TMP: The Curse of Poni

Tress was going to start reading the book for real having finished the opener only to be distracted by a happy sounding moan, this cause her look up from her book as she noticed a certain thing that tended to roam. She saw a spooky floating form in front of her that was familiar to her eyes, she was going to get on to her best friend now about some of her lies.

“Twilight you’re parent’s poltergeist is here, I thought you said we weren’t entertaining guests.” Flatly stated Tress with a bit of angry quirk in her brow, if Twilight didn’t give her a good explanation she was going to get it and how!

“I said we weren’t expecting anyone or I wasn’t going to look, just go back to reading it sounds like he’s enjoying your book! Anyway I think since my parents had plans he might have come here, he might have gotten quite lonely being all alone up there I fear.” Twilight poked her head from out of the kitchen mixing something in a bowl filled with batter; it was quite obvious that she didn’t see what was the problem or the matter.

“Fine, if I keep reading this you’ll be quiet right?” The response Tress received was the poltergeist nodding and smiling, as long as she was able to relax and read without distraction then her anger will not keep on piling. With a flick of her hoof she turned the page, she wasn’t getting any younger and she wanted to get started in this age.

“We will start out with a small orphaned colt with a brown coat and short blonde mane that lives on the street; his choice of lifestyle was most decidedly not very neat. He was puny little thief and nobody cared about his strife, even then he only stole what was needed in life. The orphanage he lived at didn’t have much; he didn’t want to hurt its resources and chose to live in a nearby hutch. Every year he would always be out in the cold, the wind and the rain, needing to steal blankets just to keep warm was a pain.” As Tress read this she started to feel, was this a story of good ending or even for real? It reminded of her past growing up as a magnate for hair care products and she could easily see, that this was as painful as an orphaned childhood could be. She considered herself lucky in that respect since she had comforts since her deceased family had looked out for her; she shivered as something building in her heart began to stir. “He was a selfless little colt that was the truth as it could be said, he knew what he did was wrong but his stomach still had to be fed. On a night he was scrounging for food from the restaurant bins or the ground, he was also on the lookout for things to sell for money if they were to be found. He would only steal in desperation when he couldn’t find the things he did seek; in fact there was one time he went without any food for an entire week.”

“I wish this didn’t sound so horrible, that poor colt.” There was a zebra in the room and there was something was wrong with the way her words were structured as they sounded bad. If Tress didn’t know any better she could swear Zecora was extremely depressed which was sad.

“Did you just… okay Zecora what’s wrong with you and why are you here early? Twilight wasn’t expecting you to come until next week.” Setting aside the book she wanted to read more now, she stood up to figure out why Zecora was depressed and was the elephant in the room like a juggling joke telling cow.

“I have the Zebra pox.” Zecora stated sadly, her tone not sounding like the general wit of a fox.

“I think I can see why you’re acting all depressed now. Are you going to be okay, do you need a hug?” If Tress didn’t give her one about this situation then her conscience would continue to be a bug. Tress wouldn’t offer such a thing at any given regular juncture, but seeing the incredibly depressed zebra made her feel as if in her heart there was a puncture.

“Yes, please. You have no idea how mocking it to lose that part of what I am.” The zebra stated instead of keeping her mouth shut like a clam. With a strong pair of hooves warmly enwrapping her frame, Zecora felt a little bit better about her incurable shame. There was no cure for the zebra pox until it has run its course, though the needy zebra wished she could mix up something to do that by force.

“There, there it’ll be okay.” The loving and freely given hug from Tress, it made the zebra cry into her shoulder to her dismay. The poltergeist went on ignored as it joined in the hug; the spirit was incidentally imparting a minute amount of its ectoplasm on the rug.

“Tress is everything going well? Zecora does not look good as far as I can tell.” The intrusion of Barb and Smart only made the zebra cry harder greatly soaking Tress’s coat, Tress glared at Barb as her anger began to bloat. With a frown Twilight silently stuck her head into the room, she had a sixth sense for when Tress was about to go boom.

