Chapters The next morning, the students all got up to head to the cafeteria. Smolder, however, was heading to the exit of the school. “Smolder, aren’t you going to get breakfast?” Ocellus asked.
“I will. But I’m going to check on my brother and his friends,” Smolder responded quickly. She ran off before her friends could ask anything else.
“Should we follow her?” Silverstream asked.
“I think the other dragons aren’t settling too well in Ponyville,” Sandbar commented. “We should leave this to her. She knows more about them better than us.” The five creatures carried on without their friend to get their breakfast.
Smolder meanwhile made a beeline for the castle doors. She barged in and flew to the guest room. Garble was just getting up when she saw her sister. “Morning, Smo...”
“How are you feeling?” Smolder interrupted. “Do you feel like you’re going to change back?” Garble simply held her sister’s claws and shook her head. The younger sister felt disappointed.
“Oh, why should you be sad?” Baff questioned. “You didn’t change into a dude.”
“Baff, would you shut up?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, maybe it’s the fact we’re chicks!”
“Yeah,” Spear agreed. “Boys are going to be trying to date us.”
“Did you not see those two dragons fighting over that drake we saw?” Clump questioned. “We’re going to be in that problem!”
“Okay, can you all just shut up?!” Smolder cried. “It’s way too early for this.”
“She’s got a point,” Vex admitted. “Can we at least eat something first?”
“Yeah,” Garble agreed, “I’m pretty hungry.”
“I’ll ask Spike if she could help fix something,” Smolder said. She was about to leave the room but turned around to make one thing clear. “And before you ask, no. You can’t eat the castle.” This of course made the dragons more annoyed.
Spike was just walking out of her room. She looked like she was still trying to explore her body before seeing her friend walking over to her. "Oh, morning Smolder," Spike spoke.
"Hi, Spike. What were you doing?"
"...Okay, don't judge me for this, but do I look... Rounder?"
"...Excuse me?"
"Well, I think I lost some of my fat, but I feel like I've curvier. I've seen some dragons of various shapes so I don't know what a basic. "Anyways, why aren't you at the cafeteria?"
"Oh, yeah, the other dragons are hungry and...”
“Say no more.” The two shared a fist bump before they walked away to the kitchen. Spike was soon checking the cookbook in the kitchen to see what she could fix. “Let’s see. I wonder if I could mix some gemstones into this.”
While she looked through the book, Starlight walked in. She looked towards Spike, who was wearing her now ill-fitting apron. “Morning... Spike,” the mare said awkwardly.
“Good morning.”
“Listen, I’m going to get right to work on figuring out how that diamond here turned you into this.”
“You want anything to eat?”
“I’ll just get a muffin later.” Starlight walked off, leaving Spike and Smolder on their own.
“So, do you think I could use a new name?”
“What?” Smolder questioned.
“I mean... I don’t know how long I’m going to be like this and I don’t think Spike is a fitting name for a girl dragon. Don’t you think so?”
“Well... Yeah. This just seems so sudden. Plus, do the others know? Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy...”
“I doubt it. Starlight only found out last night. Still, it feels like a natural idea.”
“True. Don’t expect the others to agree to it.”
“I wasn’t.” Spike soon found something to cook and got to work. “So, what do you think would sound good?”
“How does Spines sound?”
“...I get the idea for that but... It doesn’t sound right to me.”
“What does then?”
“Let’s... Let’s just talk about it after we eat.”
“Kay.”
“You should head back to the cafeteria. Your friends are going to be curious where you are and we probably don’t want any more creatures to know about this.”
“Got it.” Smolder left the kitchen and hurried back to the school. This felt pretty hard as she hadn’t had anything to eat at this point. When she slowly walked into the cafeteria where her friends were waiting.
"Where were you?" Silverstream asked.
"Checking on my brother and the other dragons."
"How are they doing?" Sandbar asked.
"Rough start." The dragoness got her tray and got her breakfast so she could sit down with her friends. Though, she wasn’t in a talkative mood. Her friends tried to make her talk, but the only thing they could get out of her mouth was a blast of fire. That was a sign that they should keep quiet.
Back in the castle, Spike was doing pretty well with breakfast. Garble slowly walked in and sniffed. She could smell the food that Spike was preparing. “What are you cooking?” the red dragoness questioned.
“Just some simple pancakes,” Spike explained. “I’m planning on putting some chocolate chips in some of them.”
“What about gemstones?”
“Please don’t tell me...”
“Don’t worry, I managed to get this away from them.” Garble placed some gem shards on the counter. Spike brought her claw to her face and sighed.
“Just keep an eye on them until I finish making breakfast.”
“Can do.” Garble was about to walk out of the room but she had to ask Spike something. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to feel... Different. I mean like, you’re more into makeup, dresses, and all things about girls.”
“No. The others made you ask me that.”
“Yep.”
Spike rubbed the brim of her nose. “Just make sure they don’t eat the rest of the castle or do anything else stupid.” Garble just gave a thumbs up before walking away. Flipping the pancake that was on her pan, thankful it wasn’t burnt, Spike looked at the gems that Garble left behind.
Garble returned to the map room, where the rest of the dragons were sitting and talking about their current predicament. “I’m just saying,” Baff spoke, “If we just got that diamond we could probably figure it out faster than that pony.”
“Yeah,” Spear agreed. “What do we have to do, just rub on it?”
“Maybe you need another gem to get it to work,” Clump commented.
“So how did it work the first time?” Vex asked.
“Uh, guys,” Fizzle said. “...Garble’s back.” The white dragoness’s voice was so quiet it was practically a whisper. Nobody noticed Garble until she slammed her claws on the table.
“Girls, can you just quiet down?” Garble questioned. “Nobody has a clue what’s going on, so if we just keep complaining about it, we’re going to make the ponies hate us and they probably won’t help us through this.”
“She’s right,” Vex comment. Fizzle also nodded in agreement. The others were still being sticks in the mud, however.
They kept grumbling until Spike walked in pushing a cart carrying four stacks of pancakes. Plain, chocolate, blueberry, and even some with purple bits. “Nice,” Clump commented. “About time we go some grub.”
“Hope you guys like pancakes,” Spike said. “Since you couldn’t help yourself to the castle...” She paused while she gave an angry look at her guests. “...I thought I might as well as add the shards you broke off into some of the pancakes.”
“Is that what those purple bits are?” Garble questioned. Spike just nodded in response. “Alright, I’ll take one.” Spike helped pass out some plates before giving the dragon guests their breakfast. Though, they didn’t exactly have the best table manners. Some of them would just pick their pancakes up with their claws chomp them off. Others, like Spear and Clump, would stack up their breakfast pastries and chomp right through it.
“I probably should’ve seen this coming.” Spike got herself some chocolate pancakes for herself as well as some syrup.
Vex noticed the bottle that the purple dragoness was pouring on her breakfast. “What’s that stuff?” the guest questioned.
“This? This is syrup. Ponies put this stuff on pancakes to give it more of a sweet taste. Wanna try it?”
“Yeah, just pass it over.” Spike slid the bottle across the table over to Vex, who quickly poured it all over her pancake. Due to her lack of utensils, the syrup also got on her claws, making them quite sticky. “Ugh... Great.”
“I’ll be right back.” Spike took her cart back to the kitchen to get some napkins as well as some forks. While she was gone, this gave the guests a minute to talk.
“This is pretty great stuff!” Clump commented.
“Yeah, probably one of the few good things ponies are good for,” Spear said.
“It kind of sounds like you want them to ditch us,” Garble commented.
“I mean, she’s got a point,” Fizzle said quietly.
“Garble, let us have this,” Baff said. “We’ll take anything to have some enjoyment while we’re... Like this.” The red guest didn’t say anything else and just took a bite out of one of her pancakes.
Spike was just getting some drinks to go along with the utensils and napkins when a certain alicorn princess teleported in. “Man, it’s been a while since is... Yep, this is the kitchen,” Twilight commented. She turned around and gasped at what she saw. “Spike?”
“Hi, Twilight,” the new dragoness said glumly.
“Starlight told me about this but... I just find it too hard to believe.”
“Well, you can see it’s real.”
“And the others?”
“Them too.”
“Oh no. Ember is going to freak when she finds out we changed the dragons with magic.”
“It wasn’t anything that Starlight did.”
“I know, it was that weird diamond. Where is she anyway?”
“I think she’s in the teacher’s lounge.” Twilight couldn’t help but stare at her assistant. “Twilight?”
“I’m... Sorry. It’s just... You were so little. Now you’re like Garble and the other dragons. I can’t process all of this.”
“Yeah, Garble’s ‘friends’ really aren’t taking it that well. How would you?”
“Probably not better. Just keep their spirits up, we’re going to fix it.”
“Thanks, Twilight.” They shared a hug before the princess teleported to the teacher’s lounge. This left Spike to take the cart of supplies back to the map room. When she got there, she found that the dragons were nearly done with the pancakes she back-baked. The ones containing bits of the castle were completely gone. “Did you guys like them?”
“Sure did,” Garble answered.
“Yeah, they’re pretty good,” Vex agreed. “Though, the syrup is kind of annoying.”
“The idea is to use a fork,” Spike said. She showed them what she was talking about before she gave a couple of napkins to Vex to wipe the syrup off her claws.
“Hey, you use a fork, but we’ve gotten our meal faster,” Spear spoke. She then let out a burp.
“Thank you for that. Anyways, if you guys want the rest of the ponies to help you, you’re going to need to learn a couple of our meals. Like tables manners that would’ve been useful five minutes ago.” Spike took a look at the crumbs that were all over the map and on the floor. “Maybe bringing something to drink would be a bad idea.”
“What drinks?” Garble asked.
“Uh, just regular things ponies have for breakfast. Milk, OJ, even some tea.”
“I’ll take whatever,” Clump said.
“Could I have some water?” Vex asked. “I’ve still got some syrup on my claws.”
“Yeah, I brought that too,” Spike said. “Though, I think the bathroom will be much better for cleaning you up.” The guest gave a nervous chuckle.
“Maybe we should learn some of those rules and... Table manners.”
“Smart idea. Anybody else wants something to drink?”
“I’ll handle it,” Garble spoke.
“You sure.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep them in order.”
“Great. We won’t be gone long.” Spike walked away with a sticky Vex, leaving all the girls by themselves.
“Thanks for helping me, Spike,” Vex said. “I kind of wish I wasn’t so rude to you back then.”
“You mean with the dragon migration? That’s in the past, let’s just get you cleaned up.” When Spike showed Vex the bathroom, to which the guest was amazed.
“How does this stuff work?”
“Well, let’s just start with the sink.” Spike turned the faucet on and water started pouring out.
“Whoa. How does that work?”
“It’s a little complicated. The simple answer is there are pipes filled with water and it’s looking for any way to get out. These handles are kind of like opening a door for them.”
“Neat. What’s that thing?” She was pointing to the bar of soap that was sitting next to the faucet.
“That’s a bar of soap. I’ll show you how it works.” After some explanation and demonstration, Spike helped her guest was her claws getting all of the sticky syrup off of her.
“Finally. That stuff was driving me nuts.”
“Yeah, I found out about that stuff when I was a toddler.” Vex blushed with embarrassment. “I was raised by ponies though.”
“There’s a lot we’re going to have to learn.”
“Yeah, we should probably get back and make sure they’re not doing anything stupid.” The two dragonesses walked back down the hall and could hear various voices talking over each other. The two picked up the pace and ran into the map room, where Garble was having a hard time keeping them under control. “Oh, for crying out loud.”
“Can you blame me for trying?” Garble questioned.
“No, I can’t.” Thankfully, two mares were just walking into the room and were appalled at what was happening.
“Okay, everyone quiet!” Twilight cried. Using her magic, she stopped all of the complaining dragons in place. She at all of the guests with half of them giving the princess dirty looks.
“Put us down,” Baff demanded. Twilight did so, but instead of slowly putting them down, she dropped them like rocks.
“Hey!” Spear cried.
“She’s just treating you how you’re treating her,” Starlight commented. Twilight pulled out the diamond that was responsible for this predicament and looked towards Starlight.
“So, you think we should try it now?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t see what else we can do with it. Spike, care to volunteer?”
“Sure,” the dragoness answered. She walked in front of her friends, who both started working their magic. The pink diamond and dragoness floated into the air. Some sparks could be seen as some light was starting to come out of the gemstone and swirl around Spike. Suddenly, both object and creature just dropped to the ground.
The dragons all looked at what they saw with mixed reactions. “...Was that it?” Spear questioned.
“Seems like it,” Twilight sighed. She took another look at the diamond as Spike stood up.
“Shouldn’t this work like Silverstream’s pearl?” Spike questioned. “It changes ponies and hippogriffs into seaponies, so...”
“We just tried that. I should’ve worked.” The alicorn brought the diamond closer to her eye and could see the edge on the top looked like something broke off. “Maybe it’s missing a piece.” She showed what she was talking about to Starlight.
“That could be possible,” the unicorn commented. “Maybe we need both pieces to make this thing work.”
“We just need to figure out where you found this diamond. The other half should be nearby.” Spike walked into the closet to get the map of Equestria. She tried to remember where she and the guests had stopped and found the diamond.
“Hmm, okay,” the dragoness said, “My best guess is that we stopped around here.” She circled the location she thought was the right one. “That’s only judging by the locations we passed.”
“I’ll have Rainbow Dash fly over there with two of the dragoness for help.”
“Wait, she knows about this?” Garble questioned.
“I had to tell her and the rest of our friends,” Starlight explained. “Now don’t worry, we only told five of them, including Dash.”
“Okay,” Vex commented, “What were you saying about two of us volunteering?”
“We think that the search could be much faster if more creatures were looking for it.”
“Couldn’t you get any other ponies to do this?” Spear questioned.
“Our friends are the only ones who know about this,” Twilight stated. “Plus, if you help out you can go back to normal faster and we’ll let you go home.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Baff said. “Let’s roll.” Spear stood up with her friend, but the others weren’t so keen.
“Guys, I don’t think I can just leave Smolder like this,” Garble said.
“I think I’ll stay here too,” Vex said. “I kind of want to know more about ponies.” Fizzle simply nodded in agreement.
“Seriously?” Spear and Baff questioned.
“Clump, please don’t tell us you don’t want to change,” Spear said.
“No, I’m wanting to go back to normal too,” Clump said. “You know I don’t like flying long distances.”
Baff groaned. “Right. Yeah, we’re not going to make you go because you’re going to complain about it.”
“You know me too well.”
“So it’s just you two and Rainbow Dash,” Twilight commented.
Later, Sunburst helped fill in for Rainbow Dash’s classes so the mare could go with Spear and Baff to the location of the missing diamond. “Okay, so I just looked around this spot for a diamond?” Dash questioned. She was holding the map and pointing to the location that Spike circled.
“It’s my best guess,” Spike admitted.
“Well, I’ll take a look around.”
“You know we’re coming with you,” Baff noted.
“...Right. Sorry if ponies and dragons don’t have the best relationship.”
“Dash, please don’t engage in an argument,” Twilight begged.
“No promises.”
“Can we go already?” Spear questioned. “I want to change back.”
“Okay, just follow me.” Dash took off to the sky with the map in the hoof. Spear and Baff followed her closely behind, leaving everyone else at the castle.
“So, now what?” Garble asked.
“I guess we just wait here until they get back,” Spike guessed.
“Maybe thinking of new names?” Vex suggested.
“Excuse me?” Twilight questioned confused.
Spike held her claws together as she started feeling a little embarrassed. “Well, I originally thought that since we’re girls now, we should... Probably have new names. I told Smolder about it.”
“It does sound like a good idea. Have you girls got anything in mind?” The dragons didn’t know how to answer this, not even Vex or Spike. “How about I give you some time alone so you can talk about it?”
“Sure,” the dragons all replied. Twilight walked off to check with Starlight, leaving Spike and the guests by themselves.
“So... New names,” Garble said.
“Yeah, this is going to be awkward,” Spike admitted. “Let’s try one at a time.”
While they did that, Dash, Spear, and Baff flew to where they found the diamond. “Can we go any faster?” Spear groaned.
“If get lost then we’ll have a harder time finding the right place,” Baff noted. She looked towards Rainbow Dash, who was reading the map. “Are we going the right way?”
“I think so,” Dash responded. She had been given a compass to help with direction and it looked like they were going North-South. “Okay, if we keep going that way would be there in no time.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Spear questioned. She quickly picked up the pace leaving Dash and Baff behind. The pony quickly sped up determined to stay ahead as Baff tried to keep up.
“Hey, don’t forget who’s leading.”
“You’re going too slow.”
“Slow?!” Dash placed the map and compass in her saddlebag before speeding ahead. “Keep up if you can!” Spear accepted the challenge and picked up speed.
“This is going to take forever,” Baff groaned. She rubbed her eyes before trying to keep up. Dash smirked as she flew through the sky but was surprised when Spear started catching up with her.
“You think that you can outfly a dragon?” Spear questioned snarkily.
“I’m the fastest pony in Ponyville,” Dash stated.
“Oh yeah, you splattered palette? I’ve outflown dragons the size of your friend’s castle.” With that, Spear took the lead with the mare couldn’t accept. Forgetting the whole reason why they took off, the pony and dragon were now in a race to figure out how who was the fastest. Baff didn't care who won, she just wanted them to stay on track.
Dash couldn't believe that she was starting to fall behind and tried starting to ram into the side of the dragoness. "Hey!" Spear cried. In retaliation, she smacked the pony back. "Say, uncle!"
"You should know, I'm out of your league."
"Says the pony that's stuck in second place." The rainbow pony soon darted ahead when she had let her guard done. With her teeth gritting against each other and smoke billowing out of her nose, Spear did what she could to keep ahead. Baff was getting tired of this, both emotionally and physically.
"Okay, hand on. We should have a finish line."
"Yeah, you're right." The two quickly slowed down to a stop and Baff finally caught up with them.
"You know what I think would be a good idea for a finish line?" she asked.
"What?" both racers asked. The response came from Baff knocking both of their heads together.
"We've probably passed where we were going to find the diamond. Do you know? The piece that can turn us back to normal!"
"Okay, calm down," Dash spoke. She took out the map to figure out where they were. "This might take a while."
Baff groaned. "I just hope the others are doing better."
Back at the castle, Spike had gotten some papers and a pencil. She and the rest of the dragons had thought up a few ideas for their new names. It took a while, but they finally agreed on their new names. "Are you sure we shouldn't waiting for Spear and Baff to get back?" Vex asked.
"I don't think it'll matter if they come back with the diamond," Garble noted.
"So, shall we tell Twilight?" Spike asked. The three guests agreed to this and they walked off to find the alicorn princess. Twilight was in Starlight's room, where she had a chalkboard. It looked like she had a few theories written down on it about the diamond that caused this mess. Spike knocked on the door to grab her attention.
"Oh, hey girls," Twilight responded. "You've got you're new names?"
"Sure do." Spike held up her list and read the names that weren't crossed out. "I'm not Barb, Garble's now Garnette, Clump's now being called Pat, Vex is going to be Vixen, and Fizzle is now Flicker." She looked back at the girls, who were all approving of their new names, except for Clump, or Pat, as she was being called now.
"Good for all of you." Twilight then took out some flashcards and started looking concerned.
"Um, Twilight, what do you have there?"
"Just... Some other theories. It'll probably bore you."
"Probably," Pat muttered.
"Um, what do we do now?" Garble, now Garnette asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. Our whole plan has been derailed because of this."
"We only just swapped genders," Vixen commented. "Maybe we could just continue with what you planned from the start."
"That sounds good to me," Flicker agreed quietly.
"Well, I'll have a chat with my friends at lunch."
"It's only ten o'clock," Barb noted.
"I can't interrupt their classes. If I do, the students might find out about all of this."
"It just turned boys into girls," Pat stated, "What else is there?"
"We have no clue how it works," Garnette said. "I'm pretty sure it can do crud like effecting age, species, I wouldn't be surprised if it brought this whole castle to life."
"Settle down Garnette," Twilight requested. "Once Dash, Baff, and Spear get back, we should get more answers."
"Okay. You sure we have to stay in the castle?"
"In a town of ponies, dragons stick out like a sore claw," Barb commented. "So dragons that just swap genders overnight is going to turn a few heads."
"So we're stuck in here?" Pat questioned. "Great."
"Barb, you know any good way to pass the time?" Vex asked.
"A few ideas come to mind," Barb responded.
She took her guests to her room where she took out a box and pulled out some game pieces. "What's this?" Garnette asked.
"Ogres and Oubliettes. It's a game that some of my friends and I play. It's a little complex, but..." Barb picked up the character piece of Carbuncle. She had drawn it after herself, that was pretty obvious, but something didn't feel right about her playing as a wizard.
“Barb?” The red dragoness clapped her claws grabbing her friend’s attention. “You were staying at that bearded dragon for about a minute saying nothing.”
“I was... Just thinking. This change is harder to take in than I thought.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. Just help me get this into the map room.” Barb picked up some of the game pieces and her guests did the same thing. It took the young dragoness a few minutes to set up the game but when she was done the dragons were amazed at the size of the board.
"Jeez, you and your friends play this game?" Vixen questioned.
"I did say it was pretty complex. I'll try and keep it simple. The aim of the game tends to vary depending on what you want to happen. Sometimes you’ll try and retrieve a hidden MacGuffin, protecting a castle, rescuing a princess, defeating an evil squid, stuff like that.”
“Still sounds hard to understand,” Garnette said.
“Let’s just start with your characters. Mine is Carbuncle, who’s a level thirty-one enchantress. Ter! Enchanter.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, just...” Barb looked at some empty character pages and some cards that would attach to stand for what the player’s character would look like. “How about I tell you about the other classes there are. There’s the druid, the cleric, paladin, bard, and a lot of others. What would you like your character to have?”
“What does the bard do?”
"Oh, the bard's main trait is music. The best for their versatility as they mostly just stick to the sidelines and use their magic from the distance.”
“That sounds good to me.”
“Great. Girls, what about you?”
“Are there any types that you can get up close?” Vixen asked.
“Well, there’s the barbarian, the rouge, monk...”
“What’s the rouge do?”
“It’s mostly about stealth and stealing. They aren’t really that well with the law.”
“What about the monk and the barbarian.”
“Bored now,” Pat declared. Vixen and Garnette just decided to ignore their friend as Barb answered the question.
“Well, monks specialize in martial arts while the barbarian use brute force for their strength.”
“I guess barbarians are close to dragons. I’ll pick that one.”
“Good choice. Flicker, how about you?”
The white dragoness muttered to herself as she began thinking before she spoke up. “Could I... Um... See a sheet of the type of fighter?” she asked. Her voice was just a whisper.
“Um... Sure. Here.” Barb handed the nervous dragoness a book containing various classes with their stats and bios. “Man, it’s like Fluttershy when we first met,” she muttered to herself.
Flicker looked at all of the classes until she saw the cleric. Many of their abilities were magic and healing. “What about this one?” She showed it to Barb who smiled.
“Good choice. With a party this bigger we’re probably going to need a healer. And now... Pat.” She looked over the brown tubby dragoness.
“Give me the fighter,” Pat scoffed.
“Were you even listening?” Garnette asked.
“Actually, there is a class called Fighter,” Barb noted.
“What’s the difference from the Monk?” Vixen asked.
“Fighter’s are better with weapons.”
“Makes sense.” Barb soon found some colored pencils in the box and quickly started drawing the guests’ characters on some cards. It took about a minute while Flicker passed the book around so her friends could learn about their new classes.
“Hey, how do you think Baff and Spear are doing?” Garnette asked.
The two dragons in question, as well as Rainbow Dash, were looking around where the pink diamond had been found. They were trying to see if there was a piece missing, but nothing had come up yet, much to their frustration. “Come on,” Baff growled. “Where’s that stupid diamond piece?!”
“We don’t even know what exactly we’re looking for,” Spear spoke. “What does it even look like.”
“Yeah, good point,” Dash agreed. “I mean, is it another diamond in a similar shape and color? It is some sort of base? What if it isn’t just part of a diamond?”
“Who cares?!” Baff responded. “Just find something that doesn’t belong here.” Spear and Dash looked at each other as they didn’t seem to like the anger coming from the dragoness.
“Is she always like this?”
“Usually when someone’s getting on her nerves,” Spear explained. “She’s the smart one of our group and mostly the reason how we still have our heads. If you grew up in the Dragons Land, you’d be dead. Trust me.”
“Well, you bathe in lava. So I think that speaks for how tough you are.”
“We’ve got our scales to thank for that. If it wasn’t for these things, we wouldn’t survive the things in our home.”
Dash chuckled. “What kind of things do you do in the Dragon Lands.”
“We love competition. If there anything to test which one of us is the best, we’ll do it. My friends and I have done tons of them. Wrestling, gem hunting, lava diving, you name it.”
“How about racing?”
“Oh yeah. I’ve been one or two but I don’t remember liking them that much.”
“You seemed into the race we had a few minutes ago.”
“True.” The blonde and purple dragoness began digging through some bushes to try and find something that could help them, but they kept coming up dry.
“Gah! Did Spike even send us to the right place?” Baff questioned.
“Look, she just had to guess,” Dash said. “I mean, there isn’t anything like a landmark.” Dash took a look at the map and pointed out some details to the dragons. “Look, this tree is the same as this tree. There aren’t any mountains or villagers around here, so there’s nothing to tell where exactly we are.”
“So, we just wasted our time coming here?” Spear questioned.
"Probably."
"Great," Baff groaned. "Welp, I guess we better head back. The others aren't going to like it." Baff took off back to Ponyville with Dash and Spear flying behind her.
"Welp, if we have to go back to Ponyville," Spear said, "Might as well get there as possible."
"Now you're talking my language," Dash chuckled. The two started picking up speed and quickly passed Baff. The black and green dragoness sighed before speeding up to make sure she wouldn't be left behind and lost.
Back at the castle, Barb and her guests were soon into their game of Ogres and Oubliettes. It was going a little slow though. "Okay," Barb said. "You activate a trap made for catching timberwolves. You must roll a seven or higher to avoid them." The dragons did so and most of them got higher than a seven, except for Vixen, who only got four.
"Oh, crud," she muttered.
"Your leg gets caught in the trap. You lose..." Barb paused as she rolled her die, which landed on a twelve. "Twelve life points."
"Man."
"Trust me, you should see what creatures you go up against at level twenty."
"I kind of don't want to," Flicker said to herself.
Pat let out an annoyed groan. "How long do these games last?" she questioned.
Barb brought her claw to her chin and pondered. "Hmm, I remember Mac and I play one for eight hours straight," she responded.
"Eight hours?!" Garnette questioned amazed.
"Yeah, we can kind of lose ourselves in this game."
"Well, I've lost interest," Pat declared. She stood up and walked towards the door just as Smolder opened it.
"Where are you going?" the younger dragon asked.
"Getting something to eat. I'm hungry."
"Well, it is lunchtime."
"I can try and get us something to eat," Barb said. She got up and was about to walk to the kitchen when she remembered the game."
"We'll pack this up," Garnette said.
"Great. Thanks." Barb carried on towards the kitchen as Smolder decided to follow her.
"So, were you trying to get them into Ogres and Oubliettes?" the orange dragoness questioned.
"Yeah. Only some of them seemed to be enjoying it though."
"Well, it's probably their nature. If they don't have something challenging or something they enjoy, they're going to hate it."
"If only I found out something they enjoy that doesn't bother any of the ponies. It doesn't help that we have to stay in the castle."
"Yeah, I don't know how my friends would react to this. I'm guessing since you're still girls you haven't found a way to fix this problem." Barb just shook her head as they entered the kitchen.
"On the other hand, we have made some new names for ourselves." As Barb looked for some ingredients to prepare some lunch, she explained the new names to her friend.
“Huh, didn’t think they would except this so fast. It’s going to take me a while to get used to calling Garble Garnette now.”
“Hopefully it isn’t forever. As soon as Dash gets back with something that could help us.” Barb started the stove to cook lunch. “Your friends don’t know about this, right?”
“I haven’t said a thing to them about Garbl... Garnette and her friends becoming girls. Though, I think some of the professors nearly spilled the beans.” This got Barb worried. “Relax, everyone else thought it was just Professor Pinkie Pie just being her regular self.”
“That’s reassuring.” Barb looked at the ingredients she had and started cooking them. After a while, the two dragonesses could hear some talking and footsteps in the hall.
“How did you get so fast?” asked one voice.
“Don’t know,” replied another, “I guess dragons’ competitive nature helps them adapt.”
“That must be Dash,” Barb guessed. “Smolder, could you go get them for me?” Smolder gave a thumbs up before walking out of the kitchen. The dragon student found Dash, Baff, and Spear walking down the hall talking.
“Smolder, what are you doing here?” the rainbow maned pony asked.
“I was just checking on Garble. Or now Garnette.”
“Garnette?” the dragons questioned.
“Yeah, they decided to have new names.”
“Oh just great,” Baff groaned.
“As if not finding the other part of the diamond wasn’t bad enough,” Spear sighed.
“So... You’re stuck like this?” Smolder questioned. Baff just gave an upset nod. “The others aren’t going to like this.”
“Where are they? I want to be the ones to tell them.” Smolder just pointed in the direction of the map room. Baff slowly walked off, feeling disappointed.
Spear rubbed her arm as she was unhappy about how things were going. “If it makes you feel better,” Dash said, “You did up a good race there and back.”
“Ah, thanks,” the dragoness responded. Feeling a little better, Spear followed her friend to the map room.
“You know, they may be a little rough, but they’re great at a competition.”
“Right,” Smolder said. She scratched her head as she had to admit something. “You know, when I saw Spear, she usually just tried to get out of work. When I see her she usually just sleeps wherever she can.”
“Really? She seemed to enjoy racing me.”
“Maybe her competitive nature finally got some time to shine. Most dragons can’t help it sometimes.”
Barb had overheard what the returning dragons had said. She felt quite down. She still worked on the stew she began work on. “I’m stuck like this,” Barb muttered. She held her head up while resting her arm on the stove. Being a dragon, Barb didn’t mind the heat but she didn’t like to be stuck as a girl. She could only imagine how the others would react.
“You’re kidding me,” Pat gasped, hoping she misheard her friend.
“I wish,” Baff sighed. “As much as I want to be wrong, there wasn’t anything we could find to fix this, there wasn’t anything there. Like it or not, we’re girls forever.” The rest of the dragons now felt down in the dumps about their situation.
“So, I guess we’re going to have to go home like this,” Vixen commented.
“Yeah.”
“Barb said she was getting us lunch,” Garnette said, “I think she’d feel worse if we just ditched her.”
“Garnette’s right,” Vixen said. “She’s been trying to help us, she at least has to know about the situation.”
“Okay, fine,” Baff said. “Once she knows and when we’ve eaten what she made, we’re going home.”
