//------------------------------// // Optional Chapter 2-1: Wysteria's chapter // Story: Minty Image // by mintgreenconspiracy //------------------------------// Wysteria smiled, rising slowly from her bed, and taking a nice long, wide stretch. "It's today!" She said, the familiar line to herself, that all the ponies used when they got up. It had already been an interesting night, with Minty running around like a crazy pony for some reason (course she didn't blame Minty, she always got eager at Christmas and besides being goofy, Christmas was kind of like her special thing!) And what a day it was, Christmas Eve. And a beautiful one to boot, with a beautiful pristine fresh snowfall, and more on the way. And, of course, Pinkie had all kinds of fun last minute tasks planned, and she'd finally get to decorate the flower shop -- and maybe there would be enough time for her to go sledding or skating! And, of course, there would be carrols, and the hanging of the Extra Special One of A Kind Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane! And tonight: Santa was coming! And she was secretly hoping that, maybe, Spike would return today. Yeah he'd been kind of a bad person/dragon the last spring when he was 'training her to be a princess', but after she was 'deposed in a coup by Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Sunny Daze', he became an outstanding and upright guy. Oh it was going to be a wondrous day! And a wondrous day, like Christmas calls for one thing! An extra special flower for her hair. "That's right!" She thought to herself, looking at the flower that she had been saving next to her nightstand for just such an occasion. The very special flower that she got from Spike last spring -- the one that started the promenade. The strange thing is that it looked, and smelled even better nine months later then it did before -- and it was so beautiful that it practically glowed. "I'll just put you in my hair." She said, to the flower, gently cradling it in her hoof, as she gingerly put it into her hair. "Oh you'll look so beautiful up there!" She said, to herself, brandishing a sweet smile. "Well I best be going." She said to herself, softly as she left the house, closing the door behind her. Nothing but good could come out of the day. ******** Braeburn frowned, apparently all kinds of horse apples hit the fan whenever sheriff Silverstar had to leave town, and today seemed to be no exception. Apparently the Sheriff had been called away by some high falutin bureaucrat back in Canterlot to make a report of his management of the settlement over the last couple of years. Lord knows Braeburn -- as well as everypony else -- had hoped he didn't have too, but funding was running short, especially because of how many trees they had to chop down last year to make peace with the buffaloes (and apparently as a result they didn't make as many bits as they needed to to trade for the supplies they needed, and well, something had to give.) And to make matters worse, there had been murmurings from the town drunk that there was a purple alicorn, with 'a bunch of flowers for a cutie mark' running around town. This, of course, was ridiculous because there were only four alicorns, and the only purple one was still in Ponyville. And she certainly didn't have no sissy flowers for a cutie mark! But it all just added to the general anxiety that was, already, going around. And, like most small towns in Equestria, the town had never needed too much of a reason to get whipped into a panic. So naturally, today, even more trouble started. The crowd stood around, anxiously, growing ever more impatient with the town elders, and it's mayor. "But major!" Cried a grey stallion, with a light Mexicolt accent. "This is unacceptable! Ju're just going to let someponies just waltz off with my signature Poncho without even so much as a basic search party?" He shouted, frantically. "I means: how can I be called the Poncho if I have gots no Poncho?" The stallion, griped, becoming ever more agitated. "The varment done stoled it right out from under me! And worse still he had the guts to gives me this ridiculous calling card!" He shouted angrily, pulling out a piece of paper with some kind of illegible graffiti on it. "Look!" The mayor said, calming down the crowd that was beginning to become agitated. "We have bigger problems! I've heard that King Longhorn and the Cattle Rustlers have somehow escaped from the hoosegow, and they're out looking for blood! Apple Blood! And so: as much as I want to look into this, we're one sherriff short, and we need every able bodied stallion to be ready for the worst and -- " "Mayor Law!" Another stallion cried out in a Mexicolt accent. "Some varmints just ran off with my sombrero!" He shouted angrily. "What are you going to do