After finishing up their meal, the Rainbooms left Los Tacos Hermanos and, after letting Sunset Shimmer know about the Dazzlings, went their separate ways, each apprehensive about their families' reactions to the transformations they had undergone.
When Applejack got back to Sweet Apple Acres, she heard the other Apples conversing around the kitchen table and smelled fried chicken and cornbread. Applejack was confused by this, given the time—the sun had set half an hour ago, about an hour later than the Apples usually ate supper.
"Ah figured y'all done et by now," Applejack said as she wandered into the kitchen. Fried chicken, cornbread, green beans, mini corn-on-the-cob, and a big jar of apple butter sat on the table, with her family sitting around it.
"We jes' set down," Granny said as she spooned green beans onto her plate. "Th' lights went out, Ah hadda wait fer 'em t' come back on afore Ah could—" she looked up at Applejack. "—cook," she finished quietly, staring at Applejack's ears. "Welp. Ah reckon Ah'm startin' t' have that there dementia."
"Sis?" Apple Bloom asked, eyes wide. "Whut...whut happened?" She looked around the table. "Y'all're seein' this, right? Applejack's got pony ears?"
"Eeyup," Big Mac grunted, absently spreading apple butter on a hunk of cornbread.
Applejack sat down, helping herself to some fried chicken. "Somethin' went wacky with th' portal to Equestria," she said as she accepted the beans from Granny and dumped some on her plate. "That crazy pony magic we all got from Twilight's crown, it's kinda stuck now. An' it's stronger. Mah friends all ended up like this too, an' Sunset Shimmer..." She shook her head. "Well, Ah wasn't sure if Ah ever believed her an' Twilight about whut they was back in that Equestria place. Now Ah know they was tellin' th' truth." She sighed. "At least with me it's jes' th' ears an' the ponytail. Oh, an' Ah guess Ah'm even stronger now than Ah already was?" She shrugged and grabbed some cornbread. "Rainbow Dash an' Fluttershy grew wings, an' Rarity grew a horn." She put one hand to her forehead and extended her index finger in an approximation of a unicorn horn.
"Y'don't say," Granny said, still staring at her.
Applejack shrugged and tore into a piece of chicken. "Anyhoo, Twilight's tryin' t' fix it, but until she figgers out whut done gone wrong, Ah'm stuck like this."
Apple Bloom brightened. "Twilight's back?"
"Nah, she's workin' on it from her end," Applejack said. "If'n she came here, she'd draw too much attention." She tilted her head. "She ain't human, y'see. She's some kinda...winged unicorn thing. Sunset showed us whut Twilight really looks like." She shook her head. "Might cause a fuss if she came through lookin' like that."
Big Mac raised an eyebrow. "Winged unicorn," he said.
Applejack shrugged. "Hey, would Ah make up somethin' like that?"
Big Mac considered that. "Nope."
"Well...so long as this don't give you some kinda rabies or horse cancer or somethin'," Granny Smith said. "You yung'uns, Ah swear..."
* * * * *
Fluttershy unlocked the front door, stepped inside, and removed her boots. "I'm home," she called out softly.
"Welcome home, sweetie!" Fluttershy's mother called from the kitchen. "I just thawed out a chocolate cream pie, would you like a piece?"
"Oh...yes, please," Fluttershy said. She wasn't a big eater, but she had a hard time saying no to desserts, especially cold ones. She stepped gingerly through the living room toward the kitchen. "Umm, Mom? There's something you need to know about..."
The kitchen was silent for a minute. Fluttershy's mother sighed. "You're not in trouble at school, are you?"
"What? Of—of course not! Besides, it's...it's Saturday..."
"Oh. That's right." Another pause. "You're not...you're not pregnant are you?"
Fluttershy let out a mortified squeak. "MOM!" she squealed. "You know better than that!"
"It's not...drugs, is it?"
"No!" Fluttershy cried. "Also, I'm not gay, I didn't get arrested, I didn't get a tattoo, and whatever else you're thinking isn't right either!"
Fluttershy's mother emerged from the kitchen, wiping a knife with a paper towel. "Then what is it de—oh. Oh my." The knife fell from her hand and clattered on the floor, sending chocolate crust crumbs scattering across the carpet.
Fluttershy ducked her head, her hair covering her face. "Umm...I have wings," she said meekly.
Her mother tilted her head, examining her curiously. She walked around behind her. "Those...aren't fake, are they?" she asked. Fluttershy flexed them, then spread them wide. Her mother gasped. "I just thought, you know, when you and your band friends did this thing...it was special effects or CG or something," she said. "It's...it's real?"
"It's magic," Fluttershy said. She turned to face her mother, then pointed at her head. "The ears too."
"I hadn't even noticed those," Fluttershy's mother said, eyes wide. "So, umm...you and your friends practice magic? You're not...you're not worshipping the devil, are you?"
