//------------------------------// // Family // Story: The More Things Change // by The Crane //------------------------------// The sun hangs high in the sky. Birds flitter about above in the treetops singing and feeding their chicks. A light mist has come in and watered the trees. The leaves and branches glisten with random water droplets. There are many types of trees in Ponyville. Oaks. Pines. Birches. "Apples!!" a voice remarks. The youngest of the five walks in with wide eyes as she sees glorious red apples hanging from the trees. The recent rain has washed them and they shine in the sunlight. Tonya looks up in awe at the little ruby treasures. A disturbing growl comes from within as Tonya looks at the fruit above. She sees a vast orchard spreading about before her and smiles a little. With such a grand scale, the owners would not miss one or two? She looks about very carefully. There isn't anything with four legs watching her? She looks to her left through the trees. She looks right through more trees. She looks ahead through yet more trees and a rolling hill beyond it. She even looks up to search the skies. While she believes she has a free moment to get a free snack, she licks her muzzle and approaches her choice of tree. It is a hearty tree full of delicious apples. She puts her front hooves on its trunk and shakes it a bit. Ever worried, she keeps an eye on her surroundings. With the little force she shook the tree with, she expected at least one to fall. Yet, they are all secure above. She shakes it again with more strength and watches the branches shake from side to side. Yet--nothing. "C'mon..." she groans. "Just one?" She continues her shaking and continues to add power to her method. Even smacking the wood with her front hooves has done nothing. "Are you really that stubborn?" she grits. "Fine. Have it your way." Tonya backpedals a bit and keeps her eyes on the prize. She turns away from the tree so that her hind legs face her foe. She raises her legs up and coils them towards her. She can feel her muscles in her legs tighten. And then she releases her power and bucks the tree with all her might. There is a distinct ripple of air that expands from the attack. There are two hoofprints embedded in the bark with cracks expanding from them. The sound of such resonates and echoes through the orchard and surely gave away her intent. Still, she whips around and looks at the apple tree with hope that this finally gave way to what she wants. She stands smiling and flitting her tail about in joy. Sadly, this poor girl turned into a pony looks like a dog waiting on a bone. The tree of inderminate age shakes for a time after Tonya's attack. But, instead of a few apples falling to the Earth, the entire tree falls away from her. Her joy turns to horror as the tall terror falls over with a thunderous sound. It hits another tree on the way down. The power of her one buck continues on and topples a second tree. Soon, it leads to a third. And a fourth. Before she realizes what she did, a domino effect has struck the apple orchard, taking down the apple trees one after another. By the time it stops, seven trees have been felled. "Oh.... crap..." Tonya mumbles. "WASN'T MEE!!!" she shouts before dashing off. But, she returns momentarily to collect a few red juicies and tosses them into a bag. Finally, she gallops off into the distance. She hopes upon hope that she can get away before anyone can link her to the crime. ==-==-== Earlier in the day, Twilight had been momentarily paralyzed at a rather unorthodox thought. Fluttershy had fainted not long before and her dear friend gave her some comfort. Spike had dashed out shortly before, leaving the five at a near crime scene. "Eh," Kat says from... somewhere. "She'll be fine." Casie shakes her head a little. "Here I thought Tonya had the big mouth." "I'm rubbing off on her," Tonya notes from her curled up position on the floor. "Great," Casie groans. "One day we'll all be idiots." It is at this time that Spike dashes back through the library. He puts a small paper bag and a tall cup on the table and quickly drops to his knees in prayer. "Oh, great Spirit of the Library, please except this generous donation!!" "This will suffice for now," a voice tells him from above. "But be warned that I may have further need of you." The offerings float above the table and levitate out of the room. They are guided by an unseen force and pass into the main library once more. Spike watches for a bit as the fruits of his labor are carefully placed behind the 'Tonya-couch' where her nose would be. "I thought you wanted those!!" "Hush Little Dragon. I did not say they were for me, did I?" "Uh... no, you