The Ties That Bind Us

Things... Turn

Spike sent the letter away. He sat there at Twilight’s desk, wondering what he should do next. For the last week he’s been chronically bored. Twilight doesn’t ask for his help, and he thought it best to stay away from Rarity given the tension between them. So he sits there, levitating pens and pencils. “Whoever thought having magic could be so boring… “ he sighed. “Twilight, are you sure I can’t try more difficult spells?”

“No,” she said sternly.

“But I want to learn cool spells like you do…” Spike whined.

“Spike. One, you don’t know how truly difficult those spells are. You know I spend hours each day practicing spells. Two, I don’t want you doing something wrong and exploding while trying to change an orange into an apple or something. And three, stop whining. You’re a grown stallion.”

“Mmm, fine,” Spike begrudgingly agreed.

“Thank you, now I need your help.”

“Really?!” Spike leapt up from the desk. “Whatever you need I’ll do it,” he said with a salute.

“All I need is for you to move this bookcase over a few inches,” Twilight chuckled.

“Oh…” Spike sighed in disappointment.

Twilight saw his disappointment and kissed his cheek. “I know you want to do something to help like clean, organize, and chart, but now that you are your own pony you have the choice to do what you want to do.”

“But, I don’t know. Usually when I make decisions by myself I mess them up… horribly…”

“I’m not asking you to be a princess or king or something. Just go out and have fun. And I’ll be here when you come home,” she said in a low sultry voice. Spike blushed with a goofy smile. “Now go,” she urged.

“Okay, I’ll go. But what are you going to do today?”

“I don’t know. I think I’ll go visit Fluttershy. She’s the only one who hasn’t seen us.” Twilight explained. “You know what, I’ll leave now. Come on Spike,” she said before starting towards the door. Spike knew she meant well, but he wanted to spend every minute of every day with her. That is what lovers do, right?

Twilight and Spike came upon Fluttershy’s cottage. She was relaxing in her yard with Angel and a few squirrels. “Fluttershy Hi!” Twilight shouted. Fluttershy jumped scaring away the little critters. Angel shot Twilight an annoyed gaze. “Sorry for startling you.”

“Oh it’s okay Twilight,” she giggled. “How have you been. I haven’t seen you in weeks.” They shared a happy friendly hug.

“I’ve been great. How about you?” Twilight asked excitedly.  

“I’m okay.” she looked over to Spike who was having his ear gnawed off by angel. “Angel! You leave that Stallion alone!” she pulled the agitated bunny away from Spike. “I’m s-sorry sir…” she trembled. She backed away slowly and hid behind Twilight. “Who is that Twilight?” she whispered.

“Fluttershy, it’s Spike,” Twilight said. Fluttershy peeked from behind Twilight. She approached Spike slowly and cautiously. “A-are you sure that he’s Spike?” she whimpered.

“Of course he is, can’t you see the resemblance?”

“Well Spike is small, and cute. He’s,” she gulped. “Big and Scary…” she inched closer while Spike stood as still as a statue. “Can you tell me something Spike would say?”

“Uh… I love the Power Ponies? Ooh, and gems. I love gems. I doubt this pony body would be able to eat any though…” he pouted and looked to Twilight. “Twilight… I can’t eat gems anymore!” he cried.

“There, there, uh Spike. Everything will be okay,” Fluttershy cautiously comforted. Spike continued to bawl and babble unintelligibly. He would whine with a random “so sweet and crunchy” mixed in. Then he belched up a letter. Twilight picked it up and was about to unravel it when she saw it was addressed to Spike and Spike only.

“Huh… that’s new…” Twilight said in surprise.

“What is it Twilight?” Fluttershy asked from Spike’s side.

“Princess Celestia sent a letter for Spike,” she said in disbelief.

“Oh really…” Fluttershy said.

“What? Isn’t that weird?” Twilight exclaimed.

“I don’t know, is it?”

“Well, the letters are usually meant for me.”

“Is it bad that Spike got a letter?” Fluttershy questioned.

“No it’s just… new.” She gave Spike the letter. He read over it a couple times then folded it away.

“Hm…”

“What is it Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing, I asked Princess Celestia a few questions,” he said indifferently.

“What questions?” Twilight questioned further.

“They aren’t important. Just questions about being a pony.”

“You told her you were a pony!?” Twilight shouted.

“Y-yeah…” Spike nervously answered. Twilight began to pace around furiously.

“Why would you tell her?!” she scolded.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to…” Spike said, barely above a whisper.

“Do you know what she’ll do if she finds out I used a transformation spell without authorisation?!” she shouted with worry in her tone. She paced some more, took a few breaths, and looked to Fluttershy. “Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere. I’ll be back with a solution to this problem,” she dashed away in blind fury, fear, and worry.

Spike watched her run away, mentally cursing himself. “Damnit! Why did I tell Princess Celestia? She’s going to separate us or worse! Oh,why the Hell would I do something so stupid?!” He felt a soft nudge on his side. He looked down into her sympathetic eyes.

“I know you’re sad and scared, but I know everything will be okay,” she said in a quiet soothing tone.

“But I messed up. I could have gotten us into deep trouble… And now she’s mad at me…” he hung his head low.

“We all mess up Spike. Nopony is perfect,” she lifted his head to eye level. “You two are going to be fine, now come in and relax.” Spike listened and followed her inside.

He came in and sat on Discord’s loveseat. Fluttershy sat in her armchair and looked at him. He looked around her living room then back at her. “Why are you staring at me?”

