//------------------------------// // Slipping into Scales // Story: Strictly Draconic // by Cosmonaut //------------------------------//         “Spike! Come out of there!"         “NO!” yelled Spike behind the basement door. “I’m not leaving! You can’t make me!”         “Oh yes I can! I just don’t want to. If you don’t come out on your own then you’ll leave me no choice but to pull apart the door,” replied Twilight, leaning her head against it.         He groaned behind the wood paneling. Usually Spike would have no qualm or quarter about leaving the library for a day in Canterlot. It meant less actual work for him to do on his break. Had he not been going through an embarrassing stage of growing up at the moment, Spike would have been sitting comfortably in his Pegasi pulled carriage well on his way to the dragon council.         “One,” began Twilight.         “Twiliiiiiiight! C’mon! Can’t I just write a letter saying I got a bad cold or something?” he offered.         “Not in summer Spike,” she giggled. “Two.”         Spike groaned behind the door. “Pretty please?”         “Two and a half...”         “With sugar on top?” he added.         “Two and three quarters,” Twilight continued, stretching the count.         “FINE! You win!” he shouted through the door. Twilight stepped backwards, the door opening with a bang.         Spike folded his arms and huffed. It was obvious by the sight of him why he was so indignant about not wanting to leave. His usual light purple scales had darkened, most of his body a patchwork collection of light and dark purple scales where the fresher set showed through underneath. By all means he did look kind of ridiculous.         Twilight fought back a giggle, smiling instead. “You don’t look so bad…”         “No, I look like a total wreck,” Spike said glumly, scratching his belly. “I’m itchy all over and every three seconds I’m dropping scales everywhere. Gross doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel. Sheesh I’m a walking mess!”         “Oh Spike, you know shedding is a natural part of growing up for a young dragon. I’m sure all the other dragons know exactly what you’re going through!” she said.         “They’re still gonna make fun of me. Plus you didn’t even know about my whole shedding thing until it happened. What do you know anyway?!” he snapped.         Twilight gasped. Instantly Spike’s claws flew to his mouth. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say that!”         He bolted past her and out the door, leaping into the gilded carriage being pulled by the two armoured Pegasus guard. With a snort they opened their wings and took off into the sky.         Running out the door Twilight yelled. “Spike, it’s okay! Wait!”         The carriage was already pulling into the distance by the time she made it out the front door. She squinted at the golden carriage shrinking into the distance. With a drawn out sigh, she trotted back into the library.         Of course he was right. It was only this morning when she’d discovered herself that his scales color seemed an odd muted purple, and found a small pile of them in his bed. He’d been irritable about the whole situation the entire day. She herself got grumpy when she was all dirty or muddy. With his parting remark being followed immediately by an apology she realized it wasn’t much to fret about. After all there was some truth ringing there. The one thing she had never bothered to look through in all her time knowing Spike was more about the little dragon’s physiology and culture. With the library to herself for the rest of the evening Twilight decided to go ahead and broaden her knowledge about dragons.         Or she would have, had there been a single relevant text in the Ponyville library.         “UGH, what is wrong with this town!? Why is there so much fiction? I haven’t checked out a single book to these ponies since I moved here!” fumed Twilight, tossing aside another bland romance novel penned by Madame Primrose Parsparilla. It was alarming how little reading material there was lying around that actually suited her tastes, despite the healthy portion of astronomical literature in stock. The previous owner had a not so subtle hobby for stargazing if the fair amount of telescopes weren’t evidence enough.         It was nearly dusk now, and she had literally torn the shelves apart trying to find something, anything in this library pertaining to dragons.         If I were still in Canterlots library I wouldn’t be having this problem, she thought bitterly,  magically flipping through another useless copy of Ghosts, Goblins and other Ghoulish Figures.         