//------------------------------// // Making Things Right // Story: Make a Swap // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// The next morning, Garble woke up as he could’ve sworn he heard some chanting. Curious, he stood up and walked over to the window. He looked down towards the school to see six familiar creatures all dressed up as cheerleaders. The drake decided to fly down to get a better look and could see the young six dressed up in cheerleader uniforms. Not to mention, all of them were female. Twilight and Spike were sitting on the bleachers watching their display. The students that were born as girls flipped back towards Yona to make their pyramid, Sandy and Gallina weren’t as experienced as their friends, and ended up fumbling over their own feet. “Okay, I’m ready to go back to normal,” Gallina spoke. “Oh, come on,” Silverstream sighed. She and the girls walked over to their fallen friends and helped them up. “How about we try again.” “We have a lot of work to do today,” Twilight stated, “We need to get a move on.” Sandy and Gallina stepped forward towards the princess, who levitated the big diamond and made it glow. In a flash, Sandbar and Gallus were back to their old selves. They started taking off the uniforms that no longer fit their gender as Spike then noticed the drake that had woken up. “Oh, morning Garble,” Spike called. He waved towards the drake, to which the students all look towards him. Since he was now the center of attention, Garble landed and walked over to his sister. “Morning,” he said. He looked over at Gallus, who tossed one of his pom-poms onto a pile. “So, what did I miss?” “Not much,” Smolder explained. “Silver wanted us to all be girls so we could try and be a full cheer team before we went back to normal.” “It seems kind of early to do that.” “That’s what I said,” Gallus spoke. “I’m going to get something to eat now.” With that, the blue griffon flew away to get breakfast. His friends began to follow behind, though Smolder stayed behind with her brother. “So, how does it feel to be a girl again?” Garble asked. “Much better,” Smolder answered. “I do kind of wish I could see if I was stronger as a drake, but I’m glad things are going to normal.” Garble looked back at the castle while muttering, “Kind of.” “What do you mean, ‘kind of’?” “Flicker’s the only one who wanted to stay a dragoness.” “Yeah,” Spike confirmed. He walked over to the brother and sister to join in with the conversation. “I think she likes the way she is now. That and I think being here helped bring Flicker out of her shell.” “She does seem really timid,” Garble commented. “Plus, Elusive did make those dresses just for you guys,” Smolder added. “Yeah. This might sound crazy but I swore I heard Clump said he liked being a dragoness.” Smolder and Spike looked at the drake like he just grew an extra set of arms. “Uh-huh. I know what I said and how farfetched it is.” “Not too hard to believe,” Spike admitted. “Dash and AJ are wanting to stay stallions.” “I don’t see why he’d want to be a girl again if he was so desperate to get back to normal,” Smolder commented. “You can try and figure that out,” Twilight spoke, “I have a lot of work to do.” “I’ll catch up with you later,” Spike responded. “I’m going to help Garble and Smolder figure some things out.” “Okay. Just take too long.” Twilight took off with the diamond to change other creatures back to their original genders. “In what way would Clump want to stay a dragoness,” Smolder spoke. “If I knew why I wouldn’t bring that up,” Garble admitted. “Maybe we’re missing something she found out,” Spike guessed. “Should we ask her?” “Clump is kind of stubborn. She didn’t even want to come here in the first place.” “Well, she changed her mind in the end.” “That still doesn’t mean we’re going to get a straight answer,” Smolder noted. This was something the trio was having a hard time figuring out Clump’s reason. Soon, Spike had a question for Garble. “You sure you didn’t mishear him?” the youngest dragon spoke. “Well, he did mutter something,” Garble admitted. “Though, I thought I heard him saying something about being a dragoness. Then again, I think Flicker might’ve been regretting her decision. Before we fell asleep, I saw she was still awake looking at her body.” “I’d have second thoughts if I was in her position.” “She’s probably not as stubborn as Clump,” Smolder noted. “Asking her opinion would be pretty easy.” “Might as well get you something to eat,” Spike noted. “Twilight and I got up pretty early.” They all agreed to this idea and went back inside the castle to get some breakfast. Spike stayed behind in the kitchen as Garble and Smolder went to check on the rest of the dragons, some of which were waking up. “Morning guys,” Garble said. “How are you feeling?” Vex was the first one to be up and answer his friend’s question. “Pretty good,” he responded. “Still feels weird going from a boy to a girl then back to a boy.” “Too true.” Garble looked over to Spear, who was stretching a little bit. “Spear, how about you?” “What?” the purple and blonde drake questioned. “You glad to be a drake again?” Smolder asked. “Eh. I think I was probably not as bad as I thought. I’m fine.” “Good for you.” Garble scanned the room as Clump looked to be in deep thought while Beff looked towards Flicker. “Guys, how about you?” he asked. “Feeling better?” “Ugh, yeah,” Clump responded quickly. “Feels good to be a drake again. Am I right Baff?” “Yep,” the black and green drake responded. “Going to be glad when we get home.” Flicker didn’t say much as she was hoping that nobody would ask her anything. However, Smolder walked over to her as she was still curious about her choice. “Flicker, Garble, and I have been curious about your choice,” the draconic student spoke. “Why’d you choose to stay a girl?” The white and pink dragoness jumped after Smolder asked her question. Now everyone looking at her, and Flicker didn’t like that. “Um... Ugh...” She was starting to feel a little uncomfortable right now and Vex could see it. “Maybe we should ask questions after we eat,” he suggested. “Is Spike cooking?” “He is,” Garble confirmed. “Yeah, I think my blood sugar is a little bit low,” Clump spoke. “I’m going to go see if he’s ready yet.” The big brown dragon walked out of the room, leaving some of the dragons like Spear and Baff a little confused. “I’ll meet you guys in the map room,” Garble spoke. “And I should probably get to the cafeteria,” Smolder added. She quickly flew off to get back to school, leaving Garble and his friends to get their breakfast. Spike had just figured out what he’d prepare for the dragons. Just as he turned on the stove, Clump stormed in. “Hey, Spike,” he called, “How’s breakfast coming along?” “...just started,” the young dragon responded. