Garble was sleeping soundly until he noticed that Blaze had gotten out of bed. "Blaze?" Garble said drowsily. "Why are you up so early?"
"I'm getting ready to head home," she replied. "Plus, everyone else is awake." Blaze and Garble were the only dragons in the room.
"Oh." The drake was taken by surprise as Blaze dragged him out of bed. "Okay, I'm going." Garble rubbed his eye as he walked down the hall with Blaze.
They found the other dragons in the kitchen, where Spike was cooking breakfast. "Oh, hey, you're up," Spike said. "Even Spear got up before you."
"Yeah," said the said dragon. "What took you guys."
Blaze looked at Garble who simply nodded. "Guys," she said, "I think it's time we head home?"
"What?" Flicker gasped.
"Think about it. Our parents are probably freaking out on where we are. You think they would listen to Ember saying that we were with ponies. I don't mean to be offensive, I'm just being honest."
Vixen held her arm. "She right," she sighed. "We can't stay here forever."
"But what about Blaze's wing?" Cleva said. "She can't fly."
"I can carry her," Garble said.
"But... My egg. We should wait for it to hatch first."
"I can get you a bag," Spike said.
Flicker saw Cleva's worried expression. "Is something bothering yo..." the white dragoness didn't have time to finish as her friend explained the problem.
"What if I drop it?" Cleva cried. "I could lose my grip or if I do use a bag what if the straps break?"
"Cleva," Spike said. "Just breathe." The soon to be mother did so finally calming down.
"It's really going to bite leaving here," Vixen said.
"I know," Garble said, "I was starting to like the place."
"That is something I thought I would never hear from you," Spike said.
"We have to at least say by to Twilight and her friends," Flicker said.
"Right," Garble said.
After the mane six got to the castle, Spike helped Cleva up the gifts she got from the baby shower. "I'm sorry you girls have to go," Fluttershy said to Flicker. "You will come and visit us, right?"
"I think so," Flicker said.
"I hope so," Rarity said, "It was fun making dresses for you."
"Yeah, they do look nice."
"Speaking of nice, Vicky, your hair looks lovely."
Vixen blushed as the unicorn noticed her now curly hair. "Thanks," she said. "I hope we can do this more in the future."
"Well, I thought I would give you a parting gift." Rarity pulled some bras and loincloths out of her bag. "I took a look at the clothes that you brought over from the dragon lands. I thought since you were stuck like this, I'd make you something that is more fitting."
"Thanks, Rare," Flicker said. "This going... To make feel a little awkward."
"Well, the boys' clothing from the Dragon Lands is all the information I could get."
"I understand," Vixen said.
Rainbow Dash was flying next to Garble, who had changed back into his Dragon Lands outfit, which was just a loincloth. "Is that seriously all you dragons wear?" Dash asked.
"We don't really care about what our clothes look like," Garble replied, "We just cover the parts we don't want to see."
"I guess that makes sense. Now, where are the girls?"
"Right here," Blaze said showing off her bra and loincloth as did Flicker, Cleva, and Vixen.
"What do you think?" Vixen asked.
"...Wow," Garble said not knowing what to say.
"Alright, Cleva," Spike carrying a bag of baby shower gifts, "Everything is pack."
"Are you sure about this?" Cleva asked.
"Don't worry, I've put your egg in a special bag." The bag showed the dragoness was specifically made to carry the egg. The bag's straps allowed it to be worn like any ordinary backpack, which Spike demonstrated by placing it on Cleva's back.
"Well, it feels secure."
"If it makes you feel better," Vixen said, "I can carry your gifts." The purple dragoness placed the bag of gifts onto her back.
"So, are we ready to go," Spear asked.
"I think so," Garble said walking over to Blaze.
Spike walked out onto the balcony. He looked down at the ponies and saw there was very few. "You're clear for taking off," he said. Spike was taken by surprise as the dragons gave him one final hug and they flew away.
Garble was carrying Blaze, who was holding onto him tight. "Easy," Garble said. "I've got you." Blaze just tightened her grip, making Garble sigh. It was going to be a long trip home.
Flicker and Spear held each other's hand and even nuzzling each other. Vixen was flying under Cleva to make sure she didn't drop her fragile cargo. The brown dragoness kept looking towards her back to double check on her egg.
"How much further?" Cleva asked.
"We're almost there," Blaze said looking towards the horizon.
Flicker sighed, "I'm still so nervous."
"You've got nothing to be nervous about," Spear said kissing her cheek.
A green teenage drake flew up to Vixen. "Hey, there," he said. "You're a fine chunk of gemstones."
"What does that even mean?" Vixen asked.
