"...Froggy Bottom Bog? She looked like she was wearing the remains of some stupid dress! Like THAT was going to help her in the middle of a marsh!"
"It's a good thing there wasn't any extreme damage to her body, doctor. Those shoes are on so tight all the nurses on the ward couldn't get them off her. Even the bolt cutters didn't work! Yes, Miss Rarity, I know they're in a state, but we can't really DO anything about them right now. Miss Rarity, please stop trying to repair her shoes. She's supposed to be sleeping, you'll wake her up!"
"Erm... I, I hope she's going to be okay. I only went to go say hello to my animal friends, it's usually so nice and quiet there... Eep."
* * *
Paver stirred. She was warm... Did she die? Everythign was so bright, she was really warm, and cosy... Her head felt really light and pleasantly calmed... She was struggling to see properly, as her eyes were blurry, and adjusting to the light. As consciousness returned, she started to hear chatter, and activity, she started to see other beds, and ponies! She suddenly figured it out: She was in a hospital ward!
She looked around. A gloriously sunny day poured into the ward, which seemed pleasantly quiet, as only a couple of doctors, some nurses and sleeping patients populated the room. Her fur was clean again, if not especially glossy or well kept...
"Ah." A marble-white furred unicorn doctor with the name tag 'Consultant Dr A. G. Pergamon' spoke, trotting over to her. "Good, you're awake."
"Where..." Paver blinked, her head a little groggy. "Where am I?"
"You, my dear, are in Ponyville General Hospital. you're are quite an oddball, I must say." He floated a clipboard over to his face, reading it as he stood at her bedside. "And terribly lucky. You were suffering from pretty severe malnourishment, dehydration and hypothermia. If our town's local animal carer hadn't chanced upon you..." He frowned. "You were in a torn up dinner dress and dance shoes when she found you..."
Paver's eyes widened a little bit. She sat up, finding herself now dressed in a patient gown... And the shoes. "Oh, oh sweet Celestia!" She cried. "Get them off! Get them off me!"
A struggle broke out as the doctors and the nurses tried to restrain Paver and her magic as she tried, and failed, to remove her red shoes. She quickly found her head swimming, and she fell back on the pillow: Clearly, she wasn't yet strong enough for this sort of stress yet, and fainted.
Time passed, and she eventually woke up again: She was still in the same bed, with the same concerned doctor sitting over her, now a pair of nurses also on standby. Something dawned on Paver this time: She was still in the same place as she had been when she initially woke up... She was still. She remembered the quicksand: Her shoes had struggled and struggled, their movements grew weaker and weaker, before they stopped altogether. Could, could it be...?
"Ma'am." The doctor spoke, interrupting her train of thought. "What's going on? I mean, right now, we don't even know who you are."
Paver's heart continued to beat quickly, though she lay back in the bed. "Paver..." She answered. "My name's Paver Goldstreets..."
And so, she explained her story to the doctors: How she lost control of her hooves at a yacht party, how the shoes stuck upon her hooves threw her overboard and nearly drowned her, how she was forced for a week to dance through Equestria for a week at the mercy of the magic shoes, and how she nearly died in the quicksand of Froggy Bottom Bog. It created looks of deeper concern from her audience as she finished her story. That being said, she'd been sat there for a good long time now, and yet still she remained still, not forced to skip or dance at the mercy of the shoes.
"So... The shoes make you dance against your will?" The doctor asked.
"They did..." Paver looked down at her hooves. "But, something's changed... I, I've come to expect this for a week now, but... Is it over? I think the curse has worn off..." Sitting up, she looked down to the side of the bed... "Doc... Can, can I try to walk, please?"
"You should probably rest, you're still pretty weak."
"I know, and I'll get back into bed again if I can... But please, just let me do this..."
He frowned. "Fine, you can take a short walk, but don't disturb the other patients."