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.” The older drake let out an annoyed groaned as lied his head on the counter. Spike had been told that Clump was stubborn, but still, he tried to ask a question. “So, you want to talk about something?” “Not sure what I have to tell.” “Well, Garble said he heard you said you enjoyed being a dragoness. Though, he couldn’t confirm it.” “...Spike, how tough do you think your body is?” “I only want to know how you’re feeling.” Clump just grumbled as it was becoming clear that he wasn’t going to open up at the moment. Spike got back to work and was starting to add some ingredients together. As he went to the sink to get some water, he was surprised to see it was already filled up with water. Then Spike saw something floating in the water. There seems to be a rubber ducky floating about with something sitting on it. To Spike’s surprise, it looked to be a tiny Discord, though he looked a bit different. His muzzle and horns were shorter than they should be (and that wasn’t because he was as big as an ant) and he had long white hair. It was pretty clear that Discord had switched genders like everyone did yesterday. To add to this, the draconequus was wearing a swimsuit, since the sink was a swimming pool compared to her size. She looked up at Spike, who was used to tricks like this. “Morning, Discord,” the young dragon said. The female draconequus looked up at her regular-sized friends. “Why hello, Spike,” Discord said. Her new voice sounded like a troublesome teenager, rather fitting. “I see you’re back to normal. How are you doing?” “Rather well. I’m just about to make breakfast for some guests.” “Well, save something for me.” Clump was a little confused as he could hear Spike talking to someone, but didn’t see who was talking back. “Spike, are you okay?” he asked. “There’s... No one in here but me.” “Oh, I beg to differ,” Discord stated. With a snap of her claws, she caused a flash and returned to her regular size. Pat was incredibly surprised when he saw the draconequus drying herself off with was most likely a dish towel. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the Lady of Chaos, Eris. Though I was originally called Discord.” Clump was a given a business card that had Discord... Or now Eris’s typical style. The card looked like it was made of different cards that were cut up, drawn on with crayons and markers, and the text looked like each letter was cut out of multiple different magazines. “Uh-huh, Spike, catch me up to speed please?” Spike started filling up his cup of water for the recipe while he explained who decided to show up. “Basically, Discord...” “Eris,” the draconequus corrected. “...Right. Ericart Withs is the lady of chaos and a resident in Ponyville. Though we had a bit of a... Rough start, we eventually got along. We even have a guy’s night.” “I always remember to bring the fun.” “...Right,” Clump commented. He couldn’t take his eyes off just how strange Eris looked. "So... You do stuff that makes brains give up?" "Sometimes. Now, are you one of the dragons that are visiting? I've been wanting to talk to you, but then you suddenly turned into girls.” “Uh-huh. Wait a minute, if you could make yourself the size of a pebble why did you try to change us back?” “Where’s the fun in that?” Eris grinned as Clump was now starting to get angry. “Look, Eris, how about you come back later when I finish making breakfast?” Spike suggested. He was trying to defuse things before a fight broke out. “Very well. I’ll be sure to bring the chocolate milk.” With a snap of her claw, Eris teleported away. “Sorry about that. Eris really enjoys getting on creatures’ nerves.” “No kidding. You’re seriously friends with her?” “...It’s complicated.” About half an hour later, Spike and Clump walked into the map room. The younger drake was pushing a cart with some tortilla wraps, gemstones, and various vegetables. “Sorry this took so long guys,” Spike apologized, “We had a bit of a setback. It’s a little hard to explain, just enjoy.” The dragons didn’t question what Spike was talking about and just took a look a the tortilla wraps. After some explanation of how it worked, the dragons were soon making their breakfast burritos. After a few minutes, Garble then noticed something out of the ordinary. “Hey, Spike, where did that pink cloud come from?” he asked. “Pink cloud?” Spike looked to where Garble was pointing and could see there was a pink cloud floating in the air. “Oh boy.” Suddenly, Eris poked her head out from underneath it. “I told you I’d bring the chocolate milk,” the draconequus stated. “Who is she?” Baff questioned. “Eris,” Spike and Clump answered. The draconequus jumped down from the cloud and onto her feet. She snapped some empty glasses into existence. The dragons were very surprised by this. “How did she do that?” Vex questioned. “I guess that she just makes her own rules,” Clump admitted. “You’re not wrong,” Eris confirmed. The pink cloud started raining chocolate milk, which Eris held the glasses underneath it to fill them up. “When you’re the pure being of chaos, rules are sometimes white noise to you. Chocolate milk anyone?” She held up the filled glasses to only have awkward silence in response. “Oh, come on. This is the best you can get.” “I’ll take a glass,” Spike spoke. He quickly grabbed one, which made Eris smile. Since nobody else was wanting to speak up, she decided to. “You know, I don’t know why you were so against befriending ponies. I mean, I became friends with Fluttershy.” “That honestly doesn’t sound too likely,” Baff stated. “I know. There’s a chance for you all. Speaking of friendship, where’s the princess?” As if on cue, Twilight teleported into the room with the purple diamond. She looked