The More Things Change

by The Crane

What Dreams May Come

A new day has dawned for Bobbi and her friends. Since the party, the group has spread out into the town to explore their new surroundings. Being new in town, and to Equestria in general, they are rather unsure of their surroundings. Around town, others have occasionally dropped by to give their regards. Some have even offered jobs for the weird and wary travellers. Twilight offered the group a sack of bits to help get started and to keep themselves fed.

Speaking of Twilight, she has spent a considerable amount of time scrubbing her coat. After the red paint incident had two ponies (one being her mentor) silently accuse her of murder, she wants to return to her natural purple self.

In the meantime, every time she thinks she has removed every speck of unnatural color from her body, one of her friends points out that she missed a spot. Some do find a few red spots remaining, while others are pulling her wing. Either way, she dashes off to the shower again. She swears that the next time someone does this she's going to shave herself bald.

But, back to the travellers...

Even though she is still invisible, Kat has been offered to help with the weather service in and around Ponyville. Rainbow Dash has been put in charge of her training, which may or may not be a good thing... Some of Rainbow Dash's fellow workers warned Kat of her penchant for pranks. Kat didn't seem to worry about such a thing. In fact, a sneer slid across her invisible muzzle.

Amanda returned to Rarity's Carousel Boutique to help her out in any way she could. In the short time that she was there, Amanda noted that Rarity was the owner as well as sole employee. She doesn't seem to mind, but Amanda noted a certain amount of strain. Although Amanda isn't quite up on fashion here, she can take care of some of the more business sides of things which would alleviate the fashionista's stress.

Casie found an intersting job in glass-making. With her unusual fire ability, she is able to make various masterpieces made of glass. But, more often than not she is working on making more common things such as window panes and mason jars. For practice she sculpts various items. She has never done this with her powers, but finds that she's quickly becoming good at it.

Bobbi became involved with search and rescue operations. Although it wasn't often that a pony would get into trouble as such, she offered her services when the need arose. The town is crazy. The town is jubilant. And even though trouble bubbles up, it is quite safe. In the time that she isn't involved with her job, she explores the Everfree Forest that lies just beyond the town.

And then there's Tonya. The anti-social recluse of the group. For the time being, they have all decided to let her be. The four of them can make enough money for the entire group. She remains in the corner, curled up and not bothering anypony. At least one of the others stays with her at all times. Even though Kat can't be seen, she still finds ways to show Tonya that she's there. Like laying atop her.

==-==-==

One of the basic jobs for weather pegasi is to make sure that there are enough clouds to accomplish said weather. Rainbow Dash has been helping Kat with finding them where other areas will not be effected. Although Kat is still unseeable, they get around this particular problem by having her wear a bright yellow-green vest.

"So what's the deal with Tonya?" Rainbow asks. "Is she always that lazy?"

"Personal," Kat notes. While it is true that she told Twilight Sparkle early on, she does not believe it will be fair to tell everypony. "If you want to know, you'll have to ask her."

"When she's not sleeping," Rainbow notes.

"She's not sleeping."

"Whatd'ya mean? She's curled up almost all the time!!"

"Hey, how do you do snow? I wanna whip a snowball at somepony!!"

"Snow's a seasonal thing. We gotta get the temperature down. Angle of the Sun and stuff. She's not sleeping?"

"How about fog?"

"That's a morning thing. But, there are times we can still do that." But, eventually Rainbow Dash gets the point. "The rain over Sweet Apple Acres should be done, now. Let's get the clouds over to the park."

"Right, Boss."

==-==-==

Night eventually falls as Princess Celestia lowers the Sun. The bright blue sky turns a comforting violet while the light fades. At the same time, Princess Luna raises the Moon. Its quiet gleam gives the creatures below the cue to rise while others to settle.

While raising the Moon every night is quite the spectacle, it is only a portion of Luna's responsibilities. While the residents of Equestria slumber, her other task begins anew. Her job is to enter the dreams of others and give them advice as needed. Often they will have nightmares related to their insecurities.

