MLP G5: Want It Need It

by aceotaku

Chapter 2

"Hey! Have you heard about Professor Snake Oil's Patented Magical Cure-All?" Horseshoes grinned at a couple of ponies she was talking to in the middle of the city streets.

"Ummm noooo...?" They replied, brows raised quizzically.

"Oh well his caravan is out in the square! You gotta try some of his stuff it's amazing!"

"I don't know..." The stallion said. "It sounds like a scam..."

"Besides..." his girlfriend continued. "We don't have a lot to spend...we're saving up for our wedding..."

"Oh don't worry about it! The first try is free so even if it doesn't work for you, you won't have to spend a coin!"

"What exactly does it cure?"

"Everything and anything!' Horseshoes skipped and jumped with a grin. "That's WHY it's called a Cure ALL and not a Cure SOME."

"Well...I have been trying to go on a diet." The mare admitted. "Can it help me with that?"

"And can help me keep up my stamina?" The stallion asked.

"Sure! And even if it doesn't, it's not like you actually bought it."

"True...Alright, we'll just try a sample, but we're not going to be making any promises."

Horseshoes nodded enthusiastically and skipped off to talk to another pony she spotted, but she stopped in her tracks as Lickety Split hovered in front of her, blocking her path. "Horseshoes, what are you doing?"

"I am trying to help Professor Snake Oil get customers." Horseshoes stated simply, as if it explained everything completely.

"Why? He can run his own business, and besides, you got your own job to do, remember? You're in charge of preparations, remember?"

"But that's boring!" The Earth Pony groaned irritably. "Now, get out of my way, the more customers I get, the more Cure All I get!"

Lickety Split frowned in displeasure and snorted. "Fine. But once you're done, you better come back and help us. Enough people have stopped working due to this 'Cure All' fad..." He flew off to go back to his own work as Horseshoes looked up at him. He sounded really mad, and she was starting to feel bad... Oh well! Nothing like a bottle of the stuff to make her feel happy.

She smiled and shrugged it off as she bounced over to the next potential customer.

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Razzle's horn glowed as she used her magic to turn the pages of her textbook, biting her lip absently as she read through the book, not seeing much point in what a Sphinx's riddle had to do with magic usage.

"Razzle!"

She looked up, her features becoming stoic as she saw Lickety Split fly towards her. "What appears to be the problem, Lickety Split? Aren't you supposed to be helping prepare for the festival?" She flinched inwardly as she tried to hide her growing apprehension about her own preparations for the later days of the festival.

"I am, but I can't really work under these conditions."

Her brow rose. "What conditions?"

The Pegasus sighed. "Ok, ever since this shady salesman showed up, more and more people are dodging work and spending more time buying this guy's 'miracle cure-all'. Right now, there are only five of us left doing any actual work!"

"A salesman?"

"He says he's actually from here, and that he just travelled all over the world, and now he's selling some magic potion that'll cure anything. People are now completely obsessed with the stuff and won't work!"

Razzle sighed. "That sounds problematic, but why don't you bring it up with the knights?"

"I would, especially so they can check up on this Snake Oil guy, that's the salesman by the way, but..." The Pegasus looked at the ground, rubbing his neck.

"But what?"

"But Horseshoes' the one getting everyone to buy from him. She's hooked on the stuff and thinks it'll somehow help her become a knight!"

"Well talk to her!" Razzle snapped. "If she doesn't perform her duties, her application to officially join may be rejected!"

"I know that! But..." Lickety frowned. "I'm worried about her...but...I don't think I should meddle...We aren't that close...not like you two are."

The unicorn looked away. "W-what do you mean by that? W-we simply tolerate each other."

"You two are besties and you know it." He countered with a wry smirk. "So I think either you or her brother might be able to convince her get her act together. Besides...I'm actually worried about telling the knights. What if her helping this Snake Oil character impedes her chances of achieving her dream more than her shirking her jobs?"

Razzle Dazzle sighed. "You're right...I...I don't want to risk her losing her chances...I'm sure if we just talk to her we can convince her to stop."

"Alright, follow me." He flew off toward the square and Razzle followed.

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As the sun was setting and night was starting to fall, Horsehoes was leaning against a building and drinking down her bottle of well earned Cure-All, having earned eight bottles for her hard work.

"Horseshoes!"

The Earth Pony blinked and looked to her right, seeing Razzle Dazzle trot over towards her, Lickety-Split gliding above the ground from behind. Razzle stopped in front of Horseshoes, gazing at the green bottles that were resting on either side of Horseshoes suspiciously.