"What can I say to somebody so fine. Your friends are already taken or too chunky."
"I'm not chunky," Cleva cried. "I've got an egg with me."
"Another reason I'm going for your friends."
"Let me think about that," Vixen said. She took the drake by surprise by whacking him with her tail. The drake nearly lost control and flew away from them.
"I don't even know why I tried. You're an ugly girl."
"That's something we're going to have to get used to, isn't it?" Cleva questioned.
"I think so," Vixen said.
"There's our stop," Blaze said pointing to the dragon lands.
As they came down for a landing they took a while to look at their surroundings. They grew up in this place, but it felt... Alienated. Several dragons were fighting over who was getting gems or a new mate. Flicker felt very nervous about being here, but she tried her hardest to stay brave.
"So, where do you think our parents are?" Flicker asked.
"There you are," Dragon Lord Ember said landing in front of them. "Do you know how hard I've been trying to keep your parents under control?"
"Well, sorry," Blaze said sarcastically. "It's not every day you and your friends switch genders thanks to a stupid ruby."
"Why are you holding Garble's hand?"
Garble saw he was holding hands with his friend. "We can explain," he said.
"Explain it to your parents. I've got other things to take care of." Before they could say anything else, Ember took off.
"Well, she seems angry," Cleva said.
"Can you blame her?" Vixen asked. "Let's just find our parents." They walked off, but Flicker seemed frozen.
"Flick, come on," Spear said. "We here."
"I can't," Flicker said. "What if she kicks me out. It's going to be like molting all over again."
"That was just a phase. You made it this far."
"Plus, you were the one who helped us through this," Cleva said. "You think I would deliver this egg safely if you didn't stop me."
The white and scared dragoness rubbed the back of her head. "Okay, let's do this," she said. As the walked towards the caves, she held onto her boyfriend's hand as they found two large dragonesses, both were around nine feet tall. One was mostly purple and the other was soft khaki, with bright orange scales on her chest and scarlet spines.
"Muddle, I just can't help but worry about them," the purple dragoness said.
"Javelin, I know," said the khaki one. "But Dragon Lord Ember said they were alright. She wouldn't lie to us."
Spear and Flicker looked at each other before taking a deep breath. They walked over to the worried dragons and grabbed their attention. "Excuse me," Spear said, "I..."
"Puffy," cried Javelin hugging her son. "I was so worried about you. Where have you been?"
"It's a long story."
"Well, I'm glad you're safe," Muddle said. "But where is..." She stopped as she saw Flicker, who was looking bashful. "Fizzle?"
"H.. Hey, m... Mom," Flicker said quietly.
"What happened to you?"
"A magical ruby. It's not just me. My friends... Were also unlucky." The rest of the dragonesses came out of hiding and both mothers were speechless. "We're stuck like this. We tried to find someone to fix this and I was worried about you kick..." Flicker could finish as her mother hugged her tightly with her eyes flooded with tears of joy.
"I don't care what you are. I'm just glad you're back." Muddle kissed her daughter's cheek multiple times. "Don't scare me again."
"I won't. But what about my friends?"
"I'll go tell their mothers," Javelin said. She flew off with the new dragonesses feeling worried, especially Cleva.
"Cleva, what do you have on your back?" Muddle asked.
Cleva felt very awkward as she took the bag off her back. "It's an egg," she said. "One that... I laid." She cringed by just saying that. Muddle's jaw just hung open until her daughter closed it.
The rest of the parents flew over to see their new daughters. "I can't believe it," Cleva's mom said. "My son... Daughter laid an egg."
"I know," Cleva replied.
"How? And wh..."
"The less you know the better."
Blaze froze when she saw her mother looking. Her expression was far from happy. "Don't do this again," she said.
"Noted," Blaze replied.
"I'm going to have to get used to having a daughter. What about you Vixen?"
Vixen's mother, (who also shared the same name) was hugging her daughter so tight that she struggled to breathe. "Mom," the young Vixen said, "I can't breathe."
"Sorry, sweetie," the mother said. "I was just so scared for you."
"I know. We wanted to tell you but..."
"We understand. So, what do we call you now?"
"Well... Girls, this is very awkward."
"You think?" Blaze asked. "Look, we've got some new names from... A friend."
"Well, what are they?" Javelin asked.
After taking a deep breath, she explained. "My name is now Blaze, Fizzle's is not Flicker, Clump is now Cleva, and Vex is... Vixen."
"But that's also my name," said Vixen's mother.
"If it helps," said the younger Vixen, "I could just be called Vicky." The dragoness gave a nervous chuckle as her mother just hugged her again.
"I do like what you did with your hair. Maybe you could attract someone you like."
