> The Long Path Home
>  by Grounders10
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> Chapter One: Depths of the Forest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The first thing Ranma felt was the dull throb of a headache. The second was the wet grass on the side of his face. His eyes opened and it took him several seconds to realize that he was staring at the bark of a tree, a large oak if it mattered. As the pain cleared enough for cognizant thought Ranma groaned. The sound was far higher pitched then he was expecting and it took a couple of seconds  for his brain to put together why. 

‘Right, I was in girl form.’ She thought as a second more articulate sound made it out of her mouth. “Ouch.” Of course more was a matter of opinion.

She tried to push herself upright but found that her legs weren’t responding properly. In fact she felt odd, a touch too stiff really, and in a lot more than her legs. Ranma looked down, wondering perhaps, if she had been injured and was simply in too much shock to notice. What she saw caused her to stare, mouth agape, at what she found.

Four long, white-fur covered, legs that ended in what she was sure were hooves greeted her sight. After a long moment of staring she slowly craned her neck around to look at the rest of her body. Where her body; her very curvy and, though she’d never admit it, beautiful body; had been was the almost gleaming white fur covered barrel of a horse. Adding to the strange scene were the pure white wings that twitched as she laid there, a movement that she could feel. The only thing even slightly comforting was the bright red horse tail that she could see.

“What the hell.” She snapped as her feet scrambled for purchase in a vain attempt to get away from her own body. All she managed was to awkwardly manage to halfway make it to two legs before gravity and balance caught up with her and pulled her back down to the ground in another heap. A surge of pain jolted through her head as she hit the ground. “Ow, ow, ow.” She whined as the pain subsided to a dull pulse. 

She took a deep breath before looking back down at her body again. It wasn’t large enough to qualify as a horse, more like something much smaller. “Why am I a pony?” She asked the world before a third glance at her pair of wings caused her to revise that opinion, “Why am I a pegasus-pony?” The question lacked the tone of demand most would expect; instead, it was filled with the bizarre mix of exasperation and resignation that only someone who had spent nearly two years of being constantly shape shifted on a daily basis could manage. 

After several moments without an answer, not that she had really expected one; she carefully brought her legs under her and managed to get to her feet. She looked down at her hooves carefully before trying to put one foot forward. Contrary to expectation she did not suddenly find herself tilting over to one side. One foot became two and within less than a minute she found herself walking around in a small circle. She stopped after a few circles, properly satisfied that she was more than capable of walking if she needed to.

At the point she looked around. The area she was in was a forest of the type more appropriate of Europe or North America than Japan. The trees were large and spaced quite a ways apart. What light filtered down through the bows of the trees was enough to see by, yet it couldn’t remove the eerie feel of the forest. Ranma shivered unconsciously as she glanced up at one of the tree trunks. If she did not know better she would have thought that there was a grinning face looking down at her from the trunk. As it was the fact that ever tree she could see had a similar face formed from the bark scarcely helped her nerves.

“What is this place.” She muttered. Her eyes flickered around the wood, trying and failing to spot something familiar. Her wings fluttered for a moment nervously before she steeled herself and pulled her attention from the forest back to herself. ‘Why am I like this?’ She thought and frowned. What had she been doing before she woke up in this forest? She stood there for several moments before giving up. Try as she might she couldn’t recall anything that could explain this. The last thing she remembered was lying down on the rear porch reading a manga. How she went from the Tendo home to the middle of a forest, and as a Pegasus pony no less, completely escaped her.

Ranma sighed and gave up on that mystery for the time being. At the moment she had bigger things to worry about at the moment. Besides, this was probably the fault of one of her rivals or other enemies. She certainly had more than she could count. She looked around the forest quickly, noting, among other things, that there was a noticeable slope off to one side. Water ran downhill so a slope could mean the presence of water, which meant a creek or stream. Perhaps even a river. If she could find that then maybe she could find someone else who might know what’s going on and get some answers. Of course that assumed she could find someone who would be willing to work with a talking pony.

Seeing no other alternative she started towards the slope, but she before she could take so much as three steps a very familiar scream split the air. She could feel her ears twitch in the direction of the sound even as her head snapped towards the scream. “Akane!” She shouted, pivoting on one hoof without a second thought and galloping in the opposite direction of the slope. She stumbled over tree roots several times as she ran, but always managed to avoid planting her face into the ground, even when the widely placed trees gave way to dense brush.

She wasn’t sure how far she ran but within a couple minutes she reached the location of the scream as she came barrelling out of the bushes and straight into the side of another pony. They went down in a tangle of limbs and feathers. Ranma’s head sang once more with pain as a hoof accidentally drove her head into the ground. She groaned from beneath the other pony, which scrambled off her and in the process back-handed her head with a yellow wing.

Ranma blinked back stars as she picked herself off the ground. Her ears twitched as she picked up panic muttering, and several creative curses, coming from the other Pegasus. She turned to look at the pony, noting the bright yellow fur and wings, along with a very dark blue, if somewhat short, mane and tail. The mane colour triggered a degree of recognition in her head and, combined with her own situation, brought managed bring forth a conclusion.

“Akane?” She asked hesitantly.

The yellow Pegasus twitched and looked at her nervously. “R-Ranma?” She asked with a stutter, “Is that you?” She shivered and her eyes, which oddly enough seemed to be pointed forward as opposed to sideways like most equine, jerked around with nervous energy.

“Yeah it’s me.” Ranma replied softly. Her eyes scanned her fiancée’s changed form for a moment. Her eyes came to rest on the side of her flank where an image of a pair of broken cinderblocks rested. While appropriate it wasn’t important, just another question to ask about later. “Are you okay?” She asked.

“I-“ Akane took a deep breath and her twitching died down. “I’m okay. But… what happened Ranma? One second I was working on homework then…”

“Then you were a pegasus in the middle of a random forest.” Ranma finished. She shook her head, and winced at the pain. “I ain’t got a clue what happened. One second I’m lying on the porch the next I’m waking up in a forest as a Pegasus with a smokin’ headache. Feels like something tried to claw its way outta my skull.” She said.

Akane stared back at her for a moment before speaking, “My head’s fine. Maybe it has to do with the horn coming out of your head.” She pointed to Ranma’s forhead.

Ranma blinked. “There’s a what coming out of my head?” She asked dumbly.

Akane silently took several steps closer, nearly stumbling over her own feet as she did so, before raising one hoof and touching something on Ranma’s forehead. Ranma would have wondered how a pony’s leg could be so flexible if pain hadn’t surged through her head the moment Akane’s hoof came into contact with the apparent ‘horn’.

Ranma jerked her head away from Akane and stumbled back, unable to contain a cry of pain as her legs folded beneath her. She just barely stopped herself from winding up on her side again. She tried to blink passed the stars that sprang up even as her vision swam. She gazed up at the blur that had taken the place of her fiancée for the brief moment before her head hit her hooves and she lost consciousness.



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A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover
The Long Path Home
By: Grounders10

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Chapter One: Depths of the Forest

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Akane stared down at the fallen form of what she was reasonably sure was her fiancé. The white furred, and feathered, mare had just collapsed the moment she had touch the odd unicorn horn that was jutting out of her forehead. Judging by the way she screamed the moment it was touched it was probably a lot more sensitive than she had thought.

‘Great going Akane, you just knocked out the only person who could help you.’ She thought bitterly before carefully stepping forward towards the fallen… Pegacorn? What was Ranma’s form anyway? It was like someone couldn’t decide between a unicorn and a Pegasus so they just decided to combine the two. She discarded the thought as she reached out and gently gave her fiancé’s side a poke with one hoof. The mare groaned but didn’t do anything else.

Akane frowned; it looked like she’d probably have to wait for Ranma to wake up on her own. She glanced nervously around the clearing. This was not the sort of place she wanted to be waiting in, not without someone else by her side. An unconscious mare certainly did not count. She shivered once more. Even the air and light seemed dead in this place. She looked up towards the open sky above the clearing where dark clouds gathered. It looked like it could rain any second now, something that would definitely not improve the situation.

She drew her gaze back from the sky towards her fallen fiancé. Her eyes traced the pure brilliant white of her fur and wings, as well as the shining red of her mane and tail. Akane felt her breath hitch for a moment as she realized that the area immediately around Ranma actually seemed brighter than the areas further out. It was as though her mere presence was driving back the darkness of the forest. She took a hesitant step towards her unconscious companion without realizing it. Another step followed and before she knew it she was lying on her belly next to her fiancé. Without conscious thought one wing extended out and over Ranma’s sleeping form even as Akane continued to stare.

Loud rustling from the bushes was enough to snap her attention from the pony next to her. She looked up in time to see a brown unicorn, without wings like her and Ranma, come stumbling out of the bushes. He tried to stop upon seeing the two of them, but only succeeded in planting his face into the ground.

Akane couldn’t help it as a giggle escaped her mouth. Her eyes swept the rather obviously male pony and came to rest on the mark on his flank. A large red umbrella set in front of a map of…. She frowned; it looked like a map of either a country or a continent but she couldn’t tell which. Still though why did that umbrella look-

“Ryouga?” She asked as the stallion managed to get back onto his feet.

“A-Akane? Is that you?” He asked.

She nodded. “Are you okay Ryouga?” She asked as he stumbled towards them.

Ryouga laughed nervously. “Sorta. I’ve got a headache that won’t quit and my legs keep getting tangled in each other.” His eyes flickered passed Akane at the unconscious mare next to her. “Is that Ranma?” He asked.

“Yeah it is.” Akane replied, looking back at the white mare. “Ranma passed out after I… Well after I touched her new horn.”

“Was Ranma the one who screamed the second time?” Ryouga asked as he reached them and sat down next to them.

“It was.” Akane bit her lip nervously. “She was complaining about a headache and when I pointed out she had a horn she didn’t believe me until I reached out and tapped it… I think it might be a bit sensitive.” She glanced over at Ryouga as her eyes went to his horn. “You know you have a horn as well right?” She asked.

He blinked and reached up with one hoof, only for it to be slapped back down by Akane. “Don’t touch it.” She snapped, “The last thing I need is for you both to be out cold.”

“Ah right, right…” Ryouga said, suitably chastised, as he dropped his hoof. He looked down at Ranma and after a moment said, “So… You’re a Pegasus and I’m apparently a Unicorn, but what does that make Ranma?” He asked.

Akane looked at Ranma silently for a few seconds. She knew she had heard something about this before in an old mythology text. What was it called when a pegasus had a unicorn horn? Pegacorn sounded silly. Still though she was sure it ended in -corn. Something-corn. What was it? Aki-corn? Abu-corn?

“An Alicorn.” She said. When Ryouga looked at her questioningly she elaborated, “I read somewhere that a pegasus and unicorn cross is called an Alicorn. I think it was an old greek mythology text. I might be wrong though.”

She looked over at him and he seemed deep in thought. “What do we do now?” He asked finally.

“I don’t know.” Akane confessed. She looked back up at the sky, which seemed much darker than it had a short while ago. “It looks like it’s going to rain. Neither of us can walk straight and Ranma’s out cold. I really don’t know Ryouga.”

“Then perhaps you should leave the thinking to someone else Sis.” Drawled a voice as a rather plain looking green pony with a blond mane and tail stepped out of the bushes. Right behind her was another pegasus. She had soft yellow fur and her mane and tail were striped with alternating lines of red and orange.

Akane noted that the ordinary pony had the image of a pile of yen coins on her flank while the pegasus had nothing but bare fur.

“Nabiki?” She exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

The emerald pony snorted as she walked forward with notably less trouble than either Akane or Ryouga. The pegasus beside her showed just as little trouble. “Probably the same thing you are Akane. Being kidnapped and turned into ponies.” Nabiki snarked.

The pegasus let out a soft tsk of disapproval before matching it with words. “Now Nabiki you really should be nicer.” She scolded softly.

“Kasumi?” Akane gaped at her older sister. The young woman, now a young mare, barely seemed to notice the difference between two legs and four as she practically glided along the ground with unusual grace.

“Hello Akane.” Her sister said with a smile before her eyes wandered to Ranma. She stepped around the others and knelt down next to the alicorn. “What happened Akane?” She asked.

“Ranma passed out from pain. It came from his horn.” Akane looked worriedly down at the unconscious mare.

Kasumi pursed her lips as she ran a delicate hoof over Ranma’s side. “There doesn’t appear to be anything broken on this side. You said the pain came from Ranma’s horn?” She lifted her hoof away as she peered closely at the horn and the area around it.

“Ranma was complaining about a headache and when I poked the horn he… she screamed and passed out.” At the sharp look her sister gave her she said, “I barely brushed the damned thing.” She crossed her forehooves and looked away. An angry red blush formed on her cheeks.

Nabiki chuckled softly behind her. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it Kasumi. His head probably just sore from having that thing work its way out.” She said before a sardonic smirk crossed her lips. “Besides with how long it is Ranma might be trying to overcompensate for the loss of something.” Both her sisters groaned and shot her disgusted looks even as Akane’s entire head began to turn entirely red, despite the fur. Off to one side Ryouga blushed as well and tried to find something to feign interest in.

After another couple minutes Kasumi rose from her inspection. “The area around the horn looks irritated rather badly. Ryouga, would you mind if I took a look at yours as well?” She asked.

“Uh. Sure I guess.” He said and bent his head lower so she could get a better look. “Anything you’re looking for?” He asked.

“I’m just checking to see if the same symptoms are visible on you.” She said as she poked gently at the area around the horn. From where Akane was she could see Ryouga flinch several times when Kasumi’s hoof found a particularly sensitive spot. After another few minutes Kasumi pulled back seemingly satisfied.

“Well?” Ryouga asked.

Kasumi frowned as she took a moment to think over what she had seen. “Well, it appears that the area around your horn is irritated as well. That said it’s nowhere near as bad as Ranma. Whatever happened to the two of you seems to have hit Ranma much harder. I’m afraid I don’t know if this is serious or not though. Hopefully it’s merely a bit of irritation that will pass with enough time. For the moment though I could advise against anything that might result in your head getting hurt. With the amount of irritation visible I have no doubt it would be quite painful.” She said.

“Noted.” Ryouga replied.

Akane looked up at the sky with worry. The clouds had gotten darker as they were talking. “Not to rush you, but it’s about to rain.” She said.

Nabiki threw a quick glance at the sky. “Your right. Kasumi help me get Ranma on my back.” She said, walking over to the downed mare.

“Are you sure we should move him?” Kasumi asked even as she moved to assist.

“The other option is getting soaked Kasumi.” Akane said before turning to her other sister. “And why are you carrying Ranma?” She demanded.

Nabiki rolled her eyes at Akane. “Because I’m the only one around without either wings, or possible chronic fainting syndrome.” She brushed Akane’s wing off Ranma. “Now help me get him on my back already.” With a faint amount of grumbling from Akane the four of them managed to wrestle Ranma’s unconscious body across Nabiki’s back. A drop of rain struck Akane between the eyes just as they finished. Another struck her wings moments later.

“I think we need to start moving.” Nabiki said.

“Which way?” Akane asked as she looked at the virtually uniform border of the clearing. Nothing stood out prominently.

“Back the way Kasumi and I came. I think I saw an old building we can use for shelter.” Nabiki said as she put word to action and started back down the way she came. The heavy weight on her back barely seemed to slow her down as she moved through the heavy brush. The others followed in her wake; looking nervously, as they did, at the still rather disturbing face-like carvings many of the trees seemed to sport. They walked through the brush for a while. The only real blessing from the path they took was that the rain, though they could hear it building in intensity, was unable to penetrate so deep. Within a few minutes, though, the brush thinned until it gave way to more widely spaced trees with little vegetation between them.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Akane asked as the rain started to reach down to them. Off to the side Ryouga nervously glanced up at the boughs of the trees as the occasional raindrop splattered off his head.

“We’re almost there Akane, just another minute.” Her sister replied as she picked her way up the steepening incline. “I’m the one carrying Saotome so why are you complaining?”

“Sisters please stop fighting.” Kasumi intervened before Akane could retort.

Akane sighed before nodding. “Fine.” She grumbled. Up front Nabiki echoed her.

Silence reigned for the next few minutes as they continued to climb what was turning out to be a rather tall hill. More than a few times they had to stop and wait for someone to get back to their feet when they either lost their balance, or the increasingly wet ground proved too slippery.  By the time the edge of the treeline was in sight all of them had taken at least one tumble. Even Ranma wasn’t spared when Nabiki tripped over a root and planted the both of them into a small mud puddle.

“It should be just passed these trees.” Nabiki said between gasps for air.

“This walk better be worth it Nabiki.” Akane said. She was happy to see how much easier her breath was coming to her than her older sister. Her eyes also went to Nabiki’s legs, which were shaking a bit more than seemed safe.

“Did you have a better idea?” Her sister snapped back before stumbling over another upturned root. The mare on her back slipped slightly and her attempts to catch Ranma caused her to over balance and topple onto her side, with Ranma on top. “Get her off me.” Nabiki complained.  As the others moved to assist a low groan came from the white furred mare. Ranma shifted and her eyes slowly opened. 



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Ranma
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Waking up twice in a row with a massive headache was never fun. As Ranma opened her eyes for the second time she found herself wishing that Akane had had the decency to finish her off. “Ow, my head.” She complained. It felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to her skull.

“You’re awake, good. Get off me Saotome.” Someone growled.

Ranma blinked and looked down at the green mare. “Nabiki?” She asked in surprise.

“Yes it’s me. Now get off or I’m adding to your tab.” Came the irritated reply.

Ranma jumped up and quickly got off before her debt could grow anymore. “Sorry, but how did I get there?” She asked looking around. Around her stood three other ponies: A brown unicorn, Akane, and a yellow pegasus whose demeanor reminded her of Kasumi. Her eyes immediately went to the tattoo emblazoned on the unicorn’s flank. One eyebrow went up at the sight of the red umbrella on a map. “Ryouga is that you?” She asked.

The unicorn smirked.  “Did you honestly think something weird like this would affect just you?” He snarked.

Ranma snorted as she stepped forward to face him. “Course not. It’s not like either of us live normal lives.” She replied easily as the two started circling each other. She felt a smile tug at her lips as she faced her rival. In a way it was nice that he was here as well. 

“I think that’s enough.” Kasumi cut in before the two martial artists could do anything more than size each other up. “Hello Ranma.” She said.

Ranma pulled her gaze from the stallion in front of her and gave the yellow pegasus a smile. “Hello Kasumi.” She said. “Sorry you’re involved in whatever’s happening this time.”

“Did you cause this?” Kasumi asked. Ranma shook her head frantically at that. Kasumi smiled and said, “Then you have nothing to be sorry for. Now if it’s not too much trouble could we get moving again? I for one would like to get out this rain.”

Ranma blinked and looked around as she noticed for the first time how damp and wet the air was. A raindrop on the end of her nose served to drive the point home. She shot a worried glance at Ryouga who sent a nervous look back.

“I second that motion.” Nabiki complained as she finally made it to her feet. “I’m tired from carrying you up a mountain, covered in mud and in desperate need of some food.” Her feet wobbled precariously for a moment before stabilizing. She was not going to fall over twice in as many minutes. Akane stepped forward and cast one wing over her sister to help steady her.

“You can lean on me Sis.” Akane said with a soft smile. Her sister hesitated for a moment before grumbling something and leaning into the awkward embrace.

“Where are we headed?” Ranma asked, wondering what had happened while she was out. A throb of pain from her horn caused her to grimace.

“I saw a building up here when Kasumi and I were making our way down to that clearing.” Nabiki said. “It should be just through that treeline.”

“Let’s get going then.” Ranma said heading towards the treeline. The trees thinned out rapidly and within moments Ranma found herself standing at the edge of a large clearing. While the ground before had not been particularly steep the ground here rapidly climbed upwards in a steep slope towards a rather grand, if abandoned, castle. Actually it wasn’t really much of a castle. It lacked a true outer wall, and the walls that were still intact looked far more ornate than functional.

“You call this a building Nabiki?” Akane breathed as she and her sister lurched up next to Ranma. “It’s huge.”

“I didn’t get a good look. All I saw was the tip of a tower.” Nabiki said as she leaned into her sister’s side.

“Well, from the look of those walls it’ll probably protect us from the rain less than this forest.” Ryouga said from just behind them.

Ranma looked over her shoulder at the brown unicorn and had to suppress a smirk at the panicky look he was trying, and failing, not to give the rain that was sheeting now barely feet away. The way he shifted from one side to the other every time a drop of water fell from one of the trees onto him. Feeling a bit impish she said, “What’re you worried about Ryouga? I’m the one with a curse and you don’t hear me complaining about a little water.”

Ryouga scowled at her. “Why should we get soaking wet just ‘cause there might be better cover there? That castle’s at least three hundred meters out and in case you haven’t noticed none of us can walk very well, let alone run.” He looked up at the trees they were under for a second before looking back at Ranma again. “I’m just saying if we’re going to get wet we might as well stay as dry as possible, for as long as possible.”

Before Ranma could respond Akane cut in. “I can see intact rooftops on at least one tower.” She said, “Also the main building doesn’t look like the roof caved in. We’ll be drier if we head in.”  She shot a curious look at Ryouga who was trying his best not to seem suspicious. He was not having much success.

A piercing howl cut through the sound of rain. Ranma stiffened as the sound crawled across her body. She could feel her breath quickening as her wings rose off her back and her ears stood straight, twitching at any little sound. She looked at the others and saw the same stiffened postures and alert looks.

“What was that?” Nabiki demanded, a touch of fear in her voice as she seemed to be trying to merge with her sister’s side.

“That was a wolf.” Ranma said as calmly as she could. “We need to move. Now.” She said firmly, “We’ll be better protected in that castle than out here.” She turned her head back into the forest  as her eyes danced in all directions looking for the source of the howl. All she saw was a thick grey mist from all the rain.

“There aren’t any wolves in Japan.” The rising panic in Nabiki’s voice was growing more palpable with each second.

Ranma exchanged a glance with Ryouga. They needed to move not sit and panic. “Take them up to the Castle. I’ll be along in a moment.” He said. The false bravado was probably missed by everyone but her.

Ranma shook her head. “No. You’re having issues walking. I’m not. I’ll stay and cover.” She insisted. Her ears twitched as something in the distance snapped. He opened his mouth to argue and she stuffed her hoof into it before he could get a word out. “Don’t care about your little water phobia Ryouga. If won’t matter if your dead. Get moving.” When no one responded she flared her wings and reared back onto her hind legs. “MOVE IT!” She bellowed. With a muffled squeak Nabiki launched herself from her sister’s side into the rain. Akane let out a not so muffled curse and followed her, slipping and sliding all the way. Kasumi shot Ranma a quick look before following her sisters.

Ryouga remained where he was as the other three galloped away up the hill. “You know the moment I run out there I’m lunch for those wolves.” He said, “And if they don’t eat me Akane will kill me.”

Ranma came down onto her hooves and sighed. Her horn pulsed with pain as her hooves touched ground.  “Which is why you’re going to walk out there, turn into a pig, and I’m going to carry you up to the castle. I’ll pretend that you ran off in the wrong direction before I could stop you.” She said, trying to hold in a grimace.

He scowled at her. “It’s not my fault nothing stays in the same place.” He said defensively before sighing as well. “Fine, fine. We’ll do it your way.” He turned to the open field where water was sheeting down. He hesitated at the edge before turning back to her. “Also, never stick that thing into my mouth again. It tastes horrible.”

Ranma rolled her eyes. Trust Ryouga to get caught up on the little things. “Go already. The sooner you turn into a pig the sooner you turn into a pig the sooner we can get moving.” She said, as she waved a hoof at him impatiently.

Snorting he turned, took a deep breathe like he was preparing for a dive, and walked forward into the rain. Ranma watched as the rain pounded his mane and fur flat in moments, yet something important was not happening. After a moment of disbelief it clicked. “Aren’t you supposed to be a pig by now?” She pointed dumbly.

The brown unicorn looked down at himself for a moment before poking himself in the chest with one mud smeared hoof. His body stubbornly refused to heed to the unnatural urge to turn into a small piglet. “I’m… not a pig?” He asked the world at large as he continued to poke himself in different parts of the body.

Ranma stared as something inside her started pulsing in time to her headache. She felt her chest tighten. “How.” She demanded, drawing Ryouga’s attention back to her. “How did you…” Her voice failed her as she stared at the most definitely equine form Ryouga continued to sport in defiance of all logic. Or illogic if you weren’t familiar with Jusenkyo curses.  Water gathered itself at the edges of her vision as her mind leapt through a series of improbable hoops and other tricks to arrive at a completely off conclusion: He had found a cure. It didn’t matter that he seemed be as surprised as she was all she knew was that he hadn’t changed. More importantly to her though, he hadn’t shared it with the rest of them. Even as he opened his mouth, probably to offer an explanation, she did something she would later look at as really stupid. She tackled him.

The two of them went rolling out onto the hillside, coating the both of them in mud quite thoroughly. Ranma ignored the stinging of tears forming as she rolled off Ryouga. A growled formed in her throat as she came back onto her feet facing him. The throbbing in her horn sped up.

Ryouga scrambled to his feet far faster than she would have liked. “What the hell is wrong with you!” He shouted. “I have no idea why I haven’t changed!”

“Liar!” Ranma shouted, ignoring the hitch in her voice. “You damned liar! How long were you planning on keeping this a secret huh?!” She growled and pawed the ground as her wings flared. How dare he keep something like this from her!

“We just turned into ponies. Maybe that has something to do with this.” Ryouga shouted back. His foreleg pawed the ground in mirror to Ranma. He wasn’t going to back down from this. Ranma growled again and launched herself into another flying tackle that he barely stumbled out of the way of. He ducked an awkward kick from her hind legs before taking a wing upside the head that sent him to the ground again. Ranma wasted no time in pouncing, jabbing on hoof into his side and using another to push his head into the ground. All totaled the fight had lasted less than five seconds.

“Talk.” Ranma growled.

“Talk about what? My curse was working this morning! The only thing that’s changed is that we’re ponies now.” He winced as she increased the pressure on him skull. “What do want me to say? That I found something not even Cologne or Happosai know about? That I found some secret spell, or pond, or struck a deal with a demon in exchange for getting my curse lifted? None of that happened Ranma. I haven’t found a damned thing that works on a Jusenkyo curse. Just like you haven’t.” A smirk appeared on his face even as Ranma forced his head deeper into the muck. “Or maybe you just don’t want to think about the idea that being a pony got rid of the curse. After all what would that mean for you?”

Ranma flinched violently at that thought. She was female at the moment. If her curse was… No. No he had to be lying. He was trying to trick her. It didn’t matter that he was just as bad a liar as she was, he had to be lying. He had to be. Gods her horn hurt. “You think you can just lie to my face like this. After everything…” The pulse of her headache was too much. It was getting hard to think. She glared at him and he flinched away from her. So focused was she on his apparent guilty reaction that she failed to notice the golden sparks falling around them. Several loud howls and accompanying screams snapped her attention from the stallion under her hooves. She looked up and spotted several very large lupine shapes charging up the hill towards the other three ponies. “Akane!” She shouted abandoning Ryouga instantly, taking off up the hill.

Her pulse pounded in her ears as she surged up the hill towards the wolves. Fortunately for her the ground was mostly open with only a few moss covered boulders breaking the ground. Unfortunately for her this also meant that the wolves had little to hinder their progress as they gain on the three stumbling ponies further up the hill. She needed more speed. Her wings shot out on instinct and whipped downward adding their might to her speed. Her speed doubled in a second, then tripled again in the next as her wings took over and her ‘steps’ became longer.

It almost wasn’t enough. Even as the lead wolf reached out to grasp Nabik in its claws, Ranma cannonballed into it at nearly half the speed of sound. The sound of a thousand bowling pins being flung around echoed as the wolf’s body exploded into a thousand pieces. Ranma skidded to a stop in between the wolves and the Tendo sisters. She looked around and noticed that while she was covered in mud, there didn’t appear to be any of the blood that she would expect from an impact like that. Instead the ground was littered with hundreds of sticks, both small and large.

She turned her attention back to the wolves. Her eyes narrowed, these weren’t wolves. Oh sure they looked like them, and definitely acted like them, but wolves were not made from hundreds of sticks seemingly animated against their own will. Nor did wolves have glowing green eyes. They also weren’t the size of a full grown clydesdale stallion. Fortunately they seemed as taken aback at her abrupt intervention as she was by their existence. Taking that moment of reprieve she ran a quick count of them. There were five in front of her, and the sticks on the ground probably made that a total of six.

Someone shouted something behind her but the throbbing of her horn drowned it out. The wolves were regaining their composure and had begun to growl as they spread out to surround her. She frowned and backed up, her wings spread in an instinctive warding gesture. She glanced back and forth between the predators as they advanced on her. The one of the far left kept flicking looks over her shoulder at the other ponies as it advanced. The stalemate continued for a couple more seconds before the two just left and right of the center of their line lunged forward with teeth bared. Ranma back winged instantly and rocketed backwards, barely escaping the snapping teeth. As she did that the far left wolf broke from the group and rushed for the Tendos. A snarl formed on her lips as Ranma pushed off the ground and, using her wings to help cover the ground, slammed into the side of the charging pseudo-wolf. Unlike the first one it held together as she crashed into it. Seeing this she planted her forehooves into the ground and pivoted, bringing her hind legs around into a powerful kick that shattered the wooden skull of the creature. The rest of the body simply fell to pieces as whatever power motivating it ceased.

The other wolves were already moving even as she dealt with the rogue wolf. The two wolves from before lunged after her. At the same time other two powered forward towards the sisters. Ranma ducked under the first wolf before leaping up and over the second. As she passed by she lashed out of with a kick that connected with one of its back legs. The sound of shattering wood went unheard over the thundering pulse in her head. She charged up the hill, easily catching the two other wolves. She ducked a wild swipe from the first before retaliating with her own. Her hooves shattered wood and sent the pieces flying down the hillside. The wolf stumbled as its right foreleg shattered and Ranma wasted no time in crushing its skull underhoof. She leapt over its body and continued pursuit without slowing down.

The last wolf had almost reached the others when she slammed into its hind legs, blowing out both of them in the same instant. The wolf went into an uncontrolled roll that took it passed the three ponies and into a rather large chunk of shattered masonry. Before it could try and pick itself back up Ranma’s hoof shattered its skull. The sticks that made up its body fell into a heap beside the stone.

Ranma’s breath came to her in short gasps as she looked around. The three Tendos were looking at her in relief, while the last two wolves were further down the slope. From what she could make out one of the wolves was circling the other protectively. Well at least they weren’t attacking. She turned to look at Akane and caught her mouth moving. Ranma tilted her head quizzically as her pulse continued to thunder in her ears. Why couldn’t she hear what Akane was saying? Her headache pulsed again, stronger than before. She cried out and brought one hoof to her head as the pain grew in time with the pulses. She looked up at the Tendos. Why were they backing away nervously. Why… Why were there golden sparks falling around her? As she watch through pain blurred vision one of the sticks on the ground was struck by a spark and promptly turned into a bright red squeaky toy carrot. Another spontaneously caught fire, while a third grew into a small oak sapling.

She tried to back away from the sparks only for them to follow her. She stumbled as another pulse of pain and… something else wracked her body. Before her panic could grow further though a pair of piercing howls cut through the pain and silence. Everypony on the hillside turned to look at the pair of wolves. A green glow had erupted around both of them as they sat howling at the cloud covered sky. The glow spread up and down the hillside, seeping into the thousands of scattered sticks from the battle. The sticks glowed and towards the two wolves. As the sticks approached the two wolves exploded into their component parts. Despite this the howling continued. The sticks joined together, merging into an ever larger mass of wood and green light. The howling merged into a singular, much deeper, as the sticks took on the form of a massive wooden wolf the size of a small house.

Ranma gaped up at the beast in horror. This was bad. Really, really bad. She looked over at the others. Nabiki, Kasumi and Akane seemed dumb struck with horror. Far down the hillside she could see what looked like Ryouga trying to limp his way up the hill towards them. Her head pulsed with pain and… she didn’t know what but something was there. Her visions wavered with the pulse but she pushed passed it. Ryouga was next to useless at the moment and there was no way in hell Akane could fight something like this, which meant she would have to do it. Again.

Ranma charged down the hill trailing golden sparks all the way. There was only way to deal with something like this, and it would require her to get up close and personal with the monster. The howl died away as the creature turned its attention towards the Tendos and took one earthshaking step forward. Seeing where its gaze was going Ranma shouted something at it. At least she knew she opened her mouth. Whether what came out was words or not was beyond her at that moment. Whatever it was it served to get the creature’s attention. With a roar of anger it lunged for her and she barely managed to stay out of its claws. She shouted something else at it as she continued dodging it, drawing the beast into an ever tightening spiral. She just hoped that the sparks she was continuing to give off wouldn’t ruin what she was attempting.

