Celestia's sun rose over the unusual rock formations that surrounded the walled town of Fair Haven, Equestria. Only a few hundred miles or so west of Manehattan, the fastest growing village in Equestria was covered in an early morning mist which covered the grassy plains and the small forest which had sprung up at the edge of the wall four years prior after a massive magical mishap. The guards along the walled town were the only ones awake at the early hour.
That was, until an alarm went off in a very unusual looking house.
Thirty four year old Jethro Bethridge was woken from sleep by the sound of his phone alarm blaring. "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."
The sound stopped and Jethro felt himself being shoved gently by a pair of velvety and very light purple hands from his right. "Nnng…do you really have to play that damned Borg shit as your alarm every morning, dear?" a familiar Unicorn voice asked from beside him.
"Oh, I agree," a second voice said from his left. A deep azure wing lightly spread and covered Jethro's face as the second mare in bed with him, a moderate azure furred and white maned and tailed anthropomorphic Pegasus, sat up and stretched, pulling the covers off of her, revealing her perfect nude body and her cutie mark, a crescent moon surrounded by two white feathers. The Pegasus turned and looked back at Jethro. "Can't you come up with something a little bit cooler?"
"You sound just like Rainbow Dash," Jethro muttered as he, too, sat up, letting the sheets fall off from him. He stretched his own wings, then turned to the first voice, only to find himself staring into the most beautiful purple blue-ish eyes on the planet. His once normal Unicorn turned Anthro wife, Starlight Glimmer, looked at Jethro with bleary eyed annoyance. He chuckled a bit and sat up, stretching. "Does it bother you that much? I'm sorry, I just like that line."
"Well, it is getting a bit old," Starlight said as she sat up, letting the sheets of their bed fall away, revealing her naked top as well. She stretched, arching her back and sighing. "I like that Star Trek show too, don't get me wrong, but hearing that Borg voice every morning is getting on my nerves."
Jethro sighed and turned to the other mare in bed with him, the second wife he'd married, an Anthro Pegasus mare. Not only was Night Glider his flight instructor, but a close friend and now his second wife. "What would you like to hear, Nighty?"
Night, who was already up and grabbing some clothes from the dresser, stopped and turned, a thoughtful look on her face as she gave Jethro a full view of her naked body. Jethro could see how slender Night Glider was, but he could also see hints of muscle in her arms and legs. She also had toned stomach muscles. "What about that Dragonborn song from that Skyrim game you like so much?" she suggested.
Starlight stood and arched her back, putting her hands on her back. From where Jethro was sitting, he could see how physically different Starlight was. She had slightly more curves than Night Glider, but she was definitely in shape, especially from the morning calisthenics that Jethro had introduced to the entire town after what had become known as The Change, where the Ponies in town had morphed into their new Anthro forms. He also caught a glimpse of the cutie mark on the side of her buttocks, a purple and white star with two two-toned glimmering streams. She turned to her fellow herdmate and nodded. "Yeah, you know, that's not a bad idea."
Jethro pulled the covers off and stood. He was wearing nothing but his boxers. "Okay, okay, you got me convinced," he chuckled as he grabbed his phone and began changing the alarm settings. "Aaand…done!"
"Why'd you set it, anyway?" Starlight asked. "You have the day off."
"We all have the day off," Night Glider said with a frown. "I was looking forward to sleeping in."
"I forgot to turn it off," he replied sheepishly. "Sorry. But we can go back to sleep if you want."
"Nah, I'm already up, so I might as well get ready for the day" Night Glider said as she pulled out a pair of black jogging shorts, a dark green tank top along with a white pair of panties and a purple sports bra. "Besides, I've gotta stay in shape. Don't wanna be lazy. No rest for the weary."
As Starlight began digging through the dresser for some clothes of her own, Jethro walked over to Night Glider and put his hands on her shoulders, digging his thumbs into her back firmly. Caught off guard, the Pegasus' wings stiffened a little bit before she relaxed and leaned back against him. "Just because you're part of Fair Haven's weather team doesn't mean you shouldn't get a break every now and then," he said softly.
