Rainbow Dash groaned as she sat up. She looked about her room. It was much too dark for her liking, there was only a weak trickle of light coming from the window.
What was the time now? She peered at a clock sitting on her bedside table. Rainbow sighed wearily. 8:33am. That was waaaay too early. Why was she awake at this time in the morning?
She could feel a headache starting to build around her temples, and she could swear that there was a weird banging noise coming from the door. Ugh, was she ill? She better not be, she had weather duty this afternoon. She reached up her hooves to rub her eyes and get rid of the grit that built up in the night. There was no point trying to get back to sleep with the pain in her head. It wasn't too bad in terms of strength, but it was consistent. She stretched out her legs and yawned, before kicking off her cloud blanket. Rainbow flumphed off her bed to the floor. Then she stood up, too quickly, and wavered with dizziness a few seconds. The headache was still there, along with the banging sounds.
Huh. Those banging noises really did seem like they were coming from the door. Rainbow staggered over and pulled the door over. She blinked slowly and shut the door. Then she opened it again.
What.
It was Tank. There was a tortoise-head-shaped indent in the door where his face had repeatedly clunked against it. Because the reptile had flown into it. With his wings. Green, feathery wings that somehow managed to support his weight. There was also a small horn, much like a unicorn's, on the top of his head. Rainbow could just about make out the mark of the horn in Tank's face-print.
What.
I must still be asleep, Rainbow thought, looking down at her flying tortoise. She went back to her bed at sat on it, dumbfounded. Tank fluttered after her, still a little wonky and unused to the movement. Rainbow watched him zoom around her room with a blank expression. She buried her face in her hooves as she tried to comprehend. Was Tank a Princess now? The thought was absurd but strangely amusing.
Wait. What was that on her forehead. Rainbow traced the object with her hooves. It seemed...horn-shaped.
Her eyes snapped open and she raced to her bathroom, knocking over a pile of Daring-Do books and causing Tank to spin rapidly. She frantically fumbled at the door handle - why did cloud doors even have handles anyway - and tumbled inside. She clambered over to the sink, where she knew the mirror was.
She stared at her reflection. She herself hadn't really changed. She had the same strong, athletic build, the fine, healthy wings, the same shaped head. However, it was the object that was now attached to her head that she was gawping at. There, poking through her multi-hued mane, was a horn. A unicorn's horn.
What.
Rainbow floundered for a minute. She was an alicorn? No, that couldn't be right. She poked the horn. It felt like it was attached to her. Was this a joke? One of Twilight's spells?
She thought of Tank. Well. Whatever had changed her had also done something to him, and his wings seemed to work. Rainbow was suddenly excited. Could she do magic? She looked around the bathroom for something to test this thought out on. Her bright magenta eyes alighted on her toothbrush. It was old, battered and should have been thrown out years ago, but Rainbow was fond of it. It was one of the many items of Wonderbolt memorabilia that she possessed. She focused her gaze on it and thought at it. She wanted it to float in the air. To her astonishment, the toothbrush obeyed, surrounded by a magenta glow that matched her eyes. She could feel a strange tingly sensation through her spine and skull.
She sucked in a deep breath and stopped hyperventilating. Rainbow set the toothbrush back in it's pot and beamed. The headache had gone, replaced by a feeling of euphoria. She really was an alicorn! Did, did that mean she was a Princess? She beamed at herself in the mirror. She...she could be Princess of Rainbows! Eww, maybe not. That was too blegh. Princess of the Sky? Better.
Then inspiration struck. Princess of AWESOME! Yes!
Rainbow suddenly realised that she was jumping up and down like an excited schoolfilly. She stopped, blushing, before she remembered there was no one else there to judge her. So she continued with glee. Despite not being the girliest of ponies, becoming a Princess was a common goal amongst young fillies, and Rainbow had never been oblivious to how cool it would be to be all types of pony in one. She jumped up and down until she got it out of her system.
She grinned to herself and headed back to Tank, who was reveling in his new-found speed. He performed a loop-di-loop, a barrel roll and a short dive to the floor, then saw Rainbow Dash.
"Hey buddy! Let's go see Twilight. She's a unicorn, so she should be able to help me get better at magic. Plus, she can send a letter to Princess Celestia telling her that I'm now an alicorn." Rainbow felt a faint flutter of trepidation. Would the Princess accept her after all? She shrugged away her doubts. It wasn't like she had asked to be transformed. The cyan alicorn made her way to the nearest window and launched herself out of it. No need to waste energy opening a door. Tank followed, already more stable than before. Rainbow was amused to see a piece of lettuce in a greenish magical field following them. Looked like Tank had packed lunch. She spluttered with laughter.
She thought about this for a second, as it suddenly occurred to her that Tank's transformation was even stranger than hers. After all, alicorn ponies did exist normally, even if there weren't very many of them.
But an alicorn tortoise? That was...weird. Really weird.
Rainbow Dash smiled, at least they were already going to Twilight. That egghead ought to have some sort of reason for this.
Rarity snuggled in her bedsheets, luxuriating in the soft, silky feel. She gave a small sigh of pleasure and stretched her hooves out languorously. She reveled in the still quietness of the morning. It was so nice to wake up feeling refreshed for a change. She didn't have any looming deadlines at present, so she was able to catch up on her beauty sleep.
Another sigh escaped her lips, less happy. Soon, her wonderful peace would be disturbed by the blaring of Sweetie Belle's alarm clock, and the thunder of her hooves along the hallway. Her sister would then fling herself into the room and bounce excitedly up and down on the bed until Rarity got up, or else she would attempt to make 'breakfast'.
Rarity shuddered at the thought for a second, then banished it from her mind. She would enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted thank-you very much! She regained her state of bliss at the precise moment Sweetie's shrill alarm went off. The mare restrained the urge to groan.
Sure enough, the clattering of excited filly hoofsteps could be heard, along with more raucous shrieks than usual. Rarity had a brief moment of time in which she thought, I really have to teach that filly how to walk like a lady, before the door slammed open. She braced for the impact of a younger sibling to the stomach.
"Rarityrarityrarity!"
Rarity's gave a ladylike 'hwuff' as Sweetie landed on her.
"Now...darling, what have I said about jumping on ponies when they are asleep?" the white mare began to pull off her eye-mask, accompanying her half-hearted question with a weary sigh.
"Oh, sorry Rarity, but, but look! At me." Sweetie Belle's voice quavered with awe. Rarity did. She frowned.
"Sweetie Belle, wherever did you find a filly-sized pegasus costume at this hour of the morning? And why are you...?" Her voice trailed off as Sweetie Belle gave the wings an experimental flap. They didn't do anything to lift her, but they had definitely moved. By themselves.
"B-buh-buh-buh-bwhaaa?" Rarity spluttered, gulping at the air like a goldfish for 10 whole seconds.
Sweetie just giggled. "I dunno where they came from Rarity! I just woke up with them." The filly gave Rarity a thoughtful look.
Rarity stopped gaping and leapt forwards to grab her sister. She poked at the feathers. Her eyes were glinting with astonishment and disbelief.
"Real? What? How did this happen? I need to-"
"Hey, geddoff me! You have your own feathers to pull on." Sweetie Belle flailed her hooves and pulled away, plonking down roughly on the end of the bed. Rarity meanwhile had turned around to gaze at her own pair of snowy white wings. She wafted them up and down, transfixed. This was much, much better than those beautiful but delicate butterfly wings she had owned before. Why had she not felt them until Sweetie pointed them out? She let out a high-pitched, girlish giggle, that was on the borderline between hysterical and manic.
Sweetie Belle was cautious of that giggle. I was the same one she heard when a celebrity came to the boutique; a mixture of euphoria and horror. The filly waited for her sister to notice her again. When it was apparent that Rarity was far too enthralled, she spoke. "Um, Rarity?"
