The Puppetmaster

by XSomeGuyX

The Show Begins

A few days of anxious waiting followed as the mares all tried their best to handle Spike’s new form. Due to the destructive nature of his current state, he was not allowed to do very much. It felt strange for him to sit and do little more than twiddle his claws.

However, he did find some serendipity in his new situation; Spike was often told by Twilight that he was much too young to have a chance with Rarity. Now, he found himself in an interesting situation. He had somehow grown older overnight, quite literally. Though he missed his old, smaller form, he began thinking that this sudden transformation could possibly be a blessing in disguise, a chance to finally be with Rarity.

Rarity had volunteered to be the one to stay with him in the library until their newly-declared princess’s return. Her worry had settled down from the initial shock of seeing her cute, little “Spikey-Wikey” as larger, more menacing dragon. Yet, it seemed that something else was bothering her. She paced the entire ground floor countless times. It seemed to be to no avail, however. A deep sigh escaped her mouth as she paused her umpteenth walk around the library.

“Rarity?” Spike called her as she paced the floor of the library.

She quickly shook herself back to reality when she heard her name being called. “Oh… I’m sorry, Spike. I just have a lot on my mind,” Rarity told him. “Yes?”

“Uh, nothing…” he replied, his nerves getting the best of him.

“Spike, what…” Rarity began but paused to take in a deep breath. “What would you do if Twilight couldn’t find a way to get you back to normal? You wouldn’t leave… would you?”

Before he could respond, the ever-energetic Pinkie Pie burst through the library’s door. “She’s here! She’s here!” Pinkie Pie announced, nearly bouncing off the walls. “Twilight’s back!”

“She is?” Rarity asked, in more relief than disbelief.

“Took her long enough!” Spike laughed, allowing a fiery flare to escape from his mouth.

“I have to get my flugelhorn!” the party pony gasped before running off, only to poke her head through the doorway the very next second. “I’ll meet you there!”

“Wait! Pinkie!” the white unicorn called out, to no avail. “Meet her where?”

Before she could look back to the semi-grown dragon, he had already found his way out of the library and was headed through their little town.

To say the least, most ponies were startled after first seeing Spike return from the Everfree Forest. However, now the town’s residents simply allowed him to pass on by with little more attention than that. He had Rarity to thank for that.

He easily reached the center of town with time to spare, where he saw a large, gilded chariot approaching.

“Spike! Spike!” Rarity yelled, finally catching up with him.

“Alright! It’s about time!” Rainbow Dash said, hovering overhead.

“It has been mighty long time,” Applejack said, also just arriving.

“We haven’t seen her since the coronation!” Fluttershy said in a “loud” voice.

Soon the whole town fell silent as the chariot touched down. In the regal transport sat the newly crowned princess of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle. She seemed to be a little nervous as she gave the crowd an awkward smile and a wave of her hoof as they cheered and welcomed their new princess back to her home. For the most part, she looked to be the same Twilight her friends remembered, except for a new jeweled tiara and a golden, ornate necklace.

“Hi, girls! And… Spike?!” Twilight pulled back in surprise. “You’ve… gotten pretty big...”

Though they had sent her a letter through the magical link between Celestia and Spike, she was still surprised to find the “baby” dragon she had left was well over twice her size.

“Aww! I missed it!” the pink party pony whined loudly as she rushed to the scene.

“Missed what?” Twilight asked.

“I wanted to blow my flugelhorn and say: ‘Welcome Princess Twilight Sparkle!’” Pinkie answered, frowning. “Like the guards do with their horns in Canterlot but…”

“Oh… alright, you can still do it,” the newest princess said.

“YAY! Ok, you have to get back in the chariot,” the pink pony told her as she practically pushed Twilight into position. “Stay there until I blow my horn, okay?”

“Okay, Pinkie,” Twilight giggled, climbing back onto her chariot.

“Okay… now you guys stand right… there…” Pinkie said, pushing the crowd of her friends some distance in front of the chariot. “Now… wait for it…”

“Uh… Pinkie...?” Applejack asked after a while of silence.

“WAIT FOR IT…” she replied, hushing her fellow earth pony. “Now!”

Taking in all the air her lungs allowed, she sounded her horn, making many of the residents of Ponyville flinch from the sheer volume.

“Presenting Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Pinkie boomed, a very satisfied smile breaking across her face.

“Thank you… for that Pinkie…” Twilight told her, rubbing her ears. Though most ponies narrowed their gaze at the pink pony, Twilight could not help but smile at her as she jumped back off her chariot.

