Nine Elements presents: Spike the Werepony

by BlueBioWolf

Chapter 1: Transformation

It had been one week since Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s wedding. On this particular day, Spike was sweeping the Golden Oak Library while Twilight was sick with pony pox. Peewee was fluttering close by keeping the drake company.

“Can’t play right now, Peewee,” the little dragon said. “I need to sweep since I’m the only one in any condition to work.”

Peewee chirped and landed close by on a nearby flameproof perch made especially for the phoenix chick. Spike’s scales had been falling loose since the day before, but, not alarmingly so. One scale was perched on Twilight’s nose.

“Huh?” Twilight muttered to herself, feeling the slightly familiar texture on her nose. She coughed and tipped the scale into her mouth. “Hmm…” At that moment, Spike entered the bedroom and she saw that the spaded tip of his tail had no scales on it. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“Jinshu said that this is a pre-molt,” Spike said. “It’s not a complete molt. That won’t happen for years.”

“I see,” Twilight nodded. “Did he say when new scales would grow in?”

“A week or two,” Spike answered. “And they’ll be more durable than the old ones.”

“That’s good,” Twilight smiled. “Until then, my friends will have to do everything they can to make sure you’re safe.”

“You need anything while you’re up, mom?” Spike asked.

“A cup of chamomile tea would be lovely, please,” Twilight said.

“You got it,” Spike said before he rushed to the kitchen. When he got there, he found they were out of chamomile tea bags. “Uh, there’s a slight problem,” he called.

“Ah,” Twilight said. “Do we still have Earl Grey?”

Spike checked. “Uh, no.”

“Orange Pekoe?”

“Nope.”

“Boy, I never realized how much tea I go through when I’m sick,” Twilight muttered to herself. “Then, I’ll just have a glass of water please.”

“Okay,” Spike said. And he prepared a glass of water for his unicorn mom.

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight said gratefully. “After I get better, we’ll pick up some more tea from the tea shop. Fluttershy told me there’s a great shop she frequents run by a pony named Jasmine Leaf.”

“I can go there right now,” Spike offered.

“I appreciate the offer,” Twilight said. “Though please be careful and try not to be out too long. Make sure you’re home before dark.”

“Okay,” Spike said. “Though, that may be a slight problem. Remember when I was at Fluttershy’s earlier today?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Twilight said. “She’s working with Zecora to make a cure for my pony pox.”

“Yeah,” Spike said. “And I said I’d stop by and pick it up later. That, on top of the trip to the tea shop, will take a while.”

“I understand,” Twilight said. “So, be back as soon as you can.” She gave Spike a kiss on the forehead. “It’s a good thing you can’t catch pony sicknesses.”

“It sure is,” Spike said. “I’ll be back when I can. Love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, son,” Twilight said.

With that, Spike left.

Spike had just reached the fountain of Ponyville when he felt a sharp pain in the tip of his tail.

“Ah!” Spike exclaimed. “I don’t remember Jinshu mentioning anything about a sharp pain.” He looked back to see that the unprotected part of his tail was pricked by a dart. “A dart? Who in their right mind would…” He plucked it out and inspected himself. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so, he went to the nearest trash can and disposed of the dart.

It was nightfall by the time Spike had made his trip to the tea shop. He was inches away from the fountain when he began to feel strange.

“Ooh~” Spike muttered as his body started convulsing. “What’s happening to me?”

Falling to the ground, he clutched his stomach as another wave of pain coursed through him. The basket he was carrying rolled off along with a few scales disturbed by the low wind. For a moment, he thought he may have caught Twilight's illness, but, that was impossible since he wasn't a pony. Spike's face contorted in pain. Everything hurt, his head felt like it was going to explode, and every bone in his body felt like it was breaking. His muscles burned and his joints ached. Spike was in absolute agony. He believed his body was being torn apart and just when the pain had become too much to bear, he screamed and exploded in a puff of purple smoke and scales. In a stroke of luck, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity were all present when Spike started aching and were alerted by his screams of agony.

“Ah!” Rarity exclaimed. “Spikey-wikey!”

“We got ta help him!” Applejack exclaimed.

The three ponies rushed to Spike as the smoke cleared. They could hardly believe what was happening right in front of them. Spike’s scales turned to fur, his claws to hooves, and his ear fronds to pony ears. His face contorted into the shape of a colt’s face. Throughout the transformation, the sound of bones breaking could be heard. Mercifully, Spike had passed out from the pain.

“Spike?!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What happened to him?”

“That don’t matter now,” Applejack said. “We should get him back ta the Golden Oak Library.”

“We should make sure to get the things that Spike was carrying home as well,” Rarity said. She used her magic to levitate the items. Among them, she saw a list saying to go to Fluttershy’s to get the cure for Twilight’s pony pox. “Pony pox? Oh, dear. We had best be cautious.”

“We’ll have to get the cure,” Pinkie said. “Maybe she can help Spike out, too. We can’t just leave him here.”

