[Gallopocus Seas] The Lost Library - Sinister Sweetness

[Bellosh]

In Merlot’s moment of respite, he learned all that Bon-Bon figured about the menace plaguing the cruiseship. The gentlecolt was right all along to trust his superior tastes and not consume any bit of awful chocolate, although even the mare couldn’t explain why a whole bunch of idiots ate the fouled confectionaries in the first place. Sadly there was no time for further explanation; the possessed ponies stormed into the stateroom, and Merlot didn’t have any sort of idea on what to do save to stare in terror at the menacing horde.

The following seconds passed by like a blur, and before Merlot’s senses fully returned, the khaki unicorn found himself led out through a porthole by Dr. Whooves. To Merlot’s good fortune, he figured out he was plummeting towards the ocean just in time to scream; that, and to swiftly grab a hold of one the other stallion’s rear legs. Merlot shrieked yet again as a possessed crewmember jumped onto Trixie’s rope; what sort of insanity was this?

And then the mad Doctor started swinging the rope, left to right. Merlot in his panicked state didn’t have any clue what Whooves was trying to accomplish, nor could he make out what the stallion shouted through his teeth. “What is this madness?” screamed a horrified Merlot in confusion, trying his best at a pathetic attempt to match the earth pony’s movements; “Are you a CRAZY HORSE?”

[SteelEagle]

Bon Bon was a big reader of the huge epic romantic novels that littered dime store book stands in the Ponyville marketplace, and more than once she pilfered whatever it was that Lyra was reading as well. They were more than mere romantic escapades a lot of the time as they contained elements of high adventure, swashbuckling danger and suave heroes fighting and/or falling in love with dastardly villains, often pirates on the high seas. There was something incredibly attractive about rogues doing as they pleased away from any semblance of authority that spoke to the ember of wildness that burned in the heart and soul of every Equestrian, as dull as it was for some and as harshly as others denied it. But there were a few caveats to that, and they mostly revolved around the fact that she wasn't a mare of adventure and having an adventurous lover would be the bees knees- key being lover. Trixie was the opposite, more like an annoying blackhead on your snout that you couldn't get rid of, but at least the blackheads were quiet.

Trixie did at least save them from the oncoming rush of the mad or crazed or the crazed mad, whatever they were, choosing Bon Bon to save over her partner due to what Bon Bon could only believe was her devastatingly adorable mane. What an annoying cute snake charmer she had as a savior, an insult turned truth as she charmed a rope out an the two held on for dear life on the outside of the cruise ship, dangling by the expertly held rope. Okay, Bon Bon wasn't too unfair. She'd give Trixie her share of the credit, she obviously had experience with more actiony elements in her life. Probably involved running away from towns full of angry customers, but experience was experience was experience. They dangled for a few more seconds as Bon Bon slowly peeled herself off of the magician, holding on as best she could as she surveyed the surroundings. Not much to see- wild ocean sent sprays of water up to her fetlocks at times and row after row of portholes were slowly being lined with curious faces as passengers watched the two mares act all silly like. Bon Bon wasn't a fan of that.

She started swinging herself lightly on Trixie's bottom half towards the porthole. After a few attempts, she was able to make contact and lightly kicked it before swinging away. She swung back and forth, getting more on the extremes either way, until she was making full contact with the porthole. After three kicks, the porthole popped open, and on the final pass Bon Bon launched herself halfway in, squeezing and pulling her way through until she fell with a clunk on the floor of the room.

"Uggh, so sorry about this ponies but...wait..." Bon Bon began apologizing to whomever she had barged in on as her eyesight returned to her, revealing that it was indeed her own room. Ha, what luck! She jumped back up, went to the door, and locked it, barred it, and then double barred it.

"That WAS pretty nifty, Trixie. I suppose, anyway. It's my room! Come on in and we'll barricade ourselves while the magical zombie ponies or whatever take the rest of the ship. Want some bon bons?" Bon Bon offered lightly before taking a peek out. Oh. Maybe she needed help.

"Need any help or is the Great and Powerful Trixie also the...Flexible and Precise Trixie?!" BON BON STILL GOT IT WITH THE NICKNAMES YES!

[brianblackberry]

At first Trixie was not sure what the blue and pink maned mare was attempting as she forced the rope to swing like pendulum, it quickly became obvious though when she managed to get a hoof on a nearby porthole and climbed in. As soon as Bon Bon had secured the rope at the lower porthole, Trixie slid down the rope and literally drove through the opening into the same room like some action hero from those bit store novels. Ah, another brilliant plan brought to -

Trixie's hoof caught on the sill of the porthole and she found herself tumbling over and over into the room, smacking against the far wall and then falling backwards down onto the bed. Swiftly she struck a pose, lazing across the bed with her head propped up on one forehoof, smiling to BonBon as if the whole scene was carefully choreographed. "That's right my humble audience of one, the Great and Precise Trixie of a thousand moves meant to do that, and look good the whole while too!"

Trixie leaped up from the bed, there was time for romance later, even though she was sure Bon Bon had a thing for her, what pony didn't? First thing first though, she had to make sure the other ponies could make it in, knowing the Doctor, he'd mess that up somehow without her exquisite help. Trixie stuck her head back out the porthole and looked up, "hurry up now Doctor, climb in!" She shook her head, "what would you do without Trixie to save you each time?"

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves laughed merrily at Doctor Merlot's wail. "Of course I'm a crazy horse! But I always win!" He waited for Doctor Merlot to start on his way down, then followed after with a delighted 'wheeeeeee!' as he slid down the rope and slipped through the porthole flawlessly. Except for running into Trixie, rolling over the floor with her, then ending up on his hooves with Trixie supported across one foreleg, cradling her protectively in a classic 'swashbuckler hero / damsel in distress' pose. Then he set Trixie back on her hooves, held up a hoof, and let out an "Ah-ah-ah! Hold that thought, I'm busy doing that thing!"

