Ponyville the Town of Youth

by Ironskull

Day 13 Part 2: Sugar Rush

"We have a problem, everypony!" cried Twilight. "My thesaurus is on a rampage through town!"

"Rampage?" said Dinky. "You mean worse than the other books?"

"Trust me," said Rainbow Dash, "this thing is scary."

"Is it dangerous?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Yes," answered Twilight, "but not to us, unless we try to get in it's way. The only thing on Thesaurus's mind is catching the other books!"

"What?" asked Sweetie in confusion. "Why?"

"I'm not sure," said Twilight. "but I doubt it wants to be friends with them. We need to catch Thesaurus before it can cause any damage!"

Suddenly, Fluttershy burst into the Fort.

"A book has been ambushed!" she cried.

"Uh oh..." muttered Rainbow Dash.

---

"What is that chattering noise?" asked Diamond Tiara. "Is that the... books?"

"Yes," answered Fluttershy. "They are worried about their friend!"

As they rounded a corner, Twilight saw a swarm of books hovering in the air a short distance away, making quite a lot of noise with their pages.

Twilight ran ahead of the group toward the swarm. Once she drew close, she realized that the flying books were all facing a lone book sitting on the ground.

It appeared to be unharmed, except for the fact that it was quivering.

She grasped the book in her magic and lifted it up. It did nothing to resist.

She read the title.

The Fable of the Mare within the Satellite

Twilight hesitated, staring at the bizarre book title.

"Is it okay?" asked Fluttershy. "It looked okay to me, but it seemed so upset!"

"Something is not right," said Twilight uneasily.

She cracked the book open and read from the first page.

On one occasion on top of a stage, within the mystic acreage of Equestria, there subsisted twofold relatives.

"This can't be right," said Twilight aloud.

She continued reading.

The senior sibling elevated the sun for the duration of the day and the earlier sibling elevated the satellite all through the nocturnal.

"This book is not okay!" announced Twilight, slamming the book shut. "Thesaurus has rewritten nearly every word with synonyms with almost no regard for sentence flow or logic! It makes my head hurt reading this! If I wasn't certain of it before, I am now. That book is a monster!"

"Wait a second, Twi!" cried Apple Bloom. "We ran off in such a hurry, ah didn't get a chance to ask, how is it that these books are alive in the first place?"

Twilight lowered her head.

"It's my fault. I exposed them to poison joke."

"Poison joke!" cried Apple Bloom. "Weren't you listenin' when I told you how dangerous that plant is?"

"I didn't think that using it on inanimate objects would be a problem," said Twilight. "I didn't realize that the books would become animate."

"But why? Why do this?"

Twilight sighed. "Scientific curiosity. I did learn a few things though. The effects of the poison joke are highly unpredictable from a practical point of view, but the effects do make some ironic sense. Which tells me that the poison joke somehow must have a mind of it's own, and is furthermore capable of understanding language and humor. The most extreme example was with my thesaurus. All I can say is that poison joke has a unique sense of humor."

"But if that thing is alive because of poison joke," said Applejack, "then can't we just use that cure that you told us about to get it to stop scaring everypony and destroying your books?"

"No," answered Apple Bloom. "Most of the ingredients for the cure grow in the Everfree Forest. Making a cure is not an option."

"But then what can we do?" cried Twilight.

"What's the big deal?" asked Rainbow Dash. "They're just books. Why don't we just let Thesaurus have them?"

"Rainbow!" cried Twilight in shock. "Look at how scared they are!"

"That one seems fine," said Rainbow, pointing to the 'The Fable of the Mare within the Satellite' book.

"They don't want to end up like that, Dash!" cried Twilight. "And besides! Do you really want a monstrous Thesaurus tearing up the town while pursuing these little guys?"

"Well, I guess not," said Rainbow. "That would be a little too chaotic."

"I don't think Discord would be happy to hear you say that," remarked Scootaloo.

"I think you're wrong about that," said Sweetie Belle. "I don't think that Discord ever gets upset. He'd probably just laugh."

"Twilight!" cried Fluttershy. "There's something wrong with this one too!"

Twilight hurried to Fluttershy's side. She was holding another book.

"Did it get rewritten too?" asked Twilight urgently.

"No, but it has stopped moving!"

"Stopped moving?"

"Yes! It teleported into my hooves and snuggled up against me, and it hasn't moved an inch since!"

"Oh, is that the 'Fundamentals of Teleportation' book? I was quite astonished to discover that it was capable of casting the spell written in it's pages, but it's no surprise that it wore itself out so quickly. Teleportation is a rather taxing spell to cast even when traveling almost no distance at all, and that book was casting the spell over and over. I certainly don't blame it. If I was able to cast that spell, I would use it all the time.

"But, unlike me, the spellbook does not have a renewing energy source. The energy comes straight out of the magic sustaining it's animation, and it runs out eventually. The effects of the poison joke are now effectively dismissed. It's just an- ordinary spell book now..."

"Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" asked Applejack.

