Wants and Needs
I do hope Spike is ok, Rarity thought to herself. Her mind has been like this all morning and it wasn’t getting any better as she made her way to Twilight’s castle. The poor dear has been beaten and battered so much lately. A sweet little dragon like Spike shouldn’t have to endure such things. Rarity entered the castle, her hooves clacking on the crystal floors. “Hello? Spike? Twilight? Anypony home?” Rarity called out to no response. Strange, usually there’d be at least somepony around. If not the castle’s occupants than one of her other friends would be there to greet her. She walked further into the castle past the kitchen, the main library and the map room. There was nopony to be found.
She walked up the stairs to the second floor, where Spike, Twilight and Starlight’s rooms were located. As she turned down the hall she knew something was amiss. There was a vase lying broken on the floor, water pooling around the broken glass and flowers. The table that Rarity assumed held the vase was knocked over and the picture on the wall behind the table was crooked. If her knowledge of Shadow Spade novels had taught her anything it’d be either a struggle took place in the hall or somepony was in quite the rush to leave. She continued down the hall.
She heard a familiar sound of magic being cast and Twilight and Starlight running around in a panic. They were at the end of the hall in one of Twilight’s study rooms, Rarity couldn’t make out the words, but could tell by their tone that they were freaking out about something. Rarity wanted to know what could be worrying her friends this much and walked towards the study, until she heard a sound that grabbed her attention away. She heard soft sobs coming from behind one of the doors in the hall, she realized that it was coming from behind Spike’s door. She approached the door and knocked gently. “Spike? Spike are you in there?”
“R-Rarity? Is that you?” Spike said. At least Rarity thought it was Spike, the voice sounded different. It still sounded like Spike, but it was deeper and a bit gruffer.
“Yes it’s me, are you ok?” Rarity turned the knob to Spike’s door and started opening it.
“NO!” Spike yelled before the door slammed shut, almost hitting Rarity in the nose. She tried to open the door again but it wouldn’t budge. It felt like there was something heavy blocking the door. Like a dresser or something, it reminded Rarity of a filly throwing a tantrum and blocking her own door.
“Spike! That was very rude, what in Equestria has gotten into you?”
There was a moment of silence before Spike spoke. “You… you can’t see me! I-I- don’t want you to see me, I don’t want anypony seeing me like this!” Spike’s voice was quivering like he was seconds away from more tears.
Rarity’s heart ached. Spike sounded so scared and vulnerable. “Spike. Please. I want to know what’s wrong, please let me in,” Rarity spoke with tenderness, hoping Spike would listen to her soft words.
“B-but, you won’t like what you see…”
“Spike! I’m hurt that you’d think I wouldn’t approve of how you look. We’re friends aren’t we?”
“Yeah, but-“
“No buts, darling. I promise you that you have nothing to worry about. Now, are you just going to leave a lady out here to worry her pretty head off or will you let me in?”
After a few seconds Rarity heard the sound of something heavy moving away from the door and a soft, “Ok…” coming from inside the room. She smiled to herself, feeling relieved that Spike listened to her pleas. She took a deep breath, turned the knob and opened the door. She stepped into the darkened room and as the light from the hall fell onto Spike, Rarity’s eyes widened and her jaw went slack.
The only thing Rarity could say was, “Oh my…”
Earlier:
Twilight approached Spike’s door with a bowl of gems in her magic grasp. She knocked, “Spike? Spike are you up yet?” Twilight knocked again and after a few seconds of no replies she turned the doorknob and stepped into the dark room. The only sign that Twilight wasn’t alone was the snoring coming from the direction of Spike’s bed.
Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes, “All right sleepy head, it’s time to get up. It’s almost ten and we’ve got work to do.” Twilight used her magic to pull the blinds on Spike’s windows flooding the room with light. A loud groan was heard and then a mighty yawn.
Spike groggily croaked, “Uhhhh… Five more minutes Twi-” There was a crash of breaking ceramic and a scatter of gems on the ground and Spike sprang awake. “Twilight! What’s wrong? What happened?”
