Episode 20: Between a Roc and a Stinky Place

In the forest where Bridlewood should be, Pipp was holding a basket full of various flowers. She was humming a tune to herself.

"I can't believe that I've found so many fabulous flowers," Pipp said. She then sniffed the flowers. She then went deadpanned. "But it's still not enough for my brand new line of product." She then hung her head back and groaned. She then saw how much her gloves got dirty from picking the flowers. "Oh, great. My gloves are all messy from picking those flowers." She then removed her gloves and put them in her pocket. "Maybe I should just rest." She then sat down on a rock.

Pipp then pulled out a canteen and drank from it. She then put it away, but instead of staying, it started rolling down a slope that was behind the rock Pipp sat on.

"My water canteen!" Pipp said. She started chasing it from the air, grabbing it as she crashed onto the ground where her hands gotten into some thistle plants. She then got up. "Whew. That was close." She noticed that her fingertips were now gold and shiny. "Oh, wow. Look at that shine!" She then looked at the plants. "Yes! This is it! A new product. Ink thistle that makes fingernails shine! This will be the next big thing!" Then a scent came to her nostrils which make her coughed. "Where is that smell coming from?" She looked at her finger nails and sniffed it. "Whew! That's... tender. But, I bet I can get rid of the smell." She flew back up the slope and came back down with her now empty basket. "Product by Pipp has a new line!"

At Freedom Fighters Mansion, Gallus and Silverstream were sitting on the living room couch, watching TV. On the TV was a news report about something.

"Coming all the way from Equestria, a large predator bird known as a Roc is being delivered to the Station Square Zoo where many people can experience it in it's large steel cage," Scarlet Garcia's voice came from the TV. "A lot of Equestrian Animal Lovers, including hero of Equestria, Fluttershy, is a little shaken up by this. But rest assured, the Roc will only be in there until a reserve for the worlds large and dangerous creatures is built for them, and no innocent person will be hurt by them."

"I doubt that a cage like that would contain a Roc," Gallus said, turning off the TV.

"What makes you say that?" Silverstream asked.

"Gremlins, Aliens, Jurassic Park," Gallus said. "All those movies had dangerous creatures contained and they escaped due to recklessness."

"He's right about that," Smolder said, coming out of the kitchen, eating a doughnut. "I gotta get to work."

"Wait, you're not scheduled to work today," Gallus said.

"I turned in my uniform yesterday, Gallus," Smolder said. "I got a new job. One that doesn't make me keep breathing fire on the burgers because the manager refuses to buy a new grill!" She then released smoke from her nostrils. She then gave out a small breath of air. "Anyway, I gotta get going." She then headed out of the living room, into the Foyer, and went out the door.

Gallus and Silverstream looked at each other in confusion. Gallus then asked, "Wanna go check out what her new job is?"

"Do I?!" Silverstream asked excitedly. She then giggled in excitement. Then the two of them followed Smolder without her seeing them.

In the office in the back of Rarity and Pipp's Mane Fashion Style, Sonia was reading a magazine with a smile on her face. Just then, the door was slammed open.

"Whaaa-!" Sonia shouted.

"I'm back, Sonia!" Pipp said.

"Pipp?" Sonia asked. "Where were you these past few days?"

"In Equestria, trying to find something for a new product for my line," Pipp said. "And behold." She then held out her hand, showing her shiny gold fingernails.

"Wow!" Sonia said. "What a shine you...!" She then caught a whiff of the scent coming from her fingernails. She then plugged her nose. "Oh, god! What is that smell?!"

"Oh, right," Pipp said. "I discovered it from this. Ink Thistle." Pipp then held up the basket of thistle flowers towards Sonia. "These flowers have a special pollen that makes this shine happen!"

"Really?" Sonia asked. She then smelled the thistle flowers. She then plugged her nose. "Ew, that stench!"

"Yeah, I'm... planning on getting rid of the smell," Pipp said. "Once the stench is out, it'll be a big hit."

"I hope you're right, Pipp," Sonia said, plugging her nose. "Otherwise, it might be as bad as the time you thought ice cream would make a good facial."

"Yeah, not my best idea," Pipp said. "Now, I'll be working on it until it's ready. TTYL." She then walked out of the office. Sonia then turned away from the door, giving a nervous look.