“Barb, just a small word of advice, please don’t talk again and that goes for you too Twilight. At least not a word until the zebra pox clears up; she’s really distressed enough about all of this. In fact I don’t think I can continue reading if she’s going to keep being this upset about it.” In her hooves Tress could feel Zecora stiffen a bit. Pulling away from Tress with red puffy eyes, she sniffled and calmed down a size.

“No keep reading please I implore you, it’s the one thing all day that didn’t sound like it was mocking my normal ways.” It was sad to see that Zecora didn’t rhyme in these days.

“I’ll be sure to knock Pinkie out cold extra hard the next time I see her, but are you sure Zecora? You really seem upset about all this.” It was easy for Tress and everyone else to see that the zebra was nowhere near a normal state of bliss.

“Yes, but can you start the tale from the beginning again? I don’t want to miss the whole story as you don’t seem very far.” Zecora received acquiescence in the form of a grunt from Tress; she pulled from her saddlebags and sat down a tapir in jar.

“Fine, but none of you better interrupt me, GOT IT!” So Tress begrudgingly began the story again up to the point the Mane Queen was given mention. She was interrupted by a wildly waving Barb trying to get her attention; this made her teeth clench together with a tension. “Yes, what do you want Barb, a bathroom break perhaps?”

“No I just wanted to know what a Mane Queen was as to my mind it does cling; it sounds an awful lot like your kind of thing.” Oh if only Barb knew how angry Tress was and the pain she wanted to bring. Tress felt her anger level rise due in part to not feeling the ability to relax to her best, but she released it well enough as this was her best friend’s daughter though it was putting her willpower to the test.

“No, I haven’t gotten that far into the book can we please continue, maybe if we get far enough we’ll find out more about why the line is called that.” Tress wanted to lash out in anger that this was happening to her after her hard day of work where she was glued to a ceiling; Twilight came in and calmed her down with a gentle head pat knowing how she was feeling. “Ugh, where was I again?”

“The young colt of thirteen was foraging around and this was quite an auspicious occasion, for this was the first night he would be cursed from which there would be no evasion. The colt had found the artifact which was a large pair of gardening shears, why he hadn’t seen such good quality in all the useless unwanted things that he has pawned off in the years.” Where Tress would have continued with the story without pause, another being interrupted her again making her show her resentment to the point that they may need some gauze. For who had come through the door was a slightly scratched up special changeling with two friends and in festive clothing, Tress's ire was about to hit to the point of incredibly loathing.

“Hello I’m sorry to interrupt you but I felt a horrible amount of despair. Is there a problem that you need some cheering up from the cheery changelings carolers that now fly through the air?” Chrysalis noticed the large spike of anger coming from Tress directed at her and her two cheery changelings who were traveling around singing holiday songs to bring up the mood; they were most likely doing it because it paid them back with good food.

“Are you okay Tress you’re looking a bit mad, hopefully this doesn’t take us away from story time which is sounding quite rad.” Barb declared noticing Tress was about to go nuclear given the look on her face, she hoped Tress was not really going to do anything to their friends of the changeling race. All they were trying to do was spread a little cheer, this was their first time sharing Hearths Warming with ponies too this year.

“I AM JUST PEACHY!” Tress intoned in a way that was really quite screechy. Now she had to start all over again, she swore that all her friends were going to show up and that there would be no end. Just one more time and in a conniption she as was going to blow, Twilight immediately rushed in with a comb and brush using them cool down the mare so she could continue her happy reading show. She now had a large audience which she half wished would leave, but to stay in the spirit of things for the holidays she still had a story to weave.

Eventually Tress got back to the point she was cut off again the last time and continued reading from there, if someone else showed up she would definitely blow up at them with care. She knew Fluttershy had a possibility of showing up and she dearly did love that good friend of a mare, getting angry at her specifically over an interruption just wouldn’t be quite fair. Sure it would annoy her like nothing else, but she’d swallow that instinct to lay into her and create some nice pony pelts.

