> The Magic of Psychedelics > by ConfusedBrony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prologue The Everfree Forest. It’s a dangerous and mysterious place. Nopony dares enter it and as a result, little is known about it. There is just so much to discover beyond the treeline. Unexplored architecture, interesting animals, exotic plants, these are just a few things waiting to be documented. A place like this is irresistible for certain lavender pony. “Spike!” shouted the pony. A purple dragon rushed down the stairs and stood in front of his master. “Yes Twilight?” “I need you to give me every book you can find on the Everfree Forest.” Twilight scribbled a few notes on some parchment. “I’m planning an expedition soon and I need to know as much as I can before going in.” Spike scanned through the books as he conversed with his master. “Uhh, you sure about this Twilight? The Everfree Forest is kind of dangerous.” “That’s why I need to study up on everything, and I mean everything about the Everfree.” Twilight’s eyes followed the words on her checklist. “Okay... Well, here you go.” Spike brought over a small pile of books related to the Everfree and put it down next to Twilight. “Is this really all that you can find?” Twilight let out a frustrated grunt. “It’ll have to do for now, thanks Spike.” A purple aura formed around the book on the top of the stack. It glided down smoothly and landed in front of her. The book opened up to the first page and Twilight began reading. “A Dummy’s Guide to the Everfree: 25 tips that will save your life...” 2 WEEKS LATER Twilight approached the edge of the forest. A brown saddle bag was slung over her back. A few sheets of parchment and quills were hanging out of it. She looked into the forest with a mix of fear and excitement. Twilight has already been in the forest several times before. However, she has never actually gone in for the sake of exploration alone. Twilight gulped. None of friends were able to make it. Applejack had farm business, Rainbow Dash was managing an upcoming storm, Fluttershy had to count rabbits.... again, Rarity was busy making dresses as usual, and Pinkie Pie, well, she’s being Pinkie. When Twilight asked Pinkie to accompany her on her expedition, Pinkie gasped loudly, threw a cupcake in her face, and ran off. Even Zecora was busy. She returned back to her homeland for the month to attend a family tradition. Twilight had already planned this trip in advance two weeks beforehand and she wasn’t going to change her plans anytime soon. Nothing stood between her and the Everfree. Twilight took one deep breath and started walking onto the beaten trail. It was only 12 o’clock A.M, but the dense canopy of the forest blocked out most of the light. Twilight heard some rustling in the bushes and she froze in her tracks. She looked over into the bushes. “It’s nothing,” she told herself. She regained focus on her task: document the Everfree. Twilight approached blood red mushroom growing out of the side of a tree. It secreted a corrosive liquid from it’s cap when she got too close. Twilight backed away and pulled out her parchment and quill. Entry 1: Blood Red Mushroom -Secretes corrosive acid. -Grows on trees. She rolled up the parchment and placed it back in her saddlebag. Twilight levitated the mushroom and placed it into a plastic bag. She sealed it shut and put it in a tin cylinder. The bushes rustled again but this time, Twilight took a defensive stance and pointed her horn in the direction of the noise. The bushes rustled more and Twilight clenched her teeth. She began focusing her magical energy into her horn. She was ready to incapacitate whatever was about to attack her. The bushes rustled more and more. A cute and furry creature emerged, It had a slender body with long and pointed ears. It looked at Twilight with it’s large eyes and let out an adorable squeak. Twilight released a sigh of release and dropped her defensive position. Entry 2: Not everything in the Everfree is out to kill me. Discovered a relatively cute Twilight dropped her quill and parchment mid-sentence when the creature almost knocked her over with a deafening roar. It’s eyes began glowing red, it grew to the size of a large bear, claws emerged from it’s paws, and it was just about ready to tear the unicorn apart. Twilight picked levitated the quill and paper quickly. Entry 3: Disregard entry 2, everything IS trying to kill me. TRUST NOTHING! Twilight bagged the materials and ran as fast as she could. She heard what sounded like a strong wind and an intense heat singed her tail slightly. “Fire? FIRE?! That’s just not fair!!” Twilight screamed and ran faster than before. She disappeared suddenly in a flash of magical energy and reappeared about a hundred feet from her original spot. She was now out of the creature’s line of sight. “Just stay calm, don’t make any noise, and you’ll be fine,” Twilight