"Yes dear?" Rarity finally stopped looking at her wings. She was still in a slight daze. Sweetie Belle gave her sister an uncertain look.
"Can we get some breakfast? Only I'm hungry and school starts in twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes! Sweet Celestia! Come on then Sweetie darling."
Rarity was appalled. Had she really spent that long just staring at her new limbs. She made for the door at a trot, quickly grabbing her make-up and applying it as she went down the stairs to the kitchen. There was hardly any time to eat and get to the schoolhouse in time for the start of the day.
Halfway to pouring out two bowls of cornflakes, the mare froze. She had gone from being enraptured by her wings to completely forgetting about them. She chided herself on her mental disorganisation. Come on Rarity, get it together. You've only mysteriously become an alicorn overnight. Rarity paced across the kitchen, suddenly flustered again. This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING. Or was it? Rarity contemplated this. Did the addition of wings mean she was now royalty? This could put a spanner in the works for a number of ponies in high places, if they now had two new princesses to deal with. Surely there was a limit to the number of things one could be a princess of. She couldn't very well stay like this, no matter how pleasant it was at present. Too many horrible complications that came with such prestige. For all her dreams about Prince Blueblood, he had been quite awful. Who was to say being a princess wasn't a similarly terrible thing?
Sweetie Belle sighed, seeing that Rarity had forgotten about breakfast, and poured out some of the cereal for herself. That at least she could do without causing a fire. Probably.
One fire-extinguisher and foam-covered kitchen table later, and Rarity had composed herself to a less frantic state. She felt like Twilight must do before an exam, all worry and paranoia. Gears clicked in her head, jarring this thought to the surface. Twilight...
"TWILIGHT! OF COURSE!"
Sweetie Belle jumped, causing her slightly singed mane to bob up and down.
"Come Sweetie Belle, we must visit Twilight Sparkle!" Rarity began to race around, out into her storeroom to look for something.
"What about school? We'll be late." the filly trotted after her, a note of curiosity in her voice.
"Nonono, no school today! Aha!" Rarity found a cloak under a pile of fabric scraps. "Can you imagine the stares, the scandal!"
She wrapped herself in the cloak, making sure it covered her wings.
Sweetie squealed with joy, having only heard the first half of what her sister had said. "No school!"
"Why don't you wear this dear?" Rarity gave no option for protest as she bundled the filly into a cloak of her own size. Sweetie pulled a face but didn't try to remove the garment.
"Come on the Sweetie Belle, the library awaits!" With a swish of a cloak, they were off, Rarity in the lead and Sweetie Belle hurrying after her.
Applejack slung off the blanket and got off her bed. She gave the window a sleepy glance, over the orchard, where the first glimmers of sunshine were just beginning to peek up. She smiled at the sight, soon Big Mac'd be up, and they'd get in the first lot of apples before breakfast. Applejack stretched out, giving a small groan. She felt as if she'd run all the way to Appleloosa and back last night, and her back was aching.
The orange mare gave a sleepy chuckle and continued to stare out at the rows of trees. It wasn't unusual to wake up with an aching back if your main occupation all day was kicking apples down from trees. She shuffled over to her bed, picking up the hat that was hooked onto one of the posts.
Applejack placed it on her head. It felt off. She reached up to adjust it, her hoof knocking against some sort of stick on her forehead that had stopped her hat coming down properly.
"What in tarnation?" Had Apple Bloom been playing some sort of prank on her? She made to pull the protrusion off with her hoof, but yelped in surprise as the action jerked her head up and caused a tingle of unpleasantness down her spine. She frowned, placing her hat back down carefully on the bed and trotting out of the room. There was a mirror in the bathroom, maybe she'd be able to see what was wrong.
She could hear Winona barking downstairs. Wretched varmint would wake everypony up.
"Hey Winona, hush up!" She whispered loudly. Winona stopped barking, for about 10 seconds. Applejack gave a huff of irritation and continued to the bathroom. She pushed open the door and peered cautiously into the mirror. She froze.
"What the hay? Ah, Ah'm a unicorn?" She stepped closer, her green eyes widening with every second. She looked for a very long time, just to make sure she wasn't having one of those mental breakdown things.
A loud clunk from somewhere along the hall startled her, and she flared her wings as she jumped. Looking from side to side, she gawked at her new appendages. Unable to comprehend, she simply sat down.
Big Mac poked his head around the door.
"Hey sis, are you..." He looked at her. She looked back with a vacant expression. "...alright?"
They just gaped at each other.
"Hey, Big Mac." Applejack said in a small voice. "Ah reckon that's a horn on top of that head o' yours."
"An' Ah reckon those're wings on either side of ya."
"Ah guess so."
"Eeyup."
"Ah think we should go downstairs." Big Mac nodded in agreement, and they went down to the kitchen. Winona greeted them enthusiastically, and if they noticed that she now bore the wings of a pegasus and a unicorn's horn, they didn't show it.
Applejack sat down on one of the chairs and set her head in her hooves. Macintosh Apple gazed out of the window at the orchard, much like his sister had earlier. Ha let out a long sigh. Applejack was muttering to herself.
"What're we gonna do Big Mac? This could ruin Sweet Apple Acres! We'll be turned into fancy, frou-frou royalty!" She looked up, panic in her eyes. "They'll take us away from the farm, and we'll have to help the Princesses do...royal stuff! Ah, Ah don't know what to do. Maybe we could-"
She was interrupted by a loud whooping noise.
"Why, that's Granny Smith! What in the hay is she doin' up at this hour o' the mornin'?" The mare stared up at the ceiling, where a giddy cackling was seeping through the floor. A thought suddenly occurred to Applejack. Maybe Granny had it too? The sound of hooves approached the stairs.
"Ya don't think...?" She began to ask her brother, before her question was answered as Granny Smith careened into the room.
"Good mornin' young 'uns! Lookit at me!" She hopped up and down, giddy as a foal. Her grandchildren stared, their mouths agape. Granny Smith looked...young. All of the wrinkles had melted away, and her movement was fluid. "Ah'm young agin! Can ya believe it? Ah'm feelin' better than Ah did in years." She pranced over to the table and lifted up an apple from a bowl with orange magic. She bit into it, closing her eyes with bliss. "Why, Ah even have all mah old teeth back!" she beamed, her teeth sparkling. Then she noticed her grandchildren were dumbstruck. "Aw, come now. Why y'all got the long faces? Yer ol' Granny's back on 'er feet and with a bunch o' new talents to boot."
"B-but Granny...the farm."
"What about the farm? Y'all can still buck trees right? Now it jus' means yer jobs is easier. Heck, I bet even Ah could get back t' harvestin'!" The old pony was jubilant. Applejack flailed her hooves in exasperation.
"We ain't gonna be able to look after the farm Granny! They'll turn us into prissy pony princesses!" She glanced at Big Mac "And princes too!" Applejack got off the chair and pointed at Winona. "Look at the dog Granny, even she's gone and become somethin' she ain't."
Granny Smith looked at her granddaughter. "Now looky here young filly! Ya'll are getting too worked up about this. Nopony is gonna come down to the farm an' take you away! Hay, your friend Twilight is friends with the Princess right? Ya could ask her to write a letter sayin' you don't want none o' the princess-y stuff an'- hey, where do ya think ya'll are goin'?" Granny Smith darted over and blocked Applejack's path to the door.
"Ah'm goin' to see Twilight! She oughta know what's goin' on, like you said." Applejack frowned.
"Not at this time in the mornin' sugarcube. Celestia knows that filly needs her sleep." Granny put on a light but firm tone, and Applejack saw the sense in her words.
