> Drake to Dragoness
>  by PonyPixel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Ruby
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One day in the dragon empire Garble and his gang were doing they're normal things, "Who's next?" Garble asked as his gang all stuck out their tails.  Garble chose a Baff a gray and lime green dragon who really wanted to take Garble down, the two dragons tie they're tails and start tugging.  Garble start to lose his balance which began to eager Baff but he recovers and sent his opponent face-planting into the ground.

"Winner," cried Spear as he raised Garble's arm when something caught their eyes.

"Hey can anyone see that red light?" said Clump.

"I'm not sure," said Fizzle, "Maybe we should check it out."

The group walked over to the glow which appeared to be a ruby.  Vex picked up the ruby licking his lips, "I'm going to enjoy this gem," but Clump tried to grab it from him.

"No way, it's mine," Clump said as Fizzle and Baff joined into the argument, all four dragons growled at each other, Garble and Spear were about to join in when a flash of light came from the Ruby, knocking them back.

"Ah man that hurt," Garble groaned as he rubbed his neck, as he stood up both he and Spear were shocked to see what happened to their gang members.

"Uh guys you feel okay?" asked a worried Spear.

Fizzle opened his eye and check over his body, "I think so..." he later stopped talk after hearing his voice which was now soft and higher pitch, he looked down at his now her body instead of being bulk and buff it was now slim and soft with two decent sized (let's say melons) and the spines on her head look more fluffy and look like actual hair, the other drakes now dragonesses noticed their change and expressed that not so well.

"How is this possible?" questioned Clump.

"How can we change back?" worried Vex.

"How can a ruby be this powerful?" ask Baff.

Garble and Spear finally manage to calm them down after an hour, but they still didn't know what to do.  "I feel so weird," said Baff.

"Stay calm Baff, we'll get through this," Spear said still trying to calm her down, "Someone has to know how to fix this."

"You know, I heard Dragon Lord Ember writes to Princess Twilight," said Clump.

"You mean that namby-pamby pony princess," asked Garble.

"Well yes," replied Clump "Get Ember to get Twilight here and maybe we can be turned back to normal."

"Got it," Garble replied and he flew off to find Ember.

Later Garble got Ember to show her their problem, "Okay so I can see your situation," said Ember, "I'll send Twilight a message to come here to help until then I think you should get something to cover your chests."

"I saw some armor over by the cliffs," said Vex "We could wear that."

"I'll take what I can get," Said Clump.

"Be right back," said Spear.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Twilight and Spike were just cleaning up the castle library, "Twilight do we have to do this?" asked Spike.

"Well you said you would help me with something if I gave you those bits for your new comic book," replied Twilight.

"Fine," groaned Spike just then a letter made from stone was burped out by Spike.

"What the hay," said Twilight as she picked up the stone, "It seems to be a message from Dragon Lord Ember."

"What does it say?" asked Spike.


Dear Princess Twilight and Spike,
Some weird magic has happened at the dragon empire, we need you to come here and help fix the problem,
sincerely Dragon Lord Ember.


"Wait, how did they send that message?" questioned Spike.

"I'll explain on the way," said Twilight grabbing her bags and running out the door with Spike following behind.  A few hours of traveling later they arrived at the dragon empire.  "Okay Ember seems to be the problem?" asked Twilight

Ember pointed to the new dragonesses putting on their temporary clothing or armor.

"How did they become girls?" questioned Spike.

"That's the reason we called you here," Ember answered.

"Yeah if we knew why we turned into girls we wouldn't call you here," replied Clump.

"Clump calm down," said Fizzle.

"So what caused this?" asked Twilight.

"It was caused by this ruby," answered Baff giving Twilight the ruby.

"All right let's get you all back to the castle," said Twilight as she took the new dragonesses along with Garble and Spear back to the castle.

The group got back to the castle and went into the library to find a spell to change the former drakes back to normal, "Twilight you think we should have Rarity make the girls some new clothes," said Spike, "I think their armor is going to fall off."

"Send her a message," she replied, "Right now we have to find an antidote for this, odd event."  Just as soon as Twilight started to look for the right spell to reverse the dragoness' problem as Spike started to write a letter to Rarity, Starlight walked into the room.

"Twilight I was wondering if I could borrow some..." she stopped and gasp when she saw the dragons, "What are they doing here," before Twilight, Spike, or any of the other dragons could explain, Starlight teleport way and fired a laser at Fizzle knocking her into the wall.

"Fizz," cried Spear, "You little..." Starlight interrupted him by shooting another laser while Spear countered with some fire breath.

"EVERYPONY STOP!"

Twilight stopped Starlight and Spear with a freeze spell and explained the situation to Starlight.  Spear was checking on his friend.

"Are you okay Fizzle?" Fizzle stood up with Spear helping her up.

"I'm fine Spear the armor really helps." Starlight wanted to apologize for what she did.

"Look Fizzle, I just wanna say I'm sorry and..." hover she was cut off by Fizzle.

"It's okay Starlight, I'm used to ponies reacting like this."

"So how do you feel about the armor?" Spike asked Baff.

"It keeps things covered, but it's not really comfortable," she replied.

"Well I think Rarity can make you some new clothes," Spike informed the dragonesses.

"I can get her to come here," Starlight said, Spike questioned her.

"Why should she come here?"

"Well how do you think everypony would react to see six dragons in public?" she replied.

Spike realized what she meant, "Fair point."

Starlight left to get Rarity while Spear had a talk with Garble, "Hey Garb you think Fizz's acting strange?" Spear questioned him.

"How so?" Garble asked confused Spear explain what was going on with their friend.

"Last time Fizzle got hit by someone he just charges at the dragon who probably flies crooked, and now she's apologizing for that pony."

"Now that you mention it, she is acting strange," Garble replied.

Spike then walked up to the drakes, "While Twilight looks for a spell, she wants me to show you to the guest room, follow me."

All the dragons arrived in the guest room where six bed were waiting for them, "I hope you'll enjoy your stay here while we figure out your problem," Spike said as he walked back to the library.

Clump spoke up, "You know I think these bed will be better than sleeping on rocks," she walked over to one of the beds and sat down.  "Whoa, Vex, try these out," Clump said as she started to bounce.

Vex lied down on her's and sighed, "This is definitely better than rocks," Fizzle and Baff sat down on their beds and also enjoyed it others.  Just then they heard someone walk inside.

"Starlight I still don't know what you mean by Twilight's special friends," a voice said.

"Twilight just wanted me to say that they aren't ponies," another voice said sounding like Starlight.

"So are they griffons?" one questioned as they got closer.

"Well actually no," Starlight as they walked into the guest room with the other being revealed as Rarity who gasped in shock.

"They're dragons."
> Moving In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity was just speechless, but she tried anyway. "What... how... why... What are they doing here?"

"They're staying here while Twilight tries to find a reversal spell," replied Starlight.

"What's the spell for?"

"Some ruby caused four of them to turn into girls."

"What ruby?" Rarity queried, tilting her head slightly.

"Well, we found some ruby that made some of us dragonesses, and now we are here," Vex answered.

"Well then, now that the questions are cleared up, I'm supposed to make some new clothes for you girls. And maybe some for your friends." Rarity said. "Now who's first?  I need to make some measurements," she added

After a few measurements and notes, Rarity just needed to sew the clothes together, but she had one question. "So... how fast do you want these clothes to be finished?"

"As soon as possible." answered Baff, "This armor is starting to come loose."

"Alright, then I'm going to need you to be a sort of base."  She then whispered to Starlight, "Glimmer, I hate to ask you this but can you go to my boutique and get these dragons some... underwear?  Both male and female."

Starlight was a bit shocked at this but she could see that their new guests were in need of some help. "Okay, where are they?"

"In the basement. There's also some for the boys.  And don't worry, they're clean."

"Okay, be right back." said Starlight as she teleported from the castle to the boutique.

"Well, if it will make things go faster, I'll go first." Fizzle volunteered.

"Perfect! Now follow me, darling," Rarity and Fizzle walked into another room with some sewing equipment.  "Alright then, it's... Fizzle is it?"

"Yes."

"Fizzle, I'm going to have to ask you to take off the armor and spread out your arms."

"Wait, what?" Frizzle asked as she started to blush.

"Well, I can't really make your clothing with that armor in the way."

"If you say so." with a sigh, Frizzle did as Rarity said she took off her armor and spread out her arms. "Now what?"

"Stay still and leave the rest to me, darling," Rarity answered. "This might take a while, so it may be nice to have a chat.  So how is life in the dragon kingdom?" Rarity said as she started.

"Well, you know how most ponies think that dragons are jerks? That's only half true."

"Really?" Rarity asked as she began to sew some fabric together.

"Yeah, most female dragons, -also known as dragonesses- especially the mothers, are quite nice. Some of the male dragons - which we call drakes- can be nice like my friends but most of the time they can be jerks."

About thirty minutes later, Starlight teleported back with two boxes, one with underwear both female and male, and the other with male clothing.  "Okay, then. I've got you some... let's say 'underwear' and clothes just for guys."

"What's the point of it?" asked Spear.

"Well, we think these will suit you better than the clothes you have on right now.  Just put on these clothes and you'll be set.  Oh, by the way, which room are Rarity and Fizzle in?"

"I think the the seventh room to the left," replied Spear.

As the Drakes check the boxes for new clothing Starlight looked for Rarity and Fizzle.  "I swear, I need to make a map of this place." At length, she found the room Rarity and Fizzle were in and knocked.

"Who's there?" asked Rarity.

"It's Starlight. How's the new dress coming along?"

"Just about done. Fizzle and I have had a nice chat about dragons."

Just then, Spike walked up to Starlight with a list. "Hey Starlight! Guess what I have."

"Is it your diary?" Starlight joked.

"What?  No! I wrote down some possible new names for the girls."

"And... finished!" Rarity said. "Spike, Starlight, take a look at the new dragoness."

"Rarity, are you sure about this?" Fizzle asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, darling. You look beautiful."

"If you say so."

Fizzle walked out the door, showing her new dress to Starlight and Spike. It was just past her knees and was colored cherry red with a soft scarlet red bow on her waist and same colored straps.  "So... what do you think?" she asked while blushing.

"Wow, Fizzle! You look amazing!" Starlight replied.

"Thanks. I can't wait to show the others!"

"Speaking of others, I've come up with some new names for you and your friends," Spike said, brandishing the list.

"Why?" asked Fizzle.

"Because I think some of their names sound a bit odd, like Clump."

"He's right you know," said Starlight "Some of those names do sound weird for drakes."

"Alright, so Spike, what do you have for me?"

"Well for you, how about 'Flicker'?"

"Well, to be honest... I like it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Now come on, let's see what the others think of this."

Flicker and Spike were walking back to the guest room, only to find Spear walking outside wearing some sweat pants, "Come on, half of these shirts don't have holes for my wings. Maybe that fashion pony can..." he stopped walking when he saw Flicker in her new dress.

"Oh. Hey Spear, what do you think?" she asked.

"I.. um... think that... Uh, hey, quick question. Do you know where that fashion pony is?"

"Oh, she's over there." Spike pointed.

"Great. Garble and I found the clothes we want. We just need some wing holes." he quickly flew off, leaving Flicker a little upset.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Let just show the others." she deflected the question.

"So, when do you think Fizzle will be back?" asked Baff, "It's been half an hour."

"Hey, guys!" said Flicker, on cue, as she walked in. "What do you think?"

"Wow Fizz," said Clump. "That looks amazing."

"Thanks, but Spike has come up with some new names for us."

"What's your new name?" asked Clump.

"It's Flicker."

Garble was not pleased with the new naming idea. "I think that-"

"It sounds great." replied Vex.

"Thanks." said Spike, "I'm the one who came up with it."

"What do you have for us?" asked Clump.

"Well I have Cleva for Clump, Vex: Vixen, and Baff could be Blaze."

"I like it," said the newly named Vixen.

Just then, Rarity walked in with Spear, carrying some shirts with wing holes. "Tell me why Garble and I have to wear these used clothes?" Spear asked Rarity.

"Because, the clothes for the stallions -or in your case drakes- are bigger than those of mares or -dragonesses-." replied Rarity.  "Now then, who's next?"

"Hey Blaze, why don't you go next?"

"Um, Flix?" Blaze said, giving Flicker a nickname already "I don't-"

"Oh come on. You can have a dress like me."

"She's right, darling. Think of all the possibilities," said Rarity.

"Okay fine. But only because this armor isn't really comfy." Blaze acquiesced begrudgingly.

"Maybe we could do that later? I want to show you all around the castle," said Spike.

"I think you should've done that when we got here." grumbled Garble.

"Just follow me," Spike said, not wanting to listen to Garble's complaints as he guided the group through the castle.

"Cleva, you may wanna make your own map of this place," Starlight said. "I made my own."

"Thanks for the advice Star. I'm glad you're helping us out because I'm feeling a little funny."
> Cleva's Suprise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was just finishing the tour of the castle with the library, "So... you enjoying this place?" Spike asked the dragons.

"I like it." Flicker replied, "It'll make a nice temporary home."

"Good, just don't try to eat the crystals."

"Sorry," said Cleva, "I've just been hungry lately."

"Relax, I'm a great cook. I can make you something.  Also, I think it'll taste different than gems."

Just then, somepony came inside, "Hey Twi? You said you were going to help me with the broken trees."

"Who was that?" asked Flicker.

"It's Applejack." Starlight said, "Twilight offered to help her with some trees that fell down in the storm last week."

"Hang on, AJ! I'm kind of busy." Twilight replied to her farmer friend. She was just exiting the library when she saw the tour group. "Spike, Starlight, what are you doing?"

"Showing our guests around the castle," replied Spike. "They can't just stay in one room."

"Well, that's nice, but can you take them back to the guest room?" Twilight replied angrily, unaware that Applejack was heading towards them.

"Twilight, Big Mac and I can't to the work on our own. We could really use the..." Applejack stopped when she saw the dragons. "What in tarnation are they doing here?"

"Ah, Applejack." said Rarity as she walked up to the group, "I see you've met our new friends."

"Friends? Dash said you were chased by them."

"Half of them, and one of them who did chase me is now a girl."

"What?"

"We can explain," said Cleva, "We've found a ruby that turned four of us into Dragonesses."

"I'm so confused."

"I'll explain on the way to Sweet Apple Acres," said Starlight. "I think Twilight and Rarity are going to be busy," she added.

"I'll just question you on the way back home." Applejack who was still confused walked away with Starlight back to Sweet Apple Acres.

"I'll cook something up for you guys," Spike said as he walked to the kitchen.

"I'll join you in a minute, Spike," said Flicker. "Uh, Twilight? Did you find anything about that ruby?"

"Well, I've got some good news... and some bad news." said Twilight, as Flicker's smile quickly disappeared.

"Oh dear. Well, give us the good news first."

"Well, the good news is, I've found out about the 'ruby'. You may want to sit down because it's a long story." Flicker -who was still worried- and her friends sat down as Twilight opened the book and told the story.

“A long time ago, there was a dragon couple who constantly argued with each other.

Until the wife had had enough.

She cast a spell on a ruby.

When it came into contact with the husband or any male dragon they would become a dragoness.

The new dragoness begged her wife to change her back, but she said it couldn't be done.

The spell was irreversible.”


"Wait..." Blaze said, "You're telling me we're stuck like this?!"

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, that's just great!" exclaimed Garble, "We came here for no reason, other than to give Fizz a dress. We're going back to the dragon empire."

"Well, thanks for trying to help us Twilight," Cleva said. The dragons started to walk to the exit when Spike came out of the kitchen.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Oh. Hey, Spike." said Flicker, "We've gotten some bad news about the ruby. It turns out we're stuck like this."

"Oh. Well, I'm so sorry Flick."

"Thanks, Spike. Now I think I should return this dress to Rarity."

"Well, you can't leave without a full stomach. Come on, it might cheer you up."

"If you say so. I haven't eaten since we left the dragon empire."

"I can't believe we've been wasting our time," Garble complained. "My gang is now a bunch of sissies. GAH!"

"Garble, calm down." said Cleva, "Wait, where's Flicker?"

"I think she stopped by the kitchen," said Spear. "I'll get her." He flew into the kitchen to find Spike giving Flicker some food.
"So... what's this thing called?" she asked.

"It's called a pear," Spike replied. "How do you not know this?"

"Sorry. Nine times out of ten we dragon eat gems."

"Why don't you try it?"

"Okay." Flicker took a bite as Spear walked in.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I said I was cooking something for you guys." Spike replied, "I don't want this to go to waste."

"Hey, Spear! you should try some of this food."

Spear looked confused. "Flicker I think we should get going."

"Can't we stay little longer?"

"Yeah." Spike agreed, "I'm making soup."

"You have to try some of his cooking," Flicker said as she handed him the pear.

"What's this?"

"A pear, apparently. Try it, it's sweet."

"If you say so."

Meanwhile, Garble and the others were still waiting at the exit. "Okay, that's it! I'm going looking for them," said Garble as he flew towards the kitchen.

"Okay, what's going..." he stopped when he saw the three dragons eating soup.

"You know this stuff does taste different than gems," said Spear, "But it still tastes good."

"What are you doing?!" Garble asked in rage, "We're supposed to be leaving!"

Flicker sighed. "Sorry Garble. I just wanted to stay a bit longer. Spike was being so nice to us."

However Twilight ran up looking a bit worried, "Where's Cleva? I have something to tell her."

"Did someone call me?" Cleva said, walking up.

"Okay, so you know the ruby turned you into a dragoness, right?"

"Yeah. Why are you looking so worried?"

"Well... how do I say this? This is the BAD news. Well, the Drake wasn't the only victim. Other dragons changed gender. Two out of every ten, you're the two, and well..."

"Can you please just tell me?" Cleva said, a bit worried.

"You're pregnant."

"WHAT?!"

It took about an hour to calm down Cleva down. She couldn't believe she was pregnant, "How is this possible?" Flicker asked fanning Cleva.

"It's part of the curse." Twilight explained, "The dragoness who caused it was also pregnant."

"This is around a nine on my weirdness scale," Spike said.

Blaze, Vixen, and Rarity walked in, finding a dragoness in a complete panic, "What's going on?" asked Blaze.

"It's your friend Cleva," Twilight said.

"She's pregnant," Spike said.

"Spike!" Twilight admonished.

"I'm sorry! This is just weird."

"Weird as in, my friend is pregnant out of the blue?" Blaze asked, deadpan.

"Well I think the best thing to do, is for Cleva to stay here until her delivery," Rarity insisted.

"No. Way." Garble groaned, "I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

“Garble, what would happen if Cleva crash landed?” Twilight questioned, “We don’t want to put anypony -or dragon- at risk.”

“Well, Clump is not a pony, so we’ll be on our way.”

“Garble, if Cleva gets into an accident he could hurt or even killed the baby.”

“Face it Garble.” Spike said, “Until Cleva delivers this new baby, you’re not going anywhere.”

“Oh come on!”

“I think I need to be alone,” Cleva said as she walked out of the kitchen with Rarity following her behind.

“Cleva,” Rarity said as she followed Cleva down the hall, “You... want to talk?”

“No.”

“But if you talk about it, you won’t feel so bad.”

“I’m pretty sure talking isn’t going to help me when I become a dragoness that’s also pregnant.” And she stormed off furiously, but she didn't make it far. She sat down on the floor panting as Rarity ran up to her.

"Sweetie you can't push yourself. You'll hurt the baby and maybe even yourself."

"No! I'm going home." Cleva stood up, groaning, "This armor is too heavy."

Flicker heard the noise and flew towards to her friend painting with Rarity trying to stop her, "What's going on here?" she asked.

"Your friend is damaging herself." Rarity replied, "And quite possibly her baby."

"No! I'm fine, and I'm not having a baby!" Cleva replied in anger.

"Cleva, stop." Flicker cried, "You're doing what I did once."

"What do you mean?" Cleva asked confused.

"Remember back when we grew our wings and I hurt one?"

Cleva thought back to Flicker's description, to when they were younger. A young Fizzle practicing flying when he hit a boulder and crash landed with his left wing bruised.

"Dang it!" cried as he stood up and tried to fly again with a young Clump finding him.

"What are you doing?" Clump asked.

"I'm trying to fly, but my wing hurts."

"Maybe you should stop for a while."

"No way! I want to fly now!" Fizzle tried to lift his wing, but it only hurt him more.

"Stop. You're only hurting yourself. If you don't stop you'll never fly."

"You're right." Frizzle groaned as he closed his wings, "I'm just an idiot."

"Why would you say you're an idiot?"