Twilight was standing stiff. Her eyes were at their widest in complete shock and her mouth hung open only emitting random croaks and random nervous sputters one makes when they’ve seen something so unbelievable.
“Twilight? Are you ok? Why do you look so small? Wait. What’s wrong with my voice?-” Spike moved his claws to his throat “-What? What’s wrong with my neck?-“ He pulled his claws back “- My-my claws! Th-they’re HUGE!” Spike leapt out of bed and landed on his two feet and with his large size he began to lose his balance and fell on his back. He sat up and looked over his body. His torso was massive with a broad chest and shoulders. His legs were large and muscular along with his arms and his wingspan was almost double his length. “T-Twilight?”
Twilight promptly entered freak out mode and began pacing around the room. “How did this happen? Spike are you hoarding again?”
“No! I-I’m not-“
“No, you’re room looks the same as yesterday. Was it something you ate? No, aside from gems, we eat the same things. Even if that was a factor why would it happen now?’
“Twilight…”
“Maybe you brushed against some kind of magical artifact that makes you grow? But I don’t own anything like that, there isn’t something like that at the school and Starlight doesn’t have one either as far as I know.”
“Twilight!”
“Space radiation! Maybe a meteor shower triggered something in the atmosphere that caused you to grow? But we haven’t had a meteor shower since-“
“TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled. Twilight stopped pacing.
Spike was trembling; tears were dripping down his face as he held himself in his arms. “Twilight, I’m scared. Am I… losing control like on my birthday? Am I gonna turn into a monster again? I-I don’t want to be a monster! Please help me Twilight. I don’t know what to do!”
Without a second thought Twilight flew up to Spike and hugged his head. She spoke in a soothing voice. “It’s ok Spike. You’re going to be ok. You won’t turn into a monster again, I promise. I just, uh, need to do some research.”
Twilight dashed out the room and collided with a table in the hall as she called out Starlight’s name. Spike closed the door and his blinds and began to cry.
Twilight Sparkle had no shortage of books. As a princess, headmare and a scholar, Twilight had a book for just about everything. Home repair, potions, summoning cosmic horrors (a gift from Discord), tips on being a good student, tips on how to be a good teacher, proper floor waxing technique, hitchhiker’s guide to the multiverse (the words “Don’t Panic” were written on the cover in a relaxing font), dum-dum’s guide to dancing, cook books, what to do when a volcano erupts, and a few dating books (none of which had a very weathered spine). Yes, as a princess, a headmare and a scholar, Twilight had a book for just about every problem. Well, almost every problem.
“Did you find anything yet?” Twilight called out, as a train of books passed her. Eyes darting from top to bottom of the pages that went by.
The study was abuzz with activity as rows and rows of books flew off of shelves and swarmed around Twilight and her protégé. The sound of fluttering paper permeated the room.
“No, nothing in ‘magic anomalies volumes six, twelve or thirty.’ What about you?” Starlight replied as she teleported to another shelf.
“Not a single darn clue. I knew I should’ve done an extra cataloging session, we would’ve found something by now!” Twilight groaned in irritation as she smacked her head against another unhelpful tome.
“Even if you did two extra cataloguing sessions it wouldn’t help. None of these books pertain to dragons let alone random growth spurts.”
“Keep looking! There has to be something, anything! Spike’s counting on us!”
Rarity’s voice cut through the shuffle of Twilight’s research project. “Twilight…”
All of the flying books halted and dropped in the center of the room. “Rarity? What are you doing here?” Starlight asked.
“I wanted to check in on Spike, but truth be told, I wasn’t expecting to see what I saw,” Rarity replied.
“Rarity!-“ Twilight jumped from her spot and grabbed Rarity by the shoulders “- Rarity please! You’re the only one who could know what’s going on! Please, you have to tell me what happened!”
Starlight pulled Twilight off of Rarity and stood between them. “Whoa, whoa, Twilight, take it easy. I know you’re stressed but you have to calm down.”
Twilight took a deep breath and after a few seconds was visibly calm, “I’m sorry Rarity. I’m just so worried about Spike. Is there anything you can tell me that might have happened yesterday that’d make him grow? Anything at all?”
