Five new ponies have come to Ponyville. Their arrival isn't voluntery and they all seek to regroup.
Five new ponies have been dropped unceremoniously on Ponyville. Hailing from another place, they seek to return to their home. They have unfinished business to attend to there. Meanwhile, this can be regarded as a 'vacation'. At least one may not want to return....
Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is wake up. There are many of us who often don't want to face the world in the morning. We have difficulties with what is expected of us. Some of us are just plain lazy. And some of us are tired of the BS from our jobs.
I for one wake up everyday with "I don't wanna..."
Others can't face reality. There may be a traumatic situation in play that plagues the person's soul. Waking up means living with that trauma in difficult ways. It may be the loss of a loved one or it may be the loss of a loved limb.
Still others live without such an ability. There are those that are comatose and sleep for painfully long times. Loved ones gather around and wait for the day that the poor soul awakens from such a dreadful time.
And then there is this one....
==-==-==
"What... happened?" The female voice gargles out a few words as her eyes flutter open.
"Oh!" a female voice replies. This one sounds sweet and concerned. "You're awake!"
"Where am I? I can't see..."
"You're in the hospital. I'll run get the doctor." There is a sound of hustle as the owner of the voice runs out.
The poor awakened soul can only look up from her position. She cannot see the ceiling itself, only a dark fog. She doesn't imagine what it may look like. She doesn't really care. She quietly stretches her limbs. Her legs. Her arms. She cracks her neck around. But, something doesn't feel quite right. She raises herself up by pushing her arms down, but can't feel her fingers at the ends. From what she can determine, her arms are bandaged up to her elbows. In addition, her hands are completely balled up and bandaged.
"Well, hello!" a new, male voice announces. "I see that you're awake. My nurse says that you can't see, though."
"Yeah. My eyesight's all twisted, dark and blurry."
"I see. What else can you tell me? Can you hear me all right?"
"Yeah. I can hear you. I don't know how I got here. I don't even know where I am. And what happened here?!" she growls as she raises her arms.
"Now, now... Don't get out of shape." He takes the arms and gently pushes them down. "They were badly injured. We'll take care of you until you're healed and you get your eyesight back."
There is a dull light that shines in her eyes. She sees it like the Moon behind a thick cloud bank. As it floats to either side of her field of vision, her eyeballs instinctively track it. "Yeah. Okay. Will it come back?"
"We'll do some tests. It could very well be temporary. Can you tell me your name?"
"My name's Bobbi. Some people call me Celestia."
"I wouldn't." There is a distinct sharpness to that comment. "And, for your sake, I hope you never use that name again."
"I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."
"Don't worry!" he says with a newly chipper voice. "Delirium and delusions might be related to your eye problems!"
"Right. I won't use that name, then."
"Is there anyone I can get for you? Friends? Family?"
"I don't know if my friends are near."
"Well, then, I'll return later. I'll have the nurse make you comfortable."
"Thank you."
==-==-==
When night came, she found herself unable to sleep. Too much had happened. Her loss of sight. Her injuries. Her 'delirium.' She doesn't remember how she got here, wherever 'here' is. She's been to a few strange places before, so a strange world won't be a shock to her.
She flops over to her other side. While she's been worried about her own situation, there are a few others that she starts to worry about. "Girls.... I hope you're all okay."
While she attempts to sleep, she finds the hospital pretty quiet. While she believes a PA system is in place, she hasn't heard anything over it. She has the occasional nurse check on her, but mostly is left in peace.
Of all that's happened in recent times, she hopes that this turns out to be a lesser evil. Whatever adventure she's thrown into this time, she's determined to land on her feet.
==-==-==
Daylight comes for the lost Warrior. She looks about with a certain glee as her vision has returned. She can see the window and the sunlight it offers. She can see drab curtains hanging from either side. She can see a hospital room as she scans from one side to the other.
She looks down at herself and raises up her arms. She raises an eyebrow as she looks at her skin color with peculiarity. Instead of a normal fleshtone, she finds it a muted gold. "What the--?" As expected, the ends of her arms are bandaged to keep her fingers from stretching. A green hospital gown covers her as normal.
"Oh!" a nurse's voice gasps. "You're awake!" But, before she can be seen, the nurse disappears again back into the hallway.
She quickly yanks the blanket off of her and jumps to the floor. While she stays standing for a moment, she eventually drops to put her her hands on the floor as well. "What's... wrong with me?!"
She looks back at her body and finds the most horrific revelation yet: Her body isn't what it used to be, but rather changed into a four-legged beast. In fact, her new frame greatly resembles an equestrian type. While she's looking back, she clearly sees a unique mark on her flank--a four point star with a smaller circle as a background. A lighter blonde tail hangs off her rump.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
"What's wrong?!" a voice calls out.
"I'm a friggin' pony!!!"
"Um.... yeah..." She finally looks at the owner of the voice and sees that her doctor is yet another horse with a white labcoat and stethoscope around his neck. His nurse seems to be female, yet not much different. "What were you expecting?"
Bobbi dashes into the bathroom and finds a mirror adorned to the wall. She looks at herself for the first time since awakening in this weird place. Her overall coat is gold while her mane is a lighter blonde. She looks at her blue eyes closely, but her attention turns towards an equally golden horn sticking out of her forehead.
She slowly walks out into the main room again with a confused expression on her face. "What happened to me?"
"You were found unconscious outside of town. It looked like you crash landed there, from the looks of the area. Where are you from?"
"Not from here," Bobbi notes with a nervous giggle."
Bobbi walks over to the window and looks out with a certain curiosity. The immediate area has trees surrounding the building, but there is a town not far from there. She looks at the architecture that she can see and notes a certain familiarity. She assumes that everyone that lives there runs on four legs.
"That out there is Ponyville," the doctor remarks. "You'll find plenty of friends there."
She turns towards him with something of a smile. "I only need four."
And so begins a new mystery in Equestria. A new unicorn named Bobbi has appeared. She doesn't know how she got here, where here is, or why she has been transformed so. Even worse, she doesn't know WHY she has been sent here.
"The doctor told me to go to the Library here. Someone could help me there. Now, if I can just figure out which building IS the Library...."
Yet, she walks with a bit of a troubled expression on her face. All around her she can feel others staring at her. She can hear them talking and murmuring, which is slowly sinking into her mind as normal. Talking ponies seems awfully foreign to her. And she continues to feel as though she's the subject of conversation.
She looks at herself and inspects her body. While she is a pony herself, she wouldn't stop staring either at such a strange spectacle. But they themselves aren't any different. "Why is everyone staring at me? Do they point at strangers all the time?"
But it eventually dons on her. She continues to wear the hospital gown from her visit. Taking it off for her would be akin to running around naked. Something that also isn't all that strange here. And yet, she has nothing else to wear instead.
"Or do I?" she thinks aloud with a little smile. A ring at the base of her horn glows for a moment as light wraps around her body. The drab green gown vanishes while a golden garment wraps around her body and becomes like a cape flowing off her back. "That'll do," she grins a little.
"I wonder how my friends are doing? I wonder if my friends are even here? Not the first time I've gone off on my own. Unintentionally. At least I have all my limbs this time." She stops and looks at her front hooves for a moment. "Eh. Good enough."
==-==-==
Elsewhere....
A yellow pony with pink mane and tail walks through town while humming to herself. There's a basket on either side of her which she occasionally drops things into. Most of the contents of these are fruit and vegetables. She has butterflies imprinted on her rear flanks and a graceful step as she moves.
There are several food stalls lining the area. She looks from one to another in search of what she needs. As she does, she drops a few bits as payment.
"Excuse me?" a young feminine voice asks.
Fluttershy turns around towards the voice with an everpresent smile on her face. "Yes?" she asks. As she turns, her wings flutter up from her sides. But, her green eyes spy nopony. She looks around the street and finds only other shoppers. With a light shrug, she continues on her errands.
"Pardon me!" the voice asks louder.
Again, Fluttershy looks behind her but with a little fear in her eyes. "Y-Yes?" Again, she finds no owner to the voice that keeps beckoning her. "Hello?"
"I need your help!"
While she can hear the voice, she can see nothing ahead of her. "I-I can't see you..." she mumurs out. "Wh-Who are you? You're not..." She swallows and starts to shrink her stance a little. "a... a...."
"A what?!"
"Ghostpony?" she squeeks out.
"Yeah. Maybe."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screeches, her wings standing on end. She starts running away full of fright. "GHOSTPONY!!!!" she hollers as she gallops away.
"HEY!! WAIT!!!"
The frightened Fluttershy dives into an empty barrel and puts the lid on from the inside. The whole barrel shakes and shivers with an unending rhythm. A nearby vendor turns towards his barrel with a bemused shake of his head.
As the wooden cask shutters and shakes, there comes a tapping. The sound is rather short but effective.
"N-n-no p-pony home!!" she calls from inside.
"I'm not a ghost, okay?! I'm invisible!!"
"G-g-ghosts ARE invisible!!!" Her security compromised, she kicks out one end of the barrel and takes off running again. "Leave me alone!!!"
"WAIT!!!" the voice says as she quickly follows. "I NEED HELP!!!"
"Stop haunting me!!!" she says with a tearfully terrified voice.
A certain golden wrapped pony walks by and witnesses Fluttershy gallop for her life. "Crazy comes in all forms, I guess."
"FLUTTERSHY!!" another voice shouts. A particularly purple pony with a horn and wings drops ahead of her screaming friend and stops her. "What's going on?"
"Twilight!!!" she shouts in a horrified tone. "I'm being haunted by a ghost!!! She just keeps chasing me around!!"
"Fluttershy, there are many strange things in this world. But, ghosts?"
"Sh-she kept asking for my help!!"
"I AM NOT A GHOST!!!"
For a moment, both of them look for a body to go with the voice. But, none seems to be near enough. Both of them have started to have fearful expressions as their unseen chaser starts to speak again. "Th-There's no such thing as... ghosts."
"Well what do you call that?!" Fluttershy shouts while pointing a hoof.
"There are all kinds of magic," she says as she calms herself. "Invisibility is not as difficult as you think." She look down and finds a puddle of mud left over from a recent rainstorm. With a wry eye, she kicks some of it up and towards the voice. As she expected, it splatters all over another pony form. A head, body, front legs, and wings can be vaguely seen due to the dirt. "See? Invisible."
"About time someone took me seriously," she comments. She instinctively shakes off the dirt, returning her to unseen.
"Who are you?" Twilight asks while gently comforting her terrified friend. "And what happened to you?"
"Some people call me Tel. My name is Kat. I woke up in this weird place completely invisible. I don't know where I am. Or why I'm running on four legs. Or WHY I'm here in the first place."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle. My friend here is Fluttershy. We-----I'd be happy to help you. Why don't we go back to my place to talk?"
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," Kat says quietly. "I didn't want to scare you, but I didn't know what else to do!"
Twilight looks at her petrified friend for a moment. "Why don't you run along? If Kat scares you that much, I'll take care of her."
"N-no..." she replies. "I'll be okay... I'd like to help her, too."
Twilight smiles a little at her bravery. "Alrighty then. Let's see what we can do for you. Where are you from?"
A few newcomers have landed in and around the cheerful town of Ponyville. While the citizens naturally walk as various types of horses, others aren't in complete understanding yet. Those that come in from the outside aren't as knowledgable.
And then there's this one. A sad pony walks along the streets with her head hung down. Her tail slides along the ground as lifeless as she feels. Her mane is a dark brown while her coat is a much lighter sandy color. On her rear flank is a mark resembling stones. Her feet don't so much as step, but slide with a slight lift.
She pays no mind to the others that watch her. If she were more observant, she would notice that everyone else in the village is smiling and happy while she walks like a zombie. But, instead of trying to help, they keep their distance and talk amongst themselves.
"Why won't it work?" She walks behind one of the buildings and secludes herself in the shadows. For a moment, she makes sure she is not seen. Her brown eyes look to the path from whence she came. She then looks forward to where she may go.
While she is believing that it is clear, she manages to stand up on two legs as opposed to four. Her body in general changes from pony into a human. Her legs support her weight normally. Her arms soon gain hands and fingers. Her head and neck shrink considerably and her hair changes position. Her tail shrivels into her backside. Her mark disappears from either hip.
"It worked?" she says with an amused smile. "I can't--" But, as quickly as she was relishing in her victory, her body quickly changed back into her former appearance. Her front legs stamped down on the ground as her Equestrian completes itself.
She looks forward with a groan rattling through her teeth. She doesn't say anything, but continues on her previous journey. Her attempt to return to human form has failed.
"What else could go wrong?" she mumbles to herself. She turns around again to come face to face with terror itself.
A pink wonder shouts "HIYA!!!" in a very high pitched voice.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!" She quickly backpeddles and trips over herself. "DO YOU MIND?!"
The face of terror has a pink coat and pinker cotton candyish mane. Her blue eyes sparkle with hope and her her smile shines with cheer. "You were so doomy and gloomy that I HAD to find a way to cheer you up!!!"
"Mind your own business," she replies while getting to her hooves.
"This IS my business!!" she replies with utmost glee. "I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?!"
"Leaving," she replies. She spins about on her hooves and starts a rapid walk away.
But, the ever-smiling pony refuses to part ways. "Well, Leaving," she greets. "Is there anything I can help you with? I'm good at helping. I can get you cupcakes. I can get you apples. I can build you a shed. Find you a chariot? Hooficure? Donut? Lunch? Beverage? Cider?"
'Leaving' stops in her tracks as she finds herself buried up to her eyeballs in everything she just offered. Including a small shed and chariot. A pastel colored pony climbs out of the collection with a strange expression on her face. "Really?" 'Leaving' moans. She manages to climb over the piles of offerings and looks at Pinkie Pie with a certain resentment. "Do you know what I want?"
"OOHH!! OOHH!! Tellmetellmetellme!!!"
"I need something very important."
"Yess??"
"Something that is REEAAALLLYYY hard to find."
"Whatwhatwhat?!"
'Leaving' waves a hoof in front of her and beckons the pink wonder to lean in closer. She leans closer garnering her undivided interest. "The thing I need most is...." She pauses for a moment as her pursuer vibrates in anticipation "TTTHHHEERRRRAAAAAPPPPYYYY!!!! I am surrounding by freaky talking horses!!! I have COMPLETELY lost my mind!!!!"
"I lost mine a long time ago!" she says cheerily. "I don't miss it. It sends me postcards!!"
'Leaving' rolls her eyes a little. "You don't take 'no' for an answer, do you?"
"Aw, c'mon! Life's too short to be so down!! You gotta be smiling and happy!! It helps your blood pressure!! Happiness is the secret to a long life!! So, where are you from?"
"Not here," she mutters.
Pinkie's eyes suddenly widen while her lips go 'aha!' "I know!! How about a song!!"
However, 'leaving' isn't on board with such a thing as her eyes widen with terror. "Goodlordgetmeoutofhere!!" she mutters before running off. While she's spent a good deal of her time here walking and shuffling, she runs with all her might to escape.
"You can't escape me!" Pinkie yells with a giggle. As 'Leaving' is running, Pinkie spronks down the street, bouncing on all four of her legs like a springboard. Despite 'Leaving's running, Pinkie is easily able to keep up with her.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" She slides to a stop as she almost collides with some older folk. "Sorry..." she gasps.
An older donkey looks up at 'Leaving's gleeful pursuer and shakes his head. "Kid, it's best you just give up. Because she won't. She's not as bad as you think."
"Yes," his female companion adds. "She just may be able to help."
"Leeee-viiiinnnggg!!!" Pinkie giggles.
"Yes!! I am!!" she shouts as she gallops off again.
"Hi Cranky! Hi Matilda!" Pinkie greets as she bounces past. As she spronks past she yells "nice weather for a picnic, wouldn't you say?"
'Leaving' stops in her tracks as the smiling pink terror closes in. "Maybe..." she mutters. "I can do..." She raises her rear legs and hooves above the ground as far as her posture will allow. "THIS!!" she shouts as she stomps her hooves into the ground with a horrendously loud BOOOMMMM!!!
"Uhoh" Pinkie bubbles out. At her last landing, the ground below her quickly heaves up in a powerful tremor. A spire of rock juts out quickly from below and launches Pinkie Pie into the air in the opposite direction. "WWWWHHHHEEEEEE!!!" she screams in joy.
'Leaving' takes no time in making her escape. She quickly gallops off into the distance while her pursuer is otherwise entertained.
Pinkie herself finally comes down to the ground and lands hard on a cart full of green balls. In an instant, she completely destroys the whole thing. As she lay on the ground, her eyes spin in all sorts of directions. "Wanna go again, mama..." she babbles to herself.
"MY CABBAGES!!!" an older pony shouts. He has a yellow coat, gray mane, and a sprig of hair from his chin. He wears a green hat around his scalp and a similarly green vest. "WHYYY???!!!"
In a world filled with Equestrians, a few strangers have appeared. Hailing from elsewhere, they have been found in different places by different residents. Already strange by their own standards, they exhibit unique abilities. Or a curse in one such case. One is invisible while another can cause quakes with her hooves.
What others will appear? And why?
==-==-==
"Ugh...." a female voice moans. "What happened...?" As she flutters open her eyes, the world viewed through them is blurred and overly bright. As she awakens, she quickly regrets it. As she comes to, she immediately wants to return to the darkness.
"You okay?" a young voice asks.
She turns her view towards the voice and sees a white form looking down on her curiously. "SUNDAE!!" she shouts as she quickly jolts up and wraps her arms around the smaller one to give her a warm hug. "Oooooohhhhh... I've missed you...." She uses a hoof to stroke her hair but her overwhelming conscious thought denies that anything is amiss.
"RARITY!!!!" 'Sundae' screams. "HEELLLPP!!!"
A more mature pony quickly dashes into the room. She's got a grayish almost white coat with blue eyes and an equally white horn. Her mane is a deep violet that is elaboartely styled. There is a very fine elegance about her, topped with three gems marked on her rear flanks. In addition, a measuring tape hangs around her neck and red rimmed glasses sit on the end of her muzzle. "Sweetie Belle?" she asks hurriedly. "What happened?"
"I don't know!!" the younger one replies. She has the same grayish/white coat that the older one has as well as a similarly coifed mane, yet with lighter hues and a shorter horn peeking out. When the young one is not wincing from her hold, light green eyes plead for help. Unlike most around here, she has no special markings. "Sister!!"
For a long moment, Rarity looks at the situation with a bit of amusement. She watches as their guest has her younger sister in an inescapable embrace. She herself has a blue coat with a short black mane and lighter blue waves as her marks. Like the other two in the room, she also has a blue horn coming out of her forehead.
"Alright..." Rarity sighs. In her normal tones, she definitely has a sophisticated accent. "That's enough." A light blue aura surrounds Sweetie Belle that helps her to escape the stranger's clutches. As soon as she is freed from that, she quickly runs off. She slides after a moment and drifts behind Rarity. While still curious, she pokes her head around her sister. "I see you're awake. Are you alright?" While she waits for an answer, the same light blue glow surrounds her glasses and tape and removes them.
The blue pony shakes her head to either side for a moment. "More or less," she replies while looking at her front hooves. She looks over to her caretakers and realizes they are no different than her at the moment. "Where am I?" She mentally tells herself not to make a scene about becoming a horse of some type.
"This is Carousel Boutique. I live on the second floor. I'm Rarity, and this is my sister, Sweetie Belle. What's your name, Darling?"
"Amanda," she replies quietly. "Sometimes En-Ja. Sometimes... not such nice names."
"She's weird..." Sweetie Belle remarks.
"SWEETIE BELLE!" Rarity huffs. "Where are your manners?"
