|| And here we have Chapter 4 of Swappable Stoppable, AKA "the part where Trigger Happy turns into Pinkie Pie despite the fact that I wasn't watching MLP yet at this point". ||

Chapter Four

"Bing! Bang! Biddy Bang Bang!" Trigger Happy fired away, having no remorse even though he was aiming at his best friend. "C'mon! C'mon! Dodge it! I'd like to see you try!"

Spyro dashed around a corner, then thrashed Trigger upside the head. "Alright, Trig. I'm wiped out."

"Nooooooo!" Trigger complained. "More, more! I wanna fire at ya more!"

Spyro shook his head. "Sorry bud, but I'm done messing around. The only thing I've learned is how to stand on two feet. So unless you can tell me how to use Stealth's powers, I'm done."

"Powers?" Trigger questioned. "Stealth doesn't have any powers."

"Eh?" Spyro fell backwards. "W-Well then what do you call turning invisible? Or transforming into a tiger?"

Trigger was silent for several moments, then responded, "Not... powers." He shook himself off. "Stealth explained this a katrillion times, every 'power' she has is something that anybody can do; she just had the special training to unlock those abilities."

Spyro looked crestfallen. "So... I can't use them?"

"WHAT PART OF 'SPECIAL TRAINING' DON'T YOU GET?!" Trigger exclaimed, causing Spyro to yelp.

"What's going on here?" They turned to see Sunburn approaching. "I saw you two trying to kill each other, so I came to investigate. So what the heck is going on, Stealth?"

"Do you ever feel like we're being watched?" Trigger nudged Spyro.

Spyro growled. "I told you, I'm not Stealth," he said. "I'm Spyro. Spyro!"

"You look like Stealth and you sound like Stealth (just talking louder than normal)," Sunburn said. "Sorry if my first thought is that you're Stealth."

Trigger Happy walked up to you. Yes, you. "Sunburn can be a liiiiittle dense," he told you. Yes, you.

(Who is he talking to?) Spyro wondered.

Sunburn fumed. "Who are you calling 'dense,' bullets-for-brains?!"

"You, turkey sandwich!" Trigger retorted.

"What did you just call me?!"

"Guys, guys!" Spyro exclaimed. "Give it a rest!"

"Spyyyyyyyroooooooo!" Trigger Happy complained. "He insulted me!"

Spyro sighed. "I can't help you with that, you insulted him first."

Trigger grumbled, kicked a rock and sat down moping. Sunburn raised an eyebrow and turned to Spyro. "So, you got Trig to believe that you're Spyro, huh?"

"I am Spyro!" Spyro exclaimed. "What would I have to say to prove that it's me?!"

Sunburn snickered. "I'll tell you what 'Spyro,' I'm going to go talk to 'Stealth.' If she can tell me something that only she and I would know, then I'll believe you."

"Why can't you just ask me?"

"Because there's legitimately no secrets that Spyro and I share."

Spyro stopped in his tracks and watched him leave. "That's a lie!" he called. "And you know it!"

Sunburn bounded around Woodburrow, seeking out Spyro's body. He saw lots of stuff (like Terrafin and Night Shift boxing, Bash trying to fly), but he didn't see anything even resembling Spyro, besides maybe Zap. "Hmph. Why am I wasting my time here?"

Eventually, he did find Spyro... or, you know what I mean... who was (still) sparring with Freeze Blade. "Freeze?" he called.

"Eh?" Freeze stopped and glanced over at him, allowing himself to get slapped across the face by Stealth.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed.

Freeze raised a hand in the air. "It's okay! I'm fine!"

Sunburn tipped his head. "Why the heck are you dueling with Spyro?"

Freeze blinked. "Oh, well, uh..."

"Nevermind, I came to talk to Spyro." Sunburn approached Stealth, who was playing with her wings and not paying attention at all. "Spyro, you're not going to believe this, but Stealth is going around saying that she's you! Isn't that ridiculous?" Stealth didn't reply. "Spyro?"

"Huh?" Stealth looked up.

Sunburn sighed. "Stealth convinced Trig that she's you, and she's trying to convince me. Silly, right?" Stealth blinked. "Right?"

"Um..." Stealth looked over at Freeze Blade, who signaled for her to keep talking. She sighed. "...actually, he's not lying."

"Who what now?" Sunburn gave her a weird look, then snorted. "Oh really? So you're Stealth Elf, huh? Prove it. Tell me something that only she and I would know."

Stealth glared at Freeze, who plugged his ears. She leaned to the Phoenix hybrid and said, "You don't know how to open a Spark Lock."

Sunburn fell over. "Holy crap, Stealth?!" he exclaimed. "It is you!" You could tell from his eyes that there was a whole lot going through his head. "What? W-Why?"

Stealth sighed. "You seriously can't put two and two together?"

"I can, and I have!" Sunburn exclaimed. "But I swear you've gone crazy! Like... just, why?! Is it seriously worth it!"

