My Little Illusion

Shift

A day at Sweet Apple Acres oft times began early, before the crack of dawn. The daily tasks of tending an apple orchard the size it was with a two-pony work team a demanding chore in itself, alongside the upkeep of buildings, daily errands and care of what animals they kept. Applejack had grown up in the lifestyle, and she expected nothing different from the day as she slipped out of bed with a yawn, just another day on the farm.

It was what made it so strange as her legs gave out from beneath her the second she put weight on them, flailing and grasping onto the nearest thing she could, a bed post, as her hoof wrapped around it to brace herself.

Wait...she thought, something immediately registering wrong in her mind. She reached out, flipping the switch of the lamp aside her bed, flooding the once dark room with a sudden light that blinded her a moment as her eyes adjusted. She found her legs, and on a bizarre whim she couldn't hope to explain, rose up straight on her hind ones, releasing the bedpost as she reached up and rubbed her eyes. It was just an off day, she was already telling herself. The moment she got outside to applebucking, it would all fall into place. She opened her eyes after a moment, drawing her foreleg back...

Except it wasn't a leg. It was something else, and in place of hoof she had some strange appendage with five smaller ones growing out of it. She had to take a quick check, to ensure that it was hers, and it was indeed attached to her shoulder, and torso, and... Wait, why were they so broad, and dotted with so many freckles? What were those lumps on her chest... that was her chest, right? In fact, just about everything had changed. She turned about, taking broad steps across the room to a worn-out vanity in the corner and took a look in the mirror. Any bit of her orange coat had disappeared, leaving tanned flesh bare to view in its place. To some residual horror, but the least of her concerns, she'd noticed her cutie mark had even disappeared from her flank. Her mane looked the same, though her eyes were a considerable bit smaller, and that was just the start. She made a few gestures in the mirror, if only to allow the realization to sink in all the way. Whatever was going on, Applejack was now... what the hay was she?

A shriek tore her attention from the mirror.

"Applebloom?" the blonde called out, taking up a sprint with some surprise in the back of her mind at how quickly she'd adapted to her hind legs' new shape, weaving out of her room and the short distance down the hall to her little sister's. She threw the door open, slamming it against the wall as she did, and came to a dead halt, her eyes locked on the filly curled up in her bedsheets.

"A, Applejack, don' look't me!" she said, quickly diving under the sheets. Applejack had seen enough though, and a great deal more concern welled atop what had already shown. She walked forward, paying no mind to the thunderous beats she assumed was Big Macintosh hurrying along to the room, lowering herself beside Applebloom's bed and pulling back the sheets. Instead of the little filly she'd watched over her entire life, Applebloom had taken on a form like she had, curled up and trembling in a ball with tears in her eyes.

"Wut'n Celestia's name's goin' on here?"

It wasn't just Applejack and Applebloom, it wasn't even just Sweet Apple Acres. After a few hours of situating and sorting themselves out, the Apple Family, save Granny Smith, who was resting in bed already from the stress of the event, had gone out to Ponyville and seen the effect had rippled throughout the community. Everypony, now, was not a pony, though it seemed the effect had its variances. To begin, mane and eyes remained ultimately the same, though as Applejack's family had discovered, that was about the extent of it. All were of various shapes, sizes and heights now, and the variety of colors that had been present in the coats of all had given way to flesh like her own, some of darker complexions, others nearly pale. Most were largely recognizable at least, Applejack counted herself fortunate to have kept memory of her customers, and others did the job of standing out by themselves.

Those who had been Pegasi were easiest to recognize, they still had their colored wings, though considerably larger now and fixed to the small of their backs. She hoped Rainbow Dash would be easy to spot with her own sky blue wingspan. Unicorns, on the other hand, took a keener eye to spot. All carried on their person now some strange stick with something that looked like their horns attached to the end, not one the same length or color as the other. She wasn't sure if their magic yet functioned the same, but that wasn't her prime concern.

"Applejack, why're we wearin' our bedsheets?" Applebloom asked beside her, looking at her elder sister with a puzzled gaze.

"Ah... Ah dunno, really." Applejack confessed, her own wrapped tightly about her and tied off below her arms. "Jes' didn' feel proper goin' without somethin' to cover up."

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh agreed, as ever a stallion of few words unless the situation deemed it otherwise necessary.

"Looks like ev'ryone else is doin' the same." Applebloom muttered, a detail Applejack hadn't thought to pay too much attention to. Indeed, it seemed most of Ponyville's residents had garbed themselves in some manner, bedsheets, towels, table cloths, nothing was out of consideration. A few had been out and about in the nude, but little could be done about that, and Applejack constantly found herself averting her eyes when those situations arose.

"Oh my Gosh, I can't believe it, you guys too?"

Then, there was the one thing in Ponyville, in all of Equestria even, that would never change. Pinkie Pie, bouncing... hopping... skipping? That seemed like the right word, skipping at them from out of the crowd, and dressed in a way she'd never seen, though for whatever reason, she knew what to call what she was looking at. In fact, as the day went on, she seemed to pick up more and more on words and names of things that she hadn't used, even known, before, and actions and gestures that had been foreign had become second nature to the farm mare. She assumed Pinkie, dressed in blue overalls, pink and white sneakers, and a pastel-pink shirt with what could only have been her cutie mark embroidered on front and back, had the same experience. Bracelets and an elastic band dangled off what she'd heard others call her wrists, and yellow, balloon-shaped earrings from her ears. Even with the outfit, the strange body, however, she was the same hyperactive pony inside.

"Can you believe what's happened to everybody? It's totally amazing!"

"Er, don'cha mean 'everypony'...?" Applejack inquired, staring into her friend's blue eyes, which she would swear were as wide as they were when she was still walking on all fours.

"Nope. Dunno why, just kinda sounds better, doesn't it?" Pinkie shrugged, before running around behind them and, in a motion that should have been impossible in all of the second it took, had Applebloom on her shoulders and was already shoving she and Big Macintosh down the road. "C'mon, you gotta come to Carousel Boutique! Rarity's got this huge thing going where she's giving these neat clothes out to everyone in Ponyville! Now you don't have to run around naked! Though it's kinda fun to do that too."
"W, waitaminute there, Pinkie!" Applejack protested, digging her bare feet into the dirt road, only to find no purchase on it against her ecstatic friend's shoving. "Ain'cha even the least bit concerned 'bout all this?"

"Nope!" Pinkie said. "I mean everyone's okay, right? We just look funny! Might as well enjoy whatever this is while it lasts!"

Applejack frowned, finally leaning forward out of Pinkie Pie's pushing and taking to a walk, readjusting her bedsheets about her body a bit and frowning as they headed down the road.

"Ah hope that's all it is..."

