//------------------------------// // The more things change... // Story: A New Field // by Battlefield3vet //------------------------------// "Are you sure it's a good idea to take the train?" I asked. "Yeah, three humans might not be the best things to take on a train filled with ponies." Bruce added. "Well the Princess wants us in Canterlot as soon as possible, so if you know of a quicker mode of transportation, I'd be happy to hear it." Twilight replied. "Fine, we'll do it your way. We are going to attract a lot of attention though." I finished. "It feels like everyone is watching us." Alex said, finally finding his voice and speaking up. "They are." Bruce said in a whisper while scanning the crowd that we towered over. We walked until we reached the train station just as a train pulled up. Lucky us. "Well, we better hurry, I don't know exactly what the Princess wants, but she sounded rather urgent in her letter." Twilight said with some urgency. "Yeah, the sooner we go to Canterlot, the sooner we come back and the sooner I can throw a 'Welcome to Equestria Party' for our new friends!" Pinkie was bouncing around our group with her seemingly boundless energy. The rest of the ponies in our party just smiled at Pinkie as she bounded circles around us while outside ponies just cleared a path for us on to the train. The train ride was uneventful. Twilight was trying to get answers about my past and what made it so bad that Celestia prevented her from seeing it. On one hand I got to know Twilight a bit better, on the other hand I didn't particularly enjoy getting assaulted with questions. I got so fed up I just told her the story of my father's death. That got her to quiet down for the rest of the train ride. We arrived at Canterlot a few hours later. The sun was setting, or Celestia was setting the sun and Luna was about to raise the moon from what I'd heard, and we hurried past ponies staring with confused and fearful looks. When we finally arrived at the castle we were stopped by a small squadron of guards stationed at the entrance, "Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia told us you would be stopping by with some 'humans', Are these them?" Said one of the guards gesturing with his hoof towards me, Bruce and Alex. "Yes, these two just arrived today-" she gestured to Bruce and Alex, "-and the last one arrived two days ago." finished Twilight. "Alright then, you may move along then. Best not to keep the Princess waiting." replied the guard. His squad stared suspiciously as we walked past. To be fair, most of them had no idea what exactly we were capable of doing. So it was right of them to keep their guard up around us. We wasted no time finding the throne room. We walked right in to see the Sun Princess sitting on her throne smiling at all of us. Alex was standing behind me peeking out at Celestia, "Sorry we took so long Princess, we took the train from Ponyville-" Twilight was about to go on, but she was cut off by her mentor, "That's quite alright my dear Twilight, I understand that the even the trains take time to cover that distance. I thank you for coming on such short notice however." said Celestia. Twilight visibly relaxed upon hearing her mentors words, "Why are we here anyways?" "I summoned you here to tell you that I had sensed an energy similar to when Grayson arrived in Equestria. It looks like you found the new arrivals just fine. I did not warn you last time because I was confident that you and the other Elements of Harmony could handle whatever it could have been. I guess I underestimated what had entered our world." Celestia said with a touch of regret in her voice. "It's alright Princess." Man, ponies are quick to forgive. "Well, while you are here, I need to ask if you want to have the ability to blend in with the rest of the population. Grayson has undergone this change and has adjusted quite well." Celestia said. "What change?" asked Bruce. Well, I guess they needed to find out at some point. I focused on my horn and let my Celestia-given ability take over as I went from two legs down to four hooves. I turned back to my friends who were all staring at me with a unanimous expression plastered on all of their faces. Surprise. "How did-" started Bruce. "You may thank Celestia for that. She wants to do the same to you so we can blend in more easily, are you up for it?" I finished explaining to a flabbergasted Bruce. Alex was looking all over me with amazement in his eyes. "I- I'll do it." Alex said. what surprised me was that Alex spoke directly to the Princess. I figured he wouldn't do it, or he would have his answer relayed through me. "You are very brave for volunteering, Alex." replied Celestia. Smiling at him with her usual demeanor that you can't help but smile back at. Which is exactly what he did. "She knows my name?" Alex whispered to me. "Yeah, I told her about us. Well, actually she went into my mind and saw some of my past, which included you." Celestia had stood up and walked towards the group and I had moved so Alex was standing by himself. I guess he picked the perfect time to grow some confidence because he didn't move at all. Another possibility could have been that he was so scared that his muscles froze and were ignoring orders. The first scenario was infinitely better. Celestia's horn took on a vivid yellow hue and an aura of the same color enveloped my step-brother. His face changed little, but he was slightly unnerved. The yellow aura around his body solidified and a bright yellow light erupted from the sphere. As soon as it