One Problem, One Wrong Solution
Author's Note
What can I say? Look who came crawling back, that's for sure.
Sorry if I disappeared without a word, I've got caught up with my life for this long, things had been busy, and I've been on a soul searching when I wanted to do different content than MLP.
Also, I've been investing myself to a lot of Marvel content in span of one year since 2022, so that's where the soul searching comes in, because there's something I'd like to do about writing Marvel related fanfics. I wrote a few, but they're only short drabbles, plus they're all OC focused related in a Marvel Cinematic universe.
But here I am, I'm back, and I figured if I'm going to do a little MLP content again, even though I never got back to my older fics, even if I did, then I wouldn't find the passion I once had for my old fics, so that I'd like to make new ones instead. Even if making a new fic that took place during one of my dead fics.
So sorry about that but it's solely depends on what I want to do and what I do for myself is my decision, mine alone. I learned that long ago during my soul searching. So I'm keeping it that way.
One Problem, One Wrong Solution
The slight tap of the rubber footwear made an impact with the ball as it briefly went up and down to the very footwear and repeated, after about a few minutes, the footwear set the ball on the grass of the pitch with the foot placed on top of the object.
The endless heat from the sun illuminated from the sky, causing the rainbow haired woman to wipe her sweat off of her forehead. She spotted her fiery headed friend who sat by the bleachers with her journal in her hands, presumably keeping in contact with Princess Twilight.
She carried the ball and went over to the girl as she just took her eyes off from her book over to the captain’s presence.
“It’s been twenty minutes, the others haven't shown up yet.” She complained, resting her ball on the bleachers.
“Maybe they’ve been caught with some things along the way,” says Sunset. “Besides, they’ll show up eventually. It’s not the first time some of us were late for practice.”
Rainbow grumbled. “I know but it’s not the first time either that some of us had to wait for the rest of them, hell, last week, we waited for an hour. If we wait even longer than that, then we’ll have short, last minute practice, and a slight chance we might lose to Crystal Prep like last time.”
Sunset let out a sigh and replied. “Rainbow, I get it, alright. But they have their reasons why they're so late. Just take a break, It’s tough enough without you complaining about it. Sounds good?”
Rainbow went silent for a moment, she knew she’s right. So She just has to deal with it.
“Oh, fine. We’ll wait.”
But just before she joins Sunset in the seat, they hear the sounds of footsteps coming in their direction. They turned to see their third striker, Lightning dust coming back with one pack of sports drinks.
“Hey gals, sorry I took a little longer.” She said, resting the drinks next to the girls. “Anyway, y'all up for a drink?”
Sunset shook her head. “Maybe later, Lightning. Also, we have to save some for the team.”
“Sunset’s right, it’s best we have our practice first and then we’ll chug them.” Rainbow agreed.
“Girls c’mon,” Lightning persuades them. “It’s hot out here. It’s been almost half an hour, and they still haven’t shown up. What ya’ll say?”
“Nah, it’s best we saved these,” Rainbow told her.
“We’ll just grab one can each, and let them take the rest.” Lightning said.
The two gave each other a look, thinking about considering her words, she’s also right about the temperature out here. So then, they agreed that one can each is fine enough.
“Alright, let’s chug ‘em,” Rainbow declared.
They both grabbed the cans then proceeded to take a small sip that would wash off the dryness in their mouths. But then, when they drank the liquids, Sunset and Rainbow immediately stopped because the taste was very odd. They clicked their tongues to examine the taste. Is there something in these drinks?
“Uhm,” Rainbow began as they stopped, “why the hell does this taste like river water?”
Sunset raises her left eyebrow. “Yeah, this is very unusual. What’s in it?”
That caused Lightning to stop and examine the taste. “Huh, you girls are right.” However, she eventually remembered what was in there. Making her feel a huge drop in her stomach as her face fell. “Oh.”
They noticed how her expression changed instantly. “What, what’s wrong?” Sunset asked.
“About that,” Lightning hesitantly concedes. “I put some drugs in these.”
The revelation made the girls let out an annoyed groan in response and glared at her. Something about her putting drugs in their consumptions, they never knew. She has done these things three times before.
“Lightning, what’s wrong with you? Just why?” Rainbow demanded, her cold stare focused on her teammate.
But she couldn’t find a reason to justify her putting drugs into their drinks even though there’s nothing to justify it. All she could do is to give an apology instead.
“Look, I-I…” she paused for a brief moment. “I… I’m sorry. I just- I just thought that It’d be-” but Rainbow interrupted her.
