Triple Chocolate Dipped Truffles
The bitter cold followed the five poor ponies no matter how fast they went. Any noise made was muted by the harsh winds as it assisted the cold in making these travelers absolutely miserable.
"I want to know who in Equestria would ever suggest going through the Frozen North. There has to be an easier way!" Ditzy Doo heard somepony in the back complain.
"It's either this, or spend a month going around it. Now shut up and keep walking. We should get to the train station to Canterlot by nightfall if we continue moving". It was impossible to tell who was who with the freezing winds blowing past Ditzy's face and ears. The poor pegasus mare pulled on her scarf as she tried to cover her face.
"Come on, girls. We need to walk closer together. Maybe that'll keep us warm enough to get through this alright" Ditzy was pretty sure that was Bon-Bon, but she couldn't be sure. She couldn't be sure of much anything these days. The mare's head throbbed with all of the new things she had learned during their trip. She was also sure that her life would never go back to the way it was before in Ponyville.
All it took was the brief mention of Ponyville in Ditzy's mind to open the floodgates of all the memories she had made there. While she had never been the most social of ponies, the clumsy pegasus longed for the familiar faces of each inhabitant. She missed watching Time Turner have a panic attack whenever somepony bumped into one of his clocks in his clock store, and she missed the beautiful and delicious flowers Roseluck grew at her flower stand. But of all the memories that made Ditzy the most homesick, she missed sleeping in her own bed, and she missed being greeted each day by the warm and welcoming smiling of Golden Harvest.
"Ditzy, what is this?"
The orange maned earth pony was standing in the doorway as she looked into her living room with disgust. The wall eyed pegasus that had been living with Golden Harvest for the past several years was now stretched out across the couch covered in candy wrappers. Empty mugs of cider sporadically decorated the wooden flooring, and cupcake wrappers sat in wadded piles around the couch. The miserable creature lie belly up as she stared at the ceiling. She idly wiped a tear from her eye as she stuffed another peppermint bark cupcake into her mouth and chewed slowly. After a lengthy stretch of seconds passed, Ditzy looked over to her roommate as though she didn't notice her at first.
"Oh" She sighed. "Hi Harvest. Would you like a cupcake?" She reached over to the box of cupcakes next to her and pulled it towards her. She put a hoof inside it to find that there was nothing in it. She looked back to the yellow furred mare, and continued "Is what I would say if there were any cupcakes left".
"Ditzy, this is getting ridiculous" Golden Harvest started as she slowly walked closer to the couch with her eyes focused on the blonde mare. "I understand that your job was really important to you, but it's been three weeks now. It's time to get out there and find another job".
"But Harvest," Ditzy whined "that job meant everything to me! Without it, how else will I get to see all of the other ponies in Ponyville?
"Gee, I don't know. There couldn't possibly be any other forms of communication" The annoyed friend rolled her eyes as she began taking off the candy wrappers that dressed the grey furred pegasus. Some of the wrappers got stuck on Ditzy, so an extra tug was required to get them off.
"Ow! Harvest, that hurts!" Ditzy yelped.
"Then throw away your garbage next time" Golden Harvest said as she got rid of the last wrapper. As she looked down on her friend, she noticed that the average sized tummy the clumsy pony once sported was now replaced by a bulging gut that anypony else would probably mistake for being a couple of months pregnant. The now concerned roommate held up a hoof and poked Ditzy's belly to see if it was real. This elicited a squeak from the lounging mare. "You know, all this grief filled overeating isn't good for you. You could get heart disease or diabetes". The grey Pegasus looked at Harvest with indignation.
"What? Heart disease? Diabetes? Harvest, you're so silly. I'll be alright. Sure, I packed on a few pounds, but it's nothing I can't walk off. Better yet," Ditzy spread her wings out and gave them a little flap. "I'll fly them off!" With that, she took to the air inside of the living room. It was a move she would come to regret, because she hadn't used her wings since she was fired. Even if her wings were okay, keeping herself afloat took extra effort due to her new weight. Combined with her poor vision brought on by her medical condition, Golden Harvest winced at the inevitable train wreck that was about to happen in her living room. Fortunately, for both Harvest and Ditzy, the pegasus simply dropped onto her hooves with a thud and tried to catch her breath. The pitiful sight before her was where the yellow earth pony drew the line.
"Alright Ditzy" she tried to stay as calm and sweet as possible. "weight issues or no, you not having a job is still an issue. I can't support the both of us on my salary alone". Golden Harvest put both hooves on the blonde mare's shoulders, and pulled her closer to herself. She wanted to be absolutely sure that Ditzy was paying attention to what she was about to say. "It's about ten thirty right now. At around seven, I'm going to make us a nice, healthy dinner". She paused for a moment as if she were forcing herself to say the next part. "You have until then to schedule an interview with someone about getting a job. I'm sorry Ditzy, but if you come back to me with nothing, I'm afraid that I'll have to kick you out". She bit the bottom of her lip as she saw Ditzy's eyes widen with horror.
