//------------------------------// // Meet and Greet--Take Two // Story: The More Things Change // by The Crane //------------------------------// After Princess Luna fainted at the sight of the collossal cake, Princess Celestia gently placed her younger sister on the throne. With Luna laid on the seat of power (the most comfortable seat in the room) she looked to be sleeping. Celestia gave a concerned sigh as she gave her one final look. "I guess Luna met her match," Cadance says with a small grin. "Ah, yes. My sister loves cake ALMOST as much as I do. I'm afraid recent events haven't agreed with her." "Well," Pinkie says quietly, "we can always save her a piece." "Um..." Rainbow muses. She floats off the floor with a casual flapping of her wings. A hoof planted on her chin "I think we have to cut this bad boy first." "Pinkie, dear," Rarity says, "I agree with the princess that you have done a wonderous job. But...." "How are we gonna cut this damn thing?" Tonya remarks. "We each eat our layer?" Kat wonders. "Um, well..." Fluttershy mumbles. "Maybe..." "CAKE--!!" Pinkie shouts. "NOOOO!!!" Twilight tells her quickly. Her horn lights up, but does nothing. It merely anticipates a Pouncing Pinkie Pie. "No cake diving!!!" Celestia looks up at it with a lingering awe. "It would actually be a shame to cut it up. Almost like a work of art." She thinks to herself that its actually more appealing than some of the artwork that already occupies the room. But, she keeps them for political reasons. "But cakes are for NUMNUM!!!" Pinkie explains. "But, how are we going to eat this?" Cadance wonders. "Do we honestly have a knife that big?" "OH!!! That's right!!" Pinkie shouts. "I got this!! Everypony BA-ACK!!!" The collection of equines step back as instructed. Pinkie motions for them to continue, and they keep going. With a wave of her hoof, she gets them all to stop. There's a lever next to the wheel. It may have been assumed that it was a brake. "Goodbye, my masterpiece." Pinkie yanks it down and bounds away to a safe distance. "What--" Applejack asks, but is quickly quieted by Pinkie's hoof. From below a series of metal sheets shoot up from the cart itself. 14 to be precise. Their quick and fluid motion divides the pastry into just as many pieces--one for each pony present. After a moment the blades and their pieces twist around like an opening flower and extend open from the cart. A piece of each metal sheet drops down as a leg to support its cake piece. Each cake piece has its frosting intact along one side. One VERY long piece of cake for each of them. On further inspection, each layer is also a different flavor (likely the favorite flavor of the pony the frosting represents). And a series of hoof-clapping fills the throne room as they marvel at Pinkie's ingenious designs. She just shrinks away sheepishly and smiles. For a short moment, Celestia's incredibly long and thin horn glows a gold color. "Uh, Pinkie?" Kat wonders. "Yeah?" "Do you have a five foot cake dome?" "No, silly. They don't come that big!" "Then what about Princess Luna's piece?" Pinkie looks at the long piece and then at the fallen alicorn. Then back to the cake. Then the princess. "Ummmm...." she wonders aloud. "Don't worry about it, Pinkie," Celestia says with a smile. "I'll take care of it." If she wasn't the ruler of Equestria, Pinkie might've given her a troublesome look. Something in the Pink Wonder makes her think 'taking care of it' means something different than what she wants to happen. But, you don't judge someone who can squish you with but a single hoof. One misstep and she'll be swimming in taxes. "Okay!!!" Fortunately, there is enough space between each 'plate' for a pony to sit, even Celestia who is much larger than the rest. "So, tell me about yourselves," Celestia tells them. She takes a bite of her cake from the 'top'. "I'm very curious about you all." "Well," Bobbi starts, "back where we're from, we have come together to fight threats that emerge. Ones that nobody else can handle." "Really?" Celestia asks. "I had heard about Casie running into a burning barn--very heroic by the way." She watches the pony in question scratch the back of her head for a moment. "But, are you saying you ALL do things like this?" "Yes, Your Highness," Bobbi continues. "The five of us all have powers of our own. Just as your unicorns have magic, we have unique abilities far beyond anyone else back home." "Well..." Casie narrates. "Unfortunately our primary powers have been taken away. We had--have secondary elemental powers. We usually used these to enhance our abilities. But, not much more." "I think," Amanda adds, "that we are all gaining a new appreciation for them. For example, my powers focused on manipulating energy. I could make it flow it anywhere I wanted like a river. As such, my water element was a useful companion." Amanda looks over to a vase of flowers and watches the water rise out of it. It swings up and around like an