didn't..." But, despite his questions, he returns to his duties in the kitchen. Tonya raises her head a little as her nose is intrigued by a rather familiar scent. Her nose reaches up and sniffs the air. Her eyes open to a little bag next to her. "What's this?" "Your stomach speaks volumes, Tonya," Kat says from closeby. "I thought you could use this." Tonya can't see her, but looks up where the voice is coming from. Still curious, she digs her snout into the bag and bites onto its contents. "Mmm..." Tonya mumbles. "Triple chocolate. My favorite! How did you--?" "I have my ways," Kat says quietly. A pair of invisible legs wrap around Tonya's curled frame for a long moment. "You're not alone, Tonya. You never were." "I let all of you down..." "We're still alive?" Kat offers. "Yeah... You are..." ==-==-== Eventually, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy recover from their individual issues. The five newcomers have since realized that the world they are visiting is vastly different from their own. The talking horses may have something to do with this logic. The research continues again as everypony pulls a book to research. Spike is vigilant in keeping them all well snacked. "What is this thing?" Casie asks. She looks down on an overturned glass jar on a table with an amulet inside. The amulet itself has a rudimentary horse's head as well as wings and a horn. Twilight looks over to the red pony and then to what she is wondering about. "Oh. That's the Alicorn Amulet. Gives the wearer incredible powers. Any unicorn would have alicorn level magic with it." "And you just leave out in the open?" Twilight's head turns back towards her book. "I'm not worried. The glass case has so many wards on it I can't even remember. It's not going anywhere unless a real alicorn steps in." Casie looks at her for a moment and then at the amulet. "Amanda?" "Yes?" "What's an alicorn?" "I dunno. I never got into the fantasy stuff. Kat?" "Casie," Kat says from wherever. "You know what a unicorn is, right?" "Yeah. The ones with the horns," she replies while subtly pointing to Amanda's head. "And you know what a pegasus is, right?" "The wings, right?" "Yeah. Alicorns have both. Wings and horn. It's also the historical name of a unicorn horn itself." "Alicorns," Twilight adds, "are pretty rare. In all of Equestria, there are only four known. They are all regarded as princesses." Casie puts a hoof to her chin as she processes all this. She watches Twilight quietly flipping through a book. She uses her magenta magic from her horn to flip the pages. Still curious, she takes note of Twilight's wings folded up against her sides. And then, she finally realizes the truth. "I am so sorry, your Highness," Casie spouts as she bows down. Amanda and Bobbi also realize this and quickly bow to the just-now realization. It is safe to assume that Kat has also taken such a stance. "Please forgive us," Amanda says quickly. "We had no idea." In the corner where Tonya continues to be curled up, her body is quickly raised and posed as the others did. There is a fair amount of grumbling and aggitation from such an unexpected 'attack'. "No, no!!" Twilight beckons as she flails her hooves around. "Don't!! It's alright!! I'm... kind of in training, I guess you could say. I don't feel comfortable with all this!!" Slowly, the group relaxes and returns to a more informal atmosphere. Tonya growls a bit and returns to her curl. Fluttershy giggles a bit from her corner of the room as she realized that Twilight would act like this. "Do you know of the other three?" Bobbi asks. "Princess Celestia is our ruler and raises the sun every day. She's also my mentor. Princess Luna is her younger sister and ruler of the night. Princess Cadance rules the Crystal Empire. She was my foalsitter when I was little. The BEST foal sitter!!" she says with more than a bit of squeal. "Crystal Empire?" Kat wonders. "Where's that?" "It's way up north. There's usually a lot of snow outside the city. I'd tell you more, but it's a long story." "Up north?" Kat wonders. "Lots of snow?" Amanda muses. "Their own princess?" Bobbi mutters. "Sounds like Canada," Casie quips. "Canada?" Twilight wonders. But, Twilight notes a few quirky giggles coming out of the ponies that she can see. "You know, I bet Princess Cadance would like to see a few visitors. But, I feel I should remind you that she's ROYALTY. I may not be worried about formalities, but she should be given the utmost respect. You all should be on your best behavior." "Yah," Amanda grins. "Sure," Casie adds. "You betcha," Bobbi says. While they all agree to be respectful, Twilight's head lowers a little. "I got a bad feeling about this."