Doodledraw's POV

It had been a few days after the whole "Doctor Whooves" incident, and I was helping Twilight organize the library. I was getting the lower shelves, while the purple unicorn sorted the higher shelves with her magic. I had just finished sorting a shelf when I heard Spike belch from upstairs. I didn't know if my friend had heard it, but I knew exactly what that meant: A letter from Princess Celestia. I counted down in my head, three…two…one…

"Twilight!" The dragon came running down the stairs, holding a letter in his claw. "I just got a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twi unrolled it, and gasped upon reading it. I immediately asked, "What's wrong? Is it an emergency?"

"No, but the princesses want to meet with me as soon as possible. I'm going to have to find a carriage if I want to get there in-!"

"Can I go with you, Twi?" Spike, who was now right beside me, eagerly asked.

"No, you can't, Spike. The princesses specifically want me and only me. I'm sorry," and then, she left without another word on the matter. I was just about to leave, when I realized that Spike would be all alone. I hadn't spent that much time alone with the baby dragon, and Twilight would kill me if she knew I left him here alone.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked Spike. I then noticed that the dragon was wearing a choker. It was a black choker with a beautiful blue gem in the middle. I again asked, "Where did you get that choker?"

"Oh, this?" He put a claw around the gem in the center. "I got it from Rarity. I promised her I would never take it off."

"But…Rarity hasn't been around for about a week. How did you get it from her when I've seen you for the past few days?"

"It's kinda a long story…"

"I have time," I said, eyeing a clock while I seated myself on the floor.

"Well, it all started back when Rarity left…."

Third Person POV

Spike bawled at the top of his lungs, still crying from when Rarity had left to Canterlot three hours ago. Twilight used her magic to put him in his bed and tucked him in, and groaned, "Spike, get over it! She left hours ago, and the only time I've seen you even close to this was when she left the first time!"

"B-but I want her to come back!" the dragon whined. "Sh-she loves me…"

"No, you love her!" The unicorn corrected. But Spike remembered that day when he went on a greedy rampage, and only Rarity, the Element of Generosity, was able to stop him. Once Spike had been stopped, the two freefell, since the dragon's size could no longer support them. At that moment, the dragon confessed his love for the white unicorn, but she shushed him with a hoof, tears in her eyes. Right then and there, he knew they had something.

"You don't know anything about me!" He managed to respond through tears.

"Spike, I raised you since you were hatched," she explained. "Heck, I'm the one who hatched you! It was part of my entrance exam!"

"Yeah, and that was also the day you got your cutie mark," the dragon sighed, refraining from crying for now. Twilight went on with studying while the dragon closed his eyes, quietly wishing he was a pony. Yes, if he were a pony, there would be nothing in the way of the two from them being together. Those were his last thoughts before he drifted off to sleep.

Spike found himself in a dark area, nothing around him except an invisible ground to stand on. He only walked a few feet, and then found a brilliant source of light. The figure casting it looked a bit like Celestia, in that she was an allicorn and had a long flowing mane. However, her blonde mane flowed the wrong way, and she had a light purple coat. She announced, "I am Destiny, ruler of the Dream Realm. And who might you be, young dragon?"

"I-I'm Spike," he nervously said, unsure of whether to trust her or not. "Why am I here? And why haven't I met you before? I know I've had dreams before…"

"You certainly have," she chuckled. "I've also noticed in the past few years you've been frequently dreaming about somepony named Rarity."

"Yes! I…um…."

"Have a crush on her?" the baby dragon was stunned she knew that. "Don't worry, your 'secret' is safe with me. Now, little Spike, I have an opportunity for you…and am prepared to make your dreams come true."

"Really?" He gulped as something nagged in the back of his mind, and wasn't afraid to ask. "Is there a price attached to this?"

"Oh, no! All I want you to do is accept the consequences of this new form you will take when you awake."

"What new form?"

"The form….of a pony…."Spike got chills down his spine when she said that. He nervously asked, "A po-pony?"

"Pegasus to be exact," she said smoothly. "You will find positives to this new form, but you will also find it has its negatives. I will give you until the midnight of this day to make the decision on whether or not you want this form forever. And remember, all of today is a dream. The rest of your life, if you choose to accept it, will be the reality."

Spike awoke with a shiver down his spine, and a pain on his back. He then realized where he was sitting. Not in his usual little dragon bed, but in an actual bed that a pony would sleep in. He then looked at his claw, which he found was now a hoof. Gonna have to get used to that…, he thought.

The dragon-er, Pegasus, looked at his new form in a full-body mirror. He was now a light purple Pegasus, with a somewhat fluffy green mane. His tail was one that resembled Rainbow Dash's in style, and his cutie mark was three gems. That's strange…he thought, because he knew that though dragons love gems, it wasn't appropriate as his job of Twilight's number one assistant.

