The Drone Epidemic!

In the Library of Magic, they saw the librarians, who were now back to normal, trying to arrange the books back into their original places without touching the yellow goop. While some of them were putting the clean books back in place, some others were collecting the dirty books with whatever suitable tools they could find.

“It really seems like a mess,” Twilight commented.

“Yeah, it does. I hope they can clear it up soon.”

“Can we help them?”

“No, we have much more important stuff to do.”

“Right.”

The two of them went to the secret location once more, and scoured all the books, but it turns out that there was no solution inside. None of the books could explain the lack of ponies. So, they returned to Ponyville without any solution, just to find Muffins looking for Trixie and Starlight.

“Trixie! Starlight!”

“What’s the matter, Muffins?”

“I can’t seem to find Trixie and Starlight. How about Your Majesties? Any leads on the missing ponies?”

“None so far.”

“Hmm, that sounds disappointing. Hey, how about we go take a walk around town for a while? How long has it been since you last took the leisure to stroll around Ponyville, Your Royal Highness?”

“Well, I suppose I could take a walk for a while…”

And so, the three of them set off for a short walk.

“Sale! Sale! Come support the bee-themed sale!”

“Bee themed?”

“Good day, Your Highness. What can I get for you?”

“What are these?”

“These are thingamajigs; forks, spoons, bowls, lamp shades, and all kinds of stuff.”

“They’re all yellow and black?”

“Yes, bee themed.”

“Why have I not heard about this sale before?”

“Oh, it’s the first of its kind. We recently found a lot of bee themed items scattered around the town, and since no one seems to care about them, we have taken the liberty to collect them and now sell them.”

“So, you stole them?”

“Oh, no! Finders' keepers, losers' weepers!”

“Alright. How much for one?”

“One what?”

“How about this spoon?”

“It’s on the house for both of you. I’m giving you both a free item, pick whatever you want.”

“Hmm…”

“Are these really… normal items?”

“Take a look. At our shops, we do not dare to sell items of low quality or that have been cut corners. In fact, these products are of very good quality, and are guaranteed to last forever.”

Twilight picked the spoon up and knocked it against the table, but she heard no loud sound, so she asked, “What is this spoon made of?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? And you’re selling all this stuff?”

“Not all, actually,” the shopkeeper lifted the tablecloth slightly, revealing that the table was also colored yellow and black.

“This isn’t for sale.”

“This is yours too?”

“Why, of course it is! But if you want it, I can sell it to you too. After I sell all these other items first, of course.”

“Hmm…” Princess Celestia was left there thinking while Twilight took the spoon and knocked it against a tree to test it. Knocking it a few times, she concluded that it was some sort of rubber, like that of an eraser.

“It’s… rubber.”

“That’s right!”

“They’re all rubber. That’s what makes them so special. Imagine, using something so elastic as it.”

“Come here, Twilight.”

“Do you really believe this seller?”

“Of course not! In fact, the materials these are made of seem really suspicious, for I do not know anyone who would make objects in this material. It seems… magical. Maybe Discord’s in on this?”

“Discord? I didn’t see anything like this in his area when we visited him.”

“Good point, but even so, I think that we should be on high alert. Anyway, should we even let this seller continue selling his products?”

“Well…”

“Twilight! Come look at this!”

Twilight and Princess Celestia immediately dropped their conversation to follow Muffins, where she showed them a dark and shady place.

“What do you want to show us?” asked Twilight.

“Look on the ground.”

“More of the items that pony was selling!”

“How did you find these items?”

“Items? These are not items, these are ponies. Or, more rather, ponybees.”

“Ponybees?”

“Yes, as I was walking, I saw two ponybees walking here, and when I turned around, I saw these two items on the ground, and the ponybees nowhere in sight.”

“Hmm… it seems like there’s nowhere they could have went to…”

“They turned into yellow and black items?” asked Princess Celestia.

“Yes, it seems so.”

“But what made them transform?”

“Let’s ask the shopkeeper.”

The three went back to the shop, and the pony there greeted them. “Ah, you’re back. Have you decided to buy anything?”

“No, we’ve found our own.”

“Your own? Where?”

“Well, you tell us your sources, and we’ll tell you ours.”

“Alright then. I found them in the middle of a street in Dodge Junction. I was walking down the street, avoiding the yellow ponies as I went, but as soon as it started to rain, some of the yellow ponies disappeared.”

“Some of them? It didn’t affect all of them?”

“Yes, it didn’t.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, want some of these?”

“You’re… SELLING PONIES!” cried out Muffins, putting two and two together.

“That’s right!”

“Well, they aren’t ponies now, are they? Furthermore, it’s not only me in this business.”

“Are you aware that what you’re doing is pony trafficking?”

“Well…”

“Tell you what,” said Twilight. “If you help us solve this mystery, we’ll consider letting you go.”

“Hmm… alright.”

“Do you know when this shop opened? This morning. All our stock came in this morning.”

“So?”

“This didn’t happen yesterday. Something must have happened to the yellow ponies this morning.”

“We cured them.”

“I see. Well, what I think is happening is that the cured ones have issues with them.”

“The cured ones?”

“Yes.”

“But aren’t they cured? We didn’t even see any side effects with them.”

“Well, consider this, they can be reinfected.”

“You mean…”

“Yes.”

“Alright, thank you for the information, we’ll be on our way now,” said Princess Celestia.

“Hold on, don’t you need more information?” asked Muffins.

“That’s why we’re going to the library again.”

With a quick call, Princess Celestia called her royal chariot, and off the three went to the library again.

To be continued...