Elixir Master

by Pen Stroke

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Twilight returned to her seat in the royal box as the intermission neared its end, plopping down onto her cushion. She sank into the soft fabric, blowing a raspberry like a deflating, irritated whoopie cushion.

“That is certainly an odd way for one to retake their seat. Did one of the concession stands run out of something you wished to purchase?”

Twilight turned her head to look at Luna, who had continued to use her magic to send out delivery orders to the businesses of Ponyville rather than depart from the royal box herself. It seemed even non-food businesses were willing to deliver, at least when the order came from the royal box.

In the time Twilight was gone, a few bouquets of flowers had been placed around the royal box, bringing splashes of color to the space. On top of that, Luna was not sitting in her seat but was instead laying on a massage table while her back was being worked on by Bulk Biceps.

“No, I didn’t even stop at the concession stands,” Twilight answered. The mere mention of food made her stomach growl, forcing her to admit she probably should have gotten something to eat while she was walking back.

“Ah, so then you are still worrying about Zecora and Mage Meadowbrook,” Luna said, wincing as a joint along her spine let out a pop under Bulk Biceps’ skilled hooves. “Oh, I think I’ve had that knot for a thousand years.”

“Fluttershy tried talking to them after the last round, and she even said she started to gain some ground, but then something Pinkie said during the contest made them get angry with each other all over again. I just know we could smooth this over if we could just talk, but being in this competitive environment is keeping them both on edge. I know you said at the start that Discord has a plan for all this, but I’ve yet to see any evidence that it’s working.”

“Sometimes plans do not truly show their benefits until they are near completion. One cannot see the true results of a cake you are baking until after it has come out of the oven and it has been frosted. Though, if… it is bothering… you… oh sweet mercy.”

Luna’s words trailed off, and Twilight was glad she was facing away from her. Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Luna’s metaphor. She couldn’t fault Luna for perhaps not noticing that modern ovens had windows in the doors, and thus you could watch a cake rise. The intention of the metaphor was not lost to Twilight, she just found it did little to ease her current state of mind.

That and Luna’s happy massage noises were distracting, and the mention of cake made Twilight’s stomach growl again. She hated to use the royal privilege card, but Twilight took one of the food delivery forms Luna had been using earlier and began looking over her options.

“I’d personally recommend the dessert sampler platter from Sugarcube Corner. It was positively delightful when I tried it.”

Twilight jumped and spun halfway around in her cushion. She caught a glimpse of Bulk Biceps hustling out the door, and for good reason. In his place, wearing a similar masseuse uniform, was Discord. He had reached out with his claw and paw, and with little effort, he popped Luna’s wings off and set them off to one side. He then began using his unique appendages to massage Luna’s back, hitting places that were otherwise obscured by her wings.

“Why, Princess Twilight Sparkle, don’t tell me I caught you off guard. Surely you didn’t think I’d go through all this effort and not come and check to see how my VIPs are doing.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure our comfort and happiness is your primary concern,” Twilight sassed as she got up from her seat and walked towards the massage table. “And put Luna’s wings back.”

Luna raised a hoof and gently waved it. “No no, this feels… marvelous… and I am sure he will put them back when he is done.” Luna turned her head slightly, glancing at Discord using her peripheral vision. “Right?”

“You have my word,” Disord said before he used his claw to press into a particular part of Luna’s back. The nearby joints on Luna’s spine popped, and Twilight watched her fall limp, like every muscle in her body had turned to jelly.

“So, why are you really up here?” Twilight asked as she watched Discord work. His claw and paw were working to rub out knots in Luna’s back, and his tail was holding a hairbrush and just running it across Luna’s coat. She hated to admit it, but it did look super relaxing.

“Well, I heard a few things through the grapevine.” Discord snapped his claw, a pot of soil appearing next to him. A grapevine rapidly crawled up and around the massage table, and with even greater speed, bore fruit. Flowers bloomed, and then those flowers swiftly changed into a few bunches of grapes. Grapes that, once ripe, grew tiny mouths.