Speaking of Twilight, where is she? The Pegasus thought. He then heard somepony yawning, and turned around to see the purple unicorn, waking up in a bed adjacent to his. She looked around, and upon spotting him, greeted, "Good morning, Spike."

"Huh? Oh, good morning, Twi," he greeted back, having to get used to the fact that she was now at eye-level with him. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Breakfast? Well, that's a nice gesture." Spike was stunned when she said that, and tried to explain, "But I always make you breakfast!"

"And usually you always sleep in! That's why I had to learn to make it on my own!" The Pegasus, still a little stunned by this revelation, asked, "How long have I been living with you?"

"About 8 years. We met the day I passed my entrance exam," the unicorn explained his new back-story, "and your parents moved you
from Cloudsdale. Since then, you've been my best, and only, friend. Afterwards, we soon became roommates and moved to Ponyville."

"…How do you send letters to the princess?" He was a bit hesitant to ask that one, on account of it sounding a bit stupid. But, Twi happily answered, "Why, we use Owlicious, of course!" The aforementioned pet was found sitting on the window-sill, sleeping. The Pegasus gave him a 'don't-you-steal-my-position' glare, which the unicorn noticed, and laughed, "You've always hated that bird."

Once the purple unicorn was out of sight, Spike started to look at his new form in the mirror, and asked out loud, "I wonder why she gave me wings…"

"Because you're a dragon," his reflection responded in a feminine voice, "and don't dragon's traditionally have wings?" His reflection then turned into Destiny, and he flinched back a little.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Why are you in the real world? I thought you only existed in dreams?"

"I do, because this is still part of your dream. Consider this a 'free-trial offer', an overview of what's happening in this world. Nothing that happens today will be in this world's 'records', so to speak, but remember: there are pros and cons to this new world, and you must figure them out."

"Yeah, like Owlicious now being number one assistant…" he groaned. She darkly chuckled, "Oh, there's much more than that, darling…." She then drifted away, his reflection now normal again. He walked downstairs, ate some breakfast (which consisted of wheat waffles, something he wasn't used to), and headed out the door, ready to see what else was different about Ponyville.

"Hey, you!" an assertive voice called out. Spike turned to see a fellow Pegasus, Rainbow Dash coming to him, a scowl across her face. "I got something for you!" The blue Pegasus pushed the purple one into a nearby mud puddle. She walked off in a huff, and Spike picked himself out of the mud puddle. He, again, asked himself, "What was that for?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Destiny now appeared in the puddle. "You took her place as the Element of Loyalty!"

"WHAT?!"

"You see, when Discord was released, Twilight put you as a temporary replacement to Rainbow Dash. They didn't work the first time, but that was because everypony else was effected by Dizzy. Unfortunately, the others were not able to capture Rainbow Dash because the discording seeped a little too far into her brain. Fortunately, you proved to be a fine replacement, and were able to turn Discord back to stone. RD is fine now, but she's furious at you for taking her place…"

"I-I didn't mean to make her mad…" but Spike found out a little too late that he was talking to nothing again. He then spotted a face that in any dimension would make him happy. Rarity, who was walking down the street, noticed a soaking wet Spike, and exclaimed, "Oh, my! Spike, darling, what happened to you?"

"Rainbow pushed me into that puddle…"

"Oh, the nerve of her! I don't understand why she still hates you." The unicorn produced a towel from out of nowhere and wrapped it around him.

"She's still jealous of me taking over as the Element of Loyalty."

"After all these years? For shame! I think she should put the past behind her and move on to a new and improved relationship with my coltfriend!" Those last words hit the Pegasus like an express train.

"Wait….I'm your coltfriend?"

"Well, of course. Why wouldn't you be?" As Rarity then walked away, the Pegasus shot up into the air, happier than Pinkie Pie normally was, and exclaimed, "WHOO-HOO!" He then plummeted to the ground, having no idea how to use his new wings. He then remembered something that Rainbow Dash once mentioned to him about flying.

"So, when are you going to get your wings? I can't wait to teach you! You know, most non-pegusi think it takes a bunch of focus and brain power to fly. But really, it's what you feel in your heart that makes you soar. My dreams to be with the Wonderbolts someday really empower me. Fluttershy says that when she's really, really happy is when she can fly at her best, and Derpy once told me that getting the mail in on time is how she flies so well, even with her eyes that way."

With what she had said echoing through his mind, the purple Pegasus flew up into the clouds, knowing that every last bit of his love for Rarity was pouring out into his wing power. Because of his natural dragon-ness, he took it all in: the beautiful skyline, the soft clouds, even the sun felt better. He couldn't wait to start flying as a dragon.

