Spike?" Riku said, emphasizing the baby dragon's name. "He was born and raised outside the Dragon Lands? Doesn't even know what it's like to be a real dragon?"

"...Oh. Right," Smolder mumbled. "...Uhh, let's find him and I'll explain everything."

Riku and Smolder headed through the halls to search for Spike. Unfortunately, the halls were empty, so no one probably caught the running dragon. However, they didn't have to search too far when they heard belches and found smoke coming from a supply closet. Smolder tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Uhh, occupied!" Spike called out.

"Spike, that's not a bathroom," Riku stated. "Smolder thinks she knows what's going on with you."

"I'm not letting anyone else see me!" Spike argued, followed by grunts as he began scratching his face.

"Alright, we're coming in by force, then." Riku summoned his Keyblade, but as he was about to aim it at the keyhole underneath the doorknob, Smolder grabbed his hoof.

"Hey, mind if I try that unlocking thingie with mine?" Smolder asked.

"Uhh, sure." Riku dismissed his Keyblade and stepped back.

Smolder summoned her Keyblade, taking aim at the door. "Ok, so aim at keyhole, then concentrate..." Keeping it as still as possible, her blade began to build up light at the tip, then fired a small beam into the keyhole. Hearing it unlock, Smolder seemed a bit disappointed. "Huh. Thought it would also just magically slam a door open. Oh well. Looked kinda cool." Riku rolled his eyes, waiting for the day Smolder tries it on a locked chest. The dragoness opened the door, where the duo found Spike sitting in a corner, looking miserable with smoke from his uncontrollable fire belches billowing near the ceiling. Riku noticed Spike had a lot more stone scales, covering his back and arms, and some of the dragon blemishes were a darker shade of purple from Spike's own scales. "You know, this isn't a good hiding place if we can just follow the smoke."

"Leave me alone!" Spike said, trying to yell, but almost sounded quietly strained.

"What did you say, Spike?" Riku asked.

"Leave! Me! Alone!" Spike emphasized again, still making it hard for either pegasus or dragoness to hear him clearly.

"Huh? Did you say 'sleeves made of foam'?" Smolder asked.

Getting frustrated, Spike tried again to tell them to go away. "I said, leave me alone!"

Smolder and Riku were taken aback when Spike could talk normally again, but when they saw him gag, they quickly leapt and hovered beneath the ceiling, dodging another bout of fire burping indigestion. Spike burned most of the janitorial supplies to ashes, embarrassing him further and causing some unfortunate damage due to his ailments. While Riku was lucky to not get toasted alive, Smolder laughed in amusement, confusing the stallion.

"Wow! I have seen some pretty bad molts in my time, but yours takes the cake!" Smolder said.

The two touched down while Spike and Riku looked at Smolder quizzically. "Molts?" Spike asked.

"Yeah. The molt: super painful stone scales, fire burps, uncontrollable volume shifts, all of them part of growing up dragon," Smolder listed with a grin. "Congrats, Spike."

Dumbfounded, Riku was surprised to see he was partially right about his theory just from the stone scales. "So...Spike's going through dragon puberty right now?"

"What the hay is puberty?" Smolder asked.

"Basically, growing up from an adolescent to an adult," Riku explained.

"Oh, no no no no no!" Spike quickly shook his head and waves his arms in protest. "Last time I grew up, I turned into a giant greedy monster."

"Greed-induced bigness. That's totally different," Smolder stated. "The molt is completely normal. Every dragon goes through it."

"There, see? Just like I said before," Riku said. "Everyone goes through the ups and downs of becoming a man. Or...an adult dragon...An adult anything."

"And pretty soon, Spike'll be able to leave and strike out on his own," Smolder added.

"Why would I do that?" Spike asked, not liking the molt anymore than he's already experienced so far.

"In the Dragon Lands, a molter's loved ones kick them out at the first stone scale," Smolder explained, making Spike gasp in shock.

"What? Why!?" Spike questioned.

"I think it's biological. We call it the 'molt effect'," Smolder said. "I haven't even told you about the smell."

"Smell? What sme-?" Riku's nostrils flared, and he caught a whiff of an unholy smell in the room. His fur and mane stood on end, finally gagging before covering his muzzle with his hooves. "UGH! Ack! B-By the light of my formerly dark heart! What is that awful stench!?" Smolder smelled it, too, pinching her nose to avoid inhaling the noxious scent. Spike, confused, sniffed under his armpit, gagging again, but thankfully didn't do so due to indigestion. Riku realized that smell came from the baby dragon, suddenly feeling really bad for Spike as he had to live with that stench for who knows how much longer. "Yeesh. I'm kinda glad I was born a human at this point. Spike smells like a skunk who rolled around in garbage and showered in moldy cheese chunks."

"Yeah, but we gotta deal with it," Smolder said. "I love my brother and all, but one whiff of him, and we were all 'See ya!'"

"Gee. What a great sister you are," Riku muttered sarcastically.

"Wait, does the molt effect happen to ponies, too?" Spike uttered to himself. The thought scared him, especially when Twilight told him to leave the castle after burning up her lecture by accident. "Twilight already asked me to leave the castle today. If she kicks me out, where will I live? I'm too young to grow up!"

"Spike, relax. I doubt Twilight would ever want you to ever leave her side," Riku reassured the stressed dragon, patting Spike's head with a wing while still covering his nose with his hooves. "It's...gonna be hard to tolerate the smell side effect of the molt, but Twilight's not going to kick you out."

"But everypony else would avoid me," Spike whimpered.

"Oh, you won't be avoided," Smolder laughed. "That molt stench is going to be a magnet for predators: tatzlwurms, hydras, rocs."