“Princess Twilight wants to end the contest early. She and her friends are trying to get Zecora and Meadowbrook to stop arguing and call everything off,” the grapes said in unison, like a tiny chorus of tattle-telling toddlers.

“They do love to gossip,” Discord said as he began using the elbow of his lion arm to press into different parts of Luna’s back. “Still, I do wish you’d just sit back and enjoy the show. I did get Luna and Celestia’s blessing to do all this.”

“Yes, I heard how you got the permit,” Twilight said, wincing as she heard another of Luna’s joints pop. It sounded painful, but Luna’s body language practically shouted that everything Discord was doing was nothing but relaxing.

“Yes, the permit was— Ooff.” Luna’s words were cut off as her body tensed and then relaxed, driven by the small spike of pain that was usually a prelude to a tense muscle loosening up. Twilight saw Luna open her mouth a few more times to try and speak, but she failed to form any more words. Each time, Discord seemed to find another tight knot in her back to loosen up.

“Well, how would you like to know my whole plan?” Discord asked. “If you’re willing to agree to help with the next round, I’ll gladly tell you everything.”

Twilight squinted at Discord, trying to read between the lines of his offer. There had to be a catch. He was trying to tempt her in and make her agree to something that would make her look foolish. But at the same time, he sounded like he honestly had a plan. Discord had a scheme to fix a friendship problem, and Twilight couldn't deny her curiosity. She wanted to know how all this chaos would end up fixing the damaged friendship between Zecora and Meadowbrook.

“I won’t agree to anything until I hear what you want me to do,” Twilight eventually said, trying to draw more out of Discord so she could make an informed decision.

Discord began gently pounding on Luna’s back, his claw and paw changing into soft mallets as he drumrolled his way up and down her spine. It looked like it could have been painful, but Luna looked like she was lost in the pure bliss of total relaxation. She was gone, and Twilight doubted Luna would be able to put together a cohesive sentence again until well after the massage was complete.

“I want you to be one of the patients for this upcoming round,” Discord said. “Those two having to cure a princess would surely up the stakes. On top of that, for what I have planned, the very best princess for the job is you.”

“And you’ll adhere to your rulebook,” Twilight said, pointing at the hefty tome that had been delivered to the royal box during a previous round. “I read the section of patient volunteers. There is a legally iron-clad agreement that volunteers that are not cured by the contestants will be cured of any and all ailments, both those given to them for the sake of the contest as well as any other pre-existing conditions.”

“The speed at which you can read is as impressive as always, Twilight, but yes,” Discord said. “I will continue adhering to my own rulebook. That was one of the conditions for me getting that oh so special permit from your fellow princesses.”

“And I want to hear your full plan before the next round begins,” Twilight said firmly, wanting to be sure she got what she wanted before she’d let Discord pull her into his game.

Discord nodded as his paw and claw returned to normal. He reattached Luna’s wings to her back before grabbing one end of the table. With a single great heave, he flipped the table. Luna was tossed into the air, where she tumbled a few times before landing back in her seat. The table itself flipped over a few times in the air before landing back exactly where it had been. Discord then patted her surface. “Why don’t I tell you everything while I help you relax. A princess shouldn’t step onto the stage carrying so much stress.”

Part of Twilight didn’t like the idea of trusting Discord to give her a massage, but when she glanced at Luna, she saw her fellow princess looked to be in an almost zen-like state of relaxation. Discord’s massage had let her clear her mind so entirely, it looked like Luna had become one with the world. Considering how the day had gone so far, dealing with the sudden contest as well as the disruption of the checklist she had for the day, Twilight couldn’t lie to herself. She was pretty stressed.

“Back and neck only. You touch anywhere else, being turned back to stone will be the least of your worries.”

“Trixie should have known not to trust the draconequus,” Trixie said, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she lounged on her cushion just behind and to the right of the judges’ table. Starlight, Celestia, and Starswirl were still in their own seats, though Starswirl was nose deep in the contest’s rulebook and was ignoring any attempts at conversation. Still, Trixie was more than happy to focus her attention on ponies that would appreciate her, namely Starlight and Celestia. “It has been ten minutes since he flashed the lights for the intermission end. This contest should be starting back up again. He obviously doesn’t know how to run a show.”