Night turned and looked over her shoulder, giving him a grin. However, it was the eyes that told everything. Those beautiful brilliant cerulean eyes that beamed and were full of love for him. "A mare could get used to this spoiling," she said, reaching her hand up and cupping the back of his head gently.
Jethro was about to reply when a second presence made themselves known. A pair of slender purple arms wrapped around Jethro's waist as two mounds pressed against his back. Starlight put her chin on Jethro's right shoulder and looked up at him with a pouting expression. "Where's my massage?" she asked. "My back has to carry these all day." With that, she further pressed her breasts against him.
Night Glider looked at her herdmate and snorted in a very horselike manner. "You think your back hurts? Moving clouds ain't no picnic. And besides, mine are just as big as yours." She put one hand on her breast and jiggled it. "See?"
Starlight rolled her eyes and gave Night Glider a playful glare. "It isn't my fault that your back hurts from lifting that ego of yours."
"This coming from a Unicorn who won't stop boasting about how she created a whole section of our town's wall with her magic?" Night retorted with a sneer. "Look who's talking about ego!"
Jethro, caught in the middle, just smiled at this banter. Night Glider and Starlight had been playfully adversarial in the two years since the herd had formed. Despite that, however, he knew they were close friends. It always showed on nights where Starlight had nightmares about her time as the Our Town cult leader. Night Glider and Jethro had been there to comfort her until she calmed down, the former showing her tender and caring side in those private moments. Events like that invariably led to tender lovemaking, where both Jethro and Night would comfort Starlight.
"Ladies, ladies, please," Jethro said, raising his hands, "as fun as it is being between two nubile mares, I'd very much like to use the bathroom. The shower's all yours."
The two mares looked at each other, then at Jethro. As one, they briefly pressed themselves closer to him before releasing him. "You don't know what you're miiiiisiiiing," Starlight said in a sing-song tone as she walked to the house's main bathroom, swaying her hips and raising her tail seductively.
"Oh behave, baby, yeah!" Jethro replied, imitating Austin Powers as he went to grab some clothes as well. He turned and watched Night Glider sway out towards the shower behind Starlight, noting the sway in the Pegasus' own hips as she joined her fellow herdmate in the now running shower.
Throwing his change of clothes on the bed, which consisted of a gray pair of sweatpants, a dark red zipper hoodie and a dark blue t-shirt with an image of the original U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek on the chest, Jethro used the half bath connected to their bedroom, washed his hands, then walked to the closed bathroom door. He could hear the two mares showering together and talking. "What are your plans for today?" he asked.
"I'm planning on going to Sugar Belle's house to spend some time learning from her," Starlight said. "I want to learn more."
Jethro chuckled. "Gonna make some more baked goods with her, eh?"
"What can I say? I like to bake," Starlight replied.
"Almost as much as you like kites?" Jethro asked, crossing his arms and smirking
Starlight giggled and. "Yes, babe. Almost that much. And almost as much as I love you."
He stuck his tongue out and made a raspberry noise. "Bite me."
"Tonight," Starlight promised. After a few seconds, she added, "Hey, after a shower, I'll go get breakfast started for us all. Eggs, toast with jam, and orange juice sound good to you?"
Jethro nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good, but are you sure you want to make it? I'm perfectly capable-"
"Jethro, we've discussed this," she called out to him as he heard her get into the shower. "We're all three of us equal partners in this marriage. You made dinner for all three of us last night, so now it's my turn to make us breakfast."
"Don't forget me," Night Glider said. "I need the practice."
"Last time you tried, you somehow burned the cereal," Starlight retorted.
"Yeah, I've no idea how that happened," Night Glider replied, sounding sheepish. "But I want to practice. Maybe I'll tag along with you to Sugar Belle's."
"We can try, but after last time I'm not sure she'll be too excited to see you," Starlight said.
"I paid for the scorched wall, didn't I?" Night Glider replied. "I just don't know what I'm doing wrong!"
