What would it be like if you got your body switched with someone else you know? That experience happened before with Fluttershy and her bunny, Angel. That’s when both Angel and Fluttershy tried to communicate with each other, and they went to Zecora’s to let her make a potion for them to help them understand each other. Instead, their bodies got switched, and it caused some chaos and misunderstanding… you know the rest. But this time, what’ll be like if both of the individuals’ bodies got switched during an argument, instead this time, not by a potion, but by something else.
Hot lava flows slowly on solid ground, rocky volcanoes boiling its magma, and smoky clouds cover the skies. Everything’s all fine and normal back at the Dragon Lands. Until there was a bit of a ruckus going on there. Dragon Lord Ember was in the middle of trying to stop an argument between two adult male dragons who were fighting over a massive fish just laying over dehydrated beside them on the shore.
“Look, I was the one who caught the fish first,” one dragon heatedly stated, “so I should be the one who gets the bigger half!"
“I have kids to feed!” the other one stated, under the same tone as the first one. “They’re hungry, and they need a bigger piece to chew on!”
“Okay, just shut up!” Ember screamed. Both arguing dragons went silent as the Dragon Lord let out a scream and breath of fire. “From what I hear, both of you have wives, but one of you has children to feed. If there’s going to be a bigger half, it should fifty-five percent to the parent, the other forty-five percent go to the other one.”
“Again, I was the one who caught it,” the first dragon stated.
"Then maybe we can make it sixty to forty." Ember stared daggers at the dragon that spoke up, who quickly remained silent. The other dragon managed to cut the fish up into the percentage that the Dragon Lord had requested. Once both of them took their halves and left the scene, Ember flew around to find a good place to have time for herself.
She was wondering if she should stay here for a while and relax on the cliff or have a nice visit to the Changeling Hive to meet Thorax again. It’s been a while already since they last met during the conflict between Garble and Greta. It didn’t go so well until everything settled. As she still flew to find a good spot, she heard somebody call her from behind.
"Dragon Lord?" asked a female voice. Ember turned around and saw a dragoness. This dragoness was fully grown and had hot pink scales, red spines, short orange horns, and short ears. This is indeed Pyther’s mother, feeling a bit concerned about her daughter at the School of Friendship in Ponyville.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Sorry if I disturbed you, but… have you gotten any word from my daughter at the school?"
Ember quietly took a breath before turning around and answering the question. "Last time I heard, Pyther is just doing fine. She's even befriended one of the new students and has been trying out this new thing called... what’s that called… ballet."
"That's a pony activity, right?"
"I'm pretty sure it is. I'll ask for the specifics if I have the next meeting with Princess Twilight."
"Thank you. Because my sons are getting worried about her."
"I understand. If anything bad has happened, I'm sure we would've been notified about it." With the bit of knowledge exchanged, the mother flew away to leave her alone and Ember went on to find a good spot to rest.
She then landed on a cliff and didn't even stop flapping her wings before she heard the screams of some of the young dragons. She turned from behind and there they came running towards the Dragon Lord with a very angry Slingtail running towards them. Ember could only assume these kids had messed with this angry animal. The young dragons hid behind her as the charging creature came closer and closer.
Just when it looked like it was going to plow right through the Dragon Lord, she let out a deafening roar. The younglings covered their ears as she made that loud roar. This made the Slingtail stop in its tracks and was even intimidated by it. It ran away with its tail in between its legs. Once it was gone, Ember looked at the young ones hiding behind her, still covering their ears from the roar. They looked happy to know they were safe... from the Slingtail. The Dragon Lord on the other hand gave them an intimidating stare.
She just looked them in the eyes and gave a simple order. "Go back to your parents, and don't mess around with Slingtails again!" The young dragons nodded and quickly ran off back to their homes. Ember then gave a frustrated and exhausted sigh before she dragged her feet away.
Garble, meanwhile, was having a nice lava bath with Prominence and his friends when they saw Ember slowly walk past them. She didn't say anything and only gave a look that likely meant to say "leave me alone." She walked over to one of the other pools and left her scepter on the side of it while she took a dip.
"I'll be right back guys," Garble spoke, and then got out of the pool.
"What are you doing?" Baff questioned. He quickly began putting things together. "You're not seriously planning on talking with her, are you?!"
"She looks so stressed."
"Which is probably why you should leave her alone," Spear spoke.
"Hey, I'll just chat with her and if I survive I'll leave her alone." Garble walked over to Ember as Spear had one more thing to speak.
"Dead drake walking!" Fizzle wasn't wanting to see this happen and slowly lowered into the lava.
When Ember saw Garble approach her, she didn't look pleased. "Do I have to spell it out to you?" she asked.
"Didn't Thorax say it was good to talk about your feelings?" Ember just sighed and tapped on the edge of the pool to show Garble where he could sit. He did so, dipping his feet into the magma.
“Look, it feels like all the dragons leave their problems for one day for me to deal with. I have to deal with dragons who can't watch their own hatchlings, dragons who can't share food without needing help, and some that need answers for their kids at Twilight's school.”
Garble was tempted to ask about Smolder but felt like he would be a part of Ember's problem. “That does sound rough. If you want, you could join my friends and me. We're going to go lava surfing later.”
“That's nice to hear, Garble, but for now, I want some time alone.” The drake understood. He got up and walked away to leave the Dragon Lord in peace. Ember then slumped back, shut her eyes, and sunk deeper into the lava so only the top half of her head would stick out. She honestly wished she could stay in there and get away from all her issues.
Meanwhile, at the school library, Smolder was on the study table busy writing down an assignment report about different parts of each creatures' history. The dragoness had picked former Dragon Lord, Torch, as her chosen topic, as he was the one Smolder knew the most, especially with all dragons. He definitely made himself the most well-known and she was writing down every bit of information about him, including his early life and role as a Dragon Lord. Smolder placed her pencil down and reached for her bottle of water to drink, but it unintentionally slipped out of her claw and spilled all over her paper. She was in an upsetting shock because she’s only halfway there finishing it. Smolder had her claws covering her eyes and snout, and let out an agitated scream, which can be heard from a block away. On the other side, Silverstream and Ocellus were working on their reports as well, writing down their history of their own kind. When they heard that scream, their heads raised and their ears perked up.
“Is that Smolder?” Silverstream asked.
“It is her,” Ocellus replied. “Let’s check it out.”
They put down their pencils, stood up, and ran slowly to see what’s going on with their dragon friend. When they came running, they were the first ones to come and could see Smolder trying to salvage her soaked paper.
“Oh my,” Silverstream cringed, “That bites.”
"Ugh, I feel like I've been working on this for an hour," Smolder groaned, "not just that, I was only halfway there finishing it!"
“Ooh, that bites more,” Silverstream said.
She was pressing a towel on her paper hoping to soak up the moisture. When she tried to pick up her paper, it broke apart, adding to her annoyance. "Welp, all my work goes down the drain."
