Transcripts/A Health of Information

:Fluttershy: Thank you so much, Zecora. I never would've found the crisscross moss without you.
:Zecora: Of course. I know where it grows, so it's not much to ask. Though retrieving it has been a difficult task.
:Fluttershy: Oh, but the oxen visiting Sweet Feather Sanctuary next week will surely appreciate it. It really adds a shine to their coat.
:[splut]
:Zecora: There we go. Now, that wasn't so tough. Fluttershy, tell me, will this be enough?
:Fluttershy: Gee, I don't know. It's a pretty big pack. So maybe enough to fill up this sack? [gasps, laughs] Oh, my! You're rubbing off on me, Zecora!
:Zecora: Whoa. Whoa!
:[branch snaps]
:[splash]
:Fluttershy: [screams] Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!
:Zecora: [gasps]
:Fluttershy: Zecora, are you all right?
:Zecora: No need to fret. I only got wet. At least now I can easily grab all the crisscross moss there is to be had.
:[poof]
:Fluttershy: [gasps] What's happening to you?
:Zecora: Honestly, it's hard to tell. But suddenly, I don't feel so well...
:Fluttershy: [gasps deeply]
:
:Dr. Horse: All right, Zecora. Let's have a listen to the old ticker.
:[jazz drum solo]
:Dr. Horse: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
:Fluttershy: Do you think it's serious, doctor?
:Dr. Horse: Well, that wasn't a good sign.
:Fluttershy: I can't believe a flower did this. I take back thinking it was pretty!
:Zecora: [coughing]
:Dr. Horse: Mm-hmm. We're looking for any color other than red.
:Fluttershy: Phew. [gasps loudly]
:Dr. Horse: Oh, it's just as I thought. I'm afraid you have a very rare disease called... [echoing] Swamp Fever!
:[thunder and lightning]
:Zecora: Tell me, doctor. What should I do? I've never heard of Swamp Fever, mind you.
:Dr. Horse: Unfortunately, very little is known about the disease. Except, of course, its symptoms – change of coat, coughing bubbles, shock sneezing, confusion, and the last stage, the afflicted turn into the very trees that drop the disease-spreading flower.
:Zecora: Oh! Is there anything that can be done for such a terrible conundrum?!
:Dr. Horse: A cure has yet to be discovered. I'm sorry, Zecora.
:Zecora: Hmmm.
:Dr. Horse: It's a lot to take in. I'll leave you two to discuss.
:[door closes]
:Fluttershy: Zecora, this is all my fault! If you hadn't been helping me get the crisscross moss, you wouldn't have gotten Swamp Fever. I'm so sorry.
:Zecora: Fluttershy, you are not to blame. These things happen all the same.
:Fluttershy: I refuse to accept that! There has to be somepony who can help you!
:Zecora: Oh. There's a healer of legend who never would fail. But I only know her from ancient folktales. Mystical and masked, she came in the night and cured everything from hoof cough to fur blight. What became of the healer, nopony knows, for she disappeared ages and ages ago.
:Fluttershy: The Mystical Mask! Of course! My parents would tell me about her whenever I was sick in bed.
:Zecora: There's so many accounts of her power to heal. She can't just be a legend. I think she's real.
:Fluttershy: If that's who we need to cure you, then I'm going to find her! And I know just the pony who can help!
:Fluttershy: [pants] Oh.
:[door opens]
:Fluttershy: Twilight? Twilight? Twilight! Oh, I'm so sorry to bother— Are... Are you cooking?
:Twilight Sparkle: Yeah! Spike and I are having a cook-off!
:Spike: My cauliflower bites blew her sweet potato muffins out of the water!
:Twilight Sparkle: I'm glad you're here, Fluttershy, because we're gonna need a second opinion about that.
:Fluttershy: [grunts, gulps, grunts, gulps] Um, they're both delicious, but... [quickly] Zecora-has-Swamp-Fever-and-there's-no-cure-and-it's-all-my-fault-and-the-only-pony-who-can-cure-it-is-the-Mystical-Mask-and-I-need-your-help-to-find-her!
:Twilight Sparkle: Uh...
:Spike: So, what'd she pick? The cauliflower bites, right?
:[pages flipping]
:Twilight Sparkle: [sighs] That's the last book on ancient ponies, and still no mention of the Mystical Mask.
:Fluttershy: Hmm. Did we check the unabridged versions?
:Twilight Sparkle: Yes, and the books on rare diseases, the books on rare plants, and the entire section on bog habitation.
:Fluttershy: Well, we might have to look through every book in the entire library, but I know we'll figure it out.
:Twilight Sparkle: Oh.
:[music]
:Fluttershy: [sighs] Another dead end. Have you found anything yet, Twilight?
:Twilight Sparkle: [snoring]
:Fluttershy: Twilight?