He waited for the very, very large stallion to slide in through the porthole, and grinned manically. "There we are! You, lift up your hoof!" He held up his own hooves facing each other and squinted through them, as if lining up a photo, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth for a moment. "Little up... little more ... to the left a bit - no, the OTHER left! There, hold it!"

The brain-numbed pony following them slid in through the window and RIGHT into the crewpony's hoof, knocking herself for a loop. She stumbled a couple steps to the right ... "And on my mark, put your hoof down ..." Whooves said merrily, as she stumbled a couple steps back to the left. "Now!"

The large crewstallion put his hoof down, pinning the mare to the floor, and Whooves tossed the rope out before slamming the porthole shut. He threw the latch on it, then turned around and lounged confidently against it. "There! Now we can find out what's going on here!" He looked over to Trixie. "You were saying?"

​

[Bellosh]

On que, Dr. Merlot screamed out a terrified “Waaaaaaaaaah!” as he slid down the rope and through the porthole. The unicorn’s landing was far from graceful; managing to ram a small wood table as he tumbled inside. Naturally, a flower vase crashed on top of Merlot’s head in the process, knocking him out for a few brief moments. In that time, the other doctor succeeded in making his own escape and sealing the porthole shut.

As the khaki unicorn came too, he noticed an odd sensation on the top of his head. Not just of searing pain from a rogue vase, or of the daisies stuck in Merlot’s well-groomed blue mane, but also a lack of something. Something that he had been wearing this entire time before the ambush! “My hat!” the gentlecolt cried out in panic, feeling the absence of the white fedora that didn’t make it through the porthole with everypony else; “I paid good money for that custom-made fedora; I’ve better not lost that confounded thing!” Failing to set his priorities straight, Merlot scrambled through the group’s hiding place and checked every nook and cranny in a vain attempt to find his beloved article of clothing.....

[SteelEagle]

Trixie certainly knew how to turn a terrible entrance into gold, in her mind anyway. It was more gilded than anything and didn't do much to impress Bon Bon but prepare her for what was sure to be a day of arrogant boasting, but hey, better than a day spent with a whiner. Which she was also, but chocolates were in good supply and she didn't mean the hexed variety outside. Her room, her bonbons!

"Well Trixie, I'll give you points for style," She made sure to not let the goings on slap her in the ear as she made room. The good doctor, or the bad doctor, she wasn't sure what his alignment was but he seemed like a rogue dark elf-pony. Probably chaotic good. She was pretty sure he was on the level but nopony was on his to begin with. At least he wasn't freaked out any by the storm of oddness that was slowly overtaking the vessel. Then Merlot entered along with a crewstallion, sans his delectable hat.

"Aww, I'm sorry to see that, Merlot. I'm sure you can get a cheap fedora somewhere, though. Wouldn't want anypony to see the bald spot in your mane. ANYHOW- welcome to my room, everypony! Who wants some bonbons while we try to figure out a way out of this mess?" She said as she rummaged through the cabin's portable freeze unit. She found a batch of well-preserved bonbons and put them on a tray, and then on her bed which smelled like flowers now. What perfume did Trixie have?

"Do you have any slight heating spells? Please don't melt them. Or burn this cabin down. or the ship for the matter, though that COULD be a way to stop whatever evil is happening! Just warm them up a bit. I try to make them fresh but not much you can do when you can't get to the kitchen because of evil chocolate soul stealing zombie crew."

OOc- Blargh. Sick. Sorry.

[brianblackberry]

Trixie just grumped at Whooves, he was always showing off in order to look better than her! Why was he so darn competitive! "Oh good job closing the porthole! Let's remember who manage to get us in here in the first place, who had the rope! What would you do without Trixie's resourcefulness!?"

She had a level head about this whole situation, of course Bon Bon did also; mares are just resourceful like that, Dr. Merlot on the other hoof… "Hat? You are worried about a hat at a time like this?" No need to have him continue to panic and thus be needlessly annoying. Trixie looked about and didn't see any sort of hat around inside the room. "Don't worry - The Great and Stylish Trixie is sure that any decent haberdasher will have an improvement over that cheap headpiece!"

At least Bon Bon was keeping it together, but mares were always more resourceful of course. Her initial idea of staying safe and sound in the luxurious and intimate cabin, enjoying some fine chocolates together normally would have sounded quite appealing to the azure unicorn, if it was just the two of them. In this case though it also meant being trapped in a room with Whooves and his uncontrollable need to regale his weird and often incomprehensible anecdotes. They were bad enough when it was just Trixie who had to hear them, but now he had an audience of more than one... Trixie quickly stood up, she had to think of some reason to keep moving, "those possessed ponies surely witnessed our daring escape into this room, Trixie is most confident that we need to solve this truly perplexing mystery rather than hide from it!"

Trixie's proclamation likely wasn't convincing enough, she needed something more concrete. Suddenly, idea! "The kitchen! We need to get to the kitchen! Surely there are clues to this confectionery bedevilment in the ship's galley! Right?" It made sense, given it was truffles the possessed kept trying to get Trixie and the others to eat, and where else would you make them? The others had to see the logic in that, it was a flawless deduction!

At least Trixie hoped so.

