> Dragon Chronicles > by Aether Spark > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Rainbow Blitz > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “For the last time Rainbow, no!” Dusk yelled at his Pegasus friend with glaring eyes. Rainbow was kneeling on the ground with his hooves together and with pleading eyes. “But Dusk, it could help me! C’mon, do a buddy a favor.” Rainbow Blitz pleaded “I said no!” Dusk Shine stomped his hoof on the ground for emphases, causing his rainbow friend to flinch a bit. Rainbow Blitz frowned in disappointment as he got up from kneeling. All he wanted Dusk to do was use his magic to help his flying, but according to the unicorn/bookworm… “It will most likely mess with your body once the spell wears out,” Dusk explained once again. All he wanted to do was fly around and see what some of his tricks would look like if his flying were magically improved. Dusk sighed as Rainbow Blitz continued to frown. "I'm sorry Rainbow, but I can't risk you getting hurt," Dusk explained bringing a hoof to the rainbow Pegasus’s shoulder. "I hope you understand," Rainbow Blitz just looked away and gave a quiet "I understand," which the unicorn seemed to accept; giving Rainbow Blitz a quick pat on the back before going to the front door. “Now Rainbow, I am going out to buy some more quills, see you tomorrow,” Dusk said, he walked out of the library, not knowing that his friend had an evil grin. “Good he’s gone, now I can find a book that will help me,” Rainbow proclaimed and began to search around the library. Thirty minutes passed, and read books surrounded rainbow Blitz, he checked all of them, and there was nothing. Many of them had tips and spells, but nothing that he wanted. Finally, after reviewing the 31st book, he snapped “These books are freaking useless!!” Rainbow yelled and threw the book he was checking in rage. The book hit one of the shelves, causing a domino effect on the books on the top shelf. The effect ended when the last book was hit and fell on Rainbows head, then to the floor, opened. “Ow! dumb book! I-“ He glances around at the mess “I… should probably leave before Dusk comes back and kills me…-hey what’s this?” Rainbow questioned when he saw a page on the dusty old book with some ingredients, under it were the words “Improved flying” and his eyes beamed. He found it! He grabbed the book and flew through a window to his home, leaving a mess and an confused purple unicorn that just entered through the front door. In his room, he read the ingredients for the potion. “Okay, a scale of a dragon, the red of a rainbow, a tooth from a dragon, a chip from a unicorn’s horn, and a claw from a dragon,” Rainbow scratched his head with his hoof, he wondered why a majority of ingredients came from a dragon? He eventually reasoned that it was because dragons were good fliers and flew out of his room in search for these ingredients. In Rainbow Blitz’s saddle bag is a chip from a unicorn’s horn. He got it from Elusive when he accidentally chipped it when he was filling his horn, and some red from a rainbow, which was easy being a Pegasus and all, all he needed now where the ingredients from a dragon, and thankfully Spines was usually asleep by this time. He snuck into the library into the baby dragon’s room, where she laid sleeping in her basket. Rainbow quietly flew to Spines and got his equipment ready. With his tweezers, he got a scale off of Spines without waking her, and with a claw clipper, a chunk of her claw. Now came the hardest part, getting a tooth. Taking out his pliers, he slowly brought it to Spines mouth; he was sweating profusely and got hold of one of the fangs, silently hoping that this wouldn't hurt her too much and that she would forgive him for this. “I hope the tooth pony, gives me a bit.” Spines said in her sleep, Rainbow’s eyes widened in disbelief. He lifted the pillow, and sure enough, there was a tooth. He wiped his brow of sweat and grabbed the tooth, and left a bit there just for her. He flew out of the house, his face beaming as he flew home. Rainbow Blitz followed the directions, his eyes switching from the book to the pot that was boiling. When the recipe said that it was ready, he smiled and poured some of the content into a glass. The liquid was green and had yellow steam coming out of it, and it had the smell of cinnamon buns for some odd reason. Rainbow took the glass and raised it. “Down the hatch!” Blitz said He then drank the liquid, when he was finished, he put the glass down and wiped his mouth, surprisingly, it didn’t taste half bad, in fact, it tasted like lemonade. He glanced about his body for a few seconds waiting to see if something would happen, but he didn't feel any different. He shrugged thinking that maybe it would hit him when he's flying. That would have to wait for now however since he was suddenly feeling a little hungry for some reason. "A quick snack first and then some flying," Blitz said as he headed towards his kitchen. He smiled as he thought of what to eat, maybe a ruby or a sapphire?… His eyes widened when that thought came to mind; only dragons ate gems, so why was he suddenly having a craving for them?... Then suddenly, as if he was struck by lightning, he doubled over and felt pain all over his body. “AGH! W-What’s happening?!” he asked himself, his teeth clenched and his eyes closed tight, he felt extreme pain in his wings as his feathers fell off and leather-like skin replaced his fur, as four bony appendages grew out, the same leather-like skin stretched with it, giving him dragon wings. He managed to open his eyes and look at the wings in shock; this was not supposed to happen. He painfully walked up to the book and read the title which was hidden by dust is now visible when he cleared it away; fear plastered his face as he read it “Dragon Potion.” He backed away as his rainbow tail fell off and his spine grew, and got covered with muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and finally, blue scales. He didn’t make a potion that helped him fly better; he made one that was turning him into a dragon! …But why should he be scared? Dragons are much stronger than those puny ponies! His eyes widened when that thought appeared in his head, and he shook his head to get rid of them, he needed to get Dusk and have him stop this. He rushed out of the door and flew through the air. His wings held out to help him glide. Rainbow flew as fast as he could, but because his house was too far away, it would take him forever, it also didn’t help that he felt pain again and was forced to land. None too gently either… His breaths were getting shallow as his back hooves painfully morphed into clawed feet, and his legs were being covered in cyan scales, he sat on his hunches as his fore-hooves morphed into clawed hands, and his forelegs reshaped themselves into arms. He grabbed his head in pain as his muzzle grew longer, and his teeth were replaced with sharper ones, his pupils became slit, and his tongue became forked. He looked at himself and smiled. “I’m looking better than ever.” Rainbow Blitz said, he quickly shook his head to get rid of the thoughts, but they were getting stronger, and harder to resist. His mane fell out as his neck grew longer, his entire body became covered in cyan scales, and his already toned athletic muscles bulged out and grew stronger. From his head to his tail, he grew spines that were multi-colored and in the order red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet. Rainbow Blitz looked at his body, hoping that it was the end, but suddenly he began to grow in size, and he smiled. “Yesss, turn me into a real dragon!” he hissed, he stopped growing when he was over 50 feet tall. His mind has also changed, he was still Rainbow Blitz, only now he thought of dragons as being superior to ponies. He looked over his body and noticed that it was still sleek, he looked at his hand and he flexed his new claws amusedly and then he flexed his arm, admiring the bigger muscles. And his wings were quite a bit larger, still making him the fastest thing in Equestria, but he wanted to test it out. Giving his new wings some flaps, he got into the air, and flew off as fast as he could; he did some aerials, some flips and some tricks that he had practiced when he was a pony, and noticed that his new body was not only easier to control, but faster. He landed on the ground and folded his wings. “This is great!! Not exactly what I expected to happen from drinking that potion, but I’m not gonna argue the results!... And you know something? My friends could also enjoy this!” he thought to himself, but then he