Carousel Boutique was absolutely overrun. While half of Ponyville was wandering about clad in whatever they could scratch together in the streets, the other half had found its way to Rarity's doorstep. If not for the extreme assertiveness Pinkie Pie showed in getting them inside, the day would probably have come, gone and come again before they had even seen the welcome mat. Of course, if not for Big Macintosh's gentle natured words of apology to those the pink once-pony had practically blown out of their way, Applejack wasn't sure that a fight wouldn't have erupted from that.

"I need you to stitch these together, it's a gown, dear, not a blouse and skirt ensemble. H, hey! Not that fabric, the next roll!"

Applejack piqued a brow in intrigue, stepping forward and clutching her sheets tightly to her chest, wary of the shuffling feet that threatened to trap her loose wrappings and strip her of them. As they moved to the front of the crowd, the sound of barking orders became more apparent as Rarity sat at a drafting table, a pencil working furiously on scratch paper as she stole repeated glances at a violet and pink haired mare, her locks bent back into curls, and not far ahead of her at a station nearby, a handful of others were working on stitching, cutting, fitting and sizing lengths of cloth and different outfits. What had been a one-pony show before had turned into a work force belting out orders almost like an assembly line. Rarity had, of course, been dressed already, a white blouse studded with a line of aquamarine around the rim of the collar and down the seam in the center, black slacks and heels to match. Her face long and, for a moment, Applejack had mistook her porcelain-colored skin for the coat she'd had as a pony, pale as it was. She was tall and slender the same, certainly bigger than Applejack or Pinkie.

"Alright, Bonbon, take this design to the fitting station and Swiftstitch will see to your measurements. Will the next in line come up?" Rarity turned right after that, her eyes widening as she saw the Apple family moving forward, Pinkie Pie close behind. "Applejack, Applebloom, Big Macintosh, what are you wearing?"

"'S not like we had a lotta choice." Applejack said, her brow knitting together a bit as she folded her arms over her chest. "Sure looks's though ya've got yerself busy."

"Celestia help me, yes, I've had the good fortune of being sent some apprentices from one of the schools in Canterlot for the day though. Oh, hold on just a moment. Gossamer!" Rarity turned, watching a young, bespectacled male with a short, silver mane jog up from nearby, pointing to the drafting table. "Could you take over for me for a bit? I have another personal affair to handle."

"Certainly, Ms. Rarity." he said with a quick bow before turning and gesturing to the next in line to come forward, taking to the table and paper without hesitation.

"Wow, he's almost as uptight as you." Applejack quipped, allowing herself a grin as Rarity shot her a look.

"If you mean 'well-mannered', he is at the top of his class, and knows how to treat a lady. Come now, you three, I simply can't allow you to wander around like this for another second. We'll have you all fitted for something nice in no time." Rarity smiled, gesturing for them to follow her as she headed towards the door that led to the home portion of the boutique. "Oh, and Pinkie, thank you so much for bringing them in, that just leaves Twilight to be dealt with, whenever we get a hold of her."

"Oh, oh, I'll go get her!" Pinkie volunteered, raising her hand and waving it spastically in the air. Before Applejack had a second to comprehend just what happened, or Rarity time to object, Pinkie had taken off like a flash, literally jumping into the crowd.

"I swear, sometimes I don't know what possesses that girl." Rarity said with a sigh.

"I said I don't wanna wear this stuff!"

Applejack recognized that voice that brought pause to their whole party, and a sigh to Rarity's lips, more exasperated what came with Pinkie's abrupt departure.

"If you three could wait out here just a moment, I have to help Fluttershy." Rarity walked forward, rolling up her blouse sleeves to her elbows with a look of set determination. If Applejack didn't know any better, and she did, she'd have sworn Rarity was getting ready to get into a fight. Instead, as she opened the door, she watched a hand slip into the pocket of the slacks, drawing out one of those long-shafted sticks, at the end of it a white, horn-like tip, like Rarity's when she had still been a unicorn. Before she could any questions, Rarity had slipped inside and shut the door, the locks falling into place with a loud click.

"Rainbow Dash, you will stop acting like a child this instant and get dressed! I trusted Fluttershy to handle making your clothes because I hoped she could be gentle, but know you are notleaving this room until you are decent!"

"We never had to wear this junk when we were ponies, why now? What's it matter?"

"It's simple decency, dear, having all of this just... hanging out is so vulgar!"

"This stuff's way too baggy and loose, it'll slow me down! There's no way I'm gonna wear something that's gonna slow me down!"

The Apple siblings exchanged awkward glances as they listened in, their attention diverted to wonder at a pause.

"Because, Fluttershy, it's just... stupid!" she hollered, clearly at her patience's limit. "It's stupid, that's all it is, I'm not gonna wear this crap even if you made it!"

A pause that had not been one at all and had instead been Fluttershy's meek voice not projecting through the door.

"N, no, I appreciate it, but... I mean..."

A light, sobbing noise began to pick up.

"F, Fluttershy, I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"Now see what you've gone and done, being stubborn like that?" Rarity snapped, hurried footsteps making their way to their ears before quiet hushing.

"... Fine..." Rainbow's conceded with regret. "Fine, I'll wear it, just... Fluttershy, I didn't mean it..."

The sobbing began to ease.

"We're all stressed out, Rainbow Dash." Rarity said. "All of Equestria's changed overnight, literally, Heavens only knows what else is going on, and then there are these things we seem to know with it for... whatever reason. We're all a little high strung right now."

"... M'sorry..." Rainbow Dash's voice barely carried across the door. It was another few minutes after that, the voices had died down enough to where it was more of a mix of inaudible mumbling through the door. Finally, the knob turned, and Rarity opened the door with a weary smile, gesturing the family in.

"I apologize, it's been a rough day."

"Sure sounds like it." Applebloom said, tugging up her sheets a bit more.

"Everythin' okay now?" Applejack asked, turning her eyes to Fluttershy, sitting on the bed and dabbing her eyes with a quiet nod and faint smile. Even like this, she was meek, gentle, and delicate. Her body was slim, a bit shorter than Rarity, which, thus far, placed her as second tallest in their group, though with fair curves and a healthy pink color to her body, nothing in contrast to her mane, which now threatened to brush the floor. Her wings were visible, yellow feathered and tucked behind her back, tips reaching over the edge of the bed. They almost blended in with her outfit, a yellow gown with long bell-sleeves, a thick wrap of green around her waist, trimmed in pink, as were her collar, sleeves and the hem of her dress, with brown slippers all that covered her feet. Above her left ear, Applejack noticed with a bit of a smile, was a hairclip mimicking one of the three butterflies that had made up her cutie mark.

"I'm sorry if I caused any trouble, I just..."