“Sounds good to me,” Pat said. She sat back and waited for her meal while Spear looked over at the game pieces that were in the box next to the table.
“What’s in the box?” she asked.
“This is Ogres and Oubliettes,” Garnette explained. “Barb thought it would be a good game we could play while were stuck in here. Twilight thought it would be best if as few ponies knew about what’s happening.”
“You could imagine how much fun we’ve had being stuck in here,” Pat said. “Can’t wait to get home.”
“By the way, have you seen Smolder?”
Garnette’s sister was in the kitchen giving Barb some help with the stew. “Okay, I’ve got the onions...” Smolder paused as she saw her friend’s downcast expression. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s hard to believe it I’m going to be stuck like this,” Barb sighed. “It just... Doesn’t feel right.”
“It’ll probably take a while to get used to, but you only just turned into a girl. It’s not like you turned into a baby or a different species. You’ll get over it.”
Barb managed to smile. “Thanks, Smolder. I’m glad I’ve got other girls to help me cope.” Barb gave the stew a bit of a stir with a more positive attitude. “I wonder how my friends would react to this.”
“I think Rarity would take full advantage to make new dresses.” Smolder let out a chuckle in which Barb giggled. Soon the stew was finished and after grabbing some bowls and spoons, they took them to the map room.
“Lunch is served, girls!”
“Oh finally,” Pat sighed. Smolder helped give each dragon a bowl before Barb poured each dragon some of the stew.
“Hope you guys enjoy it.” Barb sat down beside Garnette who was about to speak up if it wasn’t for her sister speaking first.
“She already knows about the situation,” Smolder spoke.
“Oh,” Garnette gasped, “So...”
“I’ll be fine with time,” Barb said.
“Lucky you,” some of the dragons groaned.
Barb didn’t respond to either one of the dragons that were being negative and instead focus on Garnette and Vixen. “Anyways, sorry my friends weren’t able to help fix this?”
“It’s okay,” Vixen said. “We’re sure they tried.”
“Yeah. I’m always here if you need help getting used to this.”
“We might take you up on that,” Garnette said. “There’s no doubt some of the boys will try and date us.”
“How bad is that?”
“I remember Spear caught the eyes of one girl,” Vixen explained. “He didn’t notice her at first until he started getting to know. Eventually, they all started fighting over him until they found someone who wasn’t as lazy as him. Not to mention stronger.”
“It’s how dragons work,” Smolder shrugged. “If you’re not the best in someone’s eyes, you’re not there at all.”
“Eh, I didn’t know them,” Spear shrugged before consuming more of her stew.
“She seems to be taking it pretty well,” Barb commented.
“Would you believe us if those girls fought over him last week?” Garnette asked.
“Not with a straight face.”
They carried on with lunch until they heard “Smolder!” a voice called. Nobody recognized who the voice belonged it except for Smolder. Though everyone was in a panic now.
“It’s Silverstream!” Smolder cried.
“Who?” Baff questioned.
“One of my friends.”
“Does it matter?” Garnette questioned. “Barb, where do we hide.” Trying to remain calm, Barb led the dragons out of the room just before Silverstream flew into the room. She could only see Smolder standing by the door and the bowls of stew sitting on the table.
“Who were you talking with?” the hippogriff asked.
“Um... Princess Twilight,” Smolder fibbed.
“It sounded like a lot more than one pony.” The dragon then saw the rest of her friends walking in, Ocellus, Sandbar, Yona, and Gallus.
“Wh... What are you guys doing here?”
“Yona smelt something in the castle,” Yona explained.
“We weren’t feeling cafeteria food, so we wanted to see what was in here,” Gallus added.
“Plus we were curious about what you were doing in,” Sandbar spoke.
“Why do you need so many bowls?” Ocellus questioned. Smolder started to worry as she tried to think of an excuse. “Plus, wasn’t your brother visiting with some of his friends. Where are they?”
“Uuuuuh... Around town,” Smolder said. “...Yona did you change your hair?”
Gallus looked towards the door that his dragon friend was standing next to. It was partly opened. He began piecing things together. He began to walk towards the door but Smolder stopped him. “Hey!” the griffon cried.
“Sorry, I thought I saw... Something. ...Did you get new... Feathers?”
“Move out of the way.” Gallus pushed his friend to the side and walked through the door. Smolder and the rest of the group followed behind. Gallus soon found the dragons and couldn’t believe his eyes. He and his friends were shocked to find the newly made female dragons.
“Yona thought Smolder had brother,” Yona said confused.
“I did,” Smolder said. Her friends looked at her with their minds not knowing how to process this. Seeing that hiding didn’t work, Barb walked over to them.
“You may want to sit down,” she said. “We’ll explain it over lunch.”
Hanging with the Students
“And that’s how it happened,” Barb explained, finishing the story. The students were very confused about what they just heard.
“Okay, let... Let me get this straight,” Gallus spoke, “You all turned into girls just because of that stupid pink diamond?”
“That’s how it happened,” Garnette said while rubbing her arm, blushing.
“Can’t you try to change back?” Silverstream asked.
“You didn’t think we tried?!” Baff cried.
“Take it easy,” Vixen said. Judging by her face, Baff looked like she was about to snap.
“Is there any way to change you back to your original genders?” Sandbar asked.
“I wish there was,” Barb sighed. “As of now, we’re going to be girls forever.”
“That doesn’t seem too bad,” Silverstream commented.
“You don’t understand how things work in the Dragon Lands,” Spear said.
“Enough, if you want to talk more about this, we can chat about it after school,” Sandbar said. “We should get back to class.”
“Can I at least have some of the stew?” Gallus asked.
“Yeah, you can grab a bowl,” Barb said. Gallus smiled at this and flew away to get some of the stew before lunch was over.
“I think your idea works,” Vixen said to Sandbar.
“Thanks. We should be going now.” Sandbar left with Yona following him. The girls followed him with Smolder being the last one to leave.
“You just get back with your friends,” Garnette said. “We’ll be fine.” Smolder gave a thumbs up and ran off to catch up with the other students.
“You sure about that statement?” Spear questioned.
“I don’t want her to keep worrying about us.”
“Garnette’s right,” Barb said. “Worrying about this could make things worse.”
“Don’t see how it can get worse,” Baff groaned.
Back in class, Gallus let out a satisfied burp from the stew. “Gotta say, Spike’s still a great cook,” he commented.
“It’s actually Barb now,” Smolder noted.
“Of course.”
“I don’t see how you’re taking this so well,” Ocellus said.
“Eh, I think I’m finally getting used to it.”
“Yona not going to question anymore,” Yona spoke.
“Just what will we do with the dragons after school?” Silverstream asked.
Ocellus then thought about it for a while. “Maybe we should each take one dragon as a partner,” she suggested.
“Okay, Smolder, what do you know about them?” Gallus asked.
“Let’s see, I’ll handle Garnette and Barb,” Smolder said. “Maybe, Sandbar could go with Vixen.”
They could hear Rarity clearing her throat. “Are you six paying attention?”
“...Yes, Professor,” they all said. Rarity kept an eye on them as she continued with her lessons.
“We’ll plan this later,” Sandbar suggested whispering with his friends agreeing.
The dragons were still meant to stay in the castle. Barb was trying to find something to keep them entertained, but boredom was impossible for them. “Gah,” Baff groaned. “Why isn’t there anything we can do.”
“I’ve got plenty of games to pick from,” Barb said. She placed a stack of board games on the table for the guest to choose from. “Okay, I couldn’t find any games for more than four players, so maybe we could play more than one at once.”
“What do you have?” Vixen asked.
“Let’s see. Hmm, Sky Strikers is two-player only, Bit Bash isn’t definitely that’ll make you guys mad, hmm, maybe we could try Midnight Snack.”
“How do you play that?” Garnette asked.
“Well, it’s a simple game of going through life, from school to retirement.”
“Sounds kind of boring me,” Spear spoke. “By the way, did you guys come up with a name for me and Baff?”
“Welp, we thought for a while,” Garnette said, “And the only ones we could think for you be Dart and Beff.”
“Speaking of which, where is Baff?” Barb asked.
“I think I saw her leaving through one of the windows,” Vixen said.
“She what!? Okay, you guys pick which game you want, I’ll be right back.” Barb quickly flew outside to find where Baff went. She could hear some crunching signaling to where the missing dragoness was. Baff was leaning again the castle after breaking a piece of it off. “Baff, what do you think you’re doing?”
“I needed some time to myself,” the black and green dragoness stated. “It’s probably going to be the last chance I get when I have boys chasing me like their lives depend on it.”
“Okay, I can understand that, but there are hundreds of rooms in the castle. You could’ve gone in one of there. Not to mention, don’t eat the damn castle!” Barb smacked the gemstone out of Baff’s hand, making the dragoness very angry. Grabbing Barb by her spine, she held her up to look eye to eye.
“Watch it, you squished amethyst, it’s one that you that you’re telling me what to do, but a physical force is crossing the line for me. Got it!?”
“Just keep it down. Someone could hear us.” Baff growled, puffing some smoke from her nostrils.
“Do that again and I won’t be so easy.” She let go of Barb’s spines and she would’ve dropped onto the ground if it wasn’t for her wings.
“Just please go back inside.” Baff didn’t say anything before flying to the nearest window, slapping Barb with her tail. Moving past that, the two got back inside and had found the guests had already opened one of the board games. “Which one did you pick?”
“One titled, Stone Cold Mine,” Vixen commented.
“Ooh, I’ve heard of that one.” Barb picked up the instruction from the pile of game pieces and read it. "It's practically a gold rush in these times. Minerals like coal are important, but so are iron, steel, and some say there's even gold in those mines."
"Cut to how we play," Spear, or now Dart, requested. She was tapping her foot with impatience.
Flipping through a couple of pages to get to the how-to-play section. "Each player takes an elevator sheet and horse card."
"Uh, Barb," Garnette said, "There are only four elevator sheets."
"Well, I guess you'll have teams of two. Now, on each turn, or what the game calls it shifts, each play draws a card. These cards could have workers, tools, or other items that can help you."
"This sounds kind of boring to me," Dart whispered to Flicker. The white and pink dragoness didn't respond as she was trying to focus on what Barb was saying. Plus, she felt like her friend was acting a little more impatient than she usually was. Barb explained the instructions a little faster but still did her best to make sure she didn’t skip any information.
“Okay, I think that’s everything. Are you guys ready?”
“Yes,” they all said with various expressions. They started the game and at first, things were going alright. About five minutes into the game, which felt a little longer to some of the players. When it was Barb’s turn, she accidentally drew two cards which sent Pat over the edge.
“Hey, you can’t do that!” the big brown dragoness screamed.
Barb flinched a little bit before placing the extra card at the bottom of the pile. “What is with you?” Garnette questioned.
“I think I get what she’s feeling,” Beff said. “We’re being forced to stay in a castle made of gemstone, that we’re not supposed to eat by the way. There’s nobody we know here, we can’t do activities that like doing, and that’s not even bringing up the gemstone.”
“I think I have a right to be angry,” Pat said.
“I... Understand that,” Barb spoke. “Listen, I’m trying to help you girls as much as I can, but there’s only so much I can do. Besides, once the Smolder and her friends are out of class, you’ll be let out of the castle and actually do something other than board games."
"I can't wait for that," Beff huffed. "Pat, you want to sit this out?" The big dragoness just nodded before she and her equally frustrated friend left the room while staying in the castle.
"Yeah, I think going to leave too," Dart said.
"Just promise me you'll stay in the castle until Smolder gets back," Barb begged. Dart just nodded before she ran after Baff and Pat. Spike rested her arms on the table while holding up her head. She let out a frustrated sigh.
“That went better than I thought it would,” Garnette admitted. She walked around the table to place her claw on her friend’s shoulder. “At least you’re trying.”
“I think I might have it easier than you guys. You’ll go back to the dragon lands, where there are tons of dragons that act like bullies.”
“Not to mention treating girls like gemstones or other things they have in their hordes,” Vixen added.
“Yep, that explains why they hate this change,” Garnette commented.
Beff, Pat, and Dart all met up in one of the various rooms containing books. “Did I mention I hate this?” Pat asked.
“We all do,” Beff said. “We can’t stay here because it’s practically a prison, but if we go back home it’ll probably be worse.”
“So no matter where we go, we’re tortured,” Dart spoke. “Am I right?”
“Yeah. It’s all because of that stupid diamond.” Beff punched the wall leaving a crack in it.
“Did you even check in the right spot?” Pat questioned.
“We searched multiple locations,” Dart spoke. “All the places Dash said the diamond would be at giving what Barb told us.”
“We’re stuck like this whether we like it or not,” Beff grumbled. She leaned against the wall she punched while crossing her arms.
“Ugh, I hate being stuck in the castle, I feel so confined.”
“I thought you would love having to stay inside,” Pat commented. “If you didn’t try and find the diamond you would’ve slept since we had breakfast.” Beff rose an eyebrow at this as she realized that Pat was onto something.
“Um, Dart, what do you want to do right now?” Beff asked.
“I just want to move around. If I’m stuck in this castle I might as well have a ball and chain on my leg.”
“Uh-huh. Pat, a private word?” Grabbing the big brown dragoness’s claw, Baff pulled Pat out of the room and closed the door so Dart couldn’t hear them. “That diamond’s messing with her mind.”
“What?” Pat questioned. “What are you talking about?”
“She used to be lazy and she’d always find a place to rest, even if it messed up her spine. Now she’s saying that she has to move around?”
“...Yeah, that sounds really weird.”
“What if it starts affecting us? I could become an airhead who wants nothing but my scales to look shiny and a new boyfriend every month.”
“What about me? I could probably turn into some girls who obsess over crud like books and tries to keep making theories from them.”
“Well, you’ve already got the weight look.”
“What?!”
“Pat, if you have to make one good about this change, is that the diamond was generous enough to get rid of your fat.”
Pat was shocked at what she heard. “Well, at least it got rid of your wrinkles. You looked like an old hag, not to mention your hair didn’t help with the appearance. Maybe that’s why Dart had better luck with the girls.” Both girls stared each other in the eye before they caught themselves.
“Please don’t tell me we were arguing over our looks.”
“I feel like we were.”
Baff held her head and growled in frustration. “That’s it, I can’t take it anymore. Where’s Smolder?” She stormed away as Pat cracked the door open to see that Dart was flying laps around the room. She quietly closed it and began thinking about her friend’s theory.
“Okay, so I can trade materials in this game, right?” Vixen asked.
“Barb!” Beff stomped into the room and picked the youngest dragoness up by her tail.
“Hey! Put me down!” Barb ordered.
“When are Smolder’s classes over?”
“They should over in two hours.”
“I can’t wait that long. I am literally losing my mind! So is Pat! I’m pretty sure that Dart’s already gone.”
“What are you talking about?” Garnette questioned.
“Dart has gone from a lazy dragon who sleeps everywhere without care, to an athlete who can’t sit still.” She took Barb with her, which made Garnette, Vixen, and Flicker follow her. They walked to the room where Dart was still flying around. Pat had actually walked in and appeared to be counting.
“What’s going on here?” Vixen questioned.
“I was getting bored so I tried to fly as fast as possible,” Dart explained. “I’m trying to see how many laps I can do in a minute.”
“And I’m counting for her,” Pat shrugged. She resumed counting as her friend speed up again. Everyone else just watched.
“See what I mean?!” Beff asked.
“Okay, first, let go of Barb,” Garnette ordered. She prided the anxious dragon’s claws of the tail of Barb, nearly making her drop onto the ground. “Secondly, you know Dart isn’t... She isn’t...”
“Isn’t what?”
“The... Brightest.”
“I heard that!” Dart cried.
“Maybe she just needs a coping mechanism,” Barb suggested.
“One that changes how she acts?” Beff questioned.
“Clearly you’ve never seen Twilight having a panic attack.”
“Oh, really? How bad was it.”
“Only bad enough to cause the town to go crazy over an old doll.”
Dart stopped flying as she and the dragons stared at Barb. “Tell us more,” Pat requested.
“Sure thing. It seems to have calmed you down.” Some of the girls grabbed chairs to sit down while others just stood. “So, it started when Twilight found she hadn’t sent a letter to Celestia in a week. Celestia used to be the princess before Twilight took the throne.”
“Come on,” Smolder muttered. She stared up at the clock tapping her claws on her desk. The second arm looked like it was moving slower. “Don’t do this to me.” She was on the edge of her seat as the clock’s arm got closer to the twelve. Finally, the clock struck three and school was over. Smolder jumped off her desk and also caught enough friction to set it on fire as she made a beeline to the castle.
Her friends saw her take off and chased after her. The dragon student flew through the castle hallways searching for her sister and her gang. When she passed one of the libraries, she heard Barb talking. “I honestly have no idea how Fluttershy keeps that rabbit in order,” she spoke.
“I honestly would’ve smoked that bunny if he did that to me,” Dart admitted.
“Ditto,” Pat agreed. “You really did that for some gemstones.”
“They’re not as common in Ponyville as they are in the Dragon Lands,” Barb responded. Smolder opened the door and poked her head inside to see Barb explain some of her misadventure to the dragonic guests.
“There you are!” Silverstream cried. This made Smolder jump and grabbed the dragons’ attention.
“Hi, Smolder,” Garnette said. “Is school out?”
“...Yep,” the student dragon answered. “I got here as soon as I could get out of class.”
Gallus walked up beside Smolder, pushing the door open. “You guys might think you’re imprisoned here,” he said, “But try doing that five times a week.” The rest of the students walked in and sat with the dragons.
“So, what are you talking about?” Ocellus asked.
“Just listening to Barb talk about what she did when she lived in Ponyville,” Garnette answered. “Anyways, you said you’d be spending the day with the girls?”
“Sure are,” Sandbar confirmed. “We don’t really know you guys too well, so we thought we’d tell you about ourselves so you can choose who’d you have as a partner.”
“I’ll go first,” Silverstream declared. “My name is Silverstream, and I like finding out about new things, stairs, swimming, singing, dancing...” As she began talking at a mile a minute, Garnette whispered to her sister.
“Is she usually like this?” the older sibling asked.
“All the time,” the younger one responded.
When Silverstream stopped talking, she was a little out of breath. “’Kay,” Vixen said, “Who’s next?”
“I think I’ll go next,” Sandbar explained. One by one, the young six explained what they were about, their homes, and their interests.
“So are you all done?” Beff asked.
“Yep,” the students responded.
“Okay, so wants to pick first?” Barb asked.
“Can I go?” Vixen asked.
“You and Garnette have been acting the best out of everyone here. Go ahead.”
“I’ll take Sandbar.”
“I’ll take Yona,” Pat spoke.
“Gallus is mine,” Beff said. “Out of all of you, I relate to him the most.”
“I’m taking the chatter,” Dart said.
“You mean Silverstream?” Gallus asked.
“That’s the one.”
“I think I’m just going to stick with Smolder,” Garnette proclaimed.
“I guess that leaves me with...” Ocellus paused as she looked towards the last dragonss, Flicker. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“F... Fl... Flicker,” the white and pink dragoness responded. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“I think fate chose for you two to be together,” Smolder chuckled. “No offense.”
“None taken,” the changeling responded.
“So, is nobody going to question the fact that the dragons that came into town yesterday are no girls?” Gallus asked.
“Yona only saw them flying above,” Yona spoke.
“Yeah, I doubt that anyone got a good look at us,” Vixen spoke.
“Plus I’m pretty sure everyone was too scared to get close to you,” Gallus added.
“Whatever,” Dart said. “Let’s get out of this place.” She took off as Silverstream did her best to keep up. Beff and Pat walked out of the room at a similar pace with their partners following them.
“Welp, we should get going too,” Sandbar said.
“Lead the way, Sandy,” Vixen said. The colt and dragoness walked out of the room at a much steadier pace than the groups before them.
“I’m... Not too sure about this,” Flicker muttered.
“Don’t worry,” Ocellus said. “I’ll be by your side the whole time.” Flicker slowly stood up and walked out of the room with the changeling by her side.
“So, what do we do?” Garnette asked.
“I have an idea,” Barb said, “Though you guys might not like it.”
Dart soared across Ponyville high in the air. “Man, it feels great to finally get out,” she sighed. “Does it?” She stopped to think before Silverstream ram into the back of her.
“Oops, sorry,” the hippogriff apologized. “You just... Took off so fast.”
“Well, you would too if you were stuck in there. I need something to let out energy.”
“Like a race?”
“That’s perfect. Now, we’re that rainbow pony.”
“You could race me.” Dart looked at the young hippogriff before snickering, which then turned into laughter.
“You? Racing a dragon? Listen, I managed to keep ahead of that rainbow mare and she’s been training like that for years.”
“Well, hippogriffs are naturally fast. I heard some managed to go faster than lightning.”
Dart scoffed. “There’s no way.”
“I can prove it, let’s have a race.”
“Okay.” Dart looked around for some waypoint before she saw Canterlot in the far distance. “How about a race to that castle and back?”
Silverstream looked over to the faraway castle. “You sure about that?”
“You want to prove you’re as fast as lightning.”
The young hippogriff looked between the waypoint and her competitor. “Okay. We’ll start at the school, fly to Canterlot, and fly back.” Dart smiled as they flew down to the ground to get a start. Both got on all fours and prepared themselves.
“Ready? Set. Go!” Dart took off the second she screamed “go” to get ahead, but Silverstream had good reflexes and started barely a second after the dragoness. Still, she tried her best to keep ahead of her rival as they both soared towards Canterlot. The hippogriff was doing great keeping up with the visitor, who was angry that she would have to try harder.
While they had their race, Beff and Gallus were flying around with the griffon trying to talk to the dragoness. “Okay, so you’ve gone out and tried to find a diamond, and came up dry,” Gallus spoke, “Am I getting that right?”
“I thought you were supposed to help make me feel better,” Beff spoke. “You’re only wanting me to burn you to crisp.”
“Whoa! Okay, chill out. Probably wasn’t the best joke. So, what do you want to do, other than going home.”
“I’d like to see a reason what ponies have to offer that dragons don’t have.”
Gallus scratched his chin as he thought about what to do. “I think I can show you a place that’ll keep you around a little longer. Follow me.” The two flew off a little out of town and stopped outside of a cave. “Princess Twlight brought us here once for a lesson. It didn’t go too well but Smolder likes coming here for a snack.”
The blue griffon lead the black and green dragoness into the cave. Gallus had brought a flashlight with him to help light the way and show the various gemstones. Beff’s jaw dropped. “So. Many. Gems!” Her eyes lit up as she felt happier than she had ever been since she arrived in Ponyville.
“Do you like it?”
“I could live here.”
“Then go ahead. Knock yourself out.” She didn’t have to be told twice. Beff soon started yanking out of the gems she could find out of the walls. She chowed down and ever gem she could get her claws on. It helped bring joy despite her current situation. Gallus just sat back and watched her feast.
Elsewhere, Sandbar and Vixen were heading into town. “So, where do we go first?” Vixen asked.
“Well, my friends and I often go to Sugarcube Corner to grab a snack after school,” Sandbar answered. “Follow me.” The colt led the dragoness through the town. Many ponies stared at Vixen, some even walking the other way. They actually looked a little afraid of her.
“I don’t think they like me,” she whispered to Sandbar.
“Don’t worry, they’re not used to other dragons like Smolder and Spike. I mean Barb. That’s going to take some getting used to.”
“I know. Let’s try and forget about that and see what ponies have to offer.” After a bit of walking, they made it to Sugarcube Corner, walking inside there were a couple of ponies inside but they looked and stared at the dragoness walking in. Vixen felt a little ashamed with everyone staring at them, but she tried to keep up a smile.
“Hello Sandbar,” Mrs. Cake said. She looked at the new friend the colt had brought with him. “Who’s your new friend?”
“I’m Vixen,” the dragoness said. “Princess Twilight invited me to Ponyville to help dragons and build bridges with the ponies.”
“Hmm, that’s good to hear. Anyways, what can I get you?”
“Just some milkshakes,” Sandbar answered. “I’ll take chocolate.”
“Um...” Vixen was very familiar with what kind of drinks ponies had. “I’ll just have what he’s having.”
“Two chocolate milkshakes, coming up,” Mrs. Cake said. She walked away to take care of the order as Sandbar sat himself and Vixen down at one of the tables.
“Okay, so what would you like to talk about?” the colt asked.
“Well, I honestly want to know more about your life,” Vixen admitted. “How long have you been dating Yona?”
“A little over a year. We had a bumpy first date, but we worked it out.”
“Good for you. I guess there’s hope for me.”
“What is life like in the Dragon Lands?”
“It’s a pretty rough world. It’s either stomp on others or get stomped. That’s what’s it’s like from the point of view of dragons my age.”
“Sounds like it. I’m curious about dragon parents. Like, do you really have to move out when you finish molting.”
“Oh, that’s just something that most dragons say to motivate ones that are going through that phase. We’re tough creatures and I’m guessing that’s what most of my friends are worried about.”
“You mean befriending ponies would make them seem weaker. I think Yona would have to disagree. She’s been around ponies for a year and she still seems to be the same yak I know. How do you often act around your friends?”
“...Well, I don’t have a past I’m really proud of. I was more of a bully. I mean, I do know when things have to get tough but I do kind of feel guilty treating Barb like a bug under our feet.”
“But you learned from that didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did. I’m honestly shocked she’s still helping us.”
“Well, she’s a kind dragon. A lot of creatures deserve a second chance.” Soon they saw Mrs. Cake walk up to their table and gave them their milkshakes. “Thank you.” The mare walked away as the colt and dragoness enjoyed their drinks. Vixen drank a little too fast and felt a sharp headache.
“Gah! Why did that happen?”
“It’s something that happens when you ingest a cold beverage or snack too fast. It’s called a brain freeze. You never had one before?”
“We mostly ate fish and gemstones. Plus we bathe in lava.”
“Yeah, it probably makes sense you don’t eat many cold foods. Try drinking it a little bit slower this time.” Vixen nodded and rubbed her head before she continued with her milkshake.
Meanwhile, Yona and Pat had gone partly into the Everfree Forest. “Okay, why did you say that we had to go out here?” the chubby dragon questioned.
“Yona know when creatures get mad,” the yak spoke. “How yaks let out anger is by smashing.” She promptly demonstrated this by running headfirst into a nearby tree. A large chunk of the tree had been taken out and Yona was still standing with no ill effect.
“...Can all yaks do that?”
“Yes. Yaks best at smashing!”
Pat smirked a little bit as she didn’t really believe what the young yak said. “Let me show you what dragons can do.” She looked over a boulder lying on the ground. Pat picked it up and tossed it into the air, just as it was about to land back on the ground she smacked it with her tail like a baseball bat, sending the boulder flying into the air and out of sight. “How’s that’s furball?”
Yona was amazed at the power the dragoness possessed. “Yak didn’t know how stronger dragons were.”
“Welp, we are. And we could definitely overpower yaks any day.”
Yona didn’t like the sound of that. “Yak just getting started. Yak challenge dragon to strength contest.”
“Challenge accepted.” The yak and dragoness both looked at each other’s eyes before giving a smirk at their opponent. Pat grabbed onto Yona’s horns and the two started pushing against each other. Both managed to push each other back and forth.
“Yak finally have proper challenge.”
“Same here, but just remember I’ve done way more strength-related activities than you.”
While they had their competition Ocellus had taken Flicker to a quieter part of Ponyville. “So, Flicker,” the changeling said, “What activities do you like doing in the Dragon Lands?”
“Well,” Flicker said, “I really enjoy searching for gemstones and nice lava baths.”
“Hmm, I don’t think we’re going to have much luck with lava around here. I think there is a gem cave nearby but I wanted to show you something else.” They kept walking along until they found a sanctuary. There was a small waterfall leading into a pond along with some rope ladders and platforms on some of the trees.
“What’s this place?” Flicker questioned.
“This is Fluttershy’s animal sanctuary. She had it built so the animals of Ponyville have a place to rest. It’s a very nice place when to visit when you want to have a little break.”
The young changeling showed the visitor to the various animals in the sanctuary. From ones as small as Angel Bunny to ones as big as Harry the bear. When the two found him he let out a loud roar, frightening the dragoness and made her hide in the pond.
Harry wasn’t trying to scare anyone. His roar was actually a yawn from him waking up from a nap. He looked at Ocellus who gave a warm smile. The bear returned the gesture by giving her a warm bear hug. Flicker poked her head out of the water to find Ocellus giggling when she was given a hug from the friendly bear. She stepped onto dry land and walked closer to them.
“You don’t have to be scared of Harry,” Ocellus said. “Go ahead, give him a hug.” The changeling backed to give the dragoness and bear some room. Harry grabbed onto the nervous dragoness and hugged her tightly. Since Flicker was tougher than most of the creatures he was able to have a tighter grip that probably would cause discomfort for some.
“Wow, this feels nice and warm,” Flicker smiled.
“That’s a bear hug for you.” Harry held on for a little under a minute before he let Flicker go. “How do you feel?”
“Much better now. What else is there?” Ocellus looked over to one of the squirrels that stopped when it saw the changeling and dragon. Ocellus grabbed an acorn to get the squirrel to come closer to them. She then gave the acorn to Flicker, to which the squirrel ran up her leg, which felt a little weird and made the dragoness shutter a little bit until the little rodent was now on her shoulder.
“It’s not going to really do much to hurt you. Give him the acorn.” Flicker did as the changeling requested and the squirrel chomped into the nut.
Flicker giggled a little bit. “He’s kind of cute.”
“I know.” Ocellus then had a flash of magic as she changed her form into a blue bunny. Flicker stared at her and felt very confused.
“...Do... All changelings do that?”
“Sure do.” Flicker bent down to pick the disguised changeling up. Her fur felt just like a real rabbit. The dragoness grinned as she petted the rabbit.
“So, can you turn into a dragon?”
“Sure can do.” Ocellus jumped down from Flicker’s claws and turned into her draconic form. “What do you think?”
“You look amazing.” The squirrel jumped off of the real dragon’s shoulder as Flicker inspected Ocellus’s dragon form. “When did you make this?”
“When I arrived at the school for the first time, I was really nervous about being around so many different creatures, but I got used to it.”
“It does look a little like Smolder. Have you tried making one in your own colors?” Ocellus thought for a moment before another flash appeared around her as her color scheme changed to make her base form while she stayed as a dragon.
“How’s this?”
“Much better. So, what else is there?”
“Well, have you read any of the books in the library?”
“Not really. I think Barb thought we wouldn’t enjoy them. I actually want to know what ponies have written.”
“I think I can fly back and get some books. Be right back.” Ocellus flew away, leaving Flicker in the sanctuary. The dragoness sat down as the squirrel came back and she started petting it.
That just left the trio, Smolder, Garnette, and Barb. They were sitting in the map room with Rarity sitting across from them. “So, there’s a reason you wanted to see me?” the unicorn asked.