Gallus, Sandbar, and Yona showed up when they heard her scream. They were in the middle of writing their assignments too.
"What’s going on?" Sandbar asked.
"Yeah, we just heard Smolder scream," Gallus added.
"Her assignment got soaked in water," Ocellus explained to them.
"Ouch," Yona cringed. "Not good."
"And let me guess,… she’s halfway there, right?" Gallus asked. Both Ocellus and Silverstream nodded. "Knew it."
Sandbar walked to Smolder and placed his hoof on his friend's shoulder. "You need a break," he suggested. "Besides, there’s still enough time to restart your work. Let's go do something fun."
"What did you have in mind, Sandbar?" Ocellus asked.
"Not sure," Sandbar replied, and then turned back to her. "Smolder, what do you want to do?"
The dragoness pushed her soaked and ripped paper aside and thought for a minute. "Uhh… You guys want to try something dangerous?" she asked.
"...Kind of," Gallus admitted. Smolder was kind of vague with this statement and some of her friends were a little bit concerned.
"We could visit the Dragon Lands to see my brother. There are also plenty of dragon games you could try there."
"And if friends get injured?" Yona asked, feeling a little concerned.
"Don't worry. We won't do anything stupid. Come on, let's go." Smolder led the group to the other side of the library, where they removed the grate and went down the tunnel to the Dragon Lands.
There, Garble was just about to take his rock board to the flowing lava when he heard some thuds from the wall. Soon, Yona burst out of a wall pushing the boulder that was blocking the tunnel to the passageway. Her friends slowly walked out of it with Smolder and a disguised Ocellus pushing the boulder back into place before any dragon went through the tunnels.
"Smolder?"
"Hey there, big bro."
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Aren’t you suppose to be staying back at school?"
"School was getting on my nerves," she admitted. "I thought it would be fun to bring my friends here and play some dragon games." Garble looked at the unfamiliar dragon that was helping his sister move the boulder back into place. Once that was done, the changeling reverted to her normal form, surprising the brother. "You remember my friends, do you?"
"Um... I do remember Sandbar since he been here with you last time." He looked at the rest of his sister's friends to which Sandbar was kind enough to help introduce.
"There's Gallus, Silverstream, Yona, and Ocellus," he explained. He pointed to each creature he said the name of.
"Right. Hope you kids enjoy your stay here. Just watch out for the pools of lava."
"Got it," the visitors responded.
"So, what do we do first?" Silverstream asked.
"You guys should try gem hunting," Garble suggested. "It's probably the safest thing you guys could do here. We usually find some in those rocky walls over there." He pointed over to where the gems were most commonly found. Silverstream, Yona, and Sandbar walked off to find some gems while Ocellus and Gallus stuck with Smolder.
"What other things can dragons do?" Gallus asked.
"My friends and I were about to go lava surfing. Wanna watch? I got my rock board ready."
"Sure," the students responded.
"I’ll be happy too," Ocellus added.
Holding his board, Garble led his sister and her friends to the lava falls. Smolder decided to join in with her brother while Gallus and Ocellus watched at a safe distance by flying in the air.
Garble's gang was waiting for them at the top of the falls. They could see the brother and sister approach them with a couple of them confused. "How'd she get here?" Prominence questioned.
"Being one of the first dragon students has its perks," Smolder said. "So, who wants to go first?"
Prominence smirked, telling her that she’ll volunteer as first, as she dropped her board onto the lava and placed one foot on it. Smolder then did the same beside her. She and Prominence both shared a competitive look before both of them jumped on their boards and began surfing down the molten magma. Smolder's friends and the dragons watched in amazement as the two slid down the falls.
"Woah!" Ocellus exclaimed in astonishment. "Look at her go!"
"She’s doing great," Gallus added, also in astonishment.
Nearly halfway to the bottom, Ember was flying closer to them. Due to being tired of the constant inquiries and issues she was getting, the Dragon Lord wasn't focusing. She flew right above the lava stream making her a target for Smolder and Prominence to crash into. Both surfers bailed right before they collided with Ember. Prominence landed on the surface, managed to recover, but Smolder ended up splashing into the lava just behind her board. Ember saw what happen, and so did the spectators, who were flabbergasted.
"Okay so... Who's at fault here?" Gallus questioned. This was followed by a bunch of stares from Ocellus and the dragons. "What?"
Meanwhile, Sandbar, Yona, and Silverstream were hard at work trying to get gems out of the wall. The earth pony and hippogriff were having a harder time getting the gems out of the wall. Yona had an easier time either using her horns like crowbars or just smashing into the wall in typical yak style.
"Man, dragons are stronger than I thought," Silverstream commented.
"No kidding," Sandbar agreed.
"You know, I'm kind of wondering what we'd be like as dragons. Or any other creatures. What do you think we'd be like as minotaurs?"
"I... don't know. I don't know too much about them. Did Terry told you anything you didn't know when you visited his village?"
"Yona learn that minotaurs have strong pride and weak trust," Yona spoke.
"What do you mean by that?"
"They don't like when other creatures show up. Terry says he doesn’t know why."
Yona tried to use her horn to pry an emerald out of the wall. It was proving to be stubborn and the yak lost her grip plenty of times. If prying didn't get it out, surely smashing would work better. Yona stepped back to get a running start then she charged the wall as hard as she could. The smash caused a crack to form in the wall that slowly made its way to the ground. Stepping away was a smart move as the ground broke open. Yona ran for cover expecting to fall into an underground lava river, but there wasn't one. Silverstream poked her head down the hole and found something rather interesting.
"Hey," Silverstream called, "come here, take a look at this."
Sandbar and Yona came closer, and Silverstream moved it into the light to show her friends a small statue. She grabbed it carefully and got it out to take a closer look. It looked to be a pony have a brawl with a dragon. There was a sapphire embedded in the chest of the pony while there was a ruby embedded in the dragon's chest. The statue wasn't fairly cracked and some pieces were missing, like the pony's tail and one of the dragon's wings. It was a nice masterpiece, though Sandbar had to ask something.
"Why would a statue like this has to be in an underground cavern?" he asked.
"Maybe it leads out to cave," Yona guessed.
"I don't think so," Silverstream said. She looked around where they found the statue and the only way out seemed to be the one Yona opened up.
"We should probably report this to Dragon Lord Ember," Sandbar suggested. "Maybe she knows something we don't." The idea was agreed upon and they went to find the Dragon Lord, while Silverstream is carrying it so she can show it to her.
When they did find her, they could see Ember hovering above Smolder and Prominence. They stood back as they felt like they were interrupting them at a bad time.
"What did you think you were doing? Ember questioned.
"We were just surfing," Smolder stated. "You were the one who flew right in front of our path." This statement caused some of the dragons to get worried. Speaking up to the Dragon Lord wasn't something you would do and get away scot-free.
Ember looked furious. "I'm the Dragon Lord! What I do is my business."