“Do you think something’s happened?” Starlight asked.

Trixie leaned forward in her cushion, almost standing up from it entirely. “How could anything happen that he couldn’t just snap his claw to fix? A creature with his level of power has no excuse for anything going wrong in his show. He can even be in multiple places at once. You can bet that if Trixie had that level of magic she’d put on the most foalproof and stupendous magic show you’ve ever seen!”

“Discord is powerful, but if he was infallible as you suggest, Equestria would be a very different place. In fact—”

The lights flashed once and a sharp, one-note ping of a sound drew Trixie’s attention away from Celestia. Discord’s voice soon began to fill the coliseum. “Quick announcement: there will be a small delay in the next round as I have to work out a few kinks with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Isn’t that right, Princess?”

“Discord, what are you doing? Don’t let everyone hear… No… NO NO NO—” A single loud pop reached Trixie’s ears, making her wince. Even if she could not see the source of the sound, the fleshy tones reminded her of a joint popping.

Twilight’s voice was audible for a brief moment afterward, simple exhaling before she spoke. “Oh sweeeet… ssssalty… sooouuur… strawberries.”

Discord’s voice replaced Twilight as he filled the colliseum with a deep-throated chuckle. “Oh, what am I to do with these royal princesses with their royal privileges. Still, I suppose it’s better than having to work out kinks with a particular loud-mouth magician I know. Yes, an egotistical mare who, even if she did have my powers, would not be able to put on a show half as wonderful as this.”

Trixie bolted up from her cushion and moved up beside the judges’ table. “He did not just… Trixie will not suffer such insult!” she shouted, trying to ensure Discord heard her, though her shouts of anger were a bit undermined as she heard giggles beside her.

“Trixie, he’s just trying to get your goat,” Starlight said, trying to stifle her own giggles.

“Well, he’ll fail, for Trixie has no goat to get! And I shall prove it by marching up to him and giving him a piece of my mind.” Trixie turned and started marching away.

“He could be anywhere in the coliseum,” Starlight shouted from behind Trixie.

Trixie stopped walking briefly, unable to deny it was difficult to give Discord a good verbal thrashing if she didn’t know where he was. There was, however, another announcement bing.

“And should any over-blown magicians wish to find me, I am currently located in the royal box.”

Trixie smiled. Discord was just begging for it now, and she was going to deliver. She quickly broke into a trot, barely even hearing Starlight’s voice and certainly not processing any warnings as she began heading towards the royal box. Besides, it was too tempting of an opportunity. She could chew out Discord and mock Twilight for having her massage audio briefly broadcast to everyone in the coliseum.

How could anything go wrong?

“I can’t believe you didn’t realize he was trying to get you up to the royal box,” Twilight groaned.

Trixie huffed and tried to bat at a bit of her mane. “Well, Trixie could not have foreseen the depths of Discord’s plan.”

“He goaded you like a school-age filly. His plan was about as shallow as a bird bath.”

“Oh, be quiet, Twilight Sparkle. You are just as guilty of being suckered by Discord as Trixie is.”

“I… well… I can’t argue with that, but you made it ten times worse. If you didn’t show up, he might have done this to me and Luna. But nooooo… now I’m stuck as the patient of the third round with you.”

Fluttershy stood just a bit bewildered by what she was seeing, looking at Twilight and Trixie… or what was Twilight and Trixie, from her proper place just outside Zecora’s lab. The third round had begun, and Discord had declared it a double header. There were two ailments to be cured at once. The whole contest could end with the third round if Zecora or Meadowbrook were able to cure both conditions first.

To add even more tension, who cured the ailments first mattered. The strange disease Discord had either dredged or cooked up basically meant Zecora and Meadowbrook were sharing a single patient even if they were each in their own isolated potion lab.

“Idiosyncratic Mind/Body Entangled Compression via Interpersonal Locus Egocentricity,” was the name of the disease that was the central focus of the third round. Discord called it “I.M.B.E.C.I.L.E” for short, and Fluttershy didn’t doubt he had come up with that acronym just to torment Twilight a little. Yet, despite the humorous name, the disease itself was no joke.

