//------------------------------// // Party Time // Story: The More Things Change // by The Crane //------------------------------// After a long day, the new barn is completed and properly painted. Although, the 'Twi-houlette' remains as a point of character. Whenever one of these fine ponies walks by that particular part of the barn, they'll recall that moment. Besides the memory, Twilight (begrudgingly) has a new color scheme to remind her of that horror. From one corner, a disturbingly loud growling can be heard which quickly attracts the attention of everypony else. "Urrhg.." Tonya moans. "When's dinner? I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!!" The thought dawned on her far too late. She could see multiple sets of eyes staring at her with a plain 'what the f---?' question looming over their heads. Three of them, however, just sit there with their hooves over their faces. When she questioned herself about what caused such a reaction, she realized the truth. Twilight: Alicorn. Applejack and Pinkie Pie: Ponies. Rarity: Unicorn. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash: Pegasi (AKA horse with a side of chicken wings). And the list went on. She just realized she babbled about eating one of them. "Sorry..." In the end, 13 adults and three fillies rest inside after the construction was completed. "Say, Applejack," Rainbow Dash asks. "Where did you get the lumber so fast?" "Urgh..." Applejack groans. "Some varmint kicked over some of my trees!! Instead of letting them go in vain, I made use of their sacrifice. If I ever catch the sucker who did this, I reckon it won't be pretty!!" In a dark corner of the barn, Tonya is curled up as usual and faces away from everypony else. While she 'rests', a certain chill runs up her spine. A certain 'oh shippo' sentiment runs from her tail all the way up to her skull. She starts to sweat a little, but keeps silent about what she may know or did. Eventually, a banquet was held for the five new faces. Each of the six from the town brought with them something to eat. Applejack's family also pitched in. Applejack and Big McIntosh rolled in barrels of their infamous apple cider. When everything was set up, the sixteen ponies (even Tonya) and one baby dragon gathered around the table with the newcomers at one end. Twilight raised her mug of cider with a smile. "I know it's been a rough couple of days for everypony. But, I wanted to officially welcome our new friends to Ponyville. I don't know where you are all from, but while you're here, you're our friends. I hope you enjoy your stay." The rest of the table raises their own mugs and join in the toast. A few 'here here's are heard as everypony agrees. The five in question look around to each other with satisfied expressions on their faces. Even Tonya almost breaks her stone cold grimace. "So," Rainbow Dash asks, "where ARE you all from, anyway?" "OOH OOOH!!" Pinkie Pie exclaims. "I know!!! You're all from another world where you all have all these great powers but have to hide them so you can live normal lives and a cruel evil so-and-so comes by and makes all your lives a total mess and you have to fight it, but you can't because it's possessing one of your sisters and now all of you are prisoners until WHOOOSH!!! You're all magically taken away to Equestria where you can forget all your problems but you eventually have to go back and fight the evil so-and-so BAM BAM BAM after your vacation here is over!!!!" Everypony stares at the bubblegum colored mare while she smiles big and catches her breath. While she does, her cotton candy themed mane bobbles a bit. "Yeah, right," Rainbow snorts. "What kind of an explanation is that?!" "Actually," Bobbi replies. "She's right. I don't know how, but she is." "WHAAATT!??!" a chorus of equines replies. "We weren't trying to hide it," Amanda notes. "It... just never came up." "And some of us," Kat adds while nudging Tonya, "haven't said much at all." "Kinda feels weird," Casie says. "Not used to NOT wearing clothes all the time." "Speak for yourself," Tonya chimes in. "Technically, I run around naked all the time." Strangely, the collection of daily-nude ponies take a sudden interest in her statement. While such a thing is not strange for them, for one of their new friends it sounds pretty daring. "Ignore her," Kat adds. "She can use her powers to keep herself clothed." "I wonder..." Twilight mumbles. "What is it, Twilight?" Spike wonders. "For some strange reason, I think I may know where you're from." "Twilight," Rarity asks, "are you thinking about that other world?" "Ya mean that other world you went to?" Applejack asks. "Ah never heard about that one!!!" Apple Bloom remarks. "Yeah!!" Scootaloo pipes in. "I wanna hear about it!!" "Tell us!!" Sweetie Belle gasps while bouncing. "Tell us!!" "Girls!!" Rarity says in a stern tone. "Be patient and you'll hear it!" "Sorry...." the three groan. Twilight smiles a bit at their enthusiasm. "It's alright. It was kind of a whirlwind experience for me, so I don't remember everything. But, I was changed into one of their kind as soon as I came in. You know..." she wonders with a hoof to her chin. "What?" Spike asks. "Spike!! Take a letter!!" "Letter?" Bobbi wonders. From... somewhere, Spike pulls out a quill and parchment. "Ready!! As Twilight clears her throat, Spike prepares to write down whatever she says. "Dear Princess Celestia. We have some new guests in Ponyville. They have come a long way for some rest, but find themselves without the knowledge of how to return home. They are from the world that I visited after I crossed through the mirror. I humbly request permission to use it to facilitate their return. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." "Faithful... overtalkative... walking thesarus..." "SPIKE!!!!" "I'm just yanking your tail!!! Sheesh!!" He holds up the letter for her to show that her words were written verbatim. "Chill out." He rolls up the scroll and uses his internal furnace to burn it to ash. "You wrote a letter..." Amanda wonders "and BURNED it?" "Kind of a waste," Casie groans. "Nah," Applejack tells them with a flailing hoof. "We do this all the time." "Princess Celestia will receive it on her end," Twilight explains. "Her end..." Tonya snickers. "Don't. Even," Twilight warns and quickly finds Tonya sobering up. It should be noted that that the horn protruding from her head starts to glow ever so slightly. One negative or uncouth word about Her Highness may be met with aggression. "So," Amanda wonders, "how long does it take to hear back?" "BLLLARRGGH!!!" a green flame erupts from Spike's mouth to signal a reply. "About now," Twilight muses. She takes a scroll that has been launched from the dragon's belch and unrolls it posthaste. "Dear Twilight. I regret to inform you that the doorway to that world will be closed for quite some time. However, if your guests remain here for that long, they are welcome to use it to return home. Arrangements for such an event can be made as necessary. Best regards, Princess Celestia." "Hey, Bobbi," Kat wonders. "I got me an idea." "Oh?" "What say we stay here awhile. Relax. Vacay. Let that doorway or whatever recharge. We use it, but bring back some.... help." Bobbi raises an eyebrow as she listens. She can easily think of who to bring back with her. "Nope." "Why not?" "First," she says while holding up a hoof. "First.... I miss my fingers. This is not their fight. I will not involve them. If any of them didn't come back, I'd never get over it. Second, I don't want to trap them on our world in case something goes wrong. Even if we all did win, I don't want them stuck there. And third, we all have to adhere to non-interferance. They cannot solve our problems, and we cannot solve theirs." "On the point of being trapped, we're stuck here." "Not by choice. My mind's made up. Not gonna happen." "Urrgh..." "Something bad happen?" Fluttershy wonders. "We got our flanks kicked," Amanda growls. "It's my--" Tonya starts. "No!" Kat snaps. "It is not." "Don't worry," Bobbi says with a little smile. "Minor setback." "Hey," Casie wonders. "Do you think anyone else is here?" "Well," Amanda notes, "if HE was here, he'd make sure everyone knew it. Bet he'd show up with like ten wings and five horns." "Who is THAT?" Twilight asks. "Someone we know," Bobbi answers. "Helpful at first, but you realize that he becomes a pain after awhile." Fluttershy's attention trails over to the three smaller ponies in the barn. While they are usually rambunctious, they start to sway a little. "I think the girls should be making their way home." She floats to where the three have gathered and lands beside them. "Yeah..." Scootaloo remarks. "I'm beat..." "Ah'll be in the house..." Apple Bloom says. "I should go too..." Sweetie Belle finishes. Fluttershy watches them leave with exhausted hooffalls and waves as they head away. "Bye girls!! Get home safe!" "Ah AM home..." Apple Bloom returns. Applejack turns her head around to confirm that they're gone. "Ahll right," she grins. "Now... Let's REALLY have some fun. Big Mac? Would you go get our barnwarming gift?" "Eeeyup!!" "We'll help!" Twilight and Rarity offer as they and Applejack herself exit the barn. It takes them a few minutes, and the newcomers look at each other with a bit of confusion. Amanda gives up and shrugs her shoulders. When the others return, Twilight and Rarity both use their magic to carry a large barrel each. Applejack and Big McIntosh roll in more barrels while pushing on them with their heads. The four barrels are lined up next to each other with large thumping sounds. "We got more," Applejack smiles. "If ya want." "What is that?" Rainbow Dash asks. "You been holding out on me for cider?!" "Yea Rainbow," Applejack replies. "This is cider. HARD cider!! Special ocassion stuff." "Cider?!" Granny Smith gasps. "I thought you wanted-- Oh well!!" "What?" Casie wonders. "What else you got?" Granny Smith snickers through her false teeth. "This stuff'll knock ya whippersnappers clear on yer flanks!!! This stuff be MOONSHINE!!!" Casie looks at the barrels carefully with a little smile. "Lord have mercy on my liver!!!"