"And here we go."
"Though it might be a bit hard." Vicky just groaned as she was used to her mother trying to get her a mate.
"I'm going to have to have a hard time to get used to," Blaze's mother said. "Wait a minute, what happened to your wing?"
"Well, I tried to get home earlier when we couldn't fix this," Blaze said. "It's was a stormy night, so I got struck by lightning, crashed in a river, and then got attacked by timber wolves."
Her mother was horrified. "Those stupid ponies."
"There were several trees, and it was being careless."
"GARBLE!" cried a voice which made the red drake tremble. An orange dragoness who was his mother stomped towards them. "Where have you been?"
"Mom, I..." Garble couldn't even speak as his mother stopped him.
"You don't fly off without me knowing. You were gone for days."
"Trying to fix this," Blaze said.
"Stay out of this."
"You're not even questioning that my son is now a daughter," Blaze mother asked.
"Stay out of this, Clip." Clip (Blaze's mother) was offended by this. She would've stomped over to her, but Javelin stopped her. "Your father and I are going to have a serious talk with you." Garble was dragged away by her mother as his friends and mothers stay behind.
"Look, Fizz... Flicker," Muddle said correcting herself, "Let's just get back to our cave. I've got some gems waiting for you." Each dragon flew off with their respective mother.
"It's so weird that all your friends are female," Javelin said to Spear flying to their cave. "Your relationship is so weird."
"It is mom," Spear groaned. "Please, don't make it worse."
"How can it be worse? You two are still friends. In fact, she seems really close to you." Spear gulped a little. "Something wrong, Puff?"
"No, we're fine."
"We?"
"Let's just get back to the cave. I wonder how the others are doing."
Flicker followed Muddle back to their cave. "I kind of think you look cuter now," Muddle said pinching Flicker's cheek.
"Mom, stop it," Flicker groaned while blushing. The mother did stop but Flicker could see some teens looking at her. This made her feel nervous.
"Just ignore them Flicker."
"Okay." As they walked away from them, Flicker thought to herself. "I knew this might happen. Just remember, Spear is my boyfriend. But our moms don't know this. Just got to stay quiet.
Vicky followed her mother who was pacing back and forth. "Well, this is going to be hard," Vixen said.
"Mom, it's not a big deal," Vicky said. "I've gotten over thi..."
"But you're a dragoness. You said a ruby would cause this? What could sapphire do? Or an emerald."
"Mom, it was a cursed ruby.
"I'm just saying there could be others. I'm not making your situation worse. Who knows, there could be a diamond that turns you back into an egg."
"Mom, I know you're just trying to watch out for me, just let take a break. I'm tired from flying all the way over here."
"You're right. I'll get you something to eat. Just got to make sure every gem is safe for you." Vicky just sighed as her mother flew away, though she also cracked a smile.
Cleva was following her mother (named Gronkle) back to their cave. There were several dragons ranging from young adults to toddlers. There was a large red drake with blue eyebrows was watching over them until Gronkle and Cleva walked towards.
"Hey, dad," Cleva said nervously as she held her egg.
"Clump?" the father questioned.
"It's a long story."
"It is weird, but we're grandparents now," Gronkle said.
The father and his new daughter looked at each other. "She's taking too well," he said.
"I know," Cleva replied.
"Kids," Gronkle cried grabbing the attention of her children. They had suspicion and confusion on seeing their former brother's state.
"I can explain."
Blaze meanwhile, was following her mother, who was still mad at her, yet she was also relieved her child was alright. Clip opened her mouth a couple of times, but she didn't know how to say. "Mom," Blaze said, "You don't need to say anything. I know this is weird, can we drop it?"
"Sure," Clip said. "But right now, you're grounded. You can't just fly off without me knowing."
"Right." Blaze didn't say anything she just walked into the cave.
"Where are you going?" said a male voice. A teenage drake was eyeing Blaze. "Why is someone as good looking as you walking into the dark?
"Get lost! Mom."
"On it," Clip said whacking the drake away with her tail. "I'm going to check on your friends. Don't leave the cave. Got it?" Blaze just nodded, then her mother flew away. The dragoness lied down and cringed on how rough the rocks were.
"I miss the beds."
Garble was in a similar position that Blaze was. Ground and stuck in the cave. "You can stay in here until I can trust you again," his mother said. He didn't complain as he knew he wouldn't be able to win arguing with his mother. He just laid against the wall and sighed.
"Why did I have to get spoiled by the beds?" Garble questioned. "Maybe that drake was onto something during the Gauntlet of Fire." He lay his side as he saw rock and emerald and immediately thought of Blaze. They'd only been apart from each other for about five minutes and he already missed her. "Love is flipping weird."