“Well, you always said that drugs might be fun to put into other things,” she retorted. “What did you put in this time? If it’s weed again, I’m not surprised.”
“Actually, I don’t remember what I put in these, only this time it’s not weed,” she answered. But then something clicked her head and her face lit up to a smile. “Oh wait, I remember, don’t worry,” she rested her hands on her hips with a wide grin. “It’s acid!”
And that right there threw them off guard. They threw away the cans like they’re caught on fire that needed to be reckoned with and stomping them repeatedly, crippling the cans with the spiked liquids spilled to the grass. Then they both glared daggers at her, and boy, they’re mad as hell.
“Acid?!” Sunset shout, she can feel her blood boil in an instant just as her anger rises. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
Lightning's face went pale. “I’m very sorry, girls.”
Infuriated and even more annoyed by her half-hearted apology for her screw up.Sunset took deep breaths and held her hands over her head and paced around the field, attempting to maintain control of her sanity once the effects kicked in. Rainbow went back to her seat and buried her face into her hands.
After a minute and a half, Rainbow looked back at her with an annoyed look. “The other day, Twilight explained to us that acid is more dangerous than weed. Did you even realize that?”
She let out a gulp. “Yes.”
“And that depends what kind of acid we just took,” Sunset added.
Rainbow groaned again. “Out of all the drugs we experienced, it had to be acid,” she complained, “I’d be damned if I did this shit. But even if I get drugged, at least it has to be weed.”
Lightning took a breather and let it out. “Girls look, I’m so sorry. I really am. But we’ve done it. Dwelling too much on it will just make it worse once the side effects kicks in. Let’s stay calm and don’t freak out. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
Sunset went back to Lightning and she still held her angry look, but not as angry as she was moments ago. So she’s just about to calm down. “I just hope you’re right.” She said, putting her hands down.
“And when will the effects start?” Rainbow asked.
But it soon started just as she asked that she and Sunset were turned into ponies. Lightning gasped at them, amazed at what they look like now. Soon, her shock turned to a playful grin.
“Right now Rainbow Crash!” She exclaimed, thus earning her confused reactions from them. “Look at your camera!”
Sunset picked her phone and opened her camera to see her and Rainbow are now ponies. Much to their shock and dismay.
“As much as I’d love being a pony again, this is so not cool because we’re being influenced by a fucking drug killing type. ”Sunset said, then turned back to Lightning with a cold stare. “If this fucks me up so badly, I’m gonna kill you like I had the chance to back when I was jerk!"
“Give it a rest, Shimmer, we all know that never happened, and both of you look so cute and all that shit,” Lightning said, still not gawking at how cute they both look.
Rainbow looks back on the camera to take another look at herself. “If I’m actually a pony in Equestria, this wouldn’t be so bad. But look at us, ponies in a human world.”
This time, Lightning got a little annoyed. “Oh c’mon, this is supposed to be fun.”
“You call this fun??” While maintaining her disdain, Sunset lit up her horn to grab her lunch box for her sandwich, then brought it closer to take a small bite. “Not fun at all. This is fucked up.”
When Lightning attempted to reach out her hand to Sunset’s horn, the pony got vigilant and slapped her on the palm. “Don’t fucking touch me!”
And now, Lightning has turned into a talking cat. “Hey! I did this just for us to have some fun!” She protested.
Rainbow’s eye twitched as she turned into a bear. “Oh, is that so?! A while ago, you said you had no idea why you’re doing this, but now you say it’s for fun!”
“That’s coming from the person who just says she would rather get drugged by marijuana instead!” She shot back, morphing into a traffic light with arms and legs.
As they argued, they morph into various weird beings in their own perspectives. It took Sunset a little longer to break through the hallucination (even though that wouldn't help at all) and got in between them before they got physical with each other.
“Girls stop! This is getting too fucking weird!” She called them out, she’s now human again but with her daydream Shimmer dress. But soon swapped back as a pony.
Hesitantly, but thankfully stopped just as Lightning noticed she’s also a pony. Yep, Sunset’s right, it’s getting weirder every second.
“Yeah, I suppose this is getting out of hand more than I thought it would, but it did.” Lightning said, taking notice of her physical appearance.
“We can’t practice when we’re like this,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Hell yeah we can,” Lightning simply shrugged.
“Hell nah,” she shook her head. “We’re in deeper shit now if someone sees us!”
Lightning looks straight at them in the eyes. “Girls, look, it’s been half an hour, no one has come over yet. So we’re fine, you got it? Okay?”
