> Becoming who he loves > by Skaltrox Defiance Knight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A gem of an unnaturally high Rarity > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike the Dragon. A name common around the (normally) docile town of Ponyville, The number one assistant and friend to the now Princess Twilight Sparkle rarely took it upon himself to exploit his superiority over others. Well, in Ponyville, that is. Some time ago, he saved the long lost Crystal Empire from the despised Shadow Lord, King Sombra, this is where he did eventually exploit his power… heavily. But despite his fame and many friends in high places, the young dragon remained kind and friendly to all that showed him the same respect. And like many residents of Equestria, he had somepony he adored; that somepony was Rarity Belle. A snow white unicorn with a luxurious curly purple mane and tail and flawless sapphire eyes that shone brightly, no matter how bright or dark it became. She was an aspiring seamstress and she had a dream to become one of the greatest ever; showing off her many unique designs to many a pony was step one. But her ultimate goal was to become incredibly famous in the fashion world, to see her name up in lights was something she was determined to bring out into reality. Spike wasn’t a big fashion kinda guy. Not that many boys we're. But he was happy to help the unicorn with whatever job needed to be accomplished. One such job was a personal favourite of Spike’s: Gem hunting. Equestrian dragons loved to eat gemstones and because of this natural love, they were experts in finding them. Rarity shared this specific trait due to her cutie mark, but she found Spike’s natural ability far more effective in finding the rarest stones; she did find some more simplistic ones on her own though. Rarity decided to exploit that power Spike was graced with for her own gain and in turn, it was a win - win situation: Rarity acquired her desired gem type and Spike was occasionally rewarded with a few to snack on for his labour. Currently, that was in play. “Spike, darling? Can you find me some more topaz? I’m currently working on an amber themed gown that is just begging for some topaz to complete it.” Rarity pleaded with the purple dragon as he lazily sucked on a shard of aquamarine deep within the cave they mined in. Finishing the piece of precious stone in his mouth, Spike gave Rarity an unintentional grin. He dusted his claws off from any residual shards that may have fallen from his bizarre meal and replied to the mare, “No sweat Rarity. I’ll find a pocket of topaz in no time.” Spike looked over at a portion of cave wall and scratched his chin. Giving an expert gem tracker’s once-over of the area, he continued. “In fact, that wall should hold some topaz.” the dragon pointed a dexterous digit at the curved wall. Rarity briefly gave the wall a once over herself and smiled not long after. “Wherever you think is best, Spikey-wikey.” Rarity cooed, giving the dragon one of her trademark eye flutters. The lovesick dragon wasted no time in journeying over to the wall, taking his time to find the quickest way to remove it. He placed his head against the wall and lightly tapped his claws right next to his ear, looking for weakened rock or any holes that contained the prized gemstone. After several unsuccessful taps, Spike beamed at the sound difference on the most recent section of wall. This small pocket might have the topaz. Now it was time to open up the -hopefully filled- treasure trove. Spike had many options at his disposal to taking down walls and making holes in them, like he was about to do. But he opted to use a simple yet effective method that was near impossible to mess up; punching it. To anypony with half a brain, that would seem insane and it was, indeed. Even Rarity next to him found it “brutish” from time to time, but Spike assured her that this curious method was one of the best in making holes. The young dragon discovered information some time ago about his heritage that involved how Dragons were capable of obtaining gemstones from the deepest caverns in very little time, compared to pony miners taking hours or even days to do the exact same. Punching weakened walls was one such way they did it. The reptilian race was known for their natural strength and resistance and they exploited it in any way possible that could benefit them or maintain their survival. Spike found this information useful for such missions he did with Rarity and after testing it during one of their ventures, it became Spikes go-to way to remove obstacles, despite the simplicity of it. Focusing his eyes on the spot, Spike readied his fist and taking a stance he lunged it forward, slamming squarely on the wall. A loud cracking sound echoed in the cave. Small rock