On The Wings of Wind

Having nightmares after Nightmare Night? Zephyr has heard of it. Having nightmares of the things others have dressed as? Sounded normal.

Having a nightmare about the one YOU dressed as? Not so much. Karma was most likely biting him while Zephyr slept for pulling that massive prank on the town that inadvertently killed Luna's progress reintegrating with society.

Problem is, I think it bit me too hard. The killer pony I dressed as was almost exactly the same except for his eyes. He had yellow eyes where they should of been white and the last thing he whispered to me was "I'll always be right here". If I keep seeing him, I might need to pay a visit to a psychiatric ward to check if I really am insane.

Rainbow seemed to be fine that morning, though she kept wondering out loud why she got scared by such an elaborate prank by an unknown pony. Zephyr tried so hard not to break his poker-face and burst out laughing, as she didn't realize that the mastermind behind it was right beside her.

Thankfully, she kept it easy for him by constantly gushing over seeing the Wonderbolt performance going on tomorrow that she was going to. She left for Cloudsdale as soon as she could, just to "reserve" her place.

After his weather duty was done, Zephyr and Scootaloo saw Fluttershy off for a three-day animal convention that she was excited to go to. Afterwards, Scootaloo expressed disappointment over the fact that she hadn't spent much time with her adoptive sister as she wanted to. Zephyr told her they could arrange it after Fluttershy gets back.

Scootaloo left for Applebloom's place to discuss something afterwards, leaving Zephyr to his own devices. Without much to do, he simply hung around town for a bit before heading home to relax, possibly to take a nap. Though it was difficult to not notice posters around the town, he ignored them feeling 'evented' out for the time being.

"Hey Zephyr, wake up!" Scootaloo started prodding her big brother's side to wake him up.

"Huh, wha? What's going on?" Zephyr opened his eyes to see Scootaloo standing there with a bit of a worried look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing’s wrong with me specifically. It's just that... I heard from Sweetie Belle that she's living with her sister while their parents are on vacation."

That got a raised eyebrow. "Must that be something to write home about?"

"Thing is, she's having a bit of a tough time with it. I think she's having a bad fall-out with her sister. Is that even possible?" She gives her brother a questioning look.

Zephyr sighed as he shifted on the couch to make room for Scootaloo, allowing her to jump up and lay down beside him. "Scoots, families aren't perfect even during the best of times. Even if they are related by blood, siblings with differing enough personalities WILL butt heads over the smallest of things. How often it happens varies."

She gives Zephyr a surprised look. "But I thought all siblings got along. Look at you and Fluttershy or even Applebloom and Applejack."

"Fluttershy and I are both relatively similar in personality, plus the fact that we haven't been around each other long enough for something like that to happen. As for Applejack and Applebloom, you most likely always catch them while they are still on good terms. They may have butted heads in the past, but have resolved their issues."

"W-will we wind up d-doing that?"

"Maybe, maybe not. That is something only the future can tell us, but I'm pretty sure we can move past it if it does indeed happen."

Scootaloo lets out a hum of affirmation. "Actually... something else was brought to my attention as well."

"What is it?"

She sighs. "Tomorrow, something called the Sisterhooves Social will be going on."

"Oh, I was kind of wondering what those posters around town were-- wait a minute, it's an event for sisters only..."

She nods. "And Fluttershy has already left town..."

Zephyr mentally cursed himself. He didn't have the heart to drag Rainbow back to Ponyville, considering how much she was looking forward to seeing the Wonderbolts. "I'm sorry I can't take you..."

"It's fine. There's always next year, right?" Zephyr kisses her on the head and she hums again. the two remained like that for for a while until she asked, "Zephyr?"

"Yes, Scoots?"

She jabs him in the stomach with a grin. "Tag, you're it!" she scampers off into the kitchen.

A mischievous grin slowly crept onto his face. "Oh, it's on now! Will the filly named Scootaloo escape her brother's wrath? Or will she succumb to the tickle demons?"