She walked over to the door, determined to take a peek, but first thing first, honoring Bon Bon's request for her skillful magic, "certainly the subtle and nuanced magic of Trixie can easily warm those for you!" With a slight glow of her horn, Trixie imagined a warming sensation and directed it towards the chocolates, only for a moment though, didn't want them to melt! "There you go beautiful, warm chocolates, courtesy of the most finely honed magic in all of Equestria!"

Brilliant and skillful! What would they do without her?

[Bellosh]

"Aww, I'm sorry to see that, Merlot. I'm sure you can get a cheap fedora somewhere, though. Wouldn't want anypony to see the bald spot in your mane."

"Hat? You are worried about a hat at a time like this? Don't worry - The Great and Stylish Trixie is sure that any decent haberdasher will have an improvement over that cheap headpiece!"

These idiotic mares; didn’t they know anything about proper fashion? The sheer NERVE of them to dismiss his perfectly valid concerns! Having found no fedora in his frantic search, Dr. Merlot fumed as he turned towards the insolent ladies; “Maybe you two forgot the part where I paid more than a hundred bits for that piece of headwear? Ponies are surprised to learn just how necessary a hat like that proves out in the field.” Sighing, the stallion realized he needed to give up his search; especially with those brainwashed passengers making things difficult for the group.

"Do you have any slight heating spells? Please don't melt them. Or burn this cabin down, or the ship for the matter, though that COULD be a way to stop whatever evil is happening! Just warm them up a bit. I try to make them fresh but not much you can do when you can't get to the kitchen because of evil chocolate soul stealing zombie crew."

"The kitchen! We need to get to the kitchen! Surely there are clues to this confectionery bedevilment in the ship's galley! Right?"

No, there wasn’t a chance any of that would be happening under Merlot’s watch. He was going to leave this ship now, as soon as possible, and minimize any potential risk to himself no matter what. “Going to the kitchen is a stupid idea,” warned the concerned gentlecolt, dead set on saving his own hide; “The only thing we can do now is head to the lifeboats and make our escape... before it’s too late. Why should we waste precious time on some foolhardy pursuit that could get all of us infected?”

Merlot snorted and turned his head away when Trixie promoted her warmed-up bonbons. How very much like plebeians to mess around with chocolates during a dangerous situation while chastising him over trying to find his precious fedora. Hypocrites, the lot of them.....

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves carefully was examining the zombie pony ... he peeled back an eyelid to examine the eye... tapped at the knee with the butt of his screwdriver ... lifted up her tail and let it drop to test the stiffness... tickled her eartip with a feather... plucked one hair from her mane and stuck it in his mouth, chewing for a couple moments, then spitting it out. "What the heck is going on?" he murmured, confused.

He was going to dismiss the chocolate theory that kept popping up, but something far more vital and important had happened. And the two mares seemed not to care! "Not your hat!" he cried, racing to the window and pressing his face to the glass, peering out to see if he could find it. "Awww... fedoras are cool!" He turned to loop his foreleg over Merlot's shoulder, sympathetically. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm sure we'll manage to find it again. But you're quite right. "Staying around this ship *is* a stupid idea! And you're absolutely right - going to the lifeboats is the responsible and intelligent thing to do! Leave it to the experts, let the right ponies take care of it! Why should we waste time?"

He grinned broadly. "Because, of course... we are the right ponies to take care of it. By the time any Canterlot squad got here, it might be too late! And of course, Trixie and I are the experts on this. The ponies on the spot! Don't worry, Merlot - I know you're just trying to think of protecting the civilians, but we'll be all right! You don't have to worry about us, feel free to charge into danger without guilt!"

​

[SteelEagle]

Bon Bon had been accused many times of having a narrow focus but for the most part she was pretty sure she was pretty darn perceptive. She was a small business owner, a successful one at that- came with the territory, naturally. Plus she was a mare and they were far more involved in solutions than stallions. Sexism aside, there was a reason there wasn't a Prince running the nation or running a major city. They were too busy eating eyelashes and worrying about dumb hats that they paid too much for. Mares were just too darn adorable and solution oriented. And luckily for the lot of ponies who had been tossed without pomposity into her cruddy little room, the solution to the terrible issue of hunger had been solved by who else but the mares of the group. Score one for their gender. Score another for everybody about to have a tasty treat.

"Good job, Trixie. Maybe if being a traveling showpony doesn't work out for you, you could become a baker," Bon Bon offered pleasantly, giving her the choice bonbon for her efforts. Good on her for being useful- who cares about fancy rope moves and saving lives when you helped freshen up some delicious chocolates? Priorities, girl. She then trotted to Merlot, who was now focused on getting out. She was sort of on his side in the whole 'ignore the evil and just get home' sort of deal. Sadly, it looked like they had been overruled by the slightly insane caucus this time and would probably have to play along. She gave him a conciliatory bonbon after the excitable, eccentric stallion took him in a hug.

"Well, if we're gonna be here a while might as well stock up on my patented deliciousness, eh?" She offered, hopefully improving his mood. Then again, anypony who spent a hundred bits on a ratty old hat had serious issues anyway and she wasn't going to concern herself terrible with his fortune.

Of greater note was the fact that the kooky stallion and Trixie were right about one thing: If they couldn't escape, they needed to solve the mystery and even if they didn't want it to be true, they were the only ones with the knowledge of what was happening to the degree that only they could solve it. Bon Bon wasn't a hero. She was baker. Today, she'd act the part, if only to get back to baking. She hooved over another bonbon to the stallion, observing the controlled pony on the floor below.

"Ya know, if we have to get into the kitchen...I'm sure I could mimic the voices. We mash up some of my lesser bash of bonbons to look like the culinary carnage they're passing off, sneak into the kitchen, solve this mystery, write a best seller, retire to the south and have cabana colts clean our pools while Lyra swims. Sounds like a plan to me, at least."

