Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst were busy doing their tests on the diamond trying to make it work. "How do the hippogriff get the shards of the pearl to function?" Sunburst questioned.
"I think it's like a function that as simple as blinking," Twilight commented.
“We should’ve asked Silverstream about this,” Starlight sighed. They were about to try another test until Beff and Pat barged into the room.
“Where’s the diamond?” Pat questioned.
Sunburst was quite surprised but the two mares turned stallions stood their ground. “Why do you want to know?” Twilight asked.
“We can’t take this any longer,” Beff spoke. “Our friends are acting differently ever since they changed.”
“That’s odd,” Twilight commented. “We’ve been feeling fine ever since we’ve changed.”
“Well, we’ve been like this longer than you have,” Pat stated.
“They’re not wrong,” Sunburst noted.
“Still, we should’ve noticed some changes at this point,” Starlight commented.
“Did you at least find a way to fix this?” Beff questioned.
Twilight looked at the diamond and looked at his list of failed attempts. “We’re not really close,” the prince explained.
“Can’t you do something like this?” Pat questioned. She pushed the prince to the side and started rubbing the diamond-like genie’s lamp. Nothing really happened and Starlight tried to take the gem out of the dragon’s arm.
“We appreciate your help,” the stallion said, “But we do not know that many dragons that are experts in magic.”
“You’re going to slow,” Beff spoke. “What if our friends are stuck like this?” The two pulled against each other until the diamond stilled out of their grips and flew through the air to which Twilight luckily caught it. He soon carefully placed the diamond back on the table.
Starlight glared at Beff. “Maybe it’s a good thing.”
“Starlight!” Sunburst gasped.
“Let me speak.” He replied, and then turned back to them. “Beff, we’ve been treating you and your friends with nothing but respect. When we were rude to you, it was when you were doing something you weren’t supposed to do. If you want to act like a bully that wants attention, fine. In fact, I’m taking a break.” With that, Starlight walked out of the room feeling very annoyed.
“...Maybe we should take five,” Twilight commented. “We have been working on this for a long time.”
“Yeah, I could use a time-out,” Sunburst agreed.
“A break, really?” Beff questioned.
“...Maybe Starlight was onto something.”
“Are you really going to just stop?” Pat questioned.
“Pat, we haven’t had that big of a breakfast,” Twilight explained. “Plus, you and Beff are acting like jerks already. And frankly, I don’t know anyone who wants to help jerks.” The prince walked out of the room with his friends, leaving the dragonesses by themselves. Beff was turning red with anger while Pat started thinking about what the alicorn said.
“You can’t just leave us like this!” Beff stated. “Pat, stop them!” The bigger dragoness didn’t respond and walked out of the room. “Why am I the only one seeing the problems here?!” She quickly chased after Pat, who was deep in thought. She snapped out of her trance when she felt her friend tapping her shoulder.
“Oh, hey. What do we do now?” Pat questioned.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
The two stood scratching their heads pondering what to do. Eventually, Pat spoke up. “You want to get something to eat?”
Beff just shrugged. “I guess. Nothing we can really do. Besides, the griffon showed me this nice place where we can get gemstones.”
This comment brought a smile to Pat’s face. “Lead the way.” The two slightly disappointed dragons went to the castle’s exit and they flew over to where Gallus had shown Beff the gem mine. Along the way, the black and green dragoness had a couple of questions for her friend.
“So, did you see any noteworthy in the dragon lands? Did you find that drake that stole that girl that was hitting on us?”
“I wish. I only saw Billy and Barry.”
“You mean the one who was wanting to get pillows?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.” The two landed outside of the entrance of the gem gave. The two walked inside as they continued with their conversation. “Honestly, I can’t really blame her after sitting on a bed.”
“Yeah, she was probably onto something. I probably would’ve helped her win the Gauntlet of Fire if I knew about those sooner.”
“Ditto. Anyways, bon appétit.” The two dragons looked at the number of gemstones and embedded in the walls. They went to get their lunch by breaking several gems out of the walls.
“Hey, you see the point of clothing?” Pat questioned.
“Not really,” Beff responded. “I mean, we walk around naked, what’s the point of putting on pieces of cloth?”
“Honestly, I think it’d be worse if they got ripped or something. I can understand why Barry would want pillows since they’re pretty soft, but clothing seems pretty useless.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s just for show. You know how some of the dragons back home try to be flashy and cute.”