"Kind of sounds like you can't take responsibility for your mistakes."
"Responsib... Do you know what I deal with daily!?"
Ocellus wasn't liking where this was going. "Maybe we should just go," she suggested. She was about to fly away but Garble stopped her.
"Don't move if you don't want your attention drawn to you," he whispered.
Ember landed and looked Smolder dead in the eye. "I have to keep every single dragon from ripping each other apart!" the Dragon Lord stated.
"Well, at least you know what you get to deal with," Smolder responded bluntly. "Have you ever tried to learn about a new kind of history in less than a month?" Prominence started backing away to not get involved.
"She's a dead one," Prominence muttered to herself.
Sandbar, Silverstream, and Yona were watching from afar. They decided to move away from this argument in order not to get involved. However, Silverstream noticed the gems on the statue were starting to glow. "Uh, guys," she said, "I think this statue just... glow by itself."
Sandbar was confused by this, but Yona didn't want to know what would happen. In her fear, the yak darted off, causing her to bump into Silverstream. The force of the impact made her accidentally toss the statue into the air. It flew over to Ember and Smolder and landed right behind the Dragon Lord. Though, she was too busy with Smolder to notice.
"You really think learning about ponies is that hard?" Ember asked. "You get to take two days off a week. This is my life."
"I get consequences if I do something wrong," Smolder retorted. "You're in charge, so you get to make the rules."
"Rules that other dragons and creatures have to agree by." The statue's gems were starting to glow brighter at this point.
"You know what I think...?"
"I do. Should we say it at the same time?" Smoke was starting to billow from both dragons' nostrils as they let out what they thought about each other.
"I think you should know what it's like to be me!" That seemed to be the magic words as the statue gave a blinding shine of red and blue that engulfed both the Dragon Lord and the student. Everyone else shielded their eyes, so they could see what was going on. When the bright flash finally stopped, everyone looked to see Ember and Smolder had passed out. The dragons and the students both checked on them as both dragons were completely unconscious, lying on the ground.
"Smolder?" Gallus said in a very concerned tone, grabbed her back with his arms. "Smolder!" He checks her pulse from her neck and her wrists, and her veins were still beating, telling him that she’s okay.
"How was she?" Sandbar asked his friend, who has that same feeling as Gallus and the rest of his friends.
"She’s fine," Gallus replied, "it’s just her pulse."
"How was Dragon Lord Ember over there," Ocellus called to Garble, who was checking on Ember together with the other dragons.
"She’s okay," Garble replied, "it’s just her pulse."
"Just what I thought."
"We should get back," Silverstream said to her group. "Smolder needs some rest."
"You’re right," Sandbar said, "Since you’re her roommate, you should keep an eye on her." Silverstream nodded.
"Put her on Yona’s back," Yona said. "Yona will help you carry Smolder."
Gallus, who was holding Smolder’s back, did what Yona said.
"We should get going," Gallus said to the dragons there, "you go ahead and take care of her."
"Alright, you too," Garble said back to the Young Six. "Just take great care of my sis."
The students quickly ran back to the tunnel, carrying Smolder’s body back to the school, while the dragons quickly took Ember’s body back to the cave where she rested. Just when they think they really got their right body, but not their brains. What they didn’t know is that something right after the flash, and both dragonesses pass out, things were about to get crazy.
Ember groaned as she opened her eyes. She noticed that roof of a cave was kind of close to her face and could smell something aromatic from here. The rock she was lying on was kind of soft and there was something warm covering her up. Ember brought her claws up to rub her head. When she stopped Ember then rubbed her eyes as her vision was kind of blurry. Once she could see clearly, she saw that her claws were… orange? Ember never has orange claws, she knows that her color is brilliant cyan.
That wasn't the only detail that Ember took notice of. There wasn't any rock around her, this 'cave' she was in is actually a bedroom, the one with blue walls and a circular rug in the middle on the floor. Ember looked at where she was laying, which is a bed. She tossed the blanket that was covering her up off and stood up onto the wooden floor. Standing up, Ember saw photos of Smolder and her friends hanging on the wall. There was a table sitting against a wall, covered with art supplies, writing materials, and textbooks. Ember needed something reflective. She checked the nearby closet and found a couple of dresses hung up. She found a hand mirror sitting on a box and picked it up. Looking in it, Ember didn't see her reflection. Instead, she saw Smolder’s. Ember moved her claw so it could be visible in the mirror and moved it around to see it was her real reflection. This didn't make any sense as Ember knew only one thing but couldn't understand.
"What am I doing in Smolder's body?" she questioned. Ember looked at her other body parts, feet, wings, tails, all of it was Smolder's. "This can’t be real. Am I dreaming?"
As the Dragon Lord tried to comprehend how this was even possible, she heard a yawn and looked at the top bunk. It was Silverstream, she was just waking up and stretched before she saw her 'roommate' was up.
"Oh, Smolder! You're okay," Silverstream sighed, feeling relieved. She got up from her top bunk and flew down so they could be at eye level.
"What's going on?"
"Well, me, Sandbar, and Yona found some weird statue while we’re gem hunting, and when you’re having an argument with Ember, it had some sort of flash. When it stopped, you and Ember passed out. They took Ember back to her cave and then we brought you back here. You slept for the whole day, and we’re so worried. Still, I'm glad you're okay." The hippogriff hugged her confused 'friend' who pushed her back.
"Then, what am I doing here?" Silverstream was a little confused by this.
"What… What are you talking about?"
"I'm not supposed to be here, because I'm not Smolder."
Silverstream touched the dragon's head a little concerned. "Did that flash really mess with your head?"
Ember felt like she was wasting her time. She ran out of the bedroom and started making a beeline for the nearest exit. "Smolder? Smolder! Wait, come back!"
Despite the hippogriff calling for her, Ember didn't stop until she saw the exit doors. Before she could react, Starlight and Sunburst walked into the school and the dragoness collided right into them. After taking a minute to recover from this, Starlight was confused about what the student was doing.
"Smolder, were you trying to ditch school?" the Headmare questioned.
"No, I'm trying to get to the Dragon Lands," Ember stated. She stood up and was about to fly away if it wasn't for Sunburst using his magic to bring her back to the ground.
"Sorry, you can go there once you're done with your classes."
"What? No, I need to be there now."
"Smolder, you can't be skipping class." The two unicorns dragged the dragoness back into the school, despite her refusal.
"No, I don't have time for this! Let go of me!" Ember dragged her claws against the walls and floor, but the unicorns kept pulling her to the cafeteria.
In the Dragon Lands, meanwhile, Smolder had woken up from her slumber. She got her body up and rubbed her eyes. As she did that, she noticed that she had cyan claws instead of orange. How did she get cyan claws? Not just that, she checked her snout, her horns, and even her body. She realized that she was in the Ember's body. She was shocked and amazed at this.
"How am I Dragon Lord Ember?" the student questioned. The last thing she remembered was her argument with her being interrupted by an intense luminous flash. "Okay, that definitely had to be the cause of it."