very tired. “Oh, I was just talking about you. How’s the gender fixing going?” “It needs a new plan,” Twilight said bluntly. Spike gave the alicorn the glass of chocolate milk, to which the princess chugged down. Once she stopped, she explained what she had done. “Okay, so all my friends are back to normal, except for Dash and AJ. Gilda and Gabby are now going home and I soon started changing the other residence in Ponyville back. Once I got to Zecora, I only had gotten twelve percent of the town before I figured this was going to take forever.” “How many did you change since you went off on your own?” Garble asked. “Well, it’s been about an hour since we changed Sandbar and Gallus were changed back. Since then I changed only twelve percent of Ponyville. And that’s just one civilization in Equestria. There’s Canterlot, the Dragon Lands, Griffonstone, Appaloosa, the list goes on.” “Isn’t there a faster way?” Smolder questioned. “What if we broke the diamond up like the hippogriffs’ pearl shards?” “That’s a thing?” Spear questioned. Smolder nodded in confirmation. “The diamond originally started as two pieces,” Twilight reminded. “When it was in half, we couldn’t get it to work.” “But it turned purple when it was back together,” Baff stated. “Plus, don’t you have a ‘fix it’ spell? If that thing does lose power, then you could just zap it back together.” “He’s got a point,” Spike commented. “Remember in the Crystal Empire when the heart shattered?” Twilight thought before remembering that event. “Yeah,” she said. “You’re right. I’ve got to find Sunburst and Starlight.” The princess left the room with the diamond to find some help, leaving Eris and the dragons to their breakfast. “So, what were you saying about a Crystal Empire?” Clump asked. Spike began to feel mentioning this location was a bad idea. After the dragons had finished eating, Twilight brought Starlight, Sunburst, and the rest of the mane six into the map room. The dragons stood on the sidelines, with some of them a little confused that Eris had just vanished. It admittedly felt a little odd to have Rainbow Dash and Applejack being stallions now with their friends being mares again. “Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?” AJ asked. “This can very easily go wrong.” “I know that,” the princess responded. “That’s why I wanted to make sure there was a way to mend the diamond if we split it apart. Sunburst?” The stallion was looking through a spellbook before he responded. “The spell we used for the Crystal Heart was a little bit different,” he admitted, “But with a few adjustments, it should work.” “And if it doesn’t?” Garble asked. “Then we’ll be responsible for thousands of angry creatures,” Starlight answered. “So, this needs to go off without a hitch.” Everyone could tell that the pressure was on. Twilight held the diamond in the air for everyone to see. With some assistance from Rarity, who had a good eye for perfection, the diamond slowly started to split straight down the middle. Eventually, the diamond split clean in half, with both mares nearly dropping each half. They both kept their color. So far so good. “Now what?” Vex asked. “Now, we test it,” Twilight commented. “I’ll do it,” Pinkie said without hesitation. She was given one of the halves and started rubbing it like a genie’s lamp. With a flash just like the pearl shards, Pinkie had suddenly turned into a stallion. “It worked!” This made the creatures very happy. Pinkie soon changed herself back to a mare, then a stallion again. She kept this up until she stopped on a mare and Starlight took the diamond back. “Okay, now that we know that they work just as well in halves,” Starlight spoke, “We can break them into more pieces to speed up the process.” “Don’t we have to make sure we can still put it back together?” Fluttershy asked. “That was for if the diamond lost its power,” Twilight stated. “Since both halves are still working, we won’t be needing it. Not yet anyway.” They soon repeated the splitting with the two halves and making them into quarters, then splitting them into eighths. Twilight tested one of the shards on herself and briefly turned herself into a stallion before changing back into a mare. “Alright. Now, we just need to plan out the map.” The table in the center of the room lit up to show a map of Equestria. “Wait, it could do that the whole time?” Baff questioned. Spike and Smolder just nodded in confirmation. The ponies looked at the map and began planning out who would go where. “Okay, so we have eight shards, so we have eight teams,” Sunburst commented. “So, each team takes one direction?” Dash questioned. “One North, one South, etc.” “Exactly,” Starlight confirmed. “AJ, you’re going to be heading South with Rarity. Dash, you’ll be a great fit for taking East.” “What about us?” Spear questioned. “Of course, you can tag along,” Pinkie stated. “You’ll get to meet a lot more creatures.” “Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” AJ asked. “Hey, we’ve learned,” Clump stated. “Maybe we should have groups of four,” Vex suggested. It took a bit of planning as some of them were arguing who would go where and with who. Eventually, they decided there would be teams of three or four, each one taking a different direction. Twilight's team went north, Dash’s took east, AJ’s took south, and Rarity would be left with the west. Before they took care of the rest of Equestria, they had to change everyone in Ponyville back to normal. Many of the ponies were a little wary about the dragons, but some of them like Garble and Vex were able to get on their good side as they were changed back to normal. AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear soon found Filthy Rich, along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The two fillies were now colts and the stallion was a mare. Filthy Rich looked over to the team with the diamond shard and was quite surprised. “Applejack,” the mare said, “Nice to see you again. You’re still a stallion?” “Yes,” the earth pony confirmed. “Firstly, it’s just AJ now, secondly, we’re changing everyone back to normal.” “Change the colts back. They are the least happy about this.” Fluttershy nodded and walked over to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. After a quick explanation, the two colts were changed back into fillies. Filthy Rich was surprised at what she saw but smiled knowing her daughter was female again. AJ was about to do the same thing on Filthy Rich, but the mare placed her hoof on the diamond before the stallion could use it. “It’s kind of you to offer,” Filthy Rich spoke, “But I’m honestly happier like this.” “...You are?” AJ questioned. “Of course. You obviously wanted to stay like this. You would’ve changed back by now, right?” “You... Have a point. It’s just I thought Dash and I would be the only ones that wanted to stay like this.” “I think Diamond needs a better mother figure in her life. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” AJ thought about the mother that Diamond Tiara had, who lived up to her name of being spoiled from experience. “I understand.” He placed the diamond shard away as Fluttershy walked back to them with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “We should get going now. A lot of things to fix.” “Then we won’t keep you any longer. Good luck.” AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear soon walked away to help with other ponies, leaving Filthy Rich with the fillies. “So, are we not going to question the dragon that was with them?” Silver Spoon asked. “We were colts less than thirty seconds ago,” Diamond Tiara stated, “I don’t want to ask any more questions.” “Then how about we have some girl time?” Filthy Rich asked. Judging by the giggling from her daughter, Diamond and her friend looked to be excited to have some fun now. “What is her mom like?” Spear asked. “I think it’s a touchy subject,” Fluttershy answered. “Still, I’m glad they're happy.” After a while, the creatures met up at the train station. While they were waiting for the train, they chatted about the ponies they had changed back. “So, did anyone else want to stay the way they were?” AJ asked. “Bulk Biceps wanted to stay a mare,” Dash informed. “What kind of oats was that girl eating?” Garble questioned. “I honestly have no clue. Anyways, all the Wonderbolts are back to normal.” “So are the Cakes,” Pinkie added. “And the Apple Family are already taken care of.” “Then we’ve changed Ponyville back to normal,” Twilight confirmed. “Now we just need to take care of the rest of Equestria. So much for the easy part. Everyone still remembered the plan?” Everyone confirmed the direction their team would take. They each boarded different trains that were heading in different directions. “You know, I wished we used the train rather than just fly from here to the Dragon Lands,” Clump admitted. “Yeah, that would’ve been nice,” Vex admitted. They got on the train that was heading West which left a couple of minutes later. It took a couple of minutes but everyone got on the train they needed and continued with fixing the rest of Equestria. Heading West, Clump looked at the diamond shard and he was debating something with himself. While he did that, Vex and Rarity walked about the towns they would have to change back. “There are a lot of towns just heading West,” Vex spoke. “You think that just two shards will be enough?” “If we break them up anymore, we’ll practically lose the diamonds,” Rarity stated. “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Besides, I know some are kind of liking this, most are wanting to go back to normal.” Rarity looked at the shard she had before looking over to Clump, who was still muttering to himself. “Are you okay dear?” “I’m fine,” Clump stated. “Mind your own business. We’ve got like a million creatures to fix.” Vex noticed that his friend was holding the diamond shard rather tightly. “Clump, what’s wrong?” Vex questioned. “I’m being dragged into this and...” “No, I mean the diamond. You look like you don't want to let go of it.” Clump looked at the shard he held and struggled to find his words. “Ugh... Well... The princess wouldn’t want us to lose this and it could... Probably fall into the wrong claws.” Vex and Rarity both looked at each other as they could tell he was lying through his teeth. “Do you want to change?” Rarity asked. “What? No! I didn’t want to be a dragoness. Why do you think I want to be like that?” “...I didn’t say that kind of change.” Clump blushed. “Garble told me about what he heard,” Vex explained. “You enjoyed being a dragoness?” The big drake tried to defend himself, but he couldn’t think of a valid excuse. “Okay, fine, it just felt okay to me,” he retorted. “I might not be a fan of dressing up, but it just felt... Right. You know what I mean?” “Maybe that’s why Flicker stayed the way she was. Clump why didn’t you say anything?” “What was I supposed to say? I’d like being a chick more than a guy?” Rarity and Vex both thought about this phrase. “That seems very accurate,” Rarity commented. Clump brought his claws to his face and groaned with frustration. “Why do you ponies have to make emotions so complicated? I mean... I wanted to be a drake again and when I did I had second thoughts. Why is this never easy?!” Clump banged his head again the wall of the coach, almost damaging it in the process. “Look, Clump, I know you’re confused right now,” Vex spoke. “Frankly, I don’t blame you. We have a gemstone that can change anyone’s gender at any time they want. We’re no exception to that.” Rarity looked a little confused by this claim, to which Vex blushed. “You too?” “Hey, she made a dress just for me. It just feels like a waste if I went back to being a drake.” “I see,” Rarity commented. “I hope the others aren’t having a struggle like this,” Clump muttered. The team heading east consisted of Dash, Garble, Baff, and Flicker. One of their stops was in Manehattan. Given the size of the city, the team split into two duos, one was Dash and Flicker, and the other was Garble and Baff. Flicker didn’t have too much trouble with Dash, as the stallion had been to the big city before. Garble and Baff however would have a harder time. The ponies weren’t used to seeing dragons, not to mention the whole gender thing wasn’t helping. Still, the visiting dragons managed to make some progress. During this, Garble decided to chat with his friend with something on his mind. “So, which creatures do you think are going to stay the way they are?” Garble asked. “Honestly, I’m going back and