“Yeah. Remember that dragoness while we were playing king of the hoard?”
“How could I not?”
“I honestly thought Garble was going to get her.”
“Probably would’ve done us one better. I mean... Why would you go after someone who mocked your body?”
“Or your face.”
“Yeah, I think we were better off without her.”
“I would love to see how he is taking current events.” The two both laughed as the thought of a dragoness turned drake, likely one that didn’t same the same kind of looks certain drakes would be into, was just too funny. The two laughed so hard that they spewed out flames. Thankfully, there wasn’t anything flammable around and the laughter died down.
“Man. That would be great.” They carried on with gem picking as Beff thought about a few things. She looked at her reflection in one of the bigger gems. She brought her claw to her forehead and gently brushed it. “Hey, Pat, did my face really look... ‘wrinkly when I was a drake?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean my face looks a lot smoother now that I’m a dragoness.” Pat started feeling a little concerned. “I mean... I’m not trying to make myself look pretty or crud like that, don’t slap me.” The big brown dragoness took a sigh of relief. “Still, it makes me curious.”
“About what?”
“About that diamond. It’s affected practically everyone in Equestria.”
“I know. I’ve seen a couple both arguing about it. Not sure if they’re still together or not.”
“I mean, you flew off when everyone else flip-flopped.”
“It was becoming too much for me.”
“Who would blame you?”
“Hey, I’m not saying I blame you. I would’ve ditch this place the second we couldn’t find a solution.”
“Then why did you stick around?” Beff took a deep breath before she responded.
“I was worried about Dart. I honestly thought that diamond messed with her mind. Then I thought about what Gilda said. Maybe she was in a situation like Garnette was.”
“You mean she had a secret hobby?”
“Something like that. I mean... Did you really expect her to be a beatnik?”
“I doubt it.” Eventually, they figured they had found enough gems to have a good meal and both sat down to dig into the gems they had picked. While they had their lunch, Pat took a minute to look at her body and remember the dragoness that insulted her figure when she was a drake.
“Do you think I lost some weight? I mean... I looked like a blob when I was a drake and...” Pat was interrupted by Beff slapping her across the face without warning. She rubbed her cheek as her friend was starting to feel a little guilty.
“Sorry, I thought you would do the same for me if I wasn’t acting like myself.”
“No, I don’t blame you Beff. Just hear me out, I kind of think that diamond made us look much more attractive. I mean, you know how I did when I was trying to pick up some dragoness?”
“I remember. Can’t believe you kept trying after the second attempt.”
“Well, you’re the smart one. And I’m the dumb one.”
“Come on, Pat, we’ve seen dumber dragons.”
“Like the ones that tamper with the one thing that can fix this problem?” Beff thought about what Pat just said. She knew she was right. If they had messed up the diamond, it would likely never work again and everyone would be stuck the opposite gender, including them.
“You know what Pat, I think we were both stupid. After all, I was the one who wanted to ‘speed up’ the process.” Pat understood what Beff meant, especially with her air quotes. “Plus, I think we just made our friends mad at us.”
“Oh yeah. ...We really messed up, didn’t we?”
“Pretty much.” Beff chomped off a piece of one of the gems while she rested her head on her claw. Pat lied back and ate the gem she had found like the rest of lunch remained rather quiet.
Back at the Boutique, Vixen was starting to make good process with Elusive’s lessons. At the moment, the two were making a sun hat to do with Sandy’s soon-to-be-made dress. While they were waiting, Barb had decided to tell Garnette and Dart about the Power Ponies.
“Okay, so this mare fell into a giant pool of chemicals, which probably should’ve had a lid,” Garnette stated, “And her mane now is like an extra set of arms?”
“That’s pretty spot on,” Barb responded.
“She really does enjoy making mane jokes,” Dart commented. “Not really funny though.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a trait that stuck around due to the silver age of comics.”
“Silver age?” Flicker questioned.
“Oh yeah. There a couple of different ages when it comes to these comics. The newest ones are in the bronze age. As the golden age... Well, it’s kind of dark.”
“Go ahead,” Dart said, “I can take it.”
“I think I’m going to see how Smolder and his friends are doing,” Flicker spoke. She stood up and walked outside as she didn’t want to listen to anything dark, whatever that entailed. Outside, Smolder and his friends were returning with some lunch.