When night fell, Flicker was looking at the night sky. She was glad to be home, but after spending time with Spike and ponies, the dragons' behavior felt too different for her. "Hey," Spear said landing next to her. "Feels good to be back, huh?"
"Yeah," Flicker said. Her boyfriend wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Spear, someone will see us."
"Flicker, my mom's asleep, and I'm pretty sure your's is."
"Well, not me," said Ember landing next to them. The two were surprised by the Dragon Lord landing next to them. "Am I interrupting anything?"
"No," both said trying to play innocent.
Ember raised an eyebrow in confusion. "So, did you find anything about that ruby?"
"Twilight said it was cursed by an angry wife," Spear said. "She had enough of her husband's crud and made him a her. And made him lay an egg like Cleva. Don't ask."
"I don't think I want to. So, Flicker, enjoying the new you?"
"Yep," Flicker replied. "Though, some things may be weird to you now."
"You just said a friend laid an egg, I'm sure I can take anything else you throw at me."
"If you say so," Spear said. He grabbed his girlfriend by the shoulder and the two share kiss. "How's that?"
"Still great," Flicker said softly.
"I'm gonna be honest," Ember said, "I thought this might happen." The Dragon Lord's attention was grabbed by something hiding behind some rocks, sticking out like a sore thumb. She flew down to it and found a bag with a blanket, footie pajamas, and a giraffe plush toy. "What the heck are these things?"
"Cleva's gifts. I don't know how they got here."
"Where did she get these?"
"Let me catch you up," Spear said. "Basically, ponies throw this kind of party called a baby shower. They give gifts for the mom that's about to deliver a baby. I don't understand it, to be honest."
"Probably wouldn't mix with a dragon's greed."
"I don't know why Cleva or Vicky would hide these."
Ember was a bit confused. "Those are our friend's new names," Spear explained.
"Ah," Ember said. "I think I know why they hid these. You know dragons and ponies don't have the best relationship. I kind of blame my dad on it."
"Makes sense."
Flicker held the gifts. "I think we should tell our parents," she said.
"Are you crazy?" Spear cried but at the same time tried to keep quiet.
"She's not half wrong," Ember said. "Some are easier than others, but I think it would be a good idea to have dragons get over the "Oh, ponies are pushovers when I raid their gold." Spear snicked her mocking most dragons.
"You sure it'll work."
"Relax, you've learned friendship power or whatever they call it. I'm sure if we can get tough guys like Garble to learn it, we can get any dragon to learn it. Now, I'd get back to your cave before your moms have another freakout."
"Right," Flicker said. "See you in the morning Spear." She kissed her boyfriend's cheek before flying away. Spear hid the bag back where they found and he and Ember took off.
When the sun rose, Cleva was woken up by her mother. "Wakey, wakey," Gronkle said.
"Mom, let me sleep," Cleva groaned.
"But you're going to be a mother, you need to learn to wake up early."
"Mother... My egg!" She jolted up and looked around to find her egg was safely resting in Gronkle's arms. "Oh, good."
"So, I was thinking of having you watch your younger siblings help you get ready."
"Okay, just please make sure my egg is okay."
"I will." Two dragon toddlers ran past them and Cleva ran after.
"Guys, wait up, I'm still working off the baby fat." She chased the two outside she could her friend, Vicky sulking. "Morning, Vicky. You... Don't look happy."
"My mom is trying to help get used to being dragoness," Vicky said. "I got used to it two days ago."
"I think that's getting used to being a girl."
"Oh. Oh, I see you mean now."
"Vicky," Vixen called flying towards her. "I found some gem that'll make you look great." Vixen gave her daughter some golden bracelets and a pearl necklace.
"Mom, these look very nice, but..."
"You need to look nice for a good drake."
"Why do I even try?"
"Now, come on, let me get you some flirting tips."
"Well, see you later, Cleva." The two Vixens flew into the air as Cleva turned back to her younger siblings.
"I hope the others are doing better than me," Cleva sighed as she tried to catch the younger dragons.
Gronkle was making sure her future granddaughter as she saw the other mothers. "Hey, girls," she said.
"Hey," Javelin said. "How's your new daughter doing?"
"I'm trying to teach her how to take care of children. She's trying to take care of her youngest sisters." The mothers looked to Cleva finally catching the toddlers with the three of them starting to share a laugh.
"That's so cute," Muddle said.
"I know."
"You're taking this pretty well," Clip said.
"I figure the less I think about the weirdness, the better."
"Kind of wish they told us about this, we could've helped them."
"Yeah," Javelin said, "But they're fine now."