"Then what am Ah supposed to do until then?" Applejack said despondently. Granny Smith looked at her as though she were mad.
"Ya go out an' buck apples m'girl. Ain't no sense in wastin' any more time chit-chatting. Ya need to go too Macintosh. Go on, git, the both of ya." Granny Smith hummed to herself as she pottered around the kitchen. She patted Winona's head absently. "Ah better go wake up Apple Bloom."
Applejack and Big Mac trotted through the orchard to the field they were going to harvest.
"What if somepony sees us Big Mac?"
"Ain't nopony comes to see us usually. No reason they would today."
"Yeah, Ah guess."
The siblings set about gathering apples. There didn't seem to be any sort of strength difference along with the change. Applejack told herself that she would head on over to Twilight's as soon as breakfast was done with.
Pinkie Pie bounced out of bed. She bounced back onto the bed. She bounced up and down on the bed She was a very bouncy pony this morning.
Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped bouncing, putting a hoof to her chin and looking deep in thought. Something was different about today, but she couldn't figure out what. The pinky pony looked down at her bed. Her hooves were a couple of inches above it.
"Oh, that's right. I have wings now!" She beamed, gently flapping around the room a few times. She didn't want to wake up the twins. They were loud when they were woken, and the Cakes were never happy about being woken themselves. "Ooh, and I have a horn too!" Pinkie settled back on her bed.
This was fantabulously amazesomely super-di-dooperly brilliepical. Pinkie's smile was wide, she had made up all of those words herself. They really should be in a dictionary. Maybe she could get Twilight to speak to some brainy pony up in Canterlot to get her words put into the dictionary. Then everyone could go around and say 'brilliepical' or 'amazesome' and it would make them happy to have such fantabulous words and that would make her happy because they would be happy, but did brainy ponies who worked for the dictionary even live in Canterlot? Maybe they would live in Trottingham or Manehatten or Fillydelphia or maybe someplace else that Twilight would know. Hay, maybe Twilight could use her brainy smartness and write her own dictionary. Then maybe Pinkie could help and make even more new words and- "Wait, that's not what I should be thinking about at all! Oh Pinkie Pie you silly filly." She fluttered her wings. "Let's see what these babies can do!"
Then she giggled, because that was exactly what Rainbow Dash would say. She took off from the bed again and looped around the room. She nearly knocked over a lamp.
"Whoopsie! I don't want to wake the twinnies up! I gotta be as quiet as a mouse." She considered this statement. "Although mice aren't really all that quiet are they? They chew and scrabble and squeak and be nuisancy. Heh. I'd better be as quiet as...a fish! Fish are quiet, they don't make noise. Well, they might splash or go 'glub', but really what fish actually goes 'glub'? I bet Fluttershy knows. And they don't splash if they stay below the water. So, I'll be as quiet as a fish under the water that doesn't go 'glub'. Heey, I bet Fluttershy knows mice that are as quiet as the 'quiet a mouse' thing. Then I could be as quiet as a quiet mouse that Fluttershy knows."
Pinkie rambled on to herself for a while, before suddenly noticing that she was still talking. She zipped her mouth, casting furtive looks in the direction of the twins' room. Then she realised that she didn't have to be furtive, and openly stared at the section of wall.
"Hmm." She murmured through her zipped mouth. They seemed to still be asleep. Good. Pinkie Pie then shook out her mane and prepared for her first Silent Magic Practice. She wanted to see what she could do with the new power. Twilight and Rarity were always moving things around, so she tried that first. She picked up her pillow in a yellow aura, which matched the yellow of the middle balloon on her cutie-mark. This pleased her. Now...what else did she want to do? Hey, maybe some confetti! That'd be super-di-dooper. She braced her legs and imagined a stream of confetti popping out of her horn.
BANG!
Huh. Well that didn't work, maybe she should ask one of her unicorn friends for help. She blinked slowly and looked at the end of the slightly fizzing forelock. The twins began to wail. Pinkie rushed out of her room and into the twins', hoping to shush them before they woke their poor, sleep-deprived parents up.
"Hey, Pound! Pumpkin! Look, it's your Auntie Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie's voice was at stage whisper level. She went to comfort Pound Cake, who was making some odd noises. Turned out they were giggles, as he levitated his pillow up and down. He had a horn now, as well as his wings. Huh. She went over to Pumpkin, who was buzzing her wings experimentally. Pinkie thought about this turn of events for a few minutes.
"Pinkie Pie?" Mrs Cake staggered to the doorway, looking half-asleep. The two mares looked at each other. "Pinkie? You...you have...whuh?" Mrs Cake eyed Pinkie with a panicked expression.
"Um, Mrs Cake? So do you. And the twins. Probably Mr Cake too." Pinkie's face was slowing beginning to brighten, as a massive grin began to break through. Mrs Cake stared at her foals, then galloped away to find her husband to confirm Pinkie's statement. The party pony herself was feeling a sense of euphoria begin to overwhelm her. If everypony had turned into an alicorn...there would be a celebration. She would create the most amazing party ever. Ever. In the whole entire land of Equestria and beyond. She had magic and wings now, there was nothing to hold her back. Nothing could tie her down, nothing could alter her course, no walls would bear the brunt of the oncoming wave of pure, unadulterated party.
All of her life had led up to this moment, she was sure of it. She could party forever. FOREVER. Until the Universe imploded she would party, and party, and party. She...she could be friends with everypony. She had the time now. If she really was immortal, like the princesses. Friends with everypony present and future.
She could go to other places, go and party and befriend. Forget everypony. Try everything.
"I think I'll start with your world." Pinkie winked past the fourth wall. At you. Yes. You. "But first, I better find Twilight to see if this is permanent!"
She began to pronk along the corridor. "Hey Mr and Mrs Cake! I'm off to see Twilight about the whole horns and wings thing. I'll be back later!"
She squirmed around, her face creasing ever so slightly into a frown.
Tap-tap-tap.
"Idon'tknowwheretheowlcamefromiswear!" Fluttershy jolted awake, looking about frantically. Seeing her room, she let out a sigh of relief and tried to snuggle back under her blanket again. Despite the part with the police interview, her dream as an animal smuggling super-villain had been quite, nice, really... The tapping came again, and Fluttershy sleepily wandered over to the window.
One of her bird friends was probably hungry, although she was sure that she'd left out a generous helping of seed in the feeders yesterday. She pulled open the curtain.
"Harry? What's the...oh. Oh my." Fluttershy stared at the bear, who was furiously beating a pair of feathery wings that seemed too small. He grinned and waved at her, motioning that she should open the window. She just stood frozen. Harry pointed at her head and tilted his head to the side questioningly. The yellow mare put her hooves up to her head. There was something on it.
Harry motioned for her to let him in again, but she raced back to her bed and pulled the cover over her head, trying not to hyperventilate and failing miserably. She scrabbled to touch her horn, and her breathing increased in speed.
She took in a few shaky breaths to calm her nerves. She peeped up again, looking over to Harry. He was waiting patiently. The yellow pony went back to the window and opened it, allowing the bear inside.
"How...how did this happen?" Harry sat down with a thwump and shrugged. He growled something softly. "R-really? You just woke up like this? Oh, but I don't know what's happened, sorry." Harry sighed, scratching behind his ear with an enormous paw. "Um, Harry? I could go and see my friend Twilight Sparkle about this. She's a really powerful unicorn. How's that sound?" The bear nodded happily. His stomach grumbled. "Oh my, you haven't had any breakfast yet! Come on, I have some honey in a cupboard downstairs." She winked at the bear, who clapped his paws together with glee at the thought of his favourite treat.
Harry was still Harry, she thought with a smile. She didn't need to be worried at the moment. She led the bear into the kitchen, but stopped abruptly at the doorway, horror etched onto her features. Everywhere she turned, the animals had horns. All unicorn horns. Those animals that didn't naturally have wings now did as well.