“No problem… we were going to throw you a party but…” she responded sadly as her ears drooped. “The meteor that took Spike into the Everfree Forest burned all the decorations we had—”

“Pinkie, we’ve been over this already…” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Spike was the one that burned the decorations…”

“But why would Spike burn all the decorations?” Pinkie asked.

“It was an accident!” Rainbow Dash said, her brow giving a visible twitch.

“So what happened to the meteor?” she asked, tilting her head in further confusion.

“There was no meteor!” yelled all the ponies, sans Twilight, in unison at the top of their lungs.

“Well, I guess we better get started if we want to get you back to normal as soon as possible,” Twilight said to the dragon.

“Actually…” Spike said, quickly covering his mouth as a small burst of flames escaped. . “You’re probably tired from all your… uh… princess stuff at Canterlot. It can wait…”

Although he had been in this form for a few days now, he had not quite gotten used to it. After several visits to the spa and a countless number of broken files later, the twins—Aloe and Lotus—had finally dulled his claws to manageable keenness. As for his fire breath, it was still out of control and a potential threat to anyone he spoke to, so he became used to staying silent. When he did have to speak, he got into the habit of covering his mouth to stop the fire spreading into the open.

“Oooookay…” Twilight replied as she cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, let’s go over to Sugarcube Corner and you can tell about all about Canterlot!” Pinkie blared. “And maybe while we’re trying to get Spike back to normal later, we’ll find out what happened to that pesky meteor…”

Most of the ponies merely shook their head with the exception of Rainbow Dash, who forcefully drove her hoof into her face.

---

“How come ya ain’t staying at Canterlot like Princess Luna and Princess Celestia?” Applejack asked, holding the door as the group walked into Sugar Cube Corner.

“Yes, that does seem a little odd,” Rarity added as she took a seat at the nearest table, inviting Twilight to do the same. “Do tell, Twilight.”

“Well, I know this seems weird,” Twilight answered, “for a princess to live in library in such a little town, but as Princess Luna pointed out while I was there, how I became a princess is anything but normal. Princess Celestia wanted me to stay in Canterlot with her and Luna, but I told her that I wanted to come back… I mean, if it wasn’t for you girls, I wouldn’t be a princess at all!”

“Aww…” the girls snuggled for a hug, causing the lone dragon—moreover the only boy present—to gag at their warm embrace.

“However, being a special case, Celestia also gave me a special duty,” she continued. “From now on, the Elements of Harmony are my full responsibility. Their care, their use, everything! But that’s not just it… From now on, protecting Equestria and all the ponies that live here is our responsibility…”

“What do you mean our responsibility?” Rainbow Dash asked, reaching for a freshly-baked cookie on a nearby counter.

“Well, seeing as the Elements are bound to us…” Twilight paused to retrieve a chest from two guards that had followed them to the bakery. “She decided to dub us the official guardians of all of Equestria and the Crystal Kingdom. As Princess Celestia said, ‘the Elements of Harmony are the most powerful and final safeguard against the evils that threaten our lands and citizens.’ Should a new threat arise, it’s our responsibility to see to it and resolve it!”

“Oh my…” Fluttershy said as she began to hyperventilate. “That’s… a lot… of pressure…”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy! As long as we all stick together, we can do anything!” Pinkie reassured her friend with a big hug.

Though Twilight seemed to appreciate the sentiment, her eyes still drifted to the floor.

“You seem a bit off, Twilight,” Rarity asked.

“It’s… nothing, really!” she replied, giving her friends a shallow smile.

“Now, now. There ain’t a thing ya can’t tell us, sugarcube!” the apple farmer told her as she gave her a strong pat on the back. “Ya know that!”

“We’ll stand by you no matter what!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Okay…” Twilight paused as she looked up at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath and dropping her shoulders, she continued, “It’s about Princess Celestia. She’s been acting really strangely. She told me she didn’t intend on tearing me away from you girls when she asked me to stay in Canterlot. She said that she just wanted to be sure that I was ready to lead Equestria in case the time came that I ever had to rule over it… and she wasn’t there…”

“What do you think Princess Celestia meant?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know… As far as I know, alicorns live forever…” the new princess responded. “Maybe she’s going somewhere… I don’t have a clue!”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean nothin’ by it, sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her.