"Because all my friends have their wings and they're all mastering them, I'm struggling to get off the ground."

"Well, you're not the only one. Look at my wings, they're only the size of my claws doubled. My mom says I'll fly eventually but I don't know about that."

"Well, maybe you just need some help. We can work together. I'm Fizzle."

"I'm Clump." the two dragons shook claws and began a good friendship as we return to the present.[/i ]

"Cleva, please tell me you'll stop like I did before you hurt yourself." Flicker begged her friend.

"Flicker... you're right." Cleva sighed, "My problem may be weird, but I'm pretty sure you can help me out, right?"

"Of course." Flicker said as she helped her friend up. "But first, let's get this armor off of you."

"Follow me, darling." Rarity said, "I'll make you some clothes that are more comfortable." The two dragonesses followed Rarity to her sewing room as Flicker helped remove Cleva's armor.

"Thanks for the assistance, Flicker." Cleva said as she was freed from her armor and held one claw on her belly, "Worry not little one, you're in good hands."
> Staying
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Garble was in the kitchen complaining as he was looking for food. "Stupid ponies. Stupid ruby. I can't believe what's going on today."

"Rarity, I love the clothes you made me." a voice said. Garble looked outside to find Cleva wearing a sleeveless crop that was the same color as her horns. She also wore faded yellow shorts.

"I thought you said you wanted to leave," Garble questioned.

"I did." Cleva replied, "But Rarity and Flicker are right; I'll just hurt myself if I try to fly home."

"But you refused to accept the whole “baby inside you” thing."

"I'm still a bit worried about that, but Flicker is helping."

"Okay, you are making this impossible for me. I'm going back to finding something to eat." And he walked back into the kitchen.

"Come, Flick. I want to sit down for a minute." Cleva said as she walked into the guest room where they found Blaze.

"Blaze. What are you doing in here?" Flicker questioned.

"Nothing." she groaned. "It's just... this armor. It's giving me some serious pain."

"I would love to make you something comfier..." Rarity said, "But it's getting late, and I need to return home. And Cleva, Flicker, I left you two something to sleep in." And Rarity handed the two dragonesses some nightgowns, matching the color of their current clothes.

"Wait. They've got something to sleep in, while I have to sleep in nothing.

"Don't worry darling, I've made you one too. Now, I better head home." Rarity gave the girls their new sleepwear and walked away.

"Blaze, why are you acting so grumpy?" Flicker asked as she started to take off her dress.

"Are you kidding me?" Blaze replied angrily as she struggled to remove her armor. "Look at us! We're girls! I enjoyed being a guy because it was normal, and to make matters worse, you don't even seem to care. I'm going to try to ignore it for now, but I hope you two can get it through your skulls." Blaze put her sleepwear on and crawled into her bed.

"Blaze isn't wrong." Cleva said as she put her nightgown on, "I think this is weird, especially my situation, but I'm sure she'll start getting used to it."

"I hope you're right Cleva," Flicker said as she got into bed with her nighttime wardrobe with a yawn, "Well, see you in the morning." And with that, she closed her eye and fell asleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Flicker." came a voice.

Flicker opened her eyes to find herself in a forest, wearing a fancy dress, and she saw Spear sitting by a river. She walked over to him and he stood up holding her claw, this made Flicker blush, and they started to lean towards each other...

And then Flicker woke up.

"What kind of dream was that?" she thought as she got out of bed and walked into the kitchen, where she found Spike cooking.

"G'Morning Flicker," Spike said. "You're up early."

"Yeah, I had this weird dream."

"What kind of dream?"

"Well, Spear and I were in a forest, and we were wearing fancy clothing, but the weirdest thing was... it looked like he was going to... kiss me."

Spike dropped his spatula in shock, "Okay that is weird."

"I think I have new feelings for him. I mean, he does nicely colored scales, -purple and dark gold- not mention his hair that covers his eyes just so..." Flicker started to blush and stare into space. "It may cover his eyes, but that's only because they're just so dreamy...."

"Uh, Flicker? Are you still there?" Spike asked as he grabbed another spatula.

"Huh?!" Flicker snapped back to reality, "What happened?"

"You were spacing out. If you have feelings for Spear, why don't you ask him out?"

"You mean on a date?"

"Yeah."

"I can't do that! I've been a girl only for a day."

"Well, you have a point there."

Just then, Twilight walked in wearing her pajamas. "Morning Spike! What are you cooking?" she asked the young dragon.

"Pancakes."

"What's that?" Flicker asked.

"I had a feeling you would be curious about the food I cook," Spike said as he deftly gave his pancakes a flip and they landed on two plates. "Go ahead and try it!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Rarity was walking through the castle entrance with some sewing equipment and she found Vixen and Blaze walking around the castle. "Good morning. you two." Rarity greeted.

"Oh, hello!" said Vixen, "Uh... Rarity, was it?"

"Yes. Now then, Blaze? You wanted some new clothes?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with." Blaze groaned. She and Rarity walked into the sewing room. Just then Spear walked around the corner and found Vixen... but she looked nervous.

"Hey Spear," Cleva said. "Why do you look so worried?"

"Well, it's Flicker." Spear answered, "I haven't seen her today; where is she?"

"Well, I think she's in the kitchen."

"Thanks. Gotta go!" and Spear rushed off towards the kitchen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yum!" Flicker said as she took a bite out of her pancake. "This is delicious!"

"Flick? Are you in here?" Spear asked as he walked in.

"Oh, hey Spear! What are you doing?"

"Just looking for yo... Something to eat."

"Well, if you're hungry try this." Flicker handed Spear part of her pancake.

Just then they heard a crunch from outside of the kitchen, they walked outside only to find Garble taking bites out of the castle. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked angrily.

"I'm getting something to eat." Garble replied, "And I'm not eating what the pipsqueak cooks."

"First, I'm not a pipsqueak," Spike said coolly. "Second, didn't I say not to eat the castle?"

"Do I look like someone who listens to a little runt such as you?" Garble replied as he walked away, but not before tripping Spike up as he walked back into the kitchen.

"Explain how you guys are friends," Spike demanded as he stood up.

"Well, he's one of those dragons that doesn't let anyone get in his way." Flicker replied.

"You know, if it makes you feel better Spike, you are a good cook." Spear said as he ate bits of his pancake.
"Thanks," Spike said.

Suddenly they heard a knock on the entrance door, "Now what?"

"I'll get it, Spike," Twilight said as she walked to the door and opened it, revealing Pinkie Pie.

"Morning, Twilight!" Pinkie said, "I heard you had some special guests over!" Spear and Flicker hid from Pinkie's sight.

"Where did you hear that?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Oh, A.J. told me. I was telling everypony about my newest recipes... for an admittedly long time. It must've broken something inside of A.J. which caused her to spill the beans about the dragons. I was shocked by this and so were the others so..."

"Wait, what do you mean others?!"

"Oh, just Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash."

And right on cue Rainbow Dash flew through the door and searched through the castle. "Where are they?"

"Rainbow Dash! Stop!" Twilight cried as she brought her high-speed friend to the ground with a bit of telekinesis.

"Come on, Twilight! I still want revenge on those dragons for trying to kill me!"

"I'm sorry, Twi," Applejack said as she walked up. "I tried to stop her."

"I appreciate that Applejack, but Rainbow Dash is... gone." Dash was nowhere in sight.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Blaze." Rarity asked as she was making Blaze's new wardrobe, "What kind of clothing are you interested in?"

"Just surprise me," Blaze answered holding her arms out.

"Ah-ha!" Dash cried as she bashed down the door, making Blaze scream and cover her chest.

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity cried, "Don't you have any manners?"

"Well, you're helping one of the dragons out."

"Wait, aren't you one of the ponies who disguised themselves as Crackle's cousin?" Blaze asked Dash.

"Who?" Both ponies asked.

"Never mind, can you leave?"

Just then, right on cue, a lasso grabbed Dash and dragged out of the room, "Hey! Let go of me!"

"Sorry, Dash." Applejack said as she dragged Dash out of the room, "But I'm pretty sure they want some privacy."

"Thank you, Applejack." Rarity said. "Now, Blaze, where were we?"

"Let me go!" Dash groaned as she was dragged away by Applejack.

"Listen, Rainbow." Twilight said, "Some of these dragons are in... sort of a predicament."

"What do you mean “predicament?”" Rainbow Dash queried, finally halting her struggling.

"Let me explain..."

Twilight told Dash the dragons' problem as Flicker took a peek outside, "What are they doing?" she asked.

"I think Twilight's telling Rainbow Dash about your problem," Spike answered. "Hey, where's Cleva?"

"I think she's still in bed," Spear replied.

"I'm going to go see her," said Flicker as she sneaked towards the guest room, with Spike and Spear following behind. They found Cleva lying in bed with Vixen standing next to her.

"Cleva! Come on, get up!" Vixen said as she tried to lift her friend out of bed.

"Hey, watch it!" Cleva cried as she pushed Vixen back, "Be careful!"

"Sorry. Forgot the baby thing."

"What are you doing?" Spike asked as he walked in.

"Cleva's been in bed all day," Vixen replied, "So I'm trying to get her up."

"I think Vixen's right, Cleva. I've been in bed all day -for three days, actually.- I know dragons are tough, but still, bedsores hurt."

"Okay, sorry," Cleva said as she finally got up, "We don't get to sleep on something soft very often. Anyways, I am kind of hungry.

"Well, I made pancakes," Spike said.

"Thanks, Spike."

"Hi there!" came a voice from the window. Spike looked out the window to find Pinkie Pie jumping on a trampoline with Fluttershy watching her. "Hey- Spike!"

"Uh... Hey, Pinkie. What are you doing?"

"Well, Twilight- And Applejack were- Telling Dashie the- Dragons' problem, so I- Decided to go inside- Another way; - The window!"

"Interesting plan. What's Fluttershy doing here?"

"I wanted to- Show her the dragons!"

"Pinkie, I said I didn't want to see dragons!" Fluttershy said.

"Come on, Fluttershy," Spike said as he helped Pinkie inside. "They're friendly."

"Spike, Rainbow told me about them. She said otherwise."

"Can you at least give them a chance?"

"Well, Pinkie? How do they look?"

"They look pretty nice," she replied. "And I think Rarity made them some clothes."

"Wait. Rarity's in there?" Fluttershy questioned, "If they're nice to you, they can give me a chance, right?" She flew into the window with some help from Spike.

However, when she popped through she fell on him. "Sorry Spike."

"Do you need some help?" Flicker asked as she gave Fluttershy her claw.

"Uh, thanks," Fluttershy said as Flicker helped her up. When she got back on her hooves she stepped back from the dragons.

"Is there something wrong?" Vixen asked.

"Well, no." Fluttershy replied, "It's just... I-I'm not used to talking with dragons."

"Relax." Flicker said. "I don't bite. I can tell you more about dragons, and our situation, if you want."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Rarity was putting the finishing touches on Blaze's clothing. She now wore a green V-neck and black skinny jeans, "There you go. what do you think?"

"It's fine." Blaze moaned. The two then heard a giggle from the guest room. They walked over and found the others having a chat.

"Wait... you fought a manticore?" Vixen asked.

"Actually, there was a thorn in its paw," Fluttershy replied. "I just pulled it out."

"Still, that's impressive."

"What are you chatting about?" Rarity asked as she walked in with Blaze.

"Past stuff." Flicker replied.

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Vixen said, "Other than the time she flew up to a dragon and talked it down. Fluttershy, how are you still afraid of dragons?"

"I don't know." Fluttershy replied, "I think it was something from when I was young."

"Blaze, why don't you join us?" Flicker offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Blaze replied, "I'm going to get something to eat."

"I think I may join you." Spear said as he walked towards the kitchen with Blaze.

"Vixen, I believe you're the last one." Rarity said, "You want your new clothes now?"

"Sure." replied Vixen, "I'm sure you get what we mean by how “comfy” the armor is."

"Of course, darling. You don't have to tell me again." They left to the sewing room, leaving, Fluttershy, Flicker, and Cleva to have their chat.

"So... I hate to ask this, but did this curse do anything else to you, aside from being female?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, not really..." Cleva said as she held her belly.

"Well, I have been getting weird feelings around Spear." Flicker said. "It's been less than a day, and I feel like I've always had this feeling about him."

"Oh, my!" Fluttershy said, "That does seem odd."

"Yeah, not as odd as Cleva's problem."

"Well, I don't think so..." Cleva said, a bit worried.

"What happened to her?" asked Fluttershy.

"Nothing, nothing at all! Can you tell us about your brother?" Cleva said, evasively.

"Cleva, you can't hide your problem forever." Flicker scolded.

"Yeah, you're right. I knew I wasn't going to convince you." Cleva sighed. "Fluttershy, the problem is... I'm pregnant."

"What? How is that possible?" Fluttershy questioned, in shock.

"I don't know. I guess when you have magic, anything can happen." Cleva answered, "Since I'm pregnant I can't fly, because if I crash... I may hurt the baby."

"I'm staying to support Cleva." Flicker said, "And to help cheer her up."

"In that case, I can help you out." Fluttershy said, "I help most of the animals at my cottage with their babies."

"Thanks, Fluttershy," Cleva said. "Because I think my new baby night be coming along faster than expected."

"Don't worry Cleva, Flicker and I will be here for you."
> Problems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze and Spear walked into the kitchen with Spear seeing that Blaze was still annoyed, "Hey Blaze, you liking your new clothes?" Spear asked.

"It's fine," she replied annoyed as she checked around for food.

"I'm just saying you look good in it.  Hey, wasn't there a pink pony  with Fluttershy?"

"You called?" Pinkie said as she popped into the room giving the dragons a shock.

"Oh hey, uh Pinkie wasn't it?" Spear asked.

"Yep, Pinkamena Diane Pie at your service," Pinkie replied, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for something to eat," Blaze replied.

"Oh, I can make you something."  Pinkie bounced to the stove, took out a bowl, some ingredients, a ladle, and started baking.  "This may take awhile, find something to keep you occupied."  The two dragons nearly walked away but Rainbow Dash walked in.

"Hey," Dash groaned as Applejack and Twilight stood by her side, "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for my actions for earlier, still I don't appreciate how you tried to kill me when we tried to rescue Spike."

"I think that the best we can get out of her Twi," Applejack said, "Well I better get back to the farm, take care dragons."

"See ya, AJ," Twilight said, as Applejack walked Twilight turned back to the dragons, "I'm afraid I won't be here to help out with Cleva's problem, I have an important meeting in Canterlot.  I'll be gone all day, so I left Spike in charge until I get back, so try to stay out of trouble.  Dash this includes you especially."

"Fine," groaned Dash as she gave Blaze a glare.

"I just have to get some things, and then I'll go."   Twilight walked back to her room to fetch her princess dress and tiara, she walked past the guest room surprised to see Fluttershy inside, "Fluttershy what are you doing here?"

"Pinkie snuck me through the window," Fluttershy said.

"You know what, I'll ask questions later, I have to get to that meeting."  As Twilight left the castle, Dash walked into the guest room, finding Fluttershy, Spike, and the other dragonesses.

"Okay, how long have these dragons been here?" Dash questioned.

"Only for one day," Flicker answered, "But we may stay a bit longer."

"Why?"

"Oh, Twilight didn't you tell you?" Cleva asked, "Let me tell you why."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Rarity was doing a few last measurements on Vixen, but she saw that the dragoness was a bit upset.  "Vixen, is there something wrong?" Rarity asked.

"It's Cleva," she sighed, "It has to be weird that she's pregnant all of a sudden, I don't know what to think of it."

"I can't ignore that this is weird, but you could help me with a gift for Cleva's child."

"What kind of gift?"

"I might make it some footy pajamas, but I would have to get some measurements.  Quick question Vixen, do you want a skirt or pants?"

"Um, I think I'll have the skirt, please."

"Alright."  Rarity got the materials needed for Vixen's clothes when they heard a crunch from outside, Rarity peaked her head out the door to find Garble breaking off part of the castle, "I thought Twilight said not to eat the castle."  Garble just ignored her and walked to the kitchen, where he found Blaze, Spear, and Pinkie Pie putting her mixture into the oven.

"Oh hi," Pinkie said as she closed the oven and walked up the dragon, "I'm Pinkie Pie, who are you?"

"My name Garble, can you please leave me alone?"

"Come on, I'm a friend to all."

"I have a hard time believing that."

"Give me chance Garb, you won't regret it."

"I'm already regretting it."

"You and me both," Blaze groaned.

"We might as well find something to do, those pastries are going to take awhile," said Pinkie

"I'm going to check on the girls," Spear said as he walked to the guest room.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, I'm so confused," Dash groaned, as she sat down on one of the beds.

"Confused about what?" Spear asked as he popped his head in.

"The ruby," Cleva explained, "And the pregnant me."

"Right.  So anyway, this pink pony was baking something in the kitchen."

"You mean Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah."

"She seemed nice," Flicker said, "What's she cooking?"

"I'm not sure."

"Hey girls, I've just got this weird feeling inside," Cleva said, "I'm not sure what it is, it feels round and..."  Cleva stopped and realized what it was, and she started to tear up.

"Cleva, are you okay?" Flicker asked.

"I'm fine Flick, I'm just so happy for my baby."

"It is kind of beautiful," Fluttershy said.

"You're taking this kind of well," Spear said.

"Well, I'm still feeling odd about it, but it does kind of feel good giving someone life."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Garble and Blaze were in the kitchen with Pinkie, "Hey Garble," Blaze asked, "What's stopping us from leaving the castle?"

"Well, nothing," Garble replied.

"So, can we leave now?"

Garble looked out the window and found the streets crowded with ponies, "They are too many ponies out there, we'll have to wait until night."

"Oh come on, I can't stand being here for another day."

"I don't see why it's so bad," Pinkie said.

"It not this place," Blaze groaned, "It's our friends, they've been acting different lately, Flicker's been acting soft, Cleva's pregnant, and Vixen is...  actually, I'm not quite sure about her."

"Wait...  A baby?!"  Pinkie started to shaking excitement, she stopped shaking when the timer went off.

"What's the big deal?" Garble questioned, "It's just a baby, they eat, sleep, cry, poop, and fall asleep."

"But they are so adorable, they can be a handful, but it's worth it for their cuteness."  When she took the pan out of the oven, she found that the two dragons had left, "Where'd they go?"

"If we're leaving, we might as get the others," Blaze said as she walked down the hall, all of sudden she bumped into Vixen, who was wearing a faded blue blouse with a purple lacy skirt.

"Hey guys," Vixen said, "What's up?"

"We're leaving tonight," Garble answered.

"Why?"

"Look at our friends."

Vixen looked into the guest room, she saw Cleva was wiping tears from her eyes with Flicker trying not to blush as she stared at Spear.  "I don't see the problem."

"Well, their acting like girls."

"And that's a bad thing?"

Garble was about to reply until the heard Pinkie, "Foods ready," she called.  Vixen got her self up and walked towards the kitchen, the other dragons walked behind her, but when Spear walked by, Garble grabbed his shoulder.

"Spear you wanna leave tonight?" Gable asked.

"Uh, let me think," Spear replied, "Flicker and the other are doing fine..."

"We know that they want to stay, but Blaze and I are going to leave you guys behind if you don't come."

"Well can't you wait?  We just have to wait until the delivery and then we can go back home."

"Oh yeah, waiting for nine months, I'm sure that will fly by," Blaze groaned sarcastically, "Spear why are you taking this so well."

"Because there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid it, so I should try to accept it."  And he flew back to the kitchen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they walked into the kitchen Pinkie revealed a shining dual layered cake, "Presenting my everyday cake," Pinkie said, "A cake perfect for any occasion with added gem, just for you."  The dragons liked their lips as they admired the cake, even Spike.

"Hey Pinkie, where did you get the gem?" Spike asked.

"Garble just carried them through the kitchen, and left them on the table while I was talking."  Pinkie reached for some plate, as Spear grabbed a bit of the cake, this made her gasped, "What are you doing?!" she cried as she grabbed his claw.

"Getting some cake," Spear replied.

"With your claws?"

"Yeah, you had breakfast with us earlier," Spike said as he grabbed a plate, "You use a fork."

"Does it really matter?"

"Depends on the food.  For a cake, you need a fork."

"Okay then."

Pinkie gave the dragons the forks and plates and they dug into the cake, Spike also took some lemonade from the fridge and poured out some for the dragons.  "Hey, I think there's a movie we can watch," Spike said, "Follow me."  He led them into the guest as he pulled out a projector.

"What's that?" asked Vixen.

"A film projector," Spiked replied as he closed the curtains, "We use it to watch movies."

