Whodunnit?

by SkarinOfAtmora

Rating: teen
Tags: Spike, Comedy, Profanity, Main 6, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery
Length: 4877

Hearts and Hooves day is ruined as all of Equestria is exposed to poison joke as part of a cruel prank. A quick trip to Zecora and the local spa should fix things up quickly. Right?

Hearts and Hooves day is ruined as all of Equestria is exposed to poison joke as part of a cruel prank. A quick trip to Zecora and the local spa should fix things up quickly. Right?

Eeeeeh not really. As Twilight and her friends soon discover that the usual poison joke cure doesn't work and that Zecora went back to Zebrica, they have no choice but to adapt to their new forms and wait for Zecora to return in, ooooooh, about 6 months? It depends on the weather really.

But wait! I hear you say. This was a prank! But who could commit such a heinous crime? Surely it was Discord! Of course not! That would be a very short story and not a fun, weird, crazy shenanigans filled slice of life tale with just a tinge of mystery!
Soooo... Whodunnit?

This story is a collaboration/comission with one of my readers.
They provided the art and I will provide the words.

Published 2022-10-04 13:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-10-29 22:19:13 UTC

1 - Cruel joke

Ah Hearts and Hooves day, the day of love. A time of year when everypony becomes a shy and bumbling mess of themselves as they gift chocolate and flowers to their crushes. But the day wasn't limited to romance, oh no, you could gift something to a very close friend, colleague or even your teacher. Today was a celebration of love and Ponyville was ready.

"WHAT THE HAY HAPPENED???"

"MY-MY-MY HOOVES HAVE BECOME ANVILS!"

"OH BOO-HOO, YOUR HOOVES ARE ANVILS! I'M A TOILET!"

You're probably wondering what the buck is going on. Poison joke on Hearts and Hooves day? Who could be so cruel?

Well, beats me. But let's go back a little and see how this whole mess started. It's rewind time.

"You did not just make a Will Smith reference in this story!" Pinkie suddenly sprung up.

Shush Pinkie or I will slap you.

Now, as I was saying, it was Hearts and Hooves day and everypony was preparing their gifts. All except one lavander alicorn princess inside the Castle of Friendship.

"C'mon Twilight! It's Hearts and Hooves day." Spike moaned while carrying a huge stack of papers.

"I know Spike but these friendship reports cannot wait!" Twilight's head popped out behind yet another huge stack of papers. "As Princess of Friendship it is my duty to review every single one and-"

"I heard Flash Sentry bought a big box of chocolates and two tickets to a Songbird Serenade concert." Spike interrupted smugly. "But since you're too busy here, he'll probably go with somepony el-GAH!" his stack of papers went flying everywhere as Twilight suddenly appeared inches from his face.

"He will not!" Twilight said a little more menacingly than she intended. "Err, I mean, you're right. It's Hearts and Hooves day and we should be out there with everypony else!" the mare laughed awkwardly.

"That's the spirit!" Spike turned on his heel and made his way to the castle doors.

"Umm, just out of curiosity, who told you I had a crush on Flash Sentry?" Twilight asked sheepishly.

"Rarity." the dragon replied with a blush.

"Of course." the alicorn rolled her eyes. "That mare just loves to gossip." Twilight sighed. Soon they reached the castle doors and Twilight enveloped it in a purpleish aura before slowly opening them.

"She doesn't like to gossip!" Spike protested. "Rarity just likes to, umm, talk about certain confidential things that may or may not be true."

"That's called gossip, Spike." Twilight deadpanned. "Also, what did you get Rarity this year?" Twilight asked after she saw a mare squealing with glee at the present her coltfriend just gave her.

"What makes you think I-" a single raised brow from Twilight was answer enough. "I got her a collection of rare gems." the little dragon pulled out a neatly wrapped box from somewhere and showed it to Twilight. "You think she'll like them?"

"I'm sure she will." Twilight smiled in response. "After all, you're her Little Spikey Wikey!" she cooed and rubbed Spike's cheek.

