//------------------------------// // A Big Switch // Story: Make a Swap // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// Morning has arrived, and everycreature is waking up from their slumber. Smolder slowly opened her eyes as something felt off. Her body had felt like it had slid around a little bit as she saw that her leg had moved out from under the blanket and... it looked different. It has a bit more bulk to it and even a little longer too. Smolder stood up and could see her arm was bigger and bulkier like her leg. That got Smolder worried. She quickly opened the closet to try and find a mirror. When she did, Smolder almost screamed to her lungs, and her fears had been justified. Smolder's muzzle was longer and had a bit of a pointed end and her horns looked to be a bit bigger. Her spines looked different as they had a bit of a flat top to give it a look similar to a guy's mohawk, her eyelashes were much smaller too, there was no doubt about it, Smolder had become male. "Oh, crud," he muttered. He couldn't believe his new voice. Still a little gruff, but much deeper. Curious if he was the only victim, he flew up to Silverstream, who was still asleep. The hippogriff's mane looked to be a bit shorter and her claws looked to have lost their daintiness. By the pitch of her breathing and appearance, it would be safe to say Silverstream had gone through the same change that Smolder had. “This ain’t good. I should better get out to warn Princess Twilight.” Exiting the room as quietly as possible so he didn't wake his roommate, Smolder entered the hall and raced to the castle. He had to alert Barb and Twilight about this. Just before he could get to the exit, he heard two girls screaming. Smolder felt like they had a similar problem. “What the heck was that?” she said to herself. Opening the door, she found the two that had screamed, Sandbar and Gallus. The two stopped talking and looked at their male friend and had a hard time comprehending what was happening. Both of them have eyelashes, long hair (or feathers), and curvy hips. "Smolder?" Sandbar asked with shock. She blushed with her new voice. “Is that you?” "...You too huh?" the drake replied. "Yeah," Gallus disappointedly groaned. “Look at me, I got curvy hips! That’s not what I want.” “What about Silverstream?” Sandbar asked. "The same thing happened to her." "Ocellus and Yona?" "I haven't checked them yet, but I think it's safe to say their males as well." "I don't think we're the only ones," Gallus guessed. "I was about to go out to check the castle until I heard both of you scream." "You go ahead to the castle first, while we find Yona and Ocellus. Is that okay?" Sandbar suggested. "Yeah. Good idea." With that, Smolder quickly flew back down the hall towards the exit. He stormed into the castle and looked around for Barb's room. He bashed through her door and woke the young dragoness up. "Gah! What the heck?" she questioned. "Barb, wake up! It's an emergency!" Smolder cried. Barb rubbed her eyes as they were still blurry and the voice was unfamiliar. When her vision cleared up, she could see what looked to be Smolder, but it was a boy instead of a girl. "Smolder?" "Uh-huh. Something went wrong last night." "Wait, what?!" Smolder caught her friend up to speed on how most of, more likely, all of the students had switched genders, just like the dragons. “So that diamond’s done more damage. I’m worried about what it did to Twilight.” Fearing the worst, Barb and Smolder went to investigate. Leaving Barb’s room and then opening the door to Twilight's, they found the alicorn prince examing his new body. He looked over to the two dragons and sighed when he noticed Smolder. “You too?” he asked. “Yeah,” Smolder confirmed. “First things first, I’m taking a look at that diamond with Starlight. Hopefully, he’s doing okay.” “I would’ve said she,” Barb admitted, “But I think what’s happening next is obvious.” Fearing the worst, the three went to investigate Starlight's room. Just like Twilight, the mare had become a stallion. "Wait. Who else has been affected?" Smolder questioned. Everyone in Ponyville couldn’t believe what had happened to them. Twilight’s friends all made their way to the castle and were surprised to see each other. “Applejack?” Pinkie questioned. “Yeah, that’s me,” the large orange stallion said. “It happened to you guys too?