2 - Back to Back
Canterlot High seemed to be deserted, though whether it was the lateness of the day or because it was summer, Spike wasn't sure: he'd kind of lost track of the seasons a spring or three ago.
Still, no murky scents or muffled sounds of other people presented themselves to him, blinking around at the blurry front of the school where they'd had their first adventures all those years ago. "And the portal's really still here?" he asked, only realizing that he'd spoken the question out loud when he heard the words.
"Where else?" Twilight had carried him from the parking lot, and he'd stifled his immediate objections—he could probably walk there without stopping to rest too often—at the thought of spending more time in her arms. "I mean, yes," she went on, "in theory, we could probably coordinate something with Princess Twilight to translocate the spell's focus on our side to some other spot, but she's the only one who can open it now, so why bother? That does remind me, though..."
Everything shifted sideways, and Spike felt concrete underneath him now. Turning, he saw a gray, squarish blob that had to be the base of the Wondercolt statue, the restored statue itself a curving set of smears against the late afternoon sky.
"Sunset?" Twilight asked; she had one hand resting on her cocked hip, her other hand pressed to the side of her head—holding her cell phone, he guessed. "We're at the statue now. Okay, thanks." She dropped the phone into her purse, a spicy scent of nervous excitement coming from her. "Sunset hopes we have a good trip and says to give the princess a couple minutes to get the spell matrix fired up." Her shoulders shifted, and the nervousness around her became more pronounced. "You're really going to like it over there."
Spike gave her his human smile—all lips and no tongue, he'd discovered early on, made talking while smiling a lot less painful. "As long as you're with me, I'll go anywhere and do anything." He stood, unable to stop a flinch at the pain zipping through his belly. "Within reasonable limits, of course," he added, hoping she might mistake his flinch for a wink.
"Of course," she said, and the still-increasing nervous stink made Spike's ears want to droop.
He forced them to stay perky and remembered a question he'd wanted to ask her in the car before the motion of the ride had gotten him too queasy to risk opening his mouth. "How many times have you been to Equestria, anyway?"
"Me?" She blinked. "Maybe a dozen or so."
Part of him didn't want to continue the thought, but he did anyway. "So you're not considering packing up and moving?"
"Me?" she asked again, her voice pitching up and tightening. "With my current teaching schedule? And the students I'm mentoring? I couldn't even consider it!" Taking a breath, Twilight cocked her head. "When I retire, though, that's a definite possibility. Especially if I knew my best friend was waiting there for—"
Pulling his ears back, Spike cleared his throat loudly.
Twilight held up her hands. "I know, I know: no hard-sell tactics." She dropped her gaze. "Sorry."
Spike just nodded, not sure he trusted himself to speak right now.
Several awkward seconds ticked by, Twilight seeming to look everywhere but at Spike and Spike swallowing against the soreness throbbing in his neck after his throat clearing. How could she not get what he was saying? Not that he was actually saying it, of course, and not that he ever planned on saying it if he could help it. But she should understand, shouldn't she? After all these years, shouldn't she know?
Warmth flickered through the air from behind him, and while turning to look at the plinth didn't show him anything new, his prickling fur told him all he needed to know: something magical was starting.
"There," Twilight said, and the nervousness thickened even further around her. "You go through first, Spike, and I'll be right behind you."
He couldn't help aiming a backward glance at her. "Because we're going to live in the country, right?"
Her lips tightened. "I already told you! The expression is—" She took a breath and blew it out. "Do you need me to give you a boost?"
With a snicker, he faced forward again. "Naw. Though I should probably let you, shouldn't I? What with little ponies not having fingers and thumbs, this'll be your last chance to push me around for a while."
A little sound reached him—something like a sob, maybe? But he was already stepping forward, already pressing his nose to the strange, shimmering scent of rushing wind and water he could now detect from the base of the statue, and before he could turn to see if he'd imagined the sound, the rushing had flowed over him, snatched him up, and tumbled him forward.