"Well, after today, I will be her Big Spikey Wikey!" he puffed out his chest and smiled smugly. "And there she is now!" Spike pointed excitedly before getting all lovey dovey about it. "Doesn't she look beautiful today?"

"She looks like that every day Spike."

"I know." Spike eyes already turned to hearts and Twilight knew there was no helping him. Hay, he didn't even acknowledge Rainbow Dash standing right next to Rarity. "Hi Rarity." he then shyly presented his gift.

"Oh hello my wittle Spikey Wikey! For me? Awww you shouldn't have!" Rarity tore off the wrapping paper like a timber wolf ripping into it's prey. "Oh my they're positively beautiful! Thank you Spike!" and with a peck on the cheek the small dragon melted into a mushy puddle. "Hello Twilight."

"Hi chatterbox, I mean, Rarity." Twilight laughed sheepishly at the frowning unicorn.

"I think it was hardly a secret you fancy Flash Sentry, darling." Rarity rolled her eyes. "Besides-" she got really close to Twilight. "-I also heard he booked a trip to Las Pegasus for two." Twilight's face flushed red and steam burst from her ears. "But you didn't hear it from me." Twilight shook her head frantically before turning to Rainbow Dash.

"Hi Rainbow."

"Finally they notice me." the pegaus scoffed.

"You've outdone yourself with the weather today. Those heart clouds look really nice." Twilight complimented her friend who smiled smugly.

"Of course I did! Honestly, did you expect anything less of me?"

"Well, there was that whole blizzard incident at a certain wedding as I recall." Rarity chuckled at her friends expense.

"Hey! I was tired and blizzard and gentle snow clouds look almost the same!" Rainbow huffed.

"Mornin' ya'll!" AJ greeted and before anypony could reply the mare stuffed a heart shaped apple in their face. "These sell faster than Princess Celestia eats a cake!"

"Delicious as ever, Applejack." Fluttershy said while munching on her apple. The others simply nodded.

"Hi everypony!" the chipper voice of Pinkie Pie, who suddenly appeared, stratled the group. "I got you all my famous cupcakes! You get a cupcake!" she shoved one to Twilight. "You get a cupcake!" the next was simply dropped into the pile of lovey dovey mush that was Spike. "Everypony gets a cupcake!" she pulled out a six-barreled machine gun and shot cupcakes at anypony she saw.

As the cupcake madness was going on, a shadow slowly crept it's way over Ponyville and more and more heads looked up. An air-balloon was hovering above them with a gigantic bag suspended on a hook. The bag was hanging upside down so when a knot was pulled the contents would rain down on Ponyville.

"'Scuse me, Twilight?" the alicorn was suddenly approached by Ponyville's mailmare Derpy holding out a heart shaped card. "We got this huge bag with presents for everypony. Mind if we just drop them from the sky?"

"Presents? From whom?" Twilight took the card and read it out loud. "Dear Ponyville! Thank you for everything you have done for Equestria! From: A secret admirer!" Twilight's brow furrowed in thought. "Did you check the presents?"

"Of course. It's just cookies." Derpy then presented one of the cookies. Twilight took the said cookie and inspected it thouroughly. Seemed fine to her.

"Alright." Twilight nodded and handed the cookie back to Derpy who promptly ate it. "You're good to go!" Twilight yelled to the pegasus hovering underneath the bag. The pony nodded and pulled on the rope, showering Ponyville in presents. Chaos promtly ensued as everypony was trying to grab a present for themselves. "Calm down everypony! There is enough presents to go around!"

"Although..." Twilight's head turned to Derpy. "Something strange happens to you when you open it."

"WHAT?"

POOF!

Ponyville was suddenly engulfed in a sickenigly green cloud of smoke. Ponies coughing everywhere and stumbling over each other in the thick fog. Twilight could feel her head rattling-

"Wait, what?" her head was rattling! Or rather it was moving like a bobblehead toy.