"What are we going to watch?" Pinkie asked as she pulled down a projector screen.

"Wave in the Kiss."  Spike started to hook up the film to the projector as the dragons sat on their beds, Flicker sat down next to Spear.

"Flicker don't you have a bed?" Spear questioned.

"Yeah, but your's is comfier," Flicker replied.

"Quiet it's starting," Cleva said.

The movie starts out on a beach with a blue mare with a golden mane sunbathing on a towel, when all of a sudden a Purple stallion with a pink mane on a surf board came in on a wave soaking the mare.  "What the heck?" The mare cried angrily.

"Sorry toots," the stallion said.

"What kind of movie is this?" Fluttershy asked.

"A rom-com," Spike replied.

As the film progressed Flicker got a bit tired and started to lean on Spear's shoulder, "Uh Flicker, why are you leaning my shoulder?" Spear asked.

"Oh, I'm just a bit tired," she replied.

The mare was in a wedding dress with a different stallion, they about to say "I do" when all of a sudden the purple stallion crashed through one of the windows.

"Surf, what are you doing here?" the mare asked.

"I thought about you since we met, I couldn't stop thinking about you," Surf said.

"Hang on, what about me?" asked the other stallion, only to have the mare punch him in the face and ran over to Surf and kiss him.  The wedding plan changed and now the mare and Surf were married, as the carried away in a carriage, the words "The end" appeared on the screen and the movie ends.

"So what did you think?" Spike asked the dragons.

"I think it was okay," Cleva replied.

"I thought it was funny," Vixen answered.  They turned they're head to Spear and Flicker who were dozing off, Spear slowly began to wake up.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"Well the ending, and that," Vixen said as she pointed to Flicker, who was still resting on Spear's shoulder.

"Flicker, wake up," Spear said as he shook her a bit, "The movie's over."

"What?" Flicker yawned as she struggled to open her eyes, she got her self upright and tried not to blush as she saw she was on Spear's shoulder.  "So, isn't it about lunch time?"

"It's only noon," Pinkie said, "I'd loved to stay and chat, but I need to get back to Sugar Cube Corner."

"And I have to get back to my animal friends," Fluttershy said.

"I left the crystal cake in the fridge.  See you later girls."  Pinkie and Fluttershy left the castle, Cleva, Spear, and Vixen walked into the kitchen, and Flicker was left alone with Spike.

"You have to tell him," Spike said.

"Spike, I can't," Flicker said worriedly, "You know I only been like for a day."

"You can't hide it forever, eventually he'll know."

"You have a point, but maybe we can wait one more day."

"Okay, but don't blame me if you spill the beans."  Spike walked away leaving Flicker feeling very nervous.
> The Escape
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze gazed out the window looking at the volcano with a sigh, "Will you just go inside," she groaned as she looked down at the crowded street filled with ponies.  The gray dragoness jumped as Cleva burst in and dug through the fridge for something to eat, Blaze started to walk away but she bumped into Vixen.

"Oh sorry Blaze," Vixen apologized.

"It's fine, hey you wanna head back to the dragon lands?"

"I would, but Cleva looks like she could use some assistance."

"What kind of assistance?"  A plate hit Blaze in the back of her head, it turned out Cleva was sucking up food faster than a black hole.

"Uh Cleva, slow down a little please."

"Sorry I can't help it," Cleva said with her mouth full, "I can't get full."

"Well, that doesn't mean you can just smash thing without care."  Vixen cried as she tried to pull her friend back from the food.

"Hey I heard a plate smash," Spike said as he walked into the kitchen to see the amount of plate on the table the pregnant dragoness was eating off of.

"Oh hey Spike," Cleva said as she slowed her eating down.

"I left the group for a minute and you've already eaten, one, two, three, twenty plates?!"

"Sorry, I'm kind of a stress eater."

"It's fine, just help clean up some of the messes you make."  Spike grabbed a broom and dustpan and swept up the shattered plate, Cleva put her empty plates in the sink as she looked out the window.

"Hey, Spike do you know what time it is?  It looks like it's getting dark."

"Wait, what?"  Blaze looked out of the window to find ponies going back inside and the sky seemed to be getting darker.  "Finally!"  Before anyone could stop her, Blaze flew out of the room to find Garble.  Spike popped his head out the window and found out why it was getting dark, pegasi were moving thunder clouds into place blocking out the sun.

"Oh geez."

Garble was sitting in the library chewing on some gems when burst in, "Hey Garble," she cried, "Guess what?"

"What?" the red Drake asked.

"The ponies have gone inside, it's safe to go home now."

"Wait really?"

"Yeah, come on, I'm not wasting this chance."  Without hesitation Blaze grabbed her friends arm and flew out the window.

Spike ran into the room trying to stop them, "Blaze wait!"  But it was too late the two dragons have flown away.  "I have to get Dash."

The two dragons flew over the  Ever-free Forest, all seemed to go well until lightning bolts started to come down, "Blaze, I think we should turn back," Garble said as started to fly closer to the ground.

"The sooner we back home, the sooner we can't forget this happening."  Blaze sped up when a bolt of lightning struck her, she lost conciseness and fell to the ground.

"BLAZE!"  The Drake flew down to save his friend, but he wasn't fast enough, Blaze fell into the river and the current carried her upstream.  She tried to swim out, but the current was too fast for her to get out, suddenly she rammed into some boulders making her flip over and have her horns get stuck.  

"Help," Blaze coughed as she tried to get unstuck but her horns were stuck under the dirt and rocks.

"Hang on."  Garble tried to Blaze out but it was far from easy, Blaze help as much as she could but since her muzzle was under the water she pushed against the ground less until she passed out.  "Don't you pass out on me."  Garble pulled as hard as he could and finale he pulled Blaze out of the water, he squeaked her chest as he tried to get the water out of her lungs.  "I didn't want to do this, but letting you die."  Garble lied his friend on the ground and was about to give mouth to mouth when Blaze woke up.

"What are you doing?!" She said in shock.

"You were out cold so I thought maybe I.."

"Try to kiss me?"

"No, I was trying to save your life."

"Whatever, let's just head... ow..."  Blaze tried to take off, but the violent river had broken her wing.  "Oh come on, is everything stopping us from getting home?"

"Problem may be coming your way, but with your wing, you'll need somewhere to stay," came a voice.

"Who said that?" Garble questioned.  A Zebra walked out of the shadows, "Who are you?"

"Zecora is my name that you seek, I've noticed your friend seems a bit week," Zecora said.

"If weak you mean broken," Blaze groaned.

"In my hut a potion, that can help put your friend back in motion," Zecora said, "There is a lot of danger around here, some of them may feed on fear."

"Well I'll just lead, my wing is killing me."  The dragon began to follow Zecora when they heard a growl, they looked a saw a pack of timber wolfs.  One pounced at Blaze only to be stopped by Garble's claws.

"Get to her hut," Garble groaned as he punched the wolfs back.

"No no," Zecora cried as she pulled Blaze's arm, "You can't fight them like this, we must go."  They left Garble to fight off the wolfs and ran into the hut.  "Now that we're here I can make they brew, to fix that wing just for you."

"Do you always talk in rhyme?" Blaze asked, "It's kind of annoying."

"Ah yes, the rhyming is an old habit of mine, but most ponies think it's just fine."

"Whatever you say, do you have that potion ready?"

"Is isn't as simple as you think, making a potion doesn't get made as fast as you blink."  Zecora began to put her ingredients into the cauldron as Blaze looked out the window.

"Come on Garble, you need to get here."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Garble was starting to struggle to fight the timber wolf pack, he tried to use his fire breath but when they were set a blaze the wolves didn't even react to it, "Are you kidding me?"  Before he could react the wolves that were on fire pounced on him, its claws were so sharp it cut right through Garble's scales, "OW!"

A boulder flew threw the air and knocked the wolf off of Garble, it turned out that the boulder was thrown by Spear who charged at the other wolves.  "We've got your back Garb."

"We?"  Dash came up from behind Spear began to fight off the wolves.

"We would fight these wolves off forever," Dash groaned as she kicked one of the wolf's back.

"You sure we can't burn them to crisp?"  Garble groaned as he held his mark from the wolves.

"But where's Blaze?" Spear questioned.

"She's in a hut belonging to someone name, Zecora."

"Zecora's hut," Dash grabbed the dragon's claws and dragged them to the hut.  Zecora was letting the potion simmer as she tied a cast around Blaze's broken wing.

"So long will this potion take?"  Blaze asked.

"That potion is a simple brew, but I'm afraid the effects will take a day or two," Zecora cut off the bandage holding Blaze's wing.

"Well, my friend isn't going anywhere for a while so I might as well join the club."  The two jumped a bit as the rainbow pony and dragons barged in and barricaded the door.  "Garble you're here, and alive."

"Yeah," Garble panted, "A few cuts and bruises, but other than that...  I'm fine."

"We need to get out of here," Spear said as he struggled to hold the timber pack back.

"The wolves attacking will not end, but I just finished the potion for your friend."  Zecora poured the red potion in a bottle and gave it to Blaze.

"Okay now that we have that healing potion, we need a way to get out of here," Garble said.

"Flying out of here is the best option," Dash said as she crawled out of the window, "Get out while I distract the wolves.  Come and get me you pieces of drift wood."

"Alright, let's fly," cried Spear as he flew out of the door.

"I can't," Blaze said, "My wing's broken, I can't fly."

"No, but you can ride," Garble grabbed onto Blaze and flew into the sky, Blaze held onto her friend as she looked down.

"I think I know where we can rest," Spear said as he lead the way, which was back to the castle.

"At this point, I'll take anything," Blaze said as she held onto Garble tightly when they landed.

"We're on the ground now Blaze, you can let go now," Garble said as he let go of Blaze.

"I think we should go inside," Spear said, "This storm looks like it's getting worse."  With a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder, this made Blaze jump and she ran inside this cause her wing to wiggle a bit.

"Ow, I guess should probably drink the potion Zecora gave me."

"There you are," Spike said as he walked up with some towels, "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking of going home."  Blaze drank her potion and grabbed one of the towels and started dry off.

"What happened to your wing?"

"I was flying too high and a bolt of lightning hit me."

"That's what I was talking about, the storm caused you to break your wing."

"Honestly Spike, I told her to slow down," Garble said as he walked in with Spear.

"I appreciate that Garble but try harder next time, try harder."  Spike gave the dragons the towels when he noticed Garble's cuts.  "Jeez Garble, what happened to you?"

"Timber wolf attack."

"Another reason you should have waited for the storm to stop."

"Look I don't care," Blaze groaned, "I'm going to get something to eat."  She stormed off annoyed more than ever.

"It's only, 3 o'clock and you almost died.  You've been for two days, how can we trust you like this?  I'm only twelve and I'm more sensible than you."

"Look I'm just going with Blaze and try to recover from this."  Garble walked off after Blaze as Dash burst through the doors.

"Okay, those wolves aren't coming back," she panted.

"Well, we're glad you're alright Dash."

"You do what you need to do here," Spear said as he gave Spike his towel, "I'm checking on my friends."  Spear flew off to find Cleva was lying on her bed having a snack on gem from the castle.  "I thought Twilight said not to eat the castle."

"I said I'm a stress eater," Cleva said, "These gems to sweet to resist, plus if she does find out, blame it on Garble."  Spear let out a small chuckle when he saw the film projector.

"You watching another movie?"

"Yeah, Vixen went to get another movie, and the others dragons as soon as we heard you were back.  I wonder what's taking her."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Now, where are those film?" Vixen was looking for a film to watch but she didn't know where Spike had put the films.  She looked in the closet where she managed to find some films and Flicker.  "Flick, what are you doing in there?"

"Well if I can't be around Spear with blushing, maybe it's best if I don't see him," Flicker said nervously.

"Doesn't that seem a bit childish?"

"Look I can't help it if I keep blushing around Spear, I think I could get a nose bleed."

"I don't think that how it works."

"Well, why are you even doing looking through the closet?"

"We're watching another movie, we're wondering if you wanted to join in."

"Uh sure.  Now, what are we watching?"

"Well, I'm still looking."  Vixen dug through the closet to find a box of films, one of them said; "Over the Edge."  "It says it's a comedy, so let's try it out."

"Okay, you do that, I'm going to get a snack."  Flicker walked toward the kitchen where Blaze was resting with Garble, "Hey guys."

"Hey Flicker," Blaze said sulkily.

"What happened to your wing?!"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, we're about to watch another movie if you would cheer you up."

"A movie?" Garble asked confused.

"Oh yeah, you guys weren't around when we were introduced to movies.  Follow me."  All the dragons were now in one room as Vixen was setting up the movie.

"Okay, I think I set this thing up right," Vixen said as she checked over the projector.

"So that thing plays movies?" Garble questioned.

"Yep," Spike said as he walked by with the wet towels, "You need any help setting that up?"

"Maybe," Vixen said as she accidentally took the film wheel off the projector.

"Easy, you'll break the film."  Spike ran up and took the film wheel from Vixen claws, "These things can be fragile, watch how I put it up."   Spike managed to put the film on properly, showing Vixen how to do it.  "Now sit back, and watch the movie."  The dragon lied down on their beds with Flicker trying not to make eye contact with Spear.

"Not going to share a bed this time?" Spear asked the blushing dragoness.

"Um, no," Flicker said nervously, "I'm fine."

"Suit yourself."

The movie started out with a brown Pegasus with a white mane looking down at Canterlot, "Here we go," he said, he opened his wings and dived threw the air.  He did a few tricks like loop de loops, and barrel rolls when all of a sudden his wing cramped up.

"Well that not good," Garble thought to himself still wait for the movie to surprise him.

The Pegasus fell closer to the ground when suddenly, a blue aura appeared around him stopping him from hitting the ground, the aura came from a pink unicorn with a golden mane.

"Are you alright," she asked.

"I'm fine."  The Pegasus got himself upright on his hooves as he gaised at the unicorn's clothing.

"What is she wearing?" Blaze questioned.

"Isn't that what dragons wear in the dragon lands?" Spike asked the gray dragon, "I think Zecora wears that too."

Later the two ponies are walking with each other, looking out of a forest, the unicorn was looking nervous as she gaised out of at some mountains.  "Come on, why are you so scared of this?" the pegasus asked.

"My father said that the land outside of our village can be very dangerous," she replied.

"Come on, I don't know the meaning of the word "danger," I take risks all the time."

"And you might have gotten lucky, but when your wing cramped up I was there to catch you, if I wasn't you wouldn't be standing here right now."

"And I'm lucky that river was there," Blaze said under her breath, "If Garble didn't get me out of the water, or fight off those wolves."  Blaze stare at her friend and realized she was in a simple situation like the Pegasus in the movie, eventually she was feeling a bit tired, she felt eyelids getting heavier until she fell asleep, wishing for the day to be over.
> Cleva's Pregnancy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze woke up in an area where it looked like she was in lava but the clothes she was wearing didn't burn off.  She tried to swim to the top of the lava but something was pulling her down, she saw what was pulling her down was a timber wolf.  "Let go of me," Blaze cried, she tried to use her wings but when she did they disappeared, leaving her wingless.

Blaze was dragged deeper and deeper until she found herself in the Everfree Forest, she looked around to find someone.  "Hello?"  Timberwolves pounced on her, she tried to get up but the wolves prevented her from doing so.  "Get off of me, someone, help!"  Out of the blue, Garble came flying in knocking off the wolves.

"Blaze, run," Garble said as he helped the wingless dragoness up, "Get as far as you can from here."  Blaze did as her friend said but she felt a sharp pain in her body, she collapsed onto all fours as she suddenly got picked up by Garble, who was shirtless and bulked up, he flew her back to the dragon lands.  Blaze began to blush as she looked at her friend, and when they landed Garble held her tight.  "Don't worry, you're safe now."  Blaze and Garble's mouths were getting closer and closer to each other and...

Then Blaze woke up with a start.

"What the heck was that?!"

"What was what?"  Blaze looked over to see Vixen getting dressed.

"It's nothing," Blaze groaned, "Just a weird dream, really weird."

"Okay then, you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'll... I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself."  Vixen left Blaze alone as she went to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Stupid ruby, why do I have a feeling it has something to do with this?"  Blaze groaned.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vixen found Cleva in the bathroom hurling in the toilet, she was worried about her friend so she decided to talk to her.  "Morning Cleva, how are you feeling?"

"Terrible," the pregnant dragoness groaned as she kept hurling into the toilet.  She finally stopped, flushed, and Vixen helped her to the kitchen, "I think I have morning sickness."

"Really, this soon?"

"I got pregnant from a ruby, I think this thing is making the pregnancy go faster."  Cleva held her stomach as she felt a burning sensation inside.  "Oh, man this hurts."

"Just stay calm, we'll help you get through this."

"Yeah, because Garble is such a loyal friend."  Spike was in the kitchen cooking when he saw the dragonesses.

"Morning girls," Spike said as he checked the cookbook, "What are you hungry for today?"

"Just cook up your best Spike," Vixen said as she helped her friend sit down.

"Alright."  Spike checked the cookbook again but he couldn't help look over to Cleva.  "Are you okay?"

"No, my stomach is burning," Cleva moaned, "When will this baby come?"

"Normally nine months, what kind of symptoms are you going through?"

"Well, my stomach feels like it's on fire."

"Have you been feeling sick in the morning?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"You didn't think nopony could hear you?  What I'm thinking is that you're about fifteen weeks pregnant."

"Fifteen weeks?  But it's only been two days since this happened."

"From a magic ruby, I'm pretty sure you're getting the streamlining service."  Spike returned to his cooking as Cleva sat and thought about her predicament.  "Hmm, let's see here, what to cook?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blaze had finally got dressed and was wondering around the castle, she was still thinking about the dream she had.  "Okay, now what I saw was what happened before we returned to the castle, and I saw Flicker was going gaga over Spear, and now I'm doing the same to Garble."  She thought about her problem so much that she bumped into Flicker.  "Oh sorry, Flicker.  I was thinking about this dream I had."

"It's okay," Flicker said as she helped her friend up, "What was your dream about?"

"None of your business."

"Was it a dream about Garble?"

"How did you know?"

"You told me."  Blaze went red in the face as Spear walked past and this made Flicker blush, "Morning Spear."

"Morning girls," Spear replied.  Flicker gave a small giggle with Blaze looking at her with interest.

"Flicker, I kind of wanted to walk about something," Blaze said as she got her friends attention, "Why are you attacking like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been acting so girly lately when Starlight threw you into a wall you said it was nothing, but last time a dragon threw you into a wall you beat the snot out of it."

"And another thing, you're looking at Spear weird lately.  Wait, please don't tell me..."

"Yeah, I might have a crush on him."

"You have got to be kidding me.  First, you let a pony put a dress on you, and now you blush every time you see one of your friends you've known for years.  What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know, my mind is just a mess, I just feel like we've been together ever since we met we've had a special bond."  The two were about to say more when all of sudden Pinkie Pie came in with her party cannon.

"Hi, have you seen Cleva?"  Pinkie asked.

"I think she was with Vixen," Blaze answered.

"Thank you."  Pinkie took her party cannon and searched for the pregnant dragoness.  Pinkie searched throughout the castle for Cleva and Vixen as she searched one of the rooms she left her party cannon outside, Vixen walked past and saw the cannon.

"What kind of canon is this?"  Vixen decided to push the button on the cannon which made it shoot out confetti.

"Who activated my party cannon?" Pinkie question as she poked her head out of the room, "Hey are you Vixen?"

"Um yes, you're Pinkie Pie right?"

"Yeah, I came over here a few days ago.  Have you seen Cleva?"

"She's in the kitchen, she's not feeling too well."

"Probably due to the pregnancy, I saw a friend of mine go through this.  Come on, let throw her baby shower."

"What's that?"

"It's a sort of party you throw for a friend who's going to have a baby.  Leave it to me."  Pinkie took her party cannon and Vixen followed her to the kitchen.  Spike was still cooking with Cleva sitting patting her belly, "Knock knock," Pinkie said as she walked.

"Hey Pinkie," Spike said, "What brings you here?"

"For Cleva and her baby."  Pinkie set her party cannon to its lowest setting and fired it at Cleva, who nearly jumped out of her seat.

"What was that for?" Cleva questioned in fright.

"We were throwing you a baby shower."

"A what shower?"

"A baby shower, it's when somepony throws you a party for you and give gifts for your baby."

"And how do I benefit from that?"

"If you're going to have one, you might as well try to have a happy and healthy one."

"She is right," Spike said as put an omelet on a plate, "You might as well do the best you can for it."