Rarity pondered Twilight’s question for a moment, “I’m not sure. I suppose I could start from the beginning…”
It had been two days since Pinkie Pie’s 1,000th party, party and the run-in with Heavy Hitter and Rarity was trotting up to the Castle of Friendship with her gem harvesting cart in tow. She was elated to hear that not only had Spike made a full recovery but that he also wanted to go looking for gems as soon as possible. Rarity unhooked herself from the cart and walked into the foyer. “Hello? Anypony home?” she called out.
“Rarity?” Spike’s voice called back. The baby dragon flew from the second floor and landed in front of her, wearing the same look of excitement he always wore that comes with another gem hunting trip.
“Good afternoon Spike, how are you feeling?”
Spike started doing some stretches. “Fit as a fiddle! It’s amazing what a doctor and a hot bath can do for a dragon.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this darling? I wouldn’t want you to push yourself too hard.”
“Aw don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I’ve been cooped up in the castle for days and I really want to get out and stretch my legs.”
“Very well, shall we be off?”
Spike bowed, “After you my lady.”
Rarity trotted up to the cart and strapped herself back into the harness. Spike flew to her side, he was sniffing the air curiously.
“Hey, what smells so good?” Spike asked.
Rarity levitated a basket out of the back of the cart. “Oh, Sweetie Belle insisted I bring this picnic lunch for us and said to ‘take our time.’ I swear that filly is up to something, but I’m not sure what.”
“I’m sure she just doesn’t want us to work on empty stomachs.”
“Hmm, perhaps you’re right. I’m just being silly thinking my sister has ulterior motives for something as simple as a picnic. Now, those gems won’t harvest themselves so let’s get this show on the road.”
Rarity and Spike began their trek to the gem cave. Strolling through town they came to the path on the edge of the Everfree forest that they’ve used and known for ages and the fastest way to the mines.
“So how many gems do we need today?” Spike asked.
“Not even a full carts worth. My gem supplies are actually pretty well off, but I have a feeling I’m going to need just a bit more. It’s that time of year where Sapphire Shores needs a whole new wardrobe and I dare say she loves gems almost as much as you do,” Rarity replied.
“Heh, she has good taste if you ask me.”
Spike and Rarity continued on the path and came to a clearing. The mine was about another ten minutes at most. There was a snap of branches and Spike turned his head, ear fins on full alert.
“Did you hear that?” Spike asked cautiously.
“Hear what Spike?”
There was a howl from the forest and pairs of glowing green eyes appeared in the brush. One by one the creatures emerged from the shadows, their wooden bodies rustling with each encroaching step. Steam rose out of their mouth from their heated breath. They could only be one thing.
“Timberwolves? But they never come to this part of the forest! Why are they here now?” Rarity shrieked.
Spike sniffed and looked back at the wagon, the smell of their lunch still hanging in the air. “It’s Sweetie Belle’s lunch! The smell drew them here!”
“Well if they want it they can have it!”
“I don’t think that’ll help, they found something better than just a small basket of food!”
“Well what are we supposed to do? They’re getting closer!”
“I got this,-“ Spike stood protectively in front of Rarity and took a deep breath and breathed out a wave of green fire above the timberwolves’ heads, they leapt back to avoid it and retreated into the brush. “-Easy peasy.” Spike dusted his claws off in triumph.
“Spike look out!” Rarity screamed.
Out of Spike’s blind spot a timber wolf tackled him and pinned him face down on the ground. “Rarity! Run away!” was all Spike could yell before the wolf pushed his head into the dirt.
More and more growling could be heard. Rarity looked around and saw that they were being circled on all sides. The timber wolves had them trapped.
A wolf leapt for Rarity, she screamed, then a rainbow colored flash knocked the wolf back and freed Spike from his captor.
“Hey bark breaths! You aint having my friends for dinner!” Rainbow Dash shouted knocking her forehooves together in defiance.
The wolves charged forward, they weren’t about to let this three coarse meal slip away. But Rainbow Dash put her cloud busting skills to good use and knocked the wolves back with kicks so fast that all anypony could see was a rainbow blur.
