(Writefag's note: "ptero-" and "ala-" care Greek/Latin words for "wing", so expect them to be prefixes on several muscle and bone names)
 
>"Dear Princess Celestia,
>You're probably wondering why this letter was being hoof-delivered by your guard instead of my teleporting flame.
>A medical miracle has taken place for my juvenile dragon assistant, Spike.
>After many years under my care, he is finally growing his wings!
>Fluttershy can even confirm that alascapulae are in place, and possibly even his pteroglenoid fossae!
>Unfortunately, their development has not come easy for Spike.
>He has undergone great pain and agony as the rapidly growing tissue penetrates his dorsal flesh and skin; and I can't tell what exactly is happening inside his body.
>This is another reason I contacted you. As your faithful student, I request a dragon specialist, or at least an a medical imaging specialist to assess and monitor his situation.
>I have spent all day combing through my library books on dragon, and none of them mention anything about pterophyesis after hatching.
>And due to poor Spike's wounded state, he cannot send any messages until further notice.
>I hope you can understand.
>Your faithful student,
>Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria."
>Twilight finished reading out the letter she wrote and rolled it up into a scroll.
 
>You are Twilight
 
"Rainbow! It's ready!"
>You walk over to the open window to see the cyan pegasus hovering just outside with the setting sun.
>You levitate the scroll out to her, taking it, and securing it in her messenger bag.
>"Are you sure you don't want to deliver this yourself? You have a higher clearance than I do." she asks.
"\You can still fly faster than me, Rainbow. And I'm gonna try to research some more."
>"All right, I'll be back in a flash!" she said with confidence.
>In a zip of of colors, Rainbow Dash was gone.
 
>You are Rainbow Dash
 
>15 minutes later, Rainbow approached Canterlot Castle as the sun disappeared below the horizon.
"C'mon.....almost there..."
>Beating your wings faster, you fly closer and closer when she arrived at the palace drawbridge.
>She remembered Twilight gave you specific instructions about Palace Deliveries.
 
>Due to threats of Changeling plots since their assault on Canterlot, no messengers or couriers are permitted inside the castle walls unless Princess Celestia or Princess Luna gave permission beforehand.
 
>Documents may only be accepted if they bear the proper national emblem of Equestria or that of another nation.
 
>In our case, the wax used to seal this letter contains a special magical additive that not only rejects forgeries, but also gives it an urgent-priority status to give to the Princess A.S.A.P.
 
>You understood these orders.
>You slow your speed and descent to a stop to speak to a white pegasus guard
>You take the letter out of your bag and place it in the guard's hoof.
"Urgent-Priority letter from Princess Twilight Sparkle!"
>Without the slightest change in expression on his stern face, he simply replied with a "Wait Here" command.
>You touch to the ground and folded your wings.
>"Inspect this, Sharp Eye." he mentioned to a gray unicorn guard, just inside the walls, scroll in hoof.
>"Affirmative." Sharp Eye's horn glows violet as he levitates the scroll towards him.
>He orients the unopened document so that the golden metal fastener with a single bas-relief horseshoe laying on top of the solidified wax faces him.
>His horn's aura changes to that of a deeper purple at the tip and pointed it at the fastener.
>The purple light shines on the small golden plate, at first, doing nothing.
>But then, the crimson wax stuck in between the parchment and fastener changes to a shade of purple as same as the hue of the light that shone upon it.
>As it glowed, the small image of a sun with a crescent moon hugging the left edge appears within the space of the horseshoe relief in a teal color.
>Sharp Eye cast his beam off as the sun-and-moon icon fades away into ambient light, while the wax retains its new mauve pigment.
>He simply nodded his head to the guard outside.
>He turned to you with a glare in his eyes.
>"This Document is a Forgery." he said with a monotonous, serious voice.
>You want to bolt off in fear, but the surprise and shock lock your wing joints up.
>Instead, all you can do is cower in fear, lowering your haunches as both guards approached you.
>"Do you know what we do to spies, young pony? If you even are one?" solemnly said Sharp Eye, joining his pegasus partner.
>"How could you screw this up, Twilight......" you nervously thought to yourself, sweating intensely.
>As the guards were about to make their move, they both break down into fits of laughter.
>"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOOOOOOOOO!" chuckled out both Sharp Eye. "We got her good, Dusk Watch!" he added.
>You just stood there in confusion.
>"What the-"
>"Sorry Miss! The Lieutenant has been cracking down on guard vigilance. We haven't had a chance to pull that one off in months!" said Dusk Watch, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Better try that on on Pinkie." You mumble. "So..... my letter is good?" you squeak out, reeling from the surprise.
>"Oh yeah! Bona fide royal letter! I'll get this to the Princess at once." answered Sharp Eye.
>"Thank you for your delivery." said Dusk.
>"You're......Welcome." you say, spreading your wings, flying back to Ponyville.
 
