Who's Afraid of a Rainbow?

Chapters

Ch. 1 The Cryptic Chase
Ch. 2 Following the Trail
Ch. 4 Branching Explanations
Ch. 5 Howling Trees
Ch. 6 The Root of the Problem
Ch. 7 A Matter of Perspective
Ch. 3 Nightmares and Memories

Ch. 1 The Cryptic Chase

He ran as quickly as he could, his dark brown coat covered in sweat, his green mane in a mess of tangles, and his only thought on escaping his pursuer. The streets of Ponyville were deserted by this time of night, so his only concern was navigating the winding side streets that would lead to his goal, the Everfree Forest. He hoped that the purple unicorn chasing him would be confused by the maze of streets, but by the sound of hooves, he could tell she was right on his tail.

“Stop! I only want to talk to you!” She yelled, disrupting the silent night and causing lights to appear in a few windows. A yellow maned pony looked out; curious to see what the town librarian was shouting about, but quickly returned to her muffin movie marathon that she stayed up to watch.

He made a sudden turn down an alley, hoping to surprise the unicorn and get away. The surprise was on him as a tall chain-link fence blocked his path. He heard hoof beats behind him as he leaped as high he could onto the fence. He was almost at the top. With a quick scramble he was up, over, and running as soon as his hooves touched the ground. With a glance back, he saw the unicorn stomp her hoof and say loudly enough for him to hear, but not loud enough to disturb the sleeping ponies, “Why won’t you be reasonable about this! I just want to talk!” Instead of answering, he continued running.

As he ran, his fear lessened. She would have to double back and run two blocks to catch up. He rounded the corner that marked the last turn before a straight run to the Everfree Forest. With a look of shock, he tried to come to a halt, backpedaling furiously as the unicorn appeared out of thin air in front of him.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop in time. They collided and rolled in a mess of legs and manes. She ended up on top, with her goal pinned beneath her. She noticed that he was thinner than most colts, and if she was a good judge of age, and she was, he was about her age. Their lavender eyes met for a split-second, then the colt gave a huge twist, tossing her off of him. He leapt to his feet and hoofed it out of there. Twilight was dazed for a second, surprised that she had been thrown so easily. By the time she got to her feet, the colt was at the edge of the forest.

“Wait!” She cried out, “It’s not safe in there at night!” All she got for trying to warn him were yellow lights in windows, and a few heads looking out.

“Alright, maybe the direct approach wasn’t the best idea,” Twilight Sparkle said with a small sigh. She went over in her mind what happened. She was up late stargazing, and as she was packing up, she noticed a shadowy figure by Carrot Top’s garden. The figure shuffled for a little bit at the doorstep, and then sneakily crept into the garden.

She was thunderstruck, a carrot thief in Ponyville!? She swiveled her telescope to see what the thief had done to the doorstep. She scratched her chin in confusion at what she saw. She headed downstairs and outside, wanting to know the context of what she had witnessed.

She tried to approach quietly, but she was never very sneaky. As soon as the shadowy figure noticed her, He bolted out of the garden. His grey cape snagged on the gate to the garden, and with a quick tug, the figure slipped the fabric from his neck and continued running.

She had run after him, trying to explain that she just wanted to talk, but no matter what she said he never stopped to explain himself. He had used the most confusing path she could think of to try and escape. It was a good thing she had studied Ponyville’s town layout when she planned the last winter wrap up or she would have lost him instantly.

This told her that he was no stranger to Ponyville, but she had never seen him before. Even though she had lived there for over a year, she conceded that she still didn’t know every pony in town. She would have to ask Pinkie about him. Surely she would know; she knows every pony in Ponyville.

With that thought, she began heading for home. As she passed Carrot Top’s house, her hoof caught on something and she nearly fell. Looking down, she saw the cloak the colt had left behind. It was a magnificent blend of blacks and greys that made it look like a swirling shadow as it blew in the breeze. Twilight had never seen anything like it before. She would have to go see Rarity and ask her about it. She folded it up and carried it back with her.

The smell of parchment and leather bindings rushed to greet her as she quietly opened the door. With the slightest flutter of wings, an owl landed on Twilight’s back, gave a soft hoot, and flew towards the kitchen. Intrigued, Twilight followed Owlowiscious into the kitchen. There was a pot of water on the stove, bubbling away, a small herb lying next to a pestle and mortar, some tea leaves, and the book, Supernaturals: natural remedies and cure-alls that are simply super, open to a page about curing sore muscles, with a recommendation of turning it into a tea.

