The Featherblade Legacy

by Mysterious Stranger

Rating: teen
Tags: Spike, Random, Adventure, Zecora, Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy
Length: 31171

A trip into the Everfree forest sends Sharp Wing on a downward spiral into madness.

Sure, nopony would ever hire him to be a mercenary, and he’s never actually killed a monster, but that doesn’t matter to a pegasus named Sharp Wing when he recklessly pursues a manticore into the Everfree forest in a pathetic attempt to kill it. Unfortunately, the Everfree forest is a merciless place, and disastrous consequences will follow those who dare enter it. Consequences that can destroy minds.

Published 2012-09-03 12:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-23 01:48:22 UTC

Chapter 1: Pruning trees like a real stallion

Sharp Wing stood on a ladder with his fore legs braced against the trunk of the apple tree he was scrutinizing. His blue eyes moved back and forth, searching for branches that met the criteria Applejack had given him for the job. A branch that pointed upright caught his attention. A vertical branch couldn't grow apples, and would serve no purpose except to hinder sunlight from reaching the rest of the tree.

It would have to die.

Using the sword he gripped in his light gray right wing, he hacked off the offending branch. Being a pegasus, Sharp Wing usually had no need to use ladders, but in this case he did. This job required being off the ground, and he couldn't fly and hold things in his wings at the same time. At the moment, he was only using one sword. His other one was still sheathed in the scabbard strapped to his left side.

"Sharp Wing! What are ya doing to that apple tree?!" a small voice behind him called out in shock and dismay.

Sharp Wing turned his head to see who had spoken. Behind him stood a little yellow filly with a large red bow in her mane. Her eyes were wide with horror.

"Oh hi, Apple Bloom, I didn't see you there. I'm just pruning the apple trees," Sharp Wing answered cheerfully.

"Pruning, what the hay is pruning?" questioned Apple Bloom.

Sharp Wing tried his best to summarize the description Apple Jack had given when she had explained the job to him.

"Well, the idea is that when you cut off certain parts of a fruit tree, it should be able to grow more fruit then before."

"So yer makin' it smaller in order to make it bigger?" asked Apple Bloom, her little face scrunching up in confusion.

"Basically."

"But that don't make a hayseed of sense!"

"It doesn't make any sense to me either. But your sister is paying me to cut off tree parts so that's what I'm doing."

"She's paying you? How much?" Apple Bloom inquired.

"That's none of your business."

"But why are ya workin' for mah sister anyway? Scootaloo said you were a monster fightin' mercenary."

The words made alarm bells go off inside Sharp Wing's head. When that orange little pegasus has asked him what he did for a living, he hadn't expected her to spread his answer around.

"I am a monster fighting mercenary!" Sharp Wing said defensively.

"Then why are ya working for mah sister? Scootoloo says monster fightin' mercenaries make loads of money."

Sharp Wing realized that he was trapped.

"Let me tell you a story, and maybe you'll understand," he suggested.

"Ah like stories!" Apple Bloom said enthusiastically.

"I'm sure you do. Are you ready to listen?"

Apple Bloom nodded.

"There was once a brave and noble stallion who lived in Ponyville. He was a master at duel wielding swords and his fighting prowess was unmatched. Duel wielding swords was his cutie mark talent, you see. One day he approached the mayor of Ponyville and kindly offered to defend Ponyville from monsters. However, the mayor laughed at him and told him she wasn't about to waste tax bits on something she knew the stallion would do for free. The stallion told her he could easily stand by and not defend Ponyville, but she only laughed even harder. Then the stallion realized that while they had been talking she had somehow manipulated him into rearranging all the furniture in her office. And that is why that stallion never saw a single bit for all the times he had driven monsters away from his hometown."

"So basically the mayor crushed his dreams," interpreted Apple Bloom.

"Exactly, and that's why that mercenary has had to find other means to put bread on the table ever since."

"I get what you're sayin'. I think. Anyways, I came out here 'cause I was looking for mah sister. Do ya know where she is?"

"Sure, she's down at the barn milking the cows," Sharp Wing replied as he pointed a hoof in the general direction of the barn.

Without any warning a deafening roar tore through the trees from the direction Sharp Wing had just pointed at. The sound caused the feathery brown hairs of Sharp Wing's mane to stand straight up like needles. It was the roar of a manticore. Reacting on instinct, he jumped off the ladder. Sadly, instinct had forgotten one of his wings was preoccupied with holding a sword, and he belly flopped ungracefully of the ground instead of flying off with style.

"Stay put!" he ordered Apple Bloom as he picked himself up and took off at a full gallop.

The muscles in Sharp Wing's light gray legs bulged with power and his feathery brown mane and tail flapped in the wind as he raced towards the barn. Despite the danger, he was grinning. It had been a while since a monster had wandered out of the Everfree Forest. Perhaps for once he would be able to kill it instead of just driving it off.

The first thing that Sharp Wing noticed when he arrived at the barn was that Apple jack was literally already on top of things.

"You leave our cows alone ya stinkin' beast!" she hollered.

Apple Jack had somehow managed to get a rope around the manticore's thick neck and was riding it like a bull. Sharp Wing's timing couldn't have been better. While Apple Jack had the thing distracted he would have the glory of finishing it off. Sharp Wing charged in and jumped up, using his free wing to boost himself high above the maticore's head.

"What's up?" he greeted Apple Jack before gravity yanked him down towards the head.

At that moment the manticore decided to move forward. In order to adapt, Sharp Wing twisted in mid-air, landed on the manticore's neck, and held on tight with his legs. This was it. This would be the day he finally killed a monster.

"For Equestria!" he proclaimed as he whacked the beast on the back of its head with the sword.

The manticore roared in pain but didn't stop trying to shake off the ponies on its back. Sharp Wing glanced at his sword. No blood. Why was there no blood?

"Is that the sword you've been using to cut off tree branches all day long?" asked Apple Jack from behind him.

"Maybe," Sharp Wing said carefully.

"Might be a bit too dull to cut through manticore hide by now don't ya think?"

"Probably."

"Ya should have used the ax ah offered ya."

"But swords are cooler though."

"Well now it's duller."

"Fear not, fair Apple Jack! I have two swords for a reason," Sharp Wing said as he slid the dull sword into the sheath strapped to his flank and drew out the sharp one from his other side.

"Did you just call me fair?"

"I thought the amount of bits we agreed upon for pruning the trees was reasonable," explained Sharp Wing, thinking quickly.

"Oh."

Sharp Wing wished he could see Apple Jack's face from where he was. He made a mental note to watch his words more carefully when he was high on adrenaline. He raised his sharp sword up for the finishing blow. This time the manticore would fall. Suddenly the manticore slammed Sharp Wing's wing into the side of the barn, making him drop the weapon. The cows that had been grazing nearby when the manticore arrived winced at the loud smack the action made. Sharp Wing howled in pain.

"Are ya all right?" asked Apple Jack.

Sharp Wing thought the question was stupid. Did she not see how hard the manticore had smacked his wing against the barn?

"Just dandy," Sharp Wing hissed as he drew out the dull sword again. Surely if he hit the manticore long and hard enough on the head it would die. He proceeded to wail away.

"Are ya killing it or giving it a bad mane cut?" questioned Apple Jack as locks of manticore mane flew into her face.

"I'm doing both. Multi-tasking is my cutie mark talent."

"Is there a cutie mark for multi-tasking?"

"Wouldn't surprise me if there was."

The manticore, it seemed, was getting sick of getting a bad mane cut and getting whacked with a blunt sword. With another roar it turned around and made a bee-line for Everfree Forest.

"Nice work, Sharp Wing. Looks like the thing is sick of us. Mind cutting mah lasso loose? Ah'd hate to waste perfectly good rope on a manticore," Apple Jack remarked.

Sharp Wing paused his beating long enough to comply. He yelped in pain as Apple Jack's rope slid out from underneath him, giving him a wicked rope burn. Apple Jack landed on all four hooves as Sharp Wing held on.

"What are ya waiting for? Get off of it before it takes ya into Everfree Forest!" Apple Jack called after him.

"I'm not getting off until its dead!" Sharp Wing yelled back as he resumed hitting the manticore.

Apple Jack tried to keep up with the manticore but it left her in the dust as it entered the Everfree Forest. Sharp Wing kept hitting his ride. The stupid thing still wasn't bleeding. So intent he was on killing the manticore, Sharp Wing didn't see the low hanging branch until it was too late. With a painful whack Sharp Wing was scraped off the back of the manticore and hung over the offending branch like a wet sock. It was actually a pretty thick branch. The tree was so big and the branch so huge, Sharp Wing doubted it could ever be snapped off the trunk.

It snapped anyway.

Sharp Wing yelled as the branch he was plastered against slammed into the ground and started log-rolling down a hill. Round and round Sharp Wing went, yelling incoherent and short expressions of pain with each rotation. Finally, the branch slowed to a stop in a patch of blue flower-like plants. Sharp Wing groaned. Both of his hind legs were pinned under the ridiculously large branch and he hurt all over. Not to mention he still had that nasty rope burn Apple Jack had given him. He would have to thank her for that later. Sharp Wing spent a few minutes trying to free his hind legs before he gave up. Apple Jack knew he was in the Everfree Forest. Surely somepony would find him eventually.

Chapter 2: Better red than dead

Sharp Wing stared at the sky through the spooky tree tops of the Everfree Forest. It was evening now, and would probably get darker soon. Sharp Wing doubted he would live through a night in the Everfree Forest with a giant branch pinning down his hind legs. But such thoughts were depressing, so Sharp Wing turned his thoughts to food. Apple Jack had been kind enough to bring him a delicious lunch of assorted apple-related goods earlier that day while he worked, but he hadn't had dinner yet. He most likely would have been eating dinner right now if it weren't for the manticore. Sharp Wing's food fantasies were interrupted by the faint sound of singing. As the singing voice grew closer he was able to make it out the lyrics.

"I'm looking at the mare in the mirror! I'm hoping that she'll change her ways!"

The singer was horribly off-key but Sharp Wing still recognized the song. It was a song by Sapphire Shores, the famous queen of pop.

"Would you please stop singing?" begged another voice.

"Why, you have something against Sapphire Shores?" asked the singer.

"I don't have anything against Sapphire Shores, but we need to focus on finding Sharp Wing before it gets dark."

"I am looking for Sharp Wing. I'm just singing at the same time to lighten the mood."

"And if Sharp Wing is calling for help we might not hear him over your singing."

It occurred then to Sharp Wing that calling for help would be a good right about now.

"Hey! I'm over here!" Sharp Wing yelled out in the most masculine way to call for help he could think of.

"Did you hear that?"

"It sounded like Sharp Wing!"

"I think it came from over there!"

Sharp Wing was filled with relief when he saw the familiar bright orange saddlebags and then the dark red coat of his best friend Frazzle Spark. Next to him was what looked like a floating pair of golden eyes. Doubtlessly the eyes belonged to his other best friend Night Mist, who, true to his name, was next to impossible to see at night because of his black coat. When the two ponies spotted Sharp Wing pinned under the branch they rushed over to him.

"Sharp Wing, you're alive! Can you feel your legs?" asked Frazzle Spark.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Sharp Wing with a wince.

"Actually, I think it's a good thing if you can still feel your legs. Don't worry, we'll get you out," said Night Mist.

He turned to Frazzle Spark.

"Do you think you can levitate that log off of him?" he asked.

"I don't know. It looks heavy. Maybe if I turned some of it to ash first I could do it," Frazzle Spark said thoughtfully.

"I have an idea. Let's not set the branch on fire while I'm stuck underneath it alright?" hinted Sharp Wing.

"Yes, lets avoid roasting Sharp Wing," Night Mist agreed as he moved to the end of the big branch and stuck his hooves underneath it. "I'll help you lift it, on three."

Frazzle Spark and Night Mist counted to three and lifted up the branch with the combined effort of unicorn magic and earth pony strength. Sharp Wing pulled out his hind legs and wearily stood up.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm famished. Have either of you had dinner yet?" inquired Sharp Wing, playing it cool.

"No, we've been too busy helping everypony look for you," responded Frazzle Spark.

"Speaking of which, we should probably set off the firecracker to let everypony know you're okay," suggested Night Mist.

Frazzle Spark floated a fire cracker out his saddle bag and used his ignition spell to light the fuse. The fire cracker shot up into the sky and exploded into dazzling blue light.

"Um, Fraz?" said Night Mist.

"Yeah?"

"That was the blue firecracker."

"Yeah I know. I'm not colorblind."

"We were supposed to use blue if we found Sharp Wing dead."

"I thought red was dead."

"No, it was blue."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

Frazzle Spark sighed, plucked the red firecracker out of his saddlebag, and launched it.

"If anypony asks, you were dead and we resurrected you," he said to Sharp Wing.

"I'm sure they'll figure out what happened," Night Mist said with a smile. "Now let's get back to the town hall."

It was Rarity who spotted the three of them arrive at the town hall first.

"You're alive!" gasped Rarity when she saw Sharp Wing.

"Sorry to disappoint you," replied Sharp Wing with a shrug.

"Don't say that! I was worried sick! When I saw the red fire cracker I-" she drifted off, suddenly confused. "Wait, why did you send off the red one after the blue if he was alive?" she asked Frazzle Spark.

"Red was for alive. Blue was for dead," insisted Night Mist.

"No it wasn't. Twilight Sparkle said red was dead because it rhymed and would be easier to remember," Rarity argued.

Night Mist started to reply but stopped. Evidently he did remember.

Sharp Wing spent the next hour getting hugged by ponies he knew, ponies he kind of knew, and ponies who were complete strangers to him but he pretended to know anyway. After that Pinkie Pie invited everyone to an impromptu party to celebrate that Sharp Wing, was in fact, not dead after all. Sharp Wing was about to help himself to a second slice of cake when several ponies dragged him up on a stage for a speech. Suddenly he was the center of attention of all of Ponyville to an even greater degree than before.

Sharp Wing didn't feel any stage fright. If there was one thing he was good at besides his cutie mark talent, it was improvising.

"Well, as you can see, I'm not dead," he began smoothly. Scattered applause.

"I don't know how many of you know how I wound up in the Everfree Forest, so I'll start at the beginning. I was helping Apple Jack at her farm when I heard a manticore roar. I instantly dropped what I was doing and rushed off to the rescue. To my surprise I saw that Apple Jack was already riding the thing like a bull. I swear to Princess Celestia that manticore was more scared then the cows it had been trying to eat."

Sharp Wing paused as many ponies laughed.

"But it was still roaring and kicking, so I hopped on its back to finish the job. Unfortunately my sword was dull from hacking through wood all day long and wasn't any good for stabbing. So I did the only thing I could think and just started to smacking that manticore on the head. Needless to say smacking a manticore to death is a very time consuming process. Apple Jack and I invited a bunch of other ponies up there and we all played at least twenty games of poker while we waited."

Another pause for another round of laughter.

"Apple Jack won every single game, which is why I'll be working my tail off for the next five months to pay her off."

Sharp Wing held a hoof up to his mouth and leaned forward as if he was about to reveal a secret.

"I think she cheats," he stage-whispered.

The entire crowd laughed again, Apple Jack the hardest of all.

"So eventually the manticore got sick of being hit on the head and Apple Jack winning and took off for the Everfree Forest. Apple Jack had the brains to get off but I held and kept smacking the thing like a stubborn mule."

Too late, Sharp Wing realized that there were several mules in the crowd. Time to adapt.

"By stubborn mule, I mean a mule that just happens to be stubborn," he added.

"We're used to it!" called out an old mule, setting off yet another bout of laughter. Crisis averted.

"So I was riding on the manticore and through a series of unfortunate events I wound up pinned under a branch so huge it might as well have been a tree. I was quite certain I was going to die."

Sharp Wing paused again to let that sink in. The crowd was subdued.

"But Apple Jack, who is now and forever more my hero, organized a search party and I was saved. Apple Jack, I owe you my life and I'm grateful from the bottom of my heart."

The crowed whooped and cheered for Apple Jack, who lowered the brim of her hat a little because of the attention.

"I also want to give a shout out to my friends Night Mist and Frazzle Spark for finding me, although it's my understanding there was a little bit of confusion about which colors meant what."

Sharp Wing had the satisfaction of seeing Night Mist's face redden.

"And last but certainly not least, I would like to thank all of you for helping in the search. It means a lot to me to know I live in a town that cares about me."

Sharp Wing smiled, gave a small nod, and left the stage while Ponyville applauded his speech. Apple Jack was waiting for him.

"Ya seriously exaggerated the role ah played in all of this," she informed him.

"You're too modest. I gave you the credit you deserved. You should just consider yourself lucky that I didn't tell all of Ponyville the real reason you saved me," Sharp Wing said causally.

"Oh really?" Apple Jack said with a raised brow, "And just what is the real reason exactly?"

"You just needed sompony to prune your apple trees."

"Ya really are something else, Sharp Wing." Apple Jack chuckled.

"Yeah, an idiot who rode a manticore into the Everfree Forest all by himself."

"That too. Now ya better get a lot of rest so ya can finish with the apple trees tomorrow ya hear?"

"I hear you," Sharp Wing confirmed as he went out the door. All the other ponies were starting to drift out as well. "Good night, Apple Jack."

"Night, Sharp Wing."

Once outside Sharp Wing vaulted up into the sky and flew towards his home, a simple cottage with a thatched roof. As he entered his house, or rather, as he preferred to call it, the bachelor pad, Sharp Wing realized he was missing both of his swords. One was at the barn and the dull one was in Everfree forest. He could retrieve both of them easily enough. Sharp Wing's mood darkened. It was the manticore's fault he was missing his swords. It was the manticore that had hurt his wing, gave him a rope burn, and nearly killed him in Everfree Forest. The manticore had beaten him. Humiliated him. It deserved to die. Sharp Wing would track it down and kill it for all the trouble it had given him. These thoughts of hatred stayed with Sharp Wing as he went to sleep. But something else embedded itself into his mind as well. "You really are something else, Sharp Wing." were the words Apple Jack had used. That compliment made up for some of the troubles.

Little did Sharp Wing know how horrifyingly true that statement would become.

Chapter 3: Front doors are for chumps

When Sharp Wing woke up the next morning he didn't notice anything was wrong at first. His eyes picked up on the fact that the bed seemed a little bigger than usual, but his brain, which was still waking up, dismissed it. The same thing happened again when he walked past the mirror in the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom. Sharp Wing had a habit of glancing at the mirror every morning as he walked out of his room, so it was entirely natural he didn't expect to see anything different. Technically his eyes registered that his body had changed dramatically, but not his mind. Sharp Wing poured himself a bowl of frosted oats with little sugar cubes and marshmallows in it, took a shower, brushed his teeth, made a weak attempt to comb his mane, and walked out the door.

This time both his eyes and mind noticed something, a streak of cyan blue that seemed to be getting bigger. Then it hit him. The pain Sharp Wing had experienced when he hit the tree branch yesterday was nothing compared to the bone-crushing force he felt now as he was shoved back into his house and slammed up against the blue drywall of his bedroom. This time when Sharp Wing opened his eyes his vision was filled with the colors of the rainbow.

"Why hello, Rainbow Dash. What a surprise," Sharp Wing groaned.

Rainbow Dash grunted and peeled herself off of him.

"Ow, Sorry about that, Sharp Wing. Word of advice, don't try to do a barrel roll at high speeds. It hurts," apologized Rainbow Dash, completely unaware that Sharp Wing already had a very good idea of how much it hurt.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked at the pegasus she had practically flattened. Then her eyes widened and she shook her head again, blinking to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"I must have hit my head really hard," she muttered.