"What?!? B-B-But you can't do that! I have nowhere else to go!" Ditzy pleaded with her best friend. When she saw the grave look in her eyes, she lowered her head in defeat.
"Hey, heeeey" Golden Harvest softened up even further as she gently rubbed the mare's back. "I don't want to be the bad guy here, but I seriously can't support the both of us. You understand, don't you?"
"Yea..." Ditzy found it hard to look her friend in the eyes, but she knew that Harvest was only doing what she had do. "I'm sorry, Harvest. I've been acting like a selfish crybaby these past few weeks. Being a mail mare was, like, the best job in the world. I got to go all around town, and I got to see a bunch of different ponies".
"Oh Ditzy, you silly filly..." the now soft as a cloud earth pony couldn't help but smile at her friend. Hearing her admit that she had done wrong would have been enough for her to reconsider kicking her out if it weren't for her financial situation. She thought for a moment about what it would be like for her to lose her carrot cart, but she shook the horrid thought away. "You're going to have a big day ahead of you. I know it's important that you find another job, but that doesn't mean you should shut out everypony else. I'm telling you, Ditzy, friendship isn't a spectator's sport. So when you go out there, be open, and try talking to the others".
"Okay, mom, I get it" Ditzy let out a soft giggle as she wiggled out from her friend's grip. She trotted over to the door and looked back. "If I find the time to, I'll try talking to a pony or two. Until then, I've got a job to go look for! See you later tonight, Carrot Top!" She sang as she galloped out of the door. Harvest watched her friend leave with a bemused grin she didn't realize she was wearing.
"She hasn't called me that in years".
During her many years of being a mail mare, Ditzy had gotten to see just about every pony in Ponyville. She also took the time to master the almost entirely useless art of small talk. Unfortunately, the grey pegasus barely remembered a hoof full of ponies, and she was not the most social mare in Equestria.
"Maybe Harvest is right" Ditzy thought to herself. "Maybe I should make other friends. I can't rely on her forever". She walked with her head low to the ground as she watched individual details on the cobble road pass underneath her. "But that'll have to wait. Right now, I have to stay focused". At that moment, she bumped her head into something stone like. "Ow!" the inattentive mare gingerly rubbed the spot on her head that she bumped as she looked up at what she had run into.
Standing in front of her was a statue of a unicorn standing on her hind legs on a pedestal. The now curious pony tried to identify who the statue depicted because she was sure she didn't see this statue before. The cape and the hat seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on the identity of this pony.
"Ditzy Doo? Is that you?"
The statue looks an awful lot like that one mare who came into Ponyville long ago claiming she had beaten an Ursa Major. What was her name? It might have started with a T.
"Helloooooo. Earth to Ditzy".
Terri? Was that it? Sounds about right. Anyways, why would they erect a statue of Terri in the middle of Ponyville like this? Ditzy was pretty sure the ponies didn't like Terri during her visit.
"Do you think she's dead?"
It wasn't even a good looking statue. Not that Ditzy knew anything about sculpting, but the statues she was used to seeing were majestic and huge, and they were usually made out of a higher quality stone too. This stone looked cheap, and the unicorn looked full of herself.
"Lyra, who dies standing up?"
Then again, she realized that she had shut herself in Golden Harvest's house for about three weeks. This got the ex-mail mare to thinking about how much she had actually missed while shut away. What if Discord had returned, and she missed the whole thing? Then again, if Discord had come back, she was pretty sure that-
"Ditzy!!"
She jumped. Right in front of her stood a mint green unicorn that seemed more than eager to see her. The beaming pony turned her head to her cream coated friend. Ditzy immediately recognized these ponies because of how frequent they're seen together, but their names escaped her for the moment.
"I could probably think of some pony if you gave me enough time to think about it" she said as her silvery bluish green mane bounced when she turned back to the earth pony. The unicorn's friend sported a blue and pink mane with a matching tail. The swirls in her mane and tail reminded Ditzy of Golden Harvest for some reason.
"Are you okay? We haven't seen you around for three weeks" The mare asked as she completely ignored the unicorn's statement.
"That, and you really let yourself go".
"Lyra!!"
"What? It's true".
Ditzy let out a sigh as she realized that she was going to be reminded about her newly acquired weight all day. She thought to herself about how she should work on exercising daily after she scheduled an interview and cleared things up with Golden Harvest. She gave the two ponies her best smile as she turned away from the statue.
"I'm Sorry. I was just a little distracted by this statue" she started as she shuffled in place. "Speaking of which, what gives? I didn't think you guys liked Terri".
"Who?" The cream pony gave Ditzy a puzzled look. "Oh, you mean Trixie? Yea, she invaded Ponyville a little while ago. She's gone now. Twilight and her friends took care of it".
"As usual" her friend chirped in.
"...Yes. As usual" She continued. "Anyways, looks like the cleanup crew missed another statue. How you can overlook a statue the size of a pony, I'll never know".