"It might be possible to return Thesaurus back to normal by forcing it to expend all of it's energy," said Twilight thoughtfully. "But that is not going to be an easy task. Unlike the teleportation spell book, it does not expend it's energy in large bursts. These books probably use energy for three things: First, it takes energy for the books to simply exist in an animated state, but the amount of energy that uses should be largely insignificant. If they were to sit still and do nothing at all, there is no telling how long they would last.

"The second thing they require energy for is motion. Flight is probably particularly taxing. For most books, movement is probably the main use of their energy.

"And the last thing that they use energy for is magic. As far as I can tell, only the spell books and Thesaurus have the ability to expend energy in this way. Unfortunately, I have no idea how taxing it is for Thesaurus to magically rewrite texts.

"So, there are two things that we can do to cause Thesaurus to run out of energy prematurely. We can force it to stay physically active, and we can intentionally let it alter texts."

"But we can't let Thesaurus catch these little guys!" cried Fluttershy.

"That won't be necessary," assured Twilight. "I may have animated nearly every book in the library, but there must be more books that we can find around town!"

---

"Yoo-hoo!"

Thesaurus stopped in the air and swiveled around to face the cheery voice. There was a pink foal waving at it. But not with her hoof.

"I have books for you!" cried Pinkie Pie, waving a mundane book in the air. She was wearing two saddlebags, both stuffed impossibly full of more books that piled up into the air as high as Pinkie was tall.

She tossed the book on the ground. Meanwhile, Twlight, who was watching from afar with binoculars, felt her stomache clench, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Thesaurus let out a roar and flew at the book. It hovered in the air above the book and green magic shot from it's pages and into the book.

It then lunged at Pinkie, who immediately zipped out of sight.

Thesaurus stopped in confusion and looked in all dirrections.

"This way!" cried Pinkie, poking her head out of a snowy bush. "If you can catch me, I'll give you another book!"

---

"Are you sure Pinkie Pie will be safe?" asked Fluttershy.

"Absolutely," answered Twilight. "I've seen that filly in action, and there is no way that a brute like Thesaurus will get the best of her. Even if Thesaurus manages to catch her, all she has to do is let it have another book and run off again."

"Ah just hope Pinkie can keep this up," said Apple Bloom. "This might take a while."

"I hope so too," said Twilight. "But if necessary, we can switch Pinkie out. We can replace her energy with speed!"

---

"Pinkie!" shouted Rainbow Dash at a pink blur, which suddenly rushed toward her and then instantly came to a stop about a foot away, revealing a panting Pinkie Pie.

"You... called?" huffed Pinkie.

"Pinkie, you've more than done your part! Switch with me!"

"Thaaaanks Rainbow Daaashhh, what a relief..."

Rainbow suddenly heard a growling noise. She looked behind Pinkie and beheld Thesaurus.

Rainbow wasted no time in shooting off like a rocket and tackling the book.

"Be careful, Rainbow Dash!" cried Pinkie. "Don't let it escape!"

As if on cue, Thesaurus flew free from Rainbow's grasp and began flying away.

"I've got this!" insisted Rainbow as she flew after the raging book.

"Wait!" cried Pinkie. "I didn't give you any of the books!"

"I won't need them!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

---

"Wow-wee!" exclaimed Pinkie as she opened the oven in Sugar Cube Corner. "All that being chased by a monstrous volume has made me hungry! These cupcakes will hit the spot!"

She reached inside the oven and pulled out a large tray.

"Now all that's left to do is put on the icing!"

"Those look delicious!" remarked Twilight.

"They definitely don't look anything like what I always end up with..." muttered Sweetie Belle.

Twilight grabbed a plastic knife in her magic and started helping Pinkie ice the cupcakes.

"Do you think that Rainbow Dash is still okay?" asked Twilight.

"Applejack checked with her a few minutes ago," said Apple Bloom. "She said she was fine."

"Well, I hope she doesn't over-exert herself," said Twilight in a worried voice. "I understand that she want's to be helpful, but she doesn't need to expend herself unnecessarily. I think we're going to have to switch her out for somepony else again!"

"Ah think my sister can handle it if it comes to that," assured Apple Bloom.

Twilight was about to ice another cupcake when she realized that there was one missing.

"Pinkie!" she cried in annoyance. "Are you eating the cupcakes before we've even finished?"

"Yep!" cried Pinkie. "You can too, you know! Nopony is stopping you! Just be careful, they're hot!"

"Well..." began Twilight reluctantly. "I am rather hungry..."

She levitated a cupcake out of the tray and carefully took a bite.

"Whoa!" she cried out. "Pinkie, even though I must have had your treats over a dozen times by now, they never cease to amaze me! Um... I think I'll just... have another?"

"Sure!" agreed Pinkie. "That's what they're there for! And I can always make more!"

"So long as we can keep finding ingredients," said Twilight, grabbing another cupcake.

---

"Common, common!" cried Twilight with glee, hopping up and down with energy. "We should totally do something fun! Let's do something fun! You want to race to the Ponyville Tower?"

"Twilight, what's wrong with you?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I think I might have put a little too much sugar into that last batch of cupcakes," admitted Pinkie.

"What?" cried Apple Bloom. "What did ya go and do that for?"