“I think it’s time for you guys to blow!” Rainbow Dash started flying in a circle at a very high speed and in no time flat formed a technicolor tornado and launched it at the pack. The wolves got sucked into the vortex and with a choir of yelps were flung into the forest. Dash scooped up Spike and placed him on her back. “C’mon let’s get out of here!”
Rarity didn’t hesitate and ran as fast as she could after the cyan mare down the path and out of the forest. After they were back in Ponyville the three took a moment to catch their breath.
“You guys alright?” Dash asked.
“Yes, thanks to you. Thank Celestia you were there to help,” Rarity replied.
“Good thing I was clearing out some dark clouds near the forest, you two would’ve been in serious trouble if I wasn't around. How about you Spike, are you ok?”
Spike stayed silent. His eyes were downcast and his fins droopy as he finished picking out the last clumps of dirt and grass from his scales.
“Spike? Darling, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked concerned.
“I’m ok.” Spike said quickly, “Just tired. If-if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go back to the castle. Sorry we couldn’t go gem hunting today.”
And without another word Spike flew off towards the castle as fast as he could fly. Rarity and Dash called out for him but he didn’t stop. If anything it just made him fly faster.
"And I’ve been worried about the poor dear ever since,” Rarity finished.
Twilight was taking notes throughout Rarity’s story and read them over. And read them over again, then scratched her head. “This doesn’t make any sense. Timber wolves can’t make things grow in size and as far as I know Rainbow Dash hasn’t come into contact with anything magical, if she did we’d have a huge Dash on our hooves too. So what’s wrong with Spike?”
“Actually darling. I’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s entirely possible that this is a normal growth spurt for Spike.”
“Normal? Rarity you saw him yourself, yesterday he barely came up to my shoulder and now he’s MASSIVE! At least ten times his normal size, how is that normal?”
“I know it sounds totally farfetched, but hear me out. He doesn’t seem to be acting the same way he did on his birthday. He’s not grabby or snarling or motivated by his instincts. He still has his wits about him and seems to be in control. I don’t think there’s a chance that Spike or anypony for that matter is in any real danger.”
“I’m sorry Rarity, but that’s a chance I can’t take. Spike was inconsolable for weeks after that day. I never want to see him like that again but I don’t know what I’m dealing with and I don’t know where else to look or whom to turn to.”
“What about Zecora?”
Starlight shook her head, “I tried that, the note on her hut said that she had gone to visit Mage Meadowbrook and won’t be back for a few days and Zecora was the only dragon specialist we could think of. It’s not like there’s anypony else in Ponyville that’d have an in depth knowledge about dragons and their physiology that’d be able to point us in the right direction. It’s not like we have a…-“ Starlight paused and a look of embarrassed realization crossed her face. She smacked her hoof against her head and gave an aggravated sigh. “-I cannot believe I didn’t think of this sooner! Be right back!" And with that Starlight teleported out of the room.
“As for you Twilight.” Rarity began, “I think you need to be with Spike right now.”
Twilight was already nose deep in another book. “I can’t do that right now Rarity. I need to keep looking for an answer incase Starlight hits a dead end. I need to be absolutely certain that-“
Rarity pushed the book down with her hoof. “Twilight, I know how scared you are for him, but what you really need to do is be by his side. The poor thing is absolutely terrified that something bad is going to happen to him and as his friend, no, as his best friend you need to go in there, comfort him and remind him that he’s still the sweet little dragon from yesterday.”
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “You’re right Rarity. I’ll go see him right now. Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime darling.”
Twilight left the study and after hearing the door to Spike’s room close Rarity took a moment to have a nice freak out.
Oh my word, he’s HUGE! She thought. He’s at least three times bigger than I am and that’s not even counting his tail! What happened to the cute little baby dragon I knew from yesterday? Surely he’s the same Spikey Wikey I’ve known for years, he’s just larger. Oh sweet merciful Celestia I knew I should’ve gone after him yesterday and made sure he was alright.