"But did they get the help?" Garble's mom (named Caldera) questioned.
"Maybe they just ran away."
"No," Muddle said, "They said they had help from a friend."
Caldera was thinking of who could've helped their children. "You know, I heard that Dragon Lord Ember is trying to get a better relationship with the ponies," Javelin said.
Caldera's eye narrowed after hearing this. "No," she growled. "You know ponies are nothing but selfish vermin. Sticking their noses where they don't belong."
"We know," Clip groaned. "Wish the former Dragon Lord didn't bash that into our skulls."
"Not to mention he's dead wrong," Cleva said under her breath.
"What was that sweetie?" Gronkle asked.
"Nothing." Cleva went back to taking care of her younger siblings.
"So, where are your kids?"
"I've been having trust issues with Garble," Caldera said. "He's been ground and he's staying in the cave."
"Same for Blaze," Clip said.
"Oh," Muddle said, "You know I nearly had a heart attack from Fiz... Flicker, still getting used to that, from running away. I just blame her for what happened."
"And I think was just helping his friend," Javelin said.
"You didn't ground them, didn't you?" Clip asked.
"No," both mothers sighed.
"Then where are they now?"
Spear and Flicker were relaxing in a pool of lava. "Man, I miss the lava baths," Spear sighed sliding into the molten rock.
"Me too," Flicker said sliding closer to the blonde drake. "I do like the lake but... This is just blissful." They both had removed their clothes because for Spear, dragons didn't really have access to fireproofing spells, and Flicker's did have a spell put on them. "You know, I wonder what you would be like if you got the ruby."
"I'm not sure. Can't think of any names that could replace Spear."
"Cannonball!" cried some dragons falling down to splash into the lava pool next to the couple. Flicker quickly got out and moved their clothes out of the way before they could get splashed by lava. The dragoness didn't think this all the way through as she was fully exposed. She tried to cover herself as she blushed like crazy.
"Hey, girl," said a drake.
"Don't look," Flicker cried as she put her clothes back on. Spear jumped in and breathed fire to blind the dragons giving him and Flicker enough time to put their clothes back and fly off.
"You okay?" Spear asked.
"Just embarrassed. Did we used to act like that?"
"Well, maybe not that bad, but I see what you're getting at."
"How about we check on Garble and see how he's doing." The two flew to Garble's cave to find the red drake sulking. "Hey, Garb..."
"Leave me alone," he groaned rolling on his other side to face away from his friends.
"Are you missing the beds too?" Spear asked. "Because I think I'm spoiled now."
"No... Well, sort of... It's also Blaze. I'm missing her. My mom grounded me so I can't leave the cave. Why hasn't she visited me?"
"Know her mom, I'd say she's grounded too."
"Or maybe not. Maybe she doesn't even want to meet her friend who might be her boyfriend."
"We haven't seen her since yesterday," Flicker said. "Wait, did you call yourself her boyfriend?"
"Well, we not that kind of couple. I mean, we didn't really kiss." Garble gave a nervous and awkward chuckle. "Could you just check on her."
"I will." Flicker away as Spear stay to comfort his friend.
"It's nice to be back home, right?" Spear asked. Garble just groaned. "If it makes you feel better, Ember's trying to make the relationship between ponies and dragon it less hateful."
"Dragons think ponies are pushover and ponies think we're just mindless warriors," Garble said.
"Hearing that coming from you makes me think the girls weren't the only ones changed. Did you gain some more brain power?"
"Depend, can you get up before noon without the need of catapult?" Both boys shared a laugh.
"You know, we were real jerks. Can't believe we treated Spike like a punchbag back then."
"Yeah, he really kicked my tail when he teamed up with Ember."
"I don't know how anyone was supposed to survive that trial." They stay silent for while as Garble sighed.
"My mom is going to have a fit when she knows that Blaze and I are in a sort of relationship. She used to be a dude and so did Flick. I can't believe how your moms reacted." Spear rubbed the back of his head. "You didn't tell them?"
"No. I just wanted to spend more time with Flicker."
"I bet Blaze has the same reaction."
"You can't be serious," Blaze said to Flicker. The black and green dragoness passed around her cave with the white and pink one feeling nervous. They then notice Vicky walking outside.
"Vicky," Flicker said, "How are you doing?"
"Bad," Vickey replied taking her jewelry off. "My mom is still trying to get me a mate. I don't even bother trying to stop her."
"Well, how did it go?"
Five minutes earlier
Vicky and Vixen were walking towards some drakes that were sitting in a lava pool. Vicky had some more jewelry and some eyeliner on her eyelids, which her mother made from crushing some rocks. "Go and get them, sweetie," Vixen said pushing her daughter towards the drakes.