But when they heard faint footsteps coming from the other side of the pitch, Lightning instinctively grabbed the two and quickly dragged them behind the bleachers. She ignored the annoyed yelps and groans from them as she peaked by the side, only to find a few of Flash’s friends walking by, and they seemed unaware of their presence, that’s a relief to her. So she returned to her teammates.
“Sorry, but some people almost caught us,” she told them. “I have to do something.”
“Well, we can’t keep on hiding,” Sunset replied with a blunt tone. “We’re going to need help.”
“Oh, yeah?” She questioned. “And who do you think is willing to help us in this fucked up problem?”
“You’re the one that got us into this crap!” Rainbow shouted.
“Enough!” Sunset shouted too but also louder. “Twilight will help, let’s move!”
Sunset texted Twilight for help and also to ask for a discreet spot where they should meet with no witnesses. They both come to agree the parking lot is the best bet for the meeting. And they have to go around the building to avoid being seen in case they're acting weird from others' perspectives. They tried their best to act as normal as possible but the hallucinations from the acid are getting overwhelming and intense.
Finally, they found Twilight waiting by the back of a blue van and explained the situation to her. Needless to say, she's very observant and concerned.
"So you put acid in the soda cans?" Twilight adjusted her glasses.
Lightning nodded. "Yeah…"
"What kind?"
She went silent for a bit. "I think it's LSD."
"So it's Lysergic Acid diethylamide," Twilight concluded. "Even weed is safer than that."
"So what are we going to do?" Rainbow asked.
"Fortunately, I brought something that would help," she reached down for her skirt pocket and picked a few pieces of cigarettes with her own cutie mark and the words Mark 1 written on it. And she showed it to them.
"I present to you, Sparkle Marijuana Mark 1," They looked at her with a blank look. Is she serious right now?
Sunset shook her head in hopes this is real. "Uhm, is this shit messing with my head or is it actually you offering your solution to drugs is more drugs?"
"Look," Twilight explained, "According to the average Marijuana, at first it makes the individual feel relaxed, but there's also its negative effects. So I've been working on a secret drug experiment to remove those effects and to make its only purpose is to make one feel at ease and nothing else. If this weed is safer, then I'll potentially make it legal in Canterlot!"
Lightning blinked at her motive. "Huh, if I'd known that, then I could just bring weed anywhere I want and I no longer have to worry about possibly getting arrested."
Rainbow looked doubtful at her own version of the drug. "But how's that going to help us?"
"This product should be a lot safer," she replied. "It should also reduce your hallucinations influenced by LSD."
"Have you even tested them yourself?" Sunset added.
"No."
"Well, shit," Rainbow muttered.
Twilight just shrugged. "What do we have to lose?" She extended the drugs in her hands to them.
"Our sanity, that's what," Lightning replied bluntly.
"But," they all turned to Sunset, "maybe this weed could help. And if Twilight says this is much more safe, then I'm game! One joint each."
The other two hesitated for a moment but they later gave in. They grabbed each joint, Twilight lit them with her lighter including her own.
They smoked for a about two minutes and a half as the joints were burned out pretty fast than the normal weed. The sudden feeling in their heads came in like they got hit by a train, they all held their heads and whined quietly in pain. And also coughed in the process.
"Oh God, my head…" Lightning moaned.
"I feel a little lightheaded," Sunset uttered, keeping her eyes closed as she coughed.
Rainbow went back to Twilight who's also experiencing the pain as she pinched the bridge of her noise. "Twilight, I thought you said this is much more safe!"
Twilight coughed. "I am certain it is safe! The negative effects has to be gone!"
Rainbow held her cough. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes!"
The enduring effects lasted half a second and the pain had finally vanished.
Sunset forced her eyes open as her vision faded away the white light and the world in her eyes became visible again. She touched her face and much to her surprise, it's her hand. She can see her hands again and found herself being a human once more along with her casual clothes.
She finds the others to see them human again as they lift up their eyelids to see their surroundings.
"You guys are human again," Sunset said, letting out a relief.
The two looked at themselves and they all relieved as well. Thank God it's over.
"You girls can see each other as humans again?" Twilight observed their reactions.
"Yep, we're back to normal," Sunset confirmed.
But there's something odd with their surroundings just as Twilight noticed and her relief was gone. She looked around and it got her even more worried, the others turned back to where she's looking at and much to their shock, the world has slowed down, seeing a few more people and some cars moved so slow.
Twilight's eyes widened as she couldn't handle the changed of pace before her. "This can't be…" she muttered in denial, there's no way her weed can still have it's bad effects, she was sure of that. "I can't be wrong…I can't be wrong!"