“We won’t,” Rarity said. She gently embraced the ponified Spike. “Applejack, you go and pick up the Pony Pox cure from Fluttershy. Pinkie and I will keep Spike company until you return.”

“Ah say we bring him ta Fluttershy,” Applejack said. “Explainin’ that Spike became a pony’ll be hard ta do without proof.”

“Right,” Pinkie said. “Even with you being super-duper honest, Applejack.”

“Very well then,” Rarity conceded. She levitated the unconscious Spike onto her back and the three ponies made their way to Fluttershy’s cottage.

In the shy pegasus’ kitchen, Fluttershy and Zecora were making Twilight’s medicine. The pegasus was growing a little worried that Spike hadn’t come yet.

“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy said. “Spike should have been here by now. We can’t let Twilight’s pony pox get worse.”

“The young dragon’s absence is indeed a concern,” Zecora said, well aware of Spike’s typical punctuality. “It is unlike him to take a wrong turn.”

They were suddenly interrupted from their guessing by a knock at the cottage door. Fluttershy recognized from the knock pattern after years of studying its nuances that it was Pinkie. Fluttershy answered it. She was surprised to see Applejack and Rarity present as well.

“Hello, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity,” Fluttershy said. “By any chance, you three wouldn’t happen to know where Spike is, would you?”

“Well,” Pinkie said. “We do, but, he’s not exactly himself at the moment.”

Rarity walked into the cottage, presenting the colt that was once a drake on her back. Fluttershy carefully looked him over as Rarity levitated him onto the couch. When she got around his mouth, she saw two little fangs sticking out, fangs she recognized as Spike’s.

“Spike?!” Fluttershy gasped. “What happened to him?”

“We saw him explode into smoke near the fountain,” Pinkie said. “When it cleared, he turned into this before our eyes.”

Zecora walked over to the ponified Spike and looked him over carefully.

“Know anything about this, Zecora?” Rarity asked.

“I am not too familiar with this transformation spell,” Zecora said. “But, I do notice in his tail there is a peculiar swell.”

Rarity inspected Spike’s tail, which was now that of a pony’s. She then found the swell on the tip of his tail dock.

“It looks like the remnants from where a dart would shoot him,” Rarity said, inspecting the swell with her Mystic Eyes of Detail.

“You better get to the Golden Oak Library,” Pinkie said to Zecora. “We’ll keep Spike company.”

“I’ll make sure Twilight’s cure for pony pox is delivered,” Zecora said. “You look after that dragon transfigured.”

“Uh, that was kind of a slant rhyme,” Pinkie said.

Zecora, deciding not to press, left the cottage with the pony pox remedy in her saddlebag.

A few minutes after Zecora left, Spike began to stir.

“Huh?” Spike said groggily. “Where am I?”

As his vision cleared, he found himself surrounded by Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, all of whom wore baffled expressions.

“Oh, Fluttershy,” Spike said. “Thank goodness you’re here. Do you still have the cure for the pony pox available?”

“Zecora already left to deliver it,” Fluttershy said. “Are you okay?”

“A little drained, now that you mention it,” Spike admitted.

“Now, uh,” Applejack said in an uneasy way. “Try not ta freak out, but, uh, yer kinda… different than how ya were a while ago.”

“What do you mean?” Spike asked.

“Basically,” Applejack said. “Ya turned inta a pony.”

Spike carefully listened, but, couldn’t hear Applejack’s belly making the queasy rumbling that came with her lying. This just made him more confused.

“Wait…” Spike muttered. “Did you just say that I turned into a pony?”

“Ah know it sounds hard ta believe,” Applejack said. “If’n we hadn’t seen it happen, we wouldn’t’ve believed it ourselves.”

Pinkie pointed Spike’s face to a mirror she conveniently had available. Instead of seeing the familiar dragon, he saw an earth pony colt older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but, younger than the Guardians of Harmony of a light mulberry coat and a moderate harlequin mane and tail with his familiar moderate pistachio eyes. Most unusually, the colt in the mirror had the fangs he recognized so well.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “I am a pony!”

“What were you doing before we found you?” Rarity asked.

“Well,” Spike said. “I was on my way to pick up the cure from Fluttershy’s that Zecora had and I was also picking up tea from Jasmine Leaf’s tea shop. On my way to the tea shop, a dart struck the tip of my tail.”

“Call it a hunch,” Pinkie said. “But, do you think that dart had something to do with you turning into a pony?”

“It’s possible,” Spike said. “It didn’t seem to affect me all that much at the time, so, I threw it away.”

“This dart,” Applejack said. “Was there anythin’ about it that could give us some kinda clue as ta who launched it?”

“I didn’t really get a good look at it,” Spike admitted. He then proceeded to get up from the couch and attempt to stand up on his hindlegs. However, he found himself struggling to balance on two legs. “Whoa~ whoa!” As he struggled to balance himself, he tripped and landed on his chin. Fluttershy and Applejack helped Spike stand upright on his four legs.