"Oh, this is not good," Sonia said. "If that product doesn't have a way to clear that smell, then Pipp's new product would make her a big joke, and this place would be shut down." She then pulled out her phone. "I gotta get some help." She then started texting multiple people; Amy, Olive, Zipp, Izzy, Maria, and Misty, telling them all to get to the boutique.

In the Station Square Subway Station, Gallus and Silverstream were watching Smolder as a subway train was at the station. They saw Smolder enter the subway train. They decided to get into the same train car, but on the other end of it so they wouldn't be spotted.

"You think she sees us?" Silverstream asked.

"Not if we keep our heads down and keep quiet," Gallus said.

Smolder was checking out the next stop sign, waiting for her stop to come. The train then came to a stop at one station. Smolder saw it was her station, got up, and headed for the door as it was opening up. Gallus and Silverstream got off the train and continued following Smolder through the city.

Back at the Boutique, Misty was going through the entrance. She headed for the back and went into the office.

"I got here as soon as I could," Misty said. "I had to wait for my break to start. So what is..." She then smelt the repulsive aroma. "Jeez! What is that smell?!"

Sonia then brought out a flower that Pipp had brought. She then said, "It's this. Some kind of thistle plant. It has ups and downs. The up side, it shines fingernails like crazy. But the down side..."

"It reeks like rotten asparagus mixed with rotten eggs?" Misty asked.

"Bingo," Sonia said. "I called for some of the others to come here. They should be here..." Just then, in a flash, Maria teleported in. "Maria?! Did you just teleport here?"

"Yeah," Maria said. "Shadow invited me to a private condo in Fiji. Then I found this old temple, and look what I found inside." She then pulled out something.

"Another Chaos Emerald?!" Misty asked. "Huh. Two episodes in a row where there's been a Chaos Emerald found."

"That's nothing," Maria said. "Back in season 1, we actually found a Chaos Emerald in four episodes in a row." She then shook her head. "Wow. We've been spending too much time with Pinkie Pie lately. So, what did you want me to..." She then sniffed the rotten stench. She then plugged her nose. "Ugh...! What's that smell?!"

"It's this," Sonia said, pulling up the thistle flower. "This flower shines fingernails, but leaves a disgusting smell. Pipp is trying to find a way to get rid of the smell with whatever natural ingredients she can use. And I think it's working." She then sniffed. "That, or I'm just getting used to the smell."

"I sure hope not," Maria said. "Where did this flower come from?"

"Pipp says she found it in Equestria, where Izzy grew up before coming here," Sonia replied. "Hopefully, she might no what this plant is."

"Let's hope so," Misty said. "Because this plant stinks. Pee-yoo."

On the other side of the mall, Smolder was coming out of the subway station. She then caught a whiff of something.

"Huh?" Smolder asked. "Is there a molting dragon here?" She then shook her head. "It couldn't be Sparky. He's too young to be molting. Plus, he already has his wings." She then headed out of the mall, and headed across the street. Gallus and Silverstream saw Smolder going across the street. They eventually saw her enter one business on the other side of the street, it being called "Royal Daycare".

"Royal Daycare?" Gallus asked. "What is she doing at a daycare?"

"We should check this out," Silverstream said. Then the two of them flew over the streets to get to the daycare. They looked through the window to see Smolder talking with Haven. "Haven? Why would Smolder be hanging out with Haven?"

"I don't know," Gallus said. "Let's check it out." Then they started flying up and over the building. As they reached the top, they saw some Nocturnus Echidnas checking out the mall. "Uh oh."

At Opaline's lair, Opaline was talking with Imperator Ix. The two were alone in the throne room.

"So are your soldiers in place?" Opaline asked.

"They are," Imperator Ix said. "They are planned to strike Misty when she's alone."

"They better," Opaline said. "Because your group is the only one I had recruited that hasn't failed me. If it doesn't go as I expected, you're all gonna be punished for your failure."

"Not likely," Imperator Ix said, smirking. "My soldiers are at the top of the line. They won't fail us."

On top of the building where the daycare that Smolder went into was, Gallus and Silverstream were surrounded by eight Nocturnus Echidnas.