"Well, that's better than hitting something you actually use from time to time," Sharp Wing snapped.

"Um, Sharp Wing, are you aware that you're now a mare?"

"Oh, that's such a mature and clever insult. I haven't heard that one since I was in flight camp."

In response Rainbow Dash grabbed his shoulders and dragged him to the bathroom.

"Ow, what are you- are you trying to give me a swirlie?"

"Shut up and look in the mirror."

Sharp Wing did so. The first thing he noticed was the usual. Blue eyes, light gray coat, long feathery brown mane. Then he noticed his eyelashes.

"What the-" he breathed, moving closer to get a better look.

Not only were his eyelashes more pronounced, the shape of his head had changed too. Sharp Wing's jaw had never been very large to begin with, but now it was noticeable smaller. Sharp Wing stepped back to view the rest of his profile. His entire body was different. Instead of his thick leg muscles and generally stocky build he had become more streamlined and shorter. Sharp Wing stepped back to be besides Rainbow Dash and compared his height to hers. Instead of being taller than her they were now equal in height.

"No, this- this- it can't-" she stuttered in disbelief.

"But it is," observed Rainbow Dash.

Abruptly Sharp Wing spun around and pinned Rainbow Dash against the wall.

"What did you do?!" Sharp Wing screamed in a high-pitched voice.

"Let go of me!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she tried to vain to break free.

"You changed me into a mare!"

"No I didn't! You did that yourself!"

"You slammed into me and I turned into a mare!"

"That doesn't make any sense! You can't knock ponies into another gender!"

Sharp Wing relaxed her hold. She was right. That didn't make any sense.

The split second Sharp Wing's hold relaxed, Rainbow Dash slipped loose and reversed their positions. Sharp Wing was now the one pinned against the wall.

"Nopony pins me against a wall," Rainbow Dash hissed.

"What are you going to do about it? I'm bigger then you," Sharp Wang snarled, forgetting for a moment that she wasn't.

Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes glowed with fury.

"Not anymore you're not."

Sharp Wing braced her fore hooves against Rainbow Dash's and the battle was on. Doubtlessly there had never been a battle like this in Equestria before. Two mares, both of whom possessed what many would call masculine personalities, in the bathroom, engaged in a contest of physical prowess. The two of them gave it their all, neither budging, locked in combat. After several minutes in this stand-off their tempers waned.

"Truce?" offered Sharp Wing.

"Truce," agreed Rainbow Dash.

Both of them went down on all four hooves again.

"Let's go to my living room so we can figure this out," suggested Sharp Wing.

Sharp Wing walked out of the bathroom and sat down on her armchair in her living room as Rainbow Dash flopped onto the couch.

"I know for a fact you were a stallion yesterday, I saw you at the party," Rainbow Dash noted.

"Sompony would have noticed if I had started to change at the party," Sharp Wing figured.

"So it must have happened afterwards. When you were alone."

"But all I did was fly straight home and go to sleep."

"Maybe Twilight can help figure this out," Rainbow Dash suggested.

"Or Night Mist, he is a detective after all," mused Sharp Wing.

Then she changed her mind.

"Actually, I'll go with Twilight."

"Why Twilight?"

"I know for a fact that Night Mist would laugh at me. I'm willing to bet Twilight Sparkle will be a lot more sympathetic."

Sharp Wing and Rainbow Dash took off from the front door of Sharp Wing's home and flew to the library. Sharp Wing's sword sheaths kept slipping as she flew. The straps were a bit large on her now. But she didn't bother to try and fix it. Surely Twilight Sparkle would have a spell to change her back to her normal form and then it would fit again. The two peagasi landed on the balcony attached to the tree that was home to Twilight Sparkle and the library.

"Is there a reason we're not using the front door?" asked Sharp Wing.

“Front doors are for chumps," Rainbow Dash explained as she rapped on the glass.

Twilight Sparkle, who had been reading a book, nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Rainbow Dash knock.

"You know I hate it when you do that," said Twilight Sparkle as she glared at Rainbow Dash through the window.

"That's why I do it," Rainbow Dash smirked.

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she opened the balcony door.

"Who’s your friend? Somepony you know from flight camp?" she asked.

"Wait for it." Rainbow Dash told Sharp Wing.

Sharp Wing sighed as Twilight Sparkle studied her.

"Are you-" Twilight Sparkle gasped with wide eyes, unable to finish her question.

"Yep."

Twilight Sparkle burst out laughing.

"Thanks for your sympathy," Sharp Wing growled.

"Oh my gosh this is so rich! I- I- oh my gosh I can hardly breath- Spike! Come here! You need to see this!" exclaimed Twilight.

Spike rushed into the room.

"What is it?" he asked.

All Twilight Sparkle could do as she laughed was point at Sharp Wing.

Spike scowled at Sharp Wing.

"I don't get it. Who is- wait."

His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Are you-"

"Yep."

Spike roared with laughter.

"Oh my gosh that's hilarious! Where's Owlilicious he needs to see this! Owlilicious!"

"Who?" an owl called out from another room.

"It's Sharp Wing! He's been turned a mare! Come see!"

"Who?" Owlilicious called again.

"Sharp Wing! He’s a- oh never mind."

By now Twilight Sparkle had regained some control.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. I suppose you're here because you want me to change you back to normal with magic."

"That would be nice."

"How did you change in the first place?" asked Spike.

"No idea."

"Spike, fetch me the glossary of every spell known to ponykind."

Spike dashed off and returned with the book Twilight Sparkle had requested.

"If there's a spell for changing sex it’s probably under "s"," muttered Twilight as she flipped through the pages. "Nope, nothing for changing sex."

"What about "g" for gender?" suggested Spike.

Twilight Sparkle flipped to the "g" section.

"Aha! Here it is!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed.

Sharp Wing breathed a sigh of relief. Soon she would be back to normal.

"Oh wow, what are the odds?" Twilight said as she read the page.

"The odds of what?" asked Sharp Wing carefully.

"Did you know that there are over six thousand spells known to ponies?" She asked Sharp Wing.

"Um, no."

"And only one hundred and ninety three have ever been proclaimed as taboo?"

Sharp Wing didn't like where this was going.

"Please don't tell me the gender changing spell is forbidden."

"Actually, it’s called the gender bender spell and yes, it’s forbidden."

"Gender bender. Catchy," remarked Rainbow Dash.

"But why is it forbidden? Can you do it anyway?" asked Sharp Wing, crushed.

"I have a book of reasons the one hundred and ninety three are forbidden. Spike, could you-"

Twilight Sparkle was interrupted by Owlilicious dropping the book in front of her.

"Never mind, Spike," she said as she flipped through it.

Once she found it she started reading it out loud.

"The Gender bender spell was outlawed by Emperor Steel Horn Featherblade when-"

Twilight paused and looked at Sharp Wing.

"Isn't your last name Featherblade?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I'm a direct descendant of the Featherblades who ruled Equestria," Sharp Wing sighed.

"Seriously? That's so cool!" said Twilight.

"Can we get back to finding out why the gender bender is forbidden?"

"Wait, hold up. If you're a direct descendant of the Featherblades that means you would be the ruler of Equestria if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna hadn't been born," Rainbow Dash deduced.

She hadn't been the first pony to make that assumption. It was an assumption Sharp Wing had been trying to correct in others her entire life.

"Actually, most historians agree that if Princess Luna and Princess Celestia hadn't intervened Equestria would have wiped itself out in civil war. I wouldn't be the ruler of Equestria because there would be no Equestria to rule. Even if it didn't die out there are still plenty of other Featherblades who still carry the last name. Now can we get back to the task at hoof?"

Twilight shrugged and resumed reading.

"The Gender bender spell was outlawed by Emperor Steel Horn Featherblade because anypony who was changed by it would be mentally scarred for life. Worse yet, If a pony had been changed and was unable to get changed back within a week they would, without exception, go completely insane."

"Well that's just wonderful. I feel so much better about the whole thing now," Sharp Wing said sarcastically.

"Would anyone alive today know the gender bender spell?" asked Spike.

"No, when a spell is forbidden it’s against the law to teach it to others on penalty of death," said Twilight.

"Well that seems harsh," remarked Spike.

"Not as harsh as the effects of a taboo spell."

"Maybe Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would know it?" suggested Rainbow Dash.

Sharp Wing knew the answer to that one.

"No, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were born during the reign of Emperor Sharp Wing, three generations after Steel Horn."

To this day Sharp Wing had never understood why her parents had named her after the psychotic emperor who had tried to kill Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"So we're stuck." said Spike.

Sharp Wing mentally cursed her ancestor for screwing her over.

"Maybe you should pay a visit to the hospital," recommended Twilight.

"I think I will. Magic has failed me, but surely science will have an answer!" proclaimed Sharp Wing with renewed hope and vigor.

Without hesitation Sharp Wing took off from the balcony and flew away.

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Spike watched him go.

"He's doomed, isn't he?" said Spike.

"I'd be surprised if he didn't go insane by the end of the day," remarked Rainbow Dash.

Chapter 4: Science is not the answer

Sharp Wing sat impatiently on a cushioned chair in the white walled waiting room to see the doctor. Wanting as few ponies to know about her condition as possible, she had decided to hide her scabbards in a bush outside the building. She hoped that without them she wouldn't be identified. It seemed to be working. None of the other ponies in the waiting room seemed to pay her much attention. Then Pinkie Pie entered the waiting room. Sharp Wing willed herself to be invisible but for some reason it didn't work. Pinkie Pie scanned the room, saw Sharp Wing, and sat down beside her. Sharp Wing was very aware of Pinkie Pie watching her. Any second now.

"I haven't seen you before! Are you new to Ponyville? Ooh, I bet you just moved into Cloudsdale because you're a pegasus! Or are you just visiting? Do you have family here? What's your favorite color? I'm Pinkie Pie what's your name?" She asked with rapid fire speed.

Luckily Sharp Wing's powers of improvising hadn't left her.

"My name is Double Ex," she said, using the name she had given the receptionist. "I was actually just passing through Ponyville on my way to visit family in Canterlot but I noticed this weird mark on my underside and I thought I should have it looked at. Also, my favorite color is blue."

Sharp Wing sat up straighter to show Pinkie Pie the mark from the rope burn.

"Oh, that does look nasty! I'm here because I have tennis knee. Isn't that funny? I don't even play tennis!" My favorite color is pink which is lucky because that's the same color I am. I know another pegasus who has the same cutie mark as you. His name is Sharp Wing, which is funny because his wings aren't actually sharp, he just uses them to hold swords."

Sharp Wing decided to have a little fun.

"Oh really? I've never met another pony with the same cutie mark as me. What's he like?"

"He's nice. He's good at making ponies laugh, and he's also a really good dancer. He has this move where he looks he's walking forwards but he's actually moving backwards. He calls it the moon trot. I've tried to copy it, but I never can. I think he uses his wings or something."

Sharp Wing almost asked if her stallion counterpart was good-looking, but decided against it.

"Double Ex, the doctor is ready for you," called out the receptionist.

"Well, that's my cue. Nice meeting you Pinkie Pie," Sharp Wing said as she left.

"Nice to meet you too!" Pinkie Pie beamed.

Sharp Wing followed a nurse who led her to the examining room.

"Hello, Double Ex, my name is Doctor Cold-Hooves. Have a seat on the table," a yellow stallion with glasses and a white doctor's coat greeted her. He also had a stethoscope around his neck. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"Before I tell you will you promise not to tell anypony?" asked Sharp Wing as she sat down on the table.

Doctor Cold-Hooves smiled a knowing smile.

"Don't worry, ma'am, all of our examinations at the hospital are completely confidential."

"Good, the problem is that I woke up this morning as a mare. I'm actually a stallion."

Doctor Cold-Hooves suddenly seemed like he was a statue.

"Are you okay, Doctor?"

"Um, yes, yes I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting you to say that. I thought you were going to tell me that you were having trouble getting pregnant or something."

"I don't intend to. I want to be turned back to normal."

"Well, that's beyond my expertise. I suggest you pay a visit to a friend of mine to help you with that," Doctor Cold-Hooves said as he held out a business card. Sharp Wing didn't even look at it.

"Your friend is a psychiatrist isn't he?"

Doctor Cold-Hooves smiled weakly.

"I'm not crazy, Doc. At least, not yet. I'm told I have at least a week before that happens."

Doctor Cold-Hooves seemed doubtful.

"I'm serious, my name is Sharp Wing. I'm the pony who rode a manticore into the Everfree Forest yesterday."

Doctor Cold-Hooves' eyes widened.

"Impossible," he breathed, leaning forward to examine Sharp Wing.

Sharp Wing sat there uncomfortably as the doctor walked around her.

"You say you woke up as mare?" he inquired once he had finished.

"I know I wasn't a mare last night."

"Do you realize what this means?"

"That sompony out there hates me?"

"No, I'm talking about a scientific breakthrough!"

"What are you talking about?"

Doctor Cold-Hooves gripped Sharp Wing's shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"Since the dawn of time the inner workings of the mare's mind has boggled stallions. But you, you are now in a position to compare your thoughts as a stallion to your thoughts as a mare! This might be the start of a new age of understanding!"

"I don't think my brain has changed though, except for a little mental scarring."

Doctor Cold-Hooves looked disappointed.

"Are you sure? Have you experienced any changes in say, romantic preferences?"

"I like mares," Sharp Wing said stubbornly.

"What about stallions?"

"Just mares."

"Interesting, it’s possible your knowledge of formally being a stallion is overriding the wiring of your new brain. I imagine if you were to hit your head and lose all of your memory you would prefer stallions."

Sharp Wing was starting to get nervous. The doctor's eyes seemed to have starting gleaming in a disturbing way.

"Hey, don't get any ideas. If you made me forget I was a stallion I wouldn't be able to compare brains."

"No, I suppose not," the doctor sighed. "I suppose the best course of action would be to get a DNA sample from you just to confirm."

Doctor Cold-Hooves snipped off a lock of Sharp Wing's mane and left the room.

"No doubt about it," he said when he entered the room again. "You have-"

He paused as he suddenly realized something.

"Oh, I get it. Double Ex. Clever."

Sharp Wing shrugged.

"Anyway, I have no idea how to turn you back into a stallion. I've never seen anything like this before," Doctor Cold-Hooves admitted.

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?" questioned Sharp Wing, deflated.

"Perhaps Twilight Sparkle can fix you with magic?"

"Tried that already."

"Well, the best I can do is give you this," said Doctor Cold-Hooves as he held out the business card for his psychiatrist friend.

Sharp Wing took it and left the hospital. With the ways things were going she figured she would need it.

Chapter 5: The more the mare-ier

Sharp Wing retrieved her saddle sheaths from the bush and considered her options. Since she was still missing her swords, she might as well retrieve them. Not in the mood to fly, Sharp Wing sadly walked through Ponyville towards the Apple family property. Then she saw Night Mist and Fluttershy up ahead walking towards her. Sharp Wing considered leaving the road to hide. But then, if her condition couldn't be reversed, she would have to face Night Mist at some point anyway. Why not get it over with? When Fluttershy spotted Sharp Wing she suddenly looked relieved.

"Night Mist, this is your friend Shar-"

She paused when she got a better look at Sharp Wing.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were sompony else," she apologized to Sharp Wing, blushing.

"No, you're right. I'm Sharp Wing. I woke up a mare this morning for some reason," Sharp Wing said flatly.

Fluttershy only stared. Night Mist, surprisingly, didn't show any reaction.

"What's with you?" Sharp Wing asked Night Mist, who still didn't seem to recognize her.

"Night Mist lost his memory, that's why he doesn't know you. I'm showing him the way to Twilight Sparkle's place to see if she can help," Fluttershy explained.

"Sorry I don't recognize you, I don't remember a thing. So you're saying you were turned from a stallion to a mare?" Night Mist asked, intrigued.

Sharp Wing was stunned. What was going on? First he had changed into a mare, and now Night Mist suddenly had amnesia.

"Wow, just wow. This is really turning out to be a strange day. How about we all just go straight to Twilight's place okay?" Fluttershy suggested. "If that's alright with you," she added.

"Why wouldn't it be alright with me? Is there something I should know about this Twilight Sparkle?" questioned Night Mist.

"She's your girlfriend," lied Sharp Wing.

"Seriously?"

"Nope."

Night Mist frowned and looked at Fluttershy.

"Are you sure she's my friend?"

Fluttershy glared daggers at Sharp Wing.

"Yes she is. Although she's not being very nice right now and should apologize to you," she said threateningly.

Sharp Wing felt like she was melting under Fluttershy's fearsome gaze.

"I'm sorry," she said meekly, "I was just in a bad mood."

Night Mist opened his mouth to say something when suddenly a panicked mob of ponies came charging down the street.

Sharp Wing glanced up and saw what they were running from. One of the buildings on Sugar Cube Corner was on fire. Frazzle Spark's firecracker store was on Sugar Cube Corner. With a sinking feeling Sharp Wing realized that she hadn't seen Frazzle Spark since yesterday. Frazzle Spark had always had an unhealthy love of fire, but surely he wouldn't set a building on fire would he?

And yet, Sharp Wing was now a mare. Night Mist had lost his memory and had no sign of a head injury. What if ponies everywhere had all started changing in strange ways? What if Frazzle Spark had turned into a full fledged pyromaniac?

Without hesitation Sharp Wing launched herself into the air and flew for Sugar Cube corner. When she got closer she saw that is was Frazzle Spark's store that was on fire. Firefighters were already on the scene, forming a line to pass down buckets of water to toss on the flaming structure.

To Sharp Wing's horror she saw that the fire was the least of her worries. A red dragon was squatting beside the fire and was attacking the side of the structure with its claws. On side of the building had already collapsed. The dragon was two stories tall sitting, the same height as the store. Sharp Wing didn't know what to do. She didn't have her swords, and even if she did, she knew from books that a dragon's scales were practically invincible.

Suddenly Twilight Sparkle rushed onto the scene. She stopped in front of the dragon and fired a beam of blue energy at the dragon. The beam hit the dragon's arm and encased it in ice. The dragon glanced at its arm, and then at Twilight Sparkle. Abruptly it reached down with its other arm and snatched her up. Twilight screamed.

Sharp Wing surged forward, but she could already tell she was too far away to get there in time. The dragon now held Twilight in front of its face and was opening and closing its jaws.

Then the strangest thing happened. Twilight Sparkle stopped screaming as the dragon held out its arm and pointed her horn at the store. More blue light shot out of it as the dragon moved her around in order to cover every side of the building.

Sharp Wing thought she realized what was happening. She had already gone insane and was now hallucinating. Within minutes the store was encased in ice and the fire was stopped. Sharp Wing reached the store just as the dragon set Twilight back down on the ground.

"Okay, I give up. What the hay was that?" Sharp Wing asked her.

"I think Frazzle Spark might be the better one to ask," responded Twilight Sparkle evenly.

"Where is he?"

Twilight Sparkle tilted her head at the dragon.

If Sharp Wing's brain was mentally scarred before, it was now officially blown. The dragon was dark red in color, with black spines and orange eyes. Just like Frazzle Spark, except he used to have a mane and tail, not spines.

"Sharp Wing, is that you?" the dragon rumbled when he spotted Sharp Wing.

"Hi, Fraz, it’s me," Sharp Wing said weakly.

Frazzle Spark's large reptilian head lowered down to get a better look.

"Why are you a mare?"

"Why are you a dragon?"

"No idea."

"Me neither, why where you attacking your own store?"

"I wasn't, I was trying to put out the flames. I accidentally set it on fire when I sneezed."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's all right, only a complete idiot wouldn't have really good fire insurance for a store that sells fireworks," responded Frazzle Spark, trying to remain positive.