In all it took less than a minute, though it felt like hours, to lead the monster wolf into the center of the spiral. As she stepped into the center she looked up at it with a mud caked grin before throwing a single punch straight up. The Wolf froze in mid lunge. Everything froze. For a single instant all was silent and still, from the rain to the pulse that had been thundering in her head for the past several minutes. 

“HIRYU SHOTEN HA!” She shouted, her voice cutting through the silence as she stood poised beneath the giant.

Then it was over as another pulse thundered through her head and into the rest of her body. Liquid fire surged through her veins burning agony into every muscle, from the tip of her tail to the end of her muzzle. Abruptly the feeling reversed as all the pain and fire flowed back through her body and straight into her horn. The air quivered from stillness back into a storm, and then into something far more. A wind more powerful than anything she had ever experienced sprung up around her. It pulled at her wings, tugged at her mane, and dragged her hooves from the ground even as it tore the wooden wolf to shreds. The last thing she saw was a glimmer of golden light before consciousness fled. Her sight was consumed by whiteness as a feeling of dead cold spread across her body.



-0-0-0-0-0-
Celestia
15 Minutes Earlier
-0-0-0-0-0-


On most days split pea soup and dandelion sandwiches would be a pleasant, if simple, meal. Most days were not today. Celestia stared at the soup bowl a spoon floating in her telekinetic grip before dropping back to the table with a thump. She sighed.

“Is something the matter Sister?” Enquired her companion.

Celestia looked across the small table of the private dining room at her sister. The dark blue alicorn looked back at her with worry even as she took a bit from her own sandwich. “My appetite seems to have abandoned me today Luna.” She replied.

Her sister snorted. “That much is obvious dear sister. But why hath it done so? What worries you this day?” She took another bite of the sandwich.

Celestia did not answer, instead merely turning her head to look out towards the small balcony that dominated one end of the room. The view was rather impressive, showing much of the city of Canterlot and the wide, sweeping plains that spread out almost as far as the eye could see. Well at least until they met the forest of the Everfree.

The look was enough for Luna. “Thou worry for thine student. Sombra may be a formidable opponent, but she and her friends shall be more than a match for the blaggard.” She said around yet another bite of food.

“I am not worried about Twilight and her friends. I have faith in her abilities, otherwise I would not have sent her.” Celestia said. Truth be told she was worried just a touch, but it was not that worry which had robbed her of her appetite. “No Luna it’s something else that is depriving me of my appetite. Tell me have you sensed anything odd today?”

Luna quirked an eyebrow in her direction. “Strange? Other than your lack of appetite it hath been a normal day.” She replied before having a spoonful of soup. “Are you sure your hunger hath abandoned you sister? The soup is quite delicious today.”

Celestia looked out the window in thought for a few seconds. “The air feels charged with magic today Lulu. More so than usual.” She clarified when her sister raised an eyebrow at her statement.

“It is the week of exams at thy school. Perhaps it is from there you sense it?” Luna suggested.

Celestia shook her head. “No. This is far beyond what my school could ever hope to produce… This feeling is familiar though. I’ve experience it before, if only I could remember where…”

Luna’s set her spoon down with a clank in the now empty bowl. “An old enemy perhaps? A foe from ages long past?” She asked, concern evident in her voice.

Again Celestia shook her head. “I doubt it. It lacks the madness of Discord, or the cruelty if Tirek. No, this force is… Different. It reminds me of when Cadance ascended actually. Power, undirected and barely controlled.” She caught the look of suspicion in her sister’s eyes. “The odds of a second pony becoming an alicorn in just over a decade are remote at best.”

“Yet not impossible.” Her sister pointed out before closing her own eyes. Celestia felt her sister’s magic spread out into the world around them. “Yes, I sense it now as well. There is something… Like a charge in the air? A light that is just over the horizon? I’m afraid it is difficult to ascertain a direction.”

The solar diarch nodded in agreement. “That fits with my assessment. It appeared several hours ago from nowhere. I haven’t been able to do more than determine it comes from the south somewhere.”

“From the direction of the Everfree?”

“If not further. Not everything like this has to involve the Everfree.” Celestia pointed out before rising from her cushion and stepping out onto the balcony. Seconds later her sister joined her.

“Be that as it may Sister, there is still something there, and if it is from the south than the Everfree is the most likely place.”

“Or it could originate in the badlands.”

“Do you tr-“ Whatever Luna intended to say was cut off as a pulse of magic struck their senses. Celestia felt an electric tingle run down her horn and out through both her wings and hooves. She suddenly tasted cherry on her tongue. She looked down at her younger sister the moment she recovered. The younger alicorn’s wings and ears were both pointed stiffly upward and her eyes were wide in shock, staring blankly off into the distance.

“Luna are you okay?” She asked. After a few moment where her sister stood stock still without moving a muscle she reached out and tapped her on the nose. “Sister are you-“

“Tia. Look.” Luna pointed out into the distance.

“What are you talkin-“ Before Celestia could either finish her sentence or look the dark blue glow of her sister’s magic sprang up about her muzzle and jerked her head in the direction of the Everfree. As the magic holding her jaw disappeared it fell open in shock. In the far distance, in the middle of the Everfree forest, was a massive tornado that appeared to be well over a mile wide and reached all the way into the sky.

“Do thou think that perhaps that might be the source of the power you felt sister?” Luna asked, her voice far too calm in Celestia’s opinion.

“If that were the case we would have seen it before.” Celestia pointed out. “I suspect who ever created it is probably the source.” She spread her wings and prepared her magic. “Whatever the cause this situation is far too great for the guard to handle. Inform the guard of the situation and then join me.”

Luna started. “Join you? You are heading out there?”

“You can feel the power of that tornado even from here, Luna. That amount of power is beyond what ordinary ponies can manage. No, we will have to deal with it ourselves.” Celestia pointed out.

“As you say sister. Be careful until I arrive.” Luna said with a smile.

“Always Lulu. Always.” With a thought, and a little bit of magic, Celestia disappeared in a wink of golden light.


-0-0-0-0-0-
Celestia
-0-0-0-0-0-


The wind of the tornado was the first thing Celestia noticed as she winked into existence above the Everfree forest. It snapped her mane to the side in the same instant that it caught her wings. She staggered in the air as the tornado tried to pull her in, and her wing’s beat hard to pull her out. With some effort she managed to get some distance from the wind funnel and examine the area.

She looked around at the area and frowned as she recognized the area near her and Luna’s old castle. Rain and tree branches lashed at her as she circled the dark funnel. On the far side she found the crumbling ruins of the castle, no worse off than they had been two years earlier when she had last had reason to come here.

‘Why would someone create a tornado here?’ She wondered. It made no sense, certainly it hadn’t been done to cause damage. The castle held no real value anymore and the everfree was hardly something that ponies would be worried for. She turned her attention from the castle to finally examine the tornado. Extending her senses, both mystic and mundane, she examined the tornado’s very construction. She recognized the fragmented and incomplete spell matrix that served as the base for the tornado. It was a common spell formation that pegasi instinctively used when first attempting to manipulate the weather. What was strange were the two other matrices that were inter-woven into it. The first was certainly unicorn in origin; again it appeared to be an instinctive attempt to manipulate the weather, though it showed signs of being intended for containment rather than creation like the first. The last though, it was certainly different from anything Celestia had seen before. Were it not for the fact earth ponies made no use of spell matrices she would have sworn that an earth pony had been involved. The spell was the most coherent of the three and it was pulling energy from the surroundings and channeling it into the storm funnel.

While she dissected the unusual tornado her eyes examined it and the ground near its base for any signs of why it had been conjured. All she could see though were broken branches and prodigious amounts of dirt, mud and leaves. As she finished her examination of the tornado, in the process getting far more questions than answers, a faint glimmer of red caught her eye. Moments later she spotted it again as an object of some kind whipped by once more. Lighting her horn she grabbed it in her telekinesis as it flew by a third time, and she pulled it to her. Whatever it was, was covered in mud, leaves and what appeared to be red hair. Her heart skipped as she caught sight of white feathers mixed in with the muck and hair. The pieces clicked together as she realized she was holding an unconscious pony in her grip. Her eyes traced up the young mare’s neck to her head where a gleaming white horn was just visible beneath the muck that was plastered to it.

“An alicorn.” She breathed in shock before the side of her mouth twitched upwards in a small smile. “It would appear I own lulu an apology then.” She looked back up at the tornado and nodded once. It was rather obvious where the tornado came from now. She caught a few of the branches flying by in her grip and brought them close to examine. Deadwood, in fact it was magic-tainted deadwood. Timberwolves had been involved then. She flared a horn and cast a failsafe spell she knew well from having to fix mistakes at her school. The golden magic rolled out from her in a gentle wave and dissipated the tornado as it passed. In moments dirt, branches and leaves fell back to the ground and she was left floating above the castle, holding an unconscious alicorn, in the rain.

After a moment spent searching for a spot to land Celestia descended softly down to the gate of the castle, the alicorn floating close to her side. As she came closer she spotted the green head of a pony sticking out from the edge of the doorway. The pony, a mare by all appearances, ducked back down the moment she noticed Celestia. ‘Odd, most ponies are quite happy to see me.’ She thought as she landed mere feet from the door.

“Hello, is everyone alright?” She called.

“We-“ A voice started before the what sounded like a scuffle broke out as the voice was cut off.

Celestia sighed. These ponies seemed rather strange, and oddly enough did not seem to recognize her. As the sounds of a scuffle continued she smiled softly. It had been quite a while since she had gone unrecognized.  ‘Well these ponies don’t seem to recognize me in the least, and they seem to be quite eager to hide. Perhaps I should introduce myself then.’ She stepped over the rubble that impeded part of the doorway and into the covered walkway that encircled the courtyard. Off to the side she spotted the struggle. Two ponies, one earth and one pegasus, were on the ground wrestling, the earth pony’s hooves covering the pegasus’ mouth. She recognized the green fur of the earth pony as the one who had been looking.

“I will not hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about.” She said, picking the two of them up with her magic and separating them. The two ponies bobbed upside down in her magic grip. The blue-maned pegasus scowled at the green furred earth pony.

“What the hell did you do that for Nabiki?” The pegasus demanded.

“You yelled! What was I supposed to do, let you get us in trouble?” The earth pony snarled back.

“You were the one who was spotted. She already knew we were here. No point trying to hide it.” The pegasus turned her head away from her companion with a snort. Behind her a third pony, also a yellow pegasus, was trying to hide herself in an alcove down the hall.

Celestia sighed. “If I set you two down will you behave?” She asked calmly. The yellow pegasus nodded but remained otherwise silent. The earth pony squeaked before nodding frantically in agreement. Celestia set both down gently before looking around the covered walkway for a place to put the alicorn she still carried. A spot that was hopefully somewhat dry and clean. Not finding anywhere that fit the criteria she cleared a spot next to her with a quick spell and put the alicorn down gently.

“Ranma!” The pegasus cried before rushing over to the mud-covered pony’s side. Only Celestia’s hoof kept her from throwing herself onto the smaller alicorn.

“I take it you know her then?” Celestia asked, keeping her tone of voice calm and gentle so as to keep the smaller pony as calm as possible.

The Pegasus nodded frantically as she took in the sight of her friend. “Yes. She… She was fighting that giant wolf thing.” The pegasus fell back onto her rear and looked up at the alicorn. “Will she be alright?” She asked. Tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.

Celestia smiled and said, “Give me a few moments to examine her. I promise I will help as best I can.” The pegasus nodded back tearfully as the Princess turned her attention back to the battered alicorn. As she used her magic to strip away the mud and other detritus that had gotten into Ranma’s mane and coat she noticed the other pony’s trying to get a better look at what we was doing. She ignored them as best she could; instead she focused on assessing the damage to her patient.

‘No broken ribs or other bones for that matter. A number of cuts and scrapes, but nothing a quick healing spell can’t fix. Her body seems to have suffered a great deal of magic overload recently.’ She thought as continued to scan the alicorn with her magic. As she began scanning her patients head something jumped out at her. ‘Inflammation around her horn. Microscopic cracks running the length of it as well. That combined with the tornado I saw outside suggests an explosive release of magic that appears to have forcibly cleared a blockage of some sort from her system. Magical overload combined with a restricted magic flow perhaps? No, the damage looks too explosive for that. A complete blockage then. Strange to see something like this outside of a young unicorn.’ She looked away from her patient as she thought the evidence over, only to see something even stranger. The three other ponies were sitting in a line next to her, each one staring at the young alicorn with looks that were both longing and suggested their owners were only half there.

Celestia looked back at her patient with a touch of confusion. While the you alicorn was beautiful with a pure white coat that still managed to shimmer and gleam in the dim light of the walkway, and a pure red mane that flowed in rippling- Celestia blinked and checked her thoughts as she realized what she was seeing. ‘An Aura. Of course she has one. It appears to be weaker than mine, but almost as strong as Cadance’s. This could be an issue since it doesn’t appear to be under her control fully.’ She turned to the other ponies and cleared her throat. Loudly. All three jumped and looked around wildly in alarm. The two Pegasi calmed once they realized what had happened. The earth pony stumbled quickly behind her two companions in an effort to put them between her and the Princess. “Are the three of you alright?” Celestia asked.

“I’m fine.” The Blue-maned pegasus said, the other pegasus echoed her. Their earth pony companion huddled closer but manged to chirp, “Fine.”

Celestia smiled. “Good. You will be pleased to hear your friend is mostly fine. Aside from some reparable damage to her horn, and some minor magical stress to her body, she should be all healed up in a couple of days. I will have to insist on getting someone to look at her horn before she tries to do anymore magic however.” She said.

The blue and yellow pegasus before her frowned. “What magic? Is that what you did to clean Ranma off?” She asked.

‘And another inconsistency. They do not recognize me, and they do not know what magic is. At least not unicorn magic. Perhaps it is time to get some answers.’ Celestia thought. She looked down at the younger pony, the same pleasant smile on her face as before. “Tell me little ones, where is it you come from that has not only not heard of me, but which has no magic?” She asked in a somewhat less gentle tone.

The three ponies traded pensive looks before the earth pony spoke up. “Earth. We’re from earth.” She said softly.

“Nabiki?” The pegasus she’d been fighting with said nervously.

“It’s okay Akane. I think she already suspects we’re not from around here.” Nabiki said.

“No, you’re making it sound like we’re not on earth. Why would you think that?” Akane demanded.

The green earth pony snorted as Akane backed away from her. “It’s obvious isn’t it? This forest is full of living wooden wolves, and if she isn’t important around here I’ll eat my tail.” Nabiki said pointing at Celestia.

“Oh I wouldn’t suggest doing that Nabiki. It would be quite painful… And probably make you sick.” The other pegasus said in a light tone that was rather at odds with her words.

Nabiki sighed. “I’m not actually going to do it. It’s a figure of speech.”

“Sure it is. Just because you don’t like having a tail now doesn’t mean you need to do something stupid about it.” Akane snarked.

‘A tail now?’ Celestia thought as another puzzle piece slipped into place. She looked back down at Ranma. ‘Interesting. That could explain quite a bit.’ “Tell me, if you weren’t ponies before, what were you?” She asked, her tone deceptively light.

“Human.” Came a deeper, and male, voice from the doorway. Celestia looked over and spotted a brown unicorn stallion as he limped into the walkway. He was favouring back left leg as he walked and his coat the thick with debris from the whirlwind.

“Ryouga!” Akane shouted, “Your alive… What happened to your leg?” 

He looked down at the leg with a frown before looking back at her. “I took a branch to the side when that tornado picked up. I got slammed into a tree and twisted my ankle. I’m fine otherwise” He smiled back at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” He turned to Celestia, “We’re supposed to be human. I don’t know what happened but we all woke up in the forest today with no idea how we got here.” He sat down gingerly. “So… Who are you and how did you know to come here?” He asked.

“Ryouga. Can you not offend her?” Nabiki asked wearily.

Celestia chuckled. “Do not worry. If all it took to offend me was a simple question I would have never lasted as long as I have.” She said before straightening up. She allowed a smidgen of power to leak out into the air around her. Their eyes snapped to her as the force of her presence drew their attention. The air warmed and the heat caressed those closest to her causing them to huddle even closer as the water that soaked them evaporated. “I am known by the Griffins as the Dawnstar, by the Zebra as She Who Walks In Fire, and the dragons whisper stories of Ignis Stellam.  But to you my little ponies. To you I am Princess Celestia of the Principality of Equestria.” The aura of power faded, but the heat remain, as she withdrew the sliver of power she had released. “I came when I sensed the tornado that your companion summoned. I have come to help. Whoever you might have been before matters not, for so long as you walk under my sun you shall be protected, so long as you aid and protect those around you in turn.”

Celestia felt, rather than saw, her sister’s power flair up in the courtyard behind her. “Well said Sister.” Her sister’s voice boomed out as she landed. The ponies around her looked at the new arrival with surprise while Celestia felt her mouth twitch into a smile.

“Just as thou shalt be protected by my sister, so shalt thee be protected under my moon as well. Thou can call me Princess Luna, also of the Principality of Equestria.” The darker alicorn declared as she left the rainy courtyard and joined them in the covered walkway. “Tis’ quite a bit wetter hereabouts than in Canterlot, Sister.” She said as she sat down next to her sister.

“That is it Luna. I take it you were listening in?” Celestia asked with a smile.

“Of course. T’would be a problem if I were to miss something so important.” She replied.

“Who are you people?” Nabiki demanded as she scrambled back from the both of them, her brain having seemingly rebooted finally.

“She does not listen well does she sister?” Luna said with what Celestia could tell was amusement. “Dig the water out of thy ears young filly and perhaps you will actually be able to hear someone when introduces themselves. In any case, I do believe it is thy turn to introduce thyself.” She pointed at Akane. “Speak up child, tell us your name.”

“W-Well… Um…” Akane stammered as she stared at the hoof that hovered outstretched barely an inch from her muzzle. “I’m… I’m Akane Tendo. Heir to the Tendo School of M-Musbestu Kakuto Ryu.”

Celestia shook her head as she chuckled shook her head. “Perhaps a softer touch lulu?” She suggested.

“This is soft.” Her sister replied with a mild blush as she lower her hoof. “Though perhaps thou are right. Thy have always been better at this than I.”

“Their names do not matter Luna, nor does their origin.” The older alicorn said. She looked over the dry, though still dirt-covered, ponies around her. “You are tired, your friend is in need of medical attention, and you have no place to go. Until this situation is sorted I offer you room and board in Canterlot Castle.” The ponies exchanged looks before retreating off to one side in a huddle. The whisper of conversation, too quiet to discern the words, reached her ears.

“Room and board? They are strangers Tia. We know nothing of who they are.” Luna whispered in her ear.

“We offered them protection Luna.” Celestia pointed out. “Besides their companion is an alicorn. Courtesy demands we offer her companions protection as well.”

Luna hesitated briefly before nodding in agreement. “Thou are right of course. Familiar faces will help when she awakens.” Celestia noted the wariness that lingered in her sister’s voice.

“What is it about them that disturbs you so?”

The dark blue alicorn shook her head. “They admit freely to not being ponies. More importantly to having never have even heard of ponies. Tis’ somewhat strange. Disquieting truthfully.” She admitted.

“I have been to other worlds before. Some have nothing to do with ponies.” Luna looked at her sister in surprise. Celestia smiled back mysteriously. “I spent a great deal of time during your absence just trying to… move on I suppose you could say. Starswirl had to intervene at one point I am sad to say.”

Luna looked away and down. “I-I’m sorry….”

“Do not be sorry again lulu.” Celestia said, leaning over to nuzzle her sister. “That time is long past and you are back with me once more. All is forgiven sister.” The younger alicorn blushed faintly before returning the gesture.

“Thank you Tia.” She whispered.

“We- we aren’t interrupting anything are we?” Akane asked, breaking through their discussion.

Celestia lifted her head from her sister and looked over to the yellow pegasus. The other ponies stood a couple feet behind her. “No. Nothing too important anyways. You have come to a decision then?” She asked.

Akane nodded. “We’d like to take you up on that offer if possible.” She said, hesitating briefly before continuing, “We really don’t have anywhere to go right now.”

The white alicorn smiled before beckoning them close. “Gather ‘round then, and I will teleport us all to Canterlot.” She said. The ponies stepped close, to the point where they were almost touching her. Celestia nodded once before gathering her magic once more, and with a flash of gold they disappeared from the deserted castle.

> Chapter Two: Tea and Tiaras
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waking up in a strange location was becoming, in Ranma’s opinion, far too common for her liking. Still the feeling of silk and a soft mattress was by far preferable to the cold hard ground of the forest. Her eyes flickered open as she yawned and pushed herself up. Her head still ached as she rubbed the grit from her eyes with the back of one hoof. She blinked blearily at the offending appendage and yawned again.

“Great.” She mumbled as she looked around the room, “It wasn’t a dream.” She warily looked about the room. The first thing she noticed was how dark it was. There were no lights inside the room, at least none that were lit. What light there was spilled in through the balcony door and the windows to either side. Given the weak and silvery nature of it that failed to do more than cast vague shadows, Ranma suspected it was late at night. Still it was bright for moonlight, at least enough that she could probably read by it with direct exposure.

After a few more seconds of examining the room she stretched and yawned again. Her tongue felt like it was covered in dust. It probably was if she’d been unconscious long enough. Her stomach grumbled loudly. Her right ear twitched and she sighed. Even discounting however long she’d been asleep, the last time she’d eaten had been at dinner the night before she’d found herself in the forest.

She pushed the covers aside and hopped out of the bed. Her hooves clattered on the tile floor and she almost slipped on the smooth stone before finding her balance. Now, the question of the day: Was she a guest, or a prisoner? She glanced at her wings then at the balcony. While she didn’t know how to fly, she'd proven she could glide during the fight with those wooden wolves. If she was a prisoner then there was little chance the door to the outside was unlocked.

Trotting over to the door she checked the door. To her surprise not only wasn’t it locked but there didn’t appear to be more than a latch holding it shut. Undoing the latch with one hoof she nudged the door open and stepped out into the bright moonlight.

The first thing she did as she stepped out was to look to her left and right. No guards. There was a nice table big enough for maybe half a dozen ponies to gather around, attested to by the cushions surrounding it, and several potted plants. What drew her eye though was the tall tower across the way from her. Gleaming white marble shone in the moonlight, giving it an ethereal appearance that was all the more enhanced by the impossibly thin hourglass-esque design it possessed. There were other, smaller, towers around it, each just as impossibly thin and ethereal. With a quick glance, Ranma confirmed that she was high up on a tower of her own.

Striding over to the slightly too tall railing, she pulled her head up to look over the side at what might be below. Just past the far tower was an ornately decorated, but apparently functional, wall that ended at the edge of a vast cliff. Looking back the other way she noted the numerous large halls and walkways that crisscrossed the lower levels of the towers. Small equine figures walked along the walls and walkways, spears and swords visible even from the height she was at.

“So there’s more than just us.” Ranma muttered as she pulled her eyes away from the patrolling ponies. Beyond the walls was a city whose streets were lit with bright street lamps. A handful of ponies could be just barely seen walking the streets, but it was obvious that the hour was quite late. Then she looked past the city, and up. And up. And up some more.

“That is a tall mountain,” Ranma commented after a long pause. The mountain that towered over the city had to be at least as tall as Mt. Fuji from what she could see, and if the cliff was any indication it was certainly significantly taller than that.

“Yep, and it’s a lot of fun to climb.” Ranma jumped at the cheerful comment from behind her. She spun around, instinctively going into a combat-ready stance only to discover that there were certain ways a pony couldn’t bend. Overbalancing she smacked into the railing and, without even the barest look at whoever had interrupted her, went over the side towards the ground far below.

She barely made it five feet before she jerked to a halt as a vice-like grip was clamped around her left rear ankle. She tried to bend to look up but the one holding her gasped, “Please don’t squirm. This is hard enough already.” It only took a few seconds before the railing came back into view and only a couple more afterwards before she was deposited lightly on the balcony.

As she found her feet a mildly frazzled looking midnight blue pony with bat-like wings and a wild silver mane dropped onto the marble tile breathing heavily.  A starfield was splashed across her flank with a windrose superimposed atop it. She wore dark blue armour that covered her front and most of her barrel as well as odd metal shoes in the same baroque styling of her armour. As Ranma rolled onto her hooves the bat pony smiled at her hesitantly, revealing a sharp canine as she did.

“Sorry for spooking you like that.” She said as she scuffed the marble with a hoof nervously.

Ranma stared at her for a moment. “Who are you?” She asked after an awkward moment.

The pony blinked then something seemed to dawn on her. “Oh, um.” She snapped to attention, “Lieutenant Moonrose, Night Guard. I was assigned to keep the curious away from your room while you recovered. I came in when I heard someone moving around… I guess it was just you.” She blushed deeply enough to be seen through her dark fur.

“Right...” Ranma drawled, “Um, thanks for not letting me go splat on the ground I guess?” She offered. If anything it seemed to make the bat pony blush harder.

“Sorry about that.” She apologized again. Her bat wings fluttered nervously.

Ranma shrugged. “Not that big a deal,” She said. It wasn’t really, not compared to what she normally got up to anyway. “Should of been paying more attention.” She said with a sigh and a glare at her hooves. She could run and walk, but going around on all fours was still too new for her. 

Moonrose coughed awkwardly into her hoof. “Right well. Now that you’re awake I should go and let someone know. I’ll um… be back soon,” She said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Ranma said, stepping up to the other pony as she did. “I was with a few others, what happened to them?” She asked.

“Hmm, oh the other guests. They’re a few floors down, I think. Probably sleeping at the moment though, it is three in the morning,” Moonrose replied, “Just wait here please. Either me or someone else will be by in a bit… You wouldn’t happen to be hungry would you?”

Ranma’s stomach took that moment as its cue to start rumbling again. She felt her cheeks warm as Moonrose giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes,” The Bat Pony said as she stepped back inside, “Someone will be up in a bit with food. Any preferences?”

Ranma considered for a moment. What did ponies eat anyway? Grass? Hay? Apples? She really didn’t know. “Food I guess?” She offered after a moment.

Moonrose giggled again, “Alright. ‘Food’ will be up soon.” She slipped back inside with barely a whisper of hooves on stone.

Ranma looked after her for a few moments before sighing and turning back to the vista. “Another strange one,” She muttered as she stepped back up to the balcony railing and once again rested her forelegs on it as she peered over the side. It was a long way to the ground. “Way too close.” She turned away and walked back inside. Hopefully, the food wouldn’t be too long.



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A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover


The Long Path Home


By: Grounders10



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Chapter Two: Tea and Tiaras



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The Night Court had been bustling all night. Or at least that’s how it felt to Princess Luna. The lines of petitioners weren’t as long as during the day, and there were fewer ponies watching the proceedings, but compared to what it had once been a thousand years ago it might as well have been the center of a carnival. Still being more popular did come with some downsides.

“..a seventeen percent increase in traffic through the area over the next five years following completion,” the petitioner, a charcoal grey earth pony stallion whose name had fled her mind some time before, said as he pointed to the appropriate section of an elaborate set of charts and diagrams he had set up before the throne. By the stars did ponies of this age love their charts and graphs, and diagrams of charts and graphs. She had considered herself a well educated pony, as was required of a Princess, but it seemed every minor bureaucrat, functionary, and miscellaneous scientist/aspiring mage insisted on a volume of documentation for even the most minor of topics that truly boggled the mind.

She doubted that there had even been enough paper in Canterlot a thousand years before to allow this minor bureaucrat to create even half the presentation he was droning on through. Briefly, she considered banning presentations utilizing more than a single ream of paper before banishing the thought. Her sister’s prized student would probably have a small aneurysm if she passed such a law, before subjecting her to a presentation on why she needed more than a single ream of paper to present her current theory. At least it wouldn’t be quite as tedious as this one was.

The door of the throne room swung open and one of her night guards galloped into the room. The stallion continued to drone on with his presentation, apparently so deeply absorbed in it he couldn’t be bothered to notice a heavily armoured mare thundering across the marble tiles. The mare slowed as she approached the throne and knelt, her head resting against her raised foreleg, waiting to be recognized.

Princess Luna cleared her throat loudly, an effort that failed to so much as break the petitioner out of his monotonous drone. Perhaps he had been replaced with a golem and one of those… what were they, the small little plastic rectangles that had come out the same year she had returned… Oh yes, cassettes. No, he was breathing so he couldn’t be a golem. A pity.

She glanced down at her servant who was patiently waiting. The mare’s bat wings twitched restlessly, but otherwise showed no irritation with her situation. The petitioner’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat, reaching for a bottle of water even as he continued to monologue.

“Perhaps a short break.” She suggested loudly, “A chance to rest your throat. While I see to what my loyal guard would consider so important as to interrupt tonight’s proceedings.

The earth pony paused, blinking like he had forgotten where he was, or that he had even had an audience. He took a sip of water. “If you wish, your highness.” He said after a moment spent, apparently, remembering where he was.

Luna turned away from him without another word. It was unlikely he would recognize it as the snub it was intended as, but she could hope. Perhaps he’d leave in a huff. The lack of irritable paper shuffling unfortunately suggested otherwise however.

“Rise my servant and approach.” She said to her guard, gesturing for her to come closer.

The mare rose and stepped forward. “Your Highness,” She said, “I bring news of the important guest in the Sunrise Tower.”

The young alicorn? “She is awake?” She asked. It was about time, truly the young one had been asleep for long enough to worry both herself and her elder sister.

“Yes Princess. I heard noises within her chambers and discovered her on the balcony.” The young mare said. “She is hungry.”

“Tis expected. Escort her to the northward dining terrace, I shall be along shortly as will food, and my sister.” It was rather early, but her sister would understand. Perhaps this time she would get to use the gong. She did quite enjoy ringing it.

The mare bowed, completely oblivious to the not-quite-sinister thoughts of her mistress. “As you command.” Her servant intoned before she dismissed her.

She turned back to the, unfortunately still present, grey stallion. “Matters of importance have come up.” She said to the stallion whose name she still could not recall. “Give your name to my guards and they will see to it you are at the front of tomorrow’s petitioner line.” Perhaps he would be dissuaded by the prospect of staying up through two nights in a row enough to stop bothering her with this.

The stallion bowed. “I thank you for the courtesy and consideration, your Highness.” He said. Or not. He didn’t seem to understand subtlety very well.

Princess Luna stood from her throne. “Tonights proceedings are adjourned. A good night to all of you.” She said and headed for the door, several of her guards moving into escort at her flanks as she left the room.


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The door of the room creaked open and Ranma lifted her head from where she had been laying on the pillow. Moonrose stuck her head into the room.

“Hello?” Ranma said, sitting up.

The bat-winged pony brightened and smiled. “Princess Luna has requested that I bring you to the northern dining terrace.” She said. She nudged the door further open and gestured out the door with one hoof. “This way please.”

Ranma blinked. Princess? Oh great, she had to deal with royalty… which made sense considering this was a giant castle. She ruffled her wings in an approximation of a shrug and hopped off the bed. Her hooves failed to skid this time as she walked across the room to the doorway.

“Princess?” She questioned as she followed the other pony into the bright well-lit hallway. Her eyes cast upwards as she paused outside the door. No windows were visible in the corridor, unsurprisingly really, but it might as well have been daytime inside. The white walls and gold accents on… well everything really, almost gleamed in the pure light cast by a series of chandeliers mounting glowing crystals carved in a variety of shapes. Some were roses, others stars, and others appeared to be entire clusters of grapes or bubbles.

Moonrose started down the hall, her metal-shod hooves making little noise on the decorative rugs. “Yes, Princess Luna. We of the Night Guard are sworn to her.” She said flashing Ranma a smile over her shoulder that exposed one small fang. “She is the Diarch of the Night and Princess of the Moon. When I reported that you were awake she requested that I take you to the northern dining terrace. She also mentioned waking Princess Celestia, Diarch of the Day and Princess of the Sun.” The blue pony paused, “She is also Princess Luna’s older sister.”

Two Princesses… Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that she wasn’t male right now. Ranma sighed as she admired the decorations of the castle. Much of it was typical of large castles or mansions. The occasional painting, decorative table with flower pot, or wall hanging interspersed with fancy doors leading undoubtedly to more rooms.

“So which one is in charge then?” Ranma asked curiously as they started down a flight of stairs. The first couple steps were a bit tricky to navigate, but Ranma managed to avoid tripping and falling on her face long enough to adapt.