"Ponyville was invaded?!" The pegasus gasped. "B-But I was here the whole time! When did this happen?!" She got a quizzical look from the two ponies. Lyra was the first to ask anything.
"You were here and you didn't notice the giant fish bowl that Trixie put over us? She had everypony doing her bidding! Heck, I had to play her a serenade blind folded!".
"It's a good thing you're so good at the lyre" The cream colored pony added.
"I was lucky to have that working in my favor. You still shouldn't have to play music with your eyes closed! Why do you think ponies use sheet music?! It's not like this is the future where sheet music can be scanned into our brains!" Lyra continued to rant on and on about how impossible Trixie's request would have been to anypony not skilled in playing the lyre. While she rambled on, her friend continued looking at Ditzy with expectant eyes and a friendly smile. Ditzy figured that the only way out of this was to tell them where she's been.
"I've been locked up in my house, and I ate myself silly for the past few weeks". As the words left her mouth, Lyra stopped talking about lyres and sheet music. She fixed the grey mare a puzzled look.
"What, are you becoming a hermit or something?"
"No, it's just..." Ditzy paused for a moment. The memory still lingered a little in her head. "I sorta kinda lost my job". Both ponies gasped.
"Oh my, you poor thing" Lyra's friend started. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"
"Well, I was tasked with making a delivery to Princess Celestia, and I accidentally got the order mixed up...again. Instead of getting what she was expecting, she got somepony else's shipment for aging cream". Ditzy was interrupted by a few chuckles that Lyra tried to stifle. the laughing ended abruptly when the earth pony shot her a look. "The princess wasn't angry about it or anything, but my boss was fuming. He needed to do something about it to save face, so I was fired. Now I don't work for the Ponyville Post Office anymore".
"Well that sucks" Lyra stated bluntly. "But that was weeks ago, right? Why don't you just get another job?"
"Actually, that's what I'm out here trying to do". Where did these two ponies work? Did they have open positions? These questions were more than enough to urge Ditzy to ask them for help. "Speaking of which, do you two know anywhere that's hiring right now?" Both ponies rubbed their withers as they thought.
"Well..." The cream colored mare adjusted her mane. "I know of somepony who's hiring right now, but the job might be a little...irritating".
"It's better than not having a job" Ditzy asserted.
"Alright. Do you know where Time Turner's World of Clocks shop is?"
"Er...No. I don't have the best sense of direction".
"That's quite alright. We'll walk you there". As Lyra's friend began walking down the street, she turned her head to keep her eyes on Ditzy. "I know you used to be the mail mare and all, but I don't think we've ever properly met. I'll go first. My name is Sweetie Drops, But everypony else usually calls me Bon Bon. If you want to call me Bon Bon, that's fine".
"And I'm Lyra Heartstrings" she said as she walked at Bon Bon's side. "Feels kinda weird havin conversations with the mail mare like she were your own school mate".
"Well, I'm not a mail mare anymore" the grey mare stated. "It's just Ditzy Doo now".
The three ponies now stood in front of the World of Clocks shop. It was the only shop in all of Ponyville that specifically sold clocks. The building looked just the same as every other shop. The only difference was that every inch of the walls inside were covered with clocks of different shapes and sizes. Even though they were outside, they could still hear the clocks from within. Sure enough, there sat a sign in the window sill that said 'Help wanted: inquire within'.
"Thanks for helping me find the place" Ditzy bowed her head to both companions. "wish me luck". With that, she opened the door and walked inside. Her ears twitched slightly as they were greeted by the over powering sound of all of the clocks ticking in disorganized unison. How could Time Turner work here with all this noise? The blonde maned pony thought to herself as she walked up to the counter. The brown stallion with dark brown mane looked at Ditzy with a nervous glance. He was no doubt concerned about the clumsy pegasus' antics and how it would affect his clocks. Just as Ditzy got to the front counter, several clock's began to chime and cuckoo clocks began to tweet. It made her jump.
"Tick tock it's eleven o'clock" he sung. "Welcome to the World of Clocks, home of everything timey-wimey. What can I do for you today, Ms. Doo?" It took a while for the the noise to die down to the regular ticking. She waited until then to ask what had just surfaced in her mind
"Timey-wimey?" Ditzy asked curiously. "What does that mean?"
"Oh nothing much. It's just a little something I made up for the business. Ya know, give them something to remember it by".
"But you're the towns official time keeper. Why would you need others to remember you?"
"When the only thing ponies really remember you by is that you turn the hour glass at official cider making contests, you need to do something about it" he adjusted his tie. "You honestly don't think I make a living off of that alone, do you? This is what I do when I'm not doing that or changing the clock tower's clock for daylight savings". Ditzy observed the name plaque sitting on the front counter. It read 'Dr. Time Turner'.
"I didn't know you were a doctor" she said to delay the inevitable. Why was she so reluctant about asking him about the job opening?