Cleva thought about what they said, "You might be right about that but I... ARK!," she was when she suddenly felt a surged throwout her system.

"Cleva, are you alright?" Vixen asked as she checked her friend.

"I think so, this kid isn't really settling well."  Pinkie left the kitchen to set up the shower and the dragons, as Vixen at the food Spike prepared for her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flicker was sneaky around the castle trying hide from Spear, she couldn't control her blushing while around Spear, she bumped into a cart filled with party supplies and looked around to find who it belonged to.  When there was nobody around so she decided to look at what was inside.  "What is half of this stuff?"  Flicker pressed one of the buttons in the cart releasing all of the supplies and sprayed confetti everywhere.

"Hey what are you doing?" Pinkie questioned as she poked her out if the room.

"Oh, hey Pinkie, what with this cart?"

"For Cleva's baby shower."

"A what?"

"I'm only going to say this one more time, and I'll tell you later.  Can you give me a hand with these decorations?"

"Um, sure."  Pinkie told Flicker where to put the decorations, balloons with Cleva's color scheme, a banner saying "Congratulations," and some cupcakes that looked like Cleva, Blaze, and Vixen's horns.  "How did you make these so fast?"

"I've been baking for years, and when you're as energetic as me you can amazing things, like look over there."

Flicker looked to where Pinkie was pointy only to see nothing, "Pinkie what are you pointing..." she stopped when she notice she had a cupcake in her claw, "How did you do that?"

"I can keep up with Rainbow Dash, and trust me she's fast."  The two of them heard a knock on the castle door, Pinkie hopped to it and found her friends with gifts for Cleva and her baby.

"Hi Pinkie," Fluttershy said holding a gift, "Is everything ready?"

"Yep, with the help of Flicker, the shower is ready.  It would have gone fast, but my party cannon was on the fritz."

"It's alright darling," Rarity said, "You been doing this for years, I'm sure it'll be fine."  The pony walked to the guest room, where the shower was taking place.

Back in the kitchen Cleva was still scarfing down the food Spike was cooking, Starlight walked in looking worn out, "Starlight, where were you yesterday?" Spike asked.

"In my room," Starlight groaned, "Apparently AJ doesn't like me using me after that spell I used on as well as the others and Big Mac."

"Oh yeah."

"Speaking of the others, I saw them heading into the guest room, with a party cannon inside."

"Oh yeah, they're throwing a baby shower," Cleva said as she took a bit out of an omelet, "For me."

"Already?"

"Well, this is Pinkie Pie we're talking about," Spike said as he put Cleva's plates in the sink. "Also is it just me, or is Cleva looking a bit pudgier?"

"What are you talking about?"  Cleva looked down at her belly and saw it was a bit bigger than before, now she looked like she was twenty-one weeks pregnant.  "I hate that ruby."

"Are you sure it's now just fat?" Starlight questioned.

"No, I've only had three omelets.  I've eaten gem pile size of my leg and it didn't give any fat like this."

"Come on, this can't all be bad," Spike insisted.

"Yes, Spike it is, I'm a dragoness who's pregnant, and only about eight-teen, not to mention inexperienced and I'd know if it'll healthy."  Cleva's anger was starting to get replaced with worries as she started breathing heavily, "I don't know what to do."

Spike got a paper bag put it in the worried dragon's mouth, "Cleva, calm down," Spike said.  "You can't stress like this, it isn't for you or the baby."

"I'm sorry Spike, I'm too nervous about this.  What if it doesn't have a tail, what if it doesn't have scales?  Even if it does have the proper body parts will I be able to take care of it?"

"Cleva, breath into the bag."  She did as Spike told her, in the process, she accidentally set the bag on fire.

"Why don't we going into the bedroom and see what Pinkie has for you," Starlight insisted.  The three walked into the guest room to find the man six with gifts for Cleva.

"What do you think Cleva?" Pinkie asked.  The pregnant dragoness was amazed at what Pinkie made.

"How did you do all this so fast?"

"I can move really, really, fast.  Also, Flicker helped me."

"Speaking of Flicker, where is she?" Starlight asked.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flicker was looking for her friends to invite them to the shower, she didn't want them to feel left out.  "Where's Vixen?"  Flicker found Vixen in the bathroom styling her hair.  "What are you doing?"

"Oh, Flicker," Vixen wasn't expecting anyone to barge in, "I was just, uh, experimenting."  Vixen messed with her hair until it was back to its old style.

"Not gonna question that, anyways I was wanting to ask you and the others that Cleva's having her baby shower.  I wanted to tell you and the others, I thought it would make her happy to see her friend there."

"It would cheer her up, I'll be there in a minute."  Flicker flew off to find the others as Vixen continued with her hair.

Back at the shower, Cleva sat down as the ponies gave her gifts, "Thanks, girls, I can't believe you're doing this for me."

"It was the least we could do," Fluttershy said.

"The least?"

"When you meet Pinkie, this is lest she can do," Dash said, "She can sometimes get out of control."

"Alright then."  Cleva opened the first present given from Fluttershy.  "A blanket?"

"I know dragons have pretty high resistance to the cold, but even Spike has his limits," Fluttershy replied.

"Well, we do live near lava, but I'll hold on to it."

"After a fireproofing spell," Twilight said as set the blanket down on the bed.

Flicker flew in with Vixen, "Sorry we took so long," Flicker apologized, "I had a bit of trouble finding my friends."

"It okay," Fluttershy said, "You didn't miss much."

"Where are the others?" Cleva asked.

"They're on their way."  Flicker and Vixen sat down, and Cleva opened the next present which was from Rarity.  The gift was a set of baby blue footie pajamas.

"Wow!  Thank's Rarity."

"It was no problem at all," Rarity said, "But if it doesn't fit give me a call."  Cleva was going to open the big present that Applejack brought when the other dragons came in.

"Hey, guys, where were you?"

"I said I would find Blaze and Garble for Flicker," Spear explained as he sat down.

"It's alright, I'm just glad to see you here."  Cleva opened Applejack's present which was a cradle made from apple tree wood.  "AJ, this is perfect."

"It was no trouble at all," Applejack said.

"So, who's next?"  Pinkie gave the dragoness her gift which was a toy giraffe, "Thank you Pinkie, why does it feel hard?"

"Pull the cord," Pinkie explained.  The soon to be mother did so, the toy giraffe stretched out as started to play lullaby music, "It'll go great with the cradle."  Cleva was pleased with the gifts she received, but some of her friends were so pleased.

"Why is she taking this so lightly?" Blaze whispered to Garble.

"I don't know, it has to be these ponies and their girliness," Garble replied, "I swear as soon as that egg comes out, we're leaving."

Vixen sat closer to Cleva, "How are you feeling Cleva?"

"Still a bit odd, but other than that I feel fine."

"Alright, I'm just glad you're fine."  Vixen gave her friend a hug, as Flicker and Spike joined in.

"I'm glad you're here for me."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later the sun started to go down and the ponies left, Twilight gave Cleva back her baby's gifts after fireproofing them.  "Thanks, Twilight," Cleva thanked.

"It was my pleasure Cleva," Twilight said.

"You sure you have them fireproofed?"

"I'm positive."

"Well, maybe you accidentally used the wrong spell and now they're fragile around a fire."  The dragoness start to sweat.

"If you want I could test it," Vixen insisted as she took a deep breath.

Cleva quickly held her friend's muzzle shut, "No, we'll just do it on something else that has the spell on it."

Spike gave her another paper bag, "Remember what I said, take deep breathes."  Cleva did so while releasing some fire.

"Why didn't it burn?"

"Because of the fire spell."  Cleva managed to calm down as she and Vixen walked to the kitchen for a snack, where they found Blaze and Garble.

"Hey guys," Vixen said.

"Shut it Vex," Blaze said shocking the dragonesses, "We're not letting our group become little sissies."

"Sissies?" Cleva questioned a bit annoyed, "I've just started to accept becoming a mother."

"I'm going to smash that egg when it pops out," Garble threatened, the dragoness stepped back as Vixen grabbed Garble's arm.

"Leave Cleva out of this."

"Oh and I suppose you're any better?"

"What's going on in here?" Spear questioned as he walked into the kitchen, "I was trying to get some sleep."

"Oh good, Spear," Blaze sigh, "Explain why the girls need to stop what they're doing and we can fly home?"

"I can't fly home," Cleva groaned, "My wings aren't strong enough to carry me in this state."

"You're dead weight," Garble said, "Spear come on, let's just get the other girls and leave."

"Well, Vicky and Flicker said that..."

"Forget Flicker, she's too far gone."  Nobody noticed that Flicker was heading closer to where the conversation was, but what she heard what Garble said about her, "Spear, get your hair out of your eye and open them, our friends have been nothing more than little sissies.  Fizzle is far gone, she's no longer a true dragon, she's a pushover, a wimp, someone who will never get through..."

"Garble, shut up!" Spear shouted, "I don't care what you say, I may not like her but I'm not letting you talk her down.  I miss Fizzle, but he is gone, you need to accept it.  I'm hating this as much as you do, but I'm trying to accept it.  I don't want this wimp either but..."

"Well, maybe it's better if I leave!"  The dragons looked back to find Flicker red in the face and in tears.

"Flicker?  How long were you listening to us?" Spear questioned, but he didn't get an answer, Flicker ran off and Spear chased her with the other dragonesses glaring at Garble and Blaze.

"Happy now?" Cleva asked in anger, "You broke Flicker's heart, and she probably not coming back."  They walked off leaving them behind.

"You think Starlight will let me bunk with her for tonight?" Vixen asked Cleva.  Garble was still angry, but he felt a sinking feeling inside of him.
> Reasons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flicker fled from the castle into the Everfree Forest with Spear chasing her down, "Flicker come back."

"Stay away Spear," Flicker flew into the forest to lose Spear, but when she got to the river a giant wave swallowed her when she flew across it.

"Flick!"  Spear flew down the river trying to save his friend, Flicker tumbled over multiple times and bashed into some rocks until Spear final managed to pull her out and get her on dry land, "Flicker, are you alright.  Speak to me."

Flicker coughed up some water, he body was only cover with few bruises, she pushed Spear back as she was still angry, "Leave me alone."

"Flicker, I'm sorry for what I said, but I was trying to stand up for you and the others."

"You... were... standing up for me?  But I thought you said you didn't like me."

"What that... I... I only..."  Spear didn't know what to say to his friends who starting to tear up.  "I only because...  I thought you were cute."  Spear covered his mouth as Flicker was shocked at what he said.

"You think I'm cute?"

"Kind of, I mean, I was pretending to sound like I hate you, but..."  Both dragons started to blush, they both had new feelings for each other that needed to be let out.  "Flicker, I didn't spend much time with you, because I can't control myself when I'm around you, you're just too cute."

"Well, you're nice too, but you helped me out when this all began."

"Yeah, you're like my best friend, you're kind, supportive, and I'm sorry for what you heard."

"It's okay, Garble was kind of going too far."  They didn't notice they started holding each others claw, "Flicker, I want to tell you something.  I kind of, sort of..."

"Spear, I have to tell you something, let's just say it at the same thing.  One, two, three."

"I have a crush on you."  Both were shocked by what the other said, Flicker gave Spear a hug after hearing what he said.

"What are you doing?" Spear asked as he blushed.

"Giving you a hug."  She had one more thing for Spear that she needed to let out, so, she kissed him, on the cheek.  He was shocked by this, but he gave one back,  on the lips.  Once they stopped Flicker started jumping in excitement.  "EEH, I can't believe it, we actually kissed."

"It still feels weird, but since you're stuck, like this it's not that bad."

"I know, we kissed, I'm so happy."

"I hate to be a buzzkill, but we may need to get back to the castle."

"Do we have stay in the same place as Garble?"  Flicker jumped when she heard a timber wolf howl she hugged Spear with fear.

"It's either Garble or timber wolfs."  He held her claw as they flew back to the castle, "I'm sure they have more than one guest room."

"But I can't get over what Garble said."

"Relax, what he said is probably going to bite him in the butt later."  They searched around the when they found Spike in his PJs.

"What are you doing?" He asked, "And why is Flicker soaking wet?"

"We had a bit of an insistent after a misunderstanding."

"I've heard Garble's outburst, and I've seen the others sleeping in other rooms, Cleva is sleeping with me.  Also, Flicker are you going to be sleeping your nightgown tonight?"  Flicker looked down at her nightgown, it was still soaking wet and had a bit of torn parts from crashing into boulders.

"I guess not if I can't wear this what will I wear?"

"Maybe, nothing," Spear smirked.

"Spear!"  Flicker didn't like her friend's idea.

"I'm joking, I think you could wear my shirt."

"It's better than nothing."  Spear gave Flicker his shirt, and she gave nightgown to Spike who took it to get cleaned up, Spike also lead them to a second guest room, that only one bed.

"Sorry guys, this is the only other room for the two of you."  The two new lovers were about to head into the bedroom when they saw Garble sneaking around, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Flick and Spear," Garble said sounding a bit unhappy.

"Well, we're here," Spear said still annoyed, "What do you want?"

"I want to tell you that... I... I'm...  I had this feeling after I yelled at the girls, I've felt bad about it."

"It's called; "Guilt" Garble," Flicker said.

"I know what guilt is, I've just never felt like this."

"Actually, I've had this question; why you act like this?  Why do you and the others before these events act like complete jerks?"  Garble sighed, he had some memories he did like to think of.

"It's because, of some other dragons, who drove me to that."

" You may want to sit down," Spear said, "This'll take a while."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few years ago in the dragon lands, Garble who was a little younger than Spike was walking around when he found a ruby, 

"Oh, sweet," he said, but before he could pick it up another dragon with black and blue scales swiped it from him, "Hey."

"Sorry kid," the dragon teen said, "I saw it first."

"Give it back."  Gable tried to get his ruby back, but he hadn't got his wings yet, so the dragon hovered over him and ate the ruby.

"You snooze, you loose kid."  The dragon flew away leaving behind Garble.

"MOM!"  He ran into a cave where an orange dragoness who was 9.4 feet tall was resting, she kneeled down to Garble and saw him trying not to cry.

"Garble, what's wrong," she asked.

"I found a... a ruby and someone took it from me."  He could barely keep his tears from pouring down his face.

"Sweetie, it's okay, mommy's here.  Tell you what, I know a place where you can find tons of gems."

"Really?"  Garble's mother whispered where the location of the gem was, he started to run to where it was.

"Garble,  you can only tell your friends about the location."

"Okay, mom."  Garble walked outside feeling a little better.

"So you became a bully because of one dragon?" Spike interrupted.

"It wasn't just one," Garble said, "And don't interrupt again."

Garble walked around a bit when he walked into a younger Fizzle, "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," Fizzle apologized.

"What were you looking at?" Garble asked a bit angry.

"This." Fizzle showed Garble a sapphire the size of his claw.

"Wow, that's awesome."  The two dragons were staring at the gem which distracted them from a green dragon that took the sapphire from Fizzle.

"Hey, give it back."

"Finders keepers," the dragon said.

"But my mom gave that to me."

"Well, now it's mine."  The dragon was about to take a bite of Fizzle's gem when a purple blur swiped it from him.  "What the?"  A young Spear, who had grown wings had taken the gem the dragon and tossed it back to Fizzle.  "Hey, you twerp give me that gem."

"You'll have to catch me first," Spear said as he flew around the thief and made it chase him into a cave, after hearing several bangs and cracks the dragon thief ran out of the cave covered in bruises.  Spear flew out and landed next to Fizzle and Garble.

"What did you do?" Garble asked.

"Nothing, he just woke my dad up."

"Nice plan, my name is Garble."

My name's Spear."

"Mine's Fizzle," Fizz said as he broke his gemstone into three pieces and gave them to Garble and Spear.

"I remember that," Flicker said, "It was the day we met."  Flicker nuzzled Spear as a confused Garble looked at them.

"What did I miss?" he questioned.

"Well, you see, Fizzle and I kissed in the forest," Spear said.

"You did what?"  Garble bit his tongue and just carried on with the story.

The trio were hanging out for a while after they met, one day they found a brown plumpy dragon with blue horns and red wings trying to fly, "Clump, are you still trying to fly?" Fizzle asked.

"Yeah," the dragon replied, "They're just too small."

"Have you two met?" Spear questioned.

"Yeah, Clump and I have helped each other with our new wings.  How are you doing Clump?"

"I'm just as well as a boulder."

"Hey, do you need some help?" a voice asked, the saw a purple spotty dragon with cyan horns walk over to Clump and helped him up.

"Uh, thank you."

"Clump, what were you doing trying to fly so fast?" Fizzle asked.

"I was fleeing from my sister."  They heard an angered roar as the saw a dragon that looked similar to Clump.  "I broke one of her nails."

"I don't think I'll ever understand girls," Fizzle said.

"Just run."  They ran off from the angry dragoness, they tried to lose her but it was easier said than done.  Fortunately, they came across a black and green dragon.

"You've gotta help us," Garble said as he ran up to the dragon.

"Get away from me," the dragon said, but his mood changed when he saw Clump's angry sister.  "Never mind follow me."  He led the group to a small hole, which they ran through, and Clump's sister got stuck.

"Ha," Clump laughed as his sister struggled to get loose.  The little black dragon led the group out of an opening.

"Thanks for the help," Garble said to the black dragon.

"No problem," he replied, "Believe me, this isn't the first time."

"Isn't the first?" Fizzle said confused, "How many time did this happen?"

"A few dozen.  The name's Baff, by the way."

"Good to know," Clump said.  The little dragons sudden ran back into the cave as rocks started to fall from the sky.  "Rockslide!"

"It's not a rock slide, they're falling towards the mountain."  Garble poked his head out and saw the larger dragons that bullied him, Fizzle, and Spear.

"Is he still mad at me for tackling him?" Spear asked.

"Possibly," Garble answered.  A big boulder nearly hit the dragons and they hid back in the cave.

"What do we do?" Fizzle questioned cowering in the cave.

"Well, we're stuck in the cave," Baff pointed out, "Due to the flying rocks and Clump's sister."

"So how do we get out?"

"We run like crazy."  They ran out of the cave trying to dodge the thrown stones.  Garble climbed where the dragons were standing throwing the stones.

"What the...  Get off my leg!" The black and blue cried as he tried to shake him off his leg, but Garble held on tight.

"Leeeeave myyyy friends aaaloone," Garble demanded as he was shaken.  Finally, he lost his grip and went flying.  Luckily Spear managed to catch him and bring to safety.  "I think I know how we can stop these guys."

"How?" Spear questioned as he put Garble on the ground.  Garble looked back at the cave and at the dragons.

"Get a boulder to blocked the cave entrance."

"Um, okay."  Spear flew off to get help from the others.  As Garble went to get the gems from his secret area.  He removed a stone and saw the gem sparkle in the sun.

"Sweet Mama."  Garble picked a couple gems up and carried them towards the cave.

"Hey, look," the green dragon said as he spotted the gems, "Look what he's got."  They flew closer to Garble as he threw the gemstones into the cave.  Meanwhile, the other little dragons were pushing a boulder over a cliff above the cave.

"Why did he want us to do this again?" Clump asked Spear.

"I don't know," Spear replied, "But I think it has something to do with the bullies heading into the cave."  The others started pushing again.

"Give us your gems!" The green dragon cried as he tackled Garble, he slipped out of its grip, dropped the gems and ran out of the cave.  "Sweet."

"You think you could give me some?" Clumps sister asked, who was still stuck.

"No way, get your own."  Once Garble was clear from the cave, the others pushed the boulder off the cliff, blocking the cave entrance.  "What's going on?"  The dragons trapped inside tried to push it away, but the drakes were piling more rocks around the entrance.

"Great," the blue dragon groaned, "Now we're stuck in here."

"At least we have some gems to eat."  But they turned to see that Clump's sister had eaten all the gem.  This quickly turned in a fight, which for a dragon was like a normal Sunday.

"Haha," Garble laughed in triumph, "That'll show them."

"You know Garble," Spear said, "You think pretty fast."

"Thanks."

"You think we could team up if this happens again?" Fizzle asked.

Garble thought for a moment, and then he looked over the dragon lands.  "That might be a good idea.  We teamed up and took care of those dragons down.  What do you guys think?"

"I'm in," Clump said.

"It's worth a try," Vex said.

"I'm game," Spear said.

"You made a good choice Garble," Baff said as he shook his claw.

"Alright, from now on, nobody gets in our way."

"And that's how it happened," Garble said finishing up his story.

"Wow, that seems to explain a lot," Spike said.  "And, this change..."

"It was too much, at first, I thought this would all blow over, but now that I know it's permanent, I can't except my friends are now, this."