“Well, I thought of a unique activity for the four of us to do together,” Barb said. “Something like... Helping with your dresses or... Maybe the spa.”
“The spa?” Garnette questioned.
“Spike, are you sure about this?” Rarity asked.
“It’s Barb now, and I’m only going to do it if Garnette wants to,” the youngest dragon spoke. She looked up at the older visitor was had her claw to her chin.
“What’s a spa?” Garnette asked.
“It’s a place that ponies go to when they want to relieve stress,” Rarity explained. “I enjoy spending my time there with friends. Perhaps I can bring you with me.”
“I mean, I’m willing to try new things. Smolder, what about you?”
The dragon student blushed a little bit due to her remembering a little secret she had. “I mean... If it’ll make you feel better, I could go with you,” Smolder spoke.
“Great,” Barb said. “Rarity, could you lead the way?”
“Certainly,” the mare agreed. Walking out of the castle, the mare and the draconic trios walked down the street towards the Ponville Spa. Since Smolder often went into town, many of the ponies weren’t afraid of her. Many were a little suspicious about the dragoness that looked a lot like Spike, though they weren’t even questioning Garnette. Rarity knew they were being quiet for a long time, so she decided to ask a few questions. “So, Fluttershy told me you had a love for poetry.”
“I do,” Garnette responded. “I tried to hide and just acted like your typical bully because I thought they would’ve mocked me.”
“You did help save some baby dragons,” Barb reminded.
“Yeah, with them laughing at me.”
“Eh, it’s like a bandage. When you rip it off it’s painful, but after that is much better.”
“That reminds me,” Rarity spoke, “After our spa trip, maybe you could help me with some clothing for dragons. It’s the flammability I’m worried about.”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to sort that out,” Barb commented. “Look, there’s the spa.” The group picked up the pace and they soon reached the entrance.
They sat in the waiting room while Rarity got them reservations. “So, have you ever gone in here?” Garnette asked.
“This is my first time,” Barb admitted. “I mean, most ponies view spas as a girl’s activity.”
“Is that why you had us come here.”
“I mean, we might as well embrace our new change if we’re going to be stuck like this.”
“She makes a good point,” Smolder commented. “Plus... The dresses are meant to help a friend.”
“That’s true,” Garnette commented. “You think I could get a new outfit?”
“Most likely,” Barb said. “Actually, where did you get your old clothes.”
“Well...”
“Alright,” Rarity interrupted, “We’re ready for our spa day.” The mare led the dragons into the spa where they were each given a robe for them to wear. “Now, what would you like to try first?”
“How about the steam room?” Barb suggested. “That should help you feel at home. Right, Garnette?”
“Sure. I’ll try it out,” the eldest dragoness spoke.
The steam room was quite enjoyable for Garnette, the same for Barb and Smolder. “Man, I can’t believe I’ve never been in here,” Smolder sighed.
“Yeah, it’s really relaxing,” Barb agreed.
“It’s not at as hot as lava,” Garnette admitted, “But still, this is great.” They sat back as Rarity suggested another treatment.
“There’s also back massages, and face masks, maybe could get body wraps,” Rarity suggested.
“What’s that?” Garnette questioned.
“I think it’s a trick that ponies use to help get rid of fat,” Barb explained. She looked at her belly and thought for a moment, “Maybe I should try it out.”
“I’m up for a massage,” Smolder spoke.
“Maybe you could try the hot coal treatment,” Rarity said. “I’m sure it’ll be perfect for dragons. By the way, does Ember know about any of this.”
“I sure hope not,” Barb admitted.
Rarity and the dragons were now in another room as the mare was receiving back massage. “How are you holding up girls?” she asked.
“Really good,” Barb responded. She had some hot coals on her back, which felt heavenly to her. She looked over to Smolder and Garnette, whose massages were a little rougher than Rarity’s, as the ones giving them their massages had their hooves moving fast enough to only be seen as blurs.
“Yeah, this is great,” Smolder said.
“Maybe we should check on the others,” Garnette suggested.
“Good idea,” Barb commented, “Just... A few more minutes.”
Outside, Dart and Silverstream were flying back from Canterlot. Both were out of breath as they each desperately tried to keep ahead of one another. They saw the school coming into view and they dived towards it. The two both landed, tumbling a bit, though sliding to a stop.
“Okay...” Dart panted. “I think I got that one.”
“I think it was another tie,” Silverstream spoke tiredly.
“Seriously? Okay... Best out of five.”
“Actually, I think I need a rest.”
“Alright... Fine. I could use a drink.” Both of them slowly walked towards the castle hopefully to find something to help catch their breath. They stopped when they heard a loud “THUD!”
Looking near the school, they saw Pat and Yona standing up. “Yak feeling sore,” Yona admitted.
“Ditto,” Pat agreed. “How about we call it a draw.” The yak agreed to the idea and both stood up to take a rest in the castle. They saw Dart and Silverstream panting as they watched them. “Draw?”
“Draw,” both dragon and hippogriff responded. They looked towards town and heard some giggling. They could see Ocellus, Sandbar, Flicker, and Vixen walking back to the castle while having a great chat.
“So, you can turn into anything?” Vixen questioned.
“It’s true,” Ocellus confirmed. She demonstrated this by turning into an exact replica of Flicker.
“She’s really good at it,” the real Flicker giggled.
“Well, I’m hoping we can bring you all to Sugarcube Corner,” Sandbar spoke.
“Just make sure we don’t get carried away with the sweets,” Vixen spoke. Her stomach growled as she groaned a little bit due to her sweet tooth getting the better of her.
“What happened to you?” Pat questioned.
“Too many snacks.” It wasn’t just her that was having a stomach ache. They looked over to Gallus who was walking with Beff, who was holding her bloated belly in pain.
“Why didn’t you stop me?” the dragoness groaned.
“You looked so happy,” the griffon remarked.
“Yeah, well so is a baby running around a pool, but you know they’ll risk drowning.” They joined the rest of the group who were curious about Beff’s condition.
“What happened to you?” Vixen asked, concerned.
“I had too many gemstones.”
“Gems?” Dart asked. “Where?”
“There’s a cave loaded with gemstones not too far away from her. Just give me a minute when my gut isn’t killing and I’ll show you.”
“...I’m honestly good right now,” Vixen admitted.
“I’m not that hungry either,” Flicker spoke. “Harry found me some spare salad.”
“Who’s Harry?” Pat questioned.
“A bear.”
“...Right,” Dart commented. “Beff, just let me get a drink and I’ll join you.”
“Me too,” Pat added.
“Okay, take your time,” Beff groaned. She sat down as she looked towards Gallus. “You’re free to go.”
“”Kay, see you tomorrow,” the griffon responded. He walked away back to the school as Silverstream and Yona joined him to get a drink. After taking a few minutes to recover from their past activities, Beff, Dart, and Pat headed towards the gem mine.
"You think Barb would've told us about this," Pat commented.
"I mean judging by Beff, we just would've eaten until we pop," Dart guessed.
"Yes, thank you for noticing," Beff groaned. She held her stomach and groaned as it felt like it was being stretched out.
"Got it," both girls responded. They kept picking out gems until Dart found a blue gem that was incredibly hard to move. In fact, it wouldn't budge. She tried pulling it, scratching at it, even kicking it. The gem wouldn't budge.
"Stupid gem," Dart growled.
"Hang on," Pat said, "Let me try." With her friend stepping back, Pat smashed the wall with her mace shaped tail. It came crumbling down and released the blue gem, which turned out to be a diamond. It was huge and also familiar.
"Whoa!"
"Hold on," Beff spoke. She picked up the diamond and examined it. It looked perfectly cut and its top also looked like it had some break off of it.
"You don't think that..."
"This is the missing diamond!"
"So we can change back into boys?" Pat asked.
"Sure looks like it." Each dragoness could feel the excitement building up inside of them. "We've got to show this to the gang!"
Dart and Pat agreed and they all flew out of the cave as fast as they could. As they were hurrying back, Garnette, Smolder, and Barb had returned.
"Oh, there you are," Vixen said. "Where did you go?"
"Rarity took us to the spa," Barb explained. "It's a place where ponies go to relieve stress and relax."
"I think we should all go there sometime," Garnette said. "Plus, Rarity said she wanted us to come over to her business so we can help with dresses for dragons."
"That would sound fun," Flicker said. "They're those things that ponies wear sometimes, right?"
"That's pretty spot on," Barb commented. "Though I'm not sure..." Barb was interrupted by the three dragons that were coming back with the big blue diamond.
"Guys! You're not going to believe this!" Beff cried. She, Dart, and Pat quickly landed in front of their friends nearly crashing because of their speed.
"Hey, easy!" Garnette cried. "Why are you...?" She paused as she was shown what was in her friend's claws. "Is that...?"
"The missing diamond. Dart and Pat found it in the cave."
"Your welcome," Pat spoke.
"Now all we need to do is find that princess and we can go back to normal."
"I'll take it to Twilight," Barb said.
"No way," Dart said, "You're probably the reason this happened."
"Look, Dart, just give her the diamond," Garnette begged. "This happened completely by accident and I think Barb's got more experience with strange magic more than any of us combined."
"Plus, do you even know where the princess is?" Smolder asked.
"...Well, no," Dart admitted.
"Then I'm giving her the diamond," Beff said. She gave the diamond to the youngest dragon, who then took it inside of the castle.
"Twilight? Starlight!" Barb called. "The girls found the other half of the diamond. I think it's what we need for us to change back to boys. Girls? Girls!" She wandered around and could be heard someone sleeping in one of the rooms. Opening one of the doors, Barb found Starlight and Twilight in a room containing the pink diamond and tons of books. The alicorn had bags under her eyes while the unicorn was fast asleep.
The dragon knocked on the door to grab the princess's attention. "Barb?" Twilight questioned.
"Hey, Twilight. Busy day?"
"Yeah. Starlight and I have gotten some books from the library in Canterlot, but we haven't found anything about this diamond. The closest thing we could find would be the pearl in Seaquestria."
"Have you checked with Queen Novo?"
"Yes. She thought that the pearl was the only kind of gemstone that had that kind of power."
"Maybe our luck will turn up with this." Barb showed the alicorn the blue diamond. Twilight gasped.
"Is that the missing piece?"
"Most likely. Maybe we'll try it tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"You really look like you should get some sleep. Starlight's already getting some." They both looked towards the sleeping unicorn.
"Maybe you're right. The spell could go wrong if we're not thinking straight." Twilight helped Starlight to her bedroom as Barb left the blue diamond with the pink diamond. After taking care of the unicorn, Twilight headed towards her old bedroom. It had prepared incase the alicorn would have to spend the night in her castle. "It actually feels nice sleeping in this castle again."
"Yeah, it does. Hopefully, I'll be able to sleep much easier knowing this is going to be fixed tomorrow."
"Uh-huh. Night Barb, see you in the morning."
"Night Twi." Barb walked towards the door to leave the princess to her snooze.
"What do you mean we have to wait tomorrow?" Dart questioned.
"Listen, Twilight and Starlight are completely drained," Barb explained. "If they try a reversal spell now, things could go horribly wrong?"
"How could this become any worse?" Pat questioned pointing at herself and everyone else that had swapped gender.
"Well, maybe we could turn into ponies or babies, or maybe we could have completely different personalities."
Beff shuttered when she heard that. "Maybe we can wait until morning," she spoke.
"As long as we get changed back, I'll be happy," Pat said.
"I think I'm just going to sleep on it," Vixen said.
"Me too," Flicker added.
"I'm happy that you guys are going to go back to normal," Barb admitted, "But I'm a little ashamed that Rarity won't have any models for her new dresses."
"What dresses?" Dart questioned.
"Rarity asked us if we wanted to help with her new dresses," Garnette explained.
"The answer is no," Pat spoke. "I've had enough time here, ad I want to get back home."
"Hold on, what were you doing with Yona?" Vixen asked.
"We tested each other's strength."
"I did the same thing with Silverstream," Dart said. "We raced to Canterlot and back. Multiple times."
"Good for you," Barb said. "You sound like you had fun."
"It was," Pat said. "Anyways, I think I'm going to bed."
"Me too," Beff said.
"Yeah, it's pretty late," Barb noted. "I should turn in for the night. Night girls."
"Good night, Barb," Garnette said. Barb left the room and went to her bed, leaving them to get comfy.
"Man, I wish it was morning already," Dart sighed. "I want to change back now."
"Well, it's not too bad," Flicker said.
"You know what's going to happen to us if we go back home like this," Beff said. "Plus, that Rarity pony wants to dress us up."
"Come on Beff," Garnette said, "She probably just wants to break the ice with us."
"What?" Dart questioned.
"It's a term that means getting to know someone."
"Yeah, we really don't have that much experience with cold things," Vixen said. "I had some milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner had my first brain freeze. Wouldn't recommend it."
"How'd did they taste?" Pat asked.
"I can wait until morning," Beff said. "Good night, and hopefully everything will be fixed tomorrow." With that, the black and green dragoness lied down in her bed and covered her head with her blanket to try and get to sleep faster.
In the school of Friendship, Smolder and her friends were talking about the blue diamond. "So, you really think it's going to change them back?" Ocellus asked.
"It's got to," Smolder stated. "Think about it, a diamond that big matching the one that caused the problem."
"Dragon will be happy to be boys again," Yona commented.
"I know I would," Gallus spoke.
"How do you think these diamonds can work?" Sandbar asked.
"Maybe they just would like my pearl shard," Silverstream guessed.
"So, you think that anyone that could get the diamonds to work they could flip back and forth between genders?" Ocellus asked.
"Sounds logical to me," Sandbar said.
"If that's true, think about the activities we could do if we were all girls," Silverstream said. "We could all be cheerleaders."
"How about no?" Gallus asked. "I'm fine being a guy."
"Yeah, me too," Sandbar said. "How do you think you guys would do as boys?"
"It would be weird," Ocellus admitted, "But I think I'd get used to it."
"What about other creatures, like King Thorax?" Smolder questioned.
That made the students think for a minute. "I think she'd take on a mother's personality," Sandbar said.
"Definitely would be better than the queen who shouldn't be named," Gallus commented.
"Ooh, I'd love to have my brother Terramar become a sister," Silverstream commented. "I wonder what she'd be called."
"Yona curious if Prince Rutherford was princess," Yona admitted.
"King Novo, Grandma Gruff, Prince Twilight," Gallus spoke, "Skies the limit with their names."
"Or ours," Silverstream added.
"Please don't tempt fate." Silverstream gave a sheepish grin as Smolder walk into her dorm.
"Well, we'll see the results in the morning," Smolder said.
"Yep," Silverstream agreed. "Night guys." The hippogriff joined her roommate as their friends walked to their dorms to get a good night's sleep. Still, the friends couldn't help but talk about gender-swapped names about creatures they knew.
In the middle of the night, practically everyone in Equestria was asleep. Because of this, nobody would notice what the big diamonds were doing. Their tops moved by themselves to face each other and slid together. The crack had a glow as it disappeared and the diamonds both changed into a violet color. This wasn't the only thing they would be doing.
The two diamonds that fused into one started floating and glowing, similar to how the pink one did before. Several waves started to be given off from the magical gemstone and it was spread across Ponyville, yet nobody would notice due to being in their slumber.
Twilight groaned a little bit as her body was starting to become bulkier. Her muzzle started growing bigger as her mane was starting to recede back into her skull. In the school, Sandbar was having the opposite effect. His muzzle would be shrinking in length and his body was taking on a skinner and rounder appearance with his mane growing much longer.
Everyone in Ponyville was being affected by the diamond. Gallus's talons were starting to become daintier, while Smolder's body would become boxier. Ponies like Applejack would havier body gaining a lot of bulk while stallions like Big Mac were started to shrink in lovely mares. The changes spread further and further through Ponyville and eventually, beyond.
Morning has arrived, and everycreature is waking up from their slumber. Smolder slowly opened her eyes as something felt off. Her body had felt like it had slid around a little bit as she saw that her leg had moved out from under the blanket and... it looked different. It has a bit more bulk to it and even a little longer too. Smolder stood up and could see her arm was bigger and bulkier like her leg. That got Smolder worried.
She quickly opened the closet to try and find a mirror. When she did, Smolder almost screamed to her lungs, and her fears had been justified. Smolder's muzzle was longer and had a bit of a pointed end and her horns looked to be a bit bigger. Her spines looked different as they had a bit of a flat top to give it a look similar to a guy's mohawk, her eyelashes were much smaller too, there was no doubt about it, Smolder had become male.
"Oh, crud," he muttered. He couldn't believe his new voice. Still a little gruff, but much deeper. Curious if he was the only victim, he flew up to Silverstream, who was still asleep. The hippogriff's mane looked to be a bit shorter and her claws looked to have lost their daintiness. By the pitch of her breathing and appearance, it would be safe to say Silverstream had gone through the same change that Smolder had. “This ain’t good. I should better get out to warn Princess Twilight.”
Exiting the room as quietly as possible so he didn't wake his roommate, Smolder entered the hall and raced to the castle. He had to alert Barb and Twilight about this. Just before he could get to the exit, he heard two girls screaming. Smolder felt like they had a similar problem. “What the heck was that?” she said to herself.
Opening the door, she found the two that had screamed, Sandbar and Gallus. The two stopped talking and looked at their male friend and had a hard time comprehending what was happening. Both of them have eyelashes, long hair (or feathers), and curvy hips.
"Smolder?" Sandbar asked with shock. She blushed with her new voice. “Is that you?”
"...You too huh?" the drake replied.
"Yeah," Gallus disappointedly groaned. “Look at me, I got curvy hips! That’s not what I want.”
“What about Silverstream?” Sandbar asked.
"The same thing happened to her."
"Ocellus and Yona?"
"I haven't checked them yet, but I think it's safe to say their males as well."
"I don't think we're the only ones," Gallus guessed.
"I was about to go out to check the castle until I heard both of you scream."
"You go ahead to the castle first, while we find Yona and Ocellus. Is that okay?" Sandbar suggested.
"Yeah. Good idea."
With that, Smolder quickly flew back down the hall towards the exit. He stormed into the castle and looked around for Barb's room. He bashed through her door and woke the young dragoness up.
"Gah! What the heck?" she questioned.
"Barb, wake up! It's an emergency!" Smolder cried.
Barb rubbed her eyes as they were still blurry and the voice was unfamiliar. When her vision cleared up, she could see what looked to be Smolder, but it was a boy instead of a girl. "Smolder?"
"Uh-huh. Something went wrong last night."
"Wait, what?!" Smolder caught her friend up to speed on how most of, more likely, all of the students had switched genders, just like the dragons. “So that diamond’s done more damage. I’m worried about what it did to Twilight.” Fearing the worst, Barb and Smolder went to investigate.
Leaving Barb’s room and then opening the door to Twilight's, they found the alicorn prince examing his new body. He looked over to the two dragons and sighed when he noticed Smolder. “You too?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Smolder confirmed.
“First things first, I’m taking a look at that diamond with Starlight. Hopefully, he’s doing okay.”
“I would’ve said she,” Barb admitted, “But I think what’s happening next is obvious.” Fearing the worst, the three went to investigate Starlight's room. Just like Twilight, the mare had become a stallion.
"Wait. Who else has been affected?" Smolder questioned.
Everyone in Ponyville couldn’t believe what had happened to them. Twilight’s friends all made their way to the castle and were surprised to see each other. “Applejack?” Pinkie questioned.
“Yeah, that’s me,” the large orange stallion said.
“It happened to you guys too?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Sadly yes,” Rarity sighed. “Now I have to deal with facial hair.” Rarity scratched his chin, which now had some stubble.
“Angel and the animals aren’t having a good time either,” Fluttershy added.
“What? It affected the animals too?” Pinke questioned. “That’s weird. Mr. and Mrs. Cake have had a strange reaction to this.”
Applejack looked towards the school to see Smolder flying towards the front door. “Good morning,” the dragon said flatly as he walked back into the school.
“It looks like Smolder’s affected too,” Rainbow commented.
“Let’s just find Twilight,” Applejack suggested, “she knows what she’s doing.” The five stallions walked inside the castle.
Smolder met up with his friends again. Each one of them was feeling very different about this. Yona was missing his braids and had a bit of goatie. He looked much bigger than before about fifteen percent more. Ocellus only seemed to have a bulkier look, that and the lack of eyelashes appeared to the only thing that was different about her.
“I feel so weird,” Ocellus admitted. “Especially with my deep voice.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that everycreature here is feeling that way too,” Sandbar commented. She looked around the cafeteria to see and listen to how the rest of the students were dealing with their changes. Some were taking it better than others. For the boys, it was embarrassing. Soon, they heard the P.A. system activate.
”Good morning, students,” called a voice from the P.A., but deeper, ”Just an announcement: due to everyone’s recent change , in order for all of us to adapt until a solution is found, school is canceled. I repeat, just an announcement: due to everyone’s recent change , in order for all of us to adapt until a solution is found, school is canceled. Thank you.” This made many of the students cheer up and relieved, including Gallus.
“Well, that’s one good thing about all of this,” the griffon chuckled.
“If this is the case, I’m going to have my breakfast in the castle,” Smolder said. He grabbed a plate and placed some food on it before rushing back to the castle.
Garnette had woken up and found out about what happened while they were asleep. “So now all of the ponies are suffering from what we’re going through?” the teenage dragon questioned.
“Pretty much,” Barb confirmed.
“Fantastic,” he said sarcastically.
“You’re telling me,” Twilight sighed. “I’m hoping that his friends are doing okay.” Starlight soon teleported in front of them, startling Garnette a little bit.
“Okay, I just told the students that school’s canceled,” Starlight explained. “Just like you said.”
“Good. They have enough trouble as it is.”
“Hey, Garnette!” Dart called. She and the rest of the dragons were up and running to find their friend. “Did they make any progress on...” They all froze when they saw Twilight and Starlight.
“Weren’t you two mares?” Pat questioned.
“We were,” Twilight stated.
“Same here,” called a few voices. Twilight and Barb looked over to see their five friends now as stallions.
“Welcome to the club,” Barb sighed.
“...Hello,” the shy stallion said meekly.
“You know what’ll fix this?” Beff asked. “Getting to work on the diamond!”
“Okay, you don’t have to shout at me,” Twilight stated. He and Starlight started researching how to make the diamond function.
“So, all we can do is wait?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“If we have to, we might as well help others cope,” Barb suggested. “I’m going to check on the students.
“I’m with Barb,” Garnette said. “I’m going to check on Smolder.” Garnette left the castle to find her sister right behind Barb so they could check on the students. This left the ponies and dragons by themselves.
“So, now what?” Pinkie asked.
“We could probably get to work with your… new names,” Vixen suggested.
“Seriously?” Rainbow questioned.
“Hey, we went through it, so you have to,” Pat said. “Where do we start?”
“You can just skip me,” Applejack said. “I’m fine with my name.”
“It still fits his gender,” Vixen commented. “Now, what about...?”
“TWILIGHT!” roared a voice. Nobody recognized who the voice belonged to.
“What was that?” Applejack said. What they did hear were the sounds and stomps getting closer to them as a tall blue drake stormed up to them. “Where is she?!”
“Dude, who are you?” Rainbow Dash questioned with Fluttershy hiding behind him.
“I am Dragon Lord Ember and I demand to speak with the princess, now!”
Twilight peaked out of the room and gasped when he saw the Dragon Lord. “Ember?” he gasped.
“Yeah, it’s me. You better have an explanation why I and the rest of the dragons have... Wait are you a stallion?”
“So are we,” Applejack stated. With her, I mean, his anger subsided, Ember looked at the ponies and the dragons he had originally sent to Ponyville.
“You all switched too?”
“Some longer than others,” Beff noted.
“Hold on,” Twilight said. “Ember, how many dragons have swapped gender?”
“All of them,” Ember answered.
This made Twilight worried. “Oh, dear. If... Ember and the dragons have been affected by the waves of the diamond, who knows who else has been affected.”
Twilight had the right to worry. All over Equestria, creatures were waking up to find they had become a different gender. Gilda and Gabby both couldn’t believe what they were seeing. “Are we bigger now?” Gabby questioned.
“Well, you look bulkier,” Gilda commented. He touched his beak, it and his talons looked to be much thicker.
“I knew this would happen!” wheezed a voice. Both boys looked over to see Grandpa Gruff, or more accurately Grandma Gruff.
“You knew we were going to become boys?” Gabby questioned.
“No! I knew I would lose my mind!” the old griff groaned. “Now you figments of my imagination have a nice day, I’m going back to sleep and hopefully wake up.” She walked away, leaving the boys by themselves.
“Okay, clearly this is some sort of magic thing involved,” Gilda stated. “We should probably get to Dash and see if she has a solution. Gabby agreed and both took off to Ponyville. While they did that, Grandma Gruff could see a fledgling walking around.
“Oh, what’s the matter?” she questioned, slightly annoyed.
“I’m hungry and... I’m a girl,” the fledgling answered. She blushed as she felt rather embarrassed. Normally Grandma Gruff would just tell the kid where she could get some food or even tell them to get lost if she was in a bad mood, which was quite common. This time she felt sympathy for the child, especially with such a change.
“Okay, sweetheart, I’ll get you something to eat. Just... don’t get comfy with me.” The young griffon smiled and hugged the old lady. It kind of felt heartwarming to Gruff as she started looking around for something like a scone. It was questionable why she called the fledgling a sweetheart. Either way, it just didn’t feel right leaving the child to fend for itself.
At the changeling hive, Pharynx was trying to “wake up” from what she was seeing. Her horns were much smaller, her legs and body were quite petite, it was just impossible for her to accept. She even tried changing her form but she still felt her base form was female. She quickly went to find King Thorax and explain the problem.
“Thorax, if you did something to make me...” Pharynx paused when she saw what happened to the king. Thorax’s horns were much smaller than before, her body was quite dainty, and she even had a mane that looked splendid. She was quite surprised to see her new sister.
“You too?” the newly made queen questioned.
“Yeah, what is going on?”
“I don’t know but... I kind of like the mane.”
“Don’t be serious! We can’t live like this!”
“We change our forms all the time, so...”
“Don’t try and dodge the subject!”
“Hey, I can’t help it if I like this new form.”
“Let’s see however everyone else is reaching. Shall we?” Grabbing her sister’s wrist, Pharynx dragged her sister into the hive. The changeling queen’s ear twitched as she could hear some crying. Thorax flew over to where she heard the crying which led her into the nursery.
Plenty of newborn changeling grubs were bawling and the nurses were having a hard time keeping them calm. Not to mention the current situation everyone was having wasn’t helping. When Thorax walked in, one of the grubs crawled over to her and started climbing her leg. Thorax levitated the grub up to her face and it giggled at her.
“Aw, so cute,” she cooed.
“You’ve got more to come,” Pharnyx stated. Thorax looked and saw more of the grubs crawling towards her. Since she was the queen of the hive, the grubs naturally thought of her as a mother. Thorax quickly found herself loving the attention from the young ones. The love she felt was just too sweet.
“Ooh, come here you cuties!” The changeling queen nuzzled the babies who giggled in response. The nurses were very impressed how their king was now a very affectionate mother. Pharynx rolled her eyes and went to check on the rest of the hive.
In the Crystal Empire, Cadence and Shining Armor were both speechless as they had gotten up. “You’re a stallion?” Shining questioned.
“You’re a mare?” Cadence retorted. Both had a hard time finding their words until they heard a knock on their door. Shining opened it and found one of the guards, who was now a mare in ill-fitting armor.
“Forgive me if I disturb you, your highness” she said, “Prince Rutherford is here. She has some news for you.”
“She?” the couple questioned, feeling confused. The guard led them down the hall to where a couple of yaks were waiting. One of them with big braids stepped forward.
“Yaks in awkward position,” she spoke.
“Let me guess, Rutherford?” Cadence asked.
“Yes. Yak now lady and yak don’t know why.”
“Same here,” Shining added.
“Maybe we should contact Twilight,” Candence suggested. “She has dealt with a lot of odd magic before.”
“I’ll have a letter sent right away.”
“Letter too slow,” Rutherford stated. “Yak go to Ponyville him... Herself. ...Yak not going to get used to this.” Rutherford quickly ran out of the castle and quite literally through the door.
“...I’ll have the engineer get the train ready,” Cadence said.
“Yeah, it’s going to be impossible to stop her at this stage,” Shining Armor commented.
General Seaspray was blushing as red as a tomato. Her body was so curvy and rather cute. She took a deep breath as approached Queen Novo, though King Novo would be more appropriate right now. “Seaspray, do you know the meaning of this?” Novo questioned.
“I wish I knew,” the general said. “I don’t like this new body. I don’t know how many griffs are going to try and date me.”
“I’m afraid Skystar isn’t taking it well either.” The two looked over to see the king’s daughter turned son walking over to them.
“...I’m not dreaming am I?” Skystar questioned.
“Sadly no.” He then turned to General Seaspray. “General Seaspray, please report to Princess Twilight. We need answers.”
“Right away,” Seaspray said. She quickly flew away from Mount Aris and went as fast as she could. She didn’t want to be in this body any longer than she needed to. She could swear some of the griffs were looking towards her.
Back at the castle, Ember was now starting to calm down. “So... A diamond did all of this?” he questioned.
“Technically two,” Vixen said.
“Whatever, is there a way to fix this?”
“There will be,” Twilight said, “If Starlight and I don’t get interrupted anymore.” With that, he walked back into the room and closed the door with a bit of a slam.
“I’d take his advice if I were you,” Applejack spoke.
At the school, Barb was being bombarded with nearly all of the students questioning her what was going on. “Easy,” she cried. “One at a time!” Garnette couldn’t see Smolder, nor his friends in the surrounding crowd, so she flew through the rest of the school to trying and find them.
“Yon? Really?” questioned a voice. Garnette stopped and landed outside of one of the dorm rooms.
“Yak like new name,” stated a gruff voice.
“Plus, it’s easier for you,” another peppy voice said. “I don’t know what my new name should be.” Curious, Garnette walked over to the door and knocked on it.
“...Come on,” responded a raspy voice. The dragoness opened the door to find her brother and his friends all in the same room. “Hey, sis,” Smolder said.
“Smolder, what are you and your friends doing?” Garnette asked.
“Making our new names,” Silverstream answered. “Yona already has his.”
“Yeah. Yona now called Yon,” the yak said.
“And I would be… Sandy,” Sandbar spoke. “Since that’s my nickname.”
"Interesting," Garnette commented.
"Hey, did you know who screamed Twilight's name?" Smolder asked.
"I didn't sound like anyone familiar to me."
"I think I saw Dragon Lord Ember flying into the castle."
"You think it came from her?" Gallus questioned.
"If it did come from him, it could mean a lot for the rest of Equestria," Ocellus commented. "Anyways, how much progress Twilight has made on the cure?"