about it mayor!!!" He shouted, pulling out the thief's calling card, a piece of paper with that odd graffiti on it. At this point the crowd began to panic. "Oh no! We have a maniac on the loose! Hide anything that isn't nailed down!" "No it's the Cattle Rustlers they're already making themselves at home!" "No the buffaloes! They aren't happy with just some of our trees! They want the whole town!" "It's Nightmare Moon! She's returned!" "It's aliens, they've -- " Braeburn let off a loud whistle, and pointed to the mayor. "Let the mayor speak! Ah'm certain he'll come up with something!" He said, bowing slightly, as the mayor thanked him. "Relax my little ponies! There is no Nightmare Moon, and no aliens! And I'm sure King Longhorn isn't here yet!" He said, mingling with the crowd. "You just need to relax!" He said, sternly, speaking over the crowd. "Look! If it would make things any better, then I'll organize a posse to look for the varmints!" A cheer rose from among the crowd. The mayor would fix this! He'd ride out personally with his number two and three men and -- "Course I'm going to need some volunteers!" The mayor said, matter of factly, to a sea of jaws dropping. "Look!" He said, chastising the mob. "I need to be planning for the possibility of King Longhorn and his men coming here in search of revenge! I can't have our best stallions off searching for petty thieves!" He sighed, as the crowd began to whip back into a fervor. "And I have to be here to organize the town defenses, should the worst occur!" "Where's Canterlot?" "We've been abandoned by Princess Celestia!" "No it's worse! Somepony finally got her and --- " Braeburn let out another quick whistle, and animatedly stamped on the ground. "Ah volunteer!" He said. "Anypony want to join meh?" He said, enthusiastically, looking arround at the crowd (and probably fully expecting them to soak up his enthusiasm, and join in -- sadly... He was out of luck!) In the crowd there was a great murmur, and then a deafening silence. "Fine!" He said, with a defeated sigh. Probably asking himself just what he had gotten himself into! "Ah'll do this ahll by mahself!" He shouted, stamping off -- sighing again. Sometimes a stallion needs to do what a stallion needs to do! ******** And naturally, as always, Christmas Eve didn't disappoint. No! From the decorating of the flower shop, to decorating the town with the poinsettias she had been growing all year long. Everything was just so green and beautiful! And fragrant! But why poinsettias? Because, silly, they represented Christmas, of course! That and she never, ever, needed a reason for more flowers! They were, after all, her special thing -- and she loved them so! But, even so, Christmas wasn't just flowers! No, silly, there were, also, the carols -- which Triple treat led everyone in an impromptu round of. And, afterwards, the Candy Cane hanging ceremony. And what was even better was that? Why another round tomorrow! Led by Twinkle Twirl, the reigning queen of the carol, herself, who would lead them in another round or three. Oh and then there was the positively magical placing of the Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane -- and, of course, Sweet Berry, Triple Treat, and Cotton Candy had really outdid themselves this year! Oh, she felt sorry for anyone who couldn't be there, because it showed so majestically! Sadly, she ended up leaving early -- during the ceremony -- inspired to finishing planting all the poinsettias that she had left to plant! And that was ok with her, because flowers! Flowers! Flowers! That is if she could find enough to decorate the town. And then Minty decided -- that crazy rascal -- to play Santa this year, probably in honor of the real santa, or something, and left behind a really delightful purple sock with a flower pattern on it for her, which she appreciated terribly -- not that she wore socks mind you, but anything related to flowers was a good thing in her book. Unfortunately, things started to go very wrong sometime around ten o'clock, when there was a horrible crash that woke her up. And it appeared, to her horror, that some horrible person had hurt the Christmas Tree, knocking it over -- but what horrible person would be so cruel as to do that? Of course, the answer came quickly. When, apparently, Minty felt so bad about breaking the Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane earlier that day (apparently in the festivities, no one noticed) that she decided to go flying on her own, out in the freakish storm that seemed to be brewing. I guess she must have been really shook up about ruining Christmas by preventing Santa from coming. Why else would she do it? Because she was a very poor flier (and she knew it), and even an experienced flier like Pinkie Pie, or Rainbow Dash, would