The Pony's Meow

Allura laid on her back, swatting the frozen cave air as she slept.

“Mmn…answer my three riddles…mm…”

Allura turned over, and slowly she rose awake.

“Ugh…that same dream.” She yawned audibly and stretched in a typical catlike fashion. “Twitch?”

Allura scanned the area, but her hare minion was nowhere to be found.

“Twitch!” She called out. “Show yourself!”

That’s when her eye caught a small Mane Melody receipt with its back covered in pawprints. She snatched the piece of paper and read the paw-writing.

“Went 2 the Boardtrot.
B back soon.
-Twitch”

“Erg! That fuzzball!” She crumbled the receipt like an unsatisfied customer. “Of all times to do this, he had to do it in the middle of the day?! Those ponies might see him!” She sighed sharply. “I better find him myself.”

She flew out of the cave and towards the Boardtrot. After double-checking that nopony was noticing, she jumped the fence and ducked between two nearby stalls.

“When I find Twitch…so help me…” she growled.

Suddenly, her ears were pierced by an off-key humming. She turned to the source to see Izzy prancing down the wooden walkway.

Oh, no. Not her again!

“Ooh! Another trash can!” Izzy galloped over and dug through. “I wonder what else I can uni-cycle today.”

Unbeknownst to the crafty unicorn, Allura was just a few feet behind her, rolling her eyes.

Just pretend she doesn’t exist, and she’ll go away.

As Izzy and Allura looked around to find their respective intended targets, Sparky ran between the two. A butterfly landed on his nose, causing him to sniff.

“Ah…ah…AH….AH-CHOO!!”

The area was engulfed in a cyan mist. By the time the two purple creatures noticed, it was too late.

Yikes! I’ve been spotted!

Allura zipped out of her hiding place and into two other stalls, all without a single pony noticing. Izzy choked wildly to lodge the dust out of her throat. Sparky joyfully toddled away, unaware of what he caused.

“Ack! What was that?” Izzy coughed. “Stupid seaside air.”

“Sparky!” A stallion’s voice called out. “Sparky, where are you?”

Izzy brushed herself off just as Hitch trotted up to her.

“Oh, hey, Izzy,” Hitch greeted. “Have you seen Sparky?”

“No, I have not seen your pathetic whelp!” Izzy snapped. “Do I look like his mother to you?”

“Woah! What’s eating you, Izzy? Why are—?”

“Why can’t you take care of your children on your own? Stop asking others to help you so much!”

With that, Izzy stomped off. Hitch stood motionless.

“Something must’ve happened to her,” he deduced. “I’ll find Sparky first, and then investigate Izzy’s sudden change in behavior.”

Meanwhile, Allura was still searching for her companion.

Now where could Twitch be?

As Allura looked around, she noticed the dazzling decorations, the upbeat music, and the cheerful crowd. For once, she felt no disgust. In fact, she felt like someone dosed her with a shot of dopamine.

Wow, I never really noticed how nice this place looked.

Allura watched as two chatting ponies passed her. She didn’t hear much of their conversation, but she knew they were enjoying the place. To her, it felt like an invitation.

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go.

She walked out from the stalls and paced down the Boardtrot. When the pony couple saw her, all they could do was gasp.

“Hi, new friends!” She greeted warmly. “How are you?”

“Uhh…” One of the ponies said.

“Wonderful day, isn’t it?”

“It…is…” The other pony said.

“Okay, I’ll see you around.” Allura walked away, leaving the two ponies dumbfounded.

“Was…was that her?” The first pony asked. “That big, creepy cat that we’re supposed to be aware of?”

“Couldn’t be,” the second denied. “The videos we saw made her look…evil. Here she’s acting pretty nice. Maybe it’s her non-evil twin.”

“Yeah, you could be right.”

Since Allura was no longer hiding behind stalls, she had a better view of the Boardtrot. In no time, she spotted Twitch at a nearby arcade game. He was squirting water at a balloon.

There he is.

