-Canterlot High School-
The pegasus mare walked into the school, her cheeks, which were normally a milky white, as red as an apple. Lifting a hoof to cover her face as she caught a couple of wayward glances, she trotted into the cafeteria and moved towards the location of one of her best friends, who she hoped might be able to help with the predicament that she currently found herself in.
The mare moved as swiftly as she was able by her usual group of friends, hoping to Celestia that none would recognize her in that time. But when Wolf Heart laid eyes on her, the pegasi's initial reaction was to dive for cover. Remembering her goal, though, she nervously pushed herself forward.
Upon seeing the pegasus mare approaching, Wolf Heart cocked a slightly confused brow, unsure what to make of her awkward gait and bright red muzzle. At first, the winged unicorn mistook her for one of her best friends, Dapper Jolt, possessing a maraud of blue colorations in her mane and tail, a creamy white coat, and blue wing feathers. Even the way the mane was styled and a pair of glasses on the bridge of her nose were identical, save for a slightly longer mane than the Godzilla enthusiast's. The pony's build was completely wrong, though, and her eyelashes were noticeably longer than any stallion's. It was definitely a mare, as she was built lean, though tall for a mare.
Regardless, seeing this almost mirror image of a completely unique stallion almost left Wolf Heart gawking as the pegasus approached.
"Wolfie... I need your help," the newcomer choked in a panicked, feminine tone of voice, further confirming that this wasn't Dapper Jolt.
"Hoooow do you know my name?" she queried, recalling that not many called her by name, and even fewer by her nickname as she pulled her head back slightly.
The pegasus before her took a deep breath. "Please don't freak out... It's me, Dapper Jolt," the mare grimaced.
Wolf Heart had to resign herself from bursting out with laughter at the words. Seeing the look of fear laced across the teenager's face murdered any longing to laugh that she may have had. The pegasus looked near on the verge of tears after all. The winged unicorn's eyes went wide momentarily as she realized that the mare was telling the truth. Glancing over her shoulder and to her hip, Wolf did indeed see the same top hat, monocle, and mustache emblazoned upon it, only exaggerating her shock as her jaw nearly dropped. "Dapper?! Why are you a-?"
"I DON'T KNOW!!" the pegasus finally cried whilst cutting her friend off, throwing her hooves up and dropping her saddlebags.
Wolf Heart reeled back at the outburst, eliciting a cockeyed expression from Flute Melody, who was busying herself with a friend after her bestie turned her attention to Dapper Jolt. Seeing the look upon the newcomer's face was an instant giveaway... This mare was indeed the strange Godzilla enthusiast known only by the formerly mentioned name.
Heaving for breath, the newly formed pegasus mare flopped down against the lunch table, muffled sobs audible as she buried her head into her arms.
"Uh," was all that the flute player was able to get out of her mouth.
"Dapper?" Wolf Heart whispered, leaning down and putting a hoof against her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. When she didn't respond, Wolf gently pulled the mare back and to her hooves, surprised at how light 'he' actually was in comparison to just yesterday when he'd given her a hug. "C'mon. Let's go talk to Miss Luna about this," she suggested with a worried frown.
The result was instantaneous, for the pegasus leapt to her hooves and whipped to face Wolf. "Please no!!" she begged. "I don't want anypony else to know that I was Dapper Jolt!" the mare explained.
Before Wolf Heart was able to respond, a golden feathered pegasus stallion approached. "Hullo, Wolf Heart!" he exclaimed with a smile, unable to currently see his best friend's face at the moment.
"Oh, Falcon... Hi!" the blue furred mare smiled nervously, slowly beckoning the pegasus she was previously talking to to stand behind her.
Falcon Wing cocked a brow at her demeanor before ushering a shrug. "Have you seen Dapper Jolt? I thought I saw him walk up here but haven't been able to locate him," the stallion asked, scanning over his surroundings in search of the pegasus in question.
"Uh... Nope! I didn't see him!" Wolf Heart chirped, a wide grin upon her face that she could only hope wouldn't raise any suspicions.
Falcon Wing squinted slightly as a bead of sweat came upon the mare's brow, all while Dapper Jolt hid behind her friend in an attempt to remain hidden. After what seemed like minutes, but was really only seconds, Falcon shrugged again. "MEH, it's probably nothin'!" he exclaimed before turning and returning to the group of ponies that he usually hung around with in the morning.
Wolf Heart heard a relieved sigh and slight thud before turning a 180 and facing Dapper Jolt, who was sweating bullets in 'his' current state of stress. "Up and at 'em, we need to talk," she said, grabbing the pegasus mare's hoof and pulling her to her hooves.
-Minutes Later-
Dapper Alan Jolt, the pegasus... mare... walked alongside one of his best friends for a moment before the duo came upon the entrance to the mare's bathroom, freezing the strange pony dead in her tracks. "Okay, NO. I'm not going in there!" she exclaimed in a voice that sounded so unlike Dapper Jolt, skidding to a halt and nervously backpedaling away from the doorway.
