....The More They Stay The Same

Chapters

The Mission
Training Day
Fight Drags On
Fighting's a Drag
Dragend

The Mission

The group of four (presumably five) visitors sat in a line on their haunches while Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance stood before them. Not too long ago, they were telling their stories over a masterpiece of a cake. The remnants of such has since been wheeled away. "Tell me something," Celestia starts. "Is there a name you five prefer? A unifying title? A group name?"

"Well," Bobbi says to her, "sometimes we are referred to as Crystal Warriors. But we're not real high profile or anything."

"Well, the rest of us are not," Amanda interjects. "You seem to have gained a certain media following."

"Kind of hard not to when I glow in the dark like a comet," Bobbi retorts. But, her attention returns to the royalty with an apologetic nod.

Celestia nods as well. "I have a mission that I need someone to take care of. I regret asking visitors, but I feel my options are getting limited."

"What about your little SWAT team?" Casie asks.

"SWAT team?" Cadance wonders.

"Ya know like Twilight Sparkle and the others? They all seem pretty familiar with you. I figured that they were some problem-solving types."

Celestia just solemnly shakes her head to either side for a moment. "I'm afraid that isn't an option at the moment. "While Twilight and her companions have been a great asset to us, I'm afraid that I must reserve them for something else. Besides that, I believe that your quarry for this followed you here. If not, at least came from your world."

"You want us," Amanda says with a sigh, "to go after Nolan."

"He troubles us," Luna notes. "There is something We do not like about him."

"There is something I noticed," Kat notes from somewhere. "There is a definite overabundance of mares wherever I go. Females outnumber the males greatly. But I have to ask: have any of you noticed mares being more... happy than usual?"

"There have been a few in the Crystal Empire," Cadance replies. "While most are usually in a good mood, there are a few that I sometimes worry about. And then, suddenly they're all glowing!! Kind of strange, actually."

Amanda and the others exchange a few glances with distasteful twists of their mouths. "He's already started," Amanda groans.

"It would be a great deal easier here," Casie adds. "Less clothing to go through."

"Yeah," Tonya quips. "Everyone's already naked around here!"

To this, the other three (presumably four) give her a few odd glances. She just shrugs while smirking. "It's true!!"

"I think she was adopted," Casie remarks. But, she quickly realizes that it was a particulary rude comment, given the circumstances. Her ears perk up and her eyes widen quickly while "uh, I mean--!!" She looks over and finds that Tonya has laid down with a crestfallen expression.

"Casie," Kat snarls quietly close to her ear. "If you ever say that again--and I don't care how hard you can make yourself, I WILL kick your ass."

"I'm sorry, Tonya!!" Casie says heartily. "I didn't mean that!!"

"'S okay..." she returns quietly.

Cadance may not know what just happened, but she can tell that one of them has been hurt. She casually walks over to the end of the line where she's lying and lays beside her, rubbing her side against Tonya. She rolls slightly to free her wing and hangs it over her. For a moment, she puts her head to Tonya's.

"We are sorry," Luna tells them. "We're not sure what all this means."

"It means," Bobbi answers, "that Nolan has been getting busy with your subjects."

"Busy?" Cadance wonders.

"I could draw you a picture!" Kat remarks enthusiastically.

"Oh," Cadance says simply while looking away a little nervously. "I see."

Celestia shakes her head a little, perhaps to shake the thought from her head. "He's been getting around. Canterlot. The Crystal Empire. Fillydelphia. San Fransiscolt. I knew there was something I didn't like. I ask that you investigate him for me."

"Pardon me," Bobbi asks. "I don't mean to ask, but how is it you can trust us any differently?" She notes a few strange looks from her friends, but continues nonetheless. "We are just as new here as he is. Maybe moreso."

"True," Celestia replies. "But, I have heard about a few things about each of you that inspire my confidence. Casie ran into a burning building to save a trio of fillies. Kat used her invisibility to wrangle some muffins for her depressed friend--without outright stealing them. Amanda was embarrassed about coating Twilight in red paint and tried to correct the problem at once. Tonya has been feeling guilty for quite some time about failing her friends. Bobbi has been doing well to looking out for the safety of strangers. These are all evidence of noble hearts."

Among the Crystal Warriors, several surprised looks come about. Raised eyebrows. Agape jaws. Widened eyes. Perked up ears.

"How did you know about all that?" Amanda wonders.

"I hear things," she says with a smirk. "I AM the ruler of this land, am I not?"

"Your dreams," Luna says happily, "are a great resource in itself."

"This stallion, Nolan, I know little. He is actually quite the mystery. And not one that I am comfortable with."

"Where can we find him?" Casie asks. "Is there anywhere that he stays routinely?"

Celestia looks over to Luna, and she moves off to put some distance between herself and the others. Celestia herself walks backwards and allows room between herself and the other ponies present. A light wraps around her long horn and it shines down on the floor. A three dimensional holographic map of Equestria appears between them all. "We are here," she notes as the large peak in the middle lights up. "Canterlot Mountain."

Luna's horn lights up as well and illuminates a nearby town. "Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony reside here. As is where you were all found, We assume."

"The Crystal Empire," Cadance adds as a piece of the map to the north is highlighted. "My kingdom." She stands and gives Tonya a parting look. She returns to Celestia's left, although with a short bit of distance.

Celestia's horn glows again. A large piece of land significantly to the southwest of Ponyville is lit up and slowly zoomed in on. The area has an abundance of trees, much like the rest of the country. However, there is also a prominent cliffside where a river runs wild below. "He is here. Somewhere. An area of Equestria known as Ghastly Gorge."

"Sounds pleasant," Kat quips.

From somewhere, Amanda pulls out a pad of paper and a pencil. She uses her horn's magic to sketch the map and a few notes otherwise. However, a golden aura overrides her aqua colored one and gently takes them away.

"Worry not, Amanda. You will all be provided with maps and supplies."

"Of course," Amanda says quietly. "I apologize."

"I would have done the same thing," Celestia says with a mild sigh.

"When do we leave?" Kat asks.

"Actually," Bobbi interjects with a raised hoof. "I would ask for a couple days. My friends and I need to prepare. We're a little out of touch and I would like the time to get back into it."

"We could arrange a training area for you," Luna notes. "'Twould not be difficult."

"Actually," Tonya adds, "I would like a chance to return to Ponyville. There's something there I think could increase our chances."

"Tonya," Bobbi tells her, "I really don't think we should waste time like that. We have everything we need here. We have everything we OWN here."

"But--"

"Sorry," Bobbi says with a shake of her head. "Time is short."

"....Fine."

"Very well," Celestia agrees. "Three days. I will expect you then." She looks out the window and notes that the sky has completely lost its color. "Luna! The Moon!!"

"Oh!!" Luna gasps. "Apologies, Sister. We were distracted. We will get right on it!!" The dark alicorn floats up with a few flaps of her wings and goes towards the window. Upon reaching it, she disappears from sight. Within a few minutes, a shiny white half-Moon enters the sky and skids to a stop at its rightful place.

Celestia has watched the entire event and sighs a little at its conclusion. "As with Twilight and her friends, I have also prepared a room for you all. I thank you for hearing my request. Cadance, will you escort them? And perhaps a detour to the kitchen for a proper meal?"

"Of course," she replies. "Ladies, would you please follow me?"

"Have a good rest of the evening, my friends."

==-==-==

Later, after the group has been fed a meal not consisting entirely of cake, they were escorted to a circular bedchamber with five different beds. They walked in at Cadance's invitation and looked around the large room. Aside from the luxurious bedding, similar curtains hang from the window that divides the room. Each of the beds has a quiet oil lamp next to it providing a somber flame.

"This is for us?" Kat wonders.

"For the night," Bobbi answers. "We should get some rest. We've got some work to do in the morning."

Cadance steps out of the room as the others have all entered. "Princess Celestia has sent word to me that she wishes to meet with you after first light."

"Something she forgot?" Casie wonders.

"Something she was unsure of. I bid you all a good night, and gratitude for your services." She steps back and uses her horn's magic to close the doors behind her.

The five quietly climb into the beds provided. Almost all at once, the capes that they had wrapped around their bodies disappear in glittering lights of their element. One by one, the lights go out as the ponies of the room pull covers over their bodies. The mattresses are much more comfortable than what they had back in Ponyville (as in none!), but they didn't complain about the roof over their head.

"Anyway I can take this with me?" Kat says groggily.

"Sure," Tonya remarks. "I'll just slide it down the hall for you. Nobody will notice. Hey Bobbi?"

"I said no," Bobbi quickly retorts. "We need to stick together and get up to speed. Celestia can make a training ground for us here. No reason to go back. Field trips would just take too much time."

Tonya grumbles a bit more as she pulls the bedding over her body.

Eventually, four lights have been extinguished. One faint light still remains in the room as most of the group settles in. There are a few ahhs of comfort that pass around the room.

"Casie..." Amanda groans. "Time for sleep..."

"Sorry," Casie says nervously. "I seem to be having a problem..." Upon closer inspection, Casie has indeed been trying to put out her lamp. She blows into it to take out the flame, but nothing seems to be happening. "I can't..."

Amanda walks over with a frown to Casie's bed and looks at her and her attempts. "What?" Casie demonstrates that her breath keeps the flame alive, rather than killing it. A slight snicker comes from her as she looks on with amusement. "Really? Flame element?"

"Hey, now!!"

"Gimme," Amanda groans. She grabs the lantern with her horn's magic and looks down into the open glass. HHHKKK--TOOO she 'says' as she spits on the fire and reduces the wick to a smoldering string. She then gives the whole thing back.

Casie looks down with a curious expression. "That was kinda gross."

"Yeah, but it worked." Within the half-Moon lit room, she turns about and returns to her own sleeping arrangements. With a quick flick of her horn, the blankets float up as she climbs in. Then, she simply lets go and lets the covers... well, cover her.

And once again, a silence drapes over the group. After all they've seen and learned today, they all have a lot to think about.

"I still think she's Canadian," Tonya muses as she drifts off. A few giggles and chortles serve as agreement. "But, I like her."

