//------------------------------// // A puny older dragon a massive problem brewing // Story: Dagon magic: The tale of Spike the Dragon // by Slick Dash //------------------------------// It didn't take long for the small white and blue dragon to pick up the scent. It was far, further than any request his master had sent him for, but the scent was strong. Only mere hours after he had begun flying in its direction, the concentration of magical energy skyrocketed, a spell, a powerful one, had been cast by the target, and it set the pale dragon's spines rigid. A lot of power, so much in such a short time... could he be... stronger than the master? Casting the hopeful thought from his mind, the small servant quickened his pace. Flying harder with the wind. Though it took slightly longer, digging through the wind currents to fnd those pockets going in the right direction, the ground -or air- he was covering increased vastly. He was more desperate than ever! To get to this new dragon mage! So he could fight the master, maybe defeat him, and finally set him free from his curse! The two mares stared in disbelief as the creature before them uncoiled himself. Though slightly conscious now, Spike still hung in the air. Gracefully, he unfolded his legs and stretched them out beneath him. Once the scaly limbs touched down, the levitation ceased letting his weight rest on his own legs. Next were the arms, uncoiling slowly until they hung by the dragon's sides. The forearms were slightly wider than his biceps, ending with large, deadly looking pointed claws. Their palms, unlike before when they were pure purple, were now the green shade of his belly and jaw. The yellow pegasus staring at said jaw was the first to notice the pointed fangs, far more prominent than the small ones of the baby Spike. Fluttershy let out a quiet squeak of fear and quickly vanished behind her far more brave friend, who stared in incredulous awe at the dragon before them. She let out an impressed whistle, which quickly caught the attention of the tall figure before them. Spike's spines twitched at the noise, picking up the shrill whistle and pulling him out of his coma-like state. His eyes opened, immediately the difference in his sight was amazing. Everything was so clear, the bright colours of the furniture around him seemed to scream out to the dragon. As he focused, he spotted a spider scuttling across the floor. As he stared, his pupils contracted, and like a telescope his vision zoomed in until he could see the miniscule hairs jutting out all over the miniature creature's tiny body. Spike shook his head, pulling himself out of the overwhelming feeling of maturity that was already spreading through his every limb! He glanced around, instantly he felt weird as the weight of his head was completely foreign to him. Trying to step forward to stop himself from tumbling was an even worse idea, as the leg was far too long in comparison to his old ones. Immediately he began to topple. Letting out a loud yelp as he pitched forward. His salvation came in the form of Rainbow Dash, who came flying under his right arm and quickly held the tall dragon up until he found his feet again. "Thanks." Spike muttered, his eyes widened and his hand shot to his throat at the deepness of his voice, from the rough high voice he once had to this hardened rumble, it was a surprising benefit. "No problem..." Dash mumbled wearily, staring at the creature with concern, even she wasn't sure that this was the best idea, now that it had actually come to happen. "What's up?" Spike asked, turning slowly, quickly growing used to his new body weight. "Uhhh... it's just..." Rainbow began, bighting her lip, coming out from beneath the purple arm. "Weird... seeing you like this I mean." "Oh..." Spike said slowly, reaching up and feeling his face. Wow this was weird! His head was longer and slimmer than before, his jaw was more square, and his quills on his cheeks were far longer and stronger than before... then he reached behind his head and felt his spine. The dragon jumped when he touched them and felt how tall they were. "WOAH!" He exclaimed with a joyous laugh. "Fluttershy! You gotta get me a mirror quick!" He swung around quickly to the now exposed yellow mare, who let out an all out scream, which still barely sounded more than a whisper, and shot out of sight behind a nearby sofa. "Fluttershy?" Spike asked, confused. Then it hit him... he must look so much more like the creatures that the easily scared pegasus was terrified of... Wow, that would have taken him a few minutes to figure out before... had the spell matured his mind to? From behind the sofa there came a tiny squeak. "Yes?" She was answering him! "Ummm Fluttershy... it's