the only chapter
Rarity could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she broke into a cold sweat. She glanced away from the figure standing just outside the door to her home, too nervous to look at him. She fidgeted in place, crossing and uncrossing her hooves. It had finally happened, after all these years it had happened. It’s not like Rarity didn’t see this coming. She would have to be an idiot or blind to have missed this, but there was a part of her that had always hoped this day would never come. Rarity took a deep breath, stealing her nerves, before looking back up at the figure before her. There was pain in his eyes, Rarity’s hesitation making him assume the worse.
“I’m sorry Spike,” Rarity said, struggling to keep eye contact with the dragon before her.
Spike had grown a lot over the past few years. He easily dwarfed most ponies, standing at almost twice there height when he was on all fours; which he was most of the time. Muscles bulged under his scales, strong and lean. The spines on his back had grown pointed, and on his back was a large pair of wings. His wings lacked the elegance possessed by the Pegasus. They were sharper, capable of slicing through the air. All this gave him an intimidating presence that was disarmed by the kind look in his eyes. Eyes that were currently full of pain.
“You’re an amazing dragon Spike,” Rarity said look away again, “and I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with you, but we can never be together. Not the way you want us to be.”
“Isn’t there anything I can do,” Spike asked heartbreak in his voice. “I can learn to be a proper gentlecolt. Just give me a chance.”
“Oh Spike,” Rarity said placing a hoof against his cheek, “you are already the perfect gentledrake. It’s just that a relationship between us could only ever end in heartbreak.” Rarity stepped back, removing her hoof from Spikes cheek. “I’ve had a lot of orders recently, and I really should get to work on them. So, I’m afraid I must bid you ado.”
Rarity closed the boutiques door as Spike just stood on her porch, and she leaned against it. She took several deep breaths trying to regain her composure. It wasn’t long before Spike’s foot falls could be heard as he stepped away. “I’m sorry Spike,” Rarity shakily as she stepped away from the door and headed into her work area. ”I just need to take my mind off things,” she thought as she threaded a needle.
*Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa*, a cry pierced through the air. It was the saddest sound Rarity had ever heard, filled with loneliness and sorrow. The cry stopped leaving behind a hollow silence that was pierced by the sound of a needle hitting the floor. Rarity collapsed shortly after burying her face in her hooves.
“Spi….Spi….Spike,” she cried filling the boutique with sobs.
Spike just stood there staring at Rarity’s door for a time, trying to understand what had just happened. His body started moving on its own, Spike preoccupied with his thoughts. ”She said no,” he thought as his body moved towards the library on instinct. ”Maybe there’s still something I can do, some way I can get her to love me,” Spike entered the busy town square, his presence ignored by the ponies gathered. ”a relationship between us could only ever end in heartbreak,” Spike froze as Rarity’s words echoed through his mind. ”She will never love me,” the realization cut Spike like a dagger through his heart.
*Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa*, he cried out in pain, drawing the attention of everypony in the area. They all looked towards him with concern in their eyes.
“Spike is everything alright,” one of them asked, as several ponies stepped towards him only to be knocked back as Spike spread his wings.
With a single powerful beat of his wings Spike shot into the sky like a bullet. His wings propelling him through the air faster than any pony could hope to keep up with. He didn’t know where he was going. All he knew was he had to get away, that he had to be alone. Faster and faster he flew, trying desperately to outrun the pain in his heart, but it chased him no matter how fast or far he flew.
Rarity didn’t know how long she’d been sobbing on her floor, but it felt like hours before she finally managed to stop. She stood up glancing around her work room, no longer in the mood to work. Her gaze stopped on her reflection in one of the full length mirrors that filled the workspace. She was a mess. The fur on her face was matted with a mixture of tears and makeup, her eyes were bloodshot, and her mane looked like a bird had been nesting in it. With a defeated sigh Rarity stepped out of her work room and started up her stairs. ”First I’ll make myself presentable,” she thought, ”then I think I’ll make myself some tea.”
Rarity allowed herself to get lost in the routine of her beatification, the familiar motions coming to her without thought. Thoughts of Spike came to her as hair and makeup brushes flew around her head. She thought of all the time they had spent together over the years. Spike had always been rather obvious in his affection for her. Most ponies assumed it was a childish crush, but as time went on the two had grown closer and began spending more time together. The two had become almost inseparable. Spike spending almost all of his free time helping Rarity around her shop, making her gifts, or just being there for her. Most of Ponyville had come to accept that Spike’s feelings for her were genuine, and many had assumed that Rarity returned those feelings. Her rejection would come as quite the surprise to the town.