debris fell to the ground around the dragon. Removing his fist from the wall, Spike peered inside the opening he created and assessed the interior. Located inside was not any topaz Spike knew of, but instead a purple stone, about the size of the Fire Ruby he acquired for his birthday, of impeccable beauty rested peacefully and proudly in the pocket. Spike’s first assumption was that this stone was an amethyst, but swiftly pushed aside that thought in a split second when he got a closer look at the perplexing rock. Its polished texture made it feel like a pearl, but the mirror like surface was closer to being that of a rare coloured diamond; it was even possible that it had the same natural resistance. Whatever the stone was, Spike knew that Rarity would want to see it. Clutching his claws around the stone, he began to tug. Despite Spike’s dragon strength, the stone seemed reluctant to budge. But Spike, however, wasn’t backing down just yet. Holding on to the stone, Spike placed his feet up against the wall and continued to pull on the stone with all his might, not once wavering his grip. After another 30 seconds of pulling on the stubborn rock, Spike was relieved to hear the sound of the stone loosening from its metaphorical roots and, with a bizarre *pop* sound, the stone was released. The dragon that pulled it out would have cheered, but since the stone held him up on the wall and now resided in his grasp... he ended up falling flat on his back with a grunt. Rarity was absently checking through her haul of gems when she heard the unmistakeable sound of an adolescent dragon landing on the ground mere metres from her position. Spinning around quickly, she gasped at the sight of Spike laying on his back, moaning in pain. “Spike! Are you okay?!” Rarity shouted as she examined the dragon for any serious injuries, only sighing when he gave a brief “thumbs up”. “Y-Yeah, just fell about a half a metre… nothing too bad.” Spike got up and rubbed his back, suddenly remembering the stone that caused him this current pain. “Anyway, forget about that minor detail. I found something even better than topaz.” he beamed. Rarity gave him a puzzled look. “You mean diamond?” she quizzically asked. Spike didn’t answer. Instead he revealed the stone to the unicorn and waited for her response. “Oh my Celestia! It’s… It’s beautiful!” she squealed. “Forget about more topaz! This will make a stunning centerpiece on a gown for the Grand Galloping Gala! And it even matches my mane!” Rarity jumped on the spot, thinking about all the possibilities that this gemstone could provide her with. Meanwhile, the stone began to react strangely to the unicorn, it appeared to scan Rarity very quickly, too fast for the eye to see, and returned the result back to it’s core, where the energy transferred to the holder of the stone; Spike. It travelled up his arm and spread around his body, slowly dissipating after a few seconds. As a result of the invisible phenomenon, Spike felt a shiver go up his spine. “What the? Why did I feel cold for a second?” Spike mumbled. “Did you say something Spike?” Rarity asked. “Uh, no. Just thinking thoughts, that’s all” Spike returned on reflex. Spike assumed that the shiver was just from a stray gust of cold air blowing through the cave and hitting him in the back, but he had his doubts and a small theory that it could of possibly originated from the stone. Rarity gave the dragon an unsure raise of an eyebrow, yet he seemed unfazed. She eventually let it go and pulled a smile “OK. Can you place it with the rest on the cart so we can get going? I’m itching to take a bath and remove all this filth that’s accumulated on my coat since we’ve been down here.” The fashion pony furthered her point by gesturing to the dirt and sweat that had matted her snow white coat, losing it’s typical shine. Spike gave a little chuckle before acting upon Rarity’s request. He then scavenged up any other equipment the duo took down and dropped them on the top. “Is that all, Spike?” Rarity asked, putting on the harness for the cart. Normally Rarity wouldn’t even dare to go near a cart, let alone attach it to herself, but she felt it was necessary as it would be cruel to make Spike pull it considering is small stature...and because she learned her lesson the last time she made Sweetie Belle pull a ridiculously over-filled cart 20 times the size of the poor filly during a camping trip. Spike nodded. “Well, let’s get out of here.” Spike jogged just behind the cart in case any of the contents fell off, scratching the back of his head as he went. Every time he removed his claw, a small (but growing) tuft of purple hair sprouted forth. > Spike sees through Sapphire eyes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That afternoon, the duo that was Spike and Rarity returned to