“Both are.” Moonrose said as they reached the level below. She nodded to a pair of Night Guard soldiers stationed at the base of the stairs. They bowed as Moonrose passed.

Ranma spared the two other ponies a brief glance as they walked passed. A bow seemed a bit much for a salute, but then how was a quadruped supposed to salute without falling over exactly? The fact that they were standing there with their spears without falling over was impressive enough. “How does that work?” She asked, more to help the travel time pass more quickly than out of any real interest, though now that she thought about it that sort of thing had to be hell on the chain of command.

“Princess Luna rules the night, and Princess Celestia rules the day.” Her escort said, “They share power, though truthfully it is only recently that Princess Luna has begun to take a direct hand in the affairs of the State after… Well she was indisposed for quite some time.” Moonrose’s wings fluttered nervously. “One more floor to go.” She added as they reached the end of the hall and started down the next set of stairs.

Ranma raised an eyebrow at the lackluster attempt to change the subject, but didn’t comment. It really wasn’t any of her business how this strange place went about running itself. Her stomach rumbled in agreement and she blushed as they passed another pair of guards who also bowed to her escort.

“Almost there.” Moonrose said with a suppressed giggle.

Ranma groaned. “At this point I’d almost be willing to eat grass… Almost.” She said, drawing an actual giggle from her escort.

“Far better food than grass will be-”

“Ranma?”

The red-maned mare paused as a familiar voice called her name from behind. She turned to see a yellow female pegasus step out of one of the nearby rooms. Her red and orange mane bounced as she glided gracefully down the hallway. The odd hair colour was triggering all sorts of recognition for Ranma, but she was having issues putting a name to the pony before her. After a moment she blinked.

“Kasumi?” She said and the other mare smiled, well more like beamed. She was actually getting glare from the overhead lights reflecting off the eldest Tendo sister’s teeth.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” Kasumi said, hugging Ranma with one hoof around the younger mare’s neck.

“Glad to be awake,” Ranma said with a smile that froze as the elder mare’s gaze turned cold.

Kasumi reached up and tapped her on the forehead lightly as she frowned at her. “Don’t you dare go and do anything that foolish ever again?” She said softly, “If Princess Celestia hadn’t shown up when she did you might not have made it.”

“That bad?” Ranma asked weakly.

“You were barely alive.” The pegasus said softly, giving Ranma another hug with both forelegs. As she pulled back she smiled again. “Somehow I am less surprised than I imagine I should be that you are already up though.”

Ranma puffed up. “I’m fine.” She said, trying to ignore the small blush that was working its way across her face. Her stomach growled loudly once again, redoubling her blush.

“Hungry, however,” Kasumi said. A moment later another, softly growl, came from the red and orange maned pegasus. Ranma blinked as Kasumi blushed. “And not the only one I’m afraid.”

Moonrose coughed politely into one hoof, drawing their attention. “As happy as this is I do need to take Ranma down to the dining terrace.” She said with a grin.

Kasumi nodded. “I’ll be coming with you then.” She said.

The bat-pony blinked. “If you wish.” She said after a moment before turning and heading down the hallway. Both Kasumi and Ranma hurried after her. 

As they walked Ranma asked Kasumi how the others were doing. The yellow pegasus shrugged her wings and rolled her eyes. “Akane and Nabiki are fine, and haven’t stopped arguing since we got here.” She said with a sigh.

“Why?” Ranma drawled.

Kasumi shrugged again. “This, that. They don’t seem to see eye to eye on anything that has happened… That and I think Akane might still be having issues with…” She gestured vaguely to herself then the castle.

That sounded like Akane. She never was good at handling change and this… yeah this was a bit more than even Nerima could consider normal. “This place is very different from home,” Ranma said, glancing at their escort. Were the locals aware that they weren’t originally like them?

“It’s to be expected.” Kasumi sighed, “We are in an entirely different world now, and I mean that literally Ranma.”

Ranma stumbled slightly at that. “I was wondering.” She said softly as they passed the next pair of guards standing at the base of the stairs. She ignored the bowing. “Never heard of deadwood coming to life before or giant wolves made of wood. Who knows?”

“The Princesses know as much as we do. We shared what we knew.” Kasumi replied, “Most of the guards know we are from elsewhere, even if they don’t know the details. Princess Celestia wanted to talk with you before anything more was decided.”

“Me?” Ranma echoed, “Why me?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Kasumi said after a few quiet moments of thought. “However you are an Alicorn-”

“A what?” Ranma had heard of a Pegasus or Unicorn before, but never an alicorn.

“An Alicorn,” Moonrose said, speaking up for the first time in a while, “is a Pony who not only shares the physical traits of the three subspecies of ponies but also combines their unique magics with incredible power.” The bat pony stopped outside a guarded doorway and turned to them before bowing, one wing held outstretched towards the door. “This is the Northern Dining Terrace, the Princesses will be with you shortly if they are not already in attendance.”

Ranma blinked. Beside her, Kasumi returned the bow. “Thank you…. I never got your name, I’m sorry.” The yellow pegasus blushed.

“Moonrose, Miss Kasumi.” The bat pony said with a smile, “I must attend to other things now. Good luck to both of you.” She turned and headed down the hallway.

“Thanks for leading me here,” Ranma shouted after her. The lieutenant waved back with one wing. Ranma looked over the two large and well-armoured guards standing on either side of the doorway. They were both at least a full head taller than her and the armour they wore covered more than it did on other guards. The halberds they carried in one hoof were pointed towards the ceiling as they both bowed to her. One hoofed the door open with a back leg.

“Thank you,” Kasumi said to the guards as they ducked inside. Ranma parrotted her distractedly as she looked around. The Northern Dining Terrace was a large spacious room, open to the elements on the outer wall, that was broader than it was deep. Most of the room was empty, aside from decorations on the walls and on small tables, but for a single large table at the far end of the room next to the short stone railing. A dozen large, almost comically so, cushions had been laid out around the low table. They were probably intended for sitting or lying down at the table. Notably, there was no one waiting at the table for them, though there were a handful of heavily armoured guards standing at attention around the circumference of the room.

“And no one is here.” Ranma deadpanned. Her stomach grumbled its agreement.

Kasumi sighed and headed over to the table, taking a cushion along the side. Ranma trotted over and took the cushion next to her, flopping onto her side as she did. From her position looking up, she could see Kasumi sigh again. “Sit up Ranma,” the older Pegasus reprimanded.

“Don’t want to,” Ranma replied, sticking her tongue out. She was tired still and the cushion was actually very comfy.

Kasumi opened her mouth to reply, only for a strange and somewhat distant dong to sound out somewhere above them. Dust fell from the ceiling. “I wonder what that was?” She said, looking up.

Ranma waved a hoof in the air. “None of our business.” She replied, stealing the neighbouring cushion for a pillow. “So, Alicorn?” She prodded.

The yellow pegasus shrugged her wings and looked back down, frowning as she noticed Ranma had stolen another cushion. Apparently deciding to let it go, or more likely deciding she didn’t want an argument at three in the morning, she said, “It’s like Moonrose said. There are three types of ponies. Akane and I are Pegasi, Nabiki is an Earth pony, and Ryouga is a unicorn. Each has their own abilities. As I’ve been told Earth ponies are usually very in touch with more physical things, such as farming. Pegasi can fly, and apparently control the weather. The bedroom Akane and I have been sharing has a bed with a cloud mattress. It’s very very soft.” She sighed wistfully and shot a glance upward.

“Made of clouds.” Ranma said disbelieving. Wouldn’t a cloud be really wet?

“Yes, Pegasi can walk on clouds. It’s part of their innate control of the weather.” Kasumi said, “Moving on, Unicorns can use their horns to channel actual magic for proper spells and such. Really complex magic. I understand that it takes a long time to master even a few spells, and most unicorns only learn a handful.”

“Or a hoof-full?” Ranma prodded, getting a groan from the older Tendou.

“Yes, as they would say.” Kasumi said. Ranma blinked and sighed. Right, they didn’t have hands, why would they talk about them? “Anyways an Alicorn has all of these magics. From the enhanced strength and endurance of the Earth Pony, to the flight and weather magic of the Pegasi, as well as the raw arcane might of the Unicorn. Only more so with greater strength and greater potential.” Kasumi’s head dropped to rest her chin on her hooves. “At least that is how the Princesses described it to us a few days ago. There is one other thing I’ve noticed.”

“Oh?” Ranma replied absently. Her mind was busy churning over the information Kasumi had shared. Alicorns were basically super ponies, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that.

“The only Alicorns I’ve seen are the Princesses.” Kasumi said, “Everyone of the other ponies is one of the other three.”

“What about Moonrose? She has bat wings.” Ranma asked, as an oddly familiar feeling of dread settled into her stomach. Princesses… Oh this was sending her mind spiraling into worrisome thoughts.

“Nocturnal variant of the Pegasi apparently.” Kasumi sighed before turning her head to give Ranma a worried look. “I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence, but…”

Ranma rolled onto her front and rested her head on her hooves. Her tail swished back and forth irritably. “But either way Alicorns aren’t common.” She said.

“I don’t believe so, no.” Kasumi sighed.

Silence reigned as the two sat in quiet thought for sometime. Finally the door to the Terrace lit up in a warm gold aura and swung open of its own volition. Ranma sat up and turned to face it with Kasumi. Through the doors stepped a giant, or as close to one as Ranma had ever seen. The pony was, at a guess, at least three, perhaps even four, times her height. Her coat was a pure white that seemed to glow from within, while her mane and tail; each coloured in alternating stripes of blue, green and pink; waved about in an invisible wind. A tiara of gold, with a single purple gem mounted in the center, sat just behind the long white horn. Hanging from her neck was a matching gold peytral with a large purple gem. Her wings, as glowing white as her coat and horn, were folded precisely at her sides and a great stylized sun adorned her flanks on both sides.

The second pony who entered was no less impressive, though she was an entire head shorter than the other. Her coat was a dark blue, reminiscent of the night sky, and her mane and tail were even more ethereal than the first’s, though they also blew in an invisible wind. Her mane and tail mimicked the night sky in colour and if Ranma looked closely enough she could see the soft flicker of stars. Where the other Princess’, and they had to be Princesses, had a tiara and peytral of gold this one wore plain metal painted a midnight black with only a crescent moon visible on the peytral itself. Her wings were folded at her side and her flanks were adorned with a crescent moon hanging alone in the night sky.

Kasumi bowed, curling a forelimb as she bowed her head, and Ranma awkwardly followed suit. “Your highnesses.” Kasumi said deferentially. Ranma looked up cautiously. The smaller princess nodded her head approvingly while the older one smiled almost indulgently.

The white princess spoke, her voice could only be described as wise and motherly in nature. “Rise my little ponies. There is no-” A yawn abruptly forced itself out. The much larger pony blushed even as Ranma and Kasumi sat up. “Oh dear. Excuse me I am normally asleep at this time.” She apologized as she took a seat at the head of the table. The other princess took the cushion next to her.

“You could have waited until morning.” Ranma said, the words just coming out. She ignored the reproving look Kasumi sent her.

The white alicorn chuckled and waved her off with a hoof. “A few hours lost sleep can be made up later, or handled with prodigious amounts of tea.” She said.

“Not too much tea Sister.” The other said, “Do remember thy physicians’ concerns.”

The elder snorted. “Good Practice is a very able doctor, but I have been around for thousands of years and if there was some vague threat to my health from tea of all things I am sure it would have happened long ago.”

Ranma blinked. Thousands of… years? What? She looked at Kasumi who only blinked back at her. This must be news to her as well.

“Do not dismiss his concerns too readily Tia.” Luna warned before sighing, “However it would appear we have already wandered astray.”

“Quite.” ‘Tia’ said before smiling at Ranma and Kasumi. “It is good to see you up and moving. You are Ranma Saotome, correct?” She asked.

Ranma nodded. “I am.” She confirmed.

“I am Princess Celestia of the Principality of Equestria.” She said before gesturing to the small alicorn. “And this is my younger sister, Princess Luna. Also of Equestria.”

“Greetings young one,” Luna said, raising a hoof to wave awkwardly.

“Hello,” Ranma said.

The door to the terrace bounced open once more as a cart was rolled into the room by a plain grey Earth Pony. Plates, tea cup, a pot of tea, and numerous bowls were piled on the cart. As he reached the table the pony stepped away from his cart and bowed. “Good morning Your Highnesses. I bring breakfast as requested.” He said.

Celestia smiled. “Good morning First Course. The usual for myself I believe, though I do hope today's blend is stronger than usual.” She said.

“Twice as strong at least Your Highness.” The Pony said, scooping a tea cup and saucer off the cart with one hoof as easily as if he had hands. Ranma stared.

“Excellent. Sister?” Celetia prodded her sibling.

“The usual for myself as well.” Luna said nodding primly.

Several salads, a plate with eggs and something that might have been deep-fried hay, and two bowls that were quickly filled with soup (Did they keep soup ready at all hours of the day just in case?) found their way from the cart to the table.

“And for the young ladies?” First Course directed to Ranma and Kasumi. Ranma blinked and looked at Kasumi, who shrugged.

“Something simple First Course.” Celestia said, “Salad, toast, and eggs would be best. Leave the tea pot and a couple cups for them as well.” Well at least someone at the table was thinking ahead.

“As you wish.” First Course bowed and quickly started serving from the cart. A plate with salad, which appeared to include what looked like flower petals, was quickly placed in front of her along with another one that was stacked high with eggs and toast. It was a rather… western style of breakfast. Not a bad thing given that she was having enough issues trying to figure out how to pick up bread with her hooves, let alone rice. Chopsticks were probably impossible for her now.

A fork and knife joined the plates before a tea pot with cream, sugar, and the extra tea cups were placed in the center of the table between the Princesses and Ranma.

“Anything more, Your Highnesses?” The Earth Pony asked.

“We shall send a message should more be needed.” Celestia said with a smile as she waved him off. The Earth Pony bowed and departed, taking the cart with him.

As he left, Ranma examined the cutlery before her. She rarely used a fork or knife when she had hands. How exactly was she supposed to use it with hooves? Then again… She glanced back at the Earth Pony. He had done it so…

One hoof came up and she prodded the fork. She ignored the curious looks she was getting from Kasumi and the Princesses. That Earth Pony had been holding some of those plates at angles that should have sent them sliding to the floor, yet he hadn’t, so how?

Touching the knives and forks in front of her provided no immediate clues. Her hooves didn’t magically meld with items or squish around them. They went tink, like you would expect hooves to when they met metal. And yet… With a small frown she considered the problem. The server had managed it without issues so how had he done it? She tried hooking a hoof around the edge of a fork, hooves weren’t meant for that sort of thing, but she tried regardless.

The first attempt ended with a soft ‘tink’ as she tried and failed to lift the utensil. The second fared much the same as the first, except for a feeling that tickled the soft part of her hoof. With one ear cocked in concentration she tried again. Yes, there it was. A feeling almost like friction. Leaning into that feeling she tried again. The fork wobbled as her hoof lifted it from the table before abruptly dropping out of her ‘grip’. The ring of cutlery on china sang in the quiet room for a few seconds as she stared at it.

“Talented indeed,” Ranma looked up to see Luna watching her with one eyebrow raised.

“Are you sure you haven’t been a pony before?” Celestia asked with curious amusement.

“I think I’d remember that,” she replied, trying again. This time the fork stayed in place, a little wobbly, but still in her grip. She jabbed the salad with the fork. The lettuce crunched as the fork stabbed them. Then her grip failed from the effort and the fork tipped over, toppling off the side of the plate with a few sad pieces of lettuce hanging from the end. She blew out a frustrated sigh. This was going to take work.

“A good effort,” Luna said, her own food being levitated in a magical aura, “Do not feel that you must put on a display of competence. Sustenance is more important than decorum at the moment.” Kasumi seemed to take that bit of reassurance well as she leaned down and took a particularly large leaf between her teeth.

Ranma ignored them both as she stabbed the lettuce again. The fork failed to slip from her grip until after it was in her mouth this time. On a side note, the lettuce tasted very much like lettuce. Nothing particularly special, though the salad dressing was of a unique flavour she couldn’t place. Probably a plant humans couldn’t eat if she had to guess, or maybe something just native to this world.

Celestia watched her eat with a small smile as she sipped her tea. “I don’t think she’s doing it for decorum’s sake sister,” she said.

“The sooner you start, the sooner you improve,” Ranma said as she continued to eat.

“Hmm, clearly,” Luna said.

The sound of eating was prevalent for the next minute or so before Celestia set her tea down. “Now, allow us to properly welcome you to Equestria, Ranma Saotome,” she said warmly, “It is not often we meet another Alicorn.”

Luna snorted. “‘Tia, your adopted niece is the only other I even recall meeting,” she said dryly.

“A once in a millennia event is not often,” Celestia replied, taking a sip of her tea. She sighed, “But can we try to focus, sister?” Luna waved a hoof and continued eating. “Thank you. Ranma, I have a few questions, if you don’t mind?”

“Shoot,” the redhead replied between bites.

A notepad and quill with inkpot popped into existence with a golden twinkle beside Celestia. “While I do believe the testimony your companions have given I would like to first confirm with you, you did not come here intentionally, yes?”

“I was sleeping then I woke up in that forest,” she replied.

“And you have no knowledge about ponies or Equestria, correct?” Ranma nodded around the mouthful of salad. Celestia hummed and sipped her tea. “That includes its laws as well?”

Ranma paused. “... Who do I have to marry now?” she asked flatly. Beside her Kasumi choked on her salad, coughing as she stared at Ranma.

Luna spat the fork she was using to eat out. It pinged off the wall and disappeared behind a potted plant in the corner. “For what reason would you expect that?!” she exclaimed.

“It’s happened before,” Ranma replied. Shampoo for example, though at times she did wonder at how enforceable their laws were in Japan. 

Celestia lowered her teacup to the table with a sigh and a slight smile. “Your companions had said that you have had an… interesting, few years. I can only imagine what stories they left out. I wouldn’t mind hearing about them in the future, assuming you don’t mind sharing?” she asked.

Ranma shrugged her wings. “It’s been a weird few years,” she admitted, “I think this whole thing only makes it to third place.” Akane and the rest liked to say it was ever since Ranma arrived in Nerima, but it had been more like ever since they travelled to China.

“Only third? I look forward to hearing your story,” Celestia said, “But, no you do not have to marry anyone unless you wish to.”

“I would hope so,” Luna said, staring at Ranma before waving for a new fork, “What sort of fools attempt to use laws to force a marriage between two ponies?”

“It did use to be legal to arrange marriages between families,” Celestia noted.

“It was legal for them to arrange such things between families. It was not our business, nor that of the states before us, Sister,” Luna said with distaste. “What barbaric cultures you have dealt with Ranma Saotome.” As the dark blue Alicorn went back to eating, Ranma caught Celestia rolling her eyes at her sister.

“The point,” Celestia said, “is that there are indeed laws concerning Alicorns and since you are one…” Her great white wings fluttered irritably. “I am sorry to spring this upon you immediately after meeting, but the law does require it of me.”

Ranma put her fork down and sat up ‘properly’ with both forehooves placed before her. “So what do I have to do?” she asked.

“You have a choice. But perhaps some context first,” the older Alicorn said, her horn lighting up with a golden aura once more. Her teacup was raised for a sip. “The history of Equestria is ancient, older than me and my sister by millennia. To explain in full would be a matter of days, for now, understand that Equestria was once known as the Kingdom of Three Tribes and ruled by a Triarchy headed by the House of Platinum. That came to an end two millennia ago with the appearance of a being known as Discord.”

Luna’s horn flashed with light and Ranma leaned back as a translucent image of what appeared to be the bastardized cousin of an eastern dragon formed over the table. Mismatched limbs, colours, and even horns of different creatures had been seemingly grafted to the lithe draconic form. Kasumi let out a small squeak of worry.

“Thank you, Luna,” Celestia nodded to her sister, “This is Discord, the Spirit of Chaos. Madness and Chaos are his purviews. His influence was not subtle, but he brought the Kingdom of Three Tribes crashing down in an orgy of madness.”

“He is a capable trickster, but delights in simply turning one’s nature into its inverse,” Luna said, “Kindness becomes cruelty, honesty becomes deception, loyalty becomes cowardice and so on. The Kingdom’s leadership tore each other apart in mere days, but the true damage had been done in the first few hours with the deaths of the Triarchy. The details, however, do not truly matter in this case.”

Celestia picked up the explanation, “It turned out that Alicorns are, while vulnerable to his more overt powers, incapable of being inverted. Our natures are too strong, too core to ourselves. There is no axis upon which to reverse ourselves.”

“A fact that as we have discovered… Has its own issues,” Luna said with a grimace as she removed the image of Discord from the table. Celestia winced but continued on.

“A tale for another time, Sister,” she said, “We took leadership during the crisis and with the aid of some friends managed to overcome Discord. To us, that was the end, but to Equestria Discord’s defeat raised questions. If he escaped, what was to stop him from simply overwhelming the rulers of Equestria again? If another being like him existed, how could they be stopped? The solution of the restored Triarchy was to ask us to take over leadership.”

“We refused,” Luna said bluntly, “While neither of us was willing to stand by and allow innocent ponies to be harmed by the madness, rulership was not something we were interested in.”

“We left and took to travelling, but we underestimated how deep the wounds Discord had left were,” Celestia sighed, “Three Triarchies rose and fell due to infighting and the lingering influence of the monster. Discord’s actions had broken open long healed wounds between the three tribes. The fourth Triarchy found us and asked us to come to the capital of the time. The Castle you found in the forest.”

Ranma tipped her head to the side. “That old place?”

“Yes. The Everfree forest was once known as Paradise,” Celestia replied, “They gave us an ultimatum. They had passed a law, the last resolution of the Triarchy of Equestria. The Alicorn Resolution. We would either accept their request to become the rulers of Equestria and accept a title, not yet decided at the time.”

“They wished to make us Queens. Tia, didn’t want that,” Luna said with a shake of her head, “What was it, ‘Queens can’t have tea parties’?” A light blush appeared on her sister.

“Not now Luna,” her older sister replied, “We had been tempted to refuse. It would have meant leaving Equestria, but the nation was not as large as it is now. We would have had plenty of room to roam.”

“Except they explained what they believed would happen,” Luna continued, “They said that regardless of our decision it would be the last meeting of the Triarchy. Either we stepped up, or the three tribes fell apart.”

“I’m seeing where this is going,” Ranma said with a frown. “I’m an Alicorn, so that means I either accept being a Princess or leave?” Ryouga was never going to let her hear the end of this. Ranma, the pretty pony princess.

Celestia nodded. “Essentially, yes. Not that most would consider it a burden, but it does come with duties that are expected.”

Ranma stabbed a bundle of lettuce and chewed on it thoughtfully. She swallowed “So I’m guessing you don’t know how to just send us back home, right?” she asked.

“While travelling to other worlds is not a new phenomenon to me, it is difficult and poorly understood,” Celestia said. She poured more tea into her cup. To her right Luna gave Kasumi a straw for her teacup. The yellow pegasus thanked the Princess with a strained smile. “Sending you home would first require finding your home and that is… difficult to say the least. We require something from your home, but ponies make poor antennas for such actions. I’m afraid to say that your stay will be extended, possibly by years.”

“Unless someone on our end does… something,” Ranma waved vaguely with her fork.

“Something noticeable,” Celestia agreed, “Which means I have to ask you whether you would be willing to take up the duties of a Princess of Equestria for the duration of your stay. The Alicorn Act is the basis of our government’s mandate. It is the most fundamentally important document in the nation and beyond even our ability to alter. The modern parliament ruled that it extends to all Alicorns, not just myself and Luna, when Cadence became an Alicorn. As such…”

“Serve or leave,” the redheaded mare concluded, earning a sad nod. She stabbed her fork into the salad and ate with a frown. This was an irritating situation to wake up to. Still… “Assuming we don’t have a better option than waiting for someone to figure this out for us, then… I’m not really seeing the issue,” she said, setting the fork down. “Unless being a Princess means I’m going to have to get married or conduct some strange magic ritual?”

“Despite the tabloid paper’s claims, we do not ritually bathe in the blood of a hundred virgins every full moon,” Celestia deadpanned.

“I can’t believe that one has stuck around for a thousand years,” Luna sighed, “You would think they would get more inventive after a thousand years.”

“And I’m not getting tossed to the sharks?” Ranma pressed.

“If I include you, there are four of us at the moment. We don’t have a pressing need for you to take up duties at the moment, so no, you won’t be. And even if we did, you have things you need to learn first,” Celestia replied with a shake of her tricolour main.

Ranma made a face at the learning, but overall it was better than she had expected walking into the room. No marriages, yet anyway. “I can manage,” she said with a quirk of her lips, “I mean, this isn’t really a choice, is it?”

“You say that now, but if anything happens to the two of us,” Celestia gestured to her sister, “then you are next in line since Cadence is in charge of the Crystal Empire.”

Ranma flicked an ear and rolled her eyes. “You’re thousands of years old. Me showing up in time for something to happen is like getting hit by a falling star,” she said.

“I never said it was likely, but things can happen,” Celestia said, “Do you accept, Ranma Saotome?”

Ranma stared up at the older mare. “You’ll keep working on a way to get us home?” She asked.

“We will.”

She chewed on a leaf of lettuce for a moment before nodding. “Then sure, being a Princess isn’t that bad a price,” she said. Even if Ryouga was going to keep ribbing her until the end of her life… Her ears lay flat. Was she going to age like these two?

“And now I owe Nabiki money, when we get some anyway,” Kasumi sighed. The Princesses, two old and one new, turned to look at the yellow pegasus who was now puffing up her cheeks in a very definite pout. “I was sure you were going to need to get married.”

Ranma rubbed her forehead with a sigh. Of course, they were betting on her. Because, why wouldn’t they. “Kasumi…” she sighed.

Celestia chuckled. “For now, just focus on recovering from your arrival. So for the moment, Ranma Saotome, welcome to Equestria.” She raised her teacup in salute with a smile.

“Indeed, welcome Ranma Saotome,” Luna echoed, raising a mug of something steaming, “The presence of another Alicorn is a welcome and fortuitous occasion.”

Bemused, Ranma lifted her empty teacup in reply. “Tea?” Celestia offered, the teapot floating over in a golden aura.

“Please.” Well, it would have been nicer to be a Prince- ah, then again, maybe not. All the princes she had encountered were jackasses. She could live with being a Princess for now.


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> Chapter Three: Reflected on Four Legs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There is one more matter we need to discuss,” Celestia said as she set the teapot back down. She took a sip from her own cup.

Ranma sipped from her teacup, before she quickly set it down. She could feel it wobbling in her hoof’s grip. She still hadn’t quite gotten that gripping thing down yet. “I’m almost afraid to ask,” she said as she looked up at the softly glowing Alicorn. Celestia gave off a warm welcoming feeling, but the sheer size disparity was mildly off putting, even if the older Princess seemed to be a lot nicer than any Royalty she had met up until then.

“Nothing as life changing as a royal title, I assure you Ranma,” Celestia said, hiding her amused grin behind her teacup as she took another sip. She sighed as she put it down. “Tell me, how is your head? Your horn specifically.”

The red-maned alicorn looked up at the tip of her horn. It just barely peeked into her vision if she looked as far up as she could. She hadn’t thought about it since she woke up. “Better than before? The headache I had back in the forest seems to be gone,” she said.

“Good,” Celestia smiled, “From what your friends told us, your people do not have a history of magic, correct?”

“Sort of. There are people who use magic, but most of what you see these days is just old artifacts and strange phenomena,” Ranma said. She had yet to meet someone who could actually make spells work without reading them off a weird tablet, or odd vase, or the occasional worn-out scroll.

“But it is not commonly utilized, correct?” Celestia asked.

“Not even a little.” Thank the Kami for small mercies.

“Ponies are as a whole quite magical,” Luna said, speaking up from her own meal, “Earth ponies tend to express it through physical interaction, which Pegasi can fly and shape the weather.”

Celestia nodded to her sister, “And Unicorns utilize their horns. Alicorns have all three forms plus magic that is unique to us. I’m afraid that both you and mr. Hibiki had an issue with your horns.”

“Which is why it hurt so much?” Ranma asked before taking another sip of the tea. It was quite good, but she couldn’t quite place the taste. Maybe something that humans didn’t like the taste of? Or just something she hadn’t tried as a tea before. She would have to ask.

“Yes. The horn possesses channels for magic. These can become blocked by a variety of causes, most of which can be cleared out through a simple procedure most Unicorns learn while growing up. Most Unicorns suffer a blockage at least once while growing up,” Celestia explained, “However, you managed to compound the issue with a magical surge. Also not unusual for untrained or growing Unicorns.”

Ranma winced. “That doesn’t sound very healthy?” she said carefully. No wonder her head had felt like it was about to explode.

“It is not,” Celestia confirmed, “The good news is that your surge cleared out the blockage. The bad news is that doing so caused hairline fractures throughout your horn. We’ve placed a limiter on your horn for now to prevent you from even trying to channel magic through it while it heals. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of months, but I’m afraid any lessons on the practical side of magic will have to wait until then.”

The teacup nearly slipped from her hoof. “Magic… Lessons?” She repeated slowly.

“You have a horn, do you not?” Luna said with a snort, “To not give you lessons would invite disaster in time. Control must be learned.”

Celestia nodded. “There is a reason all Unicorns are required to learn at least the basics,” she said.

“So I’m going to have to, what, go to school?” Ranma asked. What did pony school even look like?

“Oh goodness, no. You’re far too old to attend the classes required,” Celestia shook her head, “No, I think it might be for the best if I asked Twilight Sparkle to act as your tutor when she returns from the Crystal Empire. I would do so myself, but with Cadence now looking after the Empire I’m afraid things are about to get rather busy around here again. Twilight is my personal student and I have full confidence in her abilities.”

The Princess of the Moon nodded her agreement. “My sister’s faith is well placed. Twilight Sparkle is an excellent teacher,” she said.

Ranma shook her head. Learn magic? After all these years of issues with it? It seemed so strange that it could be something she learned, but then was it really as odd as a world full of talking technicolour ponies? She looked out over the open balcony. She could see the star-filled night sky. It was far brighter and more vivid than anything she had seen back home with swirling galaxies and bright glittering stars framing a full moon. It was beautiful, but as her eyes instinctively searched for the constellations she was familiar with, it just served to emphasize how strange her situation was.

“I never thought of learning magic,” she said aloud, “Its not really something you learn to use back home. Everyone I’ve seen try, tends to just… screw up bigger and bigger every time. It's the sort of thing we just learned to endure and find a way to break.”

“This is a nice change of pace for you, I would imagine,” Celestia said.

Ranma ruffled her wings as she sipped her tea again. What was that flavour? It was starting to bother her a bit. “I guess. I just wish that turning into a pony had fixed the last curse,” she muttered. It had, by all measures, broken it, but the result was… She scowled. The best she could say was that she hadn’t gotten stuck as a cat or a duck. Or a pig. Now that would have sucked.

“Last curse? Are we to understand, that you are currently cursed?” Luna asked, leaning forwards to stare at her closely.

“I wasn’t born a girl,” Ranma replied, leaning away from Luna, “That is- erm… What’s the name for a female pony?”

“Filly or Mare, depending on age. How old are you?” Celestia asked.

“Seventeen, nearly eighteen,” she replied.

“Then you are a young mare,” the other Princess said, looking at her with a frown, “I am to understand that you were born a colt then?”

“... If you mean male, then yeah,” Ranma nodded, “ I fell into a spring in China a few years ago. Ever since I’ve turned back and forth when I get hit with hot and cold water and… Well it doesn’t seem to be working at the moment.” At least, she didn’t think it was. Ryouga’s was sure as hell gone and all things considered she had to admit he wasn’t a very good liar. He had probably been telling the truth when she attacked him in the forest. Probably. He did occasionally lie.

Her ears went flat. She so owed him an apology, didn’t she? Ugh.

A brilliantly white wing rested itself upon her shoulder and she blinked away her thoughts to look up at the owner. “I see that it has been a rough few years for you,” Celestia said gently, a motherly tone in her voice that made Ranma feel like the Princess truly cared. It was the sort of tone she never heard from her own mother and the little pang of longing it caused made her glance down. “Changing one's gender is possible with spells, but,” she said as Ranma’s ears perked up. They went down again. “But, such spells are temporary and potentially dangerous. The natural form of a Pony is exceptionally difficult to keep trapped in an unwanted form.”

“Indeed, permanent transformations are not a normal fixture of proper spell casting,” Luna said, “Such things are the domain of dark magic and usually involve unpleasant side effects for both the caster and the victim.” Ranma winced.