"You're a mare, remember?" Wolf Heart said with an eye roll. "This is probably as close as we can get to privacy," she reiterated, causing the mare's cheeks to turn bright red and her head to reel back slightly. The winged unicorn slapped a hoof to her face with a groan, careful not to strike her glasses in the process. "Without the risk of a friend walking in on the conversation, Dapper!" she finally clarified.
"O-kay?" she finally stuttered, following Wolf into the bathroom with shaking legs. Upon entering, the former stallion finally broke, scared tears slipping down her cheeks as she fell into Wolf Heart's arms. "What am I going to do?! I-I can't just walk up to my friends looking like a pervert!" she cried as her friend's expression transitioned into that of shock.
"Uh. You could, um... Go... by a... different name?" she suggested with a tone that was more of a question than a definitive idea, for she was far too frazzled to say anything reassuring at that moment in time.
"What name, though?" Dapper Jolt spluttered, pulling away from Wolf Heart with fearful eyes, her pupils the size of pinpricks as she spoke.
The mare cocked a brow and thought back to the 'stallion's' interests, falling back onto one with a smile. "What about Fossil Flurry?" she asked her friend with a reassuring smile. "It's far enough from Dapper Jolt that it won't be recognizable as you, but still sticks close to your interests."
Dapper Jolt paused in her ramblings for a moment, lifting a hoof to her chin at the title provided. If the former stallion had to admit, there was a nice ring to the name that she could get used to, if needed. "I like it," she finally replied with a slow, deliberate nod. She wasn't given anymore time to contemplate the name before her thoughts transitioned back to the more pressing topic at hoof. "But what about Falcon and all of them? They won't buy that I'm not Dapper Jolt for long," she explained. "I really don't feel like catching eyes that I don't want to catch," 'Fossil Flurry' added with an embarrassed blush forming upon her muzzle, giving what once was a stallion the comedic appearance of a giddy school filly.
For the second time in five minutes, Wolf slapped her face with a hoof. "We can cross that bridge when we get to it, alright? In the meantime, why not have some fun, eh?" she giggle mischievously, playfully punching her friend's shoulder with a hoof.
The red upon Fossil Flurry's face went even darker as she sat straight up, her eyes practically popping from her skull.
At this point, Wolf Heart had burst out laughing, partly at her expression, and partly at imagining her flirting with a stallion like Falcon Wing... But mostly at her expression.
"Wolfiiie," Fossil Flurry whined, eliciting a giggle from the pegasus-unicorn cross.
"Alright, alright. Uncle. I was just teasing... Mostly. Nevertheless, I don't think that your... condition, is all bad. I'm sure you could find something good in this situation, right?" Wolf Heart snickered. "Hold on, turn a 360," she continued, spinning a hoof over 'Fossil Flurry's' head.
"What? No!" the pegasus barked, crossing her hooves with an unamused expression.
Wolf Heart replaced her current expression with an almost pleading look. "Pleeease?" she said, eyes wide and hooves together as though she was praying.
Fossil Flurry rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Fine," she muttered.
Wolf leaped to her hooves with a wide grin as the mare slowly turned in a circle. "Huh! You could definitely catch a few eyes... You've certainly got that delicate look down," she exclaimed.
"Oy! I don't plan on being like this forever, Wolfie!" Flurry snorted, finding her cheeks flushing much more frequently than she'd've liked. "I didn't ever plan on being like this," the mare grumbled through a sigh. "Besides, I'm not as delicate as I might look. I'm a pretty tough dude."
"Except, you're not a dude anymore," Wolf Heart snickered, nudging the mare's shoulder.
Wolf Heart waited for a response for a moment before her friend finally acknowledged, a sullen look upon her face. "I KNOW!!" she finally cried out, falling to her haunches.
Her friend's expression transitioned to that of worry as she placed a gentle hoof on Flurry's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," she whispered, wrapping the pegasus in her arms for a moment in an attempt to comfort the downtrodden mare.
"No, don't worry about it... I should give it a chance, like you suggested," she acknowledged, forcing herself a smile and looking into Wolf Heart's multi-toned eyes.
The winged unicorn smiled softly before leading Fossil Flurry back to the cafeteria. It was fortunate that they'd arrived to school a little earlier than was the usual, for by the time they'd made it back to the waiting area, it was busy with students. The pegasus, however, was terrified to see that Wolf Heart wasn't headed back to Flute Melody, but Falcon Wing, Gaming Oak, and Jackpot Ace.
It was in that moment that the blue maned mare almost turned and just left. Following Wolf's words of encouragement, she pushed herself forward, though, where she stood by her friend's side with an anxious look spreading across her muzzle. The mare almost had a heart attack when Falcon turned to face her following a tap to the shoulder from Wolf.
"Falcon, please try not to just keel over and die on the floor, alright?" Wolf Heart started with a smile.
"Wut?" he questioned with wide eyes, looking back and forth between a fidgeting, cream colored pegasus and his friend.
