TMP: The Curse of Poni

“The mare being intelligent as she was kept using her wings; the hope of being able to fly is something to which she clings. They were well exercised and strong enough to get lift, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t use the natural pegasus gift.  She’d lift grocery bags and weights with them; she’d always used them to manipulate things on a whim. From the smallest to largest thing, when she need to do something she’d use a wing. To the finest of manipulations she uses her feathers, all the talk about her flightless nature she easily weathers.”  Flipping the page Tress saw what was coming next. In this story there was still plenty of text.

“The mare left the mansion on a fine sunny day where she usually stayed, her massive main was done up in a bun and a braid. Her massive mane and tail always needed to be twisted and put in a bind; her hair dragging on the ground constantly which would have not been something good to her mind. Her mane stopped growing after a nominal length, the knowledge that she could take care of herself gave her strength. It would come in handy when a thief tried to steal her purse the one which she held in her wing, instead of being wrapped around her neck on an easily breakable string.” Pausing Tress took another sip of her juice, she cleared her throat to make sure her vocal chords were loose.

“The culprit of this theft was a shaggy haired thief of the female persuasion. To the stallion that saw this who recently came into town, this is what brought him into the equation. The mare that struggled against her offender with relative ease, still the stallion needed a mane if his curse he was to please. The stallion ran up to them quick and with his closed shears he hit the thief in the head. He didn’t use enough force, so the thief wouldn’t have bled. He had yet to do any pony lasting harm; he was most certainly attracted by the defending mare’s charm. Instead of berating the thief and hurting her more, the stallion came out with the fact that he knew what it was like to be poor. The unkempt mess that was a raggedy red mane laid out in the street, he wanted to help her even if it would ruin his recent feat. He felt sad for what he was about to do to her, the earth pony thief had quite a nice shade of yellow fur.” Tress noticed that the room was really quiet right about now, has she finally become fully relaxed somehow?

“The stallion profusely apologized for what he was about to do, to both the thief and the noble mare in front of him. He grasped the unconscious thief’s mane; tightly binding it in his magic he forcefully gave her a short trim. The noble asked him why exactly did he do that, at least she was willing to listen and have a nice chat. The stallion so entranced by her beauty, he came out with the fact that he was cursed as if it was his duty. He pointed out that a long time ago he touched this cursed artifact the shears that could cut through many things. The mare stared at it with interest and extended her wings.” Everyone in the audience did twitch as this was the moment of truth, would the stallion help the mare given his curse he fought hoof and tooth.

“The noble mare asked if the stallion could carry the thief back to her abode, with her kind of beauty his willpower was completely overrode. The stallion decided to introduce himself by his name. His noble pony host decided to do the same. He was a poor unicorn stallion named Ardent Claim; hers was Amethyst Allure the less than rich dame. Her parents had spent a lot of money trying to find a cure for her strangest feature; as for a job she was quite the history teacher. The hedge trimmers this stallion had may have been the cure to her uncut mane that she did seek; to fly just once was a dream that was becoming bleak.” Closing the book Tress stood and stretched out, while most of the audience sat there beginning to pout.

It was time that Tress called it a day; maybe tomorrow she could finish the book. She wondered what would happen if she read ahead at home in a quiet little nook. All the ponies that had gathered gave a sigh wanting to hear the rest, but to wait until tomorrow might have been best.

Upon getting home with a zebra, her best friend and her child, Tress took to the couch and was about to read the evening away since her mood had become mild. The book was quickly snatched from her hooves in a manner most upsetting. Twilight taking the book from her was not something on which Tress was betting.

“Why did you take the book from Tress mom?” Barb was happy to realize that she was not forced to rhyme and remained calm.

“If you’re being paid to read it out, then you’ll hear the ending with every other pony about. I’m going to stow this away now… did I just stopped rhyming? I guess the zebra pox must finally be burning out.” Twilight did a jig that was less then spry. The mare just couldn’t dance; there was no reason to ask why.

“Well that’s good for all of us, but why can’t I finish reading the story now?” Tress asked with a bit of distress, she wasn’t about to try and fight with a mare whom she thought of as a mistress. In explanation Twilight owned Trims, Tresses and Trouble Takers, any problem that comes their way would certainly meet their makers.

“Tress you petitioned the mayor for the right to use town hall to do this, also because you’re making money from this venture and both Pinkie and Applejack are getting a cut of the profits. It would be kind of bad having to refund all those bits if you don’t feel up to reading it tomorrow because you read ahead.” Twilight paced around in a tight circle in front of Tress, that this is a problem she would address. “Now I’m going to seal this away for a while using temporary enchantments, it’s your turn to make dinner tonight anyway.”

Tress sighed and with a roll, she came to her hooves and into the kitchen she did stroll. She would wait until tomorrow to find out what happened in the onset of Amethyst Allure, the mare who Ardent Claim would come to adore. As that is the way the story seemed to be heading, now to some vegetables for a stir fry she would be shredding.

“You know mom she really seems invested in that story.” Grabbing a clean comic book from a nearby shelf, Barb sat down on the couch to read the latest Power Ponies to herself.

“Yeah, I am too admittedly. It does seem like Allures problems would be solved by those cursed hedge clippers.” Twilight decided to curl around her daughter while kicking off her warm fuzzy slippers.

“I am not so sure that as to what will exactly occur. Now where is that Pixie, it is Smart to whom I refer?” Zecora brightened up as she realized with good cheer, that her rhyme was back and quite nice to hear. “Oh joyous day my mouth is back in action, especially after my rhyme has long since been in traction.”