forth if Dragon Lord Ember would stay as a drake,” Baff admitted. “You seen what most dragonesses do right?” “Yeah, I could honestly mistake her as drake. You know if she was still a girl.” “I get that. I honestly still have a hard time understanding Flicker staying as a girl.” “Maybe she enjoyed being one more than a drake. I mean, you know how I felt when I revealed my liking to poetry.” “So, you’re saying she grew a liking to pony activities.” “Exactly. It wouldn’t surprise me. She and Fluttershy were getting along pretty well.” “I would say so,” said another voice. Both drakes jumped when they saw they saw Eris appeared out of nowhere. “So, how the repair process going?” “...Better than we expected,” Garble admitted. “When did you get here?” “That’s not important. What is important is what you want to be with those diamonds.” “What are you... No,” Baff spoke. He started picking up on what Eris was talking about. “Hey, we’re drakes and we’re staying that way.” “Are you sure? I could’ve sworn you liked being girls. Your face was a lot smoother and I loved your spines.” “Eris, we know you like us better like that,” Garble said, “Though I’m a little afraid to find out how long you’ve been watching us. Baff is back to his old self and I think he, and a lot of other creatures, want to stay that way.” “Eh, it’s your loss. I love my new look.” “Good for you,” Baff said. The tone of his voice sounded like he was done with the draconequus. He flew off to find more ponies to change back. He and Garble carried on for a while until Garble spoke up. “I did kind of enjoy being a dragoness,” he admitted. “What are you talking about?” “Well, before the wave happened, Rarity took me, Smolder, and Spike to the spa. It felt nice. You really could’ve used a trip. Not as good as a lava bath, but it’s still great.” “Uh-huh. I’ll take your word for it.” After walking then changing a couple more ponies, Garble brought up another topic. “So, what do you think about AJ’s family? “You mean those farm ponies?” “Yeah, I think some of us didn’t get on their good sides.” Baff could tell what his friend was talking about. “You know we didn’t even want to be there.” “While that’s true, I think it would best if you apologized. Spike said it was probably the best thing you could do before we left Ponyville.” “We’re going to be in the Dragon Lands by then.” “Then the diamond will still be in at least three pieces. You want to leave it to someone who can change us to girls at any time they want?” Baff had a feeling this was pretty unlikely. Then again, he wouldn’t want to become a dragoness against his will again. Eris soon appeared beside them as if she had been walking with the drakes the whole time. “Your friend has a point,” Eris noted. This sudden appearance startled both of them. “Are you trying to get burned?!” Baff questioned. “I’m just wanting to know if you would go girls again.” In an attempt to get her to shut up, Baff activated the diamond shard and changed Eris back into Discord, much to the draconequus’s disappointment. “Aw.” Garble held his friend back to make sure things didn’t get worse. “How about you leave us alone until we fix Equestria?” he suggested. “Fine. Do what you want.” Garble gave a thumbs up before dragging Baff away to find more ponies. Discord sulked as he looked at a reflective building. “In hindsight, I should’ve seen this coming.” AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear had stopped for lunch in Appaloosa to have a nice chat with Braeburn and Little Strongheart, who had just been returned to their normal genders. “So, how have you felt hanging around ponies?” Strongheart asked. “I can say it’s been a unique experience,” Spear admitted. “Can’t remember the last time I felt so alive.” Braeburn looked over to his cousin and couldn’t help but speak up. “I can’t be the only one thinking it’s weird that AJ is...” “Yes, Braeburn,” AJ interrupted. “It’s something that most ponies and other creatures are having a weird time. Dash and I are staying this way because what kind of gender we were didn’t matter to us. Plus, we’re much stronger and faster now, and for our jobs, that’s a big help.” “I wasn’t saying I was against it,” Braeburn noted, “It’s just a lot to take in.” “How did you all cope once you were hit by the wave?” Fluttershy asked. “Probably the same as anyone else,” Strongheart admitted, “We freaked out.” “Well, you’re back to normal now,” Spear said. “It’s not like Flicker.” This confused the stallion and buffalo. AJ and Fluttershy helped fill them in with what had happened in Ponyville. “Hmm, interesting. Well, if that’s the way she wants it, I say let her have it.” Spear didn’t have a valid argument for this. He did find he had a better time enjoying himself while he was a dragoness. He couldn’t put into words how he felt about it. He kept quiet as their lunch continued. Back with Vex and Clump, Rarity had decided to use the diamond shard to change them back into girls while they helped the ponies in Cloudsdale. “How are you feeling?” the mare asked. “Strangely, a bit better,” Vex, now Vixen, admitted. She held her claws together as she blushed a little bit. Clump, now Pat, didn’t answer the question. Instead, she was curious about the fact the city they were in was floating on clouds. “So, does everyone here fly?” she asked. “Most likely,” Rarity informed. “I doubt they would have an easier time to get around without flight.” They were about to move to the next area when Rarity could see there weren’t any more clouds to walk on. Just before she could think about looking for something like a balloon, Vixen picked her up and carried her to the next batch of clouds. “Oh, thank you, Vicky.” The dragoness just smiled as she placed the mare down. They carried on for a while until they came across a green mare with a blonde mane that was tied in a bun. “Rarity!” she cheered. She quickly ran up to her and the dragoness, though the trio was a little confused. “Look, I know you and I haven’t gotten along very well in the past, but I couldn’t use one of those ‘fix everything’ beams. You think you and Flutters could fire that up for me?” The fashion mare pondered for a second until she understood who it was. “Zephyr?” she questioned. The stallion turned mare blushed as she