"No, it's alright." She uses a hoof to examine the horn on her head for a moment. "I am kinda weird I guess." Amanda cranes her head to the side and looks at Sweetie Belle with her own blue eyes. "I'm sorry. You remind me of my daughter. Her name's Sundae. She'd be about your age."
"Daughter?" Rarity wonders with a dash of alarm. "Was she with you?"
"No, no. I haven't seen her in a long time. It's a little complicated. Don't worry about her."
"Alright..." Rarity says quietly. "Well, Amanda, I will let you stay here while you get yourself sorted out. If there's anything I can help with, just let me know." She turns about and nudges her little sister. "Come along, Sweetie Belle. Let's leave her alone for a bit."
==-==-==
Some time later, Amanda had found her way downstairs and into Rarity's workshop. When she entered, she found the place a disaster. It was a complete antithesis to her clean and pleasant shop. Yet, Rarity was quick to point out that it's 'organized chaos.'
"Ohh!!" Rarity says happily. Once again, her glasses fit snug on her face. "So you ADOPTED Sundae. Now I understand. You looked rather young to be a mother."
"Yeah," Amanda continues with a smile. While Rarity wanders around her workshop, Amanda sits on a nearby sofa. "She was in a very bad spot when we met. She was an orphan and couldn't get home. We took care of her for awhile, and then formally adopted her when nobody came looking."
Rarity continues and uses her horn's magic fluently to float materials throughout the room. "She must have family somewhere! Right?" One dress she works on has a few different pieces that come together. She raises a hoof to her chin as she debates its appearance.
Amanda watches the spectacle, and notes that this might be everyday for her newfound friend. Part of her wonders if her own horn might be of similar use. "She doesn't know which plan---land she's from. We wouldn't know the first place to look for her family."
"How did she get here?"
"Oh, uh through magic, I guess you could say. She was launched from one place to another and couldn't retrace her steps. She needed a place to stay, and the rest is history."
Sweetie Belle trots into the room and immediately spies Amanda looking at her. Her face gains a nervous twitch and she quickly gallops over to her sister's side. Amanda retains a motherly smile as she watches. Despite knowing the truth, Amanda still retains some strange connection to the little one.
"This is a nice place you got here," Amanda remarks. "Carousel Boutique? But no actual carousel?"
"Well," Rarity replies a little heavily. "I had originally imagined a carousel in the store. I could use the ponnequins to model some of my latest designs. Alas, that is one of my ideas that has never come to fruition. I put the idea on the back burner where it has collected dust ever since."
"You could still do it," Amanda replies.
"I could," she sighs. "I really could. But, in the meantime, my store has developed its own je ne sais quoi. I think adding it at this point would tarnish its image. It would be an insult to its history." She finishes her current idea and turns her head towards Amanda. A few gemstones float through the air between them. "Darling, might I asks where you're from? I don't believe I've seen you around here before."
"Not here," Amanda notes. "I just have to find my yellow brick road home."
There is a sudden clatter as everything that Rarity was holding up with her magic suddenly falls to the floor. A spindle of thread rolls across the floor to Amanda's hoof. She looks down at it curiously and then back to her host. The elegant pony suddenly turns a slightly lighter shade. She turns nervously towards Amanda "Wh-what makes you say that...?"
"Something I saw one day. Are you alright?"
Rarity suddenly turns a shade of desperate. "I wasn't in my right mind, OKAY?!"
Amanda backs up a little on the furniture as something irritates Rarity. "Okay..." Amanda says quietly. "No idea what you're talking about."
"Sis..." Sweetie Belle nudges. "Relax. It's okay."
"Yes, yes, of course...." Rarity mumbles out. "I'm sorry. It was a bad day for me."
"Don't worry," Amanda says. "As soon as I find my friends, I'll get out of your mane."
For the most part, this land is rather peaceful and serene. The citizens are more kind and caring than people from our own world can be. Perhaps the lack of most technology that humans have has contributed to the positive atmosphere of this place.
That is not to say that there isn't the occasional hoodlum that tries to cause an uproar. One pony named Trixie on two visits tried to assert her authority. Both times she was shot down. One of the princesses ran wild before having to be dealt with. The shapeshifting queen wasn't all that fun, either. Or a resurrected tyrant from days of long ago eager to rebuild his empire of darkness.
And then there's Discord. And that's all we're saying on that one. A Q-uandary that one is.
But, things still happen to disrupt the peace and reinforce the idea that things are fragile. Despite the seemingly immortal positive atmosphere, lessons can still be learned.
While darkness fills the night sky, a bright light in the distance attracts a lot of attention. On the black canvas of sky, a fire burns and lights things up once more. In town, ponies look at the growing blaze with worry and awe. A great many start galloping towards the source out of concern.
When they reach the great fire in the background, they find a large barn ablaze. The entrance has already been blocked by falling beams, preventing any from entering. An older green pony, a large red horse, and a smaller orange pony look at the destruction with horror. The orange one tries to go in, but is stopped by the red horse.
Screams for help can be heard from within. After each one, the distraught orange pony tries to break free and gallop in. "We can't leave them in there!!!"
"You'll never make it!!" he says in a thunderous voice. The pegasi are coming in with rainclouds!!"
"But--"
As all this is playing out, a pony gallops in from the distance. She gallops hard towards the blaze and leaps over the gathered Equestrians. She runs so fast that some only catch a glimpse while others don't see anything at all. Without even stopping, she bounds towards the blaze and leaps through a hole in the burning blockage.
"HEEELLLPPPP!!!" a very young filly shouts from the back of the barn. "WE'RE TRAPPED!!"
The mysterious pony moves quickly towards the voices she heard. She slides to a stop and kicks away some burning debris. She stands before three small ponies and turns her back towards them. "Get on! Hurry!!"
While a little confused, the three little ones do as they're told and climb onto her back. She even helps one to get situated. She taps a red earring which glows for a second. As it does, a red cloth wraps around all of them to protect them from further harm. As it appears around them, she looks around the burning barn for a proper escape.
"Hang on tight!!" she commands while running off. Her way in would be too small for the group, so she jumps on a crate and then quickly onto a ledge. She bounds off the platform before it collapses. From point to point, she bounces up towards the top.
When she finds the top floor, she gallops hard. The burning floor gives way as she moves. Every hard step sends burning planks to the ground. As she runs, she sees an archway in the distance. Apparently it's a doorway to toss haybales down to the ground. While in its prime, it would be a perfect escape. But, as it burns it becomes smaller as boards already start to block the way.
Without a thought, she jumps out of the door and knocks the debris away with her head to keep her charges from being hit themselves. And for a moment, she floats in the air. Three little ponies on her back grip tighter with muffled screams. They can see what's coming and brace for the worst.
Their savior hits the ground and sends them flying forward into the crowd. At first, they are flung with the red wrap, but are soon released from it. They roll to a stop near each other. They may need a little bit of care, but are fine otherwise. The gathered citizens of the town converge around the children before turning towards their hero.
But, she's already gone. In the few seconds that their attention was diverted, she disappeared into the darkness. The entire group is surprised that she had so quickly left. But, even that thought is washed away as rain from above starts to come down. Several winged ponies had brought clouds over the barn and started to buck them into causing a downpour.
In time, the pegasus-inspired rainstorm puts out the fire. The children were tended to. And many wonder who saved them. And nary a thought as to what caused the fire in the first place.
==-==-==
The next day, when the sun is high in the sky, the aftermath starts. Four ponies of differing sizes and ages stare at the deep-fried barn. After the rain put out the fire, it continued to smoke and smolder.
An orange pony with a blonde mane looks up with bewildered green eyes. "Ah guess this means we need a new barn." She wears a cowboy hat, but takes it off momentarily in rememberance.
"Eey-up," another says sorrowfully. The taller red horse isn't usually one for words. It can easily be said that what he lacks in words he makes up for in muscle.
"We j'st put up that b'rn last year." She's a much older member of the family with green coat, white mane and all the aches and pains of a long life of hard work.
The last of the group has the red cloth wrapped around her small body. She has a yellow coat and red mane. She wears a bow on the back of her head that at the right angle looks like cat ears.
"Coulda been worse. We just cleared out all them apples. At least we didn't lose all them."
"Eey-up."
"I'm g'ttin' too old f'r all this," she mutters to herself.
The youngest one turns and walks away from the burnt out husk of a barn. As it stands, she sees nothing left but a few black planks sticking up from the ground. Sooner or later, one of the other three will tell her to go and play anyway.
==-==-==
She eventually comes to a nearby river. She often comes here to relax and swim. But, as she enters the area she notices something different. She looks about and finds a red pony resting on her side near the shore. Curious, she looks at the sleeping one and is quick to notice a few black marks around her body.
"It doesn't hurt," she says without opening her eyes.
Although startled for a moment, she looks at the newcomer for a short time. "Ah haven't seen ya around here before. Where ya from?"
"Not here," she answers while continuing to keep her eyes closed. "Kinda tired," she adds. "Had a long night."
"Ah know." She uses her teeth to toss the red cloth across her new friend and it acts as a blanket of sorts. "Ah'm Apple Bloom. What's yer name?"
"Casie."
"Ar' ya hurt?"
"I've had worse," she replies. "Fire doesn't bother me. Neither does cold."
"But ya still feel it, don't ya?"
"Feel it? Yeah. Doesn't hurt, though." Despite her exhaustion, she rolls to her belly and stands up. Her mane is a cinnamon color, short on top. She opens her blue eyes and looks at her little rescuee. She stretches out her front and back legs for a long moment before starting to walk away. As she does, Apple Bloom notices a flame as her mark.
"Where ya goin'?" Apple Bloom asks as she walks with her.
The red cloth around Casie fades away as her red earring glows again. "Thought I'd head into town. I have friends I'd like to find."
Five new visitors have appeared, scattered around the town of Ponyville. Each of them comment to their origin "not here." They are all lost and searching for their friends while unsure of where they are.
In the center of this town of talking ponies is a great tree. The term 'treehouse' takes a whole new meaning as there is definitely a structure in its branches. But upon further inspection, it is also hollow and filled with books.
"Come on in," Twilight offers. Her horn glows a dark pink as the door opens with a similar colored aura. She watches her yellow friend with pink mane and tail walk in as she has done on countless occasions before. She turns and looks about. "Kat?" she asks.
"I'm in here!" a voice calls from inside the structure. "So many books!!"
Twilight walks inside with a bemused expression. "This should be interesting!" she comments. "Spike!!" she shouts up into the rafters. "We've got guests!!"
"Coming!" a very young male's voice calls from above. Within a short time, a baby dragon zips down the stairs. "GuestSSS?" he asks as he walks across the floor. "I only see Flutter--" His sentance is quickly halted as he finds something blocking his way. An invisible... something is in front of him, but he can't see anything. "What is this?" he asks as his hands wander up the invisible thing. "It's warm and soft and--"
"HEY!!!" a female voice screams. "Hands off the flanks!!!" *!!POW!!*
At the outburst, Twilight looks over to find Spike flying across the room with hoofprints embedded in his face. "SPIKE!!" She quickly runs to his location and looks him over for a moment. "Are you alright?"
"Look mama..." he says dazily. "I CAN fly!!"
"Spike, one of our guests has some sort of invisibilty problem. You'll have to be careful."
"Careful? How am I supposed to be careful around somepony I can't see?"
"We brought her here to help find a way to fix that. Can you give us a hand?"
"Right away!!" he says heartily with a solid salute.
==-==-==
Not too much time passes before books litter the floor. This isn't the first time. This won't be the last time. Twilight and her friends have pulled books off the shelves in large numbers before while looking for answers. Collectively, they may have read the whole library at least twice by now.
There are four particular 'spots' where reading is being done. Each has a pile of books and each has at least one open one. One in particular seems to be vacant, but that could very well be their mysterious guest. "Nothin'!" a voice calls as a book is tossed away.
"Hey!" Fluttershy gasps happily.
"Did you find something?" Twilight asks happily. With great interest, she dashes over to her friend's side. "What is it?"
But, Fluttershy shrinks away a little. "I'm sorry..."
"How to Train Your Phoenix?" Twilight asks with a shade of disappointment.
"I like this book!" she says with an embarrassed squeak.
"I'll be back," Spike notes as he walks back up the steps from whence he came. "I got snacks that should be done." He makes his way up to the living quarters above the library. As he enters, he notices something amiss. He sees another pony laying on the bed. This one just sits quietly and stares out the window.
"I am not here," she says quietly. "Just... leave me alone." She has a sandy coat and darker brown mane. She sits curled up as if just waiting for the end.
"Who are you?"
"Nobody important," she says quietly. "Just a failure." A tear slides down her face which she doesn't even try to wipe away. "I can't do anything right..."
"Look... I don't know what's going on, but maybe my friends can help! They're good at that."
"NNOOO!!" she shouts. As she does, a wave of black ripples through her coat before fading again. "I just... need someplace to rest. Just leave me alone!!"
"What's going on?" Twilight asks. "I heard voices." She looks ahead to the sleeping area which she knows quite well. Yet more bewilderment is added. "Who's this?"
The baby dragon can only shrug his shoulders. "Never seen her before."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle," she greets. "What's your name?"
"Doesn't matter," she replies.
"Do you need help? What's going on?"
"NO!! Just go away!!"
"Look," Twilight says with a stern expression. "Whatever is going on, I live here. My home and MY bed!! I can probably help you, but I would appreciate a little courtesy."
There is a moment where she looks at the pair with a certain skepticism. Her gaze lowers and almost seems to melt. "Fine. I'm sorry."
"Alright then," Twilight says with a renewed smile of sorts. "I have a friend downstairs. Maybe you could go talk to her."
==-==-==
In time, Twilight and her new guest walk down the stairs to the main floor. Fluttershy looks up with a certain curiosity. "Another one?" she asks softly.
"Yeah," Twilight replies. "She--"
"Wait!!" a voice comes from nowhere. Ghostly hooves can be heard trotting towards the staircase. The mysterious sound sends a terrible tremor through Fluttershy's spine. "Tonya?!"
The depressed and defeated pony looks around for a moment while further shrinking away. "Y-yes...?" she replies.
"You know her?" Twilight asks.
"She's a friend of mine," Kat replies happily. "It's me!! Kat!! Don't you recognize me?!"
"Kat? Where are you?" Tonya wonders.
"I'm right here!! Can't you see me?!"
"No...."
But, Kat is suddenly reminded of her condition and (presumably) looks at herself for a moment. "Oh. Right. Dangit. Where's a bag of flour when you need one?!"
"Well, alright then!" Twilight says with a smile. She looks at Tonya for a long moment. "It looks as if you already have a friend here."
"Yeah," Tonya says quietly. "Great."
==-==-==
In time, Tonya joins the others on the main floor. Yet, she does nothing to assist her friend. She lies on the floor nearby, curled up away from all the action. If it weren't for her mane, she might look like a couch.
"Is she alright?" Twilight asks.
"Yeah," an invisible voice replies. "She's just moody."
"I'm not moody," Tonya growls. "I'm useless."
"None of what happened is your fault, Tonya. Nobody is blaming you."
"We all lost! And it's my fault! If you hadn't all had to save me, none of this would've happened...."
"What... happened?" Twilight asks.
"I really don't want to get into this here," Kat says quietly. "Twilight, I'd appreciate it if Tonya and I could keep this to ourselves. If I went into detail, it'd be like a hot poker."
Even while a serious discussion is taking place, a loud growl echoes through the library. It is quickly discerned that Tonya is the culprit as the noise originated from her direction. "Are you hungry, Tonya?" Twilight asks.
"Hmm.... yeah. I could go for some fried chicken."
"Fried...." Fluttershy gasps. "Chicken?" Once again she has a fearful expression on her face as she imagines such a thing.
"Yeah," Tonya notes. "You know, take a chicken and pluck it. And then--" Her remaining words are cut short as her jaw seems to be held shut with an invisible force. In the meantime, Fluttershy bolts out of the library while a gust of wind carries a few books in her direction.
"Forgive my friend," Kat notes. "She's not in her right mind. Ever."
Tonya quietly glares at the direction of Kat's voice. After a few minutes of struggle, she is finally released. She finally rolls back into a little ball again and tries to forget there's anyone else in the room. "Fine. Eat what you want."
"Is she gonna be okay?" Twilight asks.
"Someday, maybe." She sighs a little. "Twilight? Can we walk?"
It always seems to be a sunny day in Ponyville. Rain, snow, and other such weather isn't a random phenomenon as with most other places. All the weather is strictly controlled by the winged ponies known as pegasi. They can easily 'buck' a cloud into producing the right weather for any occassion.
As such, it is always a good time to walk outside and to enjoy yourself. Twilight Sparkle and her new friend exit the library while the latter has a regrettable tone. She groans at the thought of discussing this, but knows that it needs to be said. "Tonya's not been having all that great a time. She's always got the short end of the stick."
"Oh?" Twilight wonders. "How's that?"
"She was orphaned early on. Her parents were lost in an accident."
"That's terrible!! I'm so sorry to hear that...."
"She grew up, eventually moving out of the orphanage on her own. Over the past couple of years that I've known her, she finally has started to look more content with her life. Happy, even."
"Oh? She didn't look all that happy to me!"
"That's because she's regressed badly recently. It all came crashing down!"
For a moment, Twilight looks around herself as a cold shiver runs up her spine.
"What's wrong?" Kat asks.
"Nothing," Twilight groans. "It just looks like I'm talking to myself. You're a pegasus, right?"
Though not seen, there is a light fluttering sound as Kat flaps her wings a little. "I got wings, if that's what you mean."
"Follow me," Twilight says as she starts to flap and rise off the ground. "We'll go somewhere more private."
==-==-==
Momentarily, Twilight and (presumably) Kat fly up above the town. As they do, the clouds that are normally overhead are now underneath them. Twilight floats up to one and literally pulls one up under her behind. She sits on it as if it were a fluffy pillow. "Have a cloud," she offers.
"Seriously?" Kat wonders. A nearby cloud slides closer as she investigates. An invisible hoof prods it carefully and curiously. "I am so gonna fall through. I eat too many donuts!"
"It's fine," Twilight says with a smile. "Trust me." To further illustrate her point, or maybe to just tempt Fate, she bounces on her nimbus like a little filly.
Eventually, there is a distinct rump-print on the cloud as Kat takes a seat of faith. "Not bad. Pretty comfortable."
"Hey Twilight!" another slightly raspy voice says. A blue pegasus with rainbow mane and tail floats nearby with a curious expression on her face. "Do you know what's up with Fluttershy?" She waves a hoof down towards the ground to nudge her friend's point of view.
Twilight takes the hint and looks down to where Fluttershy's cottage is. "It looks like she's hugging her chicken coop." The reason is not lost on her, though. Twilight turns her view back towards the other cloud with a disturbed look.
"Watcha doin' up here?" Rainbow Dash asks. "You're not usually one I find up here."
"Oh! Rainbow Dash! This is Kat! I'm trying to help her with her invisibility problem."
Dash looks over to the nearby cloud and sees... nopony. While it might be speculated that Kat is waving an invisible hoof, nothing can be seen of it. "O-kay. You know, Twilight, if you wanted more friends there are plenty of ponies down on the ground. You're pretty popular, you know. I don't think the whole 'imaginary friend' thing will be good for you right about now."
"Kat isn't imaginary!! Are you, Kat?"
There is a long silence from her direction. While Twilight was sure that Kat would back her up, there is nothing to confirm Twilight's words.
"Twilight..." Rainbow Dash says quietly. "Look, whatever's bothering you, we're here to help you. We really don't need you going all crazy on us. Again."
"Again?" Twilight spouts. "When have I ever gone crazy?"