“I’m kind of surprised that mare was enjoying her new body,” Tarsus admitted.
“Well, she looked a lot cutter as a mare,” Goldenriver commented.
“Eh, definitely help with that kind of job,” Gallina commented.
Yon then noticed Flicker walking over to them. “Why Flicker out of boutique?” the yak asked.
“Barb was about to tell me about some stuff that’s a little more than I could handle,” the white and pink dragoness explained.
“Was she about to tell you the golden age of Power Ponies?” Sandy asked. Flicker nodded in confirmation, to which Sandy and Smolder looked at each other. Both knew that there was a good reason why the golden age had changed.
“Anyways, what did you bring?”
“Well, we couldn’t find anything like meat or gemstones,” Gallina stated, “But we brought a couple of condiments just in case.” The griffon showed the various bags containing their lunches. Taking them inside, Barb had just finished explaining about the different ages of the Power Ponies and various other comics.
“Wow,” Garnette said. “Ponies are a lot more hardcore than I thought.”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to stick with the silver age,” Dart agreed. She then looked over Flicker and the students who had just walked in with their lunch. “Alright. Time to eat.”
Tarsus looked around the Boutique as lunch was being passed around. “Hey, where are Rainbow Dash and the griffons?” he asked.
“I think they left to find Beff and Pat,” Garnette explained. She was handed a hayburger by Gallina to which she unwrapped. “I told them they’d be wasting their time, but Gabby was persistent.”
“Well, I hope they hurry back soon. This stuff isn’t as good when it’s cold.”
Dash, Gilda, and Gabby didn’t find the dragons at Twilight’s castle so they began looking at other locations around Ponyville. “Where could they go?” Gabby questioned.
“I think I would’ve left Ponyville if I was them,” Gilda admitted.
“Well, I think some ponies would see two dragons flying out of town,” Dash commented. The trio landed and asked a couple of ponies if they had seen any dragons flying around. While not that many had a straight answer, some did point in the direction of the gem cave. Dash remember the cave and led the way for the griffons.
After a minute or two of flying, the stallions and griffons made it to the cave. They didn’t really pay attention to the various gemstones embedded in the walls because they were distracted by the sound of crunches and chewing. Walking through the cave, they eventually found Pat and Beff finishing the last gemstones they had collected.
“There you are,” Gabby cried. The two dragonesses were quite surprised to see them.
“What are you doing here?” Pat questioned.
“We were looking for you. Did you guys enjoy those gems?”
“Yeah,” Beff admitted.
“What do they taste like?” Gilda questioned.
“They have a nice gravelly taste as they go down your throat.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.”
“Look, why would you even be looking for us?”
“Why? Because we were a little worried about you,” Gabby explained.
Pat and Beff looked at each other, both of them having a hard time believing what the griffon just said. “And why would our friends worry about us?” Pat quizzed.
“Gabby means that he was worried about the relationship between you and your friends,” Gilda answered. Both dragonesses still didn’t understand.
“What Gilda’s talking about is, we know what it’s like when you’re mad at your friend,” Dash explained.
“Exactly. I had a bit of a hard time when I first visited Ponyville, I got on the bad side of a lot of Dash’s friends, and... we stopped communicating with each other for a while. In a place like Griffonstone, it really pays to have a friend.”
Beff and Pat both looked at each other and started thinking about how the other dragons would feel towards them. “It may sound sappy, but you really should apologize while you still can. Either that or you could wait about a year until somebody makes you meet up again.” The two looked at each other before Pat stood up and walked over to the boys.
“Welp, let’s get this over with,” she muttered. Beff didn’t say anything as she got up and followed the four creatures out of the cave. Once they were outside, they began flying back to Elusive’s. Along the way, they could see two ponies taking a cart downtown. Despite their new appearances, Dash recognized them as AJ and Big Mac.
“Look, Mac, I know it’s really confusing right now,” AJ said, “Especially between you and Sugar Belle. Still, it’s not going to last forever.” This helped the stallion turned mare cheer up a little bit. Dash flew down in order to chat with them, leaving the dragons and griffons up in the air.
“Hey, AJ,” Dash spoke. “How are you and Mac doing?”
“Could be better,” the stallion responded. “Mac and Sugar Belle definitely are having a hard time dealing with this, but we’re getting there.”