Riku grimaced, glancing at Spike, then back to Smolder in horror. "Dragons are scared of rocks?" Spike questioned, finding the last object highly skeptical.

"No, not those kinds of rocks," Riku said. "You mean...the giant, monstrous hawks, spelled R-O-C-S?"

"Bingo," Smolder said. "And they can snack on a molting dragon like candy."

"Oh! That's very reassuring!" Riku exclaimed. "Spike's gonna be in peril until the molt finally stops!...It does end, right?"

"So Twilight's kicking me out, and the only creatures who don't find me disgusting want to eat me?" Spike uttered, though he must have meant to say it in a normal tone with his random voice pitching making him quiet.

"Seriously, I don't think we heard a single thing you said," Smolder said.

"TWILIGHT'S KICKING ME OUT, AND THE ONLY CREATURES WHO DON'T FIND ME DISGUSTING WANT TO EAT ME!?" Spike shouted, making Riku switch between covering his ears before retching and covering his nose again.

"Congrats!" Smolder cheered, her excited grin faltering when Riku gave him a deadpanned glare.

The closet door slammed open as Pinkie poked her head in. "Hey! Is this the shouting closet!? Because I've got a free day, and I'm totally up for some shouting!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Riku wasn't going to ask how she got back to the school when she went back into town not too long ago. Pinkie sniffed the air, scrunching her muzzle out of curiosity. "Also, where's that brussels-sprouts-covered-in-cotton-candy smell coming from? Because it's really interesting."

Shrugging, Pinkie left and bounced along her merry way, leaving the two dragons and stallion baffled by her random fascination toward the molt smell coming from Spike. "...Should we be concerned if Pinkie Pie is one of these predators who wants to eat Spike?" Riku joked, trying to make light of Spike's situation. Spike, however, didn't find the joke amusing. "...Ok. How about we head to Zecora and see if she might have something to take care of your itching, random burps, and the awful smell?"

"Fine," Spike grumbled, his claws scratching at his stone scales as he grunted in irritation.


The long walk from the school to Zecora's hut in the Everfree Forest was agonizing for Spike. Smolder headed back to her friends to continue her studies, leaving Riku to watch Spike in case any of the predators the dragoness named came after him. Spike was more concerned about the itchy stone scales as they seemed to irritate him far worse than before. Riku grabbed himself a couple clothespins to keep his nose closed to avoid smelling the horrible molt smell coming from the baby dragon. He would have to ask Zecora if she's able to replicate the stench so they can try it on Heartless, or even Nobodies.

They arrived at the tree-like hut at last, Riku knocking politely on the door. "Hey, Zecora, you home?" Riku asked.

"You may enter, Riku," Zecora called out. Letting themselves in, Spike and Riku saw Zecora gathering a few ingredients for a new potion from her shelves before she turned around to greet them. "What can I do for you two?"

"Zecora, do you know something the dragons have called 'the molt'?" Spike asked, to which the zebra nodded in response. "Is there anything you can make that can get rid of it? Because I don't want Twilight to kick me out, or have anypony else avoid me."

Zecora was about to speak, but she caught a whiff of the molt smell, quickly holding her nose with a hoof after recovering from the disturbing stench. "When it comes to breakouts, I've seen all circumstances. But as with the molt smell, let's not take any chances." She turned back to her shelf, getting herself a pair of clothespins to clasp her nostrils and prevent herself from breathing in Spike's molt smell. "Sadly, the ailments you have, I cannot cure. The molt's a condition that dragons endure."

"Ugh! But if anypony sees or smells me right now, they'll be grossed out and avoid me forever!" Spike whined while he scratched helplessly at his stone scales.

"Oh, so I don't count, but everyone else does?" Riku questioned Spike, slightly teasing him, but he wasn't in no condition to laugh with his ailments and his waning self confidence. "Zecora, is it possible to make some sort of anti-itch ointment that can smell like flowers and maybe some medicine to quell his fire burping?" Zecora nodded. As she was about to get what she needed, she and Riku both heard Spike gagging. Thinking quickly, Riku grabbed Spike and aimed him at the pit underneath Zecora's cauldron right as he released a loud burp. Riku nearly lost his footing from the amount of force that came out from these molt burps, but held strong until Spike ceased his belching fire breath while also lighting Zecora's fire pit. "Sheesh. Definitely a growing boy with that much strength in your fire breath."

"Can this get any worse?" Spike groaned.

"Hello! Zecora!?" Outside the hut, they heard Rarity calling for the zebra and knocking daintily on the door. "Are you here!?"

Spike grimaced and began to panic, running over to grasp Riku's jacket. "I CAN'T LET RARITY SEE ME LIKE THIS! PLEASE DON'T LET HER KNOW I'M HERE!" Spike begged while shouting at the top of his lungs.

"I think she already knows if you're randomly yelling!" Riku yelled back as he rubbed his ears. Even Zecora winced, grabbing a couple large cotton balls and placing them in her ears. Rarity knocked again, making Spike panic more as his crush could see him look so hideous. He dove into a woven basket just as Rarity let herself in. Riku sighed, making sure he didn't go deaf as well as he faced Rarity. "Hey, Rarity."

"I'm sorry, Riku! Did you say something!?" Rarity asked, raising her voice as she lifted a hoof to her ear. She noticed Riku wincing, getting annoyed by the constant shouting as he felt a headache coming on. "Oh, am I talking louder than usual!?"

"Clearly," Riku grumbled as he rubbed his ears.

"I have volume concerns today by the scores," Zecora said to herself before approaching Rarity. "But it seems I am ready to help you with yours."

"Eh, what!? I can't seem to hear anything!" Rarity said. "I was hoping you could help me, Zecora! I have no idea what happened! One minute, I was sewing phoenix feathers onto a dress, and the next I couldn't hear my own voice!"