Twitch tried once more to aim at his target, but the balloon remained dry and unpopped. He groaned as he kicked the water gun.

“Hey, Twitch!”

Twitch immediately jumped from his seat. He saw Allura approaching her. What surprised him wasn’t that she caught him, but that she was casually walking around in the open as if everyone forgot she was an evil being.

“There you are, you little furball,” Allura said as she playfully rubbed Twitch’s head. “I was looking all over for you.”

Twitch tilted his head.

“Oh, don’t be discouraged. I knew you came here for some fun.”

Twitch took a step back, assuming this was the moment where Allura would snap and yell at him for leaving the cave and roaming around the Boardtrot.

“Tell you what, why don’t I lend you a paw?” Allura asked. “I saw that you came close to winning.”

With hesitation, Twitch accepted. Allura and Twitch held the water gun as it sprayed high-pressured water at the balloon. Unlike the rabbit’s previous attempts, the balloon popped just mere seconds after getting pummeled with watery bullets.

“Yay!” Allura and Twitch cheered.

“See? Nothing to it,” said Allura.

She and Twitch high-fived. Suddenly, charms the shape of water guns materialized on their bracelets.

“Ooh, I forgot I was still wearing this.” Allura tapped the new charm. “Let’s see what more charms we can add.”

Twitch agreed, in spite of his confusion of Allura’s new behavior. That’s when he noticed the cutie mark on her flank. Instead of a star and swirl, it was a heart button with sewing needles. Twitch could only shrug and follow after her.

Izzy broodingly traversed down the walkway. All the noise clogged her ears like a curious toddler’s toys in a toilet.

“Ugh! Since when did this place get so annoying?!” She groaned. “It’s making my ears bleed!”

“Hey, Izzy!” Posey called from her flower stand. “Do you want to buy some flowers?” She pulled out a bouquet.

“Get those weeds away from me!” Izzy shoved the flowers into Posey’s face, giving her a new flower beard. She then tramped away in a huff.

“Uh, rude.” Posey brushed the flowers from her face. “I’ll admit these weren’t my best work, but they weren’t that bad.”

“Remember, best two out of three,” Allura said as she collected her rings. “This is for the win.”

Twitch nodded.

“Ready? Go!”

Allura and Twitch tossed their rings to the bottles. The plastic halos bounced across the metal tubes, either falling between them or swirling around the necks. In the end, there were more of Twitch's rings than Allura’s covering the bottles.

“Ooh! You got me again!” Allura chuckled. “You’ve got quite the arm, Twitch. Have you been working out?”

Twitch flexed, causing Allura to giggle. Charms the shape of bottles appeared on their bracelets this time.

“We’re here live on Boardtrot!” Dazzle Feather announced.

“Heh, when are we not?” Skye Silver joked. “We visit this place so often it’s like we live here.”

“Oh, you! Anyway, we’re about to start the ice sculpture contest, ponies, so if you’re looking to get into the competition, positions are still open.”

Dazzle and Skye showed off the dripping ice blocks and the few ponies ready to start. That’s when Dazzle noticed Izzy walking past.

“Oh, look, there’s a pony who isn't shy of creativity.” She ran up to Izzy. “Miss Moonbow, would you care to show off your skills in this ice competition?”

“No!” Izzy barked. “Buck off!”

“Woah!” Dazzle back away, chuckling. “Looks like somepony got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Well, she’ll be back her jolly self soon, am I right?”

“Indeed,” Skye giggled. “Don’t go away, ponies. We’ll be right back after these messages.”

“Hey, Twitch, check this out!” Allura called out as she looked in a mirror. The reflection staring back was a pegasus pony of herself. “I didn’t know I looked good as a pony.”

Twitch ran up to her and spotted his earth pony reflection. Much to his disappointment, he had no cutie mark.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get one when you’re older,” Allura said as she patted Twitch. “Let’s see what the other mirrors do.”

Allura and Twitch browsed the hall of mirrors. Some changed their shape, some changed their ages, some even changed their genders.