"How about when you freaked out about missing ONE weekly letter to the princess?"
"Okay. One!"
"Your time travelling doppleganger?"
"Twice."
"Winter Wrap Up?"
"OKAY!!! So I get kind of caught up in things...."
"Just sayin'," Dash finishes as she flies away.
Twilight sighs a little regretfully as she departs, but then looks at where she believes her 'imaginary' friend is sitting. Her eyes narrow as she says "you threw me under the chariot!"
"Yeah, well. I thought it would be funny."
But, Twilight's mood lightens a little. "Is Tonya going to be okay?"
"I hope so. She's pretty broken. After all the bad stuff, she got married. She was expecting a child. She was happy!! I started to see a fresh new side of her."
"So then," Twilight asks. "What happened? That doesn't sound like the pony we saw down there."
"Everything pretty much blew up. Her husband had to go off to battle a hostile threat. While he was gone, she had a miscarriage. Inside, she just sort of... died. Our enemies took advantage of the situation... and we were defeated. She blames herself for our loss. But it was all in their plan."
Twilight listens with an evergrowing disturbed expression that nearly has her in tears. "I had no idea...."
"Actually, I'm kind of hoping we're here for awhile. I don't know what brought us here, or for what reason. But, I think it will do her some good to get away for awhile. A vacation from her problems."
"I understand. I'll find a place for you two to stay."
"Five."
"Excuse me?"
"If we're all here, there's five of us here."
"Alright. Now, then. Shall we return to getting your problem fixed?"
"Sure," Kat says happily. "But I do find it more amusing to be Invisipony. And now I can sit up here on the clouds and ponder all of life's questions in peace. What is the meaning of life? What is the grand design of the universe? What's in the pod?"
==-==-==
Back at the library, Tonya remains where she was. She lies on the floor curled up into her own personal cushion. Spike mills about the place while putting books away. He zips up the ladder to return a book to the shelf before returning for another. "Oh, this one is for Fluttershy. I'll put this aside for her."
But, just as he is about let it be, a thought pops into his head. "Oh!! Owlicious! I could get him to bring it to her. Oh. Wait. Nocturnal. NEVERMIND!!"
Even as he goes about his business, there is a knock at the door. While he shouts out a comment to the next guest, he quickly runs towards them. He opens the door with a smile.
A red coated pony with cinnamon mane looks down at the little dragon. Her blue eyes stare at him momentarily. "Hmph. A dragon...ish. Cute. Anybody else home? Little micropony told me that I could find someone to help me. Where is Twilight Sparkle?"
In the backdrop of Ponyville is a large mountain. It overlooks the small but growing town with a watchful eye. On this mountain is a castle that is built into the cliffside. This castle watches over the greater land that surrounds Ponyville as a vigilant observer. Most often, it is bustling with routine traffic.
As the sun rises above and sheds new light on the plains, the moon sinks into the horizon. A new day has come to roust all the ponies out of their beds. As the light creeps up, many begin their days while others have been up prior to that.
==-==-==
"Little sister, what are you doing?" A regal white alicorn with large wings and horn walks in with a stifled yawn. Her mane and tail are both multicolored and flow on the merest of breezes. A gold crown tops her head, gold shoes her feet, and a golden sun on her rear flanks.
She walks up to a couch with another alicorn laying on it. This one is very different. In many ways, she appears to be the opposite. Black coat, translucent blue mane and tail that similarly flow, and a crescent moon as her sign. She has a smaller black crown and dark shoes. "My sister," she replies. "I was reading..." she says sorrowfully. But, a thought strikes her. "Verily the Moon would be withdrawn by now!"
"No," she says quietly with a comforting hoof. "That's fine. I was referring to that," she says as she points to the collection beside her. "Luna, how many buckets of ice cream have you eaten?"
Luna looks over to the many discarded containers but then looks up at her sister. "Forgive me..." she says tearfully. "I was enthralled with this book, and it became so downtrodden... Verily, I started to get depressed and... well?"
"I see," Celestia says with a small smile. "Well. The plot thickens."
Luna gives an exasperated sigh as her ears cave in. "Forsooth... it does..."
==-==-==
Below, in the little town of Ponyville, other things have begun to spin into motion. While many of the others have left the library for different reasons, yet another visitor rapped on its door. As ever, the baby dragon opened up for a new guest.
"You're looking for Twilight?" he asks. "She stepped out. But, she should be back soon. Come on in!"
A red pony walks in as offered by the current resident. She looks around with a bit of amusement at all the books that line the walls. She has a short cinnamon mane and blue eyes. "I have friends that would like this place," she says. "I'm more of an action type, though. My name's Casie."
"I'm Spike. Make yourself comfortable."
"Sure. Thanks." Casie eyes a seat and sets down on it. Her tail swings around to curl around her flank.
"Did you see that fire last night?" Spike asks. "I was asleep. I only heard about it."
Casie's eyes turn away. "No. I didn't see it." While her tail covers one flank and a flaming cutie mark, she puts a pillow against her other side to hide the matching one. "Was anyone hurt?"
"No. Some stranger came in and saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They'll be fine, I hear."
"The Cutie Whatnow?"
Spike looks at her for a moment. "Not from around here, are you? They're a trio of fillies that are trying to get their Cutie Marks."
She would ask, but Casie is sure to get a rather strange look for it. "I see."
There is another rapping on the door as another hoof asks for entry. "Hello?" a voice asks from the other side. "I was told someone here could help me. I'm looking for Twilight Sparkle?"
"Geez..." Spike groans with a bitter look. "Nopony ever comes looking for me..." He stomps over to the door and readies for another guest. Despite his aggravation, he opens the door with a smile. "She's out right now," he greets.
"Alright," a blue coated pony says with a smile. "Do you know when she'll be back?"
"Not really. Maybe I could help you!!"
"Amanda?" a voice calls from within. "Is that you?"
Her blue eyes widen as her smile grows. "Casie?!" The newcomer trots joyfully into the library past the little dragon.
"Sure..." he grits. "Make yourself at home." He closes the door rather rudely before returning to his duties.
"I see you're here too, Casie?" The seat is large enough for her as well, so she plants her behind on it. "I guess all five of us made it here?"
"Yeah."
"I haven't seen Kat," Amanda remarks.
"I'm sure she's around here somewhere." Casie looks up at Amanda's head for a moment and touches her hoof to the latter's blue horn. "What's up with this?"
"I don't know. It was sticking out of my head when I woke up. My ring is around it," she notes while pointing to the base.
Casie smiles a little and taps her red earring, but keeps it from doing any magic. "I guess we'll need them for something. Whatever brought us here made sure we had them. Must be a reason."
"I dunno," Amanda notes with a little blush. "I feel kinda weird. If I don't use it, I'm running around naked. If I do use it, it feels like I'm heading into battle."
For a moment, Casie ponders this and looks around Amanda's pony body. Although she is indeed bare, "there's not really anything you need to hide. Kinda liberating, actually," she says with a smile. She momentarily caresses Amanda's flat chest area with a smirk. "I mean, what are you ashamed of?"
"I suppose you're right." And yet, the method on proving her point caused a flush of red across her face.
The door swings open again on its own. A magenta aura opens it for a moment and moments later closes after Twilight enters. "Spike!!" she hollers. "I'm back!" She walks in and quickly notes the two newcomers sitting on the couch. "Oh! Hello! And you are...?"
"Casie."
"Amanda. We've been told that you might be able to help us. You see--"
"You're looking for your friends?" Twilight interupts.
"...Yeah. How did you know?"
"They've been looking for you, too."
In another part of the library, in one of the more residental rooms, Spike continues his cleaning duties. While he spent time on returning all the books back to their shelves, his routine has fallen behind. Although it's not his business to eavesdrop, he can't help but overhear parts of the conversation.
"Sssssspppiiiikkkkeeee..." a voice says in a long whisper. "Ssssppppiiikkkeee..."
The little dragon turns about and finds... nopony. The room is empty, save for him and his imagination. "Whatever."
"S-P-I-K-E!!!"
While his tools hit the floor, Spike hangs from a beam three meters above. "Wha--what was that?!"
"I am the Spirit of the Library. You WILL heed my demands lest I drag you to its lowest depths and EAT YOU!!!"
"WH-WHAT DO YOU W-WANT?!!" Spike answers fearfully.
"You will bring me triple chocolate muffins!! And coffee!! NOW!!!"
The dragon drops to the floor and quickly zips off to meet the demands. Without a word, he dashes through the residential area, through the library itself, and out the front door.
"Spike!!" Twilight shouts as he passes her. "Where are you going?" But, he is long gone before any such answer can be given. She just shrugs her shoulders and moves on. She is just happy that he didn't put a hole through the door.
Another knocking, and the door opens to Fluttershy again. The yellow pony lets herself in with a bit of an embarrassed expression. "I'm... sorry, Twilight. I shouldn't have run off."
But, far from being upset, Twilight puts a foreleg around her friend's withers. "Don't worry about it, Fluttershy. I would have done the same thing if one of my books was in jeopardy."
"You know," Amanda notes. "This reminds me of how we all met in the beginning."
"No kidding," Casie agrees. "Geez, it feels like 17 years or something."
And now, Casie and Amanda have reunited in the library. While the two recount their last few days on this wonderous new world, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle exit the room to another to give the two some privacy.
"So, Casie, where have you been?" A blue coat pony with short black mane smiles a little as she had found one of her friends. She makes herself comfortable next to Casie on the furniture.
"EH. around." She scratches the back of her head with a forehoof. Quite contrary to her friend, she has a red color scheme. "Cats stuck in trees. Fires. Little old ponies across the street."
"Bored out of your mind?"
"Pretty much. You?"
"Thought I ran into Sundae. Turns out it was a little kid who lives around here. Now she won't come near me. Any word on Bobbi?"
"She'll show up. She's always running late."
"I am not!!" another shouts from outside. The door opens on its own and a mute-gold pony walks through with a similarly colored horn. She wears a wrap around her body and a stern expression. "I am NOT always late."
Twilight trots into the room again as she heard the door open again. "Hello," she greets happily. "And who might you be?"
"She's with us, Twilight," Amanda says with a smile. "Pardon her blunt intrusion. She's always a little behind."
The purple princess looks between Bobbi and the other two for a moment. "Alright," she says. "I'll be in here." Even she can see a bit of tension in the air as she walks backwards away from the situation.
"You were the last to show up out of us five."
"Dramatic entrance!!" Bobbi snorts. "I beat Shifter, didn't I?"
"Yeah. You beat up Tonya. Good for you." Casie tries to give Bobbi a thumbs up, but lacks thumbs to stick up.
Bobbi raises a hoof to correct her comment, but can't think of anything valid to say. While it is true she fought an evil presence, it was possessing Tonya's body at the time.
"You missed most of the Forgotten War."
"You all thought I was dead anyway. And besides, I was trapped on a different planet!!"
"Out of five of us, you are the last to arrive here."
"NO!! I don't see Tonya or Kat. So HHHHAAAA!!"
"Oh, I wouldn't think that," Kat mentions from nowhere.
Three ponies look around to hear Kat's voice, but see.... nothing. "Telepathy?" Casie asks.
"Nope. Just lovingly invisible. I think I'll change my codename from 'Tel' to 'Invisipony.'"
There is a loud roar coming from the floor. One would think it was a lion in the basement, if there was one. "Twilight," Amanda asks towards the other room, "did you forget to feed your library?"
For reasons unknown, Spike suddenly races by and out the door. He nearly trips up Bobbi, but she dodges just at the right time. "I'll get right on it!!"
"Casie," Amanda wonders, "what was that, anyway?"
"Methinks our couch is hungry."
"But that's--" Amanda hops to her hooves and walks around the furnishing for a moment. "I don't think this is a couch.."
Casie hops off as well and inspects it from the other side. "Is this...."
"Tonya?!" comes a chorus of four voices.
Bobbi walks up and taps the 'couch' with her hoof for a moment. There is a flailing motion from behind as a leg reaches over and momentarily itches in such a spot. "Hmm... Not dead yet."
"Surprising," Kat chuckles. "With Casie's heavy butt on her."
"I am NOT heavy!! I have seen you pack away a few donuts in my time!!"
"And muffins," Amanda adds.
"And pancakes," Bobbi adds.
"Bacon is your passion," Tonya adds from below.
"Bacon?" Fluttershy asks. "What's that?"
"You know," Tonya remarks. "Bacon. Take a pig. Skin it, fry--" Her comments are cut off again as an invisible force glues her mouth shut again. In the meantime, Fluttershy faints where she stands.
"No wonder," Twilight murmurs as she walks in. She slides a pillow under Fluttershy's head for comfort. "That cloud you sat on supported your weight, but you were able to push it all the way to the ground. I have never seen anypony do that before..."
"Et tu, Twilight?" Kat groans.
"Yeah," Twilight returns as she tosses a blanket over her yellow friend. "I too," she replies while pointing at her fallen comrade with an irrate expression.
"Forgive her," Kat says quietly. "Where we're from, it's not all vegetarian diets. I know for you it's probably close to murder, but our world is different."
For a long moment, Twilight ponders the idea and realizes she has to give them all a little leeway. Their way of life is different from hers. "Alright. But, if Fluttershy's in the room, I don't want to hear anymore about it. And as long as you're ponies, you'll eat like one."
"Fair enough," Kat smiles from invisity.
"Where are you, anyway?" Amanda asks. "I hear you, but I don't see you."
"I think its our Crystals," Bobbi notes. "Just look at us for a moment. Casie's red, like her Crystal. Amanda's blue. I'm gold."
"I'm crap brown," Tonya sneers.
Bobbi pauses for a moment with a flat gaze and slightly open jaw. "Apparently Tonya's still in need of a therapist."
"Tonya..." Kat says quietly. "You can't be so hard on yourself. What happened--"
"--not my fault," Tonya finishes. "Blah blah blah. Heard it before. Try and prove it. You girls go out and have your fun. I'll be here if anyone needs me. I'll be sure to be nice and fluffy for all your behinds."
"Bobbi," Amanda asks, "are you thinking that Kat is invisible because of her Crystal?"
"Seems logical," Bobbi returns.
Twilight walks over and pulls a book off the shelf with her horn's magic. "We've been trying to find a way to get her... unstuck, I guess you could say."
Casie smirks a bit. "Any way we can seal Tonya's mouth shut?"
"There is," Twilight mentions. "But I won't tell you. Awkward as it is for the rest of us, it's her way of expressing herself." She walks with an open book floating in front of her. "Kat, you seem to be awfully close with Tonya. Surely you realize this?"
"Of course I'm close to Tonya!! She fathered my child!"
There are three face-hooves from Amanda, Casie, and Bobbi as Kat realizes what she just said. Twilight stands in place while the book hits the floor. Her eyes widen to the size of saucers. Her hoof is raised, and her jaw opens, but nothing complete is said. The wheels in the alicorn's head grind to a hault as the thought of one mare conceiving a child with another mare... impossible!!
"Congratulations, Kat. You broke her."
Tonya, for kicks, raises a hind leg and tips her over. Twilight remains in that pose even as she hits the floor.
The sun hangs high in the sky. Birds flitter about above in the treetops singing and feeding their chicks. A light mist has come in and watered the trees. The leaves and branches glisten with random water droplets.
There are many types of trees in Ponyville. Oaks. Pines. Birches.
"Apples!!" a voice remarks. The youngest of the five walks in with wide eyes as she sees glorious red apples hanging from the trees. The recent rain has washed them and they shine in the sunlight. Tonya looks up in awe at the little ruby treasures.
A disturbing growl comes from within as Tonya looks at the fruit above. She sees a vast orchard spreading about before her and smiles a little. With such a grand scale, the owners would not miss one or two?
She looks about very carefully. There isn't anything with four legs watching her? She looks to her left through the trees. She looks right through more trees. She looks ahead through yet more trees and a rolling hill beyond it. She even looks up to search the skies.
While she believes she has a free moment to get a free snack, she licks her muzzle and approaches her choice of tree. It is a hearty tree full of delicious apples. She puts her front hooves on its trunk and shakes it a bit. Ever worried, she keeps an eye on her surroundings.
With the little force she shook the tree with, she expected at least one to fall. Yet, they are all secure above. She shakes it again with more strength and watches the branches shake from side to side. Yet--nothing.
"C'mon..." she groans. "Just one?" She continues her shaking and continues to add power to her method. Even smacking the wood with her front hooves has done nothing. "Are you really that stubborn?" she grits. "Fine. Have it your way."
Tonya backpedals a bit and keeps her eyes on the prize. She turns away from the tree so that her hind legs face her foe. She raises her legs up and coils them towards her. She can feel her muscles in her legs tighten. And then she releases her power and bucks the tree with all her might. There is a distinct ripple of air that expands from the attack. There are two hoofprints embedded in the bark with cracks expanding from them.
The sound of such resonates and echoes through the orchard and surely gave away her intent. Still, she whips around and looks at the apple tree with hope that this finally gave way to what she wants. She stands smiling and flitting her tail about in joy. Sadly, this poor girl turned into a pony looks like a dog waiting on a bone.
The tree of inderminate age shakes for a time after Tonya's attack. But, instead of a few apples falling to the Earth, the entire tree falls away from her. Her joy turns to horror as the tall terror falls over with a thunderous sound. It hits another tree on the way down.
The power of her one buck continues on and topples a second tree. Soon, it leads to a third. And a fourth. Before she realizes what she did, a domino effect has struck the apple orchard, taking down the apple trees one after another. By the time it stops, seven trees have been felled.
"Oh.... crap..." Tonya mumbles. "WASN'T MEE!!!" she shouts before dashing off. But, she returns momentarily to collect a few red juicies and tosses them into a bag. Finally, she gallops off into the distance. She hopes upon hope that she can get away before anyone can link her to the crime.
==-==-==
Earlier in the day, Twilight had been momentarily paralyzed at a rather unorthodox thought. Fluttershy had fainted not long before and her dear friend gave her some comfort. Spike had dashed out shortly before, leaving the five at a near crime scene.
"Eh," Kat says from... somewhere. "She'll be fine."
Casie shakes her head a little. "Here I thought Tonya had the big mouth."
"I'm rubbing off on her," Tonya notes from her curled up position on the floor.
"Great," Casie groans. "One day we'll all be idiots."
It is at this time that Spike dashes back through the library. He puts a small paper bag and a tall cup on the table and quickly drops to his knees in prayer. "Oh, great Spirit of the Library, please except this generous donation!!"
"This will suffice for now," a voice tells him from above. "But be warned that I may have further need of you." The offerings float above the table and levitate out of the room. They are guided by an unseen force and pass into the main library once more.
Spike watches for a bit as the fruits of his labor are carefully placed behind the 'Tonya-couch' where her nose would be. "I thought you wanted those!!"
"Hush Little Dragon. I did not say they were for me, did I?"
"Uh... no, you didn't..." But, despite his questions, he returns to his duties in the kitchen.
Tonya raises her head a little as her nose is intrigued by a rather familiar scent. Her nose reaches up and sniffs the air. Her eyes open to a little bag next to her. "What's this?"
"Your stomach speaks volumes, Tonya," Kat says from closeby. "I thought you could use this."
Tonya can't see her, but looks up where the voice is coming from. Still curious, she digs her snout into the bag and bites onto its contents. "Mmm..." Tonya mumbles. "Triple chocolate. My favorite! How did you--?"
"I have my ways," Kat says quietly. A pair of invisible legs wrap around Tonya's curled frame for a long moment. "You're not alone, Tonya. You never were."
"I let all of you down..."
"We're still alive?" Kat offers.
"Yeah... You are..."