“Oh good. I think I’m getting to the dragons too. They’re starting to warm up to the griffons and me. How are you enjoying your new body?”
“Well, I am much stronger. You should’ve seen the number of supplies I could move on my own. Mac’s still pretty strong too.” The newly made mare didn’t say anything as just kept walking.
“So, you think you’d like to stay like this?”
“Maybe. Honestly, if the mares don’t try and date me, I’ll be good. You just keep an eye on the dragons, Mac and I still have work to do.” Rainbow nodded and flew back up to the griffons and dragons as they carried onto the boutique.
As Beff was landing, she couldn’t think about what to say, given her lack of experience with apologies. “Okay, so maybe one of you could do the talking for me,” she said.
“We’ll walk you through it,” Gabby spoke. He opened the door and walked inside with the rest of the creatures. They soon found Elusive helping Sandy put on her new sundress. They were surprised to see the Dash and the griffons returning with the dragons.
“Oh, well, hello,” Elusive spoke.
“Hi,” Pat said. The amount of silence was quickly making the room seem very awkward. Beff attempted to walk back outside, but Gilda stopped her with his wing.
“Swallow your pride and do what you came for,” the griffon whispered. Beff groaned knowing that the griffon was right.
“Fine,” Beff grumbled. She looked around the room and couldn’t see any of her friends in the room. “Where’d our friends go?”
“Upstairs to have lunch,” Elusive explained. The stallion pointed to a door that revealed the staircase. Beff and Pat walked up the case and could hear their friends talking with the rest of the students.
“So, you really can turn into seaponies?” Vixen questioned.
“Yeah,” Goldenriver confirmed. “Honestly, it got pretty dull being underwater most of my life, but after a couple of mishaps at the school...” Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of one of the stairs creaking under Pat’s weight.
The dragons and students looked over to the staircase. Barb went to investigate and opened the door to find Beff and Pat walking upstairs. “Oh, you’re back,” the little dragoness said. She led them into the room where they were having lunch, which had a couple of stares when the two dragoness entered the room.
Garnette cocked an eyebrow. “What do you two want?” she asked. Beff looked behind her to see Dash and the griffons.
“You’ve got this,” Gabby whispered. He gave a thumbs-up before the dragoness took a deep breath before speaking.
“Look, guys, you know I never really had experience with apologizes,” Beff admitted. “Yet, I’m trying to do one now.”
“Could use some work,” Gallina whispered to Yon. The yak simply nodded in agreement.
“Look, Pat and I tried to speed up the process to fix this. It was as successful as you could imagine.”
“Uh-huh,” Dart said, “Where are you going with this?”
“She’s trying to say sorry,” Pat stated. “And I should probably be doing the same thing.” Beff held her arm as she was feeling a little embarrassed right now.
“Man, I had a feeling you’d be in a position like this,” Barb commented. “Look, I know this is hard for you guys to accept, but sometimes that life. I honestly lost track of the freakouts that Twilight had when he was put in a stressful situation. What’s really important is how you adapt to a situation.”
“Yeah,” Goldenriver spoke. “We heard that the school was shutting down so we ran away because we didn’t want to be apart from each other.”
“I still think that probably wasn’t the best idea,” Tarsus admitted.
“Still, it’s a good example of us adapting to a situation.”
“Sure,” Smolder commented, “Let’s go with that.”
“They have a point,” Vixen spoke, “We’ve been doing just fine being girls. If you just roll with it for the time being and we’ll get back to normal.”
Beff took another deep breath before she responded. “You’re right,” she sighed. “Can you really blame me for all of the things that have been happening?”
“I can guarantee you’re not the only creatures worrying about this,” Gilda confirmed. He, Gabby, and Dash walked into the room, much to the surprise of the rest of the creatures. “Yeah, we were standing out of view the entire time.”
“I thought I saw you guys back there,” Barb admitted.
“Yeah, we’re were a sort of a backup in case things went south,” Dash admitted. He looked at an empty bag that used to contain the food that was mostly eaten by the students and the dragoness. “And thank you for asking me if I wanted something to eat too.”
“Hey, we saved some for you,” Gallina stated. She revealed another bag that they had hidden from the stallion’s view. She tossed it to Dash, who caught it and smiled.
“So, what are you planning on doing here?” Gabby asked.
