Alex was sitting in front of the model of the Golden Oaks Library. She was meditating as she was trying get a hold of her chaos magic. Ashley stormed up to the model and sternly said, “What in tarnation were you thinking when you decked Xavier?” The farm mare looked at her crossly and crossed her arms as she waited for an explanation.
Ayumi walked up and observed her student’s meditating “Settle this later, Ash. Alex is meditating and that means she’s much more prone to lash out instinctively. It’s not a good idea to try talking to her since she’s trying to control two different and godly types of magic. Besides I already got my own punishment for her later;let’s just say it involves pain and sparring.”
Alex tuned Ashley and her teacher’s voices out as she meditated. She focused on finding her chaos magic as it was the magic that was the most familiar. She hadn’t had any luck doing it the traditional way and her lack of results was starting to get frustrating. Then it hit her like ton of bricks. She was going about it the wrong way. The traditional way involved ordering one’s thoughts. Order was the opposite of chaos in order to find her chaos magic she needed to meditate with a method that involved chaos!
Without warning, she grew to her 5’8” frame, destroying the clothes she was wearing and caused her to go flying and land in a heap at Ashley and Ayumi’s feet.
“Ah reckon that’s one thing that c’n happen if yoah concentration is broken.” The farmmare commented wryly. Ayumi nodded with a barely suppressed grin. She then pulled out her phone and took a picture of Alex. When Alex recovered from her latest surge and got up Ayumi asked, “What happened?”
Alex replied, “I realized I was doing the wrong thing for getting control of my chaos magic and it got away and surged.” After that she looked around and noticed the scraps of cloth laying about, the sensation of wind in her fur, Ashley’s surprised yet concerned look, and her sensei's look of anticipation as she cracked her knuckles. She then handed Ashley a stopwatch after starting it and asked, “Would you be so kind and stop it when Alex returns to mouse size?” The farmmare nodded and stepped back.
Alex watched as Ayumi transformed herself into her anthro Tempest form and got into a stance as she said, “I think you just got some control of your Chaos magic and it rebelled by surging. So to test that control we’re going to spar. Also this is a bit of a punishment because you let your temper get the best of you during your time with Xavier that reflects badly on all anthro-kind. Get ready I’m holding back less of my earth pony strength to test your new body.Oh and before we start...” Tempest snapped her claws as a training Gi appeared on Alex’s body “Kinda don’t want the goods on display, I’m not ready to teach you kunoichi yet.”
Alex nodded, “I would have expected no less from you, Sensei.”
With that they both started the spar. Tempest noted that Alex was fighting with a lot more discipline than she originally figured. As they traded blows she noted Alex was also moving faster than expected. She noted that Alex wasn’t kidding about being a trained martial artist which explained the large reserve of ki she showed back at the McDonalds.
Their spar lasted for about an hour and a half before Alex got the over stretched rubber band feeling she got the previous day that warned her the she was about shirk back to mouse size. She put up a guard just before she snapped back to three inches high. Unfortunately for her Tempest had started a spin kick and Alex was still in mid air when the kick arrived.
Tempest’s foot slammed into her and sent her sailing towards the back door of the Raddison home.
Alex’s bad luck worsened when the door opened and Twilight stepped out of her house.
“Okay Granny. I’ll pass i -*OOF!*-” Twilight said as Alex sailed forcibly into her gut knocking her on her butt. “TWILIGHT!!” both of the other mares shouted as they ran up to the pair. Alex lay on Twilight’s belly knocked out. Tempest changed back into Ayumi and asked, “You okay little sis?!”
Twilight groaned and looked to her belly and saw an unconscious Alex. “What happened?” But before anyone could say anything, a voice said, “Twilight? You okay?” Ashley picked up Twilight's phone and said, “Twi’s Okay, Granny. Whatcha want her to pass along?”
Ashley listened for a moment then said, “Ah’ll be home in a few and wash Winona. Bye Granny.” She hung up the phone and handed it back to twilight.
“Sorry, sugarcubes. Granny Smith says Ah gotta go home and give Winona a bath and fix dinner f’r the family. Maybe Ah can bring over some pies and apple fritters for snacks?” Ashley said to the group.
“That’d be great Ash. Also could you also take Alex over to meet Lady Smith and the rest of your family? I think it would be good for my student to meet the families of our friends to learn more about her own.” Ayumi said “Besides I kinda want to talk with Miss Raddison about how I relate to her now that she’s become Lady Velvet. And that’s more of a family thing than not. No offence.”
“None taken.” Ashley replied. She picked up the mouse girl and caught a bundle Twilight teleported from inside the GOL model.
A few minutes later, Alex woke up on the dashboard of Ashley’s truck as she drove back to her farm. “*GROAN!* Sensai kicks like a horse literally.” She moaned, before she noticed she was in Ashley’s truck. “How’d I get here?” the bewildered mouse girl looked about and noted where she was and what her head was laying on. “Okaaayyy’” She said. “What happened after sensei kicked me?”