"Relax, Nighty," Jethro said, trying to calm her down. "Tell you what, why don't you and I have a private cooking class sometime soon? I can watch and see what you're doing wrong."
"You promise?" Night Glider asked, sounding a bit vulnerable.
"I promise." Jethro smiled. "On a similar note, I'm making dinner tonight. We're having the latest citizen of Fair Haven over for dinner, remember?"
"Maud Pie, right?" Starlight called back.
"That's right. Sister to the Element of Laughter."
"That pink menace from the cartoon?" Night Glider asked.
"That's the one," Jethro chuckled.
"What are you gonna make?" Starlight asked.
"I was thinking a Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, garnished with truffle pâté, brandy, and a fried egg on top, and Spam," Jethro joked in a high pitched voice.
Starlight snorted as she said, "I'm sure she'll enjoy that."
"No, but in all seriousness, I think I'll break out some of that garlic bread mix and go get a baguette from Baked Goods place today. Then I was thinking spaghetti and those veggie meatballs with parmesan cheese and possibly wine as a side."
"Heeey, that sounds good!" Night Glider said.
"Agreed," Starlight said. "Oh, honey? While you're out there, do we have any more shampoo and conditioner mix? Looks like we're almost out. Nighty here used up half the bottle to condition that mane of hers despite the fact that she's just gonna put on a tone of hair product in anyway."
"Hey! I'm a Pegasus! Our mane needs to be like that! It's aerodynamic!"
"On it." Jethro walked over to the hallway closet. Opening it, he looked through the closet and found one of the bottles. He grabbed it and held it in his hand, which began to glow. The bottle began glowing as well and then a second bottle materialized in the closet where the original bottle had appeared. Putting the first bottle down, he grabbed the duplicate and walked into the bathroom, handing the bottle to Starlight. "Here we are."
"Thanks, baby," Starlight said as she grabbed it.
"If I can't do any baking or cooking practice today, I'll probably go for a fly," Night Glider said as Jethro walked out of the bathroom.
"Don't you already get enough flight exercise?" Starlight asked in a teasing tone.
"That's work related. I need to let loose and try and recreate that Sonic Rainboom I did," Night Glider replied. "So nyah!" There was a brief pause, then- "Ow! Don't bite my tongue, bitch!"
"Don't make me come back in there," Jethro said teasingly.
"Promises, promises," Starlight said in a seductive voice before she began moaning. "Ahh…ahhh! Yameteee!"
"Nerd!" Jethro called out as he returned to his room, the sound of his herdmates laughing following him in. He once more looked out of the window at the cool summer morning sun as it rose over the town and glistened over the northern Crystal Mountains. The morning mist was just beginning to be burned away by the rising sun as thought back to the events that had brought him to Equestria…
Four years. Jethro had been in Equestria for four interesting years. He'd gone to sleep one morning back on Earth in February 2022 and then had woken up the next morning with him and his house displaced in the middle of a dry plain surrounded by unusual rock formation. A plain with a town that was under construction by Ponies. Honest to God Ponies, like the ones from the My Little Pony show he'd just started to watch the night prior. Not only that, but his house had come with him, along with access to a static version of the internet, electricity and water.
Jethro was greeted pleasantly enough by the leader Pony, a Unicorn named Starlight Glimmer. However, something about her had just felt off to him. Not only that, but the smiling Ponies in town were reminiscent of the smiles of people who were either brainwashed or in a cult. He knew at once that he was in a dangerous situation, especially since the Starlight Glimmer Pony was a powerful mage according to Athena, the soul of an Alicorn that had fused with him. She immediately told Jethro to watch the rest of the show, especially a two-part episode named The Cutie Map. When he did watch the show and that particular episode, he knew he was in trouble immediately.
For the first month, Jethro laid low, helping the Ponies of the yet to be named town build their buildings. Starlight seemed to take a particular interest in him, especially about his ideas on equality. He was all too glad to share his thoughts, especially since he was hopeful he could try working to convince her that while equality was a noble goal, she was going about it the wrong way. They had polite conversations about their varied views, and he could see that he was beginning to make some progress.
