Chrysalis’s Concoction of Catastrophe
Chrysalis’s Concoction of Catastrophe
Along with the news of Chrysalis’s letter, the news of the romantic relationship between Princess Luna and the pony known as Cherub was still on everypony’s mind. Everypony was surprised not just by the fact that the once banished alicorn was now romantically involved, but by the fact she was with a mare. While most ponies were accepting of the news, some were disgusted by Luna’s gay relationship and tried to slander her and her lover.
Celestia brought this to an immediate end.
The new couple spent more time than usual together and Chrysalis loved every moment she spent with Luna. They would often stay in Cupid’s Arrow in order to gain some privacy and often the princess would cook dinner for them. They would exchange stories of their work while lying together on the couch and sometimes they would lay there and kiss with Luna still being shy. Of course, their personal time sometimes involved a certain protective sister coming along, watching all of Chrysalis’s moves. Chrysalis continued to repress the thought of the inevitable future, trying to feel happy with what she had now. Pinkie, however, occasionally reminded her and she either became depressed or even furious, telling her that they would just stick to the plan.
With the last pony sent on their way, Chrysalis leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Thank goodness for closing time.”
“This is always my least favorite part of the day,” Pinkie said sadly.
“Normally I would feel the same since this means we can’t create anymore love for my people, but all I desire is to be with my precious Lulu.” She picked up the picture frame and looked at it, smiling.
“I’ll go tell everypony we’re closing.” Pinkie hopped out of her seat and went out the door, causing loud cheering to enter the office for the moment the door was open.
The changeling looked up when she heard the strange noise. When she got up and opened the door, she saw ponies crowding around Rainbow Dash, who was standing on the table, and cheering her on. “What is going on here?”
“I made a bet with Rainbow Dash that she couldn’t eat a whole box of doughnuts in one go! She’s only one away from doing it!” answered Trixie excitedly as she watched.
“Really? Now this I gotta see.” Chrysalis made her way to the front to watch the remainder of Dash’s performance. She was glad the pegasus didn’t choose to eat from the jelly doughnut box as she was unsure of the effects of a pony consuming so much changeling slime at once.
Rainbow Dash reached into the box and pulled out the final treat. “You ponies ready for the finale!?” The whole room was filled with cheering. “Okay, here goes!” She flipped the doughnut into the air and caught it in her mouth when it came down, swallowing it in one bite. The ponies applauded her as she wiped her mouth and bowed. “Thank you, everypony, for watching this incredible feat performed by the amazing Rainbow Dash!”
Chrysalis stood up on the table with her. “What a great employee. Unfortunately, it is now closing time, but I hope we made this day memorable for you all. Come by tomorrow!” She and her employees waved to the ponies as they slowly emptied from her house. Once they were gone, she looked at Dash. “Looks like you’re going to have to do some extra exercise to burn that off,” she commented as she poked her slightly enlarged stomach.
“Totally…urp…worth it. With my hardcore training, I’ll have it all gone by tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash looked at the magician. “Pay up, Trixie.”
“Fine.” She pulled out some bits and gave them to her. “I may have lost, but it was definitely worth losing to see you pull that off.”
Rainbow Dash gave a weak laugh as she slowly headed for the door. “That’s because I’m awesome at everything I do. I’ll see you all…oh…” She suddenly started wobbling.
“Are you okay?” asked Fluttershy worriedly.
The Wonderbolt in training turned towards her friend with a forced grin. “I’m totally fine. I’ve got an iron stomach!” Dash took one step and fell onto the floor, moaning in pain.
“Too much food?” smirked Twilight.
“Ugh…maybe…”
“Sorry, but there can be only one Pinkie Pie,” mocked Chrysalis. With her magic, she picked her up and laid her on the couch. “You can stay with me until you feel better.”
“How are you feeling, Dashie?” asked Pinkie as she poked her stomach. “Really good with all those doughnuts in you, right!?”
Dash swatted her hoof away with little force. “Quit that.”
“Is there anything we could do?” offered Fluttershy.
“Let the girl tough it out. She was dumb enough to actually do it,” teased Chrysalis, causing Dash to groan.
“We could just get Zecora,” suggested Twilight. “I’m sure she has something to help Rainbow feel better.”
“That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Pinkie. “She’ll totally make her better in no time!”
“But who should get her? I don’t want to leave Rainbow,” said Fluttershy as she looked at her friend, who just groaned quietly and turned away.
“Make Trixie do it. It was her dumb idea,” suggested Chrysalis as she nudged the blue unicorn.
“But I don’t even know who Zecora is. Besides, it may have been my idea, but she was dumb enough to actually do it,” retorted Trixie.
Chrysalis laughed loudly, which annoyed Dash. “That is quite true. Poor foolish Dash took on a challenge too big for her to chew and even digest.” When she turned around, she saw Pinkie giving her a huge grin. Chrysalis looked back at the sick pony and figured out what her friend wanted her to do. “I suppose I shall bring Zecora if you all want to stay here with her.”
“Thanks, Cherub. I owe ya,” replied Dash weakly.
“No need. I’m always here for my friends.” She lifted Dash’s head and slid a pillow under it. “Now what does this Zecora look like?”
“She’s a zebra, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding her among the other ponies,” said Twilight.
“I don’t think I’ve actually seen a zebra,” admitted Chrysalis.
“She looks like a pony. She has a grey coat with some black stripes, a mohawk, and likes to wear golden bands around her neck and around one of her front legs.
“Easy enough.” Chrysalis went into her office and returned with her winter clothes on. “I’ll be back soon, so try not to blow chunks on my floor.” She exited Cupid’s Arrow as Dash put a hoof over her mouth, causing the others to rush to her side.
Chrysalis happily hummed to herself as she searched the snowy town for its only zebra. Ever since she and Luna became an item, it was difficult to bring her spirits down as she was often filled with so much joy and energy. She spent fifteen minutes looking and was unsuccessful. She remembered that the mares that worked for her mentioned that Zecora lived in the Everfree Forest for whatever reason. Chrysalis honestly knew very little of zebras, but they must have been born without fear as even she feared what lurked there.
As she approached the outskirts of the forest, she could feel her fear steadily climbing. She didn’t mind helping Rainbow Dash, but she wasn’t sure how far she was going to take their friendship. Chrysalis may have been powerful, but the horrors of the Everfree Forest were no laughing matter. She stopped herself, pondering her options. “If I end up getting lost in that forest or get attacked by some animal looking for Zecora,” scowled Chrysalis, “I will curse that stupid Trixie with my dying breath.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m right behind you. Is there something you wanted me to do?”
She jumped and turned around, finding a zebra in a brown cloak, who she immediately assumed to be Zecora, standing there. “Oh! I didn’t see you there. How long have you been following me?”
“I have been going in this direction for a while. I did not realize I had so much guile,” laughed Zecora.
Chrysalis faked a laugh. “How silly of me not to notice.” She felt angry with herself since she did not see that the only zebra in the entire town was just behind her, but at least she was safe from danger. “And yes, I do need something from you. One of my employees took on a bet to eat an entire box of sweets and is now suffering from a horrible stomach ache. Could you perhaps do something for her?”
Zecora chuckled, finding the situation as amusing as Chrysalis did. “Very well, I will come and drive the pain away. Now please, go and lead the way,” she said in a cheery voice. Chrysalis nodded and walked in the direction of her home with Zecora behind her. She also noticed that every time she spoke, she rhymed her words and wondered if that was a zebra thing.
Upon opening the door to Cupid’s Arrow, the ponies immediately looked at them. “I’m back, and look who I have brought with me.” She stepped aside and revealed the zebra behind her.
The ponies approached her while Rainbow Dash just laid there, eyes half open. “Hi, Zecora,” greeted Twilight. “Sorry to bring you so suddenly.”
Zecora’s expression became one of surprise. “My, My, Cherub. I had no a clue that all of these ponies were working for you.”
“It was just me and Pinkie Pie in the start, but later on she wanted me to hire all her little friends, so here they are.” Loud groaning caught their attention. “Anyway, your patient is Rainbow Dash over there. Better do something before her body rejects those doughnuts.”
Zecora went through her bag and retrieved a flask, holding towards the ill pegasus. “A simple potion is all you will need, just remember next time that your suffering was caused by pride and greed.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” muttered Dash right before drinking it. When she finished, she put the glass on the table and wiped her mouth. “So how long until it works? I want to go home.”
“A few minutes are all it will take, so just remain there for your own sake.”
As the younger ponies stood around Dash to keep an eye on her, Chrysalis examined the contents of Zecora’s bag. From what she could see, there were many types of flowers and potions inside, so Chrysalis assumed she was a sort of alchemist healer and couldn’t help but feel curious about her. “You know, I’ve lived here for quite a while and I’ve never seen or really heard of you, Zecora.”
“That is because I do not live near, for my presence has caused quite a bit of fear.”
She shot a glance out the window. “Yes, I’ve heard you’ve taken up residence in the Everfree Forest. Why would you ever want to live in that forsaken place?”
“The news of my residence does bring ponies alarm, but I shall not come across any harm. I choose my home there as that’s where many plants grow and it is in an area where many creatures do not go.”
“I see. At any rate, thank you so much for helping Rainbow Dash. How much do I owe you?”
Zecora raised her hoof and shook her head. “I often do not include with my services a fee as I am one who works for her community.”
“Are you sure? It would be no trouble for me at all. I do make quite a good amount of bits.”
“I am quite sure this is something I wish to do. And now, I shall bid you all adieu.”
The ponies and changeling waved as Zecora made her way to the entrance. Chrysalis thought it was so very kind of her to come on short notice while providing free services and wished she could repay her in some way. That’s when something hit her. Zecora was the only one of her kind in Ponyville and lived in the Everfree Forest, so she must have been very lonely. Chrysalis remembered how agonizing it was to not be around her kind and decided to take action. “Wait.” Zecora turned to her. “Perhaps there is another way I could repay you. You live completely alone, correct?”
“Yes it’s true, my home houses only me, but now I wonder what this reward could possibly be,” she spoke curiously while Pinkie suddenly started jumping.
“As you can see, I run a dating service, and I feel that no pony, or zebra, should have to be all alone, especially in such a dangerous forest. What I am offering you is a chance to find a special somepony, just for you!”
The other ponies all gasped happily and looked to Zecora with anticipation, but she shook her head. “I appreciate you offering to find me a mate, but I believe that thing should be left into the hooves of fate.” Zecora once again started to head outside. Chrysalis was surprised that she had rejected her offer, thinking that only an idiot would turn it down. Then again, this was the zebra who decided to live in the woods filled with dangerous beasts and not in the town with all the friendly ponies, so maybe she was a bit crazy.
“Are you sure, Zecora?” asked Twilight. “Cherub’s really good at what she does. She could really find you somepony nice.”
She nodded. “I am quite sure this is what I want to do, so for now, goodbye to all of you.”
Then, to their surprise, Pinkie jumped in front of her. “Wait! Don’t go! Having a special pony can be fun! I promise you that we can find you the one! We’ve helped mares and stallions find somepony nice, so please just consider Cherub’s advice. I don’t want you to go home all lonely and sad, just let us help you and you will be glad! If you stay here and let us do this, we can find you a pony that you can hug and kiss!” She knelt in front of Zecora, giving her saddest eyes.
Everyone in the room became still, taken by surprise by Pinkie’s sudden rhyming. Zecora looked down at Pinkie and then turned her attention to the changeling, smiling. “Very well, I have changed my mind. I’m curious of what pony you will be able to find.”
The changeling happily nodded. “I guaranteed you will be satisfied,” Chrysalis said as convincingly as she could while motioning Zecora to the backroom. Inside, she and Pinkie took their seats while Zecora sat in front of Chrysalis. “I know you want to go home because it’s late, so I won’t take up much of your time. Tell me, what sort of qualities are you looking for?”