Ashley chuckled as she replied, “Well, ya ended up knockin’ Twilight over, but not ‘fore ya changed back from a human-sized mouse girl. Twilight got ya some clothes Rarity made f’r ya. Ah need t’ get home and check with mah family. Granny Smith needs me to fix dinner and wash mah dog, Winona. She’s a border collie.”
“Any idea how she’ll react to me? I don’t want a repeat of Opal.”Alex said quickly getting dressed. Alex shuddered at the thought of the close shave with the Delararity family cat. If it hadn't been for a panic surge, would’ve been in for a bit of hurt.
Ashley thought a moment then said, “Most likely lick you to death. Though that might turn literal if we’re not careful.” Alex nodded.
The pair rode in silence as the Truck rolled toward Ashley's farm. A few minutes they started passing acre after acre of of all things apple trees. “H-how many acres your family own?” The mouse girl asked.
“About ten acres more than a hobby farm.” The farmmare said as she turned up the access road to the farm. Alex looked at the sign and did a double take as it said, “Sweet Apple Acres.”
“WTF?!” She thought. “Has Buhe figured out how to return to Earth? Or is this a HUGE coincidence.”
“Hay Alex.” Ashley said. “What are you thinking about?” Alex shook her head to bring herself back to the here and now and said, “Wha? oh! Sorry Ash I just saw the name of your farm. Did you know your farm and the farm of the pony you are the anthro version of have the same name?”
“Huh.” Ashley said. “That’s some coincidence.”
“somemouse may have had a hand or should I say a hoof in it.” the mouse adventuress remarked as they pulled up to the farm house. Ashley shut the truck down and carried Alex to the farm house and set her down on the railing of the porch. “Now wait here while I go tell Granny Smith & Big Mac about ya.” Ashley cautioned. “we dun want a repeat of what happened with Sweetie Belle.”
Alex nodded and watched Ashley enter the house. Alex played down on the railing and waited. After about an hour, Alex dozed off. She slept for about five minutes before she rolled of the railing. Alex woke up a split second before she hit the ground and was blinded by a flash of emerald magic.
When she could see again, she felt something hard strike her and she went sailing over the farm house. She landed with a splat and heard a dog sniffing then Ashley say, “Sorry, girl, just got ya washed up. Ah’m not giving ya ‘nother bath just ‘cause ya chose to get dirty again.” Ashley stooped down to see what her dog was so interested in.
“Alex, that you in that mud puddle?” Ashley began to look for something to help scoop Alex out of the mud when she heard the mud grunt in affirmation.
“May I help you?” Ashley looked up when she heard someone’s voice.
She smiled when she recognized the owner of the question. “Oh, Howdy, Starlight! Just tryin’ to get my mouse friend out of this mud puddle as I wait on mah little sister and her friends. They promised to help me out with some baking. Rarity wanted some o’ mah Apple Fritters.”
“Well, I don't know about the second thing, but I think I can help out with the first thing!” Before Ashley could ask, Starlight's magic was already working. She used a levitation spell to get Alex out of the mud puddle.
Ashley held out her hands to receive Alex from Starlight’s magical aura, “You okay, sugarcube?” Alex nodded, wiping mud out of her eyes. Ashley smiled at Starlight, “Thanks fer helpin’ out. Seems like yer learning a lot about friendship by hangin’ out with us.”
“No problem. And yes, now that I discovered it, friendship is such an amazing thing to learn about.” said Starlight.
Ashley wiped one of her hands on her jeans before directing Starlight to her house. “Well, welcome t’ Sweet Apple Acres. Mah little sister should be coming in anytime now. She’s got red hair, a pink bow and yellow fur.”
“Well, it will be good to meet… um… what’s her name?” asked Starlight, blushing a little.
Ashley sighed as she opened the front door, “Amy was her human name, but she wants to be called Apple Bloom. She’s friends with Rarity’s little sister and Micaela’s sister Sam. Ah also have a big brother, and mah grandmother. Plus lots of other extended relatives all around on their farms.”
“Sounds nice! Oh, and sorry for asking. I’m still used to hearing human names everyday, so these transformation one’s are still strange to me.” Starlight said, plopping down on a couch.
Ashley shook her head as she followed her friends lead. “Ah hear ya. Turns out we have Trixie at school, as well as Sunset Shimmer. Both unicorn anthros.”
“Oh, interesting… Is any of them bad or both of them good?” Starlight looked at her expectantly.
Ashley paused for a second, “Well, Sunset’s really nice and she even sang at a talent show we held. Trixie used to be a bully and even challenged Twilight to a magic duel. But it turns out she wasn’t in her right mind. Apparently there’s this amulet that can cause unicorns to become evil. I think the amulet’s gone now, but this really evil entity has been causing trouble at school lately. He’s been turning humans into anthros without their consent.”
“Well, at least I know that I wasn't turning crazy when all I could see were anthro ponies everywhere.” Joked Starlight, inciting a small laugh from her friend.