"What in tarnation?" the alicorn's head snapped towards her friend whose body elongated and stood upright. In place of her hind legs were now two comically large shoes and her body looked like it was made of rubber.

"Applejack! You look like a, like a..." Twilight just couldn't say it out loud.

"I look like a darn dog's chew toy!" the earth pony shouted.

"Yes, a dog's chew toy! That's what I wanted to say!" Twilight laughed nervously before the screaming began.

"WHAT THE HAY HAPPENED???"

"MY-MY-MY HOOVES BECAME ANVILS!"

"OH BOO-HOO, YOUR HOOVES ARE ANVILS! I'M A TOILET!"

Which brings us to the beginning of this tale. Twilight quickly realized what was going on. A prank of epic proportions was at play.

"Why does it feel like I'm at the beach?" Rainbow asked aloud as she got the feeling of sand beneath her hooves. Looking down the pegaus's mouth hung wide open in shock when she realized her entire body was now made of sand. "What the hay? I am the beach!"

"Twilight! What's happening?" Rarity asked in panic while inspecting her new body. Each part of her body was now a balloon and twisted together like a, well, balloon animal. At least she kept her color scheme.

"Must be poison joke." Twilight concluded quickly as it was the only possible explanation, her serious expression wobbling alongside her head.

"Discord." Applejack growled and waddled towards her alicorn friend.

"L-let's not jump to concl-" Fluttershy began but was rudely interrupted.

PRRRT!

"That wasn't me!" Fluttershy raised her hooves in defence. All four of her hooves were now whoopie cushions.

FFFFRT!

"That one was maybe me..." Fluttershy promptly hid behind her mane like she always does, her yellow coat now a bright red.

"This is so fun!" Pinkie Pie screamed with glee as her transformation made her lower half a spring attached to a wooden base. She jumped around her friends, doing somersault and spinning in the air. So yeah, Pinkie was basically still Pinkie.

"At least one of us is having fun." Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Vell' my dear, perhaps vee' both can have fun." a familiar, yet strangely prench accented voice said behind her. Rarity turned around and saw Spike, phyically unchanged except for a long and thin moustache sprouting over his lip, leaning on his elbow that hovered in thin air.

"Spikey? What happened to you?" Rarity asked the still small dragon.

"Nothing at all, mon cheri." Spike then casually walked to the white unicorn. "I feel better 'zen ever!" he twirled one edge of his moustache in his fingers. "Why don't I make you feel the same?" Spike extended his clawed hand to Rarity with a seductive smile. Now for some reason Rarity was enticed by Spike's words, probably because of the accent, and almost took his hand but luckily reason prevailed.

"Claw!" Rarity jumped back in fright and hid behind Twilight.

"Ze name is Spike!" the dragon said dramatically.

"No! Your claws!" the mare pointed to the sharp objects on his fingertips. "I'm made of balloons!" Spike then took notice of his sharp claws and put two and two together.

"Worry not, mon cheri! I 'vill be right back!" and he ran off to presumably file down his claws.

"No wait!" Twilight called out but Spike was already gone. "Horsefeathers." Twilight facehoofed which only made her head bobbing worse.

"Aren't you nauseous?" Rainbow Dash when suddenly her mid-section suddenly collapsed. "AAAAAAAAA-oh..." her body suddenly began re-assembling itself like it was the most natural thing.

"I AM A CHEW TOY!" Applejack roared at a random stallion that looked like a... Like another chew toy. Maybe there's a battery powered one?

"EVERYPONY CALM DOWN!" Twilight was this close to using the Royal Canterlot Voice. Still, it was enough as everypony stood still like somepony pressed a pause button. "Thank you."

PRRRT!

"Stop moving Fluttershy!" the alicorn's head snapped back only to continue spinning.

"Eeep!" Fluttershy flinched but otherwise didn't move. Applejack helped stop Twilight's head from literally spinning.

"Thank you." Twilight said as her eyes still kept rolling in a comical manner. "And I'm sorry Fluttershy. I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, Twilight." the shy mare said with a small smile, her cheeks red from embarrasement. Twilight nodded in response before turning back to the still paused crowd.

