"Have we packed everything?"
"Like, we sure did. Me and the kids are, like, ready to go, and junk."
"Okay. Then where is my brother?"
"I'm right here and before we leave I think we should have a session."
"My friend, that's a great idea. I'll use the Good Luck pipe. We have a big day ahead of us and it is important we make a good impression on Ponyville."
It was a nice warm day in Ponyville. Everypony was going about their business as they usually do. Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Applejack decided to eat together at Twilight's favorite cafe, outside. The three ponies were deciding what to do today.
"Hey, I know what we could do," Twilight began. "We could go swimming at the swimming hole. The weather is warm enough for it."
"Yes, but that water is icky," Rarity countered. "And I shall not want to ruin my mane today. I worked to hard on it this morning."
"But it looks the same as it always does," Applejack said.
"How dare you," Rarity gasped.
"How about Hide and Seek?" Twilight interjected.
"Did somepony said Hide and Seek?" Rainbow Dash said coming in for a stylish landing. "I'm game. Just as long as we get to pick any place in at least a ten mile radius and whoever's it gotta find all of us in 10 minutes! It would be the most epic hide and seek game ever!"
Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack looked at each other with unimpressed expressions.
"No Hide and Seek," Applejack said.
"Hi, girls," a voice said from afar. It was Pinkie Pie. She was walking with Fluttershy and Spike.
"Hey Pinkie Pie," greeted Twilight. "We were here just trying to come up with something to do today. What are you guys up to?"
"We were helping Fluttershy," Pinkie said.
"Yeah, we were looking for new little critters to care for," Fluttershy added. "But we couldn't find any."
"Yeah, all I found was sore back." Spike said.
"Hey, somepony had to look up that tree," Pinkie Pie started. "And since I was the tallest I needed a boost."
"I'm still convinced that doesn't make any sense," Spike grumbled.
"Well it looks like we're all at a lost of what to do today." Twilight deduced.
"TOWN MEETING!" a voice bellowed from across the street. It was Mayor Mare. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and their newest recruit, Babs, accompanied her. They rang little bells to help call everypony's attention.
"Town meeting, everypony," she yelled some more. "We have a presentation from a family of new ponies."
Everypony made their way toward the center of Ponyville, where the presentation was being held. A family of five bohemian ponies, waited with a cart full of jars, clothes, and treats. The family waited patiently to be introduced by the Mayor. They were soon surrounded by nearly every pony in Ponyville.
Twilight was able to catch the Mayor before she introduced the new ponies.
"Hey Mayor," she started. "What's going on here? Who is the new family?"
"These are a group of farmers," the Mayor said. "One of them met me the other day to introduce a magical herb that they learned how to cultivate. Ponyville can definitely use something like that! We would be the only town to have such a thing. Isn't that exciting?"
Twilight and the others sat and waited patiently for the presentation to start.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts," the Mayor began. "Today Ponyville welcomes its newest family of farmers, the um… what were your names again?"
One of the ponies stepped up to finish the introduction.
"My friends, we are the Kush family," he said. "I am Golden Kush. The big one over there is my little brother, Silver Kush. These beautiful girls of mine are Strawberry Kush and Vanilla Kush. And this beautiful bud here, the love of my life, is Aurora Indica Kush. We are cannabis farmers."
Golden Kush is an off white pony with a dark brown dreadlock mane tied in a bun. He has a shaggy beard and his eyes are dark green. He wears a vest and a necklace with a small horn as the charm. It doubles as a smokers pipe. His cutie mark is a gold cannabis leaf. Silver Kush is stallion. He is jet black. His light gray mane is long and unkempt and covers his eyes. He also has a shaggy beard and wears a vest. His cutie mark is a silver cannabis leaf. Strawberry Kush is a Pegasus and is the youngest. She is strawberry pink with a beet red curly mane. Her eyes are light green. She wears a white bandana around her neck. She does not have her cutie mark yet. Her sister is older. Vanilla Kush is a white Earth pony. Her black mane is also dreaded but more stylish than her father's. She has it tied in a ponytail. Her eyes are purple. She carries a hoofmade satchel. Her cutie mark is a chef's hat with a cannabis leaf on it. Aurora Indica Kush is a red unicorn with a blonde dreaded mane like Golden Kush's. She has purple eyes as well. She wears a flowing sundress and a ring of flowers around her head. Her cutie mark is a green cross.
"Today," Golden Kush continued. "We wanted to demonstrate the use of this versatile herb-"
Golden Kush continued to pitch cannabis to the crowd. He opened a jar of freshly harvested buds and the musky odor began to travel amongst some of the crowd. The Cutie Mark crusaders were among the few that got a good whiff.
"Hold on a sec," Babs said to herself. " I know that smell."
"Yup me, too," said Applebloom. "Smells just like a polecat, don't it?"
"Well, yeah," Babs started. "But it also smells like drugs."
"Drugs? Like medicine?"