Having restored her appearance to its normal beauty, Rarity placed her brush down next to the jewelry box she kept on her vanity. Against her better judgment she decided to open it. In the center of the case surrounded by velvet sat her most prized possession a fireruby set in gold and attached to a necklace. Its value to her came not from the monetary value of the gem, but from where it came from.
“Spike,” she whispered to herself, rubbing a hoof against the gems surface. She could feel tears starting to fill her eyes again. ”Hold yourself together,” she thought to herself, ”you’ll smear your makeup again. Besides you have to be strong, what would everypony think if they saw you like this.” A knock came from the door, breaking Rarity’s chain of thought.
“Coming,” she called out in a sing song voice, closing the jewelry box’s lid and heading for the door. She was just about to reach the door when the knocking started again, more urgently. “Calm down darling, it’s impolite to rush a lady,” Rarity said opening the door to find a rather distraught Twilight.
“Have you seen Spike,” Twilight asked in a panic, “he left this morning and I haven’t seen since. Some ponies from town said that they saw him and he look upset, and that he flew off somewhere, and now no one knows where he is. I’ve been looking everywhere for him, and I just don’t know what to do.”
“Deep breaths Twilight,” Rarity said pulling her into the boutique and closing the door. “I saw Spike this morning, and I suspect he just wants to be alone for a while.”
“Why what happened?”
“Spike stopped by this morning to … um confess to me,” Rarity said looking away.
“I’m guessing that you …”
“Turned him down? Yes, I’m afraid I broke his heart.”
“I’m a bit surprised Rarity,” Twilight said calming down a little. “I’d always thought Spike fit your idea of a perfect man”
“He does,” Rarity’s voice had fallen to a whisper, “I love Spike more than anything. The two of us could have lived a happy life together. If only he wasn’t a dragon.”
“I’m going to be honest,” Twilight said, in shock, “I never thought you’d be so shallow to turn down Spike just because he’s a dragon.”
*SMACK*
Twilight held a hoof to her face where Rarity had slapped her “HOW DARE YOU,” Rarity spoke in a voice seething with furry. “Do you really think I’d overlook someone as amazing as Spike for something as unimportant as species. I love Spike more than anything. I’d give anything just to be able to wake up each morning snuggled up with my Spiky wikey.” Tears began to stream down Rarity’s face, “but I can’t do that to him I can’t make him go through that.” Rarity fell forward weeping into Twilight’s shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
Twilight wrapped pulled Rarity into her hooves, and embraced her with her wings. “It’s going to be ok,” she whispered into Rarity’s ear trying to calm her. They stayed like that for several minutes, Rarity crying and Twilight whispering reassurances to Rarity, until Rarity was able to regain her composure and pulled away from Twilight.
“I’m sorry I slapped you Twilight,” Rarity said chocking back a sob, ”it’s just been an emotional day.”
“Rarity,” Twilight, spoke in a soft whisper, “what haven’t told me yet?”
“It started on Spike’s birthday a few years ago, when his greed caused him to go on a rampage. That was when I first began to realize that I had feelings for Spike, and the idea terrified me. I knew almost nothing about dragons. How they age, how large they get, if they all give into greed, or even how they love. So, I did what you would do, I studied. I searched for any information I could find about dragons, scouring through antique shops, old book sellers, and even the royal archives whenever I was in Canterlot. For years I searched all the while growing closer to Spike. I grew to love him. Dragon or not I knew that I would always love him with my whole heart, and then I found it. Two years ago, on one of my trips to Canterlot I found a book on dragon mating behaviors in the royal archive. Dragons are creatures that are ruled by their greed. It results in jealousy, and hostility to anyone they see as a threat to their hoard. As you can imagine this would make mating almost impossible, since the dragons would always be fighting over treasure. So they evolved to mate for life. When two dragons come to consider each other as mates they are bonded together. Their mate becomes the thing they value most, more than any treasure ever could be. These bonds are impossible to break, and make it impossible for the dragons to ever love anyone else for the rest of their lives.” A calm silence fell between them, Rarity waiting while Twilight tried to process the new information.