“Oh,” she said. It really shouldn’t have surprised her. “Figures. Nothing ever seemed to work on the curse anyway.”

The wing patted her on the shoulder before withdrawing. “The best possibility I could offer would be to find you a way home,” Celestia said, “In my experience most methods of travel between worlds shape your body to become like the most similar entities at your destination. It is possible, though I will admit it is unlikely, that you may simply return to your status quo once you travel home. At the least, I would expect you to become a… Human, was it not?”

Ranma and Kasumi both nodded. Ranma spared a glance at the yellow pegasus. She had been quiet since the conversation had moved on from royal titles. The pegasus blinked as she met Ranma’s eyes, her lips around the straw for her tea. Her right eyebrow quirked upwards over her large brown eyes. Jeez, ponies had large eyes. “Yes,” Ranma said, looking away from Kasumi.

“I cannot offer assurance of a way to turn you back to a colt. I’m sorry, but such transformation spells are incredibly dangerous,” Celestia sighed. Ranma nodded and went back to her food.

An awkward silence lingered for the next few minutes as they ate before Kasumi asked the question that had been bothering Ranma. “What sort of tea is this?”

Celestia sipped her tea as Ranma looked up. She tilted her head to the side and sipped again. “It seems to be a new blend… I can taste rose and chamomile in it,” she said after a moment of thought, “But that doesn’t explain the aftertaste.”

“Wortroot leaf,” Luna said after a moment of tasting herself, “An odd choice, but flavourful.”

“I have no idea what that is,” Ranma said as she took another sip.

“A medicinal plant primarily grown for its roots. The leaves have little value for medicine,” Celestia said, “Yes, it does taste a bit like wortroot, doesn’t it Lulu?” She looked her sister’s way with a small smile.

The Princess of the Night smiled and sipped her cup. “I have certainly had worse teas,” she said. With that the conversation drifted from the more serious topics to a light discussion of food preferences.

Eventually, Kasumi asked, “Do ponies eat meat?” Ranma paused with her cup at her lips.

“Really Kasumi?” She deadpanned to the pegasus. She got a shrug of the wings in reply.

“I have small canines,” Kasumi said, opening her mouth at Ranma. True to her words, there were a pair of very slightly pointed teeth towards the front. They were hardly noticeable compared to human canines, but they were there.

“Not typically,” Celestia said lowering her cup to the table, “But Pegasi have made a habit of eating fish. It helps with certain oils required for maintaining one’s feathers.”

“And since Alicorns also have wings,” Ranma said, trailing off expectantly. Celestia nodded her way.

“Correct. A small amount of fish at least once a week is good for both Alicorns and Pegasi,” she said, “Unicorns and Earth ponies are capable of digesting fish, but you’ll rarely find one who actually likes eating it.”

Ranma felt her ear twitch. “What about octopus?” she asked, “Or Squid?” She shared a hopeful look with Kasumi. With a little bit of luck maybe they could have something resembling takoyaki at some point.

“... I’m not certain I’ve heard of a recipe for either,” Celestia said after a moment’s contemplation, “I do know that neither is considered properly intelligent at least, so I doubt anypony would have issues if you wanted to try out a recipe at some point.” She quirked her lips. “Am I to take it that humans are carnivores?” Both of them blushed.

“Well… Omnivores, really,” Kasumi said, awkwardly tapping the table while looking down.

“Do not be ashamed over your own nature, child,” Luna said with a shake of her head, “Besides, it is not like you were discussing eating a pony.”

“Yes, compared to some of the Griffon ambassadors we’ve had over the years, this conversation is remarkably unthreatening,” Celestia said with a laugh, “You get one every few decades who believes he can make comments about the proper way to flavour a pony as a threat. They rarely keep their jobs for long.”

“Tis considered bad form to discuss ways to eat your hosts,” Luna said with a flat deadpan over her teacup.

“... I’ll keep that in mind,” Ranma said after digesting that little fact.

Kasumi tilted her head to the side. As Celestia raised her teacup to her lips she said, “You know, I wonder how tempura battered Griffon would taste.” Ranma’s reflexes proved to still be up to snuff as her wings flashed out and down the moment Celestia inhaled her tea. The spray of amber liquid that followed sailed through the spot formerly occupied by the young Princess.

As she landed on her hooves beside the now tea dampened pillow she pointed a hoof at Kasumi. “You did that on purpose,” she accused. Kasumi turned soulful wide brown eyes to her as Celestia coughed and hacked from inhaling tea and Luna tried to muffle her snickering with a hoof over her mouth.

“Would I do that?” she asked in that same clueless way that usually got her out of trouble with her father Soun.

Ranma stared pointedly at the red and orange tail that was wiggling on the ground with restrained laughter. “Yes,” she said, prompting Kasumi to twist to stare at her own tail.

“Traitor,” Kasumi said after a moment, puffing out her cheeks.

“S-so,” Luna snorted and covered her mouth again as she bent over the table, trying in vain to not surrender to the giggles. “A recipe you say?” she asked.

Kasumi nodded. “It can also be used for vegetables or seafood,” she said, still pouting.

“I-” Celestia coughed, “Oh dear. I’m sorry Ranma.”

“It’s fine,” Ranma waved her off, taking up a seat beside where she had been sitting on a new cushion.

“Might we inquire to the details of this recipe? Perhaps a taste test?” Luna asked with a grin forming.

“Of course. It’s quite simple,” Kasumi said, brightening at the idea.

Celestia looked at her sister and a moment later a similar grin appeared on the older sister’s face. “It would be interesting to serve such a dish to the incoming ambassador. I hear he is quite rough around the edges,” she mused.

“And I’m sure there will be no mention of it being of possible use for eating griffons, would there?” Luna mused.

“It would be tactless of me to suggest it,” Celestia agreed, “Of course, if he were to ask of its origins… well, I can only be honest, now can’t I?”

Ranma stared as both sisters snickered into their teacups before turning her gaze on Kasumi who was looking quite smug back at her. She just shook her head. “Innocent my fuzzy white ass,” she muttered at the other mare. Kasumi stuck her tongue out before going back to her tea.

The conversation continued for a few minutes longer before Celestia checked the time. “Oh dear. Is it that time already?” the Princess said in a surprised tone. Luna checked the same clock and blinked.

“Have we really been at this for three hours? Truly good company makes the time pass quickly,” she said, nodding to Ranma and Kasumi.

“Would the two of you like to witness the most important of our duties?” Celestia asked.

“Most important?” Ranma asked. The two Alicorns nodded.

“Yes, the raising and lowering of the sun and moon,” The white Alicorn said.

There was a moment of silence.

“The what?” Kasumi said her voice quiet as she stared at the two sisters.

“Once, long ago, the sun and moon rose and set without any aid,” Luna said softly, her ears laying down, “That was… ages ago. Long before our time.”

“It used to be the duty of entire orders of Unicorns, but Luna and I each have enough power to raise and lower the sun and moon without aid,” Celestia continued.

“But… What happened?” Ranma asked, looking out at the night sky with confusion.

“Legend has it that the ancient necromancer Grogar tried to destroy the world by breaking the cycle of day and night,” Luna said, “He succeeded in his plot, but the resourcefulness of Ponies has kept the world alive ever since.”

“It has had a few rickety moments over the years, but my sister and I have maintained the cycle for millennia now,” Celestia said, “This, is our most important duty. Would you like to observe, Ranma? Kasumi?” She looked from one to the other. Ranma nodded slowly at the same time Kasumi did.

Celestia rose alongside Luna and Ranma followed them to the balcony edge. The terrace they were on looked out over the cliffside. She could see a few faint lights far below, but even with the full moon the light available was too little to make out much more. Not that she spent much time looking down.

“Watch closely, little Princess,” Luna said to Ranma as her horn lit up with a dark blue aura. Any protests Ranma might have made at the choice of address, disappeared as she watched the moon accelerate smoothly in the sky until it disappeared below the horizon in but a few moments. The warmth flowing off Celestia doubled as a soft radiance began to shine from her fur. Ranma turned to her as her horn lit up with a warm golden light. In a process that should have taken hours the sun smoothly slid out from behind the horizon and rose into the sky. It came to a stop somewhere around what Ranma would have normally considered ten o’clock in the morning.

“There we go,” Celestia said with a smile, “Nice and simple, isn’t it Lulu?”

“Very,” her sister agreed. Ranma stared at them both, open mouthed. She couldn’t even imagine the power involved in something like that and yet they had done it with barely a thought. It was…

She didn’t have words for what she just witnessed, and a sneaky glance at Kasumi confirmed that the pegasus was equally starstruck. “I- Well-” Ranma tried to find words as her butt hit the titles and she stared out at the world.

In the daylight it was a far nicer view. She could see rolling hills, small towns, what had to be several railways, and on the horizon a large wild forest that rose up a series of large hills.

A white wing patted her on the head. “This is the duty we do every day for our little ponies,” Celestia said, “Perhaps one day it will be no longer needed, but for now we gladly shepherd the days and nights onwards.”

“Indeed. Such is the duty of a Princess,” Luna agreed.

Duty of a Princess, huh? Ranma gazed up at the bright shining sun. That sounded a lot more intimidating then than it had only a few hours previous. This was not what she thought of when someone talked about Princesses. No, this was more like the realm of Kami.

“What have I gotten into,” she murmured softly. If anyone heard her, no one said anything.


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A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover


The Long Path Home


By: Grounders10



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Chapter Three: Reflected on Four legs



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With the raising of the sun, the morning breakfast came to an end as Luna headed for her ‘evening’ affairs and Celestia went to get properly ready for court. Before they left, however, they instructed Moonrose, who had apparently been standing outside the entire time, orders to escort Ranma to her new room at the top of the Star Tower, the shortest of the towers, but apparently the only other suite possibly free suite of comparable size belonged to Cadence, who hadn’t quite confirmed she wasn’t going to be using it anymore. Even if she did have an Empire to look after.

“And once you get there, consider yourself her personal Hoofmaiden until a more permanent selection can be made,” Luna had added on her way out the door, “Teach her what she needs to know about being a pony.”

Which was how Ranma found herself once again walking through the marble and gold hallways of Canterlot Castle following the same dark blue. Her ear twitched as the mare muttered, “I hate day-shift duty.” under her breath.

Ranma exchanged a glance with Kasumi, who was following Ranma for reasons unstated, before sighing. “Sorry?” She offered hesitantly.

“Not your fault, Your Highness,” Moonrose said, “Us Night Guard aren’t really daytime ponies. We much prefer the night. Less shiny.” Ranma could understand that attitude as she tried to ignore the bright glare from the many shiny surfaces of the castle.

The castle was far more bustling than it had been during the earlier morning hours. Maids, guards, and others swarmed the hallways. The presence of so many, however, made it clear that she’d made a small mistake earlier. The guards hadn’t been bowing to Moonrose earlier, they’d been bowing to Ranma. As they walked her horn and wings acted as a natural badge of office that prompted most, but not quite all, of those they passed to bow, or curtsey, and utter a soft, “Your Highness” in passing.

It felt weird, and wrong. People weren’t supposed to be bowing to her at all. Of course, even those who didn’t greet her still watched her go. Their eyes followed her around. She was used to staring at least. A redhead in Japan always attracted a lot of attention, and it seemed being an Alicorn was the same sort of red flag. No one, at least, seemed truly surprised at her existence, even if her presence was a surprise.

“How long was I out?” She asked Kasumi as they ascended yet another flight of stairs.

“Three days,” Kasumi replied, “We were starting to get worried about you. The doctors said you’d be fine, but… Well you aren’t normally out for longer than a few hours after a fight like that.”

Three days, yeah that was more than enough time for a rumour mill to get going. Most everyone in the palace had probably heard of her presence by the time she woke up. “Explains how everyone seems to know about me,” she sighed.

“The Princesses didn’t exactly forbid anypony from talking about it,” Moonrise said, “There’s a reason I was guarding your door. Ponies have been trying to get a glimpse of their new Princess constantly.” She fluttered her bat wings, an act that seemed to cause a pair of maids to jump apart, making way for the guard pony to pass between them.

“Yeah, I can tell,” the Alicorn muttered. Rumour mills. Yeah, right. She’d put money on Nabiki stirring the pot the moment she understood what was going on.

“Here we are,” Moonrise said as they came to a large double door painted with stylized representations of Celestia and Luna chasing each other around an orb that was half sun and half moon. Two large white stallions in gold armour were standing at attention with spears, their eyes pointed straight ahead. They were both a full head taller than Ranma, something she was long since used to. “The Star Suite, your apartment, is just up the steps.”

Both of the guards bowed as Moonrose opened the door to reveal the staircase beyond. Ranma nodded to both of them nervously as she entered. Her eyes lingered on the flanks of the guards as they passed. One had a sword crossed with a pen while another had an orange shield with a little apple in the center.

The steps were a blue tile with silver flecks reminiscent of stars. Blue crystals were mounted in torch brackets on the wall to provide illumination. Both sides of the wall were in the same dark blue paint while the ceiling was a vivid starscape. The pattern of the ceiling and walls continued on into the room above. A dark blue carpet matched the ceiling as they stepped off the stairs into what appeared to be a sparsely furnished living room. A single table sat in the middle of the circular room surrounded by purple cushions. Another flight of stairs led up to another level. Under it began a row of bookcases that covered half the wall. Directly opposite the stairs, and bookcases, was a glass double door leading out onto another balcony.

“It looks… kinda empty,” Ranma said, looking around. There was a lot of empty floor space and not a single painting on the walls. Even the drapes seemed to be missing.

“Erm… Well I suppose it is,” Moonrose said, turning to her with a blush as she pried off her helmet and slipped it under one foreleg, “I’m not entirely sure why. I- Well-” She kicked at the carpet awkwardly. “Sorry, Your Highness, I’m- Well, I wasn’t expecting to be made your Hoofmaiden today.”

“What does that even mean anyways?” Ranma asked as she looked around. The only decoration was a little statue of a pony in the center of the table.

“Basically, I’m supposed to be something akin to an assistant, only also a friend, I think? I’m sorry I’m a guard not a maid or- I don’t even know why Princess Luna picked me for this,” Moonrose said with a touch of panic. She glanced down at the helmet in her foreleg and sighed. “And I should probably head downstairs to the barracks and get out of this uniform as well. Hoofmaidens are supposed to be loyal to their Princess above everything else, which naturally precludes being a guard in another Princess's guard… I think. I can’t say I’ve ever heard someone try and do both before.”

“I’m sure it’ll all be fine, Moonrose,” Kasumi said as she patted the bat pony on the shoulder.

“Thanks,” Moonrose said with a small smile, “If you want to take a look around Princess, I’ll head down and get changed before trying to find out why everything is so barren?”

“Ranma,” Ranma said. The bat pony blinked.

“Um?” 

Ranma looked at her pointedly. Her tail flicked to the side in irritation. “Call me Ranma. I insist,” she said pointedly as the filly looked to protest. She’d accept the title, but damned if she was just going to listen to everyone call her by it all the time.

“I- In public that could cause issues, Princess,” Moonrose said hesitantly, “There are rules of propriety.” She looked legitimately terrified.

“In private then,” Ranma sighed.

Moonrose shuffled awkwardly from hoof-to-hoof before giving her a nervous smile. “Okay, Ranma,” she said, looking as nervous as she had when she’d pulled Ranma back onto the balcony earlier.

Kasumi giggled. “There, not so hard is it?” she asked.

“I could get in so much trouble for this,” Moonrose moaned as her head drooped. It was odd, to Ranma, just how expressive ponies seemed to be. Without hands or what could be called free limbs, she hadn’t believed there would be much a pony could do to express themselves. She hadn’t accounted for how expressive ears, wings, tails and even their necks could be. And their faces! They were hardly horse-like at all. Kinda like a human was hardly like an ape. Same body structure, but so very different in the details.

“Why don’t you go and find out why this place is so barren and get yourself sorted? We’ll take a look around while you’re gone,” Ranma suggested as she watched the dark blue mare’s cheeks go pink through her fur.

“Of course, Y- I mean, yes Ranma,” Moonrose said, blushing harder and bowing before turning and leaving at a hasty trot. Her helmet made its way back onto her head before she hit the stairs. Probably a good thing. Going up and down steps required four legs, not three, and definitely not two. Going downstairs headfirst made Ranma feel weird. Her trained instincts kept trying to tell her she was going to start tumbling down, yet she didn’t.

“While she’s doing that, I think I should go and get my sisters and Ryouga,” Kasumi said as she stared out the window at the sunny sky.

“And leave me to just, look around an empty suite?” Ranma said, a light tone of amusement in her voice.

“If I don’t head down they’ll probably start wondering where I am,” Kasumi sighed, “And who knows what Akane will do. I swear that girl-” She paused, “I suppose it would be filly now, wouldn’t it?”

“Filly and Mare,” Ranma agreed as she walked over to the window, the clip-clop of hooves thankfully lost in the carpet. “This all feels so weird. Like I’m dreaming, you know?” Kasumi nodded as she hummed her agreement.

“I think it’s the bodies,” Kasumi said, “I feel… You forget you aren’t human until you try and do something with your hands.”

Ranma smirked and undid the latch on the window before pushing it open. A light breeze ruffled their manes. “I don’t even have that,” she replied. Kasumi snorted.

“Trust you to figure it out in five minutes while the rest of us have been fighting with it for three days,” Kasumi sighed before grinning, “You know we’re both naked right now, right?”

Ranma froze up, her whole body tingling as she was suddenly very aware of the fact that Kasumi was right. Neither of them was wearing clothes. How the hell had that not occurred to her? She turned a baleful eye on the undressed pegasus who started giggling. “Really Kasumi?” she asked with exasperation.

“Well we aren’t,” the bacon-haired pegasus laughed, “Oh you should have seen Akane when I pointed that out. She spent six hours under a blanket before we managed to coax her out and she still turned bright red the moment we’re in public.”

Ranma groaned. Just what she needed, a hyper tense and paranoid Akane. This was probably driving the powerful sensibilities of her fiancee to levels never before seen. “Oh she’s got to be going nuts,” she muttered.

Kasumi sat down and held her forehooves an inch apart. “Just a little,” she said, giggling at the look Ranma gave her, “She needs to lighten up. We’re bright technicolour ponies in a world without our parents to demand we start marrying each other. Sure its weird, but…” She looked out the window and her wings fluttered anxiously, “But maybe we can look at this as something good. At least for a little while, right?”

She looked from the yellow pegasus with her fluttering wings to the open sky outside. “You want to fly,” she guessed.

“Uhuh,” Kasumi nodded, “I’ve been watching the pegasi. They look like they’re having so much fun.” She sighed wistfully before giving her head a shake. “They said lessons would start shortly after you woke up, so maybe in a few days I can start learning. Anyways,” she stood up and shook herself like a dog, “I’m going to get my sisters. Back in a few.”

“Be careful, the stairs are tricky,” Ranma called after her. A wave of a wing was all she got before the bacon-patterned tail disappeared down the steps. Leaving her alone.

She took in the empty suite and let herself fall back onto her hindlegs. She curled her tails around her hooves. She was alone now and, for the first time since coming to this world, not facing a crisis or a meeting, or even just a friend. She was alone. She could feel a quiver in her legs as the tension she’d been feeling since she woke up was replaced by… something. Something she couldn’t place. It was a feeling she wasn’t at all familiar with. When was the last time she hadn’t been bouncing from crisis to crisis?

She raised a hoof and stared at the slight quiver that it had. It had been years since she’d last seen that from anything. She sagged forward and just lay there with her head on her forehooves as her wings sagged out to either side. Her breathing felt weird, erratic, everything felt weird now. Now that she had time to notice it. The wings, the tail, her ears, her hooves, her fur.

“Why did Kasumi have to point out the clothes thing?” she muttered as she lay there in a softly quivering pool taking sharp short breaths. She felt both tense and lethargic now. She was a pony now. A Princess even. “Why did I agree to that?” She closed her eyes and buried her snout in her forelegs. She knew why she did it -- at least this gave them a chance to go home -- but kami if it wasn’t a blow to her pride. Her, a Princess. A Pretty. Pony. Princess. Her. Him. Whatever.

She blew out a snort that sounded almost like a whinny and slowly pulled herself to her feet. “I am so in over my head,” she muttered as she tried to take a step towards the stairs and found that her legs were almost like jello as she flopped forwards again. It was the adrenaline, it had to be. Or lack of it. Or- honestly, she couldn’t even tell anymore.

She pulled herself to her feet once more and, with a bit more dignity, walked over to the stairs. Walking up the steps on four legs suddenly felt more weird than when she’d been doing it in the hallways before. Maybe it was the fact she was alone with her thoughts now, without anyone around, that made it more weird.

Her hooves clipped and clopped on the tile of the stairs, each little noise piercing the quiet of the room like a knife through her skull. She paused to give herself a shake. “Focus, stop freaking out, just relax,” she said to herself as she continued to the next floor… which turned out to be a small corridor that led to another staircase up, and a single archway covered by a veil of star-speckled dark blue cloth. The soft sound of running water from beyond prompted her to poke her head through the gap in the fabric.

Beyond was a beautiful white-tiled bathroom with a small swimming pool for a tub in the center. Spots around the room were set up for what looked like massages while others might have been shower stalls. A sectioned-off corner of the room was probably where the toilet was. The lighting was provided by a mix of softly glowing crystals, a bunch of candles, and two round frosted glass portholes at the far end of the room.

She eyed the slowly flowing water of the pool and the steam that rose from it. She could use a soak, but Kasumi and Moonrose would be back in a bit, so perhaps right then wasn’t the best time. Pulling back she spared a glance at her wings. How would those handle being soaked with water anyways? She fluttered them and paused to extend her right wing as something caught her attention. One of the pinions looked a little crooked and now that she’d noticed it there was a small itch in her wing.

She stared at the feather for a long moment before folding the wing up again. She was going to have to ask someone how to look after her wings, wasn’t she? Grumbling at the weirdness she ascended the next and, as it turned out, final staircase. The room above was a bedroom with a large four poster bed, a sitting area with pillows for six around a decent sized table, some bookshelves, one of which had actual books on it, and another balcony, though pointed towards the city unlike the one below which was pointed towards the countryside. The room was smaller than those below due to a dividing wall that had a sliding door. More than likely a closet of some kind, though she had to wonder what went into it.

She paused. She had spotted a few ponies in the hallways wearing clothing, all of it very high quality and well tailored. Perhaps clothes were more of a status symbol than anything? Maybe. More importantly, was there anything in it? Probably not, unless they’d measured her in her sleep… Well she hadn’t woken up covered in mud, so someone had to have cleaned her off when she was out cold.

The closet door was a simple sliding oak partition that had a small indent to place your hoof instead of a doorknob, or a lever. Actually, she’d only seen levers and latches throughout the castle. Did ponies even have door knobs? Sure her hooves could pick things up like a hand, but what did that mean for fine control like even something as simple as turning a doorknob? She’d have to experiment.

The closet was, unsurprisingly, empty. Empty hangers sat waiting to be filled with who knew what alongside dozens of shelves. A lack of dust made it clear that this place at least had been cleaned recently. She trotted deeper into the closet, peeringly closely at the many cubbies and hidden shelves. Probably in case she said yes, which meant the barren nature of the suite was probably intentional and-

A white mare looked back at her from a mirror that had been hidden from view from the door. She stepped back and the mirror did as well. She moved a wing, and watched the reflection move as well.

“That’s… me?” she asked the empty air as she raised her hoof to meet her reflection. Hoof met glass with a soft clink. She stared, she couldn’t help it.

She took a step back and half turned as she stared at her reflection. She was definitely a pony, a bit longer and sleeker looking than Akane or Kasumi, with a little bit more of a graceful arch to her neck and chest. Her mane wasn’t in its usual braid and cascaded down the sides of her neck in a wild untamed mass. It was a few shades brighter than before with little flecks of yellow and orange appearing and disappearing as she turned and shifted from pose to pose. Her tail was much the same, with that same bright, nearly glowing, shade of red that shifted like a flickering flame with orange and yellow. She was smaller than the other mares she had seen, though that might change in time if the other two Alicorns were anything to go by.

What caught her eyes, once she was able to pull them away from staring at her face and its oddly human expressions, was the lack of anything on her flank. The native ponies all had marks like tattoos on their flanks, but Akane, Nabiki and Ryouga also had them, which made no sense to her. They had to be natural, but she couldn’t think of any reason why they had them, and yet neither she nor Kasumi did. It was odd and she had to wonder if it was something to worry about. The idea that not having a brand on her flank could be something medical made her snort, but then this was a place of magic. Who knew how weird things would get.

She stared for a while longer, posing and twisting in front of the mirror to get a better look at herself. She was cute, she could admit it. Hell, she was adorable like pretty much every pony she had seen so far there was just something innately adorable about her. Oh the number of food trucks she could scam looking like this would be something for the record books… right before they banned talking ponies from buying ice cream. Could she even still eat ice cream? It would be really unfair if she couldn’t.

Finally, she pulled herself away from the mirror and turned around to walk back to the bedroom. She poked her nose out onto the balcony and paused at the railing. In the daylight the city below shone with the same smooth seamless white stone. The buildings nearest the castle were as much art as architecture with smooth twisting towers and elegant arches being the most common styles.

Her eyes quickly drifted to the pegasi who flitted here and there over the city, most of them keeping their distance from the castle except for a few who appeared to be couriers with bags. To her surprise she could easily make out the details, and even some of the markings on their flanks, of many of the people walking through town. Maybe it was the daylight, or the fact that she was lower down now than she had been previously, but they seemed far easier to make out than earlier.

Wondering where Kasumi and Moonrose were, she turned back into her room, leaving the door open to allow the breeze to flow in. It was nice and cool and, best of all, relaxing. She walked over to the bed and gave it a poke. It felt softer than anything she’d ever slept on before. She hopped up onto the bed and immediately sank into the mattress. “Ooh,” she moaned as she fell over onto the mattress. It was soft, so freaking soft and comfy. She felt like she was just going to sink straight through it, and yet, she didn’t. It was wonderfully comfy.

So wonderfully comfy.

The small snore that drifted up from the Alicorn a few moments later would have surprised no one, if there was anyone to hear it.


-0-0-0-0-0-


Ranma awoke to the feeling of something definitely not soft prodding her in the rib.

“Hey! Wake up Ranma!”

She opened her eyes blearily to find a different yellow pegasus prodding her in the side. “... ‘Kane?” she mumbled as she spotted the short cut dark blue mane.

Her fiancee huffed and rolled her eyes. “Who else could it be,” she said before turning away and walking out of Ranma’s vision.

The red-maned pony rolled onto her stomach and craned her neck to see who else was in the room. Kasumi was standing beside the window with Nabiki. The light green, or possibly teal, mare was intently staring out the window at something in the distance. Moonrose was with them, standing awkwardly by the staircase, no longer wearing her uniform with her hair combed out into a silvery waterfall that fell, mostly, over her right side.

“Princess, you’re awake,” Moonrose said, stepping forward, “I let Kasumi and her sisters in, they were supposed to stay downstairs.” She cast a look of warning at Kasumi who sighed.

“I did warn you,” the bacon-maned pegasus pointed out.

“How did you even wind up a Princess? We’ve been here four days!” Akane said, waving a forehoof at the ceiling, “Four day! And you slept through three of them!” She pointed her hoof at Ranma with an exasperated expression.

“Alicorns are royalty by law,” Ranma said after a sidesplitting yawn, “Mrraaah, why’d you poke me anyways. I was sleeping great.” She rubbed at the sleep that had already started forming in her eye.

“Apologies, Princess,” Moonrose blushed, “I didn’t stop her because we do have a few things to discuss.”

Ranma shrugged her wings and yawned again. She made no move to leave the supremely comfortable bed.

“I found Raven, the erm- Celestia’s seneschal, waiting for me with this,” She retrieved a clipboard from her right wing, “Apparently Celestia thinks it would be a great way for you to get used to things if you and I decorate the suite. We’re allowed to pull things from storage and have a budget of two hundred thousand bits for anything else we need that we can’t find.”

“And that’s how much?” Akane asked after a moment.

“A bit is about the value of an apple these days,” Moonrose said.

“... So a budget of two hundred thousand apples,” Nabiki said, tilting her head to the side.

“Doesn’t sound like that much,” Akane huffed.

“Actually it would be about two hundred and forty thousand,” Moonrose said. She blushed as everyone looked at her. “Bulk discount,” she added hastily.

“... Two hundred thousand of anything is a lot of money Akane,” Nabiki said, shaking her head, “But for stuff like this? Yeah, not all that much. I’m guessing Celestia wants our dear new Princess to learn the value of a bit.” She grinned at Ranma who huffed.

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled and lay her head on her hooves. So it began. “Anything else?”

“Um… She’ll only sign off on a monthly allowance once the room is properly decorated, and tonight a Ms. Sharp Pinion will be stopping by start you on some preliminary wing exercises to help prepare you for proper flight,” she said, reading off the clipboard, “And that’s about it I…” she flipped the page, “... Oh, and Raven mentioned that Celestia’s student Twilight and her friends should be arriving the day after tomorrow by train. They’ll take care of actually training you. We need to have your suite prepared by then.”

Two days to completely outfit a suite. She looked around the barren room. “Does that include the closet?” she asked, glancing at the half open oak door.

“You have a closet? For what? Horseshoes?” Akane asked.

“Dresses, jewelry, shoes, her regalia whenever it's finished,” Moonrose said.

“... Ponies wear dresses?” Nabiki said with a disbelieving tone.

“... Well what else would you wear to a party?” Moonrose asked her with a look of confusion. The two ponies stared at each other with looks of equal incomprehension.

Kasumi coughed politely into her hoof. “Is there anything else, Moonrose?” she asked politely.

“Hmm, oh uuuh, and I’m supposed to answer any questions and help out with whatever the Princess needs?” Moonrose said hesitantly.

Ranma sighed. “You don’t need to call me that around them,” she said, waving at the Tendo sisters with a wing.

“I- Of course Ranma, I-” Moonrose paused and frowned at Ranma, her head tipped to one side, “Ranma, do you know how to look after your wings?”

Both Kasumi and Akane followed Moonrose’s gaze. “Oh my,” Kasumi said, “That doesn’t look comfortable.”

Ranma glanced at her wing, which was still outstretched. A pinion was at a visibly odd angle. “I didn’t have wings a few days ago, so no, and it's really starting to itch, Kasumi,” Ranma said as she started to fold her wing.

“Stop,” Moonrose said with a shake of her head, “Leave it open like that and lay it down on the bed.” Ranma blinked and followed her Hoofmaiden’s instructions, laying the large white wing down on the bed.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“If that Pinion doesn’t have something done about it soon you might lose it,” Moonrose said, “I’m… Look, why don’t you four visit, I’m just going to go arrange for someone to come and show you how to preen. I might fly but…” she ruffled her bat wings, “I’m not exactly a pegasus. Hey, have either of you…?”

Akane and Kasumi both shook their heads. “I’m still learning,” Akane said with a shake of her head, “They explicitly told me to not practice on others until I’ve had some time to get better.” It might have been Ranma’s imagination, but Akane appeared to blush as she mentioned it.

“It’s the same for me, I’m afraid,” Kasumi sighed.

“I thought that might be. I’ll be back in a bit, Ranma. So just… lay there for a few, okay?” Moonrose said, backing up towards the stairs.

“Go on,” Ranma said, waving her other wing. Once the dark blue mare disappeared down the steps Ranma sighed and lay her head on her hooves. “Someone wake me when she’s back.”

“Seriously?” Ranma ignored Akane’s annoyed sigh. What else was she supposed to do? Walking around with a wing out would be annoying, and besides, the bed was so soft it was all she could do to stay awake. She didn’t get a chance to fall asleep due to a yellow wing poking her in the side. “Hey, stay awake, we aren’t done yet.”

“What?” Ranma sighed, looking up at the irritated yellow pegasus.

“This is the first time we’ve all been awake and not in danger,” Akane said, “We need to talk about how we got here and how we’re getting home.”

“Princess Celestia said they’ll look into sending up home,” Ranma said with a yawn that shook her wings, “Apparently they’ve done some work with alternate universes before so they’re going to try and find our homes, but she thinks it’ll take years at least.

“Years?!” Akane stared at her aghast.

“Well what other options do we have? We don’t know how we got here in the first place,” she sighed.

“One of us has to know something,” Akane protested, “Right?” She looked around at Kasumi and Nabiki.

Both her older sisters shrugged. “I was in the kitchen, then the forest,” Kasumi said.

“Homework,” Nabiki said, “Who knows how far off whatever caused this event was. Maybe one of Saotome’s enemies got smart and decided to not taunt him before the big ritual? Could’ve been the old freak even. I think he was in his room?” She glanced at Kasumi.