Fluttershy groaned, blowing on her hair in frustration. "NO, Mom," she said. "And we're not practicing magic. It's..." She tapped her foot, frowning. "It's complicated," she said. "It has to do with two friends of ours who aren't from here, and a magic land, and I can't really explain it." She ducked her head, looking up at her mother sheepishly. "Umm...I might have these for a while. We don't really know how to make them go away yet. Rainbow Dash has them too."
Fluttershy's mother let out an irritated snort. "I always knew that girl was a bad influence on you," she muttered. She sighed. "Well, come on in the kitchen. Have some pie."
Fluttershy followed her mother, resolving to eat two pieces of pie.
She deserved it.
* * * * *
Sweetie Belle prodded Rarity's horn. "Weird," she said.
Rarity groaned. "Please stop that."
"Does it hurt?"
"No, but it's annoying."
Sweetie Belle prodded Rarity's horn again. "Weird."
"Sweetie Belle, I'm warning you," Rarity growled.
Sweetie Belle prodded Rarity's horn again.
Rarity's horn lit up with a baby blue glow. Sweetie Belle's eyes crossed and she made a funny little squeak.
"Now," Rarity said, clearing her throat delicately, "what have we learned about touching a lady inappropriately?"
"Bad touch is bad," Sweetie Belle squeaked, her cheeks flaming red.
* * * * *
Rainbow Dash strutted boldly into the house. "Dad! Your new and improved, twenty percent cooler daughter is home!"
Rainbow Blaze walked in from the fitness room, dressed in shorts and a tank top, a towel slung around his sweaty shoulders. His rainbow bangs dripped sweat. He blinked at his daughter. "Buh?"
Rainbow stretched and flexed her wings, flying a few feet off the floor. She grinned cockily. "Whaddya think?"
Blaze shrugged. "Cool." He went back to the exercise room. "There's pizza in the fridge," he called behind him.
* * * * *
Pinkie Pie tiptoed into the house, her eyes wary, her ears alert. She idly wondered if perhaps she'd have improved hearing now, like a dog, what with the cute little pony ears on her head.
She pressed her back flat against the wall of the entry foyer and slowly peeked out into the living room. Limestone and Maud were sitting on the couch, watching the Rock Channel. As in actual rocks, not rock music. It was all about rocks.
Everything was all about rocks.
Not that Pinkie had anything against rocks. She just preferred rock to rocks.
She slowly crept across the living room, inching her way around the side wall, toward the stairs, hoping to escape notice—
"Stay off my boulder holder!" Limestone growled.
Pinkie froze in her tracks. She looked down at the floor.
There was a bra lying on the floor. She'd just stepped on it.
She frowned. "Why is your bra lying around on the living room floor? Again?"
"That's none of your business!" Limestone snapped as she turned to scowl fiercely at Pinkie. "All you need to know is STAY OFF—" Her tirade stopped short. She grabbed the remote for the living room lights and turned them on full power. She stood up, taking three slow, deliberate steps toward Pinkie. She pointed a trembling finger at her head.
"TAKE OFF THOSE RIDICULOUS COSPLAY EARS!"
Pinkie flinched back. "Umm...I kinda can't. And they're not cosplay ears, they're—OW!"
Limestone had grabbed Pinkie's ears and was pulling fiercely on them. It hurt a lot. "NGGGGH!"
Pinkie whined in pain, then shoved her sister. Limestone went flying across the room, crashing into a sturdy granite shelf full of dozens of interesting rock and mineral samples. Limestone groaned in pain.
"OHMYGOSHI'MSOSORRY!" Pinkie gasped out, rushing across the room and kneeling next to Limestone. "Are you okay?"
"PINKAMENA DIANE PIE! Surely you are not roughhousing with your sisters in the family room?"
Pinkie grimaced as her mother walked into the living room, clad in her dressing gown and sleeping bonnet. "H-hi Mom," she said. "I'm sorry, I really am! Limestone was pulling on my ears and it really hurt and I just—"
"Pinkie Pie has horse ears now," Maud said tonelessly from the sofa, never taking her eyes off the television. "Also I think she's developed some kind of super strength. Also, this was all Limestone's fault. Also, she left her bra lying around on the floor again."
Cloudy Quartz's mouth pressed into a thin, disapproving line. "You girls would do well to follow Marble Pie's example," she said. "She is the most quiet and well-behaved child in this house." She shook her head. "Pinkamena, Limestone, you two clean up this mess. Limestone, stop leaving your unmentionables in scandalous, indecent places." She paused, then studied Pinkie's ears. "Your father and I will have a long talk with you about your lifestyle choices in the morning, Pinkamena." She shook her head and muttered to herself as she shuffled out of the room. "Honestly. Children these days, coming home with tattoos and rap music and horse ears..."
The sisters watched her leave, then turned to look at one another. Fury was written across Limestone's face, but that was nothing new. She turned her scowl on Maud. "I thought you were on my side!" she snarled.
Maud slowly looked away from the television, regarding Limestone with a dispassionate expression. "That's what you get for calling Boulder a pussy," she said calmly before turning back to the Rock Channel.