"What's up Razz?" Horseshoes asked with a carefree grin.

"What is 'up', is that you are seriously blowing your chances!" Razzle Dazzle snapped. "If you don't perform your duties correctly, there is a real chance the knights will reject your proposal to formally join! What are you even doing, sitting here and just drinking that...stuff!"

Horseshoes blinked. "Look, Razz, it's simple. It doesn't matter what happens, what could go wrong, because as long as keep drinking this stuff," she shook the bottle she was holding in demonstration, "then my enlisting into the knights is in the bag!"

"It's not some magical genie in a bottle!" The unicorn protested. "It's a freaking green bottle filled with an unknown liquid! Why do you think it'll be of any help to you in ANY way!?"

"Look, magic is a real thing right? So obviously if something is magic, it should be able to do something magical. Besides, Professor Snake Oil says it works, so it must."

"Why do you trust some person you never met before!?" Lickety Split countered.

"I dunno, it's just that the moment I tried some of this stuff, he just seemed very trustworthy, very...in charge. He's a cool guy!" Horseshoes grinned and took another swig of the cure all.

"Horseshoes listen to us!" Razzle Dazzle snapped and in her annoyance with her friend's nonchalant attitude snatched the bottle of liquid out of the Earth Pony' hoof using her magic. "We need to have a better look what it's in this 'cure all' before you drink any more of it! I mean look at you, you don't look healthy at"

"GIVE IT BACK!" Horseshoes roared and quickly rushed at Razzle Dazzle, punching her hard in the jaw and snatching the bottle back as the unicorn fell to the ground with pained yelp of surprise. "IT'S MINE! I NEED IT!" She quickly drank the bottle, calming down, and her look now cheerful and sunny. "Ok guys seriously, you gotta loosen up! Just talk to the Professor, I'm sure he'll hook ya up! Well later!" She grinned cheerfully, standing upright and carrying all of her bottles in her arms, not seeming to pay any mind to Lickety Split helping up the unicorn whom Horseshoes had just attacked so suddenly

"You alright?" The Pegasus asked.

Razzle looked up at him, looking pale and scared. "That...That was not normal..."

"You're right...I mean, I don't know her THAT well but...I've never seen her act like THAT."

Razzle Dazzle stood up, dusting herself off and rubbing her jaw, wincing in pain. "Ok, you go talk to Lieutenant Green Acres and tell him what's going on, I'll go have look at this Snake Oil guy."

"But what about Horseshoes?"

"That's why I said talk to the Lieutenant. He's her brother, he should want to make sure she doesn't get hurt by this any more than we do. Besides...If practically everyone is drinking that stuff and not just Horseshoes...Well, we'll need more than just the two of us to put a stop to it."

The Pegasus nodded and flew off as Razzle Dazzle headed towards the square to see the caravan that was causing all this.

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"I just...I feel uneasy." Green Acres sighed as he spoke to his commanding officer, Minty Breath, the commander of all the knights.

"Look, I know how it is." She gently placed a hoof on his shoulder. "She just got lucky in her sparring match, and she's just getting impatient. You know how she is, she'll get over it."

"No, that's not just it." The Stallion shook his head. "She's been acting strange ever since I saw her today. Talking weird, muttering something about 'the stuff', her hairs all scraggly and messy...well, I mean, messier than usual, her coat is getting pale and matted in places, her eyes...she looks like she hasn't slept for days, but I saw her earlier and she looked fine..."

Minty Breath pondered that. "You think she might be sick?"

"A sick person wouldn't be able to beat the tar out of me..."He frowned in thought. "And...I just realised...When she beat me, she...it was almost as if...she was acting as if she was POSITIVE that she would be immediately accepted into the knights."

Minty Breath's eyes widened slightly. "But surely she knows that's not how the process works? Sure you've told her it's not that simple or easy?"

He nodded. "Numerous times, back when she first applied and was acting like an excited child, sure that she would be accepted on the spot..." He looked down. "I thought...I thought she had realised that...I thought I was a better teacher than that..."

Minty Breath patted the Lieutenant on his shoulder comfortingly, offering him a friendly smile. "I'm sure she's fine...and you are an EXCELLENT teacher, and I will not hear any talk saying otherwise, understood solider?"

He smirked wryly. "Yes Commander."

Suddenly, the door to the Commander's office flung open, a black Pegasus walking in quickly.

