“Oh Twilight,” Apple Bloom said. “Did those silly fillies get in yer head? There’s no such thing as a curse.”
“Apple Bloom, sweetie. You can’t just stand there and tell me this isn’t a curse,” Twilight reminded her.
“This isn’t a curse,” I put in the conversation. “Zecora, if you will?”
The zebra nodded. “If you will remember back, the words I spoke were quite exact: Beware, beware you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke.”
“It was a warnin’,” Apple Bloom finished. “About that blue plant.”
“So you see, girls,” I added. “There’s no such thing as a curse. It was the Poison Joke.”
“Like you told us…” Twilight recalled.
“Exactly,” I nodded, glad she realized it.
“That plant is much like poison oak,” Zecora added. “But its results are like a joke.”
“What in the hay does that mean?” Applejack asked, confused.
“It means this plant does not breed wrath,” Zecora explained, “instead this plant just wants a laugh.”
“Will somepony talk normal?” Applejack asked.
“I think what she’s saying is that when we ran in to save Apple Bloom,” Twilight recalled, “we ran into the poison joke. All our problems are just little jokes played on us.”
“Little jokes?” Applejack was disbelieving it. “Very funny.”
“It’s true,” I added, “the reason why I turned human was what the poison joke played on me due to me missing something.”
“Okay, fine,” Rainbow sighed, still trying to stay in the air in one place. “But what about the cauldron?”
“And the chanting?” Fluttershy added in her male voice.
“And the creepy décor?” Rarity finished.
“Treasures of the native land where I am from,” Zecora answered, “this one speaks ‘hello’, and this ‘welcome’.”
“Not ‘welcoming’ at all, if you ask me,” Rarity said.
“But the cauldron…” Twilight started asking, “the Apple Bloom soup?”
Apple Bloom chuckled. “It wasn’t meant for her, Twilight. It was for the herbal ingredients. The cure for poison joke is a simple old-natural remedy. You just gotta take a bubble bath!”
“But,” Twilight said, “I tried to find a cure in all my books and couldn’t find anything. What book has this natural remedy?”
“Here is the book, you see?” Zecora said, closing the book for Twilight, revealing its title. “Sad that you lack it in your library.”
“Actually,” Twilight spoke, recalling what I and Spike had found, “I do have this book, but I didn't look inside because the title was so... Weird. Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super. I...I... I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside.”
Zecora chuckled, as did I. “Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book.”
Apple Bloom laughed.
I smiled, while Twilight asked Zecora, “Would you be kind enough to mix up another batch of the herbal bath?”
“Mix it up I certainly will,” Zecora nodded, “yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville.”
Apple Bloom recalled, “But whenever Zecora comes to town, all the shops are mysteriously closed.”
“Oh,” Twilight realized, “well, I think we can help you with that.”
(Later)
After everything that happened, we returned to normal. That evening, at the library, I was a little in a pickle.
I was searching my room over and over, desperately looking for… my saddle bag.
Inside of it were a number of items that were brought over from Earth to remind me of the long time I grew up there, and now, I can’t seem to find it.
I tossed myself onto my bed, groaning deeply.
Just then, the door to my room opened. I looked to find Twilight at the doorway, looking concerned. “Is everything all right, Dawn? You look distressed.”
“It’s my saddle bag,” I said, “I can’t find it.”
“Your saddle bag?!” questioned Twilight in shock, “The one containing your momentos from Earth?!”
“That’s the one,” I said, “It had everything I had on me every day on Earth, including a music device called an iPod.”
“i…Pod?” asked Twilight curious, “Maybe I should check your memory to see for myself.”
Using her magic, she focused on my forehead, revealing my memories like a projector.
And then she saw one memory of me lying there in the grass, listening to music. She looked closer and saw that I was holding a device in my hands.
“Is that it?” she asked, “The device you call an iPod?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “It’s what I can listen to different music with.”
“Wow,” said Twilight, levitating over the Walkman I saw the other day, “So it’s much like my Walkman.”
