//------------------------------// // Chapter 25: The stone in the orchard. Part 1. // Story: I am my own OC // by KittyrinnAiko //------------------------------// I found the others cleaning old hay, and… well, farm waist? Do you call them accidents when the farm animals were semi-sentient? Sure the cattle could talk, and even managed semi-decent conversation, it was like they truly were a less intelligent species in that they still behaved pretty much like regular farm animals. And that meant pooping wherever they felt like it. It was kind of like they were borderline ‘special needs’ and had to be kept fenced in or they’d wander off into the Everfree and get eaten by Timberwolves. I tried not to think about the implications of it all because it looked far too much like slavery and yet any change to the status quo could lead to disaster. I wasn't even sure what the ponies even got out of the deal. The cattle didn't do any work about the farm. The ponies fed watered and cleaned up after them... and milked them it seems. Cheese? Was that it? was that all ponies got out of the deal? Cheese? Bright mac was out there working too. Which as it turned out, was the first time since getting mauled that he’d done any work around the farm. Sure the doctors had told him not to, but then again… there was a princess in his barn helping to clean it. And now there are two of us princesses helping to muck out the barn. “He just had to insist on helping.” Applejack whispered as I started in on raking up the fine stuff the pitchforks had missed. “Well, if he gets to limping more than usual we’ll just make him go sit down,” I offered. “Right now it’s his Earth pony pride getting the best of him.” “Now why would that be?” Sunset asked. She was looking extra cute in a pair of overalls and an old straw hat. “Is something wrong?” “It’s just that… you’re just so cute!” I all but squealed out. I’d been overcome by the cuteness. OMG, I need a camera I could make a fortune selling pictures to bronies!!! Then the reality hit. It was going to be a while before I could even hope to put such plans into action. “What?!” Sunset asked making me wonder if I’d said any of the brony stuff out loud. She might even know what I was talking about for all I knew. “Something about making a fortune selling pictures of you dressed like that.” Applejack offered. Oh god! And then my hoof hit my face again. Never face hoof when you’ve been mucking out a barn. “I’d buy one.” Rumble offered. Following by snickering from our bodyguards. And then he turned bright red. “What?!” Sunset asked while giving him the stink eye. “Ya know...” AJ offered in her slow drawl. “There is a camera inside.” “Oh you wouldn't dare?” Sunset said in both protest and warning of dire consequences. The sound of a camera shutter caused us all to freeze up momentarily. I turned to see Pear Butter in the open doorway of the barn with said camera. The camera itself kind of reminded me of an old Kodak Brownie Hawkeye only with a larger button and crank. The sort of camera one might see in old movies. “Now how about a group shot?” Pear Butter prompted. “Nova!” Sunset exclaimed. “What, am I a swear word now?” I teased. “Yes!” So we all lined up, and got our pictures taken. After which we finished up what we were doing, and then went out for a walk in the orchards. “Cadance, can you feel it, the heartbeat of the trees?” I asked a short time later. I had a hoof against the tree. “I honestly feel like I was just about to figure out this apple-bucking thing when we ran out of ripe apples.” Cadance put a hoof to the trunk and stood there quietly. Applejack did it too. “Ya, not like it’s a big deal?” Applejack asked. Rumble and Sunset did the same, tried feeling it, but all they could feel was the bark of the tree. “I got nothing. Just bark.” Sunset offered. “Ya, me neither,” Rumble added. “But you can feel the breath of the breeze, can’t you?” I asked. “Well, sure. What pegasus can’t?” “I can. I can feel the heartbeat of the trees.” Cadance offered. She closed her eyes. “And the breeze, and even the ambient magic. It’s all connected. I’d even go so far as to say the trees are talking to each other.” “You can get all that?” AJ asked. I stepped away from the tree and centered myself pointed down the row. “You remember that rock you kept tripping over?” I ask. “Sure do,” AJ answered. “It was somewhere around here, wasn’t it?” “I never could seem to find it once I’d a chance to look for it.” “Let’s see if I can locate it,” I say as I close my eyes. One of the things I’d been doing since I ended up in Equestria was to try to remember the martial arts I’d learned and adapted that to my pony body. Not like I was ever any good at it. A little fox style, or at least that’s what the teacher called it. Kitsune no Michi he called it. It was an open-hand fast aggressive fighting style that incorporated moves from other martial art forms which created a gentle flowing motion that allowed the practitioner to change directions without pausing or losing momentum. It also emphasized distance and avoidance. Which made it ideal to teach for self-defense. The fun part was having to learn the basic stance and moves of several other forms before we could even start. Shaolin, Tai Chi. Hun Gar, and Ba Gua Zhang. Of course, being I was no longer a two-legged human meant I could no longer do much of what I’d learned quite the same way. I either had to rear up to do the movements or work out a four-legged equivalent. Why do I bring this up? Maybe you’ve already guessed? I