TMP: The Curse of Poni

“Tress the story has gotten quite creepy, it is getting kind of late and I’m getting rather sleepy.”  Sitting there among the whole group, Barb’s eyes were starting to droop.

“Zecora can you please go in the kitchen and start on a meal. I’m going to shoo everyone out and tell Tress what I feel.” Trotting in Twilight shook her head towards the door; she started levitating the group up from the floor. Turning to her friends Fluttershy and Pinkie with a smile, she wanted them to stay, at least for a while. The changelings and Rainbow she pushed from her house, Tress was in a mood that she wanted to douse. “Sorry to say this to you two guys, but you’ll need to leave soon and did you bring by the pies?”

“Oh of course Twilight we baked them up in good taste, we brought you your order all in due haste.” Pinkie’s happy mood was as infectious as ever, to bad she didn’t run from Tress as that would have been clever.

Quick as a flash Tress knocked Pinkie out cold, and then she turned to Zecora with a look that was bold. A sighing Fluttershy silently stepped around Pinkie slowly dragging in a wagon loaded with several tasty fruit pies, she’d be back to give Pinkie some minor medical attention right where she lies.

“I’m guessing she was the one to infect you with this annoying pox, so what do you think of the story Twilight and those shorn locks?” Tress knew that Twilight didn’t like anything that had to do with shearing. Tress read the story spoken out loud, so in the kitchen Twilight was within range of hearing.

Both the pony and zebra looked to the other and chose who would go first, it was Zecora since she was disturbed by the zebra pox the worst.

“You did not need to knock Pinkie out on my account Tress, though she was the one to give me the zebra pox. Thanks to you I’m not that depressed over it much anymore.” Though Zecora couldn’t say she definitely felt bad about the out cold Pinkie on the floor. To infect ponies on purpose was quite mean, especially with a sickness one of which Zecora was none too keen. She trotted into kitchen followed by Barb as she had to prepare a good feast, it may brighten Tress with her bad mood at the least.

“I’m not upset about the story as more I’m curious then that, if I don’t hear it to the end then my mood will be just flat. Though you shouldn’t take it out on Pinkie quite like you did, on your anger you should probably keep a tight lid. Now move over and tell me what happened to you on this day, you seem testy and in quite a bad way.” A spot was made for Twilight to sit immediately without waiting; the story wasn’t something that she thought of as worth hating. She was more worried about why her friend was feeling down, that was the only reason on her face there was even a frown.

“I’ve just had a really bad day and my mood can’t seem to be relaxed. To start from the beginning of this story several times made my sanity feel quite taxed.” All Tress received was a gentle warm hug from the mare that she did love. When it was Fluttershy or Twilight giving affection freely, then away she would not shove.

Fluttershy smiled walking in from stashing away the delicious treats, all the while she was snacking on a few sugar beets. She held out one in offering it in her hoof, she had heard Tress was once again glued to a roof. She knew her friend’s mood could sometimes get rather dour, Fluttershy hoped that just by being here for her that it would make her feel less sour.

Tress closed the book and set it aside; oh on tomorrow she was going to take Ponyville for a ride. She took the beet and retrieved a gentle smile, there was no use staying mad around Fluttershy even for a short while. Biting into the sweet snack she leaned into Twilight’s cuddle, her anger was now leaving like quick drying puddle.

Nodding her head the shy mare got to work on Pinkie Pie who was still laid out, even at the pink one Fluttershy just wanted to shout. No pony should run around making others sick, meeting with Tress again is what finally did the trick. Sure the zebra pox can be quite funny. To Zecora it caused her to sniffle and cry while leaving her nose quite runny.

Shaking her head at all the distress that was going on this winter, Twilight wanted to keep Tress calm or a few buildings her best friend may incidentally splinter. It was a surprise Tress hadn’t transformed or destroyed anything yet, Twilight just continued giving her head and mane a pet.

“I’m going now Twilight and Tress I hope tomorrow that you both feel swell. I’ll get Pinkie back to Trixie and the Cakes and then I’ll be on my way home as well. I have some animals that haven’t gone to sleep during this season of Hearths Warming. Even then I have plenty of time on my hooves to come give you a massage if more anger keeps on forming.” With that Fluttershy heaved the heavy pink pony onto her back.  She swiftly went out the door having finished her snack.

Tress leaned into Twilight who caressed her long light blue hair. Now that she was relaxing to everyone she realized she had given them a scare. She came clean about how her day went; she even mentioned to Twilight about how she felt spent.  Dinner was made and quickly consumed by all involved, the poltergeist‘s ectoplasm on the floor had finally dissolved. After dinner Tress slowly crawled into her bed, she laid down to sleep by resting her head.

“Is she going to be okay? She seemed way too calm.” Barb the magic dragon stood staring at her mother, the one who cared for her quite like no other.  “Aside from that can I sleep in your room mom?”

Leaning down and nuzzling daughter with her nose, Twilight thought it was a good question that she did pose. She lifted her daughter in her magic and slid under the blankets then pulled her in close to snuggle. Barb let herself be cuddled by her mother; she wouldn’t put up much of a struggle.

Like always the sun rose into the sky the very next day, Tress wrapped her scarf around her neck and finished the hash pancakes made out of hay. She had returned to being of good cheer, she wished that Hearths Warming would be good after last year. A mewling sound drew her attention to a small brown cat with colorful spots looking at her with adoration, Tress rolled her eyes and pulled a bowl of food from the fridge to feed him and thought about taking a long vacation.