"Are you saying it wasn't insured?"

Frazzle Spark scowled at the implied insult.

"That wasn't funny."

"Sorry, I've had a rough morning."

"Well, this is turning out to be a bizarre day. Just how many ponies have gone through shocking transformations?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"I don't know if it counts, but I've lost my memory," said Night Mist as he and Fluttershy appeared.

Twilight Sparkle rubbed her hooves against the sides of head.

"Alright, here's what we we're going to do," she said. "Fluttershy, you go round up the girls, we're going to need every head to figure this out. Sharp Wing, Night Mist, and I will go around to see how many other ponies have been changed. We'll all meet up at the library when we're done."

"What about me?" asked Frazzle Spark.

"How about you just wait for us at the library?" Twilight suggested gently.

Frazzle Spark got the hint.

"Fine," he sighed.

"Actually, I need to go retrieve my swords," said Sharp Wing.

"Alright, looks like it’s just you and me, Night Mist. Come on." Twilight said as she turned about and started walking. Night Mist shot a helpless glance at Fluttershy.

"She's not your girlfriend." Fluttershy whispered as a reminder.

Luckily, Twilight Sparkle didn't hear her. Night Mist nodded to signal he understood and followed Twilight.

Sharp Wing retrieved her swords without too much trouble. The Everfree forest was usually safer during the daytime, and the cows at the barn remembered where he had dropped the still sharp one. Now properly equipped, she made her way back to the library. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Night Mist, and Apple Jack were all waiting inside. Frazzle Spark had managed to be present by sticking his scaly head through the door of the balcony. Spike was sitting on his snout. Sharp Wing was suddenly a lot more self-conscious of her form with Apple Jack present for some reason.

"Oh hi, Double Ex!" Pinkie Pie greeted Sharp Wing when she saw her.

Rainbow Dash laughed.

"Double Ex! Good one, Pinkie Pie."

"That's not a joke, that's her name, I met her earlier today," Pinkie Pie insisted.

Sharp Wing realized there would be no improvising her way out of this one.

"Actually, my name isn't Double Ex. I made it up because I was embarrassed that I had turned into a mare," she explained.

"Oh, okay. By the way, that pegasus I told you about, the one that could dance? Twilight said he'd be coming here. I think you two will become good friends," responded Pinkie Pie, still not quite up to speed on the situation.

"Pinkie Pie, that mare in front of you is Sharp Wing," Rarity informed her.

"Oh hi there, Sharp Wing! Have you met Double Ex yet? I'll introduce you if you haven't!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

"Let's just get started shall we? Have a seat, Sharp Wing," Twilight Sparkle said with a sigh.

Sharp Wing sat down between Night Mist and Fluttershy, as far away from Apple Jack as possible.

"Here's the situation," Twilight Sparkle began, "This morning, Frazzle Spark, Sharp Wing, and Night Mist woke up different then they usually are. They're the only three ponies in Ponyville to have changed. We need to find out why and return them to normal."

"This reminds me of the time you all ran into that patch of Poison Joke," quipped Spike.

"You're right, Spike! This is exactly like the time we all ran into Poison Joke!" Twilight exclaimed.

She turned to Night Mist.

"Do you remember seeing any blue flower-like plants when you and Frazzle Spark rescued Sharp Wing yesterday?" she asked him.

Night Mist shot her a dirty look.

"Oh right, sorry."

"Actually, I was in a patch of blue flower-like plants when I got stuck!" Sharp Wing recalled.

"Well, that was an easy mystery to solve," said Twilight. "All we have to do now is-"

"I think I'm about to sneeze again!" Frazzle Spark interrupted, eyes wide with panic.

Everypony in the library screamed.

Chapter 6: It's never that easy

"Quick! Pull out and your head and look straight up!" Spike ordered over the sound of all the screaming ponies as he jumped down from Frazzle Spark's snout.

Frazzle Spark yanked his large head out of the library window and did as Spike told him in the nick of time. With a loud sneeze, an enormous pillar or fire erupted from his nostrils and mouth into the sky.

"Thanks, L.D.B," he grinned at Spike once the danger had passed.

"No problem, B.D.B," Spike grinned back.

"B.D.B?" asked Rarity.

"Big dragon buddy," Spike explained.

"And L.D.B stands for little dragon buddy," added Frazzle Spark. "We came up with it while we were waiting for the rest of you to show up."

All of the ponies in the library only stared at the two dragons.

"What? You guys have all sorts of pony related abbreviations. Is it so wrong that we made up some dragon ones?" Spike said defensively.

"We made up a whole list of them," Frazzle Spark beamed. "Show them the list, Spike."

Spike held out a scroll.

"Look, Spike, I'm glad you and Frazzle Spark are getting along so well, but you shouldn't get used to having him as a B.D.B. We're going to get him changed back," Twilight Sparkle warned.

"Actually, I kind of like being a dragon. I think I'll stay the way I am," Frazzle Spark decided.

"Not a chance. We're changing you back A.S.A.P," Twilight Sparkle insisted.

Sharp Wing understood the reasoning for Twilight Sparkle's insistence. As a unicorn, Frazzle Spark had the ability to use the ignition spell, which allowed him to create very tiny fireballs. Although he couldn't do anything fancy like throw them or make them bigger, it was still an unnerving ability for a pony with a blatant love for fire to have. A dragon, on the other hoof, could make a lot more fire than that. Sharp Wing didn't want to think about the damage Frazzle Spark could cause as a dragon, and she imagined Twilight didn't want to either.

"Spike, find me the Supernatural's book, the same one Zecora had with the cure for Poison Joke in it," Twilight requested.

"Ah yes, the book that I found that would have saved you a whole lot of trouble had you bothered to-"

"Just get it, Spike," Twilight interrupted.

Spike grabbed a nearby ladder and climbed up it to reach a particular shelf.

"Um, Twilight?" he said.

"Yes, Spike?"

"It's not here."

"Of course it's not there. Celestia forbid there's ever an easy way to solve anything." Sharp Wing complained.

"Well, it’s got to be somewhere in here right? Let's just search until we find it." suggested Rarity.

Everyone searched for half an hour but turned up nothing.

"I don't understand how it could go missing. Neither Spike or I have touched it since that day when I was affected by the Poison Joke," said Twilight in puzzlement.

Sharp Wing didn't respond, for she was too busy banging her head against a wall repeatedly.

"Hey! Didn't Zecora give the recipe to that mare at the Spa?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"You mean Lotus?" inquired Pinkie Pie.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to the Spa!" encouraged Sharp Wing, instantly forgetting her wall banging.

"Wow, Sharp Wing. You've been a mare for less than a day and you're already desperate to go the Spa!" laughed Frazzle Spark.

"Shut up, Fraz," retorted Sharp Wing, reddening slightly.

"Alright everypony, lets head to the spa and get that cure," announced Twilight.

"Am I included in everypony?" inquired Frazzle Spark.

"It might be best if you stayed here with Spike for now," suggested Fluttershy gently.

"They're just going to the spa, we're not missing anything," Spike assured Frazzle Spark.

Sharp Wing and the other ponies departed from the library and headed for the spa.

"Why hello, Rarity! Are all these ponies with you?" chirped a pink earth pony with a blue mane behind the desk as they entered.

"Hello, Aloe. As a matter of fact, they are with me. But we're not here to relax. We need to speak to Lotus," Rarity informed her.

"She's not in some sort of trouble is she?"

"No, we just need to ask her something," Twilight assured Aloe.

"Alright, I'll go get her," agreed Aloe as she left to retrieve Lotus.

After a moment a blue earth pony with a pink mane came into the room with Aloe.

"You needed to speak to me?" she asked.

"Yes, These two ponies plus one other who isn't here got infected with Poison Joke. We were wondering if you had the bath mixture that Zecora gave you so we can cure them." Twilight explained.

"Why yes, we have some. Could you go fetch it while I get these two ready, Aloe?"

Sharp Wing breathed a sigh of relief as Lotus led them down a hall. Soon everything would be over.

"You really don't need to look so uncomfortable, darling," Lotus said to Night Mist, "We have stallions come in here all the time. It's perfectly normal."

"It's not that, I'm just a little overwhelmed. I lost my memory because of the Poison Joke and it's rather nerve wrecking," Night Mist clarified.

"Oh, that's a shame. Did something similar happen to you too, hon?" Lotus asked Sharp Wing.

"No, I got hit with something else," evaded Sharp Wing, not wishing for Lotus to laugh at her. "Our other friend got turned into a dragon, believe it or not."

"Well that's something. I hope he or she didn't turn into a big dragon. We don't have any tubs that large," said Lotus as she directed Night Mist and Sharp Wing to get into a tub. "Just wait right here in the tub, Aloe should come in with the mixture in a moment."

"Huh," said Sharp Wing after she had left. "This is actually kind of relaxing. Maybe I'll be one of those stallions who come to the spa after this is over."

"You have no idea how strange it is to me to keep hearing you refer to yourself as a stallion," remarked Night Mist.

"Once you get your memories back it'll be less weird. All we have to do now is wait."

After the two of them did just that for five minutes Sharp Wing began to get impatient. Then Aloe finally entered the room.

"I'm terribly sorry about this, but we seem to have misplaced the bath mixture Zecora gave us," she apologized.

Both of the two ponies in the tub groaned loudly. Fate, it seemed to Sharp Wing, had decided she deserved to suffer.

"But um, how about a free spa treatment? We'll even through in a massage," Aloe offered.

"No, we’ve still got to go find the cure and we have ponies waiting on us. Thanks though," Sharp Wing said politely as she climbed out of the tub and dried herself off with a towel.

"I'm really sorry we lost it. This sort of thing has never happened here before, I assure you. You two and your friend can come back any time and the offer still stands alright?"

"Thank you very much," Night Mist thanked her as he and Sharp Wing went back out to the waiting room.

"You're all still here?" asked Sharp Wing in surprise when he saw that none of the ponies who had escorted her and Night Mist to the spa had left.

"We were trying to figure out a way to make a bath large enough for Frazzle Spark," explained Twilight. "I heard from Lotus that the mixtures had disappeared?"

"Yeah, we basically just got a free five minute bath without any soap or shampoo," answered Sharp Wing bitterly as she strapped her sword scabbards back on.

"You could always try Zecora's. Do either of you know how to get to her place?" asked Fluttershy.

"I think it's safe to say that I don't," Night Mist said flatly.

"Me neither," added Sharp Wing.

"Well, I guess we'll just show you the way," decided Twilight Sparkle.

The eight ponies went back the library to retrieve Frazzle Spark and Spike before they set off for the Everfree forest.

"Can't we go any faster?" begged Sharp Wing as they walked down the streets of Ponyville, eager for this nightmare to end.

"If you want to go faster I could show you the way," offered Rainbow Dash.

"If you do go on ahead of us, don't fly too fast okay? You might hit a tree," cautioned Fluttershy.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's go Sharp Wing. See if you can keep up," said Rainbow Dash as she took off at full speed.

Sharp Wing tried her best to keep up, but after a few minutes Rainbow Dash had left her in the dust. When she finally reached the Everfree forest, she discovered Rainbow Dash had indeed crashed and had somehow embedded herself in a tree trunk, with the front half of her body sticking out one side of the trunk and her back half sticking out of the opposite side. As desperate as she was to be a stallion again, Sharp Wing had no intention of letting such a golden opportunity slip by.

"Would you look at that, I actually managed to catch up and pass you!" Sharp Wing said as she walked a few steps past the tree.

"Very funny," Rainbow Dash seethed as she tried to pull herself free.

Sharp Wing started circling the tree.

"Now I'm running laps around you, and I'm not even galloping or using my wings."

"Shut up."

"Do you need any help getting out?"

"No I don't, stay away from me."

With great amusement Sharp Wing watched her struggle uselessly.

"Are you sure?"

"If you lay a hoof on me I'll break your neck."

"Did you ever hear the story about the pegasus who got stuck halfway through a tree and a monster came by and ate her?"

"Stop talking."

Sharp Wing walked behind Rainbow Dash so that she couldn't see her.

"She never even saw the monster coming. It just came up behind her and sank its fangs into her plot. Ripped her clean in half."

"Your sense of humor is disturbing."

Sharp Wing didn't say anything.

"Sharp Wing? Are you still there?"

Still no answer.

"I know you're back there. You’re just trying to scare me."

Without a sound Sharp Wing picked up a twig and lightly poked Rainbow Dash's plot. Rainbow Dash screamed loudly with fright. Sharp Wing fell to the ground laughing hysterically.

"I'm going to kill you!" Rainbow Dash raged.

"Sure you will."

"I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"

"By the time you get out of there I'll be bigger than you again."

"I could take you as a stallion with a hoof tied behind by back!"

"I don't know, even if you were a stallion I doubt you could beat me up with only three hooves."

"I meant you as a stallion, stupid!"

"You should be grateful I'm here protecting your rear from monsters."

"Shut up!"

"I'm totally saving your life over here, you could afford to be a little nicer."

"Shut your mouth!"

"What's going on here?" asked Apple Jack as she and the rest caught up.

"We're playing charades. I think Rainbow Dash is trying to be a tree branch."

"I'm going to kill you, Sharp Wing!"

"Did you stick Rainbow Dash through a tree?" gasped Rarity.

"Actually, she was just hovering there and it grew up around her."

"Stop joking around, Sharp Wing! What happened?" Twilight demanded.

"What happened was exactly what I warned her about, she tried to fly through a forest at full speed," frowned Fluttershy.

"How come you didn't pull her out?" asked Night Mist.

"I offered to, but she strongly recommended that I didn't touch her."

"Why is she mad at you then?" asked Spike.

"He poked me with something!"

"That sounds really bad out of context." Sharp Wing said hastily, "And I'm a she now, not a he."

"What did you poke her with?" asked Frazzle Spark.

Against her will, Sharp Wing's eyes glanced at the twig on the ground.

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she used magic to pull out Rainbow Dash and hold her in place to prevent her from tackling Sharp Wing.

"We'll talk about this later," she said as she stared down Sharp Wing. "Right now we need to get to Zecora's so that we can get you three back to normal."

With Rainbow Dash still suspended and fuming, the group walked the rest of the way to Zecora's. Sharp Wing was ahead of everypony else, and because of this she was to first one to see the note tacked to the door of Zerora's home.

Went to my homeland to visit my pack, in the middle of August I will back.

"I don't believe this!" Sharp Wing proclaimed.

"Me neither, even her notes rhyme! How does she come up with rhymes all the time?" exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she read over Sharp Wing's shoulder. "Hey, I just rhymed too! Rhyme and time! Oh my gosh, I just did it again!"

Sharp Wing growled as she kicked the door open and stormed inside to start looking around. Sensing Sharp Wing's frustration, everyone who could fit through the door slipped inside and silently began searching for the book.

"Un-freaking-believable. First the book wasn't at the library, then the mixture or the recipe wasn't at the spa, and now the same freaking book isn't anywhere in Zecora's freaking house and Zecora is out of town!" Sharp Wing raged after they had all searched every nook and cranny of Zecora's hut.

"Maybe she took the book with her?" suggested Fluttershy

"It's the middle of July now, it will be about a month before she returns. Maybe she'll have it like Fluttershy suggested or she knows where the book is," figured Rarity.

"I can wait, I'm not in any rush to be a unicorn again," said Frazzle Spark from outside the hut.

"Me too, I have no idea what I'm missing. I noticed a huge collection of movies in the house that I'm assuming is mine. I can enjoy them all as if watching them for the first time while I wait," agreed Night Mist.

"But I can't wait! According to Twilight's book I'll be insane long before Zecora gets back!" despaired Sharp Wing.

Eveypony went silent as Sharp Wing's predicament sank in.

"Well, I've always wanted an excuse to visit Zecora's homeland and experience a different culture," grinned Twilight Sparkle as she turned to face everypony. "Pack your bags everypony, we’re going to Zebrawbway!"

**************************

"That was your work, wasn't it?"

"What was my work?"

"Do you really expect me to believe that both copies of the same book and the mixtures at the spa all just conveniently went missing?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, that was me."

"But Sharp Wing Featherblade was the one we wanted, not a whole group consisting of eight ponies and two dragons."

"Relax, the plan will still work. I anticipated the others would help him, I mean, her, and acted accordingly."

"I don't like it. They could get hurt, or even killed."

"You know what's at stake don't you?"

"Yes, I do. But I still don't like it."

"Well, get over it. Sharp Wing Featherblade must come to us, no matter what the cost."

Chapter 7: More like an errand than an adventure

Twilight Sparkle marched down the line of supplies that everypony had gathered in a meadow not far from Ponyville.

"Tents, check. Sleeping bags, check. Pillows, check. Sea chart, check. Compass, check. Telescope, check. Food, check. Water, check," Twilight Sparkle said aloud as she went through a list levitating in front of her. "Are we forgetting anything?"

"Why the camping equipment? We're not going to be sleeping outdoors are we? Can't we just fly straight there and back?" asked Rarity.

"It's a precaution. I would like to think Frazzle Spark could make it there before dark, but there's a lot of variables." answered Twilight.

"But if we're flying over the ocean won't it be kind of hard to set up a camp?" Rarity persisted.

"I don't need a sleeping back or a tent. I could fall asleep right here," said Rainbow Dash from inside one of the giant saddle bags strapped to Frazzle Spark. "Good thinking with the pony sized saddle bags, Rarity."

"Why is it again I have to carry everypony and all the supplies?" asked Frazzle Spark.

"Because you're a giant dragon, that's why. Suck it up." replied Sharp Wing.

"But it might be heavy," protested Frazzle Spark. "Besides, I don't have any experience flying. What if I get too tired and fall into the ocean?"

"You won't have to worry about that, Frazzle Spark. I've mapped out our route with plenty of islands along the way. If you get tired we can stop on one of them," Twilight Sparkle reassured him.

"You really don't need to come with us. We've already inconvenienced you enough already," Night Mist apologized to Twilight Sparkle.

“It’s not a problem at all. Like I said, I've always wanted to visit Zecora's homeland," Twilight Sparkle replied.

"What's her homeland called again? Does it rhyme?" questioned Pinkie Pie.

"No, it’s called Zebrawbway," Twilight informed her.

"That's a funny name for a land," Pinkie Pie remarked.

"It's not funny, it’s just different. Zebrawbway is different from Equestria in a lot of ways."

"The supplies are all secured," reported Apple Jack as she gave one last tug on one of the giant saddle bags.

"I can't believe I actually get to come along on an adventure with you guys! Usually I get left out because of the whole not being one of the Elements of Harmony thing, but not this time!" Spike said gleefully from atop Frazzle Spark's head.

"Well hopefully we won't need the Elements of Harmony. We're just flying there and back, no danger or anything right?" asked Fluttershy.

"More like an errand than a full fledged adventure, sugercube," Apple Jack assured her.

"Get in your saddlebags everypony, we’re taking off!" announced Twilight Sparkle.

Everypony got into their respective bags and adjusted themselves so that only their heads were poking out the top.

"Alright, B.D.B, lets fly!" Spike cheered.

"Aye-aye, Captain L.D.B!" Frazzle Spark confirmed as he kicked up off of the ground and into the air.

Fluttershy let out a little shriek as they did so.

After a few hours Ponyville was out of sight. Sharp Wing felt relaxed for the first time since her transformation as she watched the scenery below switch from forest to beach and then to ocean water. That peace was instantly shattered when Frazzle Spark let loose a loud roar.

"Ow, why did you do that?" asked Night Mist as he rubbed his ears.