[brianblackberry]

It appeared settled; despite Merlot's cowardly suggestion the quartet flee the boat, what really needed to happen was to find the source of the mysterious confectionery malaise that was plaguing the boat and put an end to it! It was so obvious, at least to Trixie. Then the realization suddenly dawned upon the azure unicorn. Why did she even care? She used to not care at all if some terrible malice appeared, other than to get the hay out of the area and save her own flank. Lately though she found herself more and more wanting to face the danger head on, at least if it was magical in nature, ever since Ponyville.

Was she becoming… An adventurer?

Well why not! Trixie was already the greatest stage magician in all of Equestria! A stunning beauty, and a genius at knowledge of the arcane, so having "courageous adventurer" as another hat only would go to prove that she indeed deserved multitudes of accolades, cheers, and most importantly.. Love.

Truth be told, Trixie's idea of going to the kitchen was little more than an educated guess, and using the word "educated" was a stretch. Still, it looked as if the Doctor agreed! So there had to be something to her idea. What was more unexpected was that Bon-Bon also was all for it; better yet she actually had a plan that made sense! "Agreed! We shall use trickery to get past those brainwashed ponies! All we have to do is look completely blank while following Bon-Bon here. Doc, I am sure you already know how to look completely lost!" Maybe a little bit of a cheap shot, but it was all in good fun!

Trixie creaked open the door, and floated her hat just outside the opening, jigging it to see if anypony, or anything would respond. Silence. Perhaps the possessed ponies had no idea where they were after all, that or they have some other, more malevolent machinations… Be brave Trixie, no reason to flake out now, just imagine wet-maned Lyra stepping out of the pool, giving that sultry expression with her eyes.

"Mmmmm.." Trixie just smiled with her eyes closed before realizing what she was doing, "oh! Umm, The Sneaky and Cunning Trixie is sure there is no pony out in the hall, this is our chance!! Now remember, look mindlessly blank!"

[Bellosh]

"Not your hat! Awww... fedoras are cool! Don't worry, I'm sure we'll manage to find it again. But you're quite right. Staying around this ship *is* a stupid idea! And you're absolutely right - going to the lifeboats is the responsible and intelligent thing to do! Leave it to the experts, let the right ponies take care of it! Why should we waste time?"

Could it be that in this time of insanity, Dr. Whooves has become the most sensible pony here? One who recognized that their cause was hopeless unless they escaped from the infected ship at once? And one who actually recognized the importance of keeping a fashionable hat safe at all costs? Was Merlot’s luck about to change for the better?

"Because, of course... we are the right ponies to take care of it. By the time any Canterlot squad got here, it might be too late! And of course, Trixie and I are the experts on this. The ponies on the spot! Don't worry, Merlot - I know you're just trying to think of protecting the civilians, but we'll be all right! You don't have to worry about us, feel free to charge into danger without guilt!"

Apparently not; the Doctor still remained as idiotic as ever. Who cares if the authorities are too late to do anything? That wasn’t Merlot’s problem in the slightest! “I just hope you realize that most ponies can’t be saved from their own stupidity,” the gentlecolt menacingly rebutted; “I fail to see why we should risk ourselves to help those too foolish to help themselves. But if you want to postpone the doom of everyone else on board for another time… then by all means, let’s go save the day.” Gaaah, what was with hopeless sentimentalists these days?

Snatching the bonbon offered to him, the unicorn stallion munched on the treat as he overheard the plan being concocted by the “heroes”. Considering the situation he was in, it would be rather easy for Merlot to look mindlessly blank while journeying to the kitchen. He was stuck in a hopelessly mindless situation as it was, with his precious fedora surely claimed by the sea by now. At any rate, Merlot expressed zero intentions of going first; somepony else more willing can take the risk of taking point.....

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves slapped Merlot firmly on the shoulder. "That's the spirit!" he cried merrily, "Holding off the inevitable, one day at a time!" He wandered on over to the door, peering through the tiny hole in the door left and right, to see if he could spot any ponies in the hallway. Nope, seemed all fine. "Just gotta figure out what they are... whisper-pone? Nah, there'd be more... murmuring. Haven't seen any artichokes, so can't be greenhearts ... "

He followed Trixie out the door, his voice low but excited, slightly muffled by the most excellent warmed bonbons he was eating. "Oh, imagine if they were Inner Shadows. Wouldn't that be fanTAStic? It's been a long time since we've faced off against those - a couple generations at least. I think the kitchen's that way. Did I tell you about the times we've faced Inner Shadows, yet?"

​

[SteelEagle]

The fact that everypony seemed on board with the plan tickled Bon Bon pink, which was the lesser of her colors but still it was nice. Merlot wouldn't be enthusiastic about a bowl of fruit in front of him if he was starving so Bon Bon took it as close to a positive as possible. The Doctor and Trixie went about scouting the area immediately in front and Bon Bon went about the unholy task of preparing her precious bonbons for glorious sacrifice in the name of continued free will. She brought out a batch and inspected them. On some, she went about lightly tapping them until their shell broke, cracking as if done poorly. Others were more violently treated, smashed into tinier bits or even melded with one another. In a few minutes she turned her delicious and well-looked after treats appear to be a mess.

A horrible, terrible mess.

Uggh, she'd bill the convention for this travesty. As well as charge them an hourly rate for saving their flanks. Money never hurt. Nor did knowledge. Bon Bon was too focused to pay much attention, but the Doctor seemed knowledgable about a bunch of possible deviations from the norm. That would help. or hurt. Who knew. Maybe he was the villain and this was a really weird trap to steal her recipe. The world of chocolatiers was cut throat.