"Oh... I'll, I'll try not to, but... If, if I start, dancing, or anything, just, restrain me. I don't care what you have to do. Just, get me to stop or something." She sighed, quivering slightly as she shuffled over to the end of the bed. She pulled around her hind legs so she sat upright on the side of the bed. Counting down in her head, she took one final look at the shoes on her feet: She remembered them being scuffed, scratched and dirty, but someone had, while she slept, somehow cleaned and fixed them up so they were almost like new again. It did little to settle herself as she pushed herself off the bed and onto her four legs...
...They wobbled as she stood, her legs weak from all the stress of the past few days. She couldn't wipe the look of panic on her face as she stood there... And, nothing happened? No dancing, seeming no uncontrolled movements, she just stood there. She took a step once her legs strengthened somewhat; she moved forwards, and yet she retained control over her own movements. Nothing. Nothing at all! She felt a flood of relief and excitement flow over her, the only thing stopping her from skipping around the room for joy was the fact she'd been skipping and dancing more than enough for the rest of her lifetime, and the thought of doing it more made her feel sick to her stomach.
There were a few caveats, however: Another pony in the ward had turned on a radio in order to listen to music. As soon as the music reached Paver's ears, she nearly jumped out of her skin when her front left hoof suddenly began tapping to the beat; it was completely against her own will, and while she could force her hoof to be still, it took a lot of effort to keep her hoof still, as soon as she relaxed that effort, the shoe was right back to tapping to the beat again.
...Which led on, as Paver swiftly discovered, to caveat number two: The spell which had forced her to dance was somehow different to the spell which kept the shoes on her feet. Between her efforts, the efforts of the doctors before she woke and their help once she came to, the magical strength of both, and all the tools, saws, scissors and even rope at their disposal, her hooves remained completely and inescapably held inside the shoes, the spell which kept them fused to her was just as strong now as it had been when Paver had first put them on.
Time passed, and now she was reasonably fit and healthy again, some of the nurses had brought her some food (some chewy, disgusting food, but it was hot, and she'd not eaten hot food in a week!) and a hot chocolate (which WAS quite nice, actually). As she sat having her meal, she began to realize she had another problem: She was in Ponyville, very far from home; she had no money, she didn't know anybody here, and she didn't have any way to contact home whatsoever. She was alive, she was safe, but she was completely stranded.
She couldn't remain in the hospital forever, the doctors had other patients to see to, and sadly, she was taking up space, and she knew it. Thanking Doctor Pergamon, she walked out the hospital and into the perfect day of Ponyville. It was such a picturesc little place, with whitewashed walls and golden-thatched roofs; worlds away from the rows and rows of blocks, skyscrapers and densely packed communities of Manehatten. A part of Paver wished she could just stay here for a time, a little romantic view of escaping the hustle and bustle of the city, and perhaps setting up a farm played out in her head, but she knew it to be a folly: She was no farmer, and her place was Manehatten. In any case, if she didn't find a way back home, she'd certainly be stuck here for quite a while.
So Paver found herself wandering through the town, a bit lost to say the least. She found herself in the outside the village hall at the centre of Ponyville, looking around at the other ponies going about their daily business. A glittering crystal tower stood over the rooftops of the town, standing as quite an impressive sight, although not exactly in keeping with the village's rustic aesthetic. However, to be fair, it wasn't the only building which stood out, as some buildings seemed to deliberate go against the grain in terms of their architecture, sporting bright purple roofs; one building looked like a jester's hat, one was gloriously opulent and had a roof which looked like a carousel, and one looked like it was made of gingerbread, and smelled just as inviting.
It wasn't clever, as she hadn't any money, but she didn't mind at least taking a quick peak at the wares that gingerbread house bakery place seemed to be selling. She wasn't hungry, but she was curious. She trotted up to the store's windows, looking inside at the bakery's produce: A rich selection of cakes, biscuits and other treats, the likes of which Paver had not enjoyed in more than a week, and had suddenly realized how much she desperately missed such things.
