The Featherblade Legacy

by Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 12: Just dropping in

"I would suggest begging for forgiveness, but you would still get burnt to a crisp anyway," reiterated Spike from atop Frazzle Spark's head, setting off another bout of laughter.

Having solved the cheetah problem, all of the adventurers were in high spirits. The euphoria of victory had wiped out any fears they might have had.

"How did you even come up with that, Fraz? Were you just waiting for the right moment?" laughed Sharp Wing.

"I got there as soon as I could. It just came to me I guess," said Frazzle Spark absently.

"The look on Duma's face was priceless! Did you fast that arrogant smirk was wiped off his face?!" howled Rainbow Dash.

"Ah reckon he never expected we would have a dragon on our side!" agreed Applejack. "Well, a big dragon that is."

"Oh, I totally would have set him on fire if I had been closer," boasted Spike.

"Sure you would have," Twilight Sparkle said dismissively. "I have to admit, Frazzle Spark, having you as dragon is actually pretty convenient."

"This is what, the third time he's saved the day? Who would have guessed Poison Joke could have been so beneficial?" gushed Rarity.

To her shame, Sharp Wing found she was starting to get a little jealous of all the attention Frazzle Spark was receiving. Frazzle Spark had been transformed into an all powerful dragon, while she had been stuck with a sex change. Even Night Mist's memory loss was cooler than that. A mysterious pony who couldn't remember his past was far more edgy than a stallion being turned into a mare.

"Why is it that the plant that did this to us is called Poison Joke if it isn't always bad?" asked Night Mist.

"In theory, it plays a joke on whoever it touches, usually by messing by messing with something the victim is fond of," explained Twilight. "For example, when I got it, it disabled my horn. Which completely negated by ability to use magic."

"So, that means Sharp Wing likes being a stallion a lot?" questioned Pinkie Pie.

"I know I prefer it to being a mare," grumbled Sharp Wing.

"Why, you have something against girls?" teased Rainbow Dash.

"No! I don't have anything against girls! It's just that I'm a stallion at heart!" protested Sharp Wing.

"I think Night Mist has the worst of it. He doesn't even know his own friends! How sad is that?" announced Pinkie Pie.

"No way, mine is way worse," argued Sharp Wing. "Besides, a stallion who can't remember his past is automatically cool."

"It is most certainly not cool. I have no idea what anypony is talking about most of the time," snapped Night Mist.

"Still cooler than getting your gender changed against your will!" Sharp Wing fired back.

"At least you know what the hay is going on!"

"All you got to do is ask and we can fill you in. No amount of words will make my condition any less weird!"

"Guys, just calm the fang down. I think we can all agree that my Poison Joke infection is the coolest," grinned Frazzle Spark.

"Fraz, all your little dragon phrases are really starting to annoy me," growled Sharp Wing.

"That's probably because you’re just A.P.W.S.W.A.D," Spike quipped.

Sharp Wing's left eye twitched.

"How about we talk about something else. Like the best way to find Zecora," hinted Twilight Sparkle as she glared at Spike.

"I see smoke!" announced Rarity pointing her hoof towards a forest further west.

"Is it a fire?" asked Fluttershy with concern.

"Ah think that's a given when there's smoke, sugercube. But it looks more like a campfire than a wild fire," remarked Applejack.

"But whose campfire? A zebra one, a cheetah one, or something else?" questioned Rarity.

"I could go scout ahead again," offered Rainbow Dash.

"Not a chance. We're all sticking together this time," Twilight informed her.

Frazzle Spark altered his course and headed for the smoke rising out of the forest.

"If it’s a cheetah camp you should burn it to the ground, Fraz," said Sharp Wing as she rubbed one of the scars on her neck.

Her neck had stopped bleeding shortly after they had taken off but it still burned where Duma had scratched her.

"But maybe not all cheetahs are bad. Like how Spike and Frazzle Spark are not like most dragons." pointed out Fluttershy.

"She had a good point," said Twilight Sparkle.

"That reminds me, Spike, I've been meaning to ask you. What was up with that dragon yesterday? First she was acting like she was going to kill me and then she was all friendly," said Frazzle Spark.

"Well, my experience with other dragons is extremely limited, but I do know that dragons threaten each and act tough all the time. Maybe it’s just how they say hello," figured Spike.

"What would happen if I didn't seem tough enough?"

"No idea," admitted Spike.

