“Hey, where are you going?”
“Oh hi! Well the festival is coming up so I was planning on helping a certain pony with finding a nice gift for his marefriend since he forgot to get one.”
“Again? I swear that stallion will never learn, how does she put up with him?”
“Aw be nice, he’s just a little forgetful at times, he doesn’t mean any harm.”
“I suppose so, do you want any help with that? If not I’ll instead help with setting up the treats and drinks, you know how much time that usually takes.”
“That’s fine, I’ll manage on my own. Thank you for offering though, you’re the best friend ever.”
“I’ll see you in a bit then, don’t stray too far, the Everfree isn’t that safe for a stroll.”
“Look what I found! Isn’t it beautiful? I found it near the river and thought to myself, this is the perfect present that he could give to his lady.”
“That is just marvelous, what a beautiful gem, you’re such a helpful and generous filly, you really helped me out of an embarrassing situation here. Thank you so mu… What is that on your flank?”
“Huh? On my flank? What do you mean?”
“Oh no, Oh no oh no oh no, I have to warn the others, you stay right here you hear me? We must solve this.”
“Oh it’s a picture of sorts? Odd, um yes alright I’ll wait here.”
“Quick! We must do Something!”
“Calm down, you’re talking way too fast and look like you saw a ghost, what is going on?”
“Curse! She’s cursed! The pox has reached town, we must do something or it will infect us one by one!”
“No.. Who? How? Tell us quickly.”
“That filly, she found me something because I forgot to get a gift again and on her flank she bore the mark! We’re all doomed if we don’t do something!”
“Gather the others, we have to take care of it as soon as we can, there is no other way, she’ll ruin the party.”
“There you are, did you find that present you were after?”
“Yes but then he got really nervous because of this image that appeared on my flanks after I found him a pretty gem to give to her.”
“Oh that’s not good, that’s not good at all. Did he go and get help?”
“He did but why are you all so worried? What is this? It looks kinda pretty.”
“It’s called Cutie Pox or so the adults said, it makes you focus on specific tasks related to the mark appearing on your flanks, but over time more and more marks appear and eventually you pass away due to your body not being able to handle the stress of it all.”
“C-can it be cured?”
“I think so, but the others likely know better how to treat this, don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be back with help soon and it will all turn out fine.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the house near the well just out of town so that we can help you.”
“Will it hurt?”
“Oh don’t you worry about that dear, everything will all be fine again soon, trust us”
“And we need to head out of town for her cure?”
“Yes but keep your voice down, you’ll just make her more nervous, this, is the best we can do and it will hurt her the least”
“It’s not right, you haven’t even told us what will be done.”
“You’re going to do WHAT!?”
“I’m sorry dear it’s the only way.”
“No let her go this is insane!”
“Please don’t make this harder than it already is, nopony is happy with this turn of events.”
“But!”
“Go light up the fireplace, it will spare you the agony of seeing it happen at least.”
“You’ve all gone mad.”
“It will happen for the good of us all, now either start that fire or head back to town and leave us to our task.”
“Will you get out of that storage already? You only sneak out at night to get food and water before you vanish into this place again.”
“No.”
“Please, it has been days.”
“She was my best friend.”
“She would have infected us all.”
“And you all beat her to death and burned her body in the fireplace!”
“There was no other way, burying her might have contaminated the soil.”
“Go away!”
“You’ll have to come out of there sometime.”
“Is she still in there?”
“Yep.”
“It has been what, two months now?”
“I think so? She’s quite persistent.”
“She’ll get over it, it had to be done to keep our town safe.”
“I know, but have you noticed something awkward as of late?”
“Nothing in particular, why?”
“Ever since we burned that cursed filly I get the feeling that I’m less hungry and need less sleep than normal.”
“It was a traumatic event for us all, it’s probably some left over stress from having to hold her down while we put her out of her misery, it will pass.”
“Couldn’t we have used an axe or club?”
“And having risked her blood contaminating us all? No, trust me this was better, just try to relax.”
“You’re right it is probably nothing, maybe I need to go visit my relatives outside the forest for a few days”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“It has been months now after we found out we can’t leave the Everfree, do you think we were punished for doing that to her? I mean, we all know what happens at night.”
“We were punished because we were too late. In the end she did infect us all, even with our precautions.”
“Or just maybe we were cursed because we did that to her?”
“Look who left the storage in broad daylight, finally over it all then?”
“No but I heard the two of you being wrong as usual and decided to see if some sense could be talked into you.”
“And back into the storage you go.”
“Hey stop pushing me!”
“Block the door. I'm not in the mood to deal with her today.”
“The Curse had befallen her this very night. She had the Mark! She had to go!”
“Oh do be silent Three Leaf, it has been decades, none of you can think straight anymore, and that red maned filly luckily escaped the forest thanks to Ruby, it wasn’t right it never was and we will pay the price forever.”