Suddenly, she as happened upon by a bolt of pink which had, upon seeing Paver from inside the shop, homed in on her like a missile. "Ooooh! It's you!" The poofy pink pony squeed as she bounced around the former mayor pony. "You're the pony who Futtershy found in Froggy Bottom Bog! You're new around here, and I know, because I know EVERYPONY here in Ponyville!" She beamed as she continued to speak in a lightening pace. "I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"Erm, err, hello. I'm Paver, Paver Goldstreets..."
"It's nice to meet'cha! I'm soooooo glad you came to see me! You're supposed to have your Welcome to Ponyville, Get Well Soon Party! Come on!"
Paver then found herself dragged into the shop by the truly elastic Pinkie; within the span of but a few seconds, she was suddenly in the considerably large store-front, which also seemed to double up as a regularly hired space for parties... Such as right now. She was quite frankly astonished at the sheer quantity of ponies who had managed to comfortably cram themselves into this floorspace.
Paver was in such a bit of a blur at the suddenness of her situation, she barely even registered the frivolity and cheering of the guests Pinkie had invited. For Pinkie, five ponies in particular seemed especially interesting... And a dragon, strangely enough, though it was very small, and seemed quite friendly.
"Hey!" She called out to Paver, beckoning her over. "Paver! Paver! Come quick and meet my friends." Paver nodded, trotting over. As she did, Pinkie turned to the other five ponies. "Hey girls! This is Paver Goldstreets! She's just come outta the hospital and she's all well again..."
"Hold on." One of them spoke... Wait... An alicorn!? Paver figured out very quickly just who she was talking to.
"Princess Twilight?" Paver's eyes widened. "Oh, sweet Celestia. I'm sorry! I knew there was an exuberant pink pony who was part of an extremely powerful band of six friends, but... How could she not figure out this was the Pinkie Pie?!?! Stupid, stupid Paver, she cursed in her mind.
"You, you should be dead?" Twilight gave her a look of confusion, and a little bit of shock. "You, you drowned? I was at Manehatten a week ago, and I was told the whole story!"
"Erm, Sugarcube?" The orange pony (Applejack, Paver quickly figured now she realized who she was talking to) interjected. "If ah' recall, Pinkie had been suspicious about that story the whole time. And, though she's a bit of an odd one, ah' reckon, now the old mayor is standing right here, it kinda throws everythin' into the pig muck. It'd be dumber than a doorstop on a freezer if we still believed Paver was at the bottom of Lake Manehatten." She frowned. "If Fluttershy hadn'ta come find me when she did, we'd have a dead mayor in the Everfree, and that's the truth of it."
"Oh, of course!" The only other unicorn of the group, Rarity, added. "It would've been a true tragedy. Paver dear was such a wonderful mayor, and with such a lovely sense of taste in style. I mean those shoes, darling. They're gorgeous, and they were in such a state when we found you... I could resist trying to fix them up a bit when the doctors weren't looking."
Paver frowned. "It's these damn things which nearly got me killed in the first place. They're cursed, and I cant get them off."
"Oh, my." Rarity winced. "I do apologize, darling. If I'd have known... I suppose it WAS rather odd the doctor's weren't able to remove them while we were there."
It was then Paver turned to see the rather quiet, butter yellow pegasus, who had not said a word so far. "Erm... Yeah." She nodded. "I'd only gone to take some frogs home, and to visit the local hydra..."
"A hydra?!?" Paver felt blood leave her face, leaving it pale in its absence. "There was a hydra in that bog the whole time?!"
"Oh!" Fluttershy squeaked. "Don't worry. Paul, George, Ringo and John aren't that bad. They, they usually have more arguments with each other than ordinary ponies. They're quite nice when you get to know them..."
"Nice!?!" The other Pegasus, Rainbow Dash blurted. "They tried to KILL you!"
"That was years ago." Fluttershy retorted, as closely as she could possibly get to shouting. "They were having a real bad day then, it wasn't how they normally are."
"Oh, feathers to that! And they have NAMES? You'll be giving names to that Cerberus next as well!"
"They DO have names! they're Shadow, Chance and Sassy, because HE'S the witty one!"