Splaying his paws to steady himself, he couldn't quite find where his paws were: lights of every color streamed around and past and through him, a roaring in his ears that had an almost musical quality to it. The colors formed shapes that swirled and swayed, squishing into being and stretching away with the same not-quite rhythm as the not-quite music, and for all that Spike found it enormously disconcerting, it was the most fascinating thing he'd experienced in years.
He wanted to turn and ask Twilight if this was what usually happened in here, but two things stopped him. First, he didn't quite know how to turn since he didn't have any sense of himself as a physical being at this point. And second, if that had actually been a sob he'd heard, did that mean he'd been right with the half-joke he'd made before stepping in? Had she pushed him through the gate to this alleged pony world to be rid of him? To get him out of the way so she wouldn't have to watch him die?
The thought tore a huge and jagged gash through whatever there was of him, and he tried to spin, tried to howl, tried to cry out just as the crashing din and the dancing abstractions both vanished. Spike's ears popped, and he was sailing through empty air, blue sky suddenly above him and green grass below.
Instinctively, he brought his forelegs up to try and land on his paws, but instead of paws, he saw clawed hands, his legs still purple but darker, scalier, more muscular. Something was happening along his back, too, flaps of fur or skin or both, it felt like, unfurling, catching the breeze and shaping it, directing it, caressing it so he wasn't falling any longer according to his gut. His wings, he realized. Which meant it was true: he really was a dragon here!
The wings were slowing him down, holding him up, stopping his headlong hurtle. Completely unsure how he was doing it, he was actually pulling into a hover over the grassy field, hills in the distance, clouds drifting here and there above them.
"Hello, Spike!" a voice called, a voice that was both familiar and not familiar at all. "I'm Twilight Sparkle: the other Twilight Sparkle, I mean. Welcome to Equestria!"
Wanting to turn this time left him more baffled than before. Yes, he had a physical being now, but when he tried to think about flapping his wings differently, he became even more aware that he had no idea how he was flapping them at all. Gritting his teeth, he tried to stop their increased flailing, but they just got floppier and floppier till gravity grabbed him, pulled him rump-first onto the grass with a thud that shook the ground.
"Whoa!" the almost-Twilight called. Something purple and the size of a robin whisked in front of him, and Spike found himself looking at a winged unicorn: he would've thought she was a chew toy or a doll if she hadn't smelled so strange and alive, a mix of lavender and meat, of feathers and freshly fallen rain. "Are you all right?" she asked.
All he could manage was a nod.
She smiled, his eyes drawn to the golden regalia shining at her forehead, chest, and hooves. "Ah, yes. I remember my first time in your world, how hard it was figuring out hands and feet. I'm guessing wings'll take a little more time."
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Please tell me you won't kill Spike I beg of you just tell me in a spoiler.
This is already heart-wrenching and sweet. Can't wait for more!
ok - this is good. I'm definitely looking forward to more of this. And after 5+ years on this site, I don't think I've ever read a story where dog-Spike becomes dragon-Spike. I'm not sure how I've missed that (it's got to be out there), so congrats on being the first of that trope I've read.
Love the POV, especially Spike's notice of the various smells. Definitely different.
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https://www.fimfiction.net/story/258652/in-the-absence-of-sunset-shimmer
This is the only other story i've seen with that.
Again, definitely enjoying the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Again, adored the dialogue between Human Twilight and Dog Spike before the latter went through the portal, as well Dog Spike struggling to get used to his new dragon form. Of course, the upside is that, once he DOES get the hang of it, he'll probably be feeling in better shape than he has in as long as he cares to remember. And the meeting with Pony Twilight was beautiful stuff.
I've seen one story before [1] where Old Dog Spike goes to Equestria and becomes a dragon: IIRC he refuses to stay because he doesn't want to live a long life if it's without Twilight. Seems this may be heading in the same direction. (Admittedly, I didn't finish that story so I dunno if he changes his mind eventually)
"Something purple and the size of a small crow whisked in front of him, "
The size of a small crow? So Spike here is a huge elder Dragon the same way he is an "elder dog" on the other side, rather than Spike-sized. I guess they moved the mirror outdoors as a precautionary measure.