“I still don’t understand,” Twilight spoke, breaking the silence, “just what is the problem.”
“How long do ponies live,” Rarity asked, almost shouting in frustration.
“About eighty years or so,” Twilight said, cautiously.
“And how long do dragons live.”
“Ah,” Twilight gasped in understanding.
“That’s right,” Rarity in a sharp tone, “dragons can live for millennia, and I could never force Spike to go through that. I could spend the rest of my life with him, but he could never spend even a fraction of his life with me. I could live a happy life with Spike as my lover, but it would doom him to millennia of loneliness, never able to get over me or love again. Those were my choices Twilight either I break his heart now, while he can still get over me, or I force him to be alone for the rest of his life. It wouldn’t even take a lot, something as simple as a kiss and Spike would be bound to me forever.”
“But you’ve kissed Spike before haven’t you?”
“Those don’t count. I’ve only ever kissed him on the check; a thanks from a friend. I’m talking about a real kiss. A kiss between lovers.”
Twilight hated to admit it to herself but Rarity was right. In the long run this was probably for the best. A relationship between a dragon and a pony could only ever end in pain.
“When I was a little filly I used to read stories about princesses being swept off their hooves by their prince in shining armor. I’d always dreamed of something like that happening to me,” Rarity’s words came in a tone of utter defeat, “but I never imagined that I’d have to give my prince up. Never understood how hard that would be.”
“No,” Twilight yelled stomping her hoof down, her wings opening to their full length. She spoke with a determined look in her eyes, “There has to be something we can do. I refuse to accept that there can’t be a happy ending for you and Spike.”
“Twilight there is no way a relationship between a pony and a dragon can ever have a happy ending.”
“But what if it wasn’t between a pony, and a dragon?”
“Twilight what are you sa…” Rarity was cut off by Twilight’s horn lighting up and teleporting the two away. “…ing,” Rarity finished as the two appeared in the middle of the library.
“Dragons have a strong magic that makes them impervious to changes coming from an outside source, “ Twilight muttered to herself, as various books started to fly from shelves in the library, surrounded by the aura of Twilights magic. “If I can’t change Spike then I’ll have to work on Rarity.”
“Twilight,” Rarity said trying to get her attention.
“The change has to be permanent, none of the standard spells are stable enough, I’ll have to come up with something new.”
“Twilight,” Rarity spoke a bit louder.
“A change of shape isn’t going to be enough by itself; I’ll also need a way to increase her lifespan.”
“Twilight,” Rarity grabbed ahold of the purple alicorn, “just what are you doing.”
Twilight paused for a moment, looking at Rarity with a blank stare. “Isn’t that obvious? I’m trying to figure out how to turn you into a dragon.”
Rarity just stood there in shock, trying to comprehend what Twilight had just said. “You’re going to do what?”
“Try and turn you into a dragon,” Twilight slipped from Rarity’s grasp. “You’re right, a relationship between a pony and a dragon can only ever end in heart break, but there’s no reason a relationship between two dragons shouldn’t have a happy ending.”
“I…Is there any reason you couldn’t turn Spike into a pony,” Rarity stuttered, the conversation taking her off guard.
“Dragons are almost impervious to any magic that changes their form,” Twilight paused “Is something wrong Rarity, I thought you said you’d do anything to be with Spike.”
“Everything’s fine,” Rarity smiled. “This whole thing has taken me by surprise. Twilight just what are the chances of this working.”
“I…I’m not going to lie to you Rarity. Nothing like this has ever even been attempted before, and most ponies would say it’s impossible. Changing your shape to that of a dragon is easy enough, but by itself isn’t enough, since it wouldn’t increase your lifespan any. I have to change your nature to that of a dragon, shape, instincts, magic, everything about will have to become draconic. Wait,” Twilight paused. “That’s it,” she shouted before running out of the room. “I’m going to change you using magic,” Twilight’s voice echoed from somewhere else in the library.
“Well I’d figured magic would have to be involved,” Rarity replied flatly.