"Okay, not what my day was expecting to be," Gallus said.

"What do we do?!" Silverstream asked. Just then, the echidnas fired plasma blasters, but Gallus and Silverstream jumped and flew out of the line of fire. The blasts hit the echidnas, making them fall on their backs. They then recovered. They then aimed their weapons at Gallus and Silverstream. Then they flew down the building towards the front of the daycare and they went in. The Nocturnus went down after them.

Gallus and Silverstream went inside the daycare. Gallus went up to the front counter and asked, "Where's Smolder?! It's an emergency!" The woman pointed towards the back curtain of the daycare. They quickly ran towards the back of the daycare and went through the curtains and Gallus quickly closed it. "Smolder, the echidnas from the Olympics are here and..." Gallus and Silverstream then saw Smolder, and she was wearing her cute princess dress from when she was babysitting Cream and Cheese.

Smolder looked at the two in shock. Then she looked down at the outfit, her cheeks turned red and said, "Uh, this isn't mine!" She then removed the dress, revealing her normal outfit.

"What was that?" Silverstream asked.

"Was that the same outfit you were..." Gallus said before seeing Smolder giving a menacing glare towards him. "You know what, I'm gonna stop there."

"Good call," Smolder said. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Well, we were originally trying to find out what you've been up to," Silverstream said. "But then we found those echidna guys from the Olympics on top of the building."

"WHAT?!" Smolder asked. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Smolder then walked over to a console cover. She then raised her wrist communicator towards it, and the cover opened, revealing a screen. Then Nicole appeared on the screen. "Nicole, we've got trouble here."

"Activating defenses," Nicole said.

Outside of the daycare, the Nocturnus Echidnas were running down the side of the building with tethers connected to their belts. They reached the ground and removed the tethers from their belts. Then, gravity mines appeared from underneath each echidna and activated, sending the eight Echidnas up high into the sky.

Smolder, Gallus and Silverstream were watching from the screen. Silverstream then asked, "They are gonna come back down, right?"

"If they do, they're probably gonna have broken bones," Smolder said.

"Most definitely," Nicole said from the screen.

"We better alert the rest of the Freedom Fighters about this," Gallus said. "Especially Misty. Since they're probably here to take Misty out."

"Notifying the other Freedom Fighters," Nicole said.

Just then, Haven came into the back room. She then saw Smolder and said, "Smolder, hurry up and get dressed. The little ones will be coming in here for story time." She then exited the room.

"Story time?" Gallus asked.

Smolder sighed annoyingly and said, "We'll talk about this back at the mansion tonight. Just go." Gallus and Silverstream then looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and then left.

Back at the boutique, Olive, Zipp and Amy arrived. The three of them were wearing gas masks to block the smell. Zipp's was just covering her muzzle while she was wearing her Z-Goggles.

"Nothing on the web about this kind of plant," Zipp said. "So, I'm gonna have to say that we wait for Izzy to come."

"Seriously?" Sonia asked. "If Rarity smells this, she might have to have this place shut down for bad odor. And Pipp is certain that she can get rid of the smell." Just then, Pipp came into the room with a bottle of nail polish.

"Finally!" Pipp said. "I finally created the polish and got rid of the smell! Check it out~!" Pipp then held out the polish. Olive removed her gas mask and took a whiff.

Olive coughed and said, "No, it's still there!"

"What?!" Pipp asked. She then sniffed it. "Smells fine to me."

"Maybe you just gotten used to the smell," Amy said. "Because, wow, it really stinks!" Just then, Izzy came into the room.

"Hey, everyone!" Izzy said. "What is it you wanted me to..." She then sniffed the fragrance of the room. She then waved her right hand in front of her face. "Sheesharoo! Why does it smell like stinkthistle in here?"

"Izzy!" Sonia said. "Thank goodness you're here." She then held up one of the thistle plants. "This plant here, it shines fingernails like crazy. But the smell is..."

"Stink-ay!" Izzy said. "That's why it's called 'stinkthistle'."

"Stinkthistle?" Sonia asked.

"Izzy, what is this stuff that Pipp found?" Zipp asked.

