Rarity picked up her saddle bags and put them on, still wondering why Twilight had an outburst like that. She’s seen Twilight freak out before, but never to the extent of outright tackling somepony to get their attention, then to flash off like that. Rarity was going to have a talk with Twilight later on manners, because that is not what you do to get somepony’s attention. She looked around her room for anything else she would need. When nothing came to mind, she made her way down the stairs.
“Rarity!” Her sister was hollering her name from the kitchen, which of course caused her to suck on her bottom lip. Sweetie Belle and kitchens were never a good combination, but put her in one alone and you were bound for a messy disaster only a trained professional could clean.
“Yesss… dear?” Rarity was rather reluctant to see what kind of concoction her sister has produced. Heading down the hall to the door, she could hear two other voices. Upon this realization, her brain started sending up flares. The Crusaders were crusading in her home, in the kitchen.
“Can you come try this! We made and we think you will love it!”
“I wouldn’t eat it…”
“Ah said hush!” This was soon followed but what sounded like a thud.
“Ow!” Rarity began to sweat. She had no time for this. This was the very last thing she needed right now.
“Can it wait, dears? I really need to get going. Twilight needs me and,” Her sister jumped immediately in front of her, along with the others. They were holding one of Rarity’s more expansive dish platters, the lid that was covering what their creation was leaking blog fog. The smell was anything but pleasant. This caused her eyes to water, she however kept hold of a smile. “Smells… delicious, but I really need to get going. I know. Why don’t you go ask Bon Bon. She loves it when you guys play.” ‘Mainly to laugh at you guys hurt yourselves.’
The girls sighed in defeat. “But they were busy sitting outside the spa. They kept looking in the windows.” The other two nodded their heads in agreement. Rarity furrowed her brow.
“Why would they be doing that?” They all shrugged, Scootaloo speaking up at this point.
“They said they were watching the rainbow be very fruity, but I didn’t get it. Rainbows are outside, not inside.”
Rarity blinked a few times, trying to understand what she had just heard. Either they were peeping, or her friend was at the spa. The former was more likely in this case though. She rolled her eyes, heading to the door. “Alright, girls. Enough kitchen time. Why don’t you dears head out and be outside for a bit?” She stepped out the door and held it open, the girls walking out soon after.
“Okayyy…” They all said in unison. Rarity smiled and started her way to the Library. Scootaloo hummed to herself.
“You know, speaking about rainbows. How did Rainbow dash get her mane like that?” Sweetie Belle began jumping up and down.
“Ooh! Ooh! I know! My sister said some ponies Dye their mane!” The other two blinked at her.
“Dyed?” They both asked.
“Yup!” They all smiled at each other, soon shouting into the air their trademark slogan, dashing off towards the spa.
***
I was happy with my results, that much was certain. I was feeling pretty good. I felt clean, a clean that I have never felt in ages. How would I know, though, seeing how I couldn’t remember much of anything at all. Regardless of what was going to happen, I was pretty glad I looked and felt the way I did. I couldn’t help but notice people staring at me though. I pushed it to the back of my mind, continuing on my way to the tree where I met the stallion from earlier.
Upon seeing a bench nearby the tree I was at earlier, I sat down in it, being careful enough to make sure it was clean before doing so. Once I was sure it was clean, I sat down. After a calming relaxed sigh, relaxation came upon me. Looking around, the setting sun added to the atmosphere of the town. Ponies went about their business, a few stared at me, but I ignored them. Why would it matter when you felt this good? If they stared in awe or disgust, I didn’t care.
The sounds of life were rather soothing. The market was rather active. This was where I found myself observing at the end of my looking around. Ponies traded, some for bits, others for other items they needed. A few gryphons had a stand that sold what looked like iron goods. Some zebra’s had a stand full of brews and crafts. This stand seemed to be the least occupied by customers, which I found weird. The stand looked extremely exotic and would definitely be a place most ponies would want to go to, but in the end, their stand was the least visited. Shaking my head, I decided to go up the stand.
