//------------------------------// // Unbe-leaf-able! // Story: Out on a Limb // by arcTangent //------------------------------// Twilight frowned at the hopeless mess staring her in the face. She was currently working on a new spell that she hoped would improve the conditions at Sweet Apple Acres, but it wasn't going well. Sighing, she magicked away the massive pile of branches, leaves, and other assorted plant-based materials and decided to try again. She focused magic power into her horn as she visualized what she wanted the result to be. Her horn began to glow purple as the aforementioned object started to materialize in the space she was willing it to occupy. Yes! she cried internally. Almost got it! "How's it comin', Twi?" Applejack interrupted, breaking the lavender unicorn's concentration and disrupting the spell. A semi-materialized tree appeared where she had been trying to create a fully-formed one. "Not very well, thanks to you," she grumbled as she once again made the remnants of the butchered spell disappear. "Well, excuse me, princess!" the earth pony shouted, which didn't make sense considering the fact that Celestia was currently residing in her castle in Canterlot at the moment. Twilight decided to ignore it and try the spell one more time. She concentrated with all her might, drawing forth every last drop of magical energy from her body. She was physically straining now, her muscles rigid with fatigue, and she was starting to develop a migraine. Still she focused on the tree that she was attempting to make appear in the ground in front of her. Just when she thought she was about to drop from exhaustion, a sapling sprouted from the ground. Smiling despite her pain, she watched with glee as the sapling grew bigger and bigger, until it sprouted into a fully-grown apple tree, fruit and all. "Phew!" Twilight sighed in relief as she relaxed, breathing deeply. The spell had been a success, but she was exhausted. Applejack cheered enthusiastically. "Way to go, sugar cube!" "Thanks," Twilight replied between breaths. "It's not easy to create a whole new spell, let alone one as difficult as materialization." "All ya needed was a little practice. Ah reckon with some time you'll have it down pat!" The unicorn was too tired to respond verbally. She flopped down onto her back in the shade of the magically-created apple tree. Inspecting her craftsmanship, she scrutinized the tree to see if anything was out of place. It looked fine to her--no extra limbs, no odd colors, no missing leaves. Everything was in order, exactly as she liked. Applejack decided to capitalize on the success of the spell by bucking the tree with her hind legs. A bushel of apples fell from the tree into the bucket that she'd brought with her for that exact purpose. Taking an apple for herself, she loaded the contents of the bucket into the saddlebags strapped to her back. She took a bite of the apple, letting the sweet juice drip down her chin and savoring the sweet flavor of the red fruit that she was named after. "Mmmm!" she sighed with a mouthful of apple. "Just as good as the naturally-grown ones!" Twilight sat up, now having recuperated enough to be able to function. She pointed her hoof at the bag of apples on Applejack's back and said, "I'm incredibly thirsty. You wouldn't mind if..." She didn't have to finish. Applejack was more than happy to give her friend a hooffull of red apples. Twilight took one and bit into it with a loud CRUNCH. It wasn't her favorite fruit in the world, but it was nutritious, providing essential vitamins required for biological growth. "Well, ah better be going," the orange pony said. "Ah've gotta prepare these apples to be sold tomorrow mornin'. Heck, maybe I'll save a few for cookin' since they were so dang good!" Twilight stood up. "Are you sure you can eat all those by yourself? It looks like quite a lot." "Buck you, Twilight, I can eat all these apples!" Applejack shouted extremely uncharacteristically before trotting away towards her family's farm. Twilight scowled. Applejack sure was acting strange today, first with the princess comment and now this. It seemed kind of funny in a way, but she couldn't really laugh about it because a thought just occurred to her: The day before, she had promised AJ that she would try to develop a new spell that created apple trees. With the spell, she hoped she would be able to increase the quantity of apple production at Sweet Apple Acres, thereby bringing in new profits. As the spell had worked, Applejack would be back at a later date to get her to fill the orchard with magically-produced apple trees, meaning she'd need to cast the physically tiring spell over and over again to get the same results. "UGH!" she groaned loudly as she slumped over on the grass again, already dreading the taxing day that lay in store for her in the near future. To herself she moaned, "Why couldn't I have chosen a less tiring profession, like Fluttershy's?" ---- Fluttershy squealed as she ducked to avoid the chair that narrowly missed her head. "Oh, why couldn't I have chosen a less tiring profession, like Twilight's?" she griped as she chased a chaotic Angel around the room. It was time for his weekly bath, a chore that he absolutely refused to participate in. It was the same routine every Thursday: Fluttershy would draw a bath, her rabbit would protest and run rampant through her cottage, and she would chase him down and force him into the tub. It never failed. "Now, Angel Bunny..." the pegasus pleaded between crashes of furniture hitting the walls, "...it's just a bath, it's not going to hurt you...you need to get cleaned up every once in a while...I'll make it quick, I promise..." Despite giving her best effort, her words had no effect. The small white ball of fur was still creating mayhem in her living room. She sighed, her wings sore from flying around, and wished she could take a break. Suddenly she heard a huge crash, much larger than any other. Angel had knocked over the wooden sculpture Apple Bloom had made on the night of her sleepover. It wasn't much to look at--in fact, it was an eyesore--but she still felt as though the rabbit had gone far enough. It was time to break out The Stare. Fluttershy only used her hypnotizing glare in extreme circumstances. This certainly qualified. After all, she couldn't expect her pet rabbit to continue toppling her furniture and get away with it. She placed her hooves firmly on the ground, opening her eyes wide and staring threateningly at Angel. Angel immediately stopped running, as if he knew what his owner was doing. Mesmerized, his face went slack-jawed and he started to