With a magical flash of light, Starlight Glimmer teleported the large group of Team Awesome Plus into the throne room of Twilight's castle. Without a word, everyone understood they wanted to have a brief meeting. The mevs themselves immediately went to sit in their thrones. Spike followed suit. The Crusaders were not told to leave, so each one stood near their older sister, ready to go if dismissed.
"If we're inviting Dragon Lord Ember, perhaps we should send out other invitations beyond Equestria too," Twilight Sparkle suggested to Rainbow Dash.
"Are you thinking just those who know or all of the representatives for the other kingdoms?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh goodness, I'm not sure," Twilight realized.
"The ones who don't know yet are Thorax and Prince Rutherford," Spike noted to everyone. "Thorax at least knows Discord, so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for him to think it's Discord's magic conducting the show."
"We could just tell them early," Pinkie Pie suggested. "Tell them in the invitation itself or combine it with Princess Celestia's letter. We're heading to both places in the near future anyway. They'll know to expect us."
"I think that's a good idea actually," Starlight echoed and turned toward Rainbow.
It all sounded well and good to the master mev. She had no objections. "Make it happen, Team Awesome," she ordered.
The mevs with the ideas smiled, ready to do exactly that.
"How's the song going, Rhezenda?" Twilight asked Sweetie Belle.
The young unicorn smiled and pulled out a scroll that she magically passed to Twilight. "I wrote it as if Rarity and Master received their power since we planned to use chaos magic even if they didn't get it today."
Twilight read the song with a smile and made copies to pass to all of the other Awesomevs.
"What do you think?" the Rhezenda asked everyone.
"It's wonderful darling," Rarity said first.
"Mighty fine job," Applejack concurred.
Similar sentiment ran through the entire group.
Rainbow Dash studied intently and made a few suggestions for her portion. Sweetie Belle happily noted them down. "Looking really awesome already," Rainbow assured her despite the requested changes.
"We could rehearse at the farm tomorrow," Applejack told everyone.
They all nodded and chattered in full agreement. Fluttershy offered to ask Discord to be there, which of course, the group was glad to accept.
At Sweet Apple Acres, Team Awesome and their many willing, helping friends gathered. Such friends included Spike, Discord, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Big Mac and Granny Smith were near not to help so much as to watch.
"Basically, we're moving down the line," Twilight reminded everyone. "Rhezenda, Master and Blitz, each of us in order, then Master and Blitz again, then all of us together, then Rhezenda to close it out. That's the song, mostly."
Everyone nodded.
"After the song, we offer the snare ride and the games," Pinkie Pie interjected.
They all nodded again.
Twilight went on, "Sweetie Belle will be playing her part as the announcer and to be our representative on the ground level during the games. Scootaloo will guard Master. Apple Bloom has offered to be on hoof for anything else we didn't think of, a sort of courier or gopher. And we have accepted."
Some cheerful murmurs and thanks were uttered amidst smiles.
"Master, I do have an interesting piece of news for you," Twilight announced, "and it is something we should have everyone present for."
"Oh, what is it?" Rainbow asked.
"Hold on. I'll be right back," Twilight said, and she teleported away. When she returned, Princess Cadance was with her.
"Cadance," Rainbow greeted with a friendly smile.
"Master Rainbow Dash, it is a pleasure to see you again," Cadance greeted back, and she smiled too.
"How may I be of service?" the master mev asked with a respectful bow of her head.
"Twilight has invited me to your show on Thursday night, and I had an idea," Cadance began.
Rainbow raised an interested eyebrow at that.
"Because your show happens on a Thursday, that means that a weekend soon follows. I can take a small vacation here in Ponyville to visit my sister-in-law with my family," Cadance explained. "Shining Armor will take care of Flurry Heart and have her away from the show as Twilight has suggested to us, given the nature of the performance. There are some possibly scary parts for the very young?"
"Right," Rainbow confirmed.
"Because I would be here to spend time with Twilight and on a small vacation, that would mean there are three days I can manage without my magic," Cadance told her.
"Oh, you are ready?" Rainbow asked hopefully.
"Yes. And if you don't think it's too..." the pink alicorn cleared her throat, not entirely sure of what word to use. "...bad, I am actually willing to let you eat my magic during your show as part of your performance."
At first, there was only stunned silence.
"Did my ears deceive me?" asked Discord. "You're not only willing to have your magic eaten but done so publicly?"
Cadance nodded. "I am. It is a very special night for both this group as a pack of mevs and for everyone else attending the show."