"No luck," Garnette said. “Get comfy you’ll all be like this for a while.”
“Great,” Gallus groaned.
Silverstream scratched his chin as he thought of his new (hopefully temporary) name. "How does Goldenriver sound?" he asked.
"That's... Pretty nice," Ocellus commented.
"Uh-huh," Garnette said. "Smolder, what did you think?"
Garnette's brother thought for about a minute. "Honestly, I think my name is just fine," he admitted. "Fits both a girl and a boy."
"...Yeah, kind of."
"So that just leaves me and Gallus," Ocellus said.
"Okay, I'm going to address the elephant in the room, what are you guys going to do once you have your new names?"
"Silver…," Gallus said.
“Goldy,” Goldenriver interrupted.
“Right, sorry. Goldy… have some ideas.”
"Yes," the newly named hippogriff said. "Anyways, I was thinking we could have Gallus and Sandy dress up as cheerleaders.”
“Yeah, you can imagine how much fun I’m going to have with that,” Gallus muttered sarcastically.
“...Tarsus,” Ocellus spoke. “That should be my new name.”
“What that’s?”
“A part of the body that has very tiny bones that are knees, it’s a little complex.”
“Still, it sounds good to me,” Gallus said. She thought for a moment as she was the last one to have a new name. “Okay, the best I can think of is Gallina, so I say take it leave it.”
“Good enough,” Sandy said. “So, now what?”
“Let’s see what you look like as cheerleaders,” Goldenriver said. He quickly grabbed Gallina and Sandbank’s arm and dragged them to the locker room.
“You guys are cheerleaders?” Garnette questioned.
“Yeah,” Smolder confirmed. “I’ve got to see Gally in that cheerleading dress.” He chuckled and quickly took off with his sister and friends right behind him.
“River, are you sure about this?” Sandbank questioned.
“Trust me, you’re going to look so cute.” Goldenriver handed her female friends two cheerleading outfits, to which the girls both sighed.
“Is he always like this?” Garnette asked.
“You have no idea,” Smolder responded. Gallina and Sandbank soon put the outfits on and showed them off to their friends.
“I’ve gotta admit,” the mare said, “I kind of like this.”
“Good for you,” Gallina muttered. She was on the opposite of the spectrum.
“Eeh, you look so cute,” Goldenriver squealed.
“At least she’s taking this well,” Garnette commented.
“I’ll say,” Tarsus agreed. “I mean... I can change my form whenever I want, so this gender thing isn’t too drastic for me.”
“Good for you.”
“Yon still find it weird,” the yak admitted. “Will yak and Sandy make it work.”
“We’ll find a way,” Sandy spoke.
Smolder was happy for his friends still being a couple and soon noticed Barb running over to her. “Sorry if I took you so long guys,” the young dragoness apologized. “How are your friends taking this?”
Smolder looked back over to Goldenriver, who was attempting to give Gallina some pom-poms. “I will cram those down your throat,” the griffon stated. This made the hippogriff back up a little bit.
“...You might mistake them for always being this way,” the drake responded.
“That’s good to hear. Ember is not taking this well.”
“How many other creatures are affected by this?”
“I don’t know, but from what I’ve remembered that it has to at least reach the dragon lands, so it must be a lot of creatures.”
“Yeah, Barb, how far away are the homeland for the other creatures?” Garnette asked.
“Let’s just say… about in the same radius as the Dragon Lands. Why’d you ask?” Garnette just pointed out the window where two griffons, a changeling, a yak, and a hippogriff were flying towards Twilight’s castle. “Oh no.”
The dragons and ponies on the castle could see the visitors entering the castle confused and having plenty of questions. “Alright, everyone, please remain calm,” Rarity requested.
“Tell me how this happened then I will,” Gilda ordered. As they were told how this happened, Ember walked closer to Thorax.
“You too?” the changeling queen questioned.
“Yeah, it bites,” Ember groaned. “How are you taking this?”
“Well, most of the babies at the hive now look at me as a mother figure. It felt kind of nice. You?”
“I flew here as I could so I could fix this. Most of the dragons were confused by this and a couple of them were fuming.”
“That’s how we felt,” Beff spoke.
“Yaks need problem fixed,” Rutherford spoke.
“You’re not the only one,” Seaspray spoke. “I feel so uncanny a female.” She used her wings to cover her face as she blushed as red as a tomato.
“Listen up y’all, Twilight and Starlight are trying their best to fix this,” Applejack said. “The only thing we can do right now is to wait.”
“Oh, perfect,” Gilda grumbled. “So we flew all the way here for nothing? Just wait?”
“Sadly, yes,” Dash confirmed. There were several groans to be heard.
“Look, don’t be like that,” Pinkie said. “We might as well give you all a nice welcome while you’re here.”
“Sounds good to me,” Gabby spoke. “I sort of skipped breakfast.”
“Yeah, me too,” Gilda admitted as well. Most of the other creatures admitted to this mistake as they were wanting answers badly.
“Applejack, I’m going to need some help making some meals for our guests.”
“Right,” the farm pony said. “Y’all just make yourselves at home, Pinkie and I will be right back.” The two mares turned stallions walked off as Dash walked up to Gilda.
“So, I honestly thought you’d be a little taller,” the rainbow stallion admitted.
“That would’ve been a benefit,” Gilda groaned. “What’d we do now?”
“I don’t know…… Honestly, I think I’m a little faster than before?”
“You do?”
“I flew here faster than I usually go. You want to double-check with me?”
Gilda looked down the hall just as Pinkie and Applejack entered the kitchen. “Yeah, I’ve got time.”
“Maybe I could join you,” Dart spoke. Beff felt a bit concerned. “You wanna tag along?”
“Uh... Sure,” Beff responded. The stallion, griffon, and dragons flew out of the castle to look for what could be their starting line.
“What about us?” Seaspray asked.
“Well, as long as you’re here, would you like to be useful?” Rarity asked.
“What pony mean?” Rutherford questioned.
“Dressmaking is what I usually do when I imagine,” Rarity spoke. “I’ve been wanting to try making some dresses for yaks and hippogriffs like you.”
“What about dragons?” Flicker asked.
“Oh, are you volunteering yourself?”
“...If that’s okay with you.”
“We might as well.”
“Perfect. Girls, follow me.” Rarity led the dragoness, hippogriff, and yak out of the castle.
“So, what do we do?” Thorax questioned.
“Make some new names?” Vixen suggested. “We did that before.”
“No, we should be getting home,” Ember stated. “The Dragon Lands are probably in chaos right now. I have the responsibility to make sure no one is trying to do anything stupid.”
“Don’t you have anyone watching them?”
“Uhh... My dad is... Well, she’s now a mom... Whatever, I’m not going to become a model for some pony’s fashion show. You can do whatever you guys want, I’m making sure that things stay in line.”
“Can I go with you?” Pat questioned. “I’ve had enough time here.”
“I don’t care right now.” Ember quickly flew out of the castle to get back to the dragon lands with Pat quickly following her.
“Wait, Pat!” Vixen cried. She and Thorax took off after their friends and flew beside them.
“Vixen, leave me alone,” Pat spoke. “I can only wait for this problem to be fixed so I’m going home with the Dragon Lord until this is fixed.”
“She brings up a good point,” Ember commented.
“Ember, can’t you just stay a little longer?” Thorax asked.
“Listen, Thorax, the dragons aren’t peaceful like the changelings. If I leave them unoccupied for too long, they’re going to cause trouble. Clump...”
“It’s Pat right now,” the dragoness corrected.
“Right, whatever, you fly ahead of me.” Pat nodded and flew off, leaving the dragons and changeling by themselves.”
“Ember, you’re right,” Thorax sighed. “Just... Make sure to drop by later.”
“No promises.” Ember then flew away to catch up with Pat. Thorax and Vixen both looked at each other before they went back to Ponyville.
“So, how have you been dealing with this?” Thorax questioned.
“Pretty well,” Vixen responded. “I’ve been hanging out with Smolder’s friends. I really enjoyed spending time with Sandbar. He’s a pretty calm colt.”
“I think she’s probably a filly right now.”
“Yeah, probably. I’m going to check and see how they’re doing.” Vixen and Thorax flew back to the castle to chat with the rest of the diamond's victims.
Sandy was deciding to have to get in character with her outfit and started to make a cheer. She was on her hind legs and was shaking the pom-poms Goldenriver had given her. “See, I told you’d have fun,” the hippogriff chuckled.
“Glad someone’s enjoying this,” Gallina muttered. She was taking off her outfit as soon as she could. “How did you even talk me into this?”
“Well, what else can we do while we’re like this?” Smolder asked. The blue griffon thought about the situation for a minute before getting a grin on her face.
“I have a couple of ideas.”
“Why do I suddenly feel so worried?” Tarsus questioned.
Meanwhile, Dash, Gilda, Dart, and Beff were standing on a cloud with the pegasus looking around for someplace for them to race to. While he looked, Beff whispered to her fellow dragoness. “How are you feeling right now?” the black and green dragoness asked.
“A little pumped honestly,” the blonde and purple dragon answered. “I don’t remember feeling this alive. I was only racing a kid, but now I’ve got real competition.”
“So you don’t feel... Lazy?”
“Not right now. Too much energy.”
“I’d start stretching before we take off,” Gilda recommend. Dart nodded and did a couple of stretches.
“Hope you’re hungry because you’re going to get a beak full of my dust.” Gilda and Dash were both enjoying the dragon’s competitive energy, though Beff was feeling a little more concerned. She didn’t focus on what the others were talking about and before she knew it she was left behind.
Beff took off and tried her best to keep up with the group but they had a huge head start. Dart loved the feeling of the wind in her spines though it looked that Dash and Gilda were getting ahead of her. “Hey, you were right,” the griffon spoke, “I do feel faster.”
“Told ya,” Dash chuckled. The two of them soared ahead as Dart did her best to keep up.
“Just because you’ve got more experience with flying than I do doesn’t mean you can beat me,” Dart cried. She put all of her strength into her wings to keep up and it looked to be working. “How do you feel now?”
“Like you should focus on what the turning point is,” Gilda said. The turning point was City Haul, to which the griffon and pegasus flew around and went back the way they came. Dart was surprised and quickly turned around to try and catch up. Beff saw them come back and reversed to see if she could try and talk with the boys.
“Hey, are you guys feeling?” she asked.
“A little bit better,” Gilda admitted.
“Uh-huh. So, you don’t feel any different?”
“Aside from the guy thing, no.” Gilda pulled ahead with Dash doing his best to keep and Dart zipped past Beff not too long after. The black and green dragoness quickly managed to keep pace with her draconic friend.
“Dart, I think that diamond affected us more than physically.”
“What are you talking about? Dart asked.
“You’re acting completely different. You’re way more athletic when before I couldn’t wake you up from a nap to save my life.” Dart didn’t question this and just tried to keep up with her competition much to Beff’s frustration.
Eventually, they got back to the cloud they had started on. "Man, you were right," Gilda chuckled. "We are faster."
"You're certainly happier," Dash commented.
"Happier than them." Gilda pointed to the two dragons who landed shortly after they did.
"Okay, you won that because you were born with wings," Dart stated.
"That explains why I'm still hungry. Where was that dust you were talking about?" Dart fumed with smoke billowing from her nostrils.
"I wanna rematch!" she declared.
"Maybe later," Dash spoke. "I could really use some breakfast." Gilda agreed and started flying back to the castle when he saw Gabby flying over to them.
“Gabby, what are you doing over here?” Gilda questioned.
“I couldn’t find anything to do here,” the other griffon admitted. “So, I’m going to Rarity’s with Fluttershy.”
“You do that, Dash and I are going to wait at the castle until breakfast is ready. Have fun with whatever you’re doing.”
“Thanks.” Gabby flew off as he saw Fluttershy walking on the ground towards the boutique.
The kind mare turned into a stallion watched a couple of ponies walking around. Most of them were feeling like they were in someone else’s bodies though very few of them didn’t mind it. In fact, some looked to be enjoying it. Fluttershy looked up to see Gabby flying beside him. “So, how are Dash and Gilda doing?” the pegasus asked.
“I think it’s safe to say they’re their old selves,” Gabby confirmed.
“That’s good.” Eventually, they managed to get to the boutique where they could hear a couple of voices chatting with each other.
“I honestly don’t know why I thought this would make me feel better,” said a voice sounding like Seaspray.
“Don’t threat love,” Rarity spoke, “I’m sure Twilight and Starlight will have this fixed in no time. Now, I don’t think a dress will help with your feeling, so I had something better in mind.” Fluttershy and Gabby opened the shop door and made the bell ring. They found Rarity taking measurements of the visiting hippogriff. “Gabby, Fluttershy, were you wanting to help here?”
“Well, yes,” Fluttershy confirmed. “I also wanted to check on Flicker.”
“Oh, she and Rutherford wanted to help get the material,” the fashion stallion explained. There was a sound of something crashing to the ground along with something bouncing down the steps. Flicker quickly ran down the stairs to pick it up and saw the two creatures who had walked in.
“Fluttershy, hey,” Flicker said.
“Hello, Flicker. How are you doing?”
“Just fine. Though, Rutherford is a little much for me.”
“Yak coming down!” cried a voice. The yak princess stormed into the room nearly knocking Flicker off her feet. On Rutherford’s back, she brought down all the materials that Rarity had requested she and Flicker to get. “Yak bring dress materials.”
Rarity slowly brought his hoof to his face and gave a frustrated sigh. “...Thank you, Rutherford,” Rarity said. The stallion took some of the rolls of clothing material and held them next to Seaspray. “Hmm, I think you might look good in iris. What do you think?”
“You’re the expert in dressmaking,” the hippogriff reminded.
“Quite right. Anyways, I’m thinking about something more athletic for you. Flicker, did you find that notepad I was telling you about?”
“You mean this one?” the dragoness asked. She handed a notebook to the stallion, who then opened it up to find various different designs. Flipping through a couple of pages until he found one of a mare in a tight jumpsuit.
“Perfect.” He showed the design to Seaspray, who looked quite interested.
“It seems pretty elusive, but I think the design would look nice,” the hippogriff commented.
Rarity smiled as he placed down his notepad. “Hmm, Elusive. I kind of like the sound of that.” He began unrolling the fabric for the new athletic wear. “Rutherford, Flicker, pick whichever color you like the best and I’ll be with you two in a minute.” The dragoness and yak agreed and took a look at the colors that they had brought down. The stallions then looked at Fluttershy and Gabby. He looked back at his notepad and found some suits drawn inside of it. That got Rarity, or now Elusive, thinking.
Ember and Pat eventually made it back to the Dragon Lands as they were finishing up their conversation. “So, you were like this a day longer than everyone else?” the Dragon Lord questioned.
“Yeah, real fun,” Pat said sarcastically. “Now you know how I was feeling.” The two soon landed and Ember quickly got the Bloodstone Scepter.
“Look, if you have the most experience maybe you can help me calm down the rest of the dragons.” The two gender-bent dragons wandered around until they found a couple of dragons all arguing with each other. Pat recognized a couple of these dragons as Barry, Ballista, Billy, and Prominence. They had flipped genders like everyone else and they weren’t happy about it.
“Why do you think I had anything to do with this?” Billy questioned.
“Well, something has to have caused this,” Prominence stated.
“We’re not enjoying this anymore than you are,” Barry remarked. “It feels so weird as a girl.”
“How do you think we feel?” Ballista questioned. He held his legs together to hide something.
“Okay, break it up!” Ember ordered. The four dragons looked over to see the Dragon Lord had returned. “Listen, I’m personally not a fan of this. I’ve been given word that the solution is being worked on as soon as possible. We’re all going to have to suck it up and wait for it to be over.” While they were happy that this would be fixed they were frustrated that they were forced to wait.
“Hey, I’ve suffered from this change longer than all of you,” Pat stated.
The expressions of the dragons quickly changed when they focused on Pat. “Weren’t you one of the dragons who went to Ponyville?” Barry questioned.
“Yes. Care to explain how that’s important?”
“How are they reacting to this?” Prominence asked. He was cracking a smile at the thought.
“Pretty much as well as you may think? Running around like chickens that have lost their heads.” This made a couple of the dragons laugh though Ember didn’t find it funny.
“However they’re taking this,” he spoke, “They’re the ones who are trying to fix this. I wouldn’t be laughing at someone who could change us to the way we want to.” This made everyone quiet down. “Now, until further notice, don’t get into fights because of some gemstone that just popped out of nowhere.”
“Is that true?” Billy questioned.
“Yeah,” Pat confirmed. “I’m going to take a dip in lava now.” She quickly flew off as Ember looked at the rest of the dragons. They quickly flew off to find an activity and stay out of trouble.
Pat grumbled to herself as she flew over to the lava pits. She found one and landed next to it and slowly stepped inside. The heat felt so satisfying after what she had been through. Lying back, Pat sank into the hot pool as the lava went up to her neck. “You have any room?” asked a voice.
Pat looked behind her to see Billy and Barry flying down towards her. “What do you want?” the blue-horned dragoness questioned.
“We were hoping that we could have a nice dip in the lava,” Birry said.
The dragoness sitting in the lava sighed before she responded. “Fine, step in.” The two were happy as they both jumped into the lava. Pat wasn’t very happy from getting splashed.
“Anyways, what was it like living with ponies?” Barry asked.
“It wasn’t all that I was expecting. They had us help with farming where their elders can really pack a punch.”
“Seriously?” Billy questioned.
“I wanted to punch back, but Garnette wouldn’t let me.” This mention confused the two dragons. “It’s Garble’s new name while she’s a girl.”
“Oh,” both dragonesses responded.
“You think we should have new names?” Billy asked.
“I wouldn’t waste your time,” Pat commented. “They’ll probably fix this before you can make a good one.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Barry looked at Billy’s spines, which looked like curly hair right now. She couldn’t help but touch the spines and giggled from the touch. “Barry, what are you doing?”
The dragoness just giggled. “It’s like petting a sheep,” she spoke. She stopped as she saw Billy wasn’t enjoying it.
“I’m glad I just have horns,” Pat muttered.
“Anyways, did you get to sleep with any pillows?”
“We were given beds to sleep on.”
“You had beds?! Why didn’t I volunteer for this? What was it like?”
“It felt like it was lying a bit of soft lava.”
“Oh, you have to bring me with you next time.”
“What makes you think that I’m going back there?”
“Aren’t your friends there?” Billy questioned.
“Yeah, but I didn’t want to be stuck around ponies any longer.”
“Well, I’d happily take your spot,” Barry noted.
“Be my guest.” This made Barry squeal in delighted.
“Geez, dude,” Billy cried, “Control yourself.”
“Look, I can’t help it. Just having something isn’t trying to poke you in the back. Plus, I think I could use some help with my new spines.” Barry brushed her claw against her spine and felt a little upset.
“It’s just something that’s growing out of your head,” Pat commented.
“Well, so are your horns,” Billy noted.
“That’s different.”
“Whatever you say,” Barry said. She and Billy sat back and enjoyed the lava bath. Pat tried to enjoy herself, however, something didn’t feel right. She did her best to relax but something just felt missing.
When Dash, Gilda, and the dragons returned to the castle they could see Garnette, Barb, and the young six walking away from the school. “Where are you going?” Dash asked.
“We were going into town to try a couple of sporty activities,” Garnette answered. "Is breakfast done yet?"
"We were about to check it out."
"I am kind of hungry," Sandy admitted. She began walking into the castle with Garnette and Smolder following her.
"Hey, I thought we were trying new things or something," Goldenriver reminded her.
"I'm not doing something new on an empty stomach," Gallina stated. She followed her friends inside the castle with Yon and Tarsus. The hippogriff sighed before following his friends inside. Walking down the hall, they could hear various voices chatting with each other.
"You think that'll be a good name?" a voice sounding like Vixen questioned.
"It's the best one I can think of," Thorax spoke. The group walked closer to the kitchen just as Thorax and Vixen carried out the last of the breakfast that Pinkie and Applejack had made. "Oh, you're back."
"Hey, Thorax," Barb spoke. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm getting used to this new form. Plus, Vicky here helped think of a new name for me; Mesosoma."
"Huh. That's a... very unique name."
"What part of the body is that?" Sandy whispered to Tarsus.
"It's the middle part of a bug," Tarsus whispered back to her.
"Anyways, we're ready to eat," Mesosoma stated. "Let's go." The creatures soon went to the map room, where plenty of food had been set out with Pinkie and Applejack sitting there proud of their work.
"Man, I didn't know you two could work that fast," Vixen commented.
"We just have that special touch," Pinkie noted. "I'll get some extra chairs." The pink stallion walked away to do that as Barb sat down in her chair. Garnette sat beside her as they looked at the variety of the breakfast.
"Your friends are good at cooking," the dragoness commented.
"Just wait until you taste it," Barb chuckled. She quickly grabbed a fresh apple fritter and placed it on her plate. Garnette took a little longer to pick her meal as she wasn't used to pony delicacies. She picked some random pastries on her plate. Goldenriver and Yon had already started eating, with the yak being a bit of a messy eater.
“Do all yaks eat like Yon?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“He’s usually like that when his hunger gets the better of him,” Sandy noted. Garnette turned her attention back to her plate and picked up the apple fritter that was on it. She took a bite out of it and her eyes widened.
“Wow! That tastes amazing.”
“You know it,” Barb chuckled.
Pinkie soon returned with some more chairs so Vixen and Mesosoma could sit down. Vixen quickly took a bite of one of the muffins on the table. “Mmm, she right,” the dragoness commented, “They did a pretty great job.”
“It’s a family skill,” Applejack noted. “You’d be surprised how many things you can bake out of apples.”
Pinkie nodded in confirmation as he grabbed a cupcake or two. “I’m going to tell Rarity about this,” he said. “Be right back.” The pink stallion raced out of the castle to get the boutique, leaving everyone else to their breakfast.
“So, Meso,” Barb said, “Why don’t you tell our guests about yourself?”
“Sure thing,” the changeling queen responded. “Let’s see, well I’m the king... queen of the changelings after the last one was dethroned. Long story. Changelings used to be sort of like love leaches.” Garnette looked over to Tarsus who just nodded in confirmation. Vixen listened to the changeling queen’s story. “After I became the king, or right now queen, the changelings changed their ways for the better.”
“That sounds good,” Vixen commented. “I think dragons have a good chance.”
“I don’t think they’re that bad.”
“You don’t know that much about dragons, do you?” Garnette questioned.
“Well, I have talked with Ember. She… I mean, he… seemed to give me an idea with dragons; creatures who have tempers that get the better of them.”
“That’s not far off,” Smolder commented.
“Anyways, changelings have been trying to expand their culture as back then all we did was hunt.”
“They do poetry, right?” Barb asked. This grabbed Garnette’s attention.
“Barb, right now?”
“What? You don’t have to worry about creatures laughing at you anymore.”
“That might be true, but I don’t have my bongos with me.”
“We can find a substitute,” Mesosoma said. “It’s a good way to break the ice.”
While they had their chat, Pinkie made it to Rarity’s boutique. Walking inside, he found the fashion mare turned stallion was making good progress on Seaspray’s outfit. It looked to be a skin-tight jumpsuit that went quite well with the hippogriff’s feathers and mane. Rarity soon saw his friend entering the boutique. “Oh, hello Pinkie,” Rarity said. “Is breakfast ready?”
“Sure is,” the pink stallion confirmed. “Get it while it’s hot.”
“Yak heard,” Rutherford spoke. She quickly ran through the door nearby ramming into Pinkie.
“So, your friend is the best with the yaks?” Seaspray asked.
“Indeed,” Rarity confirmed.
“...With his energy, I can see why they get along so well.” The creatures quickly went back to the castle to enjoy the breakfast that had been prepared.
Arriving back, they found most of the creatures were already chatting about their different homes. Flicker flew over to Vixen who was happy to see her. “How did it go?” Vixen asked.
“We didn’t get much work done,” Flicker admitted, “But Seaspray’s outfit is going well.” The two looked over to the hippogriff, whose skintight outfit was grabbing some attention.
“Wow, that looks great,” Goldenriver commented.
“Thank you, Silverstream,” Seaspray said.
“It’s Goldenriver for the moment,” Smolder noted.
“...Right.”
“So, how are you taking this so far?”
“Still a little shocked by this and I think I found I’m a little more flexible.”
“You are?” Goldenriver asked.
“It’s true,” Rarity commented. “Care to show them?” Seaspray nodded and managed to bend her leg behind her head, much to the amazement of the creatures at the table.
“You think we could do that?” Vixen questioned.
“I think it’s worth a shot,” Flicker admitted. She was about to copy what Seaspray did but her stomach signaled her to stop. “Maybe later.” The creatures that just arrived started loading up their plates while they all had different conversations.
“You know,” Dash said, “I honestly think I’d like to stay like this.”
“You’re joking,” Gilda gasped.
“I think being a stallion isn’t that appealing but it honestly doesn’t feel that bad. Not to mention I’m way faster now.”
“...You do, I’d like to be back to normal as soon as possible.”
“I hear that,” Beff commented.
“I’m getting used to this,” Dart said. “I don’t remember when I feel like this.”
“You sure it feels... you know… right?”
“You could say that.”
“I’m liking your spirit,” Dash commented. “How about we test our strength when this is over.”
“You’re one.” Beff groaned as she looked across the breakfast meals to find anything as hard as gemstones to her desperation.
While that happened, Rarity told Applejack about his temporary name. “Elusive?” the farm pony questioned.
“Yes,” the unicorn responded. “Hopefully it’s only for a short while. Still, it’s better than being a stallion with a lady’s name.”
“Fair point. You think Pinkie will want a change in his name?”
“Oh, I doubt it. Looking at him, Pinkie is just something that can’t be separated from him. Anyways, I’m really hoping we aren’t stuck like this. Dresses have more variety than tuxedos.”
“You know simplicity is sometimes the best.”
“That’s true.”
Garnette was starting to open up more to the changeling queen and the two were even sharing a laugh. “There’s no way Ember said that,” the dragoness laughed.
“Oh, she did,” Mesosoma giggled.
“Allergic to feelings?”
“That’s what she said.”
“Oh my gosh! I would’ve loved to see that.”
“It’s nothing too exciting.”
“Still would be funny if I could see it.”
“Speaking of seeing,” Yon spoke, “Yona don’t see Pat.”
“Yeah, he brings up a good point,” Sandy commented. “Where is she?”
Vixen spoke up. “She went home with Dragon Lord Ember,” she answered. “I don’t think she could take this anymore.”
“Couldn’t blame her,” Gallina spoke. “It is one thing to become a girl, it would be another to be forced into a place you didn’t want to be.”
“I hope she’s doing alright.”
Pat was busy getting some gems to eat. She whacked her tail against the wall, breaking several gems from the rocks. “Can’t believe things are worse now,” she grumbled. Pat picked up some gemstone to eat as she saw Barry and Billy coming up to her. “Are you two following me?”
“...Maybe,” Barry spoke.
“We just want to know how to handle this like you,” Billy spoke.
“Here’s my advice,” Pat spoke, “You can learn on your own because we’re going to change back when this is all over.”
“And how long is that going to take?”
“Don’t know, don’t care.” Pat soon flew away to have some privacy. After finding a spot, Pat sat down and started eating the gemstones she had. It was a bit quieter than she thought it would be. She looked out from her hiding spot to see some other dragons feeling like fish out of water with the current events. Two dragons were starting to come close to her hiding spot.
Both were male and female are they appeared to be in an argument. “You know how I feel now?” the male questioned.
“Hey, you had an ego that was big as Torch!” the female questioned. “Ooh, my lovely spines. I’m as rare as a diamond.”
“Would you shut up?!”
“Well, you have it easy! I’ve gotten too many dragons trying to date me.”
“They know we’re together.”
“That’s what I said. Where were you when they kept hitting on me?”
“Probably where you should’ve been every time I was challenged to test my strength. They don’t know the meaning of the word ‘no’.”
Their arguing was getting on Pat’s nerves and she had to step in. “Would you two shut up?!” she questioned. She stomped over to the gender-swapped couple.
“We’re dealing with a bit of an issue,” the drake stated. “You’re not the only one that’s having problems.”
“I’ve been having some longer than you. I was one of the first to be flip-flopped.”
“Okay, if you know more than us, how do we deal with dragons trying to date or challenge us?” the dragoness questioned.
“Either you tell them to mind their own business, or you get Dragon Lord Ember involved.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” the drake said. “You know what, I’m telling him right now.” The couple flew away, with Pat noticing they looked much happier. This made the dragoness think about her friends back in Ponyville. She didn’t want to be back at a place she was forced to go, but it felt like something was missing in the Dragon Lands.
Pat groaned as she had a feeling that ponies might’ve had something to do with this guilty feeling. “Please, don’t tell me I have to go back there to make me feel better.” With a load of frustration, Pat quickly ate the rest of the gems she found before she went to find Ember.
The Dragon Lord was in the middle of an argument with the couple Pat had just talked with. After a few minutes of waiting impatiently, the couple flew away and Ember looked towards Pat. “What’s wrong now?” the Dragon Lord questioned.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t ask for help, now would I? I’ve been feeling terrible since I left my friends in Ponyville and I think that I need to go back there. Which is something I don’t want to do.”
“Well... There are a lot of things like that. If I didn’t do things like that... I probably wouldn’t be a good Dragon Lord.”
“What do you mean?”
Ember took a minute to breathe in and out before answering. “I had the task of having dragons getting along with not just each other but with other creatures as well. You know that’s not an easy task.”
“Definitely not.”
“Still, Twilight and Spike said it was for the best. And honestly, after fighting those three buffoons, I think we can agree they were right.”
“Yeah, that was fun. Wish I could do it more often.”
“Same. Anyways, if you want to feel better, you should go back and see how your friends are doing. I know you don’t like being around ponies, but I think some of them would be happier if you were with them.”
Pat thought for a moment before she responded. “Okay, I’m only doing this because you’re the dragon lord and you’re asking nicely. I’m going to grab a snack to go and then I’ll head back.”
“You do that. I’ll keep the rest of the dragons in control.” Pat walked away and Ember thought about what just happened. “Huh, Thorax is right. They will listen better if I’m nicer.” He gave a sniffle as he thought his allergies were starting to act up.
The breakfast feast was a success given the fact that almost all of the meals were gone. Barb and Pinkie were placing the leftover into some containers while Elusive checked on Seaspray’s workout uniform. “Hmm, I still need to do some work,” the stallion commented.
“I wish I could stay and help,” Seaspray said, “But I need to report back to King Novo.”
“Yak needs to return to kingdom too,” Rutherford added.
“So do I,” Mesomona sighed. “I wish I could stay longer, but I have a job to do.”
“You do what you need to do,” Fluttershy commented.