“That’s not what I meant,” Twilight came back into the room carrying an odd stone in her hoof, “dragons possess some of the most powerful magic in the world, but it comes at a cost. A dragon, and its magic are almost indistinguishable from each other, it’s their magic that makes them a dragon. It’s why dragons are so resilient to any magic that would change their shape. It also means that if I can give you draconic magic the rest of the change will follow from that, and I’m going to do it using this,” Twilight presented the stone she was carrying to Rarity. The stone was a light blue in color, and could have been mistaken for a sapphire if it wasn’t for what appeared to be a light purple mist shifting under its surface.
“What is that,” Rarity asked mesmerized by the stone.
“It’s called a soul stone. They are used to store magic. I’m going to have you fill it with your magic. It’ll give me something to experiment with until I can figure out how to change your magic.”
“How exactly do I fill it?”
“Just use magic on it, like levitation, and the stone will do the rest,” Twilight set the soul stone on the floor.
Rarity approached the stone on the floor, her horn lighting up with a magic aura. She stopped turning towards Twilight. “Before I do this I need you to promise me that you won’t tell Spike about this.”
“Why not? Spike would be thrilled to know there might still be a chance for you two to be together.”
“Because you said this might be impossible. I don’t want him getting his hopes up only to have them crushed again. Please Twilight I need you to promise me this.”
“Cross my heart hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye,” Twilight said, while going through the motions.
“Thank you Twilight,” Rarity turned back to the soul stone, her horn glowing with magic, as she tried to lift it from the ground. Its effects were immediate; she began to feel her magic being forcefully pulled from her into the stone. She panicked, and began fighting against it trying to stop the flow of power.
“Rarity calm down,” Twilight’s words reached her, “the soul stone is going to drain all of your magic, you just need to calm down and let it.
Rarity took a deep breath, and forced herself to stop resisting, allowing the soul stone to drain her of her magic. It didn’t take long for the transfer to complete and the stone to release its hold on her. The stone had changed slightly. They mist had stopped shifting, and the stone glowed slightly. Rarity fell forward in exhaustion only to be caught by Twilight.
“Careful now, you’re not used to using all you magic. You must be exhausted, a good night’s sleep and you’ll feel normal again.” Twilight carefully lead Rarity through a door and down a flight of stairs into a basement room. It appeared to be a guest room that also doubled as storage. The walls we’re covered in overly full bookshelves. In the center of the room was a bed, will a small table at the head, and a chest at its foot. Twilight carefully lead Rarity over to the bed and helped her lie down. Rarity fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
Night fell over Ponyville like a soft blanket, enveloping the town in a soft darkness. One by one ponies returned to their homes and began preparing for bed. Unknown to them was a dragon flying silently through the air. Spike glided down, landing in front of the library with a pained sigh. He stretched his sore wings before opening the door and entering his home. He was exhausted, having spent the whole day flying, and could only think of sleep.
“Hey Twilight,” Spike said, passing the alicorn who was diligently studying, an unusual stone at her side, “sorry I’m getting home so late it’s been a disappointing day, and I needed some time to think.” Twilight waved a hoof at him dismissively, complete engrossed in her work. ”It looks like she obsessing over some reasearch again,” Spike thought, ”she might not have noticed I wasn’t here all day.” ”I’m going to bed Twilight try not to stay up all night again.” Twilight just waved Spike off again as he walked past. Spike opened the door to his room in the basement, and froze at the top of the stairs. There sleeping in his bed was an angel. She looked peaceful nestled between the sheets, her mane flowing around her like a curtain. It was the most beautiful thing Spike had ever seen. It was a natural beauty that could never be imitated by fancy dresses or makeup.
“Twilight,” Spike spoke in a whisper, “why is Rarity sleeping in my bed?”
“She was helping me with some research,” Twilight said, without looking up from her work. “It left her exhausted, and since I didn’t know when you’d be home I let her you your bed.”
Spike sighed as he stepped down the stairs to his room. Being face to face with Rarity brought back the thoughts he’d been having all day. ”There must be something I can do,” he thought as he stood next to the bed, ”there must be some way to get her to love me. Wait what am I thinking, I can’t force her to love me, and even if I could it wouldn’t be right. There really is nothing I can do.” Spike lied down on the floor at the foot of the bed. ”But that doesn’t mean I still can’t be there for her. As long as I’m around Rarity will never truly be alone. I will do anything I can to make her happy.” Spike shut his eyes allowing himself to drift off to sleep.