Twilight’s stomach grumbled; she hadn’t eaten in hours she was so absorbed in her search –though, it wasn’t as though she hadn’t staved off bodily hunger to feed her mind before. At the end of her rope, she was about to call it a night and resolve herself to Canterlot’s library in the morning when a particularly fat tome caught her eye.         “Tricky Transformations…a terrific treatise on matter transformations by Starswirl the Bearded,” she read aloud, scanning the title of the beaten up book. Had there not been an outline of a dragon etched into the cover she would have passed over it immediately. The worn book was brown and dog-eared, and when she opened it the volume coughed a plethora of dust in her face, making her sneeze. She flipped through it hungrily, barely noting the texts concerning the simple stuff at the beginning (who would want to turn an onion into an artichoke anyway?) before skipping farther ahead right to the high level material.         “Huh, so there is a spell for turning a hydra into a field mouse,” Twilight chewed her lip. Had Spike flipped through this book before?         On the very last page was the spell the book’s cover had promised. Victorious in her findings she let out a little squeal of delight.         “Perfect perfect perfect!” she exclaimed, her purple eyes immediately gobbling up the instructions on the page. It was as difficult as expected, being such a high level spell, but nothing she couldn’t handle.         One quick spell and I’ll be a dragon just like Spike. This should cheer him up. He’ll be in for such a surprise tomorrow morning! Maybe we can even go visit his home country, she thought happily, already imagining herself and Spike casually strolling through some lava flows to the massive citadels that might have littered the dragon kingdom. After all, what would be a better way to learn about dragons than slipping into their scales for a day?         Twilight read over the spell instructions, piecing together where she’d have to put the most effort for the magic to work, and took a step backwards, casting the spell.         Her horn shimmered to life. A purple cocoon of magic immediately began enveloping her, wrapping her and floating her off the floor. Energy pulsed through her horn, channeling through her body. The effects were immediate. Parts of her started flexing, growing larger and outwards. Bones began to painlessly crack. Her skin rippled, burning all over. Twilight grunted when her insides started flopping around, trying to ignore the spells effects until it was complete. She could hear whistling in her ears, her hooves vibrating intensely as she focused ever harder on the spell. It was so demanding! The whistling in her ears reached a screaming crescendo…         Then everything stopped.         Twilight let out the breath she was holding in.         “Whoa!” she immediately tilted backwards, woozy from the spell. Flailing her arms (arms!)  in the air she fell anyway, some books falling off the shelves when her rump hit the floor.         “Oh wow,” she stuck her arms out in front of her, admiring them. They were both long, ending in a clawed hand with fingers, just like Spike’s. She wiggled them, balling them into fists. Then with similar interest looked down at her hindlegs (feet!) and wiggled her toes too. It was such a weird sensation! Not as weird as the tingling, buzzing feeling that was still coursing through her, but that was probably the magic just settling. Automatically her hand flew to her face.         “Mirror,” she said, suddenly feeling frantic about her new appearance. She stood back up, still unsteady being on two legs. Swivelling her neck she eyed her new tail, which was now helping keep her balance. It had a sort of pink fin at the end of it, almost like a fish. Twilight toddled over to the bathroom in just six steps, being as tall as she was now. Casting the spell, she had expected to be as big as Spike, but now she was possibly fifteen feet long!         “There we go,” Twilight reached into the bathroom, trying to tilt the mirror towards her.         CLUNK         “Oops!” she murmured, accidently ripping it off the wall instead. Making a mental note to fix it later she pulled the mirror out, getting a look at her face.         Well I definitely look like a dragon now she thought idly to herself. Her mouth and nose were now beaklike in nature. She bared her teeth, counting an awful lot of sharp pointy ones in her mouth. Running a single finger through her hair she sighed, content that she still had it; deep purple with magenta stripes falling over her forehead and down her neck, though the horn parting her hair was larger now. She had two more light purple horns growing where her ears used to be along with a smaller pair of horns curling around her cheeks, giving her face a rounded, almost cherubic quality.         