The bacon-maned pegasus nodded. “Happousai was in his room before we were sent here…” She bit her lip, “I seem to remember him laughing about something as well. I could hear it through the walls.”

“So Happousai did something,” Akane said, firmly stamping a hoof into the carpet.

“Or was planning it. Did anyone actually see him do it?” Ranma asked blandly. She would love to blame the old freak for this, but it didn’t really have his twisted stamp. Send them away and turn them into ponies? Not his style. For one it meant he wouldn’t be able to see them everyday, for another even if it hadn’t sent them away the freak had no interest in ponies and nothing he did ever fed into anything but one of his interests. She couldn’t think of a way this could connect to martial arts, so that just left perversion, which didn’t make sense because pony.

“Wouldn’t be the first time he messed with something he shouldn’t. That happens like once a month,” Akane huffed. Ranma sighed and nodded.

“I guess, but this just doesn’t feel like one of his tricks. I don’t exactly feel the urge to call him master and I don’t think he likes horses that way,” Ranma pointed out. After a moment she added, “And I haven’t done anything to him recently to get him pissed off enough to try and banish me to another world either.” Small mercies, Happousai’s anger tended to burn out swiftly once he’d been put into a hole a few times. Usually.

Her ear flicked and she frowned. She hadn’t done anything to get him this angry in ages, and he’d already moved on from them. No, she didn’t see how this could have been Happousai. “If we’re lucky he’s wandering around the forest wondering why he’s a pony and suffering from withdrawal.” The three girls nodded.

“It could mean your mother is here as well,” Nabiki said.

“Aunty was out shopping when it happened,” Kasumi said with a shake of her head, “I might have seen Shampoo and Mousse at some point though. I know I saw Sasuke walking around outside a few minutes before as well.”

All three of them turned to the pegasus. “Seriously? How recently, to the moment?”

“... Ten minutes?” Kasumi said after several long moments, “I’m sorry, I didn’t really pay much attention. I was working on dinner and just hoped that when they bothered you, they’d be dealt with without breaking the kitchen table.”

“The table doesn’t get broken that often,” Ranma grumbled.

“So… None of us knows anything? What about Ryouga?” Akane asked.

“We’d have to ask him. Anyone know where he is?” Ranma asked. With a little luck he hadn’t gotten lost yet… Then again, she wasn’t looking forward to apologizing. He could stay lost for a little while if he really wanted to.

“He wasn’t in his room,” Kasumi sighed, “Who knows where he’s gone.”

“He’ll be around here somewhere,” Akane said.

“Right, and it’s not like he wanders off for months at a time, or gets lost walking down a straight hallway,” Ranma said dryly.

“Don’t be mean, Ranma,” her fiancee protested.

“She isn’t wrong,” Nabiki pointed out, “He couldn’t find his butt even if I sold him a map.” Akane huffed and stamped her hoof again.

“We can’t have nothing! You can’t seriously be telling me that our plan for getting home is praying while Ranma plays Princess!” She exclaimed.

“It isn’t exactly playing if I can’t say no, right?” Ranma asked the room.

“And why can’t you?” Akane asked with a frustrated scowl.

“Because the choice was exile from Equestria or being a Princess? Where else am I going to go?” she asked. Akane stared at her.

“That’s- what?” The blue-maned pegasus’ looked confused, “That’s- That doesn’t make any sense. Why is that even a choice? Why those two options? Who asks someone to ‘lead us or leave’?”

“Politics, magic, and apparently a spirit of chaos,” Ranma deadpanned to a nod from Kasumi.

Akane sank to her haunches and tilted her head back. “THIS PLACE MAKES NO SENSE!” She shouted at the ceiling loud enough to make Ranma’s ears ring.

“Ow, my ears,” Nabiki deadpanned, rubbing one ear with a hoof.

“Really Akane?” Kasumi sighed as she rubbed her ears as well, “Your inside voice please.”

Akane huffed before she trotted over to the table by the window and claimed one of the large, oversized cushions. “First we wind up in a stupid forest full of monsters, then we wind up in a palace of talking ponies, then everyone is naked, and now Ranma’s a Pretty Pony Princess and we’re all just going to sit here and go along with it and hope the other Pretty Pony Princesses send us home? Is that it? Is that our plan?!” She grumbled. Her tail lashed about angrily as she sat there grinding her teeth. Her words dissolved into unintelligibility as she curled up, head on her hooves muttering to herself with the sort of expression that could scare a timberwolf.

“Not even a-” Akane grumbled before her eyes went wide and she sat up. “Curse. Your curse, why are you still a girl?”

“And she finally asks the smart question,” Nabiki quipped, “So, curious minds want to know, is your curse working, Saotome?”

Ranma hesitated. She hadn’t tested it herself, but someone had clearly cleaned her off after the fight in the forest and no one had known about her curse. A would-be Princess turning into a Prince was the sort of thing you shared with the other Princesses, right? Ryouga hadn’t turned into a pig either so… “No, it isn’t,” she said. She’d test it later in private. If it did work then she’d just have to say it suddenly started working again, but the evidence was concerning to say the least.

The room descended into an awkward silence as Ranma and Akane stared at each other. Emotions chased their way across Akane’s amazingly expressive snout. Really, if she was in a better mood she’d be quite impressed by how easy it was to read the expressions of a pony.

“So do you think Ranma’s allowed to paint the room, or is she stuck with the whole starscape thing?” Nabiki asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

“I think it looks nice,” Kasumi said, taking up the change in topic with a smile as she claimed a pillow by the table, “I’m just wondering what sort of furniture is available. So much of this castle is white and gold. There can’t be that much in storage that goes well with a room this dark.”

“Really?” Akane grumbled and curled up on the pillow in a huff.

The conversation drifted to the sort of colours, fabrics, and styles that might be most appropriate and stayed there, to Ranma's odd relief, until the sound of hooves on the stairs interrupted them. Everyone turned to see Moonrose climbing the steps with a pair of female earth ponies behind her. The pair were both a soft baby blue with sleek light pink manes. The only difference between them that Ranma could make out was the tattoos on their flanks. The one on the left had a trio of yellow flowers inside a bubble while the other one had a foam covered scrub brush. The sort you would use to wash your back.

“Princess,” she said, prompting Ranma to cover a wince at the title, “May I introduce Daisy Bubbles and Daily Brush. They’re here to help you with your wing, and to provide any spa services you need.” She grinned. “I got lucky and ran into Raven on the way down. She was bringing them up already. Something about rumours going around about how scruffy the new Princess looks.”

“... I do not look scruffy,” Ranma huffed.

“We are pleased to meet our new Princess,” Daisy said while sketching a bow, “But I must say your coat could certainly use a proper shampoo.”

“And your mane looks like it has knots in it,” Daily added as she bowed herself. Ranma hoofed at her mane, but couldn’t feel what they were talking about. Then again, why would she? She had hooves, not hands.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Akane mumbled, Ranma’s ear twitching as she just barely heard what the other girl was saying.

Daisy walked over to Ranma’s bedside and hopped up on the mattress beside Ranma. She leaned down and examined the wing. “It isn’t quite as bad as you said, Moonrose,” she said.

“Well I’m not exactly a Pegasus,” the bat-pony sighed, “So it’s a little hard to tell.”

“Hmm… It has to be itching like crazy, though,” Daily said as she walked up to Ranma’s bed and peered over the edge.

“... A bit,” Ranma admitted. It really was itching something fierce.

“Then we’ll take care of that and show you how to properly do it yourself just in case we aren’t around. Is that to your liking, Princess?” Daisy asked.

“Well I have to learn somehow,” Ranma sighed as she turned her head to stare at the feather in question. It felt strange to be able to twist her neck so far without discomfort, but she wouldn’t deny it was useful.

“It may be better to do this in the baths. If we’re going to be cleaning up everything anyways,” Daily suggested, “Cloud beds are far too flexible for this sort of delicate work.” To emphasize her point she gave the plush, apparently cloud, mattress a prod with her hoof. It sank deeply into the silky material of the cover.

“Just give me a second. I can at least fix the feather so it doesn’t itch quite so much,” Daisy replied, “Now hold still. This will probably feel at least a bit odd if you aren’t used to having feathers.” Ranma held still as the Earth Pony reached down with her head and gently grasped the feather. The redhead let out a soft gasp of surprise at the sensation of the feather being gently smoothed into place by the practiced lips of the other pony. More importantly, the itching subsided quite a bit the moment the feather was properly aligned.

“There,” Daisy announced as she let go of the feather, “That should be good for the moment. No risk of losing it now, but if you want the itching to stop completely, it will need proper care with the appropriate oils. Shall we head down?”

“Yes please,” Ranma said, folding her wing and hopping out of the bed. She ignored Akane’s scoff and Nabiki’s snickering. They had no idea just how itchy her wing was at that moment. She hadn’t really understood how itchy it was feeling until it subsided a bit. That, and if she wanted to fly she was going to need to learn to care for her wings.

Being a pony was proving to be a strange experience, but flying? Who didn’t want to fly under their own power? To soar the skies and see the world from above. She could understand Kasumi’s urge so well. And if all it took to start learning was to let a couple of ponies give her a spa treatment while showing her how to take care of her wings? It was the exact opposite of an imposition. She did have to wonder what a spa treatment for a pony was like though.

She followed Daily down the steps to the baths without sparing a look at the table. If she had, she would have noticed the annoyed eyes of Akane following her from where the pegasus peered over the edge of the table.


-0-0-0-0-0-

> Chapter Four: Along Came a Spider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a very relaxed and clean Princess Ranma that practically pranced down the steps into the sitting room an hour later. Her mane and tail, both unbound and curly, bounced with each step. The shades of orange and yellow that lurked as individual strands shimmered in the sunlight pouring through the windows. Her coat and wings practically glowed. More importantly, she felt clean. From her horn to her hooves a layer of dust and dirt she hadn’t even realized she was carrying was gone. Combined with the amazing massage the girls had done -- seriously how were hooves that good at massaging? --  she felt better than ever, literally. 

Ranma was humming a tune as she pranced down the steps. She couldn’t help it, she just felt like she was about to burst into song.

“Enjoy your massage, Ranma?” The young Princess blinked as she realized that Kasumi was waiting at the table by the window. The older girl had a pot of tea and three teacups in front of her, one of which had a straw for the hoof-challenged pegasus. Sitting across from her on a pillow was Moonrose. Her Hoofmaiden was sipping from her teacup, a teacup she hurriedly put down.

“Princess!” She said brightly, her bat wings fluttering behind her.

“Bath, massage, hoof trimming, I think they did everything they could in an hour,”  Ranma sighed as she trotted over to the table. There had been things she hadn’t realized ponies would need. “Why are you still here? I figured the three of you had left already after I went upstairs and couldn’t find you.” She sat down next to Moonrose and accepted the steaming teacup the bat pony handed her with, “Thanks, Moonrose.”

The yellow pegasus shrugged and sipped her tea through the straw. “Akane ran off fuming about ten minutes into your bath,” she said, “Nabiki went after her. I don’t think Akane is taking everything particularly well.” She fluttered her wings anxiously, “I can’t really blame her. Everything is just so strange and foreign here. I mean… The five of us aren’t even human anymore.”

“I guess… It’s not the weirdest thing ever for me though,” Ranma said after she took a sip of tea.”

“Your standard for strange is a little bit different than everyone else’s,” Kasumi sighed before quirking her lips in a lopsided grin, “Then again, I don’t really think anyone we live with has a normal standard for weird anymore.”

Ranma snorted and shook her head. Life in Nerima was strange, and that was all that needed to be said.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Moonrose began, “What are humans exactly? I’ve never heard of a species called that before.”

“Hmmm… Well the clinical definition would be tall primate mammals that stand on two feet, have no fur, and use tools and clothes to compensate for a lack of other advantages,” Kasumi said with a shrug of her wings.

“Very clinical,” Ranma said dryly. The pegasus shrugged.

“Humans are omnivorous, though we can’t eat things like hay, or at least we don’t get much out of it. It’s complicated,” Kasumi said with a sigh.

“Omnivore, huh, kinda like Griffons?” Moonrose asked.

“I’m not entirely sure. Less meat I’d imagine, but we do eat a lot of it,” Kasumi said after a moment of thought, “Thankfully I’m a pegasus, so I can at least have fish.” She took a sip of her tea. “Hopefully we can get some octopus for takoyaki at some point.”

“It would be nice,” Ranma agreed.

“Takoyaki?” Moonrose asked.

“Octopus dumplings,” the red-maned alicorn said.

“What’s a dumpling?” Moonrose asked with the tone of someone who had just become even more confused. The two Japanese ponies shared a look.

“If we want anything familiar we’re going to have to cook it ourselves, aren’t we?” Kasumi sighed. Ranma sighed with her.

“Yup.”

The pegasus shook her head, sending her mane waving back and forth, before she sipped more of her tea. “I suppose the two of you have to go and select furniture for the suite,” she said.

“And potentially place orders for repair, replacement, or all new items,” Moonrose said with a shake of her head. “I’m not looking forward to this. I’m a guard, not a butler. I kick things. I don’t deal with lists.” She yawned, “And I should be in bed right now.”

“You said a bit is about one apple?” Ranma asked. Moonrose nodded. “So… How much is a table like this one?” She rapped a hoof on the wood.

“I have no idea,” Moonrose said brightly before yawning again and rubbing at her eyes with a fetlock, “This thing could have been bought last week or be older than my family. I haven’t a clue what it would cost.”

“Brand new, right now,” Ranma clarified.

“Erm…” Moonrose peered at the table. “... Few thousand bits at least? Ten times that if it's made by somepony famous?” She shrugged her wings. “I’m sorry, but I’m probably the least qualified person to be doing this job, Princess,” she sighed.

“It’s fine, Rosey,” Ranma said with a shake of her head, she smirked as she saw the mare mouth ‘Rosey’ with a confused look at an amused Kasumi, “We’ll just have to handle this together. We’ll get started after we’re done with the tea. Coming with us, Kasumi?”

The pegasus looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think I might. It isn’t like I have much else to do around here,” she sighed.

“Great,” Ranma grinned. With that, she lifted her tea to her lips and sipped it. It was good tea.


-0-0-0-0-0-



A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover


The Long Path Home


By: Grounders10



-0-0-0-0-0-



Chapter Four: Along Came a Spider



-0-0-0-0-0-


He was lost. That was nothing new. For Ryouga Hibiki being lost was a natural state of being. A very much unwanted state of being, but a state of being nonetheless. He had lived through years of wandering the roads of Japan and beyond, never quite able to find what he wanted. Streets, forests, and cities tended to blend together in his experience and things never seemed to be laid out the same way twice, even when he doubled back. It created the unnatural feeling that something was rearranging the world behind him as he went.

By some luck, he hadn’t had too many issues since arriving in Equestria. He certainly didn’t seem to be misplacing rooms just by turning around anymore and he had yet to accidentally wander out of the city onto a road to… somewhere. It helped that the few times he had found his way outside that the castle had loomed over everything. The inside, however… The inside was a very different story.

The main floor, at least he thought it was the main floor, had broad white and gold walled hallways wide enough for twenty ponies to walk abreast without issue. It had luxurious meeting rooms with plush overstuffed cushions, with paintings and banners dripping from every surface. Sitting rooms were here and there with plenty of space for anyone who might be in the palace and looking for a place to sit for a few lovely minutes.

The next floor? The same. Beautiful white and gold hallways with broad corridors too wide to still fit the rooms that were supposedly in the same towers. More meeting halls and more sitting rooms. All just like those below.

And below ground? The hallways descended a dozen floors into the stone of the mountain. Level after level of identical stone walls, dark hallways lit only by dim crystals, dust filled storerooms, servant quarters, kitchens, everything made from that same slightly purplish stone. It all looked the same.

So it was that he, after having foolishly decided to visit the kitchen to see if he could get an early breakfast, was lost. Quite thoroughly, he had to admit as he looked up and down the light purple stone hallway. He was half-tempted to break out the Bakusai Tenketsu, but he doubted that either of the Princesses would be happy if he started blasting down walls with a touch. Especially since their castle was perched on the side of the cliff. Blow up one too many walls and he could send the entire thing down the mountainside.

And so here he was, lost and alone. Again. At least he was still in the castle.

Without much in the way of hints to be found from the blank stone he did something he had been doing more of since he arrived in Canterlot. He listened. His ears twisted and turned as he tried to pick up any hint of sound in the echoey expanse of the underground halls. It was a strange sensation feeling the two fuzzy tipped appendages atop his head move. Humans didn’t have this sort of directional hearing. You couldn’t just stand there as your ears searched for the source of the sound. It was, however, quite helpful at that moment for he could hear, distantly, the gentle clip-clop of hooves down the path to his right.

Hooves meant ponies. Ponies meant either a way back out of this maze or someone who might be willing to show him the way.

So he followed the sound, his twitching ears leading him through three turns as the sound of hooves grew from the distant sounds of one pony, to the clatter of many hooves. He turned the last corner and found the dim light of the hallway brightened immensely by the light pouring out of an open doorway. The clatter of pans and utensils was loud even from down the hallway.

It would seem that despite giving up he had found the kitchen. It was probably the wrong kitchen knowing his luck, but an active kitchen meant ponies. More importantly, it meant ponies who probably knew how to get out of the maze that was Canterlot’s lower levels.

The room that he found as he poked his head around the corner was long and wide with row after row of ovens, stoves, and preparation tables lined up neatly down its length. Several dozen ponies in white hats and aprons were working, chopping fruits and vegetables, mixing dough and decorating finished pastries all around the kitchen. A genial chatter of conversation flitted about the room. A few nearby conversations reached his ears clearly.

“-brought it over and dumped the entire pot on his head. Never see-”

“Careful, Salad Green, you're getting a little thick in those cuts.”

“Sorry sir.”

“-Golden Brown keep an eye on those pots, they’re starting to-”

“Crisp Nugget, get these plated up. Blueblood’s meeting with the ambassador begins-”

“You there.” Ryouga’s ears twitched as a male voice addressed him directly. A tall blue stallion wearing a chef’s hat and with a plate of muffins for a cutie mark was addressing him. “Is there something you need?”

Ryouga stepped out from behind the corner. “I’m a bit… turned around,” he confessed, “I can’t seem to find the stairs back up to the main floor.” It pained him to say it, but he hadn’t a clue which way to go from here.

The stallion chuckled. “Ah, new to the castle I take it?” he asked.

“Fourth day,” Ryouga replied.

“Mhmm. Guest or staff?” he asked.

“Guest.”

“Thought so,” the chef looked over his withers at the rest of the kitchen, “Angel! You look about finished, get over here.” He called, a cute pink mare with a straw-colour mane jumped as he shouted before hurrying over from the sink where she was washing her hooves.

“You needed me, sir?” she asked as she trotted up to the chef.

“We seem to have a guest here who got lost,” the blue stallion said, “If you wouldn’t mind escorting him back to the public steps I’ll take over your work until you get back.”

“I can do that sir. I just finished putting together a batch of the seasonal salad,” Angel said.

“Then I’ll get to work on the next batch,” the ched said, “Be quick about it.” He nodded once to Ryouga before walking away.

“Hello there, I’m Angel Cake,” the pink mare said with a charming smile as she took her cook’s hat off and hung it on a hanger by the door.

“I’m Ryouga Hibiki. Nice to meet you,” Ryouga replied, bowing slightly. The mare giggled at the bow.

“That’s a different name. Where’s it from?” She asked as she stepped out the door and waved for him to follow.

“Japan,” he replied, keeping pace with her, which was easier said than done. She had a little pep to the way she walked that put her somewhere between a walk and a proper trot. She noticed after a moment and slowed down. He could make out the darkening of her cheeks as she did so.

“Sorry, habit,” she said with a sheepish grin, “Japan? Never heard of it before. I’m guessing it’s  a long ways away?”

“A really long ways away,” Ryouga admitted. He didn’t need another conversation about being from another world. He’d had it too many times with the guards around the tower they were staying in.

“Huh, your Equish is really good,” she said, “Most foreigners have quite an accent. You don’t sound like you’re from further afield than Ponyville.”

Ryouga shrugged. He didn’t really care why everyone seemed to be speaking Japanese, but it was helpful. “Just speaking like I normally do. I guess we’re just lucky they’re so similar,” he said with a helpless shrug.

“That’s some really good luck. Like, really good luck. Anyways, what brings you down to our little slice of the castle?” she asked.

“I woke up early and went looking for food,” he said before his stomach chose that moment to grumble softly.

Angel blinked and fished a silver pocket watch out of her mane with a hoof. “Um… I hate to be that filly, but it’s coming up for noon,” she said.

“I was lost for a while,” he sighed.

“Apparently,” she said, sounding a combination of awed and stunned. He huffed and looked away. “So, what’s it like living in Japan? Anything in-ter-est-ing happen there?” She asked, pronouncing interesting syllable by syllable.

“Not much?” he said with a shrug, “I spent most of my time on the road trying to find my way.” It was usually just Nerima where things got weird… except that time with the boar, or that other with the mark of the battling god, or that time with the mushrooms- No, wait, that had also ended up in Nerima. Only the boar hadn’t landed him in Nerima at some point- oh and that time with that biker gang down south. At least he thought it was south. It may have been Hokkaido for all he knew.

“Adventurer huh?” she mused. He shrugged. She wasn’t entirely wrong. There was adventure on occasion. “Well don’t feel too bad about getting lost down here. Ponies get lost all the time. This place was designed to be confusing to invaders since it was originally built back when that was a risk. Everyone gets lost a few times, even me.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” he said with a fake grin. Inside he was panicking. If he hadn’t gotten lucky and found the kitchen he could have spent the next week utterly lost until he starved to death. He really needed to get a replacement backpack… Saddlebags, they were called here, right? Right. He needed saddlebags, and a new umbrella. He may not turn into a piglet anymore, but an umbrella would keep him dry. Once he could figure out how to hold it.

“We aren’t too far from the steps up, should be only a couple of turns,” Angel said cheerily.

As they approached the corner the clip-clop of hooves reached them alongside several giggling voices. Turning the corner he came across the last person he expected to find down in these dark hallways. Let alone laughing and giggling like a schoolgirl.

Ranma.


-0-0-0-0-0-


Several floors underground a heavy oak door creaked open to admit light into the room beyond. “And this is our largest storage room,” Raven said, who was not, as Ranma had originally heard, the seneschal to the other Princesses. She was the head assistant to the actual Seneschal, Kibitz, an older unicorn stallion with a very large mustache. The earth pony assistant paused to make a note on the clipboard she carried around balanced upon her back. Ranma heard her mutter about the lack of oil on the door.

“It should be a good start for your project, Princess,” Raven said, bowing to Ranma as she stepped into the room.

“You really don’t need to call me Princess. It’s just political,” Ranma sighed.

Raven smiled and shook her head as Moonrose and Kasumi followed them into the storage room. “You remind me of Princess Cadence. She doesn’t like using her title if she can help it, but I’m afraid a pony in my position must abide by propriety, Princess,” she bowed her head to Ranma, who sighed again in exasperation.

“Ugh,” She grumbled, turning her attention to the room. The room was poorly lit and it was difficult to make out anything within until Raven flicked a light switch by the door and crystals around the room lit up. The room was filled with neat lines of furniture covered in heavy cloth to keep the dust off them. She could make out the shape of dozens of sofas, chairs, tables, cabinets, dressers, a long line of lamps, and several large bins of what appeared to be pillows and cushions.

“At least there’s plenty,” Moonrose said brightly.

“And you said there were other storerooms with furniture and art?” Kasumi asked Raven.

The white earth pony nodded. “Quite a few, really. However, this room contains most of what would be considered modern and ready to go. We attempt to keep all of the spare furniture clean, but there is a great deal of it. This room here was cleaned just yesterday, however, so everything should be ready to go. Princess,” the assistant turned to her, “if at any point you wish to switch out furniture please let us know. Nothing you pick out needs to be permanent.”

“Is there anything off-limits? I can’t imagine that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia don’t have their own storerooms,” Moonrose asked with a frown.

“Oh, there are several. Even Princess Cadence has one,” Raven said, “Those storerooms are guarded, though, so you don’t need to worry about walking into them and taking something by accident. Any storeroom you can get into will have an itemized list of the contents by the door.” She pointed to a wooden box on the wall by the door. Moonrose walked over and nudged it open with her nose before fishing out a thick leatherbound book.

“Oh this is going to take a while,” she sighed as she sat down and opened it up. Ranma leaned over her shoulder to read the book. It had small cards of paper stuffed into tiny sleeves on each page. Each one seemed to be a record of what and where things were in the room.

“It always does, I’m afraid,” Raven said, patting her on the shoulder, “I would love to help, but I’m afraid I have more to arrange for our new Princess. Paperwork waits for no one.” With that she bowed to Ranma. “I wish you luck, Princess,” she said before excusing herself.

Ranma groaned and flopped onto the nearest cloth-covered sofa. She could feel the dust mussing up her nice clean fur. Maybe it was just her imagination, but somehow she could feel it as it dug into her side. “I’m going to need another bath at this rate.”

“Like having two talented fillies give you a spa treatment is such a terrible thing,” Moonrose deadpanned, “Anypony in Canterlot would love to be in your position, Princess.”

“And maybe you could not flop onto the dust cloth?” Kasumi suggested, “They may have cleaned up, but some things like to hold onto dust.” She sniffed at the nearest cloth-covered table and promptly sneezed. “Oh dear, that’s a bit more than I expected.”

“Cleaned, sure,” Ranma rolled off the sofa and pulled the cloth cover away, revealing a green and pink flowered sofa. It was significantly lower than any sofa she had seen on earth. Not that she should have been surprised. This was Equestria and everything had been built with ponies in mind. The sofa was clearly designed for two ponies about her size to lay down upon, though for some reason it had armrests… Unless those were for a pony to rest their head on? She prodded the armrest.

“Oh Celestia, noooo, please tell me you aren’t thinking of putting that in your room?” Moonrose asked.

Ranma shook her head. “Nope. Just wondering why it has armrests, is all.”

“Oh, well they’re more headrests unless a minotaur or dragon is visiting,” Moonrose said as she walked over with the book on her back, “So according to the book, each piece of furniture has a tag. If we see anything we like we just need to compare the tags to the cards in the book, which are organized by storage date, and then we just need to hand the cards of the furniture you want over to Raven and she’ll arrange for them to be set up in your suite.”

“Then I suppose we just start by pulling all the dust cloths off?” Kasumi asked, looking at the rows of furniture.

“Yup,” Moonrose sighed, “This is going to take hours just to figure out what you want, let alone find it in the book.”

“Hmm…” Ranma looked around the room, “So if there’s all this here… then why do we even have a budget?”

“... I have no idea,” Moonrose admitted, “You don’t exactly have a Cutie Mark, which is really weird for a pony your age, so we can’t exactly have your mark engraved on the ones you like, or commission things with it.”

“... Cutie… Mark?” Ranma repeated. She wrinkled her nose. It sounded very girly.

“... You have no idea what a Cutie Mark is, do you?” The bat-pony asked.

“Not a clue,” the red-maned Princess confirmed as she pulled another cover off what turned out to be a half dozen end tables pressed together. They were all made from redwood and were engraved with small diamonds in clusters of five. It didn’t look too bad, but it didn’t exactly fit the style of her rooms.

“Right… I didn’t expect this,” Moonrose said, staring off across the room with a blank look. She shook herself after a moment. “Kasumi do you know what they are?”

“Something about your personal talent or something?” Kasumi said after a moment of thinking, “I’m sorry, Nabiki asked a guard a few days ago and I only partially overheard the conversation. I just haven’t had time to ask anyone.” She blushed and fidgetted, her wings fluttering in what Ranma felt was probably embarrassment.

“Okay… I’ll explain while we get the covers off. Just stick together so I don’t have to shout,” Moonrose said after she gave herself another shake. She joined Ranma pulling off covers. Kasumi pitched in, pulling off dust cloths with her teeth.

“I rilly rill vish I ‘ad my ‘ooves figrd oot,” the pegasus grumbled through her teeth as she pulled another cover off.

“Then why don’t you practice on these things instead of biting them?” Ranma asked.

Kasumi’s ears laid back. “You don’t mind? These things really don’t taste good,” she said.

“Go ahead and practice,” Ranma waved at her with a hoof.

“We’ll move slow so you stay in earshot then,” Moonrose sighed, “So, a Cutie mark is this.” She pointed at her flank where the windrose was visible, “Every pony has something they’re really really good at. Like, really, good at. When you find it you get your cutie mark which is always unique to you. Well, mostly. I’ve seen a lot of pegasi with clouds and lightning bolts over the years.”

Ranma hopped up onto a pink sofa she’d uncovered and lay down on it, thinking. The idea of having a stamp on her flank that proclaimed her talent to the world was weird. And if that was the case, then why didn’t she have one? Akane had one, Nabiki had one, even Ryouga had one, but why didn’t she or Kasumi have one? “Okay… so why don’t Kasumi and I have them?” Ranma asked.

“You’ve probably never had the opportunity to try something close enough to trigger the realization required to earn it,” Moonrose said with a shrug, “I’m hardly a Cutie Mark expert. I’m just a guard.” She pulled off the cover from another table with her teeth.

“Question,” Kasumi raised her hoof.

“We’re not in class Kasumi,” Moonrose giggled, “Just ask.”

The yellow pegasus shrugged with her wings and shoulders. “Sorry, I’m just… What if your talent is something you don’t like doing?” she asked.

“Not possible. Cutie Marks only ever appear when you are both talented at something and love it. You can do other things of course, my talent is navigating with the stars, but I’m a night guard. Was a night guard…” She sighed and shook her head, “My point is that you’ll never have a talent for something that you naturally hate. It’ll always be something you find yourself enjoying, even if you don’t, or can’t, use it for your job.”

Well that bit was a relief at least. “So we aren’t going to get like, something that says we’re really into cooking, and then get shoved into a kitchen forever?” she asked. Not that cooking was a terrible thing, she just didn’t want to be known as the Princess of the Puff Pastries. Being a pretty pony princess was bad enough without adding that humiliation.

“No. Even if you got a food related mark, it might not actually have something to do with food. Every mark is unique, and interpreting another pony’s Cutie mark isn’t usually that straightforward. Take mine for example,” She waved at her flank, “The windrose stands for navigation, and the stars clearly stand for the night, but the windrose also points north, which could again be navigation, but I’ve been told I have good judgement so it might also mean that.”

“So they are metaphorical.”

“At times. I know one pony who has a house made out of apple slices,” Moonrose said, “The apples are probably just because they’re from the apple family. Their family tends to view apples as sturdy and reliable, so because they’ve got a talent for construction…”

“Apple house,” Ranma said, nodding. It made sense, even if it was really weird. She had to wonder, however, why she didn’t have a cutie mark. She would have thought that martial arts was her thing, but… Was it just something she enjoyed, but not what she was uniquely gifted at? It felt weird thinking about it like that and kinda… worrying. She couldn’t imagine what she might enjoy more than martial arts.

As she sat and thought about that weird idea, Moonrose continued, “Cutie Marks come when they come. You’ll find your talent at some point. Every pony does. It’s… it’s a bit like finding one’s destiny. Once you have some free time, I’d suggest just trying out things that you might not have been able to do where you came from. You both have wings, maybe it's something flying-related? Unless humans have wings?”

“No, they don’t,” Kasumi said, shaking her head, “Though we do have airplanes that we use to fly around the world.”

“Air..planes? Are those like airships?” Moonrose asked with a tilt of her head and ears.

“Much faster from what I understand. If I can figure out how to draw I can probably show you,” Kasumi said while trying to tug at the cloth with a single hoof. She seemed to be hooking it for brief moments, dragging the material along another inch or so each attempt.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Moonrose said, “Now, let’s focus on our job, girls. We’ve got a lot to do and not as much time as any of us would like.”

Ranma nodded, not really noticing that she was included in that ‘girls’. Her mind was wandering wondering what her talent could possibly be.

The clearing out of the dust cloths passed with Ranma’s head in the clouds, clouds that her mind kept drifting back to whenever Moonrose and Kasumi started discussing the merits of one table or another with the other. Dropping the thought of what her -- why was it called something so embarrassing? -- Cutie Mark turned out to be more difficult than picking out tables, sofas, cushions, and even drapes.

She mostly let Moonrose and Kasumi talk it out, and picked from their suggestions. She wasn’t particularly interested in interior decorating at that moment, and it helped make things go more quickly. After several hours they had a small stack of cards that Moonrose tucked under a wing.