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Sadly yes,” Rarity sighed. “Now I have to deal with facial hair.” Rarity scratched his chin, which now had some stubble. “Angel and the animals aren’t having a good time either,” Fluttershy added. “What? It affected the animals too?” Pinke questioned. “That’s weird. Mr. and Mrs. Cake have had a strange reaction to this.” Applejack looked towards the school to see Smolder flying towards the front door. “Good morning,” the dragon said flatly as he walked back into the school. “It looks like Smolder’s affected too,” Rainbow commented. “Let’s just find Twilight,” Applejack suggested, “she knows what she’s doing.” The five stallions walked inside the castle. Smolder met up with his friends again. Each one of them was feeling very different about this. Yona was missing his braids and had a bit of goatie. He looked much bigger than before about fifteen percent more. Ocellus only seemed to have a bulkier look, that and the lack of eyelashes appeared to the only thing that was different about her. “I feel so weird,” Ocellus admitted. “Especially with my deep voice.” “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that everycreature here is feeling that way too,” Sandbar commented. She looked around the cafeteria to see and listen to how the rest of the students were dealing with their changes. Some were taking it better than others. For the boys, it was embarrassing. Soon, they heard the P.A. system activate. ”Good morning, students,” called a voice from the P.A., but deeper, ”Just an announcement: due to everyone’s recent change, in order for all of us to adapt until a solution is found, school is canceled. I repeat, just an announcement: due to everyone’s recent change, in order for all of us to adapt until a solution is found, school is canceled. Thank you.” This made many of the students cheer up and relieved, including Gallus. “Well, that’s one good thing about all of this,” the griffon chuckled. “If this is the case, I’m going to have my breakfast in the castle,” Smolder said. He grabbed a plate and placed some food on it before rushing back to the castle. Garnette had woken up and found out about what happened while they were asleep. “So now all of the ponies are suffering from what we’re going through?” the teenage dragon questioned. “Pretty much,” Barb confirmed. “Fantastic,” he said sarcastically. “You’re telling me,” Twilight sighed. “I’m hoping that his friends are doing okay.” Starlight soon teleported in front of them, startling Garnette a little bit. “Okay, I just told the students that school’s canceled,” Starlight explained. “Just like you said.” “Good. They have enough trouble as it is.” “Hey, Garnette!” Dart called. She and the rest of the dragons were up and running to find their friend. “Did they make any progress on...” They all froze when they saw Twilight and Starlight. “Weren’t you two mares?” Pat questioned. “We were,” Twilight stated. “Same here,” called a few voices. Twilight and Barb looked over to see their five friends now as stallions. “Welcome to the club,” Barb sighed. “Hey... Rarity,” Garnette said. The fashion stallion just waved as the dragoness recognized one of the stallions. “Fluttershy?” “...Hello,” the shy stallion said meekly. “You know what’ll fix this?” Beff asked. “Getting to work on the diamond!” “Okay, you don’t have to shout at me,” Twilight stated. He and Starlight started researching how to make the diamond function. “So, all we can do is wait?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “If we have to, we might as well help others cope,” Barb suggested. “I’m going to check on the students. “I’m with Barb,” Garnette said. “I’m going to check on Smolder.” Garnette left the castle to find her sister right behind Barb so they could check on the students. This left the ponies and dragons by themselves. “So, now what?” Pinkie asked. “We could probably get to work with your… new names,” Vixen suggested. “Seriously?” Rainbow questioned. “Hey, we went through it, so you have to,” Pat said. “Where do we start?” “You can just skip me,” Applejack said. “I’m fine with my name.” “It still fits his gender,” Vixen commented. “Now, what about...?” “TWILIGHT!” roared a voice. Nobody recognized who the voice belonged to. “What was that?” Applejack said. What they did hear were the sounds and stomps getting closer to them as a tall blue drake stormed up to them. “Where is she?!” “Dude, who are you?” Rainbow Dash questioned with Fluttershy hiding behind him. “I am Dragon Lord Ember and I demand to speak with the princess, now!” Twilight peaked out of the room and gasped when he saw the Dragon Lord. “Ember?” he gasped. “Yeah, it’s me. You better have an explanation why I and the rest of the dragons have... Wait are you a stallion?” “So are we,” Applejack stated. With her, I mean, his anger subsided, Ember looked at the ponies and the dragons he had originally sent to Ponyville. “You all switched too?” “Some longer than others,” Beff noted. “Hold on,” Twilight said. “Ember, how many dragons have swapped gender?” “All of them,” Ember answered. This made