"I... I don't know, alright?! Leave me alone, Sunburn!"

"You're the one who told me!"

"Spyro told you! You were just to dense to believe it until I proved it!"

"I am not dense! And you have a mentor who already genuinely cares about you!"

"Yeah?! What do you know about Stink Bomb?!"

"I think the real question is, 'what do you know about Trap Shadow?!' And I think you know more about Stink Bomb than you choose to believe!"

"What do you know about me?!"

"I know enough about you!"

Freeze Blade watched the two squabble. He wore a very confused expression. "Their personalities bounce off each other so well," he said.

"You know what, forget it!" Sunburn exclaimed. "I'm not going to help you with some up-the-wall, mad scheme that will likely end with you getting hurt!"

"Fine! I don't your help!" Stealth returned. "Whirlwind and Trigger Happy are already helping me! I don't need your input on this!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Stealth watched him leave, trying to keep her cool. However, as soon as he was out of sight, she completely broke down. Freeze placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, which didn't seem to work.

"Stupid Sunburn..."

Whirlwind was sitting on a roof, watching Spyro complain to Trigger Happy.

"This is ridiculous!" Spyro cried. "I should never have to be an elf, I should never have to be a girl, and I should never have to be Stealth Elf!"

"Oh, c'mon!" Trigger said. "It can't be that bad."

"You wanna bet?" Spyro challenged. "I have to go to the bathroom."

Trigger blinked.

"Screw it, I'm going to go find Stealth and fix this."

Whirlwind growled. "Oh no you don't!" She leaped down to face the boys. "I promised Stealth to keep you off her back, and that's a promise I intend to keep!"

"Whirlwind?!" Spyro exclaimed. "Ugh, come on Trig, we can take her." Trigger didn't respond. "Trig?"

"I... I can't help," the gunslinger said.

"What?!" Spyro exclaimed. "Why not?!"

Trigger sighed, then whipped out his guns. "Because I'm helping Stealth."

Spyro took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh. "I hate you all."

A Short Brawl Later...

Spyro dusted off his hands. "Welp, that was fairly easy," he said. Then it occurred to him. "...which means that I've adapted to Stealth's body! Sweet!That means I can take her on! Tomorrow. I'll take her on tomorrow, after I get some sleep." He walked away, leaving Whirl and Trigger on the ground.

"That was... bad," Trigger said.

"Tell me about it," Whirl replied. "but I wouldn't worry. Freeze Blade has been sparring with her; she must have figured out how to use Spyro's powers by now."

"Maybe so..." They looked up, only to see Sunburn glaring down at them. "But in the end, it's not the power that will decide their fight; it's their purpose."

Stealth was lying alone at the edge of Woodburrow, looking out at the horizon. The moon and stars hung in the sky, shining against the deep black sky. It was something that Stealth had always been able to go to for comfort, ever since she was a kid. She sighed. "This isn't going as well as I had hoped..."

"Spyro?" that was a familiar voice. Stealth turned her head to see none other than Stink Bomb standing behind her. "Could I, uh... talk to you about something?"

Stealth set her head on her front feet, a vacant look in her eye. "Sure."

Stink Bomb sat down next to her and looked out at the sky. "Beautiful night... isn't it?"

"What did you want to talk about?" Stealth sounded impatient.

Stink Bomb sighed. "Well, it's about... Stealth Elf."

(Figures. Complain much?)

"I'm just a bit worried about her. She's my best student, you see..." Stealth perked. "...but she doesn't... well, she doesn't really listen to me much." Stealth lied back down, sleep beginning to take her away. "I don't think she really likes me. But... well, I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but I trust you.

"When us SWAP Force was assigned to tutor you kids, Master Eon warned me that Stealth wouldn't like me at first. You see, she grew up under her own master. He not only trained her, but raised her like a father. Her master was the closest thing to family that Stealth ever had to family. Unfortunately... he was killed." Stealth choked, tearing up slightly.

"Eon told me that she never really recovered from his death, and that she would resent me as a 'master,' and she doesn't even fully trust him. The only thing that I really want is for her to accept me. I think... I know she has more potential, and I think that maybe I could help to bring that out. But if she won't listen, that just can't happen. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame her. I just..." Stink Bomb sighed. "I just needed to get that off my chest. Do you think she'll ever come around? Spyro?"

Stealth was fast asleep, still sniffling a bit. She seemed to had cried herself to sleep; something that she would rarely ever do. Stink Bomb smiled faintly, then stood up to leave. "Goodnight, Stealth Elf."

|| Come to think of it, Sunburn is a lot like Rainbow Dash. I... I didn't start watching that show until a year after I wrote this! What the heck is going on here?!

Also, StealthBurn? That thing I ship? It wouldn't exist if it weren't for the stupid character interactions in this story that I came up with off the top of my head. So, thanks, Swappable Stoppable! You most certainly did something... something. ||