She was about to walk out of the cave until she saw something lying on the ground. It was the Bloodstone Scepter. She was in awe when she saw it. When she picked it up, it made her feel grand and powerful.
"Alright, maybe this isn't as bad as I thought." Holding the scepter, Smolder walked out of the cave and could see multiple dragons flying around. Smolder thought she could probably do what she wants now.
When she was about to go do some lava surfing, Garble approached her. "Dragon Lord Ember," he gasped. Smolder stopped as she had a feeling her brother was referring to her. She stopped and the two began hovering in the air. "Oh, thank goodness. You're alive."
"Why wouldn't I be?" she questioned.
"You and Smolder just passed out. I and my gang managed to get you to your cave while my sister's friend got her back to school. Are you feeling okay?"
"Just feeling good. Wanna go lava surfing?"
Garble was surprised that the Dragon Lord, or even Ember for that matter, would say something after what happened yesterday. "You sure you're feeling okay?"
"I'm fine. Come on, let's have a little bit of fun." Smolder flew away to get her rock board as Garble followed behind, feeling very confused. He didn't fully understand why she was acting like this. Every dragon knows that Ember is very serious.
Back at the school, Ember had no choice but to sit with Smolder's friends and have breakfast at the cafeteria. The other five at the table just assumed that their friend had woken up on the wrong side of the bed.
"Have you guys heard about the school's next play?" Gallus asked.
"Really? There's another play going on?" Silverstream, who was sitting beside Gallus, asked. He nodded "What's it about?"
"I'm not entirely sure. I only heard something about it when I passed by the teacher's lounge."
"I have a couple of guesses about what the play could be about," Sandbar commented.
"What do you have in mind?"
"It could be the life about the Pillars, or how Twilight started her journey…"
"Play?" Ember pondered to herself, as they still having a chat. "Are they talking about wearing costumes while being on a stage?" Ember had heard of plays when she visited Thorax at the hive and she had heard about the one about Celsetia's 1111th anniversary of her raising the sun. She was about to ask more about the play until someone tapped her shoulder. Ember looked behind her to see Pyther holding up two different colored shoes.
"Hello there, Smolder," Pyther greeted.
"Oh, uhh… Hello, Pyther," Ember greeted back. "May I help you?"
"Well, since you admitted you had an affinity for dresses, I thought you could help me with my new ballet outfit," she explained. "They both have different opinions and I can't decide which is good, so which color do you think would look better on me? Is it gold or is it black?" She held up two pairs of ballet shoes, all in the colors she described.
Ember wasn't really that into fashion, so she wouldn't really be the best creature to ask for an opinion like this. "Ugh... I don't know. Let’s try black, how about that?" she suggested.
Pyther looked at the black shoes and smiled. "Yeah, I think these go better with my scales. Thanks, Smolder." Pyther walked away as Ember was a little confused.
"I don't know everything about ballet." The Dragon Lord then looked back at her friends, who seemed to have changed the subject.
"Celly, you think you and I should try ballet?" Silverstream asked.
"Nope, we're already signed up as cheerleaders," Ocellus reminded. "I don't want to be buried in activities and have the fun taken out of them."
"She's got a point," Sandbar commented. "There’s no point in signing up for something you're not going to enjoy."
"Exactly. Anyways, did that statue get to Princess Twilight?"
"It should be there by now. I'm guessing they're going to have Starswirl to figure out how to make it work."
"Statue?" Ember questioned. "What statue?"
"Friends found a statue of pony and dragon fighting," Yona explained. "Yona make it fly to you and Dragon Lord."
"And then there was a bright... flash," Ocellus added. The gears in her head were starting to turn as she began piecing things together.
Gallus picked up on this. "Wait. Are you guys getting a sense of deja vu?" he asked.
"Yeah, this is familiar," Sandbar admitted.
Ember was kind of in the dark and had to know. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked.
Silverstream was about to explain if it wasn't for Ocellus covering her mouth. "Not here," the changeling said, "Everyone, in my room. Private conversation."
The group of friends slipped out of the cafeteria and made their way to the Ocellus’ dorm. Yona leaned against the door to make sure that nobody could get in so they could talk in private.
"Okay, so explain what you can remember," Ocellus requested.
"I was arguing with Smolder in the Dragon Lands, and..." Ember explained.
"But... You're Smolder," Yona interrupted.
"Maybe not," Sandbar commented. "That flash had to have caused something."
"Like putting you in somebody else's body?" Ember asked.
"Sounds pretty spot on," Gallus commented.
"So... You’re Ember?" Silverstream asked.
"Who else would it be?" the Dragon Lord asked. Her patience was already as thin as paper.
"So, if Ember is in Smolder's body," Ocellus spoke, "then Smolder has to be in her's body."
"Which is why I need to get out of here."
"Just try explaining it to Headmare Starlight," Sandbar suggested. "We have had some surprising adventures." Ember didn't have to be told twice. She stormed out of the room and flew down the hall. She then bashfully came back as she didn't know where the office was.
"Just follow me," Ocellus said to her. She walked down the hall with the body-swapped dragoness flying by her side.
Smolder was having a much easier time. In fact, she was busy lava boarding with Garble. The student in the Dragon Lord's body was having the time of her life. When they reached the bottom, Smolder picked up the Bloodstone Scepter. Garble jumped off his board and walked over to her.
"Ember, I'm happy you're feeling better and everything," he admitted, "But I really think that you should check on the rest of the dragons too."
"A little later," Smolder responded. "I haven't gotten anything to eat yet." She flew off to grab some grub with the drake following closely behind.
Smolder hadn't had any kind of meat for a while, so she flew to the river to dive for some fish. Some dragons were already there getting some fish as they could see the Dragon Lord flying towards them. They seemed to be on their best behavior as Smolder landed. She placed down the scepter and quickly dove into the water. The student in the Dragon Lord's body was a little rusty when it came to this style of fishing. Because of this, Smolder didn't have an easy time catching any fish. She resurfaced to catch her breath and splashed her claw in the water with frustration.
"Darn it!" she growled.
"Didn't catch anything?" Garble asked.
"Nope. Stupid fish wouldn't sit still." Just as Smolder climbed back onto dry land the dragons that were already fishing dove into the water. She and Garble were a little confused until they all came up, each one with at least one fish. They held them out to a very happy Smolder. "Well, thank you. I can cook this myself. You… uhh… do what you want."
"Yes, Dragon Lord Ember," the dragons responded. They quickly flew off, leaving Smolder to roost her fish. After taking chewing off some of her fish, she gestured to Garble to grab a bite.
"Okay, Ember, are you sure you're okay?" he asked.
"Just fine," Smolder responded. "Come on, enjoy." Garble started using his fire breath to cook one of the fish that the dragons had caught as the Dragon Lord had something to comment on. "Really wish I had some seasonings to make this better."