“Elusive said that he was planning on a fashion show with how many of us are here,” Smolder explained.
“The heck is that?” Pat asked. She didn’t understand the definition of fashion.
“It’s basically we all get dressed up in new dresses that many creatures hadn’t seen before,” Barb informed. “It a pony thing.”
“Definitely sounds like it,” Beff commented. She looked to her draconic friends. “You are really going to be a part of that?”
“Yeah,” Garnette confirmed. “Flicker is a part of it, so we thought it was only natural if we were a part of it too.”
Pat chuckled a little bit. “Sounds dumb,” she admitted. “I’m in.” Garnette just rolled her eyes as this was the closest thing to an improvement. At least Pat was wanting to be a part of something.
“Beff, what about you?” Vixen asked. The black and green dragoness was now the center of attention. Saying ‘no’ to what her friends were doing now would probably make things worse. A solution for the gender problem was going to be found any way so...
“Yeah. Sure. Why not?” she shrugged.
“Perfect. Now, we just need to tell Elusive about this. He is the expert in this kind of stuff.” Vixen took her two friends back downstairs just as Elusive was done making adjustments to Sandy’s dress.
“I really love the hat,” the young mare commented.
“Glad you do,” Elusive responded. “It really completes the outfit.” The stallion looked over to an approaching Vixen and her friends. “Oh, so, how’d it go?”
“Pretty good,” Vixen responded. “Beff and Pat even wanted to be a part of the fashion show.”
“Really? I didn’t expect that.”
“It’s true,” Beff confirmed. “So, what do you think would look good on us?” Elusive looked at the two dragons and brought out his sketchbook. The gears in his head started turning when she looked at Beff’s colors and Pat’s mace-shaped tail.
“You two likely have a punk style going on.” He showed them both what punk fashion looked like. They were admittedly impressed with the looks of the punk ponies.
“Hmm, not bad,” Pat commented. “I’m up for that.”
“Pretty good. Beff, what about you?”
“I don’t know,” the black and green dragoness admitted. “What other designs do you have?”
“There’s also gothic style. Also quite fitting for you.” Elusive showed a couple of gothic ponies and this peaked Beff’s interest.
“Okay, I think I like their style.”
“Good. They do fit both of your personalities.” The fashion stallion took out a notepad, adding Beff and Pat to the list containing the rest of the dragons and the students. “I have a lot of work cut out for me.”
“I’m pretty sure I should help lighten the load,” Vixen spoke.
“Indeed. Though, it’s quite a lot of work for just two of us.”
“You’ve been showing us some fashion tips,” Sandy spoke.
“Yeah, there’s like thirteen of us in total,” Beff noted. “Fifteen if Dash and the griffons help out.”
“That sounds like more than enough,” Pat commented.
“Quite right,” Elusive agreed. “Once they’re done with lunch, we can start work.”
Once everyone was done eating, Barb, the students, and the visiting dragons got to work helping Elusive get ready for the fashion show. Gabby helped out too while Dash and Gilda spread the word to their friends. Vixen was doing her best to work with the sewing machine, though she ran into a couple of snags.
Still, Elusive helped her out through her errors and they made great progress on the dresses. Some of the boys were even wanting to be a part of the show, thus some clothes were sewn for them. It was a bit of work for Elusive and the other creatures, but as time went on, they finished one outfit, then another, until every single participant was finished.
“Well... That took... Longer than I thought,” Vixen panted.
“I think it would be best if we all took a break before we start the show,” Elusive spoke. “I think you all earned it.”
“Sounds good to me,” Flicker responded.
“So, how many ponies are going to be at this show?” Garnette asked.
“Probably just a couple of close friends,” Barb guessed.
Later that evening, Twilight walked into Elusive's boutique. Starlight and Sunburst were with him and they could see Pinkie, Fluttershy, AJ, and Dash were there. Gilda and Gabby were also there waiting for the show. Twilight looked around noticing that Barb, the students, and the dragons weren’t in the room.
"Um, Dash," the prince spoke, "Where did Barb go? Or the dragons and students?"
"You just wait and see," the rainbow stallion chuckled. The prince began to piece things together as they all looked towards the runway. Elusive walked into view wearing a fancy-looking suit, that was a very dark purple. He used his magic to levitate the microphone.
