"So, what's the plan now?" Spike asks Twilight, now that it was just the two of them again.
Twilight purses her lips in thought. "Well, I should probably at least finish my reconstruction of the spell, and it would be best if I checked for any magical traces on you." Twilight ponders.
Spike frowns slightly, knowing how Twilight could be with these things. "Twi..." He starts. "Alright, I'll run through any tests you want to do, but you're going to promise me you're gonna go to bed before midnight. Deal?" Spike asks.
Twilight hesitates for just a moment, gaze softening as she realizes Spike was concerned for her. "Of course, Spike. I won't take it too far." She nods her head. "But having said that, I would prefer if you could stay with me tonight, so I can keep an eye on you. I wouldn't want to be too far away if anything happens overnight."
Spike feels his heart suddenly pulse with excitement. Though he would never admit it to Twilight's face, sleeping on his own felt lonely, ever since the Golden Oaks Library had been destroyed and he'd moved to his own room. Even if it was just one night, it would be nice to have Twilight nearby, again. He tries to restrain his excitement as he nods, to not give his emotions away.
The evening passes by fairly quickly, Spike going back to serving as Twilight's assistant as soon as she was done having him stand in a scanner which normally was used on magical artifacts. Having gotten somewhat used to his new form in short order, Spike is able to help Twilight to some extent- Fetching books and putting things away mostly, since he still can't write.
"I think I've done it!" Twilight announces, excitedly holding up the scroll. "There was Heart's Desire residue in the lab, so I must have gone to Zecora to get some to act as the Artifact of Desire for the spell! When the magic was channeled through the reagents, it consumed them to amplify its magical powers. It should be safe to read the spell, since it is dormant without reagents!" She clears her throat.
"Two brought apart by circumstance
United in heart and soul
With destiny contained, rewrite our stars
And bring the Fates together as one."
Spike furrows his brow. "Doesn't that sound like it would have two targets instead of one? Why am i the only one affected?"
Twilight frowns, stroking her chin with her hoof. Her number one assistant has a point. "Well... Its possible that it just used me as a template to modify you, for whatever reason. But I don't know why I would have been so reckless as to attempt to cast this spell on you. Perhaps it was an accident?" She says unsurely, not particularly convinced by her own train of thought.
"Well, we should head to bed now. Its 11:30, you need to get some sleep, and knowing you... Starting on the next part of your research will just keep you up even longer." Spike states to Twilight in a no-nonsense, matter of fact tone.
"You go on ahead. I just need to finish a few things up in here." Twilight replies reflexively without even thinking about it, continuing to pore over the manuscript.
Spike stomps a hoof on the ground to break Twilight from her reverie. "Twilight..." His voice takes on a harder edge for a moment as he makes his point, and Twilight blinks in confusion.
"I... I'm sorry, you're right." Twilight sighs and pushes back from the desk. "That is good enough progress for one day. Excellent progress, actually. And you've been handling yourself so well since you were transformed, I'm so proud of you." Twilight exclaims, wrapping one wing around Spike while she walks. "Let's go."
Twilight flips on the light switch as she enters her bedroom, closing the door behind her and Spike with a quick spell without glancing back. "There's only one bed, so we'll probably have to share..." Twilight pauses, uncertainly. "I could go get yours from your room, though I'm not sure if its large enough for you now."
"No, it's alright, I don't mind." Spike says quickly.
Twilight pauses for a moment and then shrugs. "Alright, if you're sure."
Spike wipes off his hooves, then climbs up onto Twilight's bed. He lays down, his wings awkwardly splaying under his back and legs just kind of jutting out into the air. Hissing, Spike tries a couple other positions, but they all feel equally awkward. In one his hooves weigh down on eachother and one of his wings has its circulation cut off, in another he lays on his front but his head is off the mattress and wings keep the blankets from properly covering him.
Twilight can't help but giggle a little watching Spike trying to get comfortable as she lays down next to him. "C'mon, watch what I do." She instructs, folding her wings up and then laying down on her side, at such an angle that her wings are not placed underneath her weight.