nodded. The dragons still didn’t understand who it was and were even more confused when Rarity burst out into laughter. “Are we missing something here?” Pat questioned. Through several gasps of air, Rarity managed to find her words. “I’m sorry...” She wheezed, “But you would laugh too... If you knew... Who this mare was...” Rarity kept laughing as Vixen used the diamond to change Zephyr back into a stallion. Eventually, the East team had made it to Griffonstone. After walking from the station to the city, they were swarmed by a bunch of griffons. Nearly every single one of them was begging to be changed back to normal. Dash and the dragons were having a hard time focusing to make the shards function. Eventually, Baff lost his temper and let out a roar with a blaze of fire breath. This frightened the griffs and they scattered like mice, giving the group plenty of elbow room. “Okay, so that solves that problem,” Baff said. “Now we just have to find them again. Sorry guys.” “Nah, I probably would’ve done something like what you did,” Dash admitted. “Let’s just split up.” Garble and Dash went with each other, leaving Baff to team up with Flicker. This gave the drake the perfect time to talk with his friend. “So... What made you want to stay a dragoness?” Flicker didn’t respond at first as she couldn’t put it into words. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t like your choice. I just wanted to know the reason.” Thinking for a moment, Flicker found her voice. “I liked the pony traditions more than the dragon ones,” she admitted. “I mean... You heard that story of how one of the dragon lords was dethroned.” “Yeah, I know. Honestly, I don’t believe that one.” “Okay. But how many times has Torch just yelled orders at us? Like “cry for me” or “cheer!” I honestly felt kind of scared when he did that.” “Got to agree, broken eardrums are probably something you don’t want to give to your subjects.” “Spike and the ponies were so nice to us, even you.” “That’s true. Probably should’ve thought better than anger the creatures that are trying to help us.” “Well, you’re back normal now. It’s a shame, you looked kind of cute as a dragoness.” “Cute?” “I like your spines. Plus, I think Spike joked about you being in eye shadow.” Baff gave a fake laugh before being serious. “Tell him not to push his luck.” As they chatted about changes, Dash and Garble started near the end of Griffonstone. After changing some griffons back, they came across Grandma Gruff, who was still accompanied by the fledgling she met the day before. “Oh, boy,” the rainbow stallion sighed. “Here we go.” He and Garble walked closer to the elderly griffon. “There you are,” Gruff wheezed. “You how come you changed Gilda and Gabby back before us.” “Because we were in the same location at the time. Do you want to be a guy again or should we just skip you?” “Just change this nice fledgling back.” This confused Dash a little bit. “So, you want to stay the way you are?” Garble asked. Grandma Gruff simply nodded. Not questioning it, Garble used the diamond shard to change the young fledgling back to a boy. He was overjoyed and flew around in the air in excitement. “Welp, you fix that young lad. Now get lost!” Garble was a little shocked from the outburst as Dash quickly dragged him away. When they were out of eyesight, they didn’t see the fledgling land and hug Grandma Gruff, who simply smiled in response. “Is she always like that?” Garble questioned. “There’s a reason why her name is Gruff,” Dash responded. “As they carried on, they found Gilda and Gabby, who were at the bakery with another griffon known as Greta, who was waiting to be a girl again. “Hey, you made it,” Gilda said. “Our friend would...” “Yeah, we know the drill.” Dash made the diamond shine and Greta quickly changed back to normal. “Ah, finally,” Greta sighed. “That didn’t feel right.” “Sorry for leaving you on your own,” Gabby apologized. “We got a bit sidetracked looking for the cure.” “No, I understand. Anyways, we’re normal now.” “Hey, random question,” Dash spoke, “How long has Gruff been like that?” He points over to Grandma Gruff, who didn’t know she was being watched as she looked to be happy with the young fledgling. “No clue,” Gilda admitted. “At least she’s acting nicer to some griffs. Still progress.” “Better than she was before. Come on Garb, we’ve still got work to do.” It felt like it took an hour, and Dash and Garble were starting to get tired. “I hope Baff and Flicker are pulling their weight,” Garble sighed. “Yeah, where are they?” Dash questioned. They wandered around for a little while until they heard some familiar voices. “I can’t believe you convinced me to do this,” groaned a female’s voice. “You do look cuter,” said another one. Curious, the drake and stallion went to investigate and found Flicker and Baff looking in a mirror. Baff had switched back to being Beff, though she looked like she was having second thoughts about this. “My face does look a lot smoother,” she admitted. Garble and Dash were quite surprised by this and went to investigate. “Baff?” the drake questioned, “Why did you switch to a girl again?” The dragoness jumped a little bit from her friends approaching them. “Gar... Garble...” She stuttered. She quickly grabbed her shard and switch back to a drake. “Did you... Fix the last of the griffons?” "Uh, we think so," Dash responded. "Why were you...?" "Look, Flicker talked me into it. Let's just finish up here and get to the Dragon Lands." Nobody questioned Baff's choice and just went to finish up with Griffonstone. Ember looked across the dragon lands. Many dragons big and small were still angry with their condition and the Dragon Lord was getting tired of it. Just before he was about to take off, he heard some wings flapping and they were getting closer. Looking towards the noise, Ember could see the East team coming in for a landing. "Okay, this should be the last stop," Garble commented. They were about to walk around until Ember approached them. "Please, tell me you found a cure," he begged. He was shown the two shares the team had with them. Garble made his shard glow and Ember could feel his body change in the blink of an eye. When the glowing stopped, Ember looked at her body to see she was a dragoness again. "Alright!" "We