==-==-==

As with every day, the sun comes up overhead to brighten the land. Its fiery brilliance wakes many on the land below. Yet, there are still those that have awoken long before. They deliver newspapers. Ready their kitchens. Warm their ovens. All for anticipation of a new day.

The moon sets just the same. A few sporadic ponies actually use the rising sun and setting moon as a sign that is time to sleep. Some actually prefer the night.

Back in Ponyville, the night sky still argues with the coming day as only a hint of light has broken free. One in particular thinks nothing of the daylight. He would rather just sleep all day regardless if there's a giant fireball in the sky or not. With a certain Purple Princess out of the house, his duties are nil.

KNOCK KNOCK echoed through the tree's hollow interior. It was quite a familiar sound as a hoof rapping against the wooden door downstairs. Normally, this would be a cue for the lone occupant to rush towards and open it. "We're closed..." he grumbles snoozily. Twilight may have told him to take care of the library, but she didn't say he had to keep it open. Even so, it is far too early for business.

"SppIIIIIkkkee..." a voice calls to him. A familiar high voice with a distinct accent. "SppIIIIkkee?" she calls again. "Are you in there, darling?"

The miniature dragon shoots up in his basket-bed with eyes wide open and ears perfectly atuned to that voice. "COMMINNGG!!" he shouts as he tosses off a blanket and quickly runs downstairs. There is but one voice that will get him out of bed every time. One accent that he will answer to every time.

He opens the door just as the pony was about to call again. He looks upon the white unicorn with the finely coiffed purple spiral of mane. "Ah, there you are!!" she says happily. Her blue almond eyes look on him with a smile. She uses a hoof to bounce her locks of hair and demurely lowers her sky-blue eyelids.

"R-Rarity!!" Spike fumbled out. "What's wrong? I thought you were in Canterlot?"

She walks into the library, and Spike is all too pleased to follow, closing the door as he does. "Oh, Spike," she says. "I was. But, I just HAD to come back and see you, darling." She raises a delicate hoof to his chin and raises it ever so slightly. She can sense that the mere touch is giving him goosebumps.

"R-really?"

"Yes. Really. I need something. Something only a big, strong dragon like you can offer..."

"A-anything!!"

"I need..." she says in a husky voice, "you. A sample. I need... CRAVE your essence...." She looks him over and finds him completely under her spell. And her horn is entirely quiet.

"Wh-what do you need?"

Rarity removes her hoof from his chin and turns about, giving him a prime view of her flank and the trio of azure gems that make up her cutie mark. Her tail is just as coiled as her mane. "I need.... a scale. One of YOUR scales. I know it's a lot to ask... But I assure you that I have the best intentions..." She looks at him with big, pouty eyes and blinks them lovingly a few times. "Please? For me?"

By this point, Spike may be ready to yank off his entire tail just for her. Unless he just explodes into a hundred pieces. His heart is racing, his blood is rushing, and... other things are responding as well. "Anything for you, Rarity..." he tells her as he yanks out one of the larger scales from his back. "Will this do?"

Rarity smiles wide as she looks at her accomplishment. "Oh, Spikey-wikey!! I LOVE you!!" She gives her little friend a loving lick across the face and bites on the scale that he has presented. "Thank you ever so much, dear!!!"

And then she's gone. After racing out of the library, Spike just stands there like a purple love-struck statue. "bye..." he moans out.

Training Day

The grand fireball in the sky known as the Sun begins its ascent. A new day has arrived. The majority of the populace has been cued as such to get their flanks out of bed. Conversely, a certain Lunar Princess has been cued to go slide into it.

"Ah crap!!" a voice grumbles from somewhere.

"What is it?"

"She did it, like as you said she would. Tonya split."

Amanda leans back and stretches out her front legs, and then reverses for her back. She groans a little as a few miniscule pops can be hear from her joints. "Are any of us surprised?"

"Nope," Casie offers. She reaches her front legs up and over her head. First her right overhead, and then her left.

A solid knocking sound comes from the door, which gathers the attention of all the ponies present. Bobbi lets out a sigh and uses her horn's magic to open it. A part of her admires how effective she's been getting with it.

"Good morning!" Princess Cadance offers as she walks into the doorway. "Princess Celestia has sent me to get you..." She looks into the room and finds only "three?"

"I'm still here!!" Kat protests from a corner of the room. "Hey, are you Celestia's gopher or something?"

"GOPHER?!" Cadance shouts.

"You know, go-pher this. Go-pher that. Little errand girl?"

"KATHRYN STEWART!!!" Bobbi barks. "That's very impolite!!"

"Well," Cadance says as she calms herself, "I am Celestia's niece. And I am the low princess on the totem pole when Twilight's not around. But, I don't mind. Celestia's always been good to me!! Now, where is your missing member?"

Bobbi sighs heavily. "My apologies, Princess. One of our own has snuck out during the night. I told her several times, but she doesn't seem to want to listen."

Cadance lets out a disappointed groan. "And I suppose you have no idea when she'll be back?"

There's a strange sound that emanates from below. A slishing and a sloshing. Out of the bricks that make up the wonderous castle that they are staying in, a distinct pony-form appears from the window sill. Its white brick coloring sloughs away to reveal a brown pony underneath. However, upon emerging from said opening, she quickly trips, tumbles and rolls to the doorway. "Hi, Cadance!" Tonya says as she look up at the princess. "Nice day, huh?"

For a moment, Cadance stands a bit agape at the extraordinary display of ability that Tonya has. To literally become one with the ground. She backpedals a little to allow herself a little space.

A hoof firmly plants itself on the invading pony's head with enough force to convey a point. Tonya's brown eyes trace it back and finds a trio of mute-gold legs. It can easily be assumed that the fourth is holding her against the floor. "Um... Hi, Bobbi...."

"Hi, Tonya!!" Bobbi replies. "Get enough sleep?"

"No, not really," Tonya tells her. "I thought I'd have enough time to get back, but I kinda... got.... lost.... Ooboy..." In the back of her mind, she may be hoping that this is all just one big dream.

"Well, too bad little girl! I'm gonna be working you extra hard today!!"

"Before that," Cadance announces, "Princess Celestia would like to see you all. Right this way, please."

The group starts to follow, led by Bobbi. Amanda uses her horn's magic to yank Tonya up off the floor and to her hooves. A light breeze signal's Kat's passing by. Casie quickly trots in the rear.

"Hey, Tonya?" Amanda says as they start to walk.

"Yeah?"

"Remember New York? When we all met?"

"Um... yeah...?" Tonya says a little nervously.

"Where Bobbi kicked your butt while Shifter was possessing you?"

"...yeah?"

"Well, I don't think she's going to take it quite so easy on you today."

"...yeah..."

==-==-==

In the throneroom, Celestia and Luna watch as Cadance once again brings the visitors to their attention. And once again, the five use their rings to wrap their bodies in their cloaks. While Luna was feeling a bit weak yesterday, her mane has returned to its full nightscape luster and her coat has darkened once again. She sits with a stronger presence as she greets them all. She tries her hardest to stifle a yawn from being up all day yesterday and all night since then.

"Thank you all for coming," Celestia tells them. "Before you all start your training, I wanted to impart a little gift onto you." She watches them line up and stand at attention. "I am not entirely sure that this will work, but I am at least willing to give it a try."

A box floats near them in her golden aura and lands somewhere evenly between herself and her guests. One final nudge and the box opens. Inside are five golden necklaces, each with a diamond shaped stone in the throat. Each of the gems correlates with the five colors of the visitors. "For us?" Bobbi asks. "We are honored!!"

"Luna and I enchanted these five gemstones. We believe that if you focus your element through it, you might be able to get a burst of the other powers you had mentioned."

"Oh, really?" Tonya notes a little sarcastically with a mocking eye-roll. But, Bobbi shoots her a warning glare before she can say anything else. Despite that, Tonya runs a foreleg across her abdomen. "Hmmm?!" she groans a bit.

Celestia continues and lifts the five adornments with her aura. "It's not much. It may not work at all. But I am willing to help you in any way I can." She puts one around Tonya's neck and the gem glows momentarily. "If I can find a better solution, I will bring it to your attention." She puts one around Amanda, and then Casie. The blue and red gems glow just like Tonya's. "Still, I have made it aware that these mark that you are my agents. You will have more freedom to move around." She puts one around Bobbi's neck, and then floats one up to where nopony is.

"I'll just be a flying necklace?" Kat wonders.

"Au contraire. I have made a special enchantment on this one, Kat. With it, you will be visible again."

"Wait-- What?!" But, before she can protest further, the item hooks around open air. There is a small light show as the invisibility is suppressed and a pegasus body starts to appear. A brown tail appears. White wings and limbs. A white body with a tornado cutie mark. Brown mane to fit the tail. Brown eyes. A white wrap around her body that doesn't inhibit her wings.

And....

"BWAHAHAAAHHHAAAHHAHAA!!" Tonya blurts out as she falls to her side, laughing. She holds her abdomen as she does so. While the others are more refined in their judgements, there is a look of WTF as they gaze on their friend for the first time since they arrived on Equestria.

"Kat?" Amanda wonders.

"Why do you--" Casie starts.

"Is that--" Luna asks, or at least starts.

"No wonder you wanted to stay invisible," Bobbi notes quietly.

"SHE'S GOT A NOSE RING!!" Tonya shouts between peals of laughter.

Kat sighs with defeat. "I don't know why..." All five of them have rings to activate their cloaks. Amanda and Bobbi's are around the base of their horns. Casie and Tonya have earrings. And for whatever reason, Kat's is in her nose. Each of them is the color of the Crystal that they do not currently have, which became the color of their coats. Kat's 'color' was clear, so she became invisible. Her ring thusly is clear, but not unnoticeable. While not blatant, one can see it if they look close enough at her.

"Have you had that this whole time?" Tonya asks with a hoof pointed at her. "Right there?" Her extended foreleg starts to change shape and grow something. As soon as she notices, Tonya quickly uses her other foreleg to drop and hide it.

"Are you alright?" Celestia asks her.