"No~ not the tickle demons!" Zephyr chuckled as they dart around the place, trying to catch one another. The bigger sibling went easy on his younger sister because of his bigger and faster bulk.

Eventually the game of tag got taken outside of that particular house and happened to drag along a few others in the process, including a colt named Rumble and his own big brother, Thunderlane. All of them got amused and confused reactions from the rest of the town ponies, but none of them paid them any heed.

Eventually it was time to head back home close to sunset, exhausted from all of the running everypony did. "You just had to make me get a work-out in today, didn't you?" All Zephyr got from Scootaloo was a giggle.

Thunderlane, who was heading in the same direction as them, shook his head in amusement. "That's a younger sibling for you, always so full of energy. Can't live with them, yet you can't live without them." He noogied Rumble on the head for emphasis, getting a laugh out of him.

Zephyr nods in agreement while giving Scootaloo a noogie as well, much to her chagrin. Seeing her half-irritated face simply prompted Zephyr to stick his tongue out at her in response.

Scootaloo once again didn't have school that day due to the event and it was a rare day of not needing to do weather. Most ponies would try and sleep in later, but because the both of them were used to rising early, they only slept til 9:00AM and couldn't fall back asleep. At least Zephyr knew he couldn't, as he wasn't sure about Scootaloo even though she exited her room at the same time he exited his.

She seemed chipper, but she couldn't hide her disappointment about not going to the social today from her brother, who was anguished at being unable to take her. I hate not being able to do anything for her, but this is one scenario I truly can't do anything to help.

As the siblings finished breakfast, they hear a knock on the door. It turned out to be Twilight, who was wearing an excited look on her face. "Hey, Zephyr and Scootaloo. How are you today?"

Scootaloo tried to give the unicorn a genuine smile. "Oh, we're fine today!"

Twilight immediately noticed the forced smile and switched to a worried look. "What's wrong?"

Zephyr shook his head. "She's disappointed over not being able to go to the Sisterhooves Social today because of Fluttershy's and Rainbow's absence." Scoots drooped her head in affirmation.

"Oh... I'm sorry. I was going to ask Zephyr if he could come with me so that we could study his 'dodging' ability, but if you're too down over it--"

Scootaloo looks up quickly. "Oh no, it's fine. Actually... could I come and watch since I... really don't have anything better to do?"

Twilight looked at Zephyr for permission and he nods. "Alright, you can come with. I'll be sure to do something for you two after we're done." Scootaloo simply nodded to that.

When the three of them got to the library, Twilight's excited attitude returned. "Okay, I'm going to grab some parchment for notes while we do this, so one sec--"

"TWILIGHT, LOOK OUT!"

She back-pedaled a bit upon hearing Spike's shout. She dodged a metal pail, but didn't avoid the water that fell before it. "Spike... really?"

Interrupting mop bucket much?

"Sorry, I was trying to mop up here and I accidentally pushed the bucket over the edge."

"Why would you have the bucket so close to the edge then? Never mind..."

Zephyr, seeing the opportunity, snickered a bit. "Hey Twilight, 'water' you waiting for?"

Both Scootaloo and Spike burst out laughing as she gave Zephyr an undignified glare. "You just couldn't resist, could you?"

"Nnope!"

"Ugh, whatever. Just let me dry off first."

After drying off and getting her parchment, she was good to start testing Zephyr's capabilities. She had him do a few regular dodges around a magic projectile and then had him hit with one with no attempt to dodge. Twilight stated it was for a control group just to see how different the 'special' dodges were. Most of her science babble flew over Zephyr's head, so he simply smiled and nodded with everything she was saying. The magic blast that hit him felt like water, minus the wet feeling.

Twilight's testing did produce results that were interesting to everyone present. Similar to when it happened during the Want It, Need It incident, Zephyr dodging acted like a rapid strafe, circling around whatever he was dodging. One thing that was discovered was how far around such a dodge could go. Twilight observed 90-degree, 180-degree, or even a full 360-degree dodge if the projectile was fast enough.