“I seek a stallion, one courteous and smart. He shall also require a very big heart. I hope they do not fear the supernatural, for much of my work is quite magical. When I first arrived, I brought ponies great distress, for they thought I was an evil enchantress.” She shot a look over at Pinkie, who grinned shyly. “Many citizens still see me full of mystery and I just want somepony interested in the real me. I know this seems like a difficult task, but can you help find the one that I ask?”
Chrysalis wondered the same thing herself, but considering all the weird ponies she’s seen in Ponyville, she was sure she would eventually find somepony that would like Zecora. “I’m sure we can with some time. Pinkie and I will look for potential candidates tomorrow and we’ll let you know if we find something.”
“Very well, I shall return when it is bright.” She shook hooves with Chrysalis and went for the exit. “For now, I part. Goodnight.”
They watched as she left the building and Pinkie frowned. “But tomorrow’s so far away! What am I going to do until then? I can’t just sit around and do nothing while Zecora is all lonely!”
“Well if you’re that anxious to help her, then you should prepare a list tonight and bring it tomorrow.” Chrysalis tapped Pinkie’s noggin. “After all, you have every potential stallion kept in there.”
“I do!?” Pinkie rolled her eyes back to look in her head. “Hey, does anypony wanna go out with Zecora!?”
“Pinkie!” The pony rolled her eyes back to look at her. “Do not ever do that again. Just write a list, okay?”
She saluted her. “You got it! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
She ran out of the office and Chrysalis walked out to watch her and the others leave. “Bye, girls. Have a good night.” The ponies said their goodbyes and then left Cupid’s Arrow. When they were gone, Chrysalis returned to her office to look over some documents while she waited for Luna. When she sat down and grabbed a folder, her mind shifted to Pinkie, causing her to shudder.
Pinkie sat in her room, writing her list of potential love interests for Zecora while listening to her favorite radio program of all time, Uncle Chuckle’s Comedy Hour, which was full of jokes and hilarious skits. She listened to it every week, never missing a show, and got some of her jokes and party gags from him as he was her idol. “Oh wow! That joke about the tree just gets funnier every time! Uncle Chuckle is the best comedian ever!” She then gasped. “Hey, maybe he’d make a great special somepony for Zecora! After all, laughter is the best medicine!” She put his name down on her short list. So far she had only five names, including Uncle Chuckle, as she wasn’t too sure who would be interested in Zecora as many were still nervous of her.
“Well that’s all for today, kids! Join me again same laugh time, same laugh channel!”
Pinkie waved to her radio, despite no pony being able to see her. “Bye, Uncle Chuckle! See you next week!” She got off her bed and walked towards it. “Wow, he’s just gets funnier and funnier every week! Maybe Chrysalis would like him too if she met him.” Right before she pressed the power button, she heard some static and then a voice coming from the radio, causing her to pause and listen intently.
One hour later, she turned off her radio, walked over to her bed, and picked up the list, which she then threw away. She went to her bed, stood on it, and after several seconds, her whole body started to shake. All of a sudden, she started jumping on her bed, cheering loudly. Mr. Cake banged on her door, telling her to keep it down, but she didn’t notice. She was extremely excited, thinking about what was going to happen tomorrow when she returned to Cupid’s Arrow.
As her coffee was being prepared, Chrysalis went outside and picked up the paper, throwing it onto her desk before returning to the kitchen. She was fairly tired and needed her drink before the clock struck nine, which is exactly when she would open her door and allowed the crowd of ponies inside her home. She was never too pleased with opening as that was when ponies were most eager to go first, which is why she was thankful for Applejack. She sometimes preferred Rainbow Dash as she brought fear to any trouble makers, but the farmer was just as good.
The clock was one minute away from opening, so she approached the door. She gave a quick look to Applejack, who firmly nodded at her. Satisfied, Chrysalis unlocked the door and opened it. However, she could see some ponies being hurled high into the air in the back of the crowd. Before Chrysalis could open her mouth, a certain pony suddenly appeared right in front of her face, causing her to gasp and fall backwards. Before she could even blink, Pinkie stood over her, shouting, “Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!” The changeling got up and carried Pinkie with her magic, who was still shouting and shaking around. She headed to her office and chose to ignore her employees laughing at her.
Chrysalis closed the door and sat Pinkie in her desk, who had yet to stop emptying her lungs. “Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! Guess-”
“PINKIE!” The pony finally became quiet. Chrysalis sighed and asked, “What in the world has you so eager?”
She leapt on her desk and bounced once again. “I just found the most super, amazing, awesome, spectacular, brave, handsome, and best pony ever for Zecora!”
“That fast?” Chrysalis asked in disbelief. “How in the world did you ever find him?”
“I’ll tell you later! We need to go to Zecora right now and get them together!”
Chrysalis looked at her clock. “Right now? We just opened up and-”
“RIGHT NOW!” Chrysalis sighed and nodded her head, following her friend as she sprinted out the door, heading towards the Everfree Forest.
After acquiring Zecora, Pinkie led them across Ponyville, talking nonstop of the pony she chose to be Zecora’s coltfriend. According to her, it was somepony named Doctor Whooves and he was incredibly amazing in a lot of ways. However, Pinkie loved surprises, so she kept many details of him to herself, causing the changeling and the zebra to become more and more curious with every step. Eventually, they had reached their destination. It was a large building with a massive clock on top of it. Through the window, many types of clocks were visible, whether hanging from the walls or placed on the shelves. As far as they could tell, there was no pony in there. “This is where the doctor lives! I bet he likes clocks because of all the time traveling he does!”
Chrysalis stared at her in confusion. “Wait, now you’re telling me he’s a time traveler?”
Pinkie nodded. “He’s got magical yellow box which is really a spaceship!”
“Now you’re telling me he has a spaceship.” She was now less convinced by what she was hearing. She didn’t believe that she was pulling a fast one on them, but Pinkie wasn’t the sharpest pony she knew. Although, Chrysalis was curious of how Pinkie learned so much about him all of a sudden. The fact that she said he was a time traveler and the fact he owned so many clocks did raise her curiosity.
Zecora, however, kept an optimistic attitude. “My, he sounds like quite a fellow. Since we’re here, let us go and say hello.”
The three stepped inside the shop and it was filled with the sound of the ticking of clocks, which added to the eerie atmosphere. In the dimly lit store, they could not see a sign of another pony. They split up and looked around, searching for the fabled doctor. Chrysalis found herself drawn to the shelves, surprised that a simple clock could be designed in so many ways. She could tell each one was hoof crafted at high quality, so time traveler or not, this pony was very talented. She then found one with Luna and Celestia on it and picked it up, finding it cute and considered buying it since it made her think of her lovely little alicorn. Pinkie suddenly screamed, startling the other two mares. They ran to where she was and saw that she was pointing at something. To their surprise, there was a large yellow box in the corner of the room.
“See!? I told you he had a spaceship!”
Chrysalis stared at it, shocked that Pinkie was telling the truth of something that seemed so ludicrous. Right before her eyes was evidence that proved the existence of a pony with powers that could be compared to the alicorns. “I didn’t want to believe it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with believing.” They quickly turned around and saw a brown stallion with an hourglass as his cutie mark approaching them. “Sorry to sneak up on you ladies. I didn’t hear you come in. I only have six minutes and ten seconds to talk though, so how I may be of service?”
Pinkie screamed again and bounced like mad. “See!? I told you he’s real! It’s really Doctor Whooves!”
The stallion let out a chuckle. “Yes, that’s me.”
Zecora looked at him with awe. “Pinkie has told me some of the amazing things you do. So please tell me now, are they all true?”
Chrysalis slowly approached him, still in disbelief. She knew there were a lot of strange things in the world, but this was still hard for her to swallow. “Yeah, she says that you travel through time and space and fight monsters and things like that. Is that really true at all, or have I gone mad?”
Doctor Whooves just stared at her, and then burst out laughing. Her face was now flushed, knowing that she had just said something stupid. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I think your friend has let her imagination get the better of her. None of that is actually true.”
Pinkie was frantic, not wanting to accept that she was wrong about him being some amazing pony. “But I heard your transmission on the radio last night!”
Chrysalis quickly looked at her. “Wait, what radio?”
“Yes, and I’m sure you will hear it again during the same time next week, which is when my radio show airs.”
“RADIO SHOW!?” Chrysalis shot a glare at Pinkie, who was now hiding behind Zecora. She should have seen that coming from a mile away. It was obvious to her now that Pinkie would have taken his show as reality and jumped the gun without even doing research or use of common since. She really should’ve asked more about him before accepting his weirdness as fact.
He made his way to the front counter. “Yes, it’s called ‘The Adventures of Doctor Whooves,’ and I am currently working on the sixth season. I’m its producer, writer, and I voice the main character as well as many others. It’s been receiving quite a lot of popularity and I’m surprised none of you have heard of it until now. My real name is actually Time Turner and I’m just a humble pony who designs and sells clocks in reality. Five minutes and thirty-eight seconds.”
Chrysalis broke her attention away from Pinkie and looked at Turner. “Why do you keep saying that?”
“I’m trying to keep everything according to schedule. I cannot afford to dilly-dally with chit-chatting with every pony that comes inside expecting an autograph. I need to run the shop as well as work on my scripts. Five minutes and twelve seconds.”
Pinkie poked her head out from behind Zecora. “Schedule for what?”
He reached under the counter and pulled out a giant stack of paper in a folder. “My life, of course. I keep track of everything that I do and will do and make a schedule which I must follow accordingly.”
They stared at him in disbelief and Chrysalis found this much harder to believe than everything she heard Pinkie say about him. “That’s insane! How far does your schedule even go?”
“Up to my death, and the last time I checked,” he said as he pulled out a sheet of paper from the pile, “I will die in sixty-two years, four months, one week, three hours, fifty-eight minutes, and twelve seconds from now. This isn’t the exact time, since I have to update it for every unexpected variable.”
Chrysalis stared at him blankly with one of her eyes twitching. It was no longer surprising to her that his shop was completely empty of any ponies, despite a celebrity running it, as he was much more appealing to listen to on the radio than in real life. In her three hundred and sixty-two years of life, never once did she meet anyone as bizarre as him.
Zecora stepped in, not wanting to waste any more of their little time. “You seem like a pony of great imagination. From what Pinkie has said about your show, I’m filled with fascination.”
“Why thank you. I must say, you are quite the fascinating character yourself, Zecora.” The trio was taken by surprise. “Yes, I know who you are. There was quite a lot of talk about you before. You had everypony running into their homes simply with your appearance. I had always wanted to meet you, but I couldn’t just fit it into my schedule with the show, the shop, and all that sort of thing. Plus I couldn’t even find where you live.”
She chuckled as she stood in front of the counter. “Well, now I am here in front of you, so perhaps we could exchange a word or two.”
“You two go ahead while I have a private word with Pinkie.” Before the pony could respond, Chrysalis grabbed her foreleg and dragged her outside the clock store. Once they were outside, the changeling looked into her eyes. “I cannot believe you fell for the idea his character was real,” she scolded. “Not only was this a waste of time, but Zecora probably thinks we’re incompetent idiots. I feel so embarrassed right now and I hate to say it, but this was entirely your fault.”
Pinkie looked at her front hooves. “I’m sorry, Chrysalis. I just got so excited that I forgot it wasn’t real.”
Chrysalis sighed deeply. “Pinkie, you really need to control that imagination of yours. It gets so out of control sometimes that even I believe your crazy ideas.”
