Twilight's spell mishap isn't the only weird thing happening in Equestria.
After a mishap involving a spell that suddenly made Spike older, Twilight set out to find a way to fix it. Little does she know that her during her endeavor, her friends start to act a bit... odd.
The sun shined throughout Equestria, symbolizing a new day thanks to the glorious Princess Celestia. In the little town of Ponyville, a purple unicorn was stirring from her sleep. She slowly sat up in her bed, giving a rather big yawn and stretching out her hooves to her sides. She sat her hooves in front of her and smiled.
"Mmm... Good morning, Spike," she cheerfully mumbled, "Ready to start the daily chores? I have the greatest idea about how to re-organize the library! We're finally going to have a section for all those books on the history of the production of cotton!" Things stayed silent for a couple of minutes, before Twilight realized she wasn't going to be getting a response. She glanced over towards Spike's bed to find the little assistant missing.
Twilight quickly got out of her bed and headed towards the door, deciding to her ignore her unkempt and messy mane. "Twilight, you're overreacting! Spike is probably just downstairs having an early breakfast!" She happily bounded down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen, only to find... nothing. "S-spike?" she called out in a worried voice. "Spike, are you okay? Where are you?" She was stopped short of her desperate pleads for an answer when she heard a loud crashing noise in the bathroom. She gasped loudly, and ran as fast as she could to the bathroom. "Spike, is that you? Are you oka- SPIKE?!" Twilight stopped in her tracks at the thing she was staring at.
"Twi... Twilight!" he cried, rubbing his face in disbelief. What she was looking at surely resembled her beloved assistant, except it was vastly different at the same time. Spike was... larger, so to speak. He looked like he did back during the incidence when he let greed get the best of him, but he was less... gangly. His voice was also much deeper than the cute, squeaky voice she was used to. Twilight took a step back and shook her head.
"You haven't been hoarding stuff again, have you?" she asked in calm voice, with a hint of anger and confusion lingering in the air. Spike just shook his head at the question, which completely confused Twilight in every fashionable reason. She had little knowledge on dragons, and this didn't make sense worth the slightest. "I... don't understand. Yesterday I was practicing the aging spell, but I made sure not to get near you while I was doing it! Did you do anything suspicious last night?" she gave him a questionable yet intimidating stare.
"I... I don't know! I came home after finishing the chores you had assigned me, but that's about it. I swept the library and ate this really cool gem I found lying on one of the shelves before I went to bed..." he sobbed. "I don't want to be like this... What if I kidnap Rarity again?" Twilight sighed, rubbing a hoof to her forehead.
"Well, I don't see how any of that could've... Wait, you ate a gem you found on the shelf?" Spike nodded. "That's gotta be it, then! I tried using the spell several times, even on a gem. It didn't seem to work, though, so I had left the gem lying on the shelf. If only I had remembered you eat gems..." she murmured. Her face suddenly went from one of disdain to one of pleasure. "But, this is amazing at the same time! That means I can preform the aging spell on certain things, it just takes a while to make an effect! It must have started to take effect while you were digesting, which is how you ended up like this in the first place!"
Spike let out an audible groan of annoyance. "Yeah, yeah... But how do you change me back? This just feels wrong... I've got all these weird, disturbing thoughts in my head that I didn't have as a baby dragon." Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin as she circled around the dragon.
"I suppose aging has changed your thought process a bit to match a teenage dragon. Funny, seeing as this was never mentioned in the book written by Starswirl The Bearded. Then again, he never did test it on anything but plants, for the most part. Who knows what kind of reaction a pony could get from it? Or from that matter, a dragon?" she concluded her sentence by stopping in front of Spike and looking at him. "Unfortunately, I don't think I have the power to reverse this at the time. I could send a letter to the Princess and ask for her input on this, as well as going to Zecora to talk about it. For now, though, you're stuck in this form."
"Great. I'm going through puberty twice. I can't wait for the third time!" Spike said in a sarcastic voice. He crossed his arms over his chest in a disapproving manner. "Sometimes, I really regret this whole assistant thing. Maybe if I had stayed with the Princess in Canterlot I wouldn't be going around destroying towns and stealing things."
Twilight shook her head. "But Spike, you wouldn't have made all the amazing friends you have right now! You probably would've been stuck helping Celestia with her daily chores, and nopony besides her and Luna really know what that's like... Or, you could be turned into a guard! What would you think of that? Then again... you could get to know Shining Armor and Cadence better, seeing as you aren't really acquainted with them. I guess that would be a good thing when you think about it... But we'd miss you! ...I wonder if Celestia and my brother miss you? Oh... now I feel bad! Maybe you should've stayed in Canterlot...!"
"TWILIGHT!" Spike shouted, interrupting Twilight's thought process. "I think I get it... I don't need you to stand there for two hours thinking about the good and the bad out of me coming to Ponyville... or me staying in Canterlot. I'm here right now, and that's all that really concerns me... well, next to this whole "I'm as old as you now" thing." He sighed, looking around the library, knowing he would probably have to help Twilight with it all day. It filled him with disgust and a hint of sadness. Twilight, as if reading his mind, thought of something to fix it.
"Hmm... Why don't you go run a few errands for me outside instead of helping me with the library? I don't think keeping you cooped up inside all day is going to make you any happier than you already are. Most ponies will know that this is probably my fault, anyway, considering you aren't acting nearly as strange as you were the first time this happened." she trotted towards the door, and opened it. When Spike walked over to where she was, she used her magenta-colored magic to levitate a list over to him and smiled. "Have fun!"