Most interesting was when Zephyr 'strafed' in the air, he could strafe in any direction. The downside was that any momentum he had before the dodge was lost, meaning he couldn't just 'strafe-dodge' and keep moving right afterwards. Twilight noted that it made those special dodges less useful in scenarios of projectile barrages or wide-hitting attacks if improperly predicted. Those were in addition to the already known downside of needing to know the attack was incoming to begin with.

"Okay then, just a couple more times and we're done, Zephyr. We've shed some light on this ability of yours. It's pretty interesting because no other Pegasus in recorded history could strafe the way you do."

All that did was make Zephyr roll his eyes. "Yay for being unique..."

"You know full well I didn't mean it like THAT. Come on, let’s get a few more in before we call it a day. I'm going to put a lot more power into these ones to see if your dodge reacts differently to more dangerous projectiles."

"Wait, what? What happens if it hits me?"

Twilight's turn to roll her eyes. "Your magic resistance should cancel out most of the bolt's power, so you should still be fine. I know what I'm doing with my magic." Zephyr inhaled sharply in brief thought before giving in with a nod and mentally preparing himself for another dodge.

As Twilight started focusing and charging up for a more powerful blast, a small "urp" was heard from the side. Zephyr chanced a look and saw Spike holding his stomach, looking like he was sick. Before anyone could say anything, he let out an enormous belch of green fire, bigger than any seen before.

This startled everypony else, including Twilight who fired off the spell that changed color with a yelp. Zephyr barely saw it before it hit him, causing him to black out momentarily as it felt like his body shifted on its own.

Not long after the impact, Zephyr already started coming to as everyone else started coughing from the magic smoke. "Sorry, Twilight. I *cough* can't hold in a *cough* delivery this big for very long."

"T-that's fine *cough* Spike. Is everypony else okay?"

"I'm okay!" Scootaloo called out with a few coughs of her own. Zephyr tried to say something, but all that escaped from his muzzle was a small gasp. My entire body feels... squishy.

Twilight noted that Zephyr hadn't said anything as she tried to look through the smoke. "Zephyr, are you okay? Hold on, I'm going to blow the smoke away!" Remembering a smoke-clearing spell, her horn lights up and the smoke moved higher.

"I-I'm fine!" Zephyr finally manage to say, only to notice his voice has changed to be a bit softer and a lot more feminine. Looking around, he saw everypony looking at... him with a shocked look. "W-what's wrong and why is my voice different?"

Scootaloo spoke up first, "Big... Brother?"

"Wh-what, don't you recognize me, Scoots?" When she shook her head, Zephyr could only stay frozen on the spot.

Spike twiddled with his claws. "Should I... get a mirror? Your voice isn't the only thing that changed, Zephyr."

Everypony could see Zephyr's hesitance before he finally nodded. Spike grabbed a smaller mirror and held it up so that the Pegasus could see his reflection.

Except it wasn't his reflection anymore. What stared back was a gold-colored mare with a deep blue mane, styled similarly to Fluttershy's, and forest-green eyes.

Zephyr moved and the reflection moved. Open a wing, the reflection opened a wing. Upon finally looking down at his hooves, he only saw the same golden color in the mirror.

The now-mare Zephyr couldn't even scream. She started to hyperventilate instead while saying, "No no no, t-that can't be me! That can't be me!"

Twilight rushed to her and started holding the shivering Pegasus up. "Zephyr, slow down your breathing! You're going to make it worse for yourself!"

"I-I-I-I'm n-not a-a m-mare!"

"I know you aren't. Just calm down, please!"

Scootaloo rushed over and hugged her gender-bent brother. "Please calm down, big brother!"

It took a while before Zephyr finally slowed her breathing down. "W-why did this happen? I-I thought I resisted magic enough to prevent something like this!"

Twilight shook her head. "I guess my thoughts turning to Scootaloo's inability to attend her first Sisterhooves Social caused that effect to happen and I put a stronger pulse of magic into that bolt by accident when I was startled. I didn't think I was that strong though!"

Spike hung his head shamefully. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to..."