Flicker could see that her friend was still upset, so she gave him a hug, "It's okay, we can get through this."

Garble was still confused, "Why are you so happy?  What I said..."

"Were in rage.  I've known you for years Garble."

"I... I don't know what to say."

"I can think of a word," Spike said.  "It starts with an 'S'."

The red dragon stopped hugging and took a deep breath, "Fine, I'm so... sor.... I'm sorry.  How else am I suppose to react to this?"

"I would've done the same.  But now that I'm a girl, I think I can let my soft side out."

"Hey, Garble," Spear said, "I don't think it's just Flicker you should apologize to."

Garble knew what his friend meant, "You're right.  I'll tell them tomorrow."  The dragon went to their rooms, and Garble lied down on his bed.  Spear was about to climb into his bed when Flicker nuzzled against him.

"Flick, can't you sleep in your bed?" Spear asked his friend sat down.

"I thought we were going to sleep together," Flicker said.

"But your's is right over there."  Flicker wasn't listening and hugged him and pulled him onto his bed.

"Come on, you're a heavy sleeper.  You won't even know I'm here."

"Well, maybe for one night."  They pulled the covers over them.  They gave each other one more kiss and fell asleep.
> The Delivery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the raised over Ponyville, the light shine into Flicker's eyes, making her face away from the light.  Spear rolled over and hugged his new girlfriend.  Flicker rolled back over to face him, and she nuzzled against him.  "Morning Speary."

"Morning Flick," Flicker replied.  "I'm going to go eat."

Flicker was about to get out, but Spear had other ideas.  "Oh, come on.  Just stay a little longer."

"Spear, the kitchen is just down the hall.  I'll be back."  Flicker kissed his cheek and left the room.  Down the hall, she found Vixen with her hair styled into a bun.  "Morning, Vicky."

"Morning, Flick," Vixen said, sounding a little glum.

"What's wrong?  Is it about Garble?"

"Yeah, what else could it be?  He said all of those things about us, and I don't think I can forgive him for that."  Vixen walked away, leaving Flicker feeling a little upset.

"My friends are falling apart."  Flicker slowly walked towards the kitchen where she found Blaze sulking.  "Morning Blaze."

"I thought you flew home," Blaze said.

"I was wanting to, but..."

"Is that Spear's shirt?"

"Oh, this.  Well, I crash landed in a river and my robe got destroyed and Spear offered me his shirt.  And to share a bed."

"And why did he do that?"

"Well, he saved me in the forest, and I found out he really likes me, and we kind of...  Well...  Kissed."  Blaze broke off a piece of the table in anger.

"Are you kidding me?  This why I wanted this fix, I'm not going to be in a relationship with a dude."

Spike walked in after hearing the two dragonesses talking, "Morning, girls," he said.

"Morning Spike," Flicker said trying to avoid Blaze's conversation.  "What's to eat today?"

Spike took out a pot and a frying pan, "Well, Cleva put in a request for anything mixed with gems."  He took out some butter, eggs, and water and started mixing them together.  With a few pieces of gemstones.

"How is Cleva doing?"

"Well, it's a bit weird.  She's about 39 weeks pregnant."

"How can that be?"

"I don't know, I stopped asking after she got to about 20."

Blaze scooted back from the table, "I'm going to go check on her."  The black dragoness stomped to Spike's bedroom, but she wasn't the only one heading there.  Garble was pacing back in forth, he was wondering if he should head in there or not.  "Garble, what are you doing?"

"Well," Garble said feeling a little nervous.  "I was wanting to say something to Cleva and Vicky."

"Good, I've got something to say too."  The two walked into the bedroom, where Cleva was sitting with Vixen.

"Oh, it's you," Cleva said unpleased.

"Hey, guys," Garble said sheepishly.  "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."  Cleva tried to push her former friend out the door, but Blaze pushed in.

"Is that thing going to come out or not," Blaze question with a bit of a tone.

"Well, it's going pretty fast," Vixen said.  "So, it should come any day."

"It would go better if you would leave," Cleva said, trying again to push Garble out of the room.

"Look, I came in here to say something," Garble said pushing back against Cleva's tail.

"What, keep rubbing in of what we're doing is wrong?"

"No, I came to say sorry."  The dragonesses were surprised at what Garble said.

"Who the heck are you, and what have you done with Garble?" Blaze questioned.

"It's me, and I'm actually sorry.  What I said was stupid, I was just angry about what was happening to you.  I thought I was losing you."  Vixen walked up to Garble, who looked away from her.  The dragoness hugged Garble which made him confused.  "So, is this a sign you'll forgive me?"

"Sort of," Vixen said releasing him from the hug.  "I'm still mad at what you said, but I'm will to forgive you overtime."

Garble smiled, "Thanks, Vicky."

Blaze anger built up, "I'm done."  She left the room and walked past Starlight.

"Um, good morning," Starlight said, but Blaze didn't pay any attention.  Starlight the walked into Spike's bedroom.  "What going on in here?"

"Just solving something that happened last night," Garble replied.

"Still a bit mad," Cleva said.  "But it's a work in progress."

"Good to hear.  Wanna get something to eat?"

They walked back to the kitchen, but Cleva didn't want to stand up.  "Um, Cleva, you coming?"  Vixen asked.

"No, we're good," Cleva replied patting her belly.

"Alright, I'll bring you something back." Vixen walked off to catch up with the others, still unable to get over how weird Cleva's 'problem' was.  Spike had made waffles along with a fruit salad, he was a bit puzzled when Starlight and the dragons walk in, sans Cleva.

"Morning Star," Spike said.  "Where's Cleva?"

"She's still in your bedroom," Vixen replied.  "She says she doesn't want to get up."

"Go figure."  Spike handed Vixen same waffles and fruit.  "If she's going to stay in there, she can at least eat."

"Thanks, Spike."  Vixen flew back to her friend, who seemed to be a little sweaty.  "You feeling alright?"

"Of course," Cleva said, "I'm fine."  Cleva was handed her food and she dug in quickly.

"Whoa, easy," Vixen cried.  "Have heard of this thing called chewing?"

"Have you heard of staying in style?  I'm like you're doing something new, just pick a hairstyle and stick with it."

"Really, you noticed?"

"Of course.  You ask Rarity if..." Cleva stopped, dropped her plate, and held her stomach in pain.

"Cleva, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm...  Gah, no, I'm not okay.  It's the baby, it's coming."

"What, now?  But it's only been three days."

"Well, sorry if it's impatient."  Cleva cringed in pain, she couldn't keep it in.  "Get...  Spike, Starlight...  Anybody!"  Vixen quickly flew out of the room and found Twilight heading to the kitchen.

"Twilight," Vixen cried grabbed the alicorn by the arm.  "Cleva needs some help."

"Vixen, what going on?" Twilight asked trying to loosen Vixen's grip.

"Cleva's egg is coming."

"What, now?  Oh, dear.  Get the others, I'll help her."  Twilight ran to help Cleva and Vixen flew to the kitchen startling the dragons and Starlight.

"Vicky, what the hay?" Starlight question getting up after being shocked.

"Sorry Star," Vixen said helping her up.  "Cleva's about to deliver her egg."

"Now?" Garble questioned.  "Magic just seems to do whatever it wants, does it?"

"Just follow me."  They hurried back to where Cleva was.  The pregnant dragoness was breathing heavily and groaning in pain as Twilight tried to calm her down.

"Cleva," Flicker gasped, "Are you alright?"

"What does it look like!" Cleva cried in pain and anger, letting out another groan.  "This hurts so much."

"Cleva, just take deeps breathes," Starlight said.  The dragoness did so, but it did very little to help.

Vixen sat next to Cleva and held her claw.  "Just keep taking deep breaths," Vixen said.

"If you understood what I was going through you wouldn't be so calm."

"Someone has to catch the egg when it comes out," Twilight said.  "Garble, you may have to catch it."

"Me, why me," Garble questioned.

"JUST CATCH IT!!!" Cleva cried letting out another groan.  Garble got into place and got ready for the delivery.  Cleva let out one final shriek of pain as she laid a chocolate brown eggs with beige spots which landed in Garble's claws.  "Is it...  over?"

"I think so," Vixen said.

Garble handed Cleva her egg, and she cried tears of joy.  "You okay?" Garble asked.

"I'm fine," Cleva replied wiping the tears from her eyes.  Everyone left the room, but Flicker and Vixen were wanting to stay behind.

"How do you feel?" Flicker asked her friend.

"Much better," Cleva replied.  "I'm just so happy.  I'm a mother now."

"You're taking this pretty well," Vixen said.

"I know."  Cleva set her egg in its cradle and placed a blanket on it.  "You can go back to the kitchen.  I'm going to stay here a little longer."  Her friends left, as she rocked the cradle back and forth.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After they ate, Spear finally got out of bed and walked down the hall, finding Cleva with a cheerful smile on her face.  "You look happy," Spear said.

"I know," Cleva replied, "I'm a mother now."  Cleva showed Spear her egg laying in its cradle.

"Wow.  How did that go?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."  Soon, Rarity walked in with a set of six clothes.

"Afternoon," Rarity said.

"Hey, Rarity," Cleva said showing the unicorn her egg.

"Oh my, you're a mother."

"I just woke up, and I'm already confused," Spear said.

"It's noon," Rarity replied.

"He usually sleeps in this late," Cleva said.  "So, what did you bring?"

"Well, I thought you and the other would like to have a swim."

"But there aren't any volcanos around here."

"I'm not saying we go swimming in a volcano.  There's a lake near here, so I thought you would put on these."  Rarity revealed a set of swimsuits and trunks.  "So, take your pick."

Cleva picked out a blue two piece bikini while Spear put on a pair of lemon yellow swim trunks.  "I've gotta say, this is pretty comfy," Cleva commented.

"Why thank you darling.  I spent a lot of time making these.  Now, where are your friends?"

"I think they were in the throne room."  Rarity and Spear walked into the throne room where they found the other dragons.

"Hi, Rarity," Flicker said.

"Hello, Flicker.  I've brought something for you and your friends."  After showing the dragons the swimsuit they quickly changed.  Vixen put on a lavender tankini, while Flicker put on a flamingo pink Microkini, Blaze got an emerald green one-piece and Garble got orange boardshorts.  "I hope you enjoy this.  The girls and I were hoping you could join us the by the swimming lake."

"That sounds like fun," Vixen said.

"Oh, it's not like we have anything better to do," Blaze groaned.

"You know, you can fly home if you want."

"I can't, my wing is hurt."

"You might as well, make the most of it," Rarity said.

"Uh, Rarity," Spear said.  "Did you forget about ponies seeing dragons just walking around?"

"That's why we'll be using Twilight's teleportation," Rarity replied.

Starlight, Twilight, and Spike walked into the room in swimsuits, "Rarity," Twilight said.  "Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"And I see the dragons are too."  They got everyone into place and they teleported to the lake.

"So, what do you think?" Spike said.

"It doesn't really feel like a lava pool," Cleva said.  She slowly lowered her foot into the lake, but Vixen decided to give her a shove.  "Vicky, what the heck?"

"You're going too slow," Vixen chuckled.  "After what you've been through I thought you needed a push."

Cleva smirked as her friend turned around.  She quickly grabbed Vixen's tail and pulled her into the lake.  "Well, I kind of pulled you into the situation."  They both chuckled as started splashing each other.  Flicker cannoned balled in joining the fun just as the pink party pony skipped over to them.

"Ooh, splash fight," Pinkie cheered as she jumped in.  "So, who's winning?"

"Not sure," Flicker replied.

"Well, splashing not the only thing we can do."  Pinkie quickly ran around and set up a volleyball net and she gave Flicker a beach ball.  "How's this?"

"What is it?"

"It's volleyball.  Boy, you dragons really need to get out more.  I'll show you how you play.  You simply hit the ball over the net trying to make the other side miss."  Pinkie got onto the other side and hit the ball over the net and Flicker hit it back.  Spear and Vixen joined in as the rest of the main six showed up.

"Howdy, dragons," Applejack said.  "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good," Flicker replied hitting the beach ball back over the net.

"You wanna join AJ?" Pinkie asked hitting the ball hard.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash joined the game as Rarity and Twilight lied down on beach chairs.  Cleva sat down on shore with her tail in the water, something appeared to be on her mind.  Garble, who was still wanting to redeem himself, walked over to his friend.

"Some on your mind?" Garble asked startling Cleva a bit.

"Oh, it's nothing," Cleva sighed.

"Come on, we've known each other for years.  What's wrong?"

"It's my egg.  I'm just worried about it.  What if it hatches when we're gone.  Will it age normally, or become an elder in a week, or is going to be immortal?"

"Cleva, calm down.  I'm sure you'll be fine.  Spike will probably give you a lesson on being a parent and things will be fine."

"You sure about that?"

"I'm sure, I'll be a good help," Spike said as he walked up to the two talking dragons.  "I helped babysit Twilight's niece before, so I think preparing you should be a walk in the park."

"If you say so," Cleva replied.  "Dragon's are a bit harder to take care of than ponies."

"Relax, you've got nothing to worry about, right Garble?"  The teenage dragon didn't reply, he was busy staring at Blaze.  Spike snapped his claws a few times to get his attention, but it failed.  "Garble, are you there?"

"Huh," Garble snapped back to reality.  "Sorry, Spike.  I was distracted."

"By what?"

"No... Nothing important."

"Well, I saw you eyeing Blaze," Cleva smirked.

"No, that's not true."  Garble tried not to blush as Cleva and Spike tried to hide their laughter.

"You have a crush on her."

"No, I don't.  We're just trying to get home, and I was worried about her when her wing got hurt, plus she's kind of hot when she's angry but...  Oh, crud I have a crush on Blaze."

"Like Spike's crush on Rarity," Cleva chuckled.

"How did you know?" Spike wondered.

"I saw your face when were around Rarity."  Spike was a bit angry, but seeing Garble lovestruck made him chuckle a bit.

"Garble, welcome to the friend zone."
> Friend Zone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Garble couldn't take his eyes off Blaze, there was just something about her he couldn't ignore.  On the other hand, she was still mad at the others throwing in the towel.  Plus there was still the fact that she was a guy.  "Garble, you've been pacing for about five minutes," Spear said.

"What?" Garble snapped back to reality as the volleyball hit him in the back of his head.

"Sorry," Vixen apologized.  Garble tossed to ball back and sat next to Spear.

"Come on, dude," Spear said, "Just tell her."

"How did you know?" Garble questioned.

"Spike told me."

Garble started gritting his teeth, "Try to stay nice.  Look, what am I supposed to say to her?  Hey, Blaze, I've got a crush on you and I want to make out.  How's she going to react to that?"

"Probably could've chosen a better set of words," Vixen said overhearing the boys' conversation.

"Look, I think you should get over this," Garble said, "But I doubt Blaze will."  The dragons look over to black and green dragoness, who was sulking.

"Just talk with her.   We've known each other for years."

"Okay, this goes wrong I'm blaming you."  Garble walked over to the sulking dragon, as the dragoness look over to Spear.

"I think this much better for me," Vixen said.

Blaze was lying down in the dirt as Garble sat next to her.  "What do you want?" Blaze asked annoyed.

"I just want to talk," Garble said trying to keep calm.

"About what, our friend become girls and forget who they are?  For crying out loud, Cleva laid an egg."

"I admit, that was weird.  But Spike said we should try to get over it."  The volleyball flew over to where Garble and Blaze were.  Blaze looked at it with annoyance and popped it with her tail.

"Hey," Vixen cried.

Pinkie wasn't so down.  "Don't worry girls," she said, "I brought backups."  The pink pony reached into her tail and pulled out a second volleyball, much to the confusion of the dragons.

"It's Pinkie Pie," Spike said to Spear and Flicker, "Don't question it."

"Okay," Flicker said wanting to reach for Pinkie's tail.

Fluttershy was helping Angel Bunny with his innertube.  "Angel, I know you don't like this," Fluttershy said, "But it's for your own good."  Angel pushed his owner away which only made him float across the lake.  He accidentally bumped into Flicker and quickly dove into the water to avoid her.

"Hey, where are you going?" Flicker asked.  She dunked her head under the water where Angel kicked her in the nose.  The bunny was the one who felt the pain.  Flicker raised her head out of the water lifting Angel with her.  "Fluttershy, I think your rabbit hurt himself."

Fluttershy flew over to Angel and picked him up.  "Angel," Fluttershy said, "What did I tell you about trying to hurt others?"

"I barely felt a thing.  Dragons are built tough."

"Well, you're pretty soft," Spear said nuzzling against his girlfriend.

"Right," Fluttershy said as she took Angel out of the water.

Spear gave Flicker another kiss making her blush.  Blaze just rolled her eye in disgust, but when she looked over to Garble she blushed a bit.  She slapped herself and tried to take off before landing back on the ground because of her injured wing.  "Stupid wing," Blaze growled with smoke escaping her nostrils.

"I understand your pain," Dash said.

"Just joying with the fun," Vixen said.  Blaze just growled and sulked by the water.  Vixen looked at her reflection and messed with her hair.

"Vicky, darling," Rarity said, "Why do you look upset?"

"Well, I've been wanting to change my hair a bit."

Rarity gasped with excitement.  "Why didn't you tell me."  Rarity quickly took the dragoness out of the pool and took out a hairbrush.

"Where were you keeping that?"  Vixen didn't get an answer as Rarity quickly got to work.

"What sort of style would you like?"

"Um...  Curly."  Rarity grabbed her bag and placed curlers in the Dragoness's hair.

"How can they like this?" Blaze questioned, though no one heard her.

"Oh, come on," Pinkie said, "Have fun."

"Fun with dragons I don't even know anymore."

"What do you mean?  They're your friends."

"They're not acting like my friends.  My friends did things that were exciting, races, boulder throwing, fire.  Now it's hairstyling, watching movies, and finding boyfriends.  It honestly makes me sick."

"Dashy and Rarity are friends, and they don't have a problem.  Plus, Garble and Spear are still boys, have fun with them."  The pink pony bounced back into the pond to play with her friends.

Blaze still pouted as she looked over to the only two of her friends who didn't change.  Spear was having a splash fight with Flicker, while Garble was just lying next to Rainbow Dash on a towel.

"So, how do you get a tan if you have fur?" Garble asked.

"How are you getting over this so fast?" Dash replied.

"Okay, I had an outburst, apologized to my friends, I have the hots for one of..."  Garble covered his mouth, but Dash was already snickering.

"Which one?"  Dash kept asking this question as Garble's anger started building up.  "Who is it?"

"Ask again and the only color you'll be is a singed black."  Dash sat back down in her chair and went back to reading her Daring Do book.  Garble looked towards Blaze and blushed as they heard something failing.  "What's that sound?"

"Oh no," Fluttershy groaned.

"CANNONBALL!" called a voice as something splashed into the water.  Everyone besides Fluttershy and Spike was launched out of the pond and everyone who was sitting beside the pond was soaked.

"What was that?" Blaze asked furiously.

"Oh, sorry," said a certain Draconequus, "I thought this was a pool party.  I thought I was allowed to do a cannonball."

"Not ones that big," Fluttershy said.

"Dragons," Spike said, "This is Discord.  Guardian of chaos."

"And it's a pleasure to meet you all," Discord said waving to the dragons, who didn't seem very happy to see him.  "I knew I should've gone with the guys night intro."

"What are you even doing here?" Spear asked.

"Well, my friends were hanging out, so I decided to come along.  I can give you some ice cream to say sorry."  Discord pulled out two blue cones which looked very familiar to Cleva.  She looked at her reflection and saw her horns were gone.

"Hey," Cleva cried charging towards the Draconequus, who quickly teleported to the side of Garble leaving the brown dragon to crash into Rarity and Vixen.  "Sorry, girls."

"Spike said I was the guardian of chaos.  What did you think was going to happen?"

"You ruined the relationship of the dragons we were just becoming friends with," Fluttershy said.

Discord dropped Cleva's horns.  "Oh.  My bad."

"Yeah," Garble said picking up the horns and taking them over to Cleva.

"Well, you have a bad reputation.  How was I suppose to know?  You never told me."

Spike sighed.  "We were busy."

"Hold on," Blaze said.  "You can change anything in this world, right?"

"Yes," Discord said.  "Mostly.  I do have some limits."

"Change me back to normal."

"I don't think I could do that."

"What?"

"Worth a shot," Vixen said as she tried to help Cleva put her horns back on but they kept falling off.  Discord snapped his fingers and the horns popped back onto Cleva's head.

"Let me explain," Discord said.  "Gender is something I don't normally do.  Plus, Celestia has put it as one of the top twenty things I'm not allowed to mess with."