"Oh, I'm not a doctor" the non doctor said in a nonchalant way. "I just thought it sounded very official, so I gave myself that title. I suppose you could call me a doctor of time if you count being too fast or too slow as being ill. I know I certainly do". The stallion seemed lost in his own ramblings. It didn't take long for him to bring his attention back to Ditzy. "Now then, what can I do for you Ms. Doo? Is it about my Saddle Arabia clock order?" He looked pretty excited about that.
"Actually...I don't work as a mail mare anymore. I was fired." She said glumly.
"Oh. My condolences".
"It's fine. I heard that you were looking for someone to hire, so here I am". She gave the faux doctor a smile. Time Turner, however, felt a twinge of fear in his brain. Ditzy Doo, Ponyville's most clumsy pegasus, wants to work in a store full of valuable and fragile clocks? He could picture it now: It would start with one clock, then she would wreck an entire shelf, then it would be the entire wall. He could picture the Canterlot Royal Guard becoming involved in this as well. Speaking of which, there was an equal opportunity law in effect, so he couldn't just turn her down outright without giving her a chance first. Still, he had to think of something. It has to be something that he knew Ditzy couldn't do. A smile stretched across his smile as the impossible task formed in his head.
"Ah, yes. Of course. But before that, I'd like to ask you a favor". He stated as he noticed that he had gotten Ditzy's attention. "You see, I originally wanted a cousin of mine to work alongside me. She's also very good with time, but she isn't as enthusiastic about it as I am. The time keeper title and the clock store have been family tradition that goes deep down the family roots. My great grandpa was a time keeper, my great great great grandma was a time keeper, and my great great great great great great great fifth aunt twice removed was a time keeper".
"Why are you telling me all this?" Ditzy didn't want to come off as rude, but she was taken aback by all the personal information that was getting dumped on her.
"Because she doesn't want to help me with my store, and I want to know why. I don't want to force her to work here, but I'd at the very least like to talk to her about it. This is where you come in. If you can bring my cousin here, I promise you a position here at my establishment".
"Really?!" Ditzy's jaw dropped a little. The day had barely begun and she already had a guaranteed job. She reached out, and shook Time Turner's hoof wildly "Thank you so much! This means so much to me!"
"Think nothing of it" the shaken stallion uttered as he readjusted his tie. "Now then, a little description of the mare you're looking for. She's a blue unicorn with a cutie mark just like mine" He turned his flank a little to show off his hour glass cutie mark. "She also has a tail and mane that a lot of ponies would compare to toothpaste. Lastly, her name is Minuette". He paused for a moment to let this all sink in. "Did you get all of that?"
"Blue unicorn, mane's like toothpaste, goes by Minuette. Got it" Ditzy turned around and began galloping. She turned her head to face the time keeper, much to his dismay. "Thank you again Time Turner! I promise that you won't regret this!" During her moment of blindness, she ran straight into a table. "Ow!!" She toppled onto her side as the clock on the table wobbled over the edge. The very effeminate shriek from Time Turner alerted the dazed pegasus to the wood carved table clock that was about to fall to the ground. She quickly flipped around and extended her hooves to catch the clock.
Then it shattered.
Time Turner looked in utter horror at the broken clock that lie in pieces on the floor. The decorative gold pony bolted into the front of the clock was the only thing intact. He slowly looked up at Ditzy, his eyes still wide with shock and his jaw slightly agape.
"I'm so sorry!" Ditzy quickly found the price tag for the clock and took out her bit pouch. She took out thirty bits and threw them towards Time Turner haphazardly, then she galloped out of the store feeling very guilty. "Like I said, you won't be disappointed!!"
The stallion could only stare blankly at the spot where Ditzy once occupied. The seconds passed away. He looked back to the ruined clock and let out a sigh. "That was my favorite one too..."
"So how'd it go?" There is a reason why Lyra's question made Ditzy Doo jump slightly, but it isn't because both of the ponies she had been talking to suddenly appeared out of the corner of her eye. She's just surprised that these two actually stuck around to find out how her talk with Time Turner went. The pegasus just assumed they would have left to attend to their own business.
"Oh, um..." Ditzy had lost her train of thought, but it came back as fast as it had gone. "It went really well actually. I talked to him, and he said I'd have a guaranteed job if I brought Minuette to him". Both Lyra and Bon Bon swapped their curious looks for somber frowns. "What? What's wrong?"
"Well" Bon Bon started. "Colgate kind of doesn't want anything to do with her family".
"What?" Ditzy stared at Bon Bon. "What does that have to do with anything? I'm looking for Minuette". The cream coated pony shook her head.
"No no. You don't understand. Minuette is Colgate. She just prefers to be called Colgate".
"That's because she doesn't want anything to do with her family". A new voice chirped in. From Lyra's side trotted a pinkish earth pony with a purple, unkempt mane and tail.