amorphous creature. It rises above the 'table' for all to see before diving back into the vase from whence it came. "Fascinating," Celestia remarks as she takes a bite of cake. "By the way, Pinkie. How did you make clear frosting?" "State secret!!" Pinkie says confidently. "State secret?" Celestia repeats. She stands up on all four hooves and raises her wings. She is tall enough to reach over somepony else's plate and look directly at her. "From me?" Pinkie shrinks back just a little and takes note of a certain horn coming close to her head. She crosses her blue eyes to get a good look at it. "Um... Yes?" And with that, Celestia smiles a little. "Very well." She sits down as before and folds in her wings as if nothing happened. She watches in the distance as a mustached unicorn pony with a covered cart enters the throne room. He is quick and efficient in dealing out drinks to the royalty and guests. Tea for the three princesses, juice for a couple others. It is quite apparent that each pony in the room is getting their favorite beverage. "I took the liberty of getting our new friends a drink that I myself enjoy. I hope you like it. But, please. Continue with your story. You don't have your powers now?" "Just our elements," Kat chimes in. "Mine is wind." "WHOA WHOA WHOA!!" Rainbow interupts while bolting up into the air. "Was that you the other day?!" "Yeah. Sorry." "You let a Changeling go FREE!!!" Celestia raises an eyebrow to the statement, but lets the narration continue until she judges anypony. "No..." Kat sighs. "I didn't..." "That..." Tonya admits, "was me..." "Tonya?" Fluttershy asks quietly. Tonya looks across the 'table' to the yellow pegasus and sighs in defeat. She then slips her form to match. Wings. Yellow coat. Pink mane. Green eyes. Sheepish posture. "Oh my..." the original remarks. "You're.... that was..." Rainbow Dash is highly tempted to charge 'Fluttershy' as her instincts demand. But, she sees a few unicorn horns ready to stop her in her tracks. "I don't believe this...." she grumbles as she crosses her forelegs and drops back to the floor. "I can turn into anything," Tonya says as she sheds her disguise for her natural form. "Except the ONE THING I want!!!" "I assume that would be your original form," Celestia notes. "Yeah. I'm stuck like this. I don't wanna be a--" but she stops herself when she sees that there are many others that could take offense to that. "I just want my normal self back." "Well," Cadance starts, "I think you're adorable!!" "Really?" Tonya asks with half-belief. "Really!! Of course, Twilight here is adorKable, but that's a totally different story," from which a number of ponies around the room start to giggle. "Gee," Twilight frowns with a flat glare. "Thanks, 'Sis.'" "Tonya," Celestia says from behind a teacup, "I think that if you had your real form, there might be a bit of a panic. I think that who or whatever sent you here may have did this intentionally. You fit in much better as you look now. And I agree with Cadance. You are pretty cute this way," she says with a warm smile. There's a bit of blush as Tonya wonders if there was anything else behind that comment. But, she rationalizes that she was just trying to cheer her up. Someone of that high a power taking personal interest? No way!! "Anyway," Kat continues. "It all started when we got these Crystals from space. Each had a spirit inside, and we took on their name as our own. I'm known as Tel. Wind element, telepathy, telekinetics." "En-Ja," Amanda adds, having already explained her powers. "I'm Ferona," Casie chimes in. "I can armor myself. And others if I work at it. Fire element." She snorts a little and a mild flame rolls out of her nostrils. "Shifter," Tonya says semi-quietly. "Kind of. My spirit tried to use me for his own goals. It took me awhile before I could accept it. I got an earth element. I'd show you, but I'd hate to mess up your throne room." Celestia nods a little in agreement. "However, there's a couple of vases I wouldn't miss," she notes with a wry smile. "In my old age, I'd probably forget they were ever here." And there's Celestia reminding Tonya of her impossibly inept comment. Tonya frowns a little and her ears naturally droop. She knows she deserves it a little... Eventually, the four stare at Bobbi as she munches on her cake. She's well aware of the pattern set before her. They all want her code name. She stares at the senior princess near her and thinks twice about it. "You don't wanna know." "Oh, why is that?" Celestia asks with a tilt of her head. She looks at her friends who all smile at her. They of course know it. It might even be presumed that she's been led into this. She takes another bite to delay it. With a full mouth, she smiles and chews as slow as she can. "You can't wait forever," Celestia notes. "You're just making me more curious." Celestia looks at her wing and slightly lifts it. A golden aura wraps around an under-feather and plucks it out. She