“Why thank you, Owlowiscious,” She said with a sheepish smile, “I’m going to need this with all the running I did.” She began making the medicine/tea. With a small chuckle, she added, “I bet that colt is going to be stiff as a board tomorrow morning.” After Twilight drank her tea, she bid Owlowiscious goodnight while he cleaned up the kitchen.

With a small sigh, she tiphoofed up the stairs to her bedroom, trying not to wake the snoring baby dragon. With a slight smirk she whispered to herself, “At least I’m quiet enough to sneak up on a dragon.” Her mind quickly returned to the mysterious colt and unanswered questions buzzed through her mind. Eventually, all minds are quieted by the need for sleep, and Twilight was no exception, even if sometimes she tried to be; she drifted off to sleep with the memory of what the colt had left on Carrot Top’s doorstep, a small pile of bits.

“Wait!” her voice cried out, “It’s not safe in there at night!”

He chuckled at this, and then let out a sigh. As soon as he was safely into the forest he slowed to a walk. He took a small and winding trail he had cleared about a week ago. He was familiar with the path, and let his mind wander to the night’s events, and the strange purple unicorn.

“Root Strider, you foal. You let yourself get seen. Now they might come looking for you, and ask tons of questions. You didn’t even get all the carrots, I’ll have to go back tomorrow night and get them,” He muttered to himself. “You even lost your cloak. That was a gift; the only gift you had ever gotten since you left home.” Home. That was a sore spot for him, so he sought to get his mind off it as he skirted some poison joke that had grown on one side of the trail.

“Maybe it’s not so bad. She always tells me I should make some friends,” He whispered to himself, “of course, she also tells me that I talk to myself too much. I guess that’s true, but that comes with traveling alone for a long time. Hmm… the unicorn did say she only wanted to talk.”

He suddenly froze, listening to the unnatural silence that had come over the other creatures. He heard a roar, and the squeal of an animal. After a minute of not moving, a manticore proudly strutted across the path holding a young deer in its jaws. He felt horrid for not going to help the small deer, but sometimes nature has to do her thing. “It was going to pass away even if I did save it.” He told himself, “A manticores sting is lethal, and they sting their prey multiple times to ensure a quick passing.”

With a small shiver, he kept walking towards his destination, a glade containing a small hut and garden hidden on all sides, even above, by dense trees and bushes.

It was his sanctuary. He passed by his garden, which consisted of medicinal herbs, and rare flowers that need only indirect sunlight or moonlight to grow. He plucked a small plant and carried it gingerly inside. His home was a wide willow tree with a large alcove inside of it. With a minimal amount of work, he had transformed that alcove into a two-room home.

He looked about the main room as he entered. There were multiple shelves with herbs and spices drying on them. Herbal remedies bottled up for colds and the like were stored in a cupboard next to the door. He had spent the better part of a week setting up a system to collect and store water for a small kitchen in the corner. There was a door at the very back that led to a small bedroom. He also had a clear area in the center of the room where he had set up a fire ring. He had a small pot simmering over a tiny fire.

Instead of making carrot soup like he had planned, he crushed up the herb and added it to the pot. “There we go,” He said proudly, “let that simmer for a few minutes, and no soreness for me tomorrow,” He let a small smirk appear, “I bet that unicorn will be stiff as a board tomorrow.” With his medicine, made into nice tea for flavor, he thought about the unicorn, and who knows how many complications to his simple life she would bring with her.

Ch. 2 Following the Trail

Tired from last night, Twilight slept in. Spike was surprised when he woke up first. He decided not to wake Twilight, and that he would get all his chores done quickly, and make a surprise breakfast for her.

Twilight was pulled from her slumber by the heavenly scent of spiced oatmeal and grass pancakes. She groggily looked over at her clock, and promptly tried to jump out of bed, but only managing to become tangled up in her sheets on the floor. Spike ran upstairs and immediately tripped over the tangled mess. After a minute of struggling, Twilight managed to extricate herself and Spike from the sheets. With an exasperated tone, she said, “Come on Spike. Stop horsing around. There are a few things I want to do today, and I overslept.”

“But Twilight, you planned to have this day free since you were going to be up all night stargazing,” Spike said, with the faintest glimmer of whine.