Though there was only one physical patient sitting in Zecora’s lab, that patient was both Twilight and Trixie at the same time. Splotches of color moved across their shared body like globs of goo. On some patches of the mares’ body, Fluttershy could see Twilight’s purple fur. On others, she could see Trixie’s blue coat.

The closest analogy Fluttershy could think of was the live demo lava lamps she saw at the party store the few times she went there with friends. It was like Twilight was the clear liquid, and there were big blobs of Trixie that just moved and oozed around her body, following no rhyme or reason.

And from what Fluttershy understood, Meadowbrook had the exact opposite over in her potion lab. She had a Trixie with blobs of Twilight moving around. Only one part was consistent. The area around the muzzle was always Trixie’s, even as Twilight’s worlds spilled out of it. Despite being separated into each lab, Trixie and Twilight were able to bicker with one another as if they were sitting face to face.

Looking away from Twilight and Trixie – or was Twilixie more accurate? – looking away from them, Fluttershy focused on Zecora. She had finished getting some things from the supply closet and was carrying her basket back towards her patient. “Have you ever seen anything like this before, Zecora?”

“Something like this, most certainly not. This is unlike any illness I’ve ever fought.” Zecora set down her basket and began to rummage around inside. “I’d even bet this is a new creation, some strange chaotic fabrication. But it is fed by magic, that remains true. I’m sure I’ll figure out what to do.”

“I imagine it wouldn’t really be fair if Discord made something you couldn’t cure, but where do you even start?” Fluttershy asked.

“There are two conditions that must be fixed, one of which of course is their bodies are mixed,” Zecora said as she gestured to Trixie and Twilight. “They are both here, yet here they are not. Their strange mixed-positions is one battle to be fought. The other tries to hide, but I see it clear as day. Tell me, did you notice it when they had something to say?”

Fluttershy cocked her head and looked back at Twilixie. She honestly couldn’t think of anything she noticed out of the ordinary, besides the obvious. Still, she watched as Twilight and Trixie, in their mixed form, argued with one another. Yet, there was something wrong… something that was uncanny. It was something about the way they were talking.

“Wait, Trixie’s voice is coming out of Twilight’s mouth,” Fluttershy said, raising a forehoof and pointing at Twilixie’s head.

Zecora smiled and nodded her head. “Fluttershy, you are perfectly correct. The second illness you were able to detect. Before they were placed in this strange mixed-position, Twilight and Trixie had a swap in cognition. A magician now has a princessly form, while a princess is keeping a magician’s body warm.”

“Wait… I’ve got Twilight’s body?!” The parts of the mixed body that was Twilight’s started to move, leading to a strange sight of the mixed form fighting itself briefly before it was finally able to touch its own back. It was gently poking at Twilight’s wings, which in the shared form was mixed with Trixie’s cape.

“Trixie can feel the wings! Trixie is a princess!”

“Oh, no you are not!” Twilight said firmly. The part of the mixed form she controlled tried to stomp a hoof, but only managed to wave a forehoof around awkwardly. “That’s my body.”

“Well, from what Trixie has heard, possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

“No, proper ownership is ten-tenths of the law! And yes… yes, that’s what we just said. Zecora helped us realize our minds are swapped.”

Fluttershy cocked her head to one side as she looked at Twilixie. “Wait, Twilight, who are you talking to?”

“Pinkie Pie and Meadowbrook,” Twilight said using Trixie’s mouth. “I can see them too… out of one eye… some of the time… It’s confusing and hard to describe.”

“Doesn’t that mean we just helped Meadowbrook?” Fluttershy asked as she looked as Zecora.

Zecora nodded as she used a hoof to point to part of Twilixie’s body. A blob of their shifting mixed reality was slowly moving up a foreleg. Through the blob, Zecora could see Trixie’s leg instead of Twilight’s; there was also a visible white substance that had been painted on the leg of Trixie’s body. Zecora gently touched the cream with a hoof, brought it to her nose, and took a brief sniff.