"Oh, Fluttershy, don't be ridiculous." Rarity said with a reassuring smile as she walked to a rather elaborate vanity mirror, grasping a brush and deftly running it through her hair with practiced precision. "Things will settle down soon enough, I already can't thank you enough for putting together Rainbow Dash's clothes, you certainly helped me in this pinch."

"Where'd she get off ta anyway?" Applejack asked, her question answered all of a second later as a small figure walked around from a dressing blind, tugging down at a sky blue sleeveless top over a pair of blue jeans and black sneakers with blue streaks running across the sides. She was short and slender, anymore so and she'd have looked the part of a male. Her wings matched her shirt, and her rainbow colored mane stretched only just past her shoulders, raggedly cut bangs waving just over her eyebrows. She grasped a pair of goggles off of a nearby table they'd been sitting on and pulled them over her head, letting them dangle off her neck.

"Lookin' pretty good, RD." Applejack said with a smirk. "Sure fought over it though."

"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow Dash said dismissively, smirking at Applejack. "Just wait 'til you see what they've got in mind for you guys."

Applejack blinked, turning to Rarity, catching her with a broad smile on her lips.

"Well, I just knewsooner or later you'd all be coming in, so I took the liberty of preparing a few designs for all my friends and their families before everything got... well, crazy, this morning. I've already got the ones in mind, though, seeing you all now I suppose I can make a tweak to it here and there..."

"So couldn't ya've just had us these clothes made up already?" Applejack asked, her question catching the attention of her brother and sister.

"Well, I could have, if you wanted to run the risk of not being able to breathe for your blouse being too tight around the chest or swimming in extra fabric. I had to wait for you to come in and get your measurements." Rarity spared a look to Big Macintosh, raising an eyebrow as her smile shifted to a smirk. "I'm glad we waited on you, you certainly are living up to your name."

Big Macintosh only offered a smile in response.

"Oh, and what of your grandmother?"

"She's at home, sleepin'." Applebloom volunteered the information without so much as a thought.

"It was a bit much fer Granny Smith to take in at her age, we let 'er rest to catch up with it."

"Mm, well, we can't just wait then... I suppose I'll arrange something loose and more comfortable for her then and we'll sort out the fashion details later, but everyone has to have something by the morning. Anyhow, let's get started, the sooner we get you clothed the better. Fluttershy, could you handle Applebloom?"

"Wut's the rush?" Applejack asked, watching Rarity pull out a measuring tape and walk on over, taking her by the arm and guiding her off. Certainly, the clothes seemed important if she was going to lengths to avoid staring at people running around in the nude, but this made it sound almost like-

"Well when Princess Celestia herself sends you a task and a team to get it done, Applejack, generally you're expected to get it done."

... a royal decree.

"The princess's puttin' out this order ta Ponyville?" Applejack asked, bewildered.

"All of Equestria, Applejack." Rarity said as she settled around a corner behind her, a swift tug sending the sheet she'd been wearing flying across the room as she felt the tape wrap around her waist. "Everyone's undergone this change, and no one has a clue as to why."

"Everypony." Applejack corrected as the tape was moved and her arm was pulled out to her side.

Rarity made another measurement, quickly scribbling the two so far down onto a piece of paper. "Dear, Applejack, whatever we are now, we most certainly are not ponies. Now, inseam, please."

Applejack wasn't sure of just what to think about the situation being so serious that Princess Celestia would order everyone in Equestria to be clothed, but it had worked out. Within the hour, the Apple family stood with four new sets of clothes, one boxed to bring home to Granny Smith. Big Macintosh and Applebloom had gone on ahead back to Sweet Apple Acres as Applejack finished dressing herself in the foreign garb. The bra, which Rarity had to help her put on at first, she doubted she would ever get used to. She did feel unease ebb though as she dressed, and Rarity had done a fairly nice job, she had to confess. She fumbled with the buttons of a yellow and orange plaid shirt, rolling her shoulders a little as she adjusted to how it sat on her. She glanced down at the dark blue jeans and brown cowboy boots she'd put on before, reaching out blindly and grabbing a vest the same color as the boots and slipping it on over the shirt.

It's so strange... she thought, reaching blindly to a table and grabbing off of it a pair of gloves, rubbing her thumbs over them. Ah wouldn't've imagined halfa this yesterday when Ah was a pony, now Ah'm this... thang, and it just keeps comin' t' me. Ev'ryone- She paused her thoughts, squeezing her eyes shut, unsure if she should have chided herself for it or not, that she was even thinking that term. All'a Equestria's been changed... Jes' wut's goin' on?

"Applejack, have you finished dressing yourself?" Rarity asked, stepping around the privacy blinds and looking at her with a satisfied smile. "I must say, you wear that well. Maybe there is something to that rough farm look after all, with the right touches."
Applejack offered a weary smile, looking to the prissiest pony she knew as she leaned forward, propping her elbows up on her knees.

"Rarity, wut d'ya know about all'a this?" she said, her tone completely frank. "Y'said the princess herself has ya dressin' all'a Ponyville with that help in there."

"I wish I knew much more than that." Rarity said with a sigh, her arms folding over her chest. "I've made some observations myself, as I'm sure you've done the same, but I think we're all about in the same boat. I just had to send Fluttershy to the library, Twilight's been researching this fiasco since before dawn. It's even effected Spike."

"Spike?" Applejack blinked, rising up and slipping her gloves into her back pocket. "But he's a dragon."

"Was, yes, now he's a little... boy, I suppose is the word."

"Wut about Owlowiscious?"

"Still an owl. I had to double check and make sure Opal hadn't changed after I got word from Pinkie about it." Rarity's eyes widened as if a light turned on, and she turned, gesturing for Applejack to follow. "That reminds me, she stopped by your farm and got your hat. I made up one like it, just incase we wind up turning back." Rarity walked to a dress form in the corner, still a pony. On the head sat Applejack's original hat, worn a little around the edges with bits of fuzz and a few recognizable, small stains from work on the farm. On its flank, a new, slightly larger hat, looking near identical to its older counterpart, if not for a clip in the band, carefully crafted to look like her cutie mark. Applejack's smile grew as she put it on.

"Fits like a glove." she said, blinking a bit as she surprised herself with the word.

"Considering neither of us knew what gloves were 'til today, I'll take your word for it." Rarity said with a smile. "I still had my jewels, I just cut a ruby and amber to fit the shape of your old cutie mark."

"Still have yer magic then." Applejack said, her statement earning a nod as Rarity reached into her pocket, pulling out that stick with a mock-up of her horn on it, a wand, as it were.

"I woke with it on my pillow next to me this morning, I wasn't sure what to do with it at first. Honestly, it terrified me and I threw it out the window." She glanced over her shoulder, depositing her wand in her pocket again. "It came right back to me, however. I wasn't sure what to do 'til I threw this thing together."