The sound of a pop and a bright flash drew Rarity out of her panicky thoughts. Starlight was back in the study, but she wasn’t alone. Standing next to Starlight was an orange dragoness with purple spikes, Rarity immediately recognized her as one of her students.
Smolder wobbled on her feet. “Geez, warn me next time you do that professor Starlight. Teleporting is like, super weird,” she said in annoyance.
“Sorry Smolder, I did say it was an emergency,” Starlight replied sheepishly.
“Smolder, of course!” Rarity exclaimed. “Who better to know the problems of a dragon than another dragon?”
“Yeah, Starlight said you guys needed my help with Spike, or something. So where is the lil’ guy?” Smolder asked looking around the study.
Starlight led Smolder out of the library and down the hall towards Spike’s room with Rarity trailing behind them. Starlight knocked on the door, “Come in!” called Twilight’s voice.
Starlight gripped the door knob and turned back to Smolder. “Just so you know, what you see may surprise you.”
Smolder rolled her eyes. “Please. Since I’ve been here I’ve seen evil hedgehogs, haunted castles, spiteful chaos gods, a coltic hero break half of the school, a crazy pegasus who nearly wasted Equestria and my friends, and a magic tree,” – Starlight opened the door and Smolder stepped inside. –“so I’m pretty sure I’m used to whatever this weirdo town can throw at me and-and-and-and- WOW you weren’t kidding!”
Spike was clearly illuminated by the late morning sun through the windows. He was lying on his belly with Twilight sitting by his side, a supportive hoof on his claw. Even lying on the ground Spike dwarfed Twilight in size. Smolder rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things and then she rubbed them again for good measure. “So I guess this is just another weird thing to add to the list,” Smolder said.
“Can you tell what’s wrong with him Smolder?” Twilight asked.
Smolder squinted her eyes, “Hmm… I’ll see what I can do. Stand up Spike.”
Spike attempted to stand on his two legs but lost his balance and after a moment of arm flailing landed promptly on his back with a thud.
“Ok, never mind. Just sit there,” Smolder instructed.
Spike sat up from his spot on the floor and Smolder started hovering around him, examining everything she could on his body. She picked up one of Spike’s claws and flexed his arm. She looked at every ridge of Spike’s spikes from his head to his tail. She held one of his wings open and looked at the span, whistling in amazement. Then she flew up to his head and examined his face, his mouth and nose extended forming a proper snout and his eyes were a bit narrower. Smolder pulled at his lids and examined the eye. “OW! HEY!” Spike protested. Smolder then pulled at his lips and examined his teeth. They were longer, definitely sharper and it seemed like there were more of them. Smolder landed in front of Spike and rubbed her chin.
“Hmm… Ok, I think I know what’s going on.”
“Really? Well what is it? What’s wrong with Spike?” Twilight asked impatiently.
“Nothing,” Smolder responded.
“Nothing? Spike’s like ten times the size he was yesterday! This isn’t normal,” Starlight commented.
“Maybe for ponies, but dragons are different.”
“I’m sorry Smolder, but I don’t understand. Can you please explain?” Twilight asked.
Smolder nodded. “We dragons have magic just like ponies, but instead of being able to zap apples into oranges, our magic affects our bodies. Dragon’s change based on their needs; sometimes it’s because of greed, sometimes it’s because they’re too small and weak to protect themselves or their treasure. It’s not unheard of for a dragon to make a change like this overnight, but it’s pretty uncommon, so I really can’t tell you much else.”
“But why would Spike need to grow in the first place?” Starlight asked.
Smolder shrugged. “Why don’t you just ask Spike?”
All eyes fell onto Spike. Spike looked quizzically at his friends and then his eyes fell on Rarity and he blushed. “H-how should I know? I didn’t want to grow up, I was happy being small.”
“Sure you were,” Smolder said with a smirk.
“Does this mean I’m older now?” Spike asked, hoping nopony would push the “why did he change” question again.
Smolder shook her head. “No, you’re still the same age. But it’s probably easier to say that you’re a ‘mature’ dragon now.”
“And why can’t I stand up anymore?”
