All That Glitters
0 - 0 - 0
Even now, weeks later, Twilight is still unable to properly explain what possessed her into taking that first bite.
The spell had gone over as well as can be expected for a first attempt. She was a little apprehensive at first -- what unicorn in their right mind trying out a full-body transformation wouldn’t be? -- but in the end, after double and triple and quadruple-checking the formula and magic behind the spell, she knew she’d get it right. She always did.
Though, actually becoming a dragon was much different than simply theorizing about it.
It wasn’t so different from being a pony, really; everything looked the same, still smelled the same, and still sounded the same -- if not a little sharper with her larger ears and reptilian eyes. Clearer, crisp.
Her new body took some getting used to. About three minutes-worth of methodical testing out her new, stronger limbs, a prehensile tail and scaly hide instead of fur. Her face in the mirror was another matter entirely. Purple slitted eyes, splashed with gold in the iris gleamed back at her, eyelids sliding shut once vertically, and then again horizontally. Her tongue slid out past her knife-like teeth like a hungry serpent.
She turned away from the mirror.
Time passed and dark settled in the library. Spike was, thankfully, out with the Crusaders, and Twilight lay in her bed, the frame creaking and groaning like an old carriage under her larger size, considering the ruby between her claws. It was one of Spike’s -- a glittering, bit-sized gemstone of bright crimson.
She knew it wasn’t the greatest idea. She knew, instinctively, that anything foreign to her own body could affect the spell. And who knows what would happen after she turned back into a pony a couple hours later! Whether it was good or bad, she wasn’t sure; still, she still knew she shouldn’t.
But the ruby gleamed in the light pouring in from the half-moon outside her window, and she sat there, pinching the stone between two nail-like claws.
She took a breath, fire rumbled in her chest and throat. The ruby shimmered gloriously in the sweltering heat. It bloomed in her palm, casting a warm red glow around the room, illuminating the shadow of her dresser, her cluttered desk and the back of a chair, and the far window with her own draconic reflection in it.
Twilight turned away from her face in the window and watched the ruby, for minutes or hours or seconds. If she looked close enough she could almost see herself in it. But this reflection was different; it was warmer, flattering, almost. She blew gently on it and watched as the polished surface flickered with embers.
She wondered what it would taste like. She wondered why Spike always preferred rubies to other gemstones, to diamonds and sapphires and quartz. Would it be sweet? Salty? Tangy? Would it be hot or cold? Soft or crunchy?
Twilight lifted the ruby to her mouth and popped it in. The taste flooded her mouth -- and it was like sweets; that oh-so-sugary candy drop that Bon-Bon makes specially for the fillies and colts when they get out of school, and they all flock to her shop, their meager collection of bits clinking happily in the saddlebags, begging to be spent. The flavor was all that and yet different, salty, sweet, mellow and delicious all in one.
Crunch.
0 - 0 - 0
It was just as well that Spike never noticed the missing ruby, but Twilight should have known that her number one assistant would eventually notice if his entire collection of rubies -- as well as an assortment of sapphires and emeralds -- had conspicuously disappeared. But by the time she thought to worry about such a thing, she had already worked her way through each and every one of them.
She should have been concerned, really, at how quickly she became accustomed to eating gemstones. But she felt little worry at all, not with the variety of new and wonderful flavors assaulting her taste buds with every glittering stone she cracked between her teeth.
Emeralds were crunchy. Salty like fresh hayfries, loaded with ketchup and the kind of cheese you break off entire chunks to melt on top of them. The kind that makes your mouth water and so desperately dry at the same time.
Sapphires were brittle. They flaked off in her mouth from the first bite and melted around her teeth like bits of peppermint, and tasted just the right balance of sweet and tart.
But Rubies… oh, rubies… those were still the best. Sweet, like candy drops, and crunched and crushed in her maw, like hugs from her mother and playing with her brother in the sunshine, and being surrounded by her friends, talking about everything and nothing until Celestia’s sun settled behind the horizon. And how the light caught in the reflection and spun along its surface, entrancing her to just take one more bite.
Just one. More. Bite.
Snap. Crack. Crunch.