thought. Surely enough, the creature lost interest and wandered off back into the forest. Twilight stood back up slowly and made sure the creature was gone. She looked down at her hooves and shrieked. She hopped out of her cover and examined the vegetation she was standing in. At first, she thought that she had just taken cover in poison joke, but upon closer inspection, the plant turned out to be something else. It had a different shade of blue and the structure of the flower was different. Twilight began writing again. Entry 4: Dark Blue Flower - No immediate effects after being exposed - Smells like... roses. - Looks surprisingly appetizing. Twilight considered what she was about to do. She opened her mouth and was about to put it in but stopped. She casted some sort of spell on it that let her know the chemical composition of the flower. She detected nothing deadly. “Here goes nothing!” she said before putting the plant into her mouth. As she munched on the plant, sweet juices filled her mouth. It was surprisingly flavorful! The texture was like that of any other flower but the flavor really was something. It was a bit tangy, sweet, slightly spicy and sour all at the same time. “Mmm!” Twilight smiled and swallowed it. “I should tell Pinkie to put these in her cupcakes.” Twilight wrote that down on her parchment then paused. The forest suddenly looked brighter and more vibrant. The colors of the world began to pour out and accumulate in rainbow puddles on the floor. The trees waved and twisted into all sorts of interesting shapes. The flowers that she had eaten were now opening and closing at random intervals. Twilight shook her head side to side to get rid of the visions. It didn’t work, if anything, it made it worse. “This isn’t good...” > Chapter 1: Complications > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: Complications “This isn’t good. This isn’t good. This isn’t good,” she repeated. The hallucinations were getting stronger and stronger. “This isn’t good. Oh my Celestia, THIS ISN’T GOOD!” The trees slowly reached out to grab her. “Stay away from me! AHH!” Twilight hastily shoved a dozen or so of the flowers into her saddlebag. The ground was rippling like water currents. She could barely run straight. Twilight heard loud crunching and saw that the trees were actually unrooting themselves from the ground. They advanced towards Twilight. The entire world shook from the trees’ heavy footsteps. The violent shaking threw her balance off and she fell flat on her face. There was a small scrape on the bridge of her nose. “It’s nothing,” she thought. A tiny bit of blood oozed out. She continued to run from the menacing trees but as she ran, more blood came out of the scrape. The stream became more solid and it came out much faster. A minute more of running made the blood come out like a powerful waterfall. The forest was actually being flooded by her blood. It went from knee to neck height in a matter of seconds. She was swept off her hooves and was now being carried away in a rapid of red water. The walking trees were out of sight and Twilight felt oddly at ease despite the fact that she was being carried by the water at subsonic velocities. It was probably because the trees were gone. The bloody water also happened to be warm. It was almost like a hot tub. She let her body drift with the water, she let her body become one with the water. Twilight’s body melted and became a liquid. She looked up at the sky and watched the stars dance with the moon. The water changed from a blood red to a relaxing blue. She felt so... relaxed. Twilight’s eyelids felt heavy. They dropped lower and lower until her eyes were completely closed. “This is... good,” she said quietly before falling asleep. Twilight woke up soaking wet with a gasp. “What am I doing here?” she asked herself. She shook off the water like a dog and looked at the river in front of her. The sun was slowly rising over the horizon. The Everfree Forest was puny in the distance. Before she could figure out what happened, her stomach growled loudly and she decided to go get something to eat. It’d be much easier to think with a full stomach. Twilight realized that she had no clue where she was. There were no landmarks other than the river and the Everfree Forest. The rest of the landscape was relatively flat. She looked at the Everfree more closely. To the left of it was a tiny spec. She couldn’t see any details but she could at least tell that it was a town. Twilight conjured up a pair of oddly shaped binoculars. The lens were badly distorted but they still zoomed in on objects. Twilight said something about how bad her magic was then started looking through her binoculars. She found the town hall and Sweet Apple Acres. This was enough to identify the town as Ponyville. It was at least a dozen miles away. “No biggie, a few teleportation spells and I’ll be there in no time.” She