"Guess whatever's happenin', at least we got our talents." Applejack said, reaching up and grasping one of her arms at the bicep, feeling muscle beneath the sleeve. "Sure is strange though."

"Well, we'll have to make the best of it." Rarity shrugged, smiling a bit as she started past Applejack. "Anyhow, it's been sometime now, I have to return to work. I can't shirk my duties forever, after all."

Applejack nodded, hooking her thumbs in her pockets. "Thank ya, Rarity, fer ev'rythin'."

"Of course, Applejack, what are friends for?" She smiled over her shoulder, Applejack following behind her. "Once I'm done here, we're planning on meeting at Twilight's. She's divulged herself completely to study on this, as I said, so we're hoping she has some answers."

"Or maybe the princess'll drop her a line." Applejack said, watching Rarity nod.

"Of course, before I go I'll need to make up a new outfit, I wouldn't dare set foot outside the shop in this."

Applejack blinked, staring at her with some bewilderment. "Ya got clothes and ya look fine, why fuss?"

Rarity reached up, tossing her hair back with a flick of her wrist and a smile. "Oh, Applejack, I threw this old thing together for work. It's important a lady keeps herself looking her finest at all times."

"Jes' sounds like more've yer nitpickin'." Applejack said with a grin as they re-entered the shop, which looked even more crowded than before, if that was possible. She watched Rarity's smile turn to a smirk as she walked to the drafting table where Gossamer was sketching furiously at a design for what looked to be Cheerilee.

"Perhaps, but I do it sowell."

It was dusk before Rainbow Dash came to get Applejack from the farm, the day's work completed and her new clothes a sweaty, dirt-splotched mess. It had quickly grown apparent to her family they'd need more than just a single set of clothes for their work, and it was more than likely they weren't the only ones.

"Think she's gonna get upset?" Rainbow asked as they approached the library door, pushing it open and stepping through the threshold with her companion.

"Good Heavens, just whathave you been doing?" Rarity exclaimed before either of the two had ever a chance to even lock eyes on her.

"Hope that t'weren't a serious question." Applejack and Rainbow Dash watched Rarity approach, and true to her word, in a completely different outfit than before, wearing another, finer looking white blouse with the sleeves rolled up past the elbows, a black and violet corset and belt, black skirt with violet trim, pantyhose and ankle boots. Applejack had to shake her head at how quickly the words came to her, in the process eying a garter around one of her thighs where the skirt had a slit run up the side, and in the garter her horned wand, while a silver chain dangled around her chest with a diamond, cut like her cutie mark had been. "How'd ya find time fer this?"

"There is alwaystime for fashion, Applejack." Rarity said, taking a hold of her shirt with no regard for the fact that she tugged the blonde up onto her toes. "How's a woman to keep up appearances when she's slogging about in the mud and trees all day? Honestly, Applejack, it's not as if it's like washing your coat, what if the stain doesn't come out?"

"Then Ah got a work shirt, big deal." Applejack said, grabbing Rarity's hands by the wrists with a frown. "If it's such a big whoop make somethin' fer gettin' dirty in, Ah got a job to do and can't jes' wait on all'a this ta blow over. Shoot, Ah know Rainbow Dash's still gotta handle the weather."

Rarity looked incredulous, but resigning to the fact. She sighed, pulling her hands free of Applejacks and dusting them off. "I suppose you may have a point. We still haven't finished our work at the boutique, either... Oh, I can't imagine what it must be like in Manehatten, or Canterlot right now."

"The sooner we figure out what's goin' on here the sooner we can stop worrying about it." Rainbow Dash said, walking past the two. "C'mon, I wanna get this over with."

Applejack and Rarity were shortly behind the rainbow-maned girl, following her up the stairs to the second floor of the hollowed out tree, where the others sat waiting on the floor.

"Oh, Rarity!" Spike exclaimed, leaping up from where he'd been sitting and walking quickly over to the three. "Applejack showed up finally, huh?"

"Yes, well, we do all still have our work." Rarity said, passing a quick smile to the blonde before heading to the pillow she'd had laid out. Applejack watched Spike with a grin, a little boy that was only standing just past her waist level, dressed in a violet hoodie, green shorts, and violet and green shoe. His hair and eyes were, again, green, no doubt Rarity had stuck with the theme when designing the clothes, and his hair was short, save three spikes of hair fashioned up and pointing back atop his head.
"Like a lil' lost pup." Applejack said under her breath, Rainbow Dash snickering in amusement. Applejack took a look around the room, noticing just how torn apart it was. Half the books were off of their shelves, and half of those sat open and marked. She found Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy sitting together, Pinkie gabbing on in her usual manner about something or other that she wasn't even going to try and figure out, and Fluttershy simply smiling and nodding with Angel, her rabbit, sitting in her lap. Twilight Sparkle, however, was nowhere in sight. She opened her mouth to speak, to ask just where the sixth of their band was.

"Aaauuugh, this is hopeless!" a frustrated, familiar voice exclaimed with exasperation. Applejack looked up to the sleeping area of the room, and from behind a wall of novels, references and scrolls, Twilight strode, holding four books underarm as another easy dozen floated behind her, wrapped in the familiar magenta hue of her magic. Her hair was long, down past her waist, and cut even at the bangs and ends with the kind of neatness, or perhaps high maintenance, that she'd come to know the once-unicorn for. Her outfit was by far the most decorated, something she perhaps would have expected a student from Celestia's school of magic to wear. Black gloves covered the length of her arms just below her armpits, the pinky and ring fingers cut off of them as her thumb, middle and index gripped her wand, a cut of function over fashion there. Her blouse was high-collared and elaborate, lavender colored, the same as her coat had been, and layered from the neck down to the shirt in black, gold, dark blue and violet, as if to match her namesake. Her cutie mark had even been embroidered on the black part of the collar, a personal touch that made it hers. A dark blue skirt fell halfway to her ankles from her knees, embroidered with gold trim up the sides where the stitching had been done and alone the base, black socks and brown dress shoes completing the outfit.

"Ah didn' think ya'd go that far with hers after seein' Spike's." Applejack said, taking a seat beside Rarity.

"I had something simpler in mind, but it came with the orders from the princess, there was a template for students of her school, I just thought to, you know, personalize it for her a bit." Rarity shrugged, closing her eyes. "I offered her the other design I came up with as well, but Twilight insisted she felt more comfortable in that and that I worry about my shop first."

"Guess Ah get it... Ah think." Applejack wouldn't claim to try and understand the thought process behind it, at least she was dressed.