==-==-==
Eventually, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy recover from their individual issues. The five newcomers have since realized that the world they are visiting is vastly different from their own. The talking horses may have something to do with this logic.
The research continues again as everypony pulls a book to research. Spike is vigilant in keeping them all well snacked.
"What is this thing?" Casie asks. She looks down on an overturned glass jar on a table with an amulet inside. The amulet itself has a rudimentary horse's head as well as wings and a horn.
Twilight looks over to the red pony and then to what she is wondering about. "Oh. That's the Alicorn Amulet. Gives the wearer incredible powers. Any unicorn would have alicorn level magic with it."
"And you just leave out in the open?"
Twilight's head turns back towards her book. "I'm not worried. The glass case has so many wards on it I can't even remember. It's not going anywhere unless a real alicorn steps in."
Casie looks at her for a moment and then at the amulet. "Amanda?"
"Yes?"
"What's an alicorn?"
"I dunno. I never got into the fantasy stuff. Kat?"
"Casie," Kat says from wherever. "You know what a unicorn is, right?"
"Yeah. The ones with the horns," she replies while subtly pointing to Amanda's head.
"And you know what a pegasus is, right?"
"The wings, right?"
"Yeah. Alicorns have both. Wings and horn. It's also the historical name of a unicorn horn itself."
"Alicorns," Twilight adds, "are pretty rare. In all of Equestria, there are only four known. They are all regarded as princesses."
Casie puts a hoof to her chin as she processes all this. She watches Twilight quietly flipping through a book. She uses her magenta magic from her horn to flip the pages. Still curious, she takes note of Twilight's wings folded up against her sides. And then, she finally realizes the truth. "I am so sorry, your Highness," Casie spouts as she bows down.
Amanda and Bobbi also realize this and quickly bow to the just-now realization. It is safe to assume that Kat has also taken such a stance. "Please forgive us," Amanda says quickly. "We had no idea."
In the corner where Tonya continues to be curled up, her body is quickly raised and posed as the others did. There is a fair amount of grumbling and aggitation from such an unexpected 'attack'.
"No, no!!" Twilight beckons as she flails her hooves around. "Don't!! It's alright!! I'm... kind of in training, I guess you could say. I don't feel comfortable with all this!!"
Slowly, the group relaxes and returns to a more informal atmosphere. Tonya growls a bit and returns to her curl. Fluttershy giggles a bit from her corner of the room as she realized that Twilight would act like this.
"Do you know of the other three?" Bobbi asks.
"Princess Celestia is our ruler and raises the sun every day. She's also my mentor. Princess Luna is her younger sister and ruler of the night. Princess Cadance rules the Crystal Empire. She was my foalsitter when I was little. The BEST foal sitter!!" she says with more than a bit of squeal.
"Crystal Empire?" Kat wonders. "Where's that?"
"It's way up north. There's usually a lot of snow outside the city. I'd tell you more, but it's a long story."
"Up north?" Kat wonders.
"Lots of snow?" Amanda muses.
"Their own princess?" Bobbi mutters.
"Sounds like Canada," Casie quips.
"Canada?" Twilight wonders. But, Twilight notes a few quirky giggles coming out of the ponies that she can see. "You know, I bet Princess Cadance would like to see a few visitors. But, I feel I should remind you that she's ROYALTY. I may not be worried about formalities, but she should be given the utmost respect. You all should be on your best behavior."
"Yah," Amanda grins.
"Sure," Casie adds.
"You betcha," Bobbi says.
While they all agree to be respectful, Twilight's head lowers a little. "I got a bad feeling about this."
"Uuurr.... Why are we here again?" Tonya grumbles. She looks up at a burnt out barn that barely has anything left standing. She sits on her hindquarters on one end of a line while three of her friends can be seen making up the rest.
"Because we are being gracious," Amanda replies with a smile.
"Because Winter is coming," Kat remarks.
"Because that sounded way too ominous!" Bobbi adds while looking in Kat's reasonable vicinitiy.
"And because you ate all of Twilight's donuts while she wasn't looking," Casie snorts.
~~~~~~~~ Earlier... ~~~~~~~~
While the five were doing what they were doing, a knock came at the door followed swiftly by Applejack walking in. The orange country pony trotted in "Twilight? Ya here?" She looked about and found a number of books stacked in neat and not so neat piles about the floor. Her blonde tail and mane, topped with a stetson, waved around a little as she looked for her friend.
"Over here!" a purple leg waved from behind a wall of bound paper. Her stack was neat, organized, color coordinated, alphabetized, and OCD'd so well you'd swear it was right where it was supposed to be.
"Hey there, Twi. New project?"
"Yeah. One that I can't see yet. But, I'm working on it!!" she proclaims with a raised hoof. But, she drops her hoof again and looks at her friend. "What's up?"
"Compared ta this? Nothin' special. Maybe Ah'll leave you be." She takes a moment to look around and inspects the madness at hand. Of the many ponies in the library, only two of them stand out--Twilight and Fluttershy. "Wait. YOU!!!" she shouts.
Casie had been studying a book, but buries herself in it far more. She's sure she knows what's coming. And, sure enough, Applejack bounces over to her red self. "Me?"
"Yeah you!!" She grabs up Casie's hoof and shakes it liberally. "Ah owe ya a BIIG Thank You!!! Ya saved my sister and 'er friends!!!"
"Wasn't a big deal," Casie replies. "I couldn't stand by and do nothing."
"NO BIG DEAL?! You ran into the fire and saved them all!! You're a hero!!"
"Yeah," Casie says with a smile. "As I told your sister, fire has no effect on me." She turns a bit to show off her flank with a flaming Cutie Mark. "My element's fire. Heat and cold, even in extreme, won't hurt me."
"To a point I'm sure," Amanda remarks.
Tonya giggles a bit, and that's never a good sign. "Throw her into the sun and find out?"
Casie just rolls her eyes for a moment and shakes her head. "Ignore her. I think she grew up standing on her head." But, her seriousness returns as she looks at Applejack. "There is something I need to say, though."
"What is it?"
"The fire? I... may have had something... to do with it..."
"Say what now?" Applejack wonders. "What are you goin' on about, Sugarcube?"
"When I landed," Casie explains, "I think my element... got loose for a moment. I landed somewhere behind your barn, and I think my flame might've.... set it ablaze."
There is a loud unanimous gasp from around the room as everyone else hears such a shocking revelation. Her friends step next to her for support and evaluate what's been said.
"You... burned down my barn?"
"Applejack!" Twilight shouts. But, her friend raises a 'hold it' hoof in her direction to keep her from saying anything else.
"Yes. I did."
"Totally accidental?" Applejack continues.
"I had no control in the matter," Casie affirms. "When I saw the fire, I realized that I might have involuntarily started it. When I saw that those three were in danger, I knew that it was my fault in the first place. After I saved them, I ran off because I was ashamed of what I had done. I'm sorry, Applejack. I did not mean for any of this to happen. Please forgive me."
There is a long silence as the two stare at each other. Applejack searches Casie's eyes for any sign of falsehood or half-truth. Casie looks at Applejack's expression, waiting to see if such a thing can be forgiven.
Twilight watches from the sidelines. She's fully aware that she cannot intervene. This is strictly between the two of them. Fluttershy watches as well, but her head shrinks down into her shoulders. If she were a turtle, it wouldn't be seen at all. Pinkie Pie had snuck in during all of this. She watches from behind the crowd and bites a potato chip as if this were a suspenseful movie.
"Ah forgive ya," Applejack finally says. "You were honest and upfront about the whole thing. I appreciate that." After her words, everyone gives a sigh of relief in some way. "Ah lost a barn, but it wasn't yer fault. Ah can't be mad at you for it."
"Thank you," Casie says with a small smile. "I'd like to help build a new barn for you. It's the least I could do."
Applejack puts a hoof to her chin and looks to the ceiling for a moment. "Tell ya what..."
~~~~~~~~ And.... ~~~~~~~~
"So," Bobbi says, "we all raise a barn for them, and we get to stay in it while we're here."
"I don't need a barn," Tonya groans. "I'll just dig a hole for myself somewhere." She gets up to go do just that. She quickly trots off to find some land to call her own, but two unicorns named Bobbi and Amanda use their powers to drag her back by her hind legs.
"Hey, Casie," Kat asks. "Your powers protected you while you saved those kids?"
"Yah. They did."
"What if they didn't?" Kat wonders. "Would you still have jumped in?"
Casie shakes her head for a minute in slight bemusement. "Kat, after all these years, do you have to ask?"
"So we're building a barn? Just the five of us?" Amanda wonders.
"Ah didn't say anythang about that!!" Applejack shouts from nearby.
The five all look over their shoulders to find Applejack trotting in with her five friends, each carrying various supplies. In addition, a large red clydesdale pulls a cart of lumber along with an elderly green pony and Apple Bloom.
All in all, 14 showed up to help out with this project. Two more filly heads popped out of the back of the wagon to make it 16.
==-==-==
Over the course of the day, each one of them had their hooves in the project in some way or another. Not everypony knew how to raise a barn, but there were enough to teach the rest.
Tonya and Bobbi had the first job. Tonya is well connected to the soil below her and can make it bend to her will. It was her responsibility to clear the ground of all the burnt out debris. With her abilities, she managed to sweep all the remnants of the old barn into a cluster.
"Good job, Tonya," Bobbi says happily. "Why don't you go get the wagon and I'll get ready to load it."
Tonya grumbled a bit but returned quickly with the vehicle in question. She found it easy to harness herself into it. There were small belts she pulled to secure it to herself.
Bobbi used her unicorn magic to pile the load on the wagon. It was eventually taken away by Tonya and her everpresent scowl. Their amazing displays of power left the indigineous residents flabbergasted.
"My word she's strong!" Rarity gasps. "She's able to pull ALL of that?"
"She'll be fine," Bobbi notes. "She's... got some special magic that reduces the gravity, making it easier to pull."
"You'd think someone with such a gift would be... happier."
"Yeah..." Bobbi responds. "But, life still finds a way to squeeze a lemon in your eye. Trust me. I know."
"That was quite the ability," Twilight wonders. "Of all the Earth Ponies I've seen, I don't recall any ever moving the ground like that!!"
"Yeah," Amanda grins. "She's sure special."
"She rode the short bus to school!" Kat muses.
"I HEARD THAT!!" Tonya growls from afar.
==-==-==
Over the course of the next several hours, everypony had their parts to play. Fluttershy took the time to bring in food for the entire crew. She had snacks ready at all times for them. Granny Smith and Rarity kept them hydrated by keeping water on hand. Rainbow Dash was airborne-ready throughout the adventure. She kept the sky clear from too many clouds that could rain on the project. Pinkie Pie and Big Mcintosh kept the materials flowing in the right direction. Even the three little fillies known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped out with small stuff (no pun intended).
But, despite all their duties, every last one of them chipped in for the actual construction. They all pounded nails into the boards. They all worked together to lift the walls into place. They all worked together to build anew what had been destroyed.
Applejack and Casie had the master plan and pounded nails in while they gave directions. Both ponies gave smiles as they saw all their friends together in a unified goal. AJ's friends would do anything to help her. Casie's friends (even a grumbling Tonya) would do anything to help her.
Although they were both creeped out by a hammer floating about on its own. At least it was helpful.
But not as creeped out as with Pinkie Pie singing "la la lalala la.... la lalala la... Sing a Pony song!!!"
And after hours upon hours of hammer and nailing, the structure was raised. After a long day's work, the basic structure was complete. Fluttershy had put together a grand lunch for all of the workers.
==-==-==
Once the building was done, many of the crew sauntered off to rest. Tonya made good on her promise and dug a hole for herself. She managed to dig far enough that she was flush with the surrounding terrain. She curled up per usual and tried to ignore the world. If she had thought about it, she could've pulled the grass over herself like a blanket.
Twilight and Kat had their own project to do. "Kat," Twilight tells her, "I need you to stand in this circle. As quickly as she had mouthed the words, she uses her horn's magic to grab a stick and draw a circle in the ground.
"Right here?" Kat replies. Twilight notes that four hoofprints are growing in the ground.
"That's right. I've been researching your problem. I'm sorry that I haven't found a solution faster, but I've had a few other issues. LIKE SOME-PONY WOLFING DOWN MY DONUTS!!!"
At the mere thought, Tonya licks her muzzle.
"Grudge much?" Kat wonders aloud.
"Hay yeah!!" But, she quickly composes herself and clears her throat. "Anyway." Several scrolls rise up and unfurl themselves. One after another, as Twilight watches, they attach to the unpainted barn. Nails from the project bullet into the scrolls to keep them into place.
"Hey, Twilight, I thought you said that invisibility spells were easy."
"They are!! But, if you don't know what MADE you invisible, it's harder to undo it. As such, I have found several methods to undo your invisibility. I've cataloged the pros and cons. I've categorized from simple to complex. There is a way to fix your problem with patience and a committed mind."
~~~
Nearby, Applejack and Big McIntosh place several open cans of paint on the ground. Amanda walks up and looks at it all. "Is this all of it?"
"Eeyup," the big red one notes.
"Sure you c'n do this?" Applejack asks.
"Oh, this will be fun," Amanda says happily. Her blue horn glows a lighter blue color. "My specialty is water. And liquids. Although some days I can't hold my liquor."
"I ain't never had that problem."
"N-ope."
Aside from all the talk, the contents of the paint cans rise up into the air like a reversed drain. "Seems paint's not a problem." After it all rises, from their individual containers, it comes together as a combined ball of red fluid. Applejack and Bic Mac stand with a collective 'ooooo...' expression. "You two..." she says. "Can you stand apart? The length of the barn between you?"
The two look at each other for a moment and then walk away. Within a span of a few moments, they comply with her demands and show the length requested. "What now, Sugarcube?"
Amanda grins a little. Her horn glows a little brighter. The ball of red paint stretches out between the siblings. Both of them are a little apprehensive as it gets closer, but trust her just the same. She then stretches it upwards and creates a wall of red. "My turn."
~~~
"I don't know the specifics of how your Crystal caused this." Even as she speaks, she reviews her research on the wall. "I can't do a cancelling spell without knowing the details because I might hurt you. But, these here might work."
"Uh... Twilight?"
"I know, I know..." she continues. "You're worried about the dangers. Well, the side effects of these is minor at best. I might return you to a visible form, but you might be a different color."
"Twilight?"
"I'm kidding!!! These are perfectly harmless!! Well, Kat are you ready to--" Her speaking is suddenly cut short as a wall of red paint passes over her and changes her purple coat, mane and tail as such.
"Hey!!" Pinkie Pie gasps. "There's a Twi-houlette on the side of the barn!!!"
Amanda had just affixed the paint to the side of the barn when Pinkie opened her mouth. "Why is there a..." She quickly sees a very red pony standing with narrow eyelids. "I AM SO SORRY!!!" Amanda says with extreme panic. "I had no idea you were standing there!! I couldn't see you from the other side!!!"
Twilight stands in shock and dismay as Amanda uses her horn's magic to try and peel the paint back off of her. "It's okay..." she sighs. "I've had worse." She stands still to allow Amanda to work her magic, but finds a fair amount of it has already set in and will be difficult to remove. "I'll be fine. I just want to get back to" she starts as she turns her head back towards the wall. "MY RESEARCH!!!!"
Kat looks over and finds that all the parchments the Twilight was going to use to try to fix her have been completely painted over. In her own defense, she tried to warn her about this.
Twilight's lip quivers with horror as the entirety of her work has been for naught. Her eyes water as she sees her efforts have been erased. The (red and) purple princess drops to her knees in a defeated pose as her entire project has been destroyed. "WWWWHHHHYYYYY???"
"I am so sorry!!" Amanda quickly tells her. "It seemed like such a great idea at the time..." But, Twilight says nothing. She stands to her four hooves and walks away with her head hung low. Amanda and Kat watch her shuffle off as if a loved one had just been murdered.
She stops by another one of the newcomers and looks at her for a moment. "Tonya? Is there room in there for one more?"
Tonya swings her head around to find Twilight staring at her with a heavy pouting muzzle and gushes of watery eyes. But, what stands out is the red streaks dripping from her body. Her eyes widen as she looks at her and can only speculate at what just happened. "Y-YOU CAN HAVE IT!!!" She quickly jumps to her hooves and gallops away from the apparent ax-murderer. "I'M SORRY ABOUT YOUR DONUTS!!! PLEASE DON'T END MEEEE!!!"
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."
"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!!!"
Many strangers have come through town. Some stranger than others. Be it a rival party planner, a group of tiny creatures floating on the breeze, or even a pair of ne're-do-wells trying to sell ficticiously potent formulas. After some time, strange becomes commonplace. And kind of fun.
In this town full of talking equines of many varieties, one such walks through with a bit of downtrodden expression. He walks with a large pack on his back and a sturdy red umbrella across his withers. His head has a significant mound of hair tied off with a leopard-print bandana. The front of his body is yellow while the back is strangely black.
He stops and looks around. "Nothing looks familiar," he says to himself. "I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere." He sits on his haunches and pulls out a map. While he looks at it, he tries to determine his error. "Took a right there. A left there. Straight on 'til third street..." But, his pathfinding is distracted from momentarily. He looks to his 'hands' and finds nothing of the sort.
"What in the world?!" he asks nobody in particular. He drops the map when he finds the ends of his front legs missing something. His hooves scramble across his body and find that it's been changed drastically. He looks around and finds his current location teeming with ponies of all sorts. "WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I NOW?!" he shouts in a booming yet whiny voice. "AND WHY AM I A PONY?!??!?"
==-==-==
"Are you sure about that, Kat?" Amanda wonders. "Because I'll bet he walks all the way through town without even noticing."
"Or until someone splashes him with cold water," Kat muses from invisity.
"That could get ugly..." Amanda groans. She takes a gulp from the mug she'd been handed and licks her muzzle of the extra.
"Hmmm..." Tonya muses. "Pork cutlets..." She dips her muzzle into her mug and slowly drinks without moving it. There's a certain amount of slurping heard as some of the others give odd glances. Amanda, in particular, has a hoof over her face. "This stuff's good!!" she beams. Finally, she whips up her head with the mug overturned over her snout.
"Careful with that, darlin'!" Applejack warns. "That stuff has a mighty kick!!"
Tonya dips her head back into a natural position with the mug latched over her mouth. She looks at the rest for a moment. A thunderous noise echoes from inside the wooden stein while Tonya's roll for the duration.
"I don't know her," Amanda groans while a foreleg hides her embarrassment.
"Ah, come on, Amanda," Casie snickers. "She's been down in the dumps for so long. This stuff has loosened her up. Let her be. It's nice to see Tonya having fun again."
"Hey, Casie!!" Tonya shouts. "You know what would be really fun if you could light it on fire?"
"Not gonna do it, Tonya," Casie remarks plainly.
"You don't even know what I was gonna ask!!"
"Sure I do. I know you. I know what kind of a list you can make!!"
Rarity snickers a bit while nudging Applejack. "She reminds me of someone *I* know!!"
"What da ya mean by that?" Applejack replies.
Rarity takes a drink before answering. "I rememeber a certain pony when I first met her. She was about as uncouth as they come. Rude, crude, and letting off all sorts of noises!! Like a barbarian!!"
"Now see here!!" Applejack fumes. "Ah'll have you know--"
"Oh?" Rarity wonders. "Did I name names?" she asks with a giggle. She raises a demure hoof to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I think you're mistaken... I do know quite a few ponies after all...."
Applejack growls a bit before dropping back to her haunches. "Right," she groans as she raises her mug to her mug.