:Twilight Sparkle: Aah!
:[thud]
:Fluttershy: Goodness! Are you okay?
:Twilight Sparkle: [sighs] I'm fine. Fluttershy, you know that I want to help Zecora. But I think we'd be a lot better off if we got some sleep. We've been at this for hours.
:Fluttershy: Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize how late it had gotten.
:Twilight Sparkle: No problem. I'll grab you a pillow and—
:Fluttershy: Oh, no-no-no. I meant you should sleep. I can't rest until Zecora is healed.
:Twilight Sparkle: I understand how you feel, but I still think we'd have more luck if we tried again in the morning. Just promise me you'll take a break soon.
:Fluttershy: [not listening] Mm-hmm.
:Twilight Sparkle: [yawns] Good night, Fluttershy.
:[door closes]
:Twilight Sparkle: [snoring] 9-by-13-inch pan...
:[thud!]
:Fluttershy: Twilight!
:Twilight Sparkle: [awake] Nonstick pans!
:Spike: [groans] What's all the commotion in here, ladies?
:Fluttershy: Sorry, but I figured out who the Mystical Mask is!
:Twilight Sparkle: [gasps] You did?!
:Fluttershy: All I had to do was cross-reference a book about masks with another book on ancient Equestrian healers, then use a third book to translate it all from Olde Ponish, and there it was! Zecora was right! The Mystical Mask wasn't just a legend. The Mystical Mask was Mage Meadowbrook!
:Twilight Sparkle: [gasps deeply] The ancient sorceress from Hayseed Swamp? We studied her at Celestia's school! Are you sure?
:Fluttershy: Absolutely! Mage Meadowbrook wasn't just a sorceress. She was also a healer, and back then, healers wore masks so they wouldn't get sick themselves!
:Twilight Sparkle: Fluttershy, I am so incredibly proud of you for using your research skills to figure this out! But Meadowbrook lived ages ago, and didn't she disappear?
:Fluttershy: Mm-hmm. But if we go to Hayseed Swamp, maybe we can find something she left behind! Something that could lead to a cure!
:Twilight Sparkle: It seems like a long shot, but I guess it's possible.
:[pyow!]
:Fluttershy: [grunting] We have to try! I've got a route all planned out, and on the way, we can check up on Zecora, and then—
:Twilight Sparkle: Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're leaving now?
:Fluttershy: Of course! Every second we spend waiting is a second Zecora is coughing bubbles!
:Twilight Sparkle: But Fluttershy, you haven't slept! And that's a long journey!
:Fluttershy: There's no use trying to talk me out of this, Twilight! [grunts] We've got no time to waste!
:Twilight Sparkle: Can we at least grab some breakfast?
:Fluttershy: I packed cauliflower bites.
:Twilight Sparkle: Aw. No sweet potato muffins?
:Spike: I, uh, ate them all. They were actually really good. [chuckles]
:Fluttershy: And that's when I realized the Mystical Mask was actually Mage Meadowbrook!
:Zecora: [coughs] That's marvelous, Fluttershy. I am quite impressed. While you are gone on your journey, I'll try not to be... worried.
:Fluttershy: [gasps] Oh, no. Zecora, you didn't rhyme! You must be getting worse.
:Zecora: Oh. No, no, no, not at all. Something... something... ball? [sneezes]
:[electricity crackles]
:Fluttershy: [gasps] That's it! We have to go now!
:Twilight Sparkle: Lead the way, Fluttershy.
:[thud]
:[circling birdies]
:Fluttershy: [groans]
:[door opens]
:[door closes]
:[thump]
:[music]
:Twilight Sparkle: So... [chuckles nervously] where do you think Meadowbrook lived?
:Fluttershy: [yawns] I'm not sure. Maybe there's somepony we can ask.
:Twilight Sparkle: I think we might be the only ponies here.
:[beat]
:Fluttershy: Wait! I recognize that tree! [gasps] Yes! This has to be it! It's just like the illustrations of her home!
:Twilight Sparkle: Anypony who lives in a tree is okay by me.
:Fluttershy: [grunts] Phew. Well, if the doorway is sealed up, we'll just have to dig our way in. Back up, Twilight! I don't want you to get hurt! [grunting]
:Twilight Sparkle: Or we could try the handle.
:Fluttershy: [laughs nervously] It really blends in with the bark.
:Twilight Sparkle: Easy to miss.
:[door opens]
:Fluttershy: Wow. It looks like this place has been abandoned for years. [gasps] Twilight, look! It's the same kind of lilypad that gave Zecora Swamp Fever! Hmm. I wonder if Meadowbrook was looking for a cure for Swamp Fever, too. [gasps] Do you think she found it?