Just then, the Ashley’s younger sister ran into the room where the older anthros were talking, skidding to a stop when she saw Starlight, “Sorry, sis! Ah didn’t know we had company!” She panted out as she caught her breath.
“Oh, you must be Apple Bloom! I’m Starlight Glimmer, nice to meet you!” Starlight’s eyes ‘glimmered’ when she saw Applebloom.
Apple Bloom smile and extended her hand to Starlight, “Nice ya meet ya, Starlight! Yer one o’ mah sister’s friends from school, right?”
Starlight got up shook the little girl’s hand. “Correct! And I was doing a visit there, so we could talk about things.” She responded lightly.
“Mighty glad ya stopped by, Starlight. And, here comes the rest of mah family.” Ashley nodded toward the figures coming through the door. “This here’s Granny Smith and my big brother, Big MacIntosh. And before ya say anythin’,yes, mah family’s specialty are apple-based products.”
“I can see that, you do have a lot of apple trees here! That’s so cool!” Starlight squealed.
Ashley nodded, “Well, those there apples we need for some treats Ah’m planning to deliver to Rarity’s. Just need t’ find Sweetie Belle and Sam.”
Apple Bloom interjected, “Sam and Sweetie Belle were behind me coming as fast as they could but for some reason I got here before them.”
Ashley rolled her eyes at her sister. “Ah’m sure they’ll be here any moment.” right on cue, Sweetie burst into the room. “See? There’s Sweetie Belle right there.” Ashley got up and began walking towards the door. “Ah’m gonna go get Sam.”
“There’s no need.” Ashley watched in confusion as a young orange Anthro walked into the room, trying to hide behind her short mane.
“Are you takin’ over for Sam?” The older mare scrutinized the younger one’s face, trying to place why she looked familiar. “Ah’m soory, do ah know you from somewhere?”
The filly seemed to shrink, finally figuring out out to hid behind her mane. In classic fluttershy, she said, “I am Sam.”
“Ah’m sorry sugarcube, ah can’t hear you. What was that?” Ashley leaned closer to the kid, who in turn shrunk even more.
She cleared her throat, and tried to speak up. “I said, I am Sam.”
Ashley blinked, rubbing her ear as she stood back up. “And now ah’m hearing things. Starlight, please tell me what you just heard.”
“I believe she was telling you that she was Sam. What’d you hear?” Ashley’s eyes widened, and she stumbled back to the couch. Starlight looked at her reproachfully. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Ah’ll tell you what’s wrong. Sam over there has been stuck in a wheelchair ever since I’ve known her.” Starlight gasped and looked over at the filly, who just smiled at her weakly. Ashley rubbed her eyes.
After examining Sam for a few seconds, Starlight looked at her thoughtfully. “I guess that the transformation could fix previous injuries.”
Ashley sighed and nodded, “So Sam can walk and run again? Ah guess it’s ok if it only healed injuries. How much magic does that take, anyways?” She looked over at her friend, who just shrugged.
“Hell if I know. Oh, speaking of magic and all, I saw something pretty strange on my way here…” Starlight said, changing the subject so as to mask her failure of understanding what she thought was a basic function of the world, however new it was.
Ashley tilted her head, “Ya don’t say. What kinda strange thing, other than us and the other anthros around school?”
“Well, I saw some checkered floor, a house floating around, and some kind of… dragon thing?”
Alex's head snapped to take a look at the anthro version of Starlight Glimmer and asked “Did it have a Dragon’s body, eagle’s claw, a lion’s paw, a bat wing, a feathered wing, and body parts of different animals?” Starlight stared at Alex’s words more from the venom in them than the description she provided. But before the unicorn anthro could say anything the elderly green mare anthro grabbed the the muddy mouse anthro and said “Consarnate varmits are getter bolder by the day.” before she hobbled towards an open window and pulled back to hurl Alex, who squeeked/said “AshpleasestopyourgrandmotherbeforeshegivesmeaflyinglessonandIdon’thavewingsyet!”
“GRANNY NO!” Sweetie Belle shouted as the ancient mare threw Alex. Without thinking, she tried to catch Alex with her magic. Alex gave sigh of relief as Sweetie caught her magically. Sweetie belle also sighed in relief has she brought her tiny friend close to her then hugged her.
“Ack!” Was all Alex said as Sweetie Belle hugged her to small yet ample chest. “Help.” The mouse said as she was being unintentionally suffocated by the filly. “Um… Sweetie Belle?” Ashley queried. “Alex needs to breathe.” Alex’ head swam as she was jerked away from by Sweetie. “SORRY!” Alex nodded the noticed the orange filly anthro w/ a purple mane and tail. “Sc-scootaloo?
“This here is Sam Dashel, Micaela’s adopted little sister.” Ashley said. “Though I believe she would be called Scootaloo, a Pegasus filly." Ashley looked over at Starlight and Alex, "Looks like we have all three Cutie Mark Crusaders.”