"No reason in particular, just wanted to see what it felt like." admitted Frazzle Spark.

"Well, please don't do it again," Fluttershy requested.

The group lapsed into silence as Frazzle Spark flew on.

"So, Night Mist, explain the whole amnesia thing to me," said Apple Jack in an effort to prompt a conversation, "Clearly ya remember how to talk, but what else do ya remember?"

"I know basic things, like water is for drinking or that I should have more memories than I do, but nothing else. I didn't even know my own name until Fluttershy told me," Night Mist explained.

"And how did ya go about asking Fluttershy?" Apple Jack asked.

"Oh, he was very polite about it. He just walked up to me on the street and told me he didn't know who he was or where he was," Fluttershy chimed in.

"Do you know what your cutie mark talent is?” questioned Pinkie Pie.

"Let me guess, I noticed it was a magnifying glass, is it some kind of science?" Night Mist guessed.

"Close, your cutie mark talent is frying ants," Sharp Wing lied in good humor.

"Ha, somehow I doubt that," Night Mist grinned.

"No, seriously, isn't that his special talent, Apple Jack?" Sharp Wing said as she winked at Apple Jack.

"Oh, absolutely, you could fry an ant with a magnifying glass every second when ya point yer mind to it," said Apple Jack, playing along.

"Ha, I knew you were a liar! So much for being the Element of Honesty!" Sharp Wing called out.

"Well, shoot, I guess I'm busted!" laughed Apple Jack.

Night Mist smiled, but Sharp Wing could tell by his raised brow that he didn't know what it meant to be the Element of Honesty.

"Your cutie mark talent is finding the truth," Fluttershy informed Night Mist.

"Well, nice to see somepony does care about telling me the truth. I guess you could say I just proved you right."

"How do you know Fluttershy isn't lying to you too?" smirked Rainbow Dash.

"Because she seems like a very nice pony and nothing she's said thus far has been contradicted." Night Mist retorted.

"Look out!" Rarity suddenly screeched.

Everypony yelled as Frazzle Spark swerved straight up to avoid a huge blur of blue and green as it surged out of the water with a large roar of rushing water. All Sharp Wing could do was gape as her eyes locked onto the sight now before her. It was an enormous blue dragon with green spines and wings. However, it wasn't like any dragon she had seen before. It had webbed claws and had what appeared to be water vapor rising from its nostrils, not smoke.

Green fins adorned its body in several places, including a large fin on the tip of its tail instead of a spade, and fins on its elbows. The dragon locked eyes with Frazzle Spark and let loose a terrifying roar. Out of either fear or instinct, Frazzle Spark replied with a roar of his own. The blue and green dragon cocked its head back as if sizing Frazzle Spark up.

"I'll rip your heart out," it grinned wickedly.

Frazzle Spark didn't respond.

"What are you waiting for? Make a comeback, show her not to mess with you!" Spike whispered.

An idea sprang into Sharp Wing's head. If the dragon before them was a she, maybe Frazzle Spark could charm her into not killing all of them. But before she could tell Frazzle Spark her idea he went with Spike's suggestion.

"I'll tear out your throat!" he growled.

So much for charm.

"I'll drown you at the bottom of the ocean!" snarled the she-dragon.

"I'll roast you to the bone!"

The she-dragon blinked as if surprised.

"Nice comeback! The name's Typhoon, what’s yours?"

"Frazzle Spark," Frazzle Spark answered automatically, clearly stunned by the dragon's sudden change in attitude.

"Nice to meet you, I like your snack bags."

"Oh, um, thanks, Rarity made them."

Sharp Wing face-hoofed. The roasting to the bone line had been good, but when it came to improvising Frazzle Spark didn't come close to her.

"Rarity? Who’s that?"

Frazzle Spark pointed a claw at Rarity.

The she-dragon, Typhoon, leaned in to study Rarity, who let out a little squeak.

"You forced a unicorn to make her own snack bag? That's so cruel!"

From the way the she-dragon said "cruel" it sounded like a compliment.

"Thanks?"

"How'd you do it? Threaten to eat her friends slowly if she refused?"

"Um, yeah, that's exactly how I did it," Frazzle Spark fibbed.

"That's pretty smart, I gotta try that. Too bad ponies don't get as big as they used to nowadays, am I right?"

"Um, yeah, totally, those were the days all right."

"Yeah, natural selection can be such a- hello! Who’s this?" said the she-dragon abruptly as she noticed Spike for the first time.

"That's Spike, my, uh, little dragon buddy."

"Hey," said Spike.

"He's so adorable!"

Spike only frowned.

"Are you two going on a trip or something?"

As disturbing as the conversation was, it was becoming more and more clear to Sharp Wing that the she-dragon had no apparent intention of killing anypony. Sharp Wing was starting to wish the she-dragon would stop talking and move on.

"He's taking me to Zebrawbway to show me how to hunt for treasure," Spike answered casually.

"Cool, I remember when my older brother took me treasure hunting for the first time. I found a lot but then he took all the treasure for himself. Took me centuries before I was big enough to steal it back," Typhoon recalled fondly.

"That's nice. We should probably be flying on now, lots of treasure to find," Frazzle Spark hinted.

"Sure, sure, I'm going to go do the same. Nice meeting you both, hopefully we'll run into each other again," Typhoon said sweetly before she slipped back underneath the waves. The entire group let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Well, that was extremely terrifying, who knew dragons could be so talkative?" Sharp Wing remarked.

"Nice acting you two, you probably saved all of us from a horrible fate," Apple Jack complimented the dragons.

"I didn't do much, Typhoon did nearly all the talking," Frazzle Spark said humbly.

"I feel like we just met the dragon version of Pinkie Pie, minus the pony eating and sadistic nature." Rainbow Dash commented.

"That was terrible, let’s fly away from here and fast as possible," urged Fluttershy.

"We're coming up on an island, let's stop to eat lunch and calm our nerves," decided Twilight Sparkle as she studied the sea chart.

The entire group agreed this was a good plan.

Chapter 8: More like a death wish than an errand

With a jarring thud Frazzle Spark landed on the island. Sharp Wing got out, stretched, helped unstrap all the saddlebags from Frazzle Spark, and gave the island a once over. It wasn't much, mostly sand with a cluster of palm trees in the center.

"I just realized something. What the fang am I supposed to eat?" Frazzle Spark questioned.

"What the fang? Is that another new dragon phrase?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Yep, it’s our version of what the hay," confirmed Spike proudly.

"That's stupid."

"Don't mind her, she's just A.P.W.S.W.A.D," Frazzle Spark stage whispered to Spike.

Both of the dragons burst into a fit of giggling.

"This is going to be a long trip isn't it," Rarity sighed.

"And just what does A.P.W.S.W.A.D stand for?!" Twilight raged.

"We'd tell you, but it’s for dragons only. So sorry," laughed Spike.

Twilight levitated the scroll of dragon sayings out of one of the saddle bags and read it.

"A pony who wishes she was a dragon?! That's it, no more dragon lingo!" she declared.

"Oh come on, that's not fair!" Spike protested.

"How about we all calm down and eat lunch," coaxed Fluttershy.

"But what am I supposed to eat? pony-sized meals aren't going to cut it for me," Frazzle Spark complained.

"Why don't you try catching some fish to eat? Dragons can eat meat right? Should be plenty in the ocean," suggested Night Mist.

Frazzle Spark grinned, showing of a fearsome display of fangs. Then he promptly dunked his head in the water with such force it splashed and drenched Applejack.

"Well great, now I'm soakin' wet and we didn't bring any towels," she remarked.

"Don't worry, AJ! I got your back!" Pinkie Pie announced as she planted a sponge on Applejack's back with her hoof.

"Where did that sponge come from?" questioned Night Mist with wide eyes.

"It's a Pinkie Pie thing. Just roll with it," suggested Rainbow Dash.

Night Mist stood up and stared hard at Pinkie Pie.

"No saddlebag, wasn't packed, too big to fit in her mouth without affecting her speech," he mused.

"I have sponges stashed all over the planet in case of a water related emergency," Pinkie Pie informed him.

"That's the best explanation you're going to get. Just let it go," urged Sharp Wing.

Night Mist reached into Pinkie Pie's wild curly mane and pulled out another sponge.

"Liar," he said accusingly.

"Oh, silly me, I forgot I could have used one of the sponges I keep in my mane," said Pinkie Pie innocently.

"Do you really expect me to believe you keep sponges all over the planet?!"

"Doesn't everypony?"

"No! No they don't!"

"Dude, calm down and have an apple strudel," said Sharp Wing as she tossed Night Mist a pastry.

Night Mist looked like he wanted to press further, but instead he resigned and ate the strudel. The ponies and Spike ate in silence while doing their best not to watch Frazzle Spark devour the fish and scoop up some more out of the water to repeat the process.

"You're still looking kind of wet, AJ. Hold still and let me blow you off," offered Rainbow Dash once they had finished.

Before Applejack had the chance to say anything, Rainbow Dash zipped around her at high speed several times.

"My hat! Where'd it go!" cried out Applejack after Rainbow Dash was done.

Ten heads frantically glanced around in search of Applejack's now missing hat.

"There it is! On the water!" exclaimed Rarity.

"I got it!" Sharp Wing automatically shouted out right before she flew off to retrieve it.

Sharp Wing reached the hat and clamped onto it with her teeth. Piece of apple cake. No sooner had this thought crossed her mind, a giant green tentacle shot out of the water, wrapped around her, and then proceeded to yank her under.

Sharp Wing managed to keep her teeth clamped shut as she was pulled down. Then she opened her eyes and saw a gaping circular maw filled with razor sharp teeth. After she saw that she lost her grip on the hat, due to the fact it’s impossible to both keep one's mouth shut and scream in terror at the same time. Having allowed herself to do that, Sharp Wing improvised. Her torso now smaller because she had emptied nearly all the air out of her lungs, she used the newly freed space in the grip to wrap her wing tips around her swords and cut herself free. Blood seeped from the sliced tentacle as Sharp Wing kicked up to the surface for air.

Distantly she heard everyone on the beach screaming. Doubtlessly they were telling her to get out of the water. She would get out of the water, of course. That is, after she got the hat. Sharp Wing took a gulp of air before going back down beneath the waves. The hat was now drifting inside of a thrashing mass of tentacles. Sharp Wing weaved her way through, hacking away any tentacles that got to close.

Sharp Wing gripped the hat again with her teeth just as yet another tentacle squeezed her, effectively pinning her wings to her sides. Perhaps going after the hat had been a bad idea. Suddenly a streak of red passed before her eyes. It was Frazzle Spark, and he was in a frenzy. Fangs and claws ripped through the tentacles as if they were ribbon, and the vise like grip around Sharp Wing fell away. Next thing Sharp Wing knew, Frazzle Spark had grabbed her and lifted both of them out of the water with a powerful flap of his wings. The hat was still secure in her teeth.

All of the ponies plus Spike cheered as Frazzle Spark landed on the island again.

"Thanks for the rescue, Fraz, I thought I was seafood," Sharp Wing thanked her friend before hopping down to return the hat to Apple Jack. "Here you go."

Without hesitation, Applejack smacked Sharp Wing painfully hard across the face with her hoof.

"Ya cotton brained ig-nor-a-moose! What in Princess Celestia's mane were ya thinking?!" she yelled.

"I was thinking I would get your hat back! Easy on the gratitude, AJ!" Sharp Wing snapped sarcastically.

"Please don't fight! I hate it when ponies fight!" pleaded Fluttershy.

"Well, ya thought stupid-like! What in tar-nation could possibly possess ya to go after my hat like that?"

"How was I supposed to know there was a freaking sea monster there?!"

"I meant after that, ya could have gotten away but instead ya went under again on purpose! It's like ya got a death wish or somethin'!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not about to let a monster get the best of me, ever."

"Land's sake, Sharp Wing! Even when you've been turned into a mare you're just as reckless and stubborn as ever!"

"Here's an idea. Since everything turned out okay anyway, why don't you just be glad you got your hat back?"

"A hat ain't worth dying for, Sharp Wing."

"I agree with you. That's why I didn't die."

"You would have if Frazzle Spark hadn't dived in to save ya."

"Most likely, but I'm alive, that sea monster has five dozen boo-boo's, and your hat is safe."

"That's beside the point. Just because you've been lucky so far doesn't mean you can keep throwing yourself into danger and expect everything to turn out fine every time. You really ought to start thinking ahead more often."

"Fine, you win, I'll be less reckless next time. Now will you take the freaking hat?"

Applejack accepted the still dripping hat and placed it on her head.

"Well, this was nowhere near as calming for the nerves as I had hoped. Let's pack everything back up and get this show on the road," Twilight suggested.

Within minutes everything and everyone was packed up again. This time Frazzle Spark's takeoff was somewhat smoother.

"How much longer until we reach Zebrawbway?" asked Rarity once they were in the air.

Twilight Sparkle checked her map.

"We should make it there by nightfall, assuming we don't have any more unexpected delays," she figured.

"Well that's not going to happen. Wake me up when sompony is about to die again," announced Rainbow Dash as she withdrew from sight inside her saddle bag.

Sharp Wing decided taking a nap was a good idea to imitate. Without a word she positioned herself on her back inside the saddle bag, hammock style, and closed her eyes.

Chapter 9: Getting warmer

When Sharp Wing opened her eyes again it was dark. For a split second she panicked before she remembered she was inside a pony sized saddle bag. Sharp Wing adjusted herself so she could see out of the bag. It was dark outside of the saddle bag too, except for a sky full of stars. Sharp Wing noticed that the only other pony awake was Twilight Sparkle. Frazzle Spark, of course, was still awake as well.

"Why are we flying at night? I thought we didn't want Fraz to get too tired." questioned Sharp Wing.

"I figured since we're so close we might as well travel all the way," Twilight explained. "If you look up ahead, you can see the coast of Zebrawbway."

Sharp Wing peered ahead and saw that she was right. She could see land.

"It's huge, how are we supposed to find Zecora in a land that big?"

"I think what we'll do is land and then look for her in the morning."

"Do we have an address or something?"

"Not really. Truth be told, she's always been rather vague about her homeland," Twilight responded with a shrug.

"Do you think they'll have any dragon sized hotel rooms?" asked Frazzle Spark.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't bring any bits to pay for a hotel!" Twilight gasped.

"Well, never mind then," said Frazzle Spark.

"Where are we supposed to stay? I wasn't prepared for this!" Twilight despaired.

"Calm down, we still have all those tents and sleeping bags. We can just camp out," Sharp Wing assured her.

"Rarity will be so happy to hear that," laughed Frazzle Spark.

After a few minutes Frazzle Spark reached the beach of Zebrawbway.

"Can I wake up the others?" pleaded Frazzle Spark after he had walked up the beach and into a forest.

"Sure," yawned Twilight, not realizing what she was agreeing to.

Frazzle Spark let out a terrifying dragon roar that caused everyone else to wake up with a scream.

Frazzle Spark took one look at everyone's bewildered faces and burst out laughing.

"Why are we in the middle of a forest?" asked Rarity once she had recovered.

"Because we have no bits and there is no sign of civilization anywhere," explained Sharp Wing.

"So we're camping out? In the dark? At night?" asked Fluttershy timidly.

"I call making the campfire!" called out Spike as he raced off to gather up wood.

Before too long the weary travelers were eating fresh apples in the warmth of a blazing green fire, courtesy of Spike.

"Oh, Night Mist! Tell everyone that ghost story you told me and Sharp Wing that one time!" said Frazzle Spark with a mouthful of fish.

Night Mist looked at the big red dragon.

"I don't remember telling that ghost story," he said flatly.

"Oh, right," said Frazzle Spark sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Anypony else know any good ghost stories?"

"Ooh, ooh, I know a good one!" said Pinkie Pie as she waved her hoof enthusiastically.

"Go ahead, sugercube." encouraged Applejack.

Pinkie Pie stood and turned to face everyone present. An evil gleam shined in her eyes as she began telling the story in a spooky voice.

"Once upon a time, there was a little filly who lived in Ponyville. Her birthday was coming up, so her friends and family decided to throw her a party. It was a big, happy, fun party and everything was going great. A birthday cake was set before her, and she closed her eyes to make a wish. But when she blew, there was a loud whoosh! Not only had the candles gone out, but all the lights too. The little filly glanced around in surprise, but she couldn't see anypony.

'Is anypony there?' she called out, but there was no answer. It was as if they all disappeared. She was scared and alone, and she couldn't hear anything. But then! There was a sound, like chains being dragged across the floor. Clink. Clink. Clink. The sounds of the chains were growing louder, and the little filly tried running away. But her legs were frozen in place and she couldn't move a muscle. The clinking grew closer, until the sounds of the chains were right behind her. The little filly felt a chill in her bones and she-"

Abruptly Sharp Wing felt something grab her from behind, causing her to let out a high-pitched shriek. Everyone at the campfire jumped as Rainbow Dash, who had somehow slipped away and gotten behind Sharp Wing, burst out laughing.

"Oh my gosh!" she howled, "Your scream was even higher than Fluttershy's!"

"Did- did- did you two plan that?" panted Sharp Wing.

"No, that was just me getting payback for that stunt you pulled in the Everfree Forest," Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Well played."

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one."

"Is there an end to your story?" inquired Rarity of Pinkie Pie.

"Why yes, it was actually a planned surprise. You see, the little filly was a fan of heavy metal, so her parents arranged for Nickerback to show up and give a performance. The chains were just stage props and the pony behind her was the lead singer," explained Pinkie Pie.

"Well, after all that excitement I'm ready to hit the hay," yawned Applejack.

"I don't know how I'm going to sleep after a story like that," remarked Fluttershy.

Everyone helped unload the saddlebags from Frazzle Spark and set up all three tents they had packed. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash went in the first one while Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, And Rarity entered the second one. Sharp Wing encountered a problem when she tried to enter the tent that Night Mist and Spike were in.

"Um, maybe you should sleep in one of the other tents," Night Mist said awkwardly.

"There's only room for three ponies per tent," Sharp Wing pointed out.

"I'm sleeping outside with Frazzle Spark," announced Spike as he made his escape.

"Night Mist, we've camped out in the same tent several times over the years. It's no big deal that I'm a mare now." Sharp Wing insisted.

"Well, I don't remember any of that. I don't even remember you as a stallion. Tell you what, I'll just take my sleeping bag outside and you can have the tent alright?" Night Mist suggested as he grabbed his pillow and sleeping bag with his teeth and slipped out.

With a sigh, Sharp Wing flopped down on the remaining sleeping bag. So that's how it was now. She didn't belong with the guys, because she was a mare. But she also didn't belong with the girls, because she still had the mind of a male. Sharp Wing belonged to nopony, and it sucked. On top of all that, there was the impending promise of going insane within a week. Sharp Wing wished she had never stayed on the manticore. She drew out her sword, looked at it, and made herself a promise. She would get changed back. Then she would go back into the Everfree forest and slay the manticore. But it wouldn't be a quick death, it would be slow and painful. It deserved a slow and painful death.

Stupid manticore.

**********************************

"So now he, I mean, she, is here in Zebrawbway. This whole 'he' 'she' thing is getting rather ridiculous."

"I agree. Is she close enough for you to reel her in?

"No, she might wake up before she arrives."

"So we wait for her to get closer?"

"Pretty much, but the zebra she's looking for isn't too far away from us. Sharp Wing is persistent. He’ll, ugh, she'll find the zebra eventually. Then we make our move."

"What do we do if it doesn't work?"

"It will work. It has to."

Chapter 10: It's not camping if you take a shower

Sunlight cast its golden rays through the thin material of the tent Sharp Wing slept in, causing her to wake. Today marked the beginning of the second day of her being a mare. Sharp Wing was determined it would also be the last. Sharp Wing rose, stretched, and departed from the tent. The forest she was in looked a lot like the Everfree forest, expect the trees were taller and thinner.

"Good morning, Double Ex!" greeted Pinkie Pie as she popped out of the adjacent tent. Evidently she had slept well.

"Whoa, um, good morning, I guess. You do realize my name isn't Double Ex" right?" Sharp Wing stammered.

"Oh that's right, I forgot. I always remember the name of a new face. It's kind of hard to undo. I've never met sompony for the first time and have them turn out to be sompony I knew before. Kind of funny huh?"

"There's a first time for everything I suppose," said Sharp Wing as she winced at the reminder of the deception. "Here's an idea. Why don't you go wake up everyone while I start packing?"

"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie Pie chirped as she bounced off to fulfill Sharp Wing's request.

Sharp Wing started packing up the tent as a plan formed in her mind. The best way to find Zecora would be to fly around on Frazzle Spark until they found civilization. Then they could start asking around.

"I'm not coming out of the tent! I look terrible!" Rarity's voice rang out.

"You look fine. You need to get out so the rest of us can, we're burning daylight," Twilight insisted.

"I cannot walk around in public like this! It's uncouth! I need to take a shower and condition my mane first!"

"Rarity, I'm beginning to suspect ya don't really understand the concept of campin' out. Ya don't take showers out in the wilderness," snapped Applejack.

"Don't take showers?! But that's unsanitary!"

"No, it’s a part of campin' out. Now get yer tail outta the tent!"

"Never!"

Sharp Wing heard a whack followed by a wild-maned Rarity flying out of the tent.

"Ladies do not kick each other out of tents, Applejack!" she yelled.

"Well this lady does. Get a move on," retorted Applejack as she and Twilight emerged from the tent.

"All of you shut up! I'm trying to sleep!" shouted Rainbow Dash from the other tent.

"What's all this commotion?" yawned Night Mist as he drifted into the clearing. He had several twigs clinging to his silver mane.

"The elements of harmony are not being harmonious," replied Sharp Wing without missing a beat.

"The elements of what?"

"Never mind," Sharp Wing sighed. Brilliant wit was wasted on ponies with amnesia.

"Would everyone please be quieter?" protested Fluttershy in a barely audible whisper from the same tent as Rainbow Dash.

"My mane looks hideous!" wailed Rarity. "Don't look at it!"

"It looks fine, really. Tell her it looks fine, Night Mist," Twilight said soothingly as she stared hard at Night Mist.

"It looks fine," Night Mist said automatically as he took a cautious step back.

"So are we gonna pack up and start looking for Zecora or what?" asked Frazzle Spark.

After Twilight had finally convinced Rarity that her mane looked fine everyone had a breakfast of wheat flavored whole grain bars before packing up. Frazzle Spark gracefully rose up into the air and began flying inland.

"You're getting much better with your take-offs," Spike complemented the larger dragon as the forest below gave way to an open savanna.

"Thanks L.B.D," replied Frazzle spark.

"You know, I could fly around and find civilization much faster," offered Rainbow Dash.

"That's a good idea, why don't you do that while the rest of us wait on the ground directly below. If you can't find anything be back in ten minutes alright?" suggested Twilight Sparkle.

"I won't need that much time, I'll find civilization in ten seconds flat," Rainbow Dash predicted right before she zoomed off.

Frazzle Spark glided straight down and landed in the tall savanna grass. Applejack hopped down first and the others soon followed.

"Sharp Wing, why don't you use your swords and make a clearing in this grass," suggested Rarity.

"Why, are you looking for diamonds?" asked Sharp Wing.

"No, I just don't want any bugs to get on me."

For lack of anything else to do, Sharp Wing obliged.

"Now we're less likely to get ambushed," noted Frazzle Spark once Sharp Wing had finished.

"What makes you think that?" questioned Spike.

"Don't you know? Whenever a group of ponies are on an adventure and they're in tall grass, they start disappearing one by one. It happens all the time in movies."

"How about we don't talk about movies like that right now," Fluttershy said nervously.

"It's cool, Fluttershy, this isn't anything like the movies. Which is good news for you, Night Mist," quipped Sharp Wing.

"Why do you say that?" inquired Night Mist with a raised brow.

"Because the black pony always dies first."

"All this talk about death and ambushes is making me nervous about Rainbow Dash being off by herself," Fluttershy said softly.

"Don't worry, sugarcube. She'll be fine. If she runs into any trouble she can just fly away real fast like," Applejack reassured her.

**********************************************************

Rainbow Dash flew over the savanna. As far as she could tell there weren’t any signs of civilization anywhere. Just tall golden grass, some green grass, water holes, wild animals, and the occasional funny shaped tree. Then her eyes caught movement. A cheetah was sprinting beneath her as she flew. But it wasn't the looks of an animal that she had only seen in pictures that caught her attention. It was the fact that it was keeping up with her even though she was flying really fast. Rainbow Dash stopped flying and looked down at the cheetah. The cheetah stopped sprinting and looked up at her.

"This might be a stupid question, but can you talk?" asked Rainbow Dash.

The Cheetah let loose a long string of gibberish. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure if cheetahs were intelligent or not, but if they weren't that probably wasn't what a wild animal sounded like.

"You speak tongue of the land?" asked the cheetah slowly in a second attempt to communicate.

"Uh, no, sorry, I don't," Rainbow Dash apologized, feeling at a slight disadvantage.

"It fine. Duma speak some Equestrian. You fast for pony," the cheetah commented.

"Well thanks, you're pretty fast too." said Rainbow Dash, pleased by the compliment.

"You not know Zebrawbway? Seems to Duma you lost."

"Actually, I'm looking for a zebra named Zecora, do you know where she lives?"

"Duma not know Zecora, but Duma know where Zebra tribe is. Duma show you way?" offered the cheetah.

"That would be awesome! Just let me go get my friends first, they're looking for the Zebras too."

"Duma show you Zebra tribe first, it not far," Duma insisted.

"Um, no offense, but I would prefer to get my friends first. I don't actually know you very well." Rainbow Dash said skeptically.

"Duma understand. But Duma curious if pony can keep up if Duma go to Zebras. Duma fast."

"Is that a challenge?" asked Rainbow Dash, forgetting about her caution for a second.

The cheetah shrugged, and then took off at a full sprint. Without hesitation Rainbow Dash chased after him. At first he kept a lead, but within moments Rainbow Dash caught up with him, grinned, and then pulled ahead. Abruptly a weighted net shot out of the tall grass and entangled her, bringing her crashing to the ground.

"Wow, you're not very bright are you?" asked Duma as he caught up to where Rainbow Dash had fallen.

"What is this?" gasped Rainbow Dash as she struggled against the ropes.

"It's exactly what it looks like. A trap for stupid foreigners like you," Duma said condescendingly.

All Rainbow Dash could do was stare as two more cheetahs holding spears with their tails rose up out of the grass where the net had come from. One of them had a gold earring, just like Zecora did.

"Let me tell you something about Zebrawbway, little pony. See all those animals out there?"

Rainbow Dash did. She saw elephants, giraffes, hippos, and many others around a nearby water hole. Many of them were watching her.

"A lot of them are intelligent, just like you and I. And I'm being generous when I call you intelligent. Do you know why none of them are trying to save you?

Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"Because they know better, that's why. We Cheetahs are the most feared tribe in all of Zebrawbway."

Duma held up a paw in front of Rainbow Dash's face and extended five razor sharp claws.

"I've never had pegasus before, so I hope you taste good," he grinned wickedly. "Welcome to Zebrawbway, my little pony."

Chapter 11: Oldest trick in the book

Fluttershy stood delicately balanced on her hind legs with her fore hooves pressed together above her head. The others were circled around her in the clearing of grass, their minds engaged in the challenge before them.

"Flagpole?" guessed Twilight.

"A fence?" tried Applejack.

"A tree!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie guessed it," Fluttershy said with a smile. "Your turn Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy swapped places in the grass clearing.

"You guys will never guess this one," Pinkie Pie boasted as she starting vibrating up and down really fast.

"Jackhammer?" inquired Night Mist.

"Uh oh," said Pinkie Pie as her vibrating increased in intensity.

"You're not supposed to talk when it’s your turn," Spike reminded her.

"This wasn't what I was planning on doing! It's my Pinkie Sense! And it’s a doozy!"

Sharp Wing instantly sprang to her hooves and drew out her swords.

"Where's the doozy?" she asked frantically.

"Wait, what?" asked Night Mist in confusion.

"It's coming from over there!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she pointed a hoof westward.

"That's the direction Rainbow Dash went in!" Rarity said in alarm.

"Everypony get in the saddlebags!" ordered Twilight.

Everyone hopped into their respective bags as Frazzle Spark vaulted into the air with a lurch.

"I don't understand, we're going somewhere because Pinkie Pie was having a seizure?" asked a befuddled Night Mist.

"You'll understand it when you get your memories back. Actually, understand might be too strong of a word. More like you'll know why we're rushing." explained Twilight.

"Can anypony see Rainbow Dash?" questioned Frazzle Spark as he flew westward.

Spike hopped out of his personal saddlebag, retrieved a pair of binoculars from another, and ran up Frazzle Spark's back to the top of his head.

"Oh, be careful Spike! Don't fall off!" cautioned Fluttershy.

Spike didn't seem to hear her as he began scanning back and forth with the binoculars.

"I see her!" Spike cried out abruptly. "She seems to be okay. She's just flying and- oh fang."

"What is it?" demanded Applejack.

"Something just wrapped around her and brought her down!"

Sharp Wing clenched her teeth. Something bad had just happened to Rainbow Dash and they were all too far away from her to do anything about it.

"Fraz!" she hollered as she flew out in front of the dragon. "Hoof-ball!"

"Is this really the time for-" Frazzle Spark started to say.

"I'm the hoof-ball! Go long! Like the Mighty Mustangs!" Sharp Wing cut him off.

"Oh!" said Frazzle Spark as he realized what Sharp Wing was trying to convey.

Frazzle Spark snatched up Sharp Wing in his right claw, cocked his arm back, and launched Sharp Wing with a snap. Sharp Wing had to squint her eyes against the wind as she rocketed through the air towards where Rainbow Dash had fallen. As she got closer, Sharp Wing made micro-adjustments with her wings to fly lower. Through her blurry vision she could make out a lump of something with cyan blue inside of it. A yellow shape was right beside. A shape she was about to crash into.

Sharp Wing tried to veer off course, but discovered she couldn't turn fast enough at the speed she was moving at. So instead she threw her shoulder forward and hoped for the best.

Sharp Wing felt an impact. Next thing she knew she was bouncing along the ground before she skidded to a stop. Unable to get up, Sharp Wing glanced around to see what she had hit. A cheetah lay on the ground close to her head. Two more cheetahs wielding spears with their tails were standing further back, with stupefied expressions on their faces. One of them had a golden earring. Rainbow Dash was under a net near them, and she wore a similar expression.

Both Sharp Wing and the cheetah she had hit stayed on the ground for several awkward minutes. Finally, with effort, Sharp Wing warily got up as the cheetah did the same.

"Okay, ow, what the- ow, hay is- ow, going on?" groaned Sharp Wing as she drew out her swords.

"It- it mistake. Accident," stammered the cheetah.

"You accidently threw a net around Rainbow Dash?" Sharp Wing asked dubiously.

"Duma not try catch pony. Duma set trap for cheetah criminal, Duma caught pony instead," the cheetah explained.

"What?! That's not what you said! You said you were going to eat me!" screeched Rainbow Dash.

Sharp Wing glanced back and forth between Rainbow Dash and the cheetah, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Duma sorry for scaring pony. Duma use claws to free pony but Duma got hit," Duma said hastily.

"That's a lie! Don't listen to him he's a liar!" insisted Rainbow Dash.

It became obvious to Sharp Wing what had happened. Rainbow Dash had fallen into a trap set for someone else, and in her frantic state of mind, had decided it was a trap meant for her. After all, if the cheetah was hostile he wouldn't be trying to defend himself with words.

"It's okay Rainbow Dash," Sharp Wing said soothingly as she turned her attention back to the blue pegasus. "It's just a misunder-"

"Move!" Rainbow Dash screamed.

Without thinking Sharp Wing threw herself sideways as she felt something graze both sides of her neck. Sharp Wing rolled away and held up her swords again before she gave herself a chance to look back at Duma.

"Ooh, so close!" laughed Duma. "I almost had you there!"

All Sharp Wing could was stare. It was as if the cheetah had become a whole different being. What had been a simple seeming native had transformed into something evil.

"Told you!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. He's a liar!"

"No need to be so harsh. I spoke truth when I said I was going to free you with my claws. As in, I was going to free your soul from your body," grinned Duma maliciously.

Sharp Wing was about to make a snappy comeback regarding how a Rainbow Dash's dead body would still have more of a soul than a certain cheetah when there was a flash of pink light. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Night Mist, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity had arrived.

"Mtakatifu jibini! Ambapo kuzimu gani wao kuja kutoka?!" shouted the cheetah with a pierced ear in surprise.

"Alright, what in tar-nation is going on here?" demanded Applejack.

Sharp Wing pointed an accusatory hoof at Duma.

Fluttershy glanced at Rainbow Dash under the net, and then at Sharp Wing, who was still on the ground and had blood trickling down both sides of her neck. Then, before anyone could stop her, she marched right up Duma and glared at him.

"How dare you! You should be ashamed of yourself for being so mean! Do you think its fun to scares ponies? Didn't your parents raise you better than that? Does it make you proud to hurt girls? You should apologize right this instant!"

"I wasn't scared!" protested Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not a girl!" objected Sharp Wing.

"Sasa kwa kuwa ni mwanamke hutaki kwa fujo na," commented the earring-less cheetah as he nudged his companion while tilting his head towards Fluttershy.

"Well, this is a first. In answer to your questions, yes, no, yes. And as for the rest, I don't really care," said Duma smugly.

Fluttershy didn't respond, for she was far to shocked at Duma's immunity to her telling him off. What kind of sociopath could withstand Fluttershy's glare without feeling ashamed? Duma grinned wickedly as he proceeded to knock Fluttershy aside with a powerful swat. The reaction was instantaneous. Twilight Sparkle fired off a pink beam of energy while Applejack threw a lasso. Pinkie Pie chucked a rubber chicken. A split second later, a sliced rubber chicken lay on the ground, along with a halved rope and scorched patch of grass where Duma had been standing. Sharp Wing blinked. She hadn't even seen Duma move.

"I would suggest running, but that would only result in you all dying tired," remarked a completely unscathed Duma.

The arrogant grin was wiped off of his face when Frazzle Spark dropped down from the sky and landed behind him.

"I would suggest begging for forgiveness, but you would still get burnt to a crisp anyway," Frazzle Spark snarled.

For a moment, all Duma could do was gawk at the large red dragon.

"Okay, I give up. Why is a dragon helping a bunch of ponies?" he said finally.

"It's a long story," Frazzle Spark replied honestly.

"Might I convince you to change sides by offering you some treasure? My tribe is very wealthy."

"I'll pass."

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Very well then. So what happens now?"

Rarity glanced at Night Mist.

"How about you question them?" she suggested.

"What? Why me?" stammered Night Mist.

"Because you're the detective."

"I am? cool," said Night Mist, clearly pleased with the idea.

"Do you know where the Zebras live?" tried Sharp Wing.

"Of course I do. In fact, if you look over there you can see their village from here," said Duma as he pointed a claw.

Like complete amateurs, all of the ponies and dragons glanced in the direction Duma had pointed in. Nothing but miles of tall grass. When they looked back again all three of the cheetahs had vanished.

"Darn it! Oldest trick in the book," groaned Twilight Sparkle as she face-hoofed.

"It's all this tall grass, makes it easy to hide. Frazzle Spark, why don't you get everyone into the air before we have a replay of that movie you were talking about?" suggested Night Mist.

"Could somepony get me out of this net?" asked a still entangled Rainbow Dash.

Sharp Wing got up and cut the net away with her swords.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Oh, Sharp Wing, your neck is bleeding," observed Fluttershy.

"So is yours," Sharp Wing pointed out.

"You did your duty well, rubber chicken," said Pinkie Pie solemnly as she saluted the halved rubber chicken.

"Alright everypony, let’s get up into the air and keep looking for Zecora," decided Twilight Sparkle. "I sure hope I remembered to pack a first aid kit."

Chapter 12: Just dropping in

"I would suggest begging for forgiveness, but you would still get burnt to a crisp anyway," reiterated Spike from atop Frazzle Spark's head, setting off another bout of laughter.

Having solved the cheetah problem, all of the adventurers were in high spirits. The euphoria of victory had wiped out any fears they might have had.

"How did you even come up with that, Fraz? Were you just waiting for the right moment?" laughed Sharp Wing.

"I got there as soon as I could. It just came to me I guess," said Frazzle Spark absently.

"The look on Duma's face was priceless! Did you fast that arrogant smirk was wiped off his face?!" howled Rainbow Dash.

"Ah reckon he never expected we would have a dragon on our side!" agreed Applejack. "Well, a big dragon that is."

"Oh, I totally would have set him on fire if I had been closer," boasted Spike.

"Sure you would have," Twilight Sparkle said dismissively. "I have to admit, Frazzle Spark, having you as dragon is actually pretty convenient."

"This is what, the third time he's saved the day? Who would have guessed Poison Joke could have been so beneficial?" gushed Rarity.

To her shame, Sharp Wing found she was starting to get a little jealous of all the attention Frazzle Spark was receiving. Frazzle Spark had been transformed into an all powerful dragon, while she had been stuck with a sex change. Even Night Mist's memory loss was cooler than that. A mysterious pony who couldn't remember his past was far more edgy than a stallion being turned into a mare.

"Why is it that the plant that did this to us is called Poison Joke if it isn't always bad?" asked Night Mist.

"In theory, it plays a joke on whoever it touches, usually by messing by messing with something the victim is fond of," explained Twilight. "For example, when I got it, it disabled my horn. Which completely negated by ability to use magic."

"So, that means Sharp Wing likes being a stallion a lot?" questioned Pinkie Pie.

"I know I prefer it to being a mare," grumbled Sharp Wing.

"Why, you have something against girls?" teased Rainbow Dash.

"No! I don't have anything against girls! It's just that I'm a stallion at heart!" protested Sharp Wing.

"I think Night Mist has the worst of it. He doesn't even know his own friends! How sad is that?" announced Pinkie Pie.

"No way, mine is way worse," argued Sharp Wing. "Besides, a stallion who can't remember his past is automatically cool."

"It is most certainly not cool. I have no idea what anypony is talking about most of the time," snapped Night Mist.

"Still cooler than getting your gender changed against your will!" Sharp Wing fired back.

"At least you know what the hay is going on!"

"All you got to do is ask and we can fill you in. No amount of words will make my condition any less weird!"

"Guys, just calm the fang down. I think we can all agree that my Poison Joke infection is the coolest," grinned Frazzle Spark.

"Fraz, all your little dragon phrases are really starting to annoy me," growled Sharp Wing.

"That's probably because you’re just A.P.W.S.W.A.D," Spike quipped.

Sharp Wing's left eye twitched.

"How about we talk about something else. Like the best way to find Zecora," hinted Twilight Sparkle as she glared at Spike.

"I see smoke!" announced Rarity pointing her hoof towards a forest further west.

"Is it a fire?" asked Fluttershy with concern.