“I hope you’re right, Applejack…” Twilight replied, looking out the window at nothing in particular. “I really do…”

---

Twilight smiled widely as she walked into her old library home after a long day of travel and catching up with her friends. Spike followed close behind, slamming the door with a mere flick of his tail.

“You don’t know how good it feels to be home, Spike!” Twilight said, stretching her newly acquired wings. “I know we were both born in Canterlot, but all the while I was over there, I couldn’t stop thinking of Ponyville or any of you!”

“Well, I think everypony missed you too, Twilight…” Spike said as he gave her a half-hearted smile.

“Something wrong?” the purple alicorn asked him. “You’ve been acting pretty weird too.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight…” Spike said. “I just don’t know if I want to go back to normal…”

“Hmm?” Twilight hummed, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, you were right… why would Rarity ever want to date a baby dragon?” he confessed.

“But Spike… this isn’t natural!” she exclaimed. “I know that you really like Rarity, but this could be dangerous. Remember what happened last time? You almost hurt her—”

“I WOULDN’T HURT RARITY!” Spike roared. But as he stared into Twilight’s widened eyes, he quickly shrank back, falling to the floor shamefully. “I-I’m… sorry…”

“...It’s okay, Spike,” Twilight said, rubbing dragon’s head. “I know that it’s hard—”

“No, you don’t understand…” he said, turning his head away from the alicorn. “This is my one chance to be with Rarity…I don’t want to lose it… maybe… maybe it happened for a reason!”

“But Spike… what about your breath… and your claws…?” she asked.

“I can learn to control my breath! And after going to the spa, my claws have been just fine!” Spike nearly yelled.

“What about your size, Spike?” Twilight inquired. “You barely fit through the doors as it is…”

“But I didn’t feel right as a baby dragon!” the dragon cried, a few tears of frustration leaving his eyes. “I felt older…”

“Do you feel ‘right’ right now?” she cautiously asked in reply.

“No…” Spike answered sadly.

“I’m sorry, Spike,” Twilight told him, rubbing his head to comfort him. “I didn’t mean to ruin your dream of being with Rarity when I said you were too young.”

“I know… I know…” he repeated. “But I knew you were right… No matter how hard I tried, I don’t think Rarity could treat me like a coltfriend as long as I was a baby dragon. I was too little… Now I’m too big… I won’t be able to stay here with all the ponies soon… Equestria's no place for a full-grown dragon…”

“Don’t say that, Spike!” she exclaimed him, shaking his shoulder a bit. She paused before continuing softly, “I’ll tell you what: how about you think it over tonight? You can tell me what you want to do in the morning. That sound okay to you?”

“Okay…” Spike replied with a smile as she walked away. “Promise not to tell anypony else?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye…” Twilight giggled.

“Oh… and Twilight?” Spike called to her.

“Yes?” she turned around.

“Sorry about the books…” Spike said with a small flinch. He and the other mares had strategically left that out of the letter they had wrote to her and Celestia.

“What boo—” Twilight paused as soon as she saw that the blackened section of the library. After giving a heartbroken, horrified sort of sigh, the poor, shocked pony fainted.

---

“Twilight?” a familiar voice called out to the alicorn. “Twiiiiiilight! WAKEY WAKEY!”

A sudden crash of cymbals startled the purple pony awake.

“AGH!” Twilight yelled, falling off her bed. Standing over her was her crazy pink friend with a wide smile across her face.

“She’s awa~ake!” Pinkie sung as she bounced down the steps to the library’s ground floor.

“Pinkie, we told you to let Twilight rest… poor darling’s been busy ever since her coronation,” Twilight heard Rarity’s voice say. “She must be exhausted.”

“Don’t worry about me, girls!” the new princess said, soaring down to the second floor.

“Well, well, well! Looks like somepony’s getting used to her wings!” Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically.

“Sort of… But I’m a long way from racing you, Rainbow!” Twilight laughed as she landed awkwardly.

“Aww…”

“What are we standin’ around for?” Applejack asked. “Let’s head over to Zecora’s and get Spike here back to normal!”

The group hurriedly exited the library until only Spike and Twilight were left. He was finding his eyelids unusually heavy and was yawning quite frequently.

“Well, Spike…” Twilight paused to turn to the dragon. “Did you decide on what you’re going to do?”

“I think I want to go back to normal…” Spike answered, wiping his eyes. “Even if I can’t be with Rarity… I can still be her friend… I can still be there for her if ever she needs me…”

After giving Twilight a reassuring smile, he quickly exited the library and followed the rest of their little group. However, Twilight lingered a bit longer, still unsure if she could go through with it. After their emotionally charged talk last night, much uncertainty developed in her heart. Her number one assistant, the dragon that had helped since her studies began in Canterlot, needed help in fulfilling his own dream and she was utterly stumped.