"You turned her horns into cones," Blaze said.  "Change.  Me.  Back!"

"I can change you."  The overs were confused about why Discord changed his mind so quickly, but they found why.  When he snapped his finger, Blaze had become a pegasus, still with her wing broken.  She tried to grab Discord, but he shrank pulled her tail.  "Hey, you wanted me to change you."

"Back into a male."

"Well, you should've been specific and nicer."  He snapped his fingers again and change Blaze back to normal, but she was still female.

"Come on."

"If you wanted to be a male again you should've been nicer.  As for you girls..."

"We're good," Flicker said sitting next to Spear.

"If you say so."  Discord sat next to the dragon and tried talking to them.

Blaze was fuming.  "My one chance," she growled.  "I can't change back because some freakshow is on my bad side."

"I heard that," Discord said reaching over to pick up the ear he had dropped next to the black and green dragoness.

Spike swam over towards Garble, who was still looking over to Blaze.  "Are you going to talk to her, or not?" Spike asked.

"What do I say?" Garble asked.  "Hey, Blaze, I have the hots for you even though you still want to be a male.  Yeah, that's not going to get me bruised."

"You know I'm sitting right here, right?" Dash asked.

Garble facepalmed.  "I think I'm just going to head back to the back to the castle."  Before they could say anything, he flew off.

"I think he needs to be alone," Spike said.





Garble flew towards the castle he didn't think of staying hidden.  Several ponies saw him and one unicorn used levitation to drag him to the ground.  When the dragon stood up, an elderly pony who was with a redhead filly that a hairbow three some apples at him.

"Get out of here," the elder said.

"Granny, he hasn't done anything," the filly said.

"Yeah, back off," Garble said swatting the apples away.  The filly got her granny to stop and walked over to the dragon.

"I'm sorry about my granny.  We don't see dragons very often, except for one."

The dragon looked curious at this.  "Would he be purple with green spines?"

"Yeah, his name's Spike.  I'm Applebloom."  The filly held her hand out to shake the dragon's claw.  "What are you doing here in Ponyville?"

"It's...  Complicated."

Just then, a pegasus rode in on a scooter with a unicorn riding with her.  "We're back," the pegasus said.

"Why couldn't I ride in the wagon?" the unicorn asked.

"Because you could get the apples dirty."

"They were in crates."

"Yeah, but gran...  Is that a dragon?"

"Hey," Garble said.

"This is Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle," Applebloom said.  Scootaloo jumped off her scooter and took a closer look at the dragon.

"So cool," Scootaloo said.  "Can you shoot fire?"

"Of course," Garble said.  He looked into the sky and shoot fire out of his mouth, obliterating some clouds that got in the way.  "What do you think?"

"Awesome."

"What are you doing here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Reason.  Awkward reasons."

"Well, do you want to head to our tree house?" Applebloom asked.

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do.  Just let me get my clothes."

"Okay, just meet us back here."  Garble flew off as the fillies talked with Granny.  After he flew back, the four headed towards the tree house.

"So, this is your tree house?"

"Yep.  Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders headquarters."  They walked inside and Garble wasn't all that impressed.

"This doesn't look like much."

"Function or form," Sweetie Belle said.

"Okay, so...  What the heck is Cutie Mark Crusader?  Or even a cutie mark for that matter?"

"Well, you see these images on our shoulders?" Applebloom asked pointing to her cutie mark.  "These appear on fillies and colts around our age.  The three of us help ponies gain them or figure out what their cutie mark means."

"Okay, sounds confusing."

"Try getting one for over a year," Scootaloo said.  Sweetie Belle got their guest a seat so he could sit down, but the unicorn noticed that he was looking down.

"You wanna talk about something?" Sweetie Belle asked.  Garble shook his head.

"Come on, helping fix problems is our thing.  Just tell us."

The dragon groaned.  "Alright fine.  There's this friend I know who doesn't like being who she is right now.  Plus, I've been getting new feelings for her."  The fillies giggled after hearing this.  "Stop laughing, it's not funny."

"We've heard this kind of story before," Applebloom said.

"This one is different.  We found some dumb ruby that turned her as well as some of my friends into girls."

"Wait," Sweetie Belle said, "So, that means that your friend was a boy."  Garble groaned as he nodded.  "Okay, that is weird."

"You think?  She's been taking this terribly.  The others have taken this in, she's just wanting to head back to the dragon lands but her wing is broken."

"Couldn't you just carry her?" Scootaloo asked.  The dragon facepalmed and groaned loudly.  "I shouldn't have said that."

"Listen, Mr. Dragon," Applebloom said.

"Garble," he said.

"Garble, we can feel how awkward your problem is.  Can you tell us more about your friend?"

"Well, her name is Blaze and she's the smartest of our group, albeit she's a bit angry.  Kind of like me.  She's strong, fast, and looks great in jeans.  He green hair is so lovely and she's kind of cute when she cowers and she's a good hugger and..."

"Okay, stop," Scootaloo said.  "You have a crush on her.  Ask her out."

"That's what Spike said.  What if your friends were in this problem?"  The pegasus didn't know how to reply.  "I can't help it, I can't get her out of my mind."

"Scoot's not wrong," Sweetie Belle said.  "You have to ask her out if you want to get rid of these feelings."

"I hate you ponies are right," Garble said.  "But what the heck do I say to her."

"Ask her out on a date."

"Okay, I shouldn't have asked."  Garble was about to leave but Applebloom stopped him.

"Garble, hang on," Applebloom begged.  "We can think of something that won't be so jarring."

"Like what?"

"Well, try doing it saying it slow.  Like, saying "How about we hang out.  Just the two of us."

"That's a date," Scootaloo said.

"I know.  Sweetie Belle got in my head.  How about, "I like the new you."  Nope, that's worse."

"Look, I know you're trying to help," Garble said, "But how about you let me think of something to ask."

"If you insist.  Good luck."  Garble left the tree house and flew back to the castle.

That afternoon, Twilight, Starlight, and the dragons teleported back to the castle.  "That was fun," Flicker said.

"Apart from Spike's friend, it was," Spear said.  The dragons went to change out of their swimwear.  As they waited for Cleva to go first, Vixen heard someone pacing and talking to themselves.  She walked down the hall to find Garble talking to himself.

"Garble?" Vixen questioned.  "What are...?"

"Gah, Vicky," Garble said a bit surprised.  "You're back."

"We are.  What are you doing?"

"I can't think of what to say to Blaze.  You have to help me.  I can't think of anything that would sound normal, because normal no longer exists for us."

"Calm down, I can help."

Back in the hall, Cleva walked out of the bathroom and found that she was trying to get her shirt to cover her belly.  "Get down," she groaned.  "I hate this baby fat."

"You were already fat before," Blaze said, "Why should you worry?"  Cleva was appalled at what her friend said.

"Just ignore her," Spear said.

"If you say so," Cleva said.  "I'm going to check on my egg and think of some names."  The soon to be mother walked away as Spear noticed his girlfriend was looking worried.

"Something on your mind?"

"It's...  Our parents," Flicker said.  "What are they going to think.  We might've changed, but what about them?  They're not even going to let us speak."

"But my mom will.  If she doesn't love us to death.  We'll stay with her."  The white dragoness didn't lighten up to this.  "Look, you know her.  I know I'm not the smartest guy, but I know she'll accept you."  He decided to give her a kiss to cheer her up.

Blaze, however, was far from impressed.  She just groaned in disgust and walked to the guest room.  "Can't my wing heal any slowly?" Blaze questioned.

While she walked down the hall, she heard chattering.  "Sorry, Garble," Vixen said, "That's best I can't think of."

"Thanks for trying," Garble groaned.

"What are you talking about?" Blaze questioned entering the room.

Garble jumped back when his friend entered.  "B... Ba... Blaze.  What are you doing here?"

"I can't leave the castle so where else am I suppose to go?"

"Maybe for a gem hunt or a movie."  He managed to keep his muzzle closed but he failed to hide his blushing.

"What are you talking about."

"I was...  Maybe you could..."

"Oh, for crying out loud," Vixen groaned.  "He wants to go on a date with you."  Both dragons went silent for a while.

Spear and Flicker finished changing when they heard a scream.  "ARE YOU INSANE!?"  Worried, they flew to where they found Blaze fuming at her friends.  "That is the last thing I would do!"

"What did you do?" Spear asked Garble.

"I didn't say anything," Garble replied.

"Well, you were choking," Vixen said.  "Somebody had to ask for you."

"I'm not going on a date," Blaze cried.

"What's going on in here?" Spike asked.

"Vixen blurred out what I was going to say," Garble said.

"I would rather date Craggle," Blaze said.

"I thought you said you weren't going on a date," Spear said.

"Just... Grr..."  The black and green dragoness just screamed and stomped out of the room.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Garble groaned.

"I kind of like that sound of it," Flicker said.

"You do?" Spear asked.

"Though, I think pony and dragon dates are very different.  I'm willing to give one a shot."

"I'll give Rarity a call," Spike said.  "Two dresses and suits for a double date."  While Spear and Flicker nuzzled each other as they got excited, Garble was wanting to hit himself.
> Double Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think a date is perfect for you," Rarity said to Flicker as she double checked Flicker's measurements.

"I'm not sure about this," Flicker said.  "Spike said it might be a double date.  What does that even mean?"

"It just means there are two dates going on at once.  What color would like your dress?"

"Red and pink."  Rarity levitated the materials and got to work.

"Should I ask your friend what she would want her dress to look like?"

"I wouldn't.  Probably just make it green and not too girly."

"Hmm, well, I'll try.  Give me a few hours."  The white dragoness walked out of the room and found Spear waiting outside.

"So, Spike said I would be wearing a suit," Spear said.  "What is he talking about."

"I'm not sure.  I think it should be fancy because Rarity's making it."

"I can make sure of one thing, Blaze isn't going to wear her dress.  I wonder what Garble's going to say."

Garble was banging his head on the wall.  "Why...  Did...  I think... This...  Was a...  Good...  Idea?" he asked himself pausing between each bang.

"Calm down," Vixen said, "It's not the end of the world."

"Blaze will make sure of it."

"That doesn't even make any sense.  How about you just calm down and pretend that I'm Blaze."

A confused expression appeared on Garble's face.  "What?"

"For your date.  Just talk to me if I'm Blaze so you won't screw anything up."  Vixen messed with her hair make it look like Blaze's.

"Okay.  So, how are you feeling?"

"Just great.  I blew my only chance of being a dude again and now I'm stuck like this permanently.  How about you."

Bits of sweat started to appear on Garble's forehead.  "Well...  That bites.  You...  Look...  I can't do this.  I'm screwed.  Even if she says yes, somehow, I'll just choke up."

"No, just keep trying."

"Vicky, I know you're trying to help but neither one of us have any idea what Blaze is going to say.  Even if you think like her, you're going to be dead wrong."

The purple dragoness's poofed back to normal.  "If you say so.  I'll go see if she's calmed down yet."  Vixen walked out of the room as Garble lied down on his bed.

"What has happened to my life?"  He looked towards the hall to find Cleva carrying her egg with Spike walking alongside.

"So, what names have you been thinking of?" Spike asked.

"I don't know," Cleva replied.  "This entire thing is still jarring to me.  Can you blame me?"

"Not really.  I was thinking of something like...  Coco.  it just feels right to me."

"Hmm.  Maybe.  I thought of naming it after a gem or something.  I can't really think of anything."  Cleva gently placed the egg on a pillow and sat next to it.  "You think it'll hatch normally?"

"Like a normal egg or sped up?"

"That's what I'm worried about.  I don't want it to age at the speed I got pregnant."

"I don't think that the curse would work like that.  I think that the dragon wife would want her husband to have the full experience."  Both dragons gave a nervous and awkward chuckle.

Cleva looked over to Garble and walked over to him to change the subject.  "What's bothering you?"

"I'm going on a date with Blaze," Garble groaned.

"...Oh.  That's weird."

"That's weird?  You laid an egg but me dating my friend is weird?"  He lied face first into his pillow.

"Okay, so we have different opinions on weird."

"You wanna talk?" Spike asked.

"Talking is what got me into this," Garble replied muffled by the pillow.

"Hey, you know who Blaze is."

"Yeah," Cleva said.  "You can just talk about things that are normal."

"She's a chick now," Garble groaned.

"Okay, I understand wanting to be alone," Spike said.  "Come on, Cleva, we're just talking to a wall at this point."  Spike and Cleva left, taking the egg with them.  Garble stared up at the ceiling and groaned some more.





"And there we go," Rarity said finishing up the last suit.  "Just in your size."  Spear and Garble were trying their suits on.

"I've gotta say," Spear said, "This is really comfy."

"What do you think of my dress?" Flicker asked showing off her ballgown dress.

Spear was blushing immensely as she walked over to him.  "Beautiful."

Garble looked over to a pouty Blaze, who was wearing an emerald sheath dress.  "I think you look nice," Garble said trying to play it cool.

"Whatever," Blaze groaned, "Where are we going?"

"Pinkie's got Sugarcube Corner set up just for you," Rarity said.  "Oh, Starlight."

"Yes?" Starlight asked walking into the room.  "Wow, you guys look great."

"Thank you," Flicker said.  "Could you teleport us to...  Where we going?"

"Sugarcube Corner," Rarity said.

"Right, there."

"Okay then," Starlight said charging up her horn.  She teleported the four dragons to the bakery.

Once there, Pinkie bounced into the room as she was finishing setting up two tables for the dates.  "Good, you're here," she said cheerfully.  "I've got everything ready for you."  The dragons sat at the tables and Pinkie got some apple cider for the dragons.  "I'll get your meals soon."  As the pink pony skipped away the two dates began to talk.

"So, I think it would be nice to visit Ponyvillie from time to time," Flicker said.

"Really?" Spear asked.  "I kind of not wanting to fly all the way here and back.  You know what I mean?"

"I'm sure you can beat your laziness for a trip or two.  I can't believe we've made fun of these ponies."

"Yeah."  Spear and Flicker were having a good time, Blaze was just laying her head on the table.

Garble decided to break the silence.  "So, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like crud," Blaze groaned.  "Why did I agree to this?  I should've just stayed in the castle.  Stupid broken wing."

"Look, I'm just deciding to go along with all of this."  Garble looked at his friend and noticed that her eyelids were colored green.  "Did your eyes change color?"

"What?  No."

"I mean your eyelids.  When did they turn green?"

"It's probably just some eyeshadow," Pinkie said bringing in some plates of food.

The black dragoness's eyes darted.  "Um, Rarity set me up to it."

"When?" Flicker asked overhearing.  "She was helping me with my hair.  I also got a bit of eyeliner."  She blinked a few times making her eyelashes flutter.

"Did you apply the makeup by yourself?" Pinkie asked.

"Just get them their food," Blaze replied with a bit of a tone.  Pinkie was a bit frightened by this and went to get Spear and Flicker's food.

"Your hair looks nicer too," Garble said blushing a bit.

"So, Vixen got me to do it," Blaze replied crossing arm.

"You do look pretty."  The dragoness raised an eyebrow.  "Nice.  You look pretty nice."

"I don't think he should even hide it," Spear whispered to Flicker.

"Spear," Flicker said.

"Hey, it's true."

Garble took a deep breath and just started eating his spaghetti and noticed some gem hidden underneath.  "Sweet, gems," he said as he tossed one of the gems into his mouth.

"Thanks for noticing," Pinkie said giving Spear and Flicker their food.

Flicker saw that her salad had some emeralds and rubies mixed in with it.  She felt a little nervous about it the red gem thanks to the whole reason why she and her friends were there.  Nevertheless, she enjoyed her vegetable and gem salad.

Blaze, however, just started are her spaghetti and sighed.  "You know," Spear said looking over to the other table, "I can take that off your hands if you don't want it."

"Are you and Flicker just going to suck face?" Blaze replied angrily grabbing her fork and placing her food in her mouth.  "I don't know they gave us these."

"You never asked," Pinkie giggled as she walked back to the kitchen.

"So...  Did you do your own makeup?" Garble asked.

"So what if I did?" Blaze asked trying to play innocent.

"You still came along for this dating thing."  Blaze didn't reply, but Garble noticed that she wasn't making eye contact with him.  "Something wrong?"

"I was hungry and I wanted to see what these ponies can cook."

"Probably could've stayed at the castle, but Spike would probably say something about that," Garble thought.

They didn't say anything else as they ate their food.  While Blaze just grumbled as she ate hers she did look at Garble when he wasn't looking at her.  She kept trying to keep up her attitude when she nearly got caught.  When the dragons finished their food there were only little bits of gemstones left.

"Man, that was good," Spear said.

"Hope you guys have room for dessert," Pinkie said in a sing-songy voice.  She brought out a slice of cake for each other dragon.

"Oh boy," Flicker cheered.

"Hey, Pinkie," Garble said, "You know that hodgepodge of a creature."

"You mean Discord?"

"Yeah, him.  I was think we tried to give him another chance.  That way we could try and fix things.  Right, Blaze?"  The dragoness didn't really say another as just looking at her dress.  "Blaze?"

"Huh?" Blaze said snapping back to reality.  "What are we talking about?"

"Discord."

"That guy.  I just wanna forget about him."

"Really?  Okay."

Pinkie simply gave the two of them their cake slices and walked back to the kitchen.

"You know, I don't know why they say "everypony, nopony, somepony," and stuff like that," Garble said.  "How hard is it to say "everyone?"

"I know," Blaze said.

"It's like, "Hey, let's change some words around to confuse everyone.  Oh, I mean everpony."  Both of them shared a giggle from this.

"I mean, what's next?  "Everydragon?"  The dragoness was nearly crying from laugh but quickly caught herself.  "Okay, my face is still dry.  I nearly ruined my eyeshadow."  She took a bite of her cake and her eyes widened.  "Wow, this is good."

"Kind of reminds me of the cake Cleva had for her baby shower."  Blaze's expression went back down as she heard this.  "Poor choice of words."

"So, where are we going to go after this?" Spear asked Flicker.

"Maybe we could take a look at a movie," Flicker said.  "Spike said they had loads."

"I'm just going to stargaze," Blaze groaned finishing the last of her cake.  She didn't say anything else and ran out of Sugercube Corner.

"Wait, hold on," Garble said as he flew after her.  Because Blaze couldn't use her wings, Garble had an easy time of catching up to her.  "Where are you going?"

"Far from here."

"Just stop a minute."  He noticed the running was making her wing bounce a bit, causing her a bit of pain.  Garble landed in front of Blaze, stopping her in her tracks.  "You're hurting yourself."

"I'd rather do that be some wimp."

"Okay, what's your deal?"

"You know what.  Even if I become a girl pushover, I'll just get kicked out of by my parents."

Garble was confused by this.  "What are you talking about."

Blazed sighed.  "What makes you think that our parents are going to let me live with them if I'm like this?"  The dragoness was struggling to hold back some tears.  "You know our parents take dragon lineage seriously.  You know our parents don't think to kindly of ponies, I mean...  Just remember what your mom said."

He rubbed his neck.  "Yeah.  And I agreed with her.  I feel like an idiot."

"Me too.  They've been trying to help me and the others.  I don't even know what to think anymore."

"Is that why you were silent?"

"Yeah.  I've just got...  Mixed feelings."  Blaze looked at Garble before turning away and blushing.

"What...  Are those feelings?"

The dragoness groaned.  "It's you.  I've got feelings for you.  I can't help it.  It's probably that dumb ruby."

"Yep.  A dumb... G-gemstone."

"Did you stutter?"

"...Yes."

"Thought so.  My life is just a wreck now.  My parents aren't going to accept me, I'm as weak as peddle, and now my friend has the hots for me."

"What do you mean you're weak?"

"I stuck my horns stuck in a river.  I'm not the strongest dragon but used them to pry a boulder out a closed cave."

"Hey, there was water pushing against you.  Not to mention you got hit by lightning and your wing was broken."

She looked back at the still bandaged wing.  "Okay, so you've got that."

"I mean, I got stuck under a boulder during the Gauntlet of Fire.  Where Spike had to help me."  He sighed.  "Really regret treating him like a wimp."  Both were quiet for some time.

"So, like the makeup?"

"Kind of.  I really do like what you did with your hair."

"Yeah.  I thought if I was going to be dragged into this I might as well look good."

"I don't think you needed the eyeliner, or whatever Pinkie called it."  Blaze was intrigued by this and rubbed off her eyeshadow.  There was a bit still smudged on her face which Garble helped remove.

"How do I look now?" She looked more excited now with a bit of blushing.