"This is Fossil Flurry," the teenager clarified upon seeing the mare in question rapidly shaking her head. At the words, the pegasus ushered a heavy sigh. "She's... sort of... new here?" Wolf grimaced in an attempt to formulate a clever response.
"Have my ass!" Jackpot Ace hollered suddenly, pushing by Falcon with wide eyes and a ridiculous grin.
It was at this point that Fossil Flurry began to choke on her own rapid breath, her chest heaving as her eyelids fluttered.
"Jack!" Wolf Heart shouted at the unicorn before becoming aware of the fact that Flurry had passed out on the floor. "Ohmygosh!" the mare exclaimed, ducking down and grabbing her hoof. Brushing aside her mane, Wolf placed an ear against her chest, ushering a sigh of relief at her rapid, but audible heartbeat. Rising to her hooves, she turned to face Jackpot with a glare that could smash boulder. "Why in the name of Tartarus would you do that?!" Wolf hollered at him, throwing up her hooves.
The unicorn in question reeled back slightly, a look of fear lacing his expression.
Before he was able to respond, the duo heard something that froze Wolf Heart's muscles like ice.
"She looks a lot like Dapper," Falcon Wing stated, tilting his head to peer down at the now unconscious pegasus. "I mean, a lot like Dapper." With that, he turned slightly and gently kicked aside her leg to see her Cutie-Mark. To his surprise, it was that of a top hat, monocle, and mustache. "Wolf? What haven't you been telling us?" the stallion questioned, cocking a curious brow.
Wolf Heart groaned and threw her head back slightly. "That's not Fossil Flurry... It is Dapper Jolt. Something happened and he woke up as a mare. He was afraid of his friends trying to flirt with him and didn't want you guys to know," she explained, firing a glare at Jack with the beginning of her last statement.
"Firstly, I would never try to flirt with my best friend! Not even if I was gay. Secondly, wouldn't just telling us this was Dapper work better than giving him a completely different name?" Falcon queried.
Wolf Heart was unable to answer as Jackpot began to gag and choke. "Mistakes were made!" he exclaimed through a cough, his voice sounding rough and weak as he collapsed to the floor. "Please... Please bring amber lamps," he gasped.
Falcon rolled his eyes as Gaming Oak looked down at 'Fossil Flurry' as she began to stir, a groan slithering from her throat that, even considering her current form, shocked him knowing who it was coming from. True, Dapper's voice wasn't exactly a deep baritone normally, but it certainly didn't sound... feminine. Oak chuckled a bit as the blue maned pegasus rubbed her forehead with a wince.
"What happened?" she asked, looking up to see the earth pony looming over her. Scrambling back in shock, the pegasus shook off her daze and ushered a nervous grin.
"Jackpot tried to flirt with you," Gaming Oak smiled sarcastically.
"What?" Fossil Flurry squeaked, her jaw lowering an inch or two and face red as blood rushed to it.
Falcon Wing rolled his eyes and held out his hoof for her. "Don't get your hopes up, Dapper. He didn't realize that it was you," the pegasus told the mare after pulling her back to her hooves.
"Fossil Flurry," she corrected with a nervous giggle before she quickly shot a hoof to her muzzle at the feminine laughter, her eyes wide.
Falcon snorted in amusement before beginning to laugh, where he was promptly joined by Gaming Oak.
"Please stop," Flurry mumbled, a frown upon her lips as she dipped her head with embarrassment.
-Through the Mirror-
The winged unicorn stallion stared long and hard at the pegasus stallion before him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. His friend, who was once a beautiful mare with a long, blue mane and white coat was now a muscularly built pegasus stallion. 'She' still possessed the leather greaves and copper plated wings that she was known for, but it complimented 'her' new, stallion build. The former mare wasn't any less terrified than his friend, for he'd been shaking like a leaf for about twenty minutes now. Fossil Flurry, as he was once called, leaned back on her haunches and held a hoof to his forehead whilst Beta Fang gawked at him.
"Flurry?" Beta Fang queried, closing his jaw and shaking off his daze. "What happened?!"
"I don't know!" Fossil Flurry barked at him with a growling edge on his deeper than expected voice.
The winged unicorn reeled back in astonishment at her reaction, a look of unconfined shock spread across his muzzle as the pegasus looked himself over. Typically kind to her friends, it came as a surprise that she'd reacted so aggressively towards him. "Okay, I'm sorry for asking!" the indigo and sky blue stallion shrugged with a nervous grin before his friend replaced anger with a downtrodden expression.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you," he muttered in such a mannerism that would've left Beta Fang laughing, considering the fact that she was currently a 'he' and spoke as though he was still a mare.
Beta sighed. "Don't worry about it, alright? Why don't we go consult Twilight about this? She could help," the stallion suggested with a smile.
"What?! Not in a month of Mondays would I ever go to some bookworm about a situation like this!" 'she' snorted with a firm expression.
"Alright, what did you want to do..? Dapper Jolt," Beta Fang smirked, eliciting a cockeyed expression from the newly formed stallion. "What?" he questioned. "It's not like we can call you Fossil Flurry anymore, you're a stallion now," the winged unicorn explained with a shrug. "Besides... Weren't you hoping to find somepony with a nice mustache?" Beta asked.