concentrated as hard as she could but the results were disappointing. She was too hungry to teleport. Twilight groaned and began walking. Twilight was literally dragging herself along the ground by the time she made it to Sweet Apple Acres. Her mane was disheveled, her coat was covered in dirt, and she generally looked like crap. Luckily for her, Applejack was out bucking apples and caught sight of her friend. “Twilight! What the hay happened to you?” Applejack helped Twilight back onto her hooves. “I... I don’t know.” Twilight caught her breath. “I need food.” She barely managed to finish her last sentence before passing out. “Twilight.” The unicorn turned over onto her other side and covered her ears. “Twilight!” Now she moaned. “TWILIGHT!” Twilight jumped at the sudden loud noise. “AHH! What?!” She saw Pinkie’s familiar face and calmed down immediately. “Oh, it’s just you.” “Twilight! You’re awake. Ah’ got so worried when you passed out on mah farm. You’re feeling alright now?” Applejack stood next to Pinkie. Twilight rubbed her head with her hoof. “My mind is a bit foggy, but otherwise I’m feeling fine. Where am I exactly?” “You’re in the Ponyville hospital. We’re going to keep you in here for a day or two so that we can monitor you,” said a Doctor in the doorway. Twilight continued rubbing her head with her hooves. “I don’t get it... Ow, my head hurts. I appreciate you guys coming to check up on my but can you come back another time? I need some rest.” Twilight groaned in pain. “Will do Twilight, get better soon okay?” Applejack said before leaving the room. “You just stay here and relax! I got everything taken care of. Thanks for the flowers by the way! I’m baking cupcakes with them right now and when their done I’m going to give them out to everypony so that they can tell me what they think of them! I’m so super duper excited are you excited?” Pinkie didn’t even take a single breath as she spoke. “Another time, okay Pinkie?” said Twilight with a smile. Even though listening to Pinkie physically hurt, she still cheered her up. “No problem! I’ll make sure to throw you a big party when you get better!” Pinkie bounced out of the room. Twilight chuckled at Pinkie’s antics. “Flowers... Where have I heard about these flowers,” Twilight pondered as she drifted back to sleep. A few fliers were posted in Ponyville that read “Free cupcakes at Sugarcube Corner!” A crowd of ponies gathered around the entrance. Among the crowd included Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. Pinkie was inside monitoring the cupcakes. The oven dinged. Pinkie pulled out the tray of cupcakes and placed them on the counter to cool. Twilight Sparkle remained asleep. She is completely unaware of the chaos that was about to commence. > Chapter 2: Distribution > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: Distribution Twilight's mind drifted as she dozed. One thought in particular kept recurring however. "Flowers... the flowers... something about the flowers." She was mumbling in her sleep and the nurse stared at her oddly. She shrugged and walked out of the room. Pinkie Pie approached the counter of Sugarcube Corner. The inside of it was packed and a line formed out the front door. Everypony was absorbed in their own little conversation making it quite noisy inside the sweet shop. "Everypony! Listen up!" The crowd quieted down and turned their attention to Pinkie. "The cupcakes will be out in about fifteen minutes, but for now, enjoy the new cupcake party that I'm about to throw...... NOW!" Pinkie pulled out a large cannon and fired it into the air. The bang was deafening. An immense amount of streamers began falling onto the crowd who have taken cover on the floor. A few ponies shot Pinkie annoyed and angry stares. She laughed nervously. "My bad." It wasn't long until everypony was back at ease enjoying the party. A few ponies danced to the music, some lolled around, and others conversed. Pinkie retreated into the back of the shop where her friends (excluding Twilight) were hanging out. "Hold on, so what happened to Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked Applejack. "Ah'm not quite sure actually. She just sorta crawled onto my farm and passed out." "That sounds absolutely dreadful!" exclaimed Rarity. "It's not too bad. The nurses say she'll make a full recovery in a day or two." "That's... good," Fluttershy said quietly. "That's not just good, that's absolutely positively FANTASTIC!" Pinkie's shouting made Fluttershy jump. Pinkie glanced at her hoof. "Look at the time, the cupcakes are done cooling down." She bounced over to the batches of cupcakes. "She's not even wearing a watch, how did she-" Rainbow Dash answered Applejack's question before she even finished it asking it. "It's Pinkie." Twilight couldn't get the flowers off her mind. What was so important about them that made it so that she just couldn't forget about