the latter’s boutique to drop off the haul of gemstones that made up their hard day’s work. Rarity dumped the precious stones into a special storage compartment around the back of the Boutique that held most of her gemstones for any use she desired. She would sort them later. Spike came up beside her and marvelled at the pile, beaming with pride at the vast amount of gems and the high rarity they possessed; especially the mystery one. “I simply can’t thank you enough for today, Spike.” Rarity said. Spike grinned. “No problem, Rarity. It was my pleasure to help out. And you know I’m happy to go again whenever you feel it to be necessary.” he followed up by bowing, eliciting Rarity to giggle lightly. “Oh, you are such a gentlecolt, Spike!” Rarity returned her sight towards the gem pile “ We got so many, in fact, that we might not need to go for another two months or so! Plus that mysterious one you found that I just can’t wait to use, Oh, I must see it!” Rarity started to enter the storage room to find the aforementioned “mysterious stone”, when an unfamiliar voice called out from behind the two friends. “Excuse me? Letter for a ‘Miss Rarity’.” they said. Rarity halted. She spun around to face the pony and was greeted with the mail pony holding out a letter. “The front door was locked, but I heard talking from behind, so I went to investigate” the mail pony continued. “Oh my! A letter...for me? Who is it from?” Rarity replied, her voice laced with great curiosity. The mail pony read the info on the top. “Well, it doesn’t have a name, but it's from Canterlot so that’s your first clue.” Rarity’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “From Canterlot!? It must be important! Thank you very much, sir.” Rarity levitated the letter out of the mail pony’s grasp and directly in front of her giddy face. The mail pony said no more, he tipped his hat and started to leave, letting Rarity eagerly open the letter and read its contents. Spike tried to read the letter over the unicorn’s shoulder, but his efforts were all in vain as Rarity constantly moved about, swinging the letter, unintentionally robbing Spike of the satisfaction of reading the letter’s contents. Spike recalled that Rarity was always the type to be moving around. She just seemed to lack the ability to stay still for more than a few minutes at a time… unless she was busy working on a new design. Rarity mumbled the text written down as she paced, halting all of a sudden with a great gasp. “Today!?” she screamed, bolting inside the house mere seconds later, briefly leaving Spike in a befuddled state. Jogging inside, he observed the mare frantically running about collecting an array of miscellaneous items and stuffing them into a large suitcase, mumbling more indecipherable words. “Rarity what did that letter say?” Spike said, in a worried tone. The mare answered the question while she continued on with her packing. “Sapphire Shores has just asked me out of the blue (hehe) to come to Canterlot and help create a new line of outfits that relate to a given theme for her newest album coming out this year, and she wants me there to do it... today!” Rarity rambled excitedly. Spike was barely able to comprehend those words. “How long will you be gone?” Rarity stopped on the spot, putting a hoof to her chin and considering that. “Probably three or four days, give or take. But that’s if everything goes smoothly.” she estimated, before resuming her activity. Spike idly scratched the back of his head. “Is... there anything you want me to do while you’re gone?” Rarity finally managed to finished her packing. She closed the case and set it with a couple of other smaller ones that Spike swore were not there before. Then she stood in front of the young dragon. “Well, there is one thing. But I’d hate to make you do it, though.” Spike frowned, rolling his eyes. “Rarity, when I said that I’m happy to help with anything you need, that wasn’t a figure of speech; it was the real deal. No matter how big or little the request is, I’ll take it.” Rarity hesitated still, and only gave in when Spike gave her a reassuring smile. “...Fine, I-I need you to look after the boutique. That’s all.” Spike grinned, “That’s all?” he mimicked. Rarity nodded a little hesitantly. Spike pretended to think about the request. He hated to do it, but he found some amusement in fake-thinking so as to make it that much better for Rarity when he eventually answered. Soon enough he replied with a beam, “No problem.” Rarity sighed pleasantly. “Oh, thank you Spike! Now, don’t you worry! If this all goes well, you’ll be rewarded handsomely.” Spike perked up at the mention of being “rewarded handsomely”. He was intrigued by the prospect. “How so?