Palatable came and went as his owner tended to not worry; he waited for his food to warm as he was in no hurry. He wasn’t around yesterday as he was familiar with his master’s moods; at times like that she was bound to start some feuds. The cat happily consumed the bowl of warm spaghetti and sauce. He crooned his appreciation, since as a familiar Tress was his boss.

Having fed her cat Tress picked up her book and trotted out into the few inches of snow. To the mayor with her plan she would go. If she was going to be interrupted constantly trying to read, she may as well earn a few bits given she has her friend’s mouths to feed. So the trouble taker Tress was going to do something unique, which involved reading the story throughout the rest of this week.

Marching into the mayor’s office she laid her plan down. Then she would have Rainbow put up flyers all around town. She would start reading from beginning to end, if anyone misses a part she was not starting over again. There were tickets to be sold and every pony would only need one, at least making money this way would be kind of fun.

It was a few hours of prep work later, she sat in the town hall in which Applejack and Pinkie did cater. There were snacks and many juices that were brought to the table; she hoped the situation would now stay quite stable. Ponies filed in wanting to listen to the mare that fought monsters with her own hooves, hopefully of this story every pony approves.

Sitting down and starting the tale from the beginning once more, she had no idea how long this tale was or what was in store. All the ponies gasped, but did not interrupt her reading. Making them pay to listen to her made Tress almost felt like she was cheating. She got back to the part where the colt knocked a blonde mare silly. Pinkie raised a hoof and Tress ignored her because, REALLY?

“It didn’t take long for the colt to realize the curse of the artifact that looked to be hedge cutters; he tried to stay away from long hair and the beautiful allure with which it now flutters. He fought against the curse tooth and hoof with all that he had. To be rid of it now he would certainly be glad. Not knowing the legends or how to break the effects, he didn’t know what to do with the hair he now forcefully collects.” Flipping the page Tress felt her tension melt away, every pony was hanging onto her words and in her sway.

“The poor colt didn’t have much going on before and now needed help, but no one would want take in a hair cutting whelp. He was chased out of his hometown and away from his cramped little cage; he didn’t want to cause all the ponies there to hate him with rage. He was a friendly colt who before wouldn’t hurt a fly, now he had to make his presence quite shy. He moved from town to town as best that he could, as he was trying to keep a low profile as he should.” ‘The Curse of Poni’ may be starting a bit slow, but tension in the room it did seem to grow. Tress sat up on the stage in a comfortable chair; she stopped to take a sip of juice made from a pear.

“Not only was this colt pushed from the place where he was now considered a thorn, he was trapped with a madness of which he was not born. He needed to trim at least one mane from a mare a day with the cursed trimmers to keep his mind clear, for hurting any pony in madness was what he truly did fear. He only targeted mares that already had their manes short; as more trouble the colt did not wish to court.” A pony sneezed and Tress looked up at Vinyl rubbing her nose, Octavia hoofed her one napkin into which she swiftly blows.

“One might ask why this unicorn didn’t try to destroy them or even leave them alone. He didn’t want anyone else to get cursed and if that happened he knew he wouldn’t quit until he could atone. He wandered the world not finding a place he could stay for long, for every mare he came near he knew might wrong. Destroying them was impossible as they were impervious to harm, the colt found this out while he was working on a farm. He had grown into a stallion of eighteen who took to selling junk to stay alive. He was still trying to figure out the curse, of which the source he still couldn’t derive.  He wished to find a way to break free of the artifact to which he was bound. The stallion’s hopes at finding a solution to this problem, it was clearly not to be easily found.”  Flipping the page, Tress quirked an eye and looked up to all the ponies in the room hanging on to her words. Oh the story has changed and it didn’t seem for the birds. “Huh so this is the other side of it… hey my zebra pox is gone again!”

Quite a lot ponies in the audience cheered that she was good as new, while many were glaring at a sheepishly smiling Pinkie and that was quite a few.

“There was a mare born with wings and a thick mane, apparently her ancestors forgot the legends of the curses pain. She grew up in a mansion a pegasus mare with hair that was a beautiful shade of blue, her coat unlike her parents was also strangely a light shade of purple in hue. The first part of the curse made all pegasus births were always a mare; they all looked like their ancestor who had beauty to spare. Growing up this mare had always wanted to fly; unfortunately because of the curse she would never know the touch of the sky.” Tress looked up and saw Rainbow hugging Scootaloo, that poor currently flightless foal. This heart rending story on many was taking its toll.

“She grew up reading many a book as she was an intelligent lady of a noble birth, but when it came to talks if she could fly she would always say she was rather down to earth. While she knew the reason why she couldn’t get up in the air, it was all because the weight of her impervious curse powered hair. Her parents were always in a rut, it was most likely because her flowing mane was impossible to cut.” Okay now how would this story bring them together Tress did wonder, as the intrigue in the room had shot up as if everyone heard thunder.  Shaking her head and shifting her blue mane against her body, her hind legs squeezed together since she needed to go to the potty. “I would like your attention please every pony, changeling and dragon; I need to use the bathroom. So we’ll take a ten minute break before I continue.”

All the ponies went to get some snack so that their stomachs would be sated, all the while for Tress to come back from the toilet they waited. Tress came back and sat down to watch the clock; she was doing a very good rendition of a hawk.

“Okay is everyone ready for me to continue or do any of you have any objections to me continuing to read this?” If someone had an objection then Tress wasn’t hearing a single remark, so with the rest of the story she would soon debark.

No pony spoke up from the crowd; they were all somewhat silent except some that were whispering out loud. Invested into the story many mares, stallions, fillies and colts were, they wanted to know how it ended now for sure.