Zephyr shakes her head, the longer mane disorienting her a bit from the action. "It's not your fault, Spike. What was it that you... burped up?"

"Oh, the Princess sent a book on Pegasus flight trajectories, patterns and techniques. Twilight wanted to study it to see if she could find anything similar to your strafe. Talk about bad timing..."

Twilight gave Zephyr a once over. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No, I'm not. I don't feel right anywhere and... I don't know. I just don't want to be a mare! C-can't you change me back?"

She grimaced which made Zephyr's heart drop into her stomach. "Thing is... that's not even an actual spell that I cast. I don't think there is a counter spell for something like this."

Scootaloo looked at Twilight with immense worry. "C-can't you still find a way to return him back to normal?"

"I don't know for sure but I'll try my hardest. This might take a while though, so you may as well make yourselves comfortable." Twilight starts teleporting around the library to gather up books, determined to try and fix her mistake.

All the while, Zephyr stayed rooted to the spot, afraid to move. I doubt I will ever feel right ever again, even if I do revert back into a stallion... Scootaloo snuggled up beside Zephyr in an attempt to comfort her. "Please don't worry about it. I'm sure Twilight can find away to change you back, I just know she can!"

"I-I don't doubt Twilight. It's just... I will never be able to look at myself the same ever again. I never wanted to become a mare, period."

Spike shook his head. "I feel you, buddy. I'm still kind of weirded out by you sounding somewhat like Fluttershy."

Scootaloo nodded. "The new voice DOES take some time to get used to."

He suddenly smacks a balled claw into his other one. "I know! While Twilight is searching for a way to revert you back, why don't you take Scootaloo to the Sisterhooves Social?"

That got a look of horror from Zephyr. "Spike, I don't think that's a good idea..."

"I have to agree," Twilight chimes in above the group. "Ponies will be questioning over why Scootaloo is at the event with a stranger. Plus, others might find out that it's actually Zephyr and he'll... she'll become the laughing stock of Ponyville." Zephyr shrank to the floor in fear.

"Can't he go under a different name and say that she's Fluttershy's and Zephyr's distant cousin who wanted to meet Scootaloo and Zephyr, but Zephyr had to go to Cloudsdale for the day?"

"Being addressed like I'm not here aside, Spike, that plan seems kind of... paper thin. What proof will I have over being a distant cousin? Plus, ponies will be questioning why Fluttershy or I didn't say anything about a cousin coming to visit."

"You could say you wanted to make a surprise visit, but only met with Zephyr briefly."

"Stop referring to me like I'm not here, it's weird!" Zephyr looked down at Scootaloo, who had hope in her eyes, before sighing. "I'll go with it if the final problem is solved. I still have two pairs of wings and I doubt there's another Pegasus like me out there with two sets of wings."

Twilight gasped. "Wait, didn't we have gold-colored ribbon bands somewhere around here?"

Spike ran upstairs briefly before coming back down with a roll of gold ribbons. They matched Zephyr's new fur color perfectly, which made Spike raise an eyebrow. "Huh, that's oddly convenient."

While he was helping the now-mare Zephyr wrap his midsection, Everypony noticed that her cutie mark had changed as well. It was now a musical eighth note, except the ball was a ball of wind while the tail was a wing.

It's a bit more creative than my real cutie mark. How frustrating...

When Spike was done, it actually looked like nothing was there, much to Zephyr's relief. "O-okay, I just hope I can pull off a different personality..."

Scootaloo pats her on the side. "You'll be fine, big sis!" She giggles as Zephyr gives her a flat look. "Oops, I should say cousin. Now what should your undercover name be?"

Zephyr thought about it for a second. "Galestorm?"

Twilight looked down at us. "Seems a bit too close to your real name. How about Feather Dancer?"

"My cutie mark doesn't depict feathers or dancing."

"Okay, the dancing part I understand, but it depicts a wing, which has feathers."

Scootaloo thought for a moment herself. "Perhaps Feather Singer then?"

Spike scratched his chin. "How about Gale Singer, coming from Las Pegas?"