"Hey, AJ!" Rainbow Dash yells from above the rest. "Why is it so hard to keep this stuff on hand?! I mean, every year... EVERY YEAR!! I never seem to get any!! If it weren't for those weirdo brothers, I would have NEVER had any!!"
"Now, Rainbow," she replies, "you know we can only make so much at a time!! And we have to ration out that much for three days. We give everypony a fair chance to get some!!"
"YEAH RIGHT!! Pinkie walks away with 15 mugs, and you call that FAIR?!"
"She paid for them!!"
"Ration out, my flank!! You two have got it out for me, don't you?!"
"Now, hold on!! She said she was getting some for you!!"
The squabbling pair turn towards the pinkest, craziest, fluffiest pony in the room with scowls on their muzzles. "YOU!!!" they chorus.
"HEE HEE HEE!!!" she chuckles nervously. "You know, I think I better--" There's a few knocks on the barn door that gets everypony's attention. "Come on in!!" Pinkie shouts. She's about as effected as the rest, but with her natural pink coat, who can tell? With her natural out of control nature, who can tell? "Perfect timing!!"
"No kiddin'..." Applejack snorts.
A bone white pony with a mane and tail of two different shades of blue sticks her head in to confirm. She has a horn sticking out from her forehead and magenta lensed shades covering her eyes. She doesn't say anything, but smiles a bit when she sees Pinkie Pie. She grabs the black rims of her shades and shows the same eye color as the lenses.
"Need help?" Pinkie offers with a grin.
She quickly shakes her head with a confident smirk and ducks out again. A second later, she uses her hind legs to buck a wicked soundsystem through the doorway and into position. While her legs are stetched out, one can see a bridged pair of notes on her flank. She slides with style behind the turntable and quickly gets some jams going.
"Here ya go!" Pinkie spouts as she hands the DJ a mug of deliciously inebriating hard cider. "Now let's REALLY PARTY!!!" From Lord knows where, she pulls out a cannon about her size and starts firing it all throughout the inside of the barn. With every shot, streamers, balloons and confetti spring forth and instantly decorate the place.
For once, somepony can see where Kat is after streamers hang from her body and wings and confetting is stuck to her sides. "I'm pretty!!" she quips. She also chugs a bit of drink as she floats above the rest.
"Hey, Casie!!"
"No, Tonya."
During this whole thing, Twilight sits next to Fluttershy. She laments a little about the red dye job that she'll have some trouble getting out of her coat. She's a little disturbed that Tonya thought she was a murderer or something. She worries a little as Fluttershy is usually the reserved and shy pony that doesn't often do well in social settings. And yet, Fluttershy has gone through three mugs already.
As the beat gets thumpin', the many ponies in the room get to their hooves to groove along with it. DJ Pon-3 watches from the booth as the bodies in front of her start to move to her beat. She smiles as they became her slaves. Just like always.
Out of all of them, Fluttershy dives into action and starts to dance as never before. With all that liquor in her, she's bound to cut loose. If she had a shirt, she'd probably be whipping it around above her head. "WOOHOO!!!" she shouts. "PAAARRRRTTTYYY!!!"
Twilight looks around a bit with a smile. Her worries are for tomorrow. She uses her horn to produce a glowing ball of energy that flies up to the ceiling. As it turns and circulates, different colors are produced that shine across the inside of the building. Specifically, the colors represent her and her close friends. But, with a few tweaks, she includes her new friends as well.
The celebration continues in full swing as Twilight and her friends officially welcome Bobbi, Kat, Tonya, Casie, and Amanda into Ponyville. The music is thumping throughout the new barn that they all chipped in to build. Twilight has launched a ball of light in the air that changes frequently. Hard Cider is flowing like rivers. Nopony is expected to remember much...
While the residents are quite comfortable with all this, Bobbi and her group have encountered some difficulties since they first came here. To start off with, there has been some hesitation among the group regarding rampant nudity. But, as time progresses and nopony seems to making a fuss of it, the situation has mostly died out. Yet, some lingering thoughts may persist....
During all this, the little dragon seems intent on following around Rarity. He's always had a soft spot for her, and perhaps the liquid courage will help him towards his goal.
"Say, Bobbi," Kat wonders from her confetti silhouette, "where do you think we are, anyway?"
"Equestria!!" Pinkie Pie blurts out happily.
"And where is that?" Kat continues.
"Here!!" Pinkie answers.
"And where is HERE?!"
"Equestria!!!"
There is a long silence as Kat no doubt rolls her eyes. Somewhere, someone has likely brainwashed her into never giving a clear answer. That is the only logical explanation.
During all this, Fluttershy twirls by happily with her mane and tail spinning all around her like a yellow and pink spiral. Her wings stretch out instinctively. Even if her equilibrium is shot due to alchy-hol, her feathered limbs may keep her standing like an acrobat on a highwire. Of course, more cider may even get that plan to fail. Even the most introverted pony will cut loose with enough liquid courage.
"The Horsehead Nebula," Twilight says nonchallantly.
"Anypony know how far away from Earth that is?" Kat wonders.
Pinkie puts a mug between Kat's hooves, which for her is not amazing that she knows exactly where to put it. "Too many questions!! CHUG CHUG CHUG!!!"
"Little pink wonder is right," Amanda comments. "We can figure this out later."
"YES!!" Pinkie beams. "Later!! And now--" she announces as she rolls in a massive multi-level cake from Lord knows where. Each layer of the cake is a different color (and flavor) dedicated to each of the five. Going up is gold, red, blue, beige, and seemingly unfrosted.
"I don't get frosting?" Kat whines.
"Oh, no!! It's frosted!!" The pink terror slips a hoof across the side and shows a disturbance in the for--cake. "Clear frosting!!"
Applejack looks at it for a moment. "How in the hay did you do that?"
But, Pinkie literally zips her mouth shut and walks away.
Elsewhere, Tonya sits behind a mug of her own. Beside her is a collection of bravely sacrificed beverages. She reaches for the next, but can't seem to grasp it as well as the last few. Every time her hooves reach for the stein, it slips from her grasp.
"LEEEAAAVVVIIINNNGGG!!" a high pitched squeal shouts. "How ARE you?!"
Tonya glances at her mug, then back to Pinkie's oncoming mug. Back and forth she changes her glance to decide whether saving herself is worth not taking a drink. But, before she can decide, the tornado of glee that is Pinkie zips to her side and has a foreleg around Tonya's body. She tries to escape the chuckling clutches, but to no avail. "Pinkie."
"You ran away from me the other day!!!!"
"Ssoundss log-ical..." Tonya notes in a drunken voice. Her breath smells quite fruity after the many drinks she's pounded back already. Many more than any of her friends. "YOU... ssscarree the SSIT out of... me..." "Sssuggarr coat-ed wubber ball..." She lets out a belch to punctuate her thoughts.
"Aaaawww...." Pinkie coos as she hugs tighter. "You LIKE me!!!"
"Buck it..." she groans. Despite what anyone may think, Tonya decides to 'cheat' a little. Remarkably in her beyond buzzed state, she uses a strange power within her and watches her hoof grow a few fingers on the end of it. With her newly formed hand, she grasps the mug and finishes her enemy (not Pinkie).
"That was so cool!!!" Pinkie grins. "How'd you do that?!"
But, her transformation is short lived as her fingers shrivel quickly back into her hoof and return back to normal. She was able to hold it long enough to slug back her cider. "P-pink... mennaccce? I g-gotta peeee..."
"Well, you are in a barn!!" Pinkie says happily.
"Nnnoo.." Tonya tells her. "Ifff I dooo, I willl pissss onn you..."
"Hey!! That rhymes!! Have you met Zecora?"
Tonya just shakes her head a little and forcibly removes Pinkie's hold on her. She 'walks' away while swinging to either side. Lord knows how she can even stay standing, let alone locomotion. Perhaps the drive to escape the cotton candy flavored minion had something to do with it.
She walks by the supply of hard cider and notes a mulberry colored pony drinking almost directly from the tap. She has a dark pink mane with matching tail. Tonya doesn't remember seeing her before, but that's not unexpected in her state. Before long though, Applejack has lassoed the stranger's rear legs. With a mighty tug, she is separated from the booze.
"I hope," Amanda says, "that this doesn't turn into another 'Hangover' movie."
"Why?" Bobbi asks. "Afraid to wake up next to a tiger? We already got the chimp," she notes while motioning towards Pinkie who at the time was swinging Tarzan-style across the room.
"CAKE DIVE!!!" she bellows before cannon-balling into her multi-colored creation. Her balled up body slams into the cake and serves it up to her friends forcibly by splattering them all with frosted pastry.
==-==-==
Outside, Tonya shuffles her way from the barn that will be her new home for the time being. She can still hear the raging music and is a little happy that everyone is enjoying themselves. Even though she may not seem to be enjoying it herself, she does smile a little.
"Where'sss the friggin' bathroommm around herrrre?" she groans. "Ah welll..." She finds a tall sturdy tree and looks up at it. "Let'sss nott killl thiss one..." She plants a rear hoof to the tree, or at least tries. Another two attempts pass before she finally makes contact. When the coast is clear, (and who really knows with her blurry vision?) she lets loose for a moment. Her eyes close for a moment. Her eyelids flutter.
And she walks away. "Fffeeelll llike a dogggg nowww..."
She stops in her walk and looks up at the stars. She looks away from the barn and the lightshow therein. She can see a glittering tapestry above her. None of the stars are in any kind of order. Small ones. Large ones. Clustered ones. Loners. To the untrained, it's all random. Stargazers can point out multitudes of constellations to take up the entire night sky.
"Arrre yoou up therre, noww?" Tonya asks quietly. "M-Make it okaay? I'm really sssorrryy... I'mmm ssucchh a ffaillurre..."
==-==-==
DOOOM DOOOM DOOOM
"Pinkie...." Twilight sleepily whines. "No more party cannon...."
DOOOM DOOOM DOOOM
"Pinkie..!" she says again. The lavender princess forces open her eyes from the barn floor. She only slightly raises her head above the dirt and hay. Everypony in the room is lying around and smelling of various boozes. Even DJ Pon3 is slumped over her table.
DOOOM DOOOM DOOOM
"Door?" she grouches. "Who the hay could it be....?" She manages to get to her hooves and starts to stumble over to the door. Her condition is so weak that she can't even fold her wings up onto her sides. She just lets them slide across the ground. They pass over her friends new and old as she motions herself towards it.
DOOOM DOOOM DOOOM
Sunlight has started to creep in through the cracks and partially illuminate the room. She can see Pinkie twirling around in a circle. Out cold, yet so much kinetic engery has built up inside of her that she'll never be still, even in rest. As she passes, she may have thought of tipping her over for a laugh. But, she'd probably just bounce around on the floor like a fish.
DOOOM DOOOM
"Yes!!" Twilight replies before the third knock. She remains the pony in red from the incident earlier in the day--or actually yesterday. She grasps the handle of the door and uses what strength she has to force it open. Ordinarily, she might 'magic' it open with her horn, but she's far too hungover to concentrate.
She finally gets the door open wide enough to receive who is on the other side, and is unsubtly blinded by a tall blazingly white alicorn on the other side. The sun directly behind her doesn't help, either. "Princess.... Celestia?" she asks. "Wh...what are you doing here?"
"Did you not receive my letter?"
"Yeah...." Twilight groans. "The mirror won't work right now..."
"I sent another later in..." The regal white alicorn with golden adornments looks over her prized student for a long moment. Twilight is disheveled. Covered in red. Bleary eyed. Her gaze turns towards the interior and finds many ponies laying around, not moving (except for Pinkie). The Princess of the Sun's eyes grow wide as she sees the scene before her. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
The tall white alicorn walks into the barn with a cautious expression on her face. She is easily twice as tall as anypony else in the room. Her usual golden adornments have nary a scuff on them. Her multi-hued mane and tail flow in the slightest breeze. Her demeanor is quite serious as she looks over the bodies of 14 ponies of all different colors and types laying about. She nudges one of them and slightly moves her before rolling back to where she was. She looks down at everypony with utmost concern on her face.
At the door, her prized student Twilight Sparkle stands behind two guards and their crossed spears. Her eyes are red from the wild party that she just woke from. Her normally purple coat has been died red by accident, which has led others to think she's done some heinous act. Her head hangs low as she believes she has failed her mentor. While her head pounds mightily from a hangover, she worries about the consequences of her actions.
"Alright everypony!!" Princess Celestia says in a rumbling voice. Her wings flare out in reflex to her concern. "Everypony up!! Up!! Up!!" She rears up and clops her front hooves together to accentuate her point. But, with her golden shoes, it is a rather metallic sound. To some it sounds like hammers going head to head. For others, it sounds like the inside of church bells.
Between the noise and the burning morning Sun, consciousness returns once more. All about the barn floor, the rainbow of colors starts to slither and wake as they start to move about. There are plenty of groans and other bodily noises. Many complain about their headaches. None seem to comprehend that royalty is in their midst.
The princess excuses their lack of bowing for now, lenient on the fact they are quite confused and out of sorts. She watches the scene (as well as some of the guests) unfold. The DJ rises up off her portable party machine with wobbly legs. She adjusts her glasses and puts a hoof to her temple. Celestia notes that one pony in particular has been tied up--decidedly away from the barrels of alcohol. She uses a light aura to undo the poor thing's ropes.
Above, Rainbow Dash is hunched over a rafter and awakens slowly. Fluttershy is nearby, but had slept on her back. When she awakes, she unceremoniously drops to the floor.
In one corner of the room there are three ponies laying together. Two mares (one red, one tan) she does not recognize and the lone red stallion. The three of them look quite content with each other's embrace. Her mind comes up with scenarios that may have transpired, but dismisses them as too farfetched. But with such strong drinks involved, anything is possible.
As the three stir, Tonya's eyes open wide to her legs wrapped around the big red beast. Her memory is dark and foggy at best and can't recall what may or may not have happened. But, waking up to this certainly points her brain in certain directions. From behind him, Casie rises up with her own legs wrapped around him--leading Tonya to further worry.
"My, Tonya..." Casie remarks as she nears her friend. "I didn't know you could do that...." she remarks with a nuzzle to Tonya's fearful snout.
In the meantime, Big McInstosh awakes to having two mares to his sides. And all he can think of is that this does not bode well for him. When Casie has removed herself, Big Mac quickly does the same and tries to distance himself from both of them.
In other news, Rarity lies with Spike neatly wrapped in her hooves. There is a little shock as they awake to the sight of each other. While they are good friends, both of them fear that a line has been crossed.
Rarity removes herself from the situation as she notes something much more important going on. She and the other four of her elite group gather together in front of Celestia and sit on their hindquarters. They bow to their ruler as they always do. The quintet are all flush as they assemble. Except Pinkie, who naturally looks that way. That might explain quite a lot...
Celestia waves a hoof towards her guard to release Twilight into the barn again. Twilight has managed to fold up her wings and quickly gallops over to her friends. "Granny Smith," Celestia addresses in a slightly soothing voice, "Big McIntosh, Berryshine, DJ Pon3. I would ask that you give the rest of us the room please."
The listed ponies start to stumble out of the barn in a broken line. Big Mac carries his grandmother on his back. Berryshine staggers out after being tied up for several hours. The DJ is the last. "Hold, DJ," she says. Her horn glows with a golden aura. She uses this to pull a scroll out from her golden collar and gives it to her subject.
Her lips part a little from confusion and takes the message with her white horn with a weakened red aura. She unrolls it to read it. After a moment she looks up to her princess and gives a little wobbly nod.
"Excellent," Celestia smiles. "You may go, then." She watches the last to leave out of the corner of her eye. Her guards close the barn door to give her majesty some privacy. She sighs a little when they are finally alone.
"Princess Celestia--" Twilight starts.
But the she raises a hoof and stops Twilight in her tracks. "For starters, I must apologize, Twilight. I jumped the gun a little. Your appearance and the scene behind you were an easy misunderstanding. I mean, you look like you killed everypony."
"The truth is," Twilight replies, "it's paint from the barn." Besides what she has said, she interally groans 'a little? You should know me better than that.'
"I understand." She takes a moment to look around the barn again and imagines what must have happened. "I sent you a second letter last night. I suppose it got lost somewhere in the festivities." Her eyes roll towards the cake-crater. "You had cake."
"I made it myself!!" Pinkie shouts. But, she sees her friends suffer extra from their headaches and quickly tones herself down. "Sorry..."
"You had cake and I wasn't invited?" Celestia asks with a raised eyebrow. "I ought to banish you all to the moon for that!!"
==-==-==
Somewhere in Canterlot castle, Princess Luna has tucked herself into bed. She is working on falling asleep with her crown on her nightstand but her other black adornments tossed aside carelessly. A sudden chill runs down her spine. The dark alicorn pops her head up and looks around with a momentary worry.
==-==-==
"I'm just kidding!" Celestia relents with a smile. In truth, she knew that her subjects were far too hungover to understand sarcasm. She used that against them to make it more fun for herself.
Despite that, Fluttershy and Rarity faint. A foreleg from a friend on either side of Fluttershy prevents her fall. When she is righted again, she slumps forward. Meanwhile, Spike had caught Rarity from behind and pushed her forward likewise. Celestia uses a little of her magic to gently reawaken the Elements of Kindness and Generosity.
"In the letter that none of you seemed to have seen, I mentioned that I was going to be passing by on my way to Maneapolis. I had hoped that I would be able to spend at least a brief period of time with our new visitors." Her gaze rises a little to the row of ponies behind her familiar six. "Please. Come forward."
The Mane Six part like the red sea with Applejack shouldering Fluttershy off to one side. From behind them, Bobbi and her three visible friends present themselves. A light fluttering can be heard as Kat moves quietly. Bobbi and her friends lower themselves just as the others did, but Celestia motions them to rise. "I'm Bobbi Lee," the mute golden one says. "It's an honor to meet you."
"Amanda Silver, Your Highness."
"Casie Fadro, Your Majesty."
"Tonya Garrett."
Celestia's gaze rises above the group. "And you, young pegasus?"
"Huh?" Kat wonders. "You can see me?"
"Yes. I can. Sunlight has many wavelengths. Although you are invisible to white light, the Sun is my domain and I can see you with other methods."
There are a number of them clopping hooves together in amazement.
"Oh, stop," Celestia says. "It's not a big deal."
Kat drops to the ground and bows. "Kathryn Stewart, Your Grace. Everyone calls me Kat. Twilight has been trying to help me fix this problem."
"IS it a problem?" Celestia asks.
"Not really," Kat says. "Kinda fun at times," she says with an invisible smile. She was about to note the 'free muffins', but she may be able to swindle Spike again in the future.
Tonya looks up at the white alicorn with her mouth slightly agape. "You're tall..." she mumbles out.
"Yes," Celestia smiles kindly. "I am."
"Does that mean you're old?" she adds, which quickly shocks the princess.
"TONYA!!!" her four friends shout as they quickly tackle her.
"I'm so sorry!!!" Amanda tells the wide-eyed princess. She is no less shocked that Tonya said this than the royalty before her hearing it.
"One of these days," Kat growls, "I'm GOING to tape your mouth shut!!!"
But, Celestia just starts to laugh at the exchange before her. "Oh ho ho!!" she chuckles. "Don't worry about it," she says. "I've heard plenty worse in my royal court. Her spontaneous nature is quite amusing!!" But, her smile fades just a little. "But, Tonya, I would not ask those questions of my sister, Princess Luna. She wouldn't take it as well." She stops for a moment before continuing. "I would verymuch like for all of you to come to Canterlot for a formal introduction. I would expect that you're all sober."
"Sorry..." a chorus of eleven remark together.