"Yeah," Tonya replies with an awkward smile. Her ears start to change shape a little, but she notices and uses her powers to return them back to pony-normal. She looks at her strangely acting leg again and finds nothing wrong.

"As I said," Celestia continues, but keeps an eye on Tonya for a moment. "If you focus your individual elements through the gemstone, it may ignite the powers that you lost. It could verywell be," she says but pauses to watch Tonya's tail change shape. She covers by sitting on it with a guilty smile. The classic 'I am in so much trouble' grin. "That you have simply been drained of the mana required to power them."

"Mana?" Casie asks.

"You know," Kat replies. "Like MP from games."

"Never played much," Casie replies. "And 'MP' sounds very different in my world."

"It means your magic energy has been drained," Amanda responds. "We just need a recharge."

"Ohh..." Casie says with understanding. "Gotcha."

"We think," Luna adds while taking note of the little issue at the end of the line, "that the enchantment will convert the element into enough mana to use your other spells." Luna sees that a layer of scales forms along Tonya's barrel, but just as quickly is taken away.

"Tonya," Celestia says seriously, "I do not think you are 'fine.' Your heat signature is rising. I can hear your heart beating harder and faster. Your blood is racing. Your breathing is rapid. You are NOT fine!! What has happened?"

The others look upon their problematic friend and see that there are several changes trying to occur, but Tonya cannot keep them all under wraps. Her back hooves grow long claws, but she manages to pull them back in. "Tonya..." Kat groans. "What did you do now?!"

"I'm... sorry!!!" she responds with an interspersed gravelly voice. "I... I thought... I could control it..."

"Guys..." Casie warns, "I think Tonya's about to unleash her inner bitch!!" She and the others step back as Tonya starts to grow larger, but then shrinks back down as her attempt to hold it back continues. Still, all her changes are fighting to get out.

"I think..." Tonya groans. "I need.... help..."

Bobbi stands ready and looks at her friends. "We have to get her out of here!! If we do this here, there could be innocents hurt!!"

"Allow me!!" Celestia offers as her horn ignites with a golden glow. She bathes the group of five in a bright light that lasts only a few seconds. When it fades, all five are gone.

==-==-==

The entire group is teleported to a location without a ceiling. A stone enclosure with pony-sized doors lining the walls. The blue sky and sparse clouds can be seen overhead. The sun lights the area and a crisp wind blows through. There are four torches in a square formation at the 'corners' of the room. A decorative waterfall is between each of the torches, numbering four themselves.

Tonya gets to her hooves with hard thumps coming from them. "I can't... hold... it..."

"Just..." Bobbi sighs, "let it go. We'll do what we have to."

"I'm... sorry..." Her change begins in earnest from then on. No more holding back. No more hiding. Her skin changes from a fur coating to sheets of earth-brown scales that quickly shred her wrap. Her rounded hooves grow large claws on each. Her small pony form grows dramatically. Her soft underbelly grows a plastron of thick scales that runs all the way up to her jaw. Her back also grows large plates of scale. Her flat teeth grow sharp into a deadly set of fangs. A few fangs appear on the outside of her jaws, both top and bottom. Her snout reaches further ahead and more teeth fill in. Her furry tail gives way to a solid piece of flesh with a fin on the end. Her pupils stretch from circular to elongated vertically while her irises take on a yellowish hue. A row of large dorsal scales grow out of her back and tail.

The four of them look up in a mixture of fear and awe at what their own has become. For a long moment, their eyes widen and their ears flatten against their heads. Amanda and Kat's jaws drop as they fear what she has become and what she's going to do.

"Ladies..." Bobbi says as she and the others back away from the newly awakened beast, "I think our training just got started..."

The beast is many times larger than any of the four alone. And she continues to grow, yet at a decelerated rate. When the change is complete, Tonya has transformed into a massive earth dragon! There is a low, hollow roar as the beast takes victory in its existance.

"Warriors!" Bobbi commands. "Work together and contain her!! We have to subdue her and find a way to change her back!"

"So..." Kat muses, "we beat the shit out of her?"

There is a not-quite-agreeing groan out of Bobbi. "If we have to. She is NOT our enemy!! We have to find a way to undo this... mistake of hers!!"

"She owes me muffins for this!!" Amanda shouts as she charges forward.

"And coffee!!" Kat adds as she bolts in.

"And bacon!!" Casie remarks.

"And a few eggs!!" Bobbi finishes. "We'll peel them off her face!!"

"OOhh..." Celestia breathes from a higher ledge. "Burn." Luna quickly joins her and watches the fight commence.

"Should we help?" Cadance asks as she walks in to Luna's other side. She looks past her and stares at her aunt for a long moment.

"This is their fight," Celestia tells her. "Their training. And Tonya's mistake. Besides--I have a better idea!" She lets her horn glow a brilliant gold again and summons a wooden desk for them to sit behind. Another short glow, and microphones with stands appear before them.

Luna's horn glows a white color, but no immediate action seems to have taken place. But, she smiles about it nonetheless.

"I thought you couldn't just 'make' things with your magic?" Cadance asks.

"I didn't," Celestia replies. "Storage." Her horn glows again with a smile wrapped around her muzzle. "Can't forget them!!" With another golden flash, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Rarity appear to her right while Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash appear to Cadance's left. Most of them are quite surprised by their sudden dislocation as they all seemed to be doing some activity or another. Twilight has a sandwich hanging out of her mouth and a book between her hooves. Rainbow is chugging something. Applejack and Pinkie are hoof wrestling. Fluttershy is in mid-stride (and crashes into the wall as she appears). Rarity appears in full spa regalia--spa chair, bathrobe, mudmask, cucumbers, and a full set of curlers throughout her mane and tail. "Oh, darling," she moans quietly. "I feel a draft!!"

By the time they are all adjusted to their surroundings (save Rarity who remains oblivious), they all look over the balcony to the main event below. "What's going on?" Twilight asks. "What is THAT?!"

Before any answers are given, Luna's white aura passes around buckets of popcorn for all those that are in attendance.

"And the fight we've all been waiting for!!!" Celestia announces as she holds a microphone in her aura. "It's Tonya the Earth Dragon against the rest of the Crystal Warriors!! Can they stop her menace?"

"We think they have a fighting chance," Luna announces into her own white-aura'd mouthpiece. "This will be a worthy test of their abilities!"

Down below, Amanda and Casie charge at Tonya but are quickly swatted away. Amanda tumbles along while Casie twists in the air to land on her hooves. She looks back to confirm her comrade's situation and sees that she's still moving on her own.

"Tonya!!" Bobbi shouts. "You have to calm down!!" The earth dragon in question stomps one of her feet down, but Bobbi moves to the side before she can be hit. While Tonya's recoiling from the attack, Bobbi fires a shot of energy from her horn. Tonya, however, rudely brushes the spot with a claw as if it was merely dirty.

"Don't mock me!!" Bobbi shouts at her.

Kat swings around in the air and looks for an opening to attack. While she remains airborne, she can stay out of the way of her friends below. When she believes that she has an opening, Kat dives in and grabs Tonya's tail. "I got her!!" she shouts happily.

Tonya looks back with something of a smirk and waves her tail around while a white pegasus hangs on for dear life. She swings her to one side, and then to the other with hard motions. Finally, she snaps her tail and launches Kat across the room and into a wall.

"Don't got her...." Kat moans. For a long moment, Kat's eyes spin from the disorienting attack. But, as long as there are others 'playing' with Tonya, Kat has a few moments to recover.

"That's gonna hurt!" Celestia announces from above.

"Worry not about them," Luna remarks. "This is a training ground. The walls are made a little softer than normal."

"Like padding?" Rainbow Dash asks.

"Quite. But, I fear that too many hits may still pose a problem."

Casie dives in towards her foe and starts to deliver fast punches with her front hooves. A few to her leg. A few to her abdomen. As soon as she strikes, she moves before Tonya can retaliate. Yet, Tonya ignores her attempts.

She stops and moves next to Bobbi. "Yeah, I don't think she felt any of that."

"She's a powerful creature now," Bobbi comments. "They have that going for them."

Behind Tonya, Amanda dodges a few strikes from the giant lizard's tail. Tonya tries time and again to drop her tail on the blue unicorn. But, she just moves to fast. "Can't get me?" she remarks sarcastically. "I thought you were better than that!"

Instead of continuing as she was, Tonya swings around quickly and slaps Amanda with a sideways swipe. Amanda is launched into her two other friends and collides with Casie. Both of them roll in different directions after that. Bobbi, however, managed to see it coming and ducked under the giant leathery tail.

"And three of the Crystal Warriors are down!!" Celestia shouts. "Can any match Tonya's dragon power?!"

"Sister!! What is she doing?" Luna asks this as Tonya breathes in deep. Her head raises up as she gathers in a wind.

Amanda gathers her wits as she recovers from being thrown into an ally. She shakes her head a little and sees that Tonya has pinned her in a corner. She looks to one side, and then to the other, but finds no chance for an escape. Her eyes widen and her ears flatten back as she fears what is to come.

"Oh, dear..." Celestia murmurs.

And from the beast a wide stream of green flame erupts from her mouth and bathes Amanda in its rage. The blue unicorn disappears completely from view behind the emerald fury.

Fight Drags On

Why did this have to happen to me? To us? Everything was going so well. Everything was falling into place. I was finally starting to have a life!! I had work. I had a husband (somewhere). I had a child on the way. We were going to get a house (someday).