Bon Bon stood up from her on the floor impromptu bonbon destruction workstation and pulled a cart out from her dresser, knocking off a few pieces of lingerie as she did so. She placed the tray of destroyed yet still delicious delicacies on the cart and started to work on the voice. They sounded like young emo ponies just starting to live on their own who had a bit of hipster in them, a monotone yet depressing tone. Others sounded like carnies hawking cheap wares which considering the lacking visual quality of their tartarus sponsored treats was a pretty cool way to go. But then again she didn't trust anypony else's acting abilities, so best to stick with plan A.

"Alright everypony, we've got our trojan treats. Get behind me and just pretend that you just spent fifteen hours at work and your wife and or husband is nagging you in bed. Blank expressions all around," She nodded and allowed herself to assume the expression, making her way out of the room and into the hallway gingerly with her cart. Bon Bon sighed, nodded and pushed forward.

[brianblackberry]

Why is that the mares always have to come up with the plans that make sense? For Trixie, the answer to her own rhetorical question was obvious, because the stallions were too busy with their own fragile egos. No two seem to exemplify this observation more than the petty, vain Merlot, and the self-aggrandizement of Whooves, going off again about something or other from his supposed deep past generations ago, how old does he expect Trixie to believe he is anyway? “Could you be quiet for five minutes! You are supposed to be possessed, mindless ponies, and that means none of your prattling about greenhorns or what not! Hmmph!” Trixie then moved her disapproving gaze towards the beige unicorn stallion, “and you, if you rather cower away or run instead of helping, by all means do so! The Great and Powerful Trixie has no time for the pusillanimous!” Trixie was determined! Determined to save the day, determined to prove that she was a pony others could admire.

As Bon Bon walked forward with her cart towards the kitchen where they believed they could learn some clues to what was happening, Trixie followed in silence, using an awkward movement with her forelegs sticking straight out with each step while she stared wide eyed in a blank expression. That is how the possessed walked, right? Well at least that is how they did in all those bit store fantasy novels, not that Trixie ever read such stuff at night in her wagon, nope, never!

As Trixie looked about, she could see other ponies acting similarly: Silent, emotionless, and stilted; sometimes they would gawk at the quartet but otherwise did nothing, and none spoke a sound. The azure unicorn wondered which were actually under the control of the unknown malicious force and who was just faking it to avoid detection; it was impossible to tell. She felt the dark magic was everywhere, further masking which ponies were dangerous. Trixie wondered, did Merlot have the ability to sense it too? Not all unicorns did, the majority did not, but Trixie’s own obsession with being the best did at least benefit her in a few ways, one of the most helpful was learning to naturally sense any magical energy around her.

Finally they had reached the kitchen entrance, what laid beyond the door was anypony’s guess.

[Bellosh]

"Alright everypony, we've got our trojan treats. Get behind me and just pretend that you just spent fifteen hours at work and your wife and or husband is nagging you in bed. Blank expressions all around."

“And you, if you rather cower away or run instead of helping, by all means do so! The Great and Powerful Trixie has no time for the pusillanimous!”

Merlot at first failed to comprehend Bon Bon’s reference. The gentlecolt never had somepony ever dare nag him about anything; those mares that Merlot found worthy enough to court never got emotionally close enough to whine and complain about what he should do. But upon remember that he was surrounded by a herd of selfless idiots surrounded by an even larger herd of mindless, aggressive zombies, that blank look suddenly came naturally to Merlot.

But before he left their safe room, the suit-wearing stallion growled at Trixie to get in some last words; "Mark my words, girl. Before this day is through, you WILL regret throwing away that one chance to save our skins. Playing "hero"... is something you'll find to be vastly beyond your insignificant level of competence."

As Merlot trailed behind the rest, he couldn’t help but feel goosebumps from the unnatural vibes of the air all around him. The stallion didn’t require skill in magic to experience the sensation of dread; all ponies were connected to magic in their own way, meaning that anypony who let fear into their heart could sense the foulness of their surroundings. Not knowing any better, Merlot swore that ship now permeated with evil.

His eyeballs gorging out of their sockets, the silent Merlot endured no better as the group of “survivors” reached the kitchen entrance. Though they remained unseen, the stumbled purposeless hoofsteps of the infected were bad omens to put it mildly.....

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves strolled through the hallway unconcerned by the others' worries and gabbling, his mind turning over this fascinating puzzle in his mind. The pony they'd captured had eliminated a lot of possibilities, as proof of which - Whooves himself wasn't possessed yet. Or was he? Would he know? Perhaps he was even now being influenced by some alien intelligence bent on fooling his mind into thinking that he was on a ship of dangerous mind-controlled ponies! Fascinating concept! But no, he had to trust that this was reality until he could find something that didn't fit. But he'd keep his eyes open ...

"Ah, here we are!" he chirped merrily, as they reached the galley. "Safe and sound! Ladies first," he said, reaching out a hoof to open the door ...

And the swinging doors refused to open.

"Huh..." he said, brows furrowed. "Well, that's peculiar. I didn't think they could lock these doors, much less would. Who locks kitchens? What are they scared of, somepony might steal their salt? Well... I mean, I've stolen salt, but it was really important. There was this unicorn who'd eaten these berries that multiplied his magic, and a giant slug... I'll tell you all about it some other time." He pulled out his screwdriver and jimmied through the crack between the doors. "Ah, here we are..." There was a sound of a rattling chain, some scratching noises, and then *snick* the doors swung open. "Ah there we are!" He stepped into the kitchen, peered around. "Curious. Usually you can't lock a door like that from the outside. Trixie, you check for magic. Me, I have something very important to find... Vital that we... hrmmm... "

He stuck his head into cabinets, rifled drawers, opened the pantry... "Ah!" He emerged with a whole bunch of bananas, one of then open and half-eaten as he chewed happily. "Found them! Anyone nippish? I've a plenty! Keep yer potassium levels up!"