One pegasus in particular likes to tell ghost stories and scare her friends. While one such friend was already struggling with fear, this didn't help at all. A young unicorn was bitter with her older sister and tried to sabotage her. Luna intervened and showed what would happen if things weren't fixed right away.

With news of the new visitors, Luna's curiosity has been piqued. She has become interested in these five new ponies. She has not met them herself, but wishes to do so in the future. In particular, a thorn of a thought reminds her that one of them labeled her sister as 'old.'.

So, she sets herself up in her abode and prepares to dreamwalk again. While there are others that may need help, she has decided to peek into the dreams of these few. Happily, they all sleep together and are easy to find. As they hail from other lands, this should be fascinating.

==-==-==

She enters quietly and keeps to the backgrounds. She hides behind anything she can and watches carefully. Should any have a good dream, she would move on. Her job is to soothe their troubles, not bask in their glory.

The first looks promising for improvement. The landscape is barren and dark. The sky has been choked with smoke. Fires large and small burn as far as the eye can see. Luna looks around and estimates that this is a ruined city. She says nothing and awaits the story to unfold.

~You're finished!!!~ a voice booms from above.

Luna looks up to find a figure floating above her. There is a black garbed alicorn floating above her. Her coat is pale, her eyes are deep crimson, and her mane and tail are pitch black. She is curious because Luna has never seen this particular alicorn before.

~Nope...~ a voice groans from near. A slab of stone and rebar is pushed aside to reveal a mute gold pony with a blonde mane and blue eyes. Luna is imperceptable to anyone as long as she wishes, so Bobbi has no knowledge of her presence. ~I haven't even started!!~

Luna looks her over for a moment and notes a number of injuries across her body. And yet, Bobbi gives a determined grin. In the real world, she would definitely help to prevent her from getting injured further. But, in a dream the wounds are symbolic of other things. Her waking self would be in no danger even if her dream self would perish.

~We're going to beat you!~ Bobbi howls. ~Remember that, Dark Celestia!!~

Such an utterance drives a cold dagger into Luna's chest. "W-what?!" she babbles out. Luna's own shock disrupts the connection between them and the scene fades to black as she exits. "D-dark... Ce-Celestia?! What... What in Tartarus was THAT?!"

==-==-==

The next dream she enters has a warm atmosphere. Luna can see a brightly lit home. The windows are ablaze with sunlight. There is a light breeze flowing in. "Hmmm..." Luna hums as she rather likes where this is going. She walks around the dreamscape with curiosity.

She hears a bit of giggling from somewhere deeper inside the abode. She walks quietly and looks around the corner to find a filly lying on her stomach. She happily uses crayons to color. She is all white. White coat, white mane, white tail. Only her vibrant blue eyes give her any color. "Awww..." Luna coos softly. "Thou art so cuuuutte..."

An adult pony walks by with blue coat and black mane. A horn sticks out of her head denoting a unicorn. Luna notes a wave as her cutie mark. She doesn't disturb the child, but smiles happily at her. ~Daddy will be home soon, Sundae,~ the adult says.

And, almost as a cue, the door off to one side of the room opens. ~I'm home!!~ a stallion shouts. A dark unicorn walks in and is quickly greeted by the adult. Luna watches in amusement as the filly hops to her hooves and dashes over.

There is something about this, though. Luna can see a happy return, but the sense of relief surrounding everypony is beguiling. This one who has just returned must have been gone for a considerable amount of time. There is great joy coming from all of them.

But, as Luna begins to exit the dream, she catches sight of another. There is another mare involved. Her appearance has a mostly violet pallette. For a mere second, Luna compared her colors to Twilight Sparkle.

==-==-==

"Now we are talking!!" Luna smiles as she enters the next dream. Her view is enthralled with mountains of "donuts..." she moans happily. Her tongue hangs out of her mouth as the sugary glazed heaven unfolds before her.

Within the dream, giant donuts and other pastries are all stacked neatly in columns. Many, many delicious columns. As she walks, she looks happily on the scenary. Wherever should she start? She considers taking a bite, but worries that the whole column would fall.

She comes across a hill that has been made strictly out of frosted chocolate cake. There is a path made with tan frosting while green is used for the grass. Large frosting flowers are also littered across the dessert.