0 - 0 - 0
She didn’t open the library for three days, ponies were starting to ask questions, and her excuses were getting worse and worse. Her friends could only believe she was sick for so long. Especially when Spike himself didn’t know what was up with her.
“Geez louise, Twi!” Pinkie Pie would say when Twilight opened the door to the bathroom and -- surprise, surprise -- there she was. “It’s so hot in here! What, do both you and Spike breathe fire now?”
“No don’t be silly Pinkie of course I can’t breath fire now if you’ll excuse me”
And without further ado she shoved Pinkie out the door with a burst of magic.
There had to be some more gems squirreled away in the library somewhere! Spike wouldn’t just leave her hanging like this! He couldn't!
0 - 0 - 0
On the fifth day, Twilight was desperate enough to leave the library.
Her mission: find some more gems.
Her destination:
Knock, knock. KnockknockknockKnockknockknockKnockknockknock
Come one come on… open uuuuuup
“Just a minute~” came the trilling from inside. Twilight tapped her hoof on the ground impatiently. She was about to start running in place when the door finally opened and Rarity blinked down at her she opened her mouth to--
“Rarity can you loan me some gems right now please?” Twilight nearly forgot the ‘please’. That would have been bad, right?
“Oh! Of course, Twilight, dear!” Rarity tittered, leading Twilight inside. She followed at her flank, nearly running into the other mare but holding back at the last second. “What do you need them for, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Just, um, a project. Magic. Need some gems for… catalysts. Yeah. That.”
There. That sounded about right.
“I see, I see.” She led Twilight to her storeroom, and opened a few boxes with a burst of pale lavender magic. “What sort were you looking to use?”
Oh. Oh my.
Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, garnets, tourmaline, amethyst, amber, turquoise, pearls, jade, topaz, quarts, diamonds, agkjsbfliabkfljalkfbkadad---
Rarity you’ve been holding out on me howdareyouohmysweetCelestiaIcouldkissyou!!!
“I’ll, uh, I’ll just take… some of each. Uh, yeah. Okay? Cool? Cool. Thanks.”
Bundling up her loot, Twilight scurried away, leaving Rarity blushing and slack jawed.
Oh, maybe she did really kiss Rarity.
Oh well.
0 - 0 - 0
Twilight tried amber. It was an odd taste. Complicated, like too many flavors packed into one. Like you take all different colors of jelly beans and pop them into your mouth, and all you get is bleeeeuuuugghhhh. It wasn’t her favorite.
Turquoise was nice. A bit bland and chewy but a good aftertaste, making her want more and more and more and -- oh, she’s out now. Oh well.
Amethyst was great. Maybe her new favorite, after ruby. Like coating your tongue in sugar and chugging grape juice, with none of the grainy aftertaste you get from the sugar going scritchy-scratchy down your throat.
Tourmaline was interesting. Both crispy and soft. Crispy outside but once you got through the outer shell it was like taffy, stretching and melting all down your throat. And banana. Like banana taffy. Yum.
Jade was… no. Nope. Twilight didn’t like jade. She spat that out, and the molten remains popped and snapped at her wooden floor, making her squeal and flap her leathery wings in shock.
But diamond! Wow! What a rush! Diamond was salty and tangy and then bitter, like coffee you could bite and chew and swallow and pick out of your teeth and oh, so good. She wanted more and she ate the entire clawful in one gulp.
She giggled, flames licking at her jaw.
She wondered what other kinds of gems she could find.
0 - 0 - 0
Spike was demanding to be let back in the library. Her friends were all worried. She couldn’t ask Rarity for more, no matter how generous she would be with her collection. She had to find gemstones somewhere else. Somewhere nopony would expect.
Somewhere with a lot of gems and minerals and rocks and--
“--of gems, did you hear?” a pony gossiped close enough for Twilight to hear.
She was actually completely across the town square, but at the word ‘gems’, she teleported right in the mare’s face and demanded, “No I didn’t tell me now where are the gems!”
She wasn’t sure if it was was a question or a demand, but she got an answer anyway.
“D-Diamond Dog den!” the pony stammered, falling back on her haunches in shock.
That’ll do.
“Tell me where there are?” she asked. There. That was a question. Wasn’t it?
“Please.”
Politeness was a virtue, after all.