realized that he couldn’t force them to drink the potion. That could get ugly fast… so how was he going to spread his gift? After some pondering, Blitz got an idea and flew to his house. Knowing that he couldn’t live there anymore, he ripped off the roof and gently picked up the book. Squinting his eyes, he read something that made him smile. According to the page that mentioned warnings and side effects if he got his saliva on anypony, they would transform into dragons as well. His smile widened as Rainbow Blitz put the book back and flew off to Ponyville, ready to spread his gift. > Butterscotch > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Blitz was at the edge of the Everfree forest hidden by the trees, watching the ponies walk by, and thinking about how he was going to spread his gift. Directly charging out and licking as many ponies as possible will only cause unnecessary panic and as much as Rainbow Blitz was a stallion-… drake of action, he needed to approach this slowly for now. “I could wait until their asleep, but then other ponies are gonna get suspicious when they see missing roofs, broken windows and giant holes in the wall.” Rainbow scratched his chin in thought, this was going to be a lot harder than he thought, he went through many ideas in his head, but none of them would work. If only there were a trick he knew that could help him… The drake smiled in realization, trick, he could fool the ponies to come to him; of course, he would need to find a way to trick them. “It has to be a pony that is easy to trick, one that will almost believe anything,” as he was thinking, a pack of Timber Wolves surrounded him, most likely to protect their territory. Rainbow rolled his eyes and breathed a small patch of fire on the ground, the Timber Wolves backed away whimpering, before hightailing out. He stomped out the fire with his hand. “Ugh, that’s the 4th time today... If only I could stop these animals from trying to challenge me,” for the second time that day, he got an epiphany. He knew who was going to be the first. He went back further into the forest and went off to see a dear friend of his. --- Butterscotch let out a sigh as once again his pet rabbit, Angela, refused to eat her meal. “Please Angela, it’s good for you,” Butterscotch pleaded, pushing the salad towards the rabbit, only to have it knocked away. “Angela you must not be so picky,” Butterscotch said, Angela just hopped away, making the Pegasus sigh. He went to feed the other animals, when he noticed that a bunch of his animals were running into their homes, all with fear on their faces. He became concerned, wondering what was scaring them; cautiously he walked out of his house to see what was scaring them. At first, he didn’t see anything, and he was about to go back inside to try and coax them back out when he came face-to-face with a giant cyan dragon smiling at him. Butterscotch's wings became tightly clamped to his body; he froze in place, his wide eyes staring at the drake. “Something wrong Scotch? Am I scaring you?” Rainbow said teasingly Butterscotch recognized the voice, and the way the Drake said it, but he hoped it wasn’t so. “R-Rainbow Blitz, i-is that you?” Butterscotch stuttered nervously Rainbow frowned at the name. Ever since he became a dragon; he began to feel that that name didn’t sound right. But thankfully, he had recently come up with a name that he felt matched his new form. “Sorry Scotch, it’s not Rainbow Blitz anymore, the name's Zircon now” saying that name brought a smile to his face, it sounded so right to him. Butterscotch looked at his friend in disbelief, not believing what he heard, his friend since flight school, turned into a dragon and changed his name?? “Wh-what happened to you?” Butterscotch trembled “Well Scotch, I found this recipe for a potion that said that it could help me fly better, but as it turned out, it was a potion that changed me into a dragon; Admittedly, I was scared at first, but then I realized that I was stronger, I could fly faster, and my flying skills have greatly improved! It’s all I wanted and more! Now I’ve made it my goal to spread this gift, starting with you.” Zircon said with a grin “Y-you mean that you’re going to-“ Butterscotch stammered with a new fear. “That’s right; I’m going to turn you into a dragon like me. Don’t worry Butterscotch, it hurts at first but trust me, It’s more than worth it.” Zircon said trying to assure his friend. Butterscotch couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His friend was going to turn him into a dragon? Against his will?? “N-no, Rainbow Blitz, t-this is wrong!” Butterscotch stammered angrily, his legs shaking in fear. Zircon frowned, looking at his friend with sadness. “But Butterscotch, if you become a dragon, you’ll finally be able to stand up for yourself. All the mares and stallions who teased you for your sensitivity will have to show respect to you once you’re a dragon. Not to mention you can finally get over your fear of dragons once you realize how awesome being one is. Are you sure?” Zircon pleaded with his friend “Yes, Rainbow Blitz, I am sure,” Butterscotch said resolutely. Zircon shook his head sadly, he had hoped that this was going to be easy, that he wouldn’t have to trick Butterscotch, but he had no choice now. Noticing the rabbit, Angela, hiding behind a bush, he smirked and reached over and grabbed the white rabbit with two fingers before she could flee and brought her to his maw. ”Rainbow Blitz! Wh-what are you doing!?” Butterscotch cried “Simple, I’m hungry, and I’m craving rabbit,” Zircon said nonchalantly, opening his mouth and brought the rabbit closer to it earning some frantic squeaks of fear from Angela. “No! please don’t!” Butterscotch cried, his eyes began to well up with tears. Zircon closed his maw and looked at the Pegasus, “if you let me turn you into a dragon then I won’t eat Angela, how’s that?” Butterscotch didn’t need to think twice as he shouted out “I’ll become a dragon, now please let her go!” Zircon smiled, knowing that his trick had worked; everypony knows that dragons ate gems and only seldomly meat, but if he scared Butterscotch enough, he would forget it. Zircon put down the rabbit and picked up Butterscotch. “I gotta warn you, the transformation will hurt,” after his warning, he stuck out his forked tongue and licked Butterscotch. Butterscotch stared at Zircon in surprise, his friend licked him, he was not expecting this, he saw that he was lowered to the ground, and Zircon opened his hand to let him go. Butterscotch wiped some of the salivae off his face when pain suddenly wrenched through his body. He fell to the ground as his body shook. “told ya that it would hurt,” Zircon said Butterscotch didn’t answer, all he could pay attention to was the pain, this also caused him to not notice his entire body was being covered in scales, and his mane and tail falling off. “R-Rainbow Blitz, it hurts…” he whispered painfully, his pupils turned into slits as his teeth became razor sharp. He looked at his scaled hooves and thought for a moment what they would look like with claws. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. He felt his spine lengthen into a dragon’s tail, and his hind hooves turned into claws. “Butterscotch, how are you feeling?” Zircon said concerned for his friend “I-I’m feeling great,” Butterscotch’s eyes widened as he realized that he said that. “That’s good to hear,” Zircon smiled. Butterscotch’s ears shrank until all that was left were holes in his head, and his muzzle grew out more as his tongue became forked. Soon he couldn’t fight the thoughts anymore as he began to accept it. “Please, make me a dragon,” he thought as his feathers fell out and five bony appendages grew out of his wings, connected by leather-like skin. His front hooves turned into clawed hands, and his forelegs became arms. The final changes came along as he began to grow larger and taller, gained more muscle definition, and he grew pink spines from his head to the end of his tail. The transformation finally came to a stop; he glanced at himself before he straightened up and looked at Zircon, feeling pleased with the results. “Thank you Rai-...Zircon, this is great,” Butterscotch said smiling. Zircon grinned as he looked at his friends’ new body. Butterscotch was surprisingly lean, he wasn't well muscled like the other drake was, but he wasn’t scrawny either. And his muzzle was slightly more delicate looking than his. Not that Zircon is too surprised, considering how feminine some said he looked as a pony. He wasn’t as big or tall as the cyan drake, his wings, however, were just as large