Twilight smacked her lips. As if on cue her stomach started growling again. The spell had vanquished her remaining energy reserves and she silently cursed her decision to not have a snack beforehand.         In two steps she was at the (now relatively small) refrigerator. Using the tip of her claw she pulled the door open.         The shelves of the fridge were stocked with a depressing selection of fresh fruit and leafy vegetables. It was only yesterday when they had gone shopping at the town market. The ingredients for a mouth watering salad sat in front of her, but the idea of cold crisp lettuce with dressing made her stomach groan in complaint instead of anticipation.         “Whatever, I guess…” she mumbled, pulling some celery stalks out and tossing them in her mouth. Twilight winced as she chewed and swallowed. It certainly didn’t taste as good as it used to. She sat in front of the fridge, grabbing leafy greens of the shelf and gulping them down. At this point she was just muscling through the taste in her quest to get a full belly. It was a failed endeavour, not only five minutes later she had emptied her fridge.         “Great,” she said glumly, scratching the scales on her belly. That was barely enough to dent her hunger. Twilight was still ravenous, and she was not keen on the idea of trawling around the outskirts of Ponyville this time at night the way she was now. Instead she began searching through the cupboards for something else to stave off her gnawing hunger. After three cabinets yielded nothing but pots and pans she was just about ready to give up before the final one flew open to reveal a verifiable banquet hidden inside.         “This looks…delicious,” Twilight grabbed a handful of Spike’s gems that he had kept squirreled away for himself. It was his own mish-mash of multi-colored gemstones he had set aside just for himself. There were bright purple amethyst, brilliant red rubies, pearlescent cut diamond, shiny green emeralds, and a whole rose gallery of other assorted precious minerals.         Her mouth watering made an excuse to go pick up some more gemstones for him tomorrow. Not even taking a moment’s pause to reflect that she would be officially eating what amounted to colored rocks, Twilight began wolfing down the vibrant crystals.         These taste so good! Have these things always been so flavorful? She pondered while crunching through a mouthful of garnets. I should grind these up into my own food         Twilight gobbled up the entire contents of the drawer (save for some turquoise that Spike had saved from his trip to Appaloosa) in only five minutes. With a final gulp she polished off the last of the gemstones in the cabinet and shut the door, feeling slightly full for the first time in hours.         “Ahh,” she sighed happily, leaving the kitchen back to the main floor of the library. It was still a total mess but after having something to eat the only thing she wanted now was to go to sleep for the night. Wrapping her long tail around the length of her body she curled up on the floor, eyelids growing heavy. Sleep overtaking her she scratched at herself with a free claw, the tingling sensation from earlier not diminishing since the spell was cast.         Twilight yawned, the least bit concerned. Wait until Spike gets a sight of me in the morning… ***         “ALL YOU ALL RIGHT IN THERE!?”         A worried voice called out to her, shaking her awake. Twilight groaned, eyes still shut tight.         Of course I’m alright what are you talking about?         “MISS SPARKLE ARE YOU HURT?” said the voice again, followed by frantic knocking.         Is that the mayor’s voice? Nah. Why is the mayor outside my house asking if I’m hurt?         “We are moving several rainclouds over your library! Remain calm!” rang out a different voice.         Rainclouds? She thought uneasily.         Twilight’s eyes snapped open as she gasped, immediately realizing two things, the first and most obvious being that during her sleep she had been snoring, and horribly thick clouds of acrid smoke had filled the library which had caught the town’s attention sometime early this morning.         This is bad         The second, more startling development was that she was twice the size since falling asleep the previous night.         