"That's alright...." Celestia sighs. "I would never dream of stopping you from enjoying yourselves. I just thought all of this would be different." She steps back a little. "But, I should be off. I have a meeting."
"Princess Celestia?" Applejack speaks up.
"Yes?"
"That there barrel on the end ain't been touched yet. Take it as a token of appreciation. Be careful. It's STRONG."
Celestia looks over to it and smiles. "I will. Thank you, Applejack. I look forward to seeing you all again." She gracefully walks out of the barn and easily lifts said barrel with her magic. For a second, she sticks her head back in. "So-ber." When she exits the barn again, she puts the gift in her chariot.
"Don't drink and drive!!" Pinkie Pie shouts. "Take acid and teleport!!"
When she has finally departed with one final chuckle, the entire group inside the barn collapses in on itself with long sighs of relief. "Tonya...." Amanda growls. "You REALLY have to learn to cork it. Really? Calling royalty OLD?!"
Casie shakes her head a little. "I'm just glad she has such a great sense of humor. I know of a few kings and queens who would behead you for something that small!!"
"Pinkie," Twilight asks. "When we go to Canterlot, we'll need another cake like you made for last night."
"Of course!!" she chirps.
"And no cake diving this time!!" Rainbow Dash adds.
"Awwww..." Pinkie whines.
--Epilog--
The day has been long. Princess Celestia has been away from Canterlot for the duration. It was scheduled as such, so she hadn't bothered Luna to take over for her again. Besides being kind to her sister, she remembers what happened last time.
She walks back into the castle halls with a certain amount of exhaustion. She cracks her neck to one side. Her yawn is almost a bellow as she trots in.
"Sister!!" Luna calls as she canters happily towards her. "How fares thee?"
"I'm fine, Luna. Long day."
But, the Princess of the Moon cocks her head to the side a little. "What has happened? Did you meet our new visitors? You seem ill at ease."
"When I got there, I stumbled upon the remnants of their party. Everyone seemed to be having a good time."
"AAHH!!" Luna gasps. "And you were extended no invitation. We see now!"
"And there was cake."
"CAKE?! And your prized student thought nothing of you?! Such a deplorable turn of events!! A shame that she wouldn't--"
"And one of them called me OLD!!!"
"AAAAAAHHHH!!! Such disrespect!!! We shall have to banish them all at once!!!" But, she quickly embraces her older sister in a loving hug. "Fear not, Tia. Age is but a number. Even if it is well over a thousand."
"Gee," Celestia groans. "Thanks."
"You are powerful, intelligent, graceful, and beautiful. When that one is aged and infirm, we shall return to mock them."
"Thank you, dear Sister. But, I am not banishing any of them," Celestia notes.
"A shot from the cannon would surely--"
"Noo!!"
"You are no fun," Luna snorts.
"Goodnight, Luna," Celestia says as she makes her way to her bedchamber.
"Maybe a--" Luna remarks quietly with a hoof on her chin.
"No, Luna!!" Celestia calls from the down the hall. She pays no mind to Luna's dissatisfied growl as she begrudgingly relents to the older sister.
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.
"Aaahhh..." Tonya grumbles from one corner of the barn. She raises her head a little and looks around. Her mane is a complete mess, but that's perfectly natural for this one. "Hadn't slept like that for some time..."
"Lucky you..." Amanda groans.
"Anypony seen my pillow?" Kat asks from somewhere.
The tan pony that is Tonya makes her way to her hooves and quietly lumbers her way to where the others have semi-gathered. As she approaches, she can hear yawns floating between them. One after another, their heads swing back as their jaws force out the exhaustive sound. As the others have gathered in an imperfect circle, Tonya sits with them. "Um... guys?"
Three visible equines and one not so visible one turn towards her with baggy eyes. She can see that maybe this isn't the best time for this. They're all freshly awoken and supposedly none of them have been caffinated yet. "Nice to see you up and around," Amanda greets. "Are you feeling better?"
"Y-Yeah..." Tonya replies. She uses a front hoof to scrape the back of her head. Not out of necessity, but out of habit. "Kinda got a kick in the head last night. Some weird dream with some black pony. Really weird. But..."
"What is it, Tonya?" Bobbi asks.
"Um...." she says with a hestitant voice. "I... It's... You know..."
An invisible force slips around Tonya's muzzle and starts to move it about. "C'mon, Tonya," Kat says likely with a grin. While Tonya fights her off, Kat giggles and continues. "You move your mouth. You flap your tongue. Words come out. You of all people are good at this." And then she releases her friend's mouth and puts a foreleg around Tonya's shoulders.
"I"m sorry..." Tonya says with a sunken head. "I let you all down when you needed me. And it led to all this. We would've put away that bitch if I had just gotten my shit together. Please... forgive me...."
"Tonya..." Amanda says in a comforting tone as she walks closer. "You were in a horrible state when all that went down. You just lost something very precious. You were in no shape to fight. I for one am not blaming you."
"It was a strategy," Casie points out. "I would bet money that those trolls we were fighting planned on that happening. They took advantage of your weakness and struck at the rest of us."
"Tonya," Bobbi says, "I know you blame yourself for everything that's happened. Don't. I know you think we all think badly of you. Don't. These guys got forces far beyond what we can fight. They're trying to drive a wedge in between us."
"Divide and conquer," Kat muses.
"We got divided," Tonya adds. "And we got conquered."
"Yeah, well," Kat says. "We ain't dead yet."
Tonya starts to notice that all four of them have gathered close to her. "But, what can we do? We have our elements here, but we have nothing when we go back. What are we going to do?"
"We'll think of something," Kat says as she tightens her hug. "We always do."
"Thanks guys..." Tonya says with a little sob. "You're the best friends I've ever had..."
"We're the ONLY friends you've ever had," Kat notes. However, the other three around Tonya start to glare in her general vicinity. "Whoops... Sorry..."
"We're not friends," Bobbi says sternly. There is a long moment of shock as everypony looks at her with confused looks. "We're family. And family takes care of family."
"Let's just put it behind us," Kat says quietly. "But if you DON'T 'get your shit together' by the time we get back, I WILL kick your ass!!!"
"Seconded," Bobbi grins.
"Thirded," Amanda sneers.
"Fourthed," Casie finishes.
"So, we're good?" Tonya asks quietly.
"All is forgiven," Amanda responds.
Just as the comment leaves her mouth, a sound is heard. Like a balloon being vented slowly. But, it quickly accelerates into a small but thunderous sound. The sound is distinctly heard from under Tonya's rump.
"I'm... going to let that go," Amanda says with a wince.
A moment later, however, Tonya's friends quickly zip away from her in four different directions. Some hold their snouts as the horrendous odor comes through. "Tonya!!" Kat scoffs. "What did you EAT?!"
==-==-==
Later on in the day, both Amanda and Casie have departed their temporary home. Casie has run off to the workshop of the glassblower to practice her new talent. Amanda has left as well, presumably to go help Rarity.
While not needed at the moment, Bobbi is relaxing in the barn with a newspaper floating in her horn's field. She hasn't had a lot of training on using the strange appendage, but she seems at least able to hold up things. While she sits there, she reads about the world around her.
In one corner of their abode, Tonya continues to experiment with her powers, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. Mainly, she wants to become fully human again. Although being a small equine is not horrible, the thought of her natural self beckons.
She manages to stand on two legs and start a shift into human form. Her legs lengthen. Her torso widens and grows (as well as producing two significant lumps on her chest). Her head loses its topical ears while side-born lobes grow out. Her muzzle shrinks into a flat mouth. Her arms stretch out and all of her limbs twist around to a human stance. Fingers grow out from her front hooves, toes from her rear ones. Her tail shrivels away.
And so she stands as a (naked) human again. She smiles at the accomplishment and flexes her fingers. She bends her arms.
"Three," Bobbi mutters quietly. "Two. One."
Tonya's humanized form snaps back into a pony three times as fast as she changed out of it. The effect is so sudden and so hard that she is thrown upside-down into a pile of haybales a good ten feet behind her.
The mute gold pony looks over at Tonya for a brief moment and sees that she is unhurt. The tan pony (invertedly) stares angrily into the distance as if to curse her fate. And Bobbi believes that as long as she's not howling in pain that she's not badly injured.
There's been a fly buzzing around her for a fair amount of time. She tried to shoo it away on a number of occasions, but it seems to return whenever it wants. Kind of like a bad relative.
While she reads one section of the paper, a second field wraps around the sports section of the newspaper and quietly rolls it up in place. Hoofball season is starting. The paper should deliver extra impact.
Her eyes slide away from her reading material to the little buzzer floating around merrily. She uses one of the used cider barrels as a table, as do her friends.
WHACK!!! Bobbi smiles a little and uses the rolled up paper to sweep away the bug. She's been told that Fluttershy is an animal lover, but even she could forgive something like this? Probably not. Best not tell her.
Kat can't be seen, but there's a definite impression on a pile of hay in the corner. There's a fair amount of snickering coming from that direction as well. It could be very well that she's plotting something.
And Tonya realizes that one of them has been delegated as her 'babysitter.' She's never been alone since the others have run into her reunion with them. And she realizes that this is no coincidence. She's being watched. Carefully.
"Bobbi?" Tonya asks.
"Yeah?" Bobbi looks over to Tonya's direction and sets down her paper. She sees Tonya before her. She looks a little worried and still quite depressed. But, not as much as before. "What is it?"
She doesn't say anything, but grimaces as a new color washes over her body. It changes everything as it goes. Her coat goes mute gold. Her mane changes to blonde. Her eyes change to blue. And she grows a little. A horn rises out of her forehead to complete the image. Even the cutie mark on Bobbi's flank has been copied. "How do I look?" Even her voice is identical.
"Not bad," Bobbi notes. A part of her is a little upset that her form has been copied without permission, but she lets it go for now. She's not in the mood to yell at Tonya. "Does it work?" she wonders as Bobbi raises a hoof to 'her' horn.
"I don't think so," 'Bobbi' replies. "I don't feel anything from it. Ah, well... I can still stab somepony with it."
"TONYA!!!"
"Just kidding!!!" she spouts as she backs up and returns to her former self. "These ponies are really nice... I could stay here awhile. Heck, I'd stay here forever. Nice and peaceful."
"Can't do that, kiddo," Bobbi notes. "We've got work to do, remember? Gonna need you for it."
"Can we at least come back?"
She smiles a little. "Sure. After we deal with our problems back home, we'll try to come back here. Unless of course we're UNABLE to come back..."
"Right...." Tonya looks around a bit and finds that the two of them are the only ones in the room. "Bobbi? I'm gonna go out. I wanna see what's out there. I think it's about time I stretched my legs."
There is a moment of thought for Bobbi as she considers this. It pleases Bobbi that Tonya wants to get out and do more. She's glad that her depression is losing its grip on her. But, this still IS Tonya. No force on Earth (or Equestria) can keep her from doing something really stupid. And making a mess in the process. Although, she might be in competition with the Cutie Mark Crusaders on that one.
"Couple things," Bobbi tells her.
"Yeah?"
"Don't make a spectacle of your abilities. Don't go changing into every pony you see." Which Bobbi realizes-- she will.
"But-- My powers are goofy here. I want to know what I can do. I can change my shape, but I can't be human again."
"Probably not the best idea anyway," Bobbi notes. "I don't see any humans around. Ponies seem to be dominant here. Maybe whatever--"
"--Or whoever--"
"--maybe it's just for your own safety. Go, then. See what you can do. But, Tonya? Stay. Out. Of. Trouble."
"Who? Me?"
"Yes! YOU!!"
Tonya smiles a little and starts to make her way toward the door. After all the time of her self-imposed exile, she's actually eager to get out for once. Bobbi is happy to see this as an improvement. It means Tonya's recovering from her trauma.
However, Bobbi turns towards the haystack in the corner and shoots a tiny bolt of energy into the pile. It stops just short of contact by some invisible force. A rustle of motion displaces the hay as Kat rubs her tush. Bobbi just 'looks at her' and nods sideways towards the door that her other friend just exited.
There is a slight updraft as the invisipony takes off and up through the hay loft. The large door at the end serves as a discreet opening and exit. Once outside, she hops onto a cloud and quietly follows Tonya down the road. She uses the cloud to ride like a kickboard, only using her wings to 'stroke' along. There's also an instinctive yet useless thought of using the cloud to hide behind like a bush.
==-==-==
Tonya certainly brings new meaning to the term 'earth pony'. The natural definition in this world is that such a creature does not have wings like a pegasus or a horn like a unicorn. Some may think of the term as a complimentary way of saying 'nothing special.' But, in truth, earth ponies tend the lands and grow crops. While they don't have additional appendages like the other two, they are just as important.
Tonya has a firm grasp on the earth element as she can make it bend to her will easily. She can easily make constructs out of the ground or destroy them as she wishes. No other earth pony here would ever come close to that.
Additionally, Tonya can use the powers of the ground to add extra mass to her transformations. In the past, she has been able to change into massively sized creatures by borrowing extra mass from the ground beneath her feet... or as now hooves. Just as so, she shed that extra weight when returning to normal. And just as so, she can shed her normal weight into the ground if her desired form is smaller than her own.
Her friends are no doubt jealous that she has infinite control over her own weight.
As she wanders through the peaceful scenary, she sees that the land is lush and untainted. The air is as clean as ever. The water is pure. The trees are never ending green. The sky is unblocked by horrendously tall buildings. The grass is soft under her hooves.
One day, the residents here will invent automobiles. Tonya frowns a little at the thought. Maybe they'll get it right where her own people got it wrong.
She comes across a white rabbit as it hops along the road. She looks down at the bunny. It stops for her and seems quite impatient. Is it... glaring at her? What did she do so wrong? Maybe it's the fact that she's so much larger than it is.
With a quick look around, Tonya sees that nopony is near her. She twists her muzzle into a strange grin and starts shrinking. Tonya's form changes as well. As her body dwindles in mass, her ears lengthen. Her tail shortens into a puff. And all of her legs shrink into her body. Yet her feet grow considerably, comparatively speaking. All her extra mass has been donated to the ground below her, blended in nicely so nopony would ever notice.
The white rabbit used as a model drops its jaw in amazement and grabs its ears to pull them around its head. It then dashes off at a frantic speed. It would scream if it had a voice.
Meanwhile Tonya checks out her new tiny body. White fur all around. She smiles a bit as she paws at her new long floppy ears. And she suddenly has a hankering for carrots.
"What?" a quiet voice asks. "What is it?"
Tonya remembers this voice. She looks up and can see why the rabbit was so scared. A giant yellow pony with pink mane towers over her. One misstep from her could easily crush Tonya.
"Oh...." Fluttershy remarks quietly. "You found a new friend!!"
Tonya's little mind compares this to 'Jurassic Park.' The creatures were so much larger than the humans, just as Fluttershy is to her now. 'Don't eat me' runs through her mind. The knowledge of them being vegetarian doesn't seem to bubble to the surface.
The rabbit model seems to be doing some sort of game of Charades with Fluttershy as it tries to get her to understand what is happening. With all its hand gestures, it starts jumping in place and pounding its foot on the ground.
"Oh, Angel-bunny..." Fluttershy says happily. "Don't be jealous."
And she misses the point completely, which causes the rabbit to face-palm.
Tonya takes the opportunity to run as fast as she can. Away from both of them. The rabbit knows her secret, and it's only a matter of time before Fluttershy actually gets the point. Tonya would rather be far away at that point.
A curious Fluttershy and the rabbit quickly pursue her. Tonya runs faster, but her tiny new form won't allow any additional speed. She might get caught and examined by these two. And that would not be a good day.
From... somewhere, a powerful gust of wind comes in from nowhere and blows against Fluttershy and her bunny. While Angel rolls away in a white ball of fur, Fluttershy is tossed back into the shrubbery.
And Tonya is given her advantage. She makes every use of it.
==-==-==
After once again not being seen, she shifts her form back into herself. To regain her mass, she pulled up the ground beneath her hooves and added it to her body. Only four hoof marks are present as evidence.
She found a spot on the road that seems to be fairly well travelled. She hides in the bushes alongside the road and watches ponies as they walk by merrily. They talk. They chat. They gossip.
And most of it falls on deaf ears as Tonya knows nopony here. She could care less what they gab about. She's only interested in what they look like. Like the mint green unicorn mare with yellow eyes and a harp on her flank. She stays lying down behind the shrubbery as to not cause concern. As she watches her walk by, she quietly assumes her appearance. She looks herself over and changes back to herself within moments.
Another earth pony walks by. She sees neither wings or horn on this one. It seems to be dashing after her previous test subject. Tonya lies low still and changes her form again. Pale yellow coat with a mane and tail of purple and pink. Wrapped candies on her flank. Another earth pony however doesn't interest her. She is one. She needs something... different.
She knows that Kat is a pegasus. She'd like to try one of those. Tonya has had wings before by using her powers. She can surely get them to work for her. But, she needs to at least see one of them before she can try. And she can't SEE Kat. Fate is kicking her again.
But, her curiosity is piqued as she sees such a target floats on by. Although this one is a bit strange. Even for this place. She jumps to her hooves and looks directly at the pegasus that has caught her attention. Nopony else is around, so this won't be all bad, right? And she changes. Her coat melts into an asphalt gray. Her eyes turn yellow. Her mane and tail are a definite blonde color. Her flank has bubbles on it. Wings sprout from Tonya's sides. But, something isn't right...
Technically, they appear as twins. But, her 'friend' has something Tonya can't readily replicate. The pegasus before her smiles wide and bounces a bit at the sight of herself. Her eyes roll around a bit as she looks over her 'twin'.
And then it hits Tonya. And Tonya subsequently hits her head against a tree. Once. Twice. Four times. After a sufficient beating, her eyes wander on their own just like her target. She flaps her wings and find that they can take her up.
Her little friend waves her hoof from the ground and sees her off. Who knows where she's going. Who knows where she came from--although that would be a very good question. And did she just meow at Tonya as she left?
Tonya finds that her wings are enough to keep aloft and starts to fly around in earnest around the area. Some time earlier, she noted that some of the winged ones were able to sit on the clouds as if they were nothing. Naturally, she's eager to try out this new feature.
There are plenty of clouds in the area. Some are much larger than others. But, she finds one that is actually a decent size to sit on. Not huge. Not tiny. She leans her flank over to it while her wings continue to flap. Her newly gray butt sits on the cloud, and she believes herself to be fine.
As soon as her wings fold in, Tonya falls through the puffiness to the ground below.
"TONYA!!" Kat yells from nearby. She watches as her friend plummets to the ground while her wings flap aimlessly to get her airborne again. Tonya's in a tailspin and can't get out of it.
The invisible pegasus darts towards her friend, but Tonya slams into the ground before she can be reached. "Tonya..." She can only look on in horror as Tonya has created a little crater for herself.
"Ugghhh..." she moans as her unnaturally gray self raises a hoof. "That didn't work..."
"Oh my!!" a sweet, quiet and caring voice calls from the edge of the impact.
"Ah, no..." Tonya groans.
A yellow pegasus with pink mane looks to find a mare lying within. How does Fluttershy keep finding her so quickly? "Are you... okay?" Setting aside the crater left by her impact, this could be a standard question.
Angel hops in moments later and impatiently yanks on Fluttershy's leg. A paw of his points to his open maw as if wanting lunch. Probably does.
"Will be...." Tonya groans. She manages to get her hooves under her and climbs out of her mess. She cracks her neck to the side and looks at Fluttershy with a mild curiosity. But, as soon as she looks at her, she slips and changes into her like she had been practicing earlier.
"EEEPP!!" is about all Fluttershy can get out as her eyes widen at the talent that Tonya possesses. "You... You're...."