“It’s nice to know you’re feeling better Zecora, so why don’t you join in listening to Barb regale us with another Power Ponies adventure?” It was nice to hear the zebra pox cases were all but done, with a lot of patience and time any pony will have won. Anything with vitamin C like fruit really did help, as did warm mud baths at the spa along with some kelp. “Now you’ve got me wondering what Smarty could be getting into, I’m sure she’ll turn up eventually. It’s not like she’d be appetizing or filling for predators anyway if she’s flying around out there somewhere. I looked it up in some medical books that zebra pox hits a zebra harder than it does a pony, it must have been really trying for you.”

“I am quite okay right now; it is to your friendly words that I bow.” Zecora joined the other two on the couch without being a nag. With the weight of three beings, it had begun to sag.

That night the stir fry was delicious as could be, Tress was in a better mood as all her friends would agree.

It was the next day in town hall, that the rest of the story awaited its fall. As all the ponies talked, onto the stage Tress did walk. Planting her butt into the seat, everyone stopped talking for a beat. Continuing where she left off, she didn’t hear a single pony scoff.

“On the way home Amethyst Allure struck up a conversation about her cutie mark, as they were currently taking a shortcut through park. Amethyst had earned hers simply enough it was a dark purple jewel in the shape of a winged heart; her special talent was making others pay attention to her for a start. Her talent was useful for teaching history as that was her vocation, living close to the school she was in a good location.”

“Amethyst asked Ardent what his cutie mark meant, it was hard to figure out or for her intelligence to dent. Ardent Claim had long known what was special after his years of selling junk or working random jobs to stay alive, finding things others no longer thought of use he did strive. His cutie mark was of a pile of junk, it was something he could be passionate about even in a funk. Incidentally it was his special talent that led to finding the cursed hedge trimmers he had in his possession. In the curse he got he had learned a very valuable lesson.”

“Outside her mansion home Amethyst let in the two ponies including the thief. Even she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the other mare’s assault since it had been brief. She wished to get to know Ardent some more, if only she knew that there was much in store. She asked if Ardent thought that the thief would like a meal, she also didn’t know how the haircut would make the thief feel. Ardent told her she would be upset at the thought, to lose more then what she had sought. Amethyst didn’t know the feeling of having her hair shorn; it had been a part of her ever since she was born. Now was a time to ask if the hedge trimmers were as strong as he said, maybe she might actually lose some hair from her head.”

“Amethyst wanted to test the strength of the cursed object that she once read about in a tale, they could cut through almost anything without fail. So she had Ardent place the thief in her own bed to rest, then she brought out a large chunk of metal to put the cursed artifact to the test. The hedge trimming blades cleanly cut through the metal without chipping. No denting or damage was found after the cursed artifact was done ripping.” A lot of ponies leaned in to hear what next happened; their moods were all about to be dampened.

“Amethyst then asked if he could put the blades to a portion of her tresses. Why she would want him to do that, Ardent only guesses. Levitating out a portion of her mane he slid the hedged trimmers into the thick hair, he tried to close them but through the tresses the blades could not tear.” Every pony in the audience gave off a gasp. Tress gave them a flat stare, for reasons none of them could quite grasp.

“Amethyst sighed sadly that the portion in the blades had not been shed, it surprised Ardent that the locks did not fall from her head. So the blades could not sever, that which Amethyst has been living with since forever. Amethyst told Ardent of having a curse for as long as she has known. Among the effects such as her mane being to the length it has grown. Sighing Amethyst walked away to get some food prepared for the two. The hedge trimmers Amethyst now knew were not quite a blessing and this left Ardent to stew.”

“The thief had woken up in an unfamiliar place, she saw Ardent sitting at the edge of the bed at the odd look on his face. She was worried about he would do. He looked at her noticing she was awake and apologized, to her that was something quite new. It didn’t take her long, to see why the apology came out so strong. After she calmed down and having bucked Ardent once or twice, hearing about his curse she even thought about being nice. Getting hit by an earth pony hurt a lot, Ardent wasn’t about to give as good as he got. He truly deserved the pain, after the damage he did to her mane.” A few earth ponies and Tress chuckled at this, getting one of them mad was nothing to miss.

“Eventually the flightless noble returned telling them it was time to eat, down the stairs their hooves did beat. Over the course of the meal Amethyst told the thief that she was welcome to stay with free room and board, until she could find a job and a place she could afford. Ardent on the other hoof had attracted her attention, in such a special way that it warranted mention.”

“Many a stallion had found Amethyst beautiful before, alongside mares quite a many were attracted to her allure. Not one did what Ardent could; this was speaking to her normally as a friend would. She would ask Ardent to stay the night, while she looked up a few things in the library to help make things right. Upon the next morning she would seek him out, hopefully the cure to his curse would be about.”

“Upon studying the history of the random effects the cursed hedged trimmers had dealt to others. It had ponies eating bananas and their peels, to always wearing a thick crooked shoe on one hoof or hurting their family members no matter whether they were father, mother, sisters or brothers. This was the least damaging that Ardent’s curse could have been to Amethyst Allure’s mind; in a sense he was a stallion who was put in a bad situation and it was amazing that he was still so kind.”  Tress was glad that it was too cold for there to be monsters to smack, unless it was wendigos giving the Trouble Takers some flack. She leaned back and prepared for the end of the line, to hear what happened next her heart would pine. Until then she was curious as to where the little toy in the form of a pixie went, all this relaxing made her feel less spent.

“Do you need a break Tress, you’ve gotten pretty far into the book and its sense of rhyming is not exactly the best in the world you know.” Twilight wanted her friend to be at ease as this was her show.

“Yeah, ten minute break every pony, changeling and magic dragon! Hope for the best, because by the end of this we’ll find out if the curse on these two ponies is broken.” A general murmur started throughout the crowd at the words Tress had just spoken.