“I’m going to need to remember to bring some saddlebags if I have to be your assistant for much longer,” Moonrose said with a small grin to Ranma.

The white alicorn shrugged. “Well I don’t exactly have anything like that,” Ranma said. She didn’t even know what saddlebags might look like in a world where no one rode ponies. How did that even work with wings anyways?

“We’ll have to solve that. A Princess shouldn’t lack something as simple as saddlebags,” her assistant said, “Shall we move on, I think we’ve gone through this room. There are a few rooms nearby that have properly curated art collections stored in them. Based on what Raven said.”

“Think you can find them? The hallways down here are like mazes,” Ranma sighed.

“... And what did I just say my special talent was?” Moonrose asked.

Ranma sighed again. “Navigation,” she said, pressing a hoof to her forehead.

“Yep. I’ll be just fine, so stick close Princess,” she said, trotting over to the door. Ranma and Kasumi joined the bat-pony and followed her into the hallway.

“Hey, Rosey,” Ranma said a few moments later.

“Do you have to keep calling me that?” ‘Rosey’ asked with a small whine.

“You don’t like it? I think it fits, right Kasumi?” Ranma asked, turning big eyes on the bacon-maned pegasus, who simply snorted and giggled before nodding once.

“You have a very Rosey personality,” Kasumi agreed with her own smile.

“... I’m not talking either of you out of this, am I?” ‘Rosey’ sighed.

“Nope,” Ranma replied cheerfully.

“As you wish, Princess,” the bat-pony said before pausing, “This is because of the Princess thing, isn’t it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ranma replied with a grin. The two ponies stared at each other for a moment before Rosey’s mouth twitched and she started giggling. Ranma and Kasumi followed a moment later as they resumed their walk down the hallway.

“Some would call that petty, Ranma,” Rosey chided.

Ranma went to reply and her response died in her throat as a familiar brown Unicorn and an unfamiliar pink Earth Pony stepped around the next corner. The brown unicorn stumbled as their eyes met and both awkwardly stopped in the hallway. The pink Earth Pony’s eyes went wide and she went into a bow immediately.

“Princess- erm, Princess um…” The pink pony babbled. Ranma waved a hoof absently at her.

“Ranma, Ranma Saotome,” she said, stepping past the pink mare with an awkward smile. The frozen pony stared up at her with wide eyes. 

“Ranma,” Ryouga said as she stepped up to him. She hadn’t noticed a few days ago, probably due to the headache, but the stallion Ryouga had become was head and shoulders taller than her. Thick across the barrel and with a rather wild black mane. He looked particularly scruffy with his chest fur seemingly ruffled in every direction. Like her, there was a small ring around the base of his horn.

“Hey…” She waved a hoof awkwardly and glanced over her shoulder. The Pink pony had been pulled to her feet by Kasumi who was chatting softly about something while Rosey hung back. The bat-pony was eyeing Ryouga with a degree of wariness. “Odd running into you down here.”

Ryouga shrugged. “I woke up early and decided to look for a place to eat,” he said, “I didn’t know you were awake.”

“Woke up early this morning. The Princesses asked me to breakfast and I’ve been running from one thing to another without stop ever since,” Ranma sighed.

“Except for a bath, she needed one,” Kasumi said with a giggle. Ranma rolled her eyes.

“You try not being dusty, after three days lying on a bed,” she grumbled. Kasumi politely hid her mirth behind a forehoof.

“You still look better now than you did before, even after the dust in the storage room, Princess,” Rosey said.

“I was about to ask about that. Why is Angel calling you a Princess?” Ryouga asked.

“Because she is,” Angel blurted out before covering her mouth with a hoof, a panicked expression on her face as everyone turned to look at her.

Ranma tried to smile reassuringly, which seemed to be enough for the worried-looking mare to drop her hoof to the ground and look away with an awkward giggle. “I… Kinda am, yeah,” she admitted as she turned back to Ryouga. She fidgeted, her wings ruffling nervously. “Alicorns are apparently required-” She was interrupted by Ryouga’s stomach rumbling loudly. The unicorn touched his stomach with a hoof and blushed through his fur.

“... Have you seriously not eaten yet?” Ranma asked in a flat deadpan. He couldn’t have possibly been that lost…

“I-” He began.

“You’re hungry? Why didn’t you mention it back in the kitchen?” the pink earth pony asked. Well, it was more like a demand, what with the way she practically teleported to his side with stare him in the eye with a frown. Ryouga took a step back from the intensity of the mare.

Ranma’s eyebrows rose. “Wait, you found the kitchen and didn’t eat?” She asked, looking at him incredulously. She lifted a hoof and pressed a fetlock to his forehead. He scampered back.

“Hey! Stop that!” He snapped at her. “I just wanted out of this maze alright?”

“We’re like fifty yards from the kitchen,” the earth pony said with a huff, “We can go and get you something to eat then I can take you back upstairs. I refuse to let you out of my sight without feeding you!” She prodded him in the chest with a hoof.

“And he’s not running a fever, I think,” Ranma added, “He’s just got a terminal case of idiot.” 

“Oi!” Ryouga coloured as bright as brown fur would allow. “I just didn’t feel like eating in this maze.”

“Says the guy who has camped out in closets because he can’t find the door,” Ranma said with a frown of her own.

“We have a staff room literally next door to it just for things like this,” the castle cook said. She stomped a hoof hard enough that Ranma heard something crack. Something beneath the bricks.

A loud clunk from below echoed through the corridor. It was followed by another, and then another as something under the floor moved. The six looked down nervously. The brick beneath the earth pony’s hoof had sunk into the ground an inch. It stayed down as she lifted her hoof with a worried expression, leaving a round inch-deep hole in the stone floor.  

“Um… What was that?” Rosey asked hesitantly.

Ranma opened her mouth to respond, only to yelp as, with a loud clang, the floor in twenty feet in either direction split open down the middle. Her wings snapped open a second too late as she hit the side of a chute and slid down the remarkably smooth blue crystal side. She glanced up to see Rosey dive after them just in time to slip between the closing sides of the corridor.

As a group they slid down through a chute of crystal, the material far too slippery for hooves to find traction and the walls too narrow for wings to extend out well enough for flight. Down and down they went, spiraling down and around at higher and higher speeds. Small nooks held dimly flickering blue crystal lights that provided the barest bit of illumination. A glance back showed Kasumi and Rosey right on her tail.

“Wheeee~!” The earth pony in front of her cheered as they fell.

“Why are you cheering?” Ranma tried to shout, but the words were left behind in the breeze as they hurtled onwards. She tried to hook a hoof on one of the light nooks, only to find a shimmering barrier block hoof just outside the nooks. Clearly whoever had built this trap had put a little thought into their deathtrap.

“Oh this isn’t going to be good,” she shouted up at Kasumi who nodded back, her own words lost in the wind.

With that prediction of doom, Ranma focused on not hitting the walls of the slide. She didn’t have to do much, actually. The slide was curved such that anyone not struggling to catch themselves instead gravitated towards the middle of the slide.

Then, without warning, the slide dumped them out onto a rough crystal floor. Ryouga at the front came to a halt only a few meters beyond the end of the slide, only to promptly get buried as the mares following him crashed into him, and each other. Most of them, at least. 

Ranma neatly sidestepped the pileup, easily skating past the pile as she slid on one hoof along the floor. She came to a stop a couple of feet past the pile of ponies and looked around. The slide had deposited them into what looked like a cavern. She couldn’t place the size of it, however. Three, maybe four stories tall, and who knew how wide. They had been dropped onto a narrow strip of mostly smooth crystal that ran along one side of the cavern, while the other side of it seemed to drop into a shadow-filled hole. Small, flickering, crystals on poles lit the strip of smooth crystal as it wound around a corner and out of sight. The rest of the cavern was cast into deep shadows that made it impossible to know how far it went.

She walked over to the edge of the cliff and kicked a crystal pebble into the hole. The sound of it hitting the ground came almost immediately. It wasn’t that deep a hole at least.

“Well,” she said, turning to the pile of ponies that were trying, and failing, to disentangle themselves. “This is why you eat lunch, Ryouga,” she said half-seriously.

“Kasumi get your tail off my face,” the sole colt in the pile of fillies said.

“Erm, sorry,” Kasumi squeaked as she tried to untangle her wing from the pink pony’s tail.

“Any idea where we are?” the earth pony asked.

“No idea, I just moved here,” Ranma said as she walked over to the group to offer what assistance she could. “Does all of the underground have deathtraps waiting for people to wander in?” Her ear twitched as something crumbled in the darkness of the cave and bounced down the not-so-deep pit.

“No, this is- ow- not normal,” the pink pony said. Ranma grabbed her by the foreleg and pulled her free of the pile. The pony smiled uncertainty as Ranma helped her to her hooves. “Um… hi, I’m Angel Cake,” she said.

“Nice to meet you Angel,” Ranma said with her own smile, “Call me Ranma.”


-0-0-0-0-0-


Landing in a pile was not a fun way to end the ride, Angel decided as she tried to push the yellow pegasus wing off her face. It didn’t go anywhere since something was pinning it to her face. It wasn’t a hoof, but beyond that, she couldn’t really say. More important, however, was the wing she could feel getting tangled in her tail. She prayed it was the pegasus’ other wing and not the Princess’s. She’d just die if she’d managed to wreck the new Princess’s wing with her tail.

From somewhere nearby, she heard the voice of the Princess. “This is why you eat lunch, Ryouga,” she said with a hint of a laugh in her tone. Well, that meant she was probably entangled with the pegasus.

“Kasumi,” Ryouga grumbled beneath her, “get your tail off my face.”

“Erm, sorry,” the pegasus, Kasumi, squeaked as she tried to tug her wing free of Angel Cake’s tail.

Shuffling the wing just enough out of the way to peer beyond she managed to see the great big crystal cave wall. “Any idea where we are?” she asked as her heart sped up a little bit. There was no way any of them knew where they were, right? Things like this just didn’t happen in Canterlot normally, and that trigger had been so rough it had to be ancient. Right? Which meant...

“No idea, I just moved here,” the Princess said as her voice got closer, “Does all of the underground have deathtraps waiting for people to wander in?”

“No, this - ow,” she winced as Kasumi tugged on her tail, finally freeing the trapped wing, “not normal.” A white hoof grasped her foreleg and with a tug she was free of the pile finally. Free, but sprawled on the ground looking up at the small white alicorn with the beautiful flame-like mane. She blinked up at her for a moment before finding her words through her awe. “Um… hi, I’m Angel Cake.”

“Call me Ranma,” the youngest Princess said to Angel with a grin. She tossed her red mane and looked around the cavern.  “So drop chutes aren’t the thing in Canterlot, I take it?”

“Not even slightly,” groaned the Thestral as she stumbled off the pile of ponies. The dark blue mare shook her head as she fluttered her wings. “Ow, my head. You!” she pointed a hoof at Ryouga, “Are like a rock!” She then promptly slipped on the slick crystal and face planted with a groan. “Ow.”

“That is not my fault!” Ryouga grumbled as Kasumi got off him, leaving the lone stallion lying with his head on his hooves morosely. Angel was getting the feeling that it was something a theme with him if the way the Princess rolled her eyes was any indication.

“Get up, we’ve got bigger issues,” the Princess said, prodding the stallion with a hoof, “Rosey, any chance we can head back up the slide?”

“Probably not. I barely made it in when it was closing behind us,” the Thestral said as she took to the air, hovering a few feet above the ground with languid beats of her wings, “Not to mention that slide is really slippery.”

“There was some sort of field over the lights as well. I couldn’t find anything to grab onto,” the Princess sighed. Had there been?

Angel bit her lip. Had she gone and gotten too excited again? Her parents always complained that she didn’t pay enough attention to her own safety when things got exciting. She should have tried to catch herself on something. What if the slide had led into a deathtrap? It still might have. They didn’t know where that path of flickering light went.

“Unfortunately it looks like there’s only one path from here,” Rosey the Thestral noted, “Though this place isn’t really striking me as a deathtrap. Not nearly enough spikes, or bones.” Looking around Angel had to agree. It looked more like a poorly maintained path than a deathtrap.

“That hole was as long as the corridor,” Ryouga said as he stood up.

“He’s got a point,” the Princess said, pointing a wing at the unicorn, “Why would you build a hallway length drop chute if you aren’t intending to drop a bunch of people to their deaths?”

“There’s really only one way to find out,” the pegasus said, stepping up to point down the path. Despite herself, Angel nodded. There was really only one way, forwards. She found a grin slowly clawing away at her worried grimace. She couldn’t help it. It was the one thing her parents never let her have. The one thing she always found herself staring wistfully out the window dreaming of.

Adventure.

She barely kept herself from squealing in excitement. This was going to be awesome. She couldn’t, however, keep herself from doing a little hoof tip dance the moment everyone was looking away from her.


-0-0-0-0-0-


Ranma’s ears twitched left and right as their little group walked down the crystal path. The clip-clatter of hooves was loud in the silent caves. There was the occasional distant drip of water or another liquid, but the noises were otherwise limited to the strange echoes that bounced around the crystal caves. Sounds twisted and turned in this place. What started as a clip might come back as a reverberating hum or a ripple of clicks. The only thing that kept her from thinking there were things out there watching them was the complete lack of consistency. The sounds kept shifting as they moved and slowly trailed off after they stopped moving.

The path wasn’t much better. They had been going for half an hour at a steady trot and it had already wound along three cliffs, down two narrow tunnels, and it was looking like they were about to hit another tunnel. The path’s quality drifted back and forth from ‘dangerously smooth’ to ‘crystal gravel’ and back again. The quality of the lighting was just as bad. They hadn’t quite had to rely on Rosey for guidance, but it had come close. As it was, she was keeping Ryouga close. If he got lost down here there was a distinct chance that he wouldn’t find his way out at all.

“How far do you think this goes?” Angel Cake asked as she kicked a small crystal stone into the abyss. It didn’t hit the ground for a few long moments.

Rosey joined the earth pony in looking over the edge. “Based on the sound? At least two hundred meters,” she said, “Possibly deeper since I think the wall has a slope.”

Angel kicked another rock harder and the entire group listened as it fell. They waited… and waited. “I… don’t think its hitting the ground,” She said after nearly a minute of listening.

“That or we just can’t hear it,” Rosey said.

Something clacked against the crystal behind them. Ranma’s ear twitched and she turned to see a few shiny pebbles rolling across the ground after falling from the wall. “I think I heard something,” Ryouga said.

“But not from down there,” Ranma interjected, following the wall up with her head. Rocks didn’t start falling off walls for no reason. Especially not off geologically stable structures. At first, she didn’t see anything in the gloom towards the roofline, then a patch of what she had assumed to be an uneven section of crystal moved. A cascade of crystal pebbles came loose from the wall as a boulder of the purplish-blue crystal pulled itself loose from the stones around it along with six arachnoid limbs. Eight glittering amethysts were mounted where the eyes of a spider would have been.

“Ryouga?!” Ranma asked as a shot of worry rolled through her. That thing was gigantic, nearly the size of a bus.

“I haven’t been able to do the bakusai tenketsu with hooves yet,” he replied, taking a step back onto open air. “Ai-” Rosey hooked his foreleg and hauled him forward before he could tumble.

“Everyone run!” The former guard pony shouted, shoving Ryouga and angel down the path.

“But what if it isn’t-” Angel started, only to get cut off as the spider dropped from the ceiling to land on its claws behind them with the sound of a rockslide. It followed it up with a roar that rattled the cave. Ranma’s ears went flat as it was followed a moment later by other roars that rumbled the cave.

She danced backwards as its claw came down where she had been standing. “I don’t think it’s friendly!” she shouted, before spinning to give it a hard kick with her back hooves. It was, unsurprisingly, like kicking a rock, but thankfully that was something she was used to. Stone cracked as the appendage slid back several meters and the entire construct scuttled back for stability.

“And I think it has friends,” Ryouga added, “Come on!”

Without a backwards glance Ranma turned and ran, pausing only to push Kasumi along with her head. The bacon-maned pegasus had frozen up at the sight of the massive spider. “Move on Kasumi, come on,” She said. Her prodding brought the eldest Tendo sister around and a moment later they were galloping after the rest of their group, hooves raising sparks from the stone.

“I’m so sorry,” Kasumi said as they ran. Behind they could hear the spider gaining on them. “It’s just- Spider! Why are there giant crystal spiders down here?!” She wailed, pouring on more speed to catch up with the group. Ranma kept pace with her.

“What part of deathtrap does no one understand?” Ranma complained, “Run faster!” She spared a glance over her shoulder as the path plunged into a tunnel… one more than large enough for the spider to follow. A fact it made abundantly clear as it clattered after them along the walls.

“It wasn’t a deathtrap five minutes ago!” Kasumi said.

“I think these things are more than five minutes old,” Ranma replied as the tunnel turned, rising upwards in a slow spiral. She glanced backwards again and felt pale as she realized the spider was getting closer. “It’s catching up!” That was apparently the right thing to point out as Kasumi surged forward, galloping flat out up the slope. It flattened out a moment later and then they were out.

“Bridge ahead!” Rosey shouted back as the bat pony emerged ahead of them.

They emerged from the tunnel into a truly massive cavern that was cut in two by a great abyss that plunged into the darkness. An elegant, if worn, bridge spanned the gap between the two sides. Above them the ceiling simply disappeared into the darkness, making it impossible to guess how high the ceiling was. The same could be said of the far walls. The only thing that Ranma could say for certain was the bridge ahead, lit by flickering crystal lights, some of which were dead, leaving the bridge in a mix-match of blue-white light and deep shadows.

The former guard pony took to the air as they thundered forwards onto the bridge. It was, like the tunnel, more than wide enough for the spider following them. Someone had clearly designed the infrastructure to handle the gigantic insectoids.

“These really aren’t natural, are they?” She shouted as Rosey swooped low over the bridge.

“All signs point to no,” the bat pony shouted back, “They look like something a unicorn cooked up for defense centuries ago. I’d love to know what in Luna’s name they think needs this!”

“THERE’S MORE OF IT!” Angel Cake shouted. Ranma looked away from Rosey to find the Earth Pony coming to a halt in the middle of the bridge as she pointed to the far end. Two more of the monstrous spiders were climbing down the walls right by the bridge end.

“Of course there are,” Ranma growled, “Ryouga! Cover the rear! Rosey, get ready to catch me again!” She galloped past a startled Angel Cake. If they were going to be boxed in then they couldn’t avoid a fight. More importantly, however, the bridge presented an opportunity when dealing with such large opponents.

“I’ve got it!” Ryouga shouted back as he turned on his hooves and charged to the back of the group.

“Ranma be careful!” Kasumi shouted as she came to a halt beside Angel Cake.

“Is she charging them?” Angel asked. The earth pony sounded incredulous.

“She does this sort of thing all the time,” the Tendo sister sighed.

Ranma put it aside as she watched the two spiders climb onto the bridge. Both were large enough that their legs barely fit onto the bridge. “Please tell me you have a plan, Princess?” Rosey asked as she flew along with her.

“They barely fit on here. I’m going to try and knock them off the bridge,” she replied, “Get ready to catch me if I mess up.”

“The other Princesses are going to kill me if I let you get hurt doing something stupid,” Rosey complained as she arced away. It probably wouldn’t help Rosey’s blood pressure if she mentioned that this didn’t even qualify for the top ten dumbest ideas she’d ever tried to execute, so she didn’t. 

The two spiders clattered down the bridge towards Ranma, their forms flickered in and out of the darkness. It reminded her of fighting Taro at night. His massive minotaur form was always intimidating in the dark. Still, giant minotaur or crystal spiders, either way, she wasn’t about to back down without at least trying something.

The meters disappeared under her hooves and all too soon the form of the first spider was looming over her. It rumbled with the tones of rocks clashing together and its right foreleg came down towards her. She jumped left as it came in, her wings sweeping down to boost her. She crashed hooves first into the joint of the left foreleg. Stone crunched and cracked beneath her strike as the limb slid along the ground until it caught on the edge of the railing, but the joint held.

She kicked off in the opposite direction and leaped up and over the rest of the body and into the air above the abyss. She twisted her body and spread her wings. She directed her ki into her new appendages and felt the response of something electrifying as she did so. It raced along her pinions and out into the air, forming a great, if rather rough, scoop as she backwinged towards the construct.

Hooves crashed into the stone hide of the beast above its middle leg a heartbeat later as she traveled back far faster than she had leaped out. A shockwave of air and crystal fountained out around her as the entire beast, now bearing a crater in its side, went flying off the side of the bridge.

“Yes!” She shouted with a grin as she beat her wings and leaped back into the air once again. It wasn’t quite flight, not by any definition she suspected a pegasus would accept, but it was a step in that direction. The remaining crystal construct let out a rumble of what might have been anger if giant stone constructs could be angry at least.

It turned to track her, scuttling in a circle as she awkwardly glided around it, her path a barely controlled drunken flight as she tried to find a good angle. She glared down at it before grinning as its ‘face’, for a definition of face that included no visible mouth, reached a perpendicular angle with the bridge. Its forelegs were in the air, leaving it balanced precariously on its four back limbs.

She twisted and again her wings came down. With a bang like a cannon ball striking a mountain she crashed forehooves first between the eyes of the construct. Crystal crumbled and cracked, knocking four of the eight eyes loose from their mountings. More importantly, the back legs had tripped over the edge of the railing. The spider’s legs waved in panic as it tried to stabilize, and there was a good chance that with so many limbs it could have pulled itself back onto the bridge. If, that is, Ranma had given it a chance.

Legs tensed and wings came down as Ranma gave it another shove as she leaped into the air. The construct slid back a few more feet, and its two middle legs tipped over the railing. With the sound of a thousand rocks crashing together it toppled out of sight.

Ranma sighed as she stabilized her flight into a rough, and wobbly, arc. Her wings were already starting to hurt a bit from that. It was from deep in the muscles, the sort that came from overstraining oneself. Something she was a bit too familiar with from her years of training.

Rosey flew up to join her as she looked down at the fight between Ryouga and the first spider. As Ranma watched, the brown unicorn shattered a third leg with a powerful kick before catching the falling spider with his forehooves. In a feat of strength of a caliber that she rarely saw out of him the stallion tossed the construct away and onto its back where its three remaining limbs twitched and folded like a dead spider’s. Chest heaving, he turned to look up at her. With his mane tossed from the fight and the flickering light, he had the look of a roguish warrior from one of those adventure-romance mangas she borrowed from Akane when her fiance wasn’t looking. She waved. He waved back.

“So you can fly now,” Rosey said as she slid up beside her. They curved in a slow arc around the cavern that she was fairly sure would let her land on the bridge. That or the bat pony was going to have to haul her up again.

“Not really. More like I can jump really good now,” Ranma replied.

“You’re gliding right now,” the bat pony pointed out.

“And that’s not really flight,” the young Princess replied.

“If you insist… and that was stupid what you just did,” Rosey said with a huff, “If you didn’t know you could fly-”

“Still not really flying.”

“Not helping.” The two exchanged glances before Ranma started laughing. A moment later her Hoofmaiden joined her as they landed on the bridge. A few seconds later Kasumi and Angel came running up.

“Ranma! I swear-” Kasumi took a deep breath and shook herself. Her wings fluttered loudly. “Can you imagine what I’d have to say to Akane if you had fallen instead of flying? How would I explain that you decided to leap off a bridge while fighting giant spiders? My heart practically stopped when you went over the edge!” She poked Ranma in the chest.

Ranma winced. “Sorry? The other option was doing what Ryouga did?” She waved a wing towards the unicorn who was cantering over to them, then promptly winced as the muscles in the wing complained strenuously about her abuse of them a few minutes before. “Ow.” She folded them tight against her side. Those were going to take some time to properly condition for use.

“That was amazing!” Angel finally burst out as she excitedly danced on the spot, “How are the two of you so strong?”

“Lots of practice. Lots, and lots of practice,” Ranma said as Ryouga joined them. The Angel Cake promptly hugged Ryouga.

“You were awesome!” She said loudly, and right into his ear.

“Thanks,” he said hesitantly, “Um… now what?” He looked around.

“Now we keep moving and hope we don’t-” Ranma was interrupted as a wailing screech echoed up from the abyss below the bridge. A moment later the spider twitching on its back at the other end of the bridge started letting out the exact same sound. Across the roof, small crystals lit up as glittering crystal pebbles started falling from the ceiling.

“Oh that’s not good,” Rosey said before she turned to Ranma, “Run?”

“Time to run,” she agreed. There was no way she could replicate the trick she’d just done. As one the small herd of ponies turned and thundered down the bridge.

“So why are we running deeper?” Ryouga asked as they left the bridge behind.

“Because we sure as hell aren’t getting back up that slide and the more we see the less I think this is a deathtrap. At least, not intentionally,” Ranma said.

“The giant spiders might have something to say about that,” Kasumi said between heavy breaths.

“You don’t build a bridge across a chasm for a trap no one is supposed to survive,” Ranma pointed out, “This leads somewhere.”

“The Princess is right. This feels more like they’re defending something,” Rosey said.

“Great, so we just charge deeper and possibly let out something better left undisturbed? I’ve read this book! I know how it ends,” Ryouga said as they rounded a corner and started up another slope. Ranma could hear the crash and clatter of rocks in the far distance.

“The other option is fighting a literal army of stone spiders the size of buses,” Ranma said flatly.

“I say let the evil out. Maybe it’ll kill the spiders first,” Kasumi said with false cheer.

“Don’t like spiders much, I take it?” Angel asked.

“Not at all,” the yellow pegasus replied as the path leveled out again. A short while later the path went up again, then down, then straight ahead. It was like running down a rollercoaster’s rails while being chased by park security. If park security could bench press a small yacht, and had way too many legs.

Finally the tunnel came to an end, not in a giant cavern, but with a gate. Three storeys tall, ten meters wide, and made of a silvery substance that shone with runes and glyphs. Pony-sized sigils of a bearded unicorn with a pointed hat glowed on the upper half of each side of the door.

“Well, now we know where this leads,” Rosey said as she flew up a few feet to take a closer look, “I don’t suppose anyone brought a key, did they?”

“Only for the castle’s kitchens,” Angel said as she walked, wide-eyed, up to the gate, “Oh Celestia this is so cool. Look at this!” She pointed up at the sigils. “I recognize those. Starswirl the Bearded built this!”

“Who?” Ranma asked at the same time as Kasumi. Ryouga was watching the path behind them with a frown while the fillies poked at the door.

Angel turned back to them. “Starswirl the Bearded. The oldest, most powerful unicorn of all time. He’s been dead for a few centuries, but this must have been one of his sanctums or something. He’s probably responsible for the giant spider construct thingies.” She waved back in the direction they’d come with an excited expression. “This is quite possibly the biggest discovery in at least two years.”

“Two years? Why two years?” Ranma asked. The Earth Pony shrugged.

“It’s a little hard to beat Twilight Sparkle finding and using the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon and Discord,” Angel said with a shrug.

“It really is, but that doesn’t exactly help us. We’re out here, and safety or death is probably in there,” Rosey said.

“Or death. Why or death?” Kasumi asked.

“Because half the time we find one of these it turns out to have some sort of horrific monster sealed up inside that we then have to recapture and stuff into Tartarus for safe keeping,” Rosey deadpanned.

“Lovely. So it’s either how we’re going to live, or how we’re going to die,” Ranma deadpanned. Sounded about right for her life, really. “So how do we open it?”

“Well normally I’d say you or Ryouga needs to use their horn and do Unicorn things, but…'' Rosey landed and shrugged her wings, “Neither of you exactly knows how to Unicorn, right?'' Ranma pointed at her horn with the ring on it, then at Ryouga’s.

“So… how do we open it then?” Angel asked, looking worried for the first time since they’d come down the slide. Ranma’s ear twitched as the sound of stone on stone came closer still.

Kasumi stepped forward and looked up at the door. “Mr. Door, would you mind opening?” She asked in an angelically sweet voice. All five of them stared expectantly at the door for a few seconds before the pegasus sagged. “It was worth a try,” she sighed. Ranma patted her on the shoulder.

“Well the other obvious one is giving it a poke… Does anyone have a stick?” Ranma glanced around.

“Here, underground?” Rosey asked with a sigh.

“Point,” the redhead sighed before stepping forward.

“Wait- Princess!” Rosey protested as she gave the door a tap with her hoof. Nothing happened and she turned her head to look at Rosey with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” she asked innocently. Or not so innocently as it may have been. She knew how risky poking the sealed up door of a possibly ancient evil could be.

“Girls, those things are getting closer,” Ryouga drawled. Ranma shot him a glare but bit her tongue. She wasn’t quite ready to bring up the can of worms that was her original gender, especially not in a place like this. The curse was complicated enough without having to explain it on a time limit.

“Right,” she gave the door a light push. To her complete surprise the door simply swung open, the hinges lightly creaking. “Um… The door wasn’t locked, I guess?” She shrugged and glanced at Rosey who shrugged back, equally confused.

Stepping through the open door they found the tunnel beyond terminated abruptly after another hundred feet. A horseshoe shaped mirror about twice the height of a pony sat on a small pedestal. The only sources of light in the room came from two gems mounted on the wall above the mirror. “... Not exactly what I was expecting,” Ranma said.

“With a door this big you’d expect something a bit… grander,” Angel agreed, to twin hums from Rosey and Kasumi.

As a group they cautiously crossed the room to the mirror and inspected it. The pedestal seemed to be solid rock, and while the horseshoe shaped frame seemed to have gemstones embedded in it none of them seemed to do anything. Even looking at it just returned their normal reflections.

Ranma stared at the fire-maned alicorn in the mirror. “So, no evil clones are popping out,” She said to Kasumi.

“That only happened once,” Kasumi replied.

“Twice.”

“With the same mirror.” They stared at each other with bemused expressions. That mirror had led to some strange times. Like when she’d had to show her own clone how to hit on boys… Not exactly her proudest moment, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself after seeing just how badly the clone did it. It was embarrassing watching her mirror image run around and do something that simple so terribly!

“You two have some weird stories,” Rosey sighed from where she was perched atop the mirror, balancing on her hooves with wings outstretched.

“I don’t exactly live an uneventful life,” Ranma said with a shrug.

“GIRLS! I CAN SEE ONE OF THEM!” Ryouga shouted as he ran into the room. He promptly pushed the gate shut.

“Ponyfeathers,” Rosey said in a tone that implied some form of curse, “Okay, so we have a door, at the end of an underground path through caverns guarded by giant stone spiders, and inside it is a mirror. It doesn’t seem to be evil. None of us have suddenly gained evil twins or been drawn inside. I haven’t heard any evil whispers, has anyone else?” Everyone shook their heads. “Then what is the mirror for?!” She went to rap a hoof on the front edge of the mirror frame, and instead struck the glass. Or at least, she should have.

Ranma stared as Rosey’s hoof went through the glass, creating a small ripple in the image. “... It’s a portal of some kind,” she blurted out as Rosey pulled her hoof back out and gave it a close inspection.

“My hoof looks fine, I guess? No portal clinging to it?” She said after a moment.

Ranma walked up to the ‘mirror’ hesitantly. She exchanged a glance with Kasumi. “This is probably stupid,” she said to the other girl.

“When has that ever stopped anyone?” Kasumi said with a quirked smile.

“Not back home it hasn’t,” Ranma sighed, then took a deep breath and stuck her head through. She almost threw up immediately as the world twisted and swirled together in a kaleidoscope of every colour imaginable even as it felt like gravity was pulling on her from six different directions. Then, with the abruptness of a lightning strike, she was through. At least her head was. Her neck felt like it was spinning independently from both her head and body. The room beyond was pitch black for a moment, then gemstones lit up. Dozens of small alcoves, chandeliers, and tabletop lamps blazed to life revealing what looked to be some form of museum. Small displays were set up around the room with plaques. In one corner was a skeleton of what might have been a miniature mammoth. In another, a machine that wouldn’t have been out of place in Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks. Statues, skeletons, gems, and books were on display on plinths and pedestals.

She pulled her head back and just barely avoided throwing up. Shaking her head to clear it of the unwanted sensation she turned back to the others. The four fillies stared at her hopefully. “It’s… some kind of museum, I think?” She said after a nauseous moment. She shook her head again. “Ugh, I don’t feel that great. Waaay too much spinning.”

“You haven’t moved,” Kasumi said.

“It doesn’t feel like it.”

“Why would it lead to a museum?” Angel asked.

“The other end could have been found somewhere and placed in a museum,” Rosey said, having hopped down, she was now at Ranma’s side again.