"Oh, did Spike have some seasonings for this?"
"He said there possibly was some. Kind of wish we found out before he moved to Canterlot."
"Don't you go to those meetings every month?"
"What meetings?" Garble was a little confused by this.
"Did that flash mess with your memories?"
"I'm fine. You don't have anything to worry about, Gar-Gar."
That statement was really confusing. "Gar... Gar?" Smolder's eyes widen as she realized she might've messed up. "Only Smolder calls me that. Ember, what's going on here?"
Smolder began twiddling her claws as she gave a sheepish smile. "Look... I don't know how... But I might've... switched bodies with Ember."
Garble let go of his fish which dropped just like his jaw. Taking a couple of seconds to process this, he had to ask the obvious question. "How?"
"You think I know. Besides, I'm not complaining. I don't have to worry about any tests or be stuck in school for six hours. I can pretty much do what I want."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. You're the Dragon Lord now. You're responsible for keeping the Dragon Lands in order. Ember had a lot of pressure on her shoulders. I don't really see you being able to handle all of that."
"She's allergic to emotions. I've gone on friendship missions. I'm pretty sure I can handle my own kind. Anyways, I'm going to finish this fish, and then I'll get to work." Smolder walked away eating the remaining bits of her fish, taking the Bloodstone Scepter with her.
Garble was a little bit worried. Given how his sister was feeling from the school work, which was something that was planned out, dragons could be unpredictable. Wanting to make sure that things didn't go off the rails, he flew off to catch up with his sister.
Ocellus and Ember were walking to their first class, where the rest of their friends were waiting. Ember sat down beside Sandbar, who has noticed her grumpy expression. "They didn't believe you, did they?" he asked.
"If they did, I wouldn't be here," Ember stated.
"I really don't see why they wouldn't believe you," Gallus commented.
"However it goes," Ocellus spoke, "You don't have a choice but to stay here."
"Can't I just fly to the Dragon Lands or Canterlot?" Ember asked.
"If you did, then Smolder would get into trouble," Sandbar noted. "I think we'd much rather have you follow the rules instead of giving her punishments for something she didn't do." The friends agreed with the young earth pony, much to the frustration of Ember.
She sat back and began listening to what Pinkie Pie had to say. It honestly didn't seem that complicated and she began zoning out. Ocellus brought Ember out of her dazed. "Write this down," the changeling whispered.
"Why?" Ember asked.
"Because you're going to have to figure out these things on the assignment later." Ocellus wrote down a couple of notes as Ember just simply listened to what Pinkie had to say.
After the pink pony was done explaining, papers were passed out to the students containing plenty of math problems waiting to be solved. Ember wrote down answers for some of them, but she got a little confused by some of them. She was starting to draw blanks. She paid attention to what Pinkie had said, it just felt like her information just escaped her head. Eventually, Ember started guessing on some of the problems she couldn't figure out. Her answers were nowhere close to correct. Still, she didn't really care that much as she wanted to be out of here as soon as possible. Since the dragoness was just taking shots in the dark, she was one of the first students to finish. So, she just sat back and waited for at least of the other students to finish.
Once Ocellus got up and handed in her paper, Ember did the same thing. "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to pass on this," the dragoness whispered.
"That's what I was afraid of," the changeling responded. "I'm hoping we can prove that the body swap happened."
"Like with memory?"
"Yeah, that could work."
"Great." With that information given, Ember flew out of the classroom. Pinkie was tempted to stop her, but she had finished her paper and she had more work to do.
Rarity was busy with her own class as she heard a knock on the door. Opening it up, she found Ember in Smolder's body waiting impatiently for her. "Smolder, what are you doing out of class?" the unicorn asked.
"Remember the Gauntlet of Fire?" Ember asked.
"Excuse me?"
"How Spike and I teamed up to beat Garble?"
"Smolder, I don't have time for this. Besides, I don't want to be reminded of what happened there." Before Ember could explain the event, she thought Rarity didn't want to remember, there was a complaint heard from inside.
"Hey! Stop peaking!" cried Gregoria. Flare tried to act innocent even though he knew he was caught. Rarity tried closing the door which was hard considering Ember was pushing back.
"Smolder, if you don't get back to your class, I will make sure you'll be in a week's worth of detention." Rarity forced the dragoness back far enough to close the door. Ember growled as she knew she'd get Smolder into trouble if she kept at this. She decided to walk back to Pinkie's classroom, where Ocellus was making her way out.
"Did anyone believe you?" the changeling asked.
"Rarity wouldn't even let me explain it. Didn't you guys help save Equestria?"
"We did, but Smolder is still a teenager. One that got carried away in Las Pegasus… Long story."
"Second question; how many of you know about how Spike helped me in the Gauntlet of Fire?"
"By my guess, all of the professors. And some of us here."
"Ugh, come on. One of them would have to believe me. What about... Fluttershy?"
"Yeah. I think I heard some story of her and Angel swapping bodies before. It's worth a shot."
"Great!" Ember would have to wait for the bell to ring, plus she needed some directions from Ocellus on where Fluttershy's class was. Once the dragoness was there and the bell rang, the students began leaving their classes and Ember flew into Fluttershy's class to find... Sunburst?
"Oh, hello Smolder," Sunburst spoke, "Trying to be early?"
Ember looked around the room and couldn't see the kind pegasus anywhere. "Um, where's Fluttershy?"
"Oh, you didn't hear? She's been called out to help with some pets on the other side of Ponyville. She'll be gone for the rest of the day, so I'm filling in for her as a substitute." Ember groaned in frustration as the only pony that would believe her story was nowhere near the school. Not to mention, since she couldn't leave the vicinity and none of the other teachers didn't believe what she said, it was going to be a long day.
Smolder was having an easier time than Ember. Though, this might be because she hadn't met anyone needing help yet. Garble managed to catch up with her and flew alongside. "Smolder, shouldn't you try and fix the problem?" he asked.
"Why?" the dragoness asked. "Ember's going to figure out what it's like to be a student at the school of friendship. I'm in my element now. I just have to tell dragons what to do and what not to do." The two then heard a loud roar and looked around to see who let it out.
They followed the source of the sound and found two couples in an argument with each other. They appeared to be the ones Ember had been dealing with yesterday. Both of them had their wives and one had its children hiding behind him.
"Do you not even know how to keep your kids in check?" the first dragon questioned.
"I know you can't just frighten children," the second one stated.
"They stole my gems," the first dragon's wife stated. "Do you know how hard it was to find diamonds that big?"
The mother of the frightened children was consoling her offspring, yet still telling them to apologize, when she saw Garble and Smolder flying towards them. "Oh, thank goodness, you’re here," the mother sighed with relief. "Dragon Lord Ember, please end this."
"Um... Could you catch me up to speak?" Smolder requested.
"My children here got into their gem hoard. I'll handle my kids, just get my husband to stop arguing with them before a fight breaks out."