0 - 0 - 0
It was ridiculously easy to find the Diamond Dog den. Even easier to convince the residents to find somewhere else to live. Twilight got the impression they didn’t want to leave, but, really, she didn’t give them much choice.
It was weird how much the idea of all those gems and tasty minerals helped convince Twilight to try out her mass teleportation spell. She’d never actually tried it out on live subjects before. She hoped all those dogs made it across Equestria alright. And in one piece.
Oh well.
But oh -- how these dogs loved to horde their bounty of deliciousness! There were stacks of it all! Diamonds and rubies and sapphires and emeralds, onyx and pyrite, malachite and bloodstone… more yummy treats than she could even recognize!
Stone after stone -- but cut and uncut -- she popped into her jaws, snapping and crunching, chewing and grinding, feeling the tangy sweetness and the salty sourness of it all. Gems and stones melted between her fangs and played on her forked tongue, molten goodness teasing new, distinct flavors that mixed together to form a magic all its own.
And she ate, and ate, and ate some more, totally lost to hedonism as she felt her head getting fuzzier and fuzzier the more she ate and the smaller her horde got. Her chest began to tingle and burn, leaving her flushed and wobbling where she crouched.
She felt hot. It was hard to think. Her thoughts got quieter and softer, and then simply weren’t there anymore, and then she was alone. That was fine. That was okay. She was good.
She laughed. She belched flames, orange light licking around the cavern as she nibbled on a piece of lapis lazuli. Mmm, like a bouquet of lilies all wrapped up on Hearth’s Warming Eve and first kisses, all lemony and marshmallows.
She spit globs of shimmering gold, chunks of agate and slabs of quartz, giggling drunkenly as it gouged chunks of molten slag from the walls.
She… swayed? Tilted?
The walls spun and twisted. Was she still standing? Was she lying on the dirt? Stars glittered in her eyes, and her eyelids felt heavy, and she stumbled to her knees as her bones creaked and groaned. They shrunk underneath her skin, and her scales slid back into her body, purple fur sprouting out of her like an overfed garden.
Twilight’s mind surged and pounded with a headache, hissing and snarling behind her forehead and for a brief moment, she thought she was going to die. But then the pain faded, leaving only a deep ache, a soreness in her body that made her feel alive, if not terribly hot and cold. She wanted to scream, to cry and curse. All she could do was groan tiredly.
Well… That’s that, then.
0 - 0 - 0
Spike was asleep in his bed when Twilight finally dragged herself home. She considered waking him up, telling him everything that happened the past week. Would he be mad? Would he find it funny? Would he think she was crazy?
Well, no time like the present. Shrugging, she poked him twice with a hoof. “Spike.”
The little dragon jerked awake with a snort. “Whozat? Twilight?” he blinked once, twice, and then balked at her. “Whoa. What… cave did you crawl out of?”
She must have looked as bad as she felt then.
“It was me,” she said. “I ate your ruby. And emeralds. And sapphires. They were delicious. Are you mad? Sorry,” she added, because she felt she should.
The little dragon blinked a few more times, and then cracked a grin. “Hah. Yeah...I remember my first ruby…”
And with that, he rolled over the went back to sleep.
Huh. Well. Okay, then.
0 - 0 - 0
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- TheAmazingMe · 10k words · 384 20 · 5.5k views
- Winter Quill · 4.5k words · 1,339 12 · 18k views
- Super Trampoline · 3.4k words · 554 65 · 9.1k views
- the7Saviors · 6.6k words · 522 25 · 7.1k views
- Wiz Ahmad · 25k words · 14 0 · 861 views
- A Hoof-ful of Dust · 2.3k words · 48 1 · 1.1k views
- MagnetBolt · 11k words · 47 0 · 563 views
- Kaidan · 1.1k words · 380 9 · 4k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.192 seconds
Total duration
985 users online
352,520 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I'm getting a 'Squidward going nuts for crabby patties' vibe from this... From Spikes line especially and I love it.
at least it didn't go to her thighs.
Spongebob reference at the end!
Poor Twilight
That was interesting. I kind of want more...
This was odd. Made more so because of Steven Universe.
That was great.
And this story teaches us why dragons hoard gem stones.