"Well, I suppose if she's willing..." Applejack quietly murmured though she sounded unsure.
"Unexpected but not bad," Pinkie Pie noted with similar uncertainty.
"Favorable, really," Rarity thought.
"It could be fun," Fluttershy quietly noted.
Sweetie Belle tugged at Rainbow's forelimb. The master of Team Awesome craned her neck down to listen. "It's like from that book. I don't know if she read the same one, but there are vampires that eat a victim live on stage. The audience assume it is part of the performance," the Rhezenda explained. She spoke loudly enough to be overheard.
"You are correct," Cadance told them both. "I have read a vampire novel where that happens. Those circumstances were more dire and frightening in the book for the victim."
Rainbow smiled wickedly. "You tell me Rhezenda. As my link to the outsiders, what do you advise?"
Sweetie Belle grew thoughtful. "Is it going to be bad for you because of so many watching?" she asked.
"No, this is different," Rainbow said. "It's a show. It's meant to be seen. My usual meals are not like that."
"Then I advise you accept. You have her permission, and it will sell the idea of what you actually are. We can work it in at the start of the song. As we move on, the audience will move on too. They'll see Team Awesome is still there to perform for them and not eat their magic beyond what we're already saying about their fear during the whole thing."
Rainbow Dash addressed Cadance. "I don't think it will be too 'bad' at all, and I accept your proposal."
The team went on to work in the necessary changes.
On Monday late afternoon, the Crusaders walked alongside each other in the direction of Rainbow Dash's house.
"Do you think something's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked.
The group had decided to just show up and hope she was around rather than taking the time to get a hot air balloon or other transportation.
"I don't know," Sweetie Belle said, "but she was supposed to pick me up like usual, and she didn't. It just feels like this is the place to check. Maybe she got sidetracked."
Scootaloo fluttered up as much as she could, which she noticed was more than usual, but it still would not be enough to reach the front door.
Sweetie Belle was about to say they could try the platform elevator, but something made her pause.
To their surprise, Blitz slithered down.
"Rhezenda," Blitz said.
Given how rarely Sweetie Belle was allowed to hear the magical pet speak, and that neither Scootaloo nor Apple Bloom had ever had the privilege, the Crusaders were all the more alarmed. "Blitz! Oh my goodness, is something wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I am not sure," Blitz admitted. She turned solid. "Get on," she ordered the fillies.
The three looked at each other and got on. Blitz lifted them toward the door. Sweetie Belle at least had a key so unlocked the house for herself and her friends to enter.
They did not have to venture far to see a pained vampire sitting and cringing on the floor. She sat hunched over on her haunches with her bat wings out. Those wings and her ears were drooping.
"Master!" the trio anxiously said together as they saw Rainbow Dash.
Tank bravely stood near her with a worried expression on his face.
Blitz returned to her quiet, ghostly form and followed the fillies.
"What happened?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"My wings transformed all on their own, and they won't change back," an out of breath Rainbow Dash told them. "My fangs are out early and won't pull back in either. My eyes keep staying red. My body feels...weird. Like I'm about to transform, even though I already am...and I can't...yet...and not...the same. It's so slow..."
"Is it from the berserk on Saturday?" Sweetie Belle wondered.
"Maybe?" said an uneasy master mev.
Her tail flicked, and she clutched at her head, where her forelock met her ears.
"She's not going berserk again, is she?" Apple Bloom asked with evident fear.
"No," Scootaloo assured them with a new sense of confidence. "She's not."
"Do you know what this is?" Sweetie Belle asked in surprise at her friend's calmness.
"Not exactly," Scootaloo admitted, "but..." She swallowed nervously. "I-I think..." She hesitated. "I-I think she's turning into a dragon."
"What?!" the other two exclaimed.
"Oh," said the pained Rainbow Dash. "That would make sense. It must be my prize for winning the game. I'm sure Torch wanted it to be a surprise."
"But don't your transformations like...not hurt?" Apple Bloom asked, still worried, and she gestured her yellow forelimb at Rainbow's body in general.
"Heh heh, it's a gift from dragons. It can't be an easy one to give or receive," Rainbow informed her. "It probably hurts because it's my first transformation and takes more time. When I was first zapped into being a master mev, rest assured, that hurt too. I'm glad for it, but it did hurt."
Blitz circled around Rainbow Dash in a cheered up fashion.
"Yeah, you can watch," Rainbow told her.
Tank reached out to touch one of her hind legs.