"Well, not exactly. There's this kid in my school who sells this stuff to other kids. In Manehatten, you can get in a lot of trouble for even having it. If you get caught with it, the cops'll haul you off in a Manehatten minute! And if they catch you selling it, forget about it!"
"You mean it's illegal?" Applebloom shouted, disrupting the presentation.
Everypony looked at her, including the Kush's.
"Is there something wrong, my friend?" Golden asked.
"Well I overheard," Applebloom started, stammering a bit. "Well, it's not that I think you're a bad guy, but-"
"What my cousin is trying to say here," Babs chimed. "Is that this stuff is illegal where I come from. It's marijuana. It's a drug. We learned about it in school."
The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves. Twilight and Spike made their way toward the front.
"Is this true, Mr. Kush?" the Princess asked.
"My friends," Golden said with his hooves raised. "I didn't think we would have to explain the dark side of the herb this soon in our demonstration, here. But we would gladly address this now. Vanilla, if you would?"
"Gladly," she enthusiastically agreed. "You must come from Manehatten, right," she said to Babs.
"Yeah. What of it?"
"Me and my family studied cannabis for a long time. During our research we found that certain places in Equestria were already aware of it but only a few places. Manehatten was one of the first cities to actually produce cannabis but it was outlawed due to the crime it induced. Cannabis became a scarcely known herb. It's all here in my 21st Edition of Botanical Facts."
She handed the book to Twilight who immediately began reading it.
"We also brought pamphlets."
Vanilla started passing stacks of pamphlets to ponies to pass around amongst the crowd. She continued to explain their intentions.
"We want you to be aware that this herb is not universally accepted. We want you to be aware that in the wrong hooves, cannabis can be misused, abused, and mistreated. We hope that along with the cultivation of cannabis for Ponyville and the surrounding towns, we can educate you on the true value of it. That way you can decide for yourselves if this is something you want in your town."
The ponies listened intently to the young mare. Some were touched by her insightful words. Princess Twilight especially was convinced to listen to her and her family on what they have to say about cannabis.
Aurora Indica Kush came forward to speak.
"Like, we have many uses for this herb ranging from, like, nutrition to apparel."
"Did she say apparel?" Rarity jolted up.
Aurora continued, "Like, one of the most important uses we have for it is for medicine. Little dragon brother?"
Spike turned his attention to Aurora Indica.
"Like, I noticed you're suffering from back pain. I can, like, help you with your pain, if you care to help me demonstrate, and junk."
Spike shrugged and agreed. Aurora then popped a pipe full of ground up buds of cannabis into his mouth.
"Now, like, light the herbs with fire from your nose and inhale with your mouth."
Spike did as instructed. He violently coughed the first time. After recovering he took another drag from the pipe. He was able to inhale the smoke with ease.
"Like, cannabis can help with pain relief," Aurora stated. "But as a practicing doctor and nutritionist, I would like, totally prescribe this for a patient suffering from neurological diseases, mental disorders, or, like certain, chronic illnesses. I could, like, prescribe in herb form, oils, ointments, or like, delicious cookies or candies!"
"Isufferfromdepressionsignmeup" yelled Pinkie.
"What?" Applejack responded.
"Like, tell us little dragon dude," Aurora said to Spike. "How do you feel?"
Spike looked at Aurora then at the crowd of ponies, wide-eyed.
"I feel awesome," he said with a wide relaxed smile.
Ponies began to cheer and applaud.
"Sweet, Celestia. There are ponies everywhere," Spike continued.
"Spike what's the matter with you?" Twilight asked.
"Brother Spike is like, experiencing a side effect of the herb," Aurora explained. "Euphoria. Other side effects may include an increase in appetite, short-term memory loss, laziness, the need for physical stimulation, a need to feel outwardly social, or paranoia. It may also like, make you feel lightheaded and drowsy. But fear not, my brothers and sisters. Like, as long as you're in a relaxing and positive environment you should feel as happy as our dragon friend, here."
The Ponies began to cheer aloud for the Kush family. They passed out samples of goods from their cart. Ponies lined up as they passed out little sacks of buds, swatches of hemp fabric, fragrances, snacks, and oils. Ponies could not wait to explore the benefits of cannabis.
"That's right, my friends," Golden Kush yelled. "Please accept these gifts as sort of a free trial. In a couple of days we would like your consent to start farming right outside of town. We certainly hope you find this to be an enriching experience!"
Even the mane six received gifts. Twilight was about to leave with her friends but turned around back at the cart. Her attention was set on Vanilla Kush.
"Um, excuse me, Vanilla Kush?" she politely asked. "If you have time, later, would you like to join us. We could probably use a pony of your experience with this stuff. You're sister can come, too."
"Sure," Vanilla said. "We can come, now actually. Mom, Dad, we're gonna go with our new neighbors. Is that okay?"
"Like, absolutely," Aurora said.
"Just be back by supper," Golden added.
Vanilla and Strawberry Kush went off with Princess Twilight and the rest to Rarity's house.