“Indeed,” I nodded. “I listened to music every day back on Earth, because that’s what most people did when they did not have anything else to do.”
“As I recall,” said Twilight, “this device had some serious competition when this thing called a Zune came along.”
“Yes, it competed with the Zune product,” I said. “The Zune was made to beat the iPod device within the digital media.”
“I remember,” said Twilight, “One time, when I was on Earth visiting Bloodonia, Merly told me that at some point, the Zune
had been taken off the market. Say… does he still have his on him?”
“I think so,” I answered. “He was learning how to use ‘modern devices’ when we first met at school one day. I recall he did still have it, even after I moved to Bloodonia with my parents.”
“Classic Merly,” sighed Twilight, “He only knew about simple devices when we first met. He told me that he was trying to broaden his horizon on modern conveniences every day.”
I chuckled. “That’s him, all right.”
(Third Person POV)
Little did they both know, as they resumed their conversation, two ponies dressed in armor were standing outside the library, having a close eye on Dawn.
“So our suspicions were correct,” said one pony, “I told you it was a good idea to follow him around since the Summer Sun Celebration. I mean, seriously, what pegasus tries to use magic on somepony else?”
“Not to mention,” said the other pony, “that apparent spell he tried to use. Voltar Thundasir? Is that even a spell?”
“I am not sure,” the first pony replied. “Where did he know that spell?”
“No idea,” said the second pony, holding up Dawn’s saddle bag, “but the items we found in this saddle bag… they must be… instruments of torture.”
“What do you think we should do?”
“What do you think?” said the other pony, “We tell Princess Celestia.”
“What should we tell her? Does she know what he is?” the first pony asked.
“Well,” said the second pony, “she might know one thing about him.”
They both agreed and tossed over their hoods, revealing themselves as two of Celestia’s day guards.
Looking back at Dawn again, the first guard asked, “Say… doesn’t that pony look… familiar to you?”
“Now that you mention it,” said the second guard, “he does look a bit like Night Shadow when he was only starting out as a guards pony. How time flies.”
“Indeed,” the first guard agreed. “I wonder how Night Shadow is doing? It’s been a while since we last saw him.”
“Never mind that for now,” said the second guard, “Let’s get those instruments of torture to Princess Celestia as soon as possible.”
Thus settled, they set off back to Canterlot, where, much to their annoyance, Princess Celestia was already fast asleep.
“Just great,” sighed the first guard. “She’s asleep. I guess we must wait for the morning, then.”
The second guard sighed as he used his unicorn magic to take out something from the saddlebag; some kind of device.
“i… Pod?” he questioned, reading the back of it.
“That must be what this thing is called,” suggested the first guard, “An iPod.”
“What can it do?” the other guard asked.
“I’m not sure,” said the second guard, “but we should hold on t-Oops!”
The second guard took a wrong step, and dropped the iPod, and it started… making noise.
Both guards took cover, as the iPod went on with… playing music.
“What the…” the first guard blinked, confused. “Is that…?”
They listened closely.
Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Macarena
Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegría y cosa buena
Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena
Hey Macarena, ay
They both bopped their heads to the music.
“It’s music,” said the second guard, levitating the iPod off the floor. At least that was the plan, until… ZAP!!! …something shot at it, destroying it in the process, much to the guards’ disappointment.
The guards turned to find…Prince Blueblood.
“What kind of heinous weapon was that?” he demanded.
The guards looked at each other confused, then one of them asked, “Prince Blueblood… you are aware that that was music that iPod played, right?”
“i…Pod?” he asked, “And now you two are making up words.”
The guards deadpanned. One of them levitated the now destroyed iPod to Blueblood for him to see that it indeed said *iPod* on the back.
“So…who would have this here?” Blueblood asked.
When the guards explained, he smiled deviously.
“So… why don’t we have the pegasus have a visit to Canterlot?” Blueblood said. “I am sure my auntie would like to see him.”
The guards looked at each other, uncertain.