“Well, something came up. Today we will be investigating a suspicious somepony,” And with that, she explained the chase from the night before, and her plans on finding the colt.

“Wow. So who are we gonna go see first? We should go see Rarity first. Yeah, definitely see Rarity first,” Spike said with a slightly glazed over look in his eyes. He was brought back to reality by Twilight’s rumbling stomach, and with a chuckle, and a blush from Twilight, went down to finish making breakfast.

After a lovely meal, Twilight went off towards Sugarcube Corner, leaving Spike to clean up the giant mess he made in the kitchen. As she passed Carrot Top’s house, she noticed Carrot Top in her garden, counting missing carrots and a pile bits with a worried look on her face. Twilight decided now would be a good time to ask about the situation. “Good morning Carrot Top, is something the matter?”

“Why hello, Twilight. Yes, something is wrong. For the past few weeks, somepony has been taking carrots I was going to sell, and leaving enough bits to cover them. Sometimes they would leave something extra too, like a beautiful and delicious flower, or cough medicine when Baby Carrot has the sniffles.”

“And you’re unhappy because somepony has been taking your carrots?” Twilight interrupted.

“No, I’m not mad at all! It means I have to bring fewer carrots to the market, plus those tips are wonderful! The pony once left a bouquet of poison joke, along with a card explaining what it was, and the cure for it. I gave it to Octavia after one of her performances, and she was deaf for two whole days!” She said, with a short laugh.

“Oh, I just thought that was from her friend, Vinyl Scratch. So, anyways, if you aren’t mad about the carrots going missing, why are you worried?”

“Well, I just counted the bits but only three carrots are missing, there should be nine more missing. I do hope nothing has happened to the pony,” Carrot Top said, her brow furrowed with concern.

“Oh. Well, whoever the pony is, I’m sure they will be just fine,” Twilight said awkwardly, “I’ve got somewhere to be, bye,” Twilight hurried off, wanting to see Pinkie Pie and beginning to think she had made a mistake running after the mysterious colt. As she continued on, she saw Applejack, pulling a small cart with a few crates of apples in it.

“Why howdy Twilight. You havin’ a fine morning?”

“It has been… umm… interesting. Where are you headed with those?”

“I’m just makin’ my bi-weekly delivery to Sugarcube Corner. Where are you off to?”

“Actually, I’m headed there myself. I need to talk to Pinkie about a mysterious colt that was stealing carrots. Only he wasn’t stealing, he left money on Carrot Tops doorstep, but I interrupted him, he ran, and I chased him. Eventually he ran into the Everfree forest and I need to talk to Pinkie and see if she knows who the colt is,” She said in one breathe, and then took in a big gulp of air.

“Hold your horses there sugarcube, what’s this about a carrot thief?”

As they walked to Sugarcube Corner, Twilight told AJ about the previous night’s chase, and her talk with Carrot Top.

“Hmm,” Applejack put a hoof to her chin, “Maybe since he didn’t get his carrots last night, he’ll come back for ‘em tonight, so ya can get him then. Here we are. I’ll head ‘round back an drop off these apples, then I’ll meet up with y’all inside.”

As Twilight walked inside, pondering what Applejack had said, she found Mrs. Cake at the register rather than Pinkie Pie. “Well good morning Twilight, Pinkie said somepony would be coming by to see her today, go on up.”

“Uh, thanks, I guess,” A confused look crossed Twilight’s eyes as she headed upstairs. She found Pinkie waiting at the top of the stairs. Pinkie started bouncing towards a back room. “Come on Twilight, you can tell me all about your mystery in here,” She giggled.

Root Strider’s stomach growled at him as he trekked through Froggy Bottom Bog. He ignored it and made his way to a small patch of dry ground where some radishes and potatoes were growing. He carefully picked two or three of each, making sure to plant new ones.

“It’s not safe to dawdle here, for there’s a hydra living near,” He rhymed, and then chuckled, “Heh, I sounded like Her just then,” As he turned around, he ran into a hard, scaly wall that wasn’t there before. “Aww, horseapples.”

Pinkie Pie fell over laughing as Twilight finished her story. Applejack and Twilight shared a confused look, and Twilight asked, “What’s so funny Pinkie?”

“You are, silly!” She wiped away a tear of laughter, “The colts are supposed to chase us mares, not the other way around,” She fell into giggle fits after saying this. Applejack covered her mouth to try and hold it back, but she started laughing too.