drool due to a lack of muscular control. He was paralyzed, rendered helpless by the will of Fluttershy. The yellow pony stood her ground. She continued to stare at him for an exceedingly long length of time, not backing down for a second. She bit Angel by the scruff of his neck and carried him into the bathroom, where she dropped him into the bubble-filled bathtub. He sank under the surface of the water and came up seconds later looking very displeased, bubbles clinging to his wet fur. Fluttershy giggled at this sight. "See, Angel Bunny? Was that really so bad?" She bent over to pick up the shampoo and said, "Now if you'll just cooperate we can get this done in no time at all, okay?" She frowned. The shampoo bottle wasn't in its usual place next to the tub. Then she remembered she had used it all up last week. She'd have to go into the pantry and get another bottle. She straightened up and spoke to her still unamused pet. "Stay right here, Angel Bunny. Mamma will be right back." She turned around and hurried into the kitchen before he could make any sudden movements. Now let's see, she said to herself as she rummaged through the cabinets, pushing aside food products and cleaning supplies. Cream of Oats, sunflower seeds, dish detergent, soap--AHA! Here's the shampoo! She ran back to the bathroom. "Okay, Angel Bunny, it's time for your sha-" She never finished the sentence. The shampoo bottle fell to the floor with a dull thud, landing right in the middle of the river of soapy water leading from the bathtub out the door of the cottage. Angel had escaped! "Oh no, oh nonononononononooooo!" Fluttershy muttered in panic as she frantically galloped out the front door chasing the escapee. She followed the trail of water as far as it went, which was only a few feet from the house. She stopped, terrified, and yelled, "Oh no! Angel Bunny could be anywhere by now! It'll be impossible to track him down now!!" Then she stopped yelling. He was sitting conveniently at the edge of the property line, munching on a carrot he'd stolen from the garden. She narrowed her eyes, spotting her target. "Oh, somepony's going to be in big trouble!" She took off like a police officer in hot pursuit of a madman. Angel dropped the carrot in surprise and hopped as fast as he could into town, scaring half the village in the progress. Everypony moved aside to let the pegasus through. Because once you get Fluttershy riled up, you won't be able to stop her. You don't believe me? Go ahead and try. Yeah. I thought so. ---- Twilight was feeling more refreshed than she had after watching all those exercise videos Rarity had gotten her last Hearth's Warming Eve. She'd had a good half-hour's rest, she'd downed a whole can of Minotaur energy drink, and she was feeling better than ever. In fact, she was feeling so much better that she decided to give the tree-creation spell another go. Since she'd have to learn it eventually, a little practice wouldn't hurt much. She strained again, focusing her magical energy towards her forehead. It was a little easier now that she knew how to cast the spell, but it still required a lot of power. She created four tall apple trees in her front yard before she was forced to take a break. Spike had brought her some lemonade while she was working, which she had set down on the ground for when she was thirsty. She now took a sip of the yellow liquid and instantly did a spit-take. Spike had mixed up the ingredients and put a half-cup of sugar and two cups of lemon juice instead of the other way around. It was way too sour for her taste. She shrugged. At least he gave it a shot. She decided to practice the spell one more time. She concentrated on the tree she wanted to create. Her horn glowed the familiar purple glow that signified it was using magical power. She siphoned the energy into her horn and-- A white blur knocked her off her hooves. She stumbled backwards, sending the bolt of magic out in front of her. There was a loud popping noise as Twilight stood up again and stared at her accidental creation. Situated immediately in front of her was an apple tree. It was much like the other tree's she'd conjured up before, except it had a yellow bark and pink leaves. Also, it had a nose, a mouth, two ears, and two teal eyes. Twilight's mouth was agape. "F-F-Fluttershy?" she managed to choke out in disbelief. She'd turned her friend into a tree! "Twilight?" Fluttershy asked curiously, obviously not realizing the fact that she was now a tree. "What happened? Why are you looking at me like that? And why do I feel so stiff all of a sudde-" She broke off midsentence. She was now looking down at her new features, staring at the bark that had replaced her skin, the roots that firmly planted her in the ground, the branches that had become her arms. She let out a bloodcurdling screech that made Twilight cover here ears. "WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME?" she wailed. "WHY AM I A TREE? IS THIS GOING TO BE FOREVER?" Twilight shushed the whimpering Fluttershy-tree hybrid. "Calm down. You must have accidentally gotten hit by one of my spells." "Well, change me back! I don't want to be a tree forever! I want to be able to take care of my animal friends, like Angel Bunny--" She gasped. "Oh no! He's still out missing! I've got to find him!" "Shhhhh, it's all right. I think I read a book the other day about reversing transformation spells. I'll go check it out. You stay here while I'm gone, okay?" "Do I really have a choice?" "Oh, right, 'cause you're a tree, and trees have roots, and--" She cleared her throat, noticing the conversation had just reached the awkward level. "I'll go find the book." As the lavender unicorn galloped into the library, Fluttershy was left alone to recollect her thoughts. She supposed being a tree wasn't so bad. It's not like Twilight had turned her into a fish that couldn't breathe outside of water. All she needed was some sunlight, a little water, and some carbon dioxide, and she could create her own energy using photosynth-- Stop thinking that way, she interrupted herself. Photosynthesis, hah! I must be more insane than Pinkie Pie! She looked down at the ground and saw a tuft of rabbit fur. I sure hope Angel's all right, she thought sorrowfully. She really wanted to go and look for him, but that wasn't possible in her current state. She subconsciously wriggled one of her roots as she thought about her missing bunny, as well as all her animals back home. Wait a minute. She wriggled her root again, checking to make sure she hadn't imagined feeling it move. No, it was definitely functional. She smiled. Maybe she wasn't stuck after all.