'Dapper Jolt's' cheeks flushed slightly as 'he' ushered an embarrassed grimace. "Fine," he muttered through clenched teeth and with an eye roll.
"I still think we should go to Twilight," Beta Fang added to himself, drawing out a long groan from his friend.
"Why?! What can she do to help?!" 'Dapper' barked, throwing up his hooves in despair and staring wide eyed at the winged unicorn.
"I dunno, she could help figure out why you're like this?"
-Several Minutes Later-
"I haven't the slightest clue why you're a stallion," Twilight Sparkle declared, her expression flat and devoid of emotion.
On cue, 'Dapper Jolt' turned and fired a glare at 'his' friend. "I told you," he grumbled.
"What? I was only trying to help," Beta Fang shrugged, avoiding eye contact with the pegasus stallion.
"I take it that this is some kind of love-hate relationship going on between you two?" Twilight interjected, a slightly sly look spreading across her muzzle. Before either could argue against the statement, the alicorn student spoke again. "I'll see what I can do, this isn't just going to be a clap of the hooves-easy." It was in that moment that the mare found the urge to find Celestia about this. Cocking a brow in slight confusion at the thought, Twilight shrugged to herself before finding that the duo weren't still standing there and were, in fact, leaving the area.
With a roll of the eyes, Twilight Sparkle trotted after them.
-The Ordinary World-
"Hm, so you're telling me that you weren't normally a mare, up until this morning?" Twilight Sparkle queried, walking a loop around 'Fossil Flurry' with a hoof to her chin in thought. Wolf Heart watched on in curiosity as a violet aura surrounded Twilight's horn, the precursor to her pegasus friend's body.
"Nooo? And what are you doing? I feel like you're going to force me into some weird sexual exercises that I'd much rather not partake in," Flurry blushed nervously, her eyes wide with a loss for anything more to say.
Wolf Heart choked on her breath to force back a giggle, her own cheeks turning red as the joyful convulsions calmed slightly.
Twilight merely looked up at the now hovering pegasus with a blank expression. "What? No, I'm not going to do anything sexual. I'm not a lesbian or a pervert... I'm just-" The alicorn cut herself off for a moment before releasing her telekinetic hold on the pegasus mare.
The action did little to reassure the stallion turned mare as she whipped to face her. Turning to face Wolf Heart for support following this action, Fossil Flurry was disappointed to see her merely shrug in response. "What's your plan?" Flurry asked as she turned back to Twilight.
"I've heard of this happening before, a pony who is of a certain gender switching to the opposite... It's called genderbending. Don't worry, this didn't happen because the author hates you... It's some kind of prophecy or something," Twilight explained whilst flipping open a book and skimming through its contents. "I was told about an event in which a pony and their mirror self will not only genderbend, but completely switch bodies in both mental, and physical ways. Sometimes the two even claim the other's name." Looking up at her audience, the alicorn half expected at least one of them to be asleep and not listening attentively.
Instead, she was surprised that the duo was indeed listening, and both wore wide eyed, disbelieving expressions upon their faces.
"So what you're telling us... is that there is some funky dimension or something, where I'm normally a mare and she's a stallion, and some kind of magic changed that?!" Fossil Flurry blurted, gesturing towards Wolf Heart at the part referring to said mare.
"Yeah, except she obviously hasn't changed," Twilight said whilst rolling her eyes as though the former stallion didn't have a good reason to be distressed.
"How am I supposed to fix this?! I can't grow a mustache as a mare!"
Wolf Heart giggled, though slightly surprised that the cause of his distress was about the ability to grow a mustache and not the fact that his biggest crush didn't swing for both sides. Chances are it was for that reason and Flurry just wasn't up to admitting it in that moment.
Twilight's voice pulled her back to the present. "The only way I can think of to fix your situation is to meet your mirror self. However, there's a catch."
"Great," the pegasus mare groaned.
"Oof," Wolf winced.
"Your mirror selves are likely to be (mind my french) conceded douchebags who only care about themselves, if what I've heard about you two being as friendly towards each other as you are is true," Twilight acknowledged.
In that moment, Wolf Heart felt all of the blood in her body rush to her face. Turning, she could see that Fossil Flurry's face was also bright red, but rather than flushing out of the fact the she was seeing somepony (which she wasn't), she was flushing at the fact that it was largely she that had been trying for Wolf Heart, likely more so than the other way around.
"She's already seeing somepony," Flurry retorted with embarrassment.
"Regardless, the fact that your mirror selves are probably jerks is where things get complicated. To resolve this, you two, and I say you two because Wolf is going as support-" The mare in question furrowed a brow with a frown. "-you two must go into the mirror and meet yourselves whilst also attempting to draw the malevolent side out of your doppelgänger. This is easier with magic, but you don't know magic, Dapper," Twilight explained.
"Fossil Flurry," she corrected. "Until I'm my old dashing, handsome, weirdo self, I'll not use that name."