Pinkie sat on the grounds, eyes moist and lip quivering. “I’m so bad at my job! I can’t do matchmaking right at all! Zecora must think I’m so stupid and she’s right! I’m the dumbest pony alive!” She then exploded into tears and flopped onto the ground, attracting the attention of many ponies.
Chrysalis knelt down and patted her head. Usually Pinkie could get over such things in little time, but seeing her in such a state was always heartbreaking. She wanted Zecora to finish up inside so she could take her friend back home to comfort her and looked inside to see what she was doing, discovering something of interest. “Actually, she looks pretty happy.”
The pony immediately compressed her face against the glass. “What?” Inside, they could see Zecora and Turner engaged in conversation and both of them were smiling. Somehow, Zecora was getting along with the pony who made Pinkie look normal by comparison. “What are they saying?”
“I wouldn’t have a clue.”
Pinkie grabbed the back of Chrysalis’s head and shoved her face into the glass. “Read their minds! I want to know what they’re saying!”
The changeling pulled her head back. “I read emotions, not their thoughts,” she corrected angrily.
“Then read that!” she said as she pushed her face back.
Chrysalis repressed her annoyance and closed her eyes. The changelings’ ability to sense emotion was always passively seeking love while detecting other emotions required a bit of concentration. After a few seconds, she got a reading on Turner and from what she could tell, he was filled with great excitement, which she already knew from their conversation. She turned her attention towards Zecora, immediately detecting something of interest. Along with her own excitement, there was a small spark within her. “My, my, it seems this Time Turner has caught Zecora’s eye.”
“Really!?”
Chrysalis walked back and freed herself of Pinkie’s grip. “Really. Somehow, you managed to find her a potential lover.” After about a minute, Zecora headed for the exit and they approached her when she stepped outside. “So I see you got a bit friendly with our strange friend.”
Zecora nodded and looked through the window behind her. “Yes, it was much different than I feared. He wasn’t cruel or stupid, he was just plain weird! I would like to try to know more about him, but his obsession with time may bring me to my last whim!”
“So what do you want to do?” asked Pinkie.
“I will try to speak with him the next day and I want to hear everything he has to say. There is some much about him I wish to know and I hope a new side of him will show. I appreciate everything you two have done for me, but I insist for now that you leave me be.”
“Very well, Zecora. If you need any help, you know where to find us.” The zebra nodded and left as Pinkie waved to her. “Well today certainly turned out to be interesting. Somehow, that creep has won her over.”
“Yeah! Zecora is going to be so happy with him, even though he doesn’t really fight aliens.”
“Let’s hope. I honestly don’t think I can stand seeing him again. Anyway, let’s go back to Cupid’s Arrow.”
“Not yet! I wanna buy a Doctor Whooves clock!” Before Chrysalis could respond, Pinkie dashed inside, leaving her out in the snow. The changeling sighed and leaned against the wall, developing a feeling that this job was somehow going to become much more complicated.
It had been several days since they met the “Doctor” and Zecora had paid him a visit every day in order to know him better. Gossip arose in Ponyville from her frequent visits as ponies noticed that the strange zebra kept making visits to the strange pony. Since Zecora did not ask for their assistance, Pinkie and Chrysalis left her to do the work and focused on helping other ponies. Currently, Chrysalis sat in her office with a client, but this client wasn’t seeking a lover, but a gig at her upcoming fair. “So Ms. Scratch, Pinkie tells me that your musical talent would be a great addition for my event during Hearts and Hooves.”
The white unicorn slouched in her seat, acting cool. “It wouldn’t be a real party without an artist like me.”
“I believe you. Pinkie has told me about your shows and how the ponies there go wild.”
“Everypony loves DJ Pon-3!” exclaimed Pinkie. “She gets invited to all sorts of places. They even let her play during the royal wedding, right after we-” Chrysalis’s gaze shifted over towards Pinkie and pierced right through her. “Uh…yeah, she’s really good.”
“Pinkie’s word is good enough for me, so here is your contract.” Chrysalis slipped a sheet of paper to the unicorn. “Be sure to look it over and return it to me signed as soon as possible.”
Vinyl took the paper. “You got it.” She got off her seat and headed for the exit. “Peace out, Pinkie, and thanks for the gig!”
“Peace out!” Vinyl left, leaving only the pony and the changeling. “I am so excited for the fair now with her playing! I got some new dance moves I wanna show Fluttershy!”
“I’m excited too. With her on board, music should be fully covered now.” She reached into one of her drawers and pulled out a list on a clipboard. “I’ll let Flim and Flam know about her so they can set up an area for her to play.”
“So what’s left?”
Chrysalis looked over the long list. “It seems like we got everything covered, but we could always use more ponies to provide food or some sort of entertainment. It’s going to be a lot of money, but the profit will easily make up for it and the food created for my species will make it all worth it. I just hope Flim and Flam do a good job setting it up like they promised. At any rate, we better get back to work.” Chrysalis pressed the button. “Break time’s over, Spike. Send in the next customer.” A few seconds later, the door opened and a certain zebra appeared. However, Chrysalis immediately saw that something was off with her. “You don’t look so well, Zecora. Does Time Turner have something to do with this?”
The tired zebra sat down and nodded. “For days I have visited him, being his friend, but he obsesses about his schedule to almost no end! I try and try to learn about him more, but then my time is up and he shoos me out the door!”
Chrysalis and Pinkie exchanged looks of sadness. “I am sorry to hear that. It is truly a shame that he is a lost cause after all the effort you put in. But hey, screw him. He was a creep anyway and I didn’t like him. You deserve far better. How about we find you somepony normal free of charge?”
Zecora leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. “I came here to see if you could potentially help me, but judging by your tone, I suppose Turner and I were not meant to be.” She put a hoof on her face and sighed loudly.
Chrysalis leaned towards her. “Hold on. Are you saying you’re actually upset you couldn’t get that fruitcake to like you?”
“Mmm, fruitcake.” Pinkie started drooling.
“As strange as it may appear, I wanted to be somepony he held dear. He is interested in many things that most ponies don’t care for and his show is now something I adore. I thought I could somehow change his ways, but a pony obsessed with time is the way he stays.” She got off the chair. “I did what I thought what was best, but now all I want to do is get some rest. I know you both still wish to help me, but for now, leave me be.”
“But…but…” Zecora exited the room and closed the door behind her. Several seconds later, Pinkie broke into tears. “Oh my gosh, this is like the saddest thing ever!”
“Clearly you have already forgotten my situation,” Chrysalis said under her breath as Pinkie blew her nose on some tissue. “Don’t worry about it, Pinkie. Let’s give Zecora some space for a while and then we’ll find somepony better for her.”
“But he was like the best possible pony for her! Who else could we find for her!?”
“I’m pretty sure any pony who is qualified as sane is better than Turner.” She stood and got behind Pinkie, resting a hoof on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Pinkie,” she said in a soothing voice. “We’ll find somepony else for Zecora. That way, she’ll be happy with her new lover while Time Turner will be left to grow old and die alone without the chance of having any offspring, so everypony wins. Does that make you feel better?” Pinkie’s crying amplified in volume to almost deafening levels and Chrysalis put her hooves over her ears, wishing she had a magical time traveling box so she could prevent them from ever meeting him.
“I’m telling you, Luna, this guy was a nut! I’m surprised no pony has sent his flank to the asylum. Then again, I assume he would just draw his schedule on the wall of his cell.”
The alicorn giggled while slowly moving a hoof up and down Chrysalis’s chest. “I have never seen anything like that, but I really don’t think it’s all that bad. You just need to know him better.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Chrysalis cleared her throat and spoke like Turner. “I know! Let’s make out for exactly eight minutes and ten seconds, then go to bed for eight hours and two minutes, and five minutes and thirty seconds after I wake up, I will make us breakfast.”
Luna laughed uncontrollably and wrapped her in a hug. “Okay, I get your point. That’s just too weird. At least you won’t have to deal with him anymore since Zecora wasn’t getting anywhere with him.”
Chrysalis sighed as she flipped herself around, lying on her stomach on top of Luna. “Not exactly.”
“Huh?”
“While I don’t like him for obvious reasons, Zecora was really into that guy and the fact she visited him every day for a week shows how dedicated she is in trying to win him over. She was pretty crushed that she couldn’t get the guy to like her and I’m wondering how I need to approach this.”
She patted the changeling on the back. “You’re a smart pony. You can figure out what to do. Just hope Zecora’s magical cures can fix something like him, or it will be you going to the asylum,” she teased.
“If only they actually were magical,” she muttered.
“They are magical, Cherub, but I wouldn’t know what sort of condition ails him. I don’t think there’s anything that could care that sort of obsession.”
Chrysalis lifted her head up. “Wait, what do you mean they are really magical?”
“From what I’ve heard from Twilight, Zecora’s medicines contain extremely powerful magic. One time, young Apple Bloom tried creating her own cutie mark using a certain plant, but it ended up giving her multiple and even making her extremely talented in each of those fields.”
“Really? That’s very…interesting,” Chrysalis said with a devious smile.
“Cherub?” Chrysalis snapped out of her thinking and looked at her. “I believed you mentioned earlier about us making out?”
Chrysalis lowered her face in front of Luna’s. “Oh, so the greedy princess wants some kisses. Very well, Lulu. Take us upstairs and I shall comply with your demand.” Luna teleported them to the bedroom, where they rolled around and giggled while kissing on the bed. Chrysalis fed off some of her love while sucking on her tongue as Luna stroked her flank. In her mind, the false unicorn thought over what Luna said about Zecora’s potions, believing she knew of a way to solve her little problem. Perhaps it was time for Dr. Chrysalis to make a house call.
Chrysalis waited until Saturday and woke up early in the morning. She quickly made her way towards to the Everfree Forest while taking another guise, feeling courageous enough to traverse within alone after absorbing a large amount of love to give herself some powerful defense. Remembering the route Pinkie took her, she eventually found the zebra’s home. She quietly approached it and looked through the window, where she saw Zecora tending to her various brews. Chrysalis thought the design of her interior was interesting, but she wondered how she could sleep with those creepy masks hanging around.
After over an hour of waiting, Zecora departed from her home and headed towards town to likely do some errands. Once she was out of sight, Chrysalis went inside the zebra’s home. She looked around and found what she was looking for. It was a set of books on a shelf and most of them were about alchemy. Chrysalis took one of the books and skimmed through it. She spent the next ten minutes looking through the books, searching for a potion that would make Time Tuner normal, and then she found just the thing. “Potion of clarity. When one’s mind loses stability, drink this to bring back order to one’s thoughts. Sounds like the perfect medicine for Turner!” She placed the book down and read the ingredients. “Okay, first it requires a pinch of grounded dragon scales.” She looked through the shelves, scanning the various ingredients the zebra possessed, found them in a jar and took it with her magic. She wasn’t sure how much was a pinch, so she took a big chunk of it with her magic and tossed it into the cauldron. “Now for six petals of ash flower, whatever that is.”
Time passed as the changeling worked on the potion, working as carefully as she could. When she put the last of the ingredients in, she used her magic to stir the cauldron’s contents, resulting in the liquid to boil and a puff of smoke to appear. She was not prepared for what came after. “Sweet Celestia, this smells horrendous! What in Equestria have I created!?” She examined the brew in the pot, which was bright orange and slightly bubbling. She followed every direction and it looked safe to drink, but she was not foolish enough to test that herself. She took a small flask from the shelf and filled it. “I guess I will have to see how well it works. It’s not like whatever I could make could make Turner worse than he already is.”
With her magic, Chrysalis lifted the cauldron and brought it with her outside. She traveled a good distance from Zecora’s hut and dumped the liquid onto the ground. She returned to the house and made sure to eliminate any evidence of her visit. Once everything looked how it did before she entered, she exited and followed the path back to Ponyville, thinking she was about to do the world some good.