“We’re going to stick around for a little while longer,” Gilda said with Gabby nodding in confirmation.
“I’ll change out of this,” Seaspray said, “Then I’m going back to Mount Aris.”
Mesomona and Rutherford headed to the castle exit while Elusive helped the hippogriff out of the uniform. Seaspray followed the queen and princess to the station, leaving everyone else to their activities.
“So, now what?” Vixen asked.
“Maybe we go to Rari... Elusive’s,” Flicker suggested.
“Not a bad idea,” the unicorn commented. “I can still make your dress.” The stallion looked at Barb and Garnette. “Now, if the rest of you would like to volunteer to be models.”
“You’re joking,” Beff muttered.
“Models?” Garnette questioned.
“I’ve helped Elusive with dressmaking before,” Barb said. “I think you might enjoy it.”
Garnette looked a little unsure. “If you don’t want to help out, that’s fine. Fashion isn’t for everyone.”
“I’m up for it,” Sandy spoke.
“Seriously?” Gallina questioned.
“This is likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“You go ahead and do that. I’m going to stick with the boys and do some sports.”
“Suit yourself,” Barb said. “Lead the way, Elusive.” Barb, Sandy, and Flicker followed the fashion stallion walked back to the boutique. Dart walked over to Gallina with a smirk on her face.
“So, what do ponies have to offer?” Dart asked. “I’ve already had a couple of races. How about something for strength?”
“We’ll take a look around town and see,” Gallina chuckled. Applejack and Pinkie stayed behind to clean up breakfast while everyone else went into town.
At the boutique, Elusive placed Seaspray’s outfit to the side for now as she got the dragons’ and Sandy’s measurements. “I’m kind of excited for this,” the stallion admitted. “I have made suits for Barb before, but now I get to make her a dress.”
“How is this special?” Flicker asked a little puzzled.
“Suits are a little harder to add some flare to. Dresses can have practically any kind of look to them. Now, what color would you girls like to have?”
“Green and violet,” Barb answered.
“Yellow and white,” Sandy spoke.
“Red and pink,” Flicker responded. She blushed a little bit as this was a completely new experience for her.
“Very well,” Elusive said. He quickly got his glasses and grabbed some rolls of silk of the colors her assistants told her.
“So, now what?”
“This is the part where we wait,” Barb explained.
“But... What will our dresses look like?”
“That’s for Elusive to decide. Trust me, they are going to look great.”
“We just need to find something to pass the time,” Sandy noted. They looked over to Elusive using his sewing machine with some violet material.
“I brought some comics to help pass the time,” Barb spoke. She showed the backpack she had brought which she opened up to show different comic books. She handed one of them to Flicker, showing it to be an issue of the Power Ponies.
“What are the Power Ponies?” Flicker questioned.
“It’s a group of superheroes who fight a various amount of villains,” Sandy explained.
“That sounds interesting.” Flicker opened the comic she was given and could see the various picture with speech bubbles. “Um, this is a little different from the books.”
“Yeah, comics are a little more simplistic,” Barb explained. “Still, the artwork and story are great.” Flicker took their word for it and read the comic she was given and sat down in a nearby chair. After reading a few panels she was now a bit interested in what was going on.
Meanwhile, at the rolling rink, Gallina and Smolder had bought some skates for them, their friends, and the visiting dragons. Garnette, Dart, Vixen, and Beff looked at the ponies racing around the rink. “I’m surprised that they’re still doing this despite what happened,” Garnnette commented.
“I know,” Beff agreed. “I would’ve stayed home.”
“This honestly seems kind of fun,” Vixen admitted. She was given her set of roller skates and sat down to put them on. “Okay, so how does this work?” Gallina explained how to tie the laces together, as dragons didn’t have footwear.
“So, do ponies use these things?” Dart questioned.
“Usually just for sport,” Tarsus explained. “Need some help putting these on?”
“Nah, I’ve got this.” Dart slipped the skates onto her feet and saw the laces would get stuck under the wheels. She tried to get rolling, but once one of the laces got under the wheels, she tripped and faceplanted. “Maybe a little.” Tarsus helped the dragoness up as Beff and Vixen managed to get her skates on.
“So, you think we have an unfair advantage to the ponies?” Vixen asked. Beff looked to be in deep thought so she didn’t answer her friend’s question. “Beff?” Vixen tapped her shoulder, which made the dragoness turn her head.
“What?” the black and green dragoness questioned. Vixen repeated her question and Beff just gave a low brow. “I’m honestly here to make sure you guys don’t lose yourself.”
“Seriously? The diamond changed our bodies, not our minds.”
“Then how come Dart has become so athletic?” Vixen looked over to the said dragoness, who had gotten her laces together thanks to Tarsus.
“Well, we weren’t able to express ourselves that much around most dragons. I mean, how much have you heard Flicker speaking around more than two dragons?”
“...Not really.”
“Maybe being around nicer creatures allows her to show her true colors. I mean, were you expecting Garnette to be a poet?”
“...You have a point.” Suddenly, they heard the doors of the rink burst open. Several ponies ran away from the big brown dragoness that was looking around.
“Pat?” Vixen flew over to her friend and landed, nearly slipping on her skates. “I thought you went back to the Dragon Lands.”
“I did,” Pat explained, “But I felt like something was missing.”
“You were missing them weren’t you,” Smolder said. The two looked to see a smug drake with his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised.
“Look, the Dragon Lands were in a mess and Ember didn’t want me making more problems.”
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Anyways, you want to share in roller skating?”
“Is that what’s on your feet?”
“Yep,” Vixen confirmed. “We were just about to start.”
“...Yeah, no. I just flew to the Dragon Lands and back. Just so you know, it's pretty far.”
"Suit yourself." Vixen led her tired friend over to the benches while Goldenriver and Gallina stepped into the rink where the other customers were skating around. The hippogriff was excited and quickly started accelerating to keep up with the flow of the other skaters.
“So, we just roll around with these skates?” Beff questioned.
"That's the idea of this," Rainbow Dash commented. He was ready to and quickly raced onto the rink with Gilda in tow. Beff stood up and nearly fell over if it wasn't for her wings flapping to make her airborne.
"Why would they roll around if they could fly?"
"The idea is speed!" Gallina answered zooming past.
Dart rolled over to her friend looking rather confident. "Come on Beff," Dart said, "Let's show them how we do this. Dragon style." Beff liked the sound of that and they both rolled onto the rink, quickly picking up speed thanks to their wings. Smolder was helping her sister get her balance when Dash and Gilda zipped past them.
“Man, how fast is that pony?” the dragoness questioned.
“Ever heard of a sonic boom?” Smolder questioned. Garnette started picturing what her brother was talking about and was amazed. “Yep.”
Dash and Gilda raced around the rink at speeds that would probably be slow compared to their flight. Dart and Beff started rolling beside them with the blonde wanting to have some fun. “Hey, you think you’re just as fast on the ground as you are in the air?” Dart asked.
“Racing again?” Dash asked.
“You bet.”
“Okay, no wings this time.” The stallion and dragoness quickly took off with their wheels spinning like mad. Gilda was tempted to join in until Beff tapped his shoulder.
“Hey, how long have you know Dash?” Beff questioned.
“I was fledgling when we first met,” Gilda explained. “We had a little fallout when I visited Ponyville, but after that, we got along well.”
“Uh-huh, and did he say anything about this change.”
“I’m pretty sure I heard him saying that he would like to be like this for a little while longer after they found the solution.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, I know. Then again, he’s a part of the Wonderbolts.” This confused Beff a little bit. Gilda led her off of the rink so they could sit down and he could explain. “Okay, so basically they’re a bunch of pegasi that fly around and put on shows for creatures to look at.”
“That sounds cool.”
“Yeah. I’m guessing since Dash is faster as a stallion, he’d like to stay this way.”
“And you’re not upset about this?”
“Surprise, but a need for speed doesn’t seem out of character for Dash.” The griffon tilted his head before asking the dragoness a question. “Is something going on with your friends?”
Beff sighed. “Before came to visit Ponyville, Dart was lazy. I’m talking about naps that could sleep through the end of Equestria. We managed to wake Pat up a couple of times, getting some bruises in return. Dart, however, was just impossible. Now she’s wanting to challenge your friend to any kind of competition.”
“Really? Aren’t most dragons like that?”
“Well... Yeah, my friends and I get into games like king of the hoard, lava surfing, tail wrestling, stuff like that.”
“So, maybe Dart’s just getting into her competitive nature. I’ve seen Dash take naps with snores louder than Grandpa Gruff.” Beff didn’t understand this joke. “He’s an old griffon where I live. Lives up to her name.”
“Sorry, you live near him.”
“The trick is to make the complaints sound like white noise.” This made the dragoness chuckle a bit.
Over with Pat, she just watched the skaters roll around the rink. She still wasn’t in the mood to join in, not just because she was still tired from her flight, it was also because she didn’t see the point of running around on shoes with wheels. She saw a gray griffon sit beside her which a plate of nachos.
“Hey,” Gabby said. “Have we met?”
“I don’t think so,” Pat spoke. “Who are you?”
“I’m Gabby,” the griffon said. “You?”
“...Pat. That’s my temporary name.”
“You don’t like the gender swap, do you?”
“You think? I’m not sure how you’d do back at your home, but in the Dragon Lands, drakes are going to be all over me. I saw a couple of them try on some unlucky girls.”
“Uh-huh. I thought something like that would happen.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, I had a little chat with your friends on the way here. Mostly, Garnette and Smolder. To me, this doesn’t honestly seem that bad.”
“In your opinion. In mine, it’s going to be horrible.”
“I think you won’t have to stay this way forever. They’re still trying to make that cure right?”
“And I can’t wait long enough.” Pat lied back with a groan as Gabby looked at the nachos he was holding. Trying to cheer the dragoness up, the griffon offered one of his nachos to her. She held a cheese-coated chip over Pat’s face and she looked curious. “What’s that?”
“A nacho. It’s a pony snack. You should try it.” Pat was given the chip from the griffon and tossed it into her mouth. The cheesy taste lit up the dragon’s mouth.
“Wow.”
“I know. Want some more?” That might’ve been a mistake as Pat snatched the small plate of nachos out of the griffon’s talons. She quickly munched the snack down, much to Gabby’s amazement. “You were pretty hungry, were you?”
“I hate a light breakfast.”
“Well, you missed a feast at the castle earlier. I think there are still some leftovers there.”
“...Where were you when I was checking the castle?”
“I believe I was here.” The griffon smiled didn’t do much for the dragon’s bitter mood. Not wanting to fly all the way back to the castle right now, Pat decided she’d lie back down and enjoy the nachos she had.
Dash and Dart were busy running around the rink much faster than the other skaters were used to. “You really think you can outrun me?” Dash questioned.
“You’ve definitely got speed,” Dart scoffed, “But we dragons have you outclassed in stamina.” With that, the dragoness pushed the stallion back to boost her speed. Dash flapped his wings to help push himself forward. The two were neck and neck again but were going too fast for their skates to handle. The axel of Dart’s skate couldn’t take it anymore and snap away.
This caused the dragoness to lose control and grabbed onto the stallion to keep her balance. This resulted in her and Dash crashing into the wall. Dart went head first into it, while Dash flew over it into the nearby snack bar. The stallion groaned as he was now covered in ketchup and mustard. “Put this on my tab,” he groaned. Dash looked over to Dart, who left a pretty bad dent in the wall.
Tarsus stopped nearby the crash very concerned. “Are you okay?!” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dart responded. She stood up like she just tripped over a rock. The axels of her skates were red hot now, and the wheels were probably never going to roll again. Vixen stopped beside them and saw the damages.
“I think we had enough fun here,” she commented.
“Yeah, we should probably get going,” Tarsus agreed.
The group of creatures left the roller rink in search of another activity for them to do. “How Sandbar and friends doing?” Yon questioned.
“What?” Beff asked. She had a hard time upstanding the yak’s broken English.
“She’s talking about Sandy, Barb, and Fizzle,” Smolder explained.
“You think they’re done by now?” Tarsus asked.
“Let’s find out.” The two friends took off as the other did their best to keep up.
They made it to Elusive’s boutique and opened the door to find the stallion was busy testing Barb’s new dress. The skirt looked like it was a ballgown design and the sleeves looked too puffy. “How are you feeling Barb?” the stallion asked.
“This... Feels pretty nice,” the dragoness admitted. She gave the ballgown a twirl before she noticed the creatures walking in. “Oh, hey guys.”
“Barb, is that really you?” Smolder questioned.
“Um... Yeah. What do you think of this?”
“...You look pretty nice,” Vixen commented. They all walked inside and some of them got a closer look at Barb’s work-in-progress dress.
“I must say, I really outdid myself,” Elusive boasted. Many of the creatures agreed, with most of the dragons not impressed.
“I don’t see what the point is if we don’t wear clothes,” Beff muttered.
“Kind of a waste of time,” Pat whispered in agreement.
“Hang on, where’s Flicker?” Garnette asked.
“She and Sandy should be in the back,” Elusive explained. “I can only make one dress at a time.” Garnette, Yon, Vixen, Gallina, Goldenriver, and Gabby went to investigate. They found Sandy and Flicker taking a look at some accessories that Elusive had made previously. The young mare was putting on a sunhat that would go great with her new dress while Flicker found a red bow.
“So, do ponies really wear clothes like this?” the dragoness asked.
“Usually they’re worn for special occasions,” Sandy explained. “Still, most ponies wear some bit of accessories most of the time.”
“Like Applejack’s hat.”
“Exactly.” Sandy was about to get more accessories until she was taken by surprise by Yon walking up to her.
“Sandy dressing up?” the yak questioned.
“...Kind of. Elusive can only make Barb’s dress, so we’re just waiting until his hooves are full.”
“Can’t you do it?” Garnette questioned.
“We have been given lessons on sewing,” Goldenriver commented, “Though, Elusive never let us use it the sewing machine without her.”
“Maybe I could learn,” Vixen said. This was quite a surprise to Garnette.
“You sure about that?” Garnette questioned.
“Well, Dragon Lord Ember did send us here to learn new things about ponies. I’m sure to learn about the stuff they use counts as learning.”
“She’s not wrong,” Gabby commented. “We just need to ask Elusive.” The griffon and curious dragoness walked back to the stallion, who was still working on Barb’s dress.
“I really hope that I can get to work on more dresses for other species,” Elusive admitted to Barb.
“Excuse me,” Vixen spoke.
Elusive looked towards the dragoness, who was holding her claws together. “What is it?”
“I was curious if you could show me how to make clothing like you.”
This was surprising to a couple of the creatures, but Elusive liked the sound of it. “If that’s what you like, we can get started right now.”
“Perfect.”
Beff couldn’t believe this. “Um, Vicky, can I have a word with you?” she asked. Vixen, a little confused, followed her friend outside of the boutique as Elusive took another look at the drawing she had made of the exercise suit.
Outside, Beff was fuming. “Beff, is something wrong?” VIxen asked.
“You bet there’s something wrong. That diamond is messing with your minds. First Dart becomes sporty, then Flicker is wanting to try on dresses, and now you want to make dresses.”
Vixen didn’t look happy hearing that. “So, just because we’re picking up new hobbies means we’re completely different creatures?”
“I honestly thought that Gilda was onto something but I’m not sure what to trust anymore!” The sound of Beff’s voice got the attention of the rest of the dragons. They walked outside to join in with the argument.
“Beff, what the heck are you talking about?” Garnette questioned.
“I’m saying we need to fix this before we lose ourselves.”
“What?” Flicker questioned.
“Did she seriously just say that?” Dart asked.
“Pat, back me up here,” Beff requested.
“She’s not entirely wrong,” Pat admitted.
“What is she talking about?” Garnette questioned.
“Dart has been acting differently ever since she became a girl. Honestly, I think Flicker’s acting differently too.”
“They’re both perfectly fine,” Vixen stated.
“Really? When the last time Dart wanted to start a contest.” The dragons looked between each other as they couldn’t remember the event that Beff describe.
“That’s a point for our theory,” Pat commented.
“Well, we’re all still ourselves,” Garnette stated.
“So why is Flicker acting like a coward?” Beff questioned.
“What?” the said dragoness questioned. Her voice was very quiet which added to Beff’s argument.
“Look, she helped us fight off sling tails before we came here, and now she can barely get louder than a whisper.”
“Well, how else was she suppose to take this?” Garnette questioned. “We’ve been...”
“No, I want to hear what Flicker has to say about this.” Beff crossed her arms and waited for the pink and white dragoness to respond. Flicker started muttering words as she started feeling a little anxious as all eyes were on her. They could barely make out what she was saying.
“And that’s another point proven.”
“If this is true, what are we suppose to do about it?” Vixen questioned. “Twilight and her friends are doing everything they can do to fix this and we don’t know if they fixed it yet.”
“Then we’re going to make them go faster. Come on Pat.” The two dragonesses flew off back to the castle, leaving their friends behind.
“They aren’t taking this well,” Garnette commented.
“Clearly not,” Vixen agreed. Not wanting to waste their time talking with Beff and Pat in their current mood, the remaining dragonesses walked back into the boutique. Vixen was starting to cheer up when Elusive got his sewing machine to show how dressmaking worked.
“Now, Vicky,” Elusive spoke, “It’s important to remember to keep the shoe, this part, firmly planted on the material you plan on sewing together.”
“Okay. How do I make it started?”
“You place your foot on this pedal here.” The dragoness looked down at the pedal and placed her foot on it to apply pressure. When the pedal went down, the machine started working. The needle went up and down until Elusive stopped her. “Okay, now we just need some tread.”
The unicorn went to get some as Smolder and Barb walked over to Garnette. “What was going on out there?” Barb asked. Garnette explained Beff’s crazy theory about the diamond affecting their personalities.
“I thought she was supposed to be the smart one of the group,” Smolder commented.
“Well, maybe she isn’t thinking straight,” Garnette guessed. “She and Pat are going back to the castle to somehow speed things up.”
“How? Rubbing it like a genie?”
“That’s probably the best idea they have.”
“Why don’t you just let your friends blow off some steam and enjoy your time here?” Barb suggested.
“Barb is right,” Elusive commented. “Let your friend let out her anger. Right now, I think I could help make some designs for you.”
“For us?” Dart questioned.
“I’m on a bit of roll now. Maybe I could make some exercise suits for you.”
“I think my Wonderbolt uniform will be fine,” Dash spoke.
“You’re probably going to need a bigger one,” Gilda commented. Being a stallion, Dash would need a suit that was bigger than one made to fit a mare.
“What are the Wonderbolts?” Dart asked.
“A team of pegasi that performs shows and fly around real fast.”
“Sounds cool.”
Soon, Elusive came back with a roll of thread. “Okay, I think this should be a good one to use for testing,” he spoke. He hooked up the thread to the sewing machine’s needle. He placed some bits of fabric for the thread to connect them together. He assisted Vixen with slowly working the machine and connected to the two bits of fabric. “You’re doing very good.”
“Thank you,” Vixen responded. She slowly carried on with sewing the bits of cloth together as Elusive took out his notebook and began drawing some ideas.
"Do you think Beff and Pat will do anything reckless?" Barb questioned.
"I sure hope not," Garnette admitted. "I don't want anything worse to go on."
Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst were busy doing their tests on the diamond trying to make it work. "How do the hippogriff get the shards of the pearl to function?" Sunburst questioned.
"I think it's like a function that as simple as blinking," Twilight commented.
“We should’ve asked Silverstream about this,” Starlight sighed. They were about to try another test until Beff and Pat barged into the room.
“Where’s the diamond?” Pat questioned.
Sunburst was quite surprised but the two mares turned stallions stood their ground. “Why do you want to know?” Twilight asked.
“We can’t take this any longer,” Beff spoke. “Our friends are acting differently ever since they changed.”
“That’s odd,” Twilight commented. “We’ve been feeling fine ever since we’ve changed.”
“Well, we’ve been like this longer than you have,” Pat stated.
“They’re not wrong,” Sunburst noted.
“Still, we should’ve noticed some changes at this point,” Starlight commented.
“Did you at least find a way to fix this?” Beff questioned.
Twilight looked at the diamond and looked at his list of failed attempts. “We’re not really close,” the prince explained.
“Can’t you do something like this?” Pat questioned. She pushed the prince to the side and started rubbing the diamond-like genie’s lamp. Nothing really happened and Starlight tried to take the gem out of the dragon’s arm.
“We appreciate your help,” the stallion said, “But we do not know that many dragons that are experts in magic.”
“You’re going to slow,” Beff spoke. “What if our friends are stuck like this?” The two pulled against each other until the diamond stilled out of their grips and flew through the air to which Twilight luckily caught it. He soon carefully placed the diamond back on the table.
Starlight glared at Beff. “Maybe it’s a good thing.”
“Starlight!” Sunburst gasped.
“Let me speak.” He replied, and then turned back to them. “Beff, we’ve been treating you and your friends with nothing but respect. When we were rude to you, it was when you were doing something you weren’t supposed to do. If you want to act like a bully that wants attention, fine. In fact, I’m taking a break.” With that, Starlight walked out of the room feeling very annoyed.
“...Maybe we should take five,” Twilight commented. “We have been working on this for a long time.”
“Yeah, I could use a time-out,” Sunburst agreed.
“A break, really?” Beff questioned.
“...Maybe Starlight was onto something.”
“Are you really going to just stop?” Pat questioned.
“Pat, we haven’t had that big of a breakfast,” Twilight explained. “Plus, you and Beff are acting like jerks already. And frankly, I don’t know anyone who wants to help jerks.” The prince walked out of the room with his friends, leaving the dragonesses by themselves. Beff was turning red with anger while Pat started thinking about what the alicorn said.
“You can’t just leave us like this!” Beff stated. “Pat, stop them!” The bigger dragoness didn’t respond and walked out of the room. “Why am I the only one seeing the problems here?!” She quickly chased after Pat, who was deep in thought. She snapped out of her trance when she felt her friend tapping her shoulder.
“Oh, hey. What do we do now?” Pat questioned.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
The two stood scratching their heads pondering what to do. Eventually, Pat spoke up. “You want to get something to eat?”
Beff just shrugged. “I guess. Nothing we can really do. Besides, the griffon showed me this nice place where we can get gemstones.”
This comment brought a smile to Pat’s face. “Lead the way.” The two slightly disappointed dragons went to the castle’s exit and they flew over to where Gallus had shown Beff the gem mine. Along the way, the black and green dragoness had a couple of questions for her friend.
“So, did you see any noteworthy in the dragon lands? Did you find that drake that stole that girl that was hitting on us?”
“I wish. I only saw Billy and Barry.”
“You mean the one who was wanting to get pillows?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.” The two landed outside of the entrance of the gem gave. The two walked inside as they continued with their conversation. “Honestly, I can’t really blame her after sitting on a bed.”
“Yeah, she was probably onto something. I probably would’ve helped her win the Gauntlet of Fire if I knew about those sooner.”
“Ditto. Anyways, bon appétit.” The two dragons looked at the number of gemstones and embedded in the walls. They went to get their lunch by breaking several gems out of the walls.
“Hey, you see the point of clothing?” Pat questioned.
“Not really,” Beff responded. “I mean, we walk around naked, what’s the point of putting on pieces of cloth?”
“Honestly, I think it’d be worse if they got ripped or something. I can understand why Barry would want pillows since they’re pretty soft, but clothing seems pretty useless.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s just for show. You know how some of the dragons back home try to be flashy and cute.”
“Yeah. Remember that dragoness while we were playing king of the hoard?”
“How could I not?”
“I honestly thought Garble was going to get her.”
“Probably would’ve done us one better. I mean... Why would you go after someone who mocked your body?”
“Or your face.”
“Yeah, I think we were better off without her.”
“I would love to see how he is taking current events.” The two both laughed as the thought of a dragoness turned drake, likely one that didn’t same the same kind of looks certain drakes would be into, was just too funny. The two laughed so hard that they spewed out flames. Thankfully, there wasn’t anything flammable around and the laughter died down.
“Man. That would be great.” They carried on with gem picking as Beff thought about a few things. She looked at her reflection in one of the bigger gems. She brought her claw to her forehead and gently brushed it. “Hey, Pat, did my face really look... ‘wrinkly when I was a drake?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean my face looks a lot smoother now that I’m a dragoness.” Pat started feeling a little concerned. “I mean... I’m not trying to make myself look pretty or crud like that, don’t slap me.” The big brown dragoness took a sigh of relief. “Still, it makes me curious.”
“About what?”
“About that diamond. It’s affected practically everyone in Equestria.”
“I know. I’ve seen a couple both arguing about it. Not sure if they’re still together or not.”
“I mean, you flew off when everyone else flip-flopped.”
“It was becoming too much for me.”
“Who would blame you?”
“Hey, I’m not saying I blame you. I would’ve ditch this place the second we couldn’t find a solution.”
“Then why did you stick around?” Beff took a deep breath before she responded.
“I was worried about Dart. I honestly thought that diamond messed with her mind. Then I thought about what Gilda said. Maybe she was in a situation like Garnette was.”
“You mean she had a secret hobby?”
“Something like that. I mean... Did you really expect her to be a beatnik?”
“I doubt it.” Eventually, they figured they had found enough gems to have a good meal and both sat down to dig into the gems they had picked. While they had their lunch, Pat took a minute to look at her body and remember the dragoness that insulted her figure when she was a drake.
“Do you think I lost some weight? I mean... I looked like a blob when I was a drake and...” Pat was interrupted by Beff slapping her across the face without warning. She rubbed her cheek as her friend was starting to feel a little guilty.
“Sorry, I thought you would do the same for me if I wasn’t acting like myself.”
“No, I don’t blame you Beff. Just hear me out, I kind of think that diamond made us look much more attractive. I mean, you know how I did when I was trying to pick up some dragoness?”
“I remember. Can’t believe you kept trying after the second attempt.”
“Well, you’re the smart one. And I’m the dumb one.”
“Come on, Pat, we’ve seen dumber dragons.”
“Like the ones that tamper with the one thing that can fix this problem?” Beff thought about what Pat just said. She knew she was right. If they had messed up the diamond, it would likely never work again and everyone would be stuck the opposite gender, including them.
“You know what Pat, I think we were both stupid. After all, I was the one who wanted to ‘speed up’ the process.” Pat understood what Beff meant, especially with her air quotes. “Plus, I think we just made our friends mad at us.”
“Oh yeah. ...We really messed up, didn’t we?”
“Pretty much.” Beff chomped off a piece of one of the gems while she rested her head on her claw. Pat lied back and ate the gem she had found like the rest of lunch remained rather quiet.
Back at the Boutique, Vixen was starting to make good process with Elusive’s lessons. At the moment, the two were making a sun hat to do with Sandy’s soon-to-be-made dress. While they were waiting, Barb had decided to tell Garnette and Dart about the Power Ponies.
“Okay, so this mare fell into a giant pool of chemicals, which probably should’ve had a lid,” Garnette stated, “And her mane now is like an extra set of arms?”
“That’s pretty spot on,” Barb responded.
“She really does enjoy making mane jokes,” Dart commented. “Not really funny though.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a trait that stuck around due to the silver age of comics.”
“Silver age?” Flicker questioned.
“Oh yeah. There a couple of different ages when it comes to these comics. The newest ones are in the bronze age. As the golden age... Well, it’s kind of dark.”
“Go ahead,” Dart said, “I can take it.”
“I think I’m going to see how Smolder and his friends are doing,” Flicker spoke. She stood up and walked outside as she didn’t want to listen to anything dark, whatever that entailed. Outside, Smolder and his friends were returning with some lunch.
“I’m kind of surprised that mare was enjoying her new body,” Tarsus admitted.
“Well, she looked a lot cutter as a mare,” Goldenriver commented.
“Eh, definitely help with that kind of job,” Gallina commented.
Yon then noticed Flicker walking over to them. “Why Flicker out of boutique?” the yak asked.
“Barb was about to tell me about some stuff that’s a little more than I could handle,” the white and pink dragoness explained.
“Was she about to tell you the golden age of Power Ponies?” Sandy asked. Flicker nodded in confirmation, to which Sandy and Smolder looked at each other. Both knew that there was a good reason why the golden age had changed.
“Anyways, what did you bring?”
“Well, we couldn’t find anything like meat or gemstones,” Gallina stated, “But we brought a couple of condiments just in case.” The griffon showed the various bags containing their lunches. Taking them inside, Barb had just finished explaining about the different ages of the Power Ponies and various other comics.
“Wow,” Garnette said. “Ponies are a lot more hardcore than I thought.”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to stick with the silver age,” Dart agreed. She then looked over Flicker and the students who had just walked in with their lunch. “Alright. Time to eat.”
Tarsus looked around the Boutique as lunch was being passed around. “Hey, where are Rainbow Dash and the griffons?” he asked.
“I think they left to find Beff and Pat,” Garnette explained. She was handed a hayburger by Gallina to which she unwrapped. “I told them they’d be wasting their time, but Gabby was persistent.”
“Well, I hope they hurry back soon. This stuff isn’t as good when it’s cold.”
Dash, Gilda, and Gabby didn’t find the dragons at Twilight’s castle so they began looking at other locations around Ponyville. “Where could they go?” Gabby questioned.
“I think I would’ve left Ponyville if I was them,” Gilda admitted.
“Well, I think some ponies would see two dragons flying out of town,” Dash commented. The trio landed and asked a couple of ponies if they had seen any dragons flying around. While not that many had a straight answer, some did point in the direction of the gem cave. Dash remember the cave and led the way for the griffons.
After a minute or two of flying, the stallions and griffons made it to the cave. They didn’t really pay attention to the various gemstones embedded in the walls because they were distracted by the sound of crunches and chewing. Walking through the cave, they eventually found Pat and Beff finishing the last gemstones they had collected.
“There you are,” Gabby cried. The two dragonesses were quite surprised to see them.
“What are you doing here?” Pat questioned.
“We were looking for you. Did you guys enjoy those gems?”
“Yeah,” Beff admitted.
“What do they taste like?” Gilda questioned.
“They have a nice gravelly taste as they go down your throat.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.”
“Look, why would you even be looking for us?”
“Why? Because we were a little worried about you,” Gabby explained.
Pat and Beff looked at each other, both of them having a hard time believing what the griffon just said. “And why would our friends worry about us?” Pat quizzed.
“Gabby means that he was worried about the relationship between you and your friends,” Gilda answered. Both dragonesses still didn’t understand.
“What Gilda’s talking about is, we know what it’s like when you’re mad at your friend,” Dash explained.
“Exactly. I had a bit of a hard time when I first visited Ponyville, I got on the bad side of a lot of Dash’s friends, and... we stopped communicating with each other for a while. In a place like Griffonstone, it really pays to have a friend.”
