Pony's Story

Rarity’s hoof came to rest upon the third trail, labelled The Jelly Pipe. She tilted her eyebrow up in confusion. “Now, what on Equestria is that supposed to mean?” Shrugging, she trotted off down the path, determined to get to the end.

Of course, it didn’t take her long to figure out just what it meant by Jelly Pipe. She hadn’t gone ten paces when the ground suddenly ended in front of her. She cried out as her hooves fell on nothing, and she fell, down into the darkness. The echoes of her screams faded into nothing as she fell far, far down.

As she fell, a soft light began to grow around her. Not only that, but the hole was beginning to slant at a gentle angle. Soon, Rarity found herself not falling, but sliding along an uncommonly smooth surface. She stopped screaming, confused again as to what she was sliding down. Then a light appeared in front of her, and she slid to the end of the tunnel, falling once more.

Her fall didn’t last quite as long this time, and instead, she landed on something soft and squishy. And, to add insult to injury, she landed face first. Pulling herself up out of the substance, she shook herself, trying to figure out just what it was. When she finally got a bearing on her surroundings, she was none too pleased.

She appeared to be in a sewage pipe of some sort, well lit and littered with old newspaper clippings. The clippings were plastered to the wall helter skelter, and seemed to be duplicates, often repeating themselves. Firefly, Surprise, and Nieghntendo were the three most common words on the wall. But that was not what displeased Rarity. No, what displeased her was the fact that she had landed, face first, in a jelly like substance.

And it had gotten all over her mane and tail.

She screamed again, her voice rebounding off the walls of the pipe. Quickly she lit her horn, trying to remove the jelly with her magic. It was to no avail, as the jelly seemed to have magical qualities that kept it stuck to her mane and tail. No matter how hard she pulled, all it did was increase her frustration and cause her a great deal of pain. At last, she gave up, opting instead to sit in the jelly at her hooves and cry.

“T-t-this isn’t f-fair!” She sobbed, completely mortified by the situation at hoof. “Why? W-why, of all p-ponies did th-this happen to me!?” It took her a few more moments of sobbing overdramatically to realize exactly where she was sitting. She scampered as quickly as she could out of the substance and onto land, where she resumed her fit of dramatic sadness.

“W-well,” she gasped out, trying hard to compose herself. “I g-guess I b-better get out of here as quickly as I c-can.” With one last sniffle, she rose to her hooves and began the long trot down into the sewage pipe, in hopes of finding her way out and away from the jelly.

The path ahead was narrow and winding, and Rarity knew it might get difficult to navigate the confined space. But she knew she had to forge ahead, so that she did. As she walked slowly through the pipe, her mind wandered back to the jelly. It had been a pale blue in color, and almost completely transparent. It wasn’t like any jelly she had ever seen before.

‘I wonder what it tastes like...’ Forgetting her earlier meltdown with her mane, Rarity paused, raising a jelly stained hoof to her lips. She took a tentative lick of the jelly, trying hard to ignore the fact that she had been walking in a sewer. It was quite sweet, and of a flavor she didn’t recognize. At the same time, she knew the flavor instinctively. It was almost like she had tasted it somewhere before.

Rarity shrugged and continued on her way, trying hard to ignore the fact that every time she took a step she made a odd, squishy sound with her hooves. She dearly wished to be clean, but fate was cruel. After cresting a small rise in the pipe, Rarity found herself staring at a second pool of jelly, this one a clear pink. She groaned.

“Why!? Why am I cursed like this!?” She cried out to no one. “Oh, to be me and have to suffer thus! Most ponies wouldn’t be able to bear it.” Hesitating, she cautiously stepped forward, unsure as to how to get through. The pool passed under a low hanging ceiling, complete with dangerous spike traps protruding into the jelly. Of course, she could think of only one option.

“I... no. I won’t do it! I simply will not degrade myself in that manner!” she protested, turning her face aside. After a moment, she turned back, staring at the jelly with trepidation. “Oh... this will be awful, but I...” she sighed. “I swear, the moment I get out of here, Twilight is devoting all of her attention to get this stuff off of me.”

Slowly, she waded into the pool of jelly, grimacing and groaning the whole way. The jelly sank under her weight, and Rarity realized that, just like she had predicted, it would sink low enough for her to duck under the spikes. Of course, she would have to duck down pretty low. That would mean her mane getting even more jelly in it. Rarity groaned in frustration and annoyance, but ducked down, slipping under the spikes and through to the other side of the pool. Crawling out, she got a good look at herself. Her fur was coated in the pink jelly, as were her mane and tail, giving her a slight shine in the unnatural light of the pipe.

Her lower lip quivered as she gazed in sorrow at her perfectly style tail, now reduced to a horrible mess. She knew her mane was the same way, and the thought brought tears to her eyes again. Turning, she gazed further up the pipe, hoping against hope that was the last of the jelly.

