Wind Rust and I rush over to Sugar Cube Corner as we see the six ponies I first met just after I woke up for the first time here. As we arrive however, Pinkie jumps to the front door and waves. "Hey Tail Flight! Hey Wind Rust!"
"Uh, Tail Flight, how does that mare know me?" Wind Rust whispers to me.
"She must've known you before we were first ponies on Earth," I whisper back.
"Oh, Wind Rust. I remember you from when me and my friends went to Las Pegasus. Wiretap and Tail Flight may've not remembered Baltimare or Marechias, which is just east of the Crystal Empire, but surely you've got to have remembered something prior to being on this totally different world."
Twilight comes to the entrance and gestures Pinkie to step aside. "Wind Rust, I'm so glad you can make it here."
"Yeah, I'd like to see Josh."
"He's right in there." Twilight directs us to the other side of the dining area.
"Josh!!!" I race up to Josh and hug him as he delivers the hug back.
"Hey, uh, Tail Flight." Rainbow Dash flies over to me.
"Yeah, RD?"
"Hate to break it to ya, but he hasn't said a word as of today as far as I'm concerned. I think it might be more than just this 'laryngitis'. If he had laryngitis, he'd still be able to talk, only not that much at all, but he hasn't said a single thing."
I look at Rainbow Dash. "As far as I know of, sometimes, if laryngitis happens, an undetectable voice is a possibility. Has he tried speaking?" Josh nods. "Any success?" He shakes his head.
"He also gestured that he tried to move his lips but it excessively difficult to, like his jaw is stiff."
"Okay, that does not sound like laryngitis." Pinkie zips beside Rainbow Dash with a shocked face that even exceeds Wind Rust's expression when we heard from Wiretap that Josh may have laryngitis.
We suddenly hear a voice that I've never heard before. "Ah, Josh the ponies have gathered around, so I heard from you there's no sound?" Josh nods at the zebra. "I would've figured that would occur, but is there anything else to tell me proper."
"Yeah, uh, Josh kinda gestured that he can't really move his lips much either." Rainbow Dash lands on the ground.
"Sounds to me more like something you can't cure with tea, but if you choose to, you can come with me."
At this moment I realize that this zebra is always rhyming as she leads the way as Josh walks out of the shop. "Can I come?" The zebra nods.
"Here we are at my hut, Tail Flight would you leave the door shut?" I close the door like Zecora asked. "You two are probably wondering why we're here, right? Well, I've gotten a dire letter later than last night." Josh and I nod together. "The letter was given by the princess, about you, Josh, straight from her highness. The letter is here somewhere, but I haven't seen it since I put it there."
"Hey Zecora, what're these plants?"
"Those plants are ton gum plants my dear, I'll be using them for a special brew here. It was time consuming to get these home, small yes, light no." Why've I heard of those before? Zecora looks around for an unrolled scroll. She even looks around the cauldron in the middle of the room. As Zecora approaches a paper, she jumps for the paper a few times and then stops. "Tail Flight, could you get that scroll for me, I think it's the one I want to see."
I fly over to the scroll Zecora was reaching for and grab it with my hoof. "There we go! Here's the scroll Zecora. Should I read it?" Zecora nods.
"Dear Zecora,
I received two letters today. One from Josh, and one from Spike. Josh's was the one I thought sounded like an inflammation called laryngitis, but hours later, Spike sent his as it said that it was getting harder for Josh to move his lips, like his jaw is about to break. As Josh and Spike visited your hut today, it seems to be something other than laryngitis. Find Josh and take him to your hut and make a special brew for him. One that contains magic that takes away unwanted cells from his body.
Yours truly,
Princess Celestia."
"Wait a minute! I remember what those plants do now!" Zecora nods. "Hey, Josh. I think you might want to get your arms ready. The brew might get pretty heavy." Zecora puts the ton gum plants in the cauldron wobbling along the way. Stirring it, it's taking all her might just to get one third of her speed down with much elbow grease. "Need help with that, Zecora?" Zecora nods. With both pairs of hooves together, Zecora and I stir in sync and the speed more than doubles as I hover circling the cauldron.
Zecora sets down the stirring spoon as she walks over and gets a small cup, resting it on my back as I land. When Zecora scoops out the resulted heavy brew, she starts to wobble a bit again until she pours the brew in the cup. Suddenly, the cup feels like it turned into a boulder. I spread out my hooves, cup my back and start to breathe heavily. "Hurry Josh! Get the cup!" I don't know why I shout like that, but it sure did feel much better as Josh grabbed it off my back, albeit slowly.
Josh starts to flutter his wings as he tries to carry the brew. As he gets it in his mouth however, slowly too, he tries to keep his chin up manually. As he has it in his mouth however, his effort starts becoming less and less to hold the drink in his mouth. Not only does the drink in his mouth become light, but the cup appears to become light too. Josh gives the cup to Zecora as she placed it with her other dirty cups.
"In the mouth, the potion gets lighter by the minute, for in this cancerous battle, the brew will win it. He should be able to talk very soon, by midnight or tomorrow at noon."
"Thanks Zecora. I don't know what we'd do without you." I look at Josh, who still has the drink in his mouth from how I see his face cheeks.
"Leave the potion in your mouth, until it tastes like water, then gulp it down." Josh nods.