Beff and Pat both looked at each other and started thinking about how the other dragons would feel towards them. “It may sound sappy, but you really should apologize while you still can. Either that or you could wait about a year until somebody makes you meet up again.” The two looked at each other before Pat stood up and walked over to the boys.
“Welp, let’s get this over with,” she muttered. Beff didn’t say anything as she got up and followed the four creatures out of the cave. Once they were outside, they began flying back to Elusive’s. Along the way, they could see two ponies taking a cart downtown. Despite their new appearances, Dash recognized them as AJ and Big Mac.
“Look, Mac, I know it’s really confusing right now,” AJ said, “Especially between you and Sugar Belle. Still, it’s not going to last forever.” This helped the stallion turned mare cheer up a little bit. Dash flew down in order to chat with them, leaving the dragons and griffons up in the air.
“Hey, AJ,” Dash spoke. “How are you and Mac doing?”
“Could be better,” the stallion responded. “Mac and Sugar Belle definitely are having a hard time dealing with this, but we’re getting there.”
“Oh good. I think I’m getting to the dragons too. They’re starting to warm up to the griffons and me. How are you enjoying your new body?”
“Well, I am much stronger. You should’ve seen the number of supplies I could move on my own. Mac’s still pretty strong too.” The newly made mare didn’t say anything as just kept walking.
“So, you think you’d like to stay like this?”
“Maybe. Honestly, if the mares don’t try and date me, I’ll be good. You just keep an eye on the dragons, Mac and I still have work to do.” Rainbow nodded and flew back up to the griffons and dragons as they carried onto the boutique.
As Beff was landing, she couldn’t think about what to say, given her lack of experience with apologies. “Okay, so maybe one of you could do the talking for me,” she said.
“We’ll walk you through it,” Gabby spoke. He opened the door and walked inside with the rest of the creatures. They soon found Elusive helping Sandy put on her new sundress. They were surprised to see the Dash and the griffons returning with the dragons.
“Oh, well, hello,” Elusive spoke.
“Hi,” Pat said. The amount of silence was quickly making the room seem very awkward. Beff attempted to walk back outside, but Gilda stopped her with his wing.
“Swallow your pride and do what you came for,” the griffon whispered. Beff groaned knowing that the griffon was right.
“Fine,” Beff grumbled. She looked around the room and couldn’t see any of her friends in the room. “Where’d our friends go?”
“Upstairs to have lunch,” Elusive explained. The stallion pointed to a door that revealed the staircase. Beff and Pat walked up the case and could hear their friends talking with the rest of the students.
“So, you really can turn into seaponies?” Vixen questioned.
“Yeah,” Goldenriver confirmed. “Honestly, it got pretty dull being underwater most of my life, but after a couple of mishaps at the school...” Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of one of the stairs creaking under Pat’s weight.
The dragons and students looked over to the staircase. Barb went to investigate and opened the door to find Beff and Pat walking upstairs. “Oh, you’re back,” the little dragoness said. She led them into the room where they were having lunch, which had a couple of stares when the two dragoness entered the room.
Garnette cocked an eyebrow. “What do you two want?” she asked. Beff looked behind her to see Dash and the griffons.
“You’ve got this,” Gabby whispered. He gave a thumbs-up before the dragoness took a deep breath before speaking.
“Look, guys, you know I never really had experience with apologizes,” Beff admitted. “Yet, I’m trying to do one now.”
“Could use some work,” Gallina whispered to Yon. The yak simply nodded in agreement.
“Look, Pat and I tried to speed up the process to fix this. It was as successful as you could imagine.”
“Uh-huh,” Dart said, “Where are you going with this?”
“She’s trying to say sorry,” Pat stated. “And I should probably be doing the same thing.” Beff held her arm as she was feeling a little embarrassed right now.
“Man, I had a feeling you’d be in a position like this,” Barb commented. “Look, I know this is hard for you guys to accept, but sometimes that life. I honestly lost track of the freakouts that Twilight had when he was put in a stressful situation. What’s really important is how you adapt to a situation.”
“Yeah,” Goldenriver spoke. “We heard that the school was shutting down so we ran away because we didn’t want to be apart from each other.”
“I still think that probably wasn’t the best idea,” Tarsus admitted.
“Still, it’s a good example of us adapting to a situation.”
“Sure,” Smolder commented, “Let’s go with that.”
“They have a point,” Vixen spoke, “We’ve been doing just fine being girls. If you just roll with it for the time being and we’ll get back to normal.”
Beff took another deep breath before she responded. “You’re right,” she sighed. “Can you really blame me for all of the things that have been happening?”
“I can guarantee you’re not the only creatures worrying about this,” Gilda confirmed. He, Gabby, and Dash walked into the room, much to the surprise of the rest of the creatures. “Yeah, we were standing out of view the entire time.”
“I thought I saw you guys back there,” Barb admitted.
“Yeah, we’re were a sort of a backup in case things went south,” Dash admitted. He looked at an empty bag that used to contain the food that was mostly eaten by the students and the dragoness. “And thank you for asking me if I wanted something to eat too.”
“Hey, we saved some for you,” Gallina stated. She revealed another bag that they had hidden from the stallion’s view. She tossed it to Dash, who caught it and smiled.
“So, what are you planning on doing here?” Gabby asked.
“Elusive said that he was planning on a fashion show with how many of us are here,” Smolder explained.
“The heck is that?” Pat asked. She didn’t understand the definition of fashion.
“It’s basically we all get dressed up in new dresses that many creatures hadn’t seen before,” Barb informed. “It a pony thing.”
“Definitely sounds like it,” Beff commented. She looked to her draconic friends. “You are really going to be a part of that?”
“Yeah,” Garnette confirmed. “Flicker is a part of it, so we thought it was only natural if we were a part of it too.”
Pat chuckled a little bit. “Sounds dumb,” she admitted. “I’m in.” Garnette just rolled her eyes as this was the closest thing to an improvement. At least Pat was wanting to be a part of something.
“Beff, what about you?” Vixen asked. The black and green dragoness was now the center of attention. Saying ‘no’ to what her friends were doing now would probably make things worse. A solution for the gender problem was going to be found any way so...
“Yeah. Sure. Why not?” she shrugged.
“Perfect. Now, we just need to tell Elusive about this. He is the expert in this kind of stuff.” Vixen took her two friends back downstairs just as Elusive was done making adjustments to Sandy’s dress.
“I really love the hat,” the young mare commented.
“Glad you do,” Elusive responded. “It really completes the outfit.” The stallion looked over to an approaching Vixen and her friends. “Oh, so, how’d it go?”
“Pretty good,” Vixen responded. “Beff and Pat even wanted to be a part of the fashion show.”
“Really? I didn’t expect that.”
“It’s true,” Beff confirmed. “So, what do you think would look good on us?” Elusive looked at the two dragons and brought out his sketchbook. The gears in his head started turning when she looked at Beff’s colors and Pat’s mace-shaped tail.
“You two likely have a punk style going on.” He showed them both what punk fashion looked like. They were admittedly impressed with the looks of the punk ponies.
“Hmm, not bad,” Pat commented. “I’m up for that.”
“Pretty good. Beff, what about you?”
“I don’t know,” the black and green dragoness admitted. “What other designs do you have?”
“There’s also gothic style. Also quite fitting for you.” Elusive showed a couple of gothic ponies and this peaked Beff’s interest.
“Okay, I think I like their style.”
“Good. They do fit both of your personalities.” The fashion stallion took out a notepad, adding Beff and Pat to the list containing the rest of the dragons and the students. “I have a lot of work cut out for me.”
“I’m pretty sure I should help lighten the load,” Vixen spoke.
“Indeed. Though, it’s quite a lot of work for just two of us.”
“You’ve been showing us some fashion tips,” Sandy spoke.
“Yeah, there’s like thirteen of us in total,” Beff noted. “Fifteen if Dash and the griffons help out.”
“That sounds like more than enough,” Pat commented.
“Quite right,” Elusive agreed. “Once they’re done with lunch, we can start work.”
Once everyone was done eating, Barb, the students, and the visiting dragons got to work helping Elusive get ready for the fashion show. Gabby helped out too while Dash and Gilda spread the word to their friends. Vixen was doing her best to work with the sewing machine, though she ran into a couple of snags.
Still, Elusive helped her out through her errors and they made great progress on the dresses. Some of the boys were even wanting to be a part of the show, thus some clothes were sewn for them. It was a bit of work for Elusive and the other creatures, but as time went on, they finished one outfit, then another, until every single participant was finished.
“Well... That took... Longer than I thought,” Vixen panted.
“I think it would be best if we all took a break before we start the show,” Elusive spoke. “I think you all earned it.”
“Sounds good to me,” Flicker responded.
“So, how many ponies are going to be at this show?” Garnette asked.
“Probably just a couple of close friends,” Barb guessed.
Later that evening, Twilight walked into Elusive's boutique. Starlight and Sunburst were with him and they could see Pinkie, Fluttershy, AJ, and Dash were there. Gilda and Gabby were also there waiting for the show. Twilight looked around noticing that Barb, the students, and the dragons weren’t in the room.
"Um, Dash," the prince spoke, "Where did Barb go? Or the dragons and students?"
"You just wait and see," the rainbow stallion chuckled. The prince began to piece things together as they all looked towards the runway. Elusive walked into view wearing a fancy-looking suit, that was a very dark purple. He used his magic to levitate the microphone.
“Evening everyone,” the stallion spoke. “I’m glad you’re here for this special show even with what’s been going on recently. I’m glad that the dragons that have been visiting volunteered to be a part of this and even help put it together.”
“I honestly didn’t see that coming,” AJ whispered to Pinkie.
“Now then, I think it’s best if we cut to the chase. Sit back, and enjoy what the girls have to offer.”
Some fancy ballroom music started playing as Barb twirled into the room in her lovely ballgown. She wasn’t alone, as Flicker slowly walked onto the runway and gave a curtsy in her ruby pink dress. It was strapless and had a tulle skirt and taffy pink band around her waist. “Here we have a simple pair of dresses for a lovely dragoness to wear to special events,” Elusive described.
“Is this right?” Flicker whispered. She was feeling a little nervous.
“You’re doing great,” Barb responded, “Just follow my lead.” The younger dragoness proceeded to walk down the runway with her friend shortly behind her. The two stopped at the end of it and slowly spun around so the small crowd could get a good look at them.
“Wow,” Fluttershy gasped. “They look really good.”
“Yeah,” Starlight agreed. “Definitely fit for a gala.” With one last curtsy, Barb and Flicker walked back to the curtains, which closed behind them just as the ballroom music stopped. A few seconds later, some hula music started playing. The curtains opened again and Sandy walked out to show off her sundress. She wasn’t alone as Yon walked beside her wearing a straw hat and a green shirt with a white flower pattern on it.
“These two show you can go to the beach in style,” Elusive spoke. “A cool hat and shirt for the gentleman and simple divine dress for the ladies.”
“What’s next?” Gilda whispered to Dash, “Clothes you wear while you swim?”
“Not yet.” The griffon jumped a little from the fashion stallion overhearing what he just said. While Sandy and Yon slowly spun around to show off their wardrobes, the two ended up nuzzling real quick before they walked back to the curtains. “Ah, yes, a lovely pair of outfits for a lovely couple.”
After Sandy and Yona disappeared behind the curtain, some drums could be heard followed by an upbeat tempo. Suddenly, Dart shot out and flew into the air while wearing a bright blue skintight jumpsuit. Goldenriver jumped out through the curtain onto the runway in a similar style bit of clothing, only his was purple instead of blue.
The hippogriff dribbled a buck ball as Elusive explained their outfits. “If you’re one for keeping in shape,” he said, “These jumpsuits are both stylish and sleek.” The hippogriff tossed her draconic friend the ball, who caught and chucked it towards a basket that Elusive levitated into the air. Dart and Goldenriver slowly spun around in the air to show off their uniforms.
“Hmm, those would be perfect in the school’s colors,” Twilight commented. Once they were done, they landed on the runway and walked behind the curtain. Soon, some rock music was starting to play as two dragonesses dress in black clothing were revealed.
Beff and Pat both turned around and walked onto the runway to show what they had to offer. Pat wore a leather jacket with a white t-shirt that looked to have a silhouette of a dragon’s skull. Also, she wore a red plaid skirt with some buckle boots and some spiked bracelets around her wrists and there was even one near the tip of her tail.
For Beff, she wore a dress that was pitch black. It had bell sleeves and a box pleated skirt that had a bit of it colored red. She had a wide brim hat on her head and also some platform shoes on, adding to her height. The two darkly dressed dragons then moved to the side to show a punk griffon walking down the runway. Gallina wore a leather jacket, boots, fingerless gloves, and a spiked collar.
“I say these are rather fitting bits of clothing for these girls,” Elusive commented. “I’d say they might be bad to the bone.” Gallina and the dragons each gave a peace sign as they showed off what they had to wear. As they began walking back to the curtain, Pat giggled a bit.
“Enjoying yourself?” Gallina asked.
“Yeah,” Pat responded. “Can’t believe I’m having fun with this. Still dumb.”
Beff just nodded as she looked at her boots. “I really don’t see the point of wearing these.”
“Whatever you think, there’s no doubt someone’s going to go crazy over this.” The three walked behind the curtain which closed as the rock music died down. Soon, the sound of bongos began to lift the silence, followed by the sound of snapping fingers.
The curtains moved to the side to show Garnette playing a beat on her bongos while Smolder smirked and snapped along. Both siblings were wearing berets, purple for the sister and green for the brother. Each one wore a scarf with Garnette wearing one blue and Smolder had one yellow. For their shirts, Garnette’s was mostly gray with long sleeves while Smolder had one with green and white stripes that were short-sleeved.
“Ah, yes,” Elusive spoke, “For those of wanting to be poets, these are the outfits you want to get.” The two siblings walked down the runway, keeping up the beat they were making.
“Since when was Garnette a poet?” Dash questioned.
“Longer than you think,” Fluttershy whispered. The brother and sister showed off their clothing as they played along to the beat. Garnette began finishing up just as they walked back to the curtain finishing off while sharing in three snaps with his brother.
While they were behind the curtain, the elder sibling laughed a little. “Man, I can’t believe that was fun,” she admitted.
“I know,” Smolder agreed. “Still, would’ve been great if you could’ve added some of your poetry.”
“Yeah, but then I’d be interrupting Elusive explaining our outfits.” They both looked to Tarsus and Vixen. The changeling was wearing a yellow vest while Vixen had a small blue dress.
“Causal wear?”
“Yep,” Tarsus confirmed. “This one is mostly for Vixen who did the most work.”
“Well, you guys helped too,” the dragoness stated.
“Yeah, but you were one who was taught how to use most of the equipment,” Garnette stated.
“That’s true.”
“And now,” Elusive said, “I’d like to thank the visitor that was a big help making all these clothes.”
“That’s your cue,” Tarsus said. Vixen nodded and walked onto the runway.
She could see Elusive standing on the stage waiting for her. “Vixen here has wanted to learn how to make dresses. It’s quite clear that I think the relationship between ponies, dragons, and possibly other creatures will be very strong.”
“Thanks, Elusive,” Vixen spoke. She held her claws together as she felt a little bashful being the center of attention. There was an applaud for the dragoness.
“Now, the rest of the dragons helped out with this show. I have to thank them as well.” The participants of the show came onto the stage, as well as Tarsus. There was applaud for all of them. Twilight flew up to the stage as he had something to say.
“I’m very proud of all you,” he spoke, “And I have something to tell you all. I think we’ve just cracked how to make this diamond work.” There was a couple of gasps in the room.
“Have you tested it?” Barb asked.
“We were just about to until we found it was time for the show. We’ll run a quick test and let you know how it goes.” The prince flew down to Starlight and Sunburst before they teleported back to the castle.
“So... Can we take these off now?” Beff asked.
“If you want,” Elusive spoke.
“Yeah, I think some of these are only good for special occasions,” Barb commented. “Come on, Flicker, I’ll help you with your dress.” Some of the dragons started taking off their clothes as they were all thinking about what they had just heard.
Back at the castle, Sunburst and Starlight were standing in front of the prince, who was levitating the diamond. He started using his magic on the large gemstone, making it glow in the process. Starlight and Sunburst could feel they were levitating a tiny bit as their bodies began changing.
Starlight’s mane started growing as her muzzle and frame were becoming smaller and thin. Sunburst meanwhile got a bit taller and her beard started to grow back. Twilight grinned as it looked like the spell was working. Soon, the glowing stopped and the prince allowed Starlight and Sunburst to look at themselves. After a couple of seconds for them to comprehend what happened, they both cheered.
“It worked!” Sunburst cheered. “We’re ourselves again.”
“So many creatures are going to be happy to hear this,” Starlight commented. They both looked over to Twilight, who handed them the diamond. “Alright, your turn.” Starlight began to work her magic as Twilight could feel his body changing.
Barb and the dragons were walking back to the castle. The main conversation seemed to be centered around the diamond. “So, they really have the problem solved?” Flicker asked.
“That’s what it sounds like,” Garnette said.
“I mean, you and practically all of Equestria should be happy,” Barb commented. “I mean... I think I’d like to be a boy again.”
“Pretty sure that Dash wanted to stay the way he is now,” Beff commented. “I’m changing back as soon as possible.” As they entered the castle, they could hear some chatter as they got closer to where Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst talking with each other.
“I’m not sure if we can make the wave, like it did last night,” Sunburst commented.
“What’s important is that we got it working,” Twilight noted. This got some of the dragons curious and they went to investigate. To their surprise, the princess and both unicorns were back to normal.
“Twilight?” Barb questioned.
“Oh, Barb,” the alicorn gasped. “We didn’t expect you to home so early.”
“Well, when you said you found a solution, we got excited,” Pat responded. “So, can you make your magic work on us?”
“Of course, just stay still so we can change you back,” Starlight said. The dragons didn’t have to be told twice and they all got into place, with the exception of Flicker, who was feeling a little conflicted.
“Flicker, aren’t you going to join?” Vixen questioned.
“Well... I kind of... Enjoy being like this,” Flicker admitted. It would’ve been hard to hear her as she practically whispering right now.
“Your loss,” Beff stated. “Fire us up!” Starlight nodded as she started making the diamond glow. The dragons could feel their bodies changing in the process. Their spines would start to get shorter and their bodies bulked up a little bit to their original mass. They would also gain their height back as the glow of the magic started dying down.
Everyone got a chance to look at themselves, all seemed quite happy to be back to normal. “Man, this feels good,” Garble commented.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Clump spoke.
Spike was just as happy as the others, but he was a bit confused why Flicker was the only one who wanted to stay a dragoness. “Well, nine down, all Equestria to go,” Starlight sighed.
“Maybe we should call it a night,” Sunburst suggested. “We did spend most of the day trying to figure out this diamond.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Twilight agreed.
“Yeah, I’m up for that too,” Clump said. He started making his way to the guest room as Vex walked over to Flicker.
“How are you feeling?” the drake asked.
“I’m fine,” Flicker responded.
“You sure? I mean... We all turned back and... You didn’t want to?” Unsure what to say at this, Flicker quickly flew away to catch up with Clump. This still left Vex rather confused. He decided to bring this up with Garble and Spike. “You think Flicker is okay?”
“I honestly think it’s a little more complex than she can explain,” Spike guessed. “I think this is how she wants to be now.”
“Seriously?” Garble questioned. Spike just shrugged as Baff and Spear overheard the conversation.
“You did not just say that,” Baff spoke.
“Hey, it’s my best guess,” Spike shrugged.
Baff just took a deep breath before he spoke again. “I’m going to bed. It’s too late for me to question this.” He walked down the hall as Spear simply followed behind.
“We’ll get started with changing Ponyville back to normal tomorrow,” Twilight explained. “You guys just get a rest.” Twilight placed the diamond down on the table and teleported away to her bedroom. Sunburst and Starlight walked away as Spike walked and talked with the dragons.
“You know, Dash said that he wanted to stay a stallion too,” Garble commented.
“I think I heard him say AJ was wanting the same thing,” Spike responded.
“Who else do you think would be like this?” Vex asked. Spike thought about a few creatures he knew that would want to stay the gender they were currently at.
“Well, I’m pretty sure that Smolder and her friends are likely all going to change back. Rarity is definitely going to change back too.”
“Same for those griffons.”
“How much do you want to bet that all the dragons are going to change back?” Garble asked. This was a conversation they talked about until they made it to the guest room, where the other dragons were at.
“I honestly think if some are treated the way they want in a certain gender, they’d want to stay the way they are,” Vex guessed.
“I’m pretty sure that would be the case with all the creatures in Equestria,” Spike noted.
“Probably true,” Garble commented. “I guess we’ll figure out in the morning.”
“That’s true. See you tomorrow, guys.” Spike walked away to his bedroom, leaving the visiting dragons by themselves.
“It’s been a weird couple of days,” Vex spoke.
“Understatement of the century,” Baff stated. Vex and Garble looked over to their friend, who was lying in his bed. “I’m just glad this is over.” He looked over to Flicker, was looking at her claw and examining her spines. “Almost over.”
“I honestly thought I would have some sort of whiplash with the gender-switching,” Clump admitted. “I’m glad that I’m me again.” As he lied back in his bed, he let out something under his breath. “Though, I was starting to enjoy it.” He looked across the room, thankful that nobody heard him.
“I’m honestly a little bummed,” Vex admitted. “Elusive made those clothes just for us. It kind of sounds like we’re just letting them all go to waste.”
“Yeah,” Garble agreed. “Kind of seems like a jerk move. Maybe we should just sleep on it.” Vex simply nodded and flew over to his bed. The dragons didn’t say much as they all drifted off to sleep one by one. Garble was one of the last of them to fall asleep. Looking across the room, he saw that Flicker was still awake. He was too tired to question anything, and his friends would likely want things to be quiet, so he left his questions for the morning.
The next morning, Garble woke up as he could’ve sworn he heard some chanting. Curious, he stood up and walked over to the window. He looked down towards the school to see six familiar creatures all dressed up as cheerleaders. The drake decided to fly down to get a better look and could see the young six dressed up in cheerleader uniforms. Not to mention, all of them were female.
Twilight and Spike were sitting on the bleachers watching their display. The students that were born as girls flipped back towards Yona to make their pyramid, Sandy and Gallina weren’t as experienced as their friends, and ended up fumbling over their own feet.
“Okay, I’m ready to go back to normal,” Gallina spoke.
“Oh, come on,” Silverstream sighed. She and the girls walked over to their fallen friends and helped them up. “How about we try again.”
“We have a lot of work to do today,” Twilight stated, “We need to get a move on.” Sandy and Gallina stepped forward towards the princess, who levitated the big diamond and made it glow. In a flash, Sandbar and Gallus were back to their old selves. They started taking off the uniforms that no longer fit their gender as Spike then noticed the drake that had woken up.
“Oh, morning Garble,” Spike called. He waved towards the drake, to which the students all look towards him. Since he was now the center of attention, Garble landed and walked over to his sister.
“Morning,” he said. He looked over at Gallus, who tossed one of his pom-poms onto a pile. “So, what did I miss?”
“Not much,” Smolder explained. “Silver wanted us to all be girls so we could try and be a full cheer team before we went back to normal.”
“It seems kind of early to do that.”
“That’s what I said,” Gallus spoke. “I’m going to get something to eat now.” With that, the blue griffon flew away to get breakfast. His friends began to follow behind, though Smolder stayed behind with her brother.
“So, how does it feel to be a girl again?” Garble asked.
“Much better,” Smolder answered. “I do kind of wish I could see if I was stronger as a drake, but I’m glad things are going to normal.”
Garble looked back at the castle while muttering, “Kind of.”
“What do you mean, ‘kind of’?”
“Flicker’s the only one who wanted to stay a dragoness.”
“Yeah,” Spike confirmed. He walked over to the brother and sister to join in with the conversation. “I think she likes the way she is now. That and I think being here helped bring Flicker out of her shell.”
“She does seem really timid,” Garble commented.
“Plus, Elusive did make those dresses just for you guys,” Smolder added.
“Yeah. This might sound crazy but I swore I heard Clump said he liked being a dragoness.” Smolder and Spike looked at the drake like he just grew an extra set of arms. “Uh-huh. I know what I said and how farfetched it is.”
“Not too hard to believe,” Spike admitted. “Dash and AJ are wanting to stay stallions.”
“I don’t see why he’d want to be a girl again if he was so desperate to get back to normal,” Smolder commented.
“You can try and figure that out,” Twilight spoke, “I have a lot of work to do.”
“I’ll catch up with you later,” Spike responded. “I’m going to help Garble and Smolder figure some things out.”
“Okay. Just take too long.” Twilight took off with the diamond to change other creatures back to their original genders.
“In what way would Clump want to stay a dragoness,” Smolder spoke.
“If I knew why I wouldn’t bring that up,” Garble admitted.
“Maybe we’re missing something she found out,” Spike guessed. “Should we ask her?”
“Clump is kind of stubborn. She didn’t even want to come here in the first place.”
“Well, she changed her mind in the end.”
“That still doesn’t mean we’re going to get a straight answer,” Smolder noted. This was something the trio was having a hard time figuring out Clump’s reason.
Soon, Spike had a question for Garble. “You sure you didn’t mishear him?” the youngest dragon spoke.
“Well, he did mutter something,” Garble admitted. “Though, I thought I heard him saying something about being a dragoness. Then again, I think Flicker might’ve been regretting her decision. Before we fell asleep, I saw she was still awake looking at her body.”
“I’d have second thoughts if I was in her position.”
“She’s probably not as stubborn as Clump,” Smolder noted. “Asking her opinion would be pretty easy.”
“Might as well get you something to eat,” Spike noted. “Twilight and I got up pretty early.” They all agreed to this idea and went back inside the castle to get some breakfast.
Spike stayed behind in the kitchen as Garble and Smolder went to check on the rest of the dragons, some of which were waking up. “Morning guys,” Garble said. “How are you feeling?”
Vex was the first one to be up and answer his friend’s question. “Pretty good,” he responded. “Still feels weird going from a boy to a girl then back to a boy.”
“Too true.” Garble looked over to Spear, who was stretching a little bit. “Spear, how about you?”
“What?” the purple and blonde drake questioned.
“You glad to be a drake again?” Smolder asked.
“Eh. I think I was probably not as bad as I thought. I’m fine.”
“Good for you.”
Garble scanned the room as Clump looked to be in deep thought while Beff looked towards Flicker. “Guys, how about you?” he asked. “Feeling better?”
“Ugh, yeah,” Clump responded quickly. “Feels good to be a drake again. Am I right Baff?”
“Yep,” the black and green drake responded. “Going to be glad when we get home.”
Flicker didn’t say much as she was hoping that nobody would ask her anything. However, Smolder walked over to her as she was still curious about her choice. “Flicker, Garble, and I have been curious about your choice,” the draconic student spoke. “Why’d you choose to stay a girl?” The white and pink dragoness jumped after Smolder asked her question.
Now everyone looking at her, and Flicker didn’t like that. “Um... Ugh...” She was starting to feel a little uncomfortable right now and Vex could see it.
“Maybe we should ask questions after we eat,” he suggested. “Is Spike cooking?”
“He is,” Garble confirmed.
“Yeah, I think my blood sugar is a little bit low,” Clump spoke. “I’m going to go see if he’s ready yet.” The big brown dragon walked out of the room, leaving some of the dragons like Spear and Baff a little confused.
“I’ll meet you guys in the map room,” Garble spoke.
“And I should probably get to the cafeteria,” Smolder added. She quickly flew off to get back to school, leaving Garble and his friends to get their breakfast.
Spike had just figured out what he’d prepare for the dragons. Just as he turned on the stove, Clump stormed in. “Hey, Spike,” he called, “How’s breakfast coming along?”
“...just started,” the young dragon responded. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.” The older drake let out an annoyed groaned as lied his head on the counter. Spike had been told that Clump was stubborn, but still, he tried to ask a question. “So, you want to talk about something?”
“Not sure what I have to tell.”
“Well, Garble said he heard you said you enjoyed being a dragoness. Though, he couldn’t confirm it.”
“...Spike, how tough do you think your body is?”
“I only want to know how you’re feeling.” Clump just grumbled as it was becoming clear that he wasn’t going to open up at the moment. Spike got back to work and was starting to add some ingredients together. As he went to the sink to get some water, he was surprised to see it was already filled up with water. Then Spike saw something floating in the water.
There seems to be a rubber ducky floating about with something sitting on it. To Spike’s surprise, it looked to be a tiny Discord, though he looked a bit different. His muzzle and horns were shorter than they should be (and that wasn’t because he was as big as an ant) and he had long white hair. It was pretty clear that Discord had switched genders like everyone did yesterday.
To add to this, the draconequus was wearing a swimsuit, since the sink was a swimming pool compared to her size. She looked up at Spike, who was used to tricks like this. “Morning, Discord,” the young dragon said.
The female draconequus looked up at her regular-sized friends. “Why hello, Spike,” Discord said. Her new voice sounded like a troublesome teenager, rather fitting. “I see you’re back to normal. How are you doing?”
“Rather well. I’m just about to make breakfast for some guests.”
“Well, save something for me.”
Clump was a little confused as he could hear Spike talking to someone, but didn’t see who was talking back. “Spike, are you okay?” he asked. “There’s... No one in here but me.”
“Oh, I beg to differ,” Discord stated. With a snap of her claws, she caused a flash and returned to her regular size. Pat was incredibly surprised when he saw the draconequus drying herself off with was most likely a dish towel. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the Lady of Chaos, Eris. Though I was originally called Discord.” Clump was a given a business card that had Discord... Or now Eris’s typical style.
The card looked like it was made of different cards that were cut up, drawn on with crayons and markers, and the text looked like each letter was cut out of multiple different magazines. “Uh-huh, Spike, catch me up to speed please?”
Spike started filling up his cup of water for the recipe while he explained who decided to show up. “Basically, Discord...”
“Eris,” the draconequus corrected.
“...Right. Ericart Withs is the lady of chaos and a resident in Ponyville. Though we had a bit of a... Rough start, we eventually got along. We even have a guy’s night.”
“I always remember to bring the fun.”
“...Right,” Clump commented. He couldn’t take his eyes off just how strange Eris looked. "So... You do stuff that makes brains give up?"
"Sometimes. Now, are you one of the dragons that are visiting? I've been wanting to talk to you, but then you suddenly turned into girls.”
“Uh-huh. Wait a minute, if you could make yourself the size of a pebble why did you try to change us back?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Eris grinned as Clump was now starting to get angry.
“Look, Eris, how about you come back later when I finish making breakfast?” Spike suggested. He was trying to defuse things before a fight broke out.
“Very well. I’ll be sure to bring the chocolate milk.” With a snap of her claw, Eris teleported away.
“Sorry about that. Eris really enjoys getting on creatures’ nerves.”
“No kidding. You’re seriously friends with her?”
“...It’s complicated.”