That was when the magical accident had occurred.
A month later, Jethro was on a lunch break with Starlight and a few other townsponies in the center of town around the communal lunch table that had been set up. Jethro had been experiencing some pain in his back, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Starlight had even walked on his back a few times to massage the pain away, and it had worked somewhat. However, on that particular day, the pain was less than it had been.
Suddenly, he felt a nearly unbearable pain from two points on his upper back. Screaming, he'd collapsed, unable to move or even think except for the pain. Starlight and the others around him sent for the town physician, a Doctor Charlie Horse. However, before the stallion could arrive, Jethro began glowing the colors of the rainbow. From what he'd been told afterwards, he'd floated up and with a final scream, two massive silvery wings with golden tips had sprung from his back, along with a massive rainbow explosion which spread across the entire town.
Despite their distance from the vault where the cutie marks were stored, the magical explosion released a wave that managed to somehow destroy the specially tempered glass holding the cutie marks in place, releasing them. But that wasn't all. The vast explosion spread across the town with a radius of about ten miles in every direction, saturating the soil with an unusual magic. A magic that transformed the entire Pony population into anthropomorphic versions of themselves instantly and painlessly.
When everyone came to and saw their cutie marks back, most of them began to panic thanks to Starlight's indoctrination, but Jethro, quick to act, grabbed the still unconscious Unicorn and brushed the makeup off of her ass, revealing that she had never really gotten rid of her cutie mark. Before she could wake, the town's sheriff placed a magical dampening ring on her horn. Athena chose that moment to intervene, teaching Jethro the spell she used on the other Ponies. With his new magic, he made her just like the Ponies of her town used to be, markless as a punishment.
Thanks to this, Jethro was named the new Mayor of the town, which was renamed Fair Haven. Because of their new bipedal forms, the Ponies of Fair Haven had to quickly make clothes for themselves to cover up. Initially, the clothes worn were based off of Jethro's own style, which was based more on comfort than anything. For a while, the townsfolk wore hoodies, sweatpants, cargo jeans, and simple t-shirts, but as Jethro introduced the clothes makers in town to human clothing, they developed their own fashion. The main seamstress of the town, one Garter Belt, became wealthy practically overnight thanks to her clothes now needing to be mandatory. It was an unusual transition for them, but nobody wanted to have all of their private areas exposed. Not only that, but their normal fur seemed to have grown shorter, leaving clothes a necessity to keep warm especially in the winter months.
As for Starlight, the townsponies wanted to further punish her for her crimes, but Jethro stood up for her, much to their surprise. It was then that he revealed the show to the entire town, sharing what he knew about Starlight's past, much to her embarrassment and frustration. She broke down after he showed everyone the two-part episode. Jethro took it upon himself to rehabilitate Starlight and become her first true friend after Sunburst. He only gave her cutie mark back after two months, when she had made restitution to the town.
As the months passed, Jethro helped Starlight to overcome her own past trauma. In return, she'd begun to teach him how to use his new magical abilities. Not only that, but she began to fill a hole in his heart that he felt would never be filled again. He also began spending a lot of time learning to fly from Night Glider, the town's expert on flying and member of their weather team. He began growing closer to each of them until he realized he had begun developing feelings for them both. It came to a head one Hearth's Warming Eve where he almost had a breakdown.
It was then that the two introduced him about the idea of herds. They explained the idea to him calmly. It had been a shock to learn about that, but the conversation that followed on that snowy evening had eased his frayed nerves. He then began dating them simultaneously and the three became closer.
Winter turned to spring, and when spring came, the entire town woke one morning to find that the area affected by the magic released during Jethro's ascension had become not only fertile, but hyper fertile. Grass and trees had sprung up practically overnight, the latter especially around the perimeter of the affected land. With a few tests, it was discovered that seeds planted would grow at nearly twice their normal speed and would provide very nutritious fruits and vegetables, many almost twice their normal size. Farms sprang up over the next few months, leading to a vast and plentiful harvest that autumn. Thanks to that, Jethro introduced the holiday of Thanksgiving to the town, a holiday they readily accepted.