avoid flying in a storm like that one! Even so, it was only natural that Pinkie would organize a search and rescue party (her and her parties) to go searching for the poor misguided green pony. And the whole situation left Wysteria deeply worried (though by the look on Pinkie's face, she was worried worse) seeing as it was well known that the Minty was a very poor flyer (just ask Kimono, Minty transported her via balloon to her birthday surprise party), and to make matters worse she was flying alone -- in the storm (a storm so big and scary that even experts like Pinkie and Rainbow would think twice about doing so.) But what were they going to do? Were they going to leave their mint green friend to her fate in the cold darkness? WHY CERTAINLY NOT! NOT ON CHRISTMAS!!! Besides, what were they going to do with her house and all her green stuff if she went away? So, although, Wysteria was slightly upset that she hurt the tree, then she would go too! Why? Because Minty needed their help! And Wysteria wasn't about to let her down! So into the storm and off to the north pole they flew, hoping to find Minty along the way. The good news was that they found her in the knick of time -- hanging treacherously from her balloon (which was tearing off at the top), with the pegasus sent to search for her, Thistle Whistle, bound by its ropes. Even so, the good news stopped there, as it became obvious that Pinkie, who had sent her balloon into a dangerous dive to catch the green pony in mid fall, had arrived too late! And it left them with nothing they could do but watch in horror, as their green friend fell from her balloon and into the lake -- at terminal speed. Oh it was horrible! She couldn't bear to watch, opting instead to cover her eyes in horror! Leaving her with nothing but the urge to vomit! Oh it all made her felt so ill! Never the less, no one seemed anywhere near as hurt as Pinkie did, who just kept ranting "Please Minty don't be broken!" at the top of her lungs. Oh, It all just broke Wysteria's heart! And then, just when everyone was on the verge of a good cry, Thistle Whistle and Star Catcher started to pull everyone away. How could they do this? Why would they do that, when Minty was over there -- in the cold unforgiving waters? And the more they cried and moaned, the faster their pegasus friends pulled them away! Why were they doing this? Did they hate Minty? Had something bad happened to them? Of course the answer came, like a bolt of lighting (well more like a pillar of light), when a pillar of light came shooting out of the lake. Leaving everyone pleasantly surprised, that noone went blind. And the sound the pillar of light made?... Well it was really scary! Wasn't that pillar coming from the spot where Minty fell in? Oh dear! Was she still ok down there? Or had even more bad luck befall the unfortunate pony? The answer would come when, as the light started to clear, and it quickly became obvious that the gully was no longer there! Heck, the pool was gone too! But, the good news was, as if due to some Christmas magic, their green friend was still there, lying at the bottom of the pool. Well half of her anyway! The other half was weird looking, and black. It had misshapen pegasus wings, and some kind of a really jagged something or another sticking out of its head! It was all just a really horrifying sight -- Wysteria had to close her eyes, and look away again! And, to make matters worse, the misfortune didn't end there, as she began, almost immediately, to feel an itch in her head -- as if something was scratching her head! And did the bad things top there? Oh! No! No! No! Minty's voice began to echo out of that strange black form! At least, she thought it was Minty's voice! Heck! The creature had her flank and symbol! But was it even possible that that was Minty? It had to be! But that only let other questions! Like, what did that explosion do to her? And how badly hurt was she? And was it even possible that she was black from the burns that explosion caused? Or was something else wrong with her -- like a witch's curse, or something? Oh dear! They had to find a safe place to treat Minty's boo-boos! But where? Maybe they could find Santa's workshop? Of course! They had to! That would be the most obvious place! And maybe Santa was still home? Maybe he could help out? Truth be told, it was the most obvious place. The problem? Santa was no longer home, having already left for the day! Oh dear! What were they going to do? And, make matters worse, Minty's condition was getting worse not better! And it just left Wysteria starting to blame herself! Apologizing about everything! It just wasn't right! All she could do was sit and contemplate -- she was, after all, never much of a talker, preferring quiet days with her flowers to the