"You still look great."  With both dragons blushing, they noticed that they were both reaching out for each other's claw.

"You know this is still very weird."

"Yeah, it is."  Both dragons recover and kept their claws to themselves.

"What were you doing?" Spear asked as he and Flicker flew up to them.

"Nothing," Blaze said.

"You're both blushing," Flicker said.  "Were you going to kiss?"

"NO!"  Garble covered Blaze's mouth as they all looked around to make sure nobody heard her.  They saw some windows turning on and the dragon hid in the shadows.

"I think we should head back to the castle," Garble said quietly.  The three agreed with him and once the attention died down, they flew back towards the castle.





Spike was carrying a basket of the dragons' swimwear as the double dates flew in through the window.  "Wow, you came back fast," he said.

"We left a little early," Blaze said rubbing her arm.

"Well, just let me take care of these first.  Then I'll get you guys some a film."

The dragons walked down the hall.  In one room they could Rainbow Dash helping Cleva with some push-ups.  "You're doing great," Dash said.  "You'll get rid off that baby fat in no time."

In another room they walked past, Rarity was helping Vixen apply makeup.  "I don't that lipstick is for me," Vixen said.

"Don't worry," Rarity said, "Not many are fond of it either."

Spear and Flicker heading into the guest room and Garble was about to follow them, but Blaze was walking towards the castle's balcony.  The dragoness looked out towards the clear starry night.

"The sky looks nice tonight," Garble said walking towards Blaze.

"Yeah, it does," Blaze said.  Both looked up at the stars as their claws slowly inched towards each other.  "You really think that my parents will accept this?"

"If they don't, I think my parents will let you stay with us."

"If you say so.  Just remember, they're not like ponies."

"I know.  Just know, I'm here for you."  Garble surprised Blaze by giving her a hug, which she embraced.

"Thanks, Garble."  The embraced lastly for a while until Spike walked up to them.

"Umm...  I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked.

"No," Garble said still hugging the dragoness.

"Okay.  The movie is about to start.  You want to join in?"

"Give a few minutes," Blaze said.

"Alright.  I'd recommend changing into sleepwear."  Spike walked away as Garble and Blaze let go of each other.

"Finally.  I've been getting tired of dragging this dress around."  Both of them walked off to get to out of the dress and suit.  "I don't know how Flicker could drag her dress around.

Spear and Flicker had their sleepwear on and were both sharing a bed.  Cleva and Vixen were in their beds, with the purple dragoness having curlers in her hair.  Garble and Blaze had changed into the same kind of clothing.  "You made it," Spear said.  "I thought you were going to watch the stars."

"Well, we were curious on what you were going to watch," Garble said.

"It's a favorite of mine," Spike said showing them the empty film case titled "Power Ponies Origins."  "It's based off my favorite comic series.  It's got action and cool characters."

"Sounds awesome."

"Sit down on have some popcorn."  Spike pulled out a bowl and tossed some popcorn kernels into the air.  He hit them with his fire breath to pop them and then caught them in the bowl.

"Nice," Blaze said as Spike handed her the bowl.   She and Garble sat down on the same bed as the film started.

Later, Garble was enjoying the movie so far, when he noticed Blaze failing to hide a smile.  "What's wrong now?"

"We can't stay here forever.  Don't you think our parents are worried?"

"Probably."

"I know they're going to come looking for us.  You know what happened last time?"

"Don't remind me.  Look, we'll tell the others in the morning.  Let's just enjoy the film until then."

Filly Second was running around at incredible speed, much to her shock.  "I've never gone this fast in my life," she cried as she started enjoying it.

"Super speed would be cool," Garble said.

"Yeah," Blaze agreed.  "Would be weird having control of hair."

After the film ended, Flicker had passed out and Spear nuzzled against her.  Blaze was quite drowsy and passed out leaning on Garble's shoulder.  "Aw, you two look so cute," Vixen said looking over to them.

"Thanks, I guess," Garble said.  The lights went out and the dragons went to sleep.  Garble was taking more time than the others as he hugged Blaze.  He thought what was going back in the dragon lands as his eyelids were getting heavy.  "One more day."  With these words, he passed out with him and Blaze snuggling each other throughout the night.
> Heading Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Garble was sleeping soundly until he noticed that Blaze had gotten out of bed.  "Blaze?" Garble said drowsily.  "Why are you up so early?"

"I'm getting ready to head home," she replied.  "Plus, everyone else is awake."  Blaze and Garble were the only dragons in the room.

"Oh."  The drake was taken by surprise as Blaze dragged him out of bed.  "Okay, I'm going."  Garble rubbed his eye as he walked down the hall with Blaze.

They found the other dragons in the kitchen, where Spike was cooking breakfast.  "Oh, hey, you're up," Spike said.  "Even Spear got up before you."

"Yeah," said the said dragon.  "What took you guys."

Blaze looked at Garble who simply nodded.  "Guys," she said, "I think it's time we head home?"

"What?" Flicker gasped.

"Think about it.  Our parents are probably freaking out on where we are.  You think they would listen to Ember saying that we were with ponies.  I don't mean to be offensive, I'm just being honest."

Vixen held her arm.  "She right," she sighed.  "We can't stay here forever."

"But what about Blaze's wing?" Cleva said.  "She can't fly."

"I can carry her," Garble said.

"But...  My egg.  We should wait for it to hatch first."

"I can get you a bag," Spike said.

Flicker saw Cleva's worried expression.  "Is something bothering yo..." the white dragoness didn't have time to finish as her friend explained the problem.

"What if I drop it?" Cleva cried.  "I could lose my grip or if I do use a bag what if the straps break?"

"Cleva," Spike said.  "Just breathe."  The soon to be mother did so finally calming down.

"It's really going to bite leaving here," Vixen said.

"I know," Garble said, "I was starting to like the place."

"That is something I thought I would never hear from you," Spike said.

"We have to at least say by to Twilight and her friends," Flicker said.

"Right," Garble said.

After the mane six got to the castle, Spike helped Cleva up the gifts she got from the baby shower.  "I'm sorry you girls have to go," Fluttershy said to Flicker.  "You will come and visit us, right?"

"I think so," Flicker said.

"I hope so," Rarity said,  "It was fun making dresses for you."

"Yeah, they do look nice."

"Speaking of nice, Vicky, your hair looks lovely."

Vixen blushed as the unicorn noticed her now curly hair.  "Thanks," she said.  "I hope we can do this more in the future."

"Well, I thought I would give you a parting gift."  Rarity pulled some bras and loincloths out of her bag.  "I took a look at the clothes that you brought over from the dragon lands.  I thought since you were stuck like this, I'd make you something that is more fitting."

"Thanks, Rare," Flicker said.  "This going...  To make feel a little awkward."

"Well, the boys' clothing from the Dragon Lands is all the information I could get."

"I understand," Vixen said.

Rainbow Dash was flying next to Garble, who had changed back into his Dragon Lands outfit, which was just a loincloth.  "Is that seriously all you dragons wear?" Dash asked.

"We don't really care about what our clothes look like," Garble replied, "We just cover the parts we don't want to see."

"I guess that makes sense.  Now, where are the girls?"

"Right here," Blaze said showing off her bra and loincloth as did Flicker, Cleva, and Vixen.

"What do you think?" Vixen asked.

"...Wow," Garble said not knowing what to say.

"Alright, Cleva," Spike carrying a bag of baby shower gifts, "Everything is pack."

"Are you sure about this?" Cleva asked.

"Don't worry, I've put your egg in a special bag."  The bag showed the dragoness was specifically made to carry the egg.  The bag's straps allowed it to be worn like any ordinary backpack, which Spike demonstrated by placing it on Cleva's back.

"Well, it feels secure."

"If it makes you feel better," Vixen said, "I can carry your gifts."  The purple dragoness placed the bag of gifts onto her back.

"So, are we ready to go," Spear asked.

"I think so," Garble said walking over to Blaze.

Spike walked out onto the balcony.  He looked down at the ponies and saw there was very few.  "You're clear for taking off," he said.  Spike was taken by surprise as the dragons gave him one final hug and they flew away.

Garble was carrying Blaze, who was holding onto him tight.  "Easy," Garble said.  "I've got you."  Blaze just tightened her grip, making Garble sigh.  It was going to be a long trip home.





Flicker and Spear held each other's hand and even nuzzling each other.  Vixen was flying under Cleva to make sure she didn't drop her fragile cargo.  The brown dragoness kept looking towards her back to double check on her egg.

"How much further?" Cleva asked.

"We're almost there," Blaze said looking towards the horizon.

Flicker sighed, "I'm still so nervous."

"You've got nothing to be nervous about," Spear said kissing her cheek.

A green teenage drake flew up to Vixen.  "Hey, there," he said.  "You're a fine chunk of gemstones."

"What does that even mean?" Vixen asked.

"What can I say to somebody so fine.  Your friends are already taken or too chunky."

"I'm not chunky," Cleva cried.  "I've got an egg with me."

"Another reason I'm going for your friends."

"Let me think about that," Vixen said.  She took the drake by surprise by whacking him with her tail.  The drake nearly lost control and flew away from them.

"I don't even know why I tried.  You're an ugly girl."

"That's something we're going to have to get used to, isn't it?" Cleva questioned.

"I think so," Vixen said.

"There's our stop," Blaze said pointing to the dragon lands.

As they came down for a landing they took a while to look at their surroundings.  They grew up in this place, but it felt...  Alienated.  Several dragons were fighting over who was getting gems or a new mate.  Flicker felt very nervous about being here, but she tried her hardest to stay brave.

"So, where do you think our parents are?" Flicker asked.

"There you are," Dragon Lord Ember said landing in front of them.  "Do you know how hard I've been trying to keep your parents under control?"

"Well, sorry," Blaze said sarcastically.  "It's not every day you and your friends switch genders thanks to a stupid ruby."

"Why are you holding Garble's hand?"

Garble saw he was holding hands with his friend.  "We can explain," he said.

"Explain it to your parents.  I've got other things to take care of."  Before they could say anything else, Ember took off.

"Well, she seems angry," Cleva said.

"Can you blame her?" Vixen asked.  "Let's just find our parents."  They walked off, but Flicker seemed frozen.

"Flick, come on," Spear said.  "We here."

"I can't," Flicker said.  "What if she kicks me out.  It's going to be like molting all over again."

"That was just a phase.  You made it this far."

"Plus, you were the one who helped us through this," Cleva said.  "You think I would deliver this egg safely if you didn't stop me."

The white and scared dragoness rubbed the back of her head.  "Okay, let's do this," she said.  As the walked towards the caves, she held onto her boyfriend's hand as they found two large dragonesses, both were around nine feet tall.  One was mostly purple and the other was soft khaki, with bright orange scales on her chest and scarlet spines.

"Muddle, I just can't help but worry about them," the purple dragoness said.

"Javelin, I know," said the khaki one.  "But Dragon Lord Ember said they were alright.  She wouldn't lie to us."

Spear and Flicker looked at each other before taking a deep breath.  They walked over to the worried dragons and grabbed their attention.  "Excuse me," Spear said, "I..."

"Puffy," cried Javelin hugging her son.  "I was so worried about you.  Where have you been?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, I'm glad you're safe," Muddle said.  "But where is..."  She stopped as she saw Flicker, who was looking bashful.  "Fizzle?"

"H.. Hey, m...  Mom," Flicker said quietly.

"What happened to you?"

"A magical ruby.  It's not just me.  My friends...  Were also unlucky."  The rest of the dragonesses came out of hiding and both mothers were speechless.  "We're stuck like this.  We tried to find someone to fix this and I was worried about you kick..."  Flicker could finish as her mother hugged her tightly with her eyes flooded with tears of joy.

"I don't care what you are.  I'm just glad you're back."  Muddle kissed her daughter's cheek multiple times.  "Don't scare me again."

"I won't.  But what about my friends?"

"I'll go tell their mothers," Javelin said.  She flew off with the new dragonesses feeling worried, especially Cleva.

"Cleva, what do you have on your back?" Muddle asked.

Cleva felt very awkward as she took the bag off her back.  "It's an egg," she said.  "One that...  I laid."  She cringed by just saying that.  Muddle's jaw just hung open until her daughter closed it.

The rest of the parents flew over to see their new daughters.  "I can't believe it," Cleva's mom said.  "My son...  Daughter laid an egg."

"I know," Cleva replied.

"How?  And wh..."

"The less you know the better."

Blaze froze when she saw her mother looking.   Her expression was far from happy.  "Don't do this again," she said.

"Noted," Blaze replied.

"I'm going to have to get used to having a daughter.  What about you Vixen?"

Vixen's mother, (who also shared the same name) was hugging her daughter so tight that she struggled to breathe.  "Mom," the young Vixen said, "I can't breathe."

"Sorry, sweetie," the mother said.  "I was just so scared for you."

"I know.  We wanted to tell you but..."

"We understand.  So, what do we call you now?"

"Well...  Girls, this is very awkward."

"You think?" Blaze asked.  "Look, we've got some new names from...  A friend."

"Well, what are they?" Javelin asked.

After taking a deep breath, she explained.  "My name is now Blaze, Fizzle's is not Flicker, Clump is now Cleva, and Vex is... Vixen."

"But that's also my name," said Vixen's mother.

"If it helps," said the younger Vixen, "I could just be called Vicky."  The dragoness gave a nervous chuckle as her mother just hugged her again.

"I do like what you did with your hair.  Maybe you could attract someone you like."

"And here we go."

"Though it might be a bit hard."  Vicky just groaned as she was used to her mother trying to get her a mate.

"I'm going to have to have a hard time to get used to," Blaze's mother said.  "Wait a minute, what happened to your wing?"

"Well, I tried to get home earlier when we couldn't fix this," Blaze said.  "It's was a stormy night, so I got struck by lightning, crashed in a river, and then got attacked by timber wolves."

Her mother was horrified.  "Those stupid ponies."

"There were several trees, and it was being careless."

"GARBLE!" cried a voice which made the red drake tremble.  An orange dragoness who was his mother stomped towards them.  "Where have you been?"

"Mom, I..." Garble couldn't even speak as his mother stopped him.

"You don't fly off without me knowing.  You were gone for days."

"Trying to fix this," Blaze said.

"Stay out of this."

"You're not even questioning that my son is now a daughter," Blaze mother asked.

"Stay out of this, Clip."  Clip (Blaze's mother) was offended by this.  She would've stomped over to her, but Javelin stopped her.  "Your father and I are going to have a serious talk with you."  Garble was dragged away by her mother as his friends and mothers stay behind.

"Look, Fizz...  Flicker," Muddle said correcting herself, "Let's just get back to our cave.  I've got some gems waiting for you."  Each dragon flew off with their respective mother.

"It's so weird that all your friends are female," Javelin said to Spear flying to their cave.  "Your relationship is so weird."

"It is mom," Spear groaned.  "Please, don't make it worse."

"How can it be worse?  You two are still friends.  In fact, she seems really close to you."  Spear gulped a little.  "Something wrong, Puff?"

"No, we're fine."

"We?"

"Let's just get back to the cave.  I wonder how the others are doing."

Flicker followed Muddle back to their cave.  "I kind of think you look cuter now," Muddle said pinching Flicker's cheek.

"Mom, stop it," Flicker groaned while blushing.  The mother did stop but Flicker could see some teens looking at her.  This made her feel nervous.

"Just ignore them Flicker."

"Okay."  As they walked away from them, Flicker thought to herself.  "I knew this might happen.  Just remember, Spear is my boyfriend.  But our moms don't know this.  Just got to stay quiet.

Vicky followed her mother who was pacing back and forth.  "Well, this is going to be hard," Vixen said.

"Mom, it's not a big deal," Vicky said.  "I've gotten over thi..."

"But you're a dragoness.  You said a ruby would cause this?  What could sapphire do?  Or an emerald."

"Mom, it was a cursed ruby.

"I'm just saying there could be others.  I'm not making your situation worse.  Who knows, there could be a diamond that turns you back into an egg."

"Mom, I know you're just trying to watch out for me, just let take a break.  I'm tired from flying all the way over here."

"You're right.  I'll get you something to eat.  Just got to make sure every gem is safe for you."  Vicky just sighed as her mother flew away, though she also cracked a smile.

Cleva was following her mother (named Gronkle) back to their cave.  There were several dragons ranging from young adults to toddlers.  There was a large red drake with blue eyebrows was watching over them until Gronkle and Cleva walked towards.

"Hey, dad," Cleva said nervously as she held her egg.

"Clump?" the father questioned.

"It's a long story."

"It is weird, but we're grandparents now," Gronkle said.

The father and his new daughter looked at each other.  "She's taking too well," he said.

"I know," Cleva replied.

"Kids," Gronkle cried grabbing the attention of her children.  They had suspicion and confusion on seeing their former brother's state.

"I can explain."

Blaze meanwhile, was following her mother, who was still mad at her, yet she was also relieved her child was alright.  Clip opened her mouth a couple of times, but she didn't know how to say.  "Mom," Blaze said, "You don't need to say anything.  I know this is weird, can we drop it?"

"Sure," Clip said.  "But right now, you're grounded.  You can't just fly off without me knowing."

"Right."  Blaze didn't say anything she just walked into the cave.

"Where are you going?" said a male voice.  A teenage drake was eyeing Blaze.  "Why is someone as good looking as you walking into the dark?

"Get lost!  Mom."

"On it," Clip said whacking the drake away with her tail.  "I'm going to check on your friends.  Don't leave the cave.  Got it?"  Blaze just nodded, then her mother flew away.  The dragoness lied down and cringed on how rough the rocks were.

"I miss the beds."

Garble was in a similar position that Blaze was.  Ground and stuck in the cave.  "You can stay in here until I can trust you again," his mother said.  He didn't complain as he knew he wouldn't be able to win arguing with his mother.  He just laid against the wall and sighed.

"Why did I have to get spoiled by the beds?" Garble questioned.  "Maybe that drake was onto something during the Gauntlet of Fire."  He lay his side as he saw rock and emerald and immediately thought of Blaze.  They'd only been apart from each other for about five minutes and he already missed her.  "Love is flipping weird."

When night fell, Flicker was looking at the night sky.  She was glad to be home, but after spending time with Spike and ponies, the dragons' behavior felt too different for her.  "Hey," Spear said landing next to her.  "Feels good to be back, huh?"

"Yeah," Flicker said.  Her boyfriend wrapped his arm around her shoulder.  "Spear, someone will see us."

"Flicker, my mom's asleep, and I'm pretty sure your's is."

"Well, not me," said Ember landing next to them.  The two were surprised by the Dragon Lord landing next to them.  "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No," both said trying to play innocent.

Ember raised an eyebrow in confusion.  "So, did you find anything about that ruby?"

"Twilight said it was cursed by an angry wife," Spear said.  "She had enough of her husband's crud and made him a her.  And made him lay an egg like Cleva.  Don't ask."

"I don't think I want to.  So, Flicker, enjoying the new you?"

"Yep," Flicker replied.  "Though, some things may be weird to you now."

"You just said a friend laid an egg, I'm sure I can take anything else you throw at me."

"If you say so," Spear said.  He grabbed his girlfriend by the shoulder and the two share kiss.  "How's that?"

"Still great," Flicker said softly.

"I'm gonna be honest," Ember said, "I thought this might happen."  The Dragon Lord's attention was grabbed by something hiding behind some rocks, sticking out like a sore thumb.  She flew down to it and found a bag with a blanket, footie pajamas, and a giraffe plush toy.  "What the heck are these things?"

"Cleva's gifts.  I don't know how they got here."

"Where did she get these?"

"Let me catch you up," Spear said.  "Basically, ponies throw this kind of party called a baby shower.  They give gifts for the mom that's about to deliver a baby.  I don't understand it, to be honest."

"Probably wouldn't mix with a dragon's greed."

"I don't know why Cleva or Vicky would hide these."

Ember was a bit confused.  "Those are our friend's new names," Spear explained.

"Ah," Ember said.  "I think I know why they hid these.  You know dragons and ponies don't have the best relationship.  I kind of blame my dad on it."

"Makes sense."

Flicker held the gifts.  "I think we should tell our parents," she said.

"Are you crazy?" Spear cried but at the same time tried to keep quiet.

"She's not half wrong," Ember said.  "Some are easier than others, but I think it would be a good idea to have dragons get over the "Oh, ponies are pushovers when I raid their gold."  Spear snicked her mocking most dragons.

"You sure it'll work."

"Relax, you've learned friendship power or whatever they call it.  I'm sure if we can get tough guys like Garble to learn it, we can get any dragon to learn it.  Now, I'd get back to your cave before your moms have another freakout."

