36. Toxic Gag
Twilight Sparkle is many things. A (normally) Unicorn of great power, the reincarnation of perhaps the strongest being she knows of (not that she advertises that fact, mind you), and the very faithful and loyal student of Princess Celestia. As such, when Celestia had told her to remain in the library until the next day, she took it as if God had just handed down an immutable command. (With the experience of Clark now bolstering her, she realizes she has issues. She is just unsure how to confront said issues.)
That did not, however, prevent her from becoming bored and antsy. So, with the revelation of the blue powder, Twilight took to studying it with gusto. At the very least it would keep her mind off of her changes.
Without access to her magic, her methods of study were limited to the magitech devices she owned. Taking some samples from Spike, and sending him to check on their friends to see if he had gotten it from them, she settled in for a somewhat uncomfortable study session. (Being bipedal really did not make things easy with quadruped designed furniture.)
Then she began to analyze it with some of her stronger microscopes, being very careful to not let the dust spread. She has since discovered two things.
- The dust was biological in nature, some kind of flora if she had to guess. It was unlike any flora she had ever seen though.
- The dust was infused with a magic she had never seen before, capable of causing physical mutations in the extreme. However, it did not seem to be malignant in nature, as when she had accidentally touched it, the worst to happen was her fingernails growing.
These two things combined led Twilight to suspect the powder came from the Everfree Forest, a veritable hotbed of all manner of strangeness. It also led her to wonder if the powder itself was the cause of her transformation. A quick but thorough search of her bed and bathroom confirmed that the powder had been on her as well, lending credence to her theory.
When Spike returned later with confirmation that their friends did in fact have the blue powder on them, Twilight began researching in earnest. Throughout all of this Spike documented every observation she made.
Near the end of the day, Twilight sent the information off to Celestia via dragonfire, hopeful her mentor and Doctor Tender could make use of it.
---
With a flash of green flame, Celestia was startled from her book by the appearance of a stack of papers stapled together, and then a plastic bag full of a strange blue powder with a simple scroll attached to it. Taking the scroll, she began reading aloud for the benefit of Tender, who was currently sitting in a chair across from her, apparently doing nothing.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
“I discovered this blue powder first on Spike’s scales, and later within my bed and shower. Spike also later confirmed that the same was true for my friends. Initial studies reveal that this powder, organic in nature, is capable of extreme physical transmutations on contact. Due to the organic nature of the substance, I have theorized that it is from the Everfree Forest and in fact the cause of the transformations of both me and my friends.
“(Yes, we later discovered that my friends have also been altered, though not in quite the radical way I have.)
“I have performed as much of a thorough examination of the powder as I could without access to my magic and Spike documented the results for me. The provide sheaf of papers are said results. I hope this aids in your research for a cure.
“P.S. Spike just raised a very good idea. Tomorrow morning I will gather my friends and we will seek out Zecora. As she lives within the Everfree itself, she may know of this powder and if it is indeed the cause of our transformations. And, hopefully, how to revert them.
“Your Faithful Student,
“Twilight Sparkle."
Celestia could only shake her head with a smile. “She really has changed,” she mused.
“Oh? How so?” Tender asked.
“Before she awakened her Hero Soul, Twilight was actually quite meek when it came to socializing with new ponies. Now she actively seeks them out when she sees the need.”
“Perhaps it is just her pragmatism overriding said meekness?” Tender guessed. “From what I understand, this Clark Kent was a stallion that valued secrecy, but threw it to the wind in favor of accomplishing his goals. She may still be hesitant in the face of casual socialization.”
Celestia shrugged, picking the power bag up in her magic. “Who knows. Now that we have a lead, I say we attempt to figure this out.”
Tender nodded and grabbed a Scanner Crystal from his desk. “Let’s.”
---
Twilight awoke the next morning a bit grumpy. Due to her now bipedal frame, sleeping on her relatively smaller bed was uncomfortable at best. Her back hurt and her head was pounding.
Pushing that aside however, she quickly prepared for the day and set out with Spike to gather their friends.
Applejack was easy. The mare was steaming mad about her size and eager to find a cure.
Fluttershy was not. The Pegasus refused to leave her home, or even show herself or speak. Rainbow Dash, who had been bunking with Fluttershy until she could actually regain the ability to fly home, left with them after assuring them that Fluttershy was fine. She just refused to be seen until she could be returned to normal.
Pinkie Pie was also pretty upset about being unable to talk, and had forced Applejack to start a song about Zecora being an evil enchantress. That had been cut off by Twilight, who had not been pleased Pinkie had fallen into accusing the Zebra without proof.