Luna reaches the peak and sees the land before her. Waterfalls and subsequent rivers of soda. Hard candy rocks littered everywhere. A lake made out of chocolate mousse. Clouds made out of cotton candy that rain chocolate milk.

"OOohhhh..." Luna slobbers. "Let us die here!!!" But, a thought strikes her. "We pray that We haven't stumbled upon our sister's dream."

Luna watches as gummy bears hop by her in a small herd. They make small chirping noises as they run by.

"No problems here..." Luna says quietly. She would move on, but the beauty before her is too much to retreat from. She looks about and chases the tribe of bouncy bears. She follows and lowers her head to their height. She tries to snatch one with her teeth and manages to catch one. She would have eaten it, but its cries for mercy got to her. She let it go, albeit with teeth marks in its ribs.

Still, the ground below her is still quite soft. She kneels down on her four knees and jams her head into the ground like an ostrich. The princess raises it up again while covered in chocolate pastry. Her mouth is full of even more as she chews with a heavenly smile. "We must come back here again..."

Luna dives into the hole again and chews her way down. In a short time, her entire body has disappeared from sight. Not far away, her head pops out like a gopher. Her eyes are blissful as she chews. She quickly pulls herself out to stand atop the ground again. "Must come back..." She shakes crumbs and frosting from her body and looks herself over. "Maybe." Her hoof taps on her abdomen. "If We get plump in a dream, will We be plump in the waking world?"

While she is cleaning off her face, she spies a white pegasus with brown mane chewing on a marshmallow 'bush' while her legs are wrapped around it. She looks so content that Luna would feel bad about interupting. "Methinks that thou shall be missing a pillow in the morrow."

==-==-==

She enters another dream filled with stallions. Military stallions. They run in formation. They wear uniforms. Their manes are buzzed to the scalp. "Ah," she smiles. "This shall be amusing."

Of all the soldiers, there is one mare. She trains hard to keep up with the rest. Her red coat can be seen under her uniform and on her face. While on the base, she trots in formation with the rest of her unit.

She maintains her weapon. She doesn't say anything, though. Luna can hear the echoes behind her of others that look down on her. Due to her gender, they think she doesn't belong here.

The scene changes itself and that same mare takes down several of her comrades in a sparring match. One after another they come at her. With swift and decisive blows she decimates her enemies. More come from the shadows, and she takes them on just as so without stopping for a rest.

In the end, the floor is littered with those that would oppose her. And with that, she walks away. A little shaken and a little sore, but victorious nonetheless. In the shadows, Luna claps her hooves together. "Nicely done," she says to nopony.

==-==-==

The fifth and final dream that she enters is dark. Not just dark, but "empty?" Luna wonders. As she walks around, she finds that there is nothing here. And nopony either. "Hello?"

~Go away....~ a voice groans.

Luna's ears twitch a little. She heard it from somewhere. "Why art thine dreams so vacant?"

~It's all my fault.~

Luna looks around a little to search for the owner of the voice. "What dost thou mean?"

~I'm a failure.~

She finds the source curled up on the 'ground.' She moves around to her face, but finds that both sides of her are equal. Or, more precisely, her spine is the only thing allowed to be seen. "Who art thou? What is thy name?"

~Tonya...~

Luna notes a distinct radiance of pain and anguish from Tonya. Perhaps a less formal tone will help with matters. "I am Princess Luna. Tonya, why do you think that you art to blame? What has transpired?"

~My friends lost. They had to protect me, and then they lost.~ Above the two, the darkness is illuminated with scant images as Tonya remembers them. Unlike other dreams, humans are dominant. Scenes of battle. Scenes of despair. And then five young ladies captured and strung up like trophies.

"Are those your friends?"

~I don't know how, but we're all on this strange planet now. They should have left me, though.~

"We have seen your friends. We have not seen any blame."

~They wouldn't show it.~

"'Tis is a difficult thing to hide. We would have noticed. But, We saw nothing of the sort."