This is so bad         “SHOOT!” she said very loudly. Twilight jerked her head upwards, the horn on her head burying itself into the ceiling. The volume of her voice startled her. It was like she had been speaking through a megaphone.         “…Is everything alright in there Twilight?” Rainbow Dash’s raspy voice called through the door.         No. everything is worse than possible!         “FINE! Fine, everything’s fine!” she struggled to respond while trying (and failing) to control the loudness of her voice. At least the smoke in the library obscured the windows enough to prevent any Pegasi from peeping in. Pulling her horn from the ceiling she noticed her big tail was pressing against the front door. No wonder her rescuers hadn’t just walked in.         “Listen, we’re gonna start drenching the tree to keep the fire from spreading. I know you love your literature Twi, but I’m not gonna let you roast over a buncha books!” her friend said through the door.         “ALRIGHT! I’m…alright,” responded Twilight loudly, rubbing her head. She looked around to try to get her bearings. Now that she practically filled the room itself the option of using a door was not a consideration.         Rain began drizzling through the ceiling. Twilight cringed; it wasn’t much but it only took a little water to destroy the delicate pages of her books. Luckily for her she’d had the presence of mind to magically waterproof the ones she used often. Leaning her bulky side against one wall of the library she lifted her clawed foot off the floor. The books crushed underneath were an unfortunate casualty of her new size. This was ridiculous! Why had she suddenly gotten so huge?!         Twilight shifted herself around to face the farthest section of the library with the least amount of books. Smoke billowed around her as she gingerly crawled over to the other side of the room. Ice cold water continued rushing inside, some of it cascading down the staircase leading to her bedroom. It wasn’t as though she could fit up there now anyway. Instead she turned her attention to the largest round window on the opposite side of her library. At this point it was her only way out of the building.         SMASH         Balling up her fist she punched through the thin glass of the window. It shattered completely, her thick scales allowing no penetration from the razor sharp glass. Twilight shoved her arm through, then another before pulling her head through.         Twilight was about halfway through when she got stuck.         “OW!” she yelped, trying to wiggle free. Her stomach wasn’t quite that large; craning her head she saw the row of pink spines running down her back mashing into the lip of the window. With a free claw she pressed them down flat and wiggled free. Twilight turned around with a triumphant grin, and then froze.         Rainbow Dash was staring right at her.         “Ehehe…” Twilight chuckled nervously, the blue Pegasus studying her face with frightened rosy pinpricks.         “DRAAAAGON!” she screamed, dropping the raincloud she was clutching and zipping out of sight.         “DASH WAIT!” called Twilight extending her arm after her. In one fluid motion she lost her balance, somersaulting forwards out of the window and landing on the ground with a resounding thud.         She groaned, feeling achy (and still mildly tingly) all over. Pulling her face off the ground she managed to adjust herself into a sitting position. There were a multitude of ponies on the ground looking up at her. Twilight flinched, seeing so many of them all at once.         They’re all so tiny she thought to herself.         “Uh…hi?” she offered with a little wave.         “That dragon ate Twilight Sparkle!” cried Blues, pointing an accusatory hoof.         “She’s not in the library, I just checked,” shouted Dasiy from the front door.         “W-w-what do we do?” Rose began backing away, voice stricken with panic.         This isn’t turning out good, better clear this up now Twilight thought, opening her mouth to speak.         “EVERYPONY RUN!” Lily turned tail and bolted. “IT’S GOING TO EAT US TOOO!”         Everything abruptly went to manure. The dozen or so ponies scattered from her presence, yelling their heads off. The Pegasus of the weather team shot to the skies. The flower shop girls banded together to make for their store. Lyra jumped behind the park bench she was sitting on to hide. Cheerilee and Berry ran side by side, making for the nearby Quill & Sofa shop. Pinkie Pie munched on some popcorn. Caramel ran off to the-         Wait hold on!         “Wowee Twilight, what did you do? You’re all super huge now! Is this a surprise for Spike?” she said cheerfully, somehow knowing exactly what was going on.         “PINKIE!” she boomed, forgetting her voice again. Twilight lowered it best as she could. “You…you recognize me just fine?”         The pink pony giggled into her snack. “Silly! Even though you’re a super sooty dragon right now I’d still spot my friend anywhere!”         “Sooty?” Twilight reached a claw upwards and rubbed her head, bringing back a black palm. “I guess the thick smoke I was snoring settled on my scales overnight.”         “Looks like it!” Pinkie Pie dove her head into the last of her popcorn. “So why’d you magic yourself a big ol’ dragon for, Twilight?”         Twilight brushed some more soot out of her coarser hair. It was all weird now, stiff even, like the baleen of a whale, despite remaining the same shape and form. She stood up on her hind legs, stretching herself out in the open. The difference in size was so unnerving, especially with tiny little Pinkie Pie sitting in front of her looking just like a children’s toy. The tree she had just crawled out of was practically the same size as her! At least she got out okay.         “Well...” she began, “it all started-“         “THERE IT IS!” came a yell from above. Pinkie and Twilight looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering next to Fluttershy.         “Oh my…you um, weren’t pulling a prank this time,” said Fluttershy to Dash, looking embarrassed.         “Told ya I wasn’t pulling your hoof! I think it ate Twi or something’!” she pointed at her.         Fluttershy frowned. “Are you sure?”         “Well…no,” Dash rubbed the back of her head. “But where else could she be then huh?”         “What um, what do you want me to do?” she asked softly.         “I uh,” Dash blinked. “Help me make it leave! Or throw up Twilight!”         “GIRLS!” said Twilight loudly, both Pegasi flinched. “CALM DOWN!”         Fluttershy’s mouth hung open. “Twili…”         “How about you calm down!” retorted Dash, she launched herself downwards. “Tell us what you did with Twilight!”         The fuming Pegasus spiralled at Twilight, who managed to dodge her with a quick lean to the left. Dash pulled a quick turn. She aimed for Twilight’s cheek.         “HEY! OUCH!” her right hand instinctively flew where Dash had bucked her. The kick didn’t register any actual pain.         Rainbow Dash sped back high in the sky. Twilight noticed some of the ponies that had fled were sticking their heads out of their hiding places. Ignoring them she focused on Dash zooming back at her. At the very last minute she calculated exactly where she was going to be and dodged to the left, snatching the Pegasus by the tail with her claw.         “Lemme go!” demanded Dash when Twilight moved her claws to pin Dash’s wings. It was so unreal to be easily holding her friend in one hand like this, especially with the speedster’s reputation as one of the top athletes in Ponyville.         “NO!” replied Twilight trying to get a better grip on her friend. “BE QUIET AND LISTEN!”         “Not until you tell us what you did with Twilight!” snarled Dash trying to break free.         Twilight sighed, sitting back down “Rainbow Dash,” she said softly.         “Yeah what? That’s not an answ-“         “Raaaainbow Dash,” Twilight brought the squirming pony up, so she was face to face with her.         “What!? What are you…you,” Dash was staring into Twilights eyes now, the anger on her face giving away to realization. “You!?”         The large purple dragon smiled. “It’s me, Twilight!” ***         “So lemme get this straight sugar, ya’ll just up and turned yourself into a big ol’ lizard just’ ‘cause you felt bad about Spike?!”         Twilight nodded, sitting on the ground in front of Sugarcube corner with all her friends (and some wary onlookers) to try explaining herself. The sun was high in the sky and she was using the wide sail like fin at the end of it to shade her friends with as they chatted; she had to be careful with it though, it had become stiff and serrated overnight.         “That’s right. He started moulting this morning and he’s been all mopey. I originally wanted to just read up on dragons, history and stuff because I never really took the time to look into the subject,” she sighed, blowing hot breath over her friends and knocking Applejacks hat off. “Sometimes I feel like I just don’t connect with him, you know?”         “I getcha jus’ fine Twi, but don’tcha think ya might have gone overboard this time?” said Applejack grabbing her hat. “Ya’ll couldn’t think of anythin’ else less drastic?”         “Yeah Twilight,” Dash flew up and poked her in the nose, “I thought you were like, on fire or something horrible.”         “Sorry,” she winced, “when I fell asleep I forgot about how dragons snore smoke. Well, big dragons. Originally I was a much more manageable size. I got like…this,” Twilight motioned to her backside, “overnight.”         Rarity tilted her head, face puzzled. “Darling, don’t tell me that you let this spell get out of control! Shouldn’t you have been Spike’s size at your age? You are only two years younger than I!”         “That’s another thing Rarity,” she lowered her head. “I just made an assumption that at my age a female dragon’s size would be completely similar to males. As you can see…it’s apparent that the girls grow faster than boys.”         “I’ll say,” Applejack whistled. “Girl, ya’ll gotta be about thirty feet long now!”         “I know, I know. It’s really awkward being like this. Although,” she pulled out her hand to flex her claws, “it’s also kind of neat.”         “Shall I go check up on Fluttershy?” proposed Rarity getting up from her seat.         “You can if you’d like Rarity, although I’m sure she’ll find the book,” said Twilight waving her hand dismissively. After the chaos of exiting the library the meek Pegasus had offered to explore the library and find the spell book for her. Since Twilight wasn’t planning on returning there herself she had agreed to it.         “I’m only offering because, messy as your library must be at the moment, she’s been missing for nearly fifteen minutes,” Rarity put a hoof to her chin, “although she could be tidying up the place for you.”         “That’s pretty believable,” mumbled Twilight, recalling Fluttershy’s impromptu housekeeping last year for a way to get a hold of a certain golden ticket.         “Let me just pop off to the Boutique for a spell, would you darling?” Rarity got up, trotting towards her store. “I’ll be right back with some choice gemstones for you.”         Twilight’s stomach rumbled in anticipation, sounding like distant thunder. “Oh thank you so much for this Rarity! You have no idea how starving I am right now.”         “I believe I do,” laughed Rarity, hearing that hungry growl. “Sit tight! I’ll be back soon!”         Rainbow Dash peered through the bakery window. “Think Pinkie Pie may be baking too big of a cake? I haven’t seen her since you brought up lunch.”         “She’ll whip up somethin’ mighty tasty I reckon,” Applejack said brightly. “I know she started out rough but that girl can bake one mean cake!”         “Although I got one lil’ question for ya Twi,” said the orange pony real quick.         “Oh?” Twilight leaned forwards to reach eye level with her.         “Ya’ll didn’t even ask me if I could help ya out with your hunger pangs,” Applejack looked away, sounding a little hurt. “My apples ain’t good enough for ya now or somethin?         “Oh nonononono,” she replied shaking her head. “AJ, last night I emptied my fridge! After all that I didn’t feel any less hungry until I snacked on Spike’s gems afterwards. I’m afraid that as tasty as your apples are, I’d end up eating through your entire orchard only to end up still hungry.”         “Well, if ya’ll say so. Then why didja ask Pinkie to bake a cake then?”         “Nopony asked Pinkie to start baking,” Dash scoffed. “She just did it when Twilight said she was hungry.”         “That is right. Originally I just asked Rarity for help then Pinkie jumped in and I didn’t want to say no to her…” Twilight peered at the white unicorn shrinking in the distance. “Cakes and sweets are foods Spike eats after all. It should be-“         “ALL DONE!” Pinkie Pie burst out of the bakery with an enormous cake in tow. “Who’s ready for some eats!”         “Woooow,” they gaped at the towering confectionary treat Pinkie had whipped up. There were five layers completely drizzled with pink icing, a whole mess of bright green sprinkles covered the top of the cake. Each layer had a circle of cupcakes around it topped off by one big yellow cupcake at the very top.         “Aw gross! Consarnit Twi!” yelled Applejack.         “Huh?” Twilight looked down, seeing her friend tearing her hat off and removing what looked like a wet glob of…         “Oops!” she apologized, grabbing the tablecloth and handing to Applejack. She couldn’t believe she just drooled on her like that. The cowboy hat was already soaked with saliva.         “S’alright Twi, I know ya’ll didn’t mean to,” Applejack said wringing her hat. She wiped her hooves clean of spit and set it on the table.         “Pinkie Pie this is the biggest cake I’ve ever seen in my life!” Dash hovered around the cake, taking in every angle. “You did all this so fast too!”         “I used every single oven in the store! Even the one in the back that Mr. Cake said was on the fritz and to never use that I fixed last night! Looks good, right Twilight?”         Twilight continued to gawk at the cake. “Yes! It’s amazing! Thank you so much!”         “Welllll no problem-o! It was my pleasure! So dig in!” she beamed.         “All of it?” asked Twilight, a little shocked.         “Yup!” said Pinkie.         “Aww…shucks, it looks so good,” lamented Dash.         “I can share Pinkie Pie. It’s not big dea-“         “Nuh-uh! This one’s allllll for you Twilight,” Pinkie pushed the cart towards her.         “Don’t worry girls, I’ve got another cake in the oven for us to share!” she added, motioning to the bakery door. “The big ones just gotta go to Twilight. See, I figured if she’s gotten bigger, then her stomachs gotten bigger too. So the bigger the stomach, the bigger the appetite, right?”         “I suppose…since you’re making more it’s okay. Thanks Pinkie,” repeated Twilight. Reaching out she picked up the tray holding the cake and set it in front of her. Pinkie Pie watched intently, hoping that she did a good job with the cake.         Twilight licked her lips, then opened her mouth to take a bite.         “My my, aren’t we hasty?” said Rarity, pulling up to the table with a mining cart full of gems. “I assumed Pinkie Pie would be finished by now, but to just dive in without proper dragon vittles seems so impetuous.”         Dash snorted. “You took your sweet time picking out those gems. Did you organize them by color or something? They’re all ending up in the same place ya know,” she pointed a hoof to Twilights stomach.         Rarity scowled at Dash, horn flaring to life. “For your information, I was attempting to pick out the jewels that were inherently flawed or scratched. Completely useless for proper application to my clothing but,” the colored stones magically lifted in the air, catching the light brilliantly, before embedding into the cake, “perfect for any hungry dragon.”         In ten seconds the cake was a glowing mushy stone monument of what Twilight could only imagine as the most delicious thing on the planet. Her stomach roared impatiently, eyes locked to the growing feast before her. A final trio of dark topaz enshrined the crest of the cake and Rarity cut off her magic.         “That’s all of them Twilight,” she looked up at her scaly friend, “well…’dig in’ I suppose?”         Her mouth watering meal fully prepared Twilight did just that, taking a big chomp of the top half of the cake. The crystals crunched easily under her sharp teeth mixing with the gooey cake and creating the most luscious indescribable flavor she’d ever enjoyed. It was like chewing on a cake, rock candy smoothie. In only two more hurried bites she had eaten the entire thing.         “Tarnation! Ya full now?” asked Applejack in awe at how quickly the massive cake had disappeared down Twilights gullet.         “No,” answered Twilight truthfully, “Although it definitely helped a lot.”         She decided to lie out on her side, stretching her legs and tail behind her. Absentmindedly she scratched at her scales again. Even now that tingling feeling was running through her body still. It wasn’t as strong as before, but still present. The sensation bugged her though. Of all things for the spells possible after effects why this? Turning her head she saw Fluttershy flying towards her. A familiar fat book was clutched in her teeth.         Being cautious not to step too close to her massive friend Fluttershy landed on the ground, handing Twilight the book. Using the tips of her sharp claws she took it from her.         “Thanks Fluttershy!” she said with a smile.         “Oh, it was no trouble really,” replied Fluttershy looking away. “While I was there I, um, took the liberty of tidying up your books. If that’s okay with you…”         Twilight beamed at her. Had she not been so big she would have hugged her right then and there. The idea of making Spike come home to clean up a mess she made was agonizing. Using the tip of one finger she flipped through the book to the last page where, squinting, she prepared to memorize the incantation.         “It’s blank!” she gasped.         “What?!” everyone crowded around her feet as Twilight bolted upright, frantically flipping the page back and forth as if it would show up if she did it enough times. The page remained blank of course.         “I don’t know! Every other page in the entire book has a reversal spell on the opposite page but the last one, it…IT DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING!” she exclaimed, her voice climbing in volume.         “Calm down sugar!” Twilight felt Applejacks hoof pressing against her foot. “Ya gotta think maybe that books jus’ an old copy that never got the last sheet printed or something”         THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! NO EDITOR WOULD ALLOW A BOOK TO PASS WITH OUT FOLLOWING PROTOCOL!” she boomed, feeling very angry all of a sudden. Her breathing quickened, face getting very hot. What kind of book on transformation magic doesn’t put in a counterspell?! It was unbelievable! Completely absurd! Twilights arms started to shake.         SHHHNK         “Twilight please do control yourself!” cried Rarity as Twilights tail whipped into one of the outdoor tables, slicing it in half.         Twilight dropped the book. She took a deep breath.         One, two, three, four         “N-no reason to fly off the handle okay Twi? Jus’, uh, jus’ don’t worry we’ll get this all sorted out,” said Applejack, backing away from her.         Five six seven eight         Fluttershy eeped, flitting away but then deciding against it, returning to Twilight’s side. “Don’t worry about it Twilight. You know better than anyone that there’s, um, you know, always a way to explain something.”         Nine ten         Twilight exhaled, feeling the heat of her anger deflating away.         “IT’S ALRIGHT, I’M OKAY,” Twilight breathed, remembering to lower her powerful voice. “Just…got a little mad there for no reason,” she looked at the damage her tail had caused. “Pinkie Pie I’m sorry about the table…”         “Oh don’t worry Twi! I’ll fix it in a jiffy!” Pinkie Pie called up to her, bouncing into the bakery.         “Ya’ll gotta keep your temper in control missy,” scolded Applejack, the intensity in her green eyes actually making her shrink in guilt. “That thang at the end of your tail is sharper than a grinded knife an’ it’ll do nopony any good if ya jus’ start swingin’ it ‘round like that ‘cause ya’ll got into a hissy fit.”         Twilight sighed, understanding completely and laying back down, resisting the urge to look back into the book. Even thinking about the omission was starting to get her annoyed again. Burying her head into her arms she closed her eyes, trying not to think about it as Applejack and Rarity bickered about the advantages of fixing up an old table to buying a brand new one. There was a tickling sensation on her snout. She opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash standing on her face, her rosy eyes reflecting her own purple slitted ones.         “Hey,” she said casually.         “Hey Dash,” replied Twilight softly.         Rainbow Dash pointed a blue hoof skyward. “There’s a carriage coming from Canterlot.”         “Spike? Oh boy,” she groaned, lifting her head up.         Just what are you upset about when this whole spell was a surprise for him? Just because it got out of hand doesn’t make it reason to worry.         The carriage wheeled around the far side of the tree, banking left before grounding to a halt. Descending from the sky it was apparent the guards had noticed her but otherwise kept silent. Craning her neck Twilight watched Spike hop out of the carriage and rush into the library.         “I guess I’ll go say hello,” she rumbled, getting to her feet. Rarity and Applejack were still bickering over the split table, Pinkie hadn’t returned from the bakery and Fluttershy politely excused herself to go feed her animals dinner. Twilight looked at Dash, who shrugged and started to coast towards the library.         In ten steps she was there, Rainbow Dash already pounding at the door with her hoof.         “Who’s there!?” questioned Spike through the door.         “It’s me Spike,” replied Dash. “Also, come out here an-“         “I’m not coming out. Did you fly through the window today Rainbow? There’s glass all over the floor!” he said, followed by crunching sounds.         “No I didn’t break the window,” Rainbow Dash frowned, scrunching up her face “On the flip side, it was Twilight who broke the window.”         Twilight winced at his silence. “Really?” he finally said “Why?”         “Open the door and ask her yourself,” said Dash, shooting Twilight a mischievous smirk. She took off into the air, looped around Twilight’s head and hovered back above the doorway.         The door slowly opened.         Spike toddled outside. He looked up at the giant purple dragon before him. His eyes widened, jaw hanging wide open.         “Hehe, hiya Spike,” waved Twilight.         “Guh,” he squeaked, blinking, and fainting flat on his face.