“That cream was applied by Meadowbrook not seconds ago. She is testing to see if the body’s magic has an unusual flow. Every test we perform, if not done with absolute haste, will be shared with our rival and possibly defaced.”

“You don’t really think Meadowbrook would sabotage your test, do you?” Fluttershy asked before she brought a hoof to cover her mouth. “You aren’t considering sabotaging Meadowbrook’s test, are you, Zecora?”

“If Trixie was in your hooves, Trixie would surely do it. This is a contest, and to prove yourself the best, you have to be willing to go the extra mile.”

Twilight rolled the eyes of the body she controlled. “Going the extra mile usually means putting in the extra effort to be your absolute best, not messing with somepony else’s work. I promise I would never cheat in a situation like this.”

The eyes of Twilight’s body, which Trixie controlled, went cross-eyed for a moment as Trixie tried to glare at herself, and thus at Twilight. “You cheated in a situation exactly like this when you tricked Trixie out of the alicorn amulet using a doorstop!”

“That was different,” Twilight argued.

“No, it was not!”

Trixie and Twilight were soon bickering at one another in full force again, and Fluttershy did her best to tune them out as she looked over at Zecora. “You aren’t going to… try and mess with Meadowbrook, are you?” Fluttershy couldn’t help but worry. If the pair of them actively sabotaged one another, that could easily doom them to never be friends. Any budding hope of them making up and being able to get along would be smashed to pieces.

Zecora looked at Fluttershy a moment, her face creased in heavy thought, but then she smiled. “No, I most surely would not stoop so low. To my own pride, I’d take too heavy a blow. And if Meadowbrook does cheat to win, then that will be fine. I’ll know I kept my personal standards when everything was on the line.”

Fluttershy smiled. She wanted to hug Zecora so much, but she couldn’t cross the boundary into the potion lab. So she did the best she could, offering Zecora a brief hoof bump. Zecora did not leave her hanging, their hooves bumping together briefly before Zecora went back to preparing her own tests.

The round continued, tests being applied and experiments being done. Meadowbrook couldn’t deny, she was well out of her usual depth. This was something she’d normally trust Stygian or Starswirl to figure out. Still, despite the difficulty, progress was being made… though so far it felt like it was because of her and Zecora’s combined efforts.

They were each running different tests, pursuing different paths of possibility. From what they revealed, it seemed this whole condition was being caused directly by Discord’s chaotic magic, and dispelling that magic was no small feat. That, and looking back at her patients, Meadowbrook couldn’t deny the pit that was forming in her stomach.

Twilight and Trixie’s condition seemed to be deteriorating.

While the pair had argued with little pause for the first half-hour, they began to grow quieter after that. Some lackluster insults were tossed after that, but now the fused mares needed to lie down on the cushion they had been given. Their coats were getting pale in color, and the swimming bubbles of reality that swapped their bodies were getting smaller, faster, and growing in number.

It was like their strange, entangled existence was starting to boil, forcing them to mix together more and more. If it wasn’t stopped, Meadowbrook feared there would be no separating the two mares. They would simply become a single pony, the homogenous mixture of themselves.

“Oh… maybe you should put them in ice water, would that help? Or maybe they need a hot soak? Or maybe they need just room temperature water. Or maybe no water at all… can a pony bathe in fire?”

Meadowbrook looked to the other side of her provided potion lab’s counter, where Pinkie had been pacing endlessly since Twilixie had been forced to lie down. All her snacks were depleted, the many wrappers littering the path she had chosen to pace. Meadowbrook couldn’t fault Pinkie. She knew that the energetic pony just wanted to help her friend, and the only reason she wasn’t was out of respect for the rules. Still, it was hard to tune out her endless string of suggestions.

“Pinkie, please, don’t make me glue your hooves to the floor,” Meadowbrook said firmly, her patience having run its course. She couldn’t help but grunt as she saw the results of her latest test take shape. Two dozen different test tubes, to which she had added samples of Twilixie’s hair, had all reacted the same way: they all changed the same blue color, meaning the several dozen things she had been testing for were all inconclusive.