as the blue drake's, and he had shinier scales. To Zircon, he would make an excellent mate for a dragoness. “So, Butterscotch, ho-“ Zircon began. “Please, don’t call me Butterscotch,” Butterscotch immediately said “Okay, what do you want me to call you then?” Zircon asked “Call me Lapis,” Lapis said with a smile, liking the new name he'd chosen for himself. “Ok then Lapis, how do you like your new body? Still think dragons are 'mean and scary'?" Zircon asked with a knowing smirk. Lapis shook his head "No, I was wrong, this feels amazing, thank you for giving me this gift Zircon.” Lapis said "Well that's great, wanna go test out your new wings in the air?" Zircon said eager for a dragon race. Lapis was going to answer, when a broken branch landed on his tail, causing the yellow dragon to “eep!” and lay on the ground, his hands covering his eyes. Zircon smiled and shook his head; Lapis was still the same, even as a drake, the race would probably have to wait anyway's since his other friends are still ponies, a group race sounds better. “Lapis, go into the Everfree forest and wait for me, I’m going to find our friends to give them our gift, and maybe whoever else is with them, afterward ill send them your way,” Zircon said Lapis got up and nodded, walking into the Everfree forest, leaving Zircon to his next target, Sweet Apple Acres. > Applejack and family > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Red Gala were bucking the trees, watching the apples fall into the baskets below. “Well Ah have to say, Red Gala, this will probably be the first we have ever gotten done on time,” Applejack said with a smile on his face and got a simple “eeyup” from his big sis. “I wonder how Applebuck is doing with his crusading; I hope he isn’t getting into trouble,” Applejack said in a knowing tone. Red shrugged her shoulders and put the baskets of apples into the cart, ready to take them back to the barn, when she and Applejack heard their little brothers voice. “Red Gala! Applejack, I’m back!” the voice said excitedly. Not looking towards their brother, Applejack picked up some of the apples that fell out of the cart and threw them back in. “Howdy Applebuck, how did the crusading go?” Applejack asked “Oh, we decided to stop being the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Applebuck responded casually. “Well that’s nice- Wait what!?” Applejack stammered his eyes wide in surprise at the news. “Yeah, me, Opal, and Quartz decided to stop since we can no longer get our Cutie Marks,” Applebuck said ignoring his brothers surprise as he approached them from behind. “What are you talking about? Who's Opal and Quartz? And what...” Applejack was saying, until he turned around and saw a yellow baby dragon with red spines, and wearing Applebuck's hoofball cap. Red Gala and Applejacks expressions were one of fright and concern. “Applebuck? Is that you?” Applejack said “Sorry Applejack, but its Garnet now, and Ah’m okay,” Garnet said with a smile on his face. “Wh-who did this to you haystack?” Applejack asked, getting more frightened by the second. “It was Zircon,” Garnet replied “Who’s Zircon?” Applejack said confused “That would be me,” came a louder but familiar voice Out from behind the apple trees, came a giant cyan drake with magenta eyes, he looked down at the apple family, who was wide-eyed at the sight of the big dragon. He just smiled and turned his eyes to Applejack. “Hey Applejack, I see you’re as busy as ever,” Zircon said with a grin. “Th-that voice, it can’t be, Rainbow Blitz?” Applejack stuttered “I use to be Rainbow Blitz, but now it’s Zircon,” Zircon said with a dismissive wave. Applejack and Red Gala stared at their once Pegasus friend, eyes wide and mouths open in disbelief. “What happened to you Rainbow?” Red Gala uncharacteristically spoke up “Well, I Made a potion to make me faster and stronger to help improve my flying, and in the end, it did so much more than that. As you can see clearly it turned me into a dragon,” Zircon replied nonchalantly. “And did you do this to my brother?” Applejack asked, pointing his hoof at the yellow baby dragon. “Yes I did, I promised him and his friends that if they became dragons, they wouldn’t have to worry about not having Cutie Marks anymore, sure the experience was painful. Believe me, I was actually worried for a moment they wouldn’t pull through, but they managed to, and now they're better than ever.” Zircon said proudly “Eeeyup! Ah, feel better than ah ever had as a weak ole pony!” Garnet said with a grin of his own “so you see, I did them a favor by turning them into dragons.” Zircon said “Well, you had better change him back then!” Applejack said loudly enough to make them jump “because Ah refuse to have a dragon as a brother! It’ll scare off the customers!” Applejack shouted… then he heard some sniffles and stared at the source, and what he saw broke his heart, his little brother was crying. “You (sniff) you don’t want me to be your brother?” Garnet asked, tears staining his scaly face. It was right then and there. Applejack realized what he had just said. “N-no… ah… ah’m sorry! ah didn’t mean…” Applejack said trembling as he walked to his brother and brought a hoof out to hug and comfort him, but the baby dragon just slapped the hoof away and ran to Zircon, burying his face into the cyan drake’s tail while sobbing. Zircon had jerked back in surprise. The blue drake couldn’t believe that he heard one of his best friends say that he wouldn’t accept his brother because he was a dragon now, and to add insult to injury, he called Garnet an “it.” He was so shocked by the event that he didn’t notice that Garnet ran to him and began crying in his tail until he recovered from his shock. Zircon looked at the weeping baby dragon and then glared at the trembling orange apple farmer. “What the heck was that Applejack!? that was, by far the worst thing you could have ever said!” Zircon growled, wrapping his tail around the baby dragon comfortingly. Applejack stared at Zircon with pain in his eyes and looked at his sister, who was giving him an angry disapproving glare as well. He felt so terrible about what he said, that to avoid the stares, he cowered on the ground and used his hat to cover his eyes. “Ah’m sorry Applebuck! Ah really am, please! I’ll do anything to make it up to you!” Applejack begged. Zircon knew that what Applejack said was genuine; he sighed and looked at the two older siblings. “So you truly want to be with Garnet?” Zircon asked “Yes, Ah do!” Applejack pleaded “Well I can turn you and your sister into dragons so that you can stay as a family” Zircon offered “Please, do it!” Applejack shouted Zircon looked over to Red Gala who showed hesitance at the thought of being a dragon, but one glance at the tearful baby dragon looking to her and she knew she couldn’t make the same mistake her brother made in judging Applebuck for who he is now. She turned to Zircon and gave him a nod. “Alright,” Zircon picked up the two and licked them both, the lick causing both of them to stare in a mix of surprise and disgust as he set them down and they tried to wipe the saliva off themselves. He didn’t expect this to happen, admittedly what he had planned to do was to come in with Garnet, trick them by telling them that he would burn down the farm if they didn’t become dragons with their brother, and go off from there. However, this works too. Applejack was attempting to wipe the saliva off his face and body. “ah told him to turn me into a dragon, not lick me…” he thought. Then as if an anvil fell on him, he collapsed in pain; his body was spazzing out as he was being covered in orange scales. His snout grew out, and his teeth morphed into razor-sharp canines. His pupils became slits, and his mane and tail fell off. Meanwhile, similar changes were happening to Red Gala who fell on her haunches as scales appeared on her body and her mane and tail fell off. Her strong muscles began to bulge out even more as her pupils became slits. “You never said it would be painful!” Applejack yelled, he felt his neck grow longer and his spine grew out until he had a scaly dragon tail. His hind hooves morphed into clawed feet, and his front legs and hooves turned into arms and clawed hands. His muscles expanded and yellow spines grew from his head to his tail. He soon realized that despite the pain, he felt good, this felt much better than his old pony body. The transformation continued as his body began to grow larger until he was even in height to Zircon. Once the transformation seemed to stop, he looked over his body and smiled. “Woo-wee, this is mighty nice,” Applejack said with a