What she didn’t know was what happened to the plants she dumped the brew on. Shortly after they were exposed to the liquid, they erupted in flames and turned to ash. A few second later, they suddenly restored, only now of a different color and had razor sharp petals. They went under many more transformations as the day passed. What Chrysalis ultimately failed to do was read the introduction of the book she read from. In the introduction, the three golden rules of apothecary were written: use exact amounts of ingredients listed, always clean the cauldron after every brew, and to never handle the ingredients or stir the mixture with magic.
She waited until Sunday night before proceeding with the next step of her plan as going on Monday would be a great day to visit Turner without it looking too suspicious. She took the flask with her and made her way across town back to where Time Turner lived while wearing another disguise. She now had the form of a teenage, grey unicorn with an orange mane. Thankfully, this next part was much simpler. She went up to the door and knocked. As she expected, there wasn’t an answer, so she knocked again, this time much louder. She heard hoofsteps approach the door and then it swung open. “Who is it? Can’t you see-” Chrysalis didn’t bother to wait for him to finish and zapped him with magic. Time Turner fell silent as his eyes glowed green, going back inside with her following.
Once they were inside, Chrysalis closed the door and lowered all of the blinds. She pulled out the flask and uncorked it. “Now be a good boy and drink this.” The controlled pony took the flask from her and started to drink it. “That’s it, be sure to drink as much as you can.” Once he finished, she took it back. “There. Don’t you feel all bet-”
Time Turner suddenly brought his front hooves to his throat and gagged loudly, startling the former queen. After several seconds, he toppled onto the floor, not moving. Chrysalis panicked and ran up to him to check his pulse. Fortunately, he was still alive and his vitals seemed to be stable. After sighing with huge relief, she put him on her back and carried him to his bed. She set him down and placed him under the covers.
She spent a few minutes watching him, praying that nothing went horribly wrong as gagging and passing out was definitely not a good sign. Since nothing else happened as he slept, she decided that it was safe and time to head home. On her way out, she had thought of a precaution in case something went wrong. She took the empty flask, which had a small amount of fluid left, and tossed it into one of the trashcans, making sure it was in plain view in case they needed it.
Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.
Chrysalis felt anxious the entire time she was in the gym with some of her employees. She kept telling herself that everything was fine, but Turner’s reaction kept replaying in her mind. She didn’t see his name in the obituaries, but she couldn’t help but believe something went wrong. Her mind was so clouded with worry that she didn’t notice she was using much heavier weights than usual on the leg-lift, bringing her some weird looks from other ponies. When she and the others were finished, they walked together on their way to Ponyville. The dragon on Rarity’s back moaned loudly. “Why do ponies work out so early? I already want to go back to bed.”
“It takes some dedication, Spikey. With some time, you’ll be a big, strong dragon.”
“Until then, ya’re just a lil’ shrimp,” teased Applejack, causing everyone but Chrysalis to laugh. The changeling had barely said a word to them the entire time they were together, expecting the worst from what she did. Eventually, she came to a stop and looked off to the distance, which the others noticed.
“What’s up, Cherub?” asked Pinkie.
“I just remembered that Turner lives a bit down the road.”
“That crazy pony you mentioned? What about him?” asked Rarity.
“Zecora seemed to be really interested in the guy and I think I need to have a quick word with him. Maybe I can talk some sense into him.” She reached into her gym bag and brought out a key, which she handed to Rarity. “Go ahead and open up. I’ll try not to be long. Come, Pinkie. I may need your help with this.”
“Okie-dokie-lokie! I wanna see the time pony again!” Chrysalis and Pinkie separated from the group, walking in direction of the clock shop. While Pinkie sang the theme song from the show, Chrysalis could feel her heart pounding harder and harder as they came closer.
They soon arrived at the clock shop where the notorious stallion lived. Pinkie was hardly able to contain herself from the thought of seeing him again and threw the door open and yelled, “Hey, Time Turner, we’re back!” They went inside and looked around, waiting for a reply. It was exactly as they remembered it last week; the only thing that was missing was the owner. “Anypony home?”
The changeling was about ready to have a panic attack from his absence. They approached the counter and Chrysalis started ringing the bell. “Hello? Time Turner? You around?”
“I will be down in a minute!”
Chrysalis exhaled a deep sigh of relief, glad they confirmed he was alive. Pinkie bounced in place while Chrysalis was tapping her hoof impatiently. He didn’t sound sick, so perhaps the potion worked. They then heard him coming down the stairs. “Hi, Time Turner!” greeted the pink mare. “We just wanted to talk and HOLY MOLEY WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?”
Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw. Time Turner’s coat was now a mix of blue, yellow, and green colors, his mane and tail had grown three times their original size, his cutie mark had turned into a question mark, and one of his pupils was even in the shape of a square. “I am terribly sorry for the delay, I have been feeling under the weather lately,” he said as he sniffed loudly.
Chrysalis stared at him with wide eyes. “Weather? It seems more like your body had gone through a natural disaster! What in the name of Celestia has happened to you!?”
Timer Turner just laughed. “Nonsense! I don’t feel that bad, it’s just a cold.” Immediately after he spoke, he sneezed, which caused fire to shoot out of his nose, causing them to jump back. His whole body flashed into a new set of colors. Now he was a mix of green, orange, and purple. “Maybe it’s a little more than a cold. Perhaps the flu?”
The two mares slowly took some steps back, worried of catching whatever he was carrying. “Well, if it’s the flu, just drink lots of water and get plenty of rest,” suggested the changeling fearfully.
“And don’t look in a mirror!” Chrysalis smacked the back of Pinkie’s head.
Time Turner looked at her strangely and made his way into the bathroom. “Mirror? What are you babbling about? I don’t think…” He screamed and rushed back out. “What has happened to me!?”
Chrysalis slowly approached him. “Now let’s just stay calm. Just stay here and-” It was too late. Time Turner was out the door, yelling for help as loud as he possibly could. Many ponies saw him and screamed, running off in many directions. Pinkie and Chrysalis watched as he ran out of sight and they both stood in silence for several moments.
“Chrysalis?”
“Yes, Pinkie?” she responded, still horrified by what she had put into motion.
“Is he going to be alright?”
“I don’t know. You better go get Zecora and I will follow him to make sure he doesn’t get worse.”
“Right.” They dashed out the store into the snowy streets and ran off in their separate directions. It was now clear to the changeling that she had made a horrible, horrible mistake.
It took Chrysalis some time to find Turner, who went straight to the hospital after seeing his own appearance. When she entered, the first thing that caught her eye was the crowd of ponies looking into a room. She made her way through the crowd and peered inside through the window. On the bed was Time Turner himself, who was now a different set of colors and missing his mane and tail. Chrysalis brought her hoof to her mouth and bit it, frightened by her creation. She got away from the window and sat on a chair, waiting for Pinkie to turn up with Zecora. She wondered how in the world this could have happened. She followed the directions as carefully as she could, so why did this happen? Somehow, she created such a mess and that the pony’s life was in her hooves because she had acted stupidly.
Chrysalis slapped herself. She could blame herself all she wanted, but it wouldn’t help. It may have looked bad, but his sickness could be easily reversed. Zecora was a master of potions, so she could just fix him up and it would all blow over. She didn’t care if she ended up back at square one, she just wanted this incident to end happily and move on.
Zecora and Pinkie eventually arrived and she felt huge relief. She motioned them towards her and showed them the room. When they saw the patient, they both gasped. “Oh my, this is a disaster! What has happened to the clock master?” asked Zecora.
“I don’t know,” the changeling lied. “Pinkie and I came to his place earlier today and we found him like that. We better ask his doctor and see what’s going on.”
A stallion doctor stepped out of the room, pushing his way through the crowd. Once he had gotten through, he noticed Zecora and approached her hastily. “Zecora, thank the alicorns you’re here! This patient has come down with the strangest illness I have ever seen in my life and we have no idea what to do!”
“Yes, the seriousness of it does indeed show. Please tell me all I need to know,” she said with concern.
The doctor looked at his chart. “He keeps changing color, his hair keeps growing and falling off at an incredible rate, sometimes breath fires, gained magic that he can’t control, and much more! We’ve tried many forms of treatment, but nothing seems to work. Based on its unusual nature and the patient it has appeared in, we have decided to name it Whooves Syndrome.”
“Is he going to be okay, doctor? Please tell me he’s going to make it!” Pinkie screamed as she shook him.
The doctor sighed. “From what we’ve seen so far, my colleagues and I have concluded that this disease is fatal!” Every pony in the room gasped. “I’m sorry, I meant to say freaky! This disease is most certainly freaky.” They sighed with relief.
“So he’s going to live?” Chrysalis asked nervously.
“Aside from his bizarre symptoms, he feels as sick as if he only had a cold, so he should be fine, but it’s best if we don’t wait and find out if that’s true.” He looked at the zebra. “You go in there and see if you can help him and I will do everything I can out here. The media is going to be breathing down our necks with something like this going on, so please hurry before panic strikes Ponyville.”
“Very well. I will be sure to do my best, but I think that curing this will prove to be a difficult test.” Zecora made her way into the room with Pinkie and Chrysalis behind her.
Time Turner sat in his bed, looking as bad as when they first found them, and brightened up when he saw Zecora enter. “Zecora! You have to help me! The doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with me and won’t let me go home! I need to go back and run the shop, not waste my time here!”
Zecora walked over to him and started her examination. “I will do what I can to make you once again well. As for how long it will take, only time will tell. If it is true what the doctor has said, then your chances may be better with me instead.”
Pinkie looked over her shoulder. “What are you going to do, Dr. Zecora?”
“I have not seen something like this before, but at least his health does not seem poor. I will give him some of my potions and see what they do. If none prove to be effective, I will have to create a new brew.” Zecora pulled out a bag filled with different colored bottles and set it on the table that was next to the bed. “Now, I want you to try drinking each of these. Perhaps one will hold the answer to your disease.”
“I hope so.” Time Turner picked one at random and drank it. Nothing happened at first, but he suddenly sneezed, which triggered some of the magic he now possessed and several flowers grew on his bed sheet. “Well, that was interesting.” He and Zecora shared a laugh while Chrysalis and Pinkie observed from a safe distance. He swept the flowers off his bed and onto the floor. “I can’t believe this has happened to me. I still have so much I need to get done in my life. I’m not supposed to die now!” Chrysalis winced from that. She wondered if she could find a self-help book that would prevent her from creating stupid plans and going through with them without considering alternatives or consequences.
While he started to drink the second flask, Zecora brought a chair to the edge of his bed and sat in it. “Worry not. We will be able to save your life. Just relax and try to forget your strife.”
Chrysalis took the empty bottle and exchanged it with another. “Yes, Zecora has proven to be quite an amazing healer. It’s a shame she lives so far away in the forest, otherwise I would visit her all the time. And since we have all the time in the world with you, I need to ask why in Tartarus do you obsess over your stupid schedule?”
When he finished drinking the next potion, nothing happened and he sighed with relief. “Well think about it. What do we all have that we just keep losing no matter what we do? Time! Time is the essence of life! It is unstoppable, master of all of existence, and we go about every day wasting it! Do you know how many ponies sit around and do nothing, wasting minute after minute, second after second!? It’s unbearable!”
“The only unbearable thing is you,” Chrysalis said under her breath.
“I decided that I wasn’t going to be like everypony else and make the most of mine. And look where I am now! I’ve created a radio show with incredibly high ratings, I own my own store with products of my own design, possess a steady income, and all before thirty. I know you all think it is very unusual, but you can’t argue with results, can you?”
