//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Race Against Time // Story: A New Life, or an Old Strife? // by Chrome Masquerade //------------------------------// As we quickly walked to various stores, Laurel and I grabbed some of the items we would need. At one point we stopped at a grocery store to get some things that we were surely going to need. Hairbrush, shampoo (four bottles), wrist containers (they would store pencils, coins, tacks or anything else we needed them to in general.) and various other little gems. By this time our changes were coming out of mode 2 (Hybrid) and nearly into mode 3 (Anthro) At one point a little girl stopped by and looked at us with wide eyes. “Winter Fields? Whisper Wishes? You... you're supposed to be in Equestria! Discord, he...” In a voice not my own, I said, “Yes. He banished us. For the last several years we have been human. But now...” I lifted my hood enough that she could see my ears, which I wiggled at her, eliciting giggles. “Shh.” I finished, standing up. She looked around and then said, “Could I be a pony too?” Whoever was in control closed my eyes and thought for a bit. ““I”” took a few candy drops I had somewhere and laced them with all the magic I had available, causing them to glow just a bit. “I” said “Eating one of these should put you through the changes that we are.” she stood up to bite one. “BUT” ““I”” said, “this is not a decision to take lightly, there are some for the rest of your family as well. Ask them if they're okay with it before deciding, okay?” “Okay. When you get back to Equestria, beat him good!” Snapping out of the trance I was in, I said to Laurel, “Things seem to be accelerating. It's time we left.” Laurel grabbed two cases of ginger ale and then we left. A little later, in the restroom section there were some nasty looking characters. Four of them. They appeared to be charging for access to the restrooms.. when the nearest one noticed us he said, “Five bucks each, sweethearts.” “Oh he did NOT just hit on AND threaten us!” I thought. We didn't have TIME for stuff like this! Suddenly, a few memories of another life came to mind. I came closer, replying “Five bucks each? That seems reasonable. (*Legendary Strike*)” with that I moved at lightning speed, kicked the first one in the face (X3) and gut (X2) and the one beside him got kicked once in each limb and one to the side of his head. The other two guys hardly even knew what hit them. Having knocked them all out I said “Laurel? Get the staff, would you?” she went to do so. Looking back at my handiwork, I said “Sorry boys, but in the future, don't get between somepo- er, somebody and their toilet time. Well, you got what you asked for; five bucks each.” A new clip appeared beside me. ----------------------------------- As I took a moment to reflect on what just happened, I discovered that I have had multiple incarnations before this. The whole deal? I come to a world because it needs me for one reason or other. When I am no longer necessary I can live in relative peace until it’s time to.... pass on, thus sending me to the next place. In every one of my lives I learn some abilities. in one of my past lives I was in the universe of Jade Empire (Yes, the game.) For those who don't know, Legendary Strike is one of the various martial arts therein. It focuses mainly on one's *ahem* footwork, so that makes it PERFECT for a fighter who has hooves. Trick is, I don't start to remember this until I'm 30 or more, AND can only use thoose abilities at base level. At first. Meeting back in the lobby with our purchases, we had enough supplies to survive the apocalypse, much less whatever was happening. We drove for a while, me explaining what happened by the restrooms at one point, when suddenly Zack (who was driving) said “Whoa!” and pulled over. I queried “What the-?” Then I saw them on his feet. Hooves. “We have REALLY got to motor! How far away is this place of yours?” “About another 20 minutes up. First dirt path on the right. Ten if you speed.” And then we were moving again. A while later we were in the driveway of this 'estate' that I had never seen. Only to find... a veritable MANSION!!! “I think i speak for us all when i say: WHOA!” Ashlyn said. “Why didn't you ever tell us about this?” i replied, ears drooping, “I never wanted to come here before because it reminded me of the death of my grandparents, so I never saw the place at all.” “So..... what made you change your mind?” Ralph queried. “Necessity can make