"Rarity went deaf?" Riku said aloud. "How!? What did you do!? Did Spike and I run into anything, like a tiny earwig or some pollen from a deadly flower on the wind!?"

"Relax, you are as healthy as can be," Zecora assured Riku. "The worst you have experienced was nearly becoming a tree. Phoenix feathers can affect a ponies' ears. It's a magic ailment I've treated for years."

"...Phoenix feathers can cause hearing problems???" Riku questioned.

"As strange as it sounds, it is also not quite rife. Did you believe their down can bring back some life?" Zecora asked.

"Well...kinda," Riku said. "I mean, birds that can be reborn from the ashes, I expected their feathers to have some sort of healing power."

"I don't know what you two are talking about, but I can see your mouths are moving up and down!" Rarity interjected. She sniffed, suddenly grimacing as she smelt something foul. "Oh, goodness. I hope that incredibly pungent odor belongs to some sort of magical curative." Spike poked his head out from the basket he hid in, letting out a small groan as that odor came from him. "I hope you're not too busy, but I must have my hearing back! It turns out that I talk to myself while I sew, and without that conversation, I simply cannot think!"

Riku growled as he had to cover his ears whenever Rarity yelled to try to communicate with them. "Zecora, let me borrow some of those cotton balls," he begged.

"It's a simple cure, and the directions are clear," Zecora said to Rarity, ignoring Riku's plea as she went to grab a very thin, almost hourglass-shaped bottle with a dropper connected to the lid. "Just one or two drops in each of your ears."

Rarity took the bottle of ear medicine, watching Zecora's lip movements to know what to do with it. Taking the dropper, Rarity tilted her head to both sides, placing a drop of the blue liquid into her ears so she could get some of her hearing back.

"Thank you, Zecora. You're an ear saver," she said, then glanced at Riku. "Riku, why are you here?"

"I...came to ask Zecora if she had some skin cream to help Spike with that awful stone scale blemish of his," he said with a nervous grin, trying to help Spike from feeling humiliated by the pony he still can't get over his crush on. "It got pretty bad, and he's got a little issue with that."

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA!" Spike shouted, clearly not meaning to say that aloud.

Riku quickly zipped in front of the basket, his fake grin growing suspiciously wider. "Oh, I think I heard something!" Rarity squealed. "Zecora, your cure's already working!"

Spike quietly clambered out of the basket, wanting to get as far away from Rarity before she tries to figure out where the awful molt smell was coming from. Zecora kept the unicorn distracted, showing Rarity some special facial cream she could give to Spike if she ever ran into him. The baby dragon snuck out of the window, sneaking into the woods while Rarity made her way back down the path.

"Ugh. Why can't Spike just tell Rarity and get this obsessive crush with her over with?" he grumbled. "I doubt she'd care about everything if she knew what the molt was."

Riku and Zecora went outside, looking around for Spike. They hoped he didn't sneak out too far with how dangerous the Everfree Forest can be. While looking around, they found one of Zecora's tribal masks on the ground, and it was shaking like someone small was hiding under it.

"Rarity is gone, there is no need to hide," Zecora assured as she moved the mask away from Spike's hiding spot. "It probably would be best to treat your symptoms outside. But we can't treat your symptoms on the ground. It is safe, there's no ponies around."

"I'm not hiding from ponies. I'm hiding from that!" Spike pointed to something behind the pegasus and zebra.

Turning around, Riku and Zecora gasped as they saw a massive bird similar to that of a hawk hovering right behind them. Its feathers on its front were white and brown, the wings and its back two shades of gray with pale evergreen wing tips, and its face was white with three fringes that had pale evergreen tips and had a similar color in a mask around its yellow eyes.

"Oh crud...Please tell me that's not an actual roc," Riku hoped.

"I think it is, because its looking right at me," Spike whimpered.

The roc let out a screech, then swooped down and flexed its talons as it dove at them. Riku quickly grabbed Zecora and Spike, diving away from the roc's sharp feet as it slammed those massive talons into the earth, picking up a sizeable chunk, missing its target.

"Great. Out of all the things to happen today, we run into an actual roc!" Riku exclaimed, watching the massive bird of prey steering itself around for another pass. "I don't know how far this molt stench can reach, but I don't want to run into anymore different predators that can eat you, Spike!"

"That's something that would have been nice to know!" Zecora exclaimed. "No time to discuss right now! We should go!"

The roc screeched again, flapping its powerful wings to pick up speed. The trio ran, Riku not risking to try to outrun a beast of an avian that size with his own flight speed.

"Zecora, get somewhere safe! It's just gonna go after Spike!" Riku said. "I can try to hold it off until he gets somewhere safe!"

"That's a big problem since nowhere seems to be safe for me right now!" Spike yelled.

Riku summoned his Keyblade, then jumped in front of the roc as he aimed his blade at it. "Firaga!" Unleashing a fireball, the spell struck the roc in the face, making it screech as it flew up and shook its head. Riku grimaced as the roc seemed to shake off the powerful Fire spell. "Not good. This bird's pretty durable."

Zecora and Spike split up, but Spike made the bad idea to try to climb up a tree to hide from the roc. After the roc recovered, it lunged its talons at the pegasus, who blocked the sharp claws, but it grabbed his Keyblade, then flung the blade and its wielder behind it with its incredible strength. Riku was startled by its might, vaulting off his front hooves as he approached the ground, then flipped and twisted his body around to land on all fours as he skid to a halt. Ignoring the stallion, the roc smelled out the hidden dragon, letting out a caw as it flew toward the tree Spike was hiding in, latching onto a big chunk of the branches and leaves, revealing Spike's hiding spot.

"Ok, maybe this wasn't a good plan," Spike mumbled.