"I've torn this library apart." Twilight said in exasperation, flicking her wand down, causing all the books to fall into neat stacks as she spun about, sitting cross-legged on a pillow. "I've gone through illnesses, viruses, diseases, transformations, transmogrifications, alchemy, illusions, biology, physiology, astronomy, astrology, teleportation, artifacts, dimensional time and space theories, old mare's tales, fairy tales, and the tabloids in the newspaper next to politics! There's nothingon this condition!" Twilight leaned back, allowing herself to sprawl out on the floor and heave a weary sigh.

"Seriously, even an egghead like you couldn't figure it out?" Rainbow Dash enquired, some amazement in her tone.

"Maybe it's somethin' else." Applejack looked to Pinkie Pie, raising an eyebrow. "Thinkin' of, it's been a while, anythin' outta yer Pinkie Sense?"

"Well I caught Gummy in Mrs. Cake's dishes today, but other than that not really."

There was silence for a moment after that, the seven in the room pondering amongst themselves just what their next course of action would be. It seemed to drag on forever, before the meekest of their lot spoke up.
"Um... if you don't mind..." Fluttershy said, her legs bent up, tucked close to her chest. "Maybe we should bring up what we know... and, um..."

"... Maybe it can give us an idea of where to go next!" Rarity said, clapping her hands together with a smile. "Fluttershy, that sounds like a splendid idea!" The former-pegasus shrank a little under the compliment, contrary to the broader smile she hid behind her sleeve. "So, what dowe know about this situation then?"

"Fer starters, looks like ponies of all kinds were affected." Applejack said, raising a finger up. "But judgin' by the wings an' those... wand-things, y'all keep yer natural abilities."

"True, my magic doesn't seem like it's been diminished in any way." Twilight said, pushing herself up on her hands and drawing her wand out. "I had no trouble casting any of my spells once I figured out how to move in this form, Spike still was even able to send off a letter to the princess. I'm still waiting on a response though."

"Dragons are changed too, on that note, Spike at the very least, but nothing else in Ponyville seems to've been." Rarity said, looking to Rainbow Dash. "Dear, you were flying about today, what of the gryphons?"

Rainbow Dash sniffed derisively, folding her arms across her chest. "And what makes me the expert?"

"Simply asking, dear, I didn't know if you had seen any... Heavens, I hope Zecora's alright."

Applejack didn't even have to guess why Rainbow Dash went on the defensive so quickly. It was a little spoken of matter, but since the day Gilda had shown herself, and her tail, to all of Ponyville and broken off with her old friend, it only made sense for a girl as rough around the edges as her to be quick to snap. "Alright, so what else've we got?"

"Well, sounds like all of Equestria's been changed by this." Spike said, his hands in his sweater pockets as he stood by Twilight. "At least, if the princess is sending out help to make something like clothes..."

"No, you're right, Spike." Rarity said. "I've discussed it with a couple of the others at my shop, but this is effecting everyone." Rarity's head turned as a knock echoed from downstairs, the rest of their heads following the motion in suit.

"I'll get it." Spike said, turning and heading to the steps. Applejack smiled to the boy before looking back among the other girls.

"There's no way this could be Discord or somethin' like that again, could it? Ah mean he was jes' petrified, may'a shook loose of it."

"Oh, do you think he'd do the thing with the chocolate rain again?" Pinkie exclaimed, rolling forward on her knees, only to quickly be tugged back onto her bottom by her overalls thanks to Rainbow Dash.

"If it was him, by now Angel would probably be fifty feet tall and juggling cows." Rainbow Dash said, trading a smirk off with a harsh look from the white rabbit. "I think we packed that sorry sucker away for good."

"Though now I'm wondering if it's something the Elements of Harmony could do something about." Twilight said, cupping her chin in thought.

"I'm afraid not, Twilight Sparkle."

Applejack knew that voice. They all knew that voice. In an instant they were on their feet, turning to behold Princess Celestia ascended the stairs. In the same haste that they rose, the six in the room prostrated themselves before her, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie going to one knee, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash to both, bending over and bringing their heads to the floor. The realization of their difference gestures a second after made for an awkward pause between them.

"Rise, my subjects, I come with important news." The princess said, planting a golden staff's base against the floor, cut with artistically rendered lines and bearing the image of a huddled phoenix below where a horn sat, appearing more like a spear by its mounting. Her wings were by far the largest of anyone's in the room, only faintly pink. Her hair fell only just short of the floor, the gradient of colors still waving as if in a breeze as when she was an alicorn. Her manner of dress was, if nothing else, regal, a white silk, backless gown covering the length of her body. On her legs, greaves, gauntlets on her arms, a thick collar about her neck and a crown atop her head, and a chain belt about her waist, suspending a sun crafted to resemble her cutie mark, all of it in gold, forged and shaped with the same care and designs that her staff bore. To make matters more amazing, she towered over the lot of them, easily near seven feet tall, as if to emphasize her status as not only the unquestioned ruler of their land, but a near, if not complete, goddess among them.

"Princess, we were just meeting to discuss this strange transformation." Twilight said, stepping forward, closer to Celestia than any of them would dare to get. Applejack was reminded of just how close her relationship with the princess was, not only in the manner of student and teacher relations, but in some ways with the affection that was displayed between a mother and child. "I'm not sure if you heard, but we were gathering up what we knew about this, and..."
"It doesn't amount to much, does it?" Celestia said, earning a solemn nod from her pupil. She turned her head, gazing about the room, before looking to Twilight with a warm smile. "Ever the dedicated researcher, I see. I'd like to hear your report on just what you've discovered... What you've all discovered."

What they knew was divulged quickly, personal experiences with the matter shared amongst the whole of the group as Princess Celestia listened in silence, offering only nods or speaking to beckon the next in line to tell their tale. It had taken some time to get through them all, but they did, and the princess looked satisfied with what she had heard.

"I understand that this has been a trying day for all of us, indeed, it has been for all of Equestria." The princess brought her staff in, leaning it against her shoulder. "It's not just ponies and dragons. Zebras, the buffalo, the gryphons, all sentient races in Equestria have been changed by this. It doesn't seem that our hearts or minds have changed, and those with wings, or with the ability to use magic have certainly retained that. However, I'm not entirely sure that these changes will be the only things to come of this."

"Princess Celestia, what do you mean?" Rarity asked. "While I'm certainly more fond of being a pony, I'm not entirely sure this is anything utterly catastrophic."

"I wish I could share that sentiment so easily, my child." Princess Celestia said, closing her eyes. "I have ruled Equestria for centuries, and never have I encountered something like this. There is a faint trace of magic around it, I can sense that much, as can my sister, Luna. What kind, though, I cannot say. It's unlike anything that either of us have ever dealt with before, and its power is great, perhaps on par with or even surpassing Discord's own."

"Greater'n Discord's power?" Applejack said, concern visible on her face. "The guy had homes fallin' over like playin' cards, an' that was before we had the elements workin' again. Wut'll we do if they can't help us in this mess?"