And then it all turned to crap. Shiftalac was called away by Dorkus. I had no idea when he would be back. I couldn't count on his support during this critical time. Because HE wanted him to fight out in space somewhere. And of course, that means he's not working here and I won't get any help from that. Shifty gets money sent home, but it takes months before I would have seen any of it...

~~~

"AMANDA!! Watch out!!"

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as she saw her impending doom. Fear had gripped her and kept her from doing anything. A stream of green flame billowed out of the dragon's maw while a blue unicorn was unable to escape it.

When the Tonya-dragon had exhausted her supply of firey death, she looked down on her target. She anticipated a blackened horned pony in front of her. The water using unicorn would be a singed memory.

"You okay?"

Instead, Amanda was not injured as was thought to be. Casie had leapt in front of the fiery blast and shielded her friend. She stood upright on her back hooves while keeping her forelegs stretched to either side. With her natural fireproofing, she had prevented the worst from happening. "Yeah. A little warm around the edges, but I'm fine. Did she really just try to kill me?"

Casie drops to her four hooves and turns a bit towards her. "'Fraid so. I don't think that Tonya has any control."

"So is she just some stupid beast, then?"

While the two were conversing, Tonya raised a clawed foot to strike down the red pony that dared to defy her intentions. She looked at her and was about to bring down thorny fury.

"C'mon and try it!!" Casie shouts at her. "Let's see how tough you are!"

But, Tonya turned away and ran after Bobbi. Apparently, the mute-gold unicorn was more interesting. And at that, she held nothing back as she slashed at her comrade. She roared as the fight picked up steam again.

"What just happened?" Amanda asks.

"What can I say? I'm the shit?"

Amanda's eyes slid nearly shut at that. "Really?" she asked flatly. But, something piques her interest. "Your gem is glowing!"

Casie uses a hoof to flip up the stone to view. "Huh. Musta been charged from Tonya's barbeque."

"Well! I guess they work!" She looks around to find that there are four waterfalls throughout the grounds. "I guess I'll have to get mine charged too!"

Above, the princesses continue to watch alongside their friends. "Sister, it seems that our enchantments are working as planned."

"Oh, Luna... Was there ever any doubt?"

"Yes, actually. You admitted that you weren't sure they would work."

"Luna..." she coos. "Don't you know anything about dramatic tension?"

Luna's eyes widen for a moment, but narrow afterward. "Sister, thou art full of it."

"I suppose I am. After all, Honesty chose you, remember?"

"Now We can see why..."

"Shouldn't we be helping or something?" Rainbow Dash asks her rulers.

"This is their fight," Celestia tells her. "We have to let them handle it."

A yellow pegasus pony with pink mane cowers under the desk that Celestia summoned. The poor thing has never been very brave around dragons, except for baby dragons like Spike. Their size and ferocity always sends shivers down her delicate spine. Tyranno-teeth don't help either. Or the loud roaring. Or the fact that they eat meat. "I-Is that r-really T-Tonya?" Fluttershy asks.

"Wait," Rainbow spouts. "What?!"

"Haven't you been listening?" Twilight reminds her. "Princess Celestia has already announced it twice!"

"Yeah, well, I've kinda missed things after getting zapped in from wherever." She pops up into the air above the balcony. "I've gotta--" she tries to fly in, but is quickly pulled back by three different auras--gold, white, and magenta.

"Stay put, little one," Celestia tells her.

"Have a cider," Luna adds as she passes a frothy mug her way.

Rainbow takes it and settles in with the mug between her hooves. "I suppose I can just watch..."

Pinkie watches from the balcony while waving a big yellow foam finger with '#1' in black lettering. She wraps a foreleg around Dash, "c'mon Dashie! This is better than Paper View!"

Amanda quicky runs towards one of the waterfalls in the arena. Unfortunately, most of them are blocked by a particularly large earth dragon with attitude issues. She runs towards one that seems out of the way. However, Tonya notes this and launches a green fireball at her and interupts her attempt to charge her gem. The blue water unicorn with water affinity skids to a stop just before impact. "Oh, come on!!" she shouts as she dodges the blast.

While Bobbi had been fighting Tonya, the dragon takes off away from her and begins to chase Amanda once again. Bobbi just watches for a moment as her target seems to have become disinterested in her.

Amanda continues to gallop through the training grounds with a dragon quickly chasing after her. "Not again!!"

Kat had come around by this time and joined with Bobbi. "What'd I miss?"

"Tonya being a bitch," Casie remarks with a certain sass. "You okay?"

"Nothin' a couple Advil won't fix. And now we're up against the beast of the century."

"Hey, how hard can this be?" Casie asks. "Tonya didn't sleep last night. She must be exhausted. She'll run out of steam soon, won't she?"

"Kat," Bobbi notes as she watches Tonya run after Amanda. "Our gems are powered by our elements. If you can get up there--WAY up there, you should be able to charge yours."

"Okay. Then what?"

"See if you can get some telepathy going. Find out what's making her so pissy."

"Oh, I could give you a list right now! Wait!! Maybe Pinkie Pie can whip up some hashbrownies for her! That should calm her down!"

"Hashbrownie the size of a pony," Casie mumbles.

"Kat..." Bobbi says a little sternly, attempting to keep her comrades on track.

But, the white pegasus sighs in defeat of her notion. "Yeah, yeah!! I'm on it!!" She quickly flies up into the air towards the top of the facility. It doesn't take long to pass the balcony and notice the others watching. She gives a friendly wave as she flaps her wings up higher and higher. Pinkie waves back with her yellow foamy.

"Where's she goin'?" Rainbow asks as she looks up her flight path. Eventually she has to turn her head around to see her flying. "Ain't she helping them?"

"Patience, Rainbow," Applejack tells her. "They have a plan. I think. By the way, I happen ta' notice she's throwin' off GREEN fireballs? Twi, does that look familiar ta' you?"

The purple princess has a hoof over her face as she comes to the realization. "Yes. Yes, it does."

~~~

I couldn't believe it was happening. Everything was wrong. It shouldn't have ended this way. It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life! There had to be a mistake. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. I must have stumbled into an alternate universe or something.

It couldn't have been my fault. I did everything I was supposed to. Sure, those others were a problem and causing stress, but I didn't have too much of a problem. It wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen.

~~~

"WHY do you keep chasing ME?!" Amanda shouts as Tonya continues her pursuit.

Casie has since started to chase Tonya on her own accord. Bobbi isn't far behind and occassionally shoots off a blast or two at the dragon. The shots don't do much, but at least get her attention. For better of for worse.

Tonya stops pursuing Amanda and turns towards the other two. Her bulky form turns around to face her two pursuers. She of course roars at them while noting that Amanda has been able to escape in the process. She looks at the two. Casie on the left and Bobbi on the right.

"C'mon, Tonya!!" Casie shouts. "Hit me with your best shot!" She hops around in a 180 and waves her ruby red ass in her face. "Toro!! Toro!!"

Instead, Tonya swats at Bobbi and tosses her aside. She then chases after Bobbi's bouncing body and ignores Casie altogether. By the time that she catches up with Bobbi, the unicorn has managed to get to her hooves and prepared a defensive position. Tonya tries to swat her again, but Bobbi is ready for her this time. Other physical attacks are attempted, but Bobbi seems too quick for a lumbering dragon.

"What is wrong with this picture?" Casie wonders as she once again has been ignored by Tonya for someone else. "Oh, well! Let's see if this thing works!" She raises her chin and focuses her attention on the jewel around her neck. With the merest of thoughts, it starts to glow. "Ah, yeah!" she says with a grin as she feels a wave of energy spread over her body. "That's more like it!" She charges the dragon again, newly inspired to whoop some ass.

Up above, Kat sits on a high wall that overlooks the battle below. She can feel the wind flow over her. She can feel it brush through her mane. She can feel it tickle her coat. She can feel it play with the feathers in her wings. "Feels so good!" She looks down on her gem and finds only a mild sparkle. Much less of a reaction than Casie's own gem had. "Really?" she deadpans.

~~~

It wasn't fair!! Everything was supposed to go according to plan! Why did this happen to me?! My friends had no problem with it. Two of them went through it without a problem. One of them was even involved in some evil plot--and nothing bad happened!!

Me?! I did everything I was supposed to do and still ended up a failure!! It was supposed to be the start of a whole new life for me, and Fate pissed on me again!! First my parents. Then my happiness. And now this!! What else is that bitch gonna take from me?! Why doesn't she just take my life and get it over with?!

~~~

Casie uses her front hooves to punch Tonya's rock-hard hide over and over. Her hooves have hardened with her powers which give her that much of an edge. "Yeah!!" she shouts as she delivers a hard blow. With her newly hardened hooves, she manages to chip away at the dragon's natural armor and knock a few pieces off.

During all this, Amanda has snuck away and found a waterfall to hide/charge under. She smiles a bit as the energy builds within the gem. Her powers revolve around energy, so she can actually feel the charge growing within the gem. "Feels good..."

"How's your gem doing?" Casie asks Bobbi.

"Ergh. I need more direct light. It's charging, but slowly." She dodges another attack from Tonya and fires a shot in retalliation. But, she stops and notices that the wind has picked up in the arena. While there was a crisp wind flowing through before, it has started to become something much stronger.

Both Casie and Bobbi look up at the top of the structure. Sitting up there as before is the newly appeared white pegasus. "Kat," Casie offers.

Up above, Kat smiles as the wind is stronger than ever. It's not too weak to be classified as a tornado, but it is wicked enough to toss things around. She's well aware of its strength as she uses all four legs to hold onto the wall. On the bright side, the gem is charging rather quickly!

"Now!" she gasps as the wind starts to return to what it was before. "Let's see if it works. Let's see if I can still hack that tiny brain of yours, Tonya." She looks down and finds that the dragon is looking up at her. The little windstorm probably attracted more attention than she wanted, but it got the results she desired.

Tonya fires a ball of fire up at Kat in hopes of hitting her. It is a quickly moving green fireball, but it has a fair distance to travel. Kat is quick enough to use her wind element to magnify the beats of her wings and blow out the fiery projectile with ease.

"Yeah, I'm up here," Kat says as she looks down. She waves at her as she is comfortably safe up here. "Try and do something about it!!" She closes her eyes, confident that she'll be safe at this height. She puts her hooves together, two by two. Her wings relax and droop across her back.

~~~

I died a little after that. All my plans.... ruined. All my dreams... shattered. All my hopes.... gone. All my desires.... worthless. I had become.... nothing. I didn't want to live in that world anymore. There was too much to remind me of what happened.

I had failed. One of the simplest things that I could do. One of the things that I couldn't actually screw up. And I couldn't even do that. I'm such an idiot. Why do they put up with me? They had all mocked my intelligence, but I knew that they were just joking around. But, it seems I really was too stupid to get this one thing done right....