rambunctious fun that some of the other ponies prefered. Rainbow, of course, (as always) knew what to do! She started to encourage the green pony -- following up by giving her a careful hug. And, at that moment, the warmest light beamed from somewhere. Leaving everything feeling just so loving and kind, and warm! Heck! Even the flower in her hair agreed, giving off a pleasant warmth itself! Oh how she wanted to stay forever in this magical, Christmassy place! But that they had to go home! Because, for one thing, they couldn't just stick around with Santa gone! Minty's condition may have been better (she looked like herself, not like a half burned mess with bug features), but it was still horrible! And getting worse again! So they had to rush home! Kimono (the Wisest Pony in the Land) was the only one who would be able to help now! And then, to make matters worse, the most horrible thing happened: their kind friend Star Catcher started making fun of their green friend! Singing something about 'the magic of christmas', while their friend was in such horrible straights. On the other hand, Wysteria didn't want to blame her, as she looked kind of ill herself (maybe it was just Wysteria's eyes, but, for a second, Star Catcher even looked practically translucent.) Maybe she wasn't feeling well herself? Of course she was feeling ill too! That was the only thing that made sense! After all, Star Catcher was a kind, and majestic pony! Yeah! That made sense! After all, all of them were feeling bad! Heck! She seemed to be starting to get a slight headache from the pressure -- at least, that's what she hoped it was! But at least, despite all the bad news, Santa still came through! Having somehow found his way to Ponyville, even without the Candy Cane -- probably led there by their shining friendship! And boy did he bring the Christmas magic with him! Having fixed the tree, and leaving really generous gifts! Heck, Santa even moved the socks that Minty left behind, filling them with goodies! Even hers! Oh it was really magical! Her sock was just filled with so many beautiful, and fragrant, freshly picked lilies and tulips. It left Wysteria just so overjoyed, even bringing a tear to her eyes! (She just loved flowers so! Especially when they were picked fresh, and smelled so beautiful! And Santas were both!) And it was really sweet of him to give her these particular kinds of flowers. I mean he was practically calling her a princess (in a good way, not in a bad way like Spike had last spring!) Because both tulips and lilies represented royalty -- and lilies were, in fact, the symbol of the French crown! "Oh wow!" Her friend Daisyjo exclaimed, seeing Santa's gift for her. "Santa must really like you!" She said, cracking a smile. "He only left me some bulbs and gardening supplies!" She said, ribbing her friend lightly. Wysteria shrugged. "Maybe it's a joint gift?" She said, having every bit as much faith in Santa now as she ever had in the past! "Maybe!" Daisyjo responded, sniffing the flowers herself (Daisyjo was Ponyville's number two gardener and, as such, shared quite the comradery with Wysteria.) "Nice flower in your hair, by the way!" She said, pointing at Spike's flower. "How do you make it glow like that though? Did you cover it in dyes -- like Triple Treat, Sweetberry, and Cotton Candy did the Candy Cane?" Wysteria looked at her friend crosseyed. "What do you mean? This is Spike's flower from the promenade!" She said, getting up onto only her hind legs (standing like a bi-ped), her hooves on her hips. "And I would never do anything horrible to a beautiful flower like this, like covering it in dyes!?" Daisyjo shrugged. "Sorry about that!" She said, sheepishly. "It just caught me by surprise! Especially considering how old that flower is!" She exclaimed, giving the flower a closer look. "I mean, I've never had a flower last even a tenth as long!" Wysteria simply shrugged uncomfortably -- why was her head tingling like this? It felt like her whole scalp was itching now! And she felt some minor discomfort in her forehead. Maybe she needed to go to bed? Yeah that must be it! It was, after all, probably after three in the morning! So while the rest of the ponies were out enjoying the shared wonder of what Santa left behind, she yawned tiredly, and headed off to bed. Having almost forgot something important! (in fact, she had even done so one before this evening!) She needed to get Spike's flower out of her hair! Why? Well, because, if she left it in her hair, then she might hurt it! She thought to herself, trying to gently pull the flower out of her mane. Unfortunately, It wouldn't budge. And, to make things worse, the harder she pulled, the more it felt like she was trying to pull her scalp off! "Ouch!!!" She shrieked in pain as she pulled less