Sitting at the top of a stack of cookery books stood Angel, a large carrot cut to a spear-like point held in a dark grey aura of magic. He waved it about threateningly at a few subordinate squirrels on the table, occasionally jabbing at them with the weaponised vegetable. They were preparing an elaborate salad, their eyes fearful. Angel suddenly noticed his mistress and cringed. Her look of shock was fading to anger as she took in the scene.
"Angel Bunny! What do you think you are doing?" He gave Fluttershy a sheepish look and hopped down from the stack of books. The other creatures rejoiced at the toppling of their tiny tyrant. Trying to salvage the situation, he pushed the bowl in Fluttershy's direction, hoping that she'd think they'd made it for her.
"Angel. It's sweet of you to make me breakfast, but we do not endorse slavery under my roof." She glared at the rabbit. He had the good grace to look ashamed. "Good. Don't let me see you doing that again." Fluttershy reverted to her normal sweet self. She had decided to freak out about all of this later, at a more convenient time. Her animal friends were hungry, and she needed to deal with that first. She fished out a large jar of honey from one of the cupboards and handed it to Harry. He sat in a corner, towering over the other critters and making happy slurping sounds. She found an array of bowls and laid them out, filling them with a variety of foodstuffs, from grain to bit of vegetables. Fluttershy made sure Angel got his food last for punishment.
Soon, the soft sounds of crunching critters could be heard. She picked up a mouse who was in the middle of a large peanut and looked at its new features with a critical eye. "Sorry Mrs Mouse, but I was admiring your wings. They are a lovely shade of grey." She set the rodent down thoughtfully.
"E-exuse-me everypony, but do any of you know how you got your horns? Or wings, if you aren't a bird or a bat or a flying invertebrate?" An array of squeaks, grunts, chirps and other calls followed the question. "Really? Nopony?"
That's strange, she thought. She would have thought that maybe at least one animal would have been awake at the time that everything was transformed. Even the nocturnal animals had claimed that they'd all fallen asleep at some point during the night. It was very peculiar. Had there been some sort of powerful sleep charm cast over her cottage and surroundings? Maybe this was more widespread than that...all of Ponyville? Equestria even? What pony had the power to do something like this? And then to turned everypony and animal into alicorns? It was a scary thought.
Fluttershy looked around her house. The animals were beginning to finish their food, and now some were experimenting with their new wings or magic.
It was probably time to go to Twilight's now. She hoped the animals wouldn't break anything or get hurt while they played with their new talents.
"Okay, I'm going to Twilight's house now, to find out why everypony has changed. I'll probably be back very soon! Be good." She walked to the door, pausing before she opened it. "Oh, but I don't want anypony to see my horn. Um..." She found one of her hats and jammed it on. It covered her horn, but barely. Hopefully nopony would bother to scrutinise her too much on the way to the library. She opened the door at last and stepped outside. She swallowed her fear and trotted down the path to Ponyville. She just hoped that Twilight knew what was going on, and what to do about it.
Twilight Sparkle sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She yawned widely before making to get out of bed. She looked over at Spike, a frown creasing her brows. There was something off. She couldn't put her hoof on it. Her sleep-addled mind was not acknowledging the sight.
She got up and trotted over, looking at him intently. A unicorn horn? What? Had Spike been playing with some sort of dangerous spellbook? He shifted in his sleep, causing his blanket to fall off. Twilight stumbled back in shock and confusion. Wings!
Her expression hardened, and she prodded the young dragon awake.
"Urrgghh...whuuuh..." Spike mumbled. He scowled. "Why am I awake?"
"Why do you have a horn and wings?" She hissed back, pointing an accusatory hoof. He turned in surprise and stared at the feathers, before lifting his claws up to his forehead.
"This is so weird. Cool, but weird." He raised his eyebrows at the mare. "What about you? Did you do some super-powerful spell-casting before bed last night?"
"What?" Twilight looked at her own back. Her irises shrank and her ears pulled back in fear. "Oh no. Oh no. Ohno ohno ohnononono." The alicorn turned in circles, staring at the feathers. Spike sighed and put his hand out, stopping Twilight in her tracks. She stopped, stared at him, then curled up in a ball and began muttering to herself. Spike heard the words 'dreaming', 'banishment' and 'insanity'. He looked about and pulled his blanket onto her. She would probably break out of this state in about half an hour. He needed to feed Peewee and Owlowiscious. The young dragon went down the stairs to the main area of the Library. He passed the birds' perches, looked at their occupants, then turned back to the alcove where Twilight's bed lay.
"Twilight? Owlowiscious and Peewee have horns too. Just thought that might help." There was no reply. He shrugged and then continued on his way to the kitchen for the food.
The owl had gone back to sleep after being fed, but Peewee had decided Spike's new horn had a better view and was sitting on it. The little phoenix chirped comments every now and then as Spike went about his normal morning chores. It wasn't as if waking up with wings was in any way normal, but the dragon figured that Twilight would figure out the problem once she calmed down and engaged her brain. A knock on the door roused him from his reverie, and he went to open it.
"G'mornin' Spike." Applejack was standing in the doorway, Pinkie Pie bouncing behind her. The dragon's eyes widened as he saw that they too had been transformed. He stood aside silently and let the two used-to-be-Earth Ponies in.
"Is Twi around?"
"She's upstairs having a mental breakdown. She took one look at her wings and I swear her brain melted." Spike looked the two ponies up and down. "I guess you two both came here for answers huh?"
"Yep, that's right. Applejack ran into me on the way here and we decided to come together." Pinkie Pie beamed. "Isn't this fun-diddly-umptious? I just made that up. I think it needs to be in a dictionary, like the words fantabulous or brilliepical, don't you?"
"Er, sure. Want me to try and get Twilight down?"
"Yes thank-you sugarcube. Ah reckon we're gonna need Twi's brain fer this." Applejack cut in before Pinkie Pie could continue to elaborate on her literary ambitions.
Spike jogged up the stairs and Peewee chirruped cheerfully. Twilight was still in the same position she'd been in before. "Twilight? Applejack and Pinkie Pie are here. They want to see-" "No! Nopony can know of this! Do you know what kind of treason this could be!" "I guess you don't want to know about their new horns and wings then." "Wh-what did you say?" "It's happened to them too Twilight."
Twilight gaped at the dragon, then galloped to the stairs. She looked down at her friends. Pinkie Pie waved. "Hey Twilight? Do you know what the hay is going on, cause we sure don't. Also, is amazesome a better word than kumquat? Only I'm thinking of making a dictionary organised by how good a word is." Twilight blinked. "Um. I don't know...?" "Are ya okay sugarcube? Yer mane looks frazzled even by mah standards." "I'm fine. Really." Twilight came down the stairs, her eyes still a little bit wild. She circled her friends, frowning slightly. "I just don't understand."
They heard a soft tapping at the door. Applejack went to open it. "Um, Applejack? What are you...oh! I see." Fluttershy crept in, taking off her hat to reveal that she, too, had a horn. Twilight sighed.
~*-*-*~
By the time Rainbow Dash had finally entered through her window, Twilight had had some time to think about this whole situation. "So, Applejack, your whole family was changed, right?" "Eeyup." "And Fluttershy, all of your animals transformed too?" "Oh, yes. I came downstairs to find Angel Bunny using his magic to, er, direct the others about." "Wait, you left Angel at your house?" Rainbow interrupted. "Yes." "Even though he was 'directing' the others about?" "Oh, he won't do it again, he's a good bunny really." "Riiiiight." Twilight stamped her hoof. "Girls! You're distracting me!"