"As I was saying, somepony clearly thought it would be funny to douse us in poison joke." the ponies murmured in reply. "But it's nothing a little bath at the sauna can't fix. Now, I want everypony to form a line and calmly proceed to-" the ground shook as a stampede of ponies rushed towards the spa center. Twilight wanted to facehoof again but decided against it for obvious reasons.

"Relax, Twi." Applejack rubbed her friends shoulder. "Like you said, a quick bath at the spa and we'll be right as rain."

Meanwhile in Canterlot...

Day Court was in chaos. Ponies of all shapes and sizes, and I do mean all shapes and sizes stormed the castle after opening their presents, only to be transformed into some ridiculous form by poison joke. Ponies left and right demanded answers from Princess Celestia as her assistnat Raven Inkwell, in her new not so original raven body, tried to calm down the raging mob.

"We are aware of the situation and I assure you the Princesses are doing everything in their power to find the pony responible for this heinous prank!" the mare shouted to the crowd but none would listen. She then turned to Celestia and actually yelled at her. "STOP EATING YOUR MANE AND HELP ME OUT!" yes, Princess Celestia was now made out of delicious cake. Layers of various flavors created the most delicious Princess in Equestria. And she knew it.

"But I taste so good!" Celestia moaned in delight and took another huge bite of her mane which was made out of various flavors of frosting. As soon as she swallowed the delicious multi-flavored delicacy, her mane regenerated so the cycle could repeat once more. "I am infinite!"

"You will be if you don't stop eating yourself!" Raven flapped her featherd wings in frustration. "At least you can't eat yourself into an early grave." the Sun princess giggled, her eyes manical from the enormous amounts of sugar she ate in the last two minutes. Yes, turn the junkie into what they love most. Should be fine.

"You want some?" Celestia extended her hoof with the message being clear.

"Ew! NO!" Raven recoiled in shock. Celestia shrugged and brought her hoof closer to her mouth.

"Come to mama." Raven couldn't watch as Celestia bit of her own hoof and chewed it with delight. At least it looked like it didn't hurt. Still, ew.

"Where is Princess Luna?" Raven groaned and looked around the crowded throne room. "Maybe she could-"

"RETURN AT ONCE YOU HARLOT!" Luna screamed at her detached lower body, a bluish flame coming from both parts that were previously joined together. "THOU WILL NOT DANCE AT A STALLION'S CLUB FOR THEIR ENTERTAINMENT!"

"Mmmmmm... Strawberries..."

Author's Note

Not much to say here about this. It's all in the "long story" description.

Other than that, I am not familiar with the, let's say, source of inspiration for this story. I did some research and apparently it was somewhat big when it came out. I like a challenge and this will certainly be one.

Stay tuned!

2 - Worst holiday ever

Twilight and her friends did their best to avoid the pony stampede headed towards the spa, lest they be trampled to a pancake. Once a little common sense kicked in all of Ponyville stormed towards Lotus and Aloe's establishment to rid themselves of the poison joke and enjoy the rest of their Hearts and Hooves day while the princessess figured out who would be cruel enough to do something like this.

"Are we sure it ain't Discord?" Applejack asked once again, her new slim form making it easy for her to avoid the horde of ponies.

"If-Fluttershy-says-it's-not-Discord-I-believe-her." Twilight responded while her head spun around and only speaking when it faced Applejack. In the last minute everytime somepony bumped into her, Twilight's head would spin in another direction.

"You wanna' know what I think?" Rainbow piped up. "I say we go to Discord and we-" before she could finish, somepony went right through her and her entire body collapsed in a sandy heap. But just like earlier it began to quickly form the cyan pegasus mare.

"Why is everypony running with sharp objects?!" Rarity screamed in horror and avoided sharp objects in a way Pinkie would later dub Neo-style.

"-and that'll show that motherbucker we mean business!" Rainbow Dash's body finally pulled itself together and it seemed Rainbow didn't even notice she got reduced to cat litter. It would also appear the stampede finally got past them and the six mares gathered in a circle. Actually, they all approached Fluttershy who was too embarrased to move.