"Right," Flicker said.  "See you in the morning Spear."  She kissed her boyfriend's cheek before flying away.  Spear hid the bag back where they found and he and Ember took off.





When the sun rose, Cleva was woken up by her mother.  "Wakey, wakey," Gronkle said.

"Mom, let me sleep," Cleva groaned.

"But you're going to be a mother, you need to learn to wake up early."

"Mother...  My egg!"  She jolted up and looked around to find her egg was safely resting in Gronkle's arms.  "Oh, good."

"So, I was thinking of having you watch your younger siblings help you get ready."

"Okay, just please make sure my egg is okay."

"I will."  Two dragon toddlers ran past them and Cleva ran after.

"Guys, wait up, I'm still working off the baby fat."  She chased the two outside she could her friend, Vicky sulking.  "Morning, Vicky.  You...  Don't look happy."

"My mom is trying to help get used to being dragoness," Vicky said.  "I got used to it two days ago."

"I think that's getting used to being a girl."

"Oh.  Oh, I see you mean now."

"Vicky," Vixen called flying towards her.  "I found some gem that'll make you look great."  Vixen gave her daughter some golden bracelets and a pearl necklace.

"Mom, these look very nice, but..."

"You need to look nice for a good drake."

"Why do I even try?"

"Now, come on, let me get you some flirting tips."

"Well, see you later, Cleva."  The two Vixens flew into the air as Cleva turned back to her younger siblings.

"I hope the others are doing better than me," Cleva sighed as she tried to catch the younger dragons.

Gronkle was making sure her future granddaughter as she saw the other mothers.  "Hey, girls," she said.

"Hey," Javelin said.  "How's your new daughter doing?"

"I'm trying to teach her how to take care of children.  She's trying to take care of her youngest sisters."  The mothers looked to Cleva finally catching the toddlers with the three of them starting to share a laugh.

"That's so cute," Muddle said.

"I know."

"You're taking this pretty well," Clip said.

"I figure the less I think about the weirdness, the better."

"Kind of wish they told us about this, we could've helped them."

"Yeah," Javelin said, "But they're fine now."

"But did they get the help?" Garble's mom (named Caldera) questioned.

"Maybe they just ran away."

"No," Muddle said, "They said they had help from a friend."

Caldera was thinking of who could've helped their children.  "You know, I heard that Dragon Lord Ember is trying to get a better relationship with the ponies," Javelin said.

Caldera's eye narrowed after hearing this.  "No," she growled.  "You know ponies are nothing but selfish vermin.  Sticking their noses where they don't belong."

"We know," Clip groaned.  "Wish the former Dragon Lord didn't bash that into our skulls."

"Not to mention he's dead wrong," Cleva said under her breath.

"What was that sweetie?" Gronkle asked.

"Nothing."  Cleva went back to taking care of her younger siblings.

"So, where are your kids?"

"I've been having trust issues with Garble," Caldera said.  "He's been ground and he's staying in the cave."

"Same for Blaze," Clip said.

"Oh," Muddle said, "You know I nearly had a heart attack from Fiz...  Flicker, still getting used to that, from running away.  I just blame her for what happened."

"And I think was just helping his friend," Javelin said.

"You didn't ground them, didn't you?" Clip asked.

"No," both mothers sighed.

"Then where are they now?"

Spear and Flicker were relaxing in a pool of lava.  "Man, I miss the lava baths," Spear sighed sliding into the molten rock.

"Me too," Flicker said sliding closer to the blonde drake.  "I do like the lake but...  This is just blissful."  They both had removed their clothes because for Spear, dragons didn't really have access to fireproofing spells, and Flicker's did have a spell put on them.  "You know, I wonder what you would be like if you got the ruby."

"I'm not sure.  Can't think of any names that could replace Spear."

"Cannonball!" cried some dragons falling down to splash into the lava pool next to the couple.  Flicker quickly got out and moved their clothes out of the way before they could get splashed by lava.  The dragoness didn't think this all the way through as she was fully exposed.  She tried to cover herself as she blushed like crazy.

"Hey, girl," said a drake.

"Don't look," Flicker cried as she put her clothes back on.  Spear jumped in and breathed fire to blind the dragons giving him and Flicker enough time to put their clothes back and fly off.

"You okay?" Spear asked.

"Just embarrassed.  Did we used to act like that?"

"Well, maybe not that bad, but I see what you're getting at."

"How about we check on Garble and see how he's doing."  The two flew to Garble's cave to find the red drake sulking.  "Hey, Garb..."

"Leave me alone," he groaned rolling on his other side to face away from his friends.

"Are you missing the beds too?" Spear asked.  "Because I think I'm spoiled now."

"No...  Well, sort of...  It's also Blaze.  I'm missing her.  My mom grounded me so I can't leave the cave.  Why hasn't she visited me?"

"Know her mom, I'd say she's grounded too."

"Or maybe not.  Maybe she doesn't even want to meet her friend who might be her boyfriend."

"We haven't seen her since yesterday," Flicker said.  "Wait, did you call yourself her boyfriend?"

"Well, we not that kind of couple.  I mean, we didn't really kiss."  Garble gave a nervous and awkward chuckle.  "Could you just check on her."

"I will."  Flicker away as Spear stay to comfort his friend.

"It's nice to be back home, right?" Spear asked.  Garble just groaned.  "If it makes you feel better, Ember's trying to make the relationship between ponies and dragon it less hateful."

"Dragons think ponies are pushover and ponies think we're just mindless warriors," Garble said.

"Hearing that coming from you makes me think the girls weren't the only ones changed.  Did you gain some more brain power?"

"Depend, can you get up before noon without the need of catapult?"  Both boys shared a laugh.

"You know, we were real jerks.  Can't believe we treated Spike like a punchbag back then."

"Yeah, he really kicked my tail when he teamed up with Ember."

"I don't know how anyone was supposed to survive that trial."  They stay silent for while as Garble sighed.

"My mom is going to have a fit when she knows that Blaze and I are in a sort of relationship.  She used to be a dude and so did Flick.  I can't believe how your moms reacted."  Spear rubbed the back of his head.  "You didn't tell them?"

"No.  I just wanted to spend more time with Flicker."

"I bet Blaze has the same reaction."

"You can't be serious," Blaze said to Flicker.  The black and green dragoness passed around her cave with the white and pink one feeling nervous.  They then notice Vicky walking outside.

"Vicky," Flicker said, "How are you doing?"

"Bad," Vickey replied taking her jewelry off.  "My mom is still trying to get me a mate.  I don't even bother trying to stop her."

"Well, how did it go?"


Five minutes earlier


Vicky and Vixen were walking towards some drakes that were sitting in a lava pool.  Vicky had some more jewelry and some eyeliner on her eyelids, which her mother made from crushing some rocks.  "Go and get them, sweetie," Vixen said pushing her daughter towards the drakes.

The dragoness walked towards them, putting some extra swing in her hips.  "Hey, boys," Vicky said not a hundred percent confident.

"What do you think?" one of the drakes asked his friend.

The two drakes walked up to her and ripped off her golden bracelets.  "I don't know," the other said.  "I'm not into a dragon with an underbite."

"Hey," Vicky cried as she tried to get her bracelets back, "It's not that big."

"Yeah, but with your teeth, it's hard to miss," the drakes joked before laughing.

"Look at her unibrow," said a dragoness landing behind Vicky and laughing with her friends.

"Would rather go through the Gauntlet of Fire every day then look at you."  The teens laughed as they took off Vicky's jewelry.  The purple dragoness was nearly crying as her mother stepped in and knocked the teen to the side.  She looked towards her daughter who had flown away.

"And that's what happened," Vicky said as some tears managed to escape.

"You don't a mate like that," Flicker wiping her friend's tear as well as her eyeliner.

"Maybe I didn't have enough makeup."

"What are you talking about?" Blaze asked.

"I thought it would help me get this dating thing over with.  I've been used to my mom trying to get me dates, the girls just want me to help them get gems and gold.  Now think of what boys want."

"Screw them.  I would just be the crud out of anyone who tries to get to know me for just for looks.  Garble wants me because we like a lot of the same sports as tail wrestling.  Man, I wish I wasn't stuck in this cave with this stupid wing."

"I'm sure it'll heal soon," Flicker said.

"Vicky, where are you?" Vixen asked flying around.  The dragoness waved towards her mother who soon landed in front of her.  "Look, I know that didn't go so well, but we can try again."

"Or you could let her speak," Blaze said.

"What do you mean?"

"I want to take a break from dating until I recover," Vicky stated.  "Besides, I wanna see how Cleva is doing."

"Hmm, alright.  We'll try again later."  The two purple dragonesses flew away with Flicker flying behind.  Blaze just groaned as her wing was still broken.

"Want a lift?" asked a voice which she looked and saw came from Garble.

"Garble?" Blaze gasped.  "You can't be here."

"I know, but I just wanted to see you again."  Garble took her by surprise with a big hug.

"Hey, watch the wing."

"Sorry."  Both teens looked at each other and blushed.  "Wanna go look for gems?"

"Only if you don't hoard them all."  They both chuckled as Garble picked Blaze up and they flew off.





"So, Cleva, how are you doing?" Gronkle asked.

"Way better," Cleva said.  "I think I lost a few pounds.  What about my egg?"  Gronkle handed her daughter the chocolate brown egg which Cleva hugged dearly.  Her eyes widened when she felt it move.  "Oh my gosh.  What do I do."

Gronkle held the egg and could feel why her daughter was nervous.  "Just take a deep breath.  Set it down and let it hatch."  The soon to be mother placed her egg down carefully and walked so she would disturb it.

"This is pretty cute," Javelin said to Gronkle.

"It kind of reminds when Flicker after she hatched," Muddle said.

"Same about Garble," Caldera said.

Vixen and Vicky landed next to the mother and the younger dragoness went to see her friend.  "Sorry I busy girls," Vixen said.  "I was just trying to help her with her new body."

"Already done that," Vicky called.

"So, did this change anything about your kids?" Caldera asked.

"Thankfully, no," Clip said.  "Blaze is still acting like herself."

"Same for Flicker," Muddle said.  Speak of the devil, Flicker flew up along with Spear out of breath.

"Puffy," Javelin said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm just...  Out of breath," Spear said as he and Flicker landed.

"We were just checking on Blaze and Garble."

"Are they still in the caves?" Clip asked.

"Of course," Spear said.  "We heard they were grounded."

"There you are," Ember said flying above the dragons before landing.  "I've been wanting to talk to you."

"Should...  We be in this?" Flicker asked.

"Maybe.  Okay, so, I was wanting to talk about our relationship with the ponies."  Caldera and Clip's eye narrowed after hearing this.

"What did I expect having a minor as our leader?" Caldera asked.

"You forget my father let me be Dragon Lord.  Now, I've been getting word the princess of frien..."

"How can you trust ponies?" Clip asked.

"They actually listen unlike you."  Spear snicked at Ember's comeback with the mothers glaring down at him.  "Anyways, in order to avoid a war breaking out, I've been meeting with the princess with friendship and figuring this friendship thing taken care of."

"You know that dragons by nature are greedy," Caldera said.

"And magma is hot.  The princess has dealt with a lot of crud."

"This is getting boring," Spear whispered to Flicker.  "Let's see how Cleva and Vicky are doing."  They sneaked into the cave where Vicky was holding Cleva's egg.

"I can't believe it's already hatching," Vicky said.

"I know," Cleva said nervously.  "I don't think I'm ready."

"I think you are," Flicker said taking them by surprise.  "You have your mom to help you."

"Yeah, but I can't remember what happened to my gifts."

"I think that's...  My fault," Vicky said.  "I thought our parents would freak at what we brought from Spike and his friends."

"But they were cute," Flicker said.

"Although I think we forgot the crib," Spear said.  There was a sudden roar from outside, they look and saw Clip and Caldera flying away.

"What happened?" Vicky asked Ember.

"I just said I saw Garble and Blaze gem hunting," Ember explained.

Flicker got worried but she and Spear flew after them, with their mothers following behind.  Vicky flew into a different direction to find her bag.

Garble and Blaze had broken a boulder open to find a jackpot of gems.  "Alright," Garble cheered as he picked up his side of the boulder.  Blaze tried picking her's up, but she was having some trouble.

"Dumb body," she groaned as she placed her boulder down.

"You weren't the strongest dragon, remember?"  Garble placed his boulder down so he could help his friends, but another dragon swooped in and stole his half.  "HEY!"

"Ignore him.  We've still got this one."  It took her a few hits but Blaze broke the boulder up into two more half.  They were both able to pick up their halves, but Blaze was annoyed that her wing was still broken.  "That zebra's potion should've worked by now."

"Just give it more time.  Let's get these gems back to our cave before some jerk steals them."

"Like the old you?"  Both managed to share a laugh as well as a look of affection.  They heard two roars and angry mothers flying towards them.  "Oh, crud."

"Garble," Caldera cried landing making the ground shake, "What are you two doing out of your caves?"

"We can explain," Garble said before mother grabbed him by his ear.

"We were just getting gems," Blaze shouted before she was grabbed by her horns.

"You're supposed to be grounded," Clip said.  "You're not having these gems."

"Keep her out of this," Garble said as he was dragged by his ear.  "This was my idea."

"That doesn't excuse..."

"I'm trying to help her cope."  The drake managed to stop as he began to blush.

"Garble, what's wrong?" Caldera asked confused with her son's expression.  The red drake and grey dragoness looked at each and sighed.  Flicker and Spear landed nearby and hid behind some boulders.

"Garble, don't say it," Blaze ordered.

"Say what?" Clip asked.  Spear was going to jump in, but his girlfriend stopped him.

Garble was starting to sweat, he couldn't back out now.  "Blaze...  And I..." He paused, "Are...  ...Are..."

"Spit it out," Caldera ordered.

"We're dating!" He covered his mouth after what he just blurted out.  There was a long silence.  Spear and Flicker came out of hiding and walked over to the speechless mothers.

"Hey," Flicker said nervously.  "So...  He's not wrong."

"Yeah, they can't hide it even if they tried," Spear joked.

"Well, you're in a relationship too," Blaze bringing more shock to the mothers.

"You're dating?" Muddle questioned her daughter after Flicker and the other got back.

"Yes," Flicker sighed.  "I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how you would react."

"Flicky, I still love you."  Muddle her daughter and Javelin was doing the same to her child.

"You two are so cute together," Javelin cheered hugging her son tightly.

"I'm happy too, mom," Spear wheezed, "But could you let me breathe."  She let Spear go and the drake gasped for air.

Clip and Caldera were still gobsmacked at what Garble said.  "I don't know what to think anymore," Clip groaned.  Caldera kept trying to say something, but her confusion was stopping her.

"I'm sorry, mom," Garble said.  "I mean, you would find out at some point, right?"

"Right," Caldera said.  "Just...  How long have been in a relationship."

"Since, yesterday.  We're still trying to figure it out."

"Let's just stop talking about it," Blaze groaned.  "Where's Vicky?"  The said dragoness came flying back with a bag on her back as well as Ember and Vixen following her.  Vicky looked towards the Dragon Lord who nodded as they showed the gift Cleva received at her baby shower.

"What are those?" Caldera questioned.

"My gifts?" Cleva gasped as she picked up the giraffe plushie.

"Where did you get them?"

"From the ponies," Vicky explained.  The golden colored dragoness growled.

"Now, Caldy," Vixen said walking up to her, "Hear her out."

"When Cleva was going to have her egg, the ponies gave her gifts to help her get confident with her baby."

"That's not the only thing they did," Blaze said.  "They also tried to find a cure for our transformation.  They couldn't find one, but they tried."

"They've also told us about friendship," Flicker said.  "It made Garble less of a jerk.  No offense."

"None taken," Garble said.

"So, the ponies helped you," Clip questioned.

"Sounds like it," Ember said.  "The ponies helped your kids with a problem that a dragon caused."  Ember placed her hand on her hip as the mothers were speechless.  "So, you think that trusting the ponies is a bad idea?"

"Well," Caldera said rather embarrassed, "I've...  Been wrong before."

"I guess there are a lot of things we're going to get used to," Clip said.

"Cleva!" Gronkle called walking towards her with the egg.  "Your egg is hatching."  The egg shock a bit as Cleva picked it up.  She started getting nervous as the egg shook, so she lost her grip as her egg landed on the ground.  It stayed intact but started rolling away.

"MY EGG!" Cleva cried in horror.  The egg kept rolling towards a cliff edge.  The dragons couldn't catch up with the egg until Garble thought of something.

"Blaze, I have an idea you're not going to like," he said.

"Just do it," Blaze replied.  Garble picked her up and tossed her towards the cliff edge.  Blaze was able to glide and caught the egg just as it got the cliff.  Her bandaged wing flapped as it was no longer broken and she flew back towards the dragons.  "I got it."

"Blaze, your wing," Flicker said.

She turned to see it was fine.  "I guess it's all better.  Should I also add that a pony's friend helped me with this."  The egg suddenly cracked.  The crack got bigger and bigger until a chocolate brown baby dragon with tiny cream-colored horns popped out of it.  It slowly opened her eyes as Cleva walked toward it with tears of joys in her eyes.  "Here you go."

Blaze gave Cleva the baby as the new mother hugged it.  "Hey, there little one," Cleva said.  She took the baby back towards the cave and showed it the giraffe plushie.  The baby patted the toys head and giggled.  "That's a cute little pat."

"Well, that's a cute name," Gronkle said.

"Pat?"  Cleva's mother nodded as she looked at the baby.  "Alright, we'll call you Pat."  Cleva nuzzled her new baby girl.

"That's so adorable," Javelin said.

"I'm glad she's happy," Vicky said.  Cleva walked over to her and wanted her to hold Pat.  "Cleva, are you about this."

"You helped me while I was pregnant," Cleva said.  "You've been a great friend."  Vicky looked at Pat, who held her arms out and giggled.  Vicky smiled at her friend who she shared a hug with.

Garble was happy for his friends, but his mother still wasn't happy for him disobeying her.  He and Blaze walked flew back to their caves.  "Fun while it lasted," Blaze sighed.

"Yeah, but things are getting better," Garble said.  "I'm we got stuff off our chests.  So, you want to have one last tail wrestle before we're separated?"

"...Sure, I guess."  Their tails were held together and they both tugged.  Garble got the upper hand until Blaze swung him around and the two bumped each other's muzzles.

"Oh, sorry, I..."  Blaze took him by surprise with a kiss.  She was about to pull away, but the two looked into each other's eyes and embraced each other.  As they released the kiss and held each other's hand.

"That...  Felt great."

"It did.  I'll...  See you in a few weeks."

"Don't think I'll go easy on you next time."  Garble chuckled before hugged his girlfriend and flew into the air just before turning around.

"I love you."

"Love you too."  Both smiled as Garble flew back to his cave.





A few weeks later, Spike was taking out the castle trash as he could see something flying towards them.  He squinted a bit and saw it was six dragons.  The landed in front of the young drake.  "You're back," Spike cheered running up to hug Vicky.

"Sorry, we took so long," Garble said.  "Blaze and I were grounded."

"And I've been busy with this cute girl," Cleva said showing Spike her baby, Pat.

"Aw," Spike cooed.  "She's so cute."

"Her name's Pat."  Pat was placed on the ground and she crawled over to Spike, who picked her up.

"So, how are you families taking this?"

"Surprisingly well," Blaze said.  "A bit too well in my opinion."

"Do they know about that double date?"

"Of course," Flicker said leaning against Spear.

"You should've seen the look Caldera's face," Spear chuckled.  "She's Garble's mom."

"Haha," Garble said sarcastically.  "So, it's nice to be back."

"Sure is," Spike said.  "I'll give the girls a call.  Dash said she wanted to challenge one of you to a race."

"What about Rarity?" Vicky asked.  "I've wanted to try some different dresses."

"Vicky, you don't want your mom getting to you," Cleva said, "Do you?"

"Hey, I just want to see what she can do."

"Up for a race," Blaze said giving her wings a flap.

"Alright," Spike said, "Come inside.  I'll try and find them."  The dragons followed Spike inside, but Garble had something to say.

"Hey, Spike," he said, "What happened to that ruby?"

"...Actually, I have no idea."

A few weeks ago, Rainbow Dash had flown all the way to Griffonstone with the ruby in her bag.  She walked to one of the griffons and showed them the ruby.  "You want this?" Dash asked.

"Of course," the griffon said snatching the ruby from the rainbow-haired pony.  Dash flew away as the griffon just shrug why the pegasus left.  The griffon held the ruby in her claw and tried to sell it for cash.  She didn't know about the ruby's power as it began to glow.