:Twilight Sparkle: I hope so, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
:[loud squeak]
:Twilight Sparkle: That's exactly what I'm talking about. You're making your excited squeaking noise!
:Fluttershy: Uh, I wasn't making my excited squeaking noise.
:[loud squeak]
:Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy: [scream]
:Cattail: [Cajun accent] Y'all can stop screamin' now. Didn't mean to scare ya. I do that a lot.
:Twilight Sparkle: Scare ponies or rock creepily in the dark?
:Cattail: Well, both, I s'pose. Name's Cattail. Pleased to meet ya.
:Fluttershy: Likewise, but, um, may I ask, why are you in Mage Meadowbrook's home?
:Cattail: Oh, I take care of the place. I ain't much of a cleaner, but from what I hear, my kin wasn't neither. So I doubt they'd mind a few cobwebs in our ancestral home.
:Fluttershy: [gasps] You're related to Mage Meadowbrook?
:Cattail: Mm-hmm.
:Fluttershy: Oh, my goodness, Twilight, we did it! Not only did we find Mage Meadowbrook's old house – we actually found one of her descendants!
:Twilight Sparkle: Honestly, I would not have guessed it.
:Cattail: So you're lookin' for some kind o' cure, huh? Well, now, I know Meadowbrook was known to always be writin' in her journals. If she had the cure you want, I reckon that's where it'd be. Come on. I'll show ya the library.
:Twilight Sparkle: Library?! Now we're talkin'!
:[beat]
:Twilight Sparkle: Oh. Well... [chuckles] Libraries come in all shapes and sizes.
:Fluttershy: This is good. It'll take us less time to go through everything.
:[thud]
:Fluttershy: [blows air, reading] "Today, my mom made me eat peas. Peas are yucky." And we can probably skip this one, unless she found a cure when she was a foal.
:Twilight Sparkle: [reading] "I met a colt today. He pulled my mane, so I put a frog on his head." Also not helpful, but I do kinda want to see where it goes. [grumbles]
:Fluttershy: Wait! Listen to this! [reading] "Today, I tried again to brew an unsniffle elixir..."
:Fluttershy and Mage Meadowbrook: [crossfading] [Cajun accent] ...and I finally got it right!
:: [sneezing]
:[sipping noise]
:: [sighs]
:Meadowbrook's Mother: Meadowbrook, I think it's time you had this.
:[thumping]
:Mage Meadowbrook: [gasps] My very own healer's mask! You think I'm ready, mother?
:Meadowbrook's Mother: Mm-hm.
:[knocking]
:[door opens]
:Meadowbrook's Mother: [gasps] What caused this?
:Mage Meadowbrook: [narrating] Mother calls it Swamp Fever. We've been tryin' to find a cure, but it hasn't been easy.
:[lily puffs]
:Meadowbrook's Mother: [coughing]
:[knocking]
:[door opens]
:Royal Pin: [coughs]
:Mage Meadowbrook: [narrating] The fever spread like wildfire.
:[ponies sneezing and coughing]
:Meadowbrook's Mother: [coughing]
:Mage Meadowbrook: [narrating] I fear if we don't find a cure soon, everypony will be in grave danger!
:Meadowbrook's Mother: [coughing]
:Mage Meadowbrook: [narrating] With mother sick, I didn't think I'd ever find a cure. But starin' at those cursed flowers today, I saw somethin'.
:[flash bees buzzing]
:[lilies puffing]
:Mage Meadowbrook: [gasps] Flash bees! [narrating] I realized the flowers' poison didn't affect the flash bees. And if they were immune to Swamp Fever, their honey could be the cure!
:[flash bees buzzing]
:[branch snaps]
:[flash bees buzzing]
:[zaps]
:Mage Meadowbrook: [narrating] But they were so aggressive defendin' their hive, I didn't know how I was gonna get it!
:[flash bees buzzing]
:Mage Meadowbrook: Here goes nothin'!
:Mage Meadowbrook: [narrating] Today, I cured mother...
:Fluttershy and Mage Meadowbrook: [crossfading] ...and the rest of the bayou!
:Fluttershy: [reading] "It was the greatest feeling I've ever experienced, and I promise to dedicate my life to curing ponies all over Equestria!"
:Cattail: And she did just that. Right up 'til she disappeared without a trace.
:Fluttershy: So all we have to do is find those aggressive flash bees and get them to give us their honey! Of course, it doesn't say how she did that...
:[beat]
:Fluttershy: What? Is my mane messy? I know I haven't slept in a while, but... [gasps] Oh, no! I've caught Swamp Fever!
:Fluttershy: Huh?
:[thump, thump]
:Twilight Sparkle: [slightly muffled] Are you sure these are necessary?
:Fluttershy: What?
:Twilight Sparkle: I said, are you sure these are necessary?
:Fluttershy: Yes! I won't risk infecting you or Cattail!