And the bunny sidekick goes nuts as it points at Tonya enthusiastically.
"CHANGELING!!!" is shouted from above.
Both Fluttershy and her clone look up to see a diving pegasus as blue as the sky with her own personal rainbow. Rainbow Dash is quickly approaching and aiming directly at Tonya. Having seen the exchange from above, she already knows who's the fraud.
And suddenly Rainbow drops between the two and quickly bucks Tonya away from Fluttershy. Her back hooves kick into Tonya's body and send her sailing back into the crater. "Get out of our town!!"
But, Tonya cannot respond directly. She again escapes the hole she's made, only to find herself in a much deeper one. While her head spins from Rainbow's kick, her body turns into Rainbow Dash herself.
"What a fraud!! NOTHING beats the original!!"
During this whole fiasco, Kat floats above and tries to reason out what to do. It seems that Tonya has stepped into a very big hole, and Kat's not sure how to get her out of it. She seems to be something that the ponies fear, which could get her into big trouble by itself. She can't just airlift Tonya out without a larger problem for herself. "I hope this works..." she mumbles as an idea strikes.
"I suppose I'm going to have to kick your flank then," Rainbow says with some enthusiasm. Her posture lowers and her legs spread as she begins to setup a fighting stance for herself.
Something taps on Tonya's shoulder. "Run." is whispered into her ear as Tonya herself starts to fidget with confusion. Her legs buckle. Her muzzle bites itself. Her eyes slant with worry. And her body starts changing again and again out of fright itself. The mint green unicorn. Her companion. The strange pegasus.
But, she eventually runs off as commanded. While she runs, a strong wind starts to come in from behind her. It gets stronger and stronger while not much time at all passes. Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy struggle against the sudden powerful gust. Neither can move enough against it to pursue and they can only watch as she gets away.
And eventually the wind dies down as well. Fluttershy and Rainbow were both pushed back some by this strange event, but are otherwise unhurt. They look each other for a moment before looking in Tonya's direction.
The bunny landed upside down and flails its arms as if saying 'whatever!'
==-==-==
Tonya has finally stopped running and leans her exhausted body against a tree. She has finally shed her disguises and returned to herself. She breathes heavy for a moment as she recovers from her retreat.
"You owe me," Kat remarks. "If we're really lucky, they won't figure out that the two of us were involved in this. They didn't see your real self, did they?"
"Don't think so..."
"Then they'll be chasing a ghost while we get home. Now!"
"Alright, MOM."
"HEY!!! I just saved your ass!!"
"Yeah... Sorry."
"Really, Tonya. What ARE we going to do with you?"
"I could think of some things...." WHACK!! An invisible hoof cracks her in the back of the head.
"Not the time, genius!!!"
==-==-==
And a short time later, Tonya returns home to the barn. Escorted by an unseen Kat, Tonya presents herself before Bobbi with a somber face.
"Did anypony see you?" Bobbi asks.
"I don't think so...."
"Are you hurt at all?"
"No..." Tonya replies. Although she may still be sore from that rough landing.
Bobbi sighs and hugs Tonya. "Then I suppose there's no harm done." She then releases her. "This time."
"Really?"
Bobbi swings her front leg about and cracks Tonya in the back of the head. "No! Not really. You just created a panic in town!"
But, Tonya ducks down a bit as she holds her head. "Sorry!! I didn't mean it!!"
"I am going to have to keep you here until that little storm you created dies down. Do you understand?"
"Yeah..."
"Good. I will release you in time. And I hope that next time, you won't make such a mess."
Somewhere in Kat's mind the words 'Good Luck' float around.
Once again, Tonya curses her fate. It's easy to see as the tan earth pony lies flat on the floor of the barn. Her head lays on the ground between her front legs. Her eyes stare at nothing. Those half-open balls of curiosity simply stare into the distance along the floor. Her ears lay flat against her head in defeat. In fact, nothing on her has moved in a while.
A red-coated pony whom all the residents know as Casie quietly works on her own projects while Tonya groans about her mistakes. Casie uses her talent at fire to practice blowing glass. A thin flame flows out of a small opening between her lips while she works to control it. Too much, and it will fry her project. Too little, and it will be ineffective.
There isn't even an invisible extra in the room. Kat has flown off to do her chores for the weather service. Strangely, she was snickering as she exited. Between Tonya and Kat, there's always an adventure on the horizon.
Tonya looks about from her pout and notes that while Casie is playing babysitter, she's not particularly interested in what she's up to. And in her grounding (ironic!) she once again craves freedom. She scrapes the ground with her hoof and notes that there is no actual floor. Her eyes shift down and sees the dirt below.
Casie works on her technique and tries to refine how to do things. The shape she is trying to achieve is not important. She needs to know how to make this angle. Or that shape. With a bucket of sand at her side, she may actually be here a while.
As long as Tonya remains quiet and out of trouble, Casie has no problems. She understands that her friend has been through a lot more than she bargained for. Sadly, Casie doesn't spend much time with her and doesn't know the intricacies of her life. She knows that her parents have passed and that she spent most of her life in an orphanage. Beyond that, and her abilities, Casie is ashamed to say she doesn't know her very well.
Outside, there is a disturbance in the ground leading away from the barn. A very minor something is displacing the earth and slipping out from under the door. Very quickly it rises from the dirt and takes on a pony shape. Messed up hair to go with a messed up mind. A sneer for which she will steer. Little brown eyes.
"And where do you think YOU'RE going?!"
Almost as fast as Tonya slipped out, a ring of thick fire surrounds her and screams at a fear within her. She's never been afraid of fire, but something is shouting NOOO!!! Something instinctive to her pony form stops her in her tracks.
Casie drops in front of her only a moment later. She stands firm on her four legs with her chest out and her head high. "Not gonna happen," Casie tells her. "But that was a good try!! Leaving a statue of yourself while running away? That'd be a good tactic to use. And you use it to break out of house arrest? What a waste."
"How'd you know?"
"I can see the heat spectrum, Tonya. Fire, you know? Gives me all sorts of fun abilities. I saw you 'went cold.' So I figured you'd make a break for it."
"How'd you know I was going this way?"
"Your habits tell you to use the door."
"You guessed," Tonya snickers.
"Okay, I guessed," Casie replies. "Now, let's get you back inside."
"Catch me if you can!!!" Tonya shouts out. She jumps her flaming obstacle and lands on the ground in a second or two.
Casie, during all this, snaps her tail and catches Tonya's as the shapeshifter is passing. It's not much, but it stops Tonya from escaping for a precious second. It gets Tonya to trip and fall and gives Casie an extra second to stop her again.
But, there was something else...
"What was that?!" Tonya gasps.
"You... felt that too?"
"That was weird..." Tonya gasps.
"Yes, it was...." Casie replies. "Now get inside before I have to carry you in!!!"
==-==-==
Casie returns to her project. She looks over occasionally to her charge and finds that she hasn't moved since their return to the barn. The Tonya statue remains as a reminder of her near-success. And the others will razz her about it later. As for Tonya, Casie found a few ropes in the barn and hung her little friend off the ground where she couldn't try that again. The ropes cover her thoroughly so as to prevent her from escaping as a smaller creature. She came out looking like a rope coccoon with a head. Fortunately that head is pointed up.
"This is cruel and unusual punishment!!" Tonya shouts. "This goes against the Fifth Amendment!!"
"Fifth Amendment is for double jeopardy," Casie casually comments. "You're thinking about the Eighth Amendment." And then Casie turns towards Tonya with a grin. "And that's only if we were back home."
"Urrgghh..." Tonya growls. "I gotta pee!!"
"Then there will be a wet spot."
"Fine!! But as long as I'm your prisoner, can you tell me something?"
"Depends on what it is."
"What did I do?"
"You made a mess yesterday and--"
"NOO!! I meant at the party. You woke up and said something like 'I didn't know you could do that...' What DID I do?"
"Is that what I said?" Casie wonders.
"Something like that..."
"You know, Tonya... We were ALL pretty hammered that night. Especially you. I'm surprised you remember anything!! Are you SURE you heard right?"
".... Pretty sure. I WAS pretty wasted... I don't remember much of... Hey..." Her face sours at a string of thoughts that gallop across her mind. "I'm not gonna get pregnant again, am I?! Please, NO!! I can't take that again!!"
"Don't worry about that," Casie says in a comforting tone.
"Wait... YOU'RE not pregnant, are you?!"
Casie suddenly shoots a massive flame out of her mouth and incinerates her project. Her red coat hides the fact that she has a large blush running up her face. "Well," Casie spouts, "if I was, I'd be the one to worry about it... I think I'm old enough to make that decision, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah..." Tonya sighs. "I suppose..."
==-==-==
As the sun makes its way towards the horizon, the door to the barn opens once again. The sound heralds the return of three ponies that shouldn't be. Kat, Amanda, and Bobbi all walk in after a long day at their respective jobs.
"Casie," Amanda asks. "Why is Tonya pretending to be a caterpiller?"
"You guys said I needed to keep her here," Casie says with a half-smile. "You didn't say how."
"Casie," Amanda continues, "remind me to never let you watch Sundae."
"Or Jacob," Bobbi adds.
"Or Jesse," Kat notes.
"Somepony wanna get me down?!"
There is a slight gust of wind that comes up and towards the bound Tonya. "This might be for the best," Kat snickers. She taps on the rope-coccoon and Tonya sways back and forth against her will. "It'll keep you out of trouble."
"Nice sculpture," Bobbi notes as she taps a hoof on it.
"Yeah, ain't it great?" Tonya replies happily. "It's from my rebellious period!! Really, guys? I gotta get out of here!!"
"And you will," Amanda tells her. "Tomorrow, we all have to go on a trip. We have all been summoned to meet Princess Celestia. Twilight and her friends will be meeting us at the train station at nine. And the message clearly states 'SO-BER.'"
"Great!" Bobbi smiles. "That sounds like fun."
"Why don't we all get some grub?" Kat asks. "I think we all could use some food."
"Sounds good to me!!" Casie says as she starts towards the door. "Where we going?"
"Little place I saw," Kat says. Bobbi and Amanda join her as they leave. "Makes veggie pizzas. It'd be fun to try!"
"I'll buy!" Bobbi smiles as she shuts the door. "Are we going to have Kat lead the way? Is that really wise?"
"Why?" Kat wonders. "I know how to get there."
"That's not the issue," Amanda adds.
While they make their way down the road to get their food, one thing seems to have been forgotten. One detail that has slipped their minds. While they have the money and the appetite...
"Um, guys?" Tonya calls. "Hello? Need some help here!!" She swings her tightly bound prison back and forth in a desperate attempt for attention. "Come back!!"
Tonya listens to the chattering between her friends/family and finds them getting quieter and quieter as time goes on. Before long, the voices of her 'family' have almost completely disappeared.
"Oh, would you chill out?" Kat asks from the darkness. A moment passes and Tonya's prison loosens and drops her flatly on 'herself.' "You know I'd never do that to you."
"But you'd at least get me to believe it."
"Eh. I gotta have SOME fun!! Now let's go!! The others are waiting."
==-==-==
Dinner came and went. As well as their sleep. Morning came around for the five. The crisp night air was again replaced by a warm dawn of the sun. The five took great care to make sure that they were presentable.
Each of the five have rings subtely placed on their bodies. Each is the color of their coat, so it is difficult to see. Bobbi and Amanda, the unicorns, each have a ring at the base of their horns. Tonya and Casie, the earth ponies, wear them as earrings. Kat, the lone pegasus, is invisible entirely so it won't be known unless she says so. Each of these five rings summons a wrap around their bodies. It wraps around the barrel of their bodies with the color (again) of their coat.
Tonya groans a bit though. "We're not gonna be shoved in box cars or anything, are we?"
"Why do you think that?" Amanda asks.
"Well, where we're from we're like farm animals."
"We're NOT where we're from," Casie replies. "I'm sure we'll be treated fine. We may be ponies, but so are they. I highly doubt they'd shove themselves into something so basic."
They arrived at the train station as expected and were greeted by Twilight and her group of friends. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all came together to greet them. Like the five, they also have taken certain measures to look their best.
"No dragon today?" Kat wonders.
"He'll be watching the library while I'm gone," Twilight replies. "The train leaves soon. I just wanted to remind everypony that we are going to meet with royalty. You all are expected to be on your best behavior."
For a long moment, four of the strangers all stare at Tonya. Even a couple of the six narrow their gaze at her for a short period. "What?!" Tonya gasps.
"I seem to recall," Rarity notes, "that a certain pony called Her Highness... OLD."
"Did I do that?" Tonya wonders aloud. "I was pretty hammered at the time..."
"Tonya," Amanda notes, "be 1000% courteous. She holds great power. And we are figurtively camped out on the lawn."
"Yeah yeah..."
"Pinkie?" Twilight asks. "You got the cake?"
"Locked and loaded!!!" she replies with a salute.
"How long a trip?" Kat wonders.
Rainbow Dash pops into the air and points to the mountain in the background. As the newcomers look into the distance, they can vaguely make out a structure built into the side of it. "Canterlot's out there. A few hours."
And, eventually all eleven of them boarded the train one after another. Each of them showed their ticket to the doorpony as they passed. However, the poor soul was a little taken aback when one such ticket floated in mid air past him. "Been working too long..." he muttered to himself.
==-==-==
Tonya's fears about the train were quelled when they entered. While she feared freight cars with hard uncomfortable floors and difficult smells, she found something very different. The train cars were all plush and comfortable. There was plenty of room for them all, but also nice seats to plant themselves in.
"Something wrong?" Twilight asks.
"No, not at all!!!"
Casie walks by, "she was expecting to be treated like cattle."
"Yeah... well.... In our world..."
Applejack tosses a foreleg around Tonya's shoulders. "Don't worry, darlin'. These are the finest seats Ah've ever seen. Ah don't know how things work where ya're all from, but we trah to be hospitable."
==-==-==
As the train makes its way, both groups of ponies start to mingle. Tonya watches from afar as her friends make new ones. Little by little, the two groups start to form one much larger one.
"And you know," Amanda tells Rarity, "I think I can help your store. I have some ideas you might like."
"Oh, do tell!!" Rarity says with a smile. "And might I say I love your outfits? They're simple. And they seem to have a deeper meaning. They don't really seem 'dress up' though..."
"They're not formalwear or anything," Amanda tells her. "More like work clothes. We wear these when we have serious business to take care of. But, it seemed like a good idea to do something 'up' if we're on official business. I was hoping not to, though..."
"Oh, why is that?"
"Because, whenever we wear these, it means we're going into a fight. Our uniforms have been stained with bad omen, I guess...."
"Oh, dear.... I'm sorry. But, worry not!!! This is a royal summons to meet and greet. Nobody is going to get hurt!! Tell you what, darling. How about I design something special for all of you? Something for a special occasion?"
"I wouldn't want to put you out," Amanda says as she waves a hoof around.
"Nonsense!! I'd be happy to!! Think of it as a welcoming gift!"
~~~
"So," Applejack asks, "what do ya do back home?"
"Police officer," Bobbi replies. "You know. Kick flank. Take names."
"Well, that's an honest day's work if Ah ever heard it. Ya make any big cases?"
"I've had my fair share," Bobbi notes. "I've run across some that are so damn high they could never think straight."
"High?" Applejack wonders.
"You know... Or maybe you don't... Let's just say they're under 'special' influences."
"Ya mean, like a potion 'r somethin'?"
"Yeah!!! That's right!! Some of these guys brew their own... potions. And their minds go off in directions you'd never dream of!!"
"Sounds danger'us!!"
"You don't know the half of it. I once saw this one guy run down the street --completely naked-- telling me that the aliens are trying to get into his mind."
"Ya get 'im?"
"PPHHTT!! Of course!! I was wearing tube socks!! You can't outrun someone in those! Turns out he had so much 'potion' in him that his mind wasn't worth getting into anyway!!"
~~~
"And then I pulled a Sonic Rainboom and saved everyone!!! All six of them!!"
"WOW!!" Kat gasps. "That's awesome!!"
"Six?" Rarity asks as she cranes her head in a little. "Oh, that's right!! You and your ego were the two extra!!" she says with a snarky giggle.
"Ha ha!! I seem to remember saving your flank!"
"Of which you know I am eternally grateful. Doesn't mean I can't correct your story, dear."
"You carried four ponies?" Kat asks. "That's awesome!! You must be pretty strong!!"
"Oh, yeah!! One of the strongest there is!!"
"'Cept Bulk Biceps," Applejack interjects.
"Or Iron Will," Fluttershy meekly adds.
"At least I'm the fastest flier!!" Rainbow points out with a wince. She waits for a second as yet another pony may chime in. But, apparently they will allow her this one moment. "OH, Ye--"
Twilight adds "until you've seen Princess Celestia in a hurry."
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Dash complains.
~~~
Casie sits quietly in her seat while observing the others. She watches her friends make new ones. But, she doesn't join them in their merriment. Although they are her friends, Casie spends a lot of time away from them. Amanda and Tonya live in the same city, so they spend a fair amount of time together. Bobbi can quickly come to them when in need. And Kat enjoys her time with Tonya and Amanda.
And Casie? Kind of a social recluse. While not antisocial, she spends a lot of time busy with other things.
And while she watches her friends, she can't help but notice a bright pink pony sitting next to her. She is so hard to miss that it isn't even funny. She looks over to Pinkie and watches as she mimics her every move. When she turns her head towards her, Pinkie looks away in the same direction. If Casie scractches her nose, Pinkie does the exact same.
"What are you doing?" they ask each other.
By that point, Casie understood what was going on. Mock by mime. Everything that she was going to do, Pinkie would do the same. "Stop that," they chorus.
"What's your angle?" Casie asks on her own.
"I just want to know why you're so far away."
"Far away?" Casie grins. "They call. I come. They're all acutely aware."
"But... Why would they have to call at all?"
"Busy."
"With?"
Casie smiles a little. "I'd tell you. But I don't think the rating on this world goes that high."
"Oooh... Will you tell me when the scene changes?!"
There is a moment where Casie smiles a little. "Sure!"
~~~
Tonya has been passing the time with her head hanging out the window. She watches the scenary as it whizzes by. The further out she looks, the slower it passes. The wind runs past her and gives her a thrilling sense of freedom. She smiles, almost by force, and the wind inflates her cheeks like a dog on a highway. Her mane flaps all around. Her ears jiggle up and down. The wrap around her body ripples and threatens to break free. She holds back the instinct to fully turn into a dog and enjoy the moment. But, that might scare ponies nearby. It's already happened after all. And she just barely skated out of blame's way.
As the ride continues, Tonya gazes out at her friends new and old and thinks that that her family is growing again. A harsh thought reminds her of another attempt to expand her family.
But, something piques her curiosity. She walks over to the yellow pony Fluttershy and looks at the pink curtain of hair across her face. Tonya looks at her with a crooked head. She has noted that Fluttershy has not moved in quite awhile. Hasn't even said anything.
She waves a hoof in front of her to try to get her attention. Nothing. She gently pulls Fluttershy's mane aside... And finds that the animal lover is asleep in her seat. With a little smile, Tonya walks away.
"Did you need something, Tonya?"
"No... Yes.... Maybe..."
"I'm sorry. I had to help some owls last night." She gives off the quietest of yawns.
"It's okay. I was just thinking. My friends are all helping elsewhere in town. I was just wondering if you needed help with anything?"
"Me?"
"You take care of animals, right?"
"Why yes!! I tend to lots of cute little critters!"
"I figured I might be able to help you. I have some... skills that might come in handy. If you'll let me."
"What... kind of skills?"
"Tell you later."
"O-okay... I could use some help... I guess... if that's alright... Why me?"