“Either way, it doesn’t really matter where. Anywhere is better than here,” Ranma said just as a loud bang shook the room and the door slid open half a foot despite Ryouga bracing the door. The rumble of angry stone echoed into the room. “Right, no time to debate. Everyone through the portal. RYOUGA, GET OVER HERE WE. ARE. LEAVING!”

“GIVE ME A SECOND!” Ryouga shouted back as he forced the door shut again, only for it to be battered open a bit a moment later.

“Okay, but-” What Kasumi was about to say disappeared as Rosey pushed her into the portal, followed by Angel. She gave Ranma a pointed look.

“What?” Ranma asked.

“You’re leaving before I am. Princess Luna would have my head otherwise,” her Hoofmaiden said.

“But what about Ryouga?” Ranma asked, waving a hoof in his direction, “COME ON YOU IDIOT! THE WAY OUT IS OVER HERE!”

“I’ll get him! You can’t fly, I can. Now go!” She stepped past Ranma and then proceeded to give her an abrupt hip check that sent her stumbling right through the portal.

Ranma tumbled to the ground on the other side, groaning and covering her muzzle with both hooves as she sought to keep her light lunch from coming back up. Kasumi pulled her to the side as she did so. A good thing too, since about twenty seconds after she came through Ryouga, clutched in the arms of Rosey, came barreling through the portal. The two of them immediately hit the ground as the nausea dragged the bat pony out of the sky. They rolled away and a moment later Ranma heard someone throwing up.

It would be a while before Ranma could be sure she wasn’t going to join them.


-0-0-0-0-0-

> Chapter Five: Time Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The view from the balconies that lined the public square outside the castle was impressive. The sweeping vista visible from the cliff of the many small towns, farms, and occasional woods that made up the heartland of the nation could take the breath away. It certainly had the first time Akane had seen it the day after their arrival in Canterlot. It was still impressive, but a pretty view could hardly distract her from her thoughts. Especially with the clip-clop-clatter of hooves and horseshoes on the stone boulevard behind her. Or the soft chattering from the pair of unicorns in the next balcony who were flirting outrageously as they ate. Their giggling was almost enough to make her move to the next balcony.

Ponies. She looked at her forehoof that rested upon the railing. The yellow fur around her fetlock, her fetlock, taunted her. She wasn’t the brightest yellow around, more ochre than straw or gold. In a way that was a small blessing. Gods knew what she’d do if she walked around sparkling like gold, but she was still yellow. A yellow pony. The colour went all the way down to her skin tone as she’d discovered the day before when she’d brushed back her fur out of curiosity.

She shook her head and sighed. “Stupid Ranma,” she grumbled. Why didn’t being a pony seem to bother her fiancee? She’d just laid there and let those- She let out another frustrated sigh. She wasn’t angry at the two, what were they even? Spa attendants? Handmaidens? She hadn’t a clue, but they were simply doing the job. She shouldn’t be this angry about that, and yet…

Her head turned to stare back at the courtyard. The fact that a human couldn’t turn their neck even half as far prodded irritably at the back of her mind. A column of ponies in gold armour was trotting across the square to the cadence their leader was belting out. In the background, she could see ponies in suits and tophats -- tophats of all things! -- going in and out of the castle. It was strange, like something out of a manga about spirits or one of those films by Hayao Miyazaki. A quick glance reminded her that as strange as this place was it didn’t seem to have flying castles.

Yet.

This place was nice, she would admit she hadn’t met a mean pony yet, even if she had heard rumours of a ‘Prince Blueblood’ who was apparently an ass beyond the usual for an upper-class twit. He was off on a cruise somewhere at the moment and was, thankfully, not due to return for at least a month. She dreaded finding out whether he was like Kuno.

She shook her head again. The view wasn’t helping her get her thoughts in order like she’d hoped it would. With a pang of longing, she wished she was back home where she could watch the stars from their roof. Sure the view wasn’t the best at times, with how much light the city put out, but on some nights it was truly spectacular. More importantly, it was a place she could just get away from everyone. Not like here.

She shot a venomous glance towards the flirting couple in the next balcony over, they’d progressed to feeding each other while making sickening cooing noises. With an annoyed grumble, she stood up and walked away from the balcony. This place wasn’t going to help her get her feelings in order. Maybe a walk would help. Yes, a walk through the city. She hadn’t done that before and it would give her some distance from everyone.

Twenty minutes later Akane stopped her aimless walk and looked around melancholically at the brick buildings around her. Canterlot had vaguely European 19th century style to it. It was different from Tokyo, though she supposed it bore some passing similarities to some of the older concrete and brick construction from after the second world war… If she squinted really hard. More importantly it served as another reminder that this wasn’t home.

She sighed, her anger long burned out, and ambled around the corner still not sure where she was going. A unicorn mare with a pale teal mane stepped around her, giving her a strange look. Akane ignored her. Probably wondering who the strange girl… Filly, pony girls were fillies, right?

She scowled at the thought. She wasn’t even really a girl anymore just… She shook her head again to try and get rid of those thoughts. Her ears twitched at the sound of childish laughter. She looked up from staring at the ground and realised at some point she had stumbled across a park. Foals were tumbling about a playground or running free in the grass as parents looked on from picnic blankets or gossiped in small clusters.

Tired of wandering Akane trotted over to the grass and lay down under a neglected willow tree. She stared out at the foals tumbling about and wondered for a moment what her sisters were doing. Kasumi had taken a curious interest in Ranma, though at least she didn’t have to worry about Kasumi stealing her fiance. Unlike Nabiki. Her other sister was likely getting into trouble scamming nobles out of their cash or trying to introduce fractional reserve banking or something equally silly.

She’d probably find Kasumi at dinner with a story about some stupid thing Ranma had gotten involved in and Nabiki getting escorted in by the guards. Well… probably not the latter one. Nabiki was good at not getting caught.

Akane sighed again and laid her head on her hooves as she watched the foals play. It was better than trying to navigate the tesseract of thoughts bouncing within her skull.

“Hey, are you alright?” a young woman’s voice asked from right beside her.

Akane would deny any witness who claimed that she squealed from surprise as she jumped a foot to the side and spun to face the source. A teal unicorn with a silver mane around her age blinked at her from she was sitting just around the side of the tree with a book.

“How long have you been there?” Akane asked breathlessly.

“A few hours. Are you alright?” the unicorn asked with some concern.

“I’m fine,” Akane said as she got her breathing back under control. She’d completely missed that there was someone already under the tree.

“You sure? You look rather…” She wiggled a fore hoof side to side.

“I’m fine,” Akane repeated. She fluttered her wings and looked away from the mare. She tried to ignore the concern on the pony’s face, or the fact that she could already tell it was a concerned look, despite being an entirely different species. It was a bit disturbing just how human-like their faces were.

“Well, if you’re sure. I’m Starry Sunrise,” the teal unicorn said, turning to show off her butt stamp- Cutie mark. They were called Cutie Marks. She was showing off her Cutie Mark of a half dozen stars in shades of orange and purple. It slowly shifted from orange at the bottom to purple up top.

“Nice to meet you, I guess,” Akane said, “I’m Akane Tendo.”

“That’s a different name,” Starry said, “I guess you’re not from around here, are you? You’ve got a bit of an accent.” She drew out the ‘bit’ and held her hooves inches apart.

“That’s one way of putting it.” Akane lay back down and tried to ignore the feeling of grass and roots against her belly.

She tried to ignore Starry, but the Unicorn seemed to find her interesting. “Did you just get here? Is this your first time in Canterlot?” she asked.

Akane looked away. “A few days ago, and… yeah. First time,” She said, “We’re staying at the palace for now.”

“At the palace?” the mare repeated, her tone going odd. A glance proved that she was getting a wide-eyed stare.

“... It’s complicated,” Akane said.

“I’ll say. Not many ponies get to stay at the palace,” Starry said before yawning and stretching. She gave herself a shake and stood up. “I’ve suddenly got a craving for donuts. Want to join me? My treat.” She smiled at Akane.

The new pegasus blinked at the earnest smile. “Um… Sure?” She really had to wonder about how friendly these ponies were at times.

“Excellent. There’s this place called Donut Joe’s, they’ve got the most amazing donuts…”


-0-0-0-0-0-



A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover


The Long Path Home


By: Grounders10



-0-0-0-0-0-



Chapter Five: Time Out



-0-0-0-0-0-


Once she was sure she wasn’t going to join the others in emptying her breakfast onto the floor, Ranma rolled onto her front and carefully looked around. She wasn’t feeling steady enough to risk walking, but the nice thing about being a pony meant that she didn’t have to stand to get a decent look around. A long neck had its advantages.

The room they were in was the same one she had seen earlier. A long rectangle with displays of all sorts lining the walls and tables with yet more filling the center in two long rows. Brightly glowing gemstones shone clean white light across the room from a series of bronze chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, along with gem-topped candelabra on the tables and gemstones mounted in a seemingly random scatter across the walls. Several archways further into the room led out of the hall.

Now that she had more than a few seconds something peculiar jumped out at Ranma. The walls were stone. Not stone as in concrete or brick, but clean uninterrupted stone that seemed oddly smooth. Like it had been polished nearly to a mirror finish.

“Is everyone alright?” Ranma asked as she finally stood up. The sounds of heaving had stopped a short while before.

“Yeah,” Ryouga said, groaning, “It was probably a good thing I didn’t eat breakfast.”

Rosey stumbled over to Ranma. “Are you alright, Princess?” she asked, shaking her head before kneeling down to rest her head on the cold floor. “Oh Luna, make it stop spinning.”

Ranma watched her Hoofmaiden take several deep steadying breaths as she noted the implicit prayer to the older Alicorn. She had literally compared the two to Kami back on the dining terrace. Deciding to think about the implications later she instead asked, “Am I okay? What about you, Rosey?”

“Oooh… I’ll be fine… in a few minutes,” the bat pony said, “Why did it spin that hard?”

“I warned you,” Ranma said, patting her gently on the withers.

“Where are we now?” Kasumi asked. The bacon-haired pegasus was staring at a suit of greenish armour seemingly made for a pegasus. Pitted blades lined the leading edge of its wings.

“Ooh, this is cool,” Angel said, staring at the miniature woolly mammoth, “Looks a bit like my mother’s dresses after a bunch of moths got into the closet though.”

Ranma cast her gaze around at the exhibits and then turned to the portal. It was a mirror, identical to the first, except for the fact that its base smoothly merged with the stone floor. She looked back to the exhibits. She walked over to the nearest one and peered at the copper plaque. It had oxidised to a uniform green colour. Not something that a museum would let happen normally.

“I wouldn’t get too far,” she said loudly, looking at Angel Cake and Kasumi, “I don’t think we’re in a museum.”

“Then where are we?” Ryouga asked, “It looks like a museum to me.”

Ranma shrugged, fluttering her wings. “Okay so it probably is one, but it’s old. These plaques are covered in oxidation. I’m not even sure I could read these if I understood the language.”

Kasumi peered at the plaque of the armour and grimaced. “These are in terrible condition, aren’t they?” she said, “Well, then we’re probably wherever this portal was meant to go then.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question of where we are,” Ryouga said.

“One of Starswirl’s hideaways probably,” Rosey said as she stood on slightly unsteady hooves. She gave herself a shake and walked carefully over to Ranma’s side. “Powerful unicorns have a habit of making secret hideaways full of whatever it is they prize. Starswirl was active for several millennia and built many before he disappeared.”

“And prisons for monsters as well?” Ranma asked, recalling her words earlier.

“Far too many of those mixed in. If we’re lucky this is just one of his private studies,” Rosey said, “If not… Well maybe we’ll get lucky and whatever it was died of old age.”

“How likely is that?” Ranma asked, shooting wary glances about the ‘museum’.

The bat pony shrugged. “I think it happened once before…” she said uncertainty.

Well that was a cheery thought. Ranma glanced at the archways leading out. “Which way from here do you think?” she asked, hooves clattering as she walked over to the nearest archway. The hallway was wide enough for five ponies abreast and tall enough that an adult human could have walked comfortably. A few suits of rusted armour were on display leading to a decrepit-looking wooden door.

“This one keeps going around a corner,” Angel said from the next one over, “I think it’s angling downward.”

“A door over here,” Ryouga said.

Kasumi joined Ranma and Rosey at their archway. “Any of them are probably as good as the rest,” she said, “Oh, I hope we haven’t wound up halfway across the world.” She fluttered her wings with a hint of panic.

Ranma nudged her. “We’ll be fine,” she said, “We just need to find the exit.”

“And hope that the portal isn’t the exit,” Rosey said. Silence stretched on a few moments as Ranma rubbed her forehead with a forelock.

“Thanks. We needed that bit of good cheer,” she said after a moment.

“Sorry, Ranma,” her Hoofmaiden said with a blush.

Angel Cake wandered over. “I checked a few others, Princess,” she said nervously, “Some are dead ends, others go on for a ways before hitting a door. A couple turn. I can’t see any sign of an exit, though.”

“Call me Ranma,” Ranma said reflexively before turning to Ryouga who was peering through an archway intently, “Hey! Don’t wander off Ryouga!”

“There’s a light this way,” He called back.

Ranma shared a look with the other fillies. “Like the gemstones?” she asked, walking toward him. She had to wonder if he was just seeing things because he wanted to, or if he had actually spotted something important. It was hard to tell at times.

“No, it’s a bit orange,” he said as they joined him. Ranma peered down the hallway. The door at the end was hanging half open, its hinges barely hanging on. Through the gap an oddly orange light poured through.

“It isn’t flickering, so that’s probably not a fire,” Rosey said. She glanced about, her ears twisting in all directions. “Not hearing anything crackling either.”

Ranma gave it a sniff. “No smoke. Monster?” she suggested.

“Maybe its prison?” Kasumi suggested in turn. They stared at it intently before Ranma shrugged her wings and started walking down the hallway.

“Princess!” Rosey hurried after her with a clatter of hooves, “It could be dangerous.”

“Or it could just be a sunset,” Ranma pointed out. It was about the right shade for certain sunsets. Maybe Celestia was taking it slow compared to the morning? She twitched an ear as she recalled the display of power from that morning. 

“Possibly, but the colour is a bit off,” Rosey said. Behind them Kasumi and Angel hurried in lockstep. Ryouga cautiously brought up the rear, looking very awkward as he did so.

Ranma tapped the old rotted wood with a hoof and was rather unsurprised as the hinges chose that moment to finally give up on life. She skipped backwards to avoid the falling slab of rotted wood.

“Careful,” Rosey said, the Lieutenant stepping in front of Ranma as she carefully entered the room. Her hooves crushed rotted wood beneath them as she entered the room.

The room was small, or perhaps cramped would be a better word. At a glance, it seemed to be some sort of workshop or laboratory. The large orange glowing crystal on the far table seemed to suggest ‘laboratory’ more than a workshop. To the left was a skull of some mammoth creature that hung off the sides of a large table. Large gemstones glimmered from its cheekbones.

They weren’t the strangest things. Stuffed between two oversized tables, one of which was covered in old books and yellowed parchment, was a pony, a unicorn with a green coat the colour of rich jade and a rich brunette mane. She seemed to be stuck with a look of concentration on her face staring at an orb of some sort on the table before her.. A plaque on the other table next to her was unreadable.

“Hello?” Rosey said as she eyed the unicorn.

“She’s not moving,” Ranma said as the rest crowded in. The Alicorn trotted over to the unicorn, and stopped throwing her wings in warning as she spotted something strange about the air. Like a line, the dust stopped mid-air. A fine almost invisible layer that on close inspection seemed to define a sphere centred on the unicorn. “The air is frozen as well. Don’t get too close.”

Ryouga joined her. “It’s like she’s frozen in time,” he said.

“Oh my,” Kasumi said from behind them while staring up at the large skull. Ranma tuned her and Angel Cake out as the latter started trying to guess what it was.

“She might just be,” Rosey said, waving a hoof cautiously at the bubble, “The question is, was it deliberate or an accident? This could be a prison.”

Ranma walked over to the table outside of the bubble and looked down at the notes. They were still legible, but… She let out a sigh that almost turned into a whiney of irritation. “I wish I could read the language,” she said.

Her Hoofmaiden peered over her shoulder. “I can’t read that… What language even is this?” the bat pony muttered.

“Shouldn’t you be able to tell?” Ranma asked.

“I’m a soldier, not a scholar. Why would I need to know ancient… Whatever this is,” she waved a bat-like wing at it. Ranma had to admit she had a point.

“This isn’t the way out. Let’s keep-” Ryouga started to say when the table holding up the giant skull broke under the prodding of Angel Cake. The Earth Pony skipped out of the way of the skull as it hit the ground and rolled towards Ranma.

Acting on instinct Ranma jumped out of the way, landing in an attempt at a normal Anything Goes stance. The made-for-humans stance once again caused her to topple backwards.

Straight into the dust-covered orb of stopped time.

“Ranma!” Rosey and Kasumi both shouted as the red-maned Alicorn hit the orb of stopped time.

Everything else was drowned out by the sound of countless mirrors breaking as time shattered and Ranma crashed straight through to land right on the Jade Unicorn. The amber glow of the unicorn’s horn went out as Ranma’s horn smacked into it and the two rolled across the ground into a wall. Magic sparked between the two horns like an arch of lightning and Ranma’s old headache promptly returned with a vengeance.

Ranma came to a stop on her back, her head roaring and spinning in equal measure with the unicorn mare atop her. Blue eyes several shades darker than her own stared back. Voices were talking but the words didn’t make sense to her. They stared at each other for a long moment, the Jade unicorn looking incredibly confused and pained in equal measure.

Finally, finding the entire staring contest a bit worrisome, Ranma said, “Wes hāl.” A friendly greeting.

“Konnichiwa,” the Jade Unicorn replied. Ranma furrowed her eyebrows and frowned at the unicorn. That… sounded familiar for some reason. Gibberish, but familiar.

Then Rosey knocked the unicorn off of her and Ryouga pinned her to the floor…. While yelling at her in similar-sounding gibberish. Ranma blinked as Rosey started spouting different sounding gibberish as she checked Ranma over. What the hell was going on?

“Iċ ne understande,” Ranma said since none of them were making sense. Rosey stopped and stared at her. Ranma fidgeted. “Hu eart þú?” Rosey continued to stare at her before turning to Ryouga and shouting gibberish. Well, they clearly understood what was being said so…

Was she the one speaking gibberish? Well, this was a new predicament.

Ranma sat back and rubbed her aching forehead with one hoof as the others angrily interrogated the unicorn. Some progress seemed to be being made at least, though unless Ranma missed her guess she seemed to only be able to understand Ryouga and Kasumi. How odd.

She tensed as sparks of amber light started arcing along the Jade Unicorn’s horn before Rosey stepped in between them and pointed at Ranma. “Princess,” she said before saying something else, throwing in Luna’s name.

“Hime?” the Unicorn asked Ryouga and Kasumi. The Pegasus said something, then pointed at Ranma and said, “Hime.”

Okay, so… Hime meant Princess, or something… right? It sounded vaguely right, felt it too.

Rosey said something else and swirled her hoof by the side of her head before pointing at Ranma. The Alicorn huffed and crossed her forelegs. She was not crazy.

A few more moments saw the unicorn wincing and saying something that sounded like it was meant as an apology. Kasumi nodded and pointed at Ranma again, her tone authoritative. It was rare to hear her sounding so sure of herself. The unicorn nodded and then trotted gently toward Ranma. The two mares flanked her as she approached and Ranma raised an eyebrow, glancing from Kasumi to Rosey and back again.

Kasumi nodded and smiled while Rosey just watched with a frown. It was probably a good thing then, but… Ranma eyed the horn as it started glowing again and took a step back.

“Ranma,” Kasumi said sternly as Rosey placed a hoof on her withers to keep her from moving further. Her Hoofmaiden smiled in what was probably a reassuring manner.

Ranma huffed. “Cassumee,” she replied, then frowned. That had been terrible. Absolutely terrible. Oh god-

A glowing horn touched her forehead at the same time Rosey’s hoof touched her side as Rosey leaned too close. Magic snapped, crackled and-

“-to relax,” Kasumi was saying, “While they-”

“Ponyfeathers that hurt,” Ranma cursed as she took two steps back and buried her head in her hooves.

“Ponyfeathers?” Ryouga asked with a weird look to Kasumi who shrugged.

“My head is killing me,” the Jade Unicorn said, sinking to the floor in a boneless puddle.

“How are you feeling, Princess?” Rosey asked.

Ranma frowned at her. “Stop calling me that,” she said flatly, “And terrible. It feels like somepony’s taken a pick to my brain.”

“Somepony?” Ryouga said flatly again before Kasumi prodded the groaning unicorn.

“Excuse me, but I think you got the wrong language,” she said politely.

The unicorn groaned. “I said, don’t touch her while I’m casting,” the Jade Unicorn grumbled, “Can’t cast that spell again for a bit. Not unless you want me to scramble her brain completely.”

“I’ll pass,” Ranma said, “Is everypony okay?” She glanced over at Angel Cake who was very pointedly sitting in the doorway doing nothing.

“I’m good. Are you good, Princess?” the lone Earth Pony babbled, “I can’t believe that happened. Oh, sweet Celestia, I’m doomed.”

“We’re all fine,” Rosey said with a relieved sight, “This is Jade Ribbon, she claims to be a student of Starswirl’s.”

“Apprentice. Senior Apprentice,” Jade Ribbon said before wincing, “Oooh, god my horn is killing me. Make the pain stop…” She trailed off into mutterings in another language that Ranma was mildly surprised to find she understood.

“Hasn’t he been missing or dead for like a thousand years?” Ranma asked Rosey.

“Missing, and a lot longer than that,” Rosey replied.

“... A thousand years?” the Jade unicorn asked, one eye opening only to immediately close with a wince.

Ranma shuffled awkwardly, ruffling her wings. “Um, yeah, apparently,” she said, shooting Rosey a look. The former guard pony awkwardly shrugged her own wings.

The unicorn let out an expletive in her native language. “I messed up the spell,” she groaned.

“What were you trying to do?” Kasumi asked as she knelt down beside Jade Ribbon

Ranma cleared away a spot and lay down herself. Her horn was killing her. It wasn’t the same building pressure as last time. Instead, it was more like a normal headache. Like she’d taken one of Ryouga’s fists to the head again.

“Hmm,” Jade sighed before opening her eyes to stare at Ranma, “Princess, huh?”

“Legally required to be,” Ranma replied. The other pony sighed.

“Right. So… Do you know what this place is?” she asked as she looked slowly around the room with a frown.

“One of Starswirl’s many workshops?” Rosey asked.

“Sort of. This isn’t just a workshop. It’s probably easier to show you,” Jade Ribbon said as she stood up, wobbling for a moment before she steadied. “Please, follow me.” Ranma rose to follow her. The rest followed a moment later.

They walked down the hall and through the displays. Jade paused several times to stare at the displays. Ranma stayed silent as they walked, unsure what she could say as she spotted a few tears in the corners of the unicorn’s eyes. Their path led down one of the far hallways and up a spiralling staircase. After several minutes of walking up the stairs, it terminated in a simple rotted door.

“Here we are,” Jade Ribbon said, pressing a hoof against the door. Instead of swinging open the wood let out a crunch and fell apart around the hinges before tipping forward. Ranma yanked Jade aside as the rest flattened themselves against the sides of the stairwell. The door broke into a hundred pieces that tumbled like a rockslide down the stairwell.

“This place is falling apart,” Angel said, prodding a piece of wood with a hoof. It skipped down a few steps before crumbling away entirely.

“Thanks,” Jade said breathlessly.-

“No problem,” Ranma said, letting her go before turning her attention to the sunlight, and the breeze, pouring through the door. “Where are we?”

Jade slipped past her and through the door. “The entire reason this place is here,” she said simply as Ranma followed her in. The large room beyond was open to the air on one side. A railing of stone went up to the height of Ranma’s shoulders, which wasn’t as high as it sounded for a pony. On the other side of the room were stone couches carved out of the mountain. They were elevated enough to give the seated an excellent view out of the window. At least if you were willing to put up with the old dry leaves that had filled the nooks and crevices.

And the view was impressive in Ranma’s opinion. They looked out over a beautiful valley. Soft rolling hills ran the length of a valley filled with farms that ended in a small city of white stone and red-tiled roofs. A Western fairy tale castle stood in the center of the city, white pendants visible even from the mountain. Ranma could even make out the figures of ponies on its white stone paved roads and in its fields. Oddly, plumes of smoke seemed to be billowing up from the castle.

There was, however, something off with it. It was a lovely view, but…

“Jade,” Kasumi said, her voice hesitant, “Is the entire valley… Like you were?”

Oh.

Ranma’s eyes zipped to the plumes of smoke that she just realised weren’t changing. Then she stared at the fields of wheat and the ponies in the streets. Nothing was moving. Not a soul nor a plant so much as wiggled in the breeze. This valley, from the castle to the fields at the base of the mountain they were looking out of, was frozen in time just like Jade Ribbon had been.

“If you mean, is the valley frozen in time, then yes it is,” Jade said sadly. Angel gasped with horror. Ryouga looked distinctly uncomfortable. Jade rested a hoof on the railing as she stared down at the valley. “This place is the Dream Valley Observatory. The second one technically. The first was abandoned when the Wendigos came.”

Ranma stared down at the valley until she found the edges of the bubble. A thin shimmer where the light inside the dome didn’t quite match up with the rest of the world. “It’s a snow globe,” she muttered.

Jade tilted her head quizzically before shaking her head. “This was the first home of Ponykind, where the Kingdom of Ponyland was first established and later ruled by the first Alicorns,” she said.

Ranma’s ears perked up. “First Alicorns?” she asked. Jade nodded.

“Yes, the royal family were Alicorns. It’s said the last ruler of the Kingdom was Queen Faust,” Jade said, “Though, that name comes from sources many generations removed from the fall of the kingdom. We lost a lot when our people fled north to escape the Wendigos.” She sighed.

“They look different,” Kasumi said, peering over the railing.

“Makes sense, we’re millennia separated from those ponies,” Angel said, “If we looked just like that it would be a little strange.”

“That’s part of it,” Jade said, “But most ponies are descended from more northern stock these days.” She turned away and walked over to one of the benches. A flash of light cleared one of the seats and she lay down. “Supposedly the Royal Family was also northern stock, though that’s one of those details that is hard to say if it was true or not. There’s just no way to check. We can’t exactly get into the bubble to see for ourselves.”

Ranma stared down at the ponies within the bubble. They seemed to be smaller and stockier than those she had seen so far. More muscular perhaps. It was hard to say exactly from such height. After a minute she turned away, shivering as the feeling of something cold crawled along her spine and down her wings. “Do you know what happened here?” she asked Jade.

The Senior Apprentice was silent for a long minute before saying, “Grogar happened.”

Rosey, previously staring silently at the valley with a truly horrified expression, started. “They say he has been a plague on the world for millennia, but I never heard of this,” she said, waving a wing out the window.

“I’m not surprised. Dream Valley is… was barely spoken of in scholarly circles,” Jade Ribbon closed her eyes and sighed, “Undoing this was always one of Master’s goals. But he never managed it. Most others stopped caring after millennia of failure. Without him driving discussion it was probably relegated to an impossible task.”

“Or simply forgotten about,” Ranma said, glancing back at the Valley. A forgotten valley lost to time.

“So, we’re rather new to Equestria,” Ryouga said, the brown unicorn walking up to Jade, “But can you tell us who Grogar is?”

The three natives exchanged looks. “Right, of course, you wouldn’t,” Rosey said, rubbing her chin, “Grogar is…” she trailed off trying to find the words.

“He’s a goat,” Jade said when it was clear Rosey couldn’t find the words, “A mountain goat specifically. As large as the Princesses and a powerful necromancer said to be of a long-forgotten city somewhere in these mountains. Legend says he killed his own people and turned it into a city of the dead with the ringing of a bell he wore everywhere. Eventually, as the legends go, he came from Dream Valley.”

Rosey tilted her head. “Wasn’t his first attack on Ponykind ended by an artifact known… I think it was the Medallion of Light?” She muttered with a frown, clearly trying to remember.

“The Rainbow of Light,” Jade corrected, “It shattered his bell and he fled. They believed his powers came from the bell, so they let him leave. It was a mistake. Several centuries passed before he returned, and yes we’re sure it was the same one.” She said as Kasumi opened her mouth to speak. The bacon-haired pegasus nodded. “What I’m about to say is mostly conjecture based on reports from Pegasi who flew over the dome. Grogar is there in the center of town in the plaza before Dream Castle. They report he appears to be laughing over the body of a red-haired Alicorn, assumed by many to be Queen Faust, and that a bell on his neck is glowing. Likely the source of the spell that has cursed the city ever since.”

Ranma frowned. “That’s nuts,” she said, turning back to the railing and staring towards the castle. Her vision was good enough that she could make out the folds of the fluttering pennants obscured by the plume of smoke. “What sort of lunatic freezes themselves in time just to get revenge?”

“They don’t,” Jade and Rosey both said.

Ranma turned back. “But you just said-”

“He had preparations made beforehand,” Jade said, “His body is in there, but the spirit is not bound to something as ephemeral as time.”

“There’s a cauldron,” Rosey said, fluttering her wings nervously, “They say Grogar carved it from obsidian and filled it with blood. With it, he can return from the dead no matter how many times he has been slain.”

Jade Ribbon wiggled a hoof back and forth. “Technically correct. He doesn’t truly return from the dead since his original body is safe and acting as an anchor for his soul. What the Cauldron of Grogar does is allow the creation of a homunculus body that is then inhabited by his spirit. Because of this, he has bedevilled Ponykind ever since as a phantom conjured again and again to plague us. He is the creator of the Wendigos, Ursa Majors and so many more monsters.”

Rosey stepped in, “Fortunately, the last time he rose up the Princesses put him down and managed to secure the Cauldron. The last I heard it was safely stowed away in Tartarus under heavy guard.”

“Did they really?” Jade said, brightening.

“It has been over a thousand years since he last bothered Ponykind,” Rosey confirmed.

The unicorn pumped her hoof before wincing. “Right, well…” She rubbed her forehead, “Good to know.”

“Well, at least we won’t have to worry about him,” Ranma said, “So is there an exit around here somewhere?”

“Yes. There’s a tunnel on the lowest level that leads toward the nearest village. Assuming it hasn’t been blocked up,” Jade said.

“We can handle it if it has been,” Ranma said, shooting Ryouga a grin.

He snorted. “You mean, I can deal with it.”

“Potato, potahto. We’ll be fine,” she replied.

“How exactly did you get in here if not that entrance?” Jade asked with confusion.

“Portal in the museum,” Ranma said.

“Oh… Oh, the escape tunnel from Canterlot Keep… Why did you use the escape tunnel?” The unicorn seemed even more confused.

Angel coughed. “Um… I… May have accidentally triggered it,” she said with a blush.

“Ah, before we go, I have an important question. How did you get me out of the time bubble?” Jade asked curiously.

That… That was a really good question. Ranma tilted her head to the side. Judging by the looks everyone was exchanging they hadn’t much idea either. “I… Kinda just bumped into it?” She said after an awkward silence.

The unicorn stared at her. “I’m sorry, you what?” she asked.

“I bumped into it,” Ranma repeated.

“It was a bit more like you fell backwards onto it after being startled by Angel,” Rosey said. Ranma waved a hoof her way and tried to suppress the blush that started up. 

Jade stood up and hopped off the seat. “That’s not possible. If it was that easy to break, I’d have been freed years ago,” she said pacing with sharp eyes.

“Maybe no one thought to actually touch it? I mean, we didn’t want to,” Ranma said, “I figured touching it would be bad.” Poking a manipulated time bubble wasn’t something she would have thought was healthy to do.

“And you touched it anyways,” Jade said.

“Accidentally.” Ryouga chuckled and murmured something to Kasumi. The pegasus sighed and gave him a disapproving look. Ranma stared pointedly at him, meeting his eyes before he grinned and turned his attention to the giant snow globe.

Jade Ribbon hummed. “You are a strange one, Your Highness,” she said, staring at Ranma’s flank.

The Alicorn shuffled around to face her, only for the unicorn to keep walking, matching her turn. “Do you mind?” she asked after a few seconds.

Jade Ribbon stopped and coughed into a hoof. “Sorry, Your Highness,” she said contritely, “But I can’t help but notice that you don’t have a Cutie Mark.”

“Well, no. I wasn’t a pony until a few days ago,” Ranma replied, “Neither Kasumi nor Ryouga were either.” Kasumi waved as Jade Ribbon turned to them both.

“... Not Ponies?” Jade asked, sounding befuddled. She gazed from one to the next with an expression of genuine confusion.

“We came from another world,” Kasumi said, “We woke up in this one three days ago.”