"Spike, you can't hide in a tree! You must come down!" Zecora called out as she ran up to the tree. "We stand a much better chance on the ground!"

The roc made another pass, catching Zecora off guard as it snatched her in one of its tough talons. "Zecora!" Riku cried out, flying after the roc to try to save her.

"Hey! Bring her back!" Spike shouted at the monstrous bird.

Suddenly, his body began glowing red and the itching of his body intensified. He almost got distracted by his irritated stone scales when he heard the roc screech as it set its sights on him. Riku was tailing right behind it, launching spells at the roc, but nothing seemed to deter it from trying to get is little snack. All the while, Zecora was panicked while clutched in its claws.

Spike began to run, only to wind up literally running into Rarity, who was completely unaware of what was happening due to her temporary hearing loss and startled when Spike rammed into her chest. "Oh! Spike, what are you doing here?"

"Rarity, you have to get out of here!" Spike exclaimed. "There's a giant roc trying to eat me! And it's got Zecora!"

"I was just at Zecora's, but I was just heading back!" Rarity said. Still clueless to the dangerous creature flying toward them, she pulled out the ear medicine Zecora gave her. "I can't read these instructions! Does this say 'two drops once a day' or one drop twice a day'!?"

While chasing after the roc, Riku spotted Rarity with Spike, letting out a frustrated groan as she was now also caught in the crossfires of the roc's tasty dragon molting morsel. "You've gotta be kidding me." Unable to swoop down fast enough to snatch Spike and Rarity in time with how fast the roc was, he took aim at the powerful bird with his Keyblade once again. "Stopga!" The time stopping magic managed to surround the roc and all its massive form, the sound of a rapid ticking clock slowing down as an illusion of one phased through its body. Within seconds, the roc slowed to a complete stop in midair, flapping partway to increase its speed. Relieved for the temporary reprieve, Riku passed the roc, wincing a little as he also seemed to have accidentally affected Zecora as well with his Stop spell, her face frozen in terror as her captor sped up. "Sorry, Zecora. I'll figure out how to get free after I get Rarity to safety." He sped off before the spell came to an end, landing between Spike and Rarity. "Rarity, you need to get out of here! It's not safe!"

Rarity screeched, startled to see Riku suddenly landing next to them. "Riku, please do not do that! You gave me a heart attack!" she said.

"Rarity, run away!" Riku tried to instruct, waving his hoof to the temporarily frozen roc hovering several hundred yards away from them. "Spike's getting attacked by a roc!"

"I still can't hear you!" Rarity exclaimed, making the wielder facehoof hard. "And why didn't you tell me Spike's stone scales got worse!?" Getting frustrated, Riku was about to actually yell at Rarity so she could hear him, but he heard the roc's wings flap, the spell ending far too quickly than he expected. While he and Spike gasped and watched the roc getting closer, Rarity pulled out the bottle Zecora gave her for the skin cream she wanted to give to Spike from her saddlebags. "Here, Spike! I've got just the thing for-"

"RARITY, MOVE!" Spike shouted.

Riku tried to shove the mare out of the way, but the roc dove in too fast, smacking him hard with its free talon while the other holding a screaming Zecora managed to snatch Rarity inside with the zebra while Spike only got caught by his tail. Riku tumbled far as he got smacked aside, rolling to a stop with a groan, nearly knocked for a loop. Shaking his head, he rubbed his head, wincing slightly from the impact with the roc's talon. Hearing Rarity's loud, shrill scream, he looked up, spotting the roc flying away with Rarity, Zecora, and Spike.

"No wonder they're called rocs; felt like I got knocked away by a living boulder punching me in the face," Riku mumbled.

"Riku!" Glancing down the path, he was surprised to see Twilight running up to him. "Oh my gosh, what happened to you!?"

"Uhh, would you believe me if I told you Spike's finally growing up?" Riku asked sheepishly.

"...I'm sorry, what?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Ok, long story, short; Spike's experiencing a strange version of dragon puberty, which Smolder calls 'the molt', explaining the stone scale breakout, his random fire burping, a shift in his tone of voice when he tries to talk, and a smell you do NOT want to smell yourself, and that very smell lured a roc here, and that same roc just kidnapped Spike, Rarity, and Zecora, and plans to eat Spike for a mid-afternoon snack," Riku paraphrased.

Twilight blinked, now finding the brief details of Spike's predicament very hard to believe. ".............What?" she asked again. Frowning, Riku grabbed Twilight's cheeks, then forced her head to look in the direction of the giant bird, which seemed to lose its balance as familiar green flames shot out from its talon and nearly got burnt. They heard Spike yell as he seemed to be falling in the distance. Twilight and Riku gasped, the latter almost forgetting the baby dragon was in peril. "Spike!?"

"Come on!" Riku and Twilight flapped their wings and sped off as fast as they can to rescue the dragon. To their relief, he seemed to have landed safely, bouncing off the branches of the trees, then slid down the thick bark of one to a safe landing. Spike seemed to look relieved as they got closer, his back getting some itching relief from his tough slide down, but it was short lived as his body glowed red again and the itchiness intensified again. "Spike, are you-?" Riku and Twilight skid to a halt, wondering why he was glowing while he hopped around, scratching himself with his claws or the tree he slid down to relieve himself. "Whoa. It's starting to look so much worse now."

"Riku, what's happening to Spike!?" Twilight asked worriedly. Her muzzle scrunched up, nearly gagging as she smelt the foul odor coming from Spike's molt. "Gah! And what's that smell!?"

"It's coming from me!" Spike exclaimed, panting and grunting in agony, unable to stop himself from scratching. "If I wasn't so itchy and in immediate danger, this would be so humiliating!"