Chrysalis couldn’t believe he put up a strong argument for his weird obsession, but she refused to admit he was right. “That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life. I’m sure everything must be so easy for you now, but you are honestly as exciting as watching dead grass grow.” She now regretted trying to help Zecora win him over. This was a stallion who shouldn’t be legally allowed to reproduce. Maybe if she smothered him with the pillow, they would let her walk as she would claim it was a mercy killing.
“But Cherub, dead grass can’t grow.” Chrysalis just looked at Pinkie, unamused. “Oh.”
Zecora gave him a worried look. “I know that your mark is for how you handle your time, but I don’t think it meant it as something you should do as often as I rhyme. Your life is something you need to live your own way, not something you should plan day by day.”
He laughed and relaxed against his bed. “You three are not the first to say something like that to me, but I don’t care. I’m happy with how I live my life. I run the shop, I write for my radio show, I sometimes go see fans, and I update my schedule. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Zecora stood from her chair and sat on the edge of the bed. “But don’t you wish for something more? Living your life, always being the same, sounds like a great bore. What about seeing friends or family, or maybe going somewhere?” Zecora stalled for a moment and wore a sly smile. “Are you even interested in looking for a mare?” Chrysalis and Pinkie immediately turned their heads towards him, waiting for his answer.
“Of course I do those. Well, sort of. I do occasionally visit my family during the holidays. As for everything else, I’m afraid I don’t have any friends at the moment. And you’d think with my reputation I would have found a nice mare, but they just seem to lose interest in me for some reason. I wish I could figure out why that is.”
They all groaned loudly and Zecora gave him another bottle without even looking at him. Once Turner finished his drink, his ears grew out, now similar to those of a rabbit. Everypony in the room was trying to contain their laughter while he just rolled his eyes. “Is it all right if we take a break? I’m not sure how much more changes my body can go through.” He gave her the bottle and rested on his pillow.
Zecora stood up and made her way to the door with her head hanging low. “Take as much time as you need. While you rest, I shall go feed.”
“We’ll stay and keep an eye on him, Zecora,” offered Chrysalis. “Just hurry back, or I won’t be able to guarantee his wellbeing.”
Turner watched Zecora as she left the room. “She doesn’t seem to be really happy right now. Is it because she hasn’t cured me yet?”
“Yes, and a little more,” Chrysalis replied.
“Well, she shouldn’t be upset. I’m sure she’s a good doctor like I’ve heard.”
“The fact she hasn’t given up on you and started rooting for your disease yet might prove she’s the best doctor in Equestria.” Pinkie smacked the back of Chrysalis’s head, causing her to growl at her.
“She is the best doctor ever! If Zecora can’t fix you, nopony can!” Pinkie noticed Turner looking at her frightfully. “I mean, I’m sure she can help you. She cares a lot about you.”
The stallion sat up. “Really? How much exactly?”
Chrysalis put a hoof on Pinkie’s mouth. “As much as any other patient, Turner. She’s a very caring zebra.”
“Oh, well I suppose that’s true.” He looked at the ceiling and sighed.
Both mares caught on and Chrysalis decided to boldly investigate. “You seem pretty disappointed. Were you hoping for another reason?”
He looked at her. “Like what?”
She chuckled mockingly. “Like if she was interested in you.”
“But she is interested in me. She’s visited me plenty of times and I’m pretty sure she likes my show.”
They both groaned loudly while putting a hoof on their faces. “Not in that way, you idiot,” said Chrysalis in an annoyed tone. “I mean in this way.” She went up to him, stuck her butt out, and pointed at her cutie mark.
It took him several seconds to realize what she was implying and sprung up. “Now hold on a second! I think you’re jumping to conclusions!”
She shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. I guess I just looked into it a little much when she asked you if you were interested in mares and how she is the only mare to visit and speak with you multiple times. I remember how terrified she was when she heard about you getting sick and how she rushed over here as quickly as she could.”
He lied back down on the bed and turned his back to them. “I hope she comes back soon.”
“I bet you do.” Both mares giggled loudly while he put a pillow over his head. Chrysalis brought Pinkie with her to the far corner of the room so they could whisper.
“Did you see the way he reacted? He’s totally into her! What should we do next?”
“We’re going to wait for Zecora to come back and leave.” Chrysalis looked at the patient. “Turner won’t be able to send Zecora away and I bet he’s going to end up confessing how he feels about her.”
Several minutes went by before Zecora returned. “Hello once again to you all. I have returned from my trip to the dining hall.”
Turner turned towards her, smiling. “Welcome back, Zecora. I think I’m ready to try more of your potions. I really need to be getting back to work soon.”
“Speaking of work, Pinkie and I need to leave now, so we will leave you two alone.”
Pinkie grew a wide smile. “Yeah, we’ll just leave now and I will plan a party for when you get all better!”
He smiled weakly. “That sounds really nice.”
Chrysalis was already at the door and motioning Pinkie towards her. “Just remember that the party can’t happen if you die, so get well soon!” She then slammed the door shut.
Turner grew pale and violently shook. “Y-you’ll cure me, right?”
Zecora looked at him sincerely. “I will work to the best of my ability while I am here, so please do not let yourself to become overwhelmed with fear.”
He felt greatly relieved and smiled. “Thank you. I trust you, Zecora.”
“I can see that your predicament is bringing you woe. Let’s talk about something else instead, perhaps your show?”
Turner chuckled. “I suppose. It’s all ponies want me to talk about. They even named this disease Whooves Syndrome, which I admit is actually clever. Honestly, I wish so many ponies didn’t see me like this. It would have made a great episode. But to be honest, I want to know more about you. I don’t know very much about zebras at all.”
“Very well. I will tell you much of me and my kind. Ask me anything, you will be amazed by the answers you will find.”
“Let’s see.” He pondered on what he was going to ask and then remembered what he had always wanted to ask since they first met. “Okay, I have one. Why do you rhyme everything you say?”
Zecora pulled up a chair and sat down. “Well you see, I grew up in a village filled with flowers of orange.”
Chrysalis was very distracted during the rest of her work day, feeling guilty for the suffering she brought upon the poor pony, but she felt some comfort from the fact that Zecora was working her hardest to save him. Business actually slowed down greatly as when she returned, she announced to everypony what was going on, causing many costumers to run out the door and see the whole thing themselves. Somehow, she made it to closing time. With the customers gone, she began locking up. “I bet Twilight would go crazy if she found out about this,” said Spike. “She absolutely loves Dr. Whooves.”
“Ah’m still wonderin’ what kind of sickness he’s carryin’,” said Applejack. “It just don’t seem natural.”
“We’ll see soon enough.” Chrysalis reached for the front door, but something caught her eye. For some reason, Trixie was still performing tricks. “Trixie, what are you doing?” The mare didn’t answer her and continued to perform to a nonexistent audience, stuffing her cape into her hat. Everyone exchanged a worried look and Chrysalis slowly approached her. “Hello? Equestria to Trixie,” she spoke while waving a hoof in front of her face.
“She’s been acting strangely for a while,” noted Rarity. “I wonder what in the world is wrong with her.”
“I think I know what to do.” Chrysalis raised her hoof and bopped her on the head, only to scramble away when Trixie exploded in blue sparks. “What in the world!?”
“What in tarnation!?”
“Goodness gracious!”
“Oh my gosh! Trixie exploded!”
“Oh, now it makes sense.”
They quickly looked at Spike. “What do you mean, Spikey?”
“Trixie made this cool spell last week where she makes magical clones of herself. They act like Trixie, but they can’t respond to anypony and can only be made to do simple things.”
“Well boy howdy, that’s pretty impressive,” complemented Applejack. “It really looked just like her.”
“Are you telling me I’ve been paying a fake!?” shouted Chrysalis.
“I’m pretty sure that was the real Trixie earlier,” said Spike. “I wonder where she went.”
“She better hope it’s someplace I can’t find her,” threatened the former queen. “At any rate, let’s find the other girls and see what’s going on at the hospital.”
Once they gathered the others, with the exception of Trixie and Twilight as they were mysteriously absent, they headed towards the hospital to see how Time Turner was doing while giving out their own theories of what was ailing him. Pinkie was practically galloping ahead as she had been anxious the entire day, waiting for work to end so she could go visit. “Come on, girls, quit being slow pokes!”
“Now Pinkie, there’s no need to rush,” said Rarity. “We have plenty of time to see him.”
Pinkie took her hoof and dragged her. “But we need to go or we’ll have to wait behind more ponies!”
Before anyone could ask what she meant, they saw the hospital and they then understood what she said. Outside was a massive crowd of ponies, many holding signs. Some of them were demanding to know if there was an outbreak while others were claiming that it was a conspiracy by changelings, specifically Chrysalis. Just then, two large figures exited from the hospital and the sight of them made Chrysalis worry more of what she had done. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared in front of the crowd, silencing them by holding up a hoof. “My fellow ponies,” the Sun Princess spoke, “as you all know, some unknown affliction as appeared in one of your residents. At this moment, we know nothing about his illness and have been unable to cure him. But do not worry, for we have brought with us someone who could help solve this mystery.”
Just then, Discord suddenly teleported in front of them, startling the crowd. “Me!” he exclaimed happily. The crowd murmured, unsure of what to think of this.
Celestia raised her hoof, silencing them once again. “Since this disease certainly seems chaotic, we thought Discord would be able to help in finding a solution,” said Luna. “His magic differs from ours and since we could not cure it, we believe he might be able to.” Chrysalis gulped. They couldn’t help Turner? How serious of a disease did she create?
“How do you know he didn’t cause it?” asked one pony.
He laughed and snapped his fingers, giving him sunglasses, a swimsuit, and a surfboard. “Because I was somewhere else far away, busy teaching the citizens of the Samarea Desert how to surf.”
“But there isn’t an ocean there,” said another.
“There is now! Now allow this reformed draconequus to work his magic and save the day!” He snapped his fingers and a cape appeared around his neck and an emblem with a large D appeared on his chest. He then stuck his arms out in front of him and made whooshing sounds as he ran inside.
When he was gone, Celestia quietly said to the crowd with a weak smile, “He still needs a little work.”
Inside, Turner sat alone in his bed, feeling hopeless about getting better. All the doctors were just throwing everything they could think of at him to no avail. They only saw the disease he carried and not the patient, not caring of how he felt mentally. He wished Zecora was around since she actually cared about him deeply, not to mention having an effect on him that caused an increase in his heart rate. He jumped up when the door was suddenly opened and Discord appeared in a doctor's coat. “Hello there, my little patient!”
“D-Discord!? What’s going on?”
“That’s Doctor Discord to you! Celestia and Luna heard about what was happening to you and are having me cure you.”
The earth pony felt incredibly relieved from the fact the rulers of Equestria had not given up on helping him. “Please do your best.”
“We sure will!” he assured as he stood over him.
“We?”
“Let me introduce you to my two colleagues.” He pointed towards the open door and two other Discords in doctor coats walked in. “Meet Dr. Discord and Dr. Fine.”
“Why isn’t his name Dr. Discord?”
“I had it legally changed. Now let us examine you.” The three draconequuses surrounded him and all looked at him closely with magnifying glasses. Dr. Fine took out a thermometer and placed in the pony’s nose.
“What are you doing?” asked Dr. Discord.
“I’m taking his temperature. What does it look like I’m doing?” Dr. Discord took it and smacked Dr. Fine across the face. “Ow! What was that for!?”
“You dummy! It goes in his mouth, not his nose!” He stuck it in Time Turner’s mouth and he spat it out immediately. “Why did you even think that was what you do?”
“But I thought we were supposed to be nosey.”
“Here.” Dr. Discord gave Dr. Fine some painkillers.
“What are these for?”
“For your headache.”
Dr. Fine scratched his head. “But I don’t have one.”
Dr. Discord then brought out a comically oversized mallet and smashed it over his head. “You do now!”