The little dragon looked increasingly irritated, and Twilight caught onto this quickly. "Guys, please, we're going off topic!" The group fell silent, and Twilight approached Paver. "The shoes are stuck to you?" Paver nodded. "Hmmm, let me try to fix that with my magic."
As the party continued on, Twilight quietly slipped upstairs with Paver to somewhere move private. She paced about slightly, a curious look upon her face. She turned to face Paver, the beige unicorn's shoe-clad hooves were enveloped in Twilight's purple magic. She felt a tug as Twilight tried to obvious first step, and simply tried to pull them off with magic: As expected, it didn't work, on any of her hooves.
"My, those things really are stuck on tight." Twilight commented. More magic, this time summoning one of her many books from the either with her horn's magic. She flipped through the pages at a lightening speed. "Aha! This should be it! I'll just use a counter-curse spell! It's supposed to be able to remove curses and magic from anything... Normally! We'll get those shoes off in no time!"
She charged a new spell with her horn, creating a bright glow of white magical light. She aimed at the hooves of the increasingly nervous Paver, and fired. The bolt of magic split into four smaller bolts, and each in turn flew at one of the shoes. The second they touched the shoes, the bolts suddenly bouched sharply off the surface of each one, pinging around the room at increasing speeds, knocking things off shelves, breaking things, causing a panic before they finally faded!
"It, it didn't work?" Paver blinked, giving a shoe futile tug with her magic.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Twilight spat, shocked. "That, that spell can remove a curse from anything! It should've worked!" Her pacing intensified, going around in a circle so much she was set to wear a hole in the floor.
"So, what, what do I do now?" Paver asked.
"I, I don't know." the alicorn replied, her tone softer, but shaky. "There's... Oh..." She froze. "...Oh."
"Oh, what?"
"There's, there's one thing which is resistant to the counter-curse spell... A binding spell, far stronger than a merger clinging curse... Whoever cursed your shoes... They've done it in such a way that only they can actually take them off again... Otherwise, the only way we can get them off is, well, whoever made the binding curse has to die."
Paver felt her blood run cold. "So... There's nothing you can do?"
"I'm sorry." Twilight apologized remorsefully. "Unless we can find out who did this... No. The binding curse is, well, it's banned here in Equestria for this very reason. It puts the victim completely at the mercy of the perpetrator. It's dark magic..."
Paver hung her head, feeling what little hope she'd allowed herself to have fade. Now, she felt angry again.
"It's not fair." She spoke. "I, I didn't do anything. I was never lazy, or corrupt, or incompetent as a mayor. I worked hard every day, and I was liked by the people of Manehatten... I..." She sighed. "I didn't even see this coming... I, I suppose it really was naive to think nopony would disagree with me."
"...I, I don't think this was done because ponies were unhappy with the way you ruled. We'd been to Manehatten before, and things were really good under you... Well... Err... Some of my friends told me people were becoming less friendly with each other the last time they went there, but... None of us would've seen assassinations coming... Ponies aren't supposed to mean and evil to each other."
Paver snorted. "And yet here we are." She looked up at Twilight. "Not all ponies are good, it seems. I'd have thought you'd know that?"
"I'm the Princess of Friendship." Twilight defended. "I can't spread harmony, friendship, happiness and everything if I'm constantly distrustful of everypony I meet." She saw Paver's skeptical look. "I know your hurting right now, but if you let it warp you, you're never going to have any friends."
The former mayor still wasn't terribly impressed. "Right... I, I don't think I'm up for a party right now. To be honest, I just want to go back home."
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "We can get you on a train, and back in Manehatten by tomorrow, but... Where will you go?"
Paver paused. "Anyone I know could've been the one who did this to me. Anybody on my yacht on that night... I can't trust anybody there, no matter what you say..." She sighed, now SHE was pacing. "...I, I think I'll go to live with my mother, and my little brother... If there's anypony I can trust, it's them."
"But, what if the pony who wanted to kill you is still there?" Twilight asked. "...I suppose it's your choice, but be careful, okay? You should lie low for a bit, until everything's cleared up... I think I'm going to have to write a letter to Princess Celestia over this..."