Twilight worried. “Oh, dear. If... Ember and the dragons have been affected by the waves of the diamond, who knows who else has been affected.” Twilight had the right to worry. All over Equestria, creatures were waking up to find they had become a different gender. Gilda and Gabby both couldn’t believe what they were seeing. “Are we bigger now?” Gabby questioned. “Well, you look bulkier,” Gilda commented. He touched his beak, it and his talons looked to be much thicker. “I knew this would happen!” wheezed a voice. Both boys looked over to see Grandpa Gruff, or more accurately Grandma Gruff. “You knew we were going to become boys?” Gabby questioned. “No! I knew I would lose my mind!” the old griff groaned. “Now you figments of my imagination have a nice day, I’m going back to sleep and hopefully wake up.” She walked away, leaving the boys by themselves. “Okay, clearly this is some sort of magic thing involved,” Gilda stated. “We should probably get to Dash and see if she has a solution. Gabby agreed and both took off to Ponyville. While they did that, Grandma Gruff could see a fledgling walking around. “Oh, what’s the matter?” she questioned, slightly annoyed. “I’m hungry and... I’m a girl,” the fledgling answered. She blushed as she felt rather embarrassed. Normally Grandma Gruff would just tell the kid where she could get some food or even tell them to get lost if she was in a bad mood, which was quite common. This time she felt sympathy for the child, especially with such a change. “Okay, sweetheart, I’ll get you something to eat. Just... don’t get comfy with me.” The young griffon smiled and hugged the old lady. It kind of felt heartwarming to Gruff as she started looking around for something like a scone. It was questionable why she called the fledgling a sweetheart. Either way, it just didn’t feel right leaving the child to fend for itself. At the changeling hive, Pharynx was trying to “wake up” from what she was seeing. Her horns were much smaller, her legs and body were quite petite, it was just impossible for her to accept. She even tried changing her form but she still felt her base form was female. She quickly went to find King Thorax and explain the problem. “Thorax, if you did something to make me...” Pharynx paused when she saw what happened to the king. Thorax’s horns were much smaller than before, her body was quite dainty, and she even had a mane that looked splendid. She was quite surprised to see her new sister. “You too?” the newly made queen questioned. “Yeah, what is going on?” “I don’t know but... I kind of like the mane.” “Don’t be serious! We can’t live like this!” “We change our forms all the time, so...” “Don’t try and dodge the subject!” “Hey, I can’t help it if I like this new form.” “Let’s see however everyone else is reaching. Shall we?” Grabbing her sister’s wrist, Pharynx dragged her sister into the hive. The changeling queen’s ear twitched as she could hear some crying. Thorax flew over to where she heard the crying which led her into the nursery. Plenty of newborn changeling grubs were bawling and the nurses were having a hard time keeping them calm. Not to mention the current situation everyone was having wasn’t helping. When Thorax walked in, one of the grubs crawled over to her and started climbing her leg. Thorax levitated the grub up to her face and it giggled at her. “Aw, so cute,” she cooed. “You’ve got more to come,” Pharnyx stated. Thorax looked and saw more of the grubs crawling towards her. Since she was the queen of the hive, the grubs naturally thought of her as a mother. Thorax quickly found herself loving the attention from the young ones. The love she felt was just too sweet. “Ooh, come here you cuties!” The changeling queen nuzzled the babies who giggled in response. The nurses were very impressed how their king was now a very affectionate mother. Pharynx rolled her eyes and went to check on the rest of the hive. In the Crystal Empire, Cadence and Shining Armor were both speechless as they had gotten up. “You’re a stallion?” Shining questioned. “You’re a mare?” Cadence retorted. Both had a hard time finding their words until they heard a knock on their door. Shining opened it and found one of the guards, who was now a mare in ill-fitting armor. “Forgive me if I disturb you, your highness” she said, “Prince Rutherford is here. She has some news for you.” “She?” the couple questioned, feeling confused. The guard led them down the hall to where a couple of yaks were waiting. One of them with big braids stepped forward. “Yaks in awkward position,” she spoke. “Let me guess, Rutherford?” Cadence asked. “Yes. Yak now lady and yak don’t know why.” “Same here,” Shining added. “Maybe we should contact Twilight,” Candence suggested. “She