Spike delicately attempts to take after her example. It is kind of amazing how many simple tasks require him to rethink how he normally did things, even just laying down was a very different experience from when he was a dragon. But once he lays down under the covers, his head resting on the pillow, a deep sense of... Contentment overcomes him. The lights flicker out as Twilight flicks the switch with her magic, but Spike can still see her silhouette, backlit against the dim light of a waning half-moon outside.
"Are you comfortable, Spike?" Twilight asks. Spike looks over at her blearily. He is comfortable, but... He could be more. The warm fur of the pony in front of him just looks so appealing, yet at the same time he is hesitant to get any closer. After all, he was only there because of the current events, not to spend time with Twi. "...Spike?" Twilight interrupts Spike's thought process, noticing his hesitation. "Is something the matter?"
Making up his mind, Spike pins his ears back and puts his hooves together. "Um. Would it be ok if I got a little closer?" Spike asks, hesitantly.
To his relief, Twilight just giggles and raises one hoof as well as the blanket with it. "Oh, come here, you. Of course it's ok." Gratefully, Spike scoots up into Twilight's waiting hooves, tucking his head into Twilight's fluffy neck fur. Twilight's higher wing stretches out and loosely wraps around Spike, draping him in it's warmth.
"That's better..." Spike sighs contentedly. Here, held by Twilight against him, all his previous worries about being left out, about just being her assistant, seem silly. Of course Twilight loved him, it was plain to see. But, thinking back to his conversation with Starlight... He knows he should still tell her. His insecurities would come back, and as long as Twilight really does care about him as much as it seems, she would want to know. "Twi..?" He starts, meekly, the hesitant tone in his voice immediately alerting Twilight that something was on his mind.
Shifting a little bit so that she could see Spike's face- If only just barely, given the dim light, Twilight touches her muzzle to his for just a moment. "What is it, Spike?" She asks.
Fidgeting anxiously, Spike ponders where to start. "So... I'm not really sure if I want you to find a counter-spell." He eventually confesses. "I-I mean... I've always thought of myself more as a pony than a dragon, anyways. Especially since I went to the dragon lands, and saw what dragon culture is like." He continues, his pulse accelerating though he isn't sure why.
"Spike..." Twilight starts, giving him a concerned and sympathetic look. "Are you sure?"
Spike shakes his head. "No. Like I just said. I'm not sure. It's just... Sometimes I can feel like an outsider in my own home. I'm always the odd one out when you're hanging out with the girls. I just think maybe... Maybe I'd be more like a member of the group, if I was a pony."
"I had no idea you felt like this, Spike." Twilight admits, concern plain in her voice. "You should know that we all love you just the way you are. Or, were, I guess. Nopony holds your heritage against you, you don't have to change for us." Twilight says, delicately.
Spike is silent for a long moment. It wasn't like he expected her to say anything else, but it doesn't change that he still did feel a certain distance. "It's just that, when we go out, everypony who sees us thinks 'there goes Twilight and her little dragon assistant'. But if I'm a pony... They'd think 'there goes Twilight and her..." Spike trails off, not finishing the sentence.
"Twilight and her what?" Twilight asks, but Spike averts his gaze. Twilight leans on one of her hooves and props herself up, frowning. "Spike, I'm not letting this go until you tell me. What's on your mind?"
Spike delays for a long moment, but glancing up at Twilight and seeing that she wasn't going to let it go, he lets out a shaky breathe. "Twilight and her... Little brother." Spike mutters. "I-I mean, I am now, right? I'm not just a pony now. I got traits from you." He finishes uncertainly.
Twilight blinks in surprise. "Oh, Spike..." She replies softly, wrapping the pony in front of her up in her legs and pulling him in closer. "You've always been family to me. Pony or dragon, it doesn't matter to me."
They stay there for a moment, intertwined in a mesh of soft fur and warmth, Spike burying his face down into Twilight's neck. Finally, Twilight hears Spike speak, even if muffled by her coat. "Would you... Call me your brother?" Spike pleads. "You've never called me that."
Twilight blinks back a tear that was forming on the corner of her eyes. "Of course... Little bro." She giggles a little at the sound of the word, and Spike smiles gratefully.
"Thank you..." he mutters, and a silence overtakes the two of them until they eventually drift off to sleep.