~They hate me...~

"Truly?" Luna wonders. She looks up and various images float through. "Your own thoughts betray thee. Such as that-- one of somepony dropping off pastries and coffee. And, behold!! A hug!! Forsooth!! Thou art deplorable!" Luna notes with pronounced sarcasm.

The images change quickly to her friends. 'Ignore her. She was...' 'Ignore her, she's an idiot.' 'She rode the short bus to school!' Scenes follow of her friends tackling her or otherwise trying to keep her mouth shut.

~Some friends.~

"Surely they jest." She puts a hoof to her chin. "Verily, perhaps you spoke something to receive such criticism?"

'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!!'

Luna turns towards Tonya for a moment with a strange stare. She sidesteps for a moment. "Thou art... a cannibal?"

~Just an expression.~

"Perhaps not a good one," Luna says quietly.

'I'm rubbing off on her,' Tonya's voice echoes.

'Great,' Casie's voice follows. 'One day we'll all be idiots.'

"Do you think that counts? Verily, you didn't think she was serious? Besides, you incited that one thyself."

'You're not alone, Tonya. You never were.'

"Ahh!!" Luna gasps happily. "Comradery!!"

'I let you all down,' Tonya says quietly.

'We're all still alive?' Kat responds.

"Mayhap you have not payed enough attention? It seems you heard the words, but not the feeling. Words can often be but a paper wrapper for the love within."

'Good job, Tonya.'

"Egads!!! Thou has received a compliment!!'

'I don't know her,' Amanda's voice says.

"Even We could hear sarcasm in that one," Luna notes. Her horn glows a little. "Shall We rewind the playback a little?" An image appears overhead of Tonya guzzling down hard cider. A moment later, a thunderous belch can be heard in the mug. "We would have not responded any differently," Luna remarks. "Mayhap she merely wanted thee to display some decorum?"

~Maybe you're right.~ From the little hairy rock, Tonya returns to a more suitable appearance.

"There you are..." Luna says with a welcoming smile.

~If I could have fought with them when I should have, then none of us would have been captured and subsequently sent here. I screwed up everything...~

"And?" Luna wonders. "From the little We have seen, We have not seen any aggravation. Life can be hard, Tonya. Sometimes harder than one can bear. But, such experiences will make you that much stronger. Your memories are paper thin," Luna remarks. "We cannot tell the intent behind them. But, We have seen plenty where you are loved. Friends jest with one another. 'Tis a fact of life. And throughout your memories, We could see that you are never alone." Luna walks up to Tonya and looks down at her sullen face. Luna puts a hoof under Tonya's chin to raise it a little. "Perhaps the only forgiveness that is needed.... Is from thy self."

~But...~ Tonya notes.

Luna just shakes her head. "Our own sister thought she had failed us just as you think you failed your friends. She banished us, but now We have returned. Our bond now has never been stronger. We ask that you stop 'hearing' your friends and start 'listening' to them." She walks away a little, but keeps an eye on Tonya.

'You're tall' echoes through.

'Yes. I am.' Celestia's voice adds.

"Ah!! Our sister!! We heard that you have met her."

'Does that mean you're old?'

The words ring through and Tonya suddenly looks troubled. Her eyes widen. Her muzzle tightens. ~Uhhh....~

"What dost thou say?" Luna growls. "YYYYOOOUUU!!!" she roars and points an accusing hoof. Her eyes burn angrily as she snarls at Tonya. Her once supportive voice has quickly changed into a seething rage.

'Tonya, I would not ask those questions of my sister, Princess Luna. She wouldn't take it as well.'

"Verily, truer words hath never been spoken," Luna growls. She stalks back towards Tonya, but finds her quarry disappearing from sight.

In a short few seconds, Luna is alone again. "Gone," Luna spits. "We are not done with thee."

==-==-==

In the dark barn, Tonya resides in her corner. Her usual curled up state loosens as she rolls to her back. The other four sleep soundly around her, though only three are seen. As the tan pony turns to her back, her mouth slides open. A loud, thunderous inhale follows that nearly awakens all of her friends.

"NOW she's asleep," Kat remarks with a smile. She gives a quick burp which allows a few feathers to escape.