The town also learned of one more side effect of the magical burst. It started when they received an unusual visitor in the form of one Sunburst. Jethro, Night Glider and Starlight were on the outside of the affected area having a picnic when they spotted the lone Unicorn. To say that Sunburst was alarmed to see his old friend as an anthropomorphic Pony mare would be an understatement. He was further shocked to learn that the strange creature with her had been accidentally responsible. He joined them in their picnic where Sunburst and Starlight discussed possible explanations. However, since neither of them could determine what had happened with any certainty, Sunburst asked for permission to see the spot where the accident had occurred.
The moment Sunburst had stepped through the new treeline that had sprung up around the town, he'd collapsed, surrounded by a rainbow glow. Jethro, Starlight and Night Glider had watched helplessly as the orange Unicorn began to morph and transform into a full anthropomorphic version of himself. They'd taken him back to their home (Jethro, Starlight and Night Glider were living together in Jethro's house by this time), given him fresh clothes and treated the injury he'd gotten on his head when he collapsed.
He'd been understandably freaked when he woke in a new body, but had eventually calmed down. He and Starlight studied the epicenter of the magical explosion and after a week of study finally determined that the effect of the magical disturbance was a permanent one. Sunburst, having recently flunked out of Celestia's School, had been looking for a place where he could settle down. He decided to stay in town and see if he could figure out a means of reversing the transformation.
And eventually, he had. However, it took a considerable amount of power to transform a Pony back, and it had to be done outside the barrier. Even then, the transformation could easily be undone if a Pony crossed back into the affected area.
Not wanting any other Pony to be accidentally affected by this, Jethro authorized the construction of a massive wall around the affected areas and guard towers to warn Ponies from entering the territory.
A year later, construction of the wall as well as an irrigation system for the vast quantities of extremely fertile crops around the town had been completed. The town's population had also doubled. Fair Haven had become a home for misfits and vagabonds all around Equestria and beyond. Not only did Ponies come, but members of other races as well. The same thing had happened to them the moment they crossed the threshold: all became Anthro versions of themselves. On the same day the wall was christened, Jethro, Starlight and Night Glider were married in a ceremony of special magnificence.
Four years had passed since Jethro had arrived in Equestria, and nearly three years had passed since he'd married Starlight and Night Glider. The town of Fair Haven was now over two thousand strong. Ponies, Griffons, Dragons and more from all walks of life lived in peace with each other. A few Dragons and Griffons patrolled the wall along with some of the stronger Ponies in town to make sure that nobody else accidentally crossed the threshold, which had become known to the townsfolk as the Bethridge Barrier, much to his chagrin. His run as the town's first mayor was still in effect as he'd won the election two years after his first term started. Nothing else unusual had happened during those years save for the arrival of newcomers from all over the world.
Only two weeks ago, however, a Pony that Jethro had recognized had shown up pulling a large cart. She asked to speak to the leader of the town, and Jethro had gone to meet her. It was Maud Pie, sister to one Pinkie Pie. She'd explained that she had visited this place before and hadn't expected to find it so changed. Jethro, with the help of Starlight and Night Glider who came to help him explain the situation to her.
To everyone's surprise, Maud had shown interest in studying the geological aspects of the magical field. She didn't seem to mind having to undergo a transformation into an anthropomorphic Earth Pony. She decided to take up at least temporary residence in the town so she could study the gems and rocks in it and the surrounding areas. After her transformation, Garter Belt had given Maud a set of clothes and a cloak matching her old one in color and style. She'd been given temporary housing in Starlight's old house while a new one was constructed some distance away from the town proper.
The day before, Jethro had met and talked with Maud after his shift at Town Hall was done. He found her perfectly pleasant to talk to and had invited her over for dinner the following night. He'd half expected her to turn it down, but she'd accepted.
He was brought out of his reverie by someone poking his cheek. He jumped and turned to see Starlight and Night Glider standing there, manes still a bit wet but fully clothed. "Shower's free, love," Starlight said, leaning in and kissing his cheek.