it? Twilight forced the thought out of her mind the best she could. "Everfree Forest... trees... mushrooms. cuddly things that want to kill you..." An important piece of memory was recovered from her mind. Twilight woke up in a cold sweat. "THE FLOWERS!" she shouted. Nurse Redheart sprinted into the room. "Twilight Sparkle, are you alright?" Twilight's mane was disheveled because of her shocking revelation. "No, I'm not alright! The flowers! The flowers are bad!" The nurse looked confused. "What flowers? Are you talking about your lunch or-" "I'm talking about the flowers from the Everfree." "What's so bad about those flowers?" asked Nurse Redheart. "They were... they were..." Twilight searched every corner of her mind for the right word. "They were... I don't remember. BUT I KNOW THERE BAD!" Nurse Redheart nodded slowly and began backing out of the room. "If there's anything you need, don't be afraid to ask okay?" Twilight could hear that she was having a conversation with another pony. They were talking to quietly to hear clearly but she could still hear bits and pieces of the conversation. "She needs a full psychiatric work up." Twilight facehoofed. "No! I'm not crazy!" she screamed. The nurse walked back in with a patronizing smile. "It's okay, we believe you." Twilight rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. Everypony's mouths watered upon seeing the cupcakes. It had a rich chocolate base with a dark blue frosting, the same shade of blue that the hallucinogenic flowers were. "Err, excuse me Pinkie, but don't you think that you should taste test it first?" Rarity suggested. Pinkie put her hoof to her chin. "Hmm... yep! You're right!" Pinkie tossed a cupcake in her mouth and ate it whole. "Mmmmmm! Tasty! Come on, let's go give everypony a cupcake!" Pinkie Pie approached a table with a tray of cupcakes. Her four other friends followed behind with more trays of cupcakes. They placed them onto the table. Pinkie began talking to the crowd. "I would like to thank everypony for being so awesome and coming to my cupcake tasting party!" The crowd gave a small cheer. "So, let's begi-" Pinkie paused and stared into space before wandering back into the back of the kitchen. "That was weird, even for Pinkie. Oh well, let's go chow down on these cupcakes." Rainbow Dash took a bite out of one of the cupcakes. The line became shorter and shorter until everypony in Sugarcube Corner was munching on a cupcake. Twilight was sleeping soundly in her bed when all of a sudden, a loud bang shook her awake and broke her window. "AHH! What the hay was that?" She stood up from her bed and looked out the broken window. There was a streak of rainbow across the sky that traced back to a rainbow in the shape of a circle. "A sonic rainboom?" Twilight muttered in disbelief. There was another explosion of rainbow in the sky; the shock wave hit her a second later. "Another rainboom?! What's going on?" Rainbow Dash's eyes were blood shot and dilated. Her flying was erratic but fast. She was pulling off sonic rainbooms every ten seconds or so. "I'M SO FAST! WOOOOOOO!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Nothing can stop me!" Her chain of sonic rainbooms ended when she crashed into the town hall. "I'm invincible," Rainbow Dash said weakly. Rarity wandered back to her shop and began sewing together an abstract dress. The colors contrasted from one another beautifully, the jewels sparkled magnificently, the embroidery was gorgeous, it would've been the perfect dress if it weren't for the fact that it wasn't even in the shape of a dress. It looked more like a fancy ball of yarn. Applejack was conversing at a table in Sugarcube Corner with nopony. There were two other chairs empty chairs opposite her. "These pastries... these pastries are so good. Ah' can't seem to stop eating them." Applejack fell out of her chair laughing uncontrollably. "Come on guys! Quit making me laugh!" Partially chewed food spurted from her mouth. Fluttershy had returned back to her house and stood next to a tree completely still. She didn't even blink. A bird landed on her head but she didn't react. She just stared into nothing and stood still. Pinkie Pie was sprinting back to the hospital to find Twilight. It wasn't easy when half of the town was drugged with insanely strong psychedelics. It was complete chaos. It may have even worse than when Discord reigned over Ponyville. Pinkie had to avoid anything from falling objects to falling ponies. Twilight ran out the hospital just as Pinkie arrived at the entrance. "Twilight!" Twilight ran by and yanked Pinkie by her arm. "Twilight why are you running?" "The flowers, the flowers are drugs. We can't let anypony eat those cupcakes!" Pinkie halted. "Twilight, about that, everypony already ate them," she said calmly. Twilight's expression turned horrified. Her jaw dropped and her ears flattened. "Celestia is going to kill me."