About half an hour later, Spike and Clump walked into the map room. The younger drake was pushing a cart with some tortilla wraps, gemstones, and various vegetables. “Sorry this took so long guys,” Spike apologized, “We had a bit of a setback. It’s a little hard to explain, just enjoy.” The dragons didn’t question what Spike was talking about and just took a look a the tortilla wraps.
After some explanation of how it worked, the dragons were soon making their breakfast burritos. After a few minutes, Garble then noticed something out of the ordinary. “Hey, Spike, where did that pink cloud come from?” he asked.
“Pink cloud?” Spike looked to where Garble was pointing and could see there was a pink cloud floating in the air. “Oh boy.” Suddenly, Eris poked her head out from underneath it.
“I told you I’d bring the chocolate milk,” the draconequus stated.
“Who is she?” Baff questioned.
“Eris,” Spike and Clump answered. The draconequus jumped down from the cloud and onto her feet. She snapped some empty glasses into existence. The dragons were very surprised by this.
“How did she do that?” Vex questioned.
“I guess that she just makes her own rules,” Clump admitted.
“You’re not wrong,” Eris confirmed. The pink cloud started raining chocolate milk, which Eris held the glasses underneath it to fill them up. “When you’re the pure being of chaos, rules are sometimes white noise to you. Chocolate milk anyone?” She held up the filled glasses to only have awkward silence in response. “Oh, come on. This is the best you can get.”
“I’ll take a glass,” Spike spoke. He quickly grabbed one, which made Eris smile. Since nobody else was wanting to speak up, she decided to.
“You know, I don’t know why you were so against befriending ponies. I mean, I became friends with Fluttershy.”
“That honestly doesn’t sound too likely,” Baff stated.
“I know. There’s a chance for you all. Speaking of friendship, where’s the princess?” As if on cue, Twilight teleported into the room with the purple diamond. She looked very tired. “Oh, I was just talking about you. How’s the gender fixing going?”
“It needs a new plan,” Twilight said bluntly. Spike gave the alicorn the glass of chocolate milk, to which the princess chugged down. Once she stopped, she explained what she had done. “Okay, so all my friends are back to normal, except for Dash and AJ. Gilda and Gabby are now going home and I soon started changing the other residence in Ponyville back. Once I got to Zecora, I only had gotten twelve percent of the town before I figured this was going to take forever.”
“How many did you change since you went off on your own?” Garble asked.
“Well, it’s been about an hour since we changed Sandbar and Gallus were changed back. Since then I changed only twelve percent of Ponyville. And that’s just one civilization in Equestria. There’s Canterlot, the Dragon Lands, Griffonstone, Appaloosa, the list goes on.”
“Isn’t there a faster way?” Smolder questioned. “What if we broke the diamond up like the hippogriffs’ pearl shards?”
“That’s a thing?” Spear questioned. Smolder nodded in confirmation.
“The diamond originally started as two pieces,” Twilight reminded. “When it was in half, we couldn’t get it to work.”
“But it turned purple when it was back together,” Baff stated. “Plus, don’t you have a ‘fix it’ spell? If that thing does lose power, then you could just zap it back together.”
“He’s got a point,” Spike commented. “Remember in the Crystal Empire when the heart shattered?”
Twilight thought before remembering that event. “Yeah,” she said. “You’re right. I’ve got to find Sunburst and Starlight.” The princess left the room with the diamond to find some help, leaving Eris and the dragons to their breakfast.
“So, what were you saying about a Crystal Empire?” Clump asked. Spike began to feel mentioning this location was a bad idea.
After the dragons had finished eating, Twilight brought Starlight, Sunburst, and the rest of the mane six into the map room. The dragons stood on the sidelines, with some of them a little confused that Eris had just vanished. It admittedly felt a little odd to have Rainbow Dash and Applejack being stallions now with their friends being mares again.
“Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?” AJ asked. “This can very easily go wrong.”
“I know that,” the princess responded. “That’s why I wanted to make sure there was a way to mend the diamond if we split it apart. Sunburst?”
The stallion was looking through a spellbook before he responded. “The spell we used for the Crystal Heart was a little bit different,” he admitted, “But with a few adjustments, it should work.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Garble asked.
“Then we’ll be responsible for thousands of angry creatures,” Starlight answered. “So, this needs to go off without a hitch.” Everyone could tell that the pressure was on.
Twilight held the diamond in the air for everyone to see. With some assistance from Rarity, who had a good eye for perfection, the diamond slowly started to split straight down the middle. Eventually, the diamond split clean in half, with both mares nearly dropping each half. They both kept their color. So far so good. “Now what?” Vex asked.
“Now, we test it,” Twilight commented.
“I’ll do it,” Pinkie said without hesitation. She was given one of the halves and started rubbing it like a genie’s lamp. With a flash just like the pearl shards, Pinkie had suddenly turned into a stallion. “It worked!” This made the creatures very happy. Pinkie soon changed herself back to a mare, then a stallion again. She kept this up until she stopped on a mare and Starlight took the diamond back.
“Okay, now that we know that they work just as well in halves,” Starlight spoke, “We can break them into more pieces to speed up the process.”
“Don’t we have to make sure we can still put it back together?” Fluttershy asked.
“That was for if the diamond lost its power,” Twilight stated. “Since both halves are still working, we won’t be needing it. Not yet anyway.” They soon repeated the splitting with the two halves and making them into quarters, then splitting them into eighths. Twilight tested one of the shards on herself and briefly turned herself into a stallion before changing back into a mare. “Alright. Now, we just need to plan out the map.”
The table in the center of the room lit up to show a map of Equestria. “Wait, it could do that the whole time?” Baff questioned. Spike and Smolder just nodded in confirmation. The ponies looked at the map and began planning out who would go where.
“Okay, so we have eight shards, so we have eight teams,” Sunburst commented.
“So, each team takes one direction?” Dash questioned. “One North, one South, etc.”
“Exactly,” Starlight confirmed. “AJ, you’re going to be heading South with Rarity. Dash, you’ll be a great fit for taking East.”
“What about us?” Spear questioned.
“Of course, you can tag along,” Pinkie stated. “You’ll get to meet a lot more creatures.”
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” AJ asked.
“Hey, we’ve learned,” Clump stated.
“Maybe we should have groups of four,” Vex suggested. It took a bit of planning as some of them were arguing who would go where and with who. Eventually, they decided there would be teams of three or four, each one taking a different direction. Twilight's team went north, Dash’s took east, AJ’s took south, and Rarity would be left with the west.
Before they took care of the rest of Equestria, they had to change everyone in Ponyville back to normal. Many of the ponies were a little wary about the dragons, but some of them like Garble and Vex were able to get on their good side as they were changed back to normal.
AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear soon found Filthy Rich, along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The two fillies were now colts and the stallion was a mare. Filthy Rich looked over to the team with the diamond shard and was quite surprised. “Applejack,” the mare said, “Nice to see you again. You’re still a stallion?”
“Yes,” the earth pony confirmed. “Firstly, it’s just AJ now, secondly, we’re changing everyone back to normal.”
“Change the colts back. They are the least happy about this.”
Fluttershy nodded and walked over to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. After a quick explanation, the two colts were changed back into fillies. Filthy Rich was surprised at what she saw but smiled knowing her daughter was female again. AJ was about to do the same thing on Filthy Rich, but the mare placed her hoof on the diamond before the stallion could use it.
“It’s kind of you to offer,” Filthy Rich spoke, “But I’m honestly happier like this.”
“...You are?” AJ questioned.
“Of course. You obviously wanted to stay like this. You would’ve changed back by now, right?”
“You... Have a point. It’s just I thought Dash and I would be the only ones that wanted to stay like this.”
“I think Diamond needs a better mother figure in her life. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
AJ thought about the mother that Diamond Tiara had, who lived up to her name of being spoiled from experience. “I understand.” He placed the diamond shard away as Fluttershy walked back to them with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “We should get going now. A lot of things to fix.”
“Then we won’t keep you any longer. Good luck.” AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear soon walked away to help with other ponies, leaving Filthy Rich with the fillies.
“So, are we not going to question the dragon that was with them?” Silver Spoon asked.
“We were colts less than thirty seconds ago,” Diamond Tiara stated, “I don’t want to ask any more questions.”
“Then how about we have some girl time?” Filthy Rich asked. Judging by the giggling from her daughter, Diamond and her friend looked to be excited to have some fun now.
“What is her mom like?” Spear asked.
“I think it’s a touchy subject,” Fluttershy answered. “Still, I’m glad they're happy.”
After a while, the creatures met up at the train station. While they were waiting for the train, they chatted about the ponies they had changed back. “So, did anyone else want to stay the way they were?” AJ asked.
“Bulk Biceps wanted to stay a mare,” Dash informed.
“What kind of oats was that girl eating?” Garble questioned.
“I honestly have no clue. Anyways, all the Wonderbolts are back to normal.”
“So are the Cakes,” Pinkie added. “And the Apple Family are already taken care of.”
“Then we’ve changed Ponyville back to normal,” Twilight confirmed. “Now we just need to take care of the rest of Equestria. So much for the easy part. Everyone still remembered the plan?” Everyone confirmed the direction their team would take. They each boarded different trains that were heading in different directions.
“You know, I wished we used the train rather than just fly from here to the Dragon Lands,” Clump admitted.
“Yeah, that would’ve been nice,” Vex admitted. They got on the train that was heading West which left a couple of minutes later. It took a couple of minutes but everyone got on the train they needed and continued with fixing the rest of Equestria.
Heading West, Clump looked at the diamond shard and he was debating something with himself. While he did that, Vex and Rarity walked about the towns they would have to change back. “There are a lot of towns just heading West,” Vex spoke. “You think that just two shards will be enough?”
“If we break them up anymore, we’ll practically lose the diamonds,” Rarity stated. “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Besides, I know some are kind of liking this, most are wanting to go back to normal.” Rarity looked at the shard she had before looking over to Clump, who was still muttering to himself. “Are you okay dear?”
“I’m fine,” Clump stated. “Mind your own business. We’ve got like a million creatures to fix.” Vex noticed that his friend was holding the diamond shard rather tightly.
“Clump, what’s wrong?” Vex questioned.
“I’m being dragged into this and...”
“No, I mean the diamond. You look like you don't want to let go of it.” Clump looked at the shard he held and struggled to find his words.
“Ugh... Well... The princess wouldn’t want us to lose this and it could... Probably fall into the wrong claws.”
Vex and Rarity both looked at each other as they could tell he was lying through his teeth. “Do you want to change?” Rarity asked.
“What? No! I didn’t want to be a dragoness. Why do you think I want to be like that?”
“...I didn’t say that kind of change.”
Clump blushed. “Garble told me about what he heard,” Vex explained. “You enjoyed being a dragoness?”
The big drake tried to defend himself, but he couldn’t think of a valid excuse. “Okay, fine, it just felt okay to me,” he retorted. “I might not be a fan of dressing up, but it just felt... Right. You know what I mean?”
“Maybe that’s why Flicker stayed the way she was. Clump why didn’t you say anything?”
“What was I supposed to say? I’d like being a chick more than a guy?”
Rarity and Vex both thought about this phrase. “That seems very accurate,” Rarity commented. Clump brought his claws to his face and groaned with frustration.
“Why do you ponies have to make emotions so complicated? I mean... I wanted to be a drake again and when I did I had second thoughts. Why is this never easy?!” Clump banged his head again the wall of the coach, almost damaging it in the process.
“Look, Clump, I know you’re confused right now,” Vex spoke. “Frankly, I don’t blame you. We have a gemstone that can change anyone’s gender at any time they want. We’re no exception to that.” Rarity looked a little confused by this claim, to which Vex blushed.
“You too?”
“Hey, she made a dress just for me. It just feels like a waste if I went back to being a drake.”
“I see,” Rarity commented.
“I hope the others aren’t having a struggle like this,” Clump muttered.
The team heading east consisted of Dash, Garble, Baff, and Flicker. One of their stops was in Manehattan. Given the size of the city, the team split into two duos, one was Dash and Flicker, and the other was Garble and Baff. Flicker didn’t have too much trouble with Dash, as the stallion had been to the big city before. Garble and Baff however would have a harder time.
The ponies weren’t used to seeing dragons, not to mention the whole gender thing wasn’t helping. Still, the visiting dragons managed to make some progress. During this, Garble decided to chat with his friend with something on his mind. “So, which creatures do you think are going to stay the way they are?” Garble asked.
“Honestly, I’m going back and forth if Dragon Lord Ember would stay as a drake,” Baff admitted. “You seen what most dragonesses do right?”
“Yeah, I could honestly mistake her as drake. You know if she was still a girl.”
“I get that. I honestly still have a hard time understanding Flicker staying as a girl.”
“Maybe she enjoyed being one more than a drake. I mean, you know how I felt when I revealed my liking to poetry.”
“So, you’re saying she grew a liking to pony activities.”
“Exactly. It wouldn’t surprise me. She and Fluttershy were getting along pretty well.”
“I would say so,” said another voice. Both drakes jumped when they saw they saw Eris appeared out of nowhere. “So, how the repair process going?”
“...Better than we expected,” Garble admitted. “When did you get here?”
“That’s not important. What is important is what you want to be with those diamonds.”
“What are you... No,” Baff spoke. He started picking up on what Eris was talking about. “Hey, we’re drakes and we’re staying that way.”
“Are you sure? I could’ve sworn you liked being girls. Your face was a lot smoother and I loved your spines.”
“Eris, we know you like us better like that,” Garble said, “Though I’m a little afraid to find out how long you’ve been watching us. Baff is back to his old self and I think he, and a lot of other creatures, want to stay that way.”
“Eh, it’s your loss. I love my new look.”
“Good for you,” Baff said. The tone of his voice sounded like he was done with the draconequus. He flew off to find more ponies to change back. He and Garble carried on for a while until Garble spoke up.
“I did kind of enjoy being a dragoness,” he admitted.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, before the wave happened, Rarity took me, Smolder, and Spike to the spa. It felt nice. You really could’ve used a trip. Not as good as a lava bath, but it’s still great.”
“Uh-huh. I’ll take your word for it.” After walking then changing a couple more ponies, Garble brought up another topic.
“So, what do you think about AJ’s family?
“You mean those farm ponies?”
“Yeah, I think some of us didn’t get on their good sides.” Baff could tell what his friend was talking about.
“You know we didn’t even want to be there.”
“While that’s true, I think it would best if you apologized. Spike said it was probably the best thing you could do before we left Ponyville.”
“We’re going to be in the Dragon Lands by then.”
“Then the diamond will still be in at least three pieces. You want to leave it to someone who can change us to girls at any time they want?” Baff had a feeling this was pretty unlikely. Then again, he wouldn’t want to become a dragoness against his will again.
Eris soon appeared beside them as if she had been walking with the drakes the whole time. “Your friend has a point,” Eris noted. This sudden appearance startled both of them.
“Are you trying to get burned?!” Baff questioned.
“I’m just wanting to know if you would go girls again.” In an attempt to get her to shut up, Baff activated the diamond shard and changed Eris back into Discord, much to the draconequus’s disappointment. “Aw.”
Garble held his friend back to make sure things didn’t get worse. “How about you leave us alone until we fix Equestria?” he suggested.
“Fine. Do what you want.” Garble gave a thumbs up before dragging Baff away to find more ponies. Discord sulked as he looked at a reflective building. “In hindsight, I should’ve seen this coming.”
AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear had stopped for lunch in Appaloosa to have a nice chat with Braeburn and Little Strongheart, who had just been returned to their normal genders. “So, how have you felt hanging around ponies?” Strongheart asked.
“I can say it’s been a unique experience,” Spear admitted. “Can’t remember the last time I felt so alive.”
Braeburn looked over to his cousin and couldn’t help but speak up. “I can’t be the only one thinking it’s weird that AJ is...”
“Yes, Braeburn,” AJ interrupted. “It’s something that most ponies and other creatures are having a weird time. Dash and I are staying this way because what kind of gender we were didn’t matter to us. Plus, we’re much stronger and faster now, and for our jobs, that’s a big help.”
“I wasn’t saying I was against it,” Braeburn noted, “It’s just a lot to take in.”
“How did you all cope once you were hit by the wave?” Fluttershy asked.
“Probably the same as anyone else,” Strongheart admitted, “We freaked out.”
“Well, you’re back to normal now,” Spear said. “It’s not like Flicker.” This confused the stallion and buffalo. AJ and Fluttershy helped fill them in with what had happened in Ponyville.
“Hmm, interesting. Well, if that’s the way she wants it, I say let her have it.”
Spear didn’t have a valid argument for this. He did find he had a better time enjoying himself while he was a dragoness. He couldn’t put into words how he felt about it. He kept quiet as their lunch continued.
Back with Vex and Clump, Rarity had decided to use the diamond shard to change them back into girls while they helped the ponies in Cloudsdale. “How are you feeling?” the mare asked.
“Strangely, a bit better,” Vex, now Vixen, admitted. She held her claws together as she blushed a little bit.
Clump, now Pat, didn’t answer the question. Instead, she was curious about the fact the city they were in was floating on clouds. “So, does everyone here fly?” she asked.
“Most likely,” Rarity informed. “I doubt they would have an easier time to get around without flight.” They were about to move to the next area when Rarity could see there weren’t any more clouds to walk on. Just before she could think about looking for something like a balloon, Vixen picked her up and carried her to the next batch of clouds. “Oh, thank you, Vicky.”
The dragoness just smiled as she placed the mare down. They carried on for a while until they came across a green mare with a blonde mane that was tied in a bun. “Rarity!” she cheered. She quickly ran up to her and the dragoness, though the trio was a little confused. “Look, I know you and I haven’t gotten along very well in the past, but I couldn’t use one of those ‘fix everything’ beams. You think you and Flutters could fire that up for me?”
The fashion mare pondered for a second until she understood who it was. “Zephyr?” she questioned. The stallion turned mare blushed as she nodded. The dragons still didn’t understand who it was and were even more confused when Rarity burst out into laughter.
“Are we missing something here?” Pat questioned.
Through several gasps of air, Rarity managed to find her words. “I’m sorry...” She wheezed, “But you would laugh too... If you knew... Who this mare was...” Rarity kept laughing as Vixen used the diamond to change Zephyr back into a stallion.
Eventually, the East team had made it to Griffonstone. After walking from the station to the city, they were swarmed by a bunch of griffons. Nearly every single one of them was begging to be changed back to normal. Dash and the dragons were having a hard time focusing to make the shards function. Eventually, Baff lost his temper and let out a roar with a blaze of fire breath.
This frightened the griffs and they scattered like mice, giving the group plenty of elbow room. “Okay, so that solves that problem,” Baff said. “Now we just have to find them again. Sorry guys.”
“Nah, I probably would’ve done something like what you did,” Dash admitted. “Let’s just split up.” Garble and Dash went with each other, leaving Baff to team up with Flicker. This gave the drake the perfect time to talk with his friend.
“So... What made you want to stay a dragoness?” Flicker didn’t respond at first as she couldn’t put it into words. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t like your choice. I just wanted to know the reason.”
Thinking for a moment, Flicker found her voice. “I liked the pony traditions more than the dragon ones,” she admitted. “I mean... You heard that story of how one of the dragon lords was dethroned.”
“Yeah, I know. Honestly, I don’t believe that one.”
“Okay. But how many times has Torch just yelled orders at us? Like “cry for me” or “cheer!” I honestly felt kind of scared when he did that.”
“Got to agree, broken eardrums are probably something you don’t want to give to your subjects.”
“Spike and the ponies were so nice to us, even you.”
“That’s true. Probably should’ve thought better than anger the creatures that are trying to help us.”
“Well, you’re back normal now. It’s a shame, you looked kind of cute as a dragoness.”
“Cute?”
“I like your spines. Plus, I think Spike joked about you being in eye shadow.”
Baff gave a fake laugh before being serious. “Tell him not to push his luck.”
As they chatted about changes, Dash and Garble started near the end of Griffonstone. After changing some griffons back, they came across Grandma Gruff, who was still accompanied by the fledgling she met the day before. “Oh, boy,” the rainbow stallion sighed. “Here we go.” He and Garble walked closer to the elderly griffon.
“There you are,” Gruff wheezed. “You how come you changed Gilda and Gabby back before us.”
“Because we were in the same location at the time. Do you want to be a guy again or should we just skip you?”
“Just change this nice fledgling back.” This confused Dash a little bit.
“So, you want to stay the way you are?” Garble asked. Grandma Gruff simply nodded. Not questioning it, Garble used the diamond shard to change the young fledgling back to a boy. He was overjoyed and flew around in the air in excitement.
“Welp, you fix that young lad. Now get lost!” Garble was a little shocked from the outburst as Dash quickly dragged him away. When they were out of eyesight, they didn’t see the fledgling land and hug Grandma Gruff, who simply smiled in response.
“Is she always like that?” Garble questioned.
“There’s a reason why her name is Gruff,” Dash responded. “As they carried on, they found Gilda and Gabby, who were at the bakery with another griffon known as Greta, who was waiting to be a girl again.
“Hey, you made it,” Gilda said. “Our friend would...”
“Yeah, we know the drill.” Dash made the diamond shine and Greta quickly changed back to normal.
“Ah, finally,” Greta sighed. “That didn’t feel right.”
“Sorry for leaving you on your own,” Gabby apologized. “We got a bit sidetracked looking for the cure.”
“No, I understand. Anyways, we’re normal now.”
“Hey, random question,” Dash spoke, “How long has Gruff been like that?” He points over to Grandma Gruff, who didn’t know she was being watched as she looked to be happy with the young fledgling.
“No clue,” Gilda admitted. “At least she’s acting nicer to some griffs. Still progress.”
“Better than she was before. Come on Garb, we’ve still got work to do.”
It felt like it took an hour, and Dash and Garble were starting to get tired. “I hope Baff and Flicker are pulling their weight,” Garble sighed.
“Yeah, where are they?” Dash questioned. They wandered around for a little while until they heard some familiar voices.
“I can’t believe you convinced me to do this,” groaned a female’s voice.
“You do look cuter,” said another one. Curious, the drake and stallion went to investigate and found Flicker and Baff looking in a mirror. Baff had switched back to being Beff, though she looked like she was having second thoughts about this.
“My face does look a lot smoother,” she admitted.
Garble and Dash were quite surprised by this and went to investigate. “Baff?” the drake questioned, “Why did you switch to a girl again?”
The dragoness jumped a little bit from her friends approaching them. “Gar... Garble...” She stuttered. She quickly grabbed her shard and switch back to a drake. “Did you... Fix the last of the griffons?”
"Uh, we think so," Dash responded. "Why were you...?"
"Look, Flicker talked me into it. Let's just finish up here and get to the Dragon Lands." Nobody questioned Baff's choice and just went to finish up with Griffonstone.
Ember looked across the dragon lands. Many dragons big and small were still angry with their condition and the Dragon Lord was getting tired of it. Just before he was about to take off, he heard some wings flapping and they were getting closer. Looking towards the noise, Ember could see the East team coming in for a landing.
"Okay, this should be the last stop," Garble commented. They were about to walk around until Ember approached them.
"Please, tell me you found a cure," he begged. He was shown the two shares the team had with them. Garble made his shard glow and Ember could feel his body change in the blink of an eye. When the glowing stopped, Ember looked at her body to see she was a dragoness again. "Alright!"
"We would've been here sooner," Garble admitted, "We were busy helping other creatures out."
"Understandable, just please help take care of the rest of the dragons. Nearly all of them have complained about what was going on."
"We're on it," Baff spoke. Ember helped lead the team around the Dragon Land to help all the dragons that wanted to be themselves again. There were a couple of exceptions to this like Billy and Barry, who both had confused Ember.
"Why not?"
"Because," Barry said, "I like the look of my spines now." She gave her spines a brush with her claw to try and restyle them.
"You do look nice," Flicker admitted.
"Thank you."
"I have similar preferences to Barry," Billy admitted. "You could check with Ballista though. He wants to be a dragoness again."
"Kay, got it," Dash responded. Just before they took off, another dragon approached them.
"Dragon Lord Ember," he said, "There are ponies here to talk with you."
"Ponies?" Ember and Garble questioned.
"That must be the others," Garble commented.
"You keep going," Ember ordered, "I'm going to see what they're doing here." Ember left the East team, who carried on with their work.
"You know, I'm kind of worried about some of the full-grown dragons," Flicker admitted.
"Yeah, especially our parents," Baff agreed.
Ember followed the dragon that approached her and could see Twilight, Spike, and Smolder approaching them. “Hey, Ember,” Spike spoke.
“Hey,” the dragon lord responded. The other dragon was excused so Ember could chat with the visitors. “What are you doing here?”
“We were checking to see if the East team arrived here yet,” Twilight answered.
“They’re working with the dragons as we speak. By the way, have you met any other creatures that didn’t want to change back?”
“AJ and Rainbow were some of them,” Spike informed.
“Oh, so that’s why he and Fizzle aren’t themselves. I honestly thought the diamond was defective.”
“That’s also another reason we’re here,” Twilight admitted. “We have a spell that can put the diamond back together. With magical items like this, we don’t want them falling into the wrong hands.”
“Uh-huh. I could see some dragons using these diamonds mostly as jokes. Wonder what happens when you eat one.”
“Let’s not find out,” Spike suggested.
“Fine then. Last question, what is Smolder doing here?”
“I just came here to say bye to Garble,” Smolder explained. “Where is he?” The Dragon Lord pointed in the direction where she last saw the said drake. Smolder thanked her and flew away.
The young dragoness eventually caught up with her brother, who looked to be in a deep conversation with Baff. “It just boggles my mind,” Baff admitted.
“Well, since we know how it works can’t we keep going back and forth?” Garble questioned. Smolder was a little confused, so when she landed she joined in with the conversation.
“What’s going on guys?” she asked. Both drakes looked over to the student, both quite surprised.
“Smolder, when did you get here?”
“Just now. What are you guys talking about?”
“Baff is a little conflicted whether he’ll stay as a drake or a dragoness.” The blake and green dragon blushed and was embarrassed.
“Garble, shut up!” he cried.
Smolder had already heard enough. “So, you’re just like Flicker?” she asked.
Baff groaned. “Yeah. I don’t know why, but I did feel and look better when I was a girl. You can’t tell me that diamond didn’t mess with our heads.”
“Dude, calm down,” Garble said.
“Oh, don’t even bother. If I choose to be a dragoness or not, dragons are going mess with me.”
“Look, Baff, whatever you choose, you know we’ll back you up.”
The drake took a deep breath before responding. “Thanks, Garb. I really needed that.”
“You’re not the only one who’s been conflicted between this,” Smolder informed, “Spike told me he was going back and forth since Rarity made that dress just for him.”
“I thought he’d be like that,” Garble commented. “He does hang around Rarity.”
“Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. Did you say you could go back and forth?”
“Yeah, that’s what I think, though I think Baff is referring to what he would usually stay as.”
“Either way, it’s a loose situation,” Baff stated.
Smolder thought about this for a minute before she spoke up. “Maybe you should as the rest of your friends’ opinions,” she suggested.
“Then let’s ask Spike.” The brother and sister flew back to where the visitors were. Baff sighed and slowly walked after them.
When they got back to Ember, they could see that AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear had arrived. Ember was actually talking with them, sounding rather surprised. “I really thought that Thorax would stay as a girl,” the Dragon Lord admitted.
“I thought so too,” Fluttershy agreed, “He’d be a great parental figure. Though, he said that he knew you’d want to be a dragoness again, so he must’ve changed back for you.”
Before Ember could respond to this, Smolder, Garble, and Baff approached her. “Excuse us, Dragon Lord Ember,” Garble spoke, “We need an opinion.”
“What is it?” Ember asked.
“It’s about Baff and the diamond.”
“He’s having a hard time choosing?” AJ asked.
“Nobody asked you farm horse,” Baff spoke, “When did you even get here?”
“About two minutes ago. Should we be involved with this?”
“I would say no,” Spear commented. He literally shoved AJ and Fluttershy out of the conversation until the Dragon Lord stopped him.
“Let them speak,” she said.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy said. She approached Baff and was ready to give words of encouragement. “Listen, Baff, if you want to go through this change, I say you should do it no matter what others say about it. If it makes you happy, you should do it.”
“I’m with Flutters on this one,” AJ agreed. “I’m perfectly happy with being a stallion, and I’m sure you’ll be happy with what you choose.” Spike simply gave a thumbs up to approve what his friends said. Some footsteps could be heard and the creatures looked over to see Rarity, Pat, and Vixen approaching them.
“You know, maybe we should visit Las Pegasus again,” Vixen suggested.
“I’ll be sure to bring the gemstones,” Pat said.
“Just make sure that you don’t get carried away,” Rarity warned. They could see their friends grouped up and decided to join them. “Oh, I see you’ve beaten us here. How are the creatures you’ve met.”
“Almost everyone is back to normal,” Garble answered. “Dash and Flicker are working on the other dragons as we speak.”
“We should probably finish up too,” Spike suggested.
“He’s right,” Twilight commented. “Let’s finish what we started.” This would take just as long as it did in Ponyville, though the dragons would prove to be a little more difficult. During this, Baff wanted to address the elephant in the room with Pat and Vixen.
“When did you two change back?” the drake questioned.
“Rarity managed to convince us before we got to Cloudsdale,” Pat explained. “It’s a floating city. Kind of cool.”
“We went back and forth with it, but I think I like myself better this way,” Vixen admitted. “Besides, there are still those outfits back in Ponyville made just for us.”
“That’s true,” Baff agreed. “I think... I might go back to being a dragoness.”
“Good for you, Baff.”
While they carried on, Garble had a question for Spear. “Hey, do you think we should switch back if Baff’s going to stick as a dragoness?” the draconic poet asked.
“If it completes the look,” Spear responded. “I don’t want to be the only boy in a group of girls. Unless one of them is a girlfriend.”
“I wouldn’t hold your breath on that.” They carried on, changing dragons back one by one. It was a bit tedious, and there were a couple of surprises with what dragons didn’t want to switch back. When it was finally over, Twilight had them all bring their shards of the diamond so she could cast the spell to bring them back into one big piece. It was kind of hard since she was doing it by herself and at first, they were worried it was stuck in shards until the seems each flashed and the diamond was in one piece again.
Baff took a deep breath before he stepped forward. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered. He stepped forward to talk with Twilight, who looked to be confirming something with Spike. “Alright, just change me into a dragoness so I can get this feeling off my chest.”
Twilight understood Baff’s decision and was ready to switch him to her until she saw Garble and Spear walk beside him. “You too?” the princess questioned.
“We might as well join the party,” Spear spoke.
“I’m with Spear, we might as well complete the picture.”
Twilight simply smiled. “Then I think you’re good friends for that,” she claimed. “Spike?”