"Pipp has foraged the stinkiest plant in all of Bridlewood," Izzy responded. "If a pony spends a long time exposed to it, they can become used to it."

"You mean it actually smells worse than it already is here?" Pipp asked.

"Yup!" Izzy said. "We unicorns mostly stay away from it because it's so stinkerrific. That, and it usually attracts certain creatures that are jinxie to everypony."

"Like what?" Olive asked.

"Tatzlwurms, hydras, giant predatorius birds called rocs," Izzy said.

"Rocs?" Olive asked.

"That's right!" Izzy said. "And don't worry, Pipp. I know the flower that is able to cancel out the stinkthistle. I'll be back." She then left the room. While she was going down the hall, Izzy then said, "Hi, Gallus. Hi, Silverstream." The two ran into the office while panting.

"Misty, you gotta get out of here, now!" Gallus said.

"Those echidnas from the Olympics are here!" Silverstream added.

"The Nocturnus Clan is here?!" Misty asked. "Oh, no. Opaline must've sent them here to get me!"

"Not if we can help it," Amy said, bringing out her hammer.

"We got your back," Olive said, pulling the ends of her gloves. "Let's take care of some business." Then Zipp, Amy, Olive, Maria, Sonia, Gallus, Silverstream and Misty headed out of there, heading for one of the entrances of the shop. The one that led to one of the parking lots of the mall. They saw the Nocturnus Echidnas coming right towards them.

"Looks like we're in trouble," Misty said. She then noticed that the Nocturnus were waving their hands in front of their faces. "What's wrong with them?"

"Uh, I think this is the problem," Zipp said, pulling out one of the stinkthistle flowers.

"Anything else we need to worry about?" Maria asked. Just then, the sound of an 18-Wheeler Horn came in. They saw the 18-Wheeler passing by with a Roc bird strapped to it. The Roc then sniffed something. It then broke out of its cage and screeched. It then flew towards the mall.

"There's your answer," Amy said.

The Roc charged towards the heroes and Nocturnus. The heroes and Nocturnus ducked down as the Roc was heading towards them, but a couple echidnas weren't so lucky.

"That was close," Maria said. "For us that is."

"The Roc will just keep coming because of the smell," Zipp said. "And as for these guys..." They saw the Nocturnus getting up and getting their weapons ready. "What are we gonna do?"

"Spin and win time," Sonia said. She then charged at the Nocturnus. She then started spinning around, creating a pink tornado, sucking in the weapons of the echidnas.

Amy then charged towards the echidnas and was using her hammer to swing at the echidnas, knocking them out. Amy then said, "Never mess with a friend of a girl who swings a mean hammer." Just then, the Roc came back down for another bite. The heroes all ducked down to evade the claws of the Roc.

"If the Nocturnus can't kill me, this bird will," Misty said.

"What are we gonna do?!" Silverstream asked.

"We need to get rid of both the Roc and the Nocturnus," Gallus said.

Zipp then looked up and saw a ship that belonged to the Nocturnus, seeing it was a little smaller than the Roc. Zipp then said, "I think I have an idea. Keep the Nocturnus busy. Gallus, Silverstream, you're with me." Then Zipp, Gallus and Silverstream headed into the boutique.

"Where are they going?" Maria asked.

"I hope they have something to handle all these guys when they get back," Sonia said. She then spun around to make some more Nocturnus Echidnas sucked up and thrown away from them.

"These girls are too strong," one of the Echidnas said. "Retreat! We'll blast the whole block away with the plasma bomb!" Then they all retreated to the ship.

"Plasma bomb?!" Amy asked. "They're gonna take out the entire mall!"

"Not if we can help it," came Zipp's voice. The others looked behind them and saw Zipp, Gallus and Silverstream, carrying three pillowcases with something in them.

"What are you doing?" Maria asked.

"We're gonna have the Roc destroy the ship," Zipp said. "Gallus, Silverstream, let's fly!" Then the three of them took to the sky.

The Roc was about to dive down when he caught the whiff of the stinkthistle. The Roc turned its head and saw Gallus coming up towards it.

"You want this?!" Gallus asked, holding up the pillowcase where the stench of the stinkthistle was coming from. "Come and get it." Then he started flying away. The Roc screeched and chased Gallus. Zipp and Silverstream flew alongside Gallus and headed towards the Nocturnus ship.