"I will send a letter to Princess Celestia." Twilight's head finally stopped spinning and she summoned a parchment and quill and began writing down her message. "I'm sure if she comes to Ponyville she'll put everypony at ease so we can figure this out in peace. There!" Twilight quickly rolled up the letter and sent it away to Canterlot.

"Wait, you can do that without Spike?" Rarity asked with a raised balloon brow that squealed as it moved upwards. You know, balloon on balloon friction.

"Of course. But since Spike is my assistant I let him do it." Twilight explained. "Okay girls, while we wait for Princess Celestia let's think. Who could have done it?" before Applejack could speak Twilight raised a hoof. "Probably not Discord."

"And why the hay not?" Applejack asked annoyed. "All ah'm sayin' sugarcube is that it's probably that varmit's doin'."

"W-well-" Fluttershy finally spoke up. "If Discord had done this, then he would be here to enjoy the chaos, right?" the butter mare made a good point.

"Ah' suppose. But still!" Applejack was not about to let this go.

"Discord is our prime suspect but Fluttershy is right." Twilight said and tried to put a hoof on her chin for the whole thinking hard look but her head wobbled so much it was impossible. "Discord would be here laughing in our faces and taking pictures."

"Then who is responsible for this atrocity?" Rarity cried dramatically and pretended to faint, only for her balloon body to slowly float to the ground and land with a soft squeak, completely ruining the drama queen moment. "Horsefeathers."

"Maybe Chrysallis is at it again?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"Hmmm, could be. Throw Ponyville into chaos and send her army to conquer it." Twilight thought it over. "But why Ponyville? I mean, Canterlot is-" before she could finish a letter poof'd into existance in front of her. "It's from Princess Celestia!" Twilight unraveled the scroll. "What the hay?" the entire scroll was covered in cake stains.

Dear Twilight.
I am not able to come to Ponyville at the moment as I am too busy eating myself-

Then there was a lot of scribbled jibberish, like somepony was trying to grab the quill from Celestia's hoof, before the message continued but in a different hoofwriting.

Canterlot is in quarantine. Princess Celestia became a cake and Princess Luna is chasing her lower half through the red light disctrict. I suspect poison joke. Waiting for treatment.
Sincerely,
Raven Inkwell

"We're doomed!" Rarity cried out once again and repeated her act from before. She once again landed with a soft squeak.

"We are not doomed Rarity." Twilight crumpled the parchment into a ball and threw it away, the ball of paper conveniently landing inside a pony shaped trashcan that walked by. "Girls, it looks like it's up to us to once again save the day." Twilight sighed. "Really getting tired of this Princess Celestia..."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Pinkie, who has been swaying leisury until now, bounced around her friends. "To the spa!"

Shining Armor was ready. He took a nice long shower, brushed his mane and tail, put on his old officer uniform that Cadance liked so much and made his way towards their designanted, ahem, Room of Love.

Since it was Hearts and Hooves day, Cadance's favorite holiday, Shining knew he was in for a treat. If last year was anything to go by his pelvis would need readjusting but it was worth it. It somewhat annoyed him that ponies associated Cadance's status as Princess of Love as something sexual but he did not correct them either. Truth is, Cadance was an expert on love and sex. How he managed to marry her was beyond him. Little nerdy Shining Armor marrying the prettiest girl in school.

"Suck it, Big Hoof." Shining smirked remembering the old high-school bully who was now flipping hay burgers for a living. Guards and maids bowed curtly as he walked past them, with a freshly picked rose in his mouth, and some even smirked knowingly. Yup, Shiny's gonna' get laid tonight. He finally reached the door to the Room of Love and knocked.