“Are you alright?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t understand,” Spike said. “I was clumsy before, but, I never had this much trouble standing on two legs before.”

“Maybe it’s because your pony legs don’t have claws,” Pinkie said. She held one of his legs. “You have hooves now.”

“Oh, right,” Spike said. “Well, I used to walk on all fours like a pony when I was a hatchling. How different can it be with hooves?” So, he slowly started to walk around the cottage on all fours. It was a bit more difficult than he expected.

“It’s okay, sugarcube,” Applejack said gently. “We’re here ta help.” Then, a thought occurred to her. “Maybe Jinshu knows somethin’. Ya still got that mirror he gave ya?”

“I never leave home without it,” Spike smiled. “I always keep it in my loose dragon scales.” Spike was about to reach for it when it suddenly dawned on him that since he was no longer a dragon, he no longer had scales. “Which I can’t use as a pony…” Suddenly, a loud exclamation burst out of him as he suddenly grew very angry and upset. “I’m such an idiot!” He slammed his mouth shut and calmed down. “Whoa… where’d that come from? Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“Seeing as we don’t know where Jinshu lives,” Rarity said. “I don’t believe writing a letter to him would do any good. Even if we knew where he lived, it would take the letter days to reach him.”

“Maybe Zecora would have some answers,” Fluttershy suggested. “After she gets back from delivering Twilight’s medicine, we can ask her for permission to visit her hut.”

“Ah don’t know,” Applejack said. “This seemed new ta Zecora, too.”

“Perhaps there’s something in the Golden Oak Library that can explain things,” Rarity considered.

“If the library had any books on dragons, Spike wouldn’t need ta get info from Zecora er Jinshu,” Applejack pointed out. “Since the library ain’t got books on dragons, ya really think they got one explainin’ how a dragon turns inta a pony?”

“Hmm, I suppose not,” Rarity said.

“So, there’s no possible way to figure out what’s going on?” Pinkie asked. “How are we going to help Spike now?”

“Well,” Fluttershy said. “There’s the possibility that the princesses know. They’ve been around longer than all of us put together.”

“Then, that’s what we’ll do,” Spike said with a determined tone in his voice. “We’ll go to Canterlot and see them.” With that, he ran to the door, only to trip over the floor frame and land on his chin again. “Note to self: try to master walking on all fours before trying to run.”

Rarity gently levitated Spike onto her back. “Allow us to escort you back to the library,” she offered.

“Wait, what about Canterlot?” Spike asked.

“We’ll need to let Twilight know about this,” Rarity said. “She’s your mother figure, after all.”

“Yeah,” Spike said with a reluctant sigh. “You’re right. And I did promise her that I would be back as soon as I could. I can’t break that promise.”

And so, the mares escorted Spike to the Golden Oak Library. They arrived just as Zecora was leaving.

“How’s Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“Your unicorn friend is doing well,” Zecora said. “But, her dragon’s current state was difficult to tell.”

“We do have a plan to find out more about this,” Rarity said. “The first part is explaining this ordeal to Twilight.”

After Zecora left, the mares took Spike inside and went to Twilight’s room. The unicorn was looking healthier, but, still bedridden.

“Hey, Twilight,” Applejack said with a slightly nervous tone in her voice. “We’re glad ta see ya doin’ well, but, we have a bit o’ a predicament.”

“Is Spike okay?” Twilight asked.

“Uh,” said the timid voice of Spike on Rarity’s back. “Emotionally, I’m okay, but, physically? It’s hard to say.”

Rarity turned to the side to reveal Spike on her back. Twilight gazed deeply into the mulberry-coated colt’s deep emerald eyes.

“Spike?” Twilight gasped. Overwhelmed by the shock, she fainted into her bed.

“Well,” Spike said. “That went about as well as expected.”

Some time later, Twilight recuperated and slowly came out of her shock. She saw the still ponified Spike clumsily trying to grasp a broom with his hooves.

“So, Spike really has become a pony,” Twilight said. “How did this happen?”

“We don’t know,” Rarity said. “We were hoping to inform the princesses.”

“Do you think you’ll be well enough to join us?” Fluttershy asked. “Since Spike is important to you, you should know why this is happening, too.”

“I’ll be going anyway,” Twilight said. “Spike’s well-being is more important to me.”

“We best stay here the rest o’ the night,” Applejack suggested. “It ain’t safe ta head home this time o’ night.”

“I have plenty of extra bedding you can use,” Twilight said.

Spike attempted to settle into his basket bed, only to find it too small for his ponified body.

“I, uh, think I’m going to bunk with somepony else,” Spike said sheepishly.

“You can’t sleep with Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “You might catch her pony pox.”

“True,” Spike said.

“You may share a bed with me,” Rarity offered.

“Thanks, Rarity,” Spike smiled. He climbed into the same bed as Rarity.

“Rest well, Spike,” Rarity said in a nurturing tone. “I can promise you that we’ll all get the answers we need to help you.” With that, they all fell into a peaceful sleep.