I would actually enjoy seeing more of this story.
In any case... to the featured box with you!
Heh, that was cute and funny. I actually expected a bigger reaction from Spike regarding all his gems being eaten, but him just laughing it off was good as well.
Those rubies did sound good though. Shame I'll never get to try them.
- DJRD
This was wonderful, like a breath of fresh air from what else I've been reading. I could totally see this being an actual episode. Have a favorite!
now this is a VERY nice little one shot
9075376
Hey! Thanks for stopping by!
To answer you question, I legitimately have no idea. Somepony else must have added it to those groups for some reason
Glad you liked it, regardless!
9075267
Ayyyy thanks! I enjoy favorites — like chewy, salty caramel squares that melt in your mouth and leave you just wanting the whole bag.
9075098
Lol thanks a bunch! You and me both — maybe someday they’ll make edible rubies!
9075087
Yay! Many thanks! Who knows; if it’s popular enough, I might do a continuation
9074890
Hahaha because everyone needs a little spongebob~
9075422
Do that. This was absurdly amusing.
9075426
of course. All stories and authors that write them all need a little
Loved it, would love to see more.
Heh, good thing she ate her hoard. Greed Growth Twilight Dragon would be...bad.
I'm hoping that's not due to Jade's traditional origin.
9075653
Hah. Dragon Twilight with a hoard would be scary.
Actually, I chose jade because when I was a kid I tried eating some. It was nasty, and the association with jade and bad taste stuck with me my entire life
Was that all off one spell or did she change into a dragon several times?
kinda surprsied Twi didnt experience greed growth of some sort
9075665
She cast the spell multiple times over a few days. I’ll make that a little clearer during some post-edits
9075677
Mainly because she ate her hoard as fast as she accumulated it. But yeah, there’s always next time she binges
9075568
Many thanks! I appreciate it :-D
9075692
I thought that she did, but at the end when she talked to Spike it seemed like she had just switched back and realized everything she did and felt bad about it. Like an addict, but when she changed back the addiction ended.
STill really enjoyed it though!!
This has been filed in the TF/TG group. Is it possible for you as the author to remove it from the group?
I was imagining Twilight as a petite little unicorn for most of this, breathing fire and mindlessly devouring mountains of gems.
9075749
Howdy! Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, I am unable to; only the admins can remove stories from the group, and it looks like the admins have been absent for a while.
I imagine someone with a “sense of humor” added it on a lark. Either that, since Twi ‘transforms’ into a dragon, felt it should go there. Which isn’t entirely appreciated, but there’s little I can do about it
9075760
Hahahaha that would be amazing
9075766
Yeah. It's always nice gesture when people add a story to a new group... I just wish they'd add them to the correct groups.
Spike is one of the bros. That one touch is the reason it's in my favorites.
I antmore like giant twilight stealing all of Rairitys gemss
All that glitters is not gold, but I can make it so.
There be alchemy to do.
Now I'm hungry...
there needs to be more stories with twilight as either part-dragon or full dragon
Twilight.
9075846
Yep, now you're pretty much obligated to turn Twilight into a dude in this story. That's how groups work, right?
9076598
Hah. I guess so. I’ll get riiiiiiight on that
Oh, well then. She's definitely going to be cutting down on his gemstones. Apparently they're drugs for dragons! How could you just leave that cocaine lying around for children when it's so much fun for Twilight! ... I mean, uh. Moral responsibilities, yes.
9075422
Please continue. I need more dragon-twi and sexually-confused Rarity.
9077253
I may. I was struck with an idea where princess twilight ends up having a relapse and eats her castle.
*snicker*
9077292
I thought of the better idea is because she ate all those jews while being a draon is making her slowly turn into one permently
9077444
I get that you meant to say "jewels" but reading that as "Jews" just made my day
9077753
Same here actually. I did a double take and just laughed so damn hard.
9077753
I did not mean that but i'm glad I was funny on accident
And now I'm hungry...
So... Did she end up as furry part-dragoness after all that or somehow turned back entirely even with all these crystals in her system?
9078213
She does but I assume this takes place before her ascension as she is referred to as a Unicorn in the story.
Spike understands very well what Future Twilight's problem is like.