"The Elements of Harmony, Applejack, were created to restore peace and balance." Princess Celestia said, closing her eyes. "They are an incredibly powerful tool that will grant their chosen bearers the strength to restore order by whatever means the power deems necessary. Right now, things are certainly chaotic, but not out of hand. Whatever our new forms, they've come to us with the knowledge of what they are and what we can expect of them, and while the power of this change is unparalleled by anything I have seen in all of my years, it has, so far, not proven malevolent. For now we'll simply have to tolerate this and see what comes of it, and hopefully discover a way to return to our original forms."

Applejack nodded in understanding, looking to the other girls, who had seemed to accept the words of their princess, except for Pinkie Pie, whose attention was completely elsewhere.

"Uh, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked, reaching over and tapping her on the shoulder. "Ya here with us?"

"Well, duh, I'm sitting right here." Pinkie said, again exercising her unusual knack for missing the point. "There's a funny looking cat in the window though."

The room's attention turned to the window, where a black cat sat perched on the sill outside, gazing on them with green eyes. As its ear flicked, a glint of gold was visible, which Applejack had to take a moment to process.

"My word, are its ears pierced?" Rarity said, standing up and walking towards the window, a mixture of sympathy and irritation visible in her face. "Who would do such a thing to a poor creature like that?"

Just as Rarity came close to the window, the cat rose, arching its back and bristling its fur with a hiss. Turning on its paws, it leapt off the sill, and out of sight.

"Oh dear!" Fluttershy exclaimed, lifting off of the floor and making it to the window with a quick couple flaps of her wings, coming right up behind Rarity. She threw the window open, looking down and around. "Oh, where'd it go? That poor kitty couldn't have jumped all the way from the second story, could it?"

Applejack rose, walking up to Rarity alongside Twilight, taking note of a puzzled expression on her face.

"Rarity, what's the matter?" Twilight asked, touching her gently on the shoulder.

"I... oh, maybe the work today's getting to me..."

"Go on, tell us." Applejack said, pushing the matter with a piqued brow.

"I... could have sworn that cat had two tails."

"Yeah, maybe you really didfry your brain today." Rainbow Dash said from behind them, looking to Fluttershy, whose head was now cocked up to the sky as opposed to the ground. "Fluttershy?"

"Someone's launching fireworks." she said, the words enough to bring the whole room to the window. The fireworks were beautiful, but strange, as blue and red lights fired across the evening sky against the light from the moon, keeping to a rather monotonous pattern.

It was then that a sweeping darkness overtook the lights from a place they had been heavily concentrated, resembling stars and engulfing them in their entirety before the lights began to repopulate.

"That was Luna!" Celestia exclaimed, urgency in her voice. "Something's attacking her!"

"Attacking the princess?" Twilight asked, bewildered by the thought. "Who would do something so insane?"

"I dunno, but they're gonna get their tail kicked I bet!" Rainbow Dash said with confidence to spare.

"I'm not waiting for that to happen." Princess Celestia said, the glow of her own magic lighting up from her horned staff and spreading over her body as she walked towards the balcony doors. "I trust in Luna's abilities, but whoever's doing this..."
"... It's similar to the magic you were talking about, isn't it, Princess?" Twilight asked. Her only confirmation was a glance from the princess, all she needed as she broke into a run and leapt off the balcony, taking off with speed comparable to Rainbow Dash's with the aid of her magic propelling her further off of each wing beat. Twilight stared after her a moment, before looking to the others.

"Let's hope that the balloon can still carry us, we're going too!"

Princess Luna had never encountered anything like this. In the earliest days of Equestria, when Discord ruled and she and her sister battled the lord of chaos and disorder, she had faced life-threatening dangers alongside Celestia, both from the elements unrestrained by his own brand of madness, and from the powers of the mad draconequus himself. Although hazy, her memories as Nightmare Moon, a thousand years past and present, never yielded a battle like this, against the royal guards, her sister, the Elements of Harmony, this creature she fought left her reeling with its strange tactics. The attacks were not powerful, but endless in number. Her phantasmal hair clung to her face in places drenched with sweat, her eyes glowing with the power of her magic, and wings singed from grazing the array of attacks. The midnight blue and black-trimmed gown that had been commissioned for her was in tatters, the sash tied around her waist and with her cutie mark embroidered in it hanging by a few thin strips of cloth. Her gauntlets, boots, collar, crown and staff were black steel, all designed to mirror her sister's wear while emphasizing her status as the lady of the night. The only offset in the staff's design was the moon replacing the mounted phoenix, a moon swirling with the magic of the night as she tore through the sky, weaving in and out of the rapid fire shots.

She flipped in the air as the creature's familiar, a child in red dress and green cap sporting cat ears and two tails, came at her, flipping rapidly through the air. A quick beat of her wings put her off to the side, out of the way as the child stopped in the air and unleashed an array of magical bolts before coming at her again.

"Enough of this!"Luna bellowed, her voice thundering through the air as she brought her staff back around and swung at the child with the full force of her might behind it, engulfing her in celestial magic before blowing her across the sky, through the shots her mistress had been attempting to strike her down with, straight at her.

"Chen!" the woman cried, abandoning her assault and vanishing in a flash, catching the child in mid-flight and retreating a ways back, the first break Luna had in the action since she'd gone out to raise the moon for the evening. She took that time to collect herself, to better evaluate the opponent she faced. A woman with blonde hair, tall, with a cap pointed on two sides. If she were to judge by the nine golden tails sprouting from her backside and the similarities with the cat child, then they must have been the ears of a fox beneath that cover. A white robe with blue-cuffed bell sleeves, a blue tabard with some foreign dialect embroidered upon it, and white boots with blue cuffs covered her body, not necessarily a strong looking form, but then, with magic, one's physical body rarely counted against the raw power within, and this fox woman had more than her lion's share of that.

"Lady Ran, I'm sorry..." The child, Chen, said, clearly in pain as she brought a hand where Luna had struck her.

"None of that, Chen..." Ran said, a rising anger in her voice. "As your master, I'm responsible for this, I called you to my aid." She released the girl gingerly, ensuring she could fly before turning her attention back to the princess. "Stay back, I'm going to use my last spell card."

Spell cards, Luna had already become familiar with, were elaborate, trap-filled attacks designed to throw off the target and catch them anywhere blind, or overwhelm them by the sheer number of the shots. The first of her cards had been what had done the bulk of the damage, something about twelve general gods or other, she couldn't be bothered to remember the details. This one she mentioned with such weight in her words, she could only assume it to be the best of her arsenal. The child beside her began to descend to the ground below, leaving the princess and the fox to their business.