you remember funny things.” i told him. “Also, i realized just recently that the more i rejected this gift, the more i was....... disrespecting the memory of them. I suppose to look toward the future... you have to come to terms with the past, am i right?” My friends nodded in agreement. “Did i ever tell you about my grandparents?” “No, i don't think so.” Ashlyn said, at the same time as Laurel. “JINX!” they said in unison, pointing a hoof at each other. I smiled and shook my head at the antics of my friends. “Laurel, Ashlyn, you are un-jinxed. Let's unpack and then i'll tell you about them.” Quickly we brought the groceries (etcetera) in and put those away, Zack going to find the switch box. A minute or so later lights came on. Then we got a good look at the place. It had to be over 6000 square feet for the house alone! The land went on for twelve acres, I could tell for... some... reason. The house had: 12 bedrooms 3 bathrooms 1 LARGE kitchen, with 1 now stocked fridge and freezer 1 entertainment room 1 dining room 2 sun-rooms and much, much more! Ralph squeed and bolted over to one room. “This one here; mine!” he then ran over to another room. “And this one here? Also mine! Okay, not really.” He kidded. “ANYWAY,” i said, “I promised you all a story, huh?” Everyone sat down, Laurel producing a bucket of popcorn from nowhere. We all looked quizzically at her. She shrugged and just continued eating. A clip popped into existence beside me. “Pinkie Pie, you are-” that was as far as it got before i threw it through an open window. “ANYWAY,” i said, coming back to the subject at hoo- i mean, hand, “My Grandparents. For most of my life they owned and operated a variety farm. They had, among other things, apples, currants, blackberries, plums and six varieties of blueberries that capped out at the size of two dollar coins. Every year we would have lots of blueberry based products like blueberry jam, blueberry syrup, blueberry pie...” my ears lowered at the memories of sweet flavours and good times. “Anyway, grandma and grandpa were kind, generous people. They were kind to almost everyone they met, they went to church every Sunday...” i looked skyward, “Wherever they are, may Luna watch over them. Wait, what did i just say?” Suddenly a flash of white hot pain hit me. I doubled over, my friends coming to me. “What's wrong?!” “What happened?” Zack likewise fell over, grunting in pain. I said “Internal... changes!” There was nothing my friends could do. Hormones rampaged through the systems of Zack and myself, reshaping all that was masculine within and without. My (*cough*) equipment was replaced with a different set. I had to unbutton my pants as my hips widened. Fit for bearing kids (foals, that is), I realized with a shudder, my backside becoming larger and more equine simultaneously. I shuddered as a brief thought occurred to me about having foals. Only a moment later did I figure out what kind of shudder that was. Aaron commented “Well, this brings a whole new meaning to the term 'the plot thickens'.” Ashlyn swatted him for the joke. “What?” “Our friends are in pain! There's nothing we can do about it either and you start making fun of them?!” “Well, somepony has to lighten the mood.” “And what do you imply by that?” I couldn't hear their argument as the changes began to finalize. Within the span of minutes I was covered in a coat of bright white fur, my mane and tail becoming pure white with a few silvery blue streaks. Similar changes were taking place in Zack. He was being quickly enfolded by a golden coloured fur, much like the colours in his -her- mane, which was by then down to the small of his -her!- back. Zack's back suddenly sprouted wings with a sickening crunch of bone, bleeding all over as feathers came in. Her hips and backside also expanded. As this went on a lot of our fat stores were burning off, becoming ambient magic in the air around us, triggering similar changes in the others, if to a lesser extent. All of a sudden, the pain stopped, bestowing Zack and I with teats as a finality. I stood up, shakily, trying to stay conscious. “Nope. Not gonna happen.” I said, and promptly fainted. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I awoke early the next morning, only to discover that everypony was sleeping together. “Wait, did I just think a ponyism?” I wiggled out of the pony-pile and headed to the washroom. I then looked in the mirror and tried to experiment with swear words. This... didn't go as planned. “*ahem* (Fuck!) Buck! I said f-f-f-buck!" Then I glared at the mirror and tried harder. "(Hell!) Tartarus! (Bitch!) Jenny! (Assole!) Plot-hole! (Shit!) Horseapples! (Motherfucker!) Motherbucker!” My speech was TV-Y'd! I could hardly think of the proper words any more. Only then did I realize that I was now 100% Earth Pony. Yet, this body felt... right. Like I was in a favoured outfit. Whereas when I was human I felt like I didn't belong. This was different! I felt alive; I felt... right! Like this was how I was meant to be. Curious, I closed my eyes, feeling my natural Earth Pony connection to the... well, earth. I could feel the power surging through the dirt still at least a couple of feet below me. With just a touch of this power I could make an apple the size of a mango, or make grass grow wherever I stepped. And so much more. All the power of the earth was right beneath my hooves, ready for me to use however I wanted. It was more power than I had ever felt. I liked it. With this power I could possibly cause some kinda plant to grow that would spread a gas that would ponify the populace all over, and then i could take over the world in a cuddly invasion! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I smirked at the thought before squashing it. I play Neutral Good; Not going to happen. Eager to experiment, though, I left the house, a bunch of seed packets clutched in my tail. (Did I mention that Earth Pony hair is prehensile?) Which seeds would I begin with, I wondered. “Eeny meenie miney moof, catch a filly by th- BLUEBERRIES! Perfect!” I snatched the packet. My Earth Pony senses told me that I had to bury the seeds about 1, maybe 1.5 feet deep. As eager as I was to test my powers, I made short work of the task. When I finished burying them, I pulled a little of the earth's power into them. Then I thought “Hmm. If I remember correctly, singing to plants helps them to grow.” I then, since we were in Canada, figured I'd go with part of the national anthem. “Grandma, grandpa.... this is for you.” i projected to the sky. “(Mi-mi-mi-mi-miiii...) *ahem* Oh, Canada, Where pines and maples grow, Great prairies sprawl, And lordly rivers flow! How dear to us thy broad domain, From east to western sea. The land of hope for all who toil, We stand on guard for thee-eee-EEE-EEE! God keep our land, Glorious and free. Oh Canada we stand on guard for thee. Oh Canada we stand on guaaaaaard... foooor theeeeeee!!!” I could hear clapping sounds. Apparently my singing had awakened my friends. Oops. Immediately they ran over to me, CLEARLY pleased with my performance. “That was awesome!” “You have a wonderful singing voice!” “Yeah!” “That puts even MY singing to shame!” “When did you learn to sing like that?” I finally got a word in. “Thank you, thank you all. You've been a wonderful audience. I just... felt the need to sing, and since we were here...” I indicated the area, “I thought that the national anthem would be... apropos.” “Apropos?” “You know, appropriate, fitting, you might even say, harmonious?” Suddenly Laurel exclaimed, “WOW! Would ya look at THAT?!” We all turned and noticed that the plants I sang for were fully grown, with blueberries the size of strawberries! I smiled and thought “Hmm... I wonder...” A video clip appeared next to me. My friends looked at me quizzically. “I'm sorry. I can't control when those come up. Would you guys get some buckets? As many as you can?” Without questioning it, my friends dashed off to retrieve those. A little later we had 30 buckets, three under each tree. I chuckled, “I've always wanted to try this!” I came up to the first plant and, concentrating, slammed a hoof to the ground, hard as i could. A sort of shockwave went through the trees, shaking them. Every single berry on the bushes fell into the buckets! “Woohoo! I got a strike!” Ashlyn picked one up with her magic (yep, she was a unicorn) and tried it. “MMM! Delicious!!” I said “Well come on, everypony! The rest of these plants won't, well, plant themselves. You in for it?” Zack said, “If that means more fruit like these, then buck yeah!” a sound effect went off as Zack realized two things. “Wait...” Not only had he just used 'buck' as a swear word, 'he' was no longer a he. Aaron rolled his eyes. “Oh boy. Here it comes.” As if on cue, a video clip appeared beside me and floated over to Zack, Who said, in perfect sync with the video, “Wha? Huh? I- I- m-m-m-m- m-m-m -muh-muh... muh. Aaa-ugh!” And both promptly fainted, Zack's eyes still rolling around in her head.