Twilight widened her eyes. "That could actually work. Gale is opposite to Zephyr in terms of what they actually mean. Plus, everypony would buy the Singer part because of your music note cutie mark."

Zephyr, now going by Gale, sighed before nodding. "Gale Singer it is... now I just need to respond to it if somepony says it. Oh, I hope I can pull it off..."

"Hey, Gale Singer?" Gale looks at Scootaloo, who smiled. "See, you're already adapting. Have more faith in yourself, cousin."

Twilight nodded. "I agree. Believe in yourself and we can get through this with no incident. Come back here after the social is over, in case I do happen to find a reversing spell."

"A-alright. Wish us luck, then... I'll need all I can get..."

I had no idea that ponies would be so willing to accept my little 'story' on why I'm with Scoots.

When the two 'cousins' reached the grounds for the events, some ponies like Ditzy asked Gale why a complete stranger was walking with Zephyr's younger sister. Despite her fears, Gale managed to convince everypony asking by reciting her short backstory. Thanks to that, the townsponies accepted Gale as Scootaloo's and Fluttershy's cousin.

The only thing Gale still hated so far is the fact that her mane and tail look vivid compared to most of the other ponies, despite the darker color. At least the magenta scarf they gave us off-sets it a bit.

Scootaloo suddenly gasped. "There's Applebloom and Sweetie Belle!" She rushed over excitedly and Gale nervously followed.

Applejack was there as well and she gave Gale a scrutinizing look, to which she gave a nervous smile. She would probably be the one to see past everything I have to say, but I had to try anyways.

Applebloom looks at me curiously. "Who's this, Scootaloo?"

"She's Fluttershy's, and now my, cousin from Las Pegas. She heard about Zephyr and my adoption and wanted to pay us a surprise visit, but Fluttershy's at an animal convention and Zephyr had sudden business in Cloudsdale for today. He wanted to find somepony to look out for me and she happened to be there."

Gale made sure to add her bit, "When I heard about this event, I figured that it would be the best time to spend time with my new cousin. U-unless they don't accept cousin pairs."

Applebloom shook her head. "Ya'll should be fine. What do you think, Applejack?"

The farmer observed for a bit longer before shaking her head in amusement. Unbeknownst to everypony else, she already had an inkling as to who Gale was and what happened. "Ah reckon so. What's yer name?"

"Gale Singer."

Applejack smiles and holds out a hoof to shake. "Ahm Applejack, pleased to meet you!" Gale shakes her hoof and wound up giving he foreleg a workout from the action. "Ah'll just say this much, ya better be ready for when the main relay begins. That'll test how close sisters, or in your case cousins, really are. The closest sisters are usually the winners."

At those words, Gale gives Scootaloo a worried look and she responds with a confident look. "Don't worry. I've only known you for a bit and I already feel like we can do it!"

Finding amusement in the filly's confidence, Gale giggled in response, which felt incredibly wrong to her. "If you're certain."

"Yeah... it'll be a fun time for all..."

The two 'cousins' look over to see Sweetie Belle with a very sad face. "What's wrong? If you're here, isn't your sister here as well?"

"No, she's too prim and proper for this kind of thing. She'd be SO repulsed by everything here, it wouldn't even be funny..."

"O-oh, I... I apologize." Gale shoots another worried look at Scootaloo, only this time she gave a worried look back. I guess the situation was worse than Scoots anticipated.

"It's fine..."

"Oh, it's almost time!" Both Gale and Scootaloo were startled out of their stupor by Applejack's sudden statement. The two of them quickly follow her and Applebloom.

"Well, you girls have fun... sure wish I had a sister to run the race with..." Gale turned in time to see Applebloom putting her green scarf around Sweetie Belle's neck, much to her surprise.

Applejack gave her a smile. "Applebloom and I figured since we do this every year..."

"... I'd let you borrow my sis so you can give it a try!" Applebloom piped in with a knowing smile.