“Evening everyone,” the stallion spoke. “I’m glad you’re here for this special show even with what’s been going on recently. I’m glad that the dragons that have been visiting volunteered to be a part of this and even help put it together.”
“I honestly didn’t see that coming,” AJ whispered to Pinkie.
“Now then, I think it’s best if we cut to the chase. Sit back, and enjoy what the girls have to offer.”
Some fancy ballroom music started playing as Barb twirled into the room in her lovely ballgown. She wasn’t alone, as Flicker slowly walked onto the runway and gave a curtsy in her ruby pink dress. It was strapless and had a tulle skirt and taffy pink band around her waist. “Here we have a simple pair of dresses for a lovely dragoness to wear to special events,” Elusive described.
“Is this right?” Flicker whispered. She was feeling a little nervous.
“You’re doing great,” Barb responded, “Just follow my lead.” The younger dragoness proceeded to walk down the runway with her friend shortly behind her. The two stopped at the end of it and slowly spun around so the small crowd could get a good look at them.
“Wow,” Fluttershy gasped. “They look really good.”
“Yeah,” Starlight agreed. “Definitely fit for a gala.” With one last curtsy, Barb and Flicker walked back to the curtains, which closed behind them just as the ballroom music stopped. A few seconds later, some hula music started playing. The curtains opened again and Sandy walked out to show off her sundress. She wasn’t alone as Yon walked beside her wearing a straw hat and a green shirt with a white flower pattern on it.
“These two show you can go to the beach in style,” Elusive spoke. “A cool hat and shirt for the gentleman and simple divine dress for the ladies.”
“What’s next?” Gilda whispered to Dash, “Clothes you wear while you swim?”
“Not yet.” The griffon jumped a little from the fashion stallion overhearing what he just said. While Sandy and Yon slowly spun around to show off their wardrobes, the two ended up nuzzling real quick before they walked back to the curtains. “Ah, yes, a lovely pair of outfits for a lovely couple.”
After Sandy and Yona disappeared behind the curtain, some drums could be heard followed by an upbeat tempo. Suddenly, Dart shot out and flew into the air while wearing a bright blue skintight jumpsuit. Goldenriver jumped out through the curtain onto the runway in a similar style bit of clothing, only his was purple instead of blue.
The hippogriff dribbled a buck ball as Elusive explained their outfits. “If you’re one for keeping in shape,” he said, “These jumpsuits are both stylish and sleek.” The hippogriff tossed her draconic friend the ball, who caught and chucked it towards a basket that Elusive levitated into the air. Dart and Goldenriver slowly spun around in the air to show off their uniforms.
“Hmm, those would be perfect in the school’s colors,” Twilight commented. Once they were done, they landed on the runway and walked behind the curtain. Soon, some rock music was starting to play as two dragonesses dress in black clothing were revealed.
Beff and Pat both turned around and walked onto the runway to show what they had to offer. Pat wore a leather jacket with a white t-shirt that looked to have a silhouette of a dragon’s skull. Also, she wore a red plaid skirt with some buckle boots and some spiked bracelets around her wrists and there was even one near the tip of her tail.
For Beff, she wore a dress that was pitch black. It had bell sleeves and a box pleated skirt that had a bit of it colored red. She had a wide brim hat on her head and also some platform shoes on, adding to her height. The two darkly dressed dragons then moved to the side to show a punk griffon walking down the runway. Gallina wore a leather jacket, boots, fingerless gloves, and a spiked collar.
“I say these are rather fitting bits of clothing for these girls,” Elusive commented. “I’d say they might be bad to the bone.” Gallina and the dragons each gave a peace sign as they showed off what they had to wear. As they began walking back to the curtain, Pat giggled a bit.
“Enjoying yourself?” Gallina asked.
“Yeah,” Pat responded. “Can’t believe I’m having fun with this. Still dumb.”
Beff just nodded as she looked at her boots. “I really don’t see the point of wearing these.”
“Whatever you think, there’s no doubt someone’s going to go crazy over this.” The three walked behind the curtain which closed as the rock music died down. Soon, the sound of bongos began to lift the silence, followed by the sound of snapping fingers.
The curtains moved to the side to show Garnette playing a beat on her bongos while Smolder smirked and snapped along. Both siblings were wearing berets, purple for the sister and green for the brother. Each one wore a scarf with Garnette wearing one blue and Smolder had one yellow. For their shirts, Garnette’s was mostly gray with long sleeves while Smolder had one with green and white stripes that were short-sleeved.