From within her sleeve, Ran pulled out a piece of paper, on it scrawled a multitude of symbols and signs. Luna rose her staff, exercising patience as opposed to rushing the card, some had very sudden and explosive releases of power from the start. Ran brought the card before her eyes, seeming to channel her own magic into it before crushing it in her grip, the creature's eyes beginning to glow as she brought her arms together, tucking her hands in her sleeves and, with almost a hop in the air, took to sitting cross-legged as her tails splayed themselves out, and an aura of power emerged around her body.

"Illusion God, "Descent of Izuna Gongen"!"

No sooner than the words had left her lips did the attack begin, spraying an array of mystic bullets a full three-hundred and sixty degrees around her body in a progressing wave. Luna ascended, drawing her staff back and swinging down at the fox woman. From there it seemed that the night worked for her, darkness creeping out from the evening air in ethereal strands and assaulting the onslaught. Many of the shots were knocked away, several slipping through towards her. One pass of the bullets, then two, nothing of major concern seemed to be coming of the attack yet. However, as Luna was preparing to close the gap and draw her into close quarters, on the third wave, the spell strengthened. Massive red spheres, half as tall as she easily, tore through her ether and cleared the path for the onslaught before it. Luna brought her free hand forward, concentrating her spells around her body, forcing the shots to deflect off a hastily erected barrier. If she was to have any hope of success, she needed to break the fox's focus on the card.

These spells seem to be elaborate nonsense, but they certainly do their jobs. Luna spun her staff in hand before beating her wings and diving at the fox. If she were to focus all of this power into dedicated attacks rather than this spray fire magic, I fear I'd be in for a more bothersome battle.Luna didn't even know if the fox was aware of that logic herself, but she'd not give the opportunity for her to become. As she drew in close, she thrust her staff forward, the horn tip piercing her barrier and absorbing the magic. Already another new wave of bullets, smaller and greater in number, came at her, and at the core of the attack she could see what resembled the makings of a fifth wave forming. She'd not allow that to come to fruition. In a decisive stroke, Luna shouted furiously and swung her staff out, unleashing raw, cosmic energy that fell as if shooting stars, piercing through the shots and raining down on her foe and all below her. If this was the full scope of her abilities, or the maximum of what she'd be willing to use, Luna would not waste anymore time. Each shot weaved and bolted at the fox from a different angle, taking at her from all sides, and each faux star came down to earth and exploded, not one striking her as she continued to focus on the attack, and yet somehow maintained the level of consciousness of her surroundings to evade injury. Every missed shot fell to the earth below, levelling whatever part of the open field it touched for yards around it.

"Lady Ran!"

Nothing was exempt from where she laid down fire, including the child now weaving between the blows, several times already only scarcely escaping them. What the assault failed to do directly, the cry of the woman's underling seemed to do thoroughly. Ran's eyes shot open just as Luna drew close, her staff reared back, horn poised to run through her torso before the fox flipped away, smacking Luna in the face with her tails and blinding her briefly as she reached up and wiped her face. It took a few seconds, but she managed to recompose herself, now hovering alone in the silent sky as the remainder of her own starry assault laid siege below. She locked eyes on the figure of the fox, just as she gathered up the cat-eared child and ascended, weaving through the last of the blasts and into the safety of the air.

"How dareyou assault my shikigami like that!" Ran hissed as fury seethed in her eyes.

"How dare I? Says the craven who assaults me as I raise the moon, and then grievously wounds my guard, I say that little smack I gave your alley cat is more lenient than what her mistress' actions have wrought!"

"She's no more than a child!"

"Aye, a little hellspawn that one, takes right after her mistress!" Luna was prepared to say more, prepared to do more, but stopped as Ran's expression grew far more serious. Luna's focus on the two broke as Ran began to hover back.

"You needn't worry yourself, sister." Luna said, addressing Celestia as she hovered behind her, overshadowed by her by two heads height. "I am capable of disciplining lower beasts who know naught but insolence."

"Be that as it may, little sister, they were making you push." she said. Luna felt fingers brush gently over her shoulder, forcing herself to keep from cringing away in some pain. "Nevermind that I couldn't simply let my only sister stand without my support."

Luna let slip a faint smile before fixing her focus once again. "These are not beings of Equestria, sister, they employ some other magic and are capable of shifting form between animal and... this, at will."

"You've witnessed this power?"

"In the small one, yes, just moments before you arrived." She watched Celestia fly forward, just a bit to stand beside her, glancing out the corner of her eyes to see a grave expression on her face.

"Then you sound as though you may have answers to questions a great many of my subjects have right now." Celestia said flatly, the glow of magic wrapping around her staff, shining with the same brilliant radiance as the sun she rose and set every day. "Luna, I ask that you rest now and leave the rest to me."

"Sister-"

"Luna, please." Celestia said, her tone initially firm, before she turned full to face her, prepared to challenge and stand her ground, before seeing the concern in her elder sister's eyes mixed with the stone visage she had donned at the fox. "You have fought bravely tonight, there is certainly no question of your capability to handle yourself in my mind. I simply ask that you share this burden with me, my sister."

It was more than that, she could tell. Celestia could be hard, she had all the potential, knowledge, and years of experience to put on a face that would give pause to even the most dread of her foes, but Luna also knew her heart better than anyone else, and just how deep things ran, the regrets she carried, even when Luna knew certain things were in no way anything she ought to have shouldered any blame for.

"... I'll concede, Celestia." she said, wearing a faint smile for her. She could see one of the elder princess' own make a quick tug at her lips before falling back into focus. Luna drifted back a little bit.

"You will be brought to court in Canterlot to be tried for your crimes, and the attempt on Princess Luna's life." Celestia said, her eyes going alight for a moment before returning to normal. "My guards will be here shortly. Until then, I would suggest that the best thing in you and your companion's interests be cooperation, as I willbe overseeing the trial personally."

"Her Highness may just be mixing business with pleasure." Ran said, her tone sparing no amusement or jest, strictly curt and to the point.

"Perhaps, but you will be given a fair and impartial trial. Consider yourself fortunate I don't fancy myself a tyrant, I could very easily have terrible things fall upon your shoulders."

Luna glanced over her shoulders, seeing a silhouette closing in from afar. She had to squint to make it out, focusing on it rather than the continued talk of procedure and consequence between Celestia and the fox woman. There were two winged figures flying ahead of a much larger object, towing it in fact, through the air. Luna was a fair deal baffled for a moment before she saw the colors of a rainbow colored mane coming into focus alongside one of a powdery pink color. Right away, she identified the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, her saviors, and as recently as the last Nightmare Night, a few among them her newfound friends, the others she hoped to meet more personally someday. Perhaps after all was said and done with the bizarre events where the fox and cat were involved, she could rectify that.

