//------------------------------// // Chapter 47: Earth Pony Magic // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// It was late morning. Remedy and Rosetta were lounging in the woods, watching Cathy continue to care for her planted seeds. Roger was walking about looking at the plants grown by other earth ponies. Jean had taken the twins on a walk up to the gas station to get a little exercise. The area in the woods had changed dramatically over the course of a day or two. Flowers of all different types were blooming; there were the beginnings of corn stalks, vines that could belong to any number of plants, and more. It was a chaotic farm filled with every plant imaginable, with no rhyme or reason about what was growing next to what. The lack of uniformity or order didn't seem to concern anypony. This was not meant to be a proper farm; this was meant to be a testing ground for what earth ponies could do. Many of the earth ponies working here also were earning cutie marks dedicated specializations in growing different types of plants, flowers, and vegetables. It was interesting to see how many earth ponies got so fascinated with single types of plants. Not all, of course, many either still lacked cutie marks, or already had cutie marks focused on something non-plant related, but it was a large number all the same. Cathy could be seen glancing away from her planted seeds to the other ponies from time to time. She would look at the plants that were growing, and the flanks of ponies with cutie marks with open longing. She would then turn back to her own piece of dirt and lay her head down as she laid a hoof over the patch of dirt again, careful not to knock over the watering can she had brought with her today. "I don't understand why it's not growing faster. I can feel it down there," Cathy said dejectedly. "Maybe apples aren't your thing, or it's because you are trying to grow a tree. Most of the other ponies aren't trying to grow anything that large," Rosetta suggested. "Maybe they aren't my thing," Cathy conceded. "But it still seems like I should be having some impact on the seeds." "There's also the possibility that growing things isn't your thing in general. I am pretty sure not every earth pony is going to turn out to be a farmer," Remedy said. "But I want to tend plants. I wanted to do that even before becoming a pony. Being an earth pony just makes that want more intense. It feels unfair that it was what I wanted to do as a human, and now that I'm a type of pony that is supposed to be great at that, and I'm having no luck," Cathy said sadly. "Well, perhaps you can have a different purpose with plants than growing them. Papa helps make trees not get sick and protects them from bugs. You might be able to do something like that," Rosetta suggested. "Who knows, I just want this to grow," Cathy said as she brought her muzzle up closer to the patch of dirt. Roger came walking back, shaking his head in wonder. "What these ponies are doing is amazing. Most of the things growing here are completely out of season, but seem to be growing quickly and well. Everything is healthy and not showing the slightest sign of blight," Roger said as he looked about. Rosetta put a hoof up to her muzzle in a shushing gesture and pointed a wing at Cathy. "Still no luck?" Roger asked sympathetically as he looked down at his other daughter. "Nope," Cathy said dejectedly. Roger sat down next to Cathy and rubbed her behind the ears. Cathy leaned her head into the scratching, and a contented smile started to bloom on her lips. Remedy's ears twitched as she watched, and she wondered if getting ears scratched really felt that good. Cats and dogs had similar ears, and they certainly enjoyed that kind of scratching; so it made some sense. Maybe it would work with using a wing to scratch? Wing fingers weren't as adept as human fingers, but they might work. She would have to try it out with Rosetta later. "Do you mind if we sleep in the camper today? The pegasi are going to make it rain, and we would rather not be outside for that," Rosetta asked her father. "I don't mind, though you might have to contend with your mother making some noise in there later on if you do. I'll try to keep the boys out until this evening," Roger replied with a shrug. "If the noise is low in there, we won't have much of a problem sleeping," Remedy said as she cuddled closer to her marefriend. "What happens if you stay up all day and try to sleep at night? Are you able to put yourself on a daytime schedule?" Roger asked curiously as he stood back up. Cathy pouted as he stopped scratching her ears and went back to pouting "We can try to force it, but it doesn't work out too well. Lots of daylight makes us sleepy, and we have too hard a time sleeping at night, no matter how tired we are by the time night falls. We can stay up all the daylight hours if we force ourselves, but it just exhausts us, and there's no way it's healthy," Rosetta replied. "We have work to do tonight as well, so we definitely aren't staying up all day," Remedy added in. "Work to do? What're you doing that late at night?" Roger asked. "For now, stocking a grocery store a few miles from here that is reopening tomorrow. Remedy went back to her old job two nights ago, and I got hired on as well. It's not too bad, and it's good to have some income for the time being," Rosetta said as she stifled a yawn. "Should you be doing that while pregnant?" Roger said with concern. "Papa, I'm not even close to showing. I'll be fine for now," Rosetta said with a flick of her tail. "How long is a pony pregnancy anyway?" Roger asked. Rosetta's muzzle scrunched up in irritation at the answer she had ready. "I don't actually know; we're still waiting on the Equestrians to give us basic knowledge about stuff like that. What the doctor looked up about small horses to try to get an idea on the time frame said it could be up to eleven months. I hope it isn't that long," Rosetta grumbled. "Maybe it won't be. You aren't actually related to horses in any way, your more or less an alien," Roger said. "Thanks for calling us all aliens," Rosetta said with a roll of her eyes. "Well, just pointing out your species isn't something native to Earth, and it shouldn't be compared with horses. Ponies on Earth aren't intelligent, can't talk, don't come in the variety of shades and colors you do, have much smaller eyes, have completely different skeletal structures, don't get wings or horns, and definitely don't