found that the more, shall we say flighty movements, proved very adaptable to being a pegasus. That is to say, I could move like the people in those movies with the fancy choreographed fighting. And I’d discovered that the more grounded movements allowed me to literally feel everything in or on the ground within my immediate vicinity. And the most exciting part is I could use my earth pony magic to simulate, yes that’s right, Earth Bending. I stamped a hoof to get a feel for the environment under my hooves. The feedback telling me where the stone is, I slid a hoof, hop, and stomp my front hooves, and out popped the rock a short distance away. “Well I’ll be,” AJ said as she stepped away from the tree. Apple Bloom just stood there with her jaw agape. The rock wasn’t enormous, but it was still big enough that a little foal like myself, wasn’t going to lift it. “I can almost visualize you popping that rock out of the ground.” Cadance offered as she too left the tree. “What?” Rumble asked. “Rock?” Sunset added. “Nova just popped a rock out of the ground,” Scootaloo said like it wasn’t really all that big a deal. I couldn't help but wonder about Scootaloo. She may be a pegasus with a button horn, but I was really suspicious she had a lot of Earth Pony in her. Which didn't bode well for her chances of being able to fly. “Scootaloo, were you able to feel what she did?” Sunset asked. “Um, yes, kind of,” Scootaloo offered. “I can feel the earth. I’ve always been able to feel the earth. Not so much the air.” The last bit was admitted with a touch of resignation. “I think Scootaloo may have some earth pony in her.” I offer. “That or she’s more alicorn than we figured.” “My dad’s earth pony, but alicorn?” Scootaloo protested. “I’ve earth pony in me, and so does Cadance and Sunset.” I offer. “It comes with being and or being related to alicorns.” “Why can’t I feel the earth though?” Sunset asked. “I imagine it’s a bit like a muscle. All you’ve ever done is trained your unicorn magic,” I explain. “I on the other hand have spent the last three months, or thereabouts, doing earth pony work.” “Hand?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s old ponish, it means hoof. It can be kind of difficult to follow her at times.” Sunset explained to cover for my slip-up while I just kind of looked up at the trees. I really need to break myself from using human colloquialisms. Cadance went over to the stone, tapped it a few times in different locations, and then pointed at a spot. “Nova, you’ve got the indestructible shoes. One swift strike right there should shatter it if I’m not wrong.” I walk over to her and the stone. “Right there?” She backed off, I turned around and gave it a swift kick with one hind hoof, and sure enough, it shattered leaving a sparkling gem in the center. I think it could be fair to say that equestrian geology would drive human geologists nuts. At some point in time, the planet must have been under some seriously freaky stress just from the sheer number of precious gems that could be found all over the place. “Oh, pretty,” Cadance said in a sort of hushed tone. I turned to look and discovered a very large white diamond with pinkish edges that seemed to glow of it’s own accord. “Don’t touch it.” I cautioned. “Why not?” Scootaloo asked. She’d nearly crossed the distance between it and where she’d been a moment ago. “Something about it don’t feel right,” Apple Bloom offered. “Sunset, you're the expert on magic. What do you think?” I asked. “Me?” Sunset asked. “ Let's not forget that I’ve forgotten much of what I once knew of things arcane, and that stone has most assuredly a powerful aura about it.” Forgotten… maybe I had, and then again maybe most of my knowledge of things arcane came from fantasy series with no way to know if any of it would even hold up in this world. Either way, this stone looked suspiciously like an Arkenstone. Which of course begged the question, what’s it doing here? “But it’s been here all this time?” AJ asked. “Encrusted in stone.” Sunset pointed out. “It may be harmless, at least to the trees, but we think it best not to interact with it directly until we know what its properties are. Twould best be determined by a master of an appropriate craft.” I cautioned. “Why don’t I get an apple bushel or a bucket. Bloom, see if you can find us a good stout branch to help us carry it.” AJ offered and dashed off. “On it,” Apple Bloom replied and dashed off in another direction. It was right about then that I remembered our escorts. Brightwing and Silvereagle were completely mesmerized by it. I unfurled my wings to block their view, and they snapped out of it a moment later. “Are you two going to be alright?” “What just happened?” Brightwing asked. “So apparently it only affects pegasi adults?” Sunset asked. “No...” I cast a glance over to Rumble, his wings fully extended. “Lover colt seems to be out of it too. I don’t know, AJ was fine.” “True, but then it’s you he has eyes for.” Cadance teased. “Come on Rumble, it’s not like it’s the first time you’ve seen my wings extended,” I chastised. “Um, sorry,” He replied blushing. “You have nice wings.” And now he was nearly as bright as the stone. For all I knew wings had a similar appeal to boobs in the human world. Anyway, back to the stone… Applejack came back a few minutes later with a bucket, we shoved the gem in that using a small stick, the stone taking up a sizable portion of the bucket, and as predicted the weight required a long branch to carry it that was passed through the handle.