Crystal eyed the storefront with a critical eye. Dragons R Us, read the sign. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. But did she really wanna go in? What could they have that she already didn't?

"Can we just go back to the Lava Baths? I was really liking it. I forgot how much I missed it," Blaze grumbled in her mind, earning a smile from the filly. "Besides. I'm perfect as I am, thank you very much."

Crystal giggled as she entered the store. "Says you. I wanna see what this place has. So bear with me." All she heard was a grumble as he curled up and pouted. Which was good enough for her as she looked around.

The store was filled to the brim with shelves full of various items, potions, and what looked like statues. All of them were made for dragons in some way, she could see. But how or for what, she couldn't tell. Each was also marked off for the various kinds of dragons.

Figuring she had to start somewhere, Crystal bounced over to the Red Dragon section and looked over what they had. There was so much that her mind couldn't keep up as she looked at one bottle in particular.

"Aging. Young old, make yourself look like a new Exarch," she read aloud. "What the hay is that supposed to mean?"

A nearby Pegasus, also a filly, giggled. "Pretty much what it says. Either age up into an adult. Or de-age back down into a filly. One swallow will do either. You just have to choose before you take it."

Crystal gave her a look. "Is it permanent? I've been a filly for so long, that I've kinda forgotten what it was like to want to be an adult."

Her companion shook her head. "Naw. You just take it again, and you can change back into whatever age you were before." She held out a hoof with a smile. "Pearl Rose, by the way."

Crystal smiled as well, taking the hoof. "Crystal Blaze. So you've used this before? What's it like being an adult? Or are you de-aged now?"

Pearl shook her head. "Nope. I've been this age for way more years than I can count. I think only Twilight actually kept track of our old we are."

Crystal blinked. "You're with Twilight?"

Pearl puffed out her chest. "Yep. Haven't seen her in a while. But then again, I haven't seen any of the others for a while now. It's hard to coordinate when this place is so damn big."

Crystal wasn't sure how she would feel in that situation. She could still feel the girls. But they too were distant. But what did that mean in a place like this? Her eyes, though, were drawn to an upper shelf and the row of statues it contained. One, in particular, caught her eye.

Pearl smirked as she looked up as well. "Interested? Don't see many using one of those."

Crystal gave her a look. "Why? Is it bad? What does it mean?"

Pearl shrugged. "Exactly like it says on the tin. You gain a second dragon head. It's not a bad thing. But I haven't seen many ponies using it. Depending on which one you want, you can have either two girls, two boys, or one boy and one girl."

Crystal thought about that for a moment. "Well. Blaze is a boy. I wonder what that would be like?"

Pearl nodded, her smile growing as she laid a wing on Crystal's shoulders. "Oh, girlfriend. You're one of a very few like that. Most dragons I've met are girls. I mean, sure, there are a few boys around. But not many. Not like you could tell just from looking at the pony, though."

Crystal nodded. That made sense, as she made to grab one.

Pearl's expression turned serious, however. "Just one thing to keep in mind. This change, if you do go through with it, is permanent. No going back from this one. Which is probably why it isn't used much. Compared to other things at least."

That gave Crystal pause, as Blaze shifted in her mind. Did she want to go through with this? Do that to Blaze? She loved him too much to force him into this. No matter how cool it looked. "How do I even pay for anything? Or is this like that restaurant down the road?"

Pearl chuckled. "You don't need to. I've been here a long time now, and I still don't get how that even works. Every place is like that. A good thing too since none of us seem to come with any bits." She shrugged. "Maybe She designed it that way. I don't know. I never asked."

Crystal rolled her eyes, as she decided to take some of the Aging potion. It would be cool to be an adult for a while. See what it was like. Her eyes lingered on the Multi Headed options, and she bit her lip before sighing. "Screw it," she grumbled as she took one of the Boy and Girl Heads options. "This can't be any weirder than the first time I did this."

Pearl giggled as she led the pair toward the back. "You say that now. It'll get weirder. Trust me. There's a place out back where you can try them out. Saves a trip to one of the Dragon Areas."

Crystal gave her a look. "What about you? What color did you get?"

Pearl just smiled enigmatically. "You'll see."

Crystal looked around the area they had come to. It was a wide-open field. Almost like the one Amber had taken her to on that day so long ago. Weird. "So what now?" She asked.

Pearl flexed her wings before flying a ways off. "Let me slip into something more comfortable, and I can show you." Closing her eyes, she willed herself into her Dragon Form.

Crystal watched with a raised brow. So this was what it was like watching this happen. Interesting. She watched as Pearl changed from a Pegasus into a dragon. When the light had faded, she could see that her dragon was Red in color as well.

Pearl smiled, as she and her dragon shared a look, before leaning down so she and Crystal could talk. Only the dragon's eyes had changed color, now as green as Pearl's own. "This is Scorch. Her bark is worse than her bite."

Scorch rolled her eyes as Crystal giggled. "So how do these things work?" She asked.

Pearl pointed with her snout to the potion. "Just drink this as you change. Not all of it, unless you wanna stay that age for good. As for the statue? Just hold it next to your heart as you change. It'll do the rest."

