Gossip Spreads Quick

Sunset trotted down the street with the others behind her. Ponyville was a ghost town. Doors were closed and locked, windows shuddered. Sunset had never seen anything like this before in all her life. Canterlot always had something going on, no matter what the time.

A cat fight in the alley, a few royal guards arresting some drunk ponies but never was a town Sunset ever been in just dead silent. If she didn’t know better, she would say an apocalypse of some kind happened here and wiped out the entire town folk.

“Where is everypony?” Sunset wondered aloud and Shoeshine scuffed a hoof against the gravel road.

“Gossip spreads quick in a small town Sunset,” Shoeshine explained and Sunset giggled. She still couldn’t get over how deep her voice sounded and Shoeshine shot her a dangerous glare. “Stop laughing. Anyway, most of Ponyville thinks the zebra in the woods cursed us somehow. Nopony is gonna come near us until that rumor is squashed like a spider on a wall.”

Shoeshine slammed her hoof against the road for emphasis and Roseluck jumped almost ten feet in the air as Sunset stifled a laugh.

Daisy and Lily had opted to stay behind. Something about how Daisy refused to been seen like this and Lily was just scared. The only reason Roseluck came along was because Silverspeed dragged her with.

“I just hope Trixie is still following us,” Derpy glanced around and Trixie groaned.

“Trixie is right here,” Trixie grumbled and growled when nopony responded. “Right, nopony can hear or see her, but they can feel Trixie. Curse this fucking universe and it’s jokes.”

She tapped a hoof against Derpy’s flank and the pegasus jumped slightly.

“Yeah, she’s still with us,” Derpy confirmed with an eyeroll. “She just touched my flank.”

“Shocker,” Roseluck snorted. “Bet she’s laughing it up at us right now. Why is she invisible, anyway?”

“Trixie has a huge ego and adores being seen by crowds. So it probably made her invisible to show her what it’s like to not be seen,” Sunset mused as she and the others followed Derpy in a circle. Trixie wanted to kill Sunset a little after that statement.

“Trixie is not fond of that suggestion,” Trixie growled and scuffed a hoof against the ground. “But, it is probably correct.”

“Where are we going?” Roseluck complained finally and glanced at Derpy. “You said you knew the way to a house in the forest.”

“I don’t know. Can’t remember,” Derpy shrugged and everypony groaned. “Heck, I can’t even remember where my house is or the post office or where the school house is.”

Sunset suspected that was what the Poison Joke did to Derpy, but she didn’t want to say anything. Derpy got what she wanted, her eyes normal and Sunset wasn’t about to crush her dreams by telling her. She wouldn’t have even done that back in her pre friend days. She was stern, not cruel after all.

“How about I take over?” Sunset suggested casually and cracked her neck. “By the gods, I feel so short. How am I gonna attract a pretty mare if I can barely come up to her barrel?”

“Who are you going for?” Roseluck raised and eyebrow and Sunset shrugged.

“Nopony as of now, but my point still stands. That could change in the future. I wouldn’t mind sharing my bed with somepony. I normally date unicorns because magic can be used for some interesting things. Earth ponies are strong and have nice flanks. Pegasi have thinner bodies most of the time and wings are nice to cuddle under so,” Sunset explained and she eyed each member of the group and where she thought Trixie was. “Derpy, no offense, but I wouldn’t date you. You’re like my mom.”

“None taken,” Derpy waved a hoof dismissively. “I prefer stallions. I don’t bat for my own team.”

“Same,” Roseluck chimed in and flicked her tail. “I prefer guys.”

“I don’t really like anypony,” Shoeshine shrugged and growled, stepping over a twig. “I like personality. If you have a good personality, I’ll date ya. Mare or stallion, doesn’t matter.”

Silverspeed closed her mouth and sighed. She really hated not being able to speak. She personally was looking forward to having her voice back, Shoeshine sounding normal and Trixie being at least noticeable. You couldn’t even seen the tracks her hooves made. As funny as Roseluck’s hair was, Silverspeed supposed she would be angry too.

Silverspeed mainly wanted Sunset to be back to her normal height. She didn’t really like dating mares smaller than her. Not that she was dating her of course, but Silverspeed could dream at least.

“Okay, so we somehow find this zebra, convince somehow to heal us and then what? We just go about our day?” Derpy asked and glanced at Silverspeed. “You are the best at working with other species outside of Trixie. Any suggestions?”

Silverspeed shrugged and shook her head, pointing a hoof out towards the forest with a nod.

“What if this is a mistake?” Sunset wondered aloud and tried to glare up at her horn. “Going back in there, I mean. I have no magic whatsoever to protect us from what Celestia knows is in there. They’re still discovering new animals in there to this day.”

“I love and hate how you shoulder everything by yourself,” Derpy grumbled and the others nodded in agreement. “It’s partially admirable but mainly dumb. We have Shoeshine and her strength along with Silverspeed. We can always come up with different ways to defend ourselves.”

Sunset blushed as they each hugged her and Sunset found herself in the middle of an impromptu group hug.

“It is the worst part of my personality,” Sunset admitted and nuzzled Roseluck with a small smile. “I’ve always had just me for the longest. It’s annoying being afraid of asking for help.”

“Hardest things to do are always the right to do,” Roseluck quipped with a shrug.

“Yeah, I know. Working on it.”

Sunset untangled herself from the hug and kissed everyponys foreheads excluding Trixie due to simply not knowing where she was, making a mental note to give the gesture later on.

“Now let’s move,” Sunset commented with a flick of her tail and a whinny sound.

The other five nodded and stepped into the Everfree, missing the three eyes watching from a nearby bush.