has dealt with a lot of odd magic before.” “I’ll have a letter sent right away.” “Letter too slow,” Rutherford stated. “Yak go to Ponyville him... Herself. ...Yak not going to get used to this.” Rutherford quickly ran out of the castle and quite literally through the door. “...I’ll have the engineer get the train ready,” Cadence said. “Yeah, it’s going to be impossible to stop her at this stage,” Shining Armor commented. General Seaspray was blushing as red as a tomato. Her body was so curvy and rather cute. She took a deep breath as approached Queen Novo, though King Novo would be more appropriate right now. “Seaspray, do you know the meaning of this?” Novo questioned. “I wish I knew,” the general said. “I don’t like this new body. I don’t know how many griffs are going to try and date me.” “I’m afraid Skystar isn’t taking it well either.” The two looked over to see the king’s daughter turned son walking over to them. “...I’m not dreaming am I?” Skystar questioned. “Sadly no.” He then turned to General Seaspray. “General Seaspray, please report to Princess Twilight. We need answers.” “Right away,” Seaspray said. She quickly flew away from Mount Aris and went as fast as she could. She didn’t want to be in this body any longer than she needed to. She could swear some of the griffs were looking towards her. Back at the castle, Ember was now starting to calm down. “So... A diamond did all of this?” he questioned. “Technically two,” Vixen said. “Whatever, is there a way to fix this?” “There will be,” Twilight said, “If Starlight and I don’t get interrupted anymore.” With that, he walked back into the room and closed the door with a bit of a slam. “I’d take his advice if I were you,” Applejack spoke. At the school, Barb was being bombarded with nearly all of the students questioning her what was going on. “Easy,” she cried. “One at a time!” Garnette couldn’t see Smolder, nor his friends in the surrounding crowd, so she flew through the rest of the school to trying and find them. “Yon? Really?” questioned a voice. Garnette stopped and landed outside of one of the dorm rooms. “Yak like new name,” stated a gruff voice. “Plus, it’s easier for you,” another peppy voice said. “I don’t know what my new name should be.” Curious, Garnette walked over to the door and knocked on it. “...Come on,” responded a raspy voice. The dragoness opened the door to find her brother and his friends all in the same room. “Hey, sis,” Smolder said. “Smolder, what are you and your friends doing?” Garnette asked. “Making our new names,” Silverstream answered. “Yona already has his.” “Yeah. Yona now called Yon,” the yak said. “And I would be… Sandy,” Sandbar spoke. “Since that’s my nickname.” "Interesting," Garnette commented. "Hey, did you know who screamed Twilight's name?" Smolder asked. "I didn't sound like anyone familiar to me." "I think I saw Dragon Lord Ember flying into the castle." "You think it came from her?" Gallus questioned. "If it did come from him, it could mean a lot for the rest of Equestria," Ocellus commented. "Anyways, how much progress Twilight has made on the cure?" "No luck," Garnette said. “Get comfy you’ll all be like this for a while.” “Great,” Gallus groaned. Silverstream scratched his chin as he thought of his new (hopefully temporary) name. "How does Goldenriver sound?" he asked. "That's... Pretty nice," Ocellus commented. "Uh-huh," Garnette said. "Smolder, what did you think?" Garnette's brother thought for about a minute. "Honestly, I think my name is just fine," he admitted. "Fits both a girl and a boy." "...Yeah, kind of." "So that just leaves me and Gallus," Ocellus said. "Okay, I'm going to address the elephant in the room, what are you guys going to do once you have your new names?" "Silver…," Gallus said. “Goldy,” Goldenriver interrupted. “Right, sorry. Goldy… have some ideas.” "Yes," the newly named hippogriff said. "Anyways, I was thinking we could have Gallus and Sandy dress up as cheerleaders.” “Yeah, you can imagine how much fun I’m going to have with that,” Gallus muttered sarcastically. “...Tarsus,” Ocellus spoke. “That should be my new name.” “What that’s?” “A part of the body that has very tiny bones that are knees, it’s a little complex.” “Still, it sounds good to me,” Gallus said. She thought for a moment as she was the last one to have a new name. “Okay, the best I can think of is Gallina, so I say take it leave it.” “Good enough,” Sandy said. “So, now what?” “Let’s see what you look like as cheerleaders,” Goldenriver said. He quickly grabbed Gallina and Sandbank’s arm and dragged them to the locker room. “You guys are cheerleaders?” Garnette questioned. “Yeah,” Smolder confirmed. “I’ve got to see Gally in that cheerleading dress.” He chuckled and