Granted, circumstantial evidence could in fact say Zecora had the opportunity, but that was why circumstantial evidence tended to not be valid in court. It pointed out possibilities, not facts.
Rarity had been even more angry than Applejack and eager to “politely” reprimand whomever was responsible. Twilight would have been worried if she didn’t see a giant, hugable, ball of fluff every time she looked at Rarity.
Actually… now that she thought about it… all of their situations were kinda funny. Well, most, since she didn’t know what actually happened to Fluttershy. It was a borderline cruel kind of funny, but still.
It made Twilight suspicious that Mr. Mxyzptlk was involved somehow. Being capable of dimensional travel, she wouldn’t say he couldn’t reach her. Though, considering how their last encounter went, she seriously doubted it.
---
Zecora couldn’t quite contain her smile at the sight of the five mares and one drake. “I suppose this stands as a cautionary tale for future endeavors into the Everfree Forest,” she mused. “Avoid the accursed blue flower, for it is no hoax. It will play quite the cruel joke.”
Twilight looked relieved at that. “Oh thank Rao! Please tell me this means you can fix this?” she asked. “I mean, I don’t necessarily mind being human, it’s certainly a new experience, but… the way the other ponies in town seemed scared at the sight of me makes me not want to go through that again.”
Zecora entered her hut and came back out with her Thaumonomicon. Flipping through the pages, she came to an entry. “Yes, here it is. Poison Joke. It is a magical species of flora that bears little to no resemblance to poison oak, of which it is named after. It develops a blue powder on its leaves, giving the illusion of blue leaves, which are imbued with minor chaos magic, and will cause a physical and sometime magical mutation in those who come into contact with the powder. The change itself seem to be guided by the users subconscious discomforts rather than any direction from the plant itself.”
“Well sakes, that explains why ah’m so small. I never liked the aftereffects of Gear Third…” Applejack muttered to herself.
“The change itself is temporary and will run its course after roughly a week, shorter if-”
Suddenly, there was a poof amidst the ponies, and then a startled purple Unicorn had replaced the human. "Zah?"
Zecora smirked. “Shorter if the afflicted is gifted with particularly powerful magic reserves. There is also a potion I can brew that will sap the chaos magic from you and return you to normal.”
“Oh PLEASE tell me you can do so quickly?!” Rarity all but pleaded.
“But it is quite the unpleasant concoction… and you must bathe in it.”
That took a moment to register for everyone, and as one they shuddered.
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Methinks you wanted sight, of that am I right?
I forgot Apple Jack ended up waking up Straw Hat's soul in a previous chapter...
Now I want to see her hit Sombra with a Gear Fourth.
will have to read again when storiy is complete
Very well done as always!
nicely done; also:
(nods) yeah, I can buy that, and actually matches up what we see both here and in the canon material, though I AM still a bit curious to see if "Flutterguy" made an appearance in the here and now...
I like Twilight's line of thought on it being non-evil in its intentions. Hopefully Fluttershy will take the bath and not be home bound until it wears off.
I just had a thought. What if, instead of Flutterguy, we got a Fluttershy reminiscent of Bulk Biceps. Only a half-cocked theory based on Steve Rogers pre-experiment and Fluttershy's discomfort at being the center of attention.
8887238
While I like the idea, I had something particularly special in mind, and should make old fans of the Captain America comics crack up in laughter.
8887245
I am not entirely familiar with some of the older comics, then with the research I tend to do. I may still get it. Eitehr way, I can't wait to see what you come up with.
8887245
Flutterwolf?
8887245
Don’t left us in suspense and woe us with the next chapter already. I’m dying to see what happened to our Ursa Major vanquisher.
8887638
Bad joke.
8888111
Not if you know the pre kobik's meddling history of Steve you'd know that, since she can't literally fight against drugs there the only option I can remember is the one reaching the ending I have offered...
I just binge read this entire story. Glad I saw it on the front page! Looking forward to more. :D
Considering Fluttershy is hosting the soul of Captain America, I could totally see her to have transformed into an actual Hydra! Which would no doubt cause extreme levels of awkward and explain why she didn't go with the group. She may end up demolishing her house if she tries to leave.
The Clark Kent part of Twilight is going to not have fun when Discord escapes. Now imagine if Mxy and Dissy teamed up.
8929691
They wouldn't, for the simple fact they too closely resemble each other. They'd eventually start fighting over who would get to do what.
The real terrifying thought is if these two duked it out without restraint.