"Spike's going through a dragon's version of molting," Riku reiterated, now that Twilight was able to see how serious the situation was. "Smolder told us that it was a sign of Spike growing up, and he didn't want you, Rarity, or anyone else to see or smell him." The roc above them screeched, along with the sounds of Rarity screaming for help as the bird of prey swerved around to find its snack. "And that disgusting smell comes from the molt, which also attracts predators that eat molting dragons!"

As the roc dove down toward them, Twilight quickly teleported herself, Riku, and Spike out of the way. It chomped on the tree they were near, uprooting it with its mighty beak before spitting it out as it came around for another pass. The trio reappeared safely a few yards away from where they stood, watching the roc swerving its wings to find its prey.

"I tried to save Rarity and Zecora, but I can barely do anything with my body being this itchy!" Spike said.

"Then we'll save them and distract the roc," Twilight said. Summoning her Keyblade, she glanced back at her surrogate baby brother. "Just stay hidden as best as you can." Spike nodded, trying to run for cover, but his itching kept slowing him down. "Come on, Riku."

"Right behind you," Riku said.

The couple took off and chased after the roc. Mixing up their magic, they tried to shoot down the massive bird, but it was a lot more agile than it appeared. Their spells and Twilight's own magic beams only agitated the roc, keeping a firm grip on Rarity and Zecora in its one talon while it turned and faced down its attackers. It startled the duo when it shot forward, dashing past them as its wings smacked them out of the air. Riku and Twilight managed to recover, flying back up as Riku dashed up to the roc's face in rapid flashes of light and darkness.

He took a swing at the roc's face, hoping a hard enough strike would knock this tough bird out of the sky. It didn't give the stallion a chance as it thrust its beak rapidly to peck at him. Riku blocked the sharp beak when his body couldn't rise or dip fast enough to avoid it. He struck the top of the roc's beak, which ticked the bird off more as it let out an ear-piercing shriek in Riku's face. While stunned, the roc lifted its neck, then slammed its chin down on top of Riku, knocking him down, then slammed him down hard with its free talon and sent the stallion hurtling back down to earth. Twilight gasped, then glowered at the roc. She yelled and slammed into the roc, getting its attention, then flew away as it chased her while blasting it with magic beams.

Riku spun out of control as he plummeted to the ground. He shook himself out of his daze, quickly righting himself as he flapped his wings hard to slow his descent. He flailed his legs as he tried to prepare himself for a hard landing, flaring his wings to slow his speed. His hooves hit the ground, skidding hard against the dirt and grass for several yards until he tripped up and tumbled across the wide clearing in the Everfree Forest. He finally rolled to a stop with a groan, surprised by how tough and smart that roc was.

"Good thing Celestia didn't decide to take in a roc as a pet," he grunted as he sat up. Ironically, he wound up crash landing just a few yards away from Spike, who was in a lot of frustration and agony from his incredibly itchy stone scales. He wasn't able to find any shelter because of the itching, and he was out in the open for the roc to snatch. "Spike, I don't know how we can handle that bird!"

"I-I've been...watching!" Spike grunted.

"How much longer does this stupid molt last for?" As soon as Riku asked that question, the red glowing around Spike's body quickly disappeared, along with the stone scales all over Spike's body, leaving behind diamond-shaped marks on his scales. Riku couldn't even smell the disgusting molt stench anymore. Spike let out a huge sigh of relief, finally glad to be rid of the irritating skin condition. "...Huh. I guess it only lasts for a day."

"Thank goodness. I thought that itching would never stop," Spike said.

"I can't imagine the amount of pain going through-" Suddenly, they heard cracking sounds, and Spike yelped when he looked down at his feet. Riku looked down as well, letting out a startled gasp as he saw his scales turning into a mysterious, gray coloring, and was hardening over his limbs. "What the hell!?"

"W-What's happening to me!?" Spike panicked as the hardened scales quickly climbed up his body. He could barely move his limbs, almost like he was turning into a stone statue. "Riku, help! I...can't move!"

Riku watched helplessly as Spike was encased in the mysterious rock cocoon his body was creating. Spike let out a muffled cry when the stone reached his head, completely petrifying him in tough gray stone with diamond markings over where his stone scales originally were on his purple scales. The stallion's jaw dropped, fearing the worst, but if all dragons went through this like Smolder said, he had no idea what was going to happen to the poor baby dragon.

"What the hell just happened?" he uttered, ignoring the screeching roc chasing after Twilight. Riku cautiously approached Spike, wondering if the baby dragon was able to breath under that tough cocoon of stone. "S-Spike? Can you hear me in there?"

He tentatively reached a hoof out to touch Spike, but just as he was a mere inch away from poking the stone covering, he heard it crack and saw a crack begin to form down the middle, starting from the top of Spike's head. He quickly pulled his hoof back, backing away slowly as he watched this strange dragon metamorphosis. Would Spike grow a bit taller? Would his scales look different? Would he lose that baby dragon fat and become a more muscular dragon? Riku's questions were answered as the stone cocoon finally broke open, releasing a flash of light that blinded the stallion for a brief moment. When he could see again, Spike was thankfully freed as he let out a disoriented groan.

"What happened?" Spike asked. When he stood up, Riku's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he saw something behind the baby dragon. While Spike rubbed his head, his body freed from the marks the stone scales left on him, nothing really changed Spike aside from a pair of webbed appendages stretching out from his back. Spike noticed Riku's shocked expression, glancing left and right nervously like there was something more dangerous than the roc behind him. "Uhh...What?"

"Y-You...You go-hah..." Riku couldn't put it into words, pointing at the new dragons wings that weren't on the baby dragon's back before.