If she found a way to return him to his original age, then she effectively put out his only hope to fulfill his dream. If she refused to return him to his young age, he would soon grow too big to comfortably live with the rest of the residence of Equestria.

“What would Celestia do…? I can ask her!” Twilight thought out loud, jerking upwards and grasping a quill and scroll with her magic.

“But…” Twilight paused as her quill hovered just above the blank paper. “I’m a princess now. I should be able to handle this on my own!” She set her quill down and rolled up the scroll. “If I can’t handle one of my friend’s problems, how am I ever going to prove to Princess Celestia that I can handle all of Equestria’s problems?”

“Come on, Twilight!” Spike said, returning to the library to see what had kept the alicorn.

“Sorry, I’m on my way!” Twilight replied, chasing after the dragon. “Oh! And don’t think you’re off the hook for all those books you burned, even if it was an accident!”

She only received a groan from Spike as they raced off to catch up with the others.

---

“You experienced strange growth again?” Zecora spoke. “Hmm… Let us see what is at work then.”

Taking a few minutes to examine Spike, the zebra poked his stomach, pulled his tail and finally took a drop of saliva from one of his fangs in a small glass vial. Dropping it in her cauldron, it soon turned the liquid swirling inside into a purple matching Spike’s scales. However, there was a small imperfection within the otherwise perfectly violent tincture.

“This is very peculiar indeed,” Zecora said finally, scooping a small amount of grey liquid from the cauldron. “The cause of his growth is not greed.”

“So… what made him grow?” Rainbow Dash asked as she peeking over the zebra’s shoulder.

“It seems the root of this problem is a type of herb,” the zebra added, pushing off the pegasus. “The flow of time, this rare plant’s essence will disturb.”

“I’ve never heard of a plant that had time-altering qualities,” Twilight stated as she looked over Zecora’s collection of exotic reagents.

“It grows only within the forest’s center,” Zecora answered, pulling a tightly sealed jar labeled “Age Sage” with a bundle of a grey herb from a small cabinet. “A dangerous place that few dare to enter.”

“How did it get all the way to Ponyville then?” Pinkie asked as she took the jar from Zecora and attempted to open it.

“That is one thing I do not know,” the zebra replied, glaring at Pinkie as she took the herb back. “Legs these herbs simply cannot grow.”

“Hey, Twilight. Can’t ya just cast one of them spells of yers to get Spike back to his normal self?” Applejack asked, tapping on the alicorn’s horn.

“Well, since it was a plant that made him grow… maybe I can,” Twilight answered. “My magic has gotten stronger since I became an alicorn… Hold still, Spike.”

“Is it gonna hurt?” Spike asked her, a bit of fear building up inside him.

“No…” the alicorn paused to think it over, rubbing her hoof under her chin. “No.”

Twilight’s horn began to glow brightly as she concentrated all her power in preparation of the spell. With a hard swallow, Spike nervously stood as his sweat shot off of him, creating a puddle on the floor beneath him. After another second, Twilight seemed satisfied with the power she gathered and shot a powerful beam at the dragon. Twilight's eyes widened when she saw the same dragon frightfully shaking and sweating bullets. Absolutely nothing happened. The alicorn did not give up right away as she charged and released blast after blast at the dragon. However, the results did not change, even after many more exhausting attempts. Spike was still in his unnaturally grown state.

“What’s wrong? Why won’t my magic work?” Twilight asked. “Zecora?”

“Of these reptiles, my people know a lot,” Zecora responded. “However, a dragon expert, I am not.”

“So… I’m stuck like this!?” Spike panicked.

“Now, now, darling…” Rarity told him, giving him a calming rub on his back. “I’m sure there’s something that we can find in the library that can help us.”

“I’m sorry, but Spike and I already looked all over the library for anything on dragons before,” Twilight said. “We couldn’t find a single book about them. No pony has ever researched them because of how dangerous it is.”

Spike’s head perked up as heard that last sentence and a big smile spread across his face. “Wait!” he exclaimed, causing all the mares to jump in unison.

“What is it, Spike?” Twilight asked. “Do you know somepony who researched dragons before!?”

“Not really!” he answered, giving the confused group a wide smile. “But I know another pony who does!”