have access to magic powers. In short, you aren't a horse," Roger said. "Might as well call humans monkeys," Remedy agreed. "Arrgh!" Cathy yelled in frustration, startling everypony around. Then she stood up and glared down at the dirt where her seeds were planted. "Why don't you grow? What am I doing wrong?" "Cathy, calm down. It isn't a big deal, you can try something else," Rosetta tried to soothe her sister. Cathy refused to be soothed, though. She paced around the dirt, swishing and flicking her tail violently. "No, it's a big deal. It should be growing. I'm doing what everypony else is doing, and it should be doing something, but it's not. Grow! Come on, grow!" Cathy said as she pulled herself up on her hind legs to stomp. Remedy might not be a unicorn, but she felt the buildup of magic that was centered around Cathy as she drew herself up, everypony felt it and turned to stare. She wanted to yell out to Cathy to stop whatever she was doing, but was too slow. Cathy's hooves came down hard on the dirt, and it was like a silent gong went off across the area, something that only those with access to magic could feel. Everypony stood still in shock at the sensation. Cathy realized then that she had just done something, something big. She walked backwards a few steps in confusion. "What just happened...?" Cathy breathed out. A few other earth ponies crept closer, stepping gently and staring down at the ground. They paused as a soft rumble could be heard from the earth. "Everypony, out of the woods now! This is about to go very badly and we can't be here. It's not safe," one stallion said as his head jerked up in realization of something. Ponies started running away at full gallop while Cathy continued to back up in fear. Another low rumbling sound went out. "I don't understand...what did I do?" Cathy said in near tears. "Cathy, I don't know what just happened, but I think you and Papa need to get out of the woods now. All my instincts are screaming at me that you need to get to safety," Rosetta called over to her sister. Remedy nodded in agreement as they both got to their hooves and spread their wings. "Come on, Cathy, this way. It's the quickest route to the road," Roger gestured urgently as he took a few steps in the direction. There was no way he had felt the magic, but it was certain he had heard the rumble. Cathy shook her head to clear it as survival instinct took hold and started running. It was just in time too. There was a massive shake of the earth and a loud crack as the seeds that Cathy had planted suddenly started pushing full-grown trees straight out of the dirt. It wasn't just her seeds either; everything in the woods began growing at a frightening pace. All the trees, flowers, other trees, and vines were growing at a horrifying rate. In seconds full-sized pine trees sprung from the ground, spreading their branches rapidly, blocking out the sun. Remedy and Rosetta were in full protective mode, but it didn't seem there was much they could do in this situation. They tried following close at a low glide behind Cathy and Roger, but that quickly became an impossibility with the newly spreading branches popping up dangerously in front of them. They were forced to take to the air above the woods in order to not collide with the new growth. The two quickly glided back down to the road just beyond the woods and waited anxiously for the other two to clear the woods. Due to how dense the foliage was rapidly growing, they couldn't even see Cathy or Roger trying to get through. They couldn't even pick up a scent on them because of how of all the smells of vegetation. Remedy took to the air to see what she could from above after they didn't come out within a minute. Rosetta stayed on the ground pacing back and forth nervously as she waited. Other ponies just sat and stared at the spectacle happening. Pegasi flew in from all directions and watched the forest effectively explode with growth, and Remedy could see ponies and humans coming up the road to see what the commotion was. The woods quickly knocked down the fences of yards that bordered it and began spreading into the backyards beyond, though it did come short of actually overrunning the houses; concrete seemed to be the barrier for the growth. Eventually, Cathy and Roger stumbled out of the woods. There were twigs and leaves caught up in Cathy's fur and mane everywhere, but she didn't seem otherwise hurt, just scared. Roger did look like he had several small gashes but nothing that seemed too severe. The way he stayed close to Cathy, and was the one bleeding, indicated he might have been trying to shield her from the woods. Rosetta rushed over and grabbed up Cathy in a relieved hug as Cathy and Roger just sat down as soon as they were safely on the road. Remedy flew back down next to them as they settled. Cathy gently returned Rosetta's hug. Baker, Blessing, several of the town representatives, and a few soldiers came running up and stopped and stared at the massively overgrown woods. "Sweet baby Jesus, what the hell happened here?" Blessing asked as she stared at the woods. "I don't know what I did. I was just so angry the seeds were not growing, and then this happened," Cathy said through tears. "You did this?" Blessing asked in astonishment as she gazed wide-eyed at Cathy. "I didn't mean to, it just happened," Cathy said as she stared down at her hooves. Blessing looked from Cathy to the woods and then back to Cathy. She then lit up her horn and picked away some of the leaves and twigs that were caught up in Cathy's fur. Beneath it all, on Cathy's flank, now sat a cutie mark, a tree sprouting from a crack in the ground. She looked at it intently for a moment before turning to look at Cathy's face. "We all know it was just an accident. No pony blames you. You seem to have an extraordinary gift. We just need to get it where you've got a little finer control. Be happy, I think you've got far more magic in you than most earth ponies, and you're going to be a blessing from the Lord to all your fellow ponies and the humans," Blessing said with a gentle smile. "Are you sure?" Cathy looked up at Blessing. "I don't want to hurt anypony or human doing something like this again." "It just takes practice in a more controlled environment. You'll master this in time. Might I suggest a pony name for you, though? I think I know something appropriate," Blessing asked. "What?" Cathy sniffled. "Wild Growth," Blessing said as she looked back at the woods.