Zecora stopped suddenly, craning her neck down to the forest floor. Behind her was Spike that went around her, “Did you find something?” he asked.
The shamare hummed, “From these hoofprints I see, there were once three…” she looked further down, “Yet it seemed that sometime before, a group of three became four. Here three ponies have legged, and there the fourth was dragged.” She went up closer to the ground in which she spotted a strand of hair. “It seems that Rainbow Dash was pulled to that hill, in the direction, my guess, towards Ponyville.”
“So wait,” Spite thought aloud, “how do you know if Fluttershy or Applejack were here?”
Zecora walked further up the path in which she picked up a yellow feather and another strain of golden hair. “Judging by this hair and this feather, I could safely say that they were together.” She looked around the forest floor once more. “Although I must confess, whoever is the fourth is a work in progress. Perhaps it’s a Pegasi that had come directly from the sky. Yet, rests assure Spike, the direction we go is what you’ll like. For if we head towards the town, our friends maybe found.”
“Okay, so to Ponyville then,” the baby drake asked and she nodded. “Well, come on; let’s see if we could find them.”
The mare nodded and the two began to head towards the town, “There is something that I wonder, about your friends you have yet to answer.”
“What do ya mean?”
“For if you require my help, especially when you arrived with a yelp. ‘My friends have gone missing,’ you say, but you’ve neglected in what has gotten you concerned today.”
Sighing, he replied, “I’ve messed up big time Zecora. Twilight was studying some enchanted books from a different world, in which I’ve accidentally gave to our friends. Since this morning, Pinkie isn’t acting like Pinkie, and Rainbow had stolen something from Derpy. Whatever those books have done, I think it changed their personalities completely. I don’t if I or Twilight has any idea if we can change them back.”
“Perhaps help from me is in need, if to bring our friends back is to succeed. Perhaps the best way to solve this confusion is to find the simplest solution.”
“Yeah, but first thing’s first, we’ve got to find where they are. That is, if we’re lucky.”
_*_
“Now what do we say?” Mary Poppins asked.
Peter grunted, nudging the mailbag closer to the gray pegasus, “I’m sorry I stolen your bag even though we were hungr- ow!” It was at this moment that the nanny gave a whack against the rainbow mare’s head with the back of the umbrella. “What was that for?”
“Keep your temper,” said the unicorn.
“Is that it?”
“No, don’t grumble while saying your apology, it’s very rude.”
For Derpy, she picked up the mailbag and looked inside it, “How many muffins did you eat?”
Alice thought for a moment, “I know I had one and so did Dorothy. But Peter had at least three or four.”
The gray mare sighed as she put the bag around her neck, “At least I can still eat while delivering the mail.” She turned to Mary, “And thanks for helping me giving my bag back. I never thought that a Prince yourself would do so.”
The Nanny sniffed, “Manors are everything, even if this Prince Inside hardly knows it.” She tapped the side of her head. “Now my mind is a little fuzzy, but could you please tell me where the school is? Perhaps I could help these children find their teacher so I could locate their parents.”
Derpy blinked, “You do realize that they’re not kids, right?”
“Well they certainly act as such,” Marry sniffed again. “May I repeat, where is the school?”
“I think it’s that way,” she pointed down a road, “Just go down three streets and go… left. Keep going straight and you’ll run right into it.”
“Thank you very much,” the white stallion turned down the street with the two girls and a dragged pegasus following behind.
“Can I ask a question Ms. Poppins?” Dorothy asked.
“You may.”
“Why did you ask where the school was? I thought you were helping us go home.”
“I am. Teachers tend to know a lot of things. If we find the teacher, then we can know where in the world we are, and, what’s more, we can know where to go from here.”
“I never thought of that,” Alice commented. “Perhaps she might know what’s going on.”
“Or maybe we could fly,” Peter said, fore legs crossed but still dragged by the tail. “Or is that something that you haven’t thought of?”
Mary huffed, “It is never a good idea to fly off without knowing where you’re going.”
“Where’s the fun in that? If you want to find something that can’t be found you have to be lost first. Otherwise, everyone would know where to find-” Then Peter was cut off when there was a loud explosion that came from behind them.
All four turned towards the source of the sound and saw red sparkling fireworks in the air. “I knew I added too much cinnamon.” A high speaking voice said before stepping out from the alleyway. “That was way bigger then I anticipated.”
“Young lady,” Mary said getting the Pink mare’s attention, “Did you set off that firework?”
The mare in a plum suit giggled, “Two things: A, although I look like a girl, I know for a fact that I’m a full grown man. And two, that was no firework. That’s a new candy I’m experimenting with that went wrong.”
“But it exploded,” Alice pointed out.
“It was supposed to,” Mr. Wonka said, “That’s supposed to be my latest creation – the Cinnamon Firecracker. It’s supposed to be very spicy when in your mouth and it explodes when outside like a firework. I’m making it for children who don’t have enough money to buy fireworks on any given holiday around the world. Of course they only come in red at the moment but perhaps I could use other flavors to make them explode in a verity of colors.”