“Well, that was as useful as trying to teach flash bees to line dance,” Meadowbrook said as she pushed the test tubes off to one side. She turned and looked back at Twilixie, feeling herself running up against her own inexperience. If she had all the time in the world, she could be more methodical with her tests, but she didn’t have time for that. Even if this wasn’t a contest, Twilight and Trixie’s ever-worsening condition would mean she had to work fast.

As Meadowbrook watched her, just trying to think, she saw Twilixie shift and move on her cushion. She coughed, covering her mouth with her hoof, and then sank back into her cushion with an exhausted, sore groan. While this behavior was not out of the ordinary for somepony who was ill, Meadowbrook saw something in that behavior that made her concerns multiply.

It had all been in perfect sync.

Up until that point, Trixie and Twilight had struggled against one another. One would want to cough, but the other wouldn’t. One would want to move a hoof, the other would want to move it the other way. It was kind of like watching two ponies who were trying to compete in a seven-legged race who weren’t good at cooperating. But what Meadowbrook had just seen had happened in perfect sync with almost no hesitation or oddity in the movement.

“Ow! Hey, don’t shout!” Twilixie said, their voices in perfect unison. “Okay, okay, I’ll say it.”

Twilixie sat up a bit on her cushion, looking over at Meadowbrook. “Zecora wanted me to pass on a message. She says she just did a test with a… what was it again?” Twilixie paused and looked away from Meadowbrook. She couldn’t be sure, but Meadowbrook was pretty positive that, at that moment, Zecora was talking to the Twilixie in her own lab. And after the moment had passed, Twilixie focused back on Meadowbrook. “She did a test with star-leafed leach vines.”

It was like she was struck by lightning. Leach vines, as the name implied, tended to leach what they needed from other plants. Star-leafed leach vines were particularly special because they drew magic out of anything they could latch onto. If this condition was caused by magic, and the magic had to exist to maintain it, then drawing the magic out of the illness could break it.

“But isn’t she worried about it draining away y’all’s magic?” Meadowbrook asked, and it was a message Twilixie repeated as her gaze wandered. Based on where Twilixie was looking, it seemed like Zecora was standing just a few steps to the right relative to Twilixie. It was like the pair of them was standing shoulder to shoulder.

“She is,” Twilixie answered. “She’s wondering if you know a way to make the vine only drink the magic causing this… illness.”

Meadowbrook turned her head. She did her best thinking when she could focus on what she was thinking about, and at the moment the target of her stare was the inventory cabinet. “Those magic-sucking vines Zecora wants to use can be trained to only drink certain kinds of magic. Mistmane used them to drain dark magic out of the soil around a cursed town once. It was something about trimming the vines based on their color. I… I don’t remember it all.”

“But can you remember it enough to figure it out?” Pinkie asked, standing on the very tips of her hooves as she tried to get as close to Meadowbrook as she could while still not crossing the line and actually entering the potion lab.

“I… I think so, but if I was going to do this right, I’d put a vine on each copy of you. We want to drain the chaos magic from both ends, otherwise the imbalance could cause more problems.”

“She says she knows a way to do it, but she doesn’t remember it one hundred percent. That and she says you’d both have to do it at the same time, otherwise it might make things worse.” Twilixie repeated, looking once more into empty space before focusing back on Meadowbrook. “Zecora says she’s willing to work with you.”

“Okay, then tell her to get a one-year-old Star-Leaf Leach Vine from her cabinet as well as some clippers and, if she can, some bottles of magic-infused water for unicorn, pegasus, earth pony, and Discord’s magic. I’ll walk her through the training process while I do my own. Also, tell her… I’m glad she told me about the leach vines. I’ll admit, I was stuck. I don’t think I would have thought to try the vines.”

“The sparkling, royal, great, powerful, and not-feeling-very-good me will pass along your appreciation,” Twilixie said before laying her head back down. “Also, the organizer in me suggests you two get magically linked books or something out of the inventory cabinet. I don’t think I can keep up this mare-in-the-middle act very long.”