"...I can try," he grumbled, slamming the door shut behind him. Twilight turned her attention back to the library and smiled.
"All right, let's get shelving!" she said excitedly.
I must say, I am rather impressed with your progression within the fields of magic. The aging spell can be a rather tricky one to master, but you are well on your way to becoming an expert like Starswirl was. Incidentally, I do not know much about this spell, as I am not the creator and have ceased to preform it in a long time. Judging by the description you gave me, the spell seems to be only temporary. However, how long the waiting period for Spike to return to normal is unknown, as magic can be unpredictable. I have put a list of instructions for a spell that can reverse any such spell mistakes. Please be careful, though, as the act of preforming the spell incorrectly might result with different effects.
Yours always,
Celestia
---
"So, if all of my precautions and calculations are correct, I should be able to reverse Spike back to normal. It's a long-shot, though, as this spell seems to be rather old. I didn't even know it existed until Celestia sent it to me. Do you think it's forbidden?" The purple unicorn glanced at her purple-maned, sapphire-eyed friend
"Mmm... I wouldn't know, dear. Most unicorns are limited to their magical abilities, so I can't even do half of the things you do," Rarity responded as she continued to sew the dress she was making. "Mmm... I think it needs more sparkles. What about you, Twilight? Do you think it needs more?"
Twilight shook her head. "C'mon, Rarity, this is important! This whole spell can reverse Spike back to normal!" She blinked at her friend, who was so preoccupied with the dress, she started to question if she was even listening. "Uh... Rarity?"
The white unicorn looked up and sighed. "Twilight, why are you so desperate to change Spike back? Do you not like how he looks? He's going to grow up, eventually, dear. You do know that."
A look of uncertainty passed over Twilight. "Yeah, but... Yesterday he clearly said he wanted to be his original age! I'm just trying to help... This is my fault, after all..." She rubbed her head. "He's also been acting a bit different, which has been slightly disturbing. It's like his whole thought process is changing... The only problem is, I can't see why. It was just a spell, after all. It's not like that other time, when he had a reason for the drastic change."
"Oh, Twilight... No matter what happens, aging spells are still aging. The thought process will still change as you get older. Remember when Trixie had turned Snips and Snails into different ages? Those two surely acted different from their current personalities. With Spike being older, he's also a bit more mature. However, he's at "that" age, where males tend to be a bit more barbaric." She tossed her mane aside and smiled at her friend. "Really, I still don't think there's anything to worry about."
"I don't know... Maybe I should go look for him. I gave him the day off, so I'm going to have to look all over Ponyville..." Twilight sighed. "I thought it was a good idea at the time."
---
Twilight trotted through Ponyville, glancing at her surroundings. It was a relatively clear day, showing that Rainbow Dash had done her job rather well. The ponies were frolicking through the town, chatting among each other and laughing. Of course, the particular thing Twilight was looking for was a dragon, not a pony.
I wonder where he could be...?
She turned her head and saw Applejack over at her apple stand. The orange mare was happily helping a customer with a candy-colored mane and a tan coat. She saw Applejack look up and wave to he. Raising her hoof in the air slightly, she gave a friendly wave back. Applejack smiled at Twilight before her attention turned back to her customer.
Twilight, of course, continued to watch her until she smacked into something. The impact was unexpected, and the force was large enough to have her slam into the cobblestone. She groaned in pain, opening her eyes to come into contact with a pair of emerald-green eyes. She could recognize those eyes and snout anywhere!
"Spike!" she cried happily, forgetting about her injuries as she tenderly stood up. Her coat had become slightly dirty from the cobblestone, and Spike seemed to have taken notice to that. He put a claw over his mouth and gasped.
"Oh gosh... Twilight, I'm sorry! I was running, and I wasn't paying attention... Are you hurt?" he asked, standing up and giving her a worried expression. Twilight shook her head and gave him a weak smile.
"I'm fine... I'm just really glad I found you! I think I can reverse my spell mishap. See, the Princess sent me a spell I could use to change you back!" She happily jumped up and down in a similar fashion to Pinkie Pie.
A smile spread across Spike's face. "That's great! The sooner, the better! Things are happening to me, Twilight. Weird things..." he looked down, fumbling with his claws.
Things like puberty?
"Alright, then! I suppose I should try this out then, huh?" she flashed another smiled, then closed her eyes in concentration. Her horn began to sparkle with a magenta glow. Slowly, the glow began to circle Spike, making him rather uncomfortable. The glow began to get brighter, and Twilight closed her eyes even tighter as sweat began to drip down her forehead.
"Uh, Twi...? Are you sure you know what you're doing...?" Spike asked timidly as he became engulfed in the magenta light.
"I... I think I know what I'm doing..." she grunted to him, taking a deep breath.
"You think?!"
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. Twilight's magenta magic went everywhere, as the entire town of Ponyville was covered in a cloud of her magic. Several ponies screamed, unaware of what had just happened. As the magic began to fade out, Twilight squinted her eyes to look at Spike.
"What...?" she whispered. She looked at Spike, who hadn't changed at all. She was dumbstruck. "I don't understand! I thought I did that correctly..."
"Do you think you can try again?" Spike asked in a pleading tone.
Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled, shaking her head. "That spell winded me... It took way too much magic to do... No wonder why Celestia told me to be careful..." she sat down and covered her eyes with her hooves. "I'm such a failure!"
"C'mon Twi, no you're not... I mean, look what you did to me!" Spike gave a reassuring grin. "Granted, it's not something I want too much, but you did it yourself."