Zipp put on her Z Goggles and scanned the ship. Zipp then said, "We need to drop the stinkthistle at the processor. Follow me!" Then Zipp flew in one direction, Gallus and Silverstream following, the Roc coming up behind them. Zipp lead Gallus and Silverstream towards where the processor was. "Drop 'em now!" Then Zipp, Gallus and Silverstream then dropped the pillowcases towards where the ship's processor was located. The Roc chased the pillowcases and was about to grab them. As is did, the Roc ripped off the processor as well.

The ship went critical. The Echidnas in the ship were freaking out. Then they all pushed a button on their belts and they all vanished from the ship. The Roc flew away from the ship, carrying the pillowcases, and then the ship exploded because it didn't release the plasma bomb.

"That was a great plan!" Misty said.

Back in Opaline's lair, Opaline was really angry at what just happened, seeing Misty survived once again.

"GAH!!" Opaline shouted, angrily. "Failed again!" She then looked towards Scourge, Allura and Ix, seeing them afraid of what Opaline could do to them. "I sent each of you to come up with a plan to destroy Misty for betraying us, and you all failed! I should've known all of you were too incompetent to do something simple!"

"She's always with those Freedom Fighters!" Scourge said. "Plus, it's like she knew we were coming for her."

"Are you saying we have another traitor in my lair?!" Opaline asked. "Find out who the traitor is and bring him or her to me immediately!" Then the three villains ran out of the Throne Room.

In the vent above the Throne Room, Shade was looking through the grate. She then pulled out her communicator to Misty and activated it.

"Misty, Opaline knows that there's a traitor here, but she doesn't know it's me yet," Shade said. "I need you to be extremely careful. Don't go out alone."

"What?!" Misty asked through the communicator. "Shade, you need to get out of there!"

"Not until I have enough information on how to..." Shade said before the vent grate was ripped off, surprising Shade. Shade looked towards the hole, and she saw Opaline flying up to the hole.

"Well, well, well, looks like we have our traitor," Opaline said. "You're gonna regret having to side with those pesky Freedom Fighters."

"You... will never win," Shade said. She then pushed a button and said, "See ya, witch." She then vanished in a pink light.

Opaline roared. She then said, "Shade is the traitor! Ix, recall her here!" Opaline flew down to the floor of the throne room. Then in a pink light, something came back. It was Shade's teleportation device, and it wasn't attached to Shade's belt. Opaline roared in rage.

Back in the Boutique, Pipp was packing all the stinkthistle nail polish in a box while the news was reporting that the Roc was recaptured.

Pipp sighed and said, "Well, I guess this was a waste," Pipp said. "I finally found something that could be a big hit, and it literally stinks." Zipp and Sonia were helping Pipp pack up the stuff.

"Well, Pipp, you just didn't know what you were putting yourself into," Zipp said. "I'm sure you can find something that'll work."

"Not like the time we tried using ice cream as a face mask," Sonia said. "That was a mess with all the mice." She then gave off a small laugh.

Pipp then sighed and said, "I guess Potions by Pipp is officially cancelled."

"Well don't cancel it yet," came Izzy's voice. Sonia, Pipp and Zipp looked towards the door and saw Izzy coming in a basket with pink flowers. "I found the elusive neutralizing ingredient! Pinkthistle!"

"Pinkthistle?!" Zipp asked.

"No, it will get rid of the smell from the stinkthistle," Izzy said. "Give it a whiff!" Then Pipp, Zipp and Sonia got a whiff of the pinkthistle, and they smiled in joy.

"That smells amazing!" Zipp said.

"Best smell I ever smelled," Sonia said.

Pipp gasped and said, "This will keep the shine but erase the smell! And it's all natural! Just like I wanted! Awww, 'Potions by Pipp' is saved! I'm gonna need all your help to get this into the polish in time for opening tomorrow!"

"You got it, sis," Zipp said. Then they all started grabbing a nail polish bottle and a pinkthistle flower and started shaking some of the pollen into the bottle, and mixing it up.

Author's Note

Next Episode:
Running is Easy, Stopping's the Problem...