She turned back to the others and her expression switched into a determined look. "We still need more weed!" She said stubbornly.
Lightning scoffed. "More weed? I hate to break it to you egghead, but we smoked all the joints." She pointed at the burnt joints in the ground.
"And if we do get more, how do you think it's gonna help?" Rainbow added.
But her determination hide away from the possibility of making things worse, she picked up another few pieces of cigarettes from her other pockets.
"I have Mark 2 Sparkle Marijuana," she said.
"If you keep insisting that your only solution is more drugs, then we got a problem," Rainbow said bluntly, "It's only three of them."
"Then you girls take them," she gave each of them with the joints, "I will observe your progress and ensure you won't get hurt or worse. Besides, I made Mark 2 just yesterday, that has to help better than Mark 1."
The three were hesitant with the joints in their hands, but since this is a newer type of Twilight's weed than the first one, they all put them in their mouths and Twilight lit them up with her lighter.
When they smoked for a minute, their heads are inflicted with pain once more as their visions turned white.
And by the time the pain went away and their view becoming clear. The first thing they see was that the world was in ruins, Canterlot High lost its roof and the place was set on fire, and secondly the sound of a big explosion which was probably where the Garden used it be at, caught them off real guard that it knocked them onto their backs.
"WHAT THE FUCK??!!" Sunset screamed and frightened as shit at what the world has become. In all her life, she's never this scared, the closest thing was back in Camp Everfree when she and Twilight freaked over a sudden sight of an axe, only it was just Timber.
The they stood up and tried to process what they're seeing now. Yes, they know it's hallucinations but the stronger effects from the drugs made it too real for them to deny it's not all real. They can feel the cold atmosphere of this dead world. They can even hear the sounds of explosions and destruction ensued.
"Twilight!" She called, but no one else came. "Twilight, where are you?!"
The ground shook and it tore itself apart in front of them, what climbed out Is a rather, scary, skeleton of Twilight, her bones are visible, and so does her eyes, aside of her hair and the glasses.
The girls huddled together and screamed at the top of their lungs. At this point, they'd never wanna experienced weed again. And so does Lightning Dust. The yellow haired girl broke the huddle and ran for her life, screaming like a little girl.
"Lightning, come back!" Rainbow called and give chase with Sunset followed suit.
They went after the frightened girl as they dodged other skeletons that bear resemblance of their friends and schoolmates and avoiding potential spots that will explode. Everything is becoming too real at this point they now feel like they're actually in the end of the world and are running for their lives.
Fortunately for them, Lightning has stopped and they finally caught up with her. But they see her distraught face, looking at a particular area that may scarred her for life.
"Dust, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked worriedly, this was one of the rare times she has gotten worried for Lightning since her friendship with her can be edgy as usual and Lightning being a narcissist jerk at times.
But she didn't answer back, instead kept her focused on what she witnessed. The girls faced forward and saw what remains of the front of CHS, the portal was destroyed, many skeletons of their schoolmates lying to the ground as the fires spread to consumed them. The skies were dark red and orange as more smoke was clearly seen from a distance.
"This is so fucked up…" Sunset shuddered, she had her trauma before, that she can handle, but what she can't was what she's seeing now. And this time she dreads to handle another baggage of trauma in which it came from this.
"Fuck the drugs, I ain't touching that shit again!" Rainbow growled.
"I'll never bring drugs again! I swear it!" Lightning cried and lay on her knees. "I wanna GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!!!"
"For once, I agree with you!" Sunset said with fear in her tone.
But finally, Rainbow's head clicked and she beamed to a hopeful smile. "Wait! I got an idea!"
"Bitch, shut the fuck up." Lightning sneered.
"No listen," she says, "If weed isn't helping, then we're gonna have to use what's left of our sanity. We're going to concentrate on what we're supposed to see the world, and then we'll get back."
Sunset looked at her with disbelief. "What? I don't know, Dash…"
"Oh what, you got a better idea?" She bet.
But nothing came up. So Sunset begrudgingly considered it. "Fine, let's do this." She sighed.
The three clutched their heads right and with their eyes shut and concentrated as hard as they can to remember what the world always looked like. They're dog their best to ignore everything they see and focused on what the world was supposed to look like.
All the sounds of the destruction were eventually replaced with the sounds of birds chirping. They forced their own eyes opened to see the front area of CHS was back to normal and see the others going by with their days, though, time had slowed down. They spotted Lyra and Bon Bon obviously flirting with each other by the statue while in slow mo.
"Fuck yeah!" Sunset exclaimed, feeling a little relieved it worked.