started, it was over and in the place of Alex, lay a small light blue-coated unicorn colt with a dark blue mane with streaks of black and vivid green eyes, just like mine. He laid still for a few seconds then blinked a few times then stood up on all fours. "So how do you feel?" I asked, smiling at him. "Different. Why do I have a horn? I can't see it, but I can feel it." Alex said trying to look up at his new found appendage. "You're a unicorn, like me, your horn lets you use magic. Princess Celestia gave me a crash course on basic magic and apparently I'm pretty good." "Magic? Cool! I can't wait." my step-brother was jumping up and down, he was excited to learn how to use magic. "I'll be happy to teach you, Alex." Twilight said. I think she was excited to finally have a student of your own. "You know what, I'll do it. Go ahead Princess, make me a pony!" Bruce exclaimed. I had expected to need to convince him, but that confident look in his eyes said 'let's do this'. That was much easier than I expected. "Alright Bruce, you might not be a unicorn like Alex and Grayson, or should I say Shadowstorm." Celestia said, glancing over towards me as she said the last part. "Shadowstorm?, Who's that.?" asked a suddenly confused Bruce. "Me, more specifically me as a unicorn. But yeah, me." I explained. "Should I be thinking of a pony name?" asked Alex. "Sure, anything you want." I answered. Bruce turned back to Celestia and said, "So are you going to make me a pony now or what?" He could have been a bit more respectful to royalty, but thankfully Celestia is a forgiving leader. "Yes, get ready Bruce." Celestia replied. Once more, the horn of the regal pony glowed yellow, a familiar aura appeared around my best friend and a familiar light flashed and there lay a pegasus, bright green coat, golden mane, same brown eyes and a blank flank, just like me and Alex. He came to faster than Alex. He was already up and used to his new form. "Sweet, can I switch back and forth between, or am I stuck with hooves forever." I knew the answer to this one, "Focus on having fingers again. Seriously, think about having fingers, and you will." "Really? It's that simple, huh?" I grinned at him, "Don't believe me, try it!" Bruce and Alex closed their eyes, their bodies glowed white and transformed into bi-pedal beings once again. "That was easy." "Told you so." Celestia cleared her throat, "Have you two come up with names yet?" "Hmm? Oh yeah, I'll be," Bruce thought for a moment, "Thunderhead, that's a cool pegasus name. Right?" The Sun Princess turned to Alex, "Um, I guess I'll be Raincloud. I mean, if that's okay with you." Celestia smiled at Ale- Raincloud, "That's perfectly fine my little pony. Now all of you, I have one thing to ask," she turned to face the six mares in the room, who admittedly looked slightly more attractive now that I was a stallion. "Please help them to adjust to life in Ponyville. That means housing them for the time being." "I'll gladly take Shadowstorm and Raincloud to help them understand their magic better." Twilight said smiling warmly at me. It's official, she likes me. Only one thing to do; Pretend not to notice. Rainbow Dash was eyeing the new pegasus stallion with curiosity. "You know, you actually seem like a cool guy Thunder. You can stay with me, that is if you can figure out how to use those wings of yours to fly up to my cloud home." Thunderhead blinked a few times, "What do you mean by cloud home?" "Isn't it obvious? My home is made of clouds! Only pegasi can walk on and manipulate clouds." answered the rainbow pegasus. "I can walk on clouds!? Hmm... I think I may have been given too much power..." Thunder was thinking about how easy sneaking missions would be with his new ability. "Good to see that was resolved fairly quickly, I realize it is late, so to spare you the long train ride home, I'll send you back myself." Celestia's horn took on a yellow hue and with a brief flash of yellow light we were back in Ponyville, the outskirts to be precise. We said our good nights and returned to our respective dwellings. As Twilight, Raincloud and I walked back to the Golden Oaks Library, I turned and saw Thunderhead following close to Rainbow Dash through the air. 'He's flying already?' I thought to myself, then remembered my magical skills. "So, who sleeps where?" I asked. "Well, I only have one guest bed in my room plus the basement." replied Twilight. "I'll take the basement. I need some time to get used to myself as a pony." said Raincloud. We reached the library as the stars and moon came out. Twilight opened the door with her magic and led us in. A quick burst of magic from Twilight lit a few candles in the room. "Goodnight Raincloud, don't sleep too heavily. We need to work on your magic tomorrow." Twilight said. "Okay, goodnight Twilight, goodnight Storm." came Raincloud's short reply as he walked down to the basement. "So I guess we will introduce Spike to everypony tommorow, among other things?" I asked. "Yeah, I guess. Oh, remember how Princess Celestia mentioned adjusting to life in Ponyville? I think part of that might mean getting a job, not pressuring you or anything, just something to think about." Twilight was right, if I was to live here, I would need to get a job sooner or later. "Raincloud will need to go to school as well." I said, mostly to myself. I followed Twilight up the stairs to the bedroom and crawled into the guest bed. I shut my eyes and fell asleep thinking about how I would approach Bruce, I mean, Thunderhead with the concept of a job in Ponyville.