“Wow, I look like Alterro,” Allura said to herself as she saw her genderbent reflection. “If only he was here to see this…” She sighed. “Oh, well! Next room!”

Izzy munched on some hay fries at a table by herself. Every bite of the salty, soggy snack made her cringe and gag like a foal eating some steamed asparagus.

“Blegh!” Izzy spat out her fifth and final bite. “Did they change the recipe or something? This tastes horrible!”

Izzy shoved her bag half-full of fries into a nearby trash can.

“I can’t believe I wasted my money on that atrocious junk food.”

“Mew! Mew!”

A kitten Allura jumped across the platforms with a baby Twitch following her.

“Meow!”

The two foals dodged the flying plush toys and slid down the massive slide.

“Mew! Meow!” Allura pointed towards the finish line of the Tiny Trot Wipeout.

Twitch clapped his paws. Both he and Allura raced to the checkered flags.

Izzy sat at a park bench, away from the majority of the noise. Despite that, the sounds were still deafening.

“Why did I even come here in the first place?” Izzy asked herself. “I should’ve stayed home by myself.”

Suddenly, her phone rang. The caller ID indicated it was Sunny.

“What do you want?” An annoyed Izzy answered.

“Hi, Izzy,” Sunny replied on the other end. “Listen, Misty’s not feeling—”

*Beep!*

Izzy hung up without hearing another word. She sighed and leaned back. Her phone rang again. It was Sunny again. This time, Izzy let it go straight to voicemail.

Allura and Twitch toured the fairgrounds. That's when Twitch chittered to Allura.

“Why am I acting so cheerful?” Allura translated. “I don't know. I guess seeing the Boardtrot is making me happy for some reason.”

Suddenly, Allura stepped into a big puddle of water and jumped in fright. She traced the source to a group of ponies on a big platform; two of them were reporters talking to a camera.

“Welcome back, folks,” Skye announced. “We've got some unfortunate and disappointing news.”

“During our break, all the ice blocks melted,” Dazzle added. “It serves us right to hold such a competition in the summer. Looks like we might have to cancel this year.”

Twitch walked away without any less care for the ponies’ problems, but Allura stood still.

“Huh?” Twitch returned to Allura.

Allura looked at her paw. Twitch's chittering snapped her out of it.

“I know we didn't care much for ponies before, but they look like they need help.”

Allura approached the waterlogged platform and inhaled deeply.

“I may be viewed as a monster, but that's not the real me.
When my cutie mark comes to life, I can assist those in need!”

Allura slammed her paws down to the ground as her cutie mark glowed. The water immediately froze up and reshaped into individual ice blocks. She even summoned a snow cloud above the platform to keep the temperature down.

“Hold the phone! What’s this?” Skye asked. “Not only did the ice blocks refreeze back into shape, but we just had a cold front moving in.”

“Oh, this is going to be an awkward conversation with our rival news station about global climate change,” added Dazzle.

“Actually, that was just me,” Allura said.

Dazzle and Skye spotted Allura and caught their breaths.

“Yeah, I saw those ice blocks melting, and I didn’t want a contest to be cut short because of some inclement weather. So, I thought I could help out a bit.”

“Well, thanks to you, we can continue the competition as planned!” Dazzle praised. “I don't suppose you could join. We're one contestant short, and the last creative pony didn't want to participate for some reason.”

“I’ll give it a go. I’ve been meaning to unleash my creativity.”

Izzy noticed Senor Butterscotch sitting by the bracelet stall.

“What are you looking at?” Izzy growled.

Butterscotch “tilted” his head.

“Leave me alone!”

Butterscotch's head slumped.

Twitch chittered to Allura.

“Yeah, I can't believe I won either.” Allura adjusted the first-place ribbon around her neck. “I guess the perks of living in a snowy climate is that you know a thing or two about making ice.”

That's when Twitch’s stomach growled.