"Well, I was just so tired after all that chasing that I wanted something super-extra strong to make up for it!"

"It was sooooo worth it..." said Twilight, still bouncing. "So sweet and delicious! I bet I could solve my homework in ten seconds flat! You know, if I still had homework!"

"Okay..." said Sweetie Belle, backing away from Twilight. "This is getting weirder than that time when we heard her cutie mark story..."

"Hey, that's it!" cried Scootaloo.

"What's it?" asked Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom in unison.

"Twilight!" cried Scootaloo, ignoring her fellow crusaders. "Could you please tell us the story of how you got your cutie mark?"

"Huh?" said Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

Twilight made an exaggerated gasp. "You want to hear my cutie mark story?"

"Yep!" said Scootaloo.

"Um, Scoot," whispered Sweetie Belle. "What are you doing? We've already heard this story, remember?"

"Yeah," whispered Apple Bloom. "And you know what she was like when she was finished telling it!"

"Exactly!" whispered Scootaloo.

---

"It was unbelievable!" cried Twilight, vibrating with excitement. "Way beyond even my wildest dreams! And, of course, when I heard Princess Celestia's offer, there was only one possible answer! YES! YES! YES YES YES YESYESYESYESYES-"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders watch in astonishment as Twilight's bouncing turned into an eratic blur and began shooting through the room like a ping pong ball.

"Take cover!" cried Apple Bloom, who rushed under a table and was quickly joined by Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Pinkie Pie.

"Wow! Look at how happy she is!" declared Pinkie. "That looks like fun."

"Scootaloo, what in the wide world of Equestria were you thinking?" cried Applebloom, trying to make herself heard over the noise of pots and sacks being knocked into the floor. "You've gone and pinkified Twilight!"

"We need to get her outside!" cried Scootaloo.

"Outside?" cried Twilight's voice. "Are we going to play a game?"

The purple blur shot through the kitchen door and disappeared.

"After her!" cried Scootaloo.

---

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was playing keep-away with Thesaurus with its bookmark. However, a strange sight near sugar cube corner caught her eye.

"What the hay?"

Rainbow charged toward the ground and landed just in time to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders burst through the front door of Sugar Cube Corner.

"What's going on here?" cried Rainbow in astonishment, watching as a violet tornado drifted down the street.

"Rainbow!" cried Scootaloo. "Good timing!"

Scootaloo turned toward Twilight. "Hey, Twilight! You want to take over for Rainbow Dash?"

"Sure! Sounds like lots of fun!" cried the tornado.

Suddenly, there was a roar from above.

"Uh oh!" cried Rainbow Dash, looking skyward. "Here it comes!"

Suddenly Twilight's whirlwind launched skyward and the unsuspecting tome was pulled inside.

"What should we do first, huh?" cried Twilight. "I know! Let's measure the time it takes to run around all of Ponyville, and then calculate the circumference of the town!"

---

Some time later...

"Here we are!" cried Twilight happily, clutching the massive book to her chest. "Isn't the view from up here just incredible?"

Thesaurus didn't respond.

Or move at all.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Twilight. She held the book out.

"Oh, are you getting tired already? I mean, that was what we were trying to do all along, but I was hoping that this could last a little while longer... Oh well. I guess I'll just have to watch the night sky all by myself."

Suddenly, Twilight realized exactly where she was.

"Huh? How did I wind up on top of Ponyville Tower? And how am I going to get down from here?"

Twilight looked all around, but there were no apparent footholds for her to use to even begin climbing down the large bell tower.

"I guess I'm stuck here," said Twilight. "Oh, how ever did I get up here in the first place? I... I just jumped up, right? But that can't be! Oh, I really hope somepony finds me soon..."

Comments

[Ironskull]

Now that the holidays are over and I've finished binging on Fallout 4 and Dragon's Dogma, I've finally gotten back into a writing mood. Hopefully I'll keep it long enough to finish this fic. Hope you guys enjoy.

[Eruantalon]

It lives; horray!

(And I love the picture of Twilight running around Ponyville with the Thesaurus.)

[Maran]

Love the thesaurus jokes. I still feel that Applejack and Rarity are underused in this fanfic, though. I don't even remember where the heck Rarity is.

[Ironskull]

6956235 It's because Rarity and Applejack (and Fluttershy) are the least childlike of the mane six, I feel, and therefore I have to make something up about how I think they should act, which I have somewhat avoided, and it's not good. You are right, they definitely need to show up more often. This is exactly why I asked people to point out this sort of thing in the early chapters, I figured this would happen. So, thank you for calling it to my attention. I'll drum up something for them soon.

[Daemon Wolf 22]

"What?" cried Apple Bloom. "Whatever did you go and do that for?"

This should either be reworded or you named the wrong Crusader.

"Twilight!" cried Scootaloo, ignoring her fellow crusaders. "Could you please tell us the story of how you got my cutie mark?"

Should be "your".

[Ironskull]

7148559 I'm afraid I don't understand the problem with the first one. I have fixed the second one.

[LucarioFan2066]

"I hope so too," said Twilight. "But if nessassary

*Necessary, Ironskull, necessary.