The dragoness walked towards them, putting some extra swing in her hips. "Hey, boys," Vicky said not a hundred percent confident.
"What do you think?" one of the drakes asked his friend.
The two drakes walked up to her and ripped off her golden bracelets. "I don't know," the other said. "I'm not into a dragon with an underbite."
"Hey," Vicky cried as she tried to get her bracelets back, "It's not that big."
"Yeah, but with your teeth, it's hard to miss," the drakes joked before laughing.
"Look at her unibrow," said a dragoness landing behind Vicky and laughing with her friends.
"Would rather go through the Gauntlet of Fire every day then look at you." The teens laughed as they took off Vicky's jewelry. The purple dragoness was nearly crying as her mother stepped in and knocked the teen to the side. She looked towards her daughter who had flown away.
"And that's what happened," Vicky said as some tears managed to escape.
"You don't a mate like that," Flicker wiping her friend's tear as well as her eyeliner.
"Maybe I didn't have enough makeup."
"What are you talking about?" Blaze asked.
"I thought it would help me get this dating thing over with. I've been used to my mom trying to get me dates, the girls just want me to help them get gems and gold. Now think of what boys want."
"Screw them. I would just be the crud out of anyone who tries to get to know me for just for looks. Garble wants me because we like a lot of the same sports as tail wrestling. Man, I wish I wasn't stuck in this cave with this stupid wing."
"I'm sure it'll heal soon," Flicker said.
"Vicky, where are you?" Vixen asked flying around. The dragoness waved towards her mother who soon landed in front of her. "Look, I know that didn't go so well, but we can try again."
"Or you could let her speak," Blaze said.
"What do you mean?"
"I want to take a break from dating until I recover," Vicky stated. "Besides, I wanna see how Cleva is doing."
"Hmm, alright. We'll try again later." The two purple dragonesses flew away with Flicker flying behind. Blaze just groaned as her wing was still broken.
"Want a lift?" asked a voice which she looked and saw came from Garble.
"Garble?" Blaze gasped. "You can't be here."
"I know, but I just wanted to see you again." Garble took her by surprise with a big hug.
"Hey, watch the wing."
"Sorry." Both teens looked at each other and blushed. "Wanna go look for gems?"
"Only if you don't hoard them all." They both chuckled as Garble picked Blaze up and they flew off.
"So, Cleva, how are you doing?" Gronkle asked.
"Way better," Cleva said. "I think I lost a few pounds. What about my egg?" Gronkle handed her daughter the chocolate brown egg which Cleva hugged dearly. Her eyes widened when she felt it move. "Oh my gosh. What do I do."
Gronkle held the egg and could feel why her daughter was nervous. "Just take a deep breath. Set it down and let it hatch." The soon to be mother placed her egg down carefully and walked so she would disturb it.
"This is pretty cute," Javelin said to Gronkle.
"It kind of reminds when Flicker after she hatched," Muddle said.
"Same about Garble," Caldera said.
Vixen and Vicky landed next to the mother and the younger dragoness went to see her friend. "Sorry I busy girls," Vixen said. "I was just trying to help her with her new body."
"Already done that," Vicky called.
"So, did this change anything about your kids?" Caldera asked.
"Thankfully, no," Clip said. "Blaze is still acting like herself."
"Same for Flicker," Muddle said. Speak of the devil, Flicker flew up along with Spear out of breath.
"Puffy," Javelin said, "Are you okay?"
"I'm just... Out of breath," Spear said as he and Flicker landed.
"We were just checking on Blaze and Garble."
"Are they still in the caves?" Clip asked.
"Of course," Spear said. "We heard they were grounded."
"There you are," Ember said flying above the dragons before landing. "I've been wanting to talk to you."
"Should... We be in this?" Flicker asked.
"Maybe. Okay, so, I was wanting to talk about our relationship with the ponies." Caldera and Clip's eye narrowed after hearing this.
"What did I expect having a minor as our leader?" Caldera asked.
"You forget my father let me be Dragon Lord. Now, I've been getting word the princess of frien..."
"How can you trust ponies?" Clip asked.
"They actually listen unlike you." Spear snicked at Ember's comeback with the mothers glaring down at him. "Anyways, in order to avoid a war breaking out, I've been meeting with the princess with friendship and figuring this friendship thing taken care of."
"You know that dragons by nature are greedy," Caldera said.
"And magma is hot. The princess has dealt with a lot of crud."
"This is getting boring," Spear whispered to Flicker. "Let's see how Cleva and Vicky are doing." They sneaked into the cave where Vicky was holding Cleva's egg.
"I can't believe it's already hatching," Vicky said.