"Hi Berry Punch" the other two sung as the overly happy mare trotted closer to Ditzy. She inspected the blonde mare closely which made the pony slightly uncomfortable.
"Gee, it's been a while since I last saw you Ditzy. It's been, like...forever". The pony with no sense of personal space was eyeing Ditzy's midsection, and the pegasus braced herself for the inevitable question. "Were you always this preggers? Who's the lucky Stallion?" Pregnant? Really? If these were the kinds of responses Ditzy would be getting out of everypony, then it was going to be a long, long day. She opened her mouth to speak, but Lyra cut her off.
"She's not pregnant. She's just really fat".
"Lyra!!" Bon Bon stared at her friend with indignation.
"What? It's true. Do you want me to tell Berry that Ditzy is actually slim and fit? Do you want me to lie to our friend like that? Because that's horrible. Friends don't lie to friends". If every bodily movement had a sound, then everypony within a thirty foot radius could hear Bon Bon rolling her eyes. While the offended Unicorn was talking, Ditzy Doo had been walking away from the group. If she was going to find Minuette, or Colgate as they've been calling her, then she was going to need to start looking now. She figured that it was at least worth a try.
"Heeeeey, where'ya goooooooin?" Berry Punch was now following the slightly irritated pegasus. "I really haven't seen you in a while. I'm sorry that I mistook you for being preggers".
"And I'm sorry I called you fat" Lyra added.
"It's fine..." Ditzy was not one to hold a grudge with another pony so easily. She felt just a little bad for leaving them behind like that, but it's not like she blew them off without a reason. "I'm sorry, I just really have to find Colgate. Me having a place to sleep depends on it".
"I know where Colgate is!" Berry chirped excitedly. "She's at the library! Just follow me" and with that, she took off.
Ditzy and the others followed Berry at their own pace. So as they followed the brisk earth pony, the three mares left behind got to catching up with each other. This beats looking for employment alone Ditzy thought to herself.
"I got my cutie mark in candy making, but I've never been particularly crazy for that business. I'm more interested in theater. I mean, I want to hold onto my job right now, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life making candy". The cream coated pony sighed contently as she let her mind wander. "What I would give to be up there on stage performing with big name actors".
"Hey Bon Bon" Lyra chuckled. "Do that thing you do. You know the one. That thing where you throw your voice". Ditzy looked at Bon Bon with surprise in her eyes.
"You can do that?!" Ditzy asked in wonderment.
"Oh fine, but only because Lyra got you curious". The earth pony looked around for a suitable target to do her trick. She spoted Pinkie Pie bouncing along, and a stack of rocks close to her. It wasn't the best thing to put her voice on, but it would have to do for this demonstration. She cleared her voice, and went to work.
"Hey, you! You In da pink!" The stack of rocks said in a gruff voice. This made Pinkie stop in her tracks, and look back inquisitively. "Yea, you! Get ova here!". The pink pony's look of puzzle changed for excitement as she happily bounced over.
"Rocky!! It's been way too long. How've you been?" Bon Bon wasn't expecting Pinkie to recognize the voice she was doing, but she decided to go along with it.
"Pretty good. I'm bored outta my skull here though, and I need some form'a entertainment. Ya game?"
"Yea. I'm game! What're we playin?"
"We's gonna have a staring contest".
"You're on!" And with that, Pinkie sat on her haunches and stared at the rock pile intensly. Bon Bon giggled at the sight as she continued walking with Lyra and Ditzy. Ditzy burst out into a fit of giggles.
"That was awesome! I wouldn't mind being able to throw my voice like that" the grey mare then began to daydream about her being able to throw her voice. As she lost herself in her fantasies, they all caught up with Berry Punch who stood in front of the Library.
"What took you guys so long?!" Berry stared at them as she trotted in place.
"Sorry about that" Lyra spoke up. "We just wanted Bon Bon over here to show us a really cool trick".
"That's cool. Okay Ditzy, Colgate said she'd be here. So I'm sure you could get her to Time Turner's clock shop or whatever, but it'd be best for you to not bring up anything about her family".
The Library looked about as neat as it always did. Aside from the giant open wooden crate that took up most of the main floor, nothing was really out of the ordinary. The four ponies walked into the library to meet the only pony in the room. The blue unicorn was magically pulling out several books from the shelves to read the titles.
"It's gotta be here somewhere" the unicorn muttered to herself. She saw the four ponies approaching her from the corner of her eye. "Twilight Sparkle and her assistant are temporarily out right now. In the meantime, Ms. Sparkle has put a lot of trust in me being in the library alone. I insist that you come back later".
"Colgate!" Berry Punch said rather loudly, which earned a shush from the busy unicorn. "How ya doin? You still working on your 'Take me to College Bits Jar filled with Bits' thingy?" She patted the blue pony on the shoulder, which caused said pony to flinch.
"Ah! What did you step in?!" Colgate said frantically as she inspected the spot that Berry touched. It felt wet.
"Iunno. Probably some kid's soda".