I really AM a joke...

~~~

"Try and do something about it?" Casie echoes. "Is she TRYING to piss her off?" She watches as Tonya continues to look up at Kat's visage above and tries to accept the challenge.

"I think 'pissed off' is beyond the point right now," Bobbi replies.

"Tonya didn't really want too many challenges," Amanda adds. "She liked things that weren't too hard for her."

"Okay," Bobbi notes. "While the Big Bad is distracted, why don't we try to figure out what the hell is going on?"

"Big Bad?" Amanda asks. "More like a mid-boss."

"If SHE'S a mid-boss," Casie shouts. "I don't wanna see the final one!!"

"Focus!!" Bobbi tells them. "What do we know?"

"Tonya turned into a dragon," Casie replies. "Trying to kill us."

"Well," Amanda adds, "not ALL of us." With that comment, both Bobbi and Amanda give Casie a peculiar gaze as they wonder why Tonya is seemingly avoiding her. She can only return with a confused look and shrugged shoulders as she doesn't have any kind of answer, either.

Tonya meanwhile has tried to climb the wall upon which Kat has planted her white tuckus. Her hooves dangle over the edge which Tonya can faintly make out. Her large form stands on her back legs while the front press against the wall. She roars in frustration as she can't seem to get any further.

"Yeah, yeah," Kat remarks with her eyes closed. "Roar all you want. Not gonna help you."

"Seems Kat's on her list," Amanda remarks.

"The way those two are?" Casie adds, "I don't see why not!"

"But why not you, Casie? What do the other three of us have in common?!"

Up above, the other ponies watch with increased amusement. "Is she not an earth dragon?" Luna asks.

"Looks that way," Twilight replies. "They reside in the mountains and in ravines. I've heard they also live out in the desert underneath all that sand. Their shells form in relation to their environment. They offer protection and can conceal themselves within their dens as perfect camoflauge."

"Yes, yes," Luna continues. "But, aren't earth dragons adept at... climbing?"

"Pfft!!" Rainbow spits. "That wall's straight up!! She'll never climb that!"

"Rainbow," Applejack says calmly. "Don't poke the bear."

Still, several muzzles hang over the edge to look at the once ponified Tonya and wonder if by chance she can. She remains grounded, but her front feet are still up against the wall.

Tonya raises a claw up on the wall higher than before. She roars again. She may attempt to fireball her friend, but she may also believe that she's too far up to hit. Kat could easily dodge, or the flame could peter out before it reaches high enough. Or it could just be snuffed out again.

"She can't..." Rainbow asks. "Right?"

"Aw c'mon, Dashie! Nothing's impossible!!"

"PINKIE!!" a chorus of ponies growl.

Tonya reels back and then quickly flops forward to smack the wall with her weight. Under her front feet, the stone wall has begun to crack. She watches above as Kat is jostled a little on her perch. She falls, but quickly spreads her wings to return to her position, albeit off-center from her previous. Kind of like if you shake a bird's cherished tree.

~~~

Everything was over. No negotiation. No deals. No extensions. I couldn't beg for more time. Or another chance. I couldn't redo this. It was all said and done. I couldn't change what happened.

No money was going to fix this. My incredible powers weren't any help. There was nothing I could do to change this. This was fate. Cruel and simple. Instead of a chance to right my mistakes, I was cut off from even being able to try.

~~~

"So where did she get the dragon form?" Bobbi asks. "I know she can change into other things, but something this stable must have had help."

"She's using green flames," Casie adds. "I've seen ONE dragon do that. Matter of fact, I've only seen one dragon since we came here."

"Tonya can copy other people's forms in a more complete form," Amanda offers. "But, she needs to touch her Crystal to it."

"Which is back on Earth," Bobbi replies.

"Well," Casie wonders, "if she couldn't touch her Crystal to it, maybe she got more... personal?"

"Casie?"

"Well, what if she ate one? Or at least... a part of one?"

"She was quite antsy to get back to Ponyville," Amanda remembers. "She must've wanted to go see Spike. What would it take? Just a scale or two?"

Casie shakes her head a little. "How did she get Spike to give her scales?"

Amanda grins a little. "Oh, I wouldn't put anything past Tonya when she's on a quest for something. While she was staying with me, she got it into her head one day that she needed a new TV. Nice shiny big one. I was going to help her out a little. Hers was kind of old and not working well. One day, I come home and she has a brand new TV! Just like she wanted. She figured out how to do it on her own. She blew up her budget to get it, but she got it."

"Sounds like her alright," Bobbi says with a small smile. "And this?"

"Rarity?" Amanda wonders.

"Probably," Bobbi notes.

"But," Casie interjects, "wouldn't she just change into Spike? What's with this, then?"

"Earth element in Tonya must've caught the dragon powers' fancy. The two mixed it up, and now we have a whole new problem."

During Tonya's attempt on the wall, she manages to grab hold of the wall and attempt to pull herself up. In fact, she succeeds in pulling her weight off the ground. Then again with another pull-up from her other front foot. Her rear feet come up and flatten against the wall one by one.

"And she's climbing..." Cadance sighs as she watches.

"Well, ain't that fun!" Applejack grumbles as she watches Tonya's approach.

Celestia steps back and uses her horn's magic to flip the desk up. The gathered spectators quickly huddle behind it to prevent themselves from being seen.

It doesn't take long before Tonya's larger form will reach the balcony's height. The various ponies watching the spectacle drop down from view behind the desk. However, a white horn, a black horn, and the tip of a pink horn can be seen sticking out a little. Meanwhile, behind everypony else, Rarity sits quietly in her spa regalia. "Oh, dear! Is there a train going by?"

There's a moment or so as Tonya's overgrown abdomen stretches over the balcony's viewing and creates a scene of total darkness within. But, as the reptillian ruffian continues on, the light returns from behind her.

"Hey, Bobbi!" Casie notes. She doesn't say much, but points up at the brilliant ball of light that is coming into view. "Will that help?"

Bobbi smiles and aims her jewel upwards towards the sun. "I think so!!"

"Okay," Kat groans from above the scene. "That. Is. CHEATING!! Bad Dragon!!"

As Tonya reaches the top of the structure, it dawns on Kat that the building may not have been designed to withstand someone of Tonya's current weight hanging off of it so freely. But, the thought is delayed due to said dragon taking swipes at her. Despite the fact that Tonya managed to get up this high, Kat can still fly.

"Tonya... You gotta calm down!! We're on YOUR side, remember?"

In response to Kat's remarks, Tonya starts hurling green fireballs at the flying nuisance. Unfortunately, Kat is quite nimble in the air and is able to dodge the fiery problems.

"Hey, Egghead," Rainbow wonders. "What's gonna happen if that thing falls off?"

"Well," Twilight wonders, "I'd have to approximate her weight... factor in gravity of 9.80665 m/s squared... Assuming there's no wind resistance...."

"Twilight, dear..." Celestia remarks. "I think Tonya's about to make a big splash."

"If she hits the ground," Twilight says with a gasp, "the shockwave would critcally damage this facility!! She might even level it!! If we're near any city, the earthquake would be catastrophic!!!"

"If she comes down," Bobbi gulps. "We're all screwed."

"What?" Amanda wonders. "Hiroshima?"

"No... But it'll be a helluva bang with three flattened ponies. I think that even if she misses us, we'd still be in a lot of hurt!"

"How's about I just boot you off there?" Kat smirks as she flaps around in the air. "AWAY from all our friends?"

Tonya continues to launch fiery wrath at Kat, but looks down at the ground. In her purview are three ponies on the ground. One red. One mute-gold. And one blue one. She roars loudly again and crouches down onto the highwall.

"Oh... shit!" Amanda mumbles as she realizes what's about to happen. Before she can even warn her friends, Tonya lunges off the wall and collapses a large part of it in the process. Tons of bricks and pieces come tumbling down as the earth dragon jumps off and towards her 'friends.'

Fighting's a Drag

She was a mess. So, I did everything I could for her. She was (is still) young. She was pregnant. She is my friend, almost like a younger sister. We were connected by Crystals. But, things weren't going well for her. Her husband was called away to fight, and that snowballed out of control.

I stopped by her apartment one day. We lived in the same city, so it was easy. She was... managing. Her budget obviously took a hit. With Shiftalac out in space God knows where, Tonya was left to her own devices. And Riley heartlessly didn't realize how important he would be to her right now.

"You're coming with me." I literally yanked her up off the floor by her shoulder. She had been agonzing over how her life was going. Her countertop was stacked with instant ramen packages. More wrappers were in the trash. More were around the sink. She was living off the stuff.

Hell. No.

I let her stay in Sundae's room while she was gone. I got a few friends to bring her bed over to my apartment because there was an obvious height difference between her and Sundae. They also brought over a few things to keep her entertained--namely her TV and a game console.

And then, it happened. I never would have thought it would happen to her. She's young and strong. Why? I couldn't console her very well. I tried, but she threw a flower vase across the room and shattered it behind me. I never saw such rage in her before... It's as if she was angry at me for all this!

~~~

The titantic earth dragon leapt off the high wall. With her current weight and the height that she was falling from, the impact would be devastating. A 60 ton beast jumping off of a 60 foot rise? The quake is going to be felt for miles!

The pegasus Kat was airborne when the beast took 'flight' and watched in horror as her friends were directly underneath. The three friends down below wouldn't be very tall after such an impact. They wouldn't be very 'alive' either.

In the balcony, Celestia and Luna had huddled everypony together. Celestia even yanked Rarity out of her spa chair. There were three pair of overlapping wings covering the group. One white, one black, one pink with violet tips. They were shielding them from harm, but ready to teleport out if things got truly disastrous.

Tonya dropped towards the ground, and everything went into slow motion. Casie and Bobbi scrambled away, but could they really get away in time? They had a solid gallop, but how far away was 'safe?' Meanwhile, Amanda was frozen underneath as fear paralyzed her. She couldn't move. Her impending doom had sealed her joints in place.