“In a back alley the colt stared at the bladed hedge clippers which looked perfectly brand spanking new, the problem is as soon as he did touch them the curse he would accrue. Picking them up without a thought or care as he needed bits to feed his belly, his world went wobbly like a blob of solidified jiggling jelly. The curse took instant effect and randomly chose what would drive him mad, why the next mare he saw on his way out of the alley is where things got quite bad.”

All the listeners cringed including the ghost; they certainly hoped this was not a gore fest being read by their host. Given the description of how to cure the curse would lead one to think, they already thought the poor colts mind was broken and sent to the brink. As Tress turned the page to continue the story for which she read so well, a new intruder into story time received frosty glares that meant hell.

Rainbow walked in while smiling a cheesy grin, she wondered why all these being were sitting around Tress holding a book and felt like everyone here wanted to deliver one to her chin. It was a surprise that even Zecora did a nasty glare, it was almost like Fluttershy when she was properly motivated to do her stare.

“So what are you all doing in here if you don’t mind me asking? When outside you could watch me perform and in my presence you could be basking!” Every single being in the room pointed Rainbow to Tress who lay on her side on the couch in a pose very much agitated in manner, after a moment Tress just smiled as she had become quite the planner.

Getting up from the couch and walking by everyone who wanted to hear her read ‘The Curse of Poni’ as attractively as she did; she walked out into the street to issue everyone a verbal demand to those that didn’t shy away and hid.

“This is to everyone who can hear my voice, for the next being that walks into this house uninvited I will then give everyone a choice! If it happens then I will issue something just so we’re all clear, I’ll just start selling tickets to my reading a story that you all might want to hear! Oh dang I’m infected again with the zebra pox, now excuse me while I go scream bloody murder into a cardboard box.” Tress went back into the house in a huff, she marched upstairs to get said box that was in the attic full of stuff. They could hear Tress scream bloody murder to the distress of the audience that sat in the living room den, Rainbow didn’t know what she had just caused and wondered if she just did something to cause someone else to win.

The audience that sat on the floor was soon passing bits to the one who called the pot, apparently the one who earned the quiet bet was the poltergeist so a lot bits he just got. They all questioned what a ghost would do with all that money; they later learned it would be used in a holiday favorite Hearths Warming Tale in an ironic way that was funny. It was a story about a dragon named Scrudge that would go on during Hearths Warming day, with Twilight’s parent’s poltergeist getting a very big part in that play.

Stomping down the stairs with her still healing spleen recently ruptured, Tress looked over everyone and the poltergeist with the money knowing a bet was planned and structured. She glared at them quietly holding up a shaking hoof, someone was about to die and that horrific scream was the proof. She then took her seat on the couch and started from the beginning once more, oh how the rest of the audience pitied the next pony, dragon or otherwise to come through the front door.

“Tress what happened is you alright, that scream gave me quite a bad fright.”  Twilight walked out of the kitchen pouring a bowl into a pan, she thought that Tress couldn’t get any louder then she already can. Her words were met with a flat stare; Tress didn’t count this interruption as it wouldn’t be fair.

“Nothing to worry about I’m just fine, though tomorrow you may have to buy tickets to listen to this voice of mine!” With her silent threat still hanging that there might be some pony she would flay, she decided to get back to the story with her mood already in great decay.

“A mare that was the sweetheart of the area with her blonde mane full and uncut hanging all the way down, the colt against his very will smacked her in the head with a frown. His victim went down to the ground and became slightly dizzy, when he finally left the mare would be in quite a tizzy. He roughly grabbed her by the hair pulling it straight up with his magic and cut a majority of her mane off in a manner most tragic. All that was left of her mane was naught but stubble, now the colt found himself in a very severe amount of trouble. He didn’t know what with him was going wrong, he resisted to the best of his will but he couldn’t in time resist the mare’s hair that had become a sirens song.” A lot of the listeners wondered who wrote this story and Tress did so as well with an odd quirk, it was kind of morbid so she wondered what Twilight would have to say about it after she was done calling the author a big jerk.

Fluttershy walked in through the front door and wondered what was now going wrong with her friends and why everyone was staring at a book frowning; Pinkie Pie popped in behind her and started acting out which involved her college degree in clowning.