​

[SteelEagle]

The super awesome spy group managed to fool all of the zombie ponies relatively easily. She didn't really expect it to work as easily as it had. In fact, Bon Bon believed that they would be doomed three steps out the door but she wasn't one for trying to argue with a positive surprise. Of course, the door hadn't been left unlocked. Unusual for a kitchen door but not really unusual for a kitchen door holding evilness in all likelihood. Bonnie was about to just kick the door in mild panic- her face was stony silence but her heart was pumping her up like she was backstage at a Vinyl Scratch concert- when the good or not so good doctor went about his work, lockpicking the door with a screwdriver? You know what, whatever worked worked for her and she wasn't about to not take advantage. Within a few hoofshakes they were inside the eerily quiet kitchen which didn't show any signs of mass chaos like she had expected.

Instead, it seemed a bit too orderly. She'd been in more than a few kitchens and they were never bastions of good order. Sure everything was clean but if you didn't find your colander in with your plates and your whipping spoons with your grill-stickers, you weren't in a crazed chocolatiers kitchen. And with time winding down you would think that there would be mass chaos permeating the very fabric of the kitchen-time continuum, but they got jack diddly in the world of massed chocolatier shenanigans to show for it. The doctor went to find a banana and good for him, but Bonnie's honor as a maiden of the chocolate arts was at stake. She would find this chocolatey evilness and then go about winning her lapel pin for best chocolates or she would start kicking ponies. Probably that Trixie one.

"Alright everypony, now that we're in the kitchen we should have a little bit of freedom," She whispered far too close to the others sans the doctor, who was going on about potassium levels, "but keep discussion low. Don't wanna be caught by the zombie ponies," Bonnie affirmed her commitment to free will with a wink and started looking around. It didn't take long to for a certain aroma to infiltrate her fine senses. Burned chocolate was the most horrible of all the seven smells of chocolatiering and as she approached a nearby sink, the smell grew. She slowly opened the pot where the smell was coming from-

-And a chocolate hoof-thing reached out with a deep-throated gurgle and tried to snatch her up. She reacted quickly and in a flash slammed the top down on it, and the chocolatey hoof of doom splatted back inside in a vile display. There wasn't much in there, but it was sentient and mean.

"Woah, well, uhhh, anypony wanna take a look at this? It's the leftovers of a bad buncha batches, I think."

[brianblackberry]

Trixie kept an every watchful eye out for any of the possessed crew and guests, her horn slightly aglow, ready to bring forth whatever spell she could think of to help in their trek through hostile territory in case they were confronted, however all appeared calm. For the most part her companions appeared just as alert, only that annoying beige unicorn was of concern and mostly because of his rotten attitude and constant whining. Trixie wanted to pick him up by the tail with her magic and fling him through the approaching kitchen door; as humorous as that would have been, she opted instead to respond with her forthright wit, another one of her many, many talents.

The azure colored unicorn turned around and faced Merlot with as sarcastic, righteous grin, “well, colt, if you are that afraid of the big, bad ponies that roam these halls, have no fear, the Great and Powerful Trixie will be happy to be your widdle foalistter and protect that precious widdle head of yours, ‘kay?" She rubbed his mane in an act of faux reassurance. "Do you need a magic bubble to protect you, or a pacifier to suck on, maybe a comfort blankee? No? Then be quiet!” Such a coward, he was talking to the pony that stood up to an Ursa Minor in Ponyville! Sure she wasn't able to stop it, or do much of anything really, but she tried!

At least they finally reached the kitchen, which was fortunately empty, but there was also something wrong; it was oppressive, like some sort of bone chilling heavy fog, but she just couldn’t but her hoof on it. Whooves though appeared completely oblivious to the unsettling atmosphere, or at least that was how it appeared on the surface. One just never knew with that pony, but he did somehow always one step ahead of whatever trouble they came across, and at least he was astute enough to rely on Trixie’s superior magical skills.

With her horn aglow Trixie first focused on the door, causing some colorful fireworks to spray out from around the doorknob, deforming it slightly so it couldn’t be used by anything to get inside. Now that they were safe, she went momentarily still, her eyes wide and seemingly glazed over as she attempted to see the ley lines of magic that permeated the world. It was blurry though, there was too much localized magic in the area, and some kind of presence, malicious and close, very close, but the cloud of magical energy around them prevented Trixie from pinpointing where.

The azure unicorn’s concentration was suddenly broken by a loud slam on a nearby stove. “What the hay are you doing?!” Trixie trotted over with an annoyed expression on her face, “the Mystical and Focused Trixie was trying to discover what is causing all of this and you are worried about how something is cooking?!?” She magically lifted the top to see what the hay all the fuss was about. There it was, the very source of all that malice, she could swear it looked at her right before a tentacle of chocolate took a swipe at her hat. Trixie instantly slammed the top down hard with her magic, cutting the chocolate tentacle off and splattering most of its remains onto Merlot’s jacket.

“Doctor!! Really need you here, right now!”

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves blinked in surprise upon seeing that animated chocolate. He dropped the bananas onto the counter, and stepped quickly over to the pot. "That can't be," he said with a bewildered tone. He lifted the lid, and leaned his head to the side to avoid the tentacle of chocolate that lashed out, just barely missing his cheek. "This must be something else." He ducked under the tentacle's lashing antics, and peered into the pot again. "You're gone," he told the chocolate tendril firmly, "You're not supposed to be here." It stabbed at his face again, and he blocked it with the pot lid, settling it down onto the pot once more, rubbing at his chin as he leaned on the pot, looking pensive.