Looking to where the stallion was pointing, he lifted his arms, letting out a gasp as he stared at his new wings. "Did I just sprout wings?" he asked. Spike flexed his new wings, giving them a small flap as his awe turned into excitement. "I just sprouted wings!"

"That's...That's incredible," Riku mumbled, trying to wrap his head around witnessing the complete process of the dragon molt. He thought Spike would just live his life on the ground, being raised by ponies and lived like one for all his life, but no matter where a dragon lives, they'll eventually grow into a new pair of wings, albeit through a very dangerous "growth spurt". He and Spike were snapped out of their respective dazes when they heard the roc screeching overhead, remembering the dangerous, giant bird of prey holding Zecora and Rarity hostage while Twilight was fighting it on her own. "Oh, right. Forgot about Polly up there."

"We gotta help them," Spike said, suddenly feeling a lot more confident facing off against the creature that was trying to eat him earlier.

"Uhh, Spike, did you forget that you were gonna be that thing's lunch?" Riku questioned.

"Yeah, but...I do feel a little bit different after I broke out of that strange rock thing," Spike said. "Besides the new wings, of course." Hearing Rarity screaming, Spike quickly looked up as the roc dove down to ram into Twilight, who teleported away before it touched her, then blasted a magic beam at the claw holding the two captive mares. The roc screeched, opening its claw from the beam, nearly dropping Rarity and Zecora as they clung onto its talons for dear life. "Hang on, Rarity! I'll save you!"

Spike flapped his new wings and shot up into the air, making Riku balk in surprise. "S-Spike, hold on!" Riku took off to chase after Spike. Since it was his first ever flight with his new wings, Spike staggered a bit, getting used to the feeling of moving a pair of new appendages until he was stable enough to keep flying. Spike wound up putting a bit too much force into his flaps, sending him shooting off into the air, passing the roc and Twilight. Twilight noticed the odd blur as Riku climbed up to her altitude. "Hey, Twilight. You hurt?"

"What was that that whizzed by?" Twilight questioned. Spike hovered back down to the couple, giving the shocked alicorn a wave. "S-Spike!? You...You have wings!? How did you get wings!?"

"I think that's what the molt does once it's all over," Riku said.

"But it's awesome, right!?" Spike tried to show off, losing control of his flapping as he flailed about, but managed to regain control, catching back up to Twilight and Riku with a sheepish grin.

The roc got their attention away from Spike's new wings, screeching as it flipped around and nearly swiped them out of the air with its talons. Thankfully it missed, but its attempt to attack its smaller opponents made it harder for Rarity and Zecora to keep their hold on the roc's digits.

"We need to distract it and keep it from flying all over," Twilight said.

"I've got this," Spike volunteered. Surprised by Spike's growing confidence, the baby dragon flew on ahead before Twilight could explain her plan. Spike flew up into the roc's face and smacked the top of its beak with his hand. "Hey, giant chicken! If you like dragons so much, come and get me!"

The roc snapped its beak, missing Spike as he flapped out of the roc's range by several feet. His smaller size and new wing power gave him an advantage, startled Twilight and Riku with how much energy Spike had now. Spike was flying circles around the roc, exhausting it and event disorienting it as it kept its eye on him too much, getting dizzy and hovered shakily with a delirious caw. Just as the massive avian snapped out of its dizziness, Spike bumped his chest with a fist, then reared back and blew out a powerful stream of green flames. The fire shrouded the roc, which let out a startled and pained shriek as it was burned, its flexing talons causing Rarity and Zecora to lose their grip and fall to the earth.

Twilight and Riku dove down after the falling mares, catching them and safely hovering them safely down to the ground. The roc, its body and feathers left a brown, charred color when Spike stopped his much stronger fire breath, blinked a couple times in shock before flying away, forgetting about the ponies and dragon and fleeing to avoid becoming the prey itself. Watching it run away, Spike nodded in satisfaction, then hovered down to join the others.

"That was really reckless of you, Spike, but that was actually really impressive," Riku commented.

"I know that the molt produced surprising things. But I'm glad that the last was a new pair of wings!" Zecora said.

"Yes! And also, I'm glad you've got wings!" Rarity shouted, still having trouble with her hearing.

Riku grimaced as he shoved his hoof against the unicorn's mouth, facing her so she can read his lips. "Rarity, don't try talking until you can hear us! Ok!" he said, raising his voice in case she didn't understand his lip movements. Rarity nodded, giving everyone a sheepish grin. "Good. Now I won't be going deaf with all the shouting today."

"I still can't believe it!" Twilight said excitedly to Spike. "I didn't know if you were able to grow wings or not, but you have! I'm so happy for you, Spike! Did the molt really result in giving you your wings?"

"Yeah," Spike said, then sighed dejectedly. "The molt's also a sign that a dragon's growing up and start changing. I wish I could stop it, but I can't..."

Spike began to walk away sadly, confusing Twilight. "Wait, where are you going?" the alicorn asked.

"In the Dragon Lands, families make molters leave home," Spike said. "It's called the molt effect."

He tried to continue walking on, but Riku got in the dragon's way. "Spike, you're not going anywhere," he said.

"But...the molt effect-" Spike tried to argue, but was silenced when Riku pat his head.

"I think the reason why the molt kicks growing dragons out of their homes isn't because of the smell or the fire burps. Or even the threat of bringing deadly predators that can eat you." Spike grimaced bashfully, nearly cutting it close with that roc between him and the others he wound up dragging into this unavoidable growth he had to endure. "Smolder mentioned she had a brother who went through the molt. Clearly, she's close to her sibling, even after they both went through the molt, and she shows how much she still cares about him."

"Plus, these aren't the Dragon Lands," Twilight added. She hugged Spike tightly, surprising the dragon. "Molt effect or no, I don't want you to go away."

"But I'm growing up. What if something even worse happens?" Spike asked.