grin. “It’s not done yet,” Zircon said Applejack looked at Zircon confused, but then he felt pain in his shoulder blades; he looked at his back and saw wings growing out of it. His jaw was wide open in awe as he gave them a test flap, and sure enough, they worked. He grinned and lightly punched Zircons shoulder. “Thank ya kindly Zircon, ah feel stronger and better than ever before.” Applejack said gratefully “Glad I could help, and I think Red Gala agrees,” Zircon said gesturing behind Applejack. Applejack turned around and saw a huge red dragoness, even bigger than he was, and with muscles and wings bigger than his too. Zircon looked at the Apple Dragons, he noticed that Applejack had bigger muscles than he did, but his wings were considerably smaller. Red Gala was even bigger than either of them were, and she had a hulking yet still feminine muscle build, and her wings were massive. He guessed the size of the wings helped her because of the added weight of her height. “Well Applejack, Red Gala-” Zircon began. “Actually Zircon, call me Russet,” Russet said “Okay and what about you Red?” Zircon asked turning to the big red dragoness. Red Gala rubbed her chin in thought for a moment and then gave her answer. “Scarlet,” Scarlet said with a smile on her scaly lips. “Okay, Russet, Scarlet, take Garnet into the Everfree Forest, find Lapis, and wait for me there, I’m going to get the rest of our friends and perhaps anypony else I happen to come across.” Zircon ordered “Who?” Russet asked “Yellow drake with pink spikes, Blue eyes, one of our friends, formerly the pony named Butterscotch before I turned him,” Zircon explained, and Russet nodded understandingly before his expression turned questioning. “Wait, what about Grampy Smith? Shouldn’t we turn him too, so the family’s all together?” Russet asked Zircon sadly shook his head no “Sorry Russet, but I think the pain of the transformation would be too much for his weak and old body, but I know the citizens of Ponyville will help him out on the farm in your absence” Zircon assured “Ah sure hope your right,” Russet said glumly, missing grandpa already Zircon flew off, leaving the three siblings. “Well you heard him, let’s get goin into the Everfree Forest,” Russet, went to pick up Garnet, but the baby dragon back away angrily and went to Scarlet. This left him heartbroken, and it was made worse when Scarlet picked Garnet up, put him on her back, and walked on. His head hung low as they walked into the forest. > Ebony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Everfree Forest, Lapis was lying down on the wet ground, waiting for Zircon and his other friends to show up. “I hope they come soon, I don’t want to be here,” he whimpered, he may be a dragon now, but he still held his personality of when he was the Pegasus Butterscotch, so he was still scared of the forest like before. Each time a branch cracked or an animal made a sound, Lapis would shiver and cover his eyes with his clawed hands, of course, because of his large body, most creatures stayed away from him. But it didn’t stop larger animals from attacking him, as he was about to find out. Lapis’s head perked up when he heard thundering footsteps getting louder, he turned his head and stared at the direction of the sound, his body tense. Not knowing whether to fly or fight and to be honest flight sounded really good right now. His hopes that it was Zircon were crushed when the creature came out of the tree line revealing a hydra. Its four heads were hissing and glaring at the drake. Since it has multiple heads, strength, and it could live in water, it was the only beast that could stand against a dragon, as it could watch in all directions for attacks, could hide in the muddy waters for a surprise attack, and it could easily overpower a dragon. This hydra seems to know how dragons fight, because of its many scars and the blisters and burns from previous encounters with dragon fire, but it knew that it was lucky this time since the dragon in front of it was shaking in fear. Lapis shook at the sight of the hydra; he had no idea what to do; he could only back away as the hydra got closer. “P-please! D-don’t eat me! I’m just waiting for my friends that’s all…” Lapis said while trembling which just amused the hydra seeing the cowering drake. He closed his eyes, expecting the worse when a deafening roar above caused him and the hydra to look for the source of the noise. Lapis saw an ebony colored dragoness dive right out of the sky and into the Hydra, after landing on all fours on top of the hydra the dragoness growled menacingly, baring her sharp teeth. The hydra was confused at the sudden appearance of the black dragon, but it didn’t let it bother it as one of its heads shot forward and headbutted the dragoness in the stomach, causing the dragoness to stagger off the hydra, giving the hydra time to get up. The hydra and the dragoness where now having a stare down, to see who would attack first, but a loud roar caused them to look at the source, and what they saw were the scariest pair of eyes they have ever seen. Lapis stared at the hydra and the dragoness, his mind an ocean of thoughts of what to do. One thought was quickly taking over and causing him to let loose a low growl in his throat, attack the hydra, and help the dragoness. He gave off a terrifying roar, with his eyes going into “the stare,” the drake slowly walked up to the hydra, black smoke released through his jaw and nostrils. The dragoness had to struggle her eyes away from his as sudden fear gripped her. The hydra was about to attack him, but then it caught sight of the terrifying stare and immediately began backing away in fright. It’s four heads trying to look elsewhere, but it couldn’t resist the power of his stare. His snout went against the hydra’s, and he spoke in a booming, yet chillingly calm voice. “You better leave right now, or I’ll help the dragon hurt you…” Even though what Lapis said wasn’t that threatening, the way he stared at the hydra and how he spoke. It seemed that he was going to kill it in the most painful way possible. So, without a second thought, the hydra ran off into the forest whimpering, leaving the two dragons alone. The ebony dragoness stared at the drake, surprised that he could scare a hydra just by staring at it; her eyes moved to the drake’s flank, and she gave a slight smirk. “Well, that was pretty impressive, for a pony that just became a dragon,” Lapis stiffened, his eyes widened, and his body shook. “H-how did you know?” he asked, his voice shaky. “Well unless those three butterflies on your flank is a birthmark, then you were once a pony,” the dragoness said smugly. Lapis turned his head around to see if what the dragoness said was the truth, and lo and behold on his flank, was his Cutie Mark from when he was a pony. “I-I thought the transformation got rid of it…” Lapis said, his voice shaking. This caused the black dragoness to be concerned. “Why would you want to get rid of it? Isn’t it part of who you are?” she asked, she went in front of Lapis, to get a better look at him. “But I’m a dragon now; I have no use for my talent. All the critters would be afraid of me anyways; it’d be better if it just vanished…” Lapis said glumly The dragoness couldn’t believe what she was hearing, here was this dragon, who had a talent that no other could have, and he wanted to get rid of it? She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sudden shaking of the forest floor. “Oh great, are more hydra’s coming?” the dragoness asked, she got into a defensive stance and flared her wings out, ready to attack, what she saw coming out of the forest instead were three dragons. An orange drake, a yellow baby dragon, and a massive red dragoness, her eyes continued to stare at the red one in shock, as this dragoness made her look puny in comparison. “Sorry about scaring Y'all, we’re just here to find a friend of ours,” the orange drake said in a country accent, the red dragoness beside him just let out an “Eeyup” and proceeded to stay silent. Lapis stared at the three newcomers with eyes wide in realization that the orange dragon was a friend of his. “Applejack?... is that you?” Lapis said hopefully “Eeyup it is, and ah assume you’re the dragon we were told to find?” Russet asked already able to tell which of his friends this was. Lapis nodded with a warm smile “I’m glad you found me, and I see that Applebuck and Red Gala are with you,” “Well Butterscotch, or should Ah say Lapis, we don’t go by those names anymore. Mah new name is Russet, my big sister is Scarlet, and my little brother here is Garnet,” Russet introduced himself