Rarity stirred in her sleep. Something had changed in the room, it felt warmer, and was that someone breathing. Rarity sat up in bed, searching the room. Her gaze quickly fell on the dragon purple dragon at the foot of the bed.
“Spike? Is that you down there?”
The dragon shifted, raising his head off the floor to look directly at her. “Hey,” Spike said with a small smile.
“Why on earth are you sleeping there on the floor?”
“Well you were in my bead so…”
“I’m in your bead?” The realization shook Rarity. The sparse decoration in the room had made her assume that this was a guest room. ”Everything Spike owns is in this room,” she thought examining the room more closely, ”it’s mostly just book storage, which belongs to the library. Meaning that beside the bed everything Spike owns is in that small chest.”
The two just stared at each other in an awkward silence; trying to find what words to say. “We should probably get back to sleep,” Rarity said, breaking the silence.
“Yea”
“Well then I should let you have your bed back.”
“No Rarity, you keep the bed.”
“Now what kind of lady would I be if I forced you to sleep on the floor?”
“What kind of gentledrake would I be if I made a lady sleep on the floor?”
The two just stared at each other trying waiting for the other to yield.
“You’re not going to give up on this are you,” Rarity asked when it became apparent that Spike wasn’t going to give in.
“Nope,” Spikes reply was simple.
“Well then I guess the only way either of us are going to get any sleep is if we share the bed.”
“That beds not really big enough for two,” Spike replied nervously.
Rarity looked away embarrassed. “Then I guess you’ll just have to hold me.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Please”
“Alright,” Spike sighed as he climbed into the bed, pulling Rarity into his arms, as she rested her head against his shoulder, and Spike began stroking her mane softly. The two just lay like that for a while, enjoying the closeness. ”I think we’re going to be ok,” Spike thought, ”I think we can work as just friends. It’s not what I wanted but…” Spike’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft sobbing, and dampness on his scales. “Rarity,” he said concerned, “what’s wrong.”
“It’s so sad,” she whispered, “how much have you given up, how many opportunities have you passed on, just to keep your greed in check.”
“Is that all,” Spike chuckled, “it’s really not that much.
“Look around you Spike. You sleep in a storage room. Everything you can call yours fits in a small trunk. You’ve given up everything, even forsaken your own kind.”
“And I’ve gained so much,” Spike said cutting her off. “I’ve gained friends and family that I wouldn’t give up for anything. You, Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Luna, Celestia, and all of Ponyville, I have given up on physical things in exchange for something of much greater value. Besides I like it this way. The truth is I got control of my greed a long time ago.”
“What do you mean? How could you overcome something like that?”
“I found an anchor. Something that I valued more than a mountain of gems. When I realized that my greed could take that away from me I found that I didn’t want anything else.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?”
“I hurt you Spike, and I’m going to hurt you again and again. I’m going to keep leading you on, and letting you down. All because of my selfishness, because I can’t let you go.”
“What are you saying Rarity?”
“I love you Spike.”
“But you said…”
“I said that a relationship between us could only ever end in heartbreak, and it will. I’m going to leave you someday Spike, we all are, and then you’ll be all alone.”
“That may be true,” Spike said lifting Rarity’s chin to look into her eyes, “but I would gladly spend an eternity alone if it meant I got to spend a lifetime with you.” Spike leaned forward pulling Rarity in for a kiss.
*SMACK*
Rarity pulled away, withdrawing the hoof she used to slap Spike. “You have to promise me you’ll never try to kiss me or anypony else again,” Rarity spoke in a panicked voice.
“But Rarity …”
“PROMISE ME”
“OK OK,” Spike said, shocked by Rarity’s reaction, “I promise, cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Good,” Rarity sighed, as she lied back down, “we really should be getting some sleep.”
Spike didn’t get any sleep that night; instead he lied awake all night thinking about what Rarity had said. She loved him back, but still didn’t think they should be together. ”I meant it when I said I’d spend an eternity alone for her,” he thought, ”I would sacrifice anything for her. But it’s not my choice alone to make. It’s also Rarity’s, and she decided she doesn’t want that for me. She doesn’t want to force me to be alone. Could I do that to her, if our positions were reversed? Could I force her to be alone forever if it meant being with me? No, I don’t think I could, not even if it was what she wanted.” Spike Sighed. ”looking back this is really the only way things could have gone. From the moment we met we’ve been walking down a path that could only have led us here, to a point where we’re more than friends but less than lovers. This is the path that we’ll continue to walk, neither of us satisfied, but unable to be anything else than what we are, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. Nothing short of divine intervention could change the path that we walk.” Spike chuckled at the thought. ”Maybe Celestia could do something to help us.”