Luna looked forward, refocusing her attention on the two creatures, trying to catch onto the conversation where she had abandoned it in her mind, before eying the cat. While her mistress' face was set in stone as Celestia spoke to her, the child's eyes had wandered. She could only wonder where to, considering they were hundreds of feet in the air over an open, now pock-marked field. Luna's own gaze turned up, her eyes widening at the sight. Poised directly above Celestia was some strange hole in the sky, pinched at two ends with ribbon, with countless eyes staring down from within. She thought for a moment she could make out a silhouette, instead watching as dozens of lights, half red and half blue, began to glow from within.

"Celestia!" Luna cried, beating her wings and soaring the short distance between them in an instant, slamming into her and knocking her aside as the piercing sound of the assault shot through the air. Gathering as much of her own magic as she could, she rose her staff overhead to block the sudden attack, a veil of darkness and stars beginning to bleed over her in the shape of a shell. It was a futile gesture ultimately. The attack struck, knocking her down briefly before the barrier buckled, over a dozen beam strikes slamming into her and sending her careening to the earth below. With a thunderous crash ringing in her ears, the world faded to black.

"Luna, no!"the princess hovering a short ways from her shrieked, all of that royal composure straight out the window. Ran had bid her time as best she could, and it paid off. Wasting no time on words, she tore off towards the gap in the sky, the attacks ceased and giving her what she needed to see that she and Chen were given passage home. This mission had ended in failure, and though she would already have to make that report if her mistress insisted on it, the priority was to tend to their wounds. They entered the gap, and it snapped shut, not a moment too soon. Just before entry, the air had been rapidly growing thick with the energy from the winged princess. She was certain she had done something, but had no idea what.

The only thing that mattered as she was home, standing outside of a large and beautiful Japanese house. Indeed, it was as much as her mistress deserved for the years she had maintained order, maintained the barrier that allowed their world to exist and gave youkai such as she and Chen a chance, at a time when the true world beyond its borders had grown increasingly adept at running their kind off, exterminating them with prejudice, and upsetting the supernatural balance of power that had been in place for millenia.

"Lady Yukari!" Ran called, her ears pricked up beneath her hat to listen for her mistress' voice. Nothing. She heaved a sigh, looking to Chen, fallen unconscious in her arms from exhaustion, and between her injuries and the events of their trip, she could hardly blame the little cat. She had asked much of her shikigami, and Chen delivered in full.

"Yes, she has." she heard a voice from behind say, turning slowly and bowing at the waist as much as the child in her arms would allow. A blonde woman had appeared, dressed in a white gown with flared out sleeves, a violet tabard embroidered with the image of a violet and yellow yin-yang, among other symbols, leather heeled boots, and a white, frilled cap with a ribbon tied into a large bow on the front, other smaller ribbons hanging off of various groupings of her long hair. "Enough of that, Ran, you did well today. Let's put Chen to bed now, and call over that doctor from Eientei for the both of you."

Ran rose, allowing Yukari to start ahead of her, following behind her and to the left, her expression stoic and her voice silent. They walked along the outer corridors of the household, passing room after room for a few moments of quiet.
"You can speak, Ran. I'm not going to pry into my shikigami's mind every time something's wrong, I respect you that much."

Ran detected the hint of humor in her mistress' voice, something that brought a bleak smile to her face before she closed her eyes, her ears lying flat. "I failed in my mission to defeat the lunar princess, Lady Yukari. I've shamed you, that you've had to go out of your way to rescue us."

"Are you saying you would rather I have let you and Chen be captive, likely executed, by the sisters?" Yukari asked, glancing over her shoulder briefly, before looking forward. Silence again until they stopped, the youkai's mistress opening a sliding door and entering the room. "This was my idea anyways, Ran, you have nothing to apologize to me for."

Ran offered a cautious nod in response as she followed Yukari in, kneeling down by a wall and setting Chen gently up against it. She rose, heading to a closet nearby to begin laying out her shikigami's futon.

"A world like that... What made you choose it, Lady Yukari?"

"My, my," Yukari responded in her usual manner, one Ran had become familiar with whenever she had heard something interesting, or was preparing to dodge questions. "where does this question come from?"

"Curiousity, Lady Yukari." Ran said straight-forwardly, ever the pointed one. "I mean no disrespect, but this seems a bit much over a show off of that box that the Moriya shrine maiden was speaking of."

"I personally think the television was a wonderful addition to the home, and Rinnosuke had no trouble parting with it for the proper price." Yukari said. "And we'd never see such interesting creatures in Gensokyo, you said it yourself."

"Lady Yukari, I mean no disrespect, but you know as well as I that for something to physically exist within Gensokyo's borders, it had to have lived and been regarded as fantasy outside of the border the same."Yes, Ran remembered all too well saying those words, she regretted them a bit, they had spurred Yukari to pursue the interest. As she straightened the futon on the floor, she returned to the closet, grabbing night clothes from within before she walked over to Chen, removing her cap and beginning to undress her.

"Is this something along the lines of when you challenged the vampire household to head to the moon against the Watatsuki sisters?"

"Perhaps." Yukari said.

Ran looked to Yukari a moment as she pulled a nightgown on over Chen's head. "May I at least ask why choose a world so difficult to accommodate? You had to alter so many borders to make it as it was."

"Yes, the Border of Man and Beast to change their forms, of Knowledge and Ignorance so they knew just what they were doing with them, and then there was Time and Space to allow you two to travel, and Comprehension and Confusion so you could speak... At least, I'm fairly certain they didn't speak Japanese."

"Lady Yukari-"

"In fact, thinking of all of that, I believe that I'll take a nap myself... I imagine by the time I awaken, Chen and your wounds should be healed. We can try again shortly after that."

"Yes, Lady Yukari." Ran said with practiced precision and a sigh to follow as she scooped her shikigami into her arms, walking over to her futon and lying her in it. The light in the room dimmed as the sliding door shut with Yukari's exit. Her mistress had entirely evaded her questions with the practiced mannerisms that in the last several centuries Ran had come to know so well. It could be frustrating, at times, she acknowledged that much. Sometimes it seemed like the great youkai she served, responsible with the original Hakurei shrine maiden for the creation of the barrier that isolated their world from the rest, had been losing her marbles. Time and again however, she had proven to act with eccentric brilliance that had left her foes guessing just as much as her allies.
This isn't over. Ran thought to herself, reaching down and brushing Chen's bangs out of her face. She leaned over, planting a kiss on her forehead before rising and exiting the room. She walked to the edge of the open-air corridor and stepped off, taking to the air in the direction of the bamboo forest that housed the residents of Eientei, to include the princess, rabbit and doctor from their own moon, the latter of whom she hoped would be fast to tend to their injuries. We'll return to Equestria, and Lady Yukari will undoubtedly have something else up her sleeve. I need only trust in my mistress.