Smolder nodded and flew up to get to eye level with the quarreling dragons. "Hey, break it up!" They quiet down once they could see the "Dragon Lord."
"Look, clearly we're all having a bad time. Let's just take a minute to calm down and hear each other out."
"Maybe I go first?" the dragon father asked.
"Be my guest."
"Thank you. Now, what my children did clearly wasn't right, but that's the lack of the fish they needed."
"What fish?" Smolder questioned to herself.
"You had the bigger half," the childless dragon stated. "I held my tongue when I was told to have forty-five percent."
"Sixty clearly would've been better."
"Then we'd be stuck with forty!"
"Okay, hold on," Smolder spoke. Since she wasn't used to dealing with full-grown dragons, her voice was a whisper compared to the arguing.
"Look, you saw that fifty-five percent wasn't enough," the father dragon stated.
"That doesn't give you the right to steal our gems," the childless wife stated. "You need to discipline your kids more and make them learn!" The arguing started to get worse. Smolder tried to calm the situation, but they didn't pay her any attention. She slowly flew down to her brother and whispered to him.
"What do I do?" she questioned. "I've dealt with dragons your age, but... These guys are another league."
"I'm going to see if Spike can help with this," Garble responded, and starting flying. "I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, Garble flew away, leaving his body-swapped sister to deal with the dragons, something Smolder wished she didn't have to do.
Ember was walking down the hall with the Young Five, who was catching her up with what Smolder usually did. "Now, you just need to take notes in class next time," Sandbar recommended.
"Got it," Ember responded. "The only one I'm interested in would be gym class."
"Thought so," Gallus chuckled. "You been trying to see some highlights of those, are you?"
"What highlights?"
"No castle-sized dragons to scream at for one. Not to mention your meals are served to you while you're enrolled here." That got the dragoness thinking. Aside from the struggle of getting her body back, this wasn't so bad.
"Don't worry about cheer practice," Silverstream spoke.
"Cheer practice?"
"It's a blast. Dancing! Chanting! Not to mention the matching outfits!"
"...By outfits, you mean dresses?"
"You don't really have a choice in the matter," Sandbar commented. "None of the teachers believe you're actually the Dragon Lord." A frustrated sigh escaped the mouth that didn't belong to Ember.
"You'll never know if you don't try it," Silverstream noted.
"Trust me," Ember said, "I've tried dresses before. I was at the Gala last time, and that dress I wore was too big for me and…” Ember’s conversation came to a halt when they heard familiar quarrels. “Hang on, do you hear something?”
They went quiet as they could hear a trio of voices fighting with each other. Ocellus knew those voices, and she went to check it out, together with the others. Around the corner, they found Shimmy Shake having an argument with Dotta and Tarsi. Peridot and Grace were there trying to break it up, but they were clearly struggling.
Peridot could see the others approaching and ran over to them. "Ocellus, thank goodness you’re here. We need help," the dragoness begged.
“What’s going on here? What’re they arguing about?”
“They’re arguing about their new routine, but the problem is that we can’t agree on one of them. Shimmy convinced that she wants us to do somersaults, Dotta, on the other hand, wants us to try the Yakyakistan Stomp, and Tarsi, she wants us to jump through hoops."
The changeling thought about this before responding. "How about we put it up to a vote?" Ocellus suggested.
"That could work. Could you… maybe help them stop arguing?" Yona bravely stepped forward and managed to separate the quarreling students.
"Friends be quiet!" Yona cried. All three cheer members heard her yell and stopped arguing. "Squad vote for which routine girls do next."
The three cheerleaders looked between each other before Dotta spoke first. "Yak agree with plan," she spoke.
"I guess it's fair," Shimmy Shake commented. They walked away as Ocellus began to worry.
"This school teaches friendship," Ember stated, "It shouldn't have things like this."
"No kind of plan is flawless," Sandbar noted. "Friends tend to argue from time to time. Let's not let this keep us distracted from our next class." The friends quickly ran off and Ember followed close behind, pondering about the arguing students. Not just that, but also if any of the dragons had noticed that 'she' wasn't acting like herself.
Garble was just getting close to Canterlot City. He made a beeline for the castle only to be forced to land by the order of some guards. “Hold it!” the guard ordered. “Your name?”
“Garble, sir,” he replied.
"State your business."
"I’m here to see Spike," Garble explained. "There's something wrong back in the Dragon Lands, and I need him."
“Very well.” The guard then faced his partner. “Tell him there’s someone who needs to speak with him.”
“Yes, sir.” The guard then walked away in order to find the Princess's assistant. After about a minute, Spike walked outside, surprised to see Garble.
"Garble? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"It's about Smolder and Ember. They… uhh… let’s just say… somehow switched bodies."
Spike was alarmed by this, then the gears in his mind started turning. "Definitely got something to do with that statue. Come." He led Garble inside of the castle and down the hall. They entered a room where Twilight and a unicorn with a rather long beard were analyzing the statue that was found in the Dragon Lands.
"There's definitely something written on the bottom of the base," Twilight noted.
"If only we could make out what it says," the beard pony added. Both of them noticed the dragons walking into the room.
"Garble?"
"Hello... Princess Twilight," the visiting dragon responded. "There’s kind of… a strange problem in the Dragon Lands." Garble quickly caught Spike, the princess, and the bearded pony up to speed with what he knew. "So, yeah. It definitely has to do with the statue you have. I remember seeing Smolder's friends take it away."
"Probably," Twilight spoke. "At least we know what it does. Garble, how did this statue activate?"
"The only thing I remember happening before there was a flash when my sister, Smolder, and Ember arguing with each other. Both said that each others’ lives were harder."
"That sounds like the trigger word for this," the bearded pony commented.
"Then what's the trigger to switch them back?"
"My guess could be an apology," Twilight suggested. "If an argument is what made them switch bodies in the first place, having them both apologies to each other should fix things."
"We should get going now," Spike recommended. He got his backpack and carefully stuffed the statue inside of it. "No doubt we're going to need this."
"Let us know if there are any difficulties," the bearded pony spoke.
"Sure thing... ugh..." Garble didn't exactly know the pony's name.
"Starswirl."
"Right. Thank you," Garble said. "Come on Spike, let's fix this."
“Let’s go!”
The two dragons left the castle and made their way to Ponyville, where Ember would be at.
Ember had taken what Ocellus and the other had said. After borrowing some paper and a pencil, she took notes for Rarity's class. The history lesson that was being told was dull to some students like Gallus or Yona. For students, including Ember, it was actually interesting to learn more about other histories other than dragons.
"Now don’t forget, your history reports will be due by the end of the week," Rarity informed.
Ember slowly leaned towards Ocellus. "Does that include Smolder's report?" the dragoness whispered.
"Yes. She was doing a report on Dragon Lord Torch," the changeling informed.
"Oh, that's easy. He's my dad, I've got plenty of information." The bell rang and the students left the classroom one by one. "Now what?"