“God fucking damn it,” a yell echoed from upstairs.
“What was that,” Rarity said the cry waking her.
“That sounded like Twilight,” Spike said climbing out of bed, “we should go check up on her.”
The two left Spike’s room and were shocked by what they saw. The library was in chaos. Every surface was covered. Books, parchment, and lab equipment we’re strewn across the room. Twilight didn’t look much better; hairs in her mane had begun to stick out in odd directions. She had a crooked smile and a twitch in her eye as she rushed around the room, various books following behind her, wrapped in magic.
“Are you ok,” Spike asked in concern.
“I’m fine,” Twilight snapped, “I just need a little more time to figure this out.”
“Maybe you should take a break darling, get some rest.”
“I can’t afford to take a break. I’m so close to figuring it out. I can feel it, I’m just missing something, and NONE OF THESE BOOKS HAVE THE INFORMATION I NEED.” Twilight stood there panting after her outburst, Spike and Rarity staring at her in concern. “But maybe another library does,” Twilight floated a quill and parchment over to her and began writing, “if the royal archive doesn’t have what I need no one does. Spike send this to Celestia,” Twilight said floating the letter over to Spike.
Spike sighed, grabbing the letter out of the air, “alright, but only if you promise to get some sleep.”
“Fine,” Twilight grumbled in defeat, shuffling her hooves.
Twilight froze as Spike took a deep breath, a realization in her eyes, “That’s it,” she shouted as Spike blew a magical flame to transport Twilight’s letter to Celestia. She jumped forward interrupting the flame with her horn, pulling away with a small emerald flame burning at the tip of her horn. “Now all I need is the soul stone,” Twilight ran to the unusual stone balanced on a stack of papers, “and now,” she leaned forward, pressing the flame to the stone. The flame entered the stone, and began altering the magic within it. The flame spread, trying to consume the magic stored in the stone. Twilight’s horn flared up as she tried to influence the flame. Slowly the fire started to change, shifting to a light blue. Twilight stepped back, gazing deep into the soul stone, where the magic it had once stored had been replaced by a cyan flame.
“I did it,” Twilight said in exhaustion, “all I needed was a spark. Rarity,” she shouted embracing the white unicorn, “I did it.” She started jumping up and down pulling the unicorn with her. “YES, YES, YES, YES,” Twilight’s excited voice filled the room.
“I’m thrilled darling,” Rarity said struggling to breath in Twilight’s grasp, “but you’re making it very difficult to breath.”
“Oops,” Twilight released her grasp, “I guess I got a little over excited.”
“Would anypony mind filling in the dragon as to what’s so important,” Spike asked in confusion.
“Only after said dragon gets the rest of the girls,” Twilight said pushing Spike towards the door, “It’s big news, and I don’t want to have to explain it more than once.”
“Fine,” Spike mumbled, exiting the library.
“Now that Spikes out of the way,” Twilight began, her voice becoming serious, “there’s something we need to talk about. Are you sure you sure you want to go through with this, because if you have even the smallest doubt than we should do this.”
“Come now Twilight, didn’t I already say I’d give anything to be with Spike?”
“That’s just it Rarity. You may have to give up everything to be with him. If I turn you into a dragon you’ll be a dragon forever, I will never be able to turn you back, and lets’ be honest we have no idea how everypony will react to this. I’m sure our friends and your family will still accept you as a dragon, but what about everypony else. This could destroy the business you’ve spent your life building. You could lose everything you’ve ever cared about.”
Rarity just smiled at Twilight. “That may be true, but what I’m getting in return is worth so much more than that.”
Twilight pulled Rarity into a hug, “I thought you’d say something like that, and I’m sorry Rarity but this is going to hurt, a lot. More than anything else has ever hurt before. That’s why I made Spike leave; I figured you wouldn’t want him to see you go through this.”
“Thank you Twilight,” Rarity whispered, trembling as she pulled away from Twilight. “Now what exactly do I need to do?”
“Not much,” Twilight said placing the soul stone in front of Rarity, “this stone now contains the magic you would have if you were a dragon. All you need to do is absorb it, and it’ll do the rest.”