"Wait...I remember you." Green Acres muttered. "You're...Lickety Split right? You were the one that helped heal the Flutterponies when Groger was infiltrating the Kingdom."

LIckety nodded, looking at the Lieutenant seriously. "I...I need to tell you something...Well, really, I should've told you first..."

Green Acres' eyes narrowed. "Tell me what? What has happened?"

"Well...It's...It's about Horseshoes actually..." The Lieutenant and the Commander exchanged a look as the Pegasus began. "You see..."

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Razzle Dazzle approached the large, gaudy caravan, the crowd's dissipating as night fell and everyone went home. She noticed that several people had purchased a fair few bottles of cure all. She did not like this at all.

She shivered a bit from the cold despite her standard cloak and vest, both from the cold and from the intimidating presence of the caravan. It stood as tall as a cottage, the wheels as large as her body, a strange mechanical device upholstered at the front of the caravan. She was unsure as to its purpose, and supposed she would need Lickety Split to take a look at it later if she ever had the chance. She walked up to the back of the caravan, spying a door.

As she neared, she closed her eyes, her horn glowing as her magic unlocked the door for her. It was tough, especially since she wasn't sure what type of lock it was or how it was built, but she decided to wing it and go through the usual methods. Fortunately, her first guess of a latch lock was correct and she merely had to use her basic levitation spell and not a more complex variant that her Master had taught her.

She slowly, carefully opened the door, careful as to not make a sound. Her hooves clip-clopped against the hard wooden floor, making her whince and she looked around.

A table, a chair, some leftover food left behind on a plate that sat on the table. Nothing seemed to out of the ordinary so far, she walked deeper in and saw a large table lined with bottles of Cure All.

"So many people have been buying this stuff, how can he possibly have so much in stock still?" She kept walking and saw a large mix vat, filled with a dark green, watery mixture. She gagged at the smell and saw a pot filled with a thorny, twisted, black coloured plant. It had no leaves or flowers, only thorns.

"What a weird plant..." She remarked and then noticed something hidden behind the vat and peered closer, pushing the vat out of the way to take a closer look at a large poster of paper nailed to the wall.

She gasped. The poster had a map of the Senate Building, instructions and directions...There wasn't enough details to determine everything, but she could see the direction this plan was heading.

"I...I got to tell the knights..." She turned and trotted back to the entrance of the caravan...and gasped as she saw an unfamiliar pony, and she was almost positive of his identity despite having never seen him before.

Snake Oil glared at her. "You do realise that trespassing on a person's private property is a crime, correct?" He smirked. "I could have you arrested."

She regained her composure and gazed at him calmly. "I had gotten lost."

He looked at her horn intently. "You're a unicorn, and I assume judging by your age you're a student."

"My...teacher had decided I should help the commonfolk prepare for the festival."

He snapped his hoof, whistling in remembrance. "Oh yeah, that festivals is coming along in a few days. Everyone must be working themselves to the bone." He silently moved to the side, allowing passage through. Razzle Dazzle slowly started walking.

"One other thing," Snake Oil began, "what did you find while you were snooping around in my caravan?"

"Nothing incriminating." Razzle replied, scared out of her wits despite her calm demeanour.

"Good." Snake Oil replied as the Unicorn was just at the door.

Suddenly Razzle's knees buckled and she felt a sharp pain in her head, she stumbled to door, only to feel a hard whack against her head, realising this sensation was the source of her pain. Her throbbing head was even more in pain, and her vision was growing dark, her body sagging as she struggled to keep walking.

Snake Oil slammed the curved end of his cane against Razzle's head, finally rendering her unconscious and prone on the ground. He gazed down at the Unicorn's prone body in contempt.

Author's Note:

Hey peoples!

I hope Ya'll are enjoying this story!

I really, REALLY hope the story isn't getting too dark here. That can't be helped with the subject I am sure you we are dealing with here.

Not much I can say without spoiling too much, though I should mention that Snake Oil has a cutie mark that looks like black, oily snake shaped like a dollar sign.

Also, most wizards and wizards-in-training, like Razzle Dazzle, wear brownish-grew cloaks and grey vests, the knights predominantly wear a silvery armour when on duty and most ponies in high positions (like the Union senators, for example) wear fairly stylish clothes. The common citizens are free to wear clothes or not as they see fit. Horseshoes and most Pegasi do not wear clothes.

I hope you all enjoyed it, and please comment! I am starved for proper feedback!