Fluttershy shrunk back and mumbled an apology, Rainbow just rolled her eyes. "Look everypony, I think this is something big. Like, really big. We all live in different places in Ponyville and we were all affected. What if the rest of the townsponies and animals are like this too?" There was silence as the others digested this. Fluttershy raised her hoof. "Yes Fluttershy?" "Um, I was thinking...well...some of my animal friends live out in the Everfree Forest, and they had been changed too. I mean, what I'm trying to say...um, is that maybe this is a really, really big thing." "You mean, Equestria? All of Equestria?" "Yes."
Twilight pondered this. An idea occurred, and it seemed a good course of action to take. "Listen up everypony!" "Erm, sugarcube, whadd'ya think we're doin'?" Twilight ignored this. "I know what to do! I shall send a letter to Princess Celestia and ask her to do something."
Rainbow Dash groaned, but the others seemed satisfied with the plan. "She is a being of immense magical strength after all. She may be able to reverse this situation far more quickly than we ever could." Rarity nodded and cast a meaningful glare at the blue alicorn.
"Okay then Spike, take a note!" Spike scrambled for some parchment, a quill and a pot of ink. "Good. Now...
There was a small booming noise coming from Twilight's kitchen. The six friends looked around, confused.
"What was that?"
Twilight narrowed her eyes, and Spike set down the letter.
"Um, Twilight? Should I go check?" He received a nod in response and cautiously approached the kitchen door. Spike opened it slowly, releasing a swirl of smoke. He gulped and walked through the door. Peewee made a disgusted sound and flew back over to Owlowiscious. Despite being a bird of fire, he did not appreciate the burning smells that were floating out of the hazy room. Spike cast a nervous glance over his shoulder, gulping again. Then he entered the room. Something was bubbling ominously on the stove, it seemed to be the source of the smoke. Another small boom erupted from a cupboard, and something small jumped down, covered in...spices?
"Oh, hey Spike! Gee, these bottles are really difficult to open huh?" The filly was brandishing a jar of cinnamon. It looked as if a small explosion had blasted the lid off. Spike stared. Well, the young alicorn didn't seem to mind the smoke at least.
Spike sighed. He grabbed the filly, despite not being much bigger than her, and dragged her out to where the others were
"Sweetie Belle! How many times have I told you, we do not cook unsupervised! Especially in someone else's kitchen!" Rarity fumed at her little sister. Sweetie Belle gave an apologetic grin. Rarity huffed and turned to Twilight, flicking her mane back and adopting an anguished expression. "Oh Twilight darling, how can you ever forgive me! I'm so sorry, I can pay for the damage! Oh curses, why did I let her get out of my sight?" Rarity began to wail, and flung herself to the ground. "Hey Rarity, it's fine. I get worse damage when I'm working with my chemicals sometimes." "Really?" The white mare looked up through her mane, eyes brimming with the tears of catastrophe. "Actually no, I've never caused a room to fill with smoke before, but I managed to melt a chair once...Rarity? Rarity?" Rarity had gone back to weeping, alternately begging Twilight for forgiveness and reprimanding herself. Twilight couldn't quite bring herself to push Rarity's hooves away and stood there awkwardly, hoping the fashionista would calm down soon.
The others looked on, perplexed. Sweetie Belle inched back towards the kitchen. "Oh no y'don't sugarcube." Applejack caught her. "Why don't Ah run you down to Sweet Apple Acres while yer sis, er, recovers? Ah'm sure Apple Bloom'd be happy to see ya." Applejack caught Rainbow's attention and gestured to the filly. Rainbow nodded and turned back to the spectacle. Rarity was beginning to calm. "Um, okay Applejack. Will there be food?" "Sure as ya have hooves Sweetie Belle."
~*-*-*~
"Whu-huh? Granny Smith? Is that you?" "Eeyup." Apple Bloom peered through the gloom at the vague shape of her grandmother. She groaned and flopped back into bed, she felt all tingly and achey, like the beginnings of a fever. "Ah don't feel too good." "Heh, that's nonsense. Yer just feelin' the effect of tha magic 'r whatever it is that happened. Now git up young'un, Ah'm makin' breakfast." Apple Bloom was confused. Magic? What was Granny talking about? "What're you talkin' about Granny?" "Apple pancakes that's what. Now c'mon young'un, or yer big brother will've finished tha dawn harvest already." "No, Ah mean the magic. What magic?" "Why don'tcha git up 'n' look?" With that, Granny Smith turned to leave. Apple Bloom struggled to sit up and get a better look at her grandmother, she was wearing something strange on her back. She leaned over the edge of the bed, craning her neck and squinting through the dark. She lost her balance, falling with a squawk and a flush of feathers. Apple Bloom gasped, turning to look at her back. She hopped up and down, eyes widening into enormous orbs of awe. Even in the dark, she could make out the new limbs. She wiggled her shoulders and grinned. Wait 'til Ah show the girls! she thought. Then the smell of pancakes and fried apples hit her nose. Mmm, that sure smells good. Apple Bloom bounded down to the kitchen, trying to get into the air as she went. The tiny wings buzzed, but didn't really provide enough lift. The yellow filly hummed to herself as she sat up at the table. "Good timin' young'un! The batch's ready!" Granny Smith beamed and levitated a stack of pancakes, drizzled with syrup and crispy bits of apple out to Apple Bloom. "What're ya lookin' at me like that fer?" "G-granny? You gotta horn!" "What, ya ain't noticed that yet? Heh." "And you're young? Why are ya young?" "Well that's part o' the magic Ah guess. Y'don't see Princess Celestia look old do ya?" Apple Bloom ate her pancakes slowly as she digested this. "So...is everypony like this? Or just us? Applejack and Big Mac?" "Ah don't know Apple Bloom. Yer brother 'n' sister're changed. Applejack went to see that unicorn friend of hers, Twilight somethin' or other. Thought she might know somethin'." "Oh, okay. Oh hey Winona-HOLY HORSEFEATHERS!" "Apple Bloom!" "But look at the dog! She has wings and a horn! Why does Winona have wings and a horn?" "I sure as sugar don't know young'un. Now don't let me catch ya usin' that kinda language agin 'til yer older." "Sorry Granny." Apple Bloom went back to her breakfast. She was just slurping up the last few dregs of syrup when the door opened to reveal Applejack and Sweetie Belle. "Apple Bloom! We're alicorns!" "Sweetie Belle! You too?" They squealed and danced around each other. "Let's find Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom cried, and the fillies rushed out of the door in a rush. Granny Smith raised an eyebrow at her elder granddaughter. "Y'think they're gonna cause trouble?" "Eeyup." Granny Smith sighed, and made a mental note to check on the young ponies later. "What did yer friend say?" "She has no idea what the hay is goin' on, but we're writin' to the Princesses. They might have an idea, seein' as they're real alicorns 'n' all that." The old green mare smiled and nodded. "Sounds as good a plan as any."