Her eyes lit up, even as a slight frown crossed her lips, at the sight of a pool of water ahead. Granted, the pool was hanging from the ceiling, but it was a pool nevertheless. “Somewhere I can wash this disgusting jelly off.” She muttered, trotting forward with a spring in her step.

Approaching the pool, Rarity began to wonder just how the water was levitating above the ground. Attributing it to magic, Rarity leapt up into it, feeling the cool, refreshing water wash the jelly out of her system. As she ducked out, landing on the floor, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching her. Shaking herself dry, she continued along the pipe, oblivious to the being behind her.

As she trotted down, she felt the eyes ever upon her. But every time she turned around, she couldn’t see anything. It unnerved her to no end. As she descended a large drop carefully, hopping from metal platform to metal platform, she felt the eyes following her. Landing on the edge of a small platform next to another pool of jelly, she looked all around, trying to find the source of whatever was watching her. It wasn’t until she heard a laugh that she looked back at the pool of jelly again.

“Man, you are thick!” The pool itself seemed to be mocking her. “To think that I get to be the one to deal with such a prissy, stuck up, self absorbed clean freak!” Out of the pool rose a lump of jelly, complete with eyes and a cocky grin. Rarity recoiled in horror as the thing slithered over to the edge of the pool, watching her with interest. “Now, how ‘bout tellin’ me your name, sweet cheeks?”

Of course, that turned Rarity’s mood from terrified to furious. She was not used to being spoken to that way. And to have a monster, of all things, saying to her? Scandalous!

“Now, see here, you miserable, little piece of detritus, I shall not be spoken to in that matter. I am a lady, and you are to treat me as such.” The jelly creature blinked at her for a moment, then burst out laughing, a gravelly, grating sound.

“You’ve got fire! I like that!” He stopped laughing and gave her a devious grin. “So, how’s about I call you... Butt Stallion. I think that’ll go nicely for you. Butt Stallion.” Rarity blanched away.

“How dare you!” She shouted, her voice ringing off the walls of the pipe. “You savage! How dare you call me that? I have half a mind to throw you across this pipe!” The jelly monster chuckled again.

“Oh, so kitty has claws, now? Come on, then, or are you a p-” It got no further as Rarity lifted it up with her magic and slammed it against the wall of the pipe, making a nice, sky blue jelly stain. Rarity started humming and waded through the jelly, glad to be away from that little devil.

After she reached the end of the long and deep pool, getting her mane and tail coated in jelly again, Rarity paused for a moment to reflect on what she had just done. Although she was remorseful for hurting something, she had little pity to spare on the creature. It had insulted her, and very nearly become somewhat vulgar. She wasn’t about to allow that, and did the only thing her mind would think of.

Sighing, she trotted on, her hooves making a squishing noise with every soft step. The pipe seemed never ending, twisting, turning and rising at sharp angles, only to descend back into the depths of the earth. Through all the pipe that lay before her, there was quite a bit more jelly in her path. Some of it she was able to avoid. But by the end of her trek, she was coated from head to tail in the stuff, of varying colors and flavors. And every minute caused her to become more and more agitated.

“I swear to Celestia, if I do not find the end of this pipe soon- oh thank heavens.” Rarity sighed as she spotted the Element of Generosity on the path ahead of her. She trotted ahead before stopping herself. The Element was hovering over yet another pool of jelly. Rarity groaned in annoyance, but realizing her trek was almost over, she waded in, reaching out for the Element.

As it wrapped around her neck, the world in front of her opened up, and she could see her friends, all locked in discussion. Stepping through, she watched as they all turned to look at her. Their reactions were exactly what she had expected.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie burst out laughing, while Fluttershy and Twilight looked at her in distress. Applejack was biting her lip, trying hard not to laugh. Rarity rolled her eyes. ‘Exactly what I expected.’

“If you’re done, I would appreciate some assistance in getting this off of me.” Twilight responded instantly, hopping up and rushing to her side. Tugging at the jelly with her magic, she discovered what Rarity already knew. The jelly was magical, and was somehow resistant to most spells. Twilight was intrigued.

“Interesting,” she muttered, finally finding a spell that could pull the jelly off of Rarity. “I’m going to be keeping this. It will be interesting to study.” Rarity couldn’t help but giggle at Twilight’s ceaseless curiosity.

“Oh really? And where do you plan to keep all of it?” Twilight paused at the question, before frowning in annoyance.

“Way to crush my inquisitive spirit, Rarity,” she grumbled, using her magic to instead dispose of the jelly. “Alright, you’re good. Let’s get the door open, shall we?” Rarity and the others followed the disgruntled Twilight to the door. As the unicorn pulled it open, a marvelous sight greeted the six.

“Dibs.”