//------------------------------// // Morphic Magic // Story: Spike the stallion // by Wonder //------------------------------// It certainly wasn't a perfect day in the small town of Ponyville but it was close enough. There were a few clouds in the sky that hinted at the possibility of rain, but that all depended on how Rainbow Dash was feeling that day. That was the downside of having a temperamental speed demon in charge of the weather patrol. Get her in a bad mood and your whole day could be ruined. On the bright side, no monsters had stormed into town yet so everypony was in a relatively good mood. So all in all, it was a decent time to hang out with friends which is exactly what Sweetie Belle intended to do. The small filly trotted through the town's market, heading towards Sweet Apple Acres. Her fellow members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo and Applebloom, had agreed to meet at their clubhouse the day before so they could draw up an official club schedule for the month. Sweetie passed a few of her classmates but didn't stop to talk. She wasn't necessarily late but the young filly couldn't afford to stop and chat. Now things don't always go the way ponies plan and life was determined to teach her this lesson with an extra helping of homework. Just as Sweetie reached the edge of the marketplace a voice called out to her. "Sweetie Belle, there you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Sweetie instantly recognised the voice of her sister and groaned. Whenever her sister was looking for her, it was to get her to do chores and right now she just didn't have any time to waste. Sweetie Belle turned slowly, making sure she displayed how uninterested she was at the prospect of being held up. "What is it, Rarity? I'm in a hurry." The filly spoke in a calm but firm tone. "Oh, please. Enough with the attitude, Sweetie. This isn't the time for a rebellious phase." Rarity waved a hoof dismissively. "I was just coming to tell you I'm leaving for Manehattan on the next train and I'll be gone for the next few day so you will have the boutique to yourself while I'm gone." "Wait, you're leaving? But I thought 'Rarity for You' was doing well." The smaller filly's tone changed to one of concern. "Oh, it is. But there is a problem with one of the designs and they need my expertise to remedy their mistake. You understand, right?" Rarity patted her sister gently above her horn but Sweetie quickly swatted it away. "Can you stop that!? I'm not a little foal anymore. Stop treating me like one." Rarity chuckled internally but kept her opinion to herself. "Of course, I'm sorry." Rarity held up a hoof. "You are completely right but on that matter, there are a few rules I need to lay down. Now I cannot stress this enough, so listen carefully. While I am gone there are to be no parties, no sleepovers and no coltfriends. I repeat, no coltfriends." Sweetie didn't know why but that last part really ticked her off. Why did her sister have to be so patronising. "I understand." Sweetie said through clenched teeth. "That's a good little sister." Rarity smiled almost evilly before trotting off. "Have fun." "Yeah, whatever." Sweetie muttered before turning and continuing her journey to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both sat in front of a blank sheet of paper they had nailed to the wall of the treehouse club room, trying to think of ideas for activities they could try but since they already had their cutie marks, they were having a hard time of thinking of any. There club room was fairly modest with barely any furniture, the most impressive of which was a quite unimpressive podium. The two were sitting in the corner furthest from the door talking idly. "Hey, Scootaloo. Why do they say extra-ordinary when describin' cool stuff like superheroes? Ah mean, ah get that things can be extra hot or ya could have extra hay fries but if extra means more, than extra-ordinary is the exact opposite of what it is." Scootaloo just looked at her friend dumbfounded, wondering what had made her friend say that. "I'm gonna be honest. I don't know what the heck you're talking about." "Don't ya get it? If somepony was extra-ordinary, shouldn't they be super normal, not super powered." "Meh, I don't really care. I just roll with it. It's not like we can change the Equestrian language." Scootaloo said as she checked her hooves for dirt. "Or can we!" Apple Bloom jumped to her hooves, a ridiculous idea already forming in her head. "I swear, if you sugges-" Scootaloo was cut off as the clubhouse door slammed open. "I cannot believe her!" Sweetie screamed to nopony in particular. "Woah! What's wrong, Sweetie?" Apple Bloom ran over to her friend, hoping to help in anyway should could. "My sister! She treats me like a darn foal!" Sweetie slammed the door shut, rattling the clubhouse in the process. "I hate her!" Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, remembering the last time this happened. "Ah ain't givin' yah mah sis again, just so ya know." Scoot looked between the two before deciding to add her own comment. "So what exactly happened this time?" "She came right up to me and announces she's leaving without even telling me." She threw her hands up in the air. "I mean, seriously." "...But if she told you she was leaving without telling you, doesn't that mean she did tell you?" Scootaloo asked, obviously confused. "Yeah, but only a few hours before she's leaving! I mean she could have told me in advance." "Maybe she only found out she was leaving today." Apple Bloom suggested. "She is a designer after all." "Does a good sister leave a filly alone while she's off working?! I think not." "Wait? If she's not home... and you have the whole place to yourself..." Scootaloo slowly began to grin at her friends. "We can have a sleepover!" She began hopping in place excitedly. "Nope, she said I can't. It freaking sucks." The unicorn groaned. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Applebloom grinned as she put her arm around her grumpy friend. "Right?" "Well, I guess." Sweetie said reluctantly. "I am my own mare after all." "You said it!" Scootaloo swung her hoof in the air and gave Apple Bloom a high hoof. "What other rules did she say? Let's see how many we can break." Sweetie smiled at the idea of breaking her sister's rules. "Sure, why not? No parties was one but unless either of you have a coltfriend then we can't really break the other rule." The three fillies looked between them, confirming the fact that they were all single. "Wow, we really need to get out more." Scootaloo said. "How are all three of us single?" "Maybe the fact that we've only focused on cutie marks for the last year or two might have something to do with it." Apple Bloom shrugged. "The closest any of us have had to colt friends in sharing milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner." From the corner of her eye Sweetie saw Scootaloo giggle to herself. "Speaking of which, I know somepony we could invite." The orange filly gave Sweetie a coy grin. "Who?" Both her friends said in unison. "Spike!" She almost yelled in enthusiasm. "Yeeeaaaah... no." The unicorn said flatly. "Don't get me wrong, he's a nice dragon but I wouldn't really date him. It would feel too awkward dating a dragon." Sweetie dismissed the idea quickly. "Not that Spike. Remember the colt from last month?!" Scootaloo flung her hooves in the air. "Oh yeah! I remember him." Apple Bloom smiled. "He was kinda cute." "He was... kinda cute." Sweetie blushed slightly and to her chagrin, her friends noticed and monopolized the tease market. "Aww, she does like him." Scootaloo pinched her friend's cheeks, making them grow even redder. "Isn't that adorable." "Sh-shut up!" "Oh, she's getting defensive. She totally loves him." Apple Bloom joined in the teasing as any good friend would. "You guys suck." Sweetie crossed her hooves and pouted. Her friends grew quite as Scootaloo slowly leaned in towards Sweetie's ear and whispered. "I know somepony you wish you could su-" "EEWWW! No!" Sweetie screamed as she tackled her friend. "Shut up, that's gross." "Hehe, yeah but it was worth it." Scootaloo grabbed her sides as she laughed. "You should have seen your face." "You better watch your own face before I hit it." Sweetie playfully punched her friend's ribs. "Okay, I surrender." Scootaloo mocked defeat. Sweetie ceased her pretend attack and laughed. "Besides, it's not like we even know where he lives. I haven't seen him once since that day." "You probably wouldn't have. He's Princess Twilight's cousin. Apparently he was only here for that one day." Sweetie recalled what Twilight had told her. "Aww, that sucks." Scootaloo kicked at the dirt before an idea popped into her head. "Maybe we could ask her when he's in town next before we head over to the boutique?" "Works for me. Let's do it. Grab your saddlebags, girls. It's sleepover time!" Sweetie smiled. At the same time on the other side of town, Princess Twilight Sparkle was enjoying a fresh stack of pancakes make by her number one personal assistant, Spike. The little drake had woken up in a suspiciously good mood and had decided to dust the shelves, mop the floors, reorganise the nonfiction section by order of realism, which Twilight found quite useful, and made breakfast for the of them. What impressed Twilight the most was that he had done all that before she had even woken up. If Twilight didn't know any better, she would have thought he had ulterior motives. "Delicious as always, Spike. Thank you for the wonderful breakfast." Twilight took a sip from the fresh orange juice spike had squeezed. "No problem, Twilight. You always work so hard so I thought it was only fair for you to have a day to relax." Spike grabbed another stack of pancakes that had just finished cooking and place them onto Twilight's plate. Twilight stared at her number one assistant for a moment before speaking. "So this isn't some way to bribe me in order to get something you want?" The alicorn telekinetically grabbed a bottle of maple syrup from the pantry and poured a sizable amount onto her pancakes. "No, of course not." Spike waved his claw dismissively. "Why would you think that?" "Okay, spill. What is it that you're hiding from me?" Twilight stabbed the stack with her fork and took a mouthful of the delectable dessert. "Hiding?!" Spike swallowed nervously. "What makes you think I'm hiding something?" "Really?" Twilight said flatly. "Normally I have to drag you out of bed yet, lo and behold, you're up before me and working like there is no tomorrow. Not that I'm complaining, in fact I wish you'd do this everyday, but you can't deny how suspicious this seems. So what is it? Did a new issue of Power