and his family. Garnet on the other claw noticed the black dragoness. “Who are you?” Garnet said “My name is Ebony, and if you are wondering why I am talking to your friend here, well he and I had a bit of trouble with a hydra,” Ebony explained, the three Apple Dragons jaws dropped at the news. “You fought a hydra!? That is so cool!” Garnet yelled amazed. Ebony smiled at the baby dragon’s enthusiasm and shook her head. “Well actually Lapis here stared it away, I guess his cutie mark represents how he can talk to animals,” Ebony explained. Russets eyes widened. “Wait, Cutie Mark? But we don’t have Cutie Marks anymore… right?” Russet said confused “Well sorry to say, but you do, so I guess you three were also once ponies?” Ebony asked the reaction she got was the two older dragons looking at their flank, and seeing their talents and a distraught baby dragon. “Wait!... we can still have cutie marks?? That lair!” Garnet growled, and Scarlet immediately nuzzled the baby dragon to calm him. “Ah don’t understand, Zircon never told us that we would keep our Cutie Marks,” Russet said flabbergasted. “Zircon? Who’s Zircon?” Ebony asked, suspicious. “Zircon’s a friend of ours, he was a Pegasus named Rainbow Blitz, but after drinking a potion, he turned into a dragon, and now he’s planning on turning all of Ponyville’s ponies into dragons,” Lapis explained, he immediately regretted it, when Ebony looked at them all like they were crazy. “And you’re allowing this!? If word gets to Prince Solaris that Ponyville had suddenly lost its entire population, he will send a search team, and when he finds out that it was a dragon, well, you know what will happen then,” Ebony explained trying to stay calm. The four ponies turned dragons were stunned; they didn't even think of that. Now they were in trouble. “Don’t Y'all worry, ah think once he gets the last three of our friends, he will come to see if we’re are all right, then we can convince him to stop,” Russet pointed out. Ebony just lowered her head. “I hope your right Russet, I hope your right…” > Berry Bubble > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Ponyvilles famous bakery shop, Sugarcube Corner, Berry was taking care of the baby twins. Ever since the babies came, his responsibilities have doubled, but the energetic pony didn’t care, to him it was fun. “Where’s Berry Bubble?... Here I am!” Berry was playing the usual game of 'Where’s Berry Bubble' with the twins, who still laugh whenever the pink pony jumped out from behind the door. “Berry Bubble! Can you come down here?” Mr. Cake yelled from downstairs. “I’ll be down in a minute!” Berry yelled back, he looked at the baby twins and smiled, “I’ll be right back,” he said giving a last silly look making the pegasus filly and unicorn colt giggle and coo he then turned and bounced down the stairs. “Whatcha need Mr. Cake?” Berry asked “I need you to help out our customer,” Mr. Cake answered, pointing at the dark orange baby dragon at who was standing behind the counter. He was on the tip of his toes, trying his best to look over the countertop until finally, he grabbed a stool to stand on. “Hi Berry, my name is Quartz,” Quartz smiled. “Wow, how did you get that look Scooteroll?” Berry asked. “A dragon named Zir- Wait… how did you know that it was me?” Quartz asked confused. “Silly Scooteroll, I could tell that it was you by the color of your scales are the same color as your fur, the spines are the same color as your mane, your eyes are still the same color, and your voice is still the same,” Berry answered smiling. Scooteroll stared at the pink pony in disbelief, but shook it off, remembering that this is Bubble Berry. “So, where did you get that costume? it's so lifelike!” Berry asked eagerly “This isn’t a costume, I’m a dragon now,” Scooteroll said proudly. “That’s a good one Scooteroll,” Berry laughed at the baby dragon. “My name is Quartz! and I’m not joking, watch,” with that he took a deep breath and blew orange fire at the center of the room, he looked back at Berry, who was staring at him with wide eyes and mouth gaping open. “That was so cool!! do it again! but on this candle,” Berry took out a candle from his mane. Quartz rolled his eyes and blew fire on the candle, causing the wick to burn with orange fire. “You really are a dragon! how did you become one?” Berry asked excitedly about the event he just saw. “I’ll show you, follow me,” Quartz said motioning Berry to follow. “Okie Dokie Lokie! Mr. Cake, I’m going out with Scoot... Quartz!” Berry yelled. “Okay Berry, just make sure to come back before the evening rush!” Mr. cake called after him “I will!” Berry waved With that Berry followed Quartz outside to see how Quartz got turned into a dragon. “So, Quartz? What’s it like being a dragon? Is it cool!!?” Berry said as he bounced along “Heh, you bet it is! I don’t have to worry about cutie marks; my wings will grow out faster least that’s what I've been told, I can breathe fire now, you get it?” Quartz said “COOL!” Berry cheered “I wonder how many new things will happen in this story in comparison to the one Hamcon made!” Berry enthused which just made Quartz glance at him weirdly. “Who?... never mind I don’t wanna know…” Quartz grumbled not willing to deal with the odd explanations Berry gives. Quartz finally got Berry to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. “So is there a flower that did this, or did Silver Bell learn a new spell?” Berry asked, literally bouncing in excitement. “To answer those questions, that will be a no for both,” a male voice answered, the wind was whipped up as suddenly a cyan drake landed in front of Quartz and Berry, Quartz smiled at the dragon, while Berry was staring at the drake with wide eyes. “Wow, Blitzy! you’re a super, duper, big dragon!” Berry said waving his hooves “Yes, I am Berry... Wait, how did you automatically know that it was me?” Zircon asked. “Don’t ask, he’ll tell you what he told me,” Quartz said just in time before Berry could answer. “Okay then, just so you know Berry, I'm no longer Rainbow Blitz, my name is now Zircon” Zircon introduced himself. Now Berry was looking worried about his friend. “Blitzy? why are you saying that?” Berry said with a tilt of the head “Berry stop calling me that, I told you that’s not my name anymore.” Zircon said, narrowing his eyes getting a little tired of having to rehash his name. “But it’s your name; you can’t just-“ Berry tried. “Drop it Berry! I’m Zircon now, Zircon!” Zircon said getting irritated “B-but Blitzy...” Berry said dismayed “I SAID STOP CALLING ME BY THAT NAME! RAINBOW BLITZ IS DEAD!!” Zircon bellowed losing his temper. His shout scared Quartz and sent Berry stumbling to the ground. Berry’s ears drooped, and his eyes were beginning to tear up, frightened. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Berry stuttered Zircon winced at the sight of his friend scared of him. This was the second time somepony cried, the first being Garnet, and now Berry. “No, I’m sorry Berry, I didn’t mean to yell at you,” Zircon sheepishly admitted “Are- are you telling the truth?” Berry said with a tilt of the head Without thinking Zircon licked Berry, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that this was used on baby dragons to cheer them up. “Yes Berry, I am telling the truth,” Zircon said trying to diffuse the tension. Berry smiled and stood up, accepting the apology, but suddenly he was hit with intense pain. “Agh! B-Blitz, it hurts!” Berry cried, shaking in pain. For the first time today, Zircon said something that he never thought he would say. “oh crap! I-I’m sorry Berry, I didn’t mean to!” Berry fell on his haunches as his mane and tail fell off, and a long scaly tail grew in its place, his teeth became sharp and predatory, and his tongue became forked. “Bl-Blitzy, please make it stop!” Berry begged looking up at him; his pupils were now slits. Zircon wrapped his tail around the changing pony to comfort him. “I can’t Berry, just try to ignore the pain, it’ll be over soon,” Zircon said reassuringly. Berry cracked a smile; he was glad that he had Zircon as a close dragon friend, that thought went unquestioned as his body was covered in scales and his forelegs morphed into dragon arms with claws. Two bumps appeared on his shoulder blades, then erupted into two pink leather-like wings. Zircon stared at his changing friend with regret, he didn’t want it to happen like this, he didn’t mean to make Berry cry, and he felt terrible about inflicting the transformation prematurely like this, at least the others so far had a warning first. He felt like he made a member of his pack sad. Bubble Berry felt his hind legs transform into dragon legs with claws, his neck stretched, and his ears shrunk into his head, and his muzzle lengthened into a draconic snout. The final changes appeared when his body began to grow larger and taller and his muscles thickened until he was just as big as Zircon. Berry looked down at himself and gasped before staring up at Zircon. “Berry are you okay?” Zircon asked, worried. “Yes Zircy, I am, and don’t call me Berry anymore. Cuz my name is Rowan now! The author couldn’t think of anything else anyways” Rowan answered with a grin and a chuckle. Zircon ignored that last weird comment “That’s good to hear, now go to the Everfree Forest with Quartz and stay with Lapis and everydragon else, I still have to get Elusive and Dusk,” Zircon ordered. “Okie Dokie Lokie! And once we’re all awesome dragons instead of wimpy ponies let’s have a ‘YAY we’re dragons! Now we can all piggy out on gems! let’s party!’ Party! WOOHOO!” with that Rowan grabbed Quartz and flew into the forest excitedly chattering to himself and Quartz on what they need for the planned party, leaving Zircon behind to watch on in amusement before his expression became troubled. “I hope my friends are all right,” Zircon said to himself. > Elusive and Dusk Shine > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Carousel Boutique, Elusive was making a new line of suits for Emerald Seaside, while Dusk was reading a book, and Spines was busy gawking at Elusive. “Wow Elusive! Those suits look amazing! Of course, anything made by you is amazing.” Spines swooned Elusive chuckles “Why thank you darling, things are going quite nicely, ever since the wedding, many of Canterlot’s elite have been ordering dresses and suits from me," Elusive said to himself smiling while putting some of the finishing touches on the suit he was currently working on. Humming to himself, he did not notice the door open until he heard his little brothers voice. "I'm back Elusive!" Silver Bell called "That's good darling, have you had something to eat?" Elusive called back to his brother without even looking away. Spines noticed a new smell in the room, she took a couple of whiffs, and her eyes narrowed. "Dusk," Spines whispered. "Yeah Spines?" Dusk said "There's another dragon in here," she said with an on-edge voice. Dusk gave his dragon assistant a questioning look, as far as he knew, there weren’t any other dragons in Ponyville. "No Elusive I didn't, but I'll just have some gems to eat if you don't need them!" The younger voice answered. "No, I'm not using them... Wait; eat the gems!?" Elusive yelled in surprise. The resulting answer from Elusive's little brother caused all three heads to turn, causing them to see a white-scaled baby dragon similarly sized to Spines if not an inch taller, with two small horns on his head, light purple spines, and green slitted eyes. Elusive stared in shock at the dragon, unable to say a word, while Dusk was trying to figure everything out in his head, and Spines noticed that the baby dragon in front of her… actually looked kind of cute, she had to hide a slight blush. "Si-Silver Bell? i-is that you??" Elusive asked, stuttering. "Yep! But I go by Opal now," Opal said smiling. "Silver Bell, how did this happen to you?" Dusk asked. "I'll show you three what happened, follow me," Opal said and walked out of the Boutique, with the two unicorns and other dragon following him. Spines took this chance and ran up to Opal. "So, I-I see that your a dragon now," Spines said with a blush and a shy look. "hehe yeah Spines, that I am," Opal said, also blushing. "Gosh, she sure is kinda pretty now that I take a good look at her. Why didn’t I see it sooner?" Opal thought "W-well you do look cute," Spines complimented, causing the white dragons face to turn bright red. "T-thank you Spines," Opal didn't know why, but when Spines complimented him, he felt happy... no, he felt like someone truly cared for him. Spines, on the other hand, was freaking out in her head. "Gah! Why did I say that?? I love Elusive, not his little brother, Elusive is the most handsome pony ever, while Opal is… he makes me feel warm inside, and he is rather handsome... No! Bad Spines! you like Elusive, Elusive!" She thought frantically while trying to hide her reddening face. Elusive couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the two baby dragons. "Don't they look adorable together Dusk?" Elusive asked. "Yeah, they kinda do," Dusk answered honestly, hoping that Spines has finally gotten over her crush with Elusive. “Think he should stay a dragon once we find out what the problem is? I mean, they do look like their falling for one another.” “Well… I’ll think about it. But I’m not sure how mother and father would take it.” Elusive mused After walking for some time, Opal led the three to Butterscotch's cottage. "Butterscotch’s cottage? What happened here that could have turned you into a dragon?" Dusk asked. He noticed that all the animals were gone as if they stampeded away and that he didn't see Butterscotch anywhere. “Oh you’ll see,” Opal said with a grin. Before they could question his words, the ground shook, and they turned their attention to the forest when a voice called out. "Good job Opal, you got the last of my friends," a voice said, and out from the Everfree Forest, was a giant cyan drake. Dusk, Elusive, and Spines all got into defensive positions, or rather Dusk got into a defensive position, Spines hid behind Dusk, and Elusive just stood in place with a nervous expression. "Whoa! calm down there Dusk, nopony else was defensive with me," the Drake said quickly. Dusk stared at the drake, and it took a moment before he realized that the voice sounded very similar. "Rainbow Blitz?" Dusk said shocked "Yep Dusk, it's me," Zircon said with a smile. "What happened to you?? And to Silver Bell?" Dusk asked "Well you see Dusk, it was a potion that I found the instructions to in your library, I used it, and this happened" Zircon answered, gesturing to his body while smiling at the face Dusk was now making, a face of shock and fear. "No… th-that can't be! I didn't even know that potion existed!" Dusk said nervously, how was he going to explain this to Prince Solaris? He felt a hoof on his shoulder and saw Elusive looking at him with worried eyes, he then looked to Zircon and spoke. "So then… um Rainbow Blitz-" Elusive said nervously "Zircon, I go by Zircon now," Zircon cut him off. "Oh, umm… well then. Zircon, what are you planning to do now that we’re here?" Elusive asked Zircon chuckled, causing the two stallions to look at him confused. "The same thing I did to our friends, Red Gala, and the Crusaders, I’m going to turn you two into dragons, then we’ll be a true pack" Zircon answered. “T-turn us? Into dragons!?” Elusive said shocked “you can’t do that!” he shouted before leaning in towards Dusk “he can’t right?” Elusive asked quietly “I-I don’t know” Dusk was afraid too, but he shook his fear off and stood defensively in front of Elusive and Spines. "You can't do that Rainbow! We won't let you!" Dusk yelled, his horn glowing in purple magic threateningly and Zircon put his claws up defensively. "C’mon think about it Dusk, if you became a dragon, you won't ever have to worry about checklists, reports, or even being late for something ever again, you would be free to do as you please as a dragon" Zircon pointed out, he then turned to Elusive. "And as for you Elusive, you won’t have to be stressed about designs, deadlines or dresses, suits, or anypony’s critical opinions and you can still be with your little brother, it’s a win-win if you ask me," Zircon said smugly, inching closer when they weren’t paying attention. Dusk and Elusive stared at each other thinking about what he said briefly, but while they knew what Zircon said was true, they didn't want to become dragons, they still had lives and family here. Zircon took this chance to exploit their distraction and darted forward grabbing the stallions, and gave Dusk a quick lick, and Elusive a big slobbery one, then he put them back down. "UGH! by Solaris’s beard! That is by far the most revolting thing that you have ever done Rainbow Blitz!!" Elusive scolded the cyan dragon in front of him as he frantically tried to clean himself of the saliva. Zircon just gave a smug smile and folded his arms "Sorry Elusive, but it was the only way that I could turn you two into dragons.” The two stallions stared at Zircon in shock while Opal gestured for Spines to stand back, which she reluctantly does. “W-what?...” Dusk whispered nervously “Welcome to the pack fellas!” Zircon said with a big smile and wide arms. They