Brought Down to "Normal?" [Endplot, backdated to before Rebellion]

[meat_mooks]

The crew that returned from Hendersus Villae following their rescue mission was not the same crew that had been sent there in the first place.

Well, they were. They just wouldn't look like they were for a few more hours.

Goliath, Kang, Rainbow Dash, and Crematia were all still stuck as humans, and the reassurance they'd gotten from Zarom Ghartha that their transformation would expire in roughly one day's time was surely enough to allay some of their lingering discomfort with finding themselves still in the wrong bodies, but unfortunately, no amount of reassurance could completely relieve their situation of awkwardness.

Awkward or not, though, they all needed rest and medical attention, so there was no hiding out while the curse wore off. Not unless they wanted to spend the next 12 hours still hungry, tired, and injured to various degrees.

[ooc: setting up subthreads for individual character reactions is a-go!]

Comments

[appletastic]

"How do you figure?" Applejack sat back on her hind legs, looking up at her friend's new form. What could be so fun about that? She knew the other humans did it because they always did, but she couldn't imagine walking like that.

[elementofloyalty]

"Well, standing on two legs all the time leaves the hooves -- I mean -- hands free, and it makes it a lot easier to move in some ways." She hopped up and down a little just to make the point. "Ruins kicking, though. You can't plant and buck the same way. On the other hand, there's a lot more power in the forelegs. Arms. Whatever." She balled up a fist, turned, and threw a hard punch at midair to demonstrate.

[appletastic]

Applejack could see the merit in that. Almost. Wasn't her style, but...

"So you can't buck anymore. That would ruin me! But you'd hit things some other way. And carry stuff with those instead of a saddlebag or your teeth."

That did sound nice, but she wouldn't give up bucking for anything.

[elementofloyalty]

"Yeah. Too bad there's no way for you to try it for a little while. Not permanent or anything, but it's fun now that I know it'll wear off. Besides, it's not like the kicks are THAT weak."

She spun to deliver a snap kick high into the air, about the height of her head. Sure, she was no pony any more, but the human body had all of Rainbow's athletic energy, and so did the kick.

"See?" she said. "You shoulda seen me fighting down there."

[appletastic]

Applejack breathed, the equivalent of a low whistle. Wow, that really was something.

"Yeah, maybe I should've. Think you're any better than you are as a pegasus?"

Cool, yes. But she liked her friend just the way she was---not that she'd like her as a human any less, but she hoped for both their sakes that the weirdness really was going away.

[elementofloyalty]

Rainbow stopped her showing off to give Applejack a wry look. "You see any wings?" she said, jerking a thumb at her back. No question which form she preferred and why.

"It might be easier to get around the ship and do stuff that people expect you to have hands for, but so what?"

[appletastic]

Ah, wings. Rainbow Dash was as attached to those as Applejack was to her hind legs, and for good reason.

"You never know. Maybe you'd sprout wings if you stayed in that form long enough. I've seen a few human-types flying around," she teased.

[elementofloyalty]

"The one I met had, I dunno, machines in her body. Don't ask me how that works, but all she could do was fly using the WIND."

Rainbow's contempt couldn't be clearer. Compared to her usual speed, wind was practically crawling!

[appletastic]

"That's funny. More than I can do, but...wouldn't all that get heavy and weigh 'em down?"

She still didn't entirely understand machines. Unicorn magic was enough of a puzzle for her!

"Anyways, you'll be better soon. Let's just be thankful for that."

[elementofloyalty]

"They were really small machines." She shrugged. "Hey, she was flying so I know it worked."

She looked over her body again, now that she had a pony here to compare it to. "Not just me either. We all turned into humans!"

[appletastic]

"How can they make 'em so small? Must be those tiny little fingers." Applejack sighed. Hooves were awesome! Hooves had all the power she needed. But without magic, she couldn't really do any delicate operations.

[elementofloyalty]

Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno. But don't get me started about fingers! These things are weak!" She shook a hand demonstratively. "You'd go crazy, AJ. You'd end up hurting yourself just bucking apples!"

[appletastic]

"I don't want to think about it," Applejack shuddered. "But you can still pick up stuff and swing it, can't you? Everything around here's built for fingers. It can't be that awful, can it?"

[elementofloyalty]

"Naw, it's really not. It's kinda fun!" She down at Applejack. "Maybe we can get someone to turn YOU into a human for a little while!"

[appletastic]

"Er...no thank you," Applejack rushed out, backing up a few steps. "I didn't say it was that fun. And what happens if they mess up and keep me like that forever?"

[elementofloyalty]

"They wouldn't," Rainbow Dash said with completely unjustified confidence. "I bet Twilight would love to learn how to do that, though... Too bad she's not awake!"

[appletastic]

"She would," Applejack agreed. "But who knows? Maybe we'll see her someday. I'm starting to doubt, though."

[elementofloyalty]

"Don't get sad over it!" Rainbow knelt down to look at AJ on a more even level. "You told me yourself she's doing all right."

[appletastic]

"Yeah, but it seems like people are more going than coming lately. Pinkie and Rarity are gone."

Testing for now, not repodded yet, but it felt lonely all the same.

[elementofloyalty]

"Even if that's true, you still got me! Even a human me," she said with a laugh.

[appletastic]

"Yeah," Applejack admitted, allowing her hat to fall over her ear. "I think I'd be a little lost without you."

But it wasn't like she liked her or anything.

[elementofloyalty]

Snickering, she reached out and grabbed AJ's hat, then tugged it down on her head just a little. "Don't worry. I'll be flying around again before you know it. The pods can't hold me, I'm too strong for 'em!"

Solution to keep it from getting too mushy: brag and preen. That's the Rainbow Dash way!

[appletastic]

"If you say so, sugar." It might've sounded dejected before, but Rainbow's arrogance was just so goshdarn charming that she had to smile.

"You'll show 'em all who's boss when you're back to normal, I know it."

[elementofloyalty]

"Hey, I did a pretty good job of showing them who's boss like this," Rainbow said with a mild note of irritation covering up an even tinier note of worry. She was still cool and awesome and every bit as kickflank as she ever was! Right!?