Well, if I decide to change back, he thought.

After a while, Spike started to remember things about this world. Dates with Rarity, saving Equestria a few times, and that he had a date with her tonight. He adjusted the buttons on his suit (he was somehow very dexterous, even with the hooves), and Twilight smiled, coming into the bedroom unannounced. As he finished the final details on the suit, he asked his roommate, "What do you think?"

"It's very stunning," she answered. "You're really going to impress Rarity by wearing a tux."

"Well, I want to make a good impression on this date."

"Why? It's not like this is your first!" She laughed.

"Y-yeah…totally not my first," he laughed back nervously. He had probably gone on many dates with Rarity in her mind, but no matter how he looked on the outside, he was still the same baby dragon inside. He didn't know how to act in front of Rarity for a date, but two words echoed in his mind: Be yourself.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The purple unicorn went to go get it, and moments later, announced, "Spike! Rarity's here for your date!" The Pegasus was right by her side not a second later, and asked his fillyfriend, "Ready for our date?"

"Yes," the white unicorn answered. "I wanted to go to the café, if that's alright with you."

"I'll go any place you want to go, Rarity," the love-struck Pegasus answered back. The couple headed off to the café, and watched from a seat outside the stars. Rarity stated, "It was nice of them to have let us eat out here in private."

"Yeah, it was," he replied with a mouth half-filled with hay-fries. She giggled, "You know, I've been wondering…" her horn then glowed blue as she produced a box. She opened it, and Spike saw a beautiful black choker with a sapphire in the middle. "…if I should give you this."

"Oh, Rarity…." he gasped, "It's beautiful." The white unicorn placed it down in front of him as the purple Pegasus, who was staring at the gem. It was so beautiful, so eye-catching; if only he could just…

CRUNCH!

"Spike, what are you doing?" Rarity stared oddly at her coltfriend.

"I was eating the gem…" Spike didn't even try to hide the fact of what he was doing. He tried to eat the gem, and he didn't even realize his teeth couldn't take it!

"What do think you are," she chuckled, "a dragon?" The Pegasus tried to play along and said, "Hehe, yeah, 'Rawr! Imma dragon!' Hehe…."

"I mean, could you imagine the chances of a brutish dragon living in Equestria?"

"Hey! Not all dragons are brutish!" He shouted in his defense.

"Well, I guess you're right….I mean, I'm sure there's a dragon out there with a sensitive heart and a caring nature who longs to be with somepony that's the same way."

"Yeah…." the former dragon now found himself torn. He wanted to be here with Rarity, but he was going to miss his memories he had made back at his real home. He spent the rest of the date a bit out of it, but his fillyfriend didn't take notice. He went home, went to bed, and all before midnight.

"Have you made your decision?" Destiny asked, as Spike found himself in the Realm of Dreams again. He nodded, "Yes, I believe….I want to stay a dragon."

"But you finally have a chance with Rarity," Destiny tempted him, almost as if she wanted him to give in.

"But I'll never regret not being with my friends as a dragon. I just like being myself! Besides, I don't like the idea of Owlicious being number-one assistant…"

"Very well, then," she said in a voice much deeper than her own.

Doodledraw's POV

"You decided to stay here, didn't you?" I assumed, breaking the flow of his story. Spike nodded, "I did, but she let me keep the choker. She said if I were to eat the gem, it would return to the world where I'm a pony."

"But you'll never eat it, right?"

"It's a gift from Rarity. I'll keep it forever." The dragon smiled. I smiled back, understanding his logic. I looked over at a piece of parchment and quill lying on a podium, and asked, "Can I use some of the paper?" the dragon nodded in response, still looking at his gem. I dipped the quill in ink and wrote another letter to my parents.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Today, I learned that we share a special bond with those we love, whether that may cross into another time and space. Those bonds will last if we be ourselves and our not afraid to show the world who we are. And after time, we realize the bonds of that love can never be broken, that love can be stronger than stone.

I'd also like to say that I'm thinking of coming out to Raini Valley since I've been planning to visit the girls. Send a return letter, though I can't guarantee when I'll get it; the mail delivery's a bit wonky here.

Sincerely,

Doodledraw

"I'm back!" Twilight announced as I was rolling up the letter. I was quick to ask, "So, what was happening that the Princesses needed you for?"

"Celestia was in need of somepony to help her out. Luna was busy with something in the gardens."

"That's odd," Spike chimed in. "You'd think the leader of Equestria wouldn't need help running her country."

"Well, she did," Twi answered. "Maybe we should keep a watchful eye on her just in case anything serious happens." I nodded in agreement; this was a very serious subject, and we didn't know what would happen next.