"Kind of makes ya wonder how dragons flirt," remarked Applejack.

"Didn't you know, Applejack? Death threats are very romantic," said Sharp Wing.

"That actually makes sense in a twisted sort of way," noted Night Mist. "For dragons anyway."

"How would dragons party?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"They probably have giant brawls or something," Rainbow Dash deduced.

"Hey, um, I'm right above the smoke. Should I just land?" questioned Frazzle Spark.

"Might as well, but do it gently though. You don't want to destroy anything," advised Twilight Sparkle.

Frazzle Spark gently pushed through the trees as he slowly descended. The smoke was coming from a fire in the center of a village, with round wooden huts that had cone shaped roofs. The village's residents, thankfully, were zebras. Several of them screamed and dropped whatever they were doing when they saw Frazzle Spark.

Then they started throwing spears.

"Whoa whoa whoa wait! Stop!" Frazzle Spark protested, throwing up his arms to protect himself.

The move proved to be unnecessary. Every single spear bounced harmlessly off of his scales.

"Huh. I'm impervious to weapons. That's good to know," he said after the zebras had run out of spears.

Sharp Wing decided that life was not only unfair, but also that it preferred Frazzle Spark over her. Meanwhile, the zebras stood paralyzed, waiting to see what Frazzle Spark would do next. Frazzle Spark landed softly in the center of the village.

"Um, I come in peace," he said awkwardly.

The zebras made no response.

"Take me to your leader?" he tried.

Still no reaction.

"Okay, um, do you have any dragon sized hotels?"

The zebras glanced at each other but still said nothing.

"How about motels?"

"I don't think they speak the same language as us, Frazzle Spark." said Twilight Sparkle.

"Has my head gone out of whack, or is that Twilight Sparkle and her friends on a dragon's back?" one of the zebras said suddenly.

"Zecora!" Pinkie Pie squealed. "We found you!"

"Please tell me you the cure for Poison Joke," Sharp Wing begged.

"I do possess the recipe within my dome," Zecora said slowly as she tapped her head with a hoof, "But can't it be found in a book back home?"

"Both copies of the book have vanished for some reason. We came to find you because if Sharp Wing here doesn't get cured soon, he'll literally go insane," Twilight Sparkle explained.

"I'm not at risk of losing my mind, but I would very much like to get cured too," Night Mist added.

"Let me if I got this straight. Two ponies need curing, yet here we have eight?" asked Zecora.

"Technically three, but we're holding off on curing Frazzle Spark," Twilight Sparkle clarified.

"I do not mean to pry, but if sompony does not want to be cured, might I ask why?"

"I’m their ride back," Frazzle Spark informed her.

It took Zecora a moment to realize what he was saying. When she did, her jaw dropped. After a moment of sheer awe, she turned to one of the zebras nearby and started giving him instructions in words Sharp Wing did not understand.

"The bath is being prepared with haste. We were about to eat, care to taste?" she offered after the zebra had left.

"We'd love to," Fluttershy said courteously.

Before too long everyone was gathered around the fire pit in the middle of the village and eating soup.

"I think I might fly off and eat fish again," remarked Frazzle Spark as he squinted at a soup bowl pinched between two claws.

It unnerved Sharp Wing how quickly his friend had adapted to the idea of eating meat.

"Doesn't it bother you you're eating dead things?" asked Rarity of Frazzle Spark.

"It's just fish," Frazzle Spark said with a shrug. "If I decide to go back to being a unicorn maybe I'll try eating it again."

Twilight Sparkle gagged.

"Some of us are trying to eat, Frazzle Spark," Rainbow Dash snapped.

"You could always find some gems to eat," suggested Spike.

"But I'm hungry now!"

"You won't have problems finding enough to eat if you agree to get turned back into a pony again," Applejack hinted.

"I don't get why everypony wants me to change back. I like being a dragon, it’s my choice," Frazzle Spark argued.

"What may seem good for you to choose might yet turn out to be bad news," Zecora said wisely.

"No, none of you get it. There are so many perks to being a dragon I don't even know where to begin."

Frazzle Spark began counting off his claws.

"One, I'm going to live for a very long time. Dragon's can get to be thousands of years old. Two, I can fly. Three, I'm invincible. I could swim in lava if I wanted too."

"We also have really long tongues we can snatch things with," Spike added.

"We do?"