would've been here sooner," Garble admitted, "We were busy helping other creatures out." "Understandable, just please help take care of the rest of the dragons. Nearly all of them have complained about what was going on." "We're on it," Baff spoke. Ember helped lead the team around the Dragon Land to help all the dragons that wanted to be themselves again. There were a couple of exceptions to this like Billy and Barry, who both had confused Ember. "Why not?" "Because," Barry said, "I like the look of my spines now." She gave her spines a brush with her claw to try and restyle them. "You do look nice," Flicker admitted. "Thank you." "I have similar preferences to Barry," Billy admitted. "You could check with Ballista though. He wants to be a dragoness again." "Kay, got it," Dash responded. Just before they took off, another dragon approached them. "Dragon Lord Ember," he said, "There are ponies here to talk with you." "Ponies?" Ember and Garble questioned. "That must be the others," Garble commented. "You keep going," Ember ordered, "I'm going to see what they're doing here." Ember left the East team, who carried on with their work. "You know, I'm kind of worried about some of the full-grown dragons," Flicker admitted. "Yeah, especially our parents," Baff agreed. Ember followed the dragon that approached her and could see Twilight, Spike, and Smolder approaching them. “Hey, Ember,” Spike spoke. “Hey,” the dragon lord responded. The other dragon was excused so Ember could chat with the visitors. “What are you doing here?” “We were checking to see if the East team arrived here yet,” Twilight answered. “They’re working with the dragons as we speak. By the way, have you met any other creatures that didn’t want to change back?” “AJ and Rainbow were some of them,” Spike informed. “Oh, so that’s why he and Fizzle aren’t themselves. I honestly thought the diamond was defective.” “That’s also another reason we’re here,” Twilight admitted. “We have a spell that can put the diamond back together. With magical items like this, we don’t want them falling into the wrong hands.” “Uh-huh. I could see some dragons using these diamonds mostly as jokes. Wonder what happens when you eat one.” “Let’s not find out,” Spike suggested. “Fine then. Last question, what is Smolder doing here?” “I just came here to say bye to Garble,” Smolder explained. “Where is he?” The Dragon Lord pointed in the direction where she last saw the said drake. Smolder thanked her and flew away. The young dragoness eventually caught up with her brother, who looked to be in a deep conversation with Baff. “It just boggles my mind,” Baff admitted. “Well, since we know how it works can’t we keep going back and forth?” Garble questioned. Smolder was a little confused, so when she landed she joined in with the conversation. “What’s going on guys?” she asked. Both drakes looked over to the student, both quite surprised. “Smolder, when did you get here?” “Just now. What are you guys talking about?” “Baff is a little conflicted whether he’ll stay as a drake or a dragoness.” The blake and green dragon blushed and was embarrassed. “Garble, shut up!” he cried. Smolder had already heard enough. “So, you’re just like Flicker?” she asked. Baff groaned. “Yeah. I don’t know why, but I did feel and look better when I was a girl. You can’t tell me that diamond didn’t mess with our heads.” “Dude, calm down,” Garble said. “Oh, don’t even bother. If I choose to be a dragoness or not, dragons are going mess with me.” “Look, Baff, whatever you choose, you know we’ll back you up.” The drake took a deep breath before responding. “Thanks, Garb. I really needed that.” “You’re not the only one who’s been conflicted between this,” Smolder informed, “Spike told me he was going back and forth since Rarity made that dress just for him.” “I thought he’d be like that,” Garble commented. “He does hang around Rarity.” “Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. Did you say you could go back and forth?” “Yeah, that’s what I think, though I think Baff is referring to what he would usually stay as.” “Either way, it’s a loose situation,” Baff stated. Smolder thought about this for a minute before she spoke up. “Maybe you should as the rest of your friends’ opinions,” she suggested. “Then let’s ask Spike.” The brother and sister flew back to where the visitors were. Baff sighed and slowly walked after them. When they got back to Ember, they could see that AJ, Fluttershy, and Spear had arrived. Ember was actually talking with them, sounding rather surprised. “I really thought that Thorax would stay as a girl,” the Dragon Lord admitted. “I thought so too,” Fluttershy agreed, “He’d be a great parental figure. Though, he said that he knew you’d want to be a dragoness again, so he must’ve changed back for you.” Before Ember could respond to this, Smolder, Garble, and Baff approached her. “Excuse us, Dragon Lord Ember,” Garble spoke, “We need an opinion.” “What is it?” Ember asked. “It’s about Baff and the diamond.” “He’s having a hard time choosing?” AJ asked. “Nobody asked you farm horse,” Baff spoke, “When did you even get here?” “About two minutes ago. Should we be involved with this?” “I would say no,” Spear commented. He literally shoved AJ and Fluttershy out of the conversation until the Dragon Lord stopped him. “Let them speak,” she said. “Thank you,” Fluttershy said. She approached Baff and was ready to give words of encouragement. “Listen, Baff, if you want to go through this change, I say you should do it no matter what others say about it. If it makes you happy, you should do it.” “I’m with Flutters on this one,” AJ agreed. “I’m perfectly happy with being a stallion, and I’m sure you’ll be happy with what you choose.” Spike simply gave a thumbs up to approve what his friends said. Some footsteps could be heard and the creatures looked over to see Rarity, Pat, and Vixen approaching them. “You know, maybe we should visit Las Pegasus again,” Vixen suggested. “I’ll be sure to bring the gemstones,” Pat said. “Just make sure that you don’t get carried away,” Rarity warned. They could see their friends grouped up and decided to join them. “Oh, I see you’ve beaten us here. How are the creatures you’ve met.” “Almost everyone is back to normal,” Garble