quickly took off with his sister and friends right behind him. “River, are you sure about this?” Sandbank questioned. “Trust me, you’re going to look so cute.” Goldenriver handed her female friends two cheerleading outfits, to which the girls both sighed. “Is he always like this?” Garnette asked. “You have no idea,” Smolder responded. Gallina and Sandbank soon put the outfits on and showed them off to their friends. “I’ve gotta admit,” the mare said, “I kind of like this.” “Good for you,” Gallina muttered. She was on the opposite of the spectrum. “Eeh, you look so cute,” Goldenriver squealed. “At least she’s taking this well,” Garnette commented. “I’ll say,” Tarsus agreed. “I mean... I can change my form whenever I want, so this gender thing isn’t too drastic for me.” “Good for you.” “Yon still find it weird,” the yak admitted. “Will yak and Sandy make it work.” “We’ll find a way,” Sandy spoke. Smolder was happy for his friends still being a couple and soon noticed Barb running over to her. “Sorry if I took you so long guys,” the young dragoness apologized. “How are your friends taking this?” Smolder looked back over to Goldenriver, who was attempting to give Gallina some pom-poms. “I will cram those down your throat,” the griffon stated. This made the hippogriff back up a little bit. “...You might mistake them for always being this way,” the drake responded. “That’s good to hear. Ember is not taking this well.” “How many other creatures are affected by this?” “I don’t know, but from what I’ve remembered that it has to at least reach the dragon lands, so it must be a lot of creatures.” “Yeah, Barb, how far away are the homeland for the other creatures?” Garnette asked. “Let’s just say… about in the same radius as the Dragon Lands. Why’d you ask?” Garnette just pointed out the window where two griffons, a changeling, a yak, and a hippogriff were flying towards Twilight’s castle. “Oh no.” The dragons and ponies on the castle could see the visitors entering the castle confused and having plenty of questions. “Alright, everyone, please remain calm,” Rarity requested. “Tell me how this happened then I will,” Gilda ordered. As they were told how this happened, Ember walked closer to Thorax. “You too?” the changeling queen questioned. “Yeah, it bites,” Ember groaned. “How are you taking this?” “Well, most of the babies at the hive now look at me as a mother figure. It felt kind of nice. You?” “I flew here as I could so I could fix this. Most of the dragons were confused by this and a couple of them were fuming.” “That’s how we felt,” Beff spoke. “Yaks need problem fixed,” Rutherford spoke. “You’re not the only one,” Seaspray spoke. “I feel so uncanny a female.” She used her wings to cover her face as she blushed as red as a tomato. “Listen up y’all, Twilight and Starlight are trying their best to fix this,” Applejack said. “The only thing we can do right now is to wait.” “Oh, perfect,” Gilda grumbled. “So we flew all the way here for nothing? Just wait?” “Sadly, yes,” Dash confirmed. There were several groans to be heard. “Look, don’t be like that,” Pinkie said. “We might as well give you all a nice welcome while you’re here.” “Sounds good to me,” Gabby spoke. “I sort of skipped breakfast.” “Yeah, me too,” Gilda admitted as well. Most of the other creatures admitted to this mistake as they were wanting answers badly. “Applejack, I’m going to need some help making some meals for our guests.” “Right,” the farm pony said. “Y’all just make yourselves at home, Pinkie and I will be right back.” The two mares turned stallions walked off as Dash walked up to Gilda. “So, I honestly thought you’d be a little taller,” the rainbow stallion admitted. “That would’ve been a benefit,” Gilda groaned. “What’d we do now?” “I don’t know…… Honestly, I think I’m a little faster than before?” “You do?” “I flew here faster than I usually go. You want to double-check with me?” Gilda looked down the hall just as Pinkie and Applejack entered the kitchen. “Yeah, I’ve got time.” “Maybe I could join you,” Dart spoke. Beff felt a bit concerned. “You wanna tag along?” “Uh... Sure,” Beff responded. The stallion, griffon, and dragons flew out of the castle to look for what could be their starting line. “What about us?” Seaspray asked. “Well, as long as you’re here, would you like to be useful?” Rarity asked. “What pony mean?” Rutherford questioned. “Dressmaking is what I usually do when I imagine,” Rarity spoke. “I’ve been wanting to try making some dresses for yaks and hippogriffs like you.” “What about dragons?” Flicker asked. “Oh, are you volunteering yourself?” “...If that’s okay with you.” “We might as well.” “Perfect. Girls, follow me.” Rarity led the dragoness, hippogriff, and yak out of the castle. “So, what