"I know," Cleva said nervously. "I don't think I'm ready."
"I think you are," Flicker said taking them by surprise. "You have your mom to help you."
"Yeah, but I can't remember what happened to my gifts."
"I think that's... My fault," Vicky said. "I thought our parents would freak at what we brought from Spike and his friends."
"But they were cute," Flicker said.
"Although I think we forgot the crib," Spear said. There was a sudden roar from outside, they look and saw Clip and Caldera flying away.
"What happened?" Vicky asked Ember.
"I just said I saw Garble and Blaze gem hunting," Ember explained.
Flicker got worried but she and Spear flew after them, with their mothers following behind. Vicky flew into a different direction to find her bag.
Garble and Blaze had broken a boulder open to find a jackpot of gems. "Alright," Garble cheered as he picked up his side of the boulder. Blaze tried picking her's up, but she was having some trouble.
"Dumb body," she groaned as she placed her boulder down.
"You weren't the strongest dragon, remember?" Garble placed his boulder down so he could help his friends, but another dragon swooped in and stole his half. "HEY!"
"Ignore him. We've still got this one." It took her a few hits but Blaze broke the boulder up into two more half. They were both able to pick up their halves, but Blaze was annoyed that her wing was still broken. "That zebra's potion should've worked by now."
"Just give it more time. Let's get these gems back to our cave before some jerk steals them."
"Like the old you?" Both managed to share a laugh as well as a look of affection. They heard two roars and angry mothers flying towards them. "Oh, crud."
"Garble," Caldera cried landing making the ground shake, "What are you two doing out of your caves?"
"We can explain," Garble said before mother grabbed him by his ear.
"We were just getting gems," Blaze shouted before she was grabbed by her horns.
"You're supposed to be grounded," Clip said. "You're not having these gems."
"Keep her out of this," Garble said as he was dragged by his ear. "This was my idea."
"That doesn't excuse..."
"I'm trying to help her cope." The drake managed to stop as he began to blush.
"Garble, what's wrong?" Caldera asked confused with her son's expression. The red drake and grey dragoness looked at each and sighed. Flicker and Spear landed nearby and hid behind some boulders.
"Garble, don't say it," Blaze ordered.
"Say what?" Clip asked. Spear was going to jump in, but his girlfriend stopped him.
Garble was starting to sweat, he couldn't back out now. "Blaze... And I..." He paused, "Are... ...Are..."
"Spit it out," Caldera ordered.
"We're dating!" He covered his mouth after what he just blurted out. There was a long silence. Spear and Flicker came out of hiding and walked over to the speechless mothers.
"Hey," Flicker said nervously. "So... He's not wrong."
"Yeah, they can't hide it even if they tried," Spear joked.
"Well, you're in a relationship too," Blaze bringing more shock to the mothers.
"You're dating?" Muddle questioned her daughter after Flicker and the other got back.
"Yes," Flicker sighed. "I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how you would react."
"Flicky, I still love you." Muddle her daughter and Javelin was doing the same to her child.
"You two are so cute together," Javelin cheered hugging her son tightly.
"I'm happy too, mom," Spear wheezed, "But could you let me breathe." She let Spear go and the drake gasped for air.
Clip and Caldera were still gobsmacked at what Garble said. "I don't know what to think anymore," Clip groaned. Caldera kept trying to say something, but her confusion was stopping her.
"I'm sorry, mom," Garble said. "I mean, you would find out at some point, right?"
"Right," Caldera said. "Just... How long have been in a relationship."
"Since, yesterday. We're still trying to figure it out."
"Let's just stop talking about it," Blaze groaned. "Where's Vicky?" The said dragoness came flying back with a bag on her back as well as Ember and Vixen following her. Vicky looked towards the Dragon Lord who nodded as they showed the gift Cleva received at her baby shower.
"What are those?" Caldera questioned.
"My gifts?" Cleva gasped as she picked up the giraffe plushie.
"Where did you get them?"
"From the ponies," Vicky explained. The golden colored dragoness growled.
"Now, Caldy," Vixen said walking up to her, "Hear her out."
"When Cleva was going to have her egg, the ponies gave her gifts to help her get confident with her baby."
"That's not the only thing they did," Blaze said. "They also tried to find a cure for our transformation. They couldn't find one, but they tried."
"They've also told us about friendship," Flicker said. "It made Garble less of a jerk. No offense."
"None taken," Garble said.
"So, the ponies helped you," Clip questioned.
"Sounds like it," Ember said. "The ponies helped your kids with a problem that a dragon caused." Ember placed her hand on her hip as the mothers were speechless. "So, you think that trusting the ponies is a bad idea?"