"Hey buddy, it's just another master mev thing. I'm going to look even more different real soon. Think you can handle it? You don't have to be here," Rainbow noted.
Tank smiled gently and nuzzled the leg. He gave her a little nod. He would be staying.
Sweetie Belle picked him up and pulled him away to give Rainbow space to transform. Scootaloo gently nudged Apple Bloom further back as well.
Finally, the new transformation took its next step.
Two dark blue horns grew out from Rainbow Dash's head, right where she had been clutching a moment ago, between her forelock and her ears.
Her rainbow tail solidified into one more reptilian and sky blue to match her coat. Darker blue spines grew along it, and a rainbow-colored set of fins that took shape at the tail's end. They flared out to two on each side, unlike Blitz's three, and ending in a longer tip. The shape was otherwise quite similar to the ghostly snake. The rest of the master mev's coat soon followed to become more like a dragon's scales.
Her rainbow mane stayed as it was.
The hooves took the shape of clawed hands and feet. The claws themselves matched the same color as her new tail spines.
The mev's underbelly changed color as well though this blue more closely matched the blue of her own mane.
Her wings grew ever so slightly as well.
A small circle of wind whirred around her and dissipated, as if to signify the process was done.
"Wow, Scootaloo, you were right," Apple Bloom noted. "How could you tell?"
"I don't know," Scootaloo confessed. "Just her body language. The thing about transforming. We are kinda sisters, and now we've got the mev bond too so maybe that."
"Does it still hurt?" Sweetie Belle asked with evident concern.
Rainbow Dash wiggled her whole body and lifted up to happily test flying in the dragon form. "No, it's fine now," she told them all.
The crusaders breathed a combined sigh of relief, and Blitz slithered around the master mev before dismissing herself. Tank's whole body seemed to sigh in relief as well.
The master mev landed and transformed to her usual pegasus form, then dragon, then pegasus, then dragon yet again.
"Does this mean you can be a dragon whenever you want?" Scootaloo asked with a huge smile.
"Eventually," Rainbow said, studying her new claws. "Like Torch said, dragons age differently than ponies, so the timeline for this thing will be different too. It took longer to become a dragon than did it to become a master mev."
She diverted her attention from her claws and back to her younger sister. "Today's my day for the pack because I don't have a flexchange tonight. I can probably do it only on Mondays at first. With enough time, it'll expand to the whole week. I do like it, it's really cool, but I don't think it serves any purpose beyond that," she admitted with a nervous smile.
"Another perk." Sweetie Belle smiled too. "Should we add it to the show?" she openly wondered.
"Nah," Rainbow said. She flicked her new longer tail and examined it. "We have plenty ready, and I like what we've got going. Let's focus on Team Awesome as mevs with bat pony forms still. Dragons are actually not that big of a deal around here with Spike and Smolder living in Ponyville-"
"But you're the dragon!" Scootaloo pointed out with fervor. "That is a big deal."
Rainbow blushed but continued, "And Dragon Lord Ember stops by every now and then. It's not like I'm one of those big older dragons in this form."
"...eventually though?" Scootaloo pried.
The mev shrugged. "I think the dragons have to be pretty old to get that big, far more than a pony's life expectancy."
"Is your life expectancy the same as a pony's or a dragon's or you know...forever?" Apple Bloom timidly asked.
"You got me," Rainbow confessed with obvious uncertainty. "I'm not your usual type of vampire. I'll make the best of it however much time I'm given. I like being a master mev a lot after all."
"Right," Apple Bloom agreed with a smile.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom soon took their leave. Tank was returned to his room. Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle set to work on preparing for the next pack meeting.
"Dragonlands, explain about the berserk," Rainbow said aloud, staring at the notes. "Bring Jasper, show them to everyone. Talk about our nature element gifts. Down the line. For my turn, inform everyone I showed the idol of Boreas to Gallus and how that visit went. Bring up the dragon form I just got then."
Sweetie Belle nodded. "Where to next? The Changeling Kingdom or Yakyakistan?"
"Neither," Rainbow told her.
The unicorn filly blinked at that. "Oh, are we taking a break?"
"Yes and no. I'm doing something very different this weekend. You can only go with me for the one that's here in Ponyville. We are to bring Amara and help Twilight host Princess Cadance during her visit on Saturday," Rainbow explained.
"Where can't I go with you?" Sweetie Belle wished to know.
"Tartarus," Rainbow answered.
The filly's eyes went wide. "What's there for you?" she nearly whispered.
"Not a what but a who. I will finally be ready to see Tirek as my new self," Rainbow explained.