Spike's tongue flicked out past Twilight Sparkle to snatch her empty soup bowl and bring it back to his claws.

"Okay, that’s pretty cool," admitted Rainbow Dash.

"Don't encourage them," whispered Twilight Sparkle harshly.

Frazzle Spark shot his tongue straight into the fire and held it there, making everyone jump.

"An ah thust thethovered mah thung ith thire throof," he lisped.

"Well duh, what good would the ability to breathe fire be if our tongues could catch on fire?" Spike said.

"Could you put your tongue back in your mouth?" Fluttershy requested feebly.

Frazzle Spark yanked his tongue back behind his fangs with an audible snap. Abruptly his eyes blinked sideways, giving Sharp Wing a split second view of evil reptilian eyes.

"And the best part of all," Frazzle Spark laughed madly, "Is that I don't have to gather flammable materials to make fire and explosions anymore. I can make my own!"

And with that he titled his head back and roared, shooting a massive jet of bright orange flames into the trees above them, lighting them on fire. Panicked, he tried blowing the flames out, which only resulted in shooting out more flames instead and causing more destruction.

"Spike!" he said frantically, "How do I blow hard without fire?!"

"I don't know, I always breathe fire whenever I sneeze, hiccup, or blow hard. Needless to say, that last one makes it really hard to blow out the candles on my birthday cake," Spike answered with a shrug.

Frazzle Spark began slapping the trees with his wings, with more satisfactory, if tedious, results. A zebra came up to Zecora and said something to her.

"In spite of this I have good news. The bath is ready for you to use," she said to Sharp Wing.

"Finally!" Sharp Wing exclaimed as she rose to her hooves. "Now it’s time to put an end to this."

Night Mist silently got up as well and followed Zecora and Sharp Wing to one of the huts.

"I must admit, I'm nervous. What if my past is so horrible I'd be better off the way I am now?" asked Night Mist.

"You've had your share of difficulties." Sharp Wing told her friend honestly. "I would even say you've gone through more than most ponies ever will."

Zecora led them inside the hut. The curing bath was in plain sight before then.

"Well, I'd rather know the truth about myself, no matter what."

Sharp Wing smiled. Even without his memories, Night Mist was still the same as always. Sharp Wing shrugged out of her sword sheaths and both of them slipped into the bath. Sharp Wing submerged, wanting to get the full treatment. She held her breath as long as she could before she went back up. Night Mist came up too.

"It worked!" Night Mist cried, "I remember!"

Night Mist turned towards Sharp Wing, grinning. Then the grin died and his face became a mask of confusion.

With a sinking feeling, Sharp Wing looked down at her reflection in the water. Still a mare.

"It- it didn't work?" she said weakly.

"Maybe it takes longer for you because you got a heavier dose of it?" guessed Night Mist.

"How long you spent in the Poison Joke makes no effect. The bath always takes seconds to correct," remarked Zecora.

Sharp Wing was stunned.

"I came all this way," she muttered.

"Sharp Wing," Night Mist said gently.

"First I tried magic. Then I tried science," said Sharp Wing, her voice escalating in pitch. "I looked for the cure in the library, then the spa, and then Zecora's house. This was my last chance. I came across the sea. The freaking sea! I nearly got killed by a freaking sea monster! I came all this way, and it still didn't freaking work!"

With a howl of rage, Sharp Wing jumped out of the tub. It was too much. All this work for nothing. The world was so unfair. Sharp Wing stormed out of the hut. The others were gathered outside. Frazzle Spark, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. They all had the same expression on their faces.

Pity.

Sharp Wing couldn't face them. She didn't want their pity, least of all from Applejack. So Sharp Wing turned away from them all and ran deeper into the forest.

*****************************************************

"Would you look at that. She's actually crying."

"I think that's a natural reaction. Clearly she thought the poison joke was responsible for her condition the whole time. Guess she didn't know she had a natural immunity."

"I can see how that would be disappointing. I notice she's running towards us. Is that your doing?"

"Yeah, I'm giving her little nudges to keep her moving in the right direction."

"Remarkable. She's too upset to even notice. Everything is going exactly to plan."

"That makes you sound like some sort of evil villain."

"Ha, I suppose it does. Maybe when she gets here I'll say something like, greetings, mister, um, Miss Featherblade, we've been waiting for you."

"If you want to be that cliché, now’s your chance. She's arrived."