raises said large feather ahead of her and grins a little. It twitches in her aura, ready to be used for who knows what. "We could do this the hard way." Bobbi looks at her with something of a worried look. But, still she swallows and clears her mouth. She licks around her lips to clean off lingering frosting. "Casie, is what she proposes against the Geneva Convention?" "I dunno," Casie replies with a grin. "Let me call them and find out. Oh. Wait!!" Celestia just grins a little and starts to slowly float the feather towards Bobbi with a wicked grin on her face. "I have ways of making you talk." Bobbi looks down at it and can only assume where she would start. "Celestia." "Yes?" she asks. "No. That's it. I took on the name Celestia." Princess Celestia reels back a bit with a raised eyebrow. "That's quite interesting!! But, I don't see why you were trying to hide it." She raises the feather away from Bobbi/Celestia and watches it light up. A moment passes, and it is gone. "Because it's also your name. It's.... awkward." "You have been using this name for some time, have you not?" "Few years it seems," Bobbi answers. "Then you should feel proud. If it is yours, then it is yours. What is your power?" Bobbi pauses as she tries to put into words what exactly her powers are like. "Flying around. Beating up bad guys. Shooting out 'magic' from my arms." "Went crazy," Kat adds in. "Tried to nuke a city." "I did NOT try to nuke a city!!" "Your alternate self did," Amanda notes. "That was NOT me!!" She turns towards their host and quiets down. "Sorry about that. Had a little personality problem. An alternate self went ballistic." "Oh, I quite understand that one," Celestia tells her. Her gaze turns back towards her sister who remains asleep. "Trust me, it's not any fun. But, tell me: How do you like Equestria?" "Nice and quiet," Kat replies. Her cake piece has simply been vanishing from sight since it was cut up. "I like it." "It gets my mind off my problems," Tonya tells her. "A change of scenary has done a lot of good for me. But, I know it's only temporary." "I can see why we were sent here," Amanda tells her. "This place has a very positive vibe to it. At least one of us has benefited from it. A place to relax and heal for awhile." "I haven't seen much trouble," Casie adds. "No wars. No crime. No famine." "We've been lucky," Cadance replies. "The princesses all work together to keep it this way." "Sundae would love this place," Amanda grins. "Sundae?" Celestia wonders. "She's my little girl. Haven't seen her in a long time, though. But, that's a long story for another time." "Of course," Celestia agrees quietly. "Princess Cadance?" Kat wonders from somewhere. "Yes?" she replies happily. Her eyes light up at her name and her ears perk up straight. "Yes, miss invisible pony?" "Do you like maple syrup?" "OH!! I LOVE maple syrup!!" she says with a flutter of her wings. "Why do you ask?" From nowhere, a bag of cookies floats over to her. "I swung by a shop here in Canterlot and picked some up. Maple nut cookies! I thought I'd share some!!" "When did you--" Twilight starts, but immediately thinks twice about asking. "Nevermind...." she groans as she realizes that Kat could have wandered off at any time without anypony noticing. "How thoughtful!!" Cadance beams. "Thank you!!" She floats one over to Celestia, who takes it happily. "Applejack," Celestia addresses, "that barrel that you gave me? That was some GOOD stuff!! You weren't kidding about it being strong!!" "Thank ya kindly!" she replies. "That was my Granny Smith's recipe." "Well, tell her that I think she's an excellent moonshiner. I may ask for another barrel one of these days. The meeting that I went to after our last encounter was in Maneapolis. I offered some to them... And everything was much more fun after that!!" That was almost expected among Twilight and her friends. It is a well known fact among them that Princess Celestia will try to liven up her own galas by intentionally introducing unstable elements. Why should bland meetings be any different? In addition, she has let her sister Princess Luna take over the day side of things (on Luna's request) while Celestia hit the spa. Her royal scheduling pony dropped more work on the unsuspecting lunar princess than she ever thought possible. But, she soldiered through it all and accomplished everything--in her own chaotic way. Celestia had found a chessboard mowed into the courtyard with a couple dozen ponies standing or lying angrily on the squares. She brought them into the castle and pampered them as apology for their mistreatment at the hooves of her younger sister. "Tell me," Celestia asks. "Are you all related?" Among the five visitors, there are a few glances and a few unspoken questions. They might ask the same of Twilight and her group of friends. "Not by blood," Bobbi replies. "The Crystals," Kat adds, "found us five in different parts of the country. Bobbi was in New York, I was in