“Why did you hit him!?” asked Dr. Discord in surprise.
“Because he’s a real head case!”
“Well I think you have a vision problem,” complained Dr. Fine as he rubbed his sore skull. He brought up his lion paw in front of Dr. Discord. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Five,” he answered confidently, only to have Dr. Fine slap him across the face. “Why I oughta…”
The three doctors kept hitting each other, completely forgetting about their patient, who just slowly sank in the covers in defeat. Their fighting was interrupted when the door opened, revealing a Discord in a nurse outfit and with incredibly exaggerated female parts. The three doctors whistled from his appearance. “Helloooooo, nurse!”
Nurse Discord strutted his way to Turner, who was now even more afraid than when he was alone. “Hello, big boy,” he cooed. “Where does it hurt?”
“Um…everywhere?” he replied, afraid of what was going to happen next.
He closely examined him, looking over his visible symptoms. After a minute, he suddenly said, “Ah-ha! I think I have just the thing!” He snapped his fingers, covering the pony in light. After several seconds, it faded, revealing a normal looking Time Turner. “Feeling better?”
The stallion looked over himself in glee. “I-I’m normal! I can’t believe you-” He suddenly felt something within him. After some seconds, he belched out a massive wave of purple fire. When he finished, only one Discord remained, covered in soot. The patient saw his body has changed once again and slowly sank back into his bed. “I should have known it was too good to be true.”
Discord brushed himself off. “I thought for sure that would work. I need to leave for only a moment and I want you to know that saving you is my number one priority!”
Turner found himself smiling. “Thank you, Dr. Discord.”
“Now get some rest. You will need plenty of it.” Discord closed the door behind him and made his way to the front of the hospital. When the ponies saw Discord exiting from the hospital, they began loudly talking to each other, curious of what he was going to say. The Lord of Chaos stood in front of the crowd and held up his hands, silencing them. “After careful examination, I have reached a diagnosis.” Everypony was dead silent as he cleared his throat.
“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM! HE’S GOING TO SPREAD IT TO US ALL! THIS IS THE END! GET OUT OF HERE NOW BEFORE WE ALL GET SICK TOO! MARES AND CHILDREN FIRST!”
All of the ponies screamed and scattered, panicking uncontrollably. They were trampling over each other and fighting other ponies who got in the way of their path of escape. Celestia, furious by the panic he started, approached him. “Discord, what do you think you’re doing!?”
“Warning the public! I’ve tried everything and it didn’t work! He even made my magic disappear! Get out of here while you still can! It’s not safe here! I am making like a glacier and leaving as fast as possible!” He whistled loudly and stuck out his thumb. “Taxi!”
A yellow cab suddenly pulled up from nowhere and he jumped inside. “Where to, mac?” asked the driver, who was Discord.
“Just get me out of here! And step on it!” The car drove away at top speed, disappearing after a few seconds.
With the citizens gone, all who remained were Chrysalis and her friends, who just stood in surprise. They thankfully stood far behind the crowd and were not caught in any of the chaos that unfolded and despite Discord’s warning, they were determined in solving the mystery. They quickly ran ahead to catch up with the alicorns, who were entering the hospital. “Luna! Celestia!” Chrysalis called.
The two alicorns turned quickly and saw them. “I take it you saw Discord’s display?” asked Celestia.
“Yeah, and Ah’m wonderin’ if he’s right and we outta get out of here since he couldn’t do a thing.”
“Worry not,” said Celestia. “I’m sure we’ll find the answer soon. We just need to remain determined and calm. An answer is sure to show up.”
“Do you mind if we come with you?” requested Rarity. “We want to help the poor dear in any way we can.”
Luna nodded and led them inside. “Please do. I’m sure Twilight will be thrilled to see you all.”
“Twilight’s here?” asked Fluttershy.
“Yes. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was going with him and they wanted her to study him. It was she who told Luna and I of what was happening,” said Celestia.
“I believe I caught sight of young Trixie as well,” spoke Luna.
“Figures,” spat Chrysalis.
They went inside and approached Time Turner’s room. Inside were many doctors, trying many kinds of physical therapy and medication in attempt to succeed where Discord failed.
“Sir, hold still while I make the first attempt at organ massaging!”
“I think a placebo effect is what you need. Take this pill, I promise it will cure you!”
“I think the problem lies here, so we’re going to have to amputate.”
“But that’s my head!” Turner yelled in fear.
“Dr. Casa, maybe-”
“It’s not that one disease, you moron! Now go and fetch me some gummy ponies.”
“Fear not, Trixie shall cure you with her amazing magic!”
The false unicorn growled when she saw Trixie, believing it was her fault this all started. Had she not betted Dash into eating all those doughnuts, none of this would have happened. It was totally not Chrysalis’s fault that she ended up creating an incredibly weird disease through alchemy and forced it down Time Turner’s throat. “Trixie, get out here!” ordered Chrysalis, causing the mare to jump and to come out of the room.
Time Turner somehow looked worse than before. Besides the symptoms he had earlier, he looked as if he had aged, had one hoof replace with a claw, and his cutie mark now had more question marks. Pinkie felt her heartstrings being pulled as she looked at him. “This is just awful! Why can’t anypony make him better!?”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “It’s because they’re all idiots. They don’t know what to do, so they just keep trying something stupid until he either gets better or dies.”
Fluttershy was alarmed. “We can’t let him die! We just can’t!”
“He won’t die as long as I’m here!” Trixie tried to reenter, but Chrysalis grabbed her tail and held her in place. “Hey!”
“It’s best if you stay out here, or else you may end up in prison for posing as a doctor,” advised Luna. Trixie crossed her forelegs and grumbled to herself.
Chrysalis turned back into the room and looked around. “I don’t see Zecora in there.”
“She’s with Twilight at the moment,” answered Celestia. “The two of them have been working together on finding a cure and I haven’t checked up on them in a while.”
“We better find her before those idiots somehow make things worse,” suggested Dash.
The princesses led the group to one of the break rooms and found Twilight and Zecora, who looked stressed while sitting at a table with several open books and scattered papers. Twilight looked up from her work. “Hey, girls. I’m guessing you heard about what’s going on?”
Pinkie was at the verge of tears. “I wanted to see how Time Turner was doing, but now I regret it!”
Chrysalis ignored her and sat with Twilight. “I suppose you’re here because you’re a fan of his and the news of an unknown disease caught your interest.”
“Yes. Right now Zecora and I are trying to think of how to solve this. I’m afraid none of my books have anything on what he has and I have no idea what to do.”
Zecora rested her head on the table. “I have tried everything I had, and to no avail. I fear that if I try anything else, it will only fail. Then those doctors came in to see what all the fuss was about. They just want him to themselves, so they tossed me out.”
Chrysalis could not believe she had created something so powerful on accident. She was certainly glad she didn’t try alchemy out when she was queen. Thankfully, she took caution the day before. “I find it strange that a disease would suddenly just pop up out of nowhere.”
Twilight skimmed through one of her books. “Well it’s not unheard of, but I see your point. But we don’t know where it came from so finding the source could take ages and I’m afraid we don’t have that much time.”
“Maybe he really is a magic pony and he got it from an alien overlord from another dimension!” Pinkie exclaimed frantically, causing Dash and Applejack to put a hoof on their faces and shake their heads.
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure he has plenty of time to go around and do exciting things. He probably schedules when he needs to go save the universe or something.”
Twilight’s face lit up. “That’s it!” she exclaimed, startling everypony in the room. “We can look at his schedule and see if he did anything that may have caused him to get sick!” She looked through her pile of notes. “According to what he said, he couldn’t remember anything after seven-thirty last night.”
“And Pinkie and I found him in his bizarre state before nine, so it has to be between those two times,” added the changeling.
Zecora stood up and hastily walked to the door. “Let us not waste time by continuing to speak. Let us go to his home and look for the answers we seek.”
“Tia and I shall wait here to ensure everything is under control,” said Luna. “We wish you the best of luck.”
“We’re going to need all the luck in the world,” Chrysalis said under her breath as she left with the others.
The group arrived at the clock shop and entered by having Celestia’s student teleport them inside. Twilight went to a desk in his bedroom and looked in one of the drawers. Eventually, she pulled out a piece of paper and placed it on the desk. The others grouped around her to see what she had found. “Alright, I found his schedule. Now let’s see if we can find some clues.” They scanned through it, all hoping to find an answer to the mystery, except for Chrysalis, as she already knew it. As she expected, they did not find anything. “Hmm, I don’t see anything totally unusual, but it doesn’t look like he had left home in quite some time.”
“So I guess that means there’s nothing here,” spoke Dash.
“Perhaps we should have a look around the shop anyway,” suggested Trixie. “Maybe we can find something of interest.”
They separated and started their investigation. Zecora looked in the bathroom, hoping to find any sort of strange medication. Twilight looked through the aisles, checking every clock for any sort of magic spell that may have inhabited one of them. Pinkie looked through the bedroom, taking a huge interest in Time Turner’s personal life. The others just explored everywhere else, carefully examining each object they could find. Chrysalis, who decided to let the others to find the clue she had left behind, went into the kitchen and raided his fridge while pretending to look around. After several minutes, Zecora looked through his trash and found the flask. She called the others to her and held it to them. “I have discovered this unusual potion. Perhaps it is the cause of all the commotion?”
Pinkie went up to it and looked at it. She took the cork off and then suddenly pulled away with a hoof over her nose. “Wow! That is really stinky!”
Twilight examined it carefully. “He never said anything about taking any potions. Zecora, can you find out what exactly it is?”
Zecora put the flask in her bag. “I shall take it with me back to my home. Maybe its name can be found in my alchemy tome.” She then ran out the door, heading towards the Everfree Forest.
Pinkie pressed against the window as she watched Zecora run off. “But it could be forever until she finds out what it is! What are we supposed to do now!?”
Chrysalis held the front door open. “The only thing we can do now is wait and hope to Celestia that she comes up with something.”
Pinkie had her head down as she followed and Twilight put her hoof around her. “I’m sure she will find a cure. I have faith in Zecora. Let’s see her tomorrow morning.”
“The rest of you go home and rest up. I will stay with Celestia and Luna to keep an eye on things,” said Chrysalis. She walked off on her own back to the hospital, praying deep down that Zecora could end this nightmare.
The next morning, Luna rounded up the other ponies and teleported them to the entrance of the Everfree Forest and needed Twilight to show her where the zebra lived. Pinkie was impatient and kept telling them to hurry, eager to hear what Zecora had found. Chrysalis felt tired and thought about how badly she wanted to resolve this. Eventually, Zecora’s hut came into sight and Pinkie bolted towards it, banging on the door. “Zecora! Zecora! Are you in there!?”
The door opened and Zecora appeared with bags under her eyes and her hair was slightly messy. “Yes, I am in here, little one. Take a look at this and see what I have done.” She pulled out a large bottle and gave it to Twilight.
Everypony looked at it and then looked back at her in absolute confusion. “It’s a bottle of…cauldron cleaner?” spoke Twilight.
Zecora took it back and placed in her bag. “Yes, this is what he will need. I have to admit, it very strange indeed. The potion we had founded was the cause, but only because it is filled with the biggest of all flaws.”
“What exactly do ya mean?” asked Applejack.
“Every ingredient for a potion contains a small trace of magic. When handled by an amateur, it is just tragic. I believe this potion was made with one mistake being missed, with that being the addition of a magical catalyst.”
“But aren’t potions already magical or something?” questioned Spike.
“The ingredients are, but she means somepony may have added some additional magic, causing those ingredients to act screwy,” answered his caretaker.
“That is correct, Twilight. Whoever had made this was not very bright.” Chrysalis felt better that it was curable, but guilt still rode on her conscious.