"Thanks," he said as he grabbed his clothes while the two mares headed out towards the kitchen. "Just don't burn everything down again, Nighty!"
"Fuck you!" she called back.
"That comes after dinner, sexy!" Jethro called out as he closed the door to the bathroom and started the shower up again. It didn't take him long to wash his body, but his long hair took time. It grew relatively faster than it had ever since his wings sprouted. Not only that, but unless he tied it up, his hair seemed to flow in the wind like Celestia's and Luna's did in the show.
Breakfast was delicious as usual, and Jethro listened mostly to the barbs that Night Glider and Starlight exchanged. Despite that, he knew that the two were close friends now. It had taken them some time to be comfortable around each other, but their antagonism towards each other was how they expressed their friendship. And of course, whenever the three got up to their nightly escapades, they dropped the false antagonism and either ran him ragged or made him feel like a king depending on their mood and his.
After breakfast was over and the table cleaned of dirty dishes, everyone headed out. Night Glider spread her wings and shot off into the air while Starlight teleported out. Since Jethro had the day off, he decided he would just go wandering through town, looking in at the varying shops and businesses that had sprung up ever since the increasing arrivals of newcomers.
He walked through town for most of the morning, casually stopping into a few stores, such as Party Favor's party supply shop, Double Diamond's sporting goods store, and Feather Bangs music shop. The last Pony he remembered from the season seven episode where Sugar Belle got together with Big Mac. In secret, he called him the town's Gaston. mostly because those three mare admirers of his, Swoon Song the Earth Pony, Fond Feather the Pegasus and Dear Darling the Unicorn, had reminded him of the Bimbettes from Beauty and the Beast. Despite the similarities, Feather Bangs didn't have Gaston's arrogance. Jethro had encouraged him to talk to the mares, but he had been nervous to talk to them at first. Jethro gave him some gentle encouragement about it and eventually the four had begun their own herd. They were even expecting foals at some point in the future.
As noon came around, he walked through the newly constructed section of the town where the majority of the non-pony population lived. As he did so, he smelled the delicious smell of roasting meat. It had taken some time, but the Ponies in town had grown to accept that other species now living in town had to eat meat to stay healthy. A Griffon farmer named Grant had managed to purchase a few acres of land where he raised cattle and other non-talking animals imported from Griffonstone as food stock. Grant's farm was out of sight of town since the Ponies and other herbivore races didn't particularly want to know where the meat came from, especially if it looked like Equestrian cows, pigs, sheep and other creatures that could talk, unlike their Griffonstone counterparts.
He passed by a larger restaurant and caught a whiff of the towns local burger joint. Looking up, Jethro saw that the sign above the door was of a stylized cheeseburger with all the fixings with two pale white horns sticking out of the bun. Below, in blue ink on a white sign, he saw the words Downhome Diner. Grinning, he walked inside, knowing just who this restaurant belonged to.
Inside, he looked around at the well lit burger joint. He had been surprised at how much like a 1950s diner it looked when it first opened up a few months back. There were a few dragons, griffons and a minotaur sitting at the booths or at the barstools. He even saw a small group of Ponies in a corner eating what had to be veggie burgers. And standing behind the counter, with a pen and paper pad in her hand, was Clarabelle, a cow from Equestria who had become what Jethro called a holstaur after moving to Fair Haven after the farm she'd been a part of went under and she had nowhere to go.
That had been the bigger surprise about this place: the fact that a holstaur, a former herbivore cow, ran the place. When he'd asked about it, she shrugged and said it didn't bother her much. Her reasoning was that a creature's got to eat, and as long as the source of the food wasn't talking like her Equestrian counterparts, she didn't care.
Clarabelle was a twenty seven year old heifer who had white fur with caramel patches, two small pale white horns on her head, a cowbell around her neck, and an incredibly attractive figure to boot. She wore a pair of red overalls with a yellow shirt over it and a soda jerk paper cap on her head. She had shoulder length curly auburn hair.
Her ears perked forward when Jethro walked in. She brightened and waved. "Howdy, Mr. Mayor!" she said with a grin, "what brings you in today?"