"I sense... a kindred spirit," Tonya says quietly.
==-==-==
After a long train ride, the two groups had more time to mingle. They chatted. They bonded. Pinkie shot off several loads of Party Cannon, so they all exit the train covered in confetti and streamers.
Twilight led everypony off the train. "Bobbi? Kat? Tonya? Casie? Amanda? Welcome to Canterlot!!"
The five named ponies walk up and gaze upon the extraordiarily huge castle before them. They all stand in awe as their visions dart around to take it all in. Among all the stone walls is a city that seems to span forever and a series of towers that stretch up the sky. There are pegasi that float freely above the ground without a care. Unicorns prance along the ground (some with too much self-importance)
The trip to Canterlot went remarkably well. Bobbi and her friends spoke at lengths with Twilight and her friends. Tonya offered to help Fluttershy at home. Pinkie and Casie talked about things that would normally defy the age rating. Rainbow Dash tried to impress Kat with her stories, but was repeatedly shot down by her own friends.
And just as the group of eleven stepped off the train they had been riding for hours... Nine of them face-hoofed. A wonderful trip thus far stained by Kat and Tonya's antics. One is invisible, so damage is unknown. The other has a black eye.
"Are you sure you're sober?" Rarity asks flatly. "That was an important bit of the message..."
Normally, Tonya would have shapeshifted the damage away, but she can't right now. Her powers are to be kept quiet. But, despite how she looks, she carves a smile on her face. "I'm fine!!"
"Dammit, Tonya," Amanda groans. "We have to be 100% presentable!!!"
"One day?" Casie wonders. "You couldn't keep it together for one day?!"
"Alright!!" Bobbi shouts. "Step back. Tonya, come with me. Twilight? Is there anywhere the two of us can get some privacy?"
"Yes. I'll show you."
"Rest of you," Bobbi adds. "Stay here a few. We'll be right back."
==-==-==
The trio find a restroom off to the side of the train station. While Bobbi and Tonya enter, Twilight is left outside to wait for them with a promise that this wouldn't take long.
Bobbi and Tonya trot into the facility. Bobbi quickly looks around for anypony else that might be listening in. When she finds that they are relatively safe, Bobbi looks at Tonya's bruised face. She raises a hoof to it and turns it to either side. "Really?" she sighs.
"Sorry..." Tonya mumbles quietly. "I screwed up again...."
"We can fix this, though." She leans in close to Tonya's face and quietly tells her "fix it quick."
"Huh?"
"Powers. Use 'em. Quick." And, moments after, the bruising around Tonya's eye slips back into a natural color with no indication that anything ever happened.
"But..."
"Trust me."
==-==-==
A little while later, the pair exit the restroom with a fully restored Tonya. Twilight looks at her and swears nothing happened. "How did you do that?"
"I got a seven year old," Bobbi says pridefully. "He's always getting into trouble. I know a few makeup tricks, and nopony is the wiser. Now, shall we go?"
==-==-==
And before long, the group of eleven is restored and walking back towards the castle. There were a few sighs of relief as they realized their image had been restored. While the three were gone, Pinkie ran to retrieve her cake. A rather large cake. It has its own cart that the Pink Wonder pulls happily. It is much larger than her previous endeavor and is covered with a cloth to conceal its appearance.
"Are you okay?" Kat asks Tonya. "I'm sorry, you just startled me!!"
"Just hurt my pride," Tonya grumbles a bit. Amazingly, she pulls up her back half and walks on her front hooves alone. Her legs hang helplessly and her tail flops forward. "Kiss it make it better?" Despite the invitation, Tonya returns to a four-legged canter.
"When are we expected?" Bobbi asks.
Twilight looks over. "I'm sure Princess Celestia knows we're here by now. We just get there as quick as we can."
"What, no schedule?"
"She IS the ruler of Equestria," Twilight grins. "She can clear her calendar with the wave of a single hoof," which Twilight simulates with her own.
"And nopony would dare defy her," Rarity adds.
"I know that feeling," Amanda grins. "But I also know that whatever I put off will bite me in the flank tomorrow."
"Uh huh!!" Rarity and Applejack say together. Rarity has been under scheduling stress since before she can remember. Applejack never runs out of work to do on the farm.
"Bite me in the flank," Kat repeats groaningly. "Ha ha ha," she says flatly.
While they walk, they pass a few shops that are open on the street. Tonya raises her nose in the air and trails off to follow some alluring aroma. She quickly finds a bakery with a window display loaded with goodies. She sees pies, donuts, and other treats. But, as the group passes, Amanda uses her horn's magic to drag Tonya away from it. Despite a few groans of protest, she eventually gets in line with the others.
"A lot?" Rarity asks.
"Every day!" Amanda smiles.
==-==-==
The small parade of ponies reach the main gate of the castle. They see a rose-pink alicorn standing nearby with a hoof waving in the air. There are many guards near her, both seen and unseen. A small gold crown sits behind her horn, a golden collar around her neck and golden shoes on her hooves. A mane of purple, pink, and cream hangs from her head with a gentle curl at the end. When she sees her friends come near, her purple eyes widen a bit and a smile grows. Her wings flare a little with glee, revealing a crystal heart and gold trim on her flank. "Twilight!!"
As addressed, she pops forward and starts a strange little dance with the princess. "Sunshine, sunshine lady bugs awake!! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" After their hoof-clapping and butt wiggling, they start to giggle happily. Amanda and Tonya, and the others to an extent watch with strange looks. On the other hoof, Twilight's friends seem used to it. "Princess Cadance! It's good to see you again!"
"Princess Celestia summoned me." She nods as Twilight's close friends bow and urges them to rise. The other group bows moments later, not realizing fully what is going on. Again, Cadance wants them to their hooves. "These are your new friends?"
"Yes. These are Bobbi, Amanda, Casie, Kat, and Tonya."
"Five?" Cadance wonders. "I only see four... You didn't lose one, did you?"
"Actually, it's hard for me to tell," Twilight snickers.
"Yes!" Kat says loudly. "I can hear you talking about me, thank you!!"
"Yeah. She's here."
"Invisible?" Cadance asks. "That could lead to trouble."
"UH HUH!!!" a collection agrees.
"I am Princess Cadance," she tells the extended group. "I rule the Crystal Empire north of here. I am delighted to meet you all. I'm sure you all have interesting stories to share. Princess Celestia asked me to escort you all in."
There's a short pause among the new guests, but the realization sinks in as they remember Twilight mentioning her before. There's an odd smile that spreads between them, but it doesn't seem harmful. Twilight's senses pick up on something and turns towards them with a slight glare to remind them of their place.
==-==-==
The trip has had one interesting effect. During their time in Ponyville, the group of five had been running around almost entirely on soil and grass. The sounds of their hooves running around there had been a series of thumping. When they entered the train, their new 'feet' made a bit more of a clattering noise, yet softened by the carpeting. When they reached the city, there were paved streets and a more solid noise. And now, they enter the castle's interior with fine marble floors.
Tonya had noted the echoed tapping noise her hooves made against the floor. It was an interesting set of noises. As she continued on, Tonya's aloof nature started to get her to run in place to create a cacophony of these sounds.
"Would you stop that?" Amanda asks quietly.
But Pinkie runs up alongside Tonya as a disappointed frown weighs her down. "Don't worry," she tells her. "I did the same thing when I first came here!"
"You STILL do that!!" Rainbow Dash yells down from above.
"Well, it's FUN!!!" she shouts back as she rhythmically dances her hooves across the floor. She dislodges her cart and Tonya watches as Pinkie dances around the entire group and weaves between them all. She occcasionally dips her head towards a pony or two.
"She's not gonna start singing, is she?" Rainbow groans.
"I JUST MI--IGHT!!" She returns to her cart and continues on happily.
Amanda tries to ignore all of this and looks up at the high ceilings with a bit of reverance. The arches reach really high, much further than anyone would need room for. And all the way up are intricate carvings.
Casie notes some of the stained glass windows depicting history. Some present a white alicorn. Others alongside a dark alicorn partner. Some depict their new group of friends.
Bobbi looks all about and sees a number of art pieces all through the hall. Aside from the stained glass, there are portraits of various ponies. There are empty vases on stands. The collumns they sit on also have a little bit of artistic flair.
Tonya just looks up. "I'd hate to change a lightbulb up there."
"Can't you alter gravity?" Kat wonders.
"Oh yeah. I forgot."
Cadance leads the group through the castle with Twilight at her side. "I'm sorry that Shining Armor couldn't be here," she says a little somberly. "But, I needed him to stay home to keep the Crystal Empire in one piece."
"I understand. These days you never know what's going to pop up."
"Hey, Twilight?" Tonya asks quietly.
For a moment, Twilight fears what she might have to say. Something askew always seems to be waiting behind that muzzle. Still... "Yes, Tonya?"
"What was with that butt wiggling thing earlier?"
And there it is. Both Twilight and Cadance look a little embarrassed, but trot on nonetheless. Meanwhile, Tonya's own friends manage to walk on three hooves while one is planted on their faces. "It was... identity verification!!"
"Yes!!" Cadance says a little sheepishly. "An impostor would never know about it."
Casie smiles a little. "Sounds like you've had some trouble with that. Those shapeshifter thingies?"
And for a moment, Tonya literally shrinks in size. Not enough for most to notice, but her close friends will see it. They'll also understand why.
"We call them Changelings," Cadance answers. "And yes. A little trouble."
"Yeah!" Rainbow chimes in. "If there WERE changelings, we'd know how to deal with them!!" She punctuates this by devilishly pounding her hooves together.
And Tonya shrinks a little more. Rarity notices and looks Tonya over a little. She says nothing and passes it off as seeing things. Yet she can easily see that Tonya is distressed about something. "Are you alright, darling?" she asks.
"Yeh," she gasps. "Fine."
"So," Kat wonders, "are you and the other princess gonna do that wiggly thing too?"
"NOO!!" the two princesses spout quickly.
"I mean..." Cadance adds, "she doesn't need such things."
"Princess Celestia is pretty complex," Twilight notes. "I don't think anypony could easily pull that off."
"I hope," Cadance tells her quietly, and a little worriedly "that you don't think I'm too simple?"
"Um, well..." Twilight sweats. "Queen Chrysalis did have everypony fooled. But, I knew there was something up the moment I saw you--her--I mean--"
"I know what you mean, sweetheart," Cadance says with a smile. "I was just teasing you..."
Twilight sighs heavily and walks a short distance with her head dipped. "I think you've been hanging around your aunt too much."
Down the hall, the group can see an oversized set of doors. By this point, it is the only destination left in their travels. Many of the windows have stained glass images depicting history, but many more are plain as history is still being written. Every few windows had a vase of flowers. Many of these boquets are specifically arranged so that the light from the window will give the flowers a unique appearance.
There is a unicorn stallion that walks towards them. He has a navy-blue coat as well as slicked back dark mane that blends in eerily. His red eyes look ahead with fiery intrigue. His muzzle has a slight sneer on it. His cutie mark is a lance piercing through a shield.
As he passes the group, he catches sight of them. Princesses Twilight and Cadance give him a brief salutation as they pass. As he continues to walk along, he notes the five visitors. In particular, his sneer triples in intensity when he sees a blue unicorn pony with black mane and blue wrap-around.
Amanda notices his gaze and looks at him with a skeptical twitch of her eyebrow. Something is not right. Something familiarly not right. "Princess Cadance, do you know who that was?"
"Not really," she replies. "He appeared before Princess Celestia a few moons ago. He predicted a few things that happened. At first, the princess was skeptical about his rantings. But, after the first came to pass, she took note of what he had to say. The second time he appeared, she sent some of her forces to investigate the incident he had predicted. By the third, he had her ear." Cadance shivers a little as she walks. "I don't like him. Despite the fact that he's useful, he always gives me the creeps."
"What's his name?" Twilight asks.
"His name is Rudan Nolan Katanos."
"SAY WHAT?!" Amanda roars. "THAT--!! THAT--!!" But, before she can be stopped, Amanda swings around to chase him down. "SON OF A BITCH!!!!"
Her friends quickly follow and try to stop her. Bobbi runs hard and tries to use her horn's magic to slow her down. But, despite her efforts, Amanda is still in motion. A yellow aura is wrapped around her tail, but it doesn't stop her. In fact, it pulls Bobbi along.
Casie takes advantage of Amanda's issue and catches up quickly. She runs ahead of her to stop her. "Hang on, Amanda! We can't!!"
Finally, Tonya tackles her. But, she finds an invisible body between herself and Amanda. With everypony finally grinding her to a halt, Amanda's quarry disappears from sight.
"Why did you all stop me?! Don't you know who that is?!"
"I know who he is," Bobbi grits. "But, that's not the problem."
"We're on foreign soil," Casie adds. "REALLY foreign soil. We all know what he did. But, if you just run off half cocked, you're going to cause an incident that we may NEVER live down...."
The rest of the group catches up quickly, but are at odds with understanding. Cadance looks at Amanda, and then to Twilight who merely shrugs.
Amanda finally cools down and her friends release their holds. "I'm sorry... You're right, Casie."
"What was that about?" Cadance asks.
Amanda looks up at the princess with a sullen look. Her eyebrows curl uncomfortably, her muzzle hangs down, and her ears flatten. "Back where we're from, Nolan was a menace. We took him down before coming here. None of us saw his final fate, but we were told that business was done. We weren't sure if he was killed or imprisoned. Just that he was no longer a threat."
"And," Casie adds, "if he said he was taken care of, then he was."
"Doesn't look that way to me," Amanda replies.
"Maybe it's just coincidence," Rainbow Dash pipes in. "Maybe they just look the same."
"With the same name?" Applejack wonders.
"If he poses a threat," Cadance notes, "then we'll deal with it at the time it happens. But, until then, I'm afraid all we have is speculation. Now, let's move on. Princess Celestia is waiting."
==-==-==
The group reaches large double doors with a guard on either side. Both guards have golden armor and spears as well as stone faced appearances. One of them has a dark coat while the other a white coat. As Princess Cadance nears, they open the doors for the entire group.
"Presenting!!" a pony calls from within the chamber, "Princess Cadance, Princess Twilight Sparkle, The Elements of Harmony, and company."
"Twilight!" Princess Celestia says happily from the throne. As she steps down the short walkway to greet her guests, Cadance uses her wings to float up to the left side of the throne where a cushion awaits.
"Princess Celestia," Twilight greets with a smile. "I have brought our visitors as requested." After the comment, her own five friends part to either side to allow the others to gather in a line. "May I present a SOBER Bobbi Lee, Amanda Silver, Casie Fadro, Tonya Garrett, and Kat Stewart."
"Welcome all to Canterlot," Celestia greets. Her wings flare up as her excitement builds. "I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. I sincerely hope that your stay is a pleasant one. I am hoping to get to know each and every one of you." However, her gaze turns to Tonya. "Are you... smaller than last time? Oh, well. Must be my old age catching up to me."
"She'll never let that go?" Tonya wonders to herself.
"Nope," five others say behind her.
"I assume," Twilight wonders, "that Princess Luna is sleeping right now?" Despite the fact that she is not present, it is a well known fact that Luna watches over the night. As such, (and this is not as well known) she sleeps during the day.
By this point, Celestia folds in her wings again. "Yes. I was hoping that the four princesses could all meet our visitors together. But, it seems that my sister, Princess Luna, is not feeling well."
"Is she alright?" Fluttershy asks. "Is there anything we can do for her?"
Celestia just shakes her head softly. "She'll be fine. She just needs rest. It seems that on one of her dreamwalking adventures she came across a scene made entirely of cake. When she awoke, she had eaten a large hole in her mattress. She'll be fine. She just needs to recover."
"NAY!!" a voice shouts from the doorway which instantly gathers everypony's attention. "We are here, my Sister." A darker alicorn walks through the throneroom towards the group. Her steps are careful and her wings are folded at her sides. However, one might also think that they are supporting her belly a little.
Twilight mentally notes that Princess Luna's mane is much different than usual. Instead of the usually translucent starscape, it is a light azure and her coat is much lighter than normal. The immediate diagnosis is that Luna has been weakened. The only other time that she's seen her like this was when they first met--right after Twilight and friends blasted a harmful personality out of her.
At the sight of her, Tonya reaches for her wrap and manages to pull it up and over her head. She remembers Luna from the dream and also the last few seconds that transpired there. Maybe she'll forget?
"Luna," Celestia says quietly. "You should be resting." As Luna sits next to her elder sister, Cadance again floats through the air and lands on Celestia's left while Luna parks herself on her right. Celestia's golden aura slips around Luna's crown and straightens it as well as a little of her mane. A wave of gold runs down her body and even tidies up her tail.
"We are alright," Luna replies with a shake of her head. "My friends, We are Princess Luna. We rule Equestria at night while our sister slumbers. We are responsible for raising the Moon on a nightly basis, just as our sister raises the Sun in the morn."
And with that announcement, the group bows to yet another princess in their midst. And, just as before the group rises.
"They do that a lot, do they not?" Luna asks.
"We ARE royalty," Celestia reminds her.
"Yes. Quite." And for a moment, Luna's gaze turns on Tonya. Her eyelids narrow as she tries to get a better look at her. "YO--" she starts, but stops herself at Celestia's wonder. "ooouu all look well. We are happy to see Equestria has treated you fairly thus far."
"Tell me," Celestia asks. "How did you all land in Equestria?"
"Bumpy," the group replies together. A minor giggling fit starts up among the friends.
"Truth be told," Bobbi tells her, "we weren't expecting any of this. One day, we're home, and the next we all start waking up here in yours. We never meant to intrude."
"Oh, that is far from an issue," Celestia says happily with a flailing hoof. "I would never want any of you to think you were unwelcome in any way."
"Speaking of welcome," Pinkie pops up from the back. "I got the cake you wanted!!" She teeth-yanks the cloth off the cake-cart and reveals her monstrous masterpiece. Rising from the wooden cart is a 14-layer cake. From the top to bottom, each layer of the cake represents a different pony with their colors represented in frosting:
Casie Fadro (Red/Brown) Amanda Silver (Blue/Black) Tonya Garrett (Tan/Brown) Kat Stewart (Clear) Bobbi Lee (Mute gold/blonde) Fluttershy (Yellow/Pink) Rarity (White/Purple) Rainbow Dash (Blue/Rainbow streaks) Applejack (Orange/Blonde) Pinkie Pie (Pink/Darker Pink) Twilight Sparkle (Purple/Darker Purple/pink slash) Cadance (Rose-Pink/Pink-purple-cream streaks) Luna (Dark gray/White spotted dark blue) Celestia (White/Aurora Borealis)
And to top it off, every layer also has the respective cutie mark frosted on multiple times around their layer.
"By the gods..." Celestia comments. She has to raise a hoof to her forehead to see the top. If it looks like she's saluting, she probably is. "Pinkie Pie, you have definitely outdone yourself this time."
"Awwww.... Thanks...."
Cadance looks at the titanic pastry and wonders how in Equestria Pinkie has kept it so stable. Between the train ride, walking through town and the castle... (In truth there are 14 skewers equidistantly placed towards the edge.) "A marvelous display," she says quietly.
Luna, however, seems to have a troubled look on her face. She loves cake as much (alright, far more!!) than the average pony, but she looks at this feat with a twitching eye and a fake smile. "Cake..." she babbles out. Perhaps she is thinking of awakening with half of her mattress inside her tummy. Or maybe she remembers a long visit to the hospital to remove said padding. (The springs were especially problematic.)
"Cake?" Celestia wonders.
But, Luna says nothing else and faints. There is a loud thump as she hits the floor and all four hooves flail through the air.
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."
"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."
