Spike watched in amazement as Magic became visible to him for the first time. The condensed glowing sphere in the middle of the Hall pulsated with energy. Parts of it splintered off and dissolved, but it held together. Even if his knowledge of Magic was limited, he knew what something unstable looked like.
There wasn’t any more time to admire the scene around him since the Hall doors burst open, rebounding off the wall. Princess Luna skidded on the rug, her powered horn dying down. Her black coat was ruffled and several feathers were threatening to fall out. Her shimmering mane floated around her erratically.
“Sister! Are thou-”
Her wide eyes met Spike’s and she hurried over. Her wings opened to shield her eyes.
“What has my sister done this time, young one?” the Princess harshly whispered, “Thou are in danger here,”
“She-” Spike’s voice caught, he didn't want to say it, “She hurt Mom, made her into an alicorn. Mom got really mad,”
Luna flinched as another surge swept through the Hall. She constructed a shield and made sure it covered Spike.
“My sister has gone mad,” Luna hissed as a barrage struck the shield, “What are thou holding?”
Spike’s attention was back on the glowing sphere in the middle of the room and he absentmindedly answered her question, “Dragon fire,”
Luna froze so swiftly, Spike looked at her again, “Do thee knowest how dangerous dragon fire is? Tis one of the hottest substances in Equestria, young one,”
Spike shrugged, “I know. It’s my last resort,”
He knew if he kept his answers short, the tears wouldn’t have a chance to escape. The lump in his throat burned with the effort.
Luna looked skeptical but didn’t voice such. Meanwhile, Celestia had formed some type of heat shield around her and was battling through the Magic like it was a harsh wind to reach Twilight.
“Sister!” Luna tried to get Celestia’s attention once more, this time using the Royal Canterlot Voice, “Thee has gone too far. Leave it be,”
Either Celestia ignored it, or was too focused to hear anything. Luna grumbled in annoyance and rose to her hooves, intent on dragging her sister back by the tail. The scion of the night didn’t get the chance to take more than one step forward before the condensed ball of Magic in the center of the Hall exploded.
“Thou have gone mad!” Luna shrieked from beside Spike when Celestia dove forward as if to prevent the explosion.
Spike let his hooves grow slack around the container of dragon fire. His mouth hung open and tears finally spilled over his eyes. His crumbling world slowly reassembled itself. Twilight hovered around the ceiling of the Hall, calmly surveying the damage.
His mother was large, even from his vantage point on the ground. She was much larger than before. Her scales gleamed in the sun and her features were more angular and boxy. Feathers dusted the top-most part of her wings before transitioning into her normal leathery wings. Twin lines of light pink hair traveled from her head to the tip of her tail.
Twilight descended onto the carpet and eyed Celestia speculatively. Spike nearly threw the dragon fire away from him in order to run over to her. He flung himself into his mother’s waiting claws and sobbed unashamedly into her chest plates. Dimly, he could feel how she curled around him, shielding him from any onlookers.
“I am done with you,” Twilight said suddenly, “I wash my hands of you. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to talk to you. I declare myself graduated and I free myself from your tutelage. You will not talk with Spike. You will not interact with either of us in any shape or form,”
The glare she leveled at Celestia was powerful enough to melt steel. Sitting down, she was now the same height as Celestia. She knew when she stood, she would be a head taller than the alicorn. Celestia started forward, but before Twilight could so much as lift a lip to growl, a shimmering blue forcefield stopped the alicorn in her tracks.
“I cannot believe thou,” Luna hissed, “I am sick when I do look on thee. Are thou even fit to rule in this state? What has happened in these last millennia? Thou have gone mad!”
“But the Beast-” Celestia began to protest but Luna interrupted her.
“More of your conversation would infect my brain!” she cried, successfully silencing her sister, “Thou are not fit to rule alone. I will convene my council and discuss what to do with thee,”
The fearsome and glare that was aimed at Celestia brokered no argument and Celestia hung her head. Luna snorted in disdain and turned back to Twilight who was running her paws gently through Spike’s mane.
Picking her words with great care and focusing on using more of the new modern language she recently learned, Princess Luna stood tall and spoke, “Drakon Twilight Sparkle of House Sparkle, on behalf of the Day and Night Court of Canterlot, Princess Luna of the Moon extends our greatest and deepest apologies for the travesty that has occurred here today. Princess Celestia of the Sun has proven that a monarchy is not the best of ideas and we shall seek to ratify this problem immediately,”
Twilight hummed, still stroking Spike’s trembling form. Gently, she picked him up like he was still a baby, with her new size, proportionally he was small enough.
“Frankly, I don’t care as long as I or Spike never have to see her again. I am done,”
Princess Luna bowed her head in acquiescence, “Thou have the attention of most of Canterlot at the moment. Thee’s magical signature is very recognizable,”
“Ah,” Twilight grimaced.
That last power surge must’ve been powerful enough for even unicorn foals to feel. That was one of the drawbacks of being the personal student of Princess Celestia; most of the city citizens were familiar with the thunderous surges, so much in fact that the friendlier neighbors would jokingly ask when the next one would be.
Just then, the door banged open again and Steelwing, Quicksand, and even Copper filed in. Steelwing was more irate than usual, “Miss Sparkle! A warning would’ve been wonderful! What in Equestria happened here?”
“Uh, I may or may not have done some advanced transmutation and reversed my ‘ponification’?”
Steelwing clearly wasn’t expecting such an answer and she mouthed words soundlessly. Meanwhile, Copper immediately blustered, “Transmutation is impossible on such a large scale!”
Quicksand just blinked and then asked in a wondering tone, “Where did you get the energy for that?”
“Err…” Either Twilight would spill the beans now, or deal with every single unicorn scholar later on. She sighed, well either way she would be answering questions for years to come, “I accidentally drained all of the nearby leylines,”
Predictably there was a cacophony of voices, demanding to further explain what she meant. Even Luna and Celestia were watching in interest.
“Can we not do this now?” Twilight asked almost desperately.
Only then did everyone remember Spike was there and there were no protests. Within the hour, Twilight found herself standing on the front step of her childhood home holding Spike in one claw and her dragon fire in another. The ornate doors were still large enough for her to walk in and out without ducking. Her face twisted at how posh and impersonal it all was. She really didn’t want to but she didn’t have enough energy to fly or teleport home.
By now, Spike had calmed down, but he refused to walk by himself, preferring to be carried, like he was afraid she would vanish if he wasn’t touching her. Anger flashed through her every time Spike ran a hoof over her scales like she was a figment of his imagination, or hugged tighter when she shifted because he was afraid she would ask him to get down.
She took a deep breath, and foregoing decorum simply knocked harshly on the door instead of politely using the knocker. The butler that opened the door shrieked in surprise but Twilight paid them no mind. She brushed forward and stepped into the foyer without invitation and stared at the unicorn seated further in the living area by the fire.
“Hello, Mother,”