do we do?” Thorax questioned. “Make some new names?” Vixen suggested. “We did that before.” “No, we should be getting home,” Ember stated. “The Dragon Lands are probably in chaos right now. I have the responsibility to make sure no one is trying to do anything stupid.” “Don’t you have anyone watching them?” “Uhh... My dad is... Well, she’s now a mom... Whatever, I’m not going to become a model for some pony’s fashion show. You can do whatever you guys want, I’m making sure that things stay in line.” “Can I go with you?” Pat questioned. “I’ve had enough time here.” “I don’t care right now.” Ember quickly flew out of the castle to get back to the dragon lands with Pat quickly following her. “Wait, Pat!” Vixen cried. She and Thorax took off after their friends and flew beside them. “Vixen, leave me alone,” Pat spoke. “I can only wait for this problem to be fixed so I’m going home with the Dragon Lord until this is fixed.” “She brings up a good point,” Ember commented. “Ember, can’t you just stay a little longer?” Thorax asked. “Listen, Thorax, the dragons aren’t peaceful like the changelings. If I leave them unoccupied for too long, they’re going to cause trouble. Clump...” “It’s Pat right now,” the dragoness corrected. “Right, whatever, you fly ahead of me.” Pat nodded and flew off, leaving the dragons and changeling by themselves.” “Ember, you’re right,” Thorax sighed. “Just... Make sure to drop by later.” “No promises.” Ember then flew away to catch up with Pat. Thorax and Vixen both looked at each other before they went back to Ponyville. “So, how have you been dealing with this?” Thorax questioned. “Pretty well,” Vixen responded. “I’ve been hanging out with Smolder’s friends. I really enjoyed spending time with Sandbar. He’s a pretty calm colt.” “I think she’s probably a filly right now.” “Yeah, probably. I’m going to check and see how they’re doing.” Vixen and Thorax flew back to the castle to chat with the rest of the diamond's victims. Sandy was deciding to have to get in character with her outfit and started to make a cheer. She was on her hind legs and was shaking the pom-poms Goldenriver had given her. “See, I told you’d have fun,” the hippogriff chuckled. “Glad someone’s enjoying this,” Gallina muttered. She was taking off her outfit as soon as she could. “How did you even talk me into this?” “Well, what else can we do while we’re like this?” Smolder asked. The blue griffon thought about the situation for a minute before getting a grin on her face. “I have a couple of ideas.” “Why do I suddenly feel so worried?” Tarsus questioned. Meanwhile, Dash, Gilda, Dart, and Beff were standing on a cloud with the pegasus looking around for someplace for them to race to. While he looked, Beff whispered to her fellow dragoness. “How are you feeling right now?” the black and green dragoness asked. “A little pumped honestly,” the blonde and purple dragon answered. “I don’t remember feeling this alive. I was only racing a kid, but now I’ve got real competition.” “So you don’t feel... Lazy?” “Not right now. Too much energy.” “I’d start stretching before we take off,” Gilda recommend. Dart nodded and did a couple of stretches. “Hope you’re hungry because you’re going to get a beak full of my dust.” Gilda and Dash were both enjoying the dragon’s competitive energy, though Beff was feeling a little more concerned. She didn’t focus on what the others were talking about and before she knew it she was left behind. Beff took off and tried her best to keep up with the group but they had a huge head start. Dart loved the feeling of the wind in her spines though it looked that Dash and Gilda were getting ahead of her. “Hey, you were right,” the griffon spoke, “I do feel faster.” “Told ya,” Dash chuckled. The two of them soared ahead as Dart did her best to keep up. “Just because you’ve got more experience with flying than I do doesn’t mean you can beat me,” Dart cried. She put all of her strength into her wings to keep up and it looked to be working. “How do you feel now?” “Like you should focus on what the turning point is,” Gilda said. The turning point was City Haul, to which the griffon and pegasus flew around and went back the way they came. Dart was surprised and quickly turned around to try and catch up. Beff saw them come back and reversed to see if she could try and talk with the boys. “Hey, are you guys feeling?” she asked. “A little bit better,” Gilda admitted. “Uh-huh. So, you don’t feel any different?” “Aside from the guy thing, no.” Gilda pulled ahead with Dash doing his best to keep and Dart zipped past Beff not too long after. The black and green dragoness quickly managed to keep pace with her draconic friend. “Dart, I think that diamond affected us more than