"Naw, it can't be ... can it? Naw. I mean, that's not. That's just residual spite, no real intelligence there... the intelligence would be contained elsewhere... but they're all gone. Well. One's left. But it's contained. We'd have run across this one before if it was there. But it CAN'T be."

He finally looked up and started to talk more directly. "OK, so yes, there was a problem with intelligent, telepathic chocolate entities a long time ago, in the ancient Mareyan civilization. But they figured it out ... they had this drink called xocoatl. It was a drink for royalty consisting of chocolate and hot peppers, and they used it before major ceremonies to ensure that everyone present wasn't possessed by the Entities. Even after the fall of the Mareyans, there were a couple entities, and some few ponies kept the secret of the drink alive. We took care of the last of the entities a couple hundred years ago - captured it, sealed it in a box, and handed it over into a family of chocolatiers descendent from the Mareyan priest-kings to keep safe for all time. It went down swearing it would escape and seek vengeance upon us. I don't remember much more than that, you'd have to ask Truffle Shuffle up there for more details - he's the current keeper of the box. I don't understand how this could have happened"

The Doctor let out a snarl and pulled at his mane. "But I don't remember the *RECIPE*. I wasn't supposed to need it! I mean, there's lots of imitation recipes now-a-days, but we need the original recipe of the priest-kings. You'd need to be some sort of history buff specializing in ancient Mareyan civilization to know it! And even if I had the recipe, I wouldn't be all that good at *cooking* it ... you need to be a skilled chocolatier to get it *just* right! And even on top of that, there's too many of them! How would I capture them and get it down all their throats?"

He tapped at his chin with a desperate, lost look on his face. "Don't worry, I'll figure this out... you all relax, I just... need to ... figure it out ..."

​

[Bellosh]

*ICKY CHOCOLATY SPLAT!*

If there was anything that could take Dr. Merlot’s mind off of Trixie’s insolence, this was it. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Without a doubt, the gentlecolt found the unseamly stain of chocolate on his precious white suit more horrifying than the actual existence of a confectionery-constructed monster. First his hat got claimed by the sea, and now his other expensive piece of clothing would forever be tarnished with this disgrace (as if getting dunked into the pool was bad enough). Things haven’t looked this bad for Merlot ever since that one time in his youth he tried playing out adventure fantasies in the Everfree Forest.

"OK, so yes, there was a problem with intelligent, telepathic chocolate entities a long time ago, in the ancient Mareyan civilization. But they figured it out ... they had this drink called xocoatl. It was a drink for royalty consisting of chocolate and hot peppers, and they used it before major ceremonies to ensure that everyone present wasn't possessed by the Entities... But I don't remember the *RECIPE*. I wasn't supposed to need it! ...You'd need to be some sort of history buff specializing in ancient Mareyan civilization to know it! ...Don't worry, I'll figure this out... you all relax, I just... need to ... figure it out ..."

Paying attention to the words of Dr. Whooves was the sole thing keeping Merlot from breaking down into an agitated room-wrecking mess of pent-up rage. An archaeologist by trade, the unicorn stallion knew a great deal about the by-gone Mareyan civilization and its rituals. Unlike the other supposed “doctor”, Merlot did remember the special recipe that apparently would save the ship and its occupants from a grim fate…but he wouldn’t be offering it to his companions freely.

“Heh heh heh heh ha ha ha ha ha,” the gentlecolt suddenly laughed, as if he developed a sudden case of insanity; “Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha hah!” For a good quarter-minute, Merlot manically snickered, realizing he currently had a trump card up his sleeve to get out of this Tartarus-hole of a ship; “It just so happens… that I actually know this concoction. Heh, I commend your ability in keeping the group intact up to this point, Doctor. But now… it’s MY turn to give the orders!”

A creepy smile on his muzzle, Merlot delivered his terms; “I refuse to divulge your precious Mareyan recipe... unless I am escorted to a lifeboat. Needless to say, I’ve had... enough of this ship… and the rest of you low-life plebeians! If my demands are not met,” the stallion adjusted his unfortunately-wrinkled tie to no real effect; “Then I guess you imbéciles have no way of stopping the Entity. How very sad.”

Finally, Merlot had a ticket off this accursed boat!

[SteelEagle]

So, it turned out that the Good Doctor Whooves had a whole lot ore going on that a case of the crazies and a good appreciative eye. he seemed to know more than there was to the naked eye, and for that she qas grateful. She just made chocolates and this was to be a simple trip. She just wanted to get home to her Lyra and forget about semi-sentient evil chocolates slash ancient entities. But alas, she was destined to be constanrtly annoyed with calls to greatness! Or simply competence, which on a rocking ship didn't seem all that attainable. She could hrdly keep herself together half the time, let alone aid in bringing down whatever madness was going on. At a time like this a simple ma tai and an umbrella on a beach would have suited her just fine. But oh well. She'd have to save the day and get a nice backrub from Lyra later. Such were the life and times of Bon Bon.

However, it appeared as though there was something she could do and that made her perk up a bit. Not being completely useless in an emergency certainly gave a pony focus. So there was some sort of mixture, a drink, a potion one might say. A nice tasty concoction, one might say. Something that only the finest smith in all of the chocolate world may make, one might say. One might say a lot of things but at least in one aspect of solving this crisis, all roads led to Bon Bon. Well, all roads led to Bon Bon, Trixie, the historian, and the nutter for a doctor. It was the dream team of adventure. But there was just one problem- the historian was a jerk and wanted off? He wasn't all that bright, was he? Well, nopony ever accused him of that.