*TAP! TAP-TAP-TAP TAP! TAP TAP!*

"Cadance? It's me!" he said in a sing-song voice. Shining waited for a reply but none came. "Cady?" he called again but got no answer. "I'm coming in!" he announced and slowly opened the door. Shining peeked inside and the room was dimly lit by candles, a big heart shaped bed was covered with rose petals but Cadance was nowhere to be found. "Ummm, honey?" he entered the room completely and closed the door. Shining looked around but Cadance was nowhere to be seen. "I'm getting worried now-WHOA!" suddenly somepony tackled him to the ground but Shining quickly realized who it was. "There you are!"

"Silence, you lowly peasant!" Cadance growled at a now confused Shining Armor.

"Umm, Cadance?"

"I am not Cadance you fool!" the pink princess hissed and slapped Shining across the cheek. "I am the great Queen Chrysalis!"

"Oooooh!" to Cadance's utter shock, Shining suddenly smiled widely. "We're doing roleplay again!"

"What?" Cadance reeled back in disgust.

"Ahem." Shining cleared his throat and made his voice a little deeper. "I am King Sombra and I came to claim you as mine Queen Chrysalis!"

"What the buck is wrong with you?" Cadance jumped back in horror. "You are disgusting!"

"Do not play hard to get, my queen." Shining stood up and advanced towards a horrified Cadance. "After all, you quite enjoyed our last meeting." he strode forward with confidence, making Cadance scurry backwards. "The way I made you scream my name."

"What? You roleplay me and Sombra! You two are disgusting!" her cries fell on deaf ears as Shining was too deep in character.

"They way I filled you to the brim with my-"

*KNOCK, KNOCK*

"WHAT?" Shining barked in Sombra's voice before realizing what he'd done. "Um, I mean, yes?" he quickly reverted back to his normal tone and just in time as Cadance was pinned to a wall.

"Prince Shining Armor! There is something you need to see!" a guard's voice came from the outside.

"Can't it wait?" Shining groaned before looking at Cadance and licking his lips hungrily. "I'm about to have dinner." Cadance was drained of color.

"I'm really sorry but it REALLY can't wait! May we enter?" Shining's ears twitched. The guards and staff knew not to disturb them on this particular day if it wasn't of the utmost importance.

"You may." Shining backed away from Cadance who breathed a sigh of relief as her coat returned to it's natural pink. The doors slowly opened and two guards entered with a prisoner in tow. "What is it-" Shining's eyes fell on the prisoner. "Chrysalis!" his horn immediately flared up with magic.

"No! Wait! Shiny, it's me! Cadance!" Chrysalis cried out.

"Yeah, right." Shining rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"It's true, dumbass." Cadance spoke, making Shining turn around.

"What?"

"I'm Chrysalis, that's Cadance!" the pink mare pointed to the changeling.

"It's true Shiny!" the changeling replied.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" Shining's horn stopped glowing and he looked to his wife, then Chrysalis, then back and so on. "You're telling me-"

"Somehow we switched bodies, genius!" Cadance, or rather Chrysalis, said with an annoyed huff.

"That's what I've been trying to explain!" Chrysallis, or rather Cadance, said to the two guards who looked confused as Tartarus. "Shiny you have to believe me!"

"Yes, you have to believe us." Chrysalis snarled at Shining. "Oh great King Sombra."

Suffice to say Shining Armor blacked out like a true stallion.

The line in front the spa was a long one. Basically everpony in town was waiting to get cured from the poison joke. Good ponies as they are, Twilight and her friends waited in line like everypony else.

"Okay girls. We'll be cured in no time and then we'll figure out who is responsible for this." Twilight said confidently, her head nodding involuntarily.

"Ah' sure hope so, sugarcube." Applejack nodded in reply. "Gettin' real tired of dogs starin' at me."

"I agree." Rarity joined in the conversation. "I mean, how am I supposed to do my work if I could pop at any minute?"

"C'mon girls! It's not so bad!" Pinkie said and bounced happily in place.

"At least Pinkie hasn't changed much." Rainbow Dash said and tilted her head to the side and a little sand seeped out. "That's better."