answered. “Dash and Flicker are working on the other dragons as we speak.” “We should probably finish up too,” Spike suggested. “He’s right,” Twilight commented. “Let’s finish what we started.” This would take just as long as it did in Ponyville, though the dragons would prove to be a little more difficult. During this, Baff wanted to address the elephant in the room with Pat and Vixen. “When did you two change back?” the drake questioned. “Rarity managed to convince us before we got to Cloudsdale,” Pat explained. “It’s a floating city. Kind of cool.” “We went back and forth with it, but I think I like myself better this way,” Vixen admitted. “Besides, there are still those outfits back in Ponyville made just for us.” “That’s true,” Baff agreed. “I think... I might go back to being a dragoness.” “Good for you, Baff.” While they carried on, Garble had a question for Spear. “Hey, do you think we should switch back if Baff’s going to stick as a dragoness?” the draconic poet asked. “If it completes the look,” Spear responded. “I don’t want to be the only boy in a group of girls. Unless one of them is a girlfriend.” “I wouldn’t hold your breath on that.” They carried on, changing dragons back one by one. It was a bit tedious, and there were a couple of surprises with what dragons didn’t want to switch back. When it was finally over, Twilight had them all bring their shards of the diamond so she could cast the spell to bring them back into one big piece. It was kind of hard since she was doing it by herself and at first, they were worried it was stuck in shards until the seems each flashed and the diamond was in one piece again. Baff took a deep breath before he stepped forward. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered. He stepped forward to talk with Twilight, who looked to be confirming something with Spike. “Alright, just change me into a dragoness so I can get this feeling off my chest.” Twilight understood Baff’s decision and was ready to switch him to her until she saw Garble and Spear walk beside him. “You too?” the princess questioned. “We might as well join the party,” Spear spoke. “I’m with Spear, we might as well complete the picture.” Twilight simply smiled. “Then I think you’re good friends for that,” she claimed. “Spike?” “Yep. Last chance,” the young drake responded. He got beside Garble and his friends, who were a little confused. “Why’d you want to change back?” Garble asked. “Pinkie joked about me making a good tomboy. I’m pretty sure that’s a good definition for your friends too.” Garble chuckled at this as they looked at the diamond, which Twilight was floating in the air. With a bright flash, the four drakes were back to dragonesses. Spike and Baff blushed a little bit from the change. “This might take a while to get used to,” Ember admitted. “Try being related to one of them,” Smolder whispered. She walked over to her brother turned sister. “So, what do you think it’ll be like having a sister?” Garnette questioned. “I’m pretty sure that things won’t change too much.” The two siblings shared a laugh as they shared a hug. Flicker was amazed at what her friends had done. She watched Dart started stretching while Beff brushed her spines out of her vision. She nearly jumped when she heard Pat speak to her. “So how does a feel having all of us as girls?” Pat questioned. Flicker held her claws together before replying. “It’s good,” she said meekly. She twiddled with her claws before speaking again. “You wanted to do this?” “I was against it at first, the Vicky helped change my mind.” “You all look much more beautiful darlings,” Rarity commented. Vixen looked over at Beff, whose spines were like hair now. “She’s not wrong,” Vixen spoke. “As much as we wish we could stay, we should get going.” This discounted a couple of the dragons, especially Smolder and Garnette. “Hey, cheer up,” Barb spoke. “You can always come and visit us.” “Yeah, just remind us to use the train,” Pat spoke. “Will do.” Barb then flew up to Garnette to give one more bit of information. “Let me know you want to head to the spa.” The older dragoness gave a thumbs up. “Well, we’ll see you again, Gar-Gar,” Smolder said. “Yeah, see you soon sis,” Garnette said. Barb and Smolder joined the ponies as they made their way out of the dragon lands. Once they were out of sight, Ember was the first to speak. “You girls can do what you want now,” the Dragon Lord spoke, “I’m going to do a quick check to see if there’s any dragon that needs attention.” Ember flew away, leaving Garnette and her gang by themselves. “So... Now what?” Dart questioned. Pat smiled as she had a suggestion, “Wanna take a dip in lava?” she asked. The group of friends all agreed on this as it would help them feel at home. Along the way to the lava pits, they began talking about what the future would be like. “So, how many other dragons are going to visit Ponyville?” Vixen asked. “Depends on their behavior,” Baff spoke. “I mean, we were forced to go there by Dragon Lord orders.” “I think Billy and Barry will have a good chance of going there,” Garnette said. “I mean they could get pillows while they were there.” “Again, totally get what that guy was going for.” “You know we saw some cool places like where the hippogriffs live,” Dart spoke. “AJ told me they have this pearl that can change creatures into sea animals.” “No way,” Pat responded. “We are girls now,” Beff noted, “So it’s not too far-fetched.” “Alright, just let me know when you find a gem that can turn us into hatchlings.” The friends continued their conversation even when they made it to the lava pools. It was clear that the dragons were much nicer thanks to their interaction with the ponies. Later that evening, Twilight and Barb had returned to Canterlot. “This was an interesting couple of days,” Barb commented. “No kidding,” Twilight agreed. “At least it’s over now.” “Yeah. Plus we still have that diamond. We can switch whenever we want.” Twilight nodded as she picked up the diamond placed it on a pedestal followed by covering a glass casing. As a last good measure, she inserted her horn into a slot on the front of the pedestal, making a magical lock. “There, now it’s secure. Back to regular business.” The alicorn and dragon walked away leaving the diamond in its new home.