"Really annunciating the fact that you're a weirdo, Flurry," Wolf Heart grinned, chuckling lightly at the statement of the pegasi's former self being such a charming pony.
"If I wasn't, I probably wouldn't've gotten to know you at all," the pegasus mare snickered, eliciting a blush from the winged unicorn. "Nopony would like me if I was 'normal'," the pegasus mare stated whilst leaning towards Wolf slightly, who nodded in agreement.
Twilight groaned slightly. "Dapper... Er, Flurry, if you two aren't going to like, be more than what you are after you get your body back, why are you still flirting with her?!" she chastised.
Fossil Flurry jerked up and away from her friend as the mare in question before firing a glare at her. "If I had a bit for every time a pony said that, I'd be rich," she snorted slightly.
"Seriously?" Wolf Heart asked with a cocked brow.
"Erm... Yes?" the pegasus flinched slightly.
Wolf smiled softly. "Daaaw," she cooed before Twilight cleared her throat.
"I suggest you leave now, before 'Fossil Flurry' catches eyes that she doesn't want to," she surmised.
-The Mirror Room, Canterlot-
Fossil Flurry and Wolf Heart stared into their reflection, both mares wearing slightly nervous expressions upon their faces. Whilst Flurry was concerned about having to face her bad side, Wolf was worried that the Mirror Dapper Jolt wouldn't be the same charming stallion that she'd grown to like.
Regardless, as Twilight Sparkle stood by, waiting for them to go through, like Princess Celestia had suggested, she was beginning to get impatient. The violet alicorn was excited at seeing what would happen when a pony met themselves, but her subconscious yanked her away from going to the portal with the duo. "Well?" she questioned. "What're you guys waiting for? Go on!" she beckoned.
Flurry lifted a hoof to the mirror before pausing in her actions. "Wait a minute! You never told us how I was going to get the bad side out of my mirror self!" she exclaimed.
Wolf Heart furrowed a brow at the realization and turned to face Twilight. "She's right... How is a magicless pony going to suck the darkness from their mirror self?" she queried.
"I guess you'll have to figure it out," the teenager snickered before pushing the duo through the surface of the glass.
In gut instinct, Flurry and Wolf lifted their hooves and braced themselves to be shoved into a solid mirror. They were shocked to find that they tumbled into the surface before collapsing against the marble floor in a heap. Untangling their limbs, the two shared a grimace and looked up to see a trio of all too familiar ponies wearing wide eyed stares upon their faces.
It was like looking into a slightly warped mirror.
Fossil Flurry's mirror self was more or less the same stallion that he'd been once. Aside from the fact that his eyes were slightly bloodshot and his mane and tail were more of an indigo in color rather than the striking blue that he was known for. He was slightly scarred, with copper plating both wings. The pegasus also wore stained leather greaves upon his shins and he possessed a bit more stubble than Fossil Flurry ever had.
Wolf Heart stared at her own mirror self with a slightly lowered jaw, given the fact that this rendition of Wolf Heart was a stallion whose mane and tail were also fringed with indigo hues. His fur was substantially darker than her own however, being a deep ocean blue rather than sky. His eyes were striking, being an almost glowing green, like there was an aura behind those eyes.
The mare shuddered before turning to look at the stallion that was one of her best friends with a slightly confused expression. "Dapper?" she queried.
On cue, both the stallion across from her and the mare beside her answered in an eerie unison, turning to face the speaking mare. "Yeah?"
"But you. She... What?!" Wolf Heart spluttered, pointing both to her stallion counterpart and the stallion that was her friend.
The Mirror Realm's Twilight Sparkle merely chuckled at the sight.
"Flurry?" the dark blue winged unicorn smiled, approaching the pegasus mare with an almost joyful expression. "You're back!" he finally laughed, wrapping her in his arms and giving the complete stranger a tight hug. He was interrupted by Wolf Heart shoving him away, causing the stallion to drop the pony that he thought he knew.
"Bruh!" Wolf barked, standing between the duo.
Beta Fang was unable to answer before the pegasus stallion beside him slugged his shoulder with a hoof and a glare.
"OW!" he snapped, whipping to face the stallion. "What was that for?!"
"That is clearly not me," 'Dapper Jolt' growled, crossing his forehooves and gesturing towards the heavily blushing mare. "Let's be real... I was a feminine badass! This pony, whoever she is, looks like that stereotypical cheerleader," he exclaimed, eliciting a frown to form upon Wolf and Flurry's faces.
Beta Fang nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she does look kinda wimpy," he snickered.
"Hey, I'm tougher than I look!" the pegasus mare in question snapped.
Wolf Heart's expression had long since transitioned from anger to disgust, her arms folded as she glared at the mirror Dapper Jolt. This was certainly not the same stallion that she'd been conversing with for nearly three years now... This was a stuck up prick who stole his body. With a snort, Wolf Heart promptly stood up, stomped towards the pegasus, and acquainted the back of her hoof with his face.