The Unicorn sat down and tilted her head to the side. One ear flicked right, then left. “And yet one of you has a Cutie mark and they aren’t the one who is an Alicorn,” she said finally.

“Both of my sisters have Cutie Marks as well. A Pegasus and an Earth Pony,” Kasumi said.

“I am even more confused now,” Jade murmured, “Alicornism originates in two forms. Most only know of the latter mind you.”

“Two forms?” Ranma asked, sitting down herself. She scratched an itch on her side with a back hoof.

Jade nodded. “Yes. Since the time of Dream Valley, the only Alicorns are those who ascended in a moment of absolute clarity and understanding of the meaning of their Cutie mark. They became so in tune with magic itself that they gained the traits of all three types of ponies. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna fall into this category.”

“As does Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Rosey said.

Jade turned to her, “Another Princess?” 

“The last we know of,” the Hoofmaiden said.

“Hmm. Well, they are the most recent examples, but there have been others throughout history. Most fell prey to Grogar, but others disappeared for reasons unknown. Likely Grogar admittedly,” Jade said, muttering the last line before sighing, “The only other way of being an Alicorn hasn’t happened since the time of them,” she pointed out at Dream Valley, “and that’s being born an Alicorn.”

“Born an Alicorn?” Ranma repeated, glancing down at herself. Born an Alicorn? She had been born human, so that was a little outlandish.

“Yes, though you not being ponies and being from another world raises the possibility that this is just the most natural for you,” Jade said, “Though it then brings up the question as to why the rest of you weren’t also made Alicorns and how he already managed to receive a Cutie Mark in a handful of days.”

“He had it when we got here,” Kasumi said.

“That’s even more confusing. How do non-ponies qualify for Cutie Marks? How do they wind up as Alicorns? How does said implausible Alicorn shatter time magic with a touch?” Jade asked, waving a hoof at Ranma, “And then there’s the question that if you can do so, will it affect Dream Valley?”

Ranma’s eyes darted toward the Valley. “... We could try-” she started.

“No. Not a smart idea,” Jade said, cutting her off. “Ignoring that it might not even work, there’s still the fact that Grogar is inside the bubble. That’s not something anyone wants to unleash without preparation.”

“Like several armies, and both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia,” Rosey said, “And probably the Elements of Harmony as well.”

“The what?” Jade asked, looking confused. Ranma had no idea what the elements of Harmony were either and said as much.

Rosey looked from one to another and sighed. “I’ll explain, but we really should get moving. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really hungry and somehow I doubt a place like this has much in the way of edible food anymore.”

On cue both Ranma and Ryouga’s stomachs growled, followed by Jade and Kasumi. “Oh my,” Kasumi said flatly, “Food would be nice.”

“I can cook nearly anything,” Angel said before glancing about, “But I can’t work with nothing.”

“I-” Jade Ribbon sighed, “Yes, food. There used to be a village not so far away from the main entrance, but who knows if it’s still there. I could try to teleport us to the Capital, but the headache I have makes that… Ill-advised, even if we weren’t several hundred miles away.”

Ranma rapped her forehoof against the floor. “Why don’t we start with a way out of here, then make more plans later?” she asked.

“We could just go out through here,” Ryouga said, waving over the railing, “It’s not that steep.”

“We could, but then we would have to walk around the mountain rather than just go through it,” Jade said. She stood up and shook herself off, “And I’d rather not risk the Princess here unleashing the most ancient evil in the world by tripping and rolling down the mountain.”

“I’m not a clutz,” Ranma muttered, but she had to admit it was probably a danger best avoided. Honestly, the thought of something able to pick a fight with Celestia and Luna or do that to an entire valley was…

It made her nervous.

She cast a final glance toward Dream Valley, then gestured for Jade to lead the way. “C’mon Ryouga, don’t get lost again,” she said over her shoulder.

“Ranma…” he grumbled as they descended the stairs. She stuck her tongue out at him and smirked at the glare she got in return. Spirits bolstered, she hummed a tune as they descended through the observatory.

They passed more workshops, some bedrooms, and what might have once been a kitchen before they finally reached a straight tunnel at the bottom of a stairwell. The crystal lights down there were like those in the tunnels leading to the portal. Dim, flickering, and sometimes out, it made the long winding tunnel rather uninviting.

“This is it,” Jade said, “This terminates in a cave on the edge of town.”

“Do you recall the town’s name?” Rosey asked.

“We just referred to it as ‘the town’. I’m not sure it even had an official name,” Jade replied as they started down the tunnel.

“Well if it’s still there we’ll be able to find out where we are,” Rosey sighed, her wings drooping so that the tips nearly dragged along the ground. “Earlier you mentioned teleporting to the Capital. We’ve changed capitals a few times over the last thousand years.”

“You have? Why?” Jade Ribbon asked.

“It’s a long story, but the Castle of the Two Sisters was abandoned to the Everfree along with the castle town,” Rosey replied, “The Capital was Trottingham for a time, then shifted to Manehattan, before Canterlot was chosen as the permanent Capital.”

Ranma caught Ryouga mouthing ‘Manehattan’ to Kasumi who was trying not to giggle. She wondered what was so funny for a few moments before it clicked. She sighed. Sure it sounded like ‘Manhattan’ which was a place in America, but it wasn’t that funny. Maybe she’d have found it funnier if her brain hadn’t been scrambled earlier.

Then Angel stumbled and fell. “Ow,” the Earth Pony said as she picked herself up.

Ranma stopped by her side. “Is everything okay?” she asked as the rest stopped.

“I’m fine, Your Highness,” Angel said, but despite the bright smile she put on Ranma could see how tired her eyes looked. She was feeling a bit rough herself. They had been going since early that morning.

“Everypony, let’s take a little break,” Ranma said.

“I can keep going,” Angel protested.

“Yeah, and we all need a break. Kasumi and I have been going since before dawn,” Ranma replied, letting out a yawn. Rosey let out a yawn of her own a moment later. “And Rosey’s been going since…?” Ranma lay down below a flickering torch.

“Before midnight,” Rosey said, “I can probably last until we hit the town, but I’m getting rather tired myself.”

“I can keep going,” Ryouga said, though he found a place to lie down.

“We’ve got at least three-quarters of the tunnel to go. A few minutes of rest won’t be a bad thing,” Jade said, sitting down at the front of the group.

Getting agreement from everyone Ranma took the opportunity to lay her head down. It was weird curling up a bit like a dog or a cat, her head resting on her hooves, but strangely comfortable. Probably a quirk of her new anatomy.

Ranma let out a yawn and her eyes flickered shut. She was asleep almost instantly.


-0-0-0-0-0-


It was nighttime as they left the tunnel. Jade pushed aside a veil of ivy with her magic and held it aside as the rest of them filed out. The stars were out and a full moon beamed down on them. They were in a small copse of trees through which the shadowed silhouettes of homes could be seen.

“It’s grown quite a bit since I was last here,” Jade said, “it used to be a ten-minute walk from here.” It was hard to see in the gloom, but she was smiling.

“Let’s see about finding the Mayor’s home,” Rosey said, “I can use the Nightguard’s authority to get us places to stay for the night. Hopefully, they have a telegraph up here.”

Ranma hummed as she brushed past the other two ponies. Something felt… off. Her ears twisted and turned as she led them out of the trees. The night was quiet, very, very, very quiet. It was the sort of quiet that didn’t occur in nature.

Not unless a predator was hunting.

She shot a glance at Ryouga. His eyes and ears were scanning just like hers were. “Something’s wrong,” she said, “Keep an eye out and stay quiet.”

“What sort of wrong?” Jade asked, her expression shifting instantly while Kasumi pulled Angel into the middle of their little group.

“It’s too quiet,” she replied, trying to tiptoe carefully toward the buildings, “Something has spooked the animals.” The question was what?

The hope of finding proper shelter, and food, faded as they reached the end of the woods. The buildings Ranma could see were run down. Their paint was peeling, the walls leaning, and as they reached the corner of the first building she could even see one with a caved-in roof…. And another three that were gone entirely. There was just a hole filled with debris where a group of houses should have been.

“Oh no, no no no,” Jade whispered. Kasumi placed a comforting wing over her side.

“Rosey, what’re we looking at?” Ranma asked, scanning for any signs of life. The town’s streets were cobbled stone. Lampposts were bent or scattered across the street.

“Look for a name, Princess,” Rosey said, her voice worried, “Everyone, move quietly.”

“So, we aren’t going to be getting a warm welcome, I guess?” Angel Cake asked softly. She peeked over Kasumi’s back at the buildings.

“Likely not. Follow me and stay low,” Rosey said. Despite her continued tiredness, her voice had firmed up. Perhaps the danger was giving her a little energy back.

They crept through the streets of the small town. There were no lights in the windows of homes nor in the many street lamps that dotted the sidewalks. The siding of colourful homes was faded and peeling, those that hadn’t been smashed to pieces. Plants were growing through the debris so whatever had happened had been a while back.

Ranma paused as they passed a storefront whose sign was still legible. “Sparkleberry’s, Bakery and Cafe,” she read aloud.

“What?” Kasumi asked with a confused expression as the group stopped.

Ranma pointed at the sign. “Sparkleberry’s, Bakery and Cafe. I can read the sign,” she said. She hadn’t had a clue how to read the local language before.

“That’s… not supposed to happen,” Jade said after a moment, wincing.

Ranma gave her a worried look. That sounded very concerning.

“What’s wrong?” Ryouga asked with an exasperated tone. The larger unicorn was trying to keep an eye out.

Jade Ribbon shuffled awkwardly from hoof to hoof. “Well… That spell should only work on spoken language,” she said.

“I’m not seeing an issue…?” Ranma trailed off.

“It means I might have overloaded the spell and possibly came even closer than I realised to frying your mind entirely?” Jade rattled off looking rather embarrassed in the moonlight, “I’m so sorry.” Kasumi gasped.

Well, that would explain why her head was still killing her. Ranma rubbed her forehead below her horn. “That’s… Fine. I’ve just got a headache,” she said, waving her off. “What does this mean for me being able to remember… Nihongo?” She glanced at Kasumi who nodded.

“... Probably shouldn’t try for at least two months, and you might have to relearn how to read and write it,” Jade said, turning an interesting shade beneath her coat.

Oh. That was a problem. “Hopefully we have time before going back then,” Ranma said while trying to ignore Kasumi’s horrified staring or Ryouga’s pity. Had she mentioned she hated magic?

“As mixed as this is,” Rosey said, stepping into the conversation, “Can we keep moving? Please?” She shot a worried look around.

“Would flying up to take a peek be a good idea?” Ranma asked.

“Not if there’s what I think there is running around,” Rosey said, “Let’s try and keep low for now, Princess.” Ranma had to wonder when being called a Princess had become something she didn’t instantly protest. It had only been a day after all, but she was already feeling tired of complaining about it.

“What are you thinking of?” Ranma asked as they started walking again.

Rosey paused to point at the destroyed buildings. “There isn’t much that can do that. If a Unicorn had done it there’d be melted terrain or other signs of magic. If it was a dragon, well there’d be a lot more fire everywhere. Which just leaves, well…”

“Ursa Major,” Jade finished grimly.

“You mentioned those,” Ryouga said, pushing forward, “When you were talking about Grogar.”

“They’re a creation of his. Giant bears bigger than these houses with a hide that looks like the night sky,” Jade said.

“Without Grogar they’re not overly aggressive, no more than any bear, but they are territorial,” Rosey said, “Stopping one takes either a coordinated force, one of the Princesses, or an exceptionally powerful and talented unicorn.”

“And I’m good, but I don’t have that sort of power,” Jade said, looking pale in the moonlight.

Ranma exchanged a grimace with Ryouga who glanced at the damage. She hated fighting giant monsters. The Phoenix had been bad enough, and the entire visit to Ryugenzawa was… Hopefully, it wasn’t more durable than the Orochi had been.

“Since you’re a rather new Princess and we don’t have an army, let’s try to avoid running into whatever did this,” Rosey said nervously.

“I’m up for not fighting a giant angry bear made of starlight,” Ranma said, “What about you Ryouga?”

“Scared? I’m sure we could take it,” he scoffed.

Ranma rolled her eyes at the usual bravado. “Well yeah, but then we’d have to explain to Akane that we put Kasumi in danger,” she replied, getting a wince from the stallion.

“Oh I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Kasumi said with a smile, “You never let anything bad happen to Akane so I’m sure things will be fine.” She turned toward the ruined buildings. “Though I’m not sure it’s a bear we’ll have to deal with.”

“Why not?” Ranma asked.

“Because there are plants growing out of the ruins,” the bacon-haired pegasus said.

Rosey glanced up and down the street then quickly ran over to the wreckage. A few moments later she was back. “She’s right. This must have happened a while ago. Several years ago at least,” she said, fluttering her bat wings anxiously.

“That’s not good, right?” Angel asked, “I mean, if the Ursa was dealt with then they’d have rebuilt the town, right?” the Earth pony frowned.

“Unless it decided to stay afterwards, or something else got involved, or there weren’t enough ponies left to rebuild,” Rosey said, trailing off with a frown. Silence fell 

After a minute Ranma shook herself and stamped a hoof. “We’re not getting back to Canterlot just standing here. Rosey, which way do we go?” she asked her hoofmaiden. The former Night Guard looked around with a frown.

“The issue is I don’t know what town we’re in. If I knew that I’d be able to figure out which way to go,” Rosey said.

“If I may,” Jade said, “we should be about one hundred and sixty miles northeast of Canterhorn Mountain.”

Rosey paused, turning on the spot before looking to the starry sky. “In that case, we’d have to… that way.” She pointed in the direction of the trail of wrecked buildings. “Erm… We might want to give that a wide berth.”

“But it’s a start. Lead the way, Rosey,” Ranma said, prodding her along. It wouldn’t do to get too down about everything. Ranma, Ryouga and Kasumi had been through worse. Though she did wonder what had happened to the ponies of this town. She kept one eye on the signs as they navigated the town. It was novel being able to read the curvy script that the ponies used.

They reached the edge of town after a swift ten minutes of trotting and Rosey paused as they stared out over what had once been well-tended farmland. Now it was poorly maintained grasslands that ran down the valley dotted occasionally by the shadowy forms of barns and farmhouses. The mossy cobbled street rapidly turned into a dirt path that wound down through the valley. The full moon was bright enough that Ranma could even make out the far end of the valley where a broken tower stood vigil over the road. 

Though she suspected that had as much to do with the lighting as it did with being an Alicorn. She was pretty sure that she wouldn’t have been able to see nearly as well if she was still human.

“It’s beautiful,” Angel Cake said, voicing Ranma’s thoughts of the view, “But sad.”

“It is,” Jade Ribbon agreed, “I remember when this valley was still mostly trees. To see how far it came and yet, how far it’s fallen…” She shook her head, sending her mane everywhere. Kasumi patted her reassuringly on the back.

“Where do we go from here, down the road?” Ranma asked Rosey.

“I think so…” the Bat Pony replied as she hummed, “Can anyone see an Ursa Major? Look high, they like to try and silhouette themselves against the night sky. It makes it harder to spot them.”

Ranma glanced about, but the first to say anything was Kasumi. “There,” the pegasus said, pointing up at the ridge ahead to their left. Ranma followed her hoof and after several difficult seconds found a section of stars that shifted and moved.

“I see it,” she said, swallowing nervously. If she was right about how far away it was, then that was a very big bear.

“Same,” Rosey said, “We’ll have to stick to the east side of the valley and try to follow the woods.”

“Where is it?” Ryouga asked, squinting.

“There, on the ridgeline between the two peaks,” Ranma replied, pointing it out with a hoof. Ryouga hissed as he spotted it.

“That’s a big one,” he said.

“Would fit right in with Ryugenzawa, right Ryouga?” Ranma laughed nervously. Fighting those giant monsters hadn’t exactly been Ranma’s idea of fun.

Ryouga chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, kinda average size too… I’d have thought it would be bigger,” he said.

“It would be, if it was an adult,” Rosey said flatly.

Ranma rubbed her forehead. “Does that mean we need to keep an eye out for a mother?” she asked.

“Unlikely. It’s too old for that, but-” Rosey was cut off as the Ursa Major rose up and spread its forepaws out. The roar that followed sent all the hairs along Ranma’s spine sticking straight up as it reverberated around the valley. A few moments later another roar, much deeper in tone, came from behind them.

Ranma spun around and tried to spot the source, but the second bear was hidden by the old buildings. “There’s two,” she said.

“Yeah, that’s not good. We’re right on the dividing line between two territories,” Rosey said, dancing on the spot nervously.

Ranma scanned the valley as the first Ursa roared again. “The grass is fairly long in the fields. We could keep low and travel through the fields. Cross the open areas only when we’re sure the bears aren’t looking,” she said. This would have been a lot simpler if they didn’t have Kasumi and Angel, but if wishes were cake she’d have been able to open her own bakery.

“That could work… Stay close. We’re going to have to take the valley as quickly as possible while they’re focused on each other, and just pray to Luna and Celestia that they don’t decide to come down off their hills to fight for territory,” Rosey said.

Nothing was said as Moonrose bolted for the nearest field and they followed at a gallop. Grass, thankfully, was much quieter to run on with hooves than the clatter of hooves on stone. They made solid time as the Ursas postured on the heights. Their pace slowed as they ducked into the long grass, but they kept up a solid canter down the valley.

The farmhouses they passed were as empty as the town. A few looked less run down, as though they hadn’t been abandoned as quickly. Or perhaps they simply hadn’t been damaged by an Ursa Major rampaging through town. There was no way that something that big didn’t make the earth jump whenever it walked or ran.

“How long are they going to keep posturing?” Ryouga asked as they skirted the edge of a farmhouse.

“It isn’t unheard of for two Ursa’s to posture for up to a full day, but usually with one either backing down or advancing to answer the challenge before then,” Jade said between breaths.

“Then we have plenty of time,” Angel said cheerily.

“Well in theory. They’ve been at it for at least an hour already. It’s about now that an impatient one would-” The Ursa on the hill to their left changed its tone and there was the sound of shattering stone. All eyes tracked a large shadow passing through the sky before it crashed down somewhere in the fields to their right.

“... Start throwing rocks,” Ranma finished for Jade.

“... Quite. I’d suggest we all start running faster,” the unicorn said as another rock took flight from the mountaintop.

Caution was cast aside as the group galloped for the far end of the valley. Rocks, hurled by both Ursas, crashed down across the valley crushing crops and smashing the trees that lined either side of the valley. Their accuracy left a lot to be desired in Ranma’s opinion.

“SPLIT!” Kasumi shouted abruptly and the group leaped to either side without breaking stride. A rock the size of a minivan crashed where they would have been and bounced, sending shards of stone in all directions as it did so, sailing over Ranma’s head. It rolled off into the darkness, crushing a path through wild corn and grass.

“Good eyes, Kasumi!” Ranma said as they came back together.

“That was too close,” Angel added.

“Keep your eyes and ears on a swivel, girls,” Rosey said as she flapped her wings and took to the air. She didn’t pull ahead, instead pacing the group from a few feet above.

“Isn’t that a risk?” Ranma asked.

“They’re too caught up with each other. They won’t break their posturing just to hunt a few ponies,” Rosey replied.

The farmland gradually degraded the further from town they went. Small farm houses, smaller fields, more trees. Not that it stopped the rocks as the two Ursas raged at each other. A few times they had to duck around large rocks that had clearly already been there for a while. This likely hadn’t been the first time these two Ursa had postured for superiority.

At long last they reached the point where the valley turned and the farmlands gave way to forest. They didn’t stop, however, as the rocks continued to fall far too close for comfort. Or roll, as they tended to follow the slope down the valley.

Eventually, however, they came to a stop as their run intersected with the main road. Little more than hard packed earth, it was good enough for them to stop and catch their breath.

“Well… That was exciting,” Angel giggled, rolling onto her back in the middle of the road and pawing the air before sagging.

“It was,” Kasumi agreed, demurely lying down beside the earth pony. “Is everyone alright?” Other than tiredness from the run they all seemed to be fine. They lay on the road for a while as the angry roars and crashing continued. A full gallop for so long was rather tiring. Then Ranma’s stomach rumbled.

“Um…” she felt her face going red as everyone turned to her, then snerked as everyone else’s stomachs grumbled. “Let’s keep moving and see if we can find something safe to eat as we go.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Angel said, bouncing to her feet, “I can probably make something with berries or wildflowers if there’s some blooming.”

“I could kill for a sunflower and daisy sandwich right now,” Rosey said, stretching languidly.

“Never had that before,” Ranma mused. She was a pony now, so that meant an entirely different diet than before. She was going to have to get used to eating flowers now… She flicked an ear and wondered how cherry blossoms tasted.

Hungry, but glad to be out of immediate danger, the group of ponies started walking down the moonlit road away from the Ursas and the town. It had to lead somewhere with ponies.

Their progress was much slower than their brisk dash down the valley. In part because they weren’t running anymore, and partly because they were letting Angel Cake gather flowers and other plants from the overgrown road.

Ranma paused as they crested the top of a rise and looked back. She took in the sight of the first Ursa as it rumbled its way down the hillside. It had evidently finally decided to pick a proper fight. The town was mostly out of sight with just the corner visible, its battered roofs and broken walls visible as colourless shadows beneath the moonlight. Something, however, caught her eyes. Visible in the far distance, framed by mountains and hills over which it just barely peaked, was a flag. Shrouded in smoke, frozen in mid moment as it fluttered over a forgotten valley. A slight fogginess, like looking through a dirty glass pane, was the only sign of the bubble of time that surrounded Dream Valley.

Ranma blinked and lost sight of it as Kasumi bumped into her.

“Sorry, Ranma,” she said, glancing over with a sheepish smile.

“No problem, Kasumi,” Ranma said, glancing back, “Just… Thought I could see Dream Valley for a second.”

The bacon-haired pegasus turned and looked back as the second Ursa rumbled into view at a full sprint. Everyone in the group stumbled as the two bears collided and a shockwave rolled out across the valley shaking every leaf and every bough. Kasumi peered back before shaking her head.

“I can’t see it,” she said.

“I only had a glimpse for a moment,” Ranma said before shrugging her wings, “C’mon. Let’s keep moving. I’d like to get back to Canterlot before your sisters figure out how to skin an Alicorn.” Akane was going to be so angry that Kasumi had gotten caught up in this.

“Oh they wouldn’t do that,” Kasumi chided with a giggle, “Akane might be a bit of a violent maniac, but she’s not that bad.”

Ranma snorted and ducked her head as her mane was blasted to the side by another fierce gale. “You know I thought you were exaggerating way back then,” she admitted as they hurried to catch up with the rest. Sure Akane had hit her with a table, a stone one no less, but… Well, in the depths of her own head she’d admit she’d been a bit of an ass…

Not that Akane had been much better.

“So did I,” Kasumi said, glancing away. An awkward silence fell between them. That first day at the Tendos had been an awkward one and honestly it had set the tone for everything else that followed. Barring the rare moments when everything was peaceful. Or… well…

Ranma just really hoped that this little adventure wasn’t a sign that her time in Equestria was going to be as crazy as her time in Nerima. She could use a little bit of downtime.

They descended the far side of the little hill and the gusts from the clash of giants vanished. Instead they found themselves buffeted by the sound of rustling trees and the echoing roars of the two bears.

They kept walking as the forest grew darker. Clouds began to obscure the moon. Angel pronked ahead of the group each bounce accompanied by happy humming. She’d pause, pick a flower to toss on her back, then continue on somehow keeping the plants in place despite the breeze.

And the bounce.

Jade and Rosey were chatting about something to do with history, probably still explaining what had happened over a thousand years; and Ryouga had taken to kicking rocks off the road into the trees, sending more than one bird flying. Kasumi was humming something.

Ranma simply listened to the breeze as it rustled her mane and tweaked the ends of her ears. After the excitement of the Everfree, the sudden pressure of being a Princess, and the chaos of falling down a drop chute into a spider golem infested cavern it was a nice break. A chance to finally relax a little.

Even if she was still hungry.

“Any chance we can get something to eat?” Ranma asked as Angel picked another flower.

“Um… Possibly, Princess?” the chef said, peering at her back, “If we can find a stream I can clean them up and make us a nice salad. It would be better if we had a knife or a pan or something though…”

“A light wouldn’t be too bad either,” Ryouga said.

“Bet you’re wishing you still had your backpack, huh Ryouga?” Ranma asked, getting an understandable grumble from the brown unicorn. He had had that bag since before he and Ranma had met in middle school. The umbrella had been a gift from his parents. Kasumi patted him on the withers with a hoof.

The snap of cracking wood caused Ranma to turn her head to the forest on the right. After a few moments nothing else snapped, she hummed and peered into the forest with narrowed eyes.

“What was that?” Angel asked, taking a step backward toward the other side of the road.

A rustle of leaves came from the left. Ranma flicked up a pebble and kicked it with her rear hoof toward the sound. There was a cry of pain and Ranma spun and leaped to the Earth Pony’s side as a dark cloak wearing pegasus crashed to the ground beside the chef. 

“Eep!” Angel squeaked and kicked the pegasus over the edge of the roadway. They rolled to a stop by the hooves of a large female earth pony. Her dark purple fur was near black in the shadows as was her dark blue mane.

She looked down at the pegasus and sighed. “Now why did you have to do that?” she asked with a sweet voice that failed to match her bulk, “Now we’ll have to use violence.” As she said that a dozen more figures, all equally clad in dark cloaks, emerged from the shadows of the forest. Several Pegasi hung about in the trees.

Ranma looked from one strange pony to the other. Distantly she could hear the sound of the bears roaring and clashing. Something felt off. “You have Highway Ponies in Equestria?” she said with exasperation to Rosey as they formed a circle around Kasumi and Angel. Jade Ribbon’s horn lit up and she stamped a forehoof.

“I would have thought the last of such ponies would be long gone,” the Unicorn said.

“This is news to me,” Rosey said, “Whoever you are, by the Authority of the Night Guard, stand down immediately.” The bat pony spread her wings wide and reared back, an act Ranma echoed.

“Night Guard, ooh how scary,” the Earth Pony said with a chuckle, “If’n you’re Night Guard, where’s your uniform? “ She took a couple steps forward. “I’ll give you credit girlie, you’ve got chutzpah, but I’m not that easily fooled. Seriously, taping a fake horn on a Pegasus just so you could pretend you had a Princess with you?” She scoffed and eyed Ranma. “Did you forget there’s just three of them and they’re all much much larger than this?”

“I’m rather new to this whole Princess thing,” Ranma admitted before stamping hard enough to leave an impression of her hoof in the road, “And I don’t really have much handle on this whole magic thing, but I don’t need magic to deal with a few bandits.”

Distantly an Ursa roared and the ground trembled.

“Knock them out, they should make fun prisoners,” the mare said before charging Ranma.

“Jade, protect Kasumi and Angel!” Ranma shouted as she sidestepped the larger pony’s first haymaker. Despite being tired and hungry with sore muscles she barely needed to pay attention to this Bandit. Left step, back hop, slide right, duck under right cross, sweep the legs.

The purple mare hit the ground and immediately rolled to  her hooves and threw another punch. Ranma met it with one of her own and with a bored look the air cracked from the force of their combined strikes… and she powered straight through the mare’s guard to punch her in the face. She seemed rather shocked. Another pony lunged at her from the side, only to get knocked to the ground as Ryogua kicked a Pegasus into its path.

She ducked a lunge from another pegasus that immediately leaped for a tree. Reacting on instinct, Ranma spun and bit down on the pegasus’ tail. Its wings hammered the air trying to pull away. Ranma’s hooves started leaving the ground. She swept her wings forward hard, forcing herself back to the ground, dragging the startled pegasus behind her with a yelp. She swung the pegasus by its tail as an improvised weapon and slammed them down onto their leader who was struggling to rise.

Neither stood up again.

She turned from them to find Jade blasting the final bandit off his hooves and into a nearby tree with a beam of crackling magic. Spinning in a circle she confirmed that everypony was fine before frowning at the bandits.

“This was weird,” she said, nudging the mare in charge with a hoof.

“It’s weirder than you think,” Rosey said, “What are Bandits doing out here? We’ve been following the road. It should only lead to that uninhabited village. There’s no one out here to prey on.”

Jade grabbed the large mare in charge and pulled her out from under the pegasus Ranma had smacked her with an amber aura. Moments later the purple mare was divested of her cloak and the saddlebags underneath were emptied into thin air, their contents shuffled about in the amber glow of magic. “Check them for food and anything else,” she said.

“Good idea,” Ranma said, walking over to the pegasus she knocked out, “If they’re so eager to attack people then they probably don’t need this, eh, Kasumi?”

“Oh, I’m sure there was some reason behind all this,” Kasumi said, prodding an unconscious unicorn that was floating upside down. It drifted toward the forest until Angel pulled it to the ground and pinned it in place with a hoof.

“They’re bandits, not really that complicated Kasumi,” Ryouga said. He was fiddling, unsuccessfully, with the latch on the cloak of an earth pony.

“Hello, what’s this,” Jade said with a grin, staring at an unrolled sheaf of parchment. “We have a map… of this area unless I’m wrong. Moonrose, can you read this for me?” The guard pony trotted over and peered at it.

“... That looks like the area we just went through,” Rosey said, tapping the map, “And we went this way til…” She glanced at the increasingly clouded sky, “Well, we’re somewhere around here. Hard to say without the stars.”

Ranma peered over their shoulders. After a moment of orienting herself she pointed to where the village was on the map. “Moonbrook. That village was called Moonbrook,” she said, noting that there was another village in the direction they were heading called Saddle Hill.

A moment later Rosey nearly punched herself in the forehead as she let out a groan. “Moonbrook! Horseapples, I’d heard of what happened to Moonbrook,” she said.

“What happened?” Ranma asked her hoofmaiden.

“From what we can tell there was a spike in the Ursa Major population and three of the bears decided to try and claim the area for themselves at the same time. You saw the damage from their fights. It’s amazing how much of that town is still standing,” the former Night Guard said.

“How long ago was this?” Jade asked.

“... About a year before Princess Luna returned,” Rosey said after a few seconds.

“Hasn’t Princess Luna only been back for a couple of years?” Kasumi asked, joining the conversation.

“Just over, but yes,” Rosey said.

“So three years ago,” Jade concluded, “Why hasn’t the guard gathered to force them out already?”

Rosey shrugged her wings. “Jade, I’m a Lieutenant. How much do you think ponies tell me?” she asked.

Jade grimaced. “Not much, I take it?”

“Not really, no. I’m a junior officer, I only get told as much as I need,” Rosey said. 

Ranma tapped the map. “This is interesting. What is with this goat head here?” she pointed to a black goat head some distance away from the road. A quick inspection showed several more.

“It could be Hideouts? Stashes maybe? Weapons or even treasure. We should pass this to somepony in the guard when we get back to Canterlot,” Rosey said.

“... It could also be something related to the Cult of Grogar,” Jade said.

“Not likely. These days the Goat Head is used by bandits, pirates and others as a symbol of fear and intimidation. For all we know they could have just used it to mark where the Ursas den,” Rosey replied, “O’course it could be them, but the odds of that are tiny. The Cult’s still around but they’re so weak after so long that most ponies who use the Goat’s Head are just your average thugs trying to be creepy or whatever.”

Jade let out a thoughtful hum.

A voice behind them cleared their throat. “Um, not to be rude,” Angel said, “But, shouldn’t we do something with these ponies?”

Ranma glanced about. “We can’t exactly take them with us,” she said, eyeing the group.

“Do they have any rope? We could just tie them to a tree and leave them,” Rosey suggested.

“If they can’t get themselves free that would be rather cruel,” Jade said, “I suggest just taking what we need and tossing the rest into the woods. Let them find their things after they wake up.”

Ranma shrugged. “Good enough for me… though, tie the leader up by her legs and hang her from a tree,” she said. If they were bandits then they would probably have a lot less faith in their leader after seeing her swinging upside down from a tree branch.

It took only a little while to gather what food and water the strange bandits had and wrap them up in a cloak, minus a few bites they each had. Ranma had a nice apple the lead mare had been carrying. Oddly nice actually. It was fresh and unlike a lot of wild apples not filled with worms. Just one more strange thing about this group.

Once they were done gathering the useful items they cared for they tossed the rest into the woods and draped the ponies over convenient tree branches. Ranma made sure to put some extra kick into her toss.

By that point, however, the clouds had properly obscured the moon leaving them with only the glow of Jade Ribbon’s horn. The breeze had changed as well.

“The wind’s picking up. We should probably hurry,” Ryouga said.

“I’ll lead. Follow my light,” Jade said, breaking into a canter down the dirt road.