“And how do I…”
“Just focus on it with your magic and it’ll be drawn into you.”
“Well here goes nothing,” Rarity said, her horn lighting up with magic.
*RAAAAAAAAAAAAA* Rarity’s scream filled the air. Her body felt like it was on fire, her bones breaking and mending themselves as her body changed.
“RARITY,” Spike screamed as he burst into the library, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy following behind him. “What’s going on,” he demanded as Rarity’s body began to grow and elongate.
“Spike you need to calm down,” Twilight said stepping between Spike and Rarity, “this is what she wanted, and there is nothing you can do for her right now.”
“Jus’ what is happen to her,” Applejack asked, Rarity’s hair falling out in clumps and exposing scales underneath.
“I’m turning Rarity into a dragon.”
“Um why would you do that,” Fluttershy whispered as Rarity’s hooves began to reshape themselves into claws.
“So she and Spike can be together.”
“She’s doing this for me,” Spike said his eyes glued to Rarity’s writhing form, unable to look away.
“Yes, and you weren’t supposed to see this part. Just how did you manage to get all the girls here so fast?”
“Oh oh oh,” Pinkie shouted jumping up and down, “I know this one. My Pinkie sense has been going crazy all morning telling me that something big was going to happen here today. So, I gathered all the girls up and brought them over. We ran into Spike just after he left.”
The room fell eerily silent as Rarity’s screams stopped her transformation over. She just lied there silently, her eyes shut. The six cautiously approached her.
“Awesome,” Rainbow was the first to speak after getting a good look at Rarity’s new body.
Rarity’s new body was a sight to behold. Whereas Spike looked fierce Rarity was elegant. There wasn’t a sharp angle on her whole body, the closest being her ear fins which were shaped like rounded diamonds. Her body was longer than Spikes, more serpentine. Her body was covered in white scales that almost seemed to shine. Along her back ran rounded spines that were light blue in color. She didn’t have any wings, but she did have two rounded horns on top of her head, following the curve of her skull.
“Rarity,” Spike said as he gently caressed her cheek, “are you all right?”
“I don’t know,” Rarity’s voice sounded week, “did it work, am I a dragon,” she asked, opening her eyes.
“Yea it did,” Spike said staring into Rarity’s eyes. The two stayed like that for a while, emeralds gazing into sapphires.
“MINE,” Rarity shouted, talking Spike to the ground and forcing their snouts together.
Spike had thought for a long time that he loved Rarity, but it was only now, as they kissed, that he realized how shallow those emotions had been. Something had changed in him when Rarity kissed him. He could feel himself bonding to her. Spike began to realize just how perfect she really was, any flaws she did have just made her that much more valuable, and she was his now. She belonged to him, and at the same time he belonged to her. Spike pulled Rarity in closer deepening the kiss, and entwining their tails. The two stayed like that for a while just enjoying each other’s company.
“That,” Rarity said pulling away from the kiss, “was worth the wait.”
“I agree,” Spike said sitting up and pulling Rarity onto his lap.
“Does this mean I get to throw a ‘they’re finally a couple party’ for you two,” Pinkie asked pulling Spike and Rarity into a hug.
“Get your filthy hooves off him you scank,” Rarity shouted pushing Pinkie, taking a defensive position over Spike and growling at her.
“Rarity look at me,” Spike said calmly, grasping Rarity’s chin and turning her head to face him, “Focus on me, don’t think about anything else.” Slowly Rarity’s growl stopped only to be replaced by a look of horror on her face.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry Pinkie I have no idea what came over me,” Rarity apologized turning to make sure the pink pony was alright.
“It’s the greed,” Spike said turning Rarity’s head back towards him, “it comes along with being a dragon. You’ve never had any experience with it. As a pony you were literally the most generous pony alive, the bearer of the element of generosity.”
“Is this what it’s always like for you Spike?”
“Yea, but its ok. With time you’ll learn to control it, and I’ll help you. You just need to find an anchor, something that you value more than anything else in the whole world. Whenever you feel your greed taking control just think of that, and the desire for anything else will fade away, and always remember that no matter what I will always be there for you.”
“Forever,” Rarity asked, trembling in his grasp.
“Forever,” Spike confirmed pulling Rarity into a kiss.