She couldn't do anything. Or could she?

As Tonya dropped towards her 'friends', her momentum had ground to a halt. The huge reptile 'friend' of hers was slowly frozen in midair. Only feet from the ground, snarling and growling as ever, Tonya was unmoving just above Amanda.

Underneath the blue unicorn, wave after wave of energy rushed around her. It was so strong that it was visible to the naked eye. The ground cracked and broke into pieces. A crater was slowly forming under her hooves. Her blue horn glowed an even brighter shade of blue as her magic had diverted the energy from the creature's dive and prevented her from hitting the ground so forcefully. Her horn was glowing so brilliantly that it was almost white!

Her 'magic' was based in energy control. When Tonya's gigantic size leapt down towards her, Amanda used her powers to cycle around the kinetic energy of the fall itself. While siphoning the force off, the fall became slower and slower as she approached the ground. Some of that force was pushed back up against her, but much of it was dissipating. Alas, the decay rate of this save won't allow it to last long...

"I..." she grunts. "Can't... Hold... Her...."

When Bobbi and Casie saw what their comrade had done so marvelously, they quickly took action. They both thought similarly that one good strike would be enough. They ran back towards the earth dragon and leapt together as one. The mute gold unicorn glowed brilliantly as she summoned her newly restored powers. The red earth pony shimmered in the light as her own powers were already in effect.

The two friends jumped towards her and twisted their bodies so that their rear hooves had their full body weights backing their attack. They delivered a simultaneous kick to the beast's abdomen. When their hooves connected with the hard plastron, they left horrible cracks in the undershell. The power forced through the blow reverberated throughout the monster and jostled all of her organs.

"Aw no...." Amanda thought from below.

The attacks on the titan had caused her body to react in a very difficult way. The attacks has left her insides so distraught that relief could only come in one way. Earlier, Amanda had nearly been bathed in dragon flame. This time she is to be covered in dragon vomit as Tonya regurgitates the contents of her stomach. A thick green and pale yellow secretion smelling of spoiled meat and rotten eggs expels itself all over Amanda as she is directly under Tonya's jaw.

"UUUGGGHHHH!!" she screams. But, shortly after this unfortunate incident, a white streak had zipped by and collected the slime covered water user. And once she was moved, Tonya had completed her fall to the ground with a more reasonable rumbling than before.

"You okay?" Kat asks.

"I am covered in dragon barf. WHAT DO YOU THINK?!"

~~~

I checked in on her quite often. I lived a couple states away, but I got up there as often as I could. Out of all of us, I like to think that I'm her best friend. She's certainly a unique case of weirdo.

I had gone through this myself last year. I remember how everyone was babying me (pardon the pun). Well, to be honest, it was all Tonya's fault. Sort of. But, I'm not holding it against a rogue personality of hers.

I was so glad to see that Amanda took her in. Hell, I would've driven her to my home (from Minnesota to Kansas!) and done the same thing. I was actually considering it when I drove up that one day. I was worried about her because Shiftalac was gone. I didn't want her sitting in that little apartment eating junk food all day. I almost fought Amanda for 'custody' of her, but I figured she was in good hands being in the same city and all.

And I was right about one thing. She was sitting in her apartment playing games and eating ramen. While I was in town, I took her out to eat at some buffet that they had there. I was worried though that the owner was going to kick us out!! She just kept chowing down!! What? Has this girl not eaten in a week or something?

I don't understand how 'it' happened. Everything was going great. And then, one day, it all fell apart. Something was definitely wrong. There's no way in Hell that this could've 'just happened.' There's something very wrong about how all that went down.

How I said I thought I was her best friend? Didn't sound like it after that! Nobody was safe!!

~~~

"AAAaauuuggghh..." Amanda groans as she holds out her forelegs. "I'm covered in dragon puke!! Please tell me this'll wash out.... Oh God this stinks!!"

"Let's hope so... I'm sorry I couldn't get to you faster. Whatever you did, I had to go around--like way around to grab you." Kat steps back a little with a hoof over her nose while waving the other at head level. "I'm sorry, Amanda. But, I can't stand that close to you right now! Eureeka!!

"You oh.." Bobbi starts as she nears the pair, but sees that Amanda is already hating her predicament. "Nevermind. Hey!! What's that?" she asks as she points up at Amanda's bile-covered forehead, which Amanda looks up at the best she can. Bobbi uses her own horn's magic to pluck it off of her friend.

"Looks like a scale," Casie offers.

"Kinda faded," Kat adds. "But definitely looks like it was lime green in its prime."

"That proves it then," Bobbi finishes. "Tonya ran back to town to get a dragon scale."

Above, the Sun and Moon Princesses realize that the worst is over. Probably. At least the impact didn't happen. As they do, they loosen their wings' grip on their friends and slowly back away.

"What IS going on?" Rarity asks as she uses her horn to remove the sliced cucumbers from her eyelids. "This isn't the spa..." she mumbles to herself. She looks over the balcony's edge at the scene below. "AAAAAAHHHHH!!! Dragon!!" she shouts and quickly launches herself away. It takes only a second before she wraps her four legs around something reassuring.

"Hi, Rarity!" Celestia greets as the Element of Generosity has wrapped herself around the princess' neck.

"P-princess.... C-Celestia...?" she fumbles out. After a moment of realization, she drops to the floor with a blush covering her face. A second later, she realizes that her face still has facial mask covering it and she quickly rubs her hooves across to remove it. She then pulls out all her curlers and doffs the robe as quickly as possible.

Down on the ground, Amanda sits disgustingly while she uses her horn's magic to peel off as much of Tonya's 'gift' as possible. Her face is contorted as the smell of the stuff is stinging her nose.

"Hey Bobbi," Casie wonders. "I wonder if Cuddles up there might be able to help with Tonya. Animal lover and all that!"

"Doubt it," Kat says with a snicker. "I think Fluttershy wants to stay away from this one. I can't see thoughts all that clearly right now, but I can tell she's frightened."

"SHE'S frightened?" Amanda grits.

"Hey Kat," Casie asks. "Did ya get anything out of Tonya?"

"Not much. Nothing clear. My powers aren't as strong with the gem, but I can still get some. All I got were raw emotions. Jealously, mainly. I could see Amanda real well through her eyes, and you too, Bobbi. Casie though... She's almost invisible."

"Yeah," Bobbi notes. "We figured that. There's something that the three of us have that Casie doesn't."

"CHILDREN!" Bobbi and Amanda shout.

"Come again?" Casie asks.

Amanda raises a hoof to her face. "Ah, dammit Tonya...." She pulls away her hoof and hangs out her tongue as she has yet to clean it, and now has more 'stuff' on her forehead.

"The three of us," Bobbi answers, "all have children. Jacob, Jesse, and Sundae. CASIE!! You don't have one!!"

"Well excuse me!!" she grits. "Not something I really had time for!"

"No no no..." Amanda continues. "She means that you don't have one... therefore she's not coming after you! She's...." Her tone softens as she exhales. "She's still upset. I thought she was getting better. She seemed so much happier in the past few days. I was such an idiot."

While all of this was going on, a certain lumbering dragon started to stalk back towards them. Loud footsteps started to disrupt the conversation and jiggle the talkative ponies. Tonya roars again and declares that the fight is not over yet.

"Hey guys," Kat says as she looks up at her friend. "Next time we decide we need a vacation? Let's just go to Cancun. The sun's warm. The beer's cold. And our biggest problem is sunburn. Not pissy dragons!!"

"Plane tickets on me," Amanda notes.

"I'll get the beer," Casie adds.

"I'll get the hotel," Bobbi offers.

"I'll get the food, then," Kat finishes.

~~~

I stayed in touch with the others pretty often. With my powers, flying across the country wasn't a real big deal. When our numbers were gutted by Riley (including my husband and son), I knew it was more important than ever to stay together. Those other... problems though tended to surface at the wrong times.

I certainly remember when I was going through all that. I was really far away at the time and I had no connection to my friends. Hell, they thought I was dead! I don't blame them, though. They had no way of knowing. All the evidence pointed towards that conclusion. The Forgotten wanted to torture me by keeping me alive. They wanted me to know that my friends were in trouble.

A bit off track. Sorry about that.

And in that time, I found love. I got married. And I had a son. But I had everything I needed. Tonya kinda got the short end of that stick. Everything was going well, but then it was decided 'nope! Going too well for you! Gotta change it!' I was worried about her, but I wasn't sure what I could do. She needed Shiftalac.

Was that what caused 'it'? Was her longing for her husband and father-to-be the reason? I always saw her put on a brave face, but I could almost always see through it. She wasn't doing as well as she let on.

~~~

The four ponified Crystal Warriors stand together (yet subtley sidestep away from Amanda) and look up at their transformed friend. She had been knocked around, but Tonya was still putting up a fight. She roars at the group and prepares to resume her carnage.

"Yeah, stuff it!" Kat shouts back.

"I think it's working," Amanda announces. "I can feel the power cycling out of her!"

"Alright girls!!" Bobbi shouts. "Sledgehammer!!"

"What?!" Kat asks. "Really?"

"If we hit her hard enough," Casie adds, "we can knock her out. She should change back that much more quickly."

"Right," Bobbi agrees. "We're not trying to kill her. Just knock her out."

Tonya roars at the top of her lungs at the four. The power of her breath pushes them back some, but they otherwise stand firm.

"Not trying to kill her?" Kat wonders. "Wanna tell HER that?"

"Heh," Bobbi smirks. "Actually, I tend to prefer action over words. Like this one." She snaps her head forward a bit and her horn fires a brilliant beam of light at Tonya that carves a deep groove across her shell. The wound glows red from the heat and smokes just a little. While her previous attacks have been light on power, this powerful one turns a few heads.

Kat flies up and starts to batter her hooves across Tonya's body. "It's time to change back, Tonya!! You've had enough play time!!" While she hovers in the air, Tonya launches another fireball at her, but misses. Kat responds by flapping her wings harder and harder to create a powerful wind aimed at the dragon.