Rarity’s trained eye from years of dressmaking and custom designs looked over Spike and his proportions. “Hmm, Spike. Try standing again, but this time stand like a pony.”
Spike was confused but did what Rarity asked and stood on all fours and to everycreature’s surprise; Spike was standing tall and balanced. At his full height it seemed that Spike was tall enough that average sized ponies could walk under him if they ducked their heads. From the center of the room his wings were wide enough that he could almost touch the opposite walls with their tips. Spike bent his limbs and shuffled his claws. “Whoa, this feels… strange.”
“Eh, you’ll get used to it,” Smolder said.
“Smolder,” Twilight gently interjected, “is Spike going to be ok?”
“Spike’s fine. His eyes are clear of greed and as far as I know he won’t be getting any bigger.”
Twilight sighed in relief. “Thank you for your help. It makes me feel better that Spike’s going to be ok. If it’s not too much trouble do you think you can join me in seeing Mayor Mare just to fill her in on Spike’s change? I wouldn’t want the town to panic when they see him.”
“Sure thing. That’s a good idea since you ponies scare so easily.”
Twilight turned to Rarity. “Can you wait here with Spike while we’re out? I don’t want him to be alone.”
Spike blushed. “Twilight, I’m ok, really. I don’t need somepony-“
Rarity cut him off. “Of course I will darling. I wouldn’t dream of leaving Spike alone in such a trying time. We’ll see you when you get back.”
Twilight, Starlight and Smolder left for city hall. Leaving Rarity and a nervous Spike alone. Spike’s eyes darted around the room trying to focus on anything other than the snow-white mare. Under normal circumstances Spike would’ve been delighted to spend time with Rarity. Even more so if it would be just the two of them together. But these were anything but normal circumstances. Spike didn’t want Rarity to figure out why he changed. At least not right now. He realized what triggered his growth when Smolder explained the whole situation to him. But how would Rarity react to “why” if she knew? Would she admire him? Would she shun him? Would she think him ridiculous and never want to talk about it again?
“Spike?” Rarity said.
“Y-yes?”
Rarity spoke slowly and chose her words carefully. Spike didn’t want to talk about why he grew with the others around. But if it was just the two of them then maybe she could get him to talk about it. “What Smolder said about you being too small and weak to protect something. Is that true?”
Spike fidgeted with his claws. “Uh, um, I-I don’t know.”
“Spikey, please. There’s no need to be embarrassed. After all, I think I have a good idea about why you matured.”
Spike gulped. “Y-you do?”
“Yes, I have a very good idea. After all, I was with you when you stood up to Heavy Hitter and the timber wolves so I think it’s obvious.”
Spike rose one of his scaly brows. “Well… are you ok with that?”
“Yes Spike, I am.”
Spike chuckled. “Oh that’s such a relief! And here I thought you’d be upset with me.”
Rarity gasped. “Of course not, why on earth would I be upset with you wanting to protect yourself?”
“Heh-heh, yeah I guess you’re- huh?” Spike tilted his head in confusion.
“You were beaten up pretty badly by the ogre Heavy Hitter and almost eaten by those ghastly wolves. It’s no wonder your body decided to grow. But now the next time some baddies try to hurt you, you’ll be able to give them a good ol’ one, two walloping. I mean look at you”- Rarity turned Spike to face a full length mirror while she walked around him, examining his features “- you’re tall, strong, powerful yet majestic. A truly fine display darling.”
Spike stumbled through his words. “Y-yeah, that’s the reason. I’m sure I changed because I want to protect myself and not any other reason.”
“You know what Spike? I just got an idea. Let’s go out behind the castle and get some walking practice. Twilight will be so surprised when she sees you. Well, not as surprised as she was this morning. But still surprised I’m sure.”
“Sounds, great. I’ll, uh, meet you downstairs.”