"Have you forgotten what we've been through these last several years?" Twilight asked with a giggle. "Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, Heartless, Nobodies. That list is gonna go on and on, and we're only going to keep on dealing with far worse down the line. Besides, you're supposed to grow up, but you'll always be you. And no matter what happens, we'll get through it together."

Spike sighed in relief as he hugged Twilight back. He had enough moments where he tried to go on his own, which always resulted in something bad happening to him or anyone who went after him to bring him back home. With the insanity that came from the dragon molt finally over, Twilight, Riku, Spike, and Rarity headed back into Ponyville to tell the others the great news while Zecora waved them goodbye and headed back to her hut in the forest. Even though Spike had some new wings to carry himself everywhere now, he lazily decided to ride on Riku's back, claiming he didn't want to break in his wings too hard. Twilight thought that was ridiculous, but Riku let him enjoy the ride. The baby dragon took down a roc that tried to eat him and came out of it unscathed.


Later that evening, Twilight and Riku relaxed in their bedroom, the alicorn skimming through the next lesson plan for tomorrow's classes while the stallion laid on his side watching her work. "Well, everyone took that surprising news well," Riku said.

"Taking it well's an understatement," Twilight giggled. "I'm still in shock. Spike was hatched from my magic surge when I was a filly, and we all thought he would have grown up becoming a different dragon. The only difference is just his sense of morality compared to dragons before they decided to become allies."

"At least you didn't have to deal with all the side effects of a dragon molt," Riku said, letting out an exaggerated groan as he flopped onto the mattress. "I kinda felt itchy watching Spike scratch those stone scales. And don't get me started on that smell. I thought I was going to vomit."

"Did Pinkie really think that smelled 'interesting'?" Twilight questioned.

"I'd be surprised if one of the predators for a molting dragon was a pink earth pony who makes absolutely no sense with logic and devours sweets without suffering from a sugar rush," Riku said. "But I'm gonna chalk that up to another of the many, MANY things about Pinkie Pie that we will never question."

"Indeed," Twilight agreed. She then set her papers down on her desk via her magic a few minutes later, finally relaxing on the bed with Riku. "So, anything new develop with our students during training this morning?"

"It's a work in progress with teaming up against a formidable foe," Riku said as he rolled back on his side, facing Twilight. "Still need to coordinate their charges, even though they had a good idea charging me in different groups."

"Seems like learning about friendship and Keyblade training both work in tandem together," Twilight proposed with a grin.

Riku nodded in agreement, though his expression quickly turned to surprise, then annoyance. "Oh, shoot. I completely forgot."

"What?" Twilight asked. "What did you forget?"

"I actually figured out Ocellus's predicament with her training that I wanted to tell Aqua," Riku said. "Thanks to Spike's molting, that distracted me all day."

"You did?" the alicorn asked curiously. "I heard she has some strange problem trying to discover how she was going to fight."

"Right, but there's so much more than that; her Keyblade is also really unique, much like your Keyblade and its Harmony Links." Twilight was intrigued by this discovery, curious to know how Ocellus's Keyblade was special. "You know how changelings have the ability to shapeshift into anything and anyone just from a glance, right?"

"Yes?" Twilight said, encouraging her coltfriend to continue.

"They can look exactly like the animal or person they're impersonating as, but they don't magically copy the same personality, quirks, or even any physical skills they have. They literally have to act just like them in order to look like a perfect doppelganger. Chrysalis was able to fool almost everyone back when she tried to take over Canterlot during Shining and Cadence's wedding, but she couldn't fool you when you knew a lot about Cadence that Chrysalis didn't know." Twilight nodded her head, giving a small frown after what the overthrown queen tried to do to her brother and fooling everyone so easily when her hunch over the fake Cadence was right. "Now, obviously, Ocellus is not that great of an actress. She's pretty timid and quiet, so she seems to prefer hiding with her shapeshifting to avoid attention to herself."

"Right, just like Fluttershy years ago," Twilight said. "Although, they did tell Aqua how she pretended to be Rarity and slipped past Fluttershy to play hooky during Friends and Family Day."

Riku gave Twilight a blank stare. "...Yeah, they got lucky running into someone like Fluttershy that day," he said, making the alicorn laugh a little at his deadpanned expression.

"So what is it about Ocellus's shapeshifting that's important in her training as a Keyblade wielder?" Twilight asked, urging Riku to continue explaining.

"Well, her issues involving her combat revolve around her always changing up her stance, and she says she has no control over it when it happens," Riku continued. "I know she isn't lying because she always seems so discouraged when she messes up and it frustrates her to no end. She fumbled and tripped when she tried to attack me during our team sparring session. After I knocked the others down, she tried to get me from behind, but she missed, and when she turned around, she was standing like how I did in my stance...for about a second before losing her balance and falling back on all fours.

"I wanted to test something and asked her to turn into me. She did it perfectly: full, human form, matching clothes, hair, and even my stance. But what startled me the most was that her Keyblade ALSO changed shape, copying mine, and she had no idea it changed as well until she saw it herself." Twilight's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in awe. She couldn't believe that was true, but Riku decided to show her with his enchanted ornament. "No fooling. Just watch."

Twilight peered into the enchanted decoration as Riku relayed what he saw in the Land of Departure earlier today. Learning from Thorax about the changelings, including their shapeshifting abilities, she gasped when she saw Ocellus's Keyblade transform along with her as she changed into Riku. The changeling teen's Keyblade turned into a perfect replica of Riku's Braveheart, from the length of the blade to the keychain hanging from the pommel. Riku even showed his other theories with other wielders, using Sora, Ventus, and Terra as other examples: all three of them with different stances and different lengths and weights of their Keyblades. Just like how she copied Riku, she matched their forms and her Keyblade copied theirs perfectly.