physically.” “What are you talking about? Dart asked. “You’re acting completely different. You’re way more athletic when before I couldn’t wake you up from a nap to save my life.” Dart didn’t question this and just tried to keep up with her competition much to Beff’s frustration. Eventually, they got back to the cloud they had started on. "Man, you were right," Gilda chuckled. "We are faster." "You're certainly happier," Dash commented. "Happier than them." Gilda pointed to the two dragons who landed shortly after they did. "Okay, you won that because you were born with wings," Dart stated. "That explains why I'm still hungry. Where was that dust you were talking about?" Dart fumed with smoke billowing from her nostrils. "I wanna rematch!" she declared. "Maybe later," Dash spoke. "I could really use some breakfast." Gilda agreed and started flying back to the castle when he saw Gabby flying over to them. “Gabby, what are you doing over here?” Gilda questioned. “I couldn’t find anything to do here,” the other griffon admitted. “So, I’m going to Rarity’s with Fluttershy.” “You do that, Dash and I are going to wait at the castle until breakfast is ready. Have fun with whatever you’re doing.” “Thanks.” Gabby flew off as he saw Fluttershy walking on the ground towards the boutique. The kind mare turned into a stallion watched a couple of ponies walking around. Most of them were feeling like they were in someone else’s bodies though very few of them didn’t mind it. In fact, some looked to be enjoying it. Fluttershy looked up to see Gabby flying beside him. “So, how are Dash and Gilda doing?” the pegasus asked. “I think it’s safe to say they’re their old selves,” Gabby confirmed. “That’s good.” Eventually, they managed to get to the boutique where they could hear a couple of voices chatting with each other. “I honestly don’t know why I thought this would make me feel better,” said a voice sounding like Seaspray. “Don’t threat love,” Rarity spoke, “I’m sure Twilight and Starlight will have this fixed in no time. Now, I don’t think a dress will help with your feeling, so I had something better in mind.” Fluttershy and Gabby opened the shop door and made the bell ring. They found Rarity taking measurements of the visiting hippogriff. “Gabby, Fluttershy, were you wanting to help here?” “Well, yes,” Fluttershy confirmed. “I also wanted to check on Flicker.” “Oh, she and Rutherford wanted to help get the material,” the fashion stallion explained. There was a sound of something crashing to the ground along with something bouncing down the steps. Flicker quickly ran down the stairs to pick it up and saw the two creatures who had walked in. “Fluttershy, hey,” Flicker said. “Hello, Flicker. How are you doing?” “Just fine. Though, Rutherford is a little much for me.” “Yak coming down!” cried a voice. The yak princess stormed into the room nearly knocking Flicker off her feet. On Rutherford’s back, she brought down all the materials that Rarity had requested she and Flicker to get. “Yak bring dress materials.” Rarity slowly brought his hoof to his face and gave a frustrated sigh. “...Thank you, Rutherford,” Rarity said. The stallion took some of the rolls of clothing material and held them next to Seaspray. “Hmm, I think you might look good in iris. What do you think?” “You’re the expert in dressmaking,” the hippogriff reminded. “Quite right. Anyways, I’m thinking about something more athletic for you. Flicker, did you find that notepad I was telling you about?” “You mean this one?” the dragoness asked. She handed a notebook to the stallion, who then opened it up to find various different designs. Flipping through a couple of pages until he found one of a mare in a tight jumpsuit. “Perfect.” He showed the design to Seaspray, who looked quite interested. “It seems pretty elusive, but I think the design would look nice,” the hippogriff commented. Rarity smiled as he placed down his notepad. “Hmm, Elusive. I kind of like the sound of that.” He began unrolling the fabric for the new athletic wear. “Rutherford, Flicker, pick whichever color you like the best and I’ll be with you two in a minute.” The dragoness and yak agreed and took a look at the colors that they had brought down. The stallions then looked at Fluttershy and Gabby. He looked back at his notepad and found some suits drawn inside of it. That got Rarity, or now Elusive, thinking. Ember and Pat eventually made it back to the Dragon Lands as they were finishing up their conversation. “So, you were like this a day longer than everyone else?” the Dragon Lord questioned. “Yeah, real fun,” Pat said sarcastically. “Now you know how I was feeling.” The two soon landed and Ember quickly got the Bloodstone Scepter. “Look, if you have the most