ok... It's still me..." Spike said softly, still the rumble in his voice was obvious, and another terrified squeal sounded from behind the burgundy cushions. He slowly made his way around, supporting his weight on the back of the sofa so he could approach slowly with full control of his limbs. As his face loomed out from behind the cushions and he spotted the mare, she squeaked and hid behind her forelegs, quivering in horror. "Oh come on Fluttershy!" Rainbow shouted, bounding over the sofa behind her fellow pegasus. Already adjusting to the new look of the dragon, using her head as a ram, she pushed the hiding Fluttershy by her haunches, scootching her over to the waiting dragon, who was looking more and more concerned. "It's still Spike! He's just bigger!" she explained happily. Fluttershy's voice came out quietly from beneath her shielding forelegs, every word quivering with complete and all consuming fear. "Yes, a lot bigger, and stronger, with big spines, scary eyes, deadly claws and sharp..." She peeked out to find that she had been moved all the way up to the older dragon's face. She stared at the teeth that were now mere inches away in horror, "Fangs!" She finished in a horrified voice, reeling back fearing their deadly clamp over her tiny frail body. She felt hands take hold of her sides, to which she writhed in protest! "Oh, no, please, put me down, it's ok, ummm... I believe you, you're still Spike, it's ok... just..." Her eyes rounded, holding back the misty tears. "...Please don't eat me!" she whispered as she stared into Spike now dark green eyes with her gentle teal ones. Suddenly Spike pulled her in close and hugged the mare, to which she let out a small surprised gasp. This was all Spike could do to convince her it was still him, that nothing had changed except for his appearance. A moment of holding the hug passed, then slowly, Fluttershy relaxed her muscles slightly. Soon she rested her head on the dragons shoulder. His scent wafted up her nose which made her relax even more, letting out a gentle sigh, she relaxed fully. It was him, it was still the same smell, the same baby dragon, he was just like Rainbow said, bigger. He meant no harm to her at all! Twilight was abruptly awoken from her sleep by three hard wraps on the library door. Blearily she straightened up and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. When she pulled them away, her vision still wasn't one hundred percent clear, but it was enough to see the round room ahead of her. She stood and made her way to the door, licking her dry lips slightly. "Hello?" She asked, there was no response. Twilight sighed, guessing it could either be Pinkie waiting to explode in with some unknown party reason, or Rainbow with a prank, either way she was too tired to care, just get it over with! She glanced back and winced at the amount of books she still needed to read. Sighing yet again, the magenta alicorn reached forward and pulled the front door open. "Yes?" she asked distractedly. It took her a moment. Twilight stared at the green scaled belly in front of her, slowly she tilted her head up until her deep purple eyes found the green ones high above. "Ummm... Hello?" Twilight asked, unsure of what exactly she was looking at, a dragon? That much was obvious, but it was standing on its hind legs, it colouring was a perfect match to Spike's! She'd have to go get him and show him this strange coincidence momentarily. "H-Hey Twilight..." The dragon said, smiling and blushing simultaneously. The voice was deep, yet still obvious! Twilight's jaw dropped. "SPIKE?!" The dragon laughed, lunged forward and swooped Twilight up in his strong forearms. He spun with his older sister held tight, as the two both laughed, Twilight slightly more nervously than Spike. "Are you telling me that aging spell worked!" Twilight asked as Spike finally set her down on the wooden floor. "YES!" Spike laughed flipping backwards in a feet of athleticism the alicorn had never seen from him before! "Twilight, I am officially a young adult!" Twilight froze, staring at the slim figure, the small body in comparison to the dragons she'd met before. "Wait... really?" "Yup!" Spike smiled as Rainbow and Fluttershy came in through the open door. "But you're...you're..." Twilight began, trying to find the right words. "Kinda puny." Rainbow finished, unabashed. Spike looked down at his new form and frowned. "But I'm like those teenagers from the migration... I guess Im not like... what I was on my birthday when I freaked out, but still..." He looked up for recognition from Twilight. "I'm that bad am I?" "No Spike not at all!" Twilight rushed, shooting Rainbow Dash a quick disapproving glare. The mare in question