"Wow. That's incredible! Her Keyblade has the same shapeshifting properties like a changeling!" Twilight said. "Changelings can't change other objects into something else with their unique shapeshifting magic, but what Ocellus can do can make her a Keyblade Master in record time!"

"That depends on how well she does with her training." Riku stored his ornament away after showing Twilight what he had. "I suggested she practice and hone her swapping fighting styles to give her a bit of an edge in a real fight. I hope Aqua would be ok with that idea."

"I wouldn't see it coming," Twilight admitted. "I'd be fighting you, but then it'd be like fighting Kairi, or Ventus, or, hay, myself. All in the blink of an eye. She could even trick somepony in the Organization if she pretended to be Sora."

"Yeah, let's not go with that idea," Riku said. "Sora can take care of himself now with his Formchanges. We're not letting one of the next generation of key bearers to become a scapegoat."

"Right. And the Organization's after them, too." Twilight sighed, already exhausted just from the thought of having any of her friends being taken away by a madman bent on destroying the universe using an unimaginable power. Keeping Sora safe was one thing, but now they all had to protect the Young Six as well. "They're just going to get stronger."

"And so will we." Riku reached his hoof out, grasping Twilight's tightly. "We'll put an end to this and keep the realm of light safe. That old man can't live forever."

"...He took over Terra's heart before," Twilight reminded Riku.

Riku blinked, glancing away from Twilight while biting his lower lip sheepishly. "Ok, bad example. But...you know what I mean, right?" he asked. "We're going to stop him."

Twilight nodded slightly as she cuddled up to Riku. "I hope so," she mumbled. "I'll work in some training in my schedule around my royal duties and running the school."

"And I can take over as the vice headstallion when you need to do some emergency training during school days," Riku offered.

Twilight hummed in thought, contemplating the idea for only a second before flicking one of his ears with a wing. "Nope. You're not getting that position, mister," she said, making Riku pout. She snuck a kiss on his lips while he was being playfully moody. "You're already in bed with the headmare, so you don't get any special treatments."

"Aww, come on. We can be professional in the office and still have personal private times out of work," Riku begged.

Twilight smiled coyly, then shoved Riku, sending him falling off the bed with a yelp and a thud. "Since when does a professional constantly tease his marefriend wherever she works?" she asked, sticking her tongue out teasingly at him when he poked his head up from the edge of the mattress.

"Oh, I'll show you 'professionalism', princess." Riku pounced back on the bed, making Twilight squeal as he landed on her. He wrestled with her, trying to pin the alicorn while she laughed and fought back in his battle for playful dominance. "How about this!? Is this professional enough for you!?"

"No! Stop!" Twilight begged, her giggling interrupted with small gasps when Riku played dirty by nipping at her neck while his forehooves tried to pin hers to the bed. "THAT'S unprofessional, you cheater!"

She eventually gave in after the assault of his teeth against her sensitive neck. He ceased his playful love bites, gently booping his muzzle against hers with a cheeky grin.

"How do you like the update on my resume?" he asked.

"Still no," Twilight said.

"Oh well. I tried." Twilight shook her head and giggled slightly at his nonchalant response.


Deep in the Everfree Forest in the middle of night, it was a dangerous place to be. More dangerous nocturnal creatures that reside there were on the prowl, like timberwolves, cockatrices, manticores, and more. The worst that may make their presence known are Heartless, perfectly hidden in the dark underbrush with their yellow eyes glowing in the darkness much more terrifying than the green eyes of a timberwolf.

Traveling through these woods at this time of night, a small equine veiled in a brown cloak casually walked through the wild underbrush. There was no fear, no anxious searching for any predators that could hunt them, just traveling along a set path toward their destination. Not even the sounds of the night life living in this unnatural forest made them jump in fright.

The pony paused, their ear twitching underneath the hood concealing their face as they heard a sound that didn't come from any normal creature in the Everfree. The bushes rustled as Neo Shadows pushed their sharp claws through the leaves, their glowing eyes focusing on the next helpless victim to turn into one of them. The pony didn't balk or back away, even as more rose up from the shadows behind them, completely surrounding them. Instead, they let out an amused grunt, crouching their legs, ready to pounce the Heartless, thinking they mistook who the prey was in this situation.

The Neo Shadows charged toward the pony, leaping forward with their claws poised to strike. The pony lowered their head, something appearing in their mouth in a bright flash of light, then moved several times faster than the Neo Shadows, several swift striking sounds ringing out and echoing in the forest. The pony reappeared outside of the ambush circle, a silhouette of a sword in the darkness of the night held in their mouth as they stood low. Standing back up normally, they dismissed their weapon in another flash of light, which led to the Neo Shadows twitching violently as they finally felt the lightning fast swings connecting with their bodies before disappearing in a puff of black mist.

They continued on their way after destroying the quick, dangerous Heartless, finally reaching the exit of the forest made their way down the road. As they reached the hill, they overlooked the sleeping town of Ponyville, observing the buildings that made up the town, the crystal castle in the distance, and the seemingly endless acres of apple trees farther ahead.

"So, this is Ponyville, huh?" the pony uttered to themselves, a small grin on their face hidden under the veil of their cloak's hood. Digging underneath their cloak, they pulled out a piece of paper, looking over what was written on it while taking a few glances at the town. "Well, if that old coot is right, then he should be the perfect teacher to help me grow stronger than ever before." The grin widened into a smirk as they placed the letter back underneath their cloak. They then continued down the road and entered Ponyville to search for a good place to rest for the evening and plan to find their "perfect teacher", whose name they had circled in the letter she was given out of the others mentioned by her informant. "Your protégé has arrived, Master Sora."