"That's disgusting!" Colgate reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a tube of sanitizer. She squirted some onto her shoulder, and rubbed it into her coat. The once frantic blue mare now let out a relieved sigh. "Much better". This made Berry laugh softly to herself.
"You crack me up, Colgate" Berry said through laughs.
"So are we all just forgetting that this is a library?" Bon Bon sighed as she rubbed her temple with her hoof.
"Well the librarian is gone" Lyra stated in a matter of fact way. "And we are the only ones here right now, so what's the point?"
Ditzy was the only one besides Berry to approach the busy Unicorn. It was important that she get Colgate to follow her, but that didn't stop her from being curious about what she was doing.
"What're you looking for?" She asked curiously.
"I'm looking for a book called The Egghead's Guide to Dentistry...not that I need it, I just want to compare notes is all". Colgate didn't turn her head from the bookshelf in front of her. She seemed focused on searching.
"You want to be a dentist? That's so cool!" Ditzy squeaked in admiration. "Ponyville could use a local dentist. I got this really bad toothache in the back of my head. It was probably on account of all the snacks I've been eating". She pulled her mouth open and scooted closer to where Colgate could see the inside of her saliva filled mouth. "See? It's right back there".
"Ew!! Ew ew ew ew ew!!!" Colgate turned her head away in disgust as her cheeks puffed up. "Please, please don't show me your mouth". Ditzy was sure that her face went from blue to green. The other ponies stared at the queasy unicorn with mixed levels of bewilderment for what seemed like a full minute.
"Wait, wait, wait" Lyra waved her hooves back and forth as she approached from Colgate's other side. "You want to be a dentist, and you almost lose your lunch from looking in another pony's mouth? Isn't that what dentists are supposed to do?"
"I know, it's really pathetic" Colgate chocked out after having gagged. "I can't help it! I looked into her mouth, and I saw an oozing flood of wet, slimy saliva. And, and it was stringing from her tongue and the roof of her mouth, and it was all pooling between her bottom teeth and her tongue, and-" She had to suppress all urges to throw up from describing such an abominably disgusting scene, but she didn't do a good job. She let out another gag, but kept it all in. "Oh sweet Celestia, I need water!"
Bon Bon approached the miserable mare and pulled out a water bottle. When she offered it to Colgate, it was immediately ripped out of her hoof by magical means. The lid was screwed off and thrown haphazardly across the room, and the unicorn chugged the entire bottle in one go. Letting out a gasp, Colgate slumped onto her haunches and took a moment to catch her breath.
"Thank you Bon Bon". Colgate said exasperatedly. The candy maker looked at her empty water bottle with sigh.
"Don't mention it". She breathed softly. Colgate looked back to the book shelf and focused on looking for the book. Unfortunately, her mind had become too cluttered from what had just happened, so she couldn't get her magic to work. With an aggravated groan, she walked over to the ladder, pulled it closer to her, and climbed up to the highest shelf.
"Can I help?" Ditzy asked. She felt just a little bad for making her freak out like that. Without even waiting for an answer, she extended her wings and flew up to where Colgate was. She was looking through the shelves to find the book.
"It's fine, really. I can find the book by myself". The slightly agitated unicorn insisted. She noticed that the pegasus trying to help her was having a little trouble keeping herself suspended in the air. It only took a quick glance at her midsection to see why. "Are you alright?"
"Never - oomph...never better" Ditzy chuckled nervously. She started to sway a bit, and knocked into Colgate. The now frantic blue pony flailed her arms around as she fell off the ladder with a scream, but Ditzy swooped in and caught her before she could fall too far. "I gotchya".
In actuality, the combined weights of both Colgate and herself made flying impossible. With that, they both fell through the open lid of the big crate that stood on the main floor. Poor Colgate was crushed underneath Ditzy's midsection.
"Oh no!" Bon Bon cried out. She ran to the box and put her forehooves up on the wooden wall. "I need a boost".
"Okay" Lyra cleared her throat. "You have a nice coat and I like the way you style your mane. Also, your triple chocolate dipped truffles are to die for". Bon Bon simply groaned.
"This isn't a good time for jokes, Lyra. Come over here and help me".
"What're her triple chocolate dipped truffles like?" Berry Punch asked with genuine curiosity. Lyra turned her eyes to Berry as she walked over to Bon Bon.
"Basically, she takes one of her already good truffles, then dips it three times. First in white chocolate, then in dark chocolate, then lastly in milk chocolate". Lyra pushed her head under her candy making friend and pushed on her rump to get her higher up. "I normally don't like dark chocolate, but I can't even taste the dark chocolate". She eventually pushed Bon Bon up enough to climb over the box.
The sweet pony noticed that the lid of the crate was attatched by a hinge to the box, and it was propped up against the wall. Realizing that she was up here for a reason, she looked down into the crate to find Ditzy wiggling around in a laughing fit with Colgate squirming around frantically under the pegasus. They were both lying next to a big statue of bearers of the Elements of Harmony: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. What's this all about? It didn't really matter to her that much now that she realized that she was becoming distracted again.