Twilight blushed and retorted, “Come on, be serious about this. Would you be happy if some of your baked goods, or some of your apples were stolen!?” At this, Applejack stopped laughing.

“If’n any pony tries to steal from the orchard, I’d buck him clear back to the Everfree Forest,” Applejack said, with a small hoof stomp to settle it.

Pinkie pie continued to giggle, “But Twilight, why would he steal from us if we already leave some out for him every other week?”

At this, Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie in shock. “You… leave some out for him already?”

“Well, yeah. I found this note on the door one morning a few weeks ago,” Pinkie scrounged in a drawer for a while. “Hmm, I’m sure I put it in here. Oh well,” She turned back to the two ponies. “I can’t find the card, but it said that a pony was willing to purchase some of our scrumptious goods, but didn’t want anypony to know, we thought the pony was just shy, like Fluttershy is.

We would leave ten bits worth of goods out before we went to bed, and the next morning, ten bits would be on the doorstep, and sometimes we would get spices that made our cakes extra super yummy and deli-”

Twilight interrupted, “And you never thought to stay up a see who it was?”

“Of course I did silly goose. I stayed up waiting for the pony, but he was wearing a cloak and he blended in with the night very well, so I couldn’t see what he looked like,” She gasped, “But now I know he’s a small brown earth pony with green hair! Thanks Twilight, mystery solved.”

“Soo…” Twilight asked, “You know who this pony is?”

“Nope, never seen a pony like that before,” She went stiff as a board, and then let out a large gasp. “If I’ve never met him, then a pony lives here that isn’t my friend! We have to find him Twilight so I can be friends with him!” She begged, holding onto Twilight’s hooves.

“Alright, Alright Pinkie, we’ll find him.”

Root Strider was running towards the edge of a cliff. The hydra following behind alternated between roaring and sneezing. The pepper he had thrown in their faces had slowed them down, but he would have to do something drastic to escape.

With a yell, he threw himself over the edge of the cliff. The hydra roared in anger at its escaped prey. Root strider landed on top of a large bubble of swamp gas, which stopped his fall. “Well, that’s lucky,” He said. The bubble suddenly popped, and he fell into the mud face first.

As the three ponies left Sugercube Corner, Twilight pulled out the cloak the colt had left behind, “We need to find Rarity, so she can tell us where this was made, and then we can track down this colt.”

Pinkie started bouncing ahead, “She’s at the spa with Fluttershy today,” She said in her sing-song voice.

Just then, a spiraling blue blur screeched to a halt right above the ground. “Drat! Not fast enough,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, stomping her hoof on the ground. Pinkie bounced in a circle around Rainbow Dash. “Heya Dashie, whatcha up to?”

“Hey Pinkie, hi Applejack, hi Twilight. I’m just practicing my new move. I call it ‘The Rainbow Tornado!’ I fly up really high, and dive in a tight spiral. Right before I hit the ground, the rainboom goes off, sending me back up in the same spiral that widens the further up I go, until it becomes a rainbow colored tornado!” She shouted.

All three of the ponies oooohd and aaahd. “Uh, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight’s eyes had a concerned look to them, “Are you sure you should be trying to make a tornado in the middle of Ponyville?”

“Oh… yeah, that would be a bad thing.” Rainbow stammered with a blush coming to her cheeks. “I know! I’ll go out over the Everfree Forest and practice there,” She began to fly off.

“If you see a brown colt with green hair, come let us know, we’ll be at the spa or with Rarity!” Twilight yelled after her. A blue hoof waved, showing that Rainbow had heard her.

Rarity and Fluttershy were just about to enter the spa when Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack walked up to them. They exchanged greetings and Twilight got right to the point. “Rarity, I need your help identifying where this cloak came from.”

“I’m sorry Twilight; I’ve just finished a triple load of orders and I am at my wit’s end. Could this possibly wait until after I recuperate at the spa?”

“Well, this is the cloak of a colt I chased through Ponyville last night, and I want to learn more about him.”

“Oh, so that was you who made all the ruckus last night,” Rarity gave a slightly condescending smile, “Honestly Twilight, chasing a colt? If you need help attracting a colt, I could help you.”

Pinkie bursted into a giggle fit at this. Applejack gave a small smile. Both Twilight and Fluttershy blushed furiously. Twilight then stomped her hoof and declared, “Really girls, I’m not talking about my private relