Mrs. T watched Tohru interacting with the fillies for a time - doing an impressive job suppressing the grin that tried to consume her face when she saw him doing tasks around the store with the three of them on his head and shoulders for 'pony rides' - before finally speaking up. "Hmph!" she grumbled at last. "I don't know about some of your choices, but..." Walking up to Tohru, she gently tugged him down to his knees so they could hug. "You made the right choice for your heart, and it is plain you have done - and will do - great things from it. I am so happy for you...and so proud of you."
"Mommy..." Tohru whimpered in joy, holding her close. Several of those watching wiped away a few tears.
When the hug broke, Mrs. T reached up to pet Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. "And I look forward to getting to know these little angels." As grins split the girls' faces, Mrs. T once more turned to examine her surroundings. "But is this really the best job you could get to be here for them? Servant in junk shop?"
"Hey!" Jade complained petulantly. "It's not a junk shop! It's an antique store!"
Mrs. T made a dismissive 'pfuy' sound. "Only antique I see here is billy goat behind the counter!"
Uncle immediately shot to his feet. "Billy goat?" he demanded angrily as he stalked towards her. "Dragon lady should watch her mouth!"
To everyone's surprise, Mrs. T...smirked. "Seems billy goat has forgotten how world has changed," she offered calmly before throwing one hand forward, tossing a strange dust into Uncle's face, making him stagger back. When the dust cleared, Uncle had two horns atop his head, and his face was...furry. "Cause he try say 'blah, blah, blah', but all I hear is 'baa baa baa'!"
After putting his hands to his face in shock, Uncle let off an angry growl. "Oh...should not challenge in my own shop, dragon lady!" he snapped, hurling similar dust into Mrs. T's face. When it cleared, she too had horns...and scales.
"A challenge, is it?" Mrs. T countered, spinning in place. When she came to a halt, her face was back to normal...but she was dressed as a Miko, and looked decades younger. Clutched in her hands was a metal staff with a curved top, metal rings jangling against each other at the head. "Billy goat should remember how the last one ended!"
Uncle brought his hands together and spread them, causing his own transformation to reverse...and leaving him in wizard robes and turning his hair black. "I still chi wizard! But housewife like you, skills get old and rusty!"
"Naw, you get musty like books and dusty like junk in your shop!" Mrs. T proclaimed, thrusting forward with her staff and launching a fireball at Uncle.
Uncle backhanded the fireball away carelessly. "Uncle will not fail in front of his wards!" he proclaimed as he countered with lightning.
"Nor I before my son!" Mrs. T declared as she caught the lightning on her staff, driving it into the floor before unleashing a wave of earth.
As the waves of magic shot back and forth, Jackie raced around trying to save the antiques while Jade, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle took shelter behind Tohru. Scootaloo started to join them, but paused as she twitched her wings a few times. Her eyes widened, and she promptly hopped onto Cumulo, close to the action.
"Scoot!" Sweetie Belle called out worriedly. "What are you doing? You need to get to cover!"
"And miss this show?" Scootaloo countered, reaching into Cumulo and pulling out a packet. Cupping her hooves close together in Cumulo's cloud stuff, a bit of lightning sparked between them around the bag, causing it to release a great deal of popping sounds as it expanded. When she finished, she ripped it open and began eating popcorn.
Apple Bloom glanced around for a bit...and then a wide grin split her face. "Move over!" she called out, leaping off Tohru's back and onto Cumulo.
"Save some popcorn for me!" Sweetie Belle called out, joining them.
Jade and Tohru exchanged confused glances, shrugged their shoulders, and took seats.
The duel of spells continued for a time...and then both Uncle and Mrs. T collapsed into each other in exhaustion, their appearance returning to normal and all evidence of magic usage vanished. "That used to be easier..." Mrs. T panted.
"Maybe still would be if not waste illusion slot for vanity!" Uncle teased, poking her beauty mark.
"Says man who used one for hair dye," Mrs. T teased right back, ruffling his hair affectionately.
"Uh...?" Jackie spoke up in confusion.
After a time, Uncle got to his feet, helping Mrs. T to hers. "Did Uncle ever tell girls about time in youth when Uncle was in travelling theater troupe?"
"I loved those stories!" Scootaloo crowed happily.
"For real?" Jade gasped in shock.
Uncle chuckled softly. "'Dragon Lady' here was in rival troupe."
"Mommy?" Tohru squeaked out, his eyes bulging from his disbelief.
Mrs. T chuckled softly. "Some of my happiest memories. We used to do dueling magic shows whenever our troupes got double booked."
Sweetie Belle's eyes widened, then narrowed. "You two seem...pretty close."
Uncle laughed softly. "If things had turned out different, Tohru would be calling Uncle 'Daddy' instead of 'Sensei'."
Jackie - who had gone to have some tea to calm down - promptly spat his tea all over the wall. "WAAAUGH?!" he screamed out in shock.
Mrs. T chuckled softly. "But my parents would not hear of me 'dilluting our noble samurai bloodline', and Billy Goat couldn't support us in China. So we parted with happy memories and a very strange friendship-"
"Don't start, Sweetie Belle!" Uncle suddenly snapped out. "Uncle is much too old to look for romance. Happy with friendship!"
"Double for me there!" Mrs. T insisted. "Last thing I want is romance. I'm so far into menopause, I cook holiday turkey by giving it a big hug!"
Jackie coughed several times, while Tohru covered his mouth.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Jade all tilted their heads. "I don't get it," they said in unison.
"Now where I stay, son?" Mrs. T demanded irritably.
"No room here!" Uncle insisted. "Only room left taken by Tohru and fillies!"
"I can take care of it!" Apple Bloom called out, rushing to the wall. "Been wantin' ta try this, but didn'a have a reason before." Placing her forehooves against the wall, she closed her eyes. Magic flowed out of her forelegs and into the wall.
After a time, the building shook slightly, and the sound of rapid plant growth could be heard. When it stopped, Apple Bloom slumped over. "Got room on the third floor."
"Uncle's shop does not have third floor!" Uncle insisted as Mrs. T climbed the stairs.
"It does now..." Mrs. T marveled as she stared at what looked like an entire floor carved out of the inside of a tree trunk. "Hope it meets building code."