"Aha, ahahahaha!!! Oh, Oh Colgate, stop!! That tickl-hl-hl-hl-hl-hl-hl-hles!!". Well, it was good to know that the two ponies weren't hurt that much.
"Girls, are you okay?" She called into the box. "I'm going to help you get out now". She extended a hoof to them to help them out. Lyra, however, kept pushing Bon Bon up. "W-Wait, Lyra, stop pushing! I'm high enough already!" Too late. She lost her balance, and toppled into the box on top of Ditzy. The impact was enough to help Colgate get her face out from under Ditzy and gasp for air.
"Ooph!" Ditzy huffed as she slowly stopped laughing. She panted as she tried to get back all the air she lost. "B-Bon Bon, are you okay?"
"Yea. I'll live...Colgate, could you teleport us out of here?"
"I'd love to, but-" she broke up her sentence with a deep breath on account of how winded she was. "But a unicorn can't really perform magic if her mind is too full of distractions, or if her horn gets injured".
Meanwhile, outside the crate, Lyra and Berry Punch stare at the wooden structure that sat in front of them like it were some sort of exhibit at a museum.
"Hey Lyra?" Berry poked the other unicorn. "How come you don't just use your magic to help them out of the box?"
"Cuz I haven't really thought about it until now. Good thinking, Berry". Lyra surrounded the earth pony next to her in a golden aura of magic, and picked her up.
"Not what I had in mind, but okay" Berry commented. She was floated up to the top of the crate and lowered into it. "Hey guys. Just thought I'd drop in".
Nopony found that amusing. At all.
"Oh you're no fun" Berry said once she realized her joke was recieving the cold shoulder treatment. She reached out to grab them, but she was pushed into Bon Bon's back. "Woah, hey! Lyra, what gives?!"
"Ow ow ow, my back!" The creamy earth pony yelped.
Lyra was having some trouble with this now because she couldn't see where she was moving Berry. It was like sticking your hoof into a jar without being able to see what's inside it. She tried moving Berry up after hearing Bon Bon's yelps of pain.
"Sorry, sorry!" Try as she may, the minty green unicorn just could not move the magically held Pony where she wanted her to go. It only took a moment for her to lose enough concentration for the golden aura around Berry Punch to disappear and for the earth pony to land on the pile of ponies below her. The thud and the gasps that followed told Lyra that she had let Berry go. "Oops".
"Lyra, we don't need any more ponies in here" Bon Bon said as she tried to hold back her growing irritation.
"You girls are crushing me!" Colgate whimpered as she brushed Berry Punch's tail out of her face.
"Well" Lyra started. "Looks like it's up to me. Don't you girls worry, I'll get you out". She surrounded herself in her own magical aura as she levitated off the ground. She positioned herself for the best angle to get herself into the box. When she got in, she would just teleport them all outside of the box. Confident in her plan, she flung herself towards the top of the box. "Whoo!!" She cried out as she soared through the air for a second.
A split second too late, she realized that she had flung herself a little too high, and collided head first into the lid of the box. She let out a sharp screech of pain as she fell backwards into the box and onto Berry Punch. The lid, due to the impact, stood up on its own.
"OW!!! OH SWEET CELESTIA, THAT HURT!" Lyra held her throbbing horn. She didn't even care that the ponies below her were also groaning in pain. "Oh man, that was the worst idea I ever had!" She continued screaming in agony.
"Lyra, your butt is in my face" Berry Punch said nonchalantly. The hurt ridden unicorn rolled a little onto her side to fix the problem as best as she could. It really didn't help at all. "Good enough" Berry commented with a shrug.
"We could probably still climb out" Ditzy offered, but it wouldn't help. She noticed a shadow growing over them, so she looked up. The lid to the crate was following gravity's command and coming down over the top. When it finally fell, it made two sounds. The first was a thud, and the second was a locking sound.
The ponies now lie silently in a heap in the pitch black box. Lyra was the first to break the silence.
"What do we do now? My horn still hurts something fierce, and Colgate's still nauseated about mouths". The second unicorn took deep, heavy breaths as she tried to get her wits about her.
"There's only one thing we can do" Colgate started. "Well, two things technically. We either wait for me to clear my mind, or we wait for Twilight to come back".
Not too far from the Library, the purple unicorn who lived there was now walking home with her dragon assistant. The book loving pony was filled with giddy glee.
"I can't wait to start this book!" She was magically holding a copy of Feathers and Scales by Tex Inkwell. Spike, however, stared at the back of Twilight's head with a nervous look. His friend had tasked him to send the big package to Celestia before they left. She had already written a letter to the Princess before they left, and that was over an hour ago. What if she was getting antsy?