gingerly. That flower just really didn't want to leave her head! What was she going to do now? "Please come out?" Wysteria begged the flower -- worried that it didn't realize what could happen if it didn't come out of her hair. "If I leave you there I might squish you while I sleep!" She pleaded, tugging harder. All it did was make her feel like her ear was going to tear off. She sighed, feeling defeated! This was one stubborn flower! Maybe she should sleep with it in? After all, maybe it just wanted to keep her company for just a little while longer? She thought to herself with a chuckle. "Good night flower!" She said, talking to the flower that still, stubbornly, remained attached to her mane. ******** Braeburn grumbled to himself. Except for the greeting of new ponies to their fine little town of APPLELOOOOOOSAA he never, ever, took point on anything -- let alone chasing after dangerous desparattos. And yet, somehow, this time, he done it to himself! So there he was, searching every last nook and corners of their town for the thief (even under the outhouse -- not much fun at all!) He sighed, frustration starting to rear it's ugly head. If he were a thief, where would he be right now? Dead cactus gulch? probably not -- too far away! Scorpion gulch? Unlikely. The bad lands? Nah too far south! Maybe he'd be living with the buffalo? Nah! They didn't like thieves any more then the good people of Appleloosa did! Especially considering that, for a while, felt that the people of Appleloosa had stolen their lands from them! No maybe... Nah? And then there was the 'small matter' of him not even knowing what this hombre looked like! So, then, how was he supposed to find them? He asked himself, standing outside the Salt Block ('the town watering hole'.) He stood there, stamping his hoof. He supposed that they might be in the saloon. Except for the fact that he never went to places like those, something he promised his mother in her final days. He sighed noticeably, hanging his head, contemplating whether he was a stallion of his word, or if the occasion deserved an exception. But while he was weighing his options, the decision was made for him. when, inside the saloon, he could hear some indiscriminate shrieking from a female voice -- probably one of the saloon girls. Followed by a clamor, as a tall drink of water came racing out of the saloon, galloping at high speeds, his hoof wrapped unnaturally around some pastries. "Braeburn! There ee ees! There's the thief!" The saloon's purveyor shrieked, pointing his hoof at the fleeing varmint -- pushing the orange apple slightly, with his other hoof. "There he goes! After heem!" He shouted, pushing the apple slightly. "Ah'm an mah way!" The yellow apple replied, springing into action -- chasing after the thief as fast as his legs could carry him. However, whomever this varmint was, they sure were speedy. Now Braeburn wasn't a rodeo pony like his cousin Applejack, but he still fancied himself built from good strong apple blood! And even so this thief laughed at him, galloping like lighting -- all the while only running on only three hooves, the last one, somehow, holding all his loot. It was definitely the thief, as the varment was obviously wearing Poncho's poncho (it was, kind of, one of a kind!), and Sombrero's sombrero! And it looked like the thief must have had a bum hoof as they were somehow holding all those pastries with their hoof and pastern wrapped around them (like a viper) -- all unnatural like. Course the hombre also seemed to have a bum back, as they had a huge hump sticking out of the poncho in back (almost making them look like a pegasus -- cept, of course, the bulge was in all the wrong places for that) -- causing the poncho to ride up almost to their cutie mark. But despite it all, the thief was surprisingly agile, as he ducked and dodged almost as well as Jackie at the rodeo! And yes, for those of you who didn't know, it was obvious the thief was a stallion, I mean he had a large square muzzle just like one. And believe you Braeburn, the hombre was bigger than cousin mac and, other than the princesses, they didn't make mares that big! So this meant that Braeburn's work was cut out for him, so -- and it looked like, naturally, that there was only one option to keep up with the thief -- and that was to plow straight through the obstacles the thief circumnavigated. Braeburn hoped, beyond all hope, that he brought his rope, because he might need to see if he still remembered (let alone was able to perform) any of those rope tricks Jackie showed him. Otherwise he was going to have trouble catching the thief, especially if they made it into scorpion gulch! ******** Wysteria yawned quietly, as she rose, stretching slightly. "Good morning flower." She said, sweetly, greeting the small