"Ah think that's a given when there's smoke, sugercube. But it looks more like a campfire than a wild fire," remarked Applejack.

"But whose campfire? A zebra one, a cheetah one, or something else?" questioned Rarity.

"I could go scout ahead again," offered Rainbow Dash.

"Not a chance. We're all sticking together this time," Twilight informed her.

Frazzle Spark altered his course and headed for the smoke rising out of the forest.

"If it’s a cheetah camp you should burn it to the ground, Fraz," said Sharp Wing as she rubbed one of the scars on her neck.

Her neck had stopped bleeding shortly after they had taken off but it still burned where Duma had scratched her.

"But maybe not all cheetahs are bad. Like how Spike and Frazzle Spark are not like most dragons." pointed out Fluttershy.

"She had a good point," said Twilight Sparkle.

"That reminds me, Spike, I've been meaning to ask you. What was up with that dragon yesterday? First she was acting like she was going to kill me and then she was all friendly," said Frazzle Spark.

"Well, my experience with other dragons is extremely limited, but I do know that dragons threaten each and act tough all the time. Maybe it’s just how they say hello," figured Spike.

"What would happen if I didn't seem tough enough?"

"No idea," admitted Spike.

"Kind of makes ya wonder how dragons flirt," remarked Applejack.

"Didn't you know, Applejack? Death threats are very romantic," said Sharp Wing.

"That actually makes sense in a twisted sort of way," noted Night Mist. "For dragons anyway."

"How would dragons party?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"They probably have giant brawls or something," Rainbow Dash deduced.

"Hey, um, I'm right above the smoke. Should I just land?" questioned Frazzle Spark.

"Might as well, but do it gently though. You don't want to destroy anything," advised Twilight Sparkle.

Frazzle Spark gently pushed through the trees as he slowly descended. The smoke was coming from a fire in the center of a village, with round wooden huts that had cone shaped roofs. The village's residents, thankfully, were zebras. Several of them screamed and dropped whatever they were doing when they saw Frazzle Spark.

Then they started throwing spears.

"Whoa whoa whoa wait! Stop!" Frazzle Spark protested, throwing up his arms to protect himself.

The move proved to be unnecessary. Every single spear bounced harmlessly off of his scales.

"Huh. I'm impervious to weapons. That's good to know," he said after the zebras had run out of spears.

Sharp Wing decided that life was not only unfair, but also that it preferred Frazzle Spark over her. Meanwhile, the zebras stood paralyzed, waiting to see what Frazzle Spark would do next. Frazzle Spark landed softly in the center of the village.

"Um, I come in peace," he said awkwardly.

The zebras made no response.

"Take me to your leader?" he tried.

Still no reaction.

"Okay, um, do you have any dragon sized hotels?"

The zebras glanced at each other but still said nothing.

"How about motels?"

"I don't think they speak the same language as us, Frazzle Spark." said Twilight Sparkle.

"Has my head gone out of whack, or is that Twilight Sparkle and her friends on a dragon's back?" one of the zebras said suddenly.

"Zecora!" Pinkie Pie squealed. "We found you!"

"Please tell me you the cure for Poison Joke," Sharp Wing begged.

"I do possess the recipe within my dome," Zecora said slowly as she tapped her head with a hoof, "But can't it be found in a book back home?"

"Both copies of the book have vanished for some reason. We came to find you because if Sharp Wing here doesn't get cured soon, he'll literally go insane," Twilight Sparkle explained.

"I'm not at risk of losing my mind, but I would very much like to get cured too," Night Mist added.

"Let me if I got this straight. Two ponies need curing, yet here we have eight?" asked Zecora.

"Technically three, but we're holding off on curing Frazzle Spark," Twilight Sparkle clarified.

"I do not mean to pry, but if sompony does not want to be cured, might I ask why?"

"I’m their ride back," Frazzle Spark informed her.

It took Zecora a moment to realize what he was saying. When she did, her jaw dropped. After a moment of sheer awe, she turned to one of the zebras nearby and started giving him instructions in words Sharp Wing did not understand.

"The bath is being prepared with haste. We were about to eat, care to taste?" she offered after the zebra had left.

"We'd love to," Fluttershy said courteously.

Before too long everyone was gathered around the fire pit in the middle of the village and eating soup.

"I think I might fly off and eat fish again," remarked Frazzle Spark as he squinted at a soup bowl pinched between two claws.

It unnerved Sharp Wing how quickly his friend had adapted to the idea of eating meat.

"Doesn't it bother you you're eating dead things?" asked Rarity of Frazzle Spark.

"It's just fish," Frazzle Spark said with a shrug. "If I decide to go back to being a unicorn maybe I'll try eating it again."

Twilight Sparkle gagged.

"Some of us are trying to eat, Frazzle Spark," Rainbow Dash snapped.

"You could always find some gems to eat," suggested Spike.

"But I'm hungry now!"

"You won't have problems finding enough to eat if you agree to get turned back into a pony again," Applejack hinted.

"I don't get why everypony wants me to change back. I like being a dragon, it’s my choice," Frazzle Spark argued.

"What may seem good for you to choose might yet turn out to be bad news," Zecora said wisely.

"No, none of you get it. There are so many perks to being a dragon I don't even know where to begin."

Frazzle Spark began counting off his claws.

"One, I'm going to live for a very long time. Dragon's can get to be thousands of years old. Two, I can fly. Three, I'm invincible. I could swim in lava if I wanted too."

"We also have really long tongues we can snatch things with," Spike added.

"We do?"

Spike's tongue flicked out past Twilight Sparkle to snatch her empty soup bowl and bring it back to his claws.

"Okay, that’s pretty cool," admitted Rainbow Dash.

"Don't encourage them," whispered Twilight Sparkle harshly.

Frazzle Spark shot his tongue straight into the fire and held it there, making everyone jump.

"An ah thust thethovered mah thung ith thire throof," he lisped.

"Well duh, what good would the ability to breathe fire be if our tongues could catch on fire?" Spike said.

"Could you put your tongue back in your mouth?" Fluttershy requested feebly.

Frazzle Spark yanked his tongue back behind his fangs with an audible snap. Abruptly his eyes blinked sideways, giving Sharp Wing a split second view of evil reptilian eyes.

"And the best part of all," Frazzle Spark laughed madly, "Is that I don't have to gather flammable materials to make fire and explosions anymore. I can make my own!"

And with that he titled his head back and roared, shooting a massive jet of bright orange flames into the trees above them, lighting them on fire. Panicked, he tried blowing the flames out, which only resulted in shooting out more flames instead and causing more destruction.

"Spike!" he said frantically, "How do I blow hard without fire?!"

"I don't know, I always breathe fire whenever I sneeze, hiccup, or blow hard. Needless to say, that last one makes it really hard to blow out the candles on my birthday cake," Spike answered with a shrug.

Frazzle Spark began slapping the trees with his wings, with more satisfactory, if tedious, results. A zebra came up to Zecora and said something to her.

"In spite of this I have good news. The bath is ready for you to use," she said to Sharp Wing.

"Finally!" Sharp Wing exclaimed as she rose to her hooves. "Now it’s time to put an end to this."

Night Mist silently got up as well and followed Zecora and Sharp Wing to one of the huts.

"I must admit, I'm nervous. What if my past is so horrible I'd be better off the way I am now?" asked Night Mist.

"You've had your share of difficulties." Sharp Wing told her friend honestly. "I would even say you've gone through more than most ponies ever will."

Zecora led them inside the hut. The curing bath was in plain sight before then.

"Well, I'd rather know the truth about myself, no matter what."

Sharp Wing smiled. Even without his memories, Night Mist was still the same as always. Sharp Wing shrugged out of her sword sheaths and both of them slipped into the bath. Sharp Wing submerged, wanting to get the full treatment. She held her breath as long as she could before she went back up. Night Mist came up too.

"It worked!" Night Mist cried, "I remember!"

Night Mist turned towards Sharp Wing, grinning. Then the grin died and his face became a mask of confusion.

With a sinking feeling, Sharp Wing looked down at her reflection in the water. Still a mare.

"It- it didn't work?" she said weakly.

"Maybe it takes longer for you because you got a heavier dose of it?" guessed Night Mist.

"How long you spent in the Poison Joke makes no effect. The bath always takes seconds to correct," remarked Zecora.

Sharp Wing was stunned.

"I came all this way," she muttered.

"Sharp Wing," Night Mist said gently.

"First I tried magic. Then I tried science," said Sharp Wing, her voice escalating in pitch. "I looked for the cure in the library, then the spa, and then Zecora's house. This was my last chance. I came across the sea. The freaking sea! I nearly got killed by a freaking sea monster! I came all this way, and it still didn't freaking work!"

With a howl of rage, Sharp Wing jumped out of the tub. It was too much. All this work for nothing. The world was so unfair. Sharp Wing stormed out of the hut. The others were gathered outside. Frazzle Spark, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. They all had the same expression on their faces.

Pity.

Sharp Wing couldn't face them. She didn't want their pity, least of all from Applejack. So Sharp Wing turned away from them all and ran deeper into the forest.

*****************************************************

"Would you look at that. She's actually crying."

"I think that's a natural reaction. Clearly she thought the poison joke was responsible for her condition the whole time. Guess she didn't know she had a natural immunity."

"I can see how that would be disappointing. I notice she's running towards us. Is that your doing?"

"Yeah, I'm giving her little nudges to keep her moving in the right direction."

"Remarkable. She's too upset to even notice. Everything is going exactly to plan."

"That makes you sound like some sort of evil villain."

"Ha, I suppose it does. Maybe when she gets here I'll say something like, greetings, mister, um, Miss Featherblade, we've been waiting for you."

"If you want to be that cliché, now’s your chance. She's arrived."

Chapter 13: Mysterious voices are mysterious

After running for a few minutes, Sharp Wing finally stopped and started to calm down. It wasn't the end of the world right? She still had a week. She could find out how to change back before she lost her mind. She turned around to go back to the others just as the ground suddenly caved in beneath her hooves. Caught completely off guard, she tumbled down a tunnel that seemed to be sloping downwards. After a minute of pain she landed with a thud on cold hard rock. Warily, she took in her new surroundings. The place she had fallen into was mostly dark, but it felt like a large room. The only light came from the opening above, shining down on an object made of stone. Sharp Wing felt her breath catch in her throat.

It was a coffin.

"Okay, so I'm in a tomb or something now. Not creepy at all," Sharp Wing said aloud.

Out of curiosity, Sharp Wing approached the coffin to read the inscription.

Here lies Sharp Wing Featherblade. May his sacrifice never be forgotten.

Sharp Wing screamed and jumped back. Then she moved forward again and reread the inscription just to make sure. It was her name all right.

"Um, hi, please don't freak out." a young stallion's voice said suddenly.

"Sweet Celestia!" Sharp Wing swore, spinning around. She couldn't see anyone.

"You shouldn't use Princess Celestia's name so lightly," admonished another voice, this one older and gruffer sounding.

"Who said that?!" Sharp Wing demanded.

"Please calm down. We just want to talk to you," requested the younger voice.

"How about you come into the light where I can see you first," Sharp Wing snapped.

"Actually, you couldn't see me no matter where I am."

"Same here," added the older voice.

Sharp Wing felt as if her mind had gone numb.

"I've already lost touch with reality haven't I?" she said.

"No, we're real. Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Sharp Wing Featherblade," announced the young voice.

"And I'm Steel Horn Featherblade," said the gruff older voice.

Sharp Wing decided to play along with the insanity.

"So your name is the same as mine huh? You must be me from the future or something."

"Not even close. I was actually born way before you, so how about you call me Sharp Wing and we'll call you Sharp Wing junior."

"Technically you're the junior because your father was also named Sharp Wing," argued Steel Horn.

"How about you're Stallion Sharp Wing, and I'm just Sharp Wing," suggested Sharp Wing, thinking how amazing it was that the voices in her own head could give her a headache.

"Fine, that works," agreed Stallion Sharp Wing. "But you do realize Steel Horn and I are not figments of your imagination right?"

"I'm doubtful."

"My coffin is right behind you."

"Wait, are you saying you're a ghost?" stammered Sharp Wing.

"You catch on fast."

"So you're like, dead?"

"That's usually a requirement for being a ghost."

Sharp Wing plopped down on her rear.

"This is too much," she said tiredly.

"Are you ready to hear what we have to say?" asked Steel Horn.

"First I want to ask you something. Are you my ancestor, Emperor Steel Horn Featherblade?" guessed Sharp Wing.

"That is correct," confirmed Steel Horn.

"And you must Emperor Sharp Wing Featherblade, the crazy psycho who tried to kill Princess Celestia and Princess Luna so they couldn't use the elements of harmony against him," deduced Sharp Wing as she pointed in the general direction of the young sounding voice.

"Close, I'm his son."

Sharp Wing blinked. Of course, since she had the last name of Featherblade, it made sense that Emperor Sharp Wing would have to have at least one son.

"So why are you buried in Zebrawbway instead of Equestria?" she asked Stallion Sharp Wing.

"Long story short, this is where my brother killed me, in the tomb of my great great grandfather. Princess Celestia made the coffin for me."

"That sucks," Sharp Wing said bluntly.

“Yeah, I would have preferred to die when I was older, but I did go out with style."

Sharp Wing was surprised to find she was getting more comfortable with talking to a dead pony.

"How so?"

"I was helping Princess Celestia and Princess Luna gather all of the elements of harmony. The last one was here in the lowest level, the actual chamber of the body of my great times two grandfather. Unfortunately, my older brother got here first and already had the element. So we all start fighting and junk for a while and then my brother and I charge past each other. That's when he stabbed me with a dagger."

"How is that dying with style?"

"I'm getting there. I totally could have stabbed him too, but instead I had snatched the element of loyalty off his neck without him noticing. So I'm dying, and he's laughing, and I ask him if I could say one last word to Celestia before he finished me off. And he's the bad guy, so of course, he agrees because he's so confident he won."

"And that’s when you gave the element to Princess Celestia?"

"Stop interrupting, this is where gets good. So next I stealthily put the element of loyalty on her necklace with her other two elements while we were making out. Then I look at my brother and I'm all like, we win sucker! Before I died."

Sharp Wing tried to picture Princess Celestia making out with somepony but couldn't.

"You made out with Princess Celestia," she said dubiously.

"You bet, that's how you die with style. Save Equestria, make out with the Princess, and get the last laugh. You should be flattered your parents named you after me."

"I thought my parents named me after Emperor Sharp Wing."

"Dude, why the hay would they name you after my psycho father?"

"I guess your story makes more sense," Sharp Wing conceded.

"Heck yeah it does. My legacy is awesome and I guarantee you'll never be able to top it."

"Speaking of legacies, the real reason we brought you here was to talk about yours," interrupted Steel Horn.

"My legacy?"

"Yes, yours, and the entire Featherblade line. Since you clearly didn't know who you were named after, I'm going to spell it out for you. Every Featherblade who ruled Equestria was evil, including myself."

"I knew that already," Sharp Wing pointed out.

"Do you always interrupt you elders when they're talking?"

"Sorry, I'll shut up."

"Good. Like I was saying, every Featherblade who took the throne was corrupt, and it all started with me."

Steel Horn paused, as if daring Sharp Wing to interrupt again. She didn't take the bait.

"It started out as revenge. Simple revenge. A monster had ambushed me and snapped the upper part of my horn off. So I went after it and killed it. Everypony thought I was a hero because I had defeated it. But in truth, it opened the doorway to corruption. Taking a life out of revenge, even a monster's life, changes the hearts of ponies. It makes killing easier."

"Sorry to interrupt, but how is killing a monster a bad thing? It could have hurt other ponies or something," cut in Sharp Wing.

"You're right, sometimes violence is necessary. But the reason for killing has a lot more to do with it than who, or what, you're killing. I wasn't killing that monster because it was dangerous, I was killing it because I hated it. My acts of so called valor gained me a reputation, and before too long I wound up ruling Equestria. The reasons for my murders became weaker as time went by. When a pony said something I didn't like, I had him or her executed, easy as that. Equestria lived in fear of their emperor, but none dared to try and overthrow me. But I hadn't realized what I had become. My way of life, my philosophy, was passed down to my firstborn son, who became the next emperor. In trying to raise my own foal like a good father, I had passed on my evil ways. This became the sad legacy of the Featherblades."

"But I broke the combo. Because I'm awesome like that," chimed in Stallion Sharp Wing.

"Yes you did," sighed Steel Horn. "There was a prophecy, you see, that two alicorn sisters, one for the sun and one for the moon, would be born and become the new rulers and bring about an age of peace and prosperity that would last forever. The fact Celestia and Luna had both horns and wings should have been proof enough that the prophecy was true. But my great grandson refused to relinquish the throne and ordered for them to be killed. The alicorn sisters took my great great grandson here hostage and escaped."

"Did you have to mention that part?" complained Stallion Sharp Wing.

"I can't let your ego get too big can I?"

"It's not at all relevant to what we're doing here."

"Neither was your rant about your glorious death."

"Whatever."

"What does any of this have to do with me?" asked Sharp Wing.

"It's to show you the path you almost took when you decided to kill the manticore," Steel Horn explained.

"What, you think I would have turned evil and taken over Equestria?" Sharp Wing laughed. "I'm flattered you think I could succeed!"

"We've made a habit of watching over our descendents to make sure the Featherblades never return to power," said Steel Horn.

"Personally, I doubt you could take over Equestria, but why let you go bad and cause any harm?" quipped Stallion Sharp Wing.

"History does have an odd way of repeating itself," Steel Horn said wisely.

Suddenly another thought came to Sharp Wing.

"Wait, earlier you said you brought me here for this talk. But I left Equestria under my own free will."

"We sort of kind of indirectly manipulated you into coming here," confessed Stallion Sharp Wing. "No hard feelings right?"

Suddenly everything clicked into place for Sharp Wing. She had thought the Poison Joke had turned her into a mare, but the bath mixture had cured Night Mist only. Twilight Sparkle had said there was a spell for changing a pony's gender, but it had been outlawed to teach to others over a thousand years ago.

By Emperor Steel Horn Featherblade.

"It was you!" Sharp Wing screamed accusingly.

"I guess you do have hard feelings after all," said Stallion Sharp Wing painfully.

"You turned me into a mare!"

"Now, Sharp Wing, try to look at the big picture here," cautioned Steel Horn.

"You turned me into a mare, and tricked me into coming all the way to Zebrawbway?! And for what, to tell me how to live my life?!" Sharp Wing yelled in rage, "Who do you think you are to interfere with my decisions?!"

"Dang it, Sharp Wing, this isn't just about you. The path you almost took could have had bad effects on others," said Steel Horn sternly.

"Like what, taking over Equestria?! I couldn't do that even if I wanted to! This is just you two being arrogant, self-righteous, judges just because you're my ancestors!"

"Actually, my brother is the one who kept the Featherblade name going. I died before I ever had the chance to have foals, so we're not related," corrected Stallion Sharp Wing.

"Okay, maybe you taking over Equestria is a bit of a stretch, but ponies who kill out of revenge become very dangerous to others. We had no choice but to interfere," relented Steel Horn.

"Yeah, well, you know what? I'm going to do the exact opposite of what you wanted! I'm going to kill monsters and bad guys for whatever reasons I want to!"

"You do that, and you'll remain a mare. Your mind will destroy itself before you can hurt others with your decisions. They'll lock you away forever," Steel Horn said harshly.

"I don't freaking care! I'm not going to let you blackmail me into acting the way you think I should act! We're done here!"

And with that, Sharp Wing flew up out of the tomb and into the world above.