>You are Princess Celestia
 
>You had concluded today's Royal Court without any major occurrances.
>You had already set the sun as you retire to your chambers.
>"Princess Celestia!"
>You turn your head to see a Gray Unicorn Guard, still in Golden Armor running up to you.
>It was Sharp Eye, the daytime delivery inspector for the castle.
>"Your Highness, an Urgent-Priority Document has arrived for you."
>He gives you a scroll, levitating it out of his hoof, noticing the slight dispersion of the mauve wax beneath the fastener.
"Thank you, Sharp Eye.", you say.
>He walks away, returning to the barracks for the Night Guard to take over.
>You keep the scroll wrapped up until you reach your guarded chambers, several stories above most of the halls.
>Opening the wooden doors to your study, you unfurl the parchment and read the letter.
 
>Urgent-Priority messages arrived by indirect delivery are rare, but not unheard of.
>But, you can confirm that this is Twilight's hoof-writing after a second read-over.
"So, our young dragon is gaining his wings at last." you say.
>You crane your neck to admire your own large, soft, ivory wings, coated in long, sleek feathers that enabled you the freedom of flight and serve as a regular pony's blanket.
>That that you thought about it, Twilight had a point.
>All other dragons you have seen and met with over your millennial-plus lifespan are hatched with wings, fully-developed and proportioned.
>And no pony has ever witnessed pterophyesis in any species.
>You're not much help and you know rather little about non-equine anatomy off the top of your head, and it may be days before you found an answer in the Royal Archives.
>But you do know some pony who can help.
>You levitate a quill, a bottle of ink, and a blank page of royal parchment and begin to write.
 
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
 
I am glad to hear that Spike is finally growing up to become a mature dragon, and his incoming appendages will bestow him the gift of flight.
I, like any pony understand how painful it must be for any pony to have rapidly-growing bones pierce through muscle, skin, and scales. It is something he will have to endure.
Despite my over-a-thousand year existence, there is very little I can do to aid Spike directly. However, I do know a pony who is an expert on dragons and medicine.
He is Dr. Silver Talon, a former professor at the Canterlot Academy who now researches non-pony biology, especially that of dragons.
He may know something about Spike's development and can aid his bodily change.
There is another bonus that Dr. Talon possesses: Do you know the magic-powered interior imaging machines* used to locate broken bones?
He has invented a portable working prototype of that machine which can be used on non-equine species, including dragons.
I shall request his presence, and if he consents, he will travel to Ponyville from his Canterlot home to help Spike.
But due to the bulk of his equipment, that must wait a day or two for the Equestrian Royal Postal Service to deliver there.
Otherwise, keep in touch with me on Spike's developments. I can't wait to fly with him soon!
 
Your ever-loving Teacher,
Princess Celestia of Equestria
 
[*better known as X-rays to you, the reader]
 
>You roll up the Parchment and stamp on the pre-melted wax and seal, binding the parchment to itself.
>Levitating the scroll, your long, spiraled horn casts a green flame which fires upon the document.
>Flames engulf the scroll upon contact, swallowing it up before it evaporates as a thick green cloud of smoke, being rapidly sent to back to Twilight.
>You then levitate out another sheet of parchment; this time from an array of cubbies on the long side of the wall behind you.
>It came from a cubby labeled "ACADEMY"
>Now you started write your letter to the former professor.
>Though no longer a part the teaching faculty, he still works as an Academy Researcher in his field.
"Dear Dr. Silver Talon".......
 