“Uh, oh. Looks like someone's hungry.” Allura looked around. “Let’s try that popcorn stand!”

Pipp was at the popcorn stand, texting Misty.

“‘Feel better,’” she concluded as she added a few emojis.

“Excuse me?” Allura asked.

“How can I help yo—WAH-HA-HAHH!!” Pipp fell backwards, dropping her phone in the process.

“We would like two popcorn buckets, please. Large size.”

“Gah…hah…” Pipp snatched her phone up and took off like a frightened pigeon. “Sheriff Hitch, where are you?! Sheriff Hitch!”

“Huh. Guess it’s a self-service station.” Allura hopped over the counter and grabbed a couple of buckets. “I hope they have our favorite flavors.”

Sparky dashed across the sandy beach, spreading his arms like an airplane.

“Sparky! There you are!” A familiar voice called out.

Sparky halted in his tracks. His dad hurried up to him.

“You can’t be running off like that, Sparky,” Hitch sternly said as he picked Sparky up. “You gotta be where I can see you.”

Sparky cooed in his usual baby talk.

“I can’t stay mad at you.” Hitch put his draconic son on his back. “Now let’s get back to the Boardtrot and figure out why Izzy’s in a tizzy.”

“Sheriff Hitch!” Pipp screamed as she flew in. “Sheriff Hitch, come quick! Allura and Twitch are on the Boardtrot!”

“Not this again,” Hitch rolled his eyes. “Pipp, Allura would never—”

“Ugh! I’ve got no time to argue! Just come with me!”

Pipp pushed Hitch and Sparky along.

The two ponies and dragon peeked behind a stall to see Allura and Twitch casually eating popcorn at a table.

Hitch gasped. “You’re right, Pipp. It is them.”

“I hate to say I’d told you so,” Pipp pointed out. “We gotta stop them before they…they do something nefarious!”

“Wait, wait.” Hitch held out a hoof. “Let’s listen first. Then we can figure out what their plan is.”

The group toned into Allura and Twitch’s conversation.

“So after this, do you want to ride the ferris wheel?” Allura asked. “Or do you want to ride the roller coaster?”

Twitch chittered.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll do both!”

“Huh. Doesn’t sound nefarious to me,” Hitch said. “Sounds like they’re just planning their day at the Boardtrot.”

“But I know they aren’t here just to have fun,” Pipp denied. “I know they’re planning something.”

Allura cleaned up the table and tossed the scraps in the nearby trash. “Alright, now let’s have some fun!”

Twitch hopped on Allura’s back as she flew away. Pipp immediately snapped a photo before they disappeared.

“Okay, I haven’t met Allura recently,” Hitch said, “but I have to admit it’s weird for her to act so…cheerful. At least she didn’t litter.”

Pipp sighed as she looked at the photo. “Maybe Sunny was right. She just needed a second chance.”

Hitch nodded, but then he squinted at the photo. “Hey, hold on. Zoom into Allura’s flank for a moment. Do you see it?”

Pipp did just that. “The cutie mark? That’s…that’s Izzy’s cutie mark! Why would Allura have Izzy’s cutie mark?”

Hitch said, “Come to think of it, Izzy today acted rather cold to me. Almost as if she…” He gasped.

“She and Allura switched cutie marks!” Pipp and Hitch shouted in unison.

“But the only way that could’ve happened is if…”

The realization struck the two ponies. Pipp and Hitch stared at Sparky, who could only give a sheepish shrug.

“Well, that explains everything!” Pipp rubbed her forehead.

“So this is just a repeat of when Sunny and I had our cutie marks switched,” said Hitch. “I guess all we have to do is switch them back.”

“Right! So…how did you and Sunny get your cutie marks back?”

“We did our special hoofshake, so it must have been something to prove our bondness together.”

“Well, that’s not gonna work. Allura and Izzy’s relationship is anything but together. Let’s go with Plan B.” Pipp grabbed Sparky. “We have Sparky sneeze again and hope for the best.”