Chapter 14: Nap time

Sharp Wing hovered over the forest, considering her options. Apparently she had has spent some time underground, because it was now in the middle of the afternoon in Zebrawbway. This first thing she decided to do was the find the others and let them know she was okay. Or rather, to be more accurate, that she wasn't physically harmed. Problem was, she wasn't sure which way the village was. Then she spotted Fluttershy flying towards her.

"Oh there you are!" exclaimed the butter yellow pegasus when she saw Sharp Wing. "Are you okay?"

Sharp Wing decided to be honest.

"No, I'm going to lose my mind in a week unless I bend to the will of some dead ponies," she said flatly.

"Maybe we should get you to bed," replied Fluttershy, seeming a bit uncomfortable with Sharp Wing's answer.

But Sharp Wing wasn't finished.

"Did you know ghosts are real? I didn't. But then, things we think are legends have a funny habit of turning to be real, like Nightmare Moon."

"There's no such thing as ghosts, you've just had a stressful day," Fluttershy insisted nervously.

"No, they're real all right. I just talked with my dead ancestors. Well, one of them is the brother of one of my ancestors, but you get the idea."

"How about I take you back to the zebra village," suggested Fluttershy gently, as if she was trying not to upset a crazy pony.

"Or I could take you to an underground tomb and introduce you to some genuine ghosts."

"I think I'll pass," Fluttershy answered evasively.

It occurred to Sharp Wing that even if she showed Fluttershy the tomb, the ghosts might not make an appearance. After all, Steel Horn had made it clear that Sharp Wing would go mad and be locked up. Not proving her claims to Fluttershy and making her look bad would only speed up the process of convincing the others she was insane.

"Could you please come back the village?" tried Fluttershy after a moment.

Reluctantly, Sharp Wing followed her back. When they arrived, Sharp Wing wasted no time finding her swords in the hut with a tub. She was about to retrieve them when Fluttershy blocked her.

"How about you go lie down for a while instead?" she hinted.

Sharp Wing was dumbstruck. Was Fluttershy really going to prevent her from strapping her swords back on?

"Those are my swords," she argued.

"And they'll be right here after you take a nap," said Fluttershy without missing a beat.

"I don't need to take a nap."

"Take a nap please?"

"No."

"But, um," sputtered Fluttershy, grasping at straws. "You're, um, handsome, and, um, strong, and, um," she drifted off awkwardly.

Sharp Wing simply frowned.

"I forgot you were a mare," Fluttershy finished lamely.

"I'm pretty sure the results would be exactly the same. Do you think all stallions can be manipulated so easily, or do you just think I'm especially stupid?"

"Rarity does it better," Fluttershy said defensively.

Sharp Wing made a mental note to be extra suspicious of anything Rarity said from then on. A faint splash from the tub caught Sharp Wing's attention. Night Mist was still in it, with his eyes closed and head drooped. Sharp Wing was slightly irritated that her friend could fall asleep at a time like this.

"Night Mist," she snapped as she tapped his head, "Wake up."

"Oh hey, you're back," Night Mist yawned.

"You could at least act like you were worried."

"I was. I was also thinking about why the bath worked for me but not for you."

"While asleep?"

"It's a very relaxing bath," Night Mist said defensively.

"Whatever. I figured out how I got turned into a mare by the way."

Sharp Wing then proceeded to tell both Night Mist and Fluttershy all that had happened. By the time she finished both of them were starting at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Ghosts," Night Mist said dubiously.

"Yes, ghosts. I swear I'm telling the truth," Sharp Wing insisted.

"But there's no such as thing as ghosts right?" asked Fluttershy as if needing reassurance.

"l doubt there's such a thing as ghosts, but logically speaking you can't rule out the possibility of something by lack of evidence," Night Mist sighed. "But Sharp Wing, even if we assume ghosts are real, there's still holes in your story."

"Like what?" prodded Sharp Wing.

"Well for starters, why would a former emperor of Equestria be buried in Zebrawbway?"

"I don't know," Sharp Wing admitted.

"And if said ghosts were capable of casting spells in the physical world, wouldn't there have been an easier way to get you here? Like teleportation? Or mind control? They could even use telekinesis to pick up a quill and paper and write to you instead if all they wanted to do was talk to you."

"Maybe that didn't occur to them. I bet Twilight Sparkle might have some insight on the magic part of it," tried Sharp Wing.

"I think it’s more likely you imagined the whole thing," Fluttershy added gently.

"But you can't explain why the bath didn't work on me! And I can physically show you where the tomb is!"

"It might be best if you explored some alternative theories. After you take a break," hinted Night Mist.

"Come on! Just let me show you guys the tomb! Don't you trust me?"

"We don't doubt your sincerity, just you accuracy," Night Mist said soothingly.

"I'm not crazy! I was turned into a girl by ghosts!" Sharp Wing yelled.

"I think that's enough," said a new voice. Twilight Sparkle had entered the hut. "I apologize for this in advance, Sharp Wing."

Sharp Wing whirled around as she heard the hum of a spell being cast. She had just enough time to see Twilight's pained expression before she felt herself slip away.

*****************************

Unaware to all, two beings not of the physical world were present in the hut when Twilight Sparkle cast the nap time spell.

"Quill and paper. That would have been a lot easier," Stallion Sharp Wing said sullenly.

"I'm more intrigued by the teleportation and mind control spells. Must have been discovered after my lifetime," remarked Steel Horn. “I wonder if they can be turned into conditional spells like the gender bender."

"Care to explain to the non-unicorn what a conditional spell is?"

"It's a spell that reverses itself if certain criteria are met. Such as being kissed by your true love or something."

"So that's what you did to Sharp Wing with the gender bender spell? Made it so he has to be kissed by his true love to turn back? That'll be hard for him to pull off as a mare."

"Ha, I may be harsh, but I'm not cruel. The spell I cast on him can only be reversed if he, um, she, makes the right decision about the reasons for taking a life."

"I see. So if Sharp Wing picks the wrong path, she'll be locked away in an insane asylum and be unable to harm others. But if she picks the right path, the spell will be lifted."

"Exactly, no need to cause harm to my descendant if no ponies are in danger."

"That's pretty smart."

"Thank you, and since we're both dead I know you're not just saying that because you want something."

"I still hate doing this to him though."

"As do I, my great great grandson, as do I."

Chapter 15: Ponies are not for sharing

Waking up was never an experience Sharp Wing found pleasant, and the present circumstances didn't help things any. Sharp Wing figured she must have seemed very insane if Twilight Sparkle had deemed to necessary to put her under a sleeping spell. Worse yet, neither Fluttershy or Night Mist had tried to stop her. It would probably be a safe bet that everyone thought she was crazy now. Sharp Wing got up and scanned the interior of the wooden hut. Her swords were still there, thankfully. Sharp Wing wasted no time in strapping them to her sides. But where was everyone else?

Muffled sounds from outside the hut caught her attention. It sounded like some sort of commotion. A step outside showed why. A single cheetah was approaching the center of the zebra village, where the living Elements of Harmony, Spike, Frazzle Spark, Night Mist and the zebras were all gathered.

"Good evening, how is everyone?" smiled the cheetah.

It was Duma, who didn't seem at all worried that several spears were pointed at him.

"You've got some nerve showing your face here," growled Rainbow Dash.

"Nice to see you again too," smirked Duma, "I should probably warn you that any attempts to harm me will have unfortunate consequences. Like having your throat ripped out, or having your legs broken, for example."

"Do you really think you can take on a whole crowd of ponies and a dragon?" questioned Twilight Sparkle. "That seems rather over confident."

"Two dragons," Spike muttered to no one in particular.

"My entire tribe is watching us as we speak, and they're ready to pounce if necessary. Believe me when I say it would be in your best interest to listen to what I have to say," suggested Duma.

"Dragon trumps army of alleged cheetahs," pointed out Night Mist.

"That's right, you can't threaten us at all," scoffed Rarity.

"Oh, goodness, I completely forgot you had a dragon and made no plans whatsoever to deal with it," said Duma in feigned horror. "Ever heard the expression of fighting fire with fire?"

As if on cue, a large blue and green dragon crashed through the tree tops and landed behind Duma.

"I'm a sea-dragon, I can't breathe fire," the intruder corrected.

"Typhoon?!" gasped Frazzle Spark.

"Oh, wow, hi, Frazzle Spark. And Spike," answered Typhoon in equal shock.

A shadow of concern passed over Duma.

"You two know each other?" he asked.

"We met briefly over the ocean," Typhoon explained.

"Does this change anything about the deal we made?"

"Clearly you don't know anything about dragons. We fight each other all the time, especially when there's treasure or possible snacks involved," grinned Typhoon.

"What kind of parties do dragons have?" blurted out Pinkie Pie.

Typhoon glanced at Pinkie Pie but didn't say anything, presumably because she was trying to figure out where the question had come from.

"Anyway, dragon cancels out dragon, and cheetah tribe trumps zebra tribe and the rest," continued Duma. "I daresay you really ought to listen to what I want."

"And just what exactly do you want?" demanded Rainbow Dash angrily.

"A pegasus," Duma said bluntly, "just one, that's it. Do you know how disappointing it is to have a rare treat in front of you and then taken away?"

Rainbow Dash paled.

"We have issues with you eating Rainbow Dash," Night Mist said flatly.

"It doesn't have to be her, it can be any pegasus," shrugged Duma.

"It should obvious to ya that we don't want to give ya anypony to eat!" snapped Applejack.

"Well that's awfully selfish of you," laughed Duma, clearly enjoying himself. "I only want one. A cheetah can't go hungry you know."

"We understand a cheetah's need for meat, but there are plenty of non-intelligent animals for you to eat," noted Zecora.

"Well yeah, but they don't try to bargain with you for their lives, and I've never tried pegasus."

Sharp Wing decided she had had enough. This cheetah needed to go down, and she had an idea on how do it.

"What we've got here is a standoff," she announced. You can't make us give you a pony, and we can't make you leave right?"

Her words caused every head present to turn. Evidently no one had noticed her arrival.

"I wouldn't call it a standoff. If the dragons keep each other occupied my cheetahs can take all of you," said Duma smoothly.

"I think you're bluffing. If you and your tribe can kill ponies so easily, you would have eaten all these zebras a long time ago. I'm willing to bet you all don't really think zebras are easy game. In fact, I bet they're not really eager to risk their lives just so you can have a single pegasus."

Sharp Wing was rewarded by the sound of muttering by unseen observers. Duma scowled, sensing Sharp Wing's leveling the playing field.

"So we're at a stalemate," he relented. "Do you have some sort of compromise in mind?"

"Better, you and I are going to have a duel," Sharp Wing revealed.

"And why would I have a duel with you?" asked Duma with a raised brow.

"Because it’s your only shot at getting what you want and living too. It'll be a fight to the death. If you live, you get to eat me, and you'll be allowed to leave in one piece. But if you die, all of the other cheetahs have to leave, including Typhoon."

Another cheetah sprang out from behind a hut and into the clearing, walked up to Duma, and whispered something into his ear. Sharp Wing recognized the cheetah from before, it was the one with an earring. Duma's ears flattened and he hissed some native words at the messenger in an angry tone. The cheetah hissed something back and retreated out of sight.

"Very well, I agree to your conditions, providing all these other ponies will let me eat you when I win and walk away too," agreed Duma.

"And your cheetahs will leave if you die."

"You have my word."

"I don't give a rip about your word. I want theirs."

"We agree," said the cheetah with an earring, who had appeared again next to Typhoon.

"I'll still get my treasure if you die right?" asked Typhoon.

"If it comes to that, you will," Duma reassured her. "Just keep the red dragon out of it."

He turned his attention back to Sharp Wing.

"Well, all that leaves is the when and where," he prompted.

"Right here in the middle of the village, in an hour. I got stuff I need to do first." suggested Sharp Wing.

"As do I. I trust you'll be using those swords, and I'll have a spear?"

"Works for me."

"Excellent," Duma said as he turned about and started walking out of village. Several other cheetahs came out of hiding places to follow him. "See you in an hour, my little pony."

Chapter 16: Worst plan ever

Sharp Wing sat in the center of yet another wooden hut, sharpening her swords. Spears, hatchets, and tribal masks lined the walls, making the purpose of the room very clear. The other ponies and Spike were circled around Sharp Wing, watching her silently. Frazzle Spark watched as well through a window. A heavy tension hung over all of them, so thick that even Pinkie Pie was pacified. It was Twilight Sparkle who finally mustered up the courage to represent how the majority felt about Sharp Wing's intentions.

"Bad idea," she emphasized.

"Good idea," retorted Sharp Wing without even looking up from the slab of stone she was using to sharpen her swords.

"Bad idea," repeated Twilight Sparkle.

"Good idea," Sharp Wing countered with equal debating talent and variety.

"Stupid idea," agreed Rainbow Dash. "You're going to get killed."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I think what Rainbow Dash means is that it's too risky," interpreted Rarity.

"No, I meant he's going to get killed," corrected Rainbow Dash.

"I'm still a she, not a he," Sharp Wing said half-heartily.

"Do you really think we're just going to stand by and let you fight Duma all by yourself?" questioned Night Mist.

"You know as well as I do that this the only way to get rid of Duma with the least amount of bloodshed. Even if I die, he'll leave everypony else alone."

"Can't we make him go away without violence somehow?" asked Fluttershy timidly.

"I could try convincing Typhoon to switch sides," offered Frazzle Spark.

"That could work," Applejack said hopefully.

"Better do it soon, it won't be long before Duma comes back," urged Twilight Sparkle.

Frazzle Spark cautiously withdrew his head and left to find Typhoon.

"Even if Fraz convinces Typhoon to stay out of it, it’s still just a temporary fix," reasoned Sharp Wing. "That cat's a sociopath and needs to die before a pony does. This is the only way."

Sharp Wing, of course, knew better than to tell them her entire plan, otherwise they would physically try to stop her. She had gone over it a thousand times in her head. Duma was faster, bigger, and probably smarter than she was. However, Sharp Wing had the advantage of having nothing to lose. With luck, they would both die. Sharp Wing had been very careful with her conditions to make sure only Duma's death made any difference.

Even if she lived, her life was over. Her mind would snap completely in less than a week and what kind of future would that hold? Bending to the will of her dead ancestors was not an option either. Better to die than to not have control over her own life. That would show her ancestors. She would insult them with her death by killing another intelligent animal at the same time. The last laugh would be hers.

"I'll do it instead. It's my fault Duma got hungry for a pegasus in the first place!" Rainbow Dash declared nobly.

"No, it’s not. The only fault here is Duma's," argued Sharp Wing.

"I'm fast. I could beat him," Rainbow Dash insisted.

"You don't have any weapons."

"I could use yours."

"Would you hold the swords in your mouth or in your wings?"

"Either one."

"You'd only be able to hold one sword in your mouth. If you hold them in your wings you can't fly, let alone fly fast. I've tried, it’s impossible."

"I'd hold one in my mouth then, and fly fast."

Sharp Wing was starting to get frustrated with Rainbow Dash's persistence. Time for the trump card.

"You're the Element of Loyalty. If you die the Elements of Harmony can't be used. If I die that's not a problem. Less risk if I do it."

"That's not fair!" complained Rainbow Dash.

"Tough apples."

"All the pegasi could just fly away instead!" Fluttershy said desperately. "Everypony could leave and we can just go back to Equestria!"

"Dragon plus Cheetahs wipe out Zebras instead," Sharp Wing fired back.

"Frazzle Spark stays to fight Typhoon. Everypony else goes," tried Night Mist.

"Frazzle Spark loses because he has no experience fighting as a dragon. Dragon and Cheetahs hunt down everypony anyway," Sharp Wing replied smoothly. "We can't leave Zebrawbway without Fraz anyway."

Night Mist bristled.

"Your argument is logically sound, but I can't accept it." he said stubbornly.

"You don't have to. I'm leaving right now. All you have to do is stay out of my way," warned Sharp Wing.

As she got up to leave the hut, Sharp Wing realized this was her last chance to say good bye. Of course, she couldn't do that, because then they would know she was planning to die. Yet at the same time, there were so many things she wanted to say. She wanted to thank Night Mist and Frazzle Spark for being such good friends. She wanted to thank all the mares and Spike for their willingness to help. She even wanted to confess her feelings to Applejack, as weird as that would be right now.

"Cheer up," she grinned instead. "This is me we're talking about. I can find my way out of any situation. It’s what I do best. This isn't going to be goodbye, I promise."

Without looking back, Sharp Wing departed from the hut. The others followed her, subdued. Sharp Wing stepped into the center of the village and looked around. The sun was starting to set in the sky, but there was still plenty of light sneaking through the trees. Sharp Wing couldn't see the sun very well, but it looked more red-ish than it did in Equestria. Both Zebras and cheetahs were gathered around the village center. Typhoon watched with mild interest from a little further back, ducking her head to keep her eyes beneath the trees. Frazzle Spark was sitting opposite of the village center from her, watching her warily. Evidently the negotiations hadn't gone well.

As Spike, The Elements of Harmony, and Night Mist joined the crowd some of the cheetahs starting to pound on tribal drums. The rhythm felt as if it was in sync with the hammering in Sharp Wing's chest. As Sharp Wing watched, Duma slowly came into view. The Cheetah had opted to wear a necklace for the occasion, a thin ring of leather decorated with colored beads and the pointed teeth of various predators. His tail was wrapped around a long and deadly looking spear, looking just as ornamental with intricate carvings and running up and down the shaft. His ever present confident grin showed off his fangs, which somehow seemed sharper than before.

Sharp Wing felt disgust as the sleek and lean muscled feline strutted into the clearing. It was easy to hate someone who constantly smiled like that. Indeed, if Sharp Wing hoped to successfully kill him she would need that hate. Her ancestors just didn't get it. Some creatures in this world were so evil that the only thing that could be done about them was kill them. Hate was the tool, the means, the fuel, to give the good guys the strength to kill. Killing could not be accomplished without hatred.

As the drums increased in intensity and speed so did Sharp Wing's hatred for Duma. It felt different then when she intended to kill that manticore. That feeling seemed so long ago, but it had only been days. Sharp Wing wanted this cheetah to die more than she wanted anything else. Duma reached the center of the village and stopped at the same time the drums did.

"Whenever you're ready," he smirked.

With a howl of rage Sharp Wing drew both of her swords and charged. At the same time, Duma let out a very cat-like snarl and sprinted forward.

The battle had begun.

Without even a minimal attempt at self-defense, Sharp Wing thrust both swords forward. Duma side-stepped the attack and made a stab with his spear, which Sharp Wing sprang back to avoid. The two adversaries circled each other, making jabs with their weapons to test and explore the other's fighting style. Sharp Wing made another mad blitz forward, forcing Duma to spring out of the way to avoid her. Unlike the pegasus, Duma would not be satisfied with both of them dying. The cheetah went on the defensive, holding his spear with both tail and teeth to parry Sharp Wing's strikes.

"I suspected you intended to for both of us to die when I heard your choice of words for describing the conditions of our fight," Duma commented. "Didn't think you would actually go through with it."

Sharp Wing knew better than to waste words. Even taking the time to fire off a one-liner might prove to be too much of a distraction.

"You must really dislike me if you're willing to die just to make sure I do too," Duma continued as he suddenly went on the offensive, driving Sharp Wing back. "Do you really want to give up on living like that? What about things like friends, family, or romance? You're willing to give all of that up just to ensure my death?"

Sharp Wing grunted in pain as the tip of Duma's spear abruptly swept low and sliced her leg.

"That tears it!" roared Frazzle Spark as he surged forward to attack Duma.

For a split second the cheetah looked worried until Typhoon tackled the large red dragon, sending both of them rolling and crashing through the village and then the trees.