'Dapper Jolt' reeled back in shock, lifting a hoof to his face with a painful grimace. "What the FUCK?!" he roared, pulling his arm away to reveal a red hoof imprinted against his cheek.
Nooow I know what she meant when she said if she needed to slapabitch she would! Fossil Flurry thought with an impressed smile whilst Wolf's mirror self gently pushed his friend away from 'her' adversary, a glare upon his face that was directed towards the sky blue winged unicorn.
"What in the name of Tartarus is your problem?!" Beta Fang sneered at Wolf Heart before looking up at Dapper Jolt with a sympathetic expression. "Are you alright?" he queried, lifting a hoof to his cheek to comfort the pegasus.
"Gaaay!" Fossil Flurry hooted whilst ushering a giggle.
Wolf Heart joined her laughter while their two mirror counterparts flushed bright red in the face.
"Alright, I've seen enough," Twilight Sparkle finally interjected, standing between the four and holding out her hooves like she was trying to hold back a wild animal. With that, she turned to the new arrivals to the Mirror Realm. "I take it that you two are the Fossil Flurry and Beta Fang of your world?"
"Actually, my name is Wolf Heart and this is Dapper Jolt," the mare in question retorted with a roll of the eyes. "And-wait, Beta Fang?"
"That would be me," the indigo-maned alicorn grumbled, lifting a hoof.
'Dapper Jolt' cocked a brow. "Fossil Flurry would be me," he explained whilst looking down slightly at his doppelgänger. "So, you're the little shit that stole my body?" he snickered, stabbing a hoof at her chest to annunciate the fact.
"Don't make me hurt you again," Wolf Heart grumbled whilst leering up at the pegasus. "I don't care if you're the ruler of Equestria. If you hurt my friends, I will slap you so hard that the impact will completely unscrew your head from your body."
The former mare snorted in an unimpressed amusement. "I'd like to see you try," he smirked tauntingly at her, making a 'come at me' motion with his hoof.
"Please don't kill myself, Wolfie," Fossil Flurry grimaced, noticing her friend's muzzle growing bright red with a building anger that Flurry never dreamed of seeing, not in a million years. "If you do, how am I going to change back into a stallion?"
Realizing the fact that she was actually starting to scare her friend, Wolf Heart inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled even more so through her mouth, closing her eyes and allowing the blue to return to her face. "Sorry, Flurry... I'll remove myself from the room before the rising idiocy gets to me any further," Wolf sighed, playfully punching the mare's shoulder before doing as she stated she would do.
Fossil Flurry sighed and trotted after her whilst Beta Fang and Dapper Jolt exchanged wide eyed glances.
-Minutes Later-
"Wolfie?" the pegasus mare called after her friend, moving at a brisk speed to catch up with the winged unicorn. Wolf Heart stopped and turned to face the former stallion with a sullen expression, one that brought Fossil Flurry to a momentary pause. "Are you alright?" she asked her friend, furrowing a concerned brow.
"I'm fine. I'm just... thinking," she clarified, though doing little to aid in curing Flurry's confusion.
The pegasus frowned. "What's wrong?
Wolf Heart sighed. "Them... That wasn't you. I could never picture you like that. I don't want to feel like my perspective of you changed because I witnessed how severe your bad side can be," she muttered somberly, dipping her head slightly. The pegasus mare could almost swear that he saw a tear appear at the corner of her eye while she spoke, as though just the thought was painful to bear.
"Hey... I would never do anything to intentionally harm you," Fossil Flurry whispered, placing a reassuring hoof to her shoulder. "That's just not the kind of pony that I am. My bad side only comes out around those that I don't like or those who have harmed my friends... I want you to know that if anypony ever wrongs you, I will sell their skin to be used as a coat after feeding their eyes to crows."
Wolf Heart couldn't help but smile at his words. "Aww," she cooed. "I'd hug you right now, but that would be a liiittle weird," she giggled slightly.
Fossil Flurry could only nod in agreement. "I was never one to argue with you, Wolfie," the pegasus mare grinned.
The winged unicorn would've smiled, but a more pressing issue plagued her mind. "Twilight told us that to turn back into a stallion, you had to take the negative energy that was in your mirror self... Does that mean that you'll go dark?" the teenager queried, her frown returning as she looked into her friend's blue eyes.
"I... don't know. That's what I was told happened with this world's Sombra... But I hope not," she murmured through a small shrug. Flurry fidgeted uncomfortably, not liking the direction that this conversation was taking. "If that does happen, though... and-and I lose control-" She paused and looked at her friend. "I don't want you to get hurt. Promise me... please. If I lose it, promise me that you'll leave as quick as you can."
Wolf Heart demeanor saddened considerably. "What? I can't do that... You stayed by my side, you cared about me, even when I wasn't paying you any attention. You knew that I was seeing somepony, and it didn't stop you from caring, didn't stop you from hoping... I'm not just going to ditch you if you go a little nuts. Do you hear me?" she chided. "Please never ask me to just abandon you again," Wolf asked her friend, placing both hooves on her shoulders with a firm expression.