“Ah, yes,” Elusive spoke, “For those of wanting to be poets, these are the outfits you want to get.” The two siblings walked down the runway, keeping up the beat they were making.
“Since when was Garnette a poet?” Dash questioned.
“Longer than you think,” Fluttershy whispered. The brother and sister showed off their clothing as they played along to the beat. Garnette began finishing up just as they walked back to the curtain finishing off while sharing in three snaps with his brother.
While they were behind the curtain, the elder sibling laughed a little. “Man, I can’t believe that was fun,” she admitted.
“I know,” Smolder agreed. “Still, would’ve been great if you could’ve added some of your poetry.”
“Yeah, but then I’d be interrupting Elusive explaining our outfits.” They both looked to Tarsus and Vixen. The changeling was wearing a yellow vest while Vixen had a small blue dress.
“Causal wear?”
“Yep,” Tarsus confirmed. “This one is mostly for Vixen who did the most work.”
“Well, you guys helped too,” the dragoness stated.
“Yeah, but you were one who was taught how to use most of the equipment,” Garnette stated.
“That’s true.”
“And now,” Elusive said, “I’d like to thank the visitor that was a big help making all these clothes.”
“That’s your cue,” Tarsus said. Vixen nodded and walked onto the runway.
She could see Elusive standing on the stage waiting for her. “Vixen here has wanted to learn how to make dresses. It’s quite clear that I think the relationship between ponies, dragons, and possibly other creatures will be very strong.”
“Thanks, Elusive,” Vixen spoke. She held her claws together as she felt a little bashful being the center of attention. There was an applaud for the dragoness.
“Now, the rest of the dragons helped out with this show. I have to thank them as well.” The participants of the show came onto the stage, as well as Tarsus. There was applaud for all of them. Twilight flew up to the stage as he had something to say.
“I’m very proud of all you,” he spoke, “And I have something to tell you all. I think we’ve just cracked how to make this diamond work.” There was a couple of gasps in the room.
“Have you tested it?” Barb asked.
“We were just about to until we found it was time for the show. We’ll run a quick test and let you know how it goes.” The prince flew down to Starlight and Sunburst before they teleported back to the castle.
“So... Can we take these off now?” Beff asked.
“If you want,” Elusive spoke.
“Yeah, I think some of these are only good for special occasions,” Barb commented. “Come on, Flicker, I’ll help you with your dress.” Some of the dragons started taking off their clothes as they were all thinking about what they had just heard.
Back at the castle, Sunburst and Starlight were standing in front of the prince, who was levitating the diamond. He started using his magic on the large gemstone, making it glow in the process. Starlight and Sunburst could feel they were levitating a tiny bit as their bodies began changing.
Starlight’s mane started growing as her muzzle and frame were becoming smaller and thin. Sunburst meanwhile got a bit taller and her beard started to grow back. Twilight grinned as it looked like the spell was working. Soon, the glowing stopped and the prince allowed Starlight and Sunburst to look at themselves. After a couple of seconds for them to comprehend what happened, they both cheered.
“It worked!” Sunburst cheered. “We’re ourselves again.”
“So many creatures are going to be happy to hear this,” Starlight commented. They both looked over to Twilight, who handed them the diamond. “Alright, your turn.” Starlight began to work her magic as Twilight could feel his body changing.
Barb and the dragons were walking back to the castle. The main conversation seemed to be centered around the diamond. “So, they really have the problem solved?” Flicker asked.
“That’s what it sounds like,” Garnette said.
“I mean, you and practically all of Equestria should be happy,” Barb commented. “I mean... I think I’d like to be a boy again.”
“Pretty sure that Dash wanted to stay the way he is now,” Beff commented. “I’m changing back as soon as possible.” As they entered the castle, they could hear some chatter as they got closer to where Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst talking with each other.
“I’m not sure if we can make the wave, like it did last night,” Sunburst commented.
“What’s important is that we got it working,” Twilight noted. This got some of the dragons curious and they went to investigate. To their surprise, the princess and both unicorns were back to normal.
“Twilight?” Barb questioned.
“Oh, Barb,” the alicorn gasped. “We didn’t expect you to home so early.”