“I don’t get it,” said Trixie. “If it’s just a mix of random stuff with additional magic, why couldn't the princesses cure him with their magic?”
“The ingredients’ magic can’t be simply sent away. They will remain in his body and, unless digested, will continue to stay.”
“I’ve noticed he never got hungry or used the bathroom the entire time I was there,” said Twilight. “The potion must have frozen his entire digestive system or something, so the potion stays inside and his body keeps absorbing the magic.”
“So how exactly does a cleaning product solve his problem?” asked Rarity.
Twilight looked at her. “Cauldron cleaner neutralizes the effects of any alchemic ingredient, so a little bit should be enough to fix him without any troubling side effects.”
“But what about Discord?” asked Fluttershy. “He’s way more powerful than Luna and Celestia. Why couldn’t he help him?”
Luna immediately thought of answer. “Do you honestly think he tried to cure him, or simply made the symptoms go away and hope for the best?”
“The second one,” everyone replied at once, followed by some laughter.
Pinkie jumped for joy. “Time Turner is going to be so happy when we tell him you found a cure, Zecora! I’m sure he’ll be your special somepony now!
Twilight stared at Zecora, who was now blushing. “What is she talking about?”
Chrysalis sighed. “We can talk about that later. Let’s just get him better and be done with this.”
“Gather around,” spoke Luna. When they did, she teleported them to the hospital. The outside of the hospital was just the same as the day before, if not worse. The crowd was much larger in size and many were holding signs up, saying stuff such as, “The end is here!”, “Give us the truth, Celestia!”, and “Where is Chrysalis?” The changeling noticed on their way to Zecora’s earlier that there were panicking ponies around Ponyville, but she didn’t think it was this bad. At least it couldn’t get any worse now that they had the cure. “Let us get to Turner and stop this madness." Before they reached the door, many ponies from the crowd started screaming. When the group turned around, they all gasped. A massive force field covered the sky and eventually all of Ponyville. “Oh no!”
“What’s going on!?” shouted Fluttershy as she hid behind Pinkie.
A pony pointed towards the sky and shouted, “WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” The crowd exploded in panic and once again dispersed in the most chaotic way possible.
Celestia bolted out of the hospital and looked towards the sky. “Those fools! I told them this isn’t necessary!”
“What the heck’s going on!?” yelled Rainbow Dash.
Celestia looked at them. “News of Turner’s disease has spread to every city in Equestria and the higher ups in Canterlot wanted to impose quarantine. I told them it wasn’t contagious, but it appears they didn’t listen! Please tell me you found something!”
“Zecora believes she knows what’s wrong with him and may have a cure,” spoke Rarity.
“Luna and I need to calm the citizens before riots erupt. Hurry, my little ponies! Cure him before things get worse!” The alicorns took flight as the rest charged into the hospital. Right as they entered, they were met with the sound of several screams. They all ran towards the source of the noise, trying to see what was happening. When they got there, they saw a group of doctors fleeing in terror as another pony that they couldn’t identify ran down the hall.
“Leave me alone! I can’t stand it anymore!” he shouted as he disappeared.
Twilight took notice of one of the nurses standing there and ran to her. “Nurse Redheart, what’s going on!?”
“It was Turner! He started getting worse so the other doctors here tried some more extreme measures of treatment, but then he just freaks out and starts screaming at them to stop, but those quacks just ignored him! He suddenly starts glowing with magic and fought back. He’s completely out of control and if he doesn’t calm down, he might hurt somepony or himself!”
Pinkie became absolutely panicked. “What are we going to do!?”
“We’re just gonna have to find a way to get him to drink the cleaner and hope it works,” answered Applejack.
“Let’s go, girls!” Twilight was about to run, but Chrysalis put a hoof in front of her face.
“But you heard what she said. He’s completely snapped and I don’t want a personal demonstration of what he can do with that magic of his.”
“Well we can’t just stand around and wait, so pony up and let’s go save the Doctor!” They ran up the stairs in pursuit with Chrysalis tailing behind, not wanting to be his first victim. They swept through every floor, trying to find the missing patient, but to no success. Eventually, all they had left was the roof.
At the top of the stairwell, Applejack slowly opened the door and peeked outside. She could make out a figure standing close the edge, looking down. “Ah think Ah see him. What do we do now?”
Twilight reached into Zecora’s bag and grabbed the cauldron cleaner. “I’ll try to give him the cure. You all stay back.”
“Be careful, Twilight,” said Spike with worry. “It sounds like he’s gone crazy!”
“I’ll be fine, Spike.” The unicorn stepped out on the roof. “Time Turner! We managed to find-” He suddenly whirled around and shot a bolt towards her.
“TWILIGHT!” all her friends cried in horror.
She put up a hoof and closed her eyes. Instead of an impact, she heard the sound of a feminine grunt.
“CHERUB!” shouted Pinkie.
Twilight opened her eyes, finding Chrysalis standing in front of her. Before she could say anything, the matchmaker grabbed her with her mouth and ran back to their hiding spot.
“All of you stay back!” Time Turner shouted, attracting the attention of the others. “I don’t want any more needles, pills, surgery, leeches, or animal sacrifices! I just want to be left alone!” They then all got a good look at him and were horrified. Several spots on his body were rapidly changing color, his mane was gone, his tail was similar to a dragon’s, and he had one wing on his back that was much larger than him.
Chrysalis set Twilight down on the floor. “Are you okay? You really had us scared!”
“Yeah, but looked what he did to you!” shouted Twilight in shock.
Everyone looked at her and gasped. All of Chrysalis’s legs were turned into long blocks of cheese with holes in them. “Wha…wha…is this some sort of sick joke!?”
Pinkie rushed in to give her a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay and now delicious!” She licked her lips and reached her mouth towards one of Chrysalis’s legs, only to be smacked on the back of the head.
“I’m so glad you’re safe, Twilight! I was scared to death!” Trixie closed her eyes and rushed the unicorn, planting her lips on hers while hugging her tightly.
“Trixie, you missed,” spoke Dash while sniggering.
The magician opened her eyes and saw that she was kissing Fluttershy, causing her to immediately back away. “Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!”
“It’s…okay…” The pegasus then fainted.
While Pinkie held her marefriend, Rarity peeked out the door. “Well he’s officially gone crazy and is going to attack anypony that approaches him. Anypony got an idea?”
Zecora stepped forward. “I shall be the one who goes for I am somepony he knows.”
Twilight got in front of the door and shook her head. “Zecora, it’s way too dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Curing the sick is something I must do. Now please, Twilight, stand aside and let me through.”
“If he sees you coming, he’s going to zap first and ask questions later. If only we could distract him or something.”
All of a sudden, Trixie sprang up. “Fear not, for the Great and Powerful Trixie shall save the day!”
“Why is she talking like that again?” Dash whispered to Rarity, receiving a shrug in return.
“With my illusions, I shall provide the cover you need to reach him!” She pushed aside Twilight and opened the door. “Come, Zecora! Let us be heroes!” With her magic, Trixie conjured several copies of herself all over the roof. “Hey, you!”
The sick stallion quickly shot a bolt, destroying one of the fakes. “I said stay back! Don’t make me hurt you!”
“Yoo-hoo! I’m over here!” Turner destroyed the illusion and attacked the next.
“Now’s your chance. Go, Zecora!” said Twilight and Zecora went out the door while keeping her head low. Trixie made sure that her clones were positioned in spots away from Zecora so Turner wouldn’t see her coming and continued to call out to him.
“How are you throwing your voice like that?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Before I became a magician, I was a ventriloquist for a short while.” She visibly shuddered. “Those were dark times.”
“I’m guessing you gave up because your act was wooden!” Spike laughed loudly until he saw many furious mares looking at him, causing him to stay silent.
Time Turner frantically attacked the illusions, not registering the fact they turned into sparks when he hit them. Suddenly, he saw one flying by flapping her legs, causing him to stare in confusion. “A flying pony that isn’t a pegasus? Perhaps I may have gone a bit mad.”
“Time Turner.” He whirled around and was ready to retaliate, but halted when he saw who it was. “Please do not fear. It is only I that is here.”
He rubbed his eyes and leaned closer. “Z-Zecora? Is that you?”
“Yes, Turner. I have come back for you. I am now ready to do what I was meant to do.”
He slowly walked towards her. “You mean…you can cure me?” He suddenly stopped and shook his head. “No! It’s just another lie! Those other doctors said the same thing, but all they did was just bring me pain!”
Zecora slowly lifted a hoof and gently stroked his cheek. “I cannot imagine all that you have been through, but do not think once that I ever do something like that to you. I come to you not only as a healer, but as a friend; A friend who wants nothing more than to see your torment end.”
Time Turner stared into her eyes and then he fell onto the ground, weeping. “Please make me better! I can’t stand going on like this anymore! I just keep turning more into a monster! I just want everything to be normal again!”
Zecora took out the bottle, unscrewed the lid, and held it to him. “Out of the many possible cures, this is the only one. Just drink a little of this down and it will all be done.”
He took the bottle from her and looked at it. “Cauldron cleaner? Are you really sure this will work?” She nodded at him. He stared at her for a while and then sighed. “Okay. I trust you, Zecora. Well, bottoms up.” He brought the bottle to his lips and slowly drank it, trying to fight the urge to gag from its foul taste. When he finished, he dropped it onto the ground and started coughing. His body shook and he fell to the ground. Chrysalis and the others ran to him to see what was happening to him. His body’s rapid color change soon began to slow down and reverted back to its original color and his excessive features faded away, now resembling his normal self.
“You did it, Zecora! He’s back to normal!” exclaimed Pinkie. “And look! Cherub’s normal too!”
Chrysalis examined her legs, which had reverted to normal in terms of her illusion. “That’s a relief. I’m pretty sure Pinkie was ready to turn me into fondue.” They all laughed at her and stopped when they noticed Time Turner getting up. “I think we should get the poor guy into bed. He must be very exhausted from all those quacks bugging him.” Before she could pick him up, he held his stomach and moaned loudly. “Oh no, what now!?”
“I…I…”
“What’s wrong!?” exclaimed Twilight.
The stallion sprung onto his hooves and ran to the door. “I need to find a bathroom!” He disappeared down the stairs, leaving behind a bunch of laughing ponies.
An hour had passed since Turner had returned to normal. He was kept in the hospital for further examination as everypony worried of him suddenly getting ill again. He rested on the bed in his room while speaking with the other ponies until the door to the room opened, showing Luna and Celestia. They walked in and examined the stallion. “I’m glad you are better, Time Turner,” spoke Celestia. “How exactly did this all happen?”
“It was simply a potion accident, no real harm. You should go to the ponies outside and tell them there’s no need for any more alarm,” said Zecora.
“And Zecora totally saved the day,” complimented Dash.
“So did I!” argued Trixie. “I’m going to tell the media that it was both of us who saved Time Turner!”
Zecora yawned and sat on the edge of the bed. “Please do not give them my name. I do not desire a life full of fame.”
“Are you sure?” asked the younger alicorn. “You have accomplished an incredible feat and I think it is only fair you are recognized for it.”
She nodded at her. “I am quite humble with my life of solitude. The only reward I desire is mere gratitude.”
“Very well. We will respect your wishes and not mention your name.”
“Wait a minute,” Trixie said suddenly. “Does that mean I can tell them I saved the day!?” Zecora chuckled and nodded her head. “Yes! Come on, Celestia! Let’s go make some headlines!” The magician went out the door with a skip in her step while the princess sighed and shook her head as she followed.
“I’m guessing a lot of ponies are going to visit the shop now, but they might worry about catching what I had. Please tell me this is the end of my disease.”
Zecora took his hoof. “Yes, there is nothing more to fear. You will also be able to go home today, my dear.”