“Come on, Pipp. Let’s not use Sparky that way.”

“Got any other ideas?”

Hitch scratched his chin. “You know what? Let’s use Sparky.”

“Alright, so here’s the plan…”

Allura admired her bracelet, which was covered in so many charms the band was nigh invisible.

“I never knew how fun this place was,” she said. “To think I took the Boardtrot for granted.”

Twitch showed off his charms as well, before losing his balance and falling off over the sheer weight.

“I wonder if these charms have any magic in them. Maybe if we collect enough we could find a way back—”

Bump!

Allura knocked into a unicorn.

“Hey!” Izzy barked. “Watch where you're—you!”

“Oh, hi, there!” Allura joyfully greeted. “It’s so great to see you again.”

“You think I forgot how you acted towards me?! How you trapped me in that abysmal snow globe?”

“Okay, so it wasn't my proudest moment, heh. But I'm willing to let bygones be bygones and consider becoming friends.” Allura held out a paw. “What do you say?”

“Forget it!” Izzy smacked the feline’s paw away. “You and your oversized bunny slipper are going to regret ever crossing paths with me!”

Twitch chittered with offendedness.

Izzy’s horn glowed, but before she could fire a spell, Pipp, Sparky, and Hitch tackled her.

“Get off of me at once, you foolish ponies!” Izzy shouted.

“Ooh, a pony pile!” Allura pranced over. “Me next!”

Allura pounced on the pile, causing everyone else to grunt.

“Now’s our chance!” Hitch grabbed Sparky and plucked out a feather.

“OW! Hitch!” Pipp cried.

“Sorry about that.” Hitch quickly tickled Sparky’s nose.

Sparky sniffed. “Ah…ah…AH….”

“Take cover!”

Pipp and Hitch leaped out of the pile.

“AH-CHOO!!”

The cyan mist encased Izzy and Allura. The moment Hitch and Pipp saw Izzy with her cutie mark back, they pulled her from the pile and dashed away from the dazed Allura.

“Ugh…” Allura rubbed her forehead.

Twitch hopped up to her and chittered.

“Of course it’s me, you twit!” Allura growled. “Now let’s get out of this ridiculous place before somepony sees us!”

Twitch sighed in relief. He then hopped on Allura’s back and the two flew off.

Meanwhile, Hitch, Pipp, and Sparky laid Izzy on a nearby bench.

“Izzy, are you alright?” Hitch asked. “Say something.”

“Chimicherrychanga!” Izzy exclaimed.

“W..what?”

“Hey, you told me to say something.”

“Thank hoofness, she’s back,” Pipp sighed.

Izzy sat up. “Woah, I sure wasn't myself today!”

“I'll say you weren't,” Hitch pointed out.

“I guess I owe a lot of apologies to everypony.”

“Yeah, you think?”

Izzy sprung from the bench. “Well, no time like the present!”

She returned to the Boardtrot with Pipp, Sparky, and Hitch following her.

Twitch chittered to Allura nonstop about her recent actions as they trekked across the beach.

“Don’t remind me,” Allura groaned. “I don't know what came over me, but I never want to experience that again.”

Twitch mumbled incoherently.

“I heard that!”

Suddenly, Allura and Twitch heard the sound of two ponies chattering. They quickly dove behind a nearby rock.

“Boy, that cat really saved our skins back there,” one of them said.

“Well, I wouldn't call it that,” the other pony chuckled. “It was still nice of her to refreeze the ice blocks and keep them cold.”

“I don’t care what Miss Zipp says. The feline was really friendly to everypony, not to mention as creative as Izzy. I hope to see her again someday.”

Once the ponies were out of earshot, Twitch and Allura returned to her cave. Twitch entered, but Allura stood outside. She looked at her bracelet, and then back at the Boardtrot. She shook her head.

“Bah! Not today.”

Allura followed Twitch into the cave. She yanked off her bracelet and tossed it onto a nearby stalagmite. As she rested on the frozen floor, the charms gave off an eerie glow.