Kansas, Casie was.... somewhere." "Greenland," she points out. "Amanda and Tonya were both in Minnesota. We sort of all met up in New York. From then on, we kept in close contact. Although we rarely said so, we were like sisters." "We're all family," Amanda notes. "As far as I'm concerned." "And I fathered Kat's baby," Tonya says with a grin. Celestia stops herself for a moment. She had just taken a sip of tea. She did everything in her power not to spray it across the 'table'. "Okay then," she finally remarks. "That's a little weird. I imagine your shapeshifting had something to do with it?" "Something like that," Tonya replies. "Another personality took control and Kat and he...." "I see," Celestia says with a cough. "You have that problem a lot, don't you?" "Not anymore," Tonya says quietly. "I had a few, but we all agreed that if I can't do my job, we'd all be in trouble. Haven't had any trouble since." "Are we late?" another asks. Everyone, especially Celestia turn around and find that Luna has awoken and standing near her. "Forgive us for earlier. We meant no disrespect." "Of course, Luna," Celestia says to her. "Have some cake. It's quite good." As she watches Luna walk around the table and the collected guests. The only untouched piece of cake is the next 'plate' to Celestia's right. She gracefully pours her sister some tea and floats it over. Luna takes it with a little smile. "How does your own world compare to our own? What is it like?" Luna notes with oddity that one piece of cake seems to disappear on its own. "Perhaps We need more rest..." "To tell you the truth," Amanda says, "our world is not in the best shape. An evil force stole our powers from us and then ravaged the lands we know so well." "We gotta get back," Casie adds, "and fight! Somehow, someway.... We have to fix this!" "We could use some help!" Kat pipes in. "KAT!!! NO!!" Bobbi jumps to her hooves in protest. "Forgive me, Your Highness. I have already told her I would NOT ask for help in this. It's not our place to do so." "I'm sorry, Kat," Celestia tells her. "I'm afraid your friend is right. It is not our place to interfere with the affairs of your world. Regardless of how dire. Besides, it is not even guaranteed that our own magic would work on your world. There are too many variables. I am sorry. This request I cannot grant." "Sister," Luna notes, "it IS within our power to help them while they are on Equestrian soil, yes?" "Of course, Luna. But, outside of healing their injuries and allowing them rest I do not know what more we can do. I am not sure that we can recover the magicks that they have lost." "We can try." "We can try," Celestia smiles a little. "HOWEVER!!" Luna shouts as she points her hoof at Tonya, "the brown pony must apologize for her uncouth remarks!!" "Luna!!" Celestia spouts. "That is unnecessary." "But--" "Let it go, Sister," Celestia says quietly. She looks out the window and observes how far along the Sun has made its journey across the sky. "I see that it is getting late in the day." She looks around the table and notes the different stages that the cake pieces are in. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have finished theirs. Applejack is nearly there, followed shortly by Twilight. Rarity and Fluttershy are the furthest 'behind'--one due to advanced ladylike manners and the other who is too shy to take larger bites. Luna, surprisingly, has nearly finished hers. She gives her elder sister a peculiar look when Celestia sees how much she had eaten so quickly. Bobbi and her friends have all nearly finished their pieces, as has Cadance. "I suppose it is time to adjourn our meeting," Celestia says as she delicately dabs a napkin around her muzzle. "Twilight, I have a room set up for you and your friends. Feel free to stay the night. But, I would like to speak to our visitors about another matter." "Of course, Princess," Twilight replies. "Let's go, girls." "I will have the remnants of your cake sent to you to finish later. Thank you all for coming." With little else said, Twilight and her close friends stand and start to make their way out. They all give gracious nods and gratitudes as they leave. The sounds of their hooves (and wing flaps in Rainbow's case) quiet as they exit the throne room. And finally, they are gone. "And now I get it...." Tonya groans. Celestia smiles a bit and stretches out a wing. The tips rustle across Tonya's scalp a little in a soothing manner. "Be at ease," she tells her. "I wanted to speak to you five alone. There is something that is troubling me. Did you catch notice of the stallion that left here as you entered?" "Stallion?" Tonya wonders. "More like dou--" but she stops herself, remembering that Amanda told her to behave. "Yes," Amanda says with a low growl. "I saw him." "Do you know of him?" Celestia asks curiously. "He's from our neck of the woods," Casie responds. "Yeah. We know him." "Good, then that makes things easier. I have a task for you all."