“Yep. Last chance,” the young drake responded. He got beside Garble and his friends, who were a little confused.
“Why’d you want to change back?” Garble asked.
“Pinkie joked about me making a good tomboy. I’m pretty sure that’s a good definition for your friends too.” Garble chuckled at this as they looked at the diamond, which Twilight was floating in the air. With a bright flash, the four drakes were back to dragonesses. Spike and Baff blushed a little bit from the change.
“This might take a while to get used to,” Ember admitted.
“Try being related to one of them,” Smolder whispered. She walked over to her brother turned sister.
“So, what do you think it’ll be like having a sister?” Garnette questioned.
“I’m pretty sure that things won’t change too much.” The two siblings shared a laugh as they shared a hug.
Flicker was amazed at what her friends had done. She watched Dart started stretching while Beff brushed her spines out of her vision. She nearly jumped when she heard Pat speak to her.
“So how does a feel having all of us as girls?” Pat questioned.
Flicker held her claws together before replying. “It’s good,” she said meekly. She twiddled with her claws before speaking again. “You wanted to do this?”
“I was against it at first, the Vicky helped change my mind.”
“You all look much more beautiful darlings,” Rarity commented.
Vixen looked over at Beff, whose spines were like hair now. “She’s not wrong,” Vixen spoke.
“As much as we wish we could stay, we should get going.” This discounted a couple of the dragons, especially Smolder and Garnette.
“Hey, cheer up,” Barb spoke. “You can always come and visit us.”
“Yeah, just remind us to use the train,” Pat spoke.
“Will do.” Barb then flew up to Garnette to give one more bit of information. “Let me know you want to head to the spa.” The older dragoness gave a thumbs up.
“Well, we’ll see you again, Gar-Gar,” Smolder said.
“Yeah, see you soon sis,” Garnette said. Barb and Smolder joined the ponies as they made their way out of the dragon lands.
Once they were out of sight, Ember was the first to speak. “You girls can do what you want now,” the Dragon Lord spoke, “I’m going to do a quick check to see if there’s any dragon that needs attention.”
Ember flew away, leaving Garnette and her gang by themselves. “So... Now what?” Dart questioned.
Pat smiled as she had a suggestion, “Wanna take a dip in lava?” she asked. The group of friends all agreed on this as it would help them feel at home. Along the way to the lava pits, they began talking about what the future would be like.
“So, how many other dragons are going to visit Ponyville?” Vixen asked.
“Depends on their behavior,” Baff spoke. “I mean, we were forced to go there by Dragon Lord orders.”
“I think Billy and Barry will have a good chance of going there,” Garnette said. “I mean they could get pillows while they were there.”
“Again, totally get what that guy was going for.”
“You know we saw some cool places like where the hippogriffs live,” Dart spoke. “AJ told me they have this pearl that can change creatures into sea animals.”
“No way,” Pat responded.
“We are girls now,” Beff noted, “So it’s not too far-fetched.”
“Alright, just let me know when you find a gem that can turn us into hatchlings.” The friends continued their conversation even when they made it to the lava pools. It was clear that the dragons were much nicer thanks to their interaction with the ponies.
Later that evening, Twilight and Barb had returned to Canterlot. “This was an interesting couple of days,” Barb commented.
“No kidding,” Twilight agreed. “At least it’s over now.”
“Yeah. Plus we still have that diamond. We can switch whenever we want.” Twilight nodded as she picked up the diamond placed it on a pedestal followed by covering a glass casing. As a last good measure, she inserted her horn into a slot on the front of the pedestal, making a magical lock. “There, now it’s secure. Back to regular business.” The alicorn and dragon walked away leaving the diamond in its new home.
Author's Note
Thank you to everyone who read this story, and special thanks to Gregory Griffon , who helped edit these chapters. If you want to pick what you want to see next, check out this blog.
Author's Note
Okay, I know some of you might be thinking, didn’t you already try this idea for your first story? I’m glad you brought that up. I wanted to do this story so I could try and improve on that story. I was only like fifteen when I wrote it and didn’t have that much experience. Plus, for an anniversary story, what better story would there be other than the first story I posted on FiMfiction. Not to mention I think it’ll help see how far I’ve come as a writer. Hopefully, I just won’t make this a complete redo of Drake to Dragoness, but I will try my hardest. Now, with the elephant out of the room, let’s begin.
A Visit to Ponyville
It was another normal day in the Dragon Lands, some dragons were flying around doing their things. Hunting for gems, bathing in lava, or Garble’s case, practicing poetry. He was playing his bongos as he tried thinking of some rhymes. “Hobbies, fear, bullying, reveal,” Garble chanted, as he drummed himself a beat and somebody landed beside him.
“Garble,” called a voice. The drake stopped and looked to see Dragon Lord Ember standing beside him.
“Oh, Dragon Lord Ember. What’s up?”
“I had a bit of a favor to ask. Princess Twilight has asked for some dragons to visit Ponyville. Since creatures are starting to live better in harmony, Twilight thought it would be a good idea for some to get to know each other’s culture.”
“So, you want me to go to Ponville.”
“Yes, with five other dragons. I was wondering if you had any in mind.”
“...You know, I think I know five that would be good to visit Ponyville.”
“Great. Spike will be here tomorrow to help guide you to Ponyville. Tell the dragons that are going to meet up at the cliff edge.”
“Got it.”
“Great. Let me know if you need any other information. Thanks for the help.” Ember took off to take care of business. Garble placed his bongos and outfit away so he could fly off and find the five dragons that were on his mind.
To his luck, he would find the five sitting in a pool of lava. There was a purple one that had blonde hair-like spines that covered his eyes, another one was purple too but he had a bit of an underbite. There was a brown dragon with blue stubby horns who looked quite overweight, another dragon had white and pink scales, and the last dragon was black with green scales and shaggy hair-like spines. These dragons were known as Spear, Vex, Clump, Fizzle, and Baff, respectively.
“Hey, guys,” Garble called. He walked over to the dragons in the lava pool.
“Hey, Garble,” Spear said. “Sit and join us.” Garble stepped into the pool of lava and sat back to relax.
"So, Ember asked me something that involves you guys. She wanted me to ask to take some dragons to Ponyville."
"That place?" Baff questioned.
"Hey, we've helped them out before. Plus I'm interested in seeing my sister again."
"I could use a change in scenery," Fizzle admitted. "I like this place as much as you guys, but the most colorful thing I see around here are the gems we eat in seconds."
"Yeah, Fizz is right," Vex agreed. "I'd like to see something new."
"Ugh, do you guys want to leave this place?" Clump questioned. "Where else can you find lava pools?"
"Yeah, not to mention that those ponies sing way too much," Spear added.
"You know I do poetry right?" Garble questioned.
"Well, you use it in moderation," Baff said. "Ember says they just break out into song when they have something to celebrate. At least that's what Ember said."
"Maybe we should find out for ourselves."
"Do we have to?" Clump groaned.
"I'm up for something new," Fizzle said.
"I'll only go if there isn't too much singing," Baff spoke.
"Same," Spear said.
"I might as well go too," Vex shrugged.
"Great," Garble said, "I'll let Ember know. Just as soon as I’m done here.” Garble laid back and relaxed in the lava pool with his friends. He began zoning out and while he wasn’t in a way where he couldn’t drown his friends’ conversation.
“I’m not a hundred percent on this,” Baff said.
“Me neither,” Spear said. “How do we know this isn’t a trap?”
“I don’t think that would make sen...” Fizzle was interrupted by Vex.
“What reason would they have to trick us?” Vex questioned. Three of the dragons gave their theories but they didn’t quite make sense. “I’m saying we should go for it.”
“Right,” Fizzle agreed.
“Okay, fine,” Baff grumbled.
“Look, if they started messing with us, we can always just get them back,” Vex said. “Or you know, we just leave.”
“If that does happen, I’m taking the most expensive things they have,” Clump said.
“Yeah,” Spear agreed, “They better have some gemstones.”
Ember was watching them from afar, let out a frustrated sigh. “I knew it was going to be like this,” she grumbled. “Maybe I should just found around Smolder’s age.”
The next day, Ember and Garble’s gang were standing by the cliff waiting for Spike to show up. “Come on,” Clump grumbled. “Where is that pipsqueak.”
“Hey, give him a minute,” Ember ordered. The Dragon Lord could tell that the dragons were getting impatient. She looked out at the horizon and could see something small and purple getting closer. She could see that thing had some green spines and wings. “There he is.”
Spike came flying towards the cliff and landed on it before walking up to Ember. “Sorry I took so long,” he apologized. “I’m not quite used to flying such long distances.” It also didn’t help that he wore a backpack that had a map of Equestria and a compass inside.
“You’ll get used to that.”
“Can we get going now?” Spear questioned.
“Just hold on,” Spike said. “I need to catch my breath.”
“We want to get this over with,” Baff said. “Garble, can’t you carry them?”
“Um, I think so,” the red dragon replied.
“Great,” Spear said. Without warning, he picked Spike up and gave him to Garble. One by one, the dragons started taking off with Garble being the last one as he had to make sure Spike wouldn’t fall off his back.
“See you Ember!” the young dragon called as he flew away.
“Good luck!” the Dragon Lord replied. As they flew out of sight, Ember sighed to herself. “Really should’ve gone to some of the younger ones.”
Garble quickly flew to the front of his gang, so Spike could lead the way to Ponyville. The young dragon grabbed his compass from his bag and checked it. “We need to head North West,” he declared. Spike pointed in the direction they needed to go and Garble led the way.
Along the way, Garble could hear some muttering from his friends. However, due to their speed, they were going as he couldn’t quite make it out. Still, he kept his focus and listened to Spike’s directions, and led his gang towards Ponyville. The trip took much longer than any of them expected and eventually some of the dragons were getting bored.
Eventually, Spear and Clump flew down to the ground. Spike saw what they were doing and looked surprised and frustrated. “Garble, land here,” he requested. The drake was confused until he saw his friends landing. He led the gang down to the ground to land and rest.
Once they landed, Garble let Spike off his back so he could run over to his friends. “Guys, what are you doing?” he questioned.
“We’re tired from flying,” Clump said. He then sat down and crossed his arms.
“Come on,” Spike grumbled, “We’re so close to Ponyville.”
“Just how close?” Baff asked. “Feet or miles?” Spike did his best to keep his cool as these dragons were having an easy time getting on his nerves.
“Okay, we can have a little break. Five minutes, but that’s it. We can’t keep the others waiting.”
“Others?” Fizzle questioned.
“Yeah, my friends. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy.”
“Great,” Spear grumbled. “Ponies with dumb sounding names.”
“You’re named after a weapon.”
“That makes me cool.” Spike figured it would be best not to argue with Spear. Spear meanwhile just started looking around for anything to eat. As luck would have it, there was a pink diamond lying on the ground. “Sweet.” When he picked it up, he was surprised at how big the gemstone was. It was almost as big as Spike’s head.
“Dude,” Clump gasped. “Split that thing open.”
“You sure about that?” Baff asked. “There’s no way we can split it evenly.”
“Maybe we have some tools in Ponyville that could help with that,” Spike said.
“No way,” Spear scoffed, “I can split this thing right now.”
“It kind of looks like it’s already been split,” Baff commented. He pointed to the top of the diamond, while it looked flat there were a couple of sharp parts still visible.
“You think this used to be bigger?” Clump asked.
“Probably.”
“You know what I think?” Spike asked, “We can figure this out while we’re in Ponyville.”
“Spike’s right,” Garble commented. “We should keep going.” The dragons simply groaned from this.
“Look, the sooner we get to Ponyville the sooner you can have your snack.” Spike took the pink diamond from the dragon and placed it in his backpack.
“Hey!” Spear cried.
“You want this? You’ll have to catch me.” Spike quickly took off now that he had caught his breath while the rest of the dragons began to chase him. Garble sighed as he began to follow them.
Because they wanted to get their diamond, the dragons wouldn’t let Spike get away so easily. Feeling like this was a bad idea, Spike picked up the pace to keep ahead of them. Luckily for the little dragon, he had plenty of energy while the other dragons were still a little tired from flying for so long. Still, it would be a while before they got to Ponyville.
In Ponyville, Smolder was sitting outside of the School of Friendship. She was feeling pretty excited as Ocellus walked up to her. “What are you waiting for?” the changeling asked.
"I heard Spike is coming here with my brother and some other dragons," Smolder explained.
"Which one was your brother again?"
"Yeah, that's him. I can't wait to see him again."
"What's your brother like?"
"Well, he's got a secret love for poetry though... He hid it by acting like a bully."
"Oh. Is he doing better?"
"Of course."
"I guess it's kind of like your secret of dressing up."
"Yeah. So, he should be here soon."
"Is that him?" Ocellus pointed to the sky and could see Spike and the rest of the dragons flying towards them at incredible speeds. Spike nearly crashed landed as he flew down. Once he was on the ground, he quickly hid behind Smolder just before the rest of the dragons landed.
"Alright you purple pip-squeak," Spear said, "Give us our diamond!"
“Smolder, I had a bad idea,” Spike said frightened, “Help.”
“I’ve got your back,” the dragoness said. She flew up to Spear’s face and looked him dead in the eye. “Listen here, Spike is not only my friend but also the assistant to the princess of Equestria. So if you don’t want to have a life-risking punishment, I’d back off!”
Spear listened to her, as did Clump and Baff. Garble then walked over to his sister so the two could share a hug. "Hey sis," the big brother said, "How are you doing?"
"Aside from classes boring me to death I'm fine," Smolder chuckled. "So, Ember chose you to help with this project?"
"Yeah, I think I was the best one for the job. Though, that's not such a high bar."
"Well, we're here now," Spike said. "You guys wait here. I'll be right back." Spike then walked away, leaving Smolder and Ocellus with the other dragons.
"Hey, what about our diamond?" Clump questioned.
"Just let it go," Vex grumbled. "We're probably not getting it back."
Ocellus looked at the dragons, most of them seemed rather angry. "Um, Smolder," she said quietly, "Do you think I should introduce myself to them?"
"Maybe not right now," Smolder replied. "I'm pretty sure they're madder than usual. I think you go back inside and wait for them to cool down."
"Right. I'll be in the library in case you need me." With that being said, the frightened changeling ran back inside.
Smolder looked towards her brother and told him how she felt about the plan. “Do you think this was a good idea?” she asked.
“Honestly, I feel like we would succeed if Ember was here,” Garble admitted. The two looked towards Spear, Clump, and Baff, who were already looking bored.
Vex and Fizzle, on the other hand, were taking a look at their surroundings. Vex looked pretty curious at the various Ponyville buildings. “This does look nice,” he commented.
“Yeah, these look like good homes for ponies,” Fizzle added.
“I can guaranty that they won’t last long with us around,” Baff said.
“Is that a threat?” asked a voice. The dragons looked to see Spike had returned with Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Garble gave a nervous wave but it wasn’t helping with the situation.
“Listen here,” Applejack said, “Twilight gave us orders to make sure you help fit in.”
“Yeah, I think that might be hard to do,” Clump said. “Dragons and ponies don’t go together.” He heard Smolder clearing her throat so they would look at her raising an eyebrow.
“I’ve befriended an earth pony, a hippogriff, a griffon, a yak, and a changeling,” she said. “I’m pretty sure we blend.”
“Thank you Smolder,” Starlight said, “But the princess wanted us to handle this.”
“Fine. Just remember I’m low-hanging fruit from the tree.”
“So, what are we even going to do?” Spear questioned.
“We’re going to do a couple of things around here to get to know each other,” Starlight said.
“Woopity-do,” Clump grumbled.
“Well... We’re already here,” Fizzle said. “We should get started.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Baff grumbled. “What do we do first?”
“Well, I’ve got a large harvest to handle,” Applejack explained. “Twilight thought you could help with that.”
“Sure,” Clump said, “Use the dragons who don’t want to be here to get out of work.”
“I’m gonna pull my weight, and so will you. Now, let’s go. I’ll lead the way.” And so Applejack set off towards Sweet Apple Acres with the dragons following behind.
“This might not go well,” Spike whispered to Garble.
“Probably not,” Garble agreed.
Smolder stayed still for a minute before she looked towards Starlight. “I am Garble’s sister,” the dragoness spoke.
“And so you can go with them,” Starlight said. Smolder gave a thumbs up before she ran off to catch up with the rest of the dragons.
At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack showed the dragons what they needed to do. They didn’t need to kick the trees as they just could fly up and pick them. Spike and Smolder did this without a problem. Garble, Fizzle, and Vex tried just picking and dropping the apples into the baskets similar to Applejack’s bucking. It didn’t go as planned and some of the apples missed the basket and ended up getting bruised.
While they were at least try, Spear, Clump, and Baff weren’t doing great. Spear and Baff just tugged on the apples and didn’t even look to see where they landed. Clump barely did any work, he often just dozed in the sun minding his own business, and when he did pick some apples half the time he was just getting something to eat.
It didn’t take long for them to get on Applejack’s nerves. “Garble, please tell your friends this isn’t the quality worked I wanted,” the farm pony said.
“Uh, right,” the red drake replied. He flew over to the careless dragons and quickly caught the apple Spear was just about to toss onto the ground. “Guys, I think you need to be a little more careful. These apples aren’t like gemstones.”
“Hey, they can’t be the only thing ponies eat,” Baff said. “We eat gems and fish. I doubt that ponies are getting a lot of meat.” He looked over to some of the pigs that were rolling around in the mud.
Spike could see what was going on and decided to get involved. “Listen, Dragon Lord Ember wanted you to be on the ponies’ good sides,” he stated. “Right now you’re ruining their so they won’t have anything for today or the off-seasons.” Spike then looked towards Clump, who was practically asleep right now. “Can you watch him up for me?”
“I could,” Garble said, “But it would take an earthquake to wake Clump up. Besides, he’d probably just smash anyone who woke him up with his tail.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Spike saw more apples just being dropped by Spear and Baff, which the young dragon quickly caught. “Come on, couldn’t you at least carry a basket with you?” Spear’s response to this was to just toss a rotten apple at Spike’s face. “Alright fine. Don’t come crying to me once Granny Smith finds out.” With that, Spike flew away to make sure some apples were properly taken care of.
“Who’s Granny Smith?” Spear questioned.
“Do the work properly and you won’t find out!” Smolder called. The dragoness then found a rotten apple. Rather than toss it into the compost bin, she targeted a sleepy Clump. Smolder hurled the rotten apple at the sleeping dragons, smacking him square in the face, waking him up.
He wiped the rotten apple off and looked around. “Who threw that?!” he questioned. Smolder just smiled as she went back to work. Applejack and the dragons kept working on harvesting apples until an old mare walked out of the barn.
This mare could see the pony and five of the dragons doing the work properly, however when she saw the quality of work Spear, Baff, and Clump was doing she was just appalled. “Why you darn dragons wasting our hard work,” she grumbled.
“Oh boy,” Applejack said, “Here comes Granny.” Vex was about to walk over to the rest of the dragons, but Applejack stopped him.
Granny walked over to Clump, who had just fallen asleep again, and smacked him with her walker. “Ow, what the heck?” Clump questioned.
“Who do you think you are?” Granny questioned, “Sleeping on the job and eating our apples.” She pointed to the apple cores just lying on the ground around Clump. One apple suddenly fell on the ground and was bruised due to the impact. Granny looked up and saw Spear and Baff were still being careless with the apples. “Get down from there! Get off my apples!”
The two careless dragons looked down at the old mare and just scoffed. “What is she going to do about it?” Spear questioned. Granny wasn’t a pony that would give up easily. She held back her walker and chucked it through the air, managing to smack both dragons.
“OW!” Baff cried out in pain. “How did she do that?”
“Now get off this here farm before I do it again.”
“Alright fine,” Spear said. “We didn’t even want to be here.” He and Baff flew away with Clump following behind.
“Welp should’ve seen this coming,” Garble sighed.
“Let’s just catch up with them and hope they don’t do anything stupid,” Spike muttered. The rest of the dragons flew off after the trio and tried their best to catch up.
Spear held the side of his chest as he flew. “How could a creature that old and fragile hit so hard?”
“I think we underestimated ponies,” Baff muttered.
“Why did we say yes to this?” Clump grumbled.
“Because Dragon Lord Ember twisted our arms.”
“Hey, what’s that?” Spear questioned. He pointed to the castle that was sitting next to the School of Friendship.
“I don’t see how you could’ve missed Twilight’s castle,” Spike chuckled. “I can show around there if you want.”
“Eh, well apple picking didn’t go so good,” Vex said. “I’m up for this.” The dragons quickly landed outside of the castle. Once on their feet, Spike led them inside.
"I'm glad you found the castle because you'll be staying here if necessary."
"Finally, something I agree with," Clump said.
"Yet I think you'll find a way to make that annoying," Smolder muttered. They eventually got to the guest room where six-bed had been prepared for the visitors. Clump immediately walked over to one of them and lied down on it.
"Oh, this feels great."
Vex and Fizzle flew over to their beds and sat down. "He's right," Vex spoke, "These are way softer than rocks."
"See," Garble said, "This is one thing that ponies have over us."
"Yeah, one thing that they're better at," Baff said sarcastically. He and Spear left the guest room and decided to explore the castle.
"...I probably should've worded that better."
"They're already in a bad mood," Spike noted. "You think we should give them some space?"
"I think you should worry about them eating the castle," Smolder stated. Spike's pupils shrank as he remembered how Ember got when she helped herself to the castle.
"Yeah, we should probably check on them." Spike ran off with Smolder and Garble following behind, knowing he was going to need some help.
Turns out, Spear was trying to break off bits of the castle so they could eat them. "Guys, come on!" Garble cried. "You can't eat this place."
"Why not?" Spear asked.
"Maybe it's the fact that the pieces you're breaking off could be supporting the castle," Smolder stated.
"Well, first of all, we're hungry," Baff said, "And your little friend took the diamond away from us."
"Come on, Baff," Garble groaned, "You're the smart one."
"I know, but I'm still a little angry." Suddenly, a loud crunch could be heard. They looked towards Spear, who cleared and didn't take a bite off.
"Oh, jeez, Clump!" Garble and Spike quickly flew off back to the guest room as fast as they could.
"Did you not hear us talking about not eating the castle!?" Spike questioned.
A little while later, Pinkie walked into the castle with Starlight. "So, you think they'll enjoy some baking?" Starlight asked. "It wasn't something we had planned."
"Oh, I know they'll enjoy this," Pinkie said. "They're fire breath would be perfect to help bake some goods. Plus, I was thinking of putting some gems into some pastries just for them." Suddenly, the two mares heard loud thuds. A couple of them. Worried, they ran to see what was causing those sounds.
The answer came from the visiting dragons wrestling with each other. "What is going on here?!" Starlight questioned.
"I swear," Garble explained, "I was trying to stop them."
"Heads up!" Spear cried. He tossed a table over towards Clump, who just whacked it back with his tail. However, the table couldn't take that much force and shattered on impact into splinters.
"Man, why are your things so fragile?" Clump questioned.
"We don't use our furniture as blunt objects," Starlight stated. She could then smell some smoke and looked to see Baff had set some curtains on fire thanks to this breath. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Fizzle, you're missing out," Baff said as he swung Vex around by his tail. The white dragon with pink spines simpled held his claws up, signaling that he was fine without playing.
"Okay, playtimes over." Using her magic, Starlight stopped all of the dragons in place while Spike and Smolder did their best to put out Baff's fire. "You see, we were planning on having some fun ideas with you guys, but you decided to make a mess in the castle. So, you're going to clean up your mess right now!"
"Seriously?" Spear questioned. He found that his arm was moving against his will and he slapped himself in the face. He looked towards Starlight. "Did you...?" The mare simply nodded. "Okay, fine. We'll get cleaning." Starlight released the dragons and gave them the supplies they needed and they got to work. Though they were far from enjoying it.
By the time they had cleaned up their mess, it was nighttime. Many of the dragons were getting comfy in their beds except for three of them; Spike, Smolder, and Garble. Instead of staying in the castle, they were taking a walk through the school hallways. "That was a disaster," Smolder commented.
"It was their first day," Spike commented. "They still have some warming up to do."
"Maybe it'll help if you broke up that diamond for breakfast," Garble spoke. "Speaking of which, where did you put it?"
"I'll show you." Spike led the brother and sister to a closet that contained his backpack. Opening it up, he showed them the pink diamond.
"Whoa!" Smolder gasped. "That's huge."
"I know. We just found it when we stopped to take a break. Now we just have to figure out how to break it into equal pieces."
"Don't you have any tools?" Garble asked.
"Let me check professor Rarity's classroom," Smolder said. She quickly ran off before Spike could stop her.
"Hold it, Smolder!" Spike called. However, the dragoness had already run around the corner. "I had some tools right here in the castle."
"Welp, we can start now," Garble said.
They walked back towards the castle and walked down the halls until they got to a room where Spike had some tools prepared to help cut the diamond. Also, they were in earshot of the guest room where the dragons were resting. Before Spike could start cutting, he and Garble heard what the dragons were saying.
"Why did we say yes to this again?" Clump questioned.
"Ember wasn't giving us a choice," Baff noted.
"Man, this is so painful," Spear groaned.
"It doesn't seem that bad," Vex said.
"You weren't the one who got hit by an old pony," Baff stated.
"Sounds kind of embarrassing when you say it out loud."
"Just shut up," Spear ordered.
"You what I think is the problem?" Clump asked. "It's these ponies, they're just... Girly, you know what I mean? I mean, their stuff is so fragile."
"I think I see what you're saying," Baff admitted. "I mean, they should've known about our abilities."
The rest of their chat wasn't heard as Garble and Spike looked towards each other confused and offended respectively. "Seriously?" they both questioned.
"Do they think that's why they're having a hard time?" Spike questioned. "They should've known that Ponyville would be different."
"I know they don't know about ponies that much," Garble said, "But they should know better."
"I mean... Too girly?"
"I know. I thought they would let that go by now."
"...How long have they been talking about that?"
"Beats me."
Spike rubbed his eyes in frustration. "You know, I think they should be girls just so they wouldn't go with thinking things about ponies are so girly."
"Really?"
"I don't know. If it'll get them to stop acting like this." Spike turned back to the diamond and was about to try cutting it when it started to glow. He fell backward from the shock before Garble helped him up.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know, but I think this is bad." The two were starting to walk backward when they suddenly found they were floating. Neither one of them was flapping their wings but still, they floating. Like the dragons, the diamond was floating in the air. Seven beams started floating from it, two of them started swarming around Spike and Garble.
"Seriously what's happening?" Spike was about to reply was suddenly his voice gave out so now only squeals could come out of his mouth. "Spike? Are yOu oKAy?" Garble brought his claws up to his mouth with a gasp. "What’s wROnG WitH my vOICe?"
It wasn't just his voice that was changing. Garble could feel and see his muzzle, which was a bit of an overbite, shrink in size as his teeth had become cute little fangs. His torso started losing most of its bulk as his arms, legs, and claws were starting to become slender. As for Spike, he would have similar changes. Some of his fat was being swapped out for a slimmer daintier form, though she still had around appearance.
Then Spike and Garble would have some big changes. They started growing some more spines and their eyelashes started growing longer. While they were gaining those they lost the lumps in their throats and the section between their legs shrank away. Soon, the pink light faded and both dragons were lowered back onto the floor. They both groaned as they looked towards each other and gasped.
“Garble?”
“Spike?” Both dragons were very confused as they stood up. “What happened?” Garble questioned.
“I don’t know,” Spike responded. “...Are you a girl?”
Both dragons were speechless as they looked at their new bodies. Something impossible to miss was the various screams that could be heard down the hall. Both new girls assumed the worst and ran to the other room to find five dragonesses freaking out.
“How is this possible?” Spear questioned. “Why... I... I don’t...”
“It’s a curse!” Clump cried. “They heard us saying they were girly and they made us into girls.”
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Baff grumbled. She kicked one of the beds in frustration and confusion. Fizzle was just in complete shock and kept looking over her body. She was just speechless. Vex was at a loss too as she kept talking to herself trying to convince herself it was a dream.
Spike and Garble both looked towards each other, not knowing what to say about this situation. Then, Clump saw them. “YOU!” she shrieked. She pointed to Spike as she, Spear, and Baff walked over to her.
“Okay, guys, can we calm down?” Garble asked.
“We could,” Baff said, “It’s just that... Let’s see... WE’RE GIRLS!”
Spike was about to walk away, but Spear grabbed her and pulled her closer to look the Ponyville dragon in the eye. “You’ve got three seconds to explain what you did,” Spear growled. Smoke was starting to billow from her nose.
“Hey, I don’t know any more than you do,” Spike protested. She pushed back, causing Spear to let go and make her fall back on the floor. Spike stood up and noticed and gobsmacked Smolder standing in the hall with her jaw on the floor.
Garble quickly noticed her sister as well. “Um... Hi, Smolder...” She said trying to play it cool. “Did you... Find what you were looking for?” Smolder just stood there and blinked with the same facial expression. Spike sighed and walked over to her shocked friend.
“Okay, we don’t know what’s going on. We’re just as shocked as you.” Smolder simply blinked again as Spike brought her claw up to close her jaw.”
“So. Many. Questions,” Smolder spoke.
“Yeah. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to the girls.”
Spike had requested that Smolder go and get Starlight. The mare met up with the dragons in the castle, where she was just speechless at what she saw. Starlight and Spike sat at a table with each other waiting for the other one to speak first. There was a long amount of silence.
“Say something,” Baff ordered. She was starting to get impatient.
Spear was tapping her foot as she was feeling the same. “What are you waiting for?” she questioned.
“We’re not the only ones who don’t know how to react to this,” Spike stated. She turned back to Starlight who finally found her voice.
“Okay, so... A diamond did this to you?” the mare questioned.
“Apparently. It’s kind of like the pearl shards the hippogriffs use. Do you think you can try and find somepony that could figure this out?”
Starlight was handed the diamond that caused the gender flipflop. She was impressed by the gemstone’s size. “I’ll see what I can do. Just sleep on this problem for now.”
“Wait, what?” some of the dragons questioned.
“Do you think we’ll be able to figure out a solution in less than a night?”
“She’s got a point,” Garble agreed.
“So, get comfy,” Smolder said with a smirk. Many of the dragons sighed or groaned as they went to their room. Spike already had a room prepared for her. Her body felt smaller and this strange predicament had her thinking throughout the night.
Garble was feeling a little uncomfortable. Her new body felt much smaller and admittedly kind of softer. It just didn’t feel right. She kept tossing and turning but her mind was stuck on what happened to her and her friends. How would the other dragons take this?
Smolder walked back to her dorm and didn’t say anything to her friends and just lied down in bed and questioned what she saw. She tried her best not to think about it, but it was the only thing on her mind, keeping her up for hours. Needless to say, none of the dragons got decent sleep.
