Thirty-ish Minute Pony Stories

by Abecedarian

The Same All Over (Prompt #150)

TMP Prompt #150 - “The Great Escape”

Prompt: The Big Breakout

-

The Same All Over

“This is horrible!” Sweetie Belle wailed, poking at the red welts on her face. “How could this have happened!?”

“Now, now.” Rarity patted her sister’s shoulder and looked at their reflections in the mirror. “It’s just a natural part of growing up. It‘s a good sign! It means you‘re becoming a—”

“Growing up? Growing…” Sweetie Belle looked at her rump.

***

Far, far to the east, in a land off the map, a griffon’s head jerked up.

“Did you hear that?” He tapped his companion. “That is the sound of ultimate suffering.”

***

“Noooo!”

“Sweetie Belle!”

“NOOOOOOO!”

“Swee—!”

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Rarity grabbed her sister’s shoulders and shook her.

“Sweetie Belle! Get a hold of yourself! Having acne is not your special talent!”

She let go.

“Not if you’re my sister, anyway. Can you imagine what ponies would say? I’d have to lock you in the basement so nopony saw you!”

“Rarity!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Rarity checked her sister over. “My, if it went back that far, it is very widespread, isn’t it? Well, don‘t worry. We can put some medicine and concealer on you for the next couple of days and nopony will know the difference.”

“Can’t you make them go away right now? Is there a spell or something?”

“Not that I know of…but I wonder…”

***

“Don’t I wish,” Twilight Sparkle said. “If I could do that, high school would’ve gone a lot more smoothly for me.”

“Hasn’t anypony ever even tried?”

“Sweetie, body-modification spells, even ones that seem simple, are incredibly dangerous. The least I’d do is make it worse.” Twilight shook her head. “Nopony’s ever successfully cured acne with magic.”

“There, see?” Rarity said. “You just—”

“Although…” Twilight tilted her head to the side, eyes unfocused. “I don’t think anyone’s ever tried taking off somepony’s skin and replacing it…or making a clone with smooth skin and transferring somepony else’s mind into it…hm…or maybe a golem of some sort? Sweetie, would you like to be super-tough?”

“Would I!?”

“Twilight!” Rarity stomped her hoof. “No experimenting on my sister!”

“Oh, right. Sorry. You’ll just have to let it run it’s course. Take care of your skin and it should clear up. Especially when you get older. Though I have to admit I still break out occasionally.”

“Oh, I know! It’s like ‘I’m twenty—” Rarity coughed into her hoof. “*Ahem-hem* —years old! Why is this still happening’? Very frustrating.”

“How old?”

“Never ask a lady that, Twilight.”

“Sweetie, how old is Rarity?”

“I have no idea.”

Twilight stared at her.

“But she’s your sister!”

“You’ll find, Twilight, that nopony in Ponyville knows my real age.” Rarity smiled proudly. “Not even our parents.”

“Seriously? That-that‘s…really weird.”

“If you know how much trouble I went through to make it happen, you wouldn’t think it was weird at all,” Rarity said. “Anyway, Sweetie, the point is, just about everypony gets acne at some point. It’s a fact of life.”

***

Princess Luna stared into the mirror, jaw working soundlessly.

“How could this happen!?”

“Ooof.” Princess Celestia looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, that’s pretty bad.”

“This should be impossible!”

“No, not really. You are still technically an adolescent, after all.” Celestia tilted her head to the side. “This brings back memories. You know, I still had a few zits when I banished you?”

“I can’t go out like this!” Luna cried. “What will the subjects say!?”

“They’d probably say it’s appropriate that you rule the moon, with all those pockmarks—”

“Shut thy noisome mouth, foul harridan!”

“Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”

“Thou art—You are telling me that in a thousand years nopony’s come up with a cure for this…this plague?”

“No, nopony‘s…Hm. Well, I know one pony who might have something.”

***

“Do I ever!” Twilight grinned. “I’ve been working on all kinds of things! And the best part is, since you’re an alicorn, you might just survive them! Isn’t that great!”

“…Yes?”

Comments

[SPark]

Pfft. Oh Twilight, never change!