"Well," Caldera said rather embarrassed, "I've... Been wrong before."
"I guess there are a lot of things we're going to get used to," Clip said.
"Cleva!" Gronkle called walking towards her with the egg. "Your egg is hatching." The egg shock a bit as Cleva picked it up. She started getting nervous as the egg shook, so she lost her grip as her egg landed on the ground. It stayed intact but started rolling away.
"MY EGG!" Cleva cried in horror. The egg kept rolling towards a cliff edge. The dragons couldn't catch up with the egg until Garble thought of something.
"Blaze, I have an idea you're not going to like," he said.
"Just do it," Blaze replied. Garble picked her up and tossed her towards the cliff edge. Blaze was able to glide and caught the egg just as it got the cliff. Her bandaged wing flapped as it was no longer broken and she flew back towards the dragons. "I got it."
"Blaze, your wing," Flicker said.
She turned to see it was fine. "I guess it's all better. Should I also add that a pony's friend helped me with this." The egg suddenly cracked. The crack got bigger and bigger until a chocolate brown baby dragon with tiny cream-colored horns popped out of it. It slowly opened her eyes as Cleva walked toward it with tears of joys in her eyes. "Here you go."
Blaze gave Cleva the baby as the new mother hugged it. "Hey, there little one," Cleva said. She took the baby back towards the cave and showed it the giraffe plushie. The baby patted the toys head and giggled. "That's a cute little pat."
"Well, that's a cute name," Gronkle said.
"Pat?" Cleva's mother nodded as she looked at the baby. "Alright, we'll call you Pat." Cleva nuzzled her new baby girl.
"That's so adorable," Javelin said.
"I'm glad she's happy," Vicky said. Cleva walked over to her and wanted her to hold Pat. "Cleva, are you about this."
"You helped me while I was pregnant," Cleva said. "You've been a great friend." Vicky looked at Pat, who held her arms out and giggled. Vicky smiled at her friend who she shared a hug with.
Garble was happy for his friends, but his mother still wasn't happy for him disobeying her. He and Blaze walked flew back to their caves. "Fun while it lasted," Blaze sighed.
"Yeah, but things are getting better," Garble said. "I'm we got stuff off our chests. So, you want to have one last tail wrestle before we're separated?"
"...Sure, I guess." Their tails were held together and they both tugged. Garble got the upper hand until Blaze swung him around and the two bumped each other's muzzles.
"Oh, sorry, I..." Blaze took him by surprise with a kiss. She was about to pull away, but the two looked into each other's eyes and embraced each other. As they released the kiss and held each other's hand.
"That... Felt great."
"It did. I'll... See you in a few weeks."
"Don't think I'll go easy on you next time." Garble chuckled before hugged his girlfriend and flew into the air just before turning around.
"I love you."
"Love you too." Both smiled as Garble flew back to his cave.
A few weeks later, Spike was taking out the castle trash as he could see something flying towards them. He squinted a bit and saw it was six dragons. The landed in front of the young drake. "You're back," Spike cheered running up to hug Vicky.
"Sorry, we took so long," Garble said. "Blaze and I were grounded."
"And I've been busy with this cute girl," Cleva said showing Spike her baby, Pat.
"Aw," Spike cooed. "She's so cute."
"Her name's Pat." Pat was placed on the ground and she crawled over to Spike, who picked her up.
"So, how are you families taking this?"
"Surprisingly well," Blaze said. "A bit too well in my opinion."
"Do they know about that double date?"
"Of course," Flicker said leaning against Spear.
"You should've seen the look Caldera's face," Spear chuckled. "She's Garble's mom."
"Haha," Garble said sarcastically. "So, it's nice to be back."
"Sure is," Spike said. "I'll give the girls a call. Dash said she wanted to challenge one of you to a race."
"What about Rarity?" Vicky asked. "I've wanted to try some different dresses."
"Vicky, you don't want your mom getting to you," Cleva said, "Do you?"
"Hey, I just want to see what she can do."
"Up for a race," Blaze said giving her wings a flap.
"Alright," Spike said, "Come inside. I'll try and find them." The dragons followed Spike inside, but Garble had something to say.
"Hey, Spike," he said, "What happened to that ruby?"
"...Actually, I have no idea."
A few weeks ago, Rainbow Dash had flown all the way to Griffonstone with the ruby in her bag. She walked to one of the griffons and showed them the ruby. "You want this?" Dash asked.
"Of course," the griffon said snatching the ruby from the rainbow-haired pony. Dash flew away as the griffon just shrug why the pegasus left. The griffon held the ruby in her claw and tried to sell it for cash. She didn't know about the ruby's power as it began to glow.