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Rarity, with a smile on her face, whispered in his ear what she had planned. Spike’s face made a complete change from purple to red in a split second and it made the unicorn giggle, which only furthered his blush. Rarity stepped forward, taking all her bags in her aura. “Now, I need to get going, Spike. I have no time at all to inform the girls of my sudden departure, so I need you to let them know as soon as you possibly can. ”Rarity gasped as she recalled an important item Spike needed “ Oh! I nearly forgot the keys! So that you can get in and out of the boutique.” Rarity hoofed over the bedecked keys to Spike. Spike stared up at the sunset scorched sky, Celestia would be lowering the sun at this moment and Luna should be ready to raise the moon for the coming night any second now. “WAY too late to inform everypony.” Spike thought. “I’ll let them know tomorrow, Rares. It’s a bit late now to go and wake the girls up to explain something that can wait, don’t you think?” Spike said, taking the proffered keys.. Rarity, in turn, also looked at the sky and grimaced. “I suppose you’re right. Well, no matter, So long, Spike! I shall be back within three to four days!” She turned for the front door and departed for the train station. Spike waved, eventually closing up the boutique and also departing for his desired destination. ============================================================= “I’m home!” Spike said drowsily, stepping through the door of the castle of friendship, looking for his best friend in the world, Twilight Sparkle. “Hey Twi? You here?” Spike went up the stairs and toward the lavender pony’s quarters. “Or awake?” Spike grinned to himself. After some brief walking through long crystal corridors, Spike arrived at Twilight’s room and peered inside. What he found, was the princess herself sleeping soundly in her bed, Spike chuckled, Twilight wasn’t the most ladylike of mares from Canterlot, but something the dragon knew about her was that she looked quite graceful when she slept. Shaking his head lightly, Spike left for his room, tiredness crashing down on him almost instantly, as he fell asleep the second his head met the pillow. As the dragon slept, the effects of the stone took their full course. The small tufts of purple hair grew like wildfire, replacing spines as it grew longer and curlier. His limbs grew more lengthy and all appendages on his feet and claws disappeared. His bone structure cracked and changed to that of a four legged equine, his physique slimming down to that of a mare. His face started to morph and a spiralled horn jutted from his head. Snow white fur covered the entirety of his now pony body. His tail thinned, losing the spines and was replaced with more purple hair, changing into a curly mass. Finally, the last changes occurred, such as the gender change and the three blue diamonds appearing on his -now her- flank. Once the changes ceased, Spike the dragon had turned into Rarity the unicorn. Spike woke the following morning, eyes screaming as they glared at the sun’s rays bleeding through the window. “Agh! That friggin’ hurts!” she squealed. “Wait... did I just… squeal?” Spike thought. “And my voice sounds really high.” Spike pretended that what she heard was just a figment of her imagination-easier said than done. Hopping off the bed she stumbled and fell flat on her face with a thud. “-Oww…” she growled, Spike no longer could stand on two legs and so when she got off the bed, she realised her balance was different. Shakily she tried to get back onto all fours and noticed now that she had four snow white hooves instead of her normal purple claws. “C-Calm down Spike.” she said to herself in the unmistakeable voice of Rarity, “This is just a d-dream- Yeah, a dream.” Spike touched her face with a hoof and gasped: she could feel it. Spike was losing confidence fast that this was a dream- Nervously, she trotted over to a mirror and was met with Rarity’s face. She raised her hoof up and the Rarity in the mirror did the same- She twisted and turned her head around this way and that. Each time, the mirror mimicked it perfectly. Spike couldn’t believe it--he had turned into Rarity. “How am I going to explain this to Twilight and the girls-how will I explain it to Rarity herself?!” Spike rambled at a mile a second, pacing about, still wobbly on her four hooves. Returning to the mirror, Spike unintentionally admired Rarity’s form that he now possessed and smiled “Well, this is all pretty strange, but at least it makes me look like Rarity. I mean, this can’t go wrong, can it?” Spike asked herself in the mirror. “Spike?! Was that you screaming before?” a familiar voice yelled out from behind the door- Spike froze, her sapphire pupils shrank to pinpricks upon her face. Growling internally she muttered "I need to punch myself every time I say something like that"