Rarity left Spike’s room after a few moments when he was sure he heard Rarity’s hoofsteps round the corner towards the staircase to the first floor, Spike looked at himself in the mirror. He flexed his arms and realized how much muscle he gained. His wings didn’t even fit in the mirror. Spike figured he’d still be able to walk through doors if he just tucked his wings back. His scales looked as thick as armor plating, yet smooth as polished marble. The longer Spike looked at the reflection of himself, the less fear he felt. In fact, Spike was feeling good, great even. He has the size and strength to protect his lady now, and as Celestia as his witness he wasn’t going to let anything hurt her. Spike ran his claw over the spikes on his head, grinned at the dragon in the mirror and left.
Boom! New update in (about) 2 weeks! It's amazing what shaving off a few thousand words can do.
As I was writing this chapter I started thinking about something. Sparity is my absolute favorite ship in the series (hence why my 1st fan fic is about them) but it's not everyone's cup of tea. In my digging I've found that one of the common problems people have with Sparity isn't so much the "he's a dragon, she's a pony" problem, it's the age difference. But I've never really bought that claim, not because of personal bias (ok not just because) but because the age difference isn't really that weird. Allow me to elaborate. It's obvious that Spike is younger than Rarity and the rest of the main 6, but I've always assumed that he was older than the CMC based on the story about when Twilight hatched him at magic school. Let's say for the sake of argument that Twilight hatched Spike when she was four or five that would mean Rarity was also about four or five at the time too and I've always assumed that Sweetie Belle was about seven to eight years younger than Rarity (except in those stories where Rarity is Sweetie's mother which I feel rather icky after reading, but I digress).
As much as I dislike Equestria Girls ( and I really, really, REALLY dislike EG) it did help with one thing. It kind of gave every character an appropriate age range. I never thought that the mane 6 were in their mid to late 20s, I always thought they were in their late teens at most to be closer to the target audience, and Equestria Girls more or less confirmed it. Yeah it's a bit unrealistic that Rarity would have a fashion empire at the age of eighteen or nineteen, but things are different in pony world, heck the CMC run (and as far as I know own) a summer camp and they're only like eleven or twelve, so it's entirely possible that you can become independent and successful in Equestria as soon as you find a way to support yourself.
So let's say Rarity is eighteen, in my head I see Spike as fourteen or fifteen and Sweetie Belle is around eleven. A four year difference between two people isn't weird, or at least not as weird as people may think. (Incidentally in this story the mane 6 are in their early 20s and Spike's in his late teens. Takes place after season 8 after all).
So it's not the species thing or the age thing that bothers me, but what does bother me, and this may be slightly ironic, is baby dragon Spike with Rarity. It leaves me feeling odd in a robbing the cradle sort of way. But there's a secret weapon that writers have to deal with this. That secret weapon? Just make him older or in my case "mature" in the biological sense. Not too hard. In my case I just tied it back with the shows canon of how a dragon can grow out of greed. Not too farfetched to think he'd grow out of a need to protect the one he loves. But of course that's just my opinion. 😅
I actually wanted to post this on Friday, but I got clobbered by the depression bat and it slowed down my rewrite progress.
But what do you think of the whole "shorter chapter quicker updates" model? I personally like it, I'm still telling the same story but I get short breaks to kind of figure out where to take the next chapter to. Speaking of which I'm really excited for the next few chapters because they lead up to the part of the story I'm ACHING to write. I'd love to expand on what I'm excited for, but that would be telling.
Thanks for reading, see you next time 
Silver Wit
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Well, you DEFINITELY wren't kidding about your boxart that's for sure. For the most part i'm on the same boat as you about your decision to do what you did, except add a few more years to every character. Besides, this is fanfiction where people can write whatever the hell they want, i've seen stranger things
, believe me, so this is isn't that far fetched. Continue on 
9532466
And I shall continue onward. Also, yeah thinking about it now adding a few more years would be beneficial. 😛
Thanks for the new chapter, can't wait to see what happens next
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You are welcome. I won't say much about the next chapter other than I'm going to have fun writing it
9533109
Hahaha you tease
Please do continue with this story !!!
9620417
Not to worry, the next chapter is almost done. Sorry for the looooong wait. It's finals season. BUT the story shall go on!
This is a nice chapter but I'm wondering why Spike didn't use his firebreath against the timberwolves.
10200546
He did, but it was just to scare them off, not to hurt them.