“That is the most outrageous idea that I’ve ever heard in my life,” Ms. Poppins told the Candy Maker. “To think that children would come in contact with these things, what if they start fires or burn those that are eating these things?”
“Well that would be unlikely sir,” the pink mare grinned. “Everyone knows that you can’t ignite an edible firework if it’s in your mouth because your saliva is made out of water. Besides, I’ll put a warning of course to tell children to make sure that they have these outside in a place where there’s a less likely chance of something catching fire.”
“Can I have some?” Peter asked raising his hoof.
“Absolutely not, I still haven’t gotten it quite right yet, there’s too much cinnamon in it that cause too big of an explosion… I say, I know this is rather out there but, is it me or have I seen all of you before?”
Alice step forward, “For some reason, the name Pinkie Pie comes to mind, only I’m not exactly sure how I know.”
“Do tell me that you woke up this morning as this too?” The Candy Maker asks, “As if that you know you’re really human but for some reason you’re a talking pony.” All four of them nodded, “In that case, how’d you do? I’m Mr. Willy Wonka.”
“Alice, get away from that stranger,” Mary said.
“Oh come come ma’am, how can a stranger be a stranger if you said ‘hello’ and told you their names? Why at that point, I’m a bit of an acquaintance am I not?”
“Wonka’s got a point,” Dorothy confessed. “Well hello, I’m Dorothy Gale. This here is Alice Liddle and that’s Peter Pan. Oh, and this is the nanny name Mary Poppins.”
“Is that so,” the pink mare went up to the sky blue pegasus, “You’re name is Peter? Funny, I think I understand how you feel. About knowing that you’re a fellow but somehow you woke up in a body that isn’t exactly for you.”
“Especially when I know I’m still a boy,” the Neverland child said. “Do you want to come along with us? To see if we can get back to where we’re supposed to be?”
“I don’t know what good that will bring, but that Mrs. Cake in the shop had told me to go on break for a while, so I don’t suppose that a little wondering around would hurt. Besides, I’m rather curious about this place myself.”
“If I allow you to be near the children Mr. Wonka,” the nanny said, “do I at least have your word that you won’t cause any explosions?”
“Well I don’t have any matches in my pockets and that last test of mine defiantly needs to go back to the drawing board, so you have my word.” Mary told the children to stay close as the Candy Maker hopped behind, “By the way, where are we going?”
“To the schoolhouse to hopefully get some answers,” Ms. Poppins said.
_*_
“Honey, please come out from the table,” Cadence pleaded. “I promise that there’s no witch that’s here to eat you.”
A head peeked from underneath the tablecloth. For Twilight, she can’t tell if seeing her older brother like this was amusing or heart wrenching. “Thou art a trick, I know it,” Hansel said before ducking underneath the white cloth once more. “I want my sister, I want to go home.”
“Hansel,” Twilight said, “we are telling the truth. You’re safe, see? No cannibalistic witches here. We want to help you get home as well as soon as possible.”
The Princess of Love lay down on her belly, gently lifting the edge of the cotton cloth with her hoof so she could see her “husband” beneath that’s curled into a ball, his back right up against the wall. Hansel wasn’t shaking in fear, but his eyes defiantly showed it. “Do you want somepony else to talk to?”
He nodded.
“Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know a place called ‘The Black Forest?’”
“Yes,” he said meekly, “me and my sister live next to it.”
“What if I get somepony that happens to live around there, would you be able to talk to them?”
Again, he nodded.
Twilight immediately caught on what Cadence had in mind. She summoned Cinderella up to the solar bedroom several minutes later. “Cinderella, could you help us talk Shi- sorry, Hansel out from underneath this table. He’s too scared to talk with us, but we think he might be able to listen to you.”
An eye peeked from underneath the cloth, “Hello?”
The maid looked down at him with confusion, “Why art thou hiding there?”
“Because I know I’m still trapped in the witch’s house with my sister. This must be a spell that is making me see things that art not there.”
“Thou speakest the way I do. Pray tell, where art thou from?”
“Baden-Württemberg.”
Cinderella blinked, “By the Black Forest?”
“Yes?”
“Tis funny,” the maid cautiously approached him, “I come from there too. How old art thou?”
Hansel thought for a moment, “Eight.”
“Be not afraid child, I too am confused as to how I come about here. And fear not, these two are good and pious like me, for we shalt not harm thee.”
The unicorn stallion inched his head out from underneath the table. “If thou art not a witch, then tell me the Lord’s Prayer. My father hath told me that a witch cannot bear to say it.”
“Very well,” the tall alicorn knelt down and begun saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our trespassers. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the glory be thine, forever and ever. Amen.”
This did the trick; Hansel crawled out from underneath the table and went over towards the maid. He smiled, “At least I know that I am not alone.”
“Since I hath gain thy trust,” Cinderella asked, “Doth thou know anything about the festival?”
Hansel looked up at her in confusion, “Festival? What festival?”
“The one the king has called forth in hopes to find his son someone to marry.”
“Why would the king do that? There is a famine that is starving everyone.”
Now it was Cinderella’s turn to be confused, “What famine, I have not heard of this?”