Navigating the market was easier said than done. Ponies dashed back and forth from stand to stand. It was weird, but the second you got into the actual market, the noise become overbearing. Stand owners shouted out prices, or what they were selling. Ponies argued back, trying to barter for a better price. I was bumped into many times, nearly being knocked over on others. Getting to the stand was a feat, but I finally made it.
Once I was close, there were many things I notice. Their tent had lots of smoke in it, but you couldn’t see it leave their tent. The aroma’s were all different, sweet berry’s, all the way down to a rather skunky smell. My head was spinning and I began to feel a little light headed from the proximity of the smoke. I heard laughter as a stallion laughed from behind the counter. I looked up and saw him, a zebra with his mane done in dreadlocks, a short beard and mustache. His eyes were dark brown, but had a wisdom in them. He had a pipe in his mouth, cracking a smile as he looked at me.
“Hello there. Not often do we see a pegasus come to our stand. Mostly get earth ponies for our herbs.” A coughing could be heard as a mare I hadn’t seen flailed a bit in a thick cloud of smoke. The stallion laughed at her, looking over. “But sometimes, we can’t sell our herbs because we run short.” The mare was a zebra with dark brown eyes. Both the mare and the stallion wore a coat made of leather, which made me a little weezy, but I pushed that to the back of my head.
“I wonder why…” He chuckled some more and took a drag from his pipe, looking me up and down.
“So what brings you by to our rather humble stand?” I blinked a few times to water my eyes, since they stung from the smoke. I began looking at the crafts and other things they had. My eyes noticed a rather blue plant that struck me as familiar.
“Nothing really. It just looked interesting and… well… I just wanted to see what you had.” He nodded at me, letting me look. I stared at the blue plant, wondering why it struck me as familiar. I’m guessing he notice me staring at it, since he picked it up. I took note as he was careful not to touch the actual plant itself and just the pot.
“This here is poison joke. It is good for a joke. A plant that not many know how to control, but we do.” He took out a knife and cut a leaf off, which fell into a bowl that the mare caught it in. She pulled out what looked like a small stick made of rock, and began to grind the leaf. The stallion looked at me. “We found out, that if you drink it in a tea after drying it out, right before bed, your dream will become clear. What you do to yourself in that dream, happens to you.” He smiles, looking over at the mare. “It only lasts for seventy two hours, but with constant use of it, the form will stay. Keep in mind, you need only dream the effect once. As long as the Poison is in you, the form will stay.”
“So, this is a shape shifter?” I asked, curious. He nodded, then shrugged.
“In a way. It can only do so much with what you want. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.” He leaned in close to me. “But I do know one thing. My sister Xyla, used to be my brother.” He leans back and hit his pipe another time and began to work on another leaf, letting me soak in what he just said. I blinked and thought on it. That was beyond weird being told. Why would he tell me that? Next thing I know, I had a small bag dropped in front of me full of blue gunk. “Let that dry for a day, then try it for yourself.” I looked up and shook my head.
“No no no no no no, buddy. I have no money, I can’t pay for this.” He smiled and shook his head.
“Don’t worry. If you like, you’ll be back. If you don’t, you’ll still come back.” Before I could react, he bit down on a string and pulled it, dropping the shutters of their stand, closing it down. I blinked and banged on it.
“Wait! Please!” I sighed, knowing nothing will happen. Sighing, I grabbed the bag in my mouth and turned around.
The market was empty. No sound of ponies trying to sell things. No pony in sight, for that matter. All the stands were closed down. Not a thing to be seen. I blinked a few times, getting a chill down my spine. This was a little too creepy for my taste. I began to make my way back to the tree bench.
I got back to the bench easily enough. The town was still alive, save for where the market was. I found it creepy how fast it closed down without my noticing. I just shrugged it off, looking back across the street towards the cupcake place. It was still very busy, to my surprise. It was getting dark rather fast as well. I could only think back to what he asked. He wanted dinner later, but when was that? I groaned realizing another flaw. We didn’t even exchange names.