experience maybe you can help me calm down the rest of the dragons.” The two gender-bent dragons wandered around until they found a couple of dragons all arguing with each other. Pat recognized a couple of these dragons as Barry, Ballista, Billy, and Prominence. They had flipped genders like everyone else and they weren’t happy about it. “Why do you think I had anything to do with this?” Billy questioned. “Well, something has to have caused this,” Prominence stated. “We’re not enjoying this anymore than you are,” Barry remarked. “It feels so weird as a girl.” “How do you think we feel?” Ballista questioned. He held his legs together to hide something. “Okay, break it up!” Ember ordered. The four dragons looked over to see the Dragon Lord had returned. “Listen, I’m personally not a fan of this. I’ve been given word that the solution is being worked on as soon as possible. We’re all going to have to suck it up and wait for it to be over.” While they were happy that this would be fixed they were frustrated that they were forced to wait. “Hey, I’ve suffered from this change longer than all of you,” Pat stated. The expressions of the dragons quickly changed when they focused on Pat. “Weren’t you one of the dragons who went to Ponyville?” Barry questioned. “Yes. Care to explain how that’s important?” “How are they reacting to this?” Prominence asked. He was cracking a smile at the thought. “Pretty much as well as you may think? Running around like chickens that have lost their heads.” This made a couple of the dragons laugh though Ember didn’t find it funny. “However they’re taking this,” he spoke, “They’re the ones who are trying to fix this. I wouldn’t be laughing at someone who could change us to the way we want to.” This made everyone quiet down. “Now, until further notice, don’t get into fights because of some gemstone that just popped out of nowhere.” “Is that true?” Billy questioned. “Yeah,” Pat confirmed. “I’m going to take a dip in lava now.” She quickly flew off as Ember looked at the rest of the dragons. They quickly flew off to find an activity and stay out of trouble. Pat grumbled to herself as she flew over to the lava pits. She found one and landed next to it and slowly stepped inside. The heat felt so satisfying after what she had been through. Lying back, Pat sank into the hot pool as the lava went up to her neck. “You have any room?” asked a voice. Pat looked behind her to see Billy and Barry flying down towards her. “What do you want?” the blue-horned dragoness questioned. “We were hoping that we could have a nice dip in the lava,” Birry said. The dragoness sitting in the lava sighed before she responded. “Fine, step in.” The two were happy as they both jumped into the lava. Pat wasn’t very happy from getting splashed. “Anyways, what was it like living with ponies?” Barry asked. “It wasn’t all that I was expecting. They had us help with farming where their elders can really pack a punch.” “Seriously?” Billy questioned. “I wanted to punch back, but Garnette wouldn’t let me.” This mention confused the two dragons. “It’s Garble’s new name while she’s a girl.” “Oh,” both dragonesses responded. “You think we should have new names?” Billy asked. “I wouldn’t waste your time,” Pat commented. “They’ll probably fix this before you can make a good one.” “Yeah, maybe.” Barry looked at Billy’s spines, which looked like curly hair right now. She couldn’t help but touch the spines and giggled from the touch. “Barry, what are you doing?” The dragoness just giggled. “It’s like petting a sheep,” she spoke. She stopped as she saw Billy wasn’t enjoying it. “I’m glad I just have horns,” Pat muttered. “Anyways, did you get to sleep with any pillows?” “We were given beds to sleep on.” “You had beds?! Why didn’t I volunteer for this? What was it like?” “It felt like it was lying a bit of soft lava.” “Oh, you have to bring me with you next time.” “What makes you think that I’m going back there?” “Aren’t your friends there?” Billy questioned. “Yeah, but I didn’t want to be stuck around ponies any longer.” “Well, I’d happily take your spot,” Barry noted. “Be my guest.” This made Barry squeal in delighted. “Geez, dude,” Billy cried, “Control yourself.” “Look, I can’t help it. Just having something isn’t trying to poke you in the back. Plus, I think I could use some help with my new spines.” Barry brushed her claw against her spine and felt a little upset. “It’s just something that’s growing out of your head,” Pat commented. “Well, so are your horns,” Billy noted. “That’s different.” “Whatever you say,” Barry said. She and Billy sat back and enjoyed the lava bath. Pat tried to enjoy herself, however, something didn’t feel right. She did her best to relax but something just felt missing.