flower which had, up until now, remained forcefully glued in place. "I hope you are doing well." She said to the flower, feeling it necessary to waddle over to the mirror to get a closer look at it. Why did everything hurt so badly today? And if it wasn't bad enough that she was still suffering from that migraine that had suffering with since the early morning, she now had the fiercest pain in her shoulders as well! (It felt like a cramping pain that seemed to came in spurts.) Oh well! At least her little passenger still looked good! In fact, if anything, it positively glowed, looking really beautiful sitting Right next to the giant lump on her head! GIANT LUMP ON HER HEAD?!?!?! "Oh dear." Wysteria exclaimed, trying to rear up onto two legs to get a better look, only to find that the pain in her shoulders prevented her from doing so. But she was not going to give up! No! Not in the slightest! She just had to rear up through the pain. "Urrrg!!!!" She exclaimed, tears in her eyes (and her teeth gritted in a not very appealing manner.) So naturally, to finish the deed, she was forced to brace herself with one hoof! (Yes bracing was good!) So, there she stood, one hoof bracing herself against the wall -- in a shameful display -- and the other touching the bump. It was hard as bone! Was it possible that she had hit her forehead at some point, and didn't know it? No! Of course not! But what else could explain how big this bump was? Of course, it could also be a doozie of a zit, but there was no redness, and it didn't really hurt all that much to the touch. So what was it then? And why was it so big and ugly? And that, of course, made her glad that there was no one around -- because this was very embarrassing! And the shock would have been even bigger, had she been a pony like Sky Wishes, Scooter Sprite, Coconut Cream, or Twinkle Twirl who prided themselves in their dancing ability -- that wasn't to say that it didn't still hurt her pride slightly, being unable to rise to a standing position. And as the morning went on the pain in her sides simply got worse. And was it just her, or did it feel like her head was on fire too? (as if the crippling pain in her back wasn't bad enough!) Then, as time dragged on, ever more slowly, it grew harder, and harder, and harder still to move around, and soon, all she wanted to do was sleep. What was going on? Maybe she should see if she could stumble over to Kimono's? No Minty's in a lot worse shape! She shouldn't impose! Maybe she should just rest a while? Yeah! A couple of hours sleep would fix it right up! After a couple of hours, she could hear a knocking on her door, and the voice of her friend Daisyjo. "Wysteria!" She called, her voice showing some concern. "You feeling ok?" She said, knocking on the door. "I was expecting to see you out watering your flowers this morning (After all, in g3, with a little love and care flowers bloom year round), but you never came out. Are you sick?" Wysteria sighed, uncomfortably -- not wanting to worry her friend by having her see Wysteria like this. Nevertheless, Daisyjo was a close friend of hers! "Come in." She shouted, as loud as she was able. "The door's unlocked. Feel free to come in." Her friend wasted no time in opening the door, and proceeded to walk up close to the bed, and hover over it like a concerned mother. "How are you feeling?" She asked, with great concern. Suddenly noticing that Wysteria hadn't taken the flower out of her mane, she asked another question. "And why's your flower still in your hair? Aren't you worried about squishing it?" Wysteria sighed, not sure how to phrase the whole situation. "It's nothing really." She said, quietly. "I've just got the nasty headache, and my sides and back hurt something fierce!" She said, trying to rise, but being unable to because of the pain. And to demonstrate the validity of her claims, she grabbed the flower in her hoof, and tried to yank it (unsuccessfully.) "Also I've tried removing that nice flower, but it won't come out!" She said, with a frown. "And I'm starting to get concerned!" Daisyjo frowned, not knowing what to say (flowers were her thing, not medicine!) "Maybe we should get you to Kimono!" She said, trying to pull her friend out of bed by the arm. "She might know what's going on! And maybe she can help you with your flower!" Wysteria got up for a second, her body finally responding, but her legs feeling extremely wobbly, before collapsing into a heap -- apparently only experiencing temporary success. "Oh dear!" Daisyjo cried, in shock, turning around to see her friend crumpled in a heap -- panic flaring on her face. "Can you get up?" She asked, her voice jittering. "I can't get you to Kimono if you can't stand!" Wysteria shook her head. "No! I can't seem to get anything to move right! I'm