Twilight ran towards them. "Are you girls alright? You've all been screaming a lot."
"Twilight, you are wrong about using drugs as an answer," Sunset pointed out, "in fact, Mark 2 just makes it even worse."
Twilight stuttered at the revelation. That does it. This further proves how wrong she is. "I…I was wrong…?" She's lost of words.
Lightning boasted. "You are fucking retarded, nerd!" She went closer to her with her smug grin. "In your motherfucking face, Twilight! Look who's also wrong about drugs!"
"Shut up," Twilight clenched her teeth.
"Suck my tits fatherfucker!" She boasted loudly.
Now that got her a little pissed. "Oh god, SHUT UP WILL YOU?!" She yelled. "That's coming from the person who thinks it's fun to put acid in a drinking beverage!"
"Bullshit," she scoffed. "That's coming from a person thinks she can try to make weed safe and legal."
"Dust, just stop it alright," Sunset ordered her, then went to Twilight. "Look Twilight, I get that you're trying to help but more drugs isn't gonna at all."
Twilight nodded in agreement, now realizing she's right. "I'm sorry. I learned my lesson." She said.
Sunset smiles. "It's alright."
"But a moment I just considered the idea of making Mark 3."
"Please don't." Rainbow chimed in.
"Very well then."
"Uhm girls?" They all turned to Lightning Dust. "I just realized that our problems are far from over yet."
After explaining to them about her worries, they all rush back to the field, ignoring the slow pace in the world around them. When they came back, Principal Celestia and the team were there to.
"Shit!" Lightning yelled, running towards the field. "They're here!"
"Quick! Check if the drinks are spiked!" Rainbow instructed her.
When they returned to where they left them, Lightning opened one can and sniffed at the opening hole, the scent freaked her out and she threw it aside of the pitch.
"Fuck! The rest of these are also spiked!" She informs them.
Sunset groaned. "You have got to be fucking me."
Twilight levitated the drinks and tossed them away, only they get hit by the oncoming plane and exploded. Even if that's part of their allusions, they can assumed those sports drinks are gone.
"That's one problem taken care of." She said proudly. "Let's concentrate and everything will be back to normal."
They went on with their concentration as hard as they could, and after about three minutes, they heard voices calling out to them.
"Girls? Girls?" One voice spoke over.
They opened their eyes to find Principal Celestia looked concerned for them while the team behind her were looking confused.
"Dudes, are you alright?" Ember broke the silence.
"And did you just threw away our sports drinks?" Asked Spitfire.
"About that," Sunset began, "Principal Celestia, it's a long story, but we needed help…"
After being told of everything that's been going, she's extremely disappointed in them for using drugs in her school, but considering the state they're in, she couldn't stay upset at them much longer. She made some calls with their families, (though with Sunset's case, she'll cover up for her) and explained about their kids' situations. According to what they went through especially in the past, it's likely the effects from both two drugs, are still active and they need treatment. So in the end, they both came to agreement that a 30 day rehabilitation is reasonable amount of time, and the girls agreed to the terms.
Twilight was doing well, for the most part, even if she had to ditch her goal of making weed safe and legal, taking dialy exercises and having her therapy sessions, eating her greens, and hanging out with the others whilst they all get daily visits from their friends and families.
Same can be said for Sunset, even without a parental figure to get her treated into the rehab, she's lucky Celestia got that covered for her whilst the other parents did for their kids. The last time she acted as Sunset's supposed legal guardian was last year after the Wondercolts won another victory, Lightning Dust proposed to faking their ages to sneak into bars. Unfortunately, they all tried that and got thrown in jail for that.
Each of them were picked up by their parents, and Sunset remained the last person sitting in a cell. Unexpectedly, Principal Celestia came by so she's allowed to go, of course, she recieved a lot of scolding from her about sneaking into bars. But in the end, she never thought Celestia would be there for her but she did.
Speaking of Lightning Dust, she also got a lot of tongue lashing from her parents for bringing in drugs with her in the past, the most outrageous thing she brought was acid, in which it was dangerous than weed. But needless to say, she learned her lesson in the end, so she's also doing well in the rehab, spent every day at a time to atone her mistakes. Besides, she's been having nightmares of what she saw when she took Twilight's weed Mark 2. So that would teach her something important by now.
And also Rainbow Dash, basically, it took some time for her to get used with her progress, but she's doing really well too. Taking a mental note to never try drugs again, and that also means she'll need a lot of time to trust Lightning Dust again to not bring any more drugs. Especially acid.
When their 30 days are up and their improvement was getting better day by day, they're all cleared enough to walk free.