"Geeze, you're a dumb one. How could we possibly get you to a lifeboat and off this ship? Either the creepy zombie ponies notice somepony is trying to leave and stop us, or we get stopped by the crew. Until we get that drink, nopony is going anywhere and thats pretty obvious. Trixie, Doc, can you believe this dork? Uggh. And he thinks we'll believe him for a moment when he says he knows the mixture..."

Hey, reverse psychology had to work someday.

[brianblackberry]

Trixie turned the oven off under the pot that the malevolent chocolate monstrosity was simmering in. It couldn’t hurt and who knows, maybe depriving the beast of heat would solidify into a solid chuck of chocolate over time, immobilizing it. Just in case though, Trixie magically pulled some rope from hat and tied it all around the pot, determined to contain whatever that abomination was just in case it was strong enough to move entirely on its own.

It was then she heard as Whooves gave an exposition on the history of the creature, he did know what it was after all! Surely that meant he knew how to defeat it, well, sort of. Who knew how much he was saying was accurate, given he kept talking as if he had been there all those centuries ago in ancient Mareya, fighting the thing. As the Doctor continued to babble on, Trixie directed a flat look his way, one eyebrow cocking disbelievingly. The only part that was most likely fully truthful was somehow this “Truffle Shuffle” released the creature. “How could this had happened? Its obvious you nitwit, he opened the box! Probably was really hungry after struggling with some ridiculous all lettuce diet.”

Well at least there was a cure, at least Trixie hoped so; there was always some element of truth to the embellished tales the Doctor regaled, even if the idea of the brown earth pony lving all those centuries ago was utterly preposterous. Wasn't it? Turned out though that other unicorn confirmed the cure Whooves mentioned, more importantly, Merlot knew it! “Excellent, you can tell-“

Before Trixie could even finish her sentence, that treacherous swine refused to reveal what he knew unless they let him off the ship. No way Trixie was going to agree to that; the moment he was safe, he would just take off and leave them there without revealing anything, the snake in the grass! “You cowardly colt! Here the Brave and Heroic Trixie and her loyal, courageous companions struggle for our very souls and you dare! You dare to sell us out you chicken-hearted, craven, pretentious, ill-mannered, sloppy, uncouthed mule! If the Gallant and Chivalrous Trixie and her faithful comrades get taken over, there is absolutely no escape for you! You either tell us the formula, or suffer the fate of being an enslaved pony covered in dark, messy, unclean, sticky chocolate for the rest of your miserable life!”

[Bramble Rose]

Doctor Whooves rocked backwards, blinking in surprise at Merlot's demands. He waited patiently as the two mares lambasted the archeologist, then stepped forward. "Ladies, ladies," he said placatingly, throwing a forehoof around Merlot's shoulders. "You misunderstand him, I think! This is an exceptionally brave thing he's doing! Knowing that if we were to fail, and no word were to reach the shore, that all Equestria would be lost, he's offering to leave, by himself, to the part of the ship where they are most likely to be waiting for us, unarmed and undefended, to try to claim one of the row boats - knowing that his entire route back home would be trapped in a tiny little vessel with absolutely no way for him to avoid attack, where even a single drop of chocolate waiting hidden underneath the seat could slip into his mouth while he was sleeping, and he would be lost ... offering to go helpless and defenseless into the most dangerous place there IS on this ship? This isn't something to scold him for! It's an incredibly selfless offer he's making here! Though ..."

He turned to Doctor Merlot, a perplexed look on his face. "Exactly what *is* your plan, Doctor Merlot? I must admit it seems pretty reckless, even for me - to want to head out on such a ridiculously dangerous mission without even first preparing the only weapon we have against them..."

​

[Bellosh]

".....Trixie, Doc, can you believe this dork? Uggh. And he thinks we'll believe him for a moment when he says he knows the mixture..."

Merlot’s demand wasn’t going over well at all. Bon Bon accused the gentlecolt of not only possessing low intelligence, but of lying about his knowledge of the mixture. The latter infuriated Merlot to such a degree that he almost gave in to the temptation to give up his bargaining chip. “How dare you question me! Of course I know the confounded mixture. You simply-”

"You cowardly colt.....!"

Trixie’s even more extreme insults interrupted the moment right when the good doctor would have spilled the beans. Not even Merlot’s gentlecolt personality kept his face from convulsing in sheer rage, thanks to the outright attacks on his very honor. BAH! Those cowardly fools surely lacked the courage to say those vile things in polite company.

The other Doctor’s statements, on the other hoof, merely made Merlot confused. Obviously, he didn’t get the memo that the group would escort the unicorn to a lifeboat, ensuring that Merlot wouldn’t be left to face the zombies alone. And for the record, Merlot thanked Whooves for giving a reminder to check underneath the seats once the lifeboat started its escape. Assuming everything was clear on the small vessel, Merlot judged that the zombies lacked the capacity to chase him out in the open ocean; impaired judgement coming with the territory of being mind controlled.

Nonetheless, Dr. Merlot realized he would have to do some negotiating to get what he wanted, even if he was stuck with the other deplorable “heroes” for a little while longer. “Fine! I’ll play your little… game,” spat a fuming gentlecolt, in danger of abandoning the mannerisms of a proper gentlecolt; “If you give your word that I’ll be escorted to a way off this ship, I’ll provide the recipe right now.” Off in a distant hallway, the droning of several ponies under the Entity’s spell echoed through the kitchen. Reminded of the surrounding threat, Merlot quietly growled; “I suggest you hurry.”