Crystal wasn't so sure about this. But she trusted that Pearl knew more about this than she did. With a gulp, she opened the potion and closed her eyes, willing herself into her own Dragon Form. As she did so, she took a draught of the potion. Vanilla. Her favorite. As she began to glow, so did the statue, which slowly merged itself into her, the female head smiling happily as she wrapped her head around Crystal's body before disappearing into her.

For a moment, nothing else happened. Crystal wondered if something had gone wrong. And then she felt her whole body shiver in delight as something rammed into her, wrapping itself around her lovingly. Moaning in delight, she let the changes take hold of her.

In her mind, Blaze too felt the lurch as something latched onto him. He felt something different from Crystal, however. Something that surprised him. He smiled as he began to emerge. Wait till Crystal saw this.

As she opened her eyes, Crystal looked around before looking down at Blaze, who only smiled. She felt funny. Looking as best she could at herself, she could see that her mane had grown, as had her snout. She grinned. She did feel older, now that she felt for it. It didn't feel as weird as she thought it would.

But that wasn't the end of it. Crystal winced as she felt a pain in her left shoulder. Looking over, she watched in shock and awe as first, a lump appeared, before growing two eyes and a mouth. Next, its neck extended until it sat at the same height as Blaze's own. Soon enough the lump turned into another dragon head. She was definitely female as she opened her eyes and smiled lovingly over at Crystal. Her eyes soon turned purple, as did her neck scales.

Crystal blinked, as the dragon's mind linked with her own, as well as Blaze's. She could feel, see, and touch, everything the dragoness did. Just as she did with Blaze. To her surprise, however, the dragoness was not as young as he was. In fact, she was quite a bit older, even though she didn't look like it. "This is so weird," she mumbled, as Blaze glared at his new twin.

Pearl and Scorch chuckled. "You'll get used to it in time," Scorch replied. "It's why not many chose to do this. One dragon per Exarch is usually enough. Why add another one?"

Crystal couldn't argue with that, even as she rolled her eyes as her new companion winced under the look she was getting from Blaze. "Will you two place nice? Don't make me put you in time out Blaze," she said, glaring down at the male, who had the decency to look sheepish. Crystal took a few tentative steps around the area, just to get a feel for now having two heads to command instead of just one.

Pearl giggled as she stretched her wings. "You three play nice. Me? I gotta run. Got an appointment I don't wanna miss down in the Hobby section."

Crystal's girl head gave her a confused look. "What is over there?"

Scorch just smirked. "Come on down one day, and Pearl will show you. You have to see it to believe it. Take my word for it."

Pearl nodded, before changing back into her pony form and flying off with an excited look in her eyes. Leaving Crystal curious as to just what could be so exciting down there.

"That pony is weird," Blaze grumbled, earning a giggle from both Crystal and his mate.

Crystal settled down before looking over at her new dragon head. "So. Do you have a name? Cause I can think of a few if I have to."

She nodded, her smile growing. "Cinder is my name. I've been stuck as that statue for a long time. Nopony ever picked me up but you. I watched several others get picked, but not me."

Crystal's ears fell. That wasn't fair at all. "Where do they come from?" She looked down at Blaze, who was also curious. "I thought dragons only came from one place? And it wasn't here."

Cinder nodded. "I don't really know. First I was born, and up until you picked me, I was a statue." Her smile grew as she looked at Blaze. "And yes, I am older than you. Don't ask me how. All I know is that I am. By many years by the feel of it."

Crystal scrunched her nose. That wasn't much to go on, as Blaze snorted a puff of flame. "Well, I'm the boss between the two of us. Older or not, I joined with Crystal first. We've done so much together."

Cinder wilted under his harsh gaze, her ear frills drooping. Crystal's gaze hardened as she looked down. "Blaze. What did I say about you two playing nice?"

He gave her a worried look. "But she-"

Crystal growled as she detached her head and floated around so she could gaze at him eye to eye. "Don't 'But' me, young wyrm. I put you in timeout for a thousand years once. Want me to do it again? How about forever this time? Don't think I won't."

Blaze wilted under the glare he was getting, his ear frills drooping.

The sight made Crystal's heart dop, but this wasn't the first time she'd had to take this tone with him. She sighed as she floated over to Cinder, who didn't look much happier. "You're on probation, Blaze. Either learn to love and work with Cinder. Or I'm cutting you off, and I'll only join with her." Her gaze softened as she merged with Cinder, earning a delighted shiver and moan from the dragoness.

Crystal smiled lovingly down at her, as she turned their heads to look at Blaze. "For now. I wanna see what this is like. It can't be that different from what I'm used to."

Stretching her wings. Crystal took the three of them to the sky. For never being born with them, she had grown used to the feeling of flight and the wind in her mane. As she soared above the plains, she briefly wondered where the others were, and what they were doing.

Author's Note

Have to thank Not Quite Equine for the new cover art first. Was done as a Commission back in May. Now I finally get to use it for something. And yes. Even though Blaze does look like a girl in the art, he is still a boy.

To answer something Archivist Nightwatch said. Yes, I could've waited till Long Live the Empress was done before I started on this one. But I couldn't help it. This won't spoil that story too much anyway. Plus to answer a question from KingChaos. Yes, Fallout Equestria would be in that category.