***********************************************
 
"......Sincerely,
Princess Celestia of Equestria."
 
>As you finish your proposal, you remembered to something.
>Summoning a thick photo album, you open it, brushing through the pages to see one of Twilight, her 5 friends, several Ponyville Residents, and Spike right by her side.
>You pull it out, and place it on the sheet.
>Picking up the quill again, you add to the letter:
"P.S.- The attached photograph shows Spike beside Princess Twilight Sparkle.
I require you to have the photo returned to me upon your response."
 
>You once again seal the letter and magically teleport the scroll with your magic flames.
>Not so much of epistolary enigma, you reckon.
>Every parchment sheet in those cubbies were each magically treated to work with the Royal Courier Spell.
>The sheets in each cubby is made so they're delivered to the locations labeled on the cubby when reacting to the spell.
>Highly efficient, and impossible to intercept in transit.
>Hopefully, the expert will agree to help Twilight and Spike.
>How could he not? Even if he has witnessed reptilian pterophyesis, you bet a month's worth of cake slices that he'd want to see it again.
 
>Meanwhile, at Canterlot Academy......
>Night has fallen as the stars illuminate the darkening sky.
>A mail earth pony mare with an envelope cutie mark is staring at the clock in her average-sized, yet cramped mail room.
>It was a slow day, and she didn't want to stay cooped up here with nothing to do until the campus post office closed.
>The clock read 7:59
>"C'mon, C'mon! Quitting Time! Quitting Time!"
>The second hand was 10 seconds away from closing.
>5
>4
>3
>2
>A flash of green smoke appeared right in front of the mail mare, revealing a scroll.
>"Awwww....C'mon!" she cried, but she knew the rules.
>All incoming documents and parcels must be received by 7:59 PM; and staff are only permitted to leave when all the daily mail received has been sorted and sent to their respective destinations.
>That included Royal documents that teleport within the mail room.
>Sighing, the mail mare took a look at its address labeled on the outside: Doctor Silver Talon, Biology Dept.
>During normal hours, this would go to his office.
>But several faculty and employees live on-campus and would be sent to their houses during after-hours.
>The mail mare took the scroll and put in into a cylindrical metal canister with rubber trim on the edges.
>She walked it over to an array of pipes where she read a directory, showing Dr. Talon's name and put it into his respective mail-pipe.
>After sliding it in with a snug fit, she pressed a big green button on the wall
>A sucking sound was heard as she walked out of the room, turning off all the light switches and locking the door.
 
>The canister was sucked through a network of parallel pipes through the new "noo-matic" system the campus installed.
>After 30 seconds of it run, the canister stopped in place and dropped into a cushioned bin, sounding a "DING" noise throughout the room as it hit the bin's bottom.
>The room was a medium-large apartment, as a pony inside heard the DING throughout his home.
>The pony in question was a Light Gray Unicorn Stallion with a black coiffed mane showing streaks of gray, wearing small, rectangular spectacles.
>His cutie mark bore a black silhouette of a dragon's head.
>He was reading a book with a glass of wine in his hoof when he trotted over to the mail receptor.
>"Uggghh.......If I get another Professor's tenure party invitation ONE MORE TIME...."
>His horn glowed a forest-green when opened the canister with magic and lifted up the scroll.
>He caught the picture that fell out as he unfurled it.
>Silver read the Princess' proposal about this dragon.
>Then he looked at the picture.
>Then he re-read the letter.
>Upon looking at the picture a second time, something caught his eye.
>His slowly deteriorating vision couldn't exactly make it out, but it brought him enough attention to bring the photo to a small desk.
>Silver grabbed a magnifying glass over the image of Spike.
>"Just as I thought........He's one of them." he muttered out.
>"It's been years since I've seen one. And now I'll be witnessing it."
>He smiled at the prospect.
>"Princess Celestia, Count me in!" he said to himself.