"Yeah. It gives me a feeling that at least something is normal." Twilight chuckled before her eyes widened in realization. "Pinkie giving off a sense of normal. Now that's a scary thought."

"I just hope we get cured soon." Fluttershy said, hovering a couple of hooves of the ground. "My wings are getting real tired."

"WE ARE DOOMED!"

"GET HER AWAY FROM ME!"

"Oh for the love of! Now what?" Twilight groaned and she rushed forward to the entrance to the spa. "What's going on?"

"The cure doesn't work!" a milk carton pony shouted.

"WHAT?" basically everpony yelled together.

"What do you mean the cure doesn't work?" Twilight pushed forward towards Aloe and Lotus who, surprisingly, looked unchanged. "What is going on?"

"It's true." Aloe sighed in defeat. "We tried increasing the dose but it's not working."

"And the worst part is-" Lotus, who was crying, said through sobs. "-we can't even give massages anymore! Look!" she then touched a random pony and they immediately broke out in a horrible full body rash that itched so much you'd want to tear your skin off.

"Why would you do that?" said pony cried in agony and began scratching himself like crazy.

"Also this." Aloe then touched the same pony on it's front long and he fell to the ground and grabbed hold of the area.

"CRAMP! CRAMP! CRAAAAAAMP!" he rolled around on the ground and tried to both scratch himself and get rid of the cramp.

"Lotus causes a horrible rash and I give ponies agonizing cramps." Aloe explained and was about to hug her sister for comfort but stopped at the last second.

"By the stars..." Twilight couldn't believe what was happening. The most beautiful day in Equestria turned into a disaster that would be talked about for years to come. Hay, after this, who knows if ponies will ever celebrate Hearts and Hooves again. They had no cure, everpony was miserable, the princessess were out of comission so to speak and things were getting worse by the minute. The crowd was getting wild again, pushing and shoving each other in panic and screaming about the end of the world as we know it.

"What do we do Twilight?" Applejack asked with apparent concern in her voice, completely ignoring the dog that got a hold of her and gnawed on her mid-section.

*PRRRRRT*

"Sorry." Fluttershy finally got too exhausted to continue flying and dropped to the ground.

*POP*

"NOOOO!" Rarity scremed in horror as her flank was popped by a cactus-pony.

"Hey!" Ranbow shooed away a couple of foals that remade her sandy rump into a perfect cube.

"Wheeeeee!" Pinkie was just being Pinkie, bouncing around and thoroughly enjoying her new form.

"ZECORA!" Twilight shouted using the Royal voice which pierced through the commotion and made everypony stop to look at her. "We have to get to Zecora! She'll mix up a new cure and this nightmare will be over!" Twilight's brow began twitching as she was also in panic mode. "I bet she's working on the new cure as we speak! Nay! I know so! I mean, what else could she be doing?"

Zebrica was nice this time of year. The Sun shone brightly on it's sandy beaches and the tourist season was in full swing. Creatures from all over the world came here to relax and unwind. Five star hotels, casinos, restaurants, you name it, Zebrica had it all.

One such tourist was Zecora. She treated herself to going back to her homeland and spend time with her family while also enjoying the luxuries Zebrica had to offer. Lounging on a beach chair with the parasol tilted just enough to protect her from the schorching Sun, Zecora sighed in content and readjusted her sunglasses. She really needed this to finally relax and unwind. Zecora liked Ponyville but sometimes the ponies there were just too much.

And so she enjoyed the salty breeze and sound of the sea. Foals frolicking in the water and parents yelling at them for hitting somepony with a ball. Perhaps someday she would come her with a foal of her own.

"Drink, madam?" a griffon waiter approached with a cocktail on a tray. Yep, seasonal workers were a thing in Zebrica. Without a word Zecora took the glass from the tray and nodded in thanks. Once the waiter was gone Zecora empited the glass, letting the cold liquid soothe her parched throat.

"Thank Celestia I don't have to pretend to have that ridiculous way of talking here. Makes for great sales, but it hurts my mouth!"

Author's Note

A little something from the previous chapter :raritywink:

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