[1] "In The Absence of Sunset Shimmer", which just showed up on the side bar
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DarthLink22's Integration skirts with the concept, though it's nowhere close to the primary conflict. I don't read many EqG fics, though, so there are almost certainly a couple others that aren’t on my radar.
So far so good. Looking forward to seeing this continue!
Pls no hurt doggo.
And there's the rub. Spike's a good dog. He can't bear his human asking him to abandon her for multiple canine lifetimes.
And in Equestria, it turns out his size is a function of his proportional age. Fifteen is a hundred and five in dog years. A hundred and five is somewhere around a millennium in dragon years. Even if his Twilight does come through the portal, she's trapped him. Now the question is how they'll both deal with this... and if she knew this would happen ahead of time.
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Thanks, folks!
This is an idea I've had for a while, and I've seen it referred to glancingly in stories as diverse as shortskirtsandexplosions's Sissy Flash, J Carp's FemmeFiction, and my own "Super Awkward." FoME's contest made me decide to actually give a go at making it its own story. As for where it's headed, I'll point out the lack of any "dark" tags along the top and further point out that I should probably add a "romance" tag to it...
Mike
Awww man, this was such a hard yet amazing read. Every description of Spike old and broken body adds so much impact into ever work. I really hope Human Twi does come through, the thought of Twi just abandoning Spike like that hurts so bad. Even if it is to save his life.
I am excited for more, and I wonder if Alicorn Twilight might have to give a lesson of Sci-Twi, about how sometimes you have to left life take its course and allow yourself to let your friends go.... MY GOD THIS IS SO SADDDDDDDDDDD
As expected, he became huge, and now probably stuck here.
But why is he in the air?
Either main Twilight knew this would happen and changed portal, or you avoiding the issue. I do think that Twilights probably knew about it beforehand, thou. No other reason to just "go for a visit".
Really hope you can continue this soon... Twilight needs to come into the portal, sorta face the music of Giant Spike not being able to fit back... She said she would be right behind him, really hope she's not backing out. The way she was keeping from crying, she knew what would happen. Once everything is settled for human Twilight, a nice retirement to Equestria sounds good to me.
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Well all Princess Twilight would need to do is when the mirror up outside. And she would if there was only a chance Dog Spike would come out as and Adult Dragon. Gotta wonder how Dragon Spike will react to a huge version of himself, as by now he's only just a teen dragon, only maybe the hight of a human.
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Except that an adult crow would be near enough the same size as Spike the Dog and he's only been a dragon for a very short period, meaning that his sense of relative size wouldn't have shifted as yet. Therefor he's at best maybe twice Twilight's size.
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I tried to imply:
That Adult Dog Spike had grown to about the size of Twilight's torso--he's resting his head on her shoulder while she's suppoting his hind legs down at her waist level when she's carrying him around. So a small crow in my thinking would be a little smaller than his head. I'll go back in and make that clearer when I post part three later today.
Thanks!
Mike
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I assumed he was adult dragon size, which is quite large. The best assumption is ponies on about 4 foot tall, so Dragon Spike is like 6 or 7 as of the last episode, a adult dragon is going to be 10 to 12 foot at the shoulder. If Greed Growth Spike is any indication adulthood would extend his neck, allowing him to lower his head to pony height
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Yeah:
I'm aiming for a combination Greed Growth Spike and Dragon Lord Torch. Big fella, in other words.
Mike
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>beeg dergs
You have my attention.
Huh! I actually did not expect Spike to turn so big on this side of the portal. Intriguing!
And to everyone worrying about Spike: I think we can all trust AugieDog. He's a gentleman and a poet, and clearly doesn't ascribe to the folly that only sad endings are good.
Soooo... do Diamond Dogs turn into a Smaug in our world?
After spending 200 years in Equestria as a dragon, Spike went back to Humanquestria… and turned to dust the instant he left the portal.
The portal works in incomprehensible plot ways...