"For us, cheer practice," Silverstream answered. That meant dressing up in a dress. Ember dreaded this, yet she knew that the argument over the performance they would do. Sandbar and Gallus separated from the group as no boys were a part of the cheer squad.
The four girls got to their uniforms first so the other cheerleaders didn't question the dragon's strange behavior. Ember was being a little stubborn, however. "Do I seriously have to put that on me?" she questioned.
"Dragon Lord can always get into trouble with headmare," Yona noted. Gritting her teeth, Ember began putting the uniform on like the rest of the girls. Soon, the other cheer squad members started showing up, including Shimmy Shake, Dotta, and Tarsi, they were still in a disagreement.
"Okay," Shimmy Shake spoke, “before our professor gets here, we have three different routines to pick…”
"Who wants to learn Yakyakistan Stomp?" Dotta interrupted. Shimmy and Tarsi were so happy with the yak's outburst. Before the mare could continue, Tarsi spoke up.
"How about instead we fly through hoops?" the orange changeling suggested.
Yona rose her hoof to speak first. "Yaks can't fly," she reminded.
"Which is why Yakyakistan Stomp better," Dotta spoke.
"You know we can't use that," Shimmy Shake stated. "Ponies thought that there was an earthquake from the first pony pal dance at this school. I think it'll be best if we all practice somersaults."
"Let's put it to a vote," Ocellus suggested. "Anyone who wants to do whatever trick for our next routine, group up with the creature that suggested it." This was what they did. Shimmy, Dotta, and Tarsi separated from each other. The girls all had their votes and it was a tie between Tarsi and Shimmy Shake. Dotta wasn't happy that she didn't win.
"...So, it's a tie?" Peridot questioned.
"What do we do now?" Grace asked. "Flip a bit?"
"Count again," Tarsi proclaimed.
"Does anyone have a bit?" Shimmy Shake asked.
"If we don't have a bit, we'll just vote again."
Dotta stomped on the ground angrily. "Friends already vote," she said, "Bit must be flipped."
"We don't have one so it'll be better if we just vote again," Tarsi stated.
"It does sound easier than finding one bit," Peridot commented.
"But it'll be fairer if it's just a flip," Grace stated.
"Wouldn't that be more of a chance than a choice?" Silverstream questioned. An argument started again with all the cheerleaders trying to voice their opinion. Ember scanned the room as the noise was building up. It reminded her of dragons trying to speak over each other yesterday, thus making it harder to understand them. She couldn't take this.
The sound of arguing from the cheer squad members was soon changed to a deafening roar that echoed across Ponyville along with a big blast of fire. Ponies looked towards the school when they figure out where it came from while the students that weren't in the gym were wondering what was going on. When the roaring stopped, Ember had smoke billowing from her nostrils.
"Okay, listen, if we're going to argue like this, I think I'll give my opinion!" Ember stated. "Yaks can't fly and they create small earthquakes by stomping, so the hopes are out of the question. Since the Yakyakistan Stomp wasn't part of the tie, it's not happening either. Therefore, the somersaults are what we're going with." She took a couple of breaths once she was done with her rant.
The cheerleaders were quiet for a minute before Lighthoof spoke up. "She’s right. I think that makes sense," she admitted. Several of the cheerleaders like Silverstream, Grace, and Peridot nodded in agreement. Just then, Rainbow Dash stormed in and looked towards Smolder, as she was probably the only creature in the room that could make that much noise.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Can we get started now?"
Smolder wasn't doing very well in the Dragon Lands as a Dragon Lord. She had abandoned the two dragons arguing over the amount of fish they received as she was probably just talking to brick walls at this point. She tried to find another problem that she could've helped with, one that is a little simpler than that.
She then found Prominence arguing with two adult dragons. Judging by their looks, Smolder could guess that they were her parents. Wanting to do something useful, Smolder flew down to see if she could help. "What's going on here?"
"Please, Dragon Lord, get them to listen," Prominence begged. "They're not letting me leave the Dragon Lands. I went through the molting process, I'm now old enough to leave this cave."
"But think about how many disasters those ponies have in their homes," the mother noted.
Smolder thought about this and Ponyville did seem to attract a bunch of trouble. "You kind of have a point there," the body-swapped dragon admitted. "Still, it's nothing that can't be handled by the princess's friends."
"Until we see it for ourselves, our daughter is staying here," the father affirmed.
"Prove them wrong, please," Prominence groaned.
"Don't worry, I've got this," Smolder assured. She flew up to make eye contact with the parents. "I've been to Ponyville a couple of times and had a couple of issues, it's nothing lethal, especially for dragons. Besides, if Ponyville wasn't safe, then I wouldn't have those dragons been sent there as students."
Both parents both looked at each other, thinking about what the 'Dragon Lord' had said. "She makes a good point," the father noted.
"Hmm, very well," mother commented. "But if anything goes wrong, I'm going to bring it up for you to remember."
"Noted," Smolder responded. Prominence didn't wait for anything else. She took off leaving the three dragons behind. "Okay, she seems happy. Anyways, I should probably get going to check on the other dragons." Smoler took off as fast as she could before either parent could ask another question.
Flying away, Smolder was feeling better since she now had done one thing right today. However, another problem would be coming her way. A boulder narrowly missed her as it flew through the air. Looking down, Smolder saw it had been launched from a Slingtail. It was a part of a pack and they were launching boulders everywhere. Dragons big and smaller weren't liking this.
She flew down to the pack to try and get them to stop. However, she ended up getting smacked by one of the boulders and went flying into a wall. After recovering from the impact, Smolder rubbed her head and picked up the scepter to see several dragons trying not to get crushed by boulders.
"Just when I thought things were going my way," she grumbled. She avoided being hit by another boulder. Smolder blasted some fire to destroy one of the boulders but they kept coming. "Gah, where's Garble when you need him?"
Garble and Spike had made it to the School of Friendship. They ran down the hall to Starlight's office, where they found her. She was surprised to see the two drakes enter in such a hurry. "Spike? Garble?" Starlight gasped. "What are you two doing here?"
"Where's Smolder?" Spike asked, ignoring his friend's question.
"Wh… Why would you want to know where she is?"
"Because Ember is in her body, that’s why" Garble answered. This perplexed the headmare until she remembers what the dragon student had told her earlier.
"Oh, dear. I've made a big mistake. Follow me." Starlight got up from her desk and led the two dragons to the gym. There, the cheer squad was practicing somersaults, with varying results. Ember was told not to use her wings, so she got a running start then lept into the air trying to land on her claws only to flop onto her back.
Ocellus helped her up, though the dragoness was still grumbling. "I can fight creatures triple my size," Ember whispered. "How is this so hard for me?"
"Just give it a couple of more tries," the changeling responded.
"It doesn't help that I still have that report and other homework I have to do."
Just then, Starlight, Spike, and Garble burst into the room, making them the center of attention.