"Lunch," he chuckled as he headed to the corner barstool and took a seat. "The usual, please."
"Triple cheese with bacon, hold the veggies," Clarabelle recited as she wrote it down, "and I take it you want the small fries with ranch and a coke with no ice? We're out of coke, so is Pepsi okay?"
Jethro snorted in amusement. He'd told her about that joke once, and now she used it whenever she could. Clarabelle was a wiz when it came to cooking or baking or even mixing sodas. He'd found a Coca Cola recipe online and had given it to her to replicate and sell in her diner. It had become an instant success and she could hardly keep up with the orders. "Got strawberry lemonade?" he asked.
"Eeyup! No ice, I take it?" she asked.
"Eenope," Jethro replied. "You know me so well."
"You're one of my favorite customers, hon," she cooed as she finished writing down the order. "It'll be right out." She tore off the paper, put it on an order rack and tended to another newcomer customer.
In the back, he heard the rumbling voice of the short order cook, a Griffon named Gilroy. He was fairly average when it came to Griffons, behaviorwise, but if he liked someone, he always treated them well. That was one reason why Clarabelle kept him in the back. He didn't like too many people. Jethro was one of the lucky ones he did like, however.
A few minutes after Clarabelle handed him his meal order, he was chowing down hungrily on it and looking at his phone when someone sat next to him. Looking over, he saw the half open eyes of one Maud Pie giving him her standard emotionless look. She wore her normal shirt with a pair of sturdy looking black jeans and some hiking boots. Slung across her shoulder was her bag which was also dirty and full of her tools. Jethro had been surprised at how fast Maud had gotten used to her new body. She had actually mentioned that in many ways, the Anthro form she now possessed was far superior to her old form.
He was no expert on how to read her, but he could sense something was a bit off about her today. There was a very slight crease in her brow. Worried, Jethro put swallowed, grabbed a napkin, wiped his face off and said, "Hello, Maud. I didn't know you came here."
"Clarabelle's veggie burgers are good," she stated plainly, not taking her eyes off of Jethro. "And so is the cola."
"Unfortunately, she's out of that right now," Jethro said.
"Then I'll get some of that strawberry lemonade you have, light ice," Maud said.
Clarabelle, who had been nearby, heard the order and wrote it down. As she put it on the order rack, Jethro asked, "Is something wrong? I might me mistaken, but you look a bit…worried." Instead of answering, Maud reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a folded up pink note with blue fringe. There were a few pieces of confetti on it, which told Jethro everything he needed to know. "Is that a note from your sister?" he asked softly. She nodded. "What does it say?"
"She wants to come visit me here," Maud said, and just for an instant, Jethro heard a very slight and unusual inflection in her voice at the word 'here'. A worried tone. "She said she wants to come with her other friends. She wants me to pick a date." She put it back in her pocket.
Jethro gave her his best reassuring tone. "Maud, it'll be okay. We have guards posted around the wall and in the air to keep anyone from crossing without knowing the dangers. Starlight's even been trying to find a way to cast a massive shield around the town so nobody will be accidentally turned Anthro."
Maud's eyes narrowed at that ever so slightly, which put Jethro on edge even more. The slight crease on her brow only increased. "That won't be enough anymore," she said, and when Jethro saw her eyes open somewhat more than he'd seen her do so either in real life or the show, he knew something was wrong.
"Alright, what's wrong, Maud?" he asked quietly. "If there's something that's a danger to the town, I'd like to know."
Her bottom lip twitched a bit, and she looked around the room. Jethro did the same, and saw that nobody else was looking their way. Everybody in the diner was more or less engrossed in their own meals or conversations. Returning his attention to Maud, he nodded at her. Leaning in, she whispered something that made his blood run cold. When she was finished, he looked back at her. "You're sure of this?"
"Yes," she said in that same monotone voice.
Jethro took a shaky breath. "Do…you mind if I get this confirmed by someone else?"
"Go ahead."