Fossil Flurry sighed and dipped her head. "Okay," she muttered with a hesitant nod.
"Alright then... Let's go talk to Twilight and see how you can genderbend back to your old self, eh?"
-Moments Later (I Know, Lots of Time Skips)-
Fossil Flurry and Wolf Heart stood before the Mirror Realm's Twilight Sparkle as she explained how a pegasus might absorb the dark magic that one possesses. The process was certainly not an easy one, as the duo had been informed. As pegasi didn't wield magic, one magically adept pony would have to pull the dark energy from the target and transition it to whoever was attempting to do so. The only magically adept pony Fossil Flurry trusted was Wolf Heart, though.
True, the winged pegasus didn't practice magic on a regular basis, but she was able to perform the basic levitation and more simple spells, as rare as it was for her to use them. But when her friend asked that she pull the energy from the real Fossil Flurry so that she could return to a masculine form, the mare refused. She wasn't going to be the cause of Dapper Jolt's loss of sanity.
"I... No, I can't. What if you do lose it?" she stuttered.
"I lost it the moment I met you," the pony that was once Dapper Jolt smiled softly, a hoof to her chin.
"Weird," Twilight interjected with an eye roll.
Before Wolf Heart was able to respond, Beta Fang approached the former mare that was currently Dapper Jolt, a crackling teal and stormy blue encompassing his horn as a dark violet smog began to leak from the real Fossil Flurry's body.
"What?! NO, STOP!" Wolf Heart hollered to him. He didn't seem to hear as the amount of dark magic flowing from 'her' body began to increase and enter into Beta's horn. Wolf Heart, in a state of visible panic, lunged forward to pull the stallion away, shocked to see that an almost white glow had taken up the stallion's eyes as more feminine features began to come across the mirror Dapper Jolt's body.
When all that remained was the long maned mare with copper plated wings that Beta Fang knew, he turned to face the feminine equine that was the true Dapper Jolt. The stallion was unable to hear his feminine counterpart's pleas as the dark energy erupted from his horn and entered into the pegasus mare's body.
With a bright flash of blue that erupted from 'her' body and blinded half of the ponies around, a fully formed Dapper Jolt collapsed against the floor.
After recovering from the flash of light, Wolf Heart skidded to her friend's side, noticing the last tendrils of deep violet slithering into his open mouth. The winged unicorn began to quake with a building anger before turning to face an overjoyed Beta Fang and the true form of Fossil Flurry with a wrathful glare. Turning at hearing a heaving breath, both noticed that the sky blue in Wolf's face was replaced with a bright red, her pupils pinpricks. Before either were able to react to her, a low groan echoed out from behind her.
Whipping around, Wolf Heart almost collapsed in joy at seeing the same, goofball stallion that was Dapper Alan Jolt. Weirdo extraordinaire and beautiful, caring wolf enthusiast locked eyes for a moment before he staggered to his hooves, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washed over him. The winged unicorn looked up with a joyful smile as a tear slithered down her cheek. Wolf Heart giggled and wiped her cheek off with the back of a hoof whilst Dapper Jolt held out his own. Taking his hoof, the mare was pulled to her hooves and wrapped into both a strong, and yet delicate hug... holding her like he didn't want to let go.
"Did you mean what you said about losing it when you met me?" Wolf Heart asked her friend, gingerly breaking off of the hug slightly to look him in the eye.
Dapper Jolt shrugged, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Welll, yeah..? I dunno, that was probably awkward, wasn't it?" he grimaced in his classic, bashful tone, eliciting a giggle from the mare.
"No... That's really sweet of you," she sighed contentedly.
The pegasus stallion grinned in a way that drew out a slight eye roll from Wolf Heart.
"Ahm, you two should kiss," they heard Twilight's voice cough, causing the two to jump apart more quickly than they'd rushed together to share a hug after Dapper Jolt's miraculous recovery from the waves of dark magic that had passed over him. At the words, mutual growing blushes formed upon their cheeks as the duo casted each other a cursory smile.
Dapper Jolt ushered a relieved sigh and dipped his snout, a smile coming across his face before looking to the pony he'd received the dark energy from. Looking up, he saw, more or less, the same mare that he'd been mere moments ago. The differences were all too noticeable, though. She was slightly scarred, with copper metal plating her claw tipped wings. The difference between now and earlier was the fact that she wore a genuinely happy smile upon her face as her arms were wrapped around Beta Wolf's neck.
"Alright... Now that you're back to normal, I take it that you're going home?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"I guess so," Wolf Heart shrugged before noticing that Dapper Jolt held a hoof to his forehead, a grimace forming upon his face and eyes squeezed shut as a dark violet aura snaked its way from the creases of his eyelids. "Dapper?" she queried hesitantly, slowly lifting a hoof up to his shoulder.
In the split second after the words came out, the pegasus stallion's eyes snapped open, where the sclera was green and irises blood red before swiftly morphing back into the vivid blue that Wolf Heart was accustomed to. Shaking his head, Dapper blinked a few times before looking to his friend. "What happened?" he stammered slightly, seeing her fearful expression. "Wolfie... What did you see?"