Sweetie Belle continued to have a shocked look until she finally jumped for joy, only for Appleboom to tell her it was only for one day... twice. She still looked happy, but a bit more mellowed out.

As everypony approached the starting line and listened the hilarity that is Granny Smith trying to be a good announcer, Gale noticed that many of the fillies were staring at her vivid blue mane, much to her embarrassment. Some of the mares commented on how much she looked like Fluttershy, despite only being a cousin.

Scootaloo brushed them all off with ease. She was incredibly excited to run this race with Gale, her big brother Zephyr turned big sister under the pretense of a cousin.

I wonder if that makes sense in context?

Lining herself up in-between Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, Gale attempted to shake some of the nerves off. Applebloom suddenly appeared behind the three. "One. Day."

That definitely killed any tension in the air as Gale let out a small cough-laugh. "I think she gets what you're saying. You're starting to come across as clingy."

That got a laugh out of Scootaloo, Applejack, and Sweetie while Applebloom gave Gale an insulted look. "I am NOT clingy!"

"I'm just saying what I've observed." Applebloom pouted at those words before retreating from the line.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "I kind of get why with a sister like Applejack, though. Outside of this, I'm GLAD to be sisterless. I could care less about my REAL sister!"

That comment made Gale feel incredibly sad knowing that Rarity, despite her insistence on being prim-and-proper, was a good mare and a good friend.

"You don't know what you've got,
Oh, you don't know what you've got,
No, you don't know what you've got,
Until it's gone~"

Realizing what she did unconsciously, Gale meeped in embarrassment when she realized there were many looks in her direction because of that small song. Sweetie Belle in particular had a confused look on her face. "Why did you sing right there?"

"I-I don't know. I guess I j-just had a small urge to s-sing."

Applejack gave Gale a smile that made the golden mare a bit uneasy. "Ya have a very pretty voice there, sugahcube. Good singing voices must run in your family." Without realizing, Gale started playing with her bangs in embarrassment, making Applejack chuckle. Playing with my bangs like that made me feel ashamed of myself...

"On your marks..." Gale silently thanked Granny Smith for finally starting the count-down as everypony prepared to launch.

"Get set..." Many narrowed their eyes a bit in concentration, some fillies and mares sweating a bit.

"GO~!" I want to feel bad for her there because of how painful that sounded, but I have to focus on the race.

Even though Gale was a Pegasus, she wanted to avoid flying to keep herself from accidentally leaving Scootaloo in the dust. She almost made the first jump, teetering on her front hooves before landing the hind ones in the muck, much to Gale's disappointment and Scootaloo's amusement, who had simply hopped across the mud with Sweetie Belle.

The three heard Applejack fall into the mud pile, causing all of them to stop and look with concern. She emerged on the other side of the 'pool', completely caked in mud and--

Is my switched gender playing tricks on me, or did her eye color change?

Not wanting to stare, Gale shook it out of her head as the quartet quickly caught up with the other racers. At one point, when Scootaloo and Gale fell behind Sweetie Belle and Applejack, Gale noted that the farmer's tail looks a bit more curly than usual.

Oh great, now my gender change making me more of a pervert now? I hope Twilight can get that reversing spell, or I'm going to go insane...

The rest of the race went fairly well. Scootaloo and Gale kept taking notes from what Sweetie Belle and Applejack(?) were doing. When the final stretch came up, it was a final sprint between the teams of Scootaloo and Gale, Sweetie Belle and Applejack(?), and Berry Punch and Piña Colada.

When all of them made the last jump, Scootaloo was somewhat disappointed she and Gale got third while Sweetie Belle and Applejack(?) got second. "So close, all of you came so close!" Everypony looked to see Applebloom running over to them.

Sweetie Belle grinned. "Gale and Scootaloo made quite a good team. Even so, I don't care that we lost! That was the most fun I've had!" She jumps to hug Applejack, but knocks her hat off, revealing a white horn.

This dumbfounded Gale and Scootaloo. "What the?"

Sweetie wiped away mud from the bigger pony's flank and revealed a certain set of three diamonds. "Rarity?" The mare shook all of the mud away to fully reveal herself.