Jethro nodded, pulled out his money pouch, and slapped down a small pile of bits on the counter. "Lunch is on me today. You're still coming over tonight, right?"
"Yes. Should I bring anything?"
Jethro shook his head. "You're our guest, Maud. I appreciate the thought, though. See you tonight, and thanks for bringing this to my attention."
"No problem."
Jethro grabbed a few napkins, wrapped the little bit of his meal that remained up in them, downed the remainder of the lemonade, and shot out of the restaurant right after thanking Clarabelle for the meal. He spread his wings and shot up into the air the moment he reached the side street, quickly passing the roofline and zooming back towards the original part of the town. He landed in front of Sugar Belle's shop and rushed inside. "Starlight! Starlight!"
I heard a yelp from the back, then a hiss of anger as Starlight, now wearing a somewhat stained apron and a baking hat. A confused Sugar Belle walked out behind the fuming Unicorn. "Jethro! You made me drop some dough everywhere!" Starlight shouted angrily.
However, her expression changed when she saw Jethro's worried expression. Her anger was replaced with concern as he walked up and leaned in to whisper, "I need your help at the edge of town. Hurry. It's an emergency."
Starlight was immediately on alert. She turned to Sugar Belle. "Hey, sorry about this, but I need to go."
Sugar Belle looked confused, but when she saw the look on Jethro's face, an expression of understanding appeared on her face as she took the apron and hat Starlight had quickly removed. "Don't worry about it. You helped me get ahead of schedule. I can handle the rest for today."
"I'm really sorry," Starlight repeated.
"Don't worry about it, alright?" Sugar said with a kind smile.
Once the two were outside, Jethro grabbed Starlight's hand and charged up a teleportation spell. Before Starlight could object, they were instantly on the road that lead to the main gate that lead out of the affected area of magic that transformed normal creatures into their Anthro counterparts. She stumbled as Jethro pulled her towards the gate. "What's gotten into you!?" Starlight asked. "What's wrong!?"
"I need you to confirm something for me," he said as he rushed out of the gate, much to the confusion of the two Dragon guards standing there. He turned and pointed at the ground near the wall itself. "There. You see that there?" he asked, pointing at a small section of very short grass that was about an inch out from the wall. All parts of the wall.
Starlight walked over, knelt, and frowned as she touched the grass. She turned and narrowed her eyes at Jethro. "If this is another one of your touching grass memes-"
"The magic in the ground. Is there any magic in the ground?" Jethro asked worriedly.
Now confused, Starlight looked down and looked at the grass more closely. She raised her head and her horn began to glow. A patch of the grass also began glowing as she closed her eyes. Jethro watched, the tension in his gut only tightening. If what Maud had told him was really happening, then there was a major problem.
Starlight suddenly gasped and stood, looking down at the newly growing grass in horror. Before Jethro could say anything, she ran back through the gate, horn alight as she looked down at the ground next to the interior of the wall. To be on the safe side, Jethro had ordered that the wall be constructed at least a few feet away from the natural barrier which had spread out from the town. The natural barrier edge could be spotted because within it, grass grew in what had once been desert. The large amount of dust on the inside, however, looked pretty much the same as it had before.
That was, until Jethro saw Starlight walk up to a small patch of grass growing past the barrier. She knelt and performed the same spell she'd cast before. The patch of grass lit up and she concentrated. Finally, she stopped and stood, her face ashen as she turned to Jethro.
When he saw her face, he knew. He knew that Maud had been correct in her hypothesis. He knew that Starlight had confirmed it. He knew even before Starlight said it what had been happening under their very noses for the past four years.
The barrier that would transform any sapient creature into an Anthro was growing. It might be at a very slow pace, but it was growing. It might even begin to speed up, Jethro thought.
He sighed. He didn't want to do this. He'd been perfectly content staying off of Celestia's radar for the past four years, and especially Twilight's. The town had managed to remain a secret from the crown for the past four years, but now? Now he might just have to call in someone who had more knowledge on magic than either him or even Starlight.
"Starlight, I think that it's finally time. I think it's finally time to meet the Elements of Harmony…"