"Just so you know, if my dragon kills yours and comes back in one piece I'm not going to bother to fight you anymore," Duma informed Sharp Wing.

Sharp Wing felt herself start to panic. She hadn't expected Frazzle Spark to interfere. Sharp Wing was willing to die, but Frazzle Spark actually had a life to look forward too. Sharp Wing hoped her friend would hold out, because she couldn't do anything to help him.

******************************

Two dragons, one mostly red, the other mostly blue, continued to crash through trees before they rolled back out into the tall grass of the savanna. At that point Frazzle Spark managed to kick Typhoon off. Using her wings, Typhoon landed on her feet. Both dragons had several scratches all over their bodies, but Frazzle Spark had considerable more.

"You fight like an amateur," quipped Typhoon as she brushed off her shoulders. "If I didn't know any better I would say you've never fought a dragon before. Can I ask you something?"

"Um, sure," replied Frazzle Spark. It would be much easier to beat her if she was distracted by conversation.

"Duma told me some ponies had dragons on their side, a tiny one and a normal sized one. I assumed they must have made some sort of deal with you. But you looked like you were ready to kill when the gray one was in danger. Why?"

"The gray pony happens to be one of my best friends," explained Frazzle Spark.

"Friends? You're friends with ponies?" asked Typhoon in disbelief.

Frazzle Spark simply nodded, thinking it wise not to mention he had been a unicorn until yesterday.

"That is the weirdest thing I ever heard."

"My turn to ask you a question."

"Shoot."

"Why are you helping Duma?"

"He came up to me while I was napping on the beach and offered me treasure."

"How do you know he actually has treasure?"

"I don't, but he showed me where his village was so I could destroy it if there was no treasure."

"And you're positive there's nothing I can do to make you break your deal with him?"

"Like I said before, I only want treasure."

Frazzle Spark rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms.

"Very well then, let’s get this over with." he announced.

"Better idea. Let's not fight and just wait the whole thing out. You're no match for me anyways. I'm only getting paid to keep you out of it." Typhoon said as she causally laid down in the grass and put her arms behind her head.

"Not an option," Frazzle Spark said coldly.

"Dude, it’s just a bunch of ponies. Let's just chill."

"If you're so confident you can beat me why are you trying to avoid fighting?" taunted Frazzle Spark.

"Do you see this body?" asked Typhoon as she used one clawed and webbed hand to gesture at her entire profile.

"Yeah?"

"Do you see how nice and clean it looks?"

"Um, yeah?"

"I want to keep it that way."

"Afraid to get dirty?" inquired Frazzle Spark.

"Hardly, I don't want to bleed or break bones for treasure unless I have to," Typhoon scoffed.

"Well, unless you want to die, I suggest you let me save my friend from certain death." Frazzle Spark snarled.

"Why are you making this so hard?"

"I'm going back now. Don't try to stop me."

"Forget him. Let's just stay here and chat."

"No."

"Come on!"

"I've made up my mind."

"You're so lame."

Frazzle Spark spun and made a break for the Zebra village. The minute his back was turned to Typhoon an icy wind blew over his legs and froze him in place.

"Amateur move," Typhoon laughed as she gripped Frazzle Spark's arms and twisted them behind his back.

Chapter 17: This plan is slightly better

Sharp Wing flinched back to avoid another thrust from Duma's spear. This wasn't what she had planned. No one else was supposed to die except for her and Duma. Frazzle Spark and Typhoon were out of sight. Doubtlessly the large red reptile was getting killed right now. Sharp Wing slashed out with her sword, which Duma evaded. Why was it so hard to hit that stupid cat? Spear met on swords, and suddenly the two warriors were in a lock. Then, Sharp Wing's powers of improvising came into play as she threw herself onto her back, used her swords to rip the spear out of the cheetah's tail and knocked Duma back with a powerful buck of her hind legs.

"There, I win," she growled as she discarded the spear over the heads over the crowd.

"It's a fight to the death remember?" Duma reminded her as he held up a paw and extended his claws.

"Are you serious? If you try to attack me with your claws you're just going to pull back bloody stumps!" Sharp Wing pointed out.

"We'll see."

"How about you just give up and escape with your life?" Sharp Wing offered.

"Why the sudden generosity? I though you really wanted me to die."

The comment gave Sharp Wing pause. She did want the cheetah to die didn't she? The world would certainly be better off without him. If Sharp Wing killed him now everyone would call her a hero. It was the right thing to do wasn't it? Did it really make any deference that she still hated him?

But maybe it was deeper than that. Perhaps when one faces evil, there are two kinds of hatred. Hatred for the embodiment of that evil, and hatred for evil itself. One hatred was right, and the other was wrong.

At that moment, something changed in Sharp Wing. Perhaps it was because fighting and winning had cleared her mind. Or maybe her brain really had been altered by the transformation, like doctor Cold-Hooves had thought. Either way, she knew what she had to do.

"I changed my mind. I'm going to kill you," she said coldly.

"By all means, let’s finish this properly."

"But not because I hate you."

Duma blinked in surprise.

"I don't have to hate you to kill you," Sharp Wing pressed on, "I'm killing you because it’s the only way to stop you. You're a sick, disturbing, sociopath that's too dangerous to stay alive."

"What difference does the motivation make if the act is the sa-" Duma suddenly stopped and stared at Sharp Wing.

Sharp Wing glanced down and saw why. Her body had started glowing a yellowish gold.

"What the hay?" she swore.

A hum of pure energy filled the air as the light increased in intensity. The sound rose to an almost ear-splitting pitch, and as quickly as it had appeared, it suddenly stopped. Sharp Wing looked down again. Her legs had gotten longer and thicker.

Duma and the entire crowd stared at Sharp Wing as he let out a whoop of delight and started to do the moon-trot.

"Well, now I've seen everything," remarked Duma.

"Consider yourself lucky you got to witness my true form," smirked Sharp Wing as he stopped to admire the muscles on one of his fore legs.

"I do. Now when I kill you I'll have a bigger meal then before," smiled Duma.

"I've got two blades. You've got nothing."

"On the contrary, I've got eighteen blades, not counting the ones in my mouth!" laughed Duma as extended all of his claws and sprang forward with lightning speed.

Sharp Wing launched himself sideways to the right with a skip and a flap of the wing, but it wasn't fast enough to prevent the cheetah from razing his claws over his left wing. The result was a pain so excruciating he dropped the sword his left wing was holding.

"I'm not sure how you changed like that, but clearly it doesn't make any noticeable difference in your fighting abilities. But after I kill you I suppose I could always ask one of your friends how you did that before I eat them," quipped Duma.

"I thought you only wanted one pegasus to eat," said Sharp Wing with a grimace.

"Toying around with you has only made me work up an appetite," Duma informed him as he sprang forward in another attack.

Sharp Wing suddenly found himself giving ground in an effort to prevent the cheetah from tearing him to shreds. Since Sharp Wing had been a stallion for ninety nine percent of his life, it would make sense that he would be better at fighting in that form. However, the transformation had changed things. Now he had a life to look forward to if he survived this battle, and that took away the slight advantage of having nothing left to lose. Duma proved to be too fast again as he sliced Sharp Wing's side. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel faint from loss of blood. Out of nowhere a crazy idea came to Sharp Wing.

Sharp Wing dropped his remaining sword in the dirt, wobbled on his hooves and keeled over, pinning his good wing down with his body.

"Sharp Wing!" hollered Night Mist.

Sensing the golden opportunity, Duma opened his mouth wide and went in for the kill. His victory was cut short by a stab through the heart. Duma glanced down.

"I dern't hate you, I jest hed to shtop you," said Sharp Wing from below, his words garbled by the sword hilt he clenched between his teeth.

Duma slowly raised his head again and stared blankly ahead.

"Those ponies behind you," he whispered softly, "Where did they come from, and why are they so tall?"

His vision hazy, Sharp Wing only had time to twist the sword in Duma's heart before everything went dark.

*************

When Sharp Wing opened his eyes again he was standing in a white void. No one else was around except for two very tall ponies, a dark orange elderly looking unicorn with a white mane and blue eyes, and a younger looking white pegasus with a black mane and purple eyes.

"Please tell me I'm not dead." Sharp Wing requested.

"You're dead," said Ghost Sharp Wing.

"You're not dead," Steel Horn corrected, glaring at the younger ghost, "You've simply passed out from loss of blood."

"If I'm not dead why can I see you guys?"

"You're still close enough to our graves for us to communicate with you. This is all in your head." Steel Horn explained.

" Oh, um, okay. So what made you decide to change me back?" asked Sharp Wing, gesturing towards his one hundred percent male body.

"We didn't do anything, you simply just met the conditions of the spell," clarified Steel Horn.

"Conditions? What conditions?"

"That the spell would only be lifted if you made the right decision about the act of taking a life."

"But I just murdered someone."

Sharp Wing heard his own words, but they sounded foreign to him. He really had murdered someone, but it seemed surreal.

"No, you killed someone, there's a difference." Steel Horn corrected.

"And that difference is what exactly?"

"The reason for the act. You did what was necessary without succumbing to the wrong kind of hatred. That's not an easy thing to do in the heat of battle."

"Well, it’s like I've said before, I'm not about to let a monster get the best of me, ever," Sharp Wing said with a shrug. "But just because I agree with you now that doesn't mean I'm not mad you tried to blackmail me into it."

"That's understandable," Steel Horn said evenly, "In that case you'll be happy to know this is the last time we'll ever talk with you."

"Wait, so this is goodbye, forever?" asked Sharp Wing in shock.

He had actually started to get fond of his ancestors, as irritating as they were.

"We acted because we wanted to prevent history from repeating itself. Nothing good has ever come out of a Featherblade going corrupt. Now that you've realized the danger of the wrong kind of hatred our mission is accomplished," explained Steel Horn.

"This is your life to live, the legacy of the Featherblades is on your shoulders," added Ghost Sharp Wing. "Wouldn't be fair to keep interfering with your life."

The void began to glow brighter as the ponies of the past started to grow dimmer.

"Farewell, Sharp Wing Featherblade, perhaps one day you'll do something great, or maybe your descendants will, and our name will no longer be as blemished as I made it," Steel Horn said sadly.

"I'll change it! I will! I'll make you proud!" Sharp Wing said frantically.

The last thing Sharp Wing saw was the smiles of the two tall ponies before the light blotted out everything.

Chapter 18: Chain reactions

When Sharp Wing woke up, he was lying in a bed. It was actually a nice modern bed, with a headboard, a pillow stuffed with pegasi feathers and sheets, which was entirely out of place inside the tribal hut it was in. Everyone who had come with him from Equestria was gathered around him as well. When Sharp Wing tried to move he noticed white bandages wrapped around his neck, his leg, his wing and his torso.

"Ow," he muttered.

"You're alive!" squealed Pinkie Pie as she wrapped her fore legs around him in a brutal hug of torture.

"Ow!" screamed Sharp Wing with a considerably larger amount of volume than a moment before.

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight Sparkle protested as she magically pulled the overzealous earth pony back.

"Are you okay?" inquired Fluttershy, her eyes wide with concern.

"Not really," Sharp Wing croaked, remembering just in time to keep his sarcasm in check when talking to Fluttershy.

"I'm glad you're not dead." Night Mist said dryly.

"I'm glad you're glad I'm not dead."

"Ya cain't be feeling too bad if yer still making yer snappy comebacks," remarked Applejack.

"I always make snappy comebacks," Sharp Wing replied.

Then he remembered something.

"Hey, where's Fraz?"

"Right here," answered Frazzle Spark from outside a window.

"Didn't you get tackled by Typhoon?"

"Sure did."

"Did you beat her or something?"

"Sort of, she was kind of winning but I told her Duma was a trickster and that he had offered me treasure too. He had shown her where his village was as collateral, but when we went to get a closer look it turned out it had been abandoned for years. By the time we got back it was over."

"Where is she now?"

"Don't know, she just left after that."

"What about the cheetahs?"

"They left as well," chimed in Twilight Sparkle. "After you killed Duma the one with an earring announced he was the new leader and that hunting intelligent animals was a waste of time. Turns out Duma was the only one who got a kick out of it. Well, that's what Zecora said he said. I couldn't understand him."

Sharp Wing would have preferred the cheetahs had moral objections to hunting intelligent animals, but he wasn't picky.

"Well, I guess everything turned out okay then, right?" asked Rarity.

"I'm a stallion again, and I'm not going to lose my mind, so yeah, I guess it did," decided Sharp Wing.

"It was kind of cool when the bath mixture finally kicked in and you glowed and stuff," recalled Rainbow Dash.

Sharp Wing blinked. Did they still not believe in the ghosts?

"Why would it take so long to kick in?" he asked carefully, not wishing to look insane by mentioning his ancestors.

"It's basic science of course. You got a heavy dose of Poison Joke because you were lying in it for hours. That's why it took longer to for the bath mixture to run through your system." Twilight Sparkle explained.

It became clear to Sharp Wing then that they had all dismissed his rant about his ancestors completely, most likely because the was stressed out of his mind at the time.

"Oh, that makes sense," he lied, "I was wondering why it happened when it did. I suppose we're going home now?"

"If you're up to it, can you get up?" asked Night Mist.

Sharp Wing got up from the bed.

"I'm sore, but I think I can manage." he said.

"Great! Don’t worry about helping us pack up, we'll take care of it." Twilight Sparkle said generously.

After saying goodbye to the zebras and Zecora, who would be taking a boat back to Equestria later, the band of ponies and the two dragons starting making preparations to head home. Having been forbidden from helping, Sharp Wing had decided to just watch. After of few minutes of doing just this he felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn around.

"Oh hey, Spike, what's up?" he asked the tapper.

"I uh, fetched your swords for you," Spike said awkwardly, holding out the weapons.

The sight made Sharp Wing stiffen. One sword was clean, but the other was coated in blood. The blood of an intelligent, living, breathing animal who was now dead, gone forever. Sharp Wing knew he had had no other choice but to kill Duma, but it still hit him deeply.

"Can I ask you something?" Spike asked abruptly.

"Um, sure."

"What does it feel like to kill someone?"

Sharp Wing suddenly felt very tired.

"I dunno, I guess it depends on why you did it. I don't really feel happy because Duma is gone. I'm really just relieved, and sad that there wasn't any other way to make him stop eating intelligent creatures. I would think that if you ever took pride in taking a life, you're not doing it right."

Spike stood there awkwardly for a moment, processing what he had just heard. Then he gave the swords to Sharp Wing and went off to go help pack. Soon the packing was finished and everyone got aboard Frazzle Spark. With his smoothest take off yet, he took to the skies.

"Zebrawbway is a very beautiful country from up here," observed Rarity as they all flew homeward.

"Bye Zebrawbway!" squealed Pinkie Pie.

"Worst. Country. Ever," huffed Rainbow Dash. "Good riddance."

"Can't say much for the culture," agreed Twilight Sparkle.

"Hey, Spike, when we get home we should find a lot of gems and eat them all." suggested Frazzle Spark.

"Ooh, let’s fill up a whole cave with gems!" Spike agreed enthusiastically.

Night Mist and Twilight Sparkle exchanged a worried glance.

"You're really going to stay as a dragon?" asked Fluttershy nervously.

"Absolutely, it's flaming awesome."

"But who is going to run your store if you remain a dragon?" reasoned Twilight Sparkle, ignoring the new dragon phrase.

"Don't need it. I'll live off the land and find a cave near Ponyville to live in. That way I can visit you guys and you can visit me."

"But I thought you loved running your firecracker store!" protested Sharp Wing, dismayed by the idea of his best friend moving away.

Frazzle Spark didn't answer.

Sensing he was on the verge of changing his friend's mind, Sharp Wing flew out of his saddlebag so he could talk face to face with his friend.

"We won't be able to do hang out anymore because you won't fit in any building," Sharp Wing argued.

Frazzle Spark was about to respond when suddenly he coughed, blinked in surprise, and rapidly shrank down and morphed back into a unicorn.

"Oh fang," he swore as he and all the passengers who were now inside saddlebags strapped to nothing fell screaming into the ocean.

Rainbow Dash managed to get out of her saddlebag and shot back up into the air. Without hesitation both she and Sharp Wing dove into the water to save the others. Sharp Wing knew Night Mist could swim, but Frazzle Spark couldn't. He wasn't sure about the others. The salt water stung his eyes, and made it next to impossible to tell one pony from another. Sharp Wing went for the first pony shape he could see, grabbed him or her, and pumped his wings to fly back up. When he broke the surface he saw that it was Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash shot of the water holding Rarity.

"Can you swim?" Sharp Wing asked Pinkie Pie with urgency.

"I can swim!" Pinkie Pie gasped with wide eyes.

Sharp Wing dropped her and went back into the water as Fluttershy came out holding Spike. This time he spotted a dark red blur. Sharp Wing tore through the water and snatched up Frazzle Spark before surging up again.

Night Mist came up with a gasp with Twilight Sparkle across his back, struggling hard to stay above water. Applejack appeared as well, and swam towards them to help carry Twilight Sparkle, as did Pinkie Pie. Sharp Wing did a head count. Everyone was either treading water or being held up by somepony else.

"What now?" inquired Rainbow Dash, still flapping her wings hard to hold her own weight and Rarity's.

"One sec," requested Twilight Sparkle as her horn started to glow in a bright pink light. With a flash of magic a large wooden row boat appeared in the water. "Okay, everypony in," she wheezed.

Nine very tired ponies and one dragon got into the boat. For a while no one said a word.

"Could somepony please explain to me why I changed back?" begged Frazzle Spark.

"I get the feeling you changing back was part of the prank the Poison Joke played on you," Twilight Sparkle said thoughtfully. "Instead of messing with some part of you that you were fond of, it gave you something you became fond of and took it away forever."

"But that's cruel!" protested Frazzle Spark.

"More than cruel, we're stranded in the middle of the ocean. Do you think you could conjure up some oars too, Twilight?" asked Rarity.

"It'll take forever to row all the way back to Equestria," pointed out Night Mist.

"And we lost all of our supplies," added Apple Jack.

There was a brief pause as everyone considered this predicament.

"I've got an idea," announced Rainbow Dash with a grin.

Moments later the Equestrians were zipping over the waves at breakneck speed as Rainbow Dash pushed the boat from behind.

"Woohoo! This is awesome!" Spike laughed, squinting into the wind to see ahead.

"We'll be back in Equestria in no time at this rate," figured Apple Jack.

As the Equestrians zipped home they broke down into idle chatter, talking about the dangers they had faced, and what they would do when they got home. Not a word was spoken about Duma's death. But Sharp Wing wasn't really listening to the others, for his mind was elsewhere.

Sharp Wing knew now he had been in the right when he killed Duma, but the fact of the cheetah's death at his hooves, or rather, his wings and then his mouth, felt like a burden. Sharp Wing figured it would be with him for the rest of his life. Well, that and the knowledge that ghosts were real. But perhaps the biggest change of all was the knowledge Steel Horn and the original hero Sharp Wing had given him.

Evil did more than just corrupt a single pony, it could cause a chain reaction that could pass on to others, and future generations. Emperor Sharp Wing had been the product of this. His son of the same name had altered Equestria's history by choosing the path of good, which started a new chain reaction. Yet the legacy of the Featherblades was still tainted by four generations of evil. Five, counting the older brother of the second Sharp Wing. Perhaps this Sharp Wing could change that. Maybe by making the right choices he could finish the job that the second Sharp Wing had started. Maybe one day, when ponies thought of the Featherblades, they would think not of villainous tyrants, but of heroes.

-The End