Amanda has some of the energy from before stored up and uses it to attack Tonya's body with power-enforced hooves. She manages to chip off a few chunks of Tonya's hard shell and causes her to roar that much louder. Perhaps in pain this time. She realizes that a waterfall is just behind her and motions for the water to launch towards her with powerful jets.

Casie continues as before and uses her hardened hooves to chip away at the body just as Amanda was. However, she doesn't have to worry about energy running out. While her hardness will fade, it won't be before the fight ends. She continues to hit and buck Tonya's body. As with Amanda's water element, Casie uses the firey torches around the arena and aims them at her 'foe'.

~~~

I felt horrible. Out of the four of us that were helping Tonya, I did the least. I was busy with my own work and didn't associate with her much. Besides our Crystals, we were in different worlds. I suppose the greatest rift between us was that she was more of a child and I was more of an adult.

But, I still congratulated her for what was to come. Even though we were from different circles, we were both women. We had that in common, I guess. I was happy that she was having a child. Even when we were first endowed with the Crystals, I was an outsider to her and the others. Kat, Amanda, and Tonya seemed to bond together nicely. Even Bobbi sometimes. But... I don't know... I just wasn't as hooked in. I was there for anything they needed, don't get me wrong about that.

But, what can I say? I have a military career. I do special ops and go where they need me to go. There's weeks at a time that I'm out of contact. I got back one day, and heard that she was pregnant. While I showed her my appreciation, a part of me just went 'okay. That's nice.'

When Riley took most everyone away, I did my best to keep in contact better. Everything kind of went to shit after that. Tonya lost her baby. Those other shits attacked. We lost our powers. And the world went to hell.

Should I feel ashamed for all this? I fought like hell alongside my teammates. And we still lost. If I kept in better contact... If I never left, would this have gone any different? Most of my head says no. But, a small part of me feels guilt for not staying near them more often.

~~~

The four Crystal Warriors continue to batter Tonya with their assaults from different angles. The rocky dragon has assumed a defensive position and holds her front claws over her head. Although she is tough and powerful, she looks to be weathering a storm. For a moment, the other four look like bullies as they hammer on the withdrawn 'sister' of theirs.

But that stops when Tonya unleashes a deafening roar that tosses all of her 'loved ones' off of her. She stands again as the other four stop attacking and regroup ahead of her. One could almost see a smile form on her gnarled mouth as she inhales a steady gust of wind.

"Well," Kat gulps, "we're bacon!"

"WAIT!" Casie shouts and quickly gets the others' attention. "Give me your tails!"

"WHAT?!" Amanda retorts. "Our--"

"Stick 'em out!" Casie adds. "One onto another and another!" Without much else said, the four all entangle their tails together. Although they know not why, Casie (seems) to know what she's doing.

"Ooohh..." Kat giggles. "I feel tingly!"

"I feel... different!" Amanda notes.

"Rush her!" Bobbi shouts. And, as commanded, the group charges forth against their ally run amuck. Tonya unleashes her fiery vengeance, but her friends run as a unit and tackle the powerful (and heavy!) dragon. As Tonya's flames are unleashed, it is thrown out of control as flames are tossed up and away from the four.

There was a moment of caution as the ponies in the balcony dropped down when the flames might've come near. But, they raised themselves up again to watch four warrior ponies push hard against a dangerous dragon. With amazing power, they pushed Tonya far, fast, and furiously.

With their combined powers, the Warriors crashed Tonya's dragon form into the wall of their training grounds. With a thunderous noise, she was pushed through and broke a hole into the outside world.

It didn't take long before the spectators went to investigate. While outside the arena, they would be invisible to them. The three alicorns quickly dived down and glided to the ground. Rainbow Dash carried Applejack down with ease. Twilight gave Rarity a lift without much trouble. Fluttershy tried to carry Pinkie Pie, but is hardly strong enough to keep aloft for long. When they gathered again, Celestia unfurled her wings to keep everyone at a safe distance away.

Outside the training grounds, the ground is covered by soft green grass and light breezes. A mild dew still remains on the grass to give a chill to uncovered hooves. While there was concern of a city being nearby, there is nothing anywhere near to be concerned about.

"Hey guys!" Kat asks as the four catch their breaths. They all watch as a weakened Tonya struggling to get up again. "Anybody heard of 'Tony on a Pony?'"

"Oh Lord," Casie chuckles. "Really?"

"Your idea," Bobbi tells her. "Your lead."

"Follow my lead!" Kat calls as she flies towards her 'best friend.' When she nears, she squirms around mid flight and bucks Tonya in her armored head with her rear hooves. While Tonya stumbles back, Kat drops to the ground in a squat.

Bobbi quickly follows up and dashes forward again. When she comes up to her comrade, she bounces off her and delivers another kick to Tonya, causing her to stumble back again. As with Kat, she squats down.

Amanda and Casie quickly follow up together and leap off Kat and then off of Bobbi to give Tonya a quick double kick to the jaw. When they drop to the ground again, Kat and Bobbi quickly flank them. They all watch as Tonya backs away and uses a claw to hold her jaw.

"One more hit oughta do it," Casie says. "What say we do this together?"

The four all dash together towards their fifth Warrior. With one collaborative motion, they all strike Tonya with a four-hooved uppercut. Four hooves--white, red, blue, and mute gold all strike as one unified attack. The dragon is hit so hard that she if flipped onto her side.

"It is over," Celestia announces. She folds in her wings to her sides and lets out a long sigh of relief. Despite all that's happened, nopony was seriously hurt. Not her friends of new or old. A little banged up maybe, but nothing serious. "Well done, Warriors."

"Thank you, Princess," Bobbi replies happily.

The unconscious earth dragon cracks and shudders. Small pieces start to fall off, but they quickly become larger and larger. Eventually, the body of the beast becomes like sand and falls away into a pile onto itself. As the sand and gravel that made up the body tumbles away, it reveals the form of a brown pony with sandy mane.

"Tonya!" Kat shouts as she sees the familiar form of her friend. Tonya indeed has been freed from the body that her own ignorance had created. She lay twitching on the mound of earth that once surrounded her. She quickly runs over to her just as her other friends do. "Oh, Tonya..." she says tearfully. She runs a hoof through Tonya's mane. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Celestia and the others also move towards her as the battle is over. There are plenty of curious looks among them. Celestia herself is more impressed than anything.

"Hey, Kat....?"

"Yeah?"

"What's with all the tramp stamps? Why does everyone here have a tattoo on their butt?"

And the moment is shattered by Tonya's tongue once again. Kat raises a hoof to her face as do several others present. "God, I wish I had my yaoi paddle..."

Casie raises an eyebrow. "Your what?"

Strangely, Kat she feels an odd double-tapping on her shoulder. She looks and finds a wooden paddle with 'yaoi' burned into it. Her eyes follow its visage and see that Princess Luna is holding it out for her with her horn's aura.

"Will this suffice?" Luna asks.

Among the group, there is a long moment as they stare at the Lunar Princess. She in turn looks about with a confused expression. The entire group of ponies stare in silent judgement of one of their rulers.

"What?" Luna asks with a gasp. "'Tis mine. We use it to smite offenders of the topic," she says pridefully. "There are a most plentiful group to be punished."

"No," Kat notes as she raises the wooden 'weapon' like a golf club. "You hit the FANS of the topic!" she shouts. With that, she swings hard enough that the impact gives a rather loud hammering to Tonya's rear end.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" she shouts as she rolls across the ground with her forehooves wrapped around her ass.

"What sense is this?" Luna asks. "Why must We punish our cohorts?"

"Let me explain...." Kat tells her as she organizes her thoughts.

Bobbi walks over to Celestia with a bit of a grin on her face. "One heck of a job inverview, wouldn't you say?"

"Indeed," Celestia replies happily. "You and your friends show great powers already. I am quite impressed."

"Thank you for your kind words. I hope to do well for you in the future. I just don't want to fight a loved one again."

Celestia's face falls a bit as she glances over to her sister. The dark alicorn engages in light and merry conversation with Kat about their shared fandoms. "Bobbi, I know exactly what you mean."

Dragend

After a long day of battle, the Crystal Warriors are whisked away back to Canterlot. Celestia and Luna's teleporting power allowed for everypony present to be brought home safely. Celestia magicked away Twilight and her friends with a golden flash of power. Luna took responsibility for the Crystal Warriors and Cadance with a silver aura.

One by one the Crystal Warriors appeared in a warmly lit room. There was a circle etched into the floor, yet the markings were pretty faded over time. As the silver aura of Luna's magic faded from their bodies, the five slumped a little as they sat on the floor. By the time that they appeared, they have all dismissed their cloaks.

As if practiced (which it probably is), several ponies came to aid them. Each had their own attendant for the moment to help them up and into a proper bed. They were gentle, yet strong in helping them along. The Warriors were all beaten and bloody from the fight with one of their own, whose only major injury was to her backside.

"Be at ease, all of you," Luna says kindly. "These good ponies will treat you well."

Luna strode away from the scene, yet watched from a distance as her new comrades were bandaged up. The medical staff inspected them thoroughly and noted any injury no matter how small. A small snicker escaped the princess as Tonya lay with her rump sticking in the air. There was a solid red mark and she could almost read 'ioaY' across it. An icepack would eventually cover it, but not to the pony's liking. Any little touch to her tender tuckus would ignite the pains anew. An amusing thought ran through Luna's head that 'ioaY' would be scarred in.

The mares all lay patiently as the staff pulled on their limbs to check for injuries. For the most part, the five were too worn out to object. Some legs were wrapped in gauze. Kat's scalp was covered, yet tufts of brown hair stick out. Her wings were fine, but Luna overheard a suggestion that she not strain them for a few days--which she agreed to.

"Yeah," she commented. "I can stay on the ground."

"But your head can't..." Tonya added weakly.

"Bite me," Kat snipped.

"I already did... You kicked me in the face. ...Remember?"

"Oh yeah," Kat chuckles nervously. "Sorry about that..."

Luna thinks to herself that the battle could have gone a lot worse. None of the combatants had died, for starters. And four ponies against a fierce dragon? If not for their curiously strong abilities, they may not have escaped with the injuries that they did.