Ponies come out? Did you find a particular gem at the market you want? Spill." Spike grabbed his tail with both claws and began wringing it nervously. "Well... you see, I kinda wanted to...." Spike voice faltered as he mumbled something unintelligible. Twilight leaned in to hear better but she couldn't make it out. "You're not Fluttershy, Spike. You can't whisper your way out of this. Speak up." Twilight devoured a pancake whole, not even bothering to clean the maple syrup that now coated her lips. "I...I want to...be a pony again." Spike whispered as he cheeks burned bright red. "That's it?" Twilight ate yet another pancake. "Why didn't you just say so?" "Wait, you don't find that weird?" Spike was surprised that Twilight had taken it so well. "Why would I find it weird? I once spent a day as a Breezy so I understand the feeling of being in another body. It's a relatively enjoyable experience. So just for today, I'll turn you into a pony. Consider it a gift for all the good work you've done." Spike looked at Twilight skeptically, not completely convinced with her answer. "Okay, now it's my turn to be suspicious. Normally when I ask for things that could have potentially disastrous consequences you interrogate me for hours before rejecting my idea. What's the real reason you're saying yes?" Twilight is known for having one the the worse poker faces and today was no exception. Spike just stared at Twilight blankly, waiting until Twilight's feeble defences failed completely. "Okay fine!" Twilight dropped her face onto the table in defeat. She instantly regretted this, having forgotten about the stack of maple syrup covered pancakes in front of her. Twilight slowly withdrew her face from her breakfast with a squelch. "Eugh. Do you mind grabbing a towel before I tell you?" Spike shrugged and grabbed one of the dish towels from the bottom drawer. Twilight grabbed the towel from his claw and set to work cleaning her face. Only once she was sure that most of the golden liquid was gone did she continue speaking. "Well, you see, recently I've been experimenting with morphic spells in order to learn how changeling magic works. Mainly on how the age of the desired creature can be manipulated. I've been looking for somepony to test my spell and to be completely honest, I was going to ask you to be my test subject anyway." Spike face planted. "I should have known it had something to do with studying. So if I asked and you weren't planning on already planning on testing the spell, what would have you said?" Twilight didn't hesitate in answering. "I would have said." Twilight cleared her throat. "Of course not, it's way too dangerous and irresponsible to cast body alteration magic on any creature. The fact that you survived last time was by pure coincidence." "And you're willing to cast dangerous magic on me now? Wait? I could have died!" Spike took a step back, now worried that the spell was actually dangerous. "Well, it is in the name of science. Now hold still." Twilight lowered her head and pointed her horn at Spike. "No, wait! I change my mind!" Spike turned to run but had barely taken a step before the room was filled with light. "Too late." Twilight smiled as she shot a laser of condense magic at the fleeing drake. "Bullseye!" She squeed. The sun was now at its highest in the sky as the Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way through town. They were busy discussing what they would do at their unapproved sleepover, most of which involved 'crusading'. Apple Bloom was mostly thinking of ways to make the night more interesting. "Hey, Sweetie. Do you have many snacks at your place? I wanna go into a sugar coma." Scootaloo beamed. "I think we had a few pieces of toffee but that's it. Rarity doesn't really keep to much candy around. Something about internal discipline and keeping to a healthy diet." Scootaloo recoiled at the word. "Eugh! That's insane. Why would anypony willingly stop eating sugar." Scootaloo stuck out her tongue and gagged. "If I had to go on a diet, it would be a 'sugar only' diet." "I second that motion." The three fillies paused for a moment when they heard Pinkie's high pitched voice echo from somewhere across town. The three looked to each other before deciding to ignore the voice and continued walking. "Isn't the purpose of a diet to lose weight?" Apple Bloom looked at her friend with mirth. "I'm pretty sure you would only gain weight from that diet." Scootaloo chuckled at this. "Yeah but it would totally be worth it!" The pegasus pony jumped into the air, using her stunted wings to hover momentarily."You know what? We need to stock up on snacks! I've got twelve bits on me. how about you two?" Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie brought out what little change they had and dumped it into Scoots hooves. "I kinda left my wallet at home. This is all I got on me." Apple Bloom blushed. "Sis didn't leave me any money. That's the last of my pocket money." Sweetie kicked at the dirt in disapointment. "Well we could get a decent amount of junk food with..." Scootaloo quickly counted the bits she now had in her hooves. "...twenty-one bits. You guys want anything in particular?" "Ah'm fine with anything." "Same here." "Cool. Hey, Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom and I are gonna grab the snacks. You're okay heading to Twilight's on you own?" Scootaloo tied the bits up in a brown cloth and placed it into her saddle bag. "Yeah, I'm good. Meet you girls at Sugar Cube Corner?" "I don't think it'll take too long, so if we're not there then we'll be at your place." Scootaloo yelled over her shoulder as both her and Apple Bloom left. "Don't take too long though. It would be a shame if somepony were to eat the candy without you!" The orange pegasus chuckled at her half serious joke. "I won't give you the chance to eat them!" Sweetie shouted in defiance as she ran in the direction on Golden Oaks library. "Spike? Are you okay, Spike?" A voice called out to the drake. It sounded distant somehow. He opened his eyes slowly and shook his head to clear his blurred vision. "I see a bright light..." Spike said slowly. "Am I dead?" "Yeah, you're okay." Twilight rolled her eyes as she offered her hoof to Spike. "C'mon. Up you get." Spike tried to grab her hoof but fell flat on his face. He groaned into the wooden floorboards before lifting himself back up with his modified appendages. Spike quickly looked himself over, faintly recognizing his new equine body from the last time he had been a pony, but it felt different in a way. After making sure that Twilight hadn't messed up and given him five legs, he lifted his left hoof and took a tentative step forward but pitched dangerously forwards. He managed to stop his fall by quickly placing his left hoof back onto the ground. Looking mildly embarrassed, Spike straightened himself out. Once he was sure he wouldn't fall face first into the ground he moved one of his hooves in front of his face and examined it closely. Looking up he could see the tip of what appeared to be a unicorn horn. "This'll probably take some getting used to." He turned to Twilight who was staring at Spike with a mild blush on her cheeks. "You look... less tall than usual." Twilight didn't respond and just kept staring at Spike. "Yo, Twi. Equus to Twilight, you in there?" Spike gave the unicorn a tap on her horn. Twilight quickly jolted to her sense and shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Oh, yes right. Sorry... What were you saying?" Spike tilted his head in confusion. It wasn't like Twilight to be so distant unless she was reading. "You okay? you seem a little preoccupied." "Sorry, I was just distracted. Hold on a sec, I need to make a record of this. Stay right here." Twilight quickly bolted out of the room and came back moments later with an old camera. "Do you mind?" "Not really. But why do you need a photo." Spike stood as tall as he could and smiled. "No reason, just collecting information for research." Twilight snapped a photo and summarily teleported the camera back to it's original location. "This is perfect, that's everything I need." "Wait, you're just taking a photo? That's it? No four hour test?" Twilight shifted uncomfortably. "W-well I already know the details of the spell and everything, I just wanted a photo for myself. You are kinda cute after all." Twilight shrunk back as a blush appear on her face. "Haha, very funny. I'm eleven for Celestia's sake. I'm meant to be cute." "Well, technically speaking, you're nineteen." Twilight quickly commented and began gesturing with her hoof offhandedly. "The spell imitates changeling magic and allows the user to take the form of any creature no matter the age or species. While there are limits to size, an example being that a pony could not turn into a manticore, most species are-" "Twilight, you're in lecture mode again?" Spike droned. "Wait! You're saying I'm actually nineteen now?" "Exactly. Just remember, you have the body of an adult, so you need to act like one." Twilight moved closer to Spike and looked him up and down. Twilight smiled to herself. "I knew you were adorable as a colt, but now?" Twilight gave him a shoulder nudge before walking into the main room of the library. "Rarity would fall head over hoof for you." Spike smiled widely. "You really think so?!" The ex-dragon followed the unicorn into the next room. "I've read a few books on romance. I believe a have a firm grasp on the subject." She stated matter-of-factly "If you say so." Spike made his way to the door before remembering something. "Hey, Twilight. Since I'm now a unicorn, can I cast magic?" "Fortunately, no. You're naturally a dragon, so your magic is of dragon origin. The spell only changes the physical natures of a living being, not the arcane abilities." "Thought so." Spike frowned, obviously disappointed. "Guess I'll just have to use my hooves to do things. C'ya Twilight." "Bye!" Twilight waved her assistant goodbye. Spike closed the door and trotted off in the direction of the Carousel Boutique. Twilight trotted upstairs to her room and grabbed a book from her bedside table. Once she was settled comfortably onto her bed she began reading from where she had left off. "Why do I feel like I've forgotten something?" She muttered to herself. Twilight had barely finished a single page of her book before she heard a knock on the door. With a sigh she put the book back down and went to answer the door. "Looks like I won't be getting any relaxation done after all." Another knock came from the door as she got closer. Putting on a smile, Twilight opened the door and spoke. "Hello, how can I-" Twilight paused when she saw the filly in front of her. "Oh, hello Sweetie Belle."