"Um...Hey Twi?" The nervous dragon asked. He jogged up to where they could meet eye to eye as he started walking backwards to maintain eye contact. "The package is going to Saddle Arabia, right? So, um...why couldn't I just send it there instead? Ya know, cut out the middle man". This made Twilight giggle as she reached a hoof out and stroked Spike's scales.
"Oh Spike. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but you're still very young. Dragon fire doesn't reach that far when you're so young. Even if you were older, the Saddle Arabians don't have a dragon. That's why I had you send it to Celestia, so she can teleport it there with a high level teleportation spell".
"Oh yea" Spike muttered. He didn't exactly ask for that thorough of an explanation, but what's done is done. If Twilight saw that the box hadn't been delivered, then he was going to get scolded. Well, he didn't know that for sure, but he didn't want to risk it. "Hey Twi? I'm gonna run up ahead to the library. I really have to use the restroom".
"Alright Spike" Twilight said with a pat to his back. "I'll see you when I get there".
That was easy enough. Spike ran ahead of Twilight and to the library. He threw the doors open and ran up to the box. He didn't see Colgate anywhere. Maybe she went home he thought to himself. As he ran up to the box, he could swear he heard murmurings. With a shrug, he took a deep breath, and engulfed the box in a green, sparkly fire. The box quickly vanished in a wisp of smoke.
"There we go" He said to no one. He walked up the stairs onto the second floor, and made his way to the bathroom. He wasn't lying when he said he needed to use the restroom, so he went inside and shut the door behind him.
Darkness. There was nothing but darkness for what seemed like the longest time. Finally, Ditzy's eyes fluttered open. As she slowly looked around, she saw that they were in even worse of a pileup than before. hooves were wrapped around each other, eyes were obscured by manes and tails, and Ditzy was pretty sure Lyra's tail was in her mouth. She spit it out as she noticed that the others were waking up.
"What..." Ditzy started groggily. "What happened?
"I think we passed out" Bon Bon suggested. "But...but why? What were we doing before then?" As Bon Bon finished her sentence, Colgate held a hoof up as she rubbed her eyes.
"We were in this box waiting for someone to come by to help us out. Then, I think Twilight's assistant came in....I think". The blue unicorn wracked her brain for any details that she might be missing. "I believe that he said something about having to deliver a package before he left..." A look of horror stretched across her face as a sudden realization slapped her like a fish. "We just got shipped to wherever this crate was going".
"What's the big deal?" Lyra shrugged. "Twilight sents stuff to Canterlot all time time. We just need to hop on the train and ride back when we get out". Colgate shoved her face in Lyra's personal space.
"You don't understand". She insisted. "Twilight uses her assistant to send her letters to the Princess".
"Aaaand?"
"And, her assistant is a dragon. Dragons use their dragon fire to mail letters and packages".
"Aaaand?"
"Living things aren't supposed to travel through dragon fire".
"Aaaand?"
"Ugh!" Colgate threw her hooves up in frustration. "What I'm saying is that if it weren't for this crate, we would have all burned to death!
"But," It was Berry Punch's turn to join the conversation. "We didn't die...at least I don't think we did".
"But we could have died!" Colgate repeated.
"But...We didn't".
Colgate threw herself to the wooden floor in defeat. Just as Bon Bon was going to open her mouth to suggest calling for help, the wooden lid popped open and flooded the enclosed space with a bright light.
"Oh thank Celestia. Now maybe we can catch the train back to Ponyville and put this all behind us". Colgate didn't even wait to teleport outside of the crate. With one less pony crowding the box, Lyra shifted around to face the others.
"Well, my horn doesn't hurt as much as it did a few minutes ago. Come on, let's get back to Ponyville". She focused her energy into her horn, and with a burst of energy, the ponies were transported outside of the crate".
"Thanks for the help girls, but I've wasted enough time as it is" Ditzy finally said. "I don't think Colgate's going to cooperate, so I should really just get to looking for a...normal...". Her thoughts quickly died as she looked around the room. This wasn't like Celestia's castle. Not in the slightest. Instead, the floors were tiled in a glossy marble, and rugs were decorating almost every inch of these floors. The windows were in these weird spade shapes with blue gem boarders. Everything in the room was mostly made of maroon cloth, a gold yellow, or the blue gem. Surrounding the group were a number of ponies...except...no. They wern't ponies. They were much more tall, and their muzzles were much longer. Besides that, they had no cutie marks and they wore cloth over their bodies. They all had a blanket like saddle over their backs with different patterns. There were not ponies at all. They were horses.
"Who are you?" the brown horse in front was the first to ask. "Why has Celestia sent you ponies here with our statue?
"Wait...what?" Colgate had spoke up, breaking the silence that she had formed ever since she teleported out of the box. "You mean we aren't in Canterlot?"
The horse murmured to each other as the ponies just looked at them with more confusion. The brown horse with blonde mane and tail spoke again.
"I'm very sorry little pony, but your Canterlot is an ocean away from here. You are all standing in the palace of Saddle Arabia.