frowned unsure what she had said wrong. Spike smiled for a second, then his eyes widened with joy. "My birthday!" He bolted up the stairs with speed that Twilight marvelled at as he vanished. Only a moment passed before Spike reappeared on the ledge of the room beside the drop to the star case. He bounded off of it and landed perfectly in the middle of the library, the loud thud made Fluttershy jump. Though she now knew it meant no harm, the new form Spike had taken was still foreign to her, it still frightened her when it did something unexpected, but of course she kept this to herself, she didn't want any pony to hate her! Spike held something in his claws, as he turned to the rainbow pegasus he asked of her. "Look familiar Rainbow?" It was a dumbbell, designed for one hoof, or in this case hand! Suddenly it clicked, and Rainbow recognised the gift she had given the dragon on his birthday! "Hey, yeah!" Rainbow laughed, before, as a baby dragon Spike had been completely unable to move the thing without breaking out in a terrible sweat. Now he stood there holding it between his index finger and thumb. Spike smiled as his friend remembered it, and he tossed it into the air, it span several times until it began to descend to the ground, at which point the dragon caught it on the tip of his index finger. He raised an eyebrow at the impressed ponies. "So, still think I'm puny?" He raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. "I'd like to see you try!" He laughed, she backed up half a step. "Naaahhhh, I'm ok thanks, maybe next time..." The group all laughed at the rainbow mare's response, she laughed to, reaching up and ruffling the back of her mane unable to help herself from chortling along with the rest of them. "Sister?" Luna asked, craning her neck up from the balcony of the solar tower. Sure enough her sister was there, sat precariously on the roof of the balcony doorway. Luna hadn't seen her sit there in years. It was usually the celestial alicorn's place of deep thinking, sure enough the frown that was crossing the flawless features showed her deep rooted thinking. "Sister?" Luna asked again, this time she got a reaction, the alicorn shook her head and looked down at younger sibling. Her face fell back into its usual serene look. "Luna?" She asked, rolling off of the roof and gliding around to the balcony. "What are you doing here?" The dark alicorn gestured to her own tower with a flick of her mane. "I... I saw you... I wanted to know if anything was wrong." Celestia smiled to her little sister and pulled her into a hug with her closest wing. "Oh Luna... You always have my best interests at heart. It's fine, I suppose I'm just a little worried." As she pulled away from the embrace and walked into the living quarters, Luna frowned. "Worried for whom?" Celestia sighed and followed the younger ruler into the room. "Ohhh, it's Twilight... She was asking questions about a book the other day, I didn't even realise we still had it." "Ooooh yes!" Luna answered knowingly. Celestia frowned and took a seat and perched at the end of her bed. She looked confused. "You know of this?" "Yes, the little mare was asking all she could about that old dragon magic, she kept telling me you'd told her enough." She laughed. "But you know Twilight!" "Indeed." Celestia laughed too, though slightly cautious, unsure if the nagging suspicion she had had while sat on the roof, was about to be confirmed. "So what did the little student want with you?" Luna laughed, suddenly more relaxed now Celestia seemed to be ok. "Oh..." The solar princess began, bighting her lip not wanting to say too much. "She found a book on Dragon magic, she asked me why she couldn't see the words upon the pages." "She asked me the same." Luna said, pouring a drink of sparkling water from the crystal jug on her sister's table. "Apparently 'fact checking.'" "Well..." Celestia was downright concerned now! Luna wouldn't know what had transpired all those years ago on that stormy night! She wouldn't understand why her sister didn't want that book leaving the library with their newly anointed Princess! "I did explain to her that we ponies cannot see the letters, they can only be seen by a pony, after a dragon has revealed them with a breath of flame. "Yup, I said the same!" Luna smiled taking a sip and coming over to her sister. "In fact, after she got that information from me and you, I guessed she'd be better off reading it after little Spike gave her a hand, so I just told her to take it back with her to Ponyville." Celestia's stomach plummeted. "NO!" The solar alicorn screamed, bolting upright as her horn flashed golden, and pulled the two princess's away in an instantaneous transportation spell!