“Well, when you said you found a solution, we got excited,” Pat responded. “So, can you make your magic work on us?”
“Of course, just stay still so we can change you back,” Starlight said. The dragons didn’t have to be told twice and they all got into place, with the exception of Flicker, who was feeling a little conflicted.
“Flicker, aren’t you going to join?” Vixen questioned.
“Well... I kind of... Enjoy being like this,” Flicker admitted. It would’ve been hard to hear her as she practically whispering right now.
“Your loss,” Beff stated. “Fire us up!” Starlight nodded as she started making the diamond glow. The dragons could feel their bodies changing in the process. Their spines would start to get shorter and their bodies bulked up a little bit to their original mass. They would also gain their height back as the glow of the magic started dying down.
Everyone got a chance to look at themselves, all seemed quite happy to be back to normal. “Man, this feels good,” Garble commented.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Clump spoke.
Spike was just as happy as the others, but he was a bit confused why Flicker was the only one who wanted to stay a dragoness. “Well, nine down, all Equestria to go,” Starlight sighed.
“Maybe we should call it a night,” Sunburst suggested. “We did spend most of the day trying to figure out this diamond.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Twilight agreed.
“Yeah, I’m up for that too,” Clump said. He started making his way to the guest room as Vex walked over to Flicker.
“How are you feeling?” the drake asked.
“I’m fine,” Flicker responded.
“You sure? I mean... We all turned back and... You didn’t want to?” Unsure what to say at this, Flicker quickly flew away to catch up with Clump. This still left Vex rather confused. He decided to bring this up with Garble and Spike. “You think Flicker is okay?”
“I honestly think it’s a little more complex than she can explain,” Spike guessed. “I think this is how she wants to be now.”
“Seriously?” Garble questioned. Spike just shrugged as Baff and Spear overheard the conversation.
“You did not just say that,” Baff spoke.
“Hey, it’s my best guess,” Spike shrugged.
Baff just took a deep breath before he spoke again. “I’m going to bed. It’s too late for me to question this.” He walked down the hall as Spear simply followed behind.
“We’ll get started with changing Ponyville back to normal tomorrow,” Twilight explained. “You guys just get a rest.” Twilight placed the diamond down on the table and teleported away to her bedroom. Sunburst and Starlight walked away as Spike walked and talked with the dragons.
“You know, Dash said that he wanted to stay a stallion too,” Garble commented.
“I think I heard him say AJ was wanting the same thing,” Spike responded.
“Who else do you think would be like this?” Vex asked. Spike thought about a few creatures he knew that would want to stay the gender they were currently at.
“Well, I’m pretty sure that Smolder and her friends are likely all going to change back. Rarity is definitely going to change back too.”
“Same for those griffons.”
“How much do you want to bet that all the dragons are going to change back?” Garble asked. This was a conversation they talked about until they made it to the guest room, where the other dragons were at.
“I honestly think if some are treated the way they want in a certain gender, they’d want to stay the way they are,” Vex guessed.
“I’m pretty sure that would be the case with all the creatures in Equestria,” Spike noted.
“Probably true,” Garble commented. “I guess we’ll figure out in the morning.”
“That’s true. See you tomorrow, guys.” Spike walked away to his bedroom, leaving the visiting dragons by themselves.
“It’s been a weird couple of days,” Vex spoke.
“Understatement of the century,” Baff stated. Vex and Garble looked over to their friend, who was lying in his bed. “I’m just glad this is over.” He looked over to Flicker, was looking at her claw and examining her spines. “Almost over.”
“I honestly thought I would have some sort of whiplash with the gender-switching,” Clump admitted. “I’m glad that I’m me again.” As he lied back in his bed, he let out something under his breath. “Though, I was starting to enjoy it.” He looked across the room, thankful that nobody heard him.
“I’m honestly a little bummed,” Vex admitted. “Elusive made those clothes just for us. It kind of sounds like we’re just letting them all go to waste.”
“Yeah,” Garble agreed. “Kind of seems like a jerk move. Maybe we should just sleep on it.” Vex simply nodded and flew over to his bed. The dragons didn’t say much as they all drifted off to sleep one by one. Garble was one of the last of them to fall asleep. Looking across the room, he saw that Flicker was still awake. He was too tired to question anything, and his friends would likely want things to be quiet, so he left his questions for the morning.