The moment of truth arrived as Zecora set the potted star-leafed leach vine down next to Twilixie’s body. She and Meadowbrook had just spent two hours training their respective plants using bottled magical essences and a great deal of patience. The vines usually were greedy to eat any kind of magic, and normally sported a rainbow of different colored tendrils. The process of training them to only eat chaos magic involved feeding them chaos magic along with other kinds and slowly pruning away specific colors of tendrils. Meadowbrook didn’t remember which colors represented which types of magic, but through their mutual trial and error, they had done it.

The leach vine Zecora had just placed was a bright cyan color, and almost as soon as it had been put down, its tendrils had begun reaching for Twilixie. Taking a few steps back, Zecora left Fluttershy to watch the plant for just a moment as she returned to a counter littered with vine trimmings. Once there, she picked up a quill and began writing in a nearby book. She and Meadowbrook had taken Twilixie’s suggestion and managed to get a pair of magically linked books from the inventory cabinets.

“My vine is in place, and it is already eager to grow. If this path is correct, we shall soon surely know,” Zecora wrote into her book.

Within moments, the book’s page began to glow as letters began to appear. Meadowbrook was writing back. “I’m sure it is. Mine’s growing like a weed over here, and if I’m not mistaken, it sure looks like it’s already helping. Those bubbles where I can see one mare instead of the other are starting to get bigger again. That boiling effect is going down.”

Zecora glanced over at her own Twilixie. “Yes,” she wrote onto the page. “It does look like the effect is already cooling. I believe we have an answer to this challenge most grueling.”

“Couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t thought to try using a leach vine. You and my ma would have gotten along famously. She would have loved how you used them beetles to help those trees.”

Zecora smiled a bit. “I am sure she would be just as proud of you. I cannot deny, your unsniffle elixir was an excellent brew. That and your experience with the legends of old has given you knowledge and insight untold. My idea, I would not have been able to pursue, or I would have risked their magic as the vine grew.”

The page glowed once more as Meadowbrook’s reply manifested. “I’m sure you would have figured it out.”

“Oh… what happened?”

Zecora glanced up from the messaging book and smiled as she saw a regular, unicorn mare sitting in her potion lab. The plant was acting quickly, greedily eating away at the chaos magic as it grew in size. Though there were still a few shifting, rolling splotches of purple, the mare that was sitting in Zecora’s potion lab was mostly a blue unicorn.

“Oh, I was so worried,” Fluttershy said. She was unable to help herself and crossed into the lab to give Trixie’s body a hug.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy, I’m feeling much better… though… it looks like Trixie still has my body.”

Zecora chuckled as she walked over beside her vastly improved patient. “I think this issue we can easily address. So please, do not be in distress.”

The vine began to loosen its grip on Trixie’s body, allowing Twilight to pull the body away from the vines and stand up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I just… feel a little shorter than I’m used to… and how in the world does she stand wearing this cape so often?”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle a moment. “I’m sorry, but it’s funny hearing Trixie’s voice saying that.”

“Oh, you would laugh at The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Twilight said, changing her turn of phrase so her condition created a truly convincing impersonation. “Well then, watch in amazement as I demonstrate that the only thing greater than my magic tricks is my stage presence, especially when I see the whole world as my stage.”

Zecora couldn’t help herself and enjoyed a good laugh. It was part of the reason why she worked so hard and enjoyed being a potion maker so much. Sometimes it was hard, but it always felt good being able to help somepony, especially when it was something so difficult to fix.

Still, as Twilight and Fluttershy continued to talk, Zecora heard the messaging book vibrating. Meadowbrook had written another message. Zecora trotted over to the book and looked to the page to see what was written.

“Kill the plant! Don’t let it touch the bubble!”

Zecora was confused for a moment but then heard a yelp from Fluttershy. Turning her head in that direction, she could see Fluttershy and the Trixie-bodied Twilight backing away from the leach vine. With the supply of chaos magic in Trixie’s body all depleted, it had gone searching for another source. It found that other source in the temporal bubble that surrounded the potion lab. And in the few brief seconds it had touched and fed on that bubble, it had nearly doubled in size.

