Author's Notes: For those that were expecting this story: I'm deeply, completely, absolutely sorry for having made you wait so much. I had my mind in other things and couldn't find the time to write.
It didn’t matter to Twilight Sparkle how much her former assistant Spike had changed. He had left Ponyville as just a baby dragon, short, a bit chubby, and always with a smile on his face. Now he was a young drake, tall and slender, with a pair of wings that could make any pegasus jealous, and walked with majesty on his four legs, but he still could stand on two, it seemed.
And as he didn’t look as a kid, he didn’t act like a kid. True, he was still almost a child, but he showed a maturity Twilight had not seen before. He had the manners of royalty, his moves were swift and smooth. His voice had changed to match his body, although it didn’t sound forced like when he had had his growth spurt; it was now smooth and yet firm. He had changed a lot, he was now more mature, but that didn’t bother Twilight.
Because in the end, he was still the same clumsy dragon.
“Ow!” He cried when his head hit the frame of the door. He was a bit taller than Twilight now, but he hadn’t noticed until it was too late. He rubbed his forehead, while Twilight snickered in front of him. “These doors… I’m okay, Twilight, I’m okay.” Spike sighed and looked around. It seemed that nothing had changed in his absence. “It’s nice to be home.”
“I missed you, Spike.” Twilight said, sighing. “The library wasn’t the same without you.”
Spike looked around again. “Well, certainly it is a lot cleaner than I thought it would be.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I can take care of myself without someone watching over me, Spike.”
“Oh, well, I suppose I can leave, then.”
“Wait, no!”
Before he could do anything else, Twilight had wrapped him in her hooves in a protective way. “I missed you a lot. Please don’t go away again.” She said, almost with tears in her eyes.
Spike just smiled and brushed her mane with his claw. “I won’t go anywhere. I’m here to stay. I promise.”
They stood like that for another moment, before a loud thumping on the door took them back to reality. Then a voice was heard. “Twilight! Open up! Or I’ll bring down the door!”
It was Applejack’s voice, and it sounded pretty concerned about something. It took Twilight a moment to realize that maybe she had seen the big dragon guards that had come with Spike, and had left some minutes ago. She quickly went to the door and opened it. Outside were not only Applejack, but the others too: Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.
“Twilight! We came here as fast as we could! What happened?! What were those dragons going here and what did they want?!”
Twilight smiled, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Oh, don’t worry about them, they left already. And…I think it’s better if you see it yourself.”
She let them in the library. That was where they saw the young dragon in there. “Hey girls.” He said, waving a claw.
In a second, Pinkie had closed the distance with the stranger, and was hugging him so tightly that he thought his eyes would pop out their sockets. “Spikey-wikey is back! I missed you so much, Spike! Now I can make you a ‘Welcome Back’ party and invite everypony…!”
“Pin…kie…can’t…breathe…” Spike managed to say. Pinkie released him and the dragon wheezed a few times before regaining his composure and hugging Pinkie back. “I missed you too, Pinkie.”
It was in that moment that the other girls processed what had happened, and what Pinkie had said. Fluttershy spoke what they were thinking. “Spike…is that you?”
Spike let Pinkie go and looked at the others. “Yes, it’s me.”
Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash gasped in unison, and ran to greet him.
Applejack gave the dragon a big hug just like Pinkie. Rainbow Dash got on his back and spread his right wing. “Wow, look at this baby. You really grew up while you were there.” She complimented him.
Rarity looked at him, inspecting his new body. “Wow, Spike. You look marvelous.”
Spike blushed deeply, and smiled. “T-Thanks, Rarity. You’re still as beautiful as ever.”
“Oh, thank you darling.” She answered, and gave the dragon a quick kiss on his cheek, which made him blush more, while the others laughed at this.
Some things never change.
Finally, he turned to Fluttershy, who just stared at him. “Uhm, am I scary to you right now?” He asked.
Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, goodness, no! I mean, you were a bit, at first, but knowing it was you, well…I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” Spike smiled, and gave the pegasus a quick hug, which she returned.
“Hey, cool armor by the way.” Rainbow Dash commented, hovering over the group, glancing at the armor and the sword he was still carrying.
“Oh, yeah, I really like it too. Although is mostly ornamental, but it’s still useful in battle.”
This made Twilight feel a bit uncomfortable. “You…didn’t have to fight, right?”
Spike smiled sheepishly, and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, now that you mention it…”
“Spike!”
“Hey, calm down! Nothing happened to me! And I know how to defend myself! I’m not defenseless anymore!” He quickly added. “I will tell you everything that happened there. But first, can I take this thing off? I want to relax a bit.”
“Sure.” Twilight went with him as he started to go upstairs. “Do you remember where the room was?”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Of course I do. I haven’t forgotten everything about Ponyville you know.”
He went to the bedroom he used to share with Twilight. Sitting on his perch, Owlowiscious hooted sleepily.
“Hey, buddy. Do you remember me?”
“Who.”
“Me, Spike.”
“Who.”
“Me, Sp…” He stopped and facepalmed. “Oh, I can’t believe I fell for that.”
The owl hooted silently as if he was snickering. Spike’s pet phoenix, Peewee, came in the room and sat on his new perch, next to his feathered friend. The little phoenix had grown a lot in a month.
Spike went to his old bed, a basket in the floor. He chuckled when he saw the small size of it. ‘Guess I’ll have to buy a new bed.’ He took off his armor and sword, and left them there, before going downstairs again. There the girls were now sitting in a table, while Twilight had made tea for everyone.
The former prince sat down next to Twilight. “So, where do I start?” He said, clasping his hands together.
It was good to be home.