“Sorry. I’m trying to get used to you being a pony. I remember when I first saw you. You were the cutest little dragon I had ever seen,” she squealed. Spike slumped in his seat.

“So you’d rather me be a dragon instead of a pony…?”

“I don’t know. This is all new to me. Do our friends know?”

“Yes, all of them..”

“What did they say?” she leaned in closer.

“Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbowdash are okay with it I guess, and Twilight and Rarity are butting heads for some reason…” he explained.

“Why would they be fighting?” she asked.

“It may be because Rarity thinks that Twilight keeps me all to herself.” Fluttershy raised a brow.

“That’s strange, well. How did you end up as a pony anyway?”

“Twilight changed me when I wasn’t looking,” Spike sighed.

“Why did she do that?” Fluttershy lightly scoffed.

“Because she let’s her scientific brain get in the way of her common sense,” Spike spat. “She would rather see the end result of an “experiment” than what could happen after!” The room was silent, all that could be heard was his deep voice echoing through the wood. Fluttershy cowered behind her chair while angel let loose a flurry of furry kicks on his leg. “I-I’m sorry…”

Fluttershy peeked from behind the chair to see if he’d calmed down some. She saw him staring at the floor blankly while angel continued to attack him mercilessly. “Angel stop that,” Fluttershy whispered. Spike sat slumped over on the floor with a heavy sigh. Things haven’t been good lately. He didn’t mind being a pony, but the effects are almost too much to handle.

“Spike? Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. Spike said nothing. “Spike?” she came out from behind the chair. She came up to him and nudged his side. “Hey, it’s alright,” she soothed.

“I know it is. I’m just scared of what might happen…” he said quietly. He prepared for hollow advice from her, but she was silent. He waited for her to say something. Just as he was about to speak she wrapped her arms around him. “Fluttershy what-”

“Shush, you need a hug. It seems like it’s been awhile since somepony gave you a sincere one,” she said while rubbing his back. As much as he wanted to protest it, her hug was nice and warm. She always had a delicate way of dealing with problems, choosing kindness or a stern talking to for most problems. He hesitated some, looking to the door making sure Twilight wasn’t going to barge in, then embraced her tighter. The last time he shared a hug like this with somepony was when he and Twilight first- “What the heck am I doing?” A cascade of worry and fear crept into his heart. Was she trying to be romantic? Or was she being kind? There wasn't much he knew about relationships, but he did know mares didn't like it when you're with another mare.

“Do you feel better?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“Huh?” Spike lethargically answered.

“Are you better now?” she asked again pulling away from his embrace.

“Yeah, sorry I was thinking,” he chuckled.

“Good,” Fluttershy smiled. “There isn't much to do here, so…”

“Don't worry. If I know Twilight she’ll be here in less than a sec--” there was a frantic knock at the door. “Speak of the devil…” Spike sighed. Fluttershy opened the door showing a visibly flustered Twilight. She had her saddlebags on her side with a book in one pouch.

“Sorry that took me so long guys,” Twilight gasped.

“You were gone less than twenty minutes,” Fluttershy said patently. “How did you get back so fast?”

“Well, after I ran out of the door I made it to town square before I got tired, so I teleported home and teleported back here,” Twilight explained.

“Why do you look so tired?” Fluttershy questioned further.

“I haven’t recovered from my sprint yet,” she cleared her throat. Spike, stand still.”

“What? Why?” Spike asked in a lost tone.

“Because I’m about to turn you back into a dragon,” Twilight answered indifferently.

“What!” he jumped to his hooves. He looked at Twilight then to Fluttershy who looked as bewildered as he did.

“I don’t want to run the Risk of Celestia coming to investigate the letter you sent. Besides, it’s for the best.”

Those last few words pierced his heart like a spear. So all that time they spent in the library meant nothing? Was she lying every morning when she would kiss his cheek whispering “I love you”? That is how it's going to be then. She lied, and now she's trying to cover up the base of her lie: him being a pony.

Just before he could protest a bright lavender-white beam of magic came barreling towards him. “It will be better off this way…” echoed through his mind as he felt the magic transforming and rearranging his body. As the light faded away, there he was looking up at Twilight and Fluttershy instead of looking down at them. He lifted his stubby claws, looking over them and the rest of his original dragon body.

“Spike? Do you feel okay?” Twilight asked cautiously.

“I-I feel… fine,” Spike sighed.

“You don't feel weird or anything?” Twilight questioned further.

“No, I feel like the old fire breathing, gem loving me,” Spike halfheartedly chuckled.

“Great! Now come on, we have some work to do,” Twilight cheerily stated.

“Work? Like what?”

“I need to make sure you're really okay, like make sure your heart isn't in your head and stuff like that.”
Spike said nothing but looked at her with a mix of nervousness, and “what-the-heck did she just say?”.

“Don't worry, it'll be really quick. Come on.”
Spike followed, but before he left he saw the sympathy in Fluttershy’s eyes. Then they were gone, headed home like everything was normal, but nothing would be the same again.

I’ll start keeping this journal for now since it isn't a good idea to talk to Princess Celestia when it comes to mare advice. I’m a dragon again, I should be happy, but… I'm not. I loved being a pony, I felt important, ponies treated me with respect, and I was happy. Not that I'm not happy with being a dragon, but what's the point if you're one of a kind? All of this is moving too fast, I liked it better when me and Twilight would cuddle--when I was a pony of course--now that's gone. At least she said we'll get to have some “fun” tonight. That’s going to be a challenge… I’ll try my best. That's all, gotta go.