Amanda, for her part tries to refuse the bandages that the nurses are trying to apply. She uses her horn's abilities to ward off the help. "I'm fine..." she says with a groan. "I really want a shower, though!" Luna would try to intervene, telling her that the doctors and nurses know best, but she admires her independant nature. If it were herself, there would be no difference. Worse, her sister would refuse to even be here.

She recalls an incident recently where Celestia had returned to her through an unorthodox method. She had walked out of a mirror-portal and had immediately fallen to the floor in a 'lifeless heap' as she herself pointed out. Celestia was treated then and there and was too weak to refuse.

In the end, Amanda is granted permission to cleanse herself. Their collective room has such a facility off to the side. A nurse helps her along while Amanda limps a little. The nurse, adamanatly trying to help her, continues to offer healing services first. But, the blue unicorn with the short black mane wants desperately to bathe. When she asks the nurse if she can smell, the topic is tabled.

But, before water can run, Amanda sticks her head out the doorway. "Tonya! If you EVER puke on me again, there will be HELL to pay!!" And with that, she secludes herself in the other room while the nurse sits on her haunches in wait. Though it may look like laziness, she is actually standing by in case something happens to her patient.

Under normal circumstances, there may be questionable looks, but the medical staff merely continues their work. Honestly, it isn't their right to pry. It is only their job to make sure none of them are critically injured. That is not to say that they don't quietly wonder to themselves what actually happened. Or perhaps that they have just seen so much that this kind of thing is par for the course.

No doubt this will become an interesting topic around the breakroom.

"How are they doing?"

Luna tilts her head to see Celestia's head sticking out of the doorway. "The blue one is ready to declare war against the once-dragon. She did not appreciate a bath of bile."

"No kidding..." Celestia quietly murmurs.

"Injuries are light. We believe they have had quite the experiences thus far to know when to strike and when to duck."

"Hmmm..." Celestia humms a little. "Their battle reminded me of sibling rivalry. Brought back a couple of memories."

Luna's face falls a little. "Indeed," she says quietly.

"On the bright side," Celestia says, "I never saw any real animosity between them. I think they should all be fine."

"We disagree. We witnessed quite a bit of resentment towards the blue one." Her head turns towards the enclosed showering facility for a moment. "She seemed especially intent on taking her on. Perhaps their friendship still has some dark corners."

"No friendship is ever perfect, Luna. Even Twilight and her friends bicker about things from time to time."

"Ms. Sparkle does not transform into a beast, though."

Celestia snickers a bit.

"Something amuses you, Sister?"

"Twilight can indeed transform into a beast, but not in the way you think. She's been known to cause havoc when she's.... overly motivated."

"Thou twists our words."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"Do not apologize. 'Tis a sign of weakness."

==-==-==

Some time later, Luna and Celestia have departed to give their new friends some peace. The medical staff has also finished their duties and retreated from the room as well. However, one unicorn nurse sits in the corner on a seat. Her white coat is quite reminiscent of a nurse's garb. She has a fluffy pink mane and a white cap nestled within. While she watches the patients with green eyes, she spends her time reading a magazine.

The five are all lightly bandaged and lay in different ways. Kat seems a little worried about sleeping on her back, but lays on her side. She would roll to her back, but returns quickly to her side. Tonya refuses to lay on anything but her stomach. Once her rear touches the bed, she'll feel it!

While the ponies are all friends, there are curtains that separate them all. While it doesn't change much, they all rest a little better not seeing each other's injuries. They can't see what each other is doing, sleep seems to be the preferred 'activity.'

"Tonya....?" Kat asks.

"What?"

"Don't ever do that again."

"I agree," Bobbi says from a couple beds down. "But I couldn't have asked for better training day!"

"What were you thinking?" Casie asks. "You ATE a dragon scale?"

"I don't think she ever thinks things through..." Kat mumbles. "Right, Amanda?"

There's a momentary silence as the group waits for a reply. They all expect her to say something as Amanda had the most recent experience living with her. "Amanda?" Kat asks.

"I think she went back to the shower," Casie offers.

"Again?" Bobbi asks.

"What's this?" Kat wonders. "Her third?"

"Hey," Casie says a little sternly. "You get covered in vomit and see if you don't do the same thing!! Hell, if any of you have ever been nailed by a skunk, you'd never question her!"

"Okay..." Tonya groans. "I get it... I messed up..."

"Bobbi," Kat starts, "weren't you and Casie the ones who MADE her throw up like that?"

"Point taken," the two say from either side of her.

"That's better!!" Amanda says happily as she exits the adjoining room again. The nurse is quick to help her hobble back to her bed with her own unicorn magic. "Thank you," she says in gratitude.

"No trouble," the nurse replies. "But, I have to say I don't notice anything. You smell just fine. If it makes you feel better though, I can go get you some perfume." She helps the blue unicorn into bed and uses her horn to pull the sheet over her.

"That's okay," Amanda sighs. "I think it's all psychological at this point."

"Even if that is so, a dab might help your psyche be at ease."

"Thank you," Amanda replies. "But, I think I'll be alright."

"As you wish," she finishes as she returns to her seat.

"And if she were back home," Kat snickers, "she'd be carrying around a little foam forest."

"Oh, shut it!"

"Hey Casie," Bobbi asks.

"What is it?"

"What was the deal with our tails? How did you know about that?"

"It was something when Tonya escaped the barn the other day. I snagged her tail with mine and I felt.... something. A connection. A sharing or something. I dunno. It was weird. Today? I just remembered that and took a chance."

"Pretty good chance," Amanda adds. "I could feel a sharing between all of us. It felt... Really good. We might have to look into this."

"Tonya?" Kat asks.

"What?!" Tonya growls.

"Geez...." she grits. "Grouchy. I was just going to ask how much you remember?"

"Oh... Not much. I remember being in the throne room. Not controlling my shape very well. Kat being a brat."

"Again," Amanda says with a small smile that the others can't see.

"Hey!"

"Oh?" the nurse wonders. "You want some?"

"Uh, wha--? No, that's fine!"

"Hay is for horses," Tonya chuckles.

Kat quietly sticks out her tongue towards Tonya's voice. But, she retracts it after a moment. "You seemed intent on chasing Amanda. What's up with that?"

"I was?"

"You don't remember?!" Amanda shouts. But, she cautions herself as the nurse gives her a look. "I ran all day from you! You chased me! You flamed me! You puked on me!!"

"Ever gonna let that go?" Casie wonders.

"Not likely," Bobbi answers.

"Tonya's probably got memory loss," Kat wonders, "due to her unusual transformation. What happened was kind of extreme."

"You're probably right..." Amanda sighs.

"Or," Kat continues, "she's just lying to cover her ass!"

"Wouldn't you know that?" Amanda replies. "Telepathy and all?"

"Sorry! Ran out after the battle was over. But, seriously. Tonya, what--if anything--were you thinking? Eating a dragon scale? Did you have any clue as to what that would've done?"

"I dunno," Tonya replies with a smile. "But, I think Spike was pretty happy!"

There's a collective groan as the others are suddenly suggested as to what may have transpired between her and Spike. Mostly, they can agree that she probably used Rarity's appearance, but anything else is speculative. And honestly, it may be better for their sanity if details are left in the dark.

"But I do remember something about Cancun!"

"Ugh..." Kat groans. "We oughta make her pay for the trip after what she just put us through."

"We'd fly practically with the luggage," Amanda groans.

"Eat peanuts... for meals..." Kat adds.

"Camp out on the beach," Bobbi puts in.

"Drink nothing but water," Casie pipes in. "From the ocean."

"OKAY!!! I get it!! I'm dirt poor!!"

"Dear," Amanda offers, "the dirt has more money than you do."

==-==-==

Elsewhere, Celestia prepares her nightly routine as she works to take the sun out of the sky. She looks back on the battle that she witnessed and smiles as the excitement has yet to wear off. "You seem troubled."

"Perhaps," Luna responds from nearby. She quietly walks towards her sister as her own duties to raise the moon will soon be needed. "Those few ponies put up a grand effort. We commend how strong they are. They would have an excellent future here if they cannot return home."

"Bu-ut...?"

"We both witnessed what they could do. The earth pony--Tonya showed that she may be a danger, rather than a boon. If it were not for her friends, she may have caused a panic."

"Yes, I agree. But you should lend her a little faith. I doubt she would do anything... regrettable."

"She already has by meddling with that which she does not comprehend. If it were not for the fact that we were isolated, how many of our subjects would be hurt... or worse? Can we allow such a threat run unchecked?"

"I think that she is in check. That's what her friends are there for."

"Ah, yes. Her friends. The others seem to be quite strong themselves. Like the brown one, maybe a little TOO strong. Their powers are incredible, but what if they do not use them for good? Can the common pony stop them?"

"Probably not," Celestia sighs. "But I trust them. They don't seem the type that would hurt the innocent for their own benefit."

"Maybe not 'would.' But definitely 'could.' That is what bothers us. A part of us worries that returning access to their abilities may have been... foalish."

"IF it comes to pass that their powers are used recklessly, I am confident that the two of us will be able to contain them. For now, I have seen nothing to suggest any problems."

Luna sighs a little. "You are right, Tia. Pardon our concern."

"That's alright, Luna. I confess that a part of me is a little worried as well. But, sometimes you have to roll the dice. Take a chance. Hedge your bets."

"This is not Las Pegasus."

Celestia gives her a wicked sneer. "You would know!!"

"One time! ONE TIME!!"

"It's a good thing I was able to rework Equestria's budget. Nopony else would see how you blew that many bits."

"And you banned us from casinos..."

"Well.... If we lose another four million bits, we'll have to raise taxes. And then we'll have complaints. Riots. Rebellion. All because a princess couldn't keep her wallet shut." But, she sighs. "You worry about our new friends running rampant. I worry about YOU running rampant. Fair enough?"

"We see your point, Sister."

Celestia walks away with a yawn. "I think I should turn in before we have to turn my private chambers over to the bookies."

Luna just hangs her head low with a low groan. "We shall never live that down...."