Scootaloo looked around. "Wait, if you're here, where's Applejack?" She was answered by a gasp. When everypony looked over, they all saw Applejack had just emerged from the first mud pool.

If she seriously held her breath for that long, I've got new-found respect for her.

Sweetie looked even more confused. "I don't get it."

Applejack simply chuckled as she approached. "We switched places right there."

"Wait, so Sweetie Belle did the entire race with you, Rarity?" From the corner of Gale's vision, she saw Applejack's face change to one that practically said 'ah knew it' for a split second. The golden mare brushed it off since it happened so fast.

Rarity giggled. "That's right, except for the start."

"So that's why your tail looked so different..." Gale mumbled under her breath.

"What was that, darling?"

"Nothing, nothing! Pay me no mind!" Closing one eye in an attempt to look convincing, all Gale wound up doing is having most of her one-eyed vision blocked by bangs. She blew them out of the way in annoyance, much to everypony else's amusement.

"You mean... you did it for me?" Sweetie looked shocked now. She never expected her 'prim-and-proper' big sister would go this far.

Rarity giggled again. "Us. I did it for us, you see? I just.. couldn't leave alone the fact that I was being insensitive to my little sister's feelings... I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle!" She got a tearful hug from said little sister. "I think this calls for a celebration!"

Gale raised an eyebrow. "What kind of celebration, if I may ask?"

"A trip to the spa!" This caused everypony to burst out laughing at the predictable response, much to her confusion.

"Typical Rarity, am I right?" Gale risked a whisper to Scootaloo, who rolled her eyes in response.

"I'm... being serious here." She let out a small cough of embarrassment. "Anyways, if none of you have anything planned right now, we can go immediately."

Knowing it was her que to exit stage left, Gale let out a small sigh. "Well, you five have fun then."

Rarity looks at the mare that was about to retreat. "Gale Singer, was it? If you think I'm excluding you, I verily don't think so. You ARE Scootaloo's cousin after all."

With her heart dropped in her stomach, Gale's panic quickly started building. "B-but you've only known me for literal minutes!"

"That doesn't mean I can be a bad hostess... even though we aren't exactly going to my place."

Applejack shook her head. "Jus' come along, sugahcube. Besides, It'll give you more "bonding time" with your 'cousin', right?"

Everypony missed the way Applejack said cousin as Gale looked at Scootaloo, who was giving her 'cousin' puppy dog eyes. "A-alright, I'll come with."

I really don't want to feel more like a mare... it feels wrong enough as it is. But I don't want to garner suspicion either.

As the six of them walked to the spa, both Rarity and Sweetie gushed over how nice Gale's mane and tail looked, much to her chagrin. It ended when the group finally reached the spa where, to Gale's relief, it was made known that Rarity can book the spa on short notice all to herself and her friends. Gale was "introduced" to the spa ponies and they accepted her rather easily.

The first stop all six took was a simple, hot bubble bath. The fillies liked swimming around in it while the older ponies simply soaked. Gale, however, was submerged up to her muzzle with eyes closed, very uncomfortable with the current situation. Partially I'm a mare WITH other mares in an environment like this, but also because the ribbons around my secondaries are starting to become tight.

Rarity apparently took notice. "Gale, sweetheart, are you feeling alright?"

After a start, Gale give her a worried look. "T-this is m-my first s-spa visit."

Kind of a lie. I did visit one as a colt, but my memory of it is hazy at best.

"Well don't worry about it too much, darling. Lotus and Aloe are the best ponies for this kind of job. You won't find more capable hooves."

Applejack raises an eyebrow. "Ah don't think that's what she's worried about... right, Zephyr?"

That comment made Gale widen her eyes in terror. Scootaloo also had a look of horror while Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked confused. Rarity looked at Applejack with an offended look. "I say, Applejack, what has gotten into you?" When she saw Gale's and Scootaloo's looks of horror, she recoiled. "Is...is that actually true?"