sorry." She said, almost accepting her fate. Daisyjo started walking around her friend, her frown getting deeper and deeper. "That bump on your head looks really, really, bad! And those look like some nasty cramps!" She said, tapping Wysteria's back, and shaking her head. "Please try to get up!" She exclaimed, starting to sob violently. "Please Wysteria! Please!" "I don't think so!" Wysteria said sadly. "I just can't do it!" "Don't worry!" Daisjo said, starting to shake. "I'll think of something!" She shouted, pacing violently -- her mind racing faster then she could process her thoughts. After a mere moment she opened her mouth again. "I'll be right back with Kimono! She'll know what to do!" She said, with renewed enthusiasm, galloping out the door -- as fast as her legs would carry her -- leaving the door wide gaping open behind her. "Don't worry! I'll be right back!" "Ok!" Wysteria said to herself, lying on the ground -- like a lump. Maybe she could count the floor tiles? After a few minutes of futilely trying to stand up, Wysteria sighed. Maybe Minty wasn't the only one who was in trouble! Maybe she should have seen Kimono, when she had a chance! She sighed, maybe she should cry out for help? She pondered her dilemma for more than a few more minutes, until Daisyjo, at last, came back, ranting incoherently. "Don't worry Kimono! Wysteria's on her way!" She said incoherently to her friend, hovering supportively. "Can I get you anything? Like a pillow, or some water, or -- " "Give her some space." Kimono said, with an understated smile, as she slowly walked in the door. Her hair appeared to be frazzled, and there were obvious bags under her eyes. "I apologize, Wysteria!" she said, with a muffled yawn. "Minty's still feeling under the weather, and I spent most of the night helping her!" She said, approaching the purple earth pony with the tri-color purple, pink, and white mane, and took her sweet time looking at Wysteria from top to bottom before finally opening her mouth. "So tell me Wysteria, how long have you had these cramps for? And do you remember doing anything to cause that nasty bump on your head to appear?" Wysteria attempted to shrug, but the horrible back pain she was feeling wouldn't permit it -- opting instead to shake a head, an act that made her a little dizzy. "I don't really know." She said, with a frown. "I had a pain in my head last night but no bump; and the bumps on my side are brand new." Kimono stood for several minutes, thinking carefully. "And the flower? How long has that been there, are you experiencing any itching." "No not really, Kimono." Wysteria said, with a smile. "Besides, this flower is a real cutie." She said, with an infatuated smile. Her face dropped a little, with a hidden sigh. "Except for the fact that it won't come out of my hair any more." Kimono stood there for a second -- her mouth gaping open. "Yes..." She said, an invisible wind blowing through her mane. "You wore that flower last spring at the Promenade..." She said, contemplatively. "And yet, it still looks good as new..." She said, curiously. "In fact, I would say, it positively glows." She said, listening once more to the wind. "I think the three conditions might be related..." She said calmly, grabbing one of Wysteria's kitchen knives, her hoof distorting around the handle. "I believe that this flower's magic might be interfering with your own." She said, raising the knife towards the purple earth ponies head. "I'm afraid that I have no option but to remove it." She said, looking straight into the earth pony's two tone green and yellow eyes -- her own eyes filled with determination. Wysteria shook her head now, struggling to get away from her friend. "Find another way!" She exclaimed furiously, her face growing angry. "That poor innocent flower didn't mean any harm! And I won't let you hurt it!" Kimono stood up on only her back two legs, her front legs on her hip point -- using her most serious angry face (normally used for when ponies were being inconsiderate in the library.) "I'm sorry Wysteria! But it's the only way." She said, grabbing the flower with one hoof, and raising the knife with the other. "You shall understand, my friend after I -- " "YOU SHALL DO NO SUCH THING!" Wysteria said, her voice booming like lightning. "THIS FLOWER IS TO BE LEFT ALONE!" She said, blushing. Where did that come from? Kimono stepped back, with a look of pure shock and at least a little surprise. "But Wysteria, we're worried about you. What happens if your condition continues to worsen? Rainbow, Pinkie, and Minty have already left town! The storm is still really bad, and We have no one else who's good enough with a balloon to get you help outside of town, in a storm like this!" Wysteria shook her head. She wasn't going to comply. "Find! Another! Way!" She