were about to respond, but they were suddenly hit by a huge wave of pain, causing them to fall on their haunches. "AGH! Z-Zircon! please make this stop!" Dusk begged. Zircon just shook his head. "Sorry Dusk, but I can't, just gotta deal with it." Zircon said The two stallions felt their horns split into two and move to the opposite sides of their heads and curl upwards a bit. Their pupils became slitted, and their teeth became carnivorous. Muscles bulged out all over their bodies, and a pair of wings grew from their shoulder blades. Spines watched as her crush and her father figure turned into dragons, horrified that they were becoming dragons. But at the same time, she was happy because she knew that she and Elusive would not be separated by species now at least. Dusk stared at Zircon with anger while his fur turned into scales though Zircon hardly noticed. “How dare he!? This is my life he’s messed with! He’ll pay for this! …he’ll pay…” Dusk growled in his head Elusive felt oddly more handsome as his forelegs morphed into arms with clawed hands. In fact… he couldn't wait to become a full dragon! While Elusive was being covered in scales, Dusk's forelegs morphed into arms with clawed hands. Both their hind legs became dragon legs with clawed feet, and their mane and tails fell out, and they grew scaled tails. Dusk grew dark purple and pink Spines from his back, while Elusive grew purplish blue spines. Their necks lengthened, and then they grew in size until they were about the same size as Zircon. Zircon gave them a moment to adapt to their new bodies "So Dusk, Elusive? how do you two feel?" Zircon asked. Elusive took a look at himself and his wings and then his claws before looking to Zircon "Why I feel absolutely perfect Zircon, and I think I'll dispense with that old name of mine while I’m at it. From this point forth, call me Azurite" Azurite answered smiling. "Ok, and what about you Dusk?" Zircon nodded to Azurites new name before turning his head to the purple dragon only to jump a little when he saw that Dusk was glaring at Zircon with fire in his eyes. "It's Pyrite now, and you should mind your own business!" Pyrite said with a low growl, causing Zircon to recoil, what caused him to become angry? Out of everypony that he turned, Pyrite was the first that was mad at him. "Umm… Ok, We should probably get going to the forest now to meet the others then. Follow me," Zircon said. "I think I can find them on my own, come along Spines," Pyrite said going right past Zircon while not so subtly bumping into him roughly. Zircon, Opal, and Azurite stared at the leaving Pyrite with confusion, wondering why he was so angry. "Um... You all go on without me, I'll catch up," Spines said. Zircon nodded in response “ok, don’t take too long though, don’t want to leave you behind, k?” Spines nodded, and with that, he walked away, Azurite followed, with Opal on his back. Spines ran into Butterscotch's cottage, and stumbled past Angela who was hiding behind a couch and found some paper and a quill and wrote on it, she then blew fire on it and sent it to Solaris, as she ran out of the cottage, she glanced back at Angela who looked at her pleadingly and she nodded understandingly. “I’ll bring him back Angela, I-I can’t promise if I can, but I’ll do my best.” And with that, she ran into the Everfree Forest. > Questions, answered. A new pack, formed. A new journey has begun. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Canterlot, Solaris was looking over some agricultural reports when a letter appeared in front of him. He regarded it for a moment. It wasn’t a scroll like usual, so this made him curious, using his magic he lifted it and opened it, expecting it to be a friendship report, but what he read caused his eyes to widen. "Artemis!!" Solaris called out, and through the door, Artemis came barging in moments later. "What is it, brother?" Artemis said knowing Solaris only calls in that tone when there is a very serious problem like Eris escaping or Changelings, or worse! The cake reserves have run dry! "We are going to Ponyville," Solaris said, his tone serious. Artemis stared at his older brother in confusion. "Why, brother? Is something wrong?" Artemis asked "Yes, Rainbow Blitz found your creation," Solaris said, Artemis’s eyes widened in fear. "You don't mean he has found-" Artemis began. "Yes, he found the Dragon Potion," Solaris finished grimly. ---later--- Solaris and Artemis arrived at Ponyville, with a hoof-full of guards, to find Rainbow Blitz, his friends, and the recipe. The first place they searched was Rainbow Blitz’s house, where they found the roof was torn off, a pot with the potion, and the book with the recipe. “This does not bode well…” Artemis said, when Artemis's eyes saw the recipe, all the memories he kept locked broke out. Artemis, plus some other unicorns, created the potion as a way to defeat Eris, as it turned out that dragons were immune to nearly every type of magic that effects ponies. But they made a fatal mistake; the potion was painful to the ponies; in fact, some of them even died from the pain. They also began to think like dragons and even altered their very names to suit their new alignment, and they could spread it to other ponies via saliva contact and were driven to do so by the mental alterations. It began spreading like a virus, but thankfully, those who were changed into dragons by the ones who drank the potions, could not change others, so that was one reprieve, but the situation quickly evolved into an epidemic regardless. Soon Solaris and Artemis saw that the ponies were all being gradually turned into dragons, and the pony population was decreasing while the number of dragons grew, and of course, Eris took advantage of this to spread more chaos while the Princes were distracted. Eventually, the two Princes had no choice but to make an antidote and banish all those who refused to take it to the dragon lands. Then Solaris ordered that all recipes were to be burned. But it seemed that they missed one. "Arty, are you okay?" Solaris asked, noticing that Artemis was staring into space with a horror-stricken expression. "Sorry Solly, I was only thinking of what I've done… my mistake that nearly destroyed Equestria many years ago... that tore so many families apart... has come back to haunt us…" Artemis said with dread evident in his voice. "No, Artemis, you didn't know that this would happen, you shouldn't blame yourself," Solaris reassured his younger brother, who shook his head. “We should have been more careful! We caused this! And by now who knows how many ponies have been turned by him! Twas, our carelessness dear brother that made that accursed potion! The fault is ours…” Artemis sulked, and Solaris wrapped a wing around him in a brotherly hug. “Nopony could have predicted the side effects of the potion Arty, we must not sit and sulk when we could be searching for answers,” Solaris said to comfort his brother when he heard a voice call out to him and he turned to see a Pegasus guard who flew to the Princes and bowed. "My lords! We have searched all over Ponyville, it seems that the letter was right, the Elements of Harmony, three colts named Silver Bell, Scooteroll, and Applebuck, and a mare named Red Gala have not been seen for hours, Equestria may have just gained ten new dragons." the guard informed. “Only ten?” Solaris said with a raised brow. “Yes, and so far, no further disappearances have been reported,” the mare said with a nod. "Hmm interesting; how are their families handling this?" Solaris asked. The mare seemed hesitant to say, but she spoke anyway. "The Bell family is in denial, the Cake family have closed down the bakery to be alone, Ponyvilles orphanage is saddened by the fact that Scooteroll is gone, and Grandpa Smith..." the guard stopped talking, as if afraid to say the next thing. "What is it? What is wrong with him?" Artemis asked worriedly. "Grandpa Smith is in critical condition, the news caused him to have a heart attack, and he is now in Ponyville Hospital, thankfully all of Ponyville is going to help on the farm until his grandchildren are retrieved," the guard said. Solaris shook his head, he did not know that this would cause the old stallion to go to the hospital, but he was thankful that Ponyville decided to help on Sweet Apple Acres. "Thank you, you may now leave," Solaris said politely, the guard bowed and flew off, leaving the two brothers alone once again. “It’s worse than I thought…” Solaris mused “If my dear student has fallen prey to this then time is of the essence!” Solaris declared "Solly, we should go and find the recipe for the antidote first, the sooner we have it, the quicker this problem will be solved" Artemis informed his brother. "If we even still have it… It was lost when I cast Nightterror Knight away," Solaris said, his form sulked. "Then we must find it, brother! we cannot run the risk of Rainbow Blitz turning any more ponies into dragons!" Artemis insisted "Your right Artemis, let's get to the chariot, we must find the antidote as soon as possible," Solaris said, and with that, the two extended their wings and flew off back in the direction to their chariot. *** Deep within the Everfree Forest, Zircon, Pyrite, Azurite, Opal, and Spines were all walking to where they would be meeting up with the rest of their friends. "So… um Zircon, what are the names of our friends now?" Spines asked. "Well Butterscotch is Lapis, Berry Bubble is Rowan, Applejack is Russet, Red Gala is Scarlet, Applebuck is Garnet, and Scooteroll is Quartz," Zircon answered, seeing that Spines was nodding. Zircon turned to Azurite and Opal and saw Opal sleeping on his back. He turned his gaze to Pyrite, but regretted it, as Pyrite stared at him with intense fire in his eyes, Zircon still didn't know why Pyrite was so angry. Spines was busy afterward staring at Azurite and Opal, Azurite looked amazing, his scales were sleek and smooth, his fangs a sparkling white, his face just as handsome and charming as it was before, his wings symmetrical, and his muscles were quite toned looking, so it gave his body a firm but not overbuilt appearance… just the right amount of muscle. Opal on the other claw was rather cute and friendly to the purple dragon, and he seemed to like her back, not to mention he was closer to her age. Spines was continually trying to stop staring at the two, but she couldn't. Soon the five dragons got to the clearing, where all of Zircons friends were waiting, along with a mysterious black dragon. A familiar pink claw waved in the air as an equally pink drake bounced in place and shouted loud enough to be heard from very far away, startling Opal awake. “HI ZIRCON! HI PYRITE! HI OPAL! HI AZURITE! HI, SPINES! HEY! HEY! SPINES WE’RE ALL DRAGONS NOW SO NOW WE’RE SPECIES BUDDIES AS WELL AS ACTUAL BUDDIES!! AND NOW WE CAN ALL EAT GEMS AND JOIN THE GREAT DRAGON MIGRATION AND SWIM IN LAVA AND BREATHE IN SPACE wait can dragons even do that? ANYWAYS, WE’RE GONNA HAVE SO MUCH FUN AND WE CAN EVEN-“ Rowan continued his loud rant, and Ebony covered her ears. “Agh! Dude, shut it! Do you want to alert all of Equestria?!” Ebony scolded the hyperactive drake Meanwhile, the group just paused at what they see and at what they heard. “Umm… how did Rowan know our new names?” Opal said confused “It’s probably just Berry being Ber-… well more like it’s Rowan being Rowan now isn’t it?” Azurite said amused before they all noticed the dragoness. "Um, who’s that?" Zircon asked, pointing at the female dragon. "That haystack, is Ebony, she helped save Lapis from a Hydra, and she also wants to have a word with you," Russet answered. Ebony walked to Zircon, her red eyes meeting his more rose-colored eyes. "Zircon, I heard that you have been turning ponies into dragons, and I am going to tell you this just once, stop it!" Ebony demanded. Zircon flared his nostrils and narrowed his eyes, who was this dragon to say that he couldn't continue his goal of spreading this wonderful gift? But then he realized something, how did Ebony know? "How did you know that I was turning ponies into dragons? And why should I stop?" Zircon growled "I know because you and your friends still have Cutie Marks, and if you don't stop, the Princes will find out and most likely, they will try to stop you. And they won't ask twice." Ebony returned the growl despite having to tilt her head up a little to look Zircon in the eye Zircon stared at Ebony in disbelief, then at his flank, and sure enough, he still had his Cutie Mark, he stared in shock for a moment before looking back at the dragoness and glaring. "Look here, Ebony! I WILL keep doing this! It's so much better to be a dragon, instead of a pony! Now you better leave in the next 10 seconds or else I'll-" Zircon threatened, but then he paused as he noticed a new smell in the air, looking up he saw a squadron of Pegasus guards and a chariot with the Princes in it. "Buck! The royal guards are here!? how did they find out?" Zircon asked, growling. In the back, a purple baby dragon whistled innocently, sweating a little in nervousness. thankfully nodragon noticed "Ah don't know, but we need to get out of here," Russet said quietly. "Where are we gonna go?? hiding eight huge dragons and four smaller dragons isn't going to be easy." Quartz said loudly enough to be heard. "O-oh no... what will they do if they find us??" Lapis shivered at the thought Ebony cleared her throat to get their attention "Ok, listen up! I can help all of you out. I can lead you all to the Dragon Lands; I know the path to get there. It’s less dangerous and quicker if flown, but we can’t risk being in the open with the princes looking for us, we've got to stay hidden, so we're going on foot. Once you are there, Equestria cannot harm or pursue us, but I will only do this if Zircon promises one thing," Ebony said, all the dragons stared at her. "And what's that?" Zircon asked. "You won’t turn ponies into dragons along the way," Ebony replied Zircon stared at her, then looked away to think. He wanted to spread the gift; it felt right to do so like he was doing these ponies a favor by doing it… but he also wanted to keep his friends safe… in the end, loyalty triumphed. After thinking for a minute, he turned back to Ebony and nodded. "I promise, so long as we can get my friends to safety," Zircon said with a determined look. "Good, now we must stay as a pack, to keep us safe, we need an Alpha Male and Female," Ebony said glancing about the drakes, and she turned her attention to Scarlet. “Eenope,” she said offering no further input. “Does this dragoness ever actually talk?” Ebony wondered before Azurite spoke up. "You should be the Alpha Female since you know the way," Azurite pointed out, all the dragons nodded in agreement. "Okay, and who’s going to be the Alpha Male?" Ebony asked "I-I think it should be Zircon," Lapis said quietly but clearly, Zircon looked at him surprised. "I second that thought!" Quartz called enthusiastically “ME THREE!” Rowan said excitedly "Ah agree" Russet nodded. “Eeeyup!” Scarlet agreed Zircon stared at his friends confused. "Why me?" Zircon asked "Well Zircon, ever since you turned us into dragons, you feel like a leader to us," Azurite explained. “Not to mention since you were the element of Loyalty, you’d be the most trustworthy to lead us,” Lapis said with an assuring expression. “Wow, thank you guys” Zircon smiled openly to his friends. "Okay then, it’s all settled, follow me everydragon, it's going to be a long trip on foot," Ebony said, walking deeper into the forest, with Zircon beside her. Soon everydragon followed, ready for the adventure to their new home. …but at the back, Pyrite glared at Zircon and growled menacingly. “He… will… pay…” Pyrite snarled in his head > Extra content > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, nobody commented, but I can’t let perfectly good material go to waste, so I got to work and made some extra stuff. I will update this chapter every now and then. This is the original story but with my personal touch up. Let me know if you find any errors. https://docs.google.com/document/d/15EtFaA5sMPWQtCdtE_pwEOCiaPgAEx13VMyWtysMNI4/edit?usp=sharing It's finally here! --- The CMC retreat to the forest from their bullies when it gets worse than usual. Little do they know there's something there that may change their lives forever. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JUxX9V8Krxgaiq9Z5pTYhkMzBM2QykSLjnZ_Oxa-osc/edit --- Just some extra stuff my brain cooked up when I first inherited this story, sorry if the writing is bad here. This brings me to another point that if someone would like to make an inspired by my story alternate storyline with what I've made here involving ponies being turned into dragons by Spectrum and it's impacts on Equestria, then go right ahead, just PM me first to let me know what the plan is. Keep in mind it will have to be non-canon as I have my own sequel for this story planned for the future. https://docs.google.com/document/d/13SBngB-GWgt8gM73BGgGxwWa069njxwVR2VTSshOPMc/edit And lastly, if you want these two as well as somepony to be turned into dragons in the future sequel, don't hesitate to suggest, I'll sift through them and pick which ones would fit. Until then, that's all folks!