Time Turner fell back onto his bed. “That’s good to hear. I think I’ve had enough excitement for a while.” He then sat right back up. “What in Celestia’s name was wrong with me anyway?”
Twilight took out the empty flask and gave it to him. “We found this in you shop. It was a flawed potion that had powerful magic mixed into it, which caused all your symptoms. Do you remember drinking it?”
He took it and held it up. “I don’t remember ever seeing anything like this. Where in Equestria could I have possibly obtained it?”
“Well shouldn’t it be obvious? Didn’t you write down ‘drink weird potion and see what happens’ in your stupid schedule?” questioned Rainbow Dash.
Turner shook his head. ”Don’t be absurd. I would never do such a thing.”
Luna approached him. “I’m afraid ponies are going to be asking many questions about this and, to my reluctance, we’re going to have to question you, Zecora.”
“WHAT!?” exclaimed everyone in the room.
“I’m sorry, but it needs to be done. Turner’s bizarre illness was confirmed to have been caused by a potion, which is what you specialize in, Zecora. There’s also the fact that it was you who has been visiting him on many occasions recently. At the moment, everypony will be looking at you as the prime suspect.”
“But she’s innocent!” protested Turner. “She would never do such a thing!”
“I believe that as well, but I will try my best to clear her name.”
“You can’t bring her in! Everypony will think she’s guilty if you do!” shouted Rarity.
The ponies and dragon argued loudly with Luna until Chrysalis whistled over them, making them silent. “If I may, I think I have an explanation.”
“You do?” asked Luna.
“Of course. You see, from my line of work, I have learned that there indeed are some weird ponies, so obviously Turner here has some strange fans. Rumors were already going around about Zecora continuing to visit him and a certain pony, who I am assuming is a mare, became jealous. They must have created a potion for whatever reason and then offered it to him or sent it in the mail or something. It must have been a unicorn as we learned this potion contained magic, which Zecora obviously does not possess. Besides, why would she ever poison the guy? You girls have known her for a while and know she is not capable of such a thing. What would it even accomplish? He could have died from drinking a faulty potion. Let’s not forget that it was sitting out in the open, which Zecora wouldn’t have done if she was our culprit. More than likely somepony left it there on purpose in attempt to frame her.”
“You have a very good point,” spoke Luna. “Okay, Celestia and I will personally question you later in private. We know you are innocent, but we just want to be sure we have all the facts while we investigate this matter. We’ll also keep the cause of your sickness a secret for now to ensure ponies don’t jump to conclusions.” She then smiled. “After all, I don’t see Zecora as somepony who would hurt somepony she cares deeply for.”
Everyone in the room smiled when they saw the two of them blush. “N-now let’s not jump to any conclusions here! She and I are merely acquaintances!” stammered the stallion.
Zecora leaned towards him, which caused him to lean back while sweating. “That is something we do not merely need to be. Don’t you want to get to know more of me?”
“O-of course! I didn’t mean any offence by not making enough time for you. You are very interesting, you have an incredible knowledge about medicine, and I like you a lot more than any of those other doctors.”
She slowly smiled, making him nervous. “You say that you like me more? I’d like to know what it is about me you adore.”
He trembled on the bed as the others grinned at him. “W-well, you know! You were much friendlier, you were always reassuring me while those jerks kept me in the dark, you actually cared about me and not just the illness, we actually got to talk about things, and you’re pretty.” The mares suddenly giggled loudly and he realized what he had just said. “I-I mean y-you’re pretty interesting! That’s what I meant! And I would like to get to know you better sometime.”
Chrysalis could detect love growing between the two and decided to reassure its continuance. “Yes, I bet you would. But of course, with all that has happened, you must be behind on your life. You probably won’t have time to see her for about a week or so.”
He gasped and put a hoof on his head. “You’re absolutely right! I am very behind right now so when I go back, I will…” He then noticed Zecora, who had a disappointed look on her face. “You know what? I think I need a break and just go with the flow. I’ll just take the time to relax and do something different for once” He grabbed Zecora’s hoof and looked at her with a blushing face. “I know this is sudden, but do you want to go out sometime?”
Zecora laughed. “You certainly have a way for going for a mare’s heart. Very well, I will give it a start.” To everyone’s surprise, she moved Time Turner to one side of the bed and got on. “Now if you don’t mind, don’t make a peep. I’ve been working tirelessly and now I require much needed sleep.” She got under the covers and closed her eyes.
Time Turner yawned loudly. “I feel quite exhausted myself. If you all don’t mind, I would like to be left alone while I rest. I have had enough excitement for a lifetime.”
Luna nodded. “Take as much time as you need. Come on, everypony. Let’s leave them alone.”
They walked out while Pinkie hopped with excitement. Twilight was just about to leave, but then turned around and ran to Turner. “I’m sorry, it’s just I’m such a huge fan!” She took out a poster of Doctor Whooves and a quill with ink on the tip.
He chuckled as he took both items. “Just couldn’t resist, eh? Very well.”
She wore a nervous smile. “Could you make it out to Twilight Sparkle?”
He put the quill in his mouth and signed the poster. Twilight immediately took it back as soon as he finished and looked at it. On one of the bottom corners, it said, “To Twilight Sparkle. From Time Turner, aka Doctor Whooves.” She jumped excitedly. “Thank you so much!”
Twilight left the room and closed the door behind her. Turner got into his sheets and rested against Zecora. “You know, it’s quite nice to be this close to you, Zecora.”
“And I am glad that all of this madness is done.” She looked up at him. “If you don’t feel that tired, perhaps we could have a little fun?”
“Fun? What kind of fun?” Zecora smiled at him and got out of the bed. She took the chair and brought it to the door, blocking it. She got back on the bed and sat on top of him, causing the stallion to blush deeply. “O-oh my! What is it you are going to do?”
She reached down and pecked him on the lips. “You.” She pulled the blanket over them and they laughed as they moved around on the bed.
When the others returned outside, they saw Trixie and Celestia standing before a massive crowd of ponies. “And that is how the Great and Powerful Trixie saved the day!” The crowding erupted in cheering, chanting her name.
“Trixie, on behalf of Equestria, we thank you for your heroism,” spoke Celestia.
“Trixie demands that she is given a medal for her deeds!”
Celestia chuckled loudly. “A medal it is then.”
“And a parade in Trixie’s honor!”
The princess rubbed the back of her head. “A little excessive, but I’ll think about it.”
“And a glorious golden statue made in Trixie’s image!”
“You’re pushing it.”
As Trixie and Celestia spoke to the crowd, the others slipped by and headed back to town. “And so ends another exciting adventure,” spoke Spike.
“Not really an adventure, but certainly exciting,” commented Rarity. “It’s going to be a long time before everypony calms down from this incident.”
“I’m just glad you fixed him before anypony got hurt,” spoke Luna.
“What about when Cherub had cheese for legs when she got zapped by him?” asked Pinkie.
Luna gasped loudly and looked at her marefriend. “What!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”
Chrysalis shrugged at her. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Luna pulled her in for a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re safe, my wittle cutie-cupid!”
“Luna, not in public!” she shouted as the others snickered at her.
As Chrysalis tried to get away from Luna’s public display of affection, Twilight walked up to her. “Cherub, I never got to thank you for protecting me back there. It was really brave of you, so thank you.”
“I just saw you in danger and I reacted. I would feel terrible if anything happened to you.” To her surprise, saying that didn’t result in her usual shuddering or gagging. “Anyway, I think we should take today and tomorrow off from work while everypony calms down. I’ll see you girls later.”
“Bye, Cherub. See you later!” said Pinkie as she and her friends walked away, leaving Chrysalis with Luna.
“Mind taking me home?” Luna’s horn glowed and the next thing she knew, they were in her bedroom at Cupid’s Arrow. “You’re the best,” she said as she threw herself on the bed.
Luna got on the side next to her. “So Cherub, about what happened to you.”
Chrysalis chuckled, finding it amusing that early that day part of her body turned into dairy products. “I’m fine, Luna. I was cured as soon as Turner was. It wasn’t that bad.”
“And I am relieved by that, but I am still shocked you were attacked.”
Chrysalis hugged her and Luna returned the gesture. “Such a sweet pony for worrying about lil old me. He just went kind of crazy from all those loser doctors.”
“Cherub, I have to say that it was very heroic of you to protect young Twilight like that. I never thought you could be like that.”
“Well I care about the kid and I didn’t want anything to happen to her.”
Luna kissed her on the lips. “Try not doing anything stupid like that again.”
“No promises.” Luna chuckled as Chrysalis snuggled against her.
“You know, I think you need a break from everything and do something nice for once.”
“I guess I should, but do you have something in mind?”
Luna suddenly blushed. “Well, I’ve been thinking this over for a while and I think this is the perfect way to reward you for your heroism.”
“Oh my. What does my little Lulu have planned for me?” Luna leaned into her ear and whispered. A few seconds later, Chrysalis gasped loudly and then kissed Luna.
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
1,074 users online
2,207,531 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Great chapter! Writing Zecora is always a challenge.
NICE CHAPTER!
I WANT ANOTHER!
As a man of logic and reasoning, pinky scares me.
4019035
It was the eyes, wasn't it?
4019044 that and many other... incidents.
This chapter is so amazing <33, and lolol poor chrys getting embarrassed by Lil ol Luna xD. Still I wonder if she realizes how much she has truly changed and when the time comes to reveal herself. All the stuff she has done on instinct or without thinking like saving twilight at a split second is going to help prove to the others that she isn't the same as she used to be. Then on top of Pinkie supporting her and showing that she didn't mind control or do anything to pinkie despite pinkie knowing her secret. It is always the small details that go a long way.
4018700 Indeed it is.
Sweet Chrysalis That chapter was formidable! I like the reference to the cheese leg
oh come on... you are an evil little pony, you know?
4020030
I couldn't resist.
Time Turner and Chrysy is getting some!
4020459
Only Turner is. Chrysalis is absolutely not getting some as long as Luna doesn't know her true identity.
adieu
4021107
Changed it. Thanks for pointing it out.
nice
Nice one. The House MD quip in there was HILARIOUS, made me
. (Now I really hope it really was that and not just my imagination 
)
4024389
It wasn't your imagination.
One of the things that keeps me reading this is some of your great Chrysalis dialogue and thoughts.
awww zecora and time turner, you do a good job with your matches.
I was honestly expecting time turner to say
I don't want to go
And then all the magic burst out of him in a golden light
I know it's stupid but still I was expecting it
4029401
I've actually never watched Doctor Who. If I did and I knew about the scene you mentioned, I probably would have tried slipping it in.
4029414
here ya go mate
ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608026021808769936&pid=15.1
Can't wait for moar
This chapter had a House feel to it in my opinion
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130405221911/mlp/images/e/e1/FANMADE_Luna_I_see_what_you_did_there.jpg
anyway, as already pointed out, that here was a missed occasion for a "regeneration scene" joke, even more since the whole scene plays out similar to part of the regeneration from 11 to 12 (see episode "the time of the doctor") but in the end it was a good chapter as always
Is that a Three Stooges reference I see? Omg! Yes it is.
Error 404: rhyme not found
Zecora.exe has stopped working
6897390
Glad to see I'm not the only one who noticed!
Snrk. Good job, Chryssie. Maybe you really need that self help book.
Not gagging when saying something nice?
Pfff and she made me believe for just a moment a kiss would be the biggest compliment (should have known! changelings... tshhh)
The Irony is Real
=======•=======G=======•=======
=======•=======G=======•=======
Damn. Zebra gal lives dangerously! I like it!
My theory is that Discord gave him a bit of chaos magic because he thought it'd be funny. I don't really think a potion could give him reality altering powers. (but if there is one, i want it)
Queen cheeselegs, literally