~*-*-*~
A small orange filly was sitting in the clubhouse. She'd been there for the better part of an hour. To entertain herself, she had practised her flying - she could now hover off the ground for a few seconds and her gliding was reasonable. Rainbow Dash had told her that wings developed at different speeds for different ponies - most pegasi could fly by her age, but some waited longer for their abilities to kick in. Take Fluttershy for example - she had been a terrible flier when she was a filly and she got about fairly well these days. She just lacked confidence. Scootaloo knew that she wasn't so much scared of flying and she was frustrated by it. She didn't understand why she had to work so hard for something that should have been easy. Nevertheless, even the small progress she was making was something at least. Scootaloo had grown bored with this activity. There was only so much fun to be had by jumping off of the clubhouse roof again and again. She was now in the thinking spot, deciding what to do when the others got there. She had a horn now, and no idea how to use it. The filly had woken up with a splitting headache, and pins and needles down her neck. She had been so surprised at the brand new extension on her forehead that she'd shot off a few purple sparks. The headache disappeared, so she assumed it was some sort of magical buildup from never having used it before. She dragged her hoof over the floor. She had tried to make the sparks appear again, but nothing had happened. She had then taken off on her scooter to the clubhouse. She didn't know if anypony else had woken up with new abilities, and she thought her friends would likely be the best ponies to talk to first. Scootaloo groaned, flopping to the floor. She rolled onto her back and paddled her hooves in the air because there was nothing else to do. She was so bored. Her ears flicked. What was that? Loud voices drifted through the door and she jumped up, grinning. Scootaloo trotted out and leaned over the balcony. A small dust cloud was approaching down the path. It paused at the base of the tree, and spat out two fillies. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Hey guys! What took you so long?" "Hey...Scootaloo! We...were just...running...to find...you...Guess...what?" Sweetie Belle panted, taking in deep gasps of breath. "We're alicorns!" Apple Bloom didn't let Scootaloo answer. She was too eager to share the news. "You too? Awesome!" Scootaloo jumped off the balcony and glided down to her friends. She was a little wobbly, but she didn't crash, this time. "Is it just us?" "I think it's everypony. All of Rarity's friends were changed and so was Spike." "Spike?" Scootaloo scrunched up her nose in disbelief. "Yes. And Owlowiscious and Peewee-" "And Winona and some birds we saw on the way." "Woah." The three took a second to contemplate the possible implications of this. Only a second, mind you, before turning back to more pressing matters. "Ah was wonderin', well, we're like the Princesses, right?" There were dubious nods. "Well, if Princess Celestia's in charge of the Sun, Princess Luna's in charge of the Moon and Princess Cadence is in charge of love, then as everypony else now has super-strong magical alicorn powers, we all get somethin' to be in charge of, y'see?" Apple Bloom grinned at her friends, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. "I dunno, maybe? I don't really like all that girly, princessy stuff." "But Scoots, maybe our special talents are bein' the Princesses of somethin', an' the reason we ain't got our Cutie Marks yet is because we needed to be changed first?" Apple Bloom suddenly looked very serious. Scootaloo nodded slowly. "I guess if I was, like, the Princess of Coolness, or something like that..." "I'd love to be a Princess! I really like the way their manes do that flowy thing." Sweetie Belle squeaked. "Then it's decided!" Apple Bloom thrust her hoof out firmly, and the others joined in. They flung their hooves in the air, yelling at the top of their voices. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PRINCESSES YAY!"
Somewhere across the fields, Big Macintosh paused in his work and felt a shiver of dread run down his spine.
"This certainly is the strangest of things, to have been blessed with a horn and these wings."
The zebra mare had a troubled expression as she looked into the mirror. Zecora had acquired the large glass some months ago in Ponyville. Normally, the sight of her own reflection caused her some amusement, these ponies were ingenious with their inventions, however, this morning she had been shocked. She had woken with a mild headache and a pain in her shoulders, and had been on her way to find some herbs for the pain when she had espied herself in the mirror.
Zecora frowned. Upon her head now sat a spiralling horn, which was striped like a greyed-out candy-cane. The wings rustling at her sides were also non-uniform in colour, the tips of the flight feathers edged in dark grey. While pretty, the new additions were concerning.
She did not understand how this change had occurred. The zebra had never wished to possess the ability to perform magic, nor the power of flight, and now she had both. She resembled the Princesses of the land in attributes now, and did not wish to know what kind of havoc this could wreak upon Zebraic-Equestrian relations. It could be nothing, or have massive implications.
Zecora pondered what to do. Perhaps the new appendages would vanish the next day, as suddenly as they had appeared. She should just stay in her hut and wait it out. Well, that was the hope, anyway.
She pottered around her hut for a few hours, arranging bottles and taking inventory on her various herbs and plants. Zecora noted a significant lack of yarrow in her stock and grimaced. The herb was good for colds and a large number of ponies in the village had come down with runny noses. She had been asked for a lot of cold remedies. Zecora sighed. She would have to set out for some soon. Why not now? There is nothing else I am doing currently. She knew where the yarrow grew, in a pleasant little clearing that was arguably one of the most appealing places in the forest.
All the same, something made her reluctant to leave her home. Was she afraid that somepony would see her? Ridiculous. Nopony went into the Everfree if they could help it. Why would they suddenly appear now? Zecora snorted at her own foalishness. The chances of being seen were minimal at best, unless Twilight Sparkle or Apple Bloom happened to drop by for an impromptu visit.
Even after all of this reasoning, Zecora still hesitated before her doorway. She decided to wear her old cloak, just to be safe.
The striped alicorn stepped outside. The day was still bright, but under the gloom of the gnarled old trees it seemed to be twilight. The odd sunbeam struggled through the twisting branches here and there, creating dapples and spots of light not unlike stars in the night sky. Zecora smiled and began to trot forwards. This patch of forest was usually peaceful. She felt calm and serene in the silence. It was but a short walk to the-wait. Silence?
The Zebra paused abruptly, her ears flickering this way and that to pick up any sounds. It was deathly quiet. There were no birds chirping, nor the rustles of small furry things scurrying through the undergrowth. Not even the wind was whispering through the leaves. It was still. The forest was holding it's breath. Zecora didn't want to know why, so she hurried on, picking up her pace. The crunch of leaves beneath her feet was almost deafening, and her mind whirred.
Where were all the animals?
A snapping twig somewhere on her left made her stop again. She peered through the gloom of the forest. Eyes stared back, yellow, glowing. Timberwolves! Or rather, a timberwolf. Zecora yelped and turned back around. She ran as fast as she could, back to her hut, slamming the door shut with a good kick.
The timberwolf, startled by Zecora himself, had taken a few moments to realise that she was potential prey, and as such was a good distance behind her. As a being of the forest, he had not the slightest worry about the door in his path, seeing it only as another piece of wood that would get out of his way as all wooden objects did when he used his particular brand of forest magic. He did not reckon on the fact that one advantage of being a friend to the most powerful unicorn in recent history would be advanced wards against the creatures of the forest, including timberwolves, laid upon the dwelling of Zecora.
So, the timberwolf, who had woken up like every living being across Equestria with a degree of pain in the forehead and/or back, and who had not entirely recovered from his own splitting headache that morning, found out that Zecora's door was enchanted by smashing against it headfirst.
Zecora winced as she heard the crunch against her door. Even if you were a magical creature who was able to reform from a pile of scattered sticks, it had to be painful. She peeped through her window and saw the wolf clutching its head and staggering dizzily. Odd, an impact like that normally shattered a timberwolf.
Her eyes widened as she saw the wings pressed to it's sides. They resembled a pegasus' wings in all but size and material. The wolf removed his paw and Zecora saw that it appeared to have another stick driven into its forehead, and that the stick resembled a unicorn's horn. Her eyes narrowed.
"This situation is strange indeed, perhaps some assistance I may need. Who better to help me than my friend Twilight, who's search for knowledge oft' crosses to night. Perhaps she will know what is going on, but the wolf I must pass, should I go, should I run?" The zebra cast about for some sort of weapon she could use to slow down the creature. Her eyes alighted on a small pile of stones. They were small, but...
Zecora focused on one of the pebbles, trying to recall what Twilight had said about magic and how it worked. A turquoise aura captured one of the stones. She smiled, then plucked the stone from the air with a hoof. She tossed it between her hooves a few times before shaking her head. It wasn't heavy enough by a long shot.