Grabbing a knife she had been using, Zecora rushed toward the vines and tried to cut it off at its roots, but the vines reacted to the threat. Tendrils shot out at her, knocking her back and sending the knife clattering against the floor.

Zecora picked herself up off the floor, looking in the direction of the vine. Twilight was trying to blast it with magic, but being in Trixie’s body, she was unable to muster more than a small, ineffective beam attack. Fluttershy tried talking sweetly with the vines, but they only lashed out at her like whips. And all the while the vine continued to grow in size as it fed on the magic of the temporal bubble.

“We have to stop it. Draining any kind of time spell of its magical energy while it’s active could have devastating consequences,” Twilight shouted.

“What kind of consequences?” Fluttershy asked, even as she hid behind the Twilight-controlled body of Trixie.

“Mid-life crisis while going through puberty. Being a baby with arthritis and osteoporosis. Dying while also being born!”

“None of that will come to pass,” Zecora said firmly as she moved up beside the other two mares. “We can stop this overgrown crabgrass.”

Twilight tried once more to blast the vines with little effect. “How?”

“Hold it at bay. Do not let it near. The inventory cabinet must remain clear.” Zecora turned and rushed to the cabinet and threw open the doors. The Discord clone inside looked to her, then looked to the vine, and then looked back at her as if it was all just business as usual.

“What is your request?”

“I require nothing less than a plague, but not of fire or itchy leg. I need locusts, a ravenous
swarm, but they must do as I inform.”

The inventory clerk Discord nodded and disappeared into the warehouse for a moment. Glancing back over her shoulder, Zecora saw the plant was still growing, and that the dome itself was changing in hue and brightness. Hearing footsteps in front of her, Zecora looked back to the cabinet to see the inventory clerk Discord return.

“Here you are,” he said, presenting a small whistle to Zecora. “Blow on it, speak your orders, and keep the cabinet door open.”

Zecora snatched the whistle in her teeth and turned to face the vine. She blew on it, the whistle making a shrill, ear-splitting sound. Still, she endured it as she heard the buzzing of wings from just behind her. She then spit the whistle into her hoof before speaking. “Devour the vine, eat every last bite. Then return to your home when you end the fight.”

A swarm of locusts surged out of the inventory cabinet, swirling past Zecora, past Fluttershy, and past Twilight before bouncing on the vine. The mares could hear the sound of the insects eating, and the mass of the vine was quickly shrinking away as it was devoured. The vine tried to whip at the bugs, but there simply were too many of them. In less than a minute, the leach vine was gone, and with their task complete, the locusts flew back into the inventory cabinet.

“Is everyone okay?” Fluttershy asked, slowly glancing around the potion lab.

“No harm was done, I am all right. My heart just races from the fright,” Zecora said.

“I’m okay, all things considered,” Twilight said. “Good thinking with the locusts, Zecora. Now, can we get back to putting me back in my own head?”

Zecora opened her mouth to assure Twilight they would get her brain back where it belonged, but before a single syllable could pass her lips, she noticed a flicker. Looking straight up, Zecora saw it was the temporal bubble. It flickered, crackled, faltered, and after a few brief moments, it outright popped.

Zecora could see the whole coliseum again, and that included Meadowbrook’s lab. Their bubble was gone as well. Meadowbrook and Twilight’s Trixie-inhabited body stood next to a pile of shattered ice, and Pinkie Pie stood on top of that pile holding a hammer. Pinkie was breathing heavily, and if Zecora wasn’t mistaken, she could see little bits of plant material inside all of the ice. To her, it looked like their vine had gone out of control as well, and they had resorted to freezing and smashing it to stop it.

Yet, that was not the most peculiar thing. The most peculiar thing was the silence. The coliseum should have been loud, with ponies cheering or jeering. Yet all was still, all was silent. The coliseum was still packed. Zecora could see the audience’s seats were filled to the brim with ponies, and the judges were still seated at their table. Discord was even there, floating above the stage, but no one, not even the spirit of chaos, was moving.

Something was horribly wrong.