The mare shook off her shock and grinned nonchalantly. "Pfft. Nothing, I must just be... hallucinating," she giggled whilst waving dismissively at her friend.
"No, I'm pretty sure that I saw it too," Twilight remarked, approaching Dapper and forcing his head back with a hoof.
"Oy!! What are you doing?!" the pegasus stallion barked, instinctively throwing up his wings to appear larger as she pulled back one of his eyelids and peered at the eye that it protected with a thoughtful expression materializing across her muzzle. Jerking away, Dapper rubbed his eye with a slight wince. "Why did you do that?" he asked crossly.
The mirror Twilight didn't seem to notice, as she was busy scrawling down her findings in a notebook. "Wolf Heart, I want you to let the other Twilight Sparkle know if he becomes aggressive or violet smoke starts to leak from his eyes," the alicorn commanded. "No need to explain, she'll know what to do, alright?"
"Okay, I guess? Why? Do you know what that means?" Wolf questioned, a concerned expression creeping across her muzzle.
Twilight glanced from a still irritated, arms crossed Dapper Jolt to Wolf. "That dark energy he took in didn't just become ambient energy. He's potentially very dangerous around himself and those around him... The darkness won't discriminate either... He was right in warning you off if he did lose control. I saw the way that he looked at you. Dapper Jolt cares more about you than you realize," the violet alicorn whispered, as not to arouse the pegasi's curiosities.
"I know full well about how much he cares about me," Wolf Heart retorted flatly. "You're telling this to the mare that he was, and still is, crushing on."
"Why don't you think about your answer for a moment before you give it," Twilight argued calmly, tapping her temple. "Now then, get the hell outta here. We don't need two of you and Dapper in this world. It's bad enough with just one," she snipped, waving her towards the Mirror.
Wolf Heart gave an affirmative nod and slight glare before turning to Dapper Jolt, who was idly playing with a loose, metallic blue feather that had yet to be shed from his wing. "Dapper... It's time to go," she called, causing him to jerk up with ears flicking to attention as he clumsily folded his wing to the point where the feathers messily overlapped each other.
Leaping to his hooves with a soft smile, the pegasus stallion trotted to her side before pausing at the Mirror, where he stood to the side. "Mares first," he smiled politely, dipping his head in the form of a bow that elicited an eye roll from Twilight, but a ruffle of the mane from Wolf.
As Wolf Heart passed through the Mirror, Dapper Jolt followed close behind, where they reemerged on the other side with Principal Celestia and their own world's Twilight Sparkle waiting for them.
"Things went well, I presume," Celestia stated, looking down upon the two high school students.
"Yeah, we got the good old fashioned Dapper Jolt back," Wolf Heart grinned.
The stallion in question lifted a hoof into the air with a triumphant look crossing his muzzle. "Yus!" he exclaimed with a goofy smile before leaping up into the air slightly and clicking his hooves together. As he landed, the stallion almost collapsed, a twisted, pained sneer forming upon his face as he lifted a hoof to his head to banish an oncoming migraine.
The trio of mares around him wore synonymous looks of slight fear as his mane darkened by a shade or two and a tendril of violet snaked from his eyes. "Dapper?" Wolf Heart queried, reaching towards the pegasus.
"Don't do that," Princess Celestia ordered softly, but with a firm edge, placing a hoof across the winged unicorn's chest. Wolf Heart looked into her magenta eyes with confusion as a golden brilliance encompassed her long horn. Leaning down, Celestia allowed a stream of calm, humming magic to seep into Dapper Jolt's body, where a slight golden glow came upon his irises before diminishing, the pain that was formerly visible upon his face disappearing and his mane returning to its typical coloration.
"What did you do?" Wolf asked, cocking a confused brow.
"I turned the dark magic that was still within your friend into ambient energy. He should be alright now," the celestial mare smiled warmly.
"Thank you," the winged unicorn acknowledged. "For everything. A feminine Dapper Jolt was a panicked Dapper Jolt," she chuckled lightly.
Dapper Jolt let a goofy grin slip across his muzzle. "Agreed," he laughed before Celestia cleared her throat.
"Now that this has been settled, why don't you two head to your classes, hm?" the alicorn suggested.
Wolf Heart and Dapper nodded in understanding before they headed off, where Twilight Sparkle gazed up at her teacher. "Will it always be just ambient?" she questioned, furrowing a curious brow. The idea of a pegasus having magic at all was one that was a curiosity to her, and the violet mare desired to know more.
"I do not know, Twilight... One can only hope," Celestia acknowledged, watching as said stallion walked alongside his friend.
As he did so, Wolf Heart turned away from him to go to her class. Before she was able, however, Dapper gently grabbed her arm. "Hold on... You can't get away that easy," he grinned, holding out an arm. Knowing what was coming, the mare smiled softly as he gave her a quick hug. "Thank you for helping me," he whispered before the two departed.
"Happy to help," Wolf Heart murmured to herself with a smile.