Applejack shook her head. "If ya think about it, Scootaloo got along a little too well with her for only knowing each other for half a day. Plus, she kept talking to and about us like she actually knew us." Gale quickly dunked her head under the hot water from sheer embarrassment and fear.

It's over. Rarity, Applejack, and my other friends will see me as a shameless pervert and I'll become the laughing stock of Ponyville. I might even get ran out!

Applejack grimaced at what Gale was doing. "Uh, Rarity? Ya might want to lift her out of the water. Ah think she's... he's trying to drown herself and ah don't want a repeat of that one day."

"A-alright." Rarity tried to lift Gale out of the water a bit, only to find that her magic simply wouldn't work on the mare. "Dear me..." Realizing that it was basically a final confirmation, she resorted to physically dragging Gale, now revealed to be a gender-bent Zephyr, out of the water.

Gale coughed and sputtered a bit before covering her face with wet forelegs and a sob. "N-no, let me go! I...I..."

"Darling, please. Just tell us what happened and how you wound up like this."

"D-don't you see me as a p-pervert?"

Applejack shook her head as Scootaloo swam over to hug her older sibling. "Sugahcube, ah don't think you're a pervert in the slightest. Ah get the feeling ah know what happened, but fer the sake of accuracy, ya might wanna explain for Rarity and the fillies."

Gale looked over her hooves at Applejack with tears in her eyes. "B-but I..."

Rarity shook her head as she swam away from Gale a bit. "I know perverts when I see them and you're no pervert. You just seem like a victim of... circumstance, I suppose if Applejack's intuition is accurate. By the way, where are your secondary wings?"

Hearing them brought up, Gale pawed at her midsection until the ribbon strand could be grabbed by a hoof. Ripping it, the entire strand unraveled off Gale's body, allowing the secondaries to spread open, causing the other two fillies to gasp. She promptly dunks her head under the water for a second time.

Rarity was a lot faster the second time. "Please stop doing that. All of us, especially Fluttershy and Scootaloo, would be devastated if you drowned yourself." Scootaloo gives Gale a sad look.

"D-don't you g-girls hate me?"

Applejack sighed. "This again? Look sugahcube, if we hated you, we wouldn't try to hide it from you like this. Although I am once again a bit peeved ya'll didn't explain your situation to us from the get-go."

Rarity shook her head, fully on Gale's side. "Now Applejack, place yourself in poor Zephyr's position. He clearly didn't want to be seen as a pervert and he didn't want other ponies thinking bad things about him. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to be caught when I get turned into a stallion. I imagine the slander would be awful."

"Ah guess ya got a point. Still, what's the reason behind this?"

"I'll explain." All eyes were on Scootaloo as she told them about what happened at Twilight's place.

Applejack shook her head again. "So you really didn't want to have this happen to you. Well... look on the bright side, ya managed to give yer' younger sister a chance to go to the Social."

"I... I suppose..." Gale feels Scootaloo cuddling up beside her and wrapped a wet wing around her.

Rarity smiles with a bit of pain behind it. "You really are sweet to that filly. I wish I was to my own sister earlier than today, but..."

Sweetie Belle hugs her sister. "Don't worry, Rarity. We both learned our lesson on that."

Applebloom cuddles up to Applejack just as Lotus walks in. "Are we ready for the next-- oh? Am I interrupting something?"

Rarity shook her head. "We're good to go. Besides, I think we've spent enough time in this bath, as lovely as it feels."

The group went through all of the spa treatments Rarity had planned for them. The spa ponies were surprised that Gale had an extra pair of wings, but didn't comment on it after Rarity explained it away. After the whole spa ordeal, Scootaloo stated she didn't really feel any different, which got a laugh out of Gale, considering her coat was a lot cleaner and more shiny than it was before.

When the siblings went back to Twilight's place, they learned that Twilight did indeed find a reversing spell, but because of it's requirements for an unintended effect and that the price of failure was way too high, she decided visiting Zecora in the Everfree Forest tomorrow to see if she can't brew anything to help was a far safer route.

I only hope she can.