reiterated, firmly. Kimono sighed, shaking her head -- contemplating other possibilities. She could try a potion, but that wouldn't fix the root of the problem. Nevertheless, if Wysteria didn't want her to remove the flower then she wouldn't force her, no matter how misguided Kimono felt she was being. "Let me mix up some herbs then." She said, mixing up a foul smelling concoction. "Drink this, if you could." She said, smiling politely at the purple earth pony. "It should increase your body's own magic, and will hopefully allow your body to expel the foreign magic." She said, putting the dreadful looking black potion to the earth ponies mouth. "Now please drink quickly!" She said, as the earth pony quickly quaffed the foul mixture -- gagging more than a few times. "Hopefully this will be good enough." ******** Braeburn panted slightly -- keeping up only by pure force of will. He'd never seen a pony with this much stamina. Heck he wasn't sure that he'd ever seen buffallo with such stamina. And wouldn't be surprised if even Princess Celestia herself had as much stamina as this hombre! So it meant that If he had any chance of catching this hombre, Braeburn needed to stop him here and now! But how? He meant, a tough hombre like this wouldn't give up without a fight! And he certainly didn't seem interested in giving up! Looking at the sign in the distance pointing to Cactus Ridge gave him an idea: maybe he could convince the hombre to go the wrong way, and then corner him at the ridge? The bonus was, Braeburn guessed, that with that bum hoof and hunchback that this strange stallion might have trouble fighting a tough stallion like him (well, at least he hoped!) But how could he trick this strange stallion into taking the wrong route through Scorpion Canyon? Maybe one of Jackie's old tricks? Yeah! The one she used to herd things, he thought to himself, with a vibrant smirk as he poured on the gas (well, just enough to run to the hombre's left.) Much to his surprise, the thief started to gallop right. Braeburn actually blushed. He was fully expecting the thief not to fall for such an obvious trick -- or at least to try harder to go left, anyway. Either that ludicrous trick actually worked, or the thief wasn't very good at reading; either way it was good news for Braeburn! Soon enough the thief would start running through a narrow gully, and right up against the ridge. And from there he'd either have to surrender to Braeburn or fight -- a fight, that Braeburn was certain, the thief couldn't win. And sure enough, there the hombre went, right through the gully, and right up against the ridge -- leaving them cornered. And, for the first time since he saw the thief, Braeburn could finally slow down a little and let himself recover (which was a good thing as his legs -- all four of them -- were killing him!) He stood a fair distance from the thief, incase he did decided to charge Braeburn, and asked the thief one final question. "Ya ready to surrender, hombre?" He asked, putting on his most serious expression. "Or ya wanna fight?" He asked, preparing for the showdown in Cactus Ridge. The thief looked at Braeburn, with their devious green and yellow eyes, which were filled with an absolutely terrified expression that made Braeburn almost want to let them go -- almost! The thief opened their mouth, and made like they were talking, but Braeburn couldn't hear them say anything. Braeburn looked on. Was he wrong, and where they actually going to surrender after all? After a few seconds the thief reared up onto their back two legs. Braeburn smiled -- ok fight it is! Braeburn braced himself, preparing to rear up in the traditional art of fisticuffs, but before Braeburn could so much as blink, the thief jumped some number of feet into the air. "Dang it!" Braeburn exclaimed -- in disbelief. "That was a doozie of a jump!" He said, as the thief rose higher and higher, propelled by their inpony jumping powers. And, to make things more complicated, If they got away now, then Braeburn would never catch them! No! He had to stop them here and now! And there was only one way now! Only one hope! By Faust, he hoped that his lasso skills were still any good (or maybe that he inherited something from the same source as cousin Applejack!) He tried jackie's signature trick roping, and her award winning quick throw, and sent the lasso flying like lightning. And to his glee, he roped the varment perfectly, catching them clean around the barrel -- excellent! Now there was no way he wouldn't be -- CARRYING HIM AWAY! What was this thief, a pegasus or something? couldn't be, but how could they jump like this if they weren't? But if they were then why didn't they take to the air a long time ago? (Sadly there was no time to speculate because hombre jump good.)