She looked out of the window again. The timberwolf had recovered and started to prowl about. Were there any large rocks around? Zecora looked about, yes, there! She focused on a large rock, trying to lift it. She could feel a sort of draining feeling. It was like losing energy, but in a different way. Was this magical straining? The rock lifted shakily. Zecora gave a small smile, then looked to the timberwolf. She willed the rock to strike the wolf. It complied. The timberwolf shook itself, turned to look at the rock, began to laugh derisively, then fell to pieces. Upon seeing this, Zecora cheered.
"Take that you big and wooden brute, I have now learned how to shoot!"
She brayed with delight, then rushed out of the door, determined to make the most of the time she had given herself. She hoped that no other creature accosted her on the way to Ponyville.
"I say, what a lovely morning! The sun is shining brightly, the air is crisp, and all of the dear little Elements of Harmony are running around and panicking like the world is ending." Discord sat atop the town hall, tapping his goatish hoof along to a tune that was running through his ears. The draconequus winced suddenly, and plucked one of the notes out of the air. He popped it into his mouth and chewed. "Mmm, like I thought, the key was off," Discord sighed heavily and made an adjustment to the floating notes. "Much better. Da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da, daaaaa-daaaaa daaaaa-da-" A loud shout interrupted him. "Discord!" He peered over the side of the building. "Ah, Applejack. What seems to be the problem?" Applejack stomped her hoof and scowled up at Discord. At least, it was probably a scowl, the ground was rather far away. "You come down here Discord. Ah bet this was your doin', huh?" The chaotic creature suddenly appeared next to Applejack. "My dear, I have no idea to what you might be referring to." He snickered and walked around her, taking in her wings and horn with a smirk. Applejack snorted. "Yeah, right. An' ya know nothin' 'bout magicking up body parts either," the orange mare narrowed her eyes. "Ah distinctly remember that you took away the horns 'n' wings of the others when ya did the whole maze thingy. Why would it be so hard t' believe you could give 'em too?" Discord sighed dramatically. "It doesn't work like that at all." Applejack just wore a steady frown. "Shall we go to the Library then?" It was not a question. Discord snapped his tail and teleported them into the middle of Golden Oaks.
"Landsakes Discord! Can't ya give a mare some warnin' next time ya teleport 'er?!" Applejack staggered, her face tinged slightly with green. For a few, brief, delicious seconds, chaos and disorder besieged the room, as the other five Elements and Spike fell over each other in surprise. After everypony had disentangled themselves, Discord drew himself up and bowed with a flourish. "Hello my dears, how wonderful it is to see you all again." That being done with, he conjured up a chair to sit down in. "Discord! You were behind this?" Twilight looked uncertainly at the draconequus, who was sprawled over his chair in a jumble of limbs. "Of course not, Twilight Sparkle. You think I'd still be here if I was?" "That's a total lie, Discord!" Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at him in accusation. "Nopony else has the power to completely mess things up like this!" Discord raised an eyebrow. "As much as I would love to take credit for this masterpiece, I cannot. I would very much like to shake the hoof of whoever it was that caused this, ah, event. I do love the touch with the animals. Alas, I do not know the identity of the spellcaster. I would, however, like to draw attention to the fact that only you, your immediate families, including that little orange filly for some reason, and the animals of Equestria are awake." "Why should that matter?" Rainbow Dash snorted. "Someponies like to sleep in some mornings." "I might matter Rainbow - normally all the other farmin' folk'll be up early to set up the market stalls." Applejack frowned. "If they ain't up yet, somethin's wrong." Discord chuckled. "Well if you hadn't worked that out before, I've overestimated your intelligence, Applejack." Applejack just gave the draconequus a flat glare. "I'm just saying - horns and wings sprouting from everypony is a pretty obvious sign that not all is well." The glare continued. "So, this has something to do with the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight interjected. "That, or your little necklaces negated some sort of, extended sleeping spell before it was actually due to end." "Ooh, maybe it's giving me time to arrange a massive 'Congratulations You're an Alicorn and so is Everypony Else' party?!" Pinkie squealed, clapping her hooves together. "I really need to learn how to summon confetti now." "Er, maybe not right now Pinkie, you don't want to explode a second time. But if the Elements are involved with waking us up - how are you awake Discord?" Twilight said. Discord shrugged. "I just am." "Right." There was a pause. Spike decided to visit the comics section and not get involved. "What are we going to do now?" Everypony looked at Rarity. "What? I'm just saying, standing just here waiting for the Princess to reply to that letter would be awfully dull. Why don't we make use of our time and, well, try out our new skills." She fluttered her wings a little to emphasise her point. "That might be a good idea... but what about the rest of the townsponies? Shouldn't we go out and wake them up so they don't panic?" "Twilight, darling, they'll panic anyway. Whether they wake in five minutes or five hours." "B-but, if they don't wake up, they won't eat, if they don't eat, they'll starve, and if they starve, they'll, they'll-" "Twilight. If they don't wake up soon, then we'll go and help them. Otherwise, why not make use of the fact that they are safely sleeping and utilise the space in town to practice these new abilities. If we can use them, we can help more. Alright?" Rarity laid a consoling hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Yeah Twilight, you were using way too many commas there." Pinkie appeared on Twilight's other side, tutting. "What?" Pinkie shrugged and went to speak to Discord. "Well, alright Rarity." Twilight smiled at her. "Sorry for panicking, heh." "No matter darling. Besides, I really want to fly again. Properly this time, without the risk of falling to my doom." Rarity shuddered slightly. Twilight rolled her eyes. She cleared her throat to get everypony's attention. "Seeing as we're stuck like this for the foreseeable future, it might be a good idea to learn how to use the magics we aren't familiar with. Um. I guess if we get into threes - one Unicorn, one Pegasus and one Earth pony, we can teach each other efficiently." "Dibs on Twilight!" Rainbow called out, and promptly landed next to her. "What, she's the more powerful unicorn." Rarity hmmphed and went to stand next to Fluttershy. Pinkie followed her, leaving Applejack with Twilight and Rainbow. "What am I supposed to do then?" Discord raised an eyebrow up with his paw. "Oh. You can, watch or something I suppose?" Twilight said. "You could stay with Spike and let us know when Princess Celestia replies?" Discord sighed. "Well, I guess this is what happens to ex-villains. They're reduced to messengers." He collapsed backwards onto the chair with despondency. Twilight rolled her eyes. "You don't have to do anything. Why not read a book?" "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Sparkle." "It was just a suggestion. We're going outside to practise now. Try not to damage anything too badly if you have to stay in here. You think you can manage with him, Spike?" "Hm? Oh, yeah, I guess." Spike looked up from a comic. "Just, don't be too long, Twilight." "Come find us if you need to, okay?" And with that, the Element Bearers left the Library.
"So," Spike looked at Discord. "You're the Spirit of Chaos, huh." "Yes, that is correct." Discord leaned back in his chair and yawned. He was already bored. "Um. You ever heard of the Power Ponies?" "Can't say I have, no." "Oh, well, it's these comics, and they're good. Yep." Spike twiddled his thumbs nervously. "..." "You, er, wanna read one?" "Oh, why not? Might take the edge off the boredom." "Great, this is the first one. Um, here." Discord stretched out his claws. "Let's see - The Power Ponies: Beginning. Imaginative." "They get better." Spike assured him. Discord sighed and began to read.
Princess Luna, the Ruler of the Night, the Mistress of the Moon, the Star Scatterer, the Dreamwalker and one of the Diarchs of Equestria, was up past her usual bedtime. She was not best pleased.
The night had begun like any other, with the lowering of the Sun and the rising of the Moon. Luna had prowled the edge of her balcony to look mysterious for a few minutes, before attending her Night Court. Most of the ponies were there because Celestia had, very politely of course, refused their plans for this and that tax on drinking water, or some crackpot idea to install mane-dryers down every hallway of the castle that day, and they wished to try the younger sibling in hope that Luna would overturn the judgement purely because she was her sister's opposite. Of course, these poor deluded souls were very quickly dissuaded from their follies by the Night Princess, as more often than not she found herself laughing them out. Celestia might be the finest example of royal decorum, but Luna was determined not to remain so aloof from her little ponies. The stream of ponies stopped around an hour before midnight, so Luna closed her court and returned to her room to tackle some paperwork. Celestia did most of it these days, but since Luna had returned she had taken to passing some of the number-work on to be double-checked. At midnight, Luna had felt... something very strange pass over her. A slight tingling and a few moments of intense drowsiness. The only reason she hadn't fallen asleep then and there was because as her head fell forward, her muzzle had hit the desk she was working on. The pain had jolted her back to full consciousness. She had stepped outside to ask her guards if they had felt anything as well, and found them absent. "This is most strange." She had whispered to herself. Her face set into an expression of determination, and then a grimace of pain as her muzzle complained. She had cast a small healing spell and set off through the corridors, which were unusually empty. She had reached her goal - her sister's door, and tapped lightly with a silver-shod hoof. There was no response. She rapped louder and called out. "Sister, are you awake? A very strange occurrence has, well, occured. Celestia? May I come in?" "L-luna? Of course, yes, let me just unlock..." There had been a sound of bolts being scraped along their fastenings, and the door had opened softly. "What happened?" Luna had trotted into Celestia's room. "I was working on those blasted taxes, when I felt some sort of magical distortion - a slight tingling sensation and a powerful sleeping enchantment." Celestia had frowned slightly. "A sleeping enchantment?" "Yes. A powerful one. If I had been a normal pony I would have likely been unconscious for an entire day. As it was, I almost succumbed myself." "Ah. Oh dear." "Why, what is wrong?" Luna had looked Celestia in the eye with an expression of concern. "Luna, do you remember the book we were going to give to Twilight?" "I do, certainly. It was Starswirl the Bearded's special spellbook with all of the unfinished magics," Luna had narrowed her eyes suddenly at her elder sister. "Why, you didn't try to experiment with it again did you?" "I. I think might have." "You think?" "I think I was sleep-casting. I was having a strange dream about the book before you came to wake me up, and, well. I remember casting a sleep spell. A big one." Luna had stared at Celestia with a mixture of incredulity and outrage. "You were sleep-casting. With that book." Celestia had folded her ears back against her head with shame. "Yes. It seems so. We just need to find out what exactly I've done while asleep, and try to rectify it."
"Celestia, I believe it is daybreak," Luna sighed, her horn lighting up as she lowered the Moon. "We have only the kitchens left to search now." "Already? My goodness," The sun was drawn up into the sky, casting the land in a bright, warm glow. Celestia yawned. "Well, let's go and finish our search then." The pair made their way down into the kitchens. Celestia began poking through the cupboards large enough for a pony to hide in, while Luna decided to investigate the pantry. She growled at the sunlight streaming in from a window. Celestia's day was beautiful and glorious and all of that, sure, but it didn't half cause the eyes distress. Not to mention that she ought to be asleep by now. Princess Luna grumbled to herself. "Sleep-casting, pah! Like a newborn foal. She better pay me back big-time for making me lose my sleep over this." Luna glanced into the pantry. Empty. Typical. Wait, no, something moved! The Night Princess lunged forwards eagerly, and found a mouse nibbling at a cheese-wheel. It glanced up at her and resumed eating. Luna stared at the mouse. "Ah, you are not a normal rodent, are you?" Luna crept forwards, trying to see it better. It squeaked and tried to bolt. Luna was quicker, however, and she seized the tiny creature with her magic. "Aha! I have caught thee, mouse, and thou shalt not escape until I have examined thee thoroughly! Struggle not, for it shall be in vain," Luna pranced out of the pantry, bearing the startled mouse aloft in her aura. "Sister! Come hither! I-I mean come here! I have found evidence as to the nature of your nightly misdoings! Oh bother, I am relapsing. Blast it." "What have you found, Luna? One of the chefs?" Celestia hurried over from where she had been investigating. "Nay, sister, 'tis a mouse." Luna proudly presented the creature to her sister. "A mouse?" "Yes, a mouse. I found it on a cheese-wheel. Never-mind, look at it. Tell me something is not strange." Celestia looked at the mouse. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. Eventually, she spoke. "It... it has wings. And a horn," she stared at the mouse for several long moments. "What did I do last night?" "If I were to hazard a guess, then you turned the staff into animals. Or maybe this mouse is all of the staff combined into one strange hodge-podge of a creature, bearing in mind its possession of both wings and horn," Luna looked at the mouse, and the mouse looked back. "Or perhaps the animals were the target of your spell, and the mice made the staff disappear so that they could eat in peace." The mouse seemed more at ease about floating in the air, and set about cleaning its whiskers. "I don't know, Luna. We may need to collect more, ah, evidence to back those theories up. All we know is that the spell or spells could be sensed by you, the castle staff have disappeared, and a mouse has been found with alicorn-like characteristics." "Hm. Let us return to your room to regroup and decide our next move." "Good idea."
Several hours later, the sisters were debating a matter of great importance. "His name is Enceladus!" "That's a stupid name!" "It's less stupid than 'Sebastianne'!" "Sebastianne is a great name!" "You got to name the last pet! It's my turn now!" "Yes, and Philomena is a great name! So I'm better at choosing names than you!" "I was the one who wanted to keep Enceladus!" "Enceladus is a stupid name!" "You're stupid!" "No, you are!" "Old nag!" "Silly foal!" "Fat-flank!" "I'm not fat!" "Your diet of cake says otherwise." "Yeah well your Cutie-Mark is too big!" "Yeah, well your Cutie-Mark is stupid!" "Sebastianne!" "Enceladus!" "Sebastianne!" "Enceladus!"
Enceladus/Sebastianne sat in his new cage next to his food bowl. He had found a peanut, one of his favourites. He nibbled it contentedly. Just a few hours ago he'd been living in the wild, sneaking about, trying to steal food. Then, the Night-coloured pony and the Day-coloured pony had found him. They were scary at first, but then they gave him food. With peanuts. So he was a very happy mouse at that moment. Enceladus/Sebastianne's eyes were suddenly drawn to a flash of light above the Day-coloured pony, and he could just make out something hovering in what looked like green fire for a few moments. Then, the whatever it was fell, and landed on the Day-coloured pony's head. Enceladus/Sebastianne lost interest, as it wasn't flashing and shiny any more, and went back to his delicious peanut. He would have a nap soon.
"Hah! Serves you right! The cosmos is telling us, sister. His name shall be En-" "Luna! This is from Twilight!" "Oh! Really? Do you think whatever you did affected Ponyville?" Celestia quickly read the letter. "Ah. That. That is interesting." "What does it say?" The Day Princess levitated the scroll to her sister. Luna read it and gulped, staring up at her sister with wide eyes. "Well, Luna. I think we now know what I did during my dream last night. It might take a while to complete an adequate response for my Faithful Student." Luna gave a nervous laugh. "Indeed. I believe your past mishaps with that book pale into comparison." "I'm sorry Luna." Celestia rubbed her temple. "Oh, no matter. What's done is done I suppose. Although," Luna's eyes narrowed mischievously. "There is something you could do to make this whole situation happier for me?" "What would that be?"
When the mouse woke from his nap, he returned to his food-bowl, his new favourite place. It looked a little bit different, though. He sniffed the edges curiously. There was a funny, looping decoration on it now. His gave the closest approximation to a shrug that a mouse can, which is to say he ignored the change completely and stuffed his face with food. If he had been a creature of greater intelligence, he would have recognised the loopy pattern as a finely engraved word.