Rainbow Dash approached them, kind of confused. "What are you guys doing here?" Dash asked.
"For something Ember had said earlier," Starlight stated.
Everyone in the room looked towards the body-swapped dragoness, who was crossing her arms. "About time," she retorted.
"Um, what's going on here?" Peridot asked, confused like everyone in the room.
"It's a long story, but somehow Ember and Smolder switched bodies thanks to this statue," Spike explained. He opened his backpack and showed off the statue of the pony and dragon.
"Please tell me you found a way to fix this," Ember begged.
"There is. We just have to get you and Smolder in the same spot."
"Then let's go get her." Ember quickly took off down the hall, tossing off her pom-poms and dress in the process. Spike and Garble ran after her, leaving everyone else behind.
"…Okay, I really want an explanation," Lighthoof requested.
On the way back to the Dragon Lands, Ember was being asked a couple of questions. "No, I did not like being in that dress," the body-swapped responded.
"Did you even get to do any chants?" Spike asked.
"I wish not. Do you know how awkward it is when you're the one fumbling up? That and I couldn't do a somersault. What's even the point of cheerleaders?"
"They pump creatures up for a game. Besides, it had to be more fun than the other lessons."
"Aside from history, it was so dull. I'll be glad when I get... WHOA!" The trio narrowly avoided getting hit by a rogue boulder. They saw it was from one of the Slingtails that were running wild. "What are they doing around here?"
"I think Smolder's in over her head," Garble muttered. It wasn't just the Slingtails that were noticeable. There were some full-grown dragons getting into physical fights with each other, dragons running away with some stolen gems, dragons that were opening up the underground magma rivers, it was a mess.
"Yeah, Smolder probably isn't the best leader," Ember commented. "Where is she?"
Flying through the chaos, the trio could see more dragons in a disagreement. Eventually, they saw a familiar figure get thrown into a wall with the Bloodstone Scepter landing beside her. Smolder held her back in pain as she could see the other three dragons flying above her.
"Oh, hi guys," Smolder spoke. "H... How are..."
"Cut to the chase, Smolder. You screwed up, didn’t you."
"Not how I would say it," Spike admitted, "But it's still pretty bad."
"So, throw down that statue and change us back."
"It's not that simple. You two ended up switching because you were in an argument yesterday, logically the only way for you two to switch back would be to apologize."
The two body-swapped dragons looked at each other before responding. "A real one right?" Spike just nodded and Ember placed her claws on her hips. "Then we're in for a long wait."
"Seriously, Ember?" Garble questioned.
"We kind of have a couple of issues to fix with the Dragon Lands." This was an issue that was hard to miss.
"Look, you have it hard, okay," Smolder cried, "Just please help me out!"
"I will, but you're going to have to do most of the speaking. The dragons aren't going to listen to me."
"I get that. What do I say?"
“Just follow me.” Ember then turned to Spike and Garble. “While you two, I needed some assistance for this chaos.” They nodded.
Smolder and Ember flew away to sort out the issues. With the right words, Smolder managed to get the dragons under control. Spike and Garble pitched in where they could and after an hour or two, the chaos was over. Smolder lay back against a smooth boulder in exhaustion.
"How do you do this?" she groaned.
"It's not easy," Ember noted. "Neither is school. You seriously have to learn all that stuff?"
"Yeah. Seems kind of pointless to me."
"You're not wrong. I don't remember ever using the kind of math the pink one taught me."
"Ah, what? You didn't try baking?"
"She never said anything about that. Also, how do you manage cheerleading? I mean, I tried somersaults and they're impossible to do without wings."
"No, it's not. Look, I'll do one right now." Smolder placed the scepter down and stepped back for a running start. She then jumped forward and did the said trick that Ember had so much trouble with. "See. Easy."
"Yeah, for you. You've been a cheerleader for what… a year?"
"Pretty much. You've been the Dragon Lord way longer than that."
"Well, that's true. You've got more patience than me. I felt like I was going to explode. Mostly because I wanted to get out of the conflict. I just don't see how most creatures are supposed to stay still for that long."
"That's how I feel. I usually finish and have to sit around for like five minutes waiting for everyone else to finish. Not to mention, one of the pony students told me that there's this thing where the professors go like: ‘The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do.’"
Ember gave a low brow to that information. "Right. I don't care who says that or whoever I am in that situation. That is just dumb."
"I know. I've only heard about from the schools in Canterlot and Manehatten."
"Manehatten?"
"It's a city on the East side of Equestria. Gallus and Silverstream have been there once."
"It sounds interesting, but I'm going to stay in the Dragon Lands for a while. Once I get my body back of course."
"Yeah. This isn't my first time with a magic statue. Long story. Still, sorry about that… I really shouldn't have a try be the one thinking you had it easy."
"Same to you. You do have less stress on your shoulders, but I really wish I still had more freedom while at school. Still, I think the hard way is the best way to learn."
“Shall we agree… on not doing this ever again?”
"Agree."
After this remark, the statue in Spike's backpack started glowing. He took it out and the gems started glowing again. Ember's glowed pink while Smolder's glowed orange. Both of them had flames escape their mouths that matched their glowing eyes and into their original bodies. When their eyes returned to normal, they found they were back in their original bodies.
Both girls cheered over this. "Finally," Ember sighed. Smolder flew up to her brother and hugged him.
"Glad this is over," Spike said. He stuffed the statue back into his backpack and placed it back on. "Now I just need to get this thing back to Starswirl.”
"I should probably go too," Smolder added. "There are still some more assignments to work on." Just as the two dragons got off the ground, Ember had something to say.
"Smolder,” she then turned around when Ember called her, “if you need help with that report on my father, then I'll make myself available," the Dragon Lord informed.
"Great. Thanks for that. I'm probably going to have to start from scratch anyway." With that, Smolder and Spike flew away back to Ponyville and Canterlot respectively.
With the two out of sight, this left Garble to ask Ember a question. "You think you'd want to try cheerleading again?" he asked.
Ember was a little annoyed but kept her cool. "In your dreams, Garble. I'm just as likely to try that as Prominence."
"Actually, that brings up a good question, where is Prominence?"
In Appaloosa, Braeburn was just collecting some apples when somebody tapped his shoulder. Hovering next to him was Prominence, much to the stallion's surprise.
"Hey there," the dragoness spoke, "Sorry for bothering you, but do you know how I can get to Ponyville? I got a little bit lost."
"Um... Yes. If you follow the tracks heading north, you should find yourself there," Braeburn explained.
“Thanks.”
"Oh, by the way, you probably shouldn't stick around here for now. Last time a dragon visited, it wasn't pretty."
"Noted. Okay, thanks for the advice." With that, Prominence flew away with a pie nearly hitting her and landing next to Braeburn. He looked back at the mare who had thrown it and gave a low brow.
"She was just leaving. Don’t worry about that." He didn't say anything else and just walked away with his basket of apples.
Author's Note
Five Stories to Go