:Twilight Sparkle: What you can't risk is getting any sicker! If you don't rest, your symptoms will only get worse!
:Fluttershy: [coughs]
:Cattail: Mm-hmm. You really should rest up before going up against those flash bees. They are nasty critters.
:Fluttershy: Um, you don't know this about me, but I'm pretty good with animals. And besides, Dogtail—
:Cattail: Cattail.
:Fluttershy: Um, Zecora is counting on me. I have to help her, just like Meadowbrook helped her mother and all those bayou ponies long ago!
:Twilight Sparkle: But Fluttershy, as much as Meadowbrook took care of other ponies, I'm sure she also took care of herself.
:Fluttershy: [strained] You're not gonna change my mind, Twilight!
:Cattail: Ooh. For bein' sick, she sure is strong.
:Cattail: The flash beehive is just up yonder.
:Twilight Sparkle: Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?
:Fluttershy: No! It's too dangerous, Twilight. Besides, I've already gotten one friend hurt. I won't let it happen to another. [exhales] Okay, Fluttershy, you can do this! [coughs]
:Fluttershy: [panting] [straining] Mind over matter! [grunts] [straining, panting]
:[flash bees buzzing]
:Fluttershy: Hello, flash bees! I was hoping I could get some of your honey.
:[flash bees buzzing]
:Fluttershy: Oh! I see. You don't let others have any. Well, I'm sorry, but I really need it.
:[zap]
:Fluttershy: [squeaks] I didn't want it to have to come to this, but I'll just have to use... the Stare!
:[flash bees buzzing]
:[zap, zap, zap]
:Fluttershy: [shrieks] [coughs] You really are aggressive! [coughs] Oh, dear. [whimpers]
:Fluttershy: [groans] What happened? Where am I?
:Twilight Sparkle: [exhales] I'm so glad you're okay. You're still in Meadowbrook's tree.
:Cattail: You fainted, but Twilight shot some magic up and caught ya. It was crazy.
:Fluttershy: Goodness gracious! [coughs] Have you heard from Zecora? Is she okay?
:Twilight Sparkle: Uh...
:Cattail: We got word your zebra friend has started sproutin' leaves.
:Fluttershy: She's already turning into a tree?! I thought we'd have more time!
:Twilight Sparkle: Actually, you've been asleep for three days.
:Fluttershy: Three days?!
:Twilight Sparkle: Mm-hmm. You were asleep so long, we were afraid you wouldn't be able to move when you woke up. But thankfully, you just wore yourself down!
:Fluttershy: Oh, dear. We have to get back to the hive! I've wasted so much time, and—!
:Cattail: Now hang on there, Fluttershy. Those flash bee critters are tricky.
:Twilight Sparkle: Cattail's right. I can't even use magic to calm them down. We'll have to find another way to get the honey.
:Cattail: We've tried everything from disguises to things I won't even speak of. [shudders]
:Twilight Sparkle: He's been through a lot these past three days.
:Fluttershy: Wait... Disguises...
:[flash bee buzzing]
:Fluttershy: [gasps] That's it! I know how she did it! I know how Meadowbrook got the honey!
:[flash bees buzzing]
:Fluttershy: This is how Meadowbrook got the honey from the flash bees!
:Cattail: She threw a mask at 'em? I wouldn't recommend that.
:Fluttershy: No. The male bees aren't aggressive around the queen bee, and this mask has the same stripes that she does.
:Twilight Sparkle: Fluttershy, that's brilliant!
:Fluttershy: [sneezes]
:[zap]
:Cattail: Whoa!
:Fluttershy: There's no time to waste!
:Twilight Sparkle: Hooves crossed!
:Cattail: Oh, golly! I can't watch!
:Fluttershy: [coughs] Mind over matter!
:[flash bees buzzing]
:Fluttershy: [buzzing]
:[splat]
:Fluttershy: Twilight... It's working!
:Zecora: [gulps]
:[leaves rustling]
:Twilight Sparkle: I think she's cured now, Fluttershy.
:Zecora: Ohhh, I do feel fine, and this honey is divine.
:Fluttershy: Oh, you're rhyming again! Welcome back, my friend!
:Zecora: Thank you, Fluttershy, for all you endured. If not for you, I would not be cured.
:Fluttershy: Oh, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been sick in the first place.
:Zecora: Regret is not what you should feel, because on this journey, you've learned a great deal.
:Fluttershy: That's true. I certainly learned that if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of anypony else. In fact, if I had rested like Twilight had suggested all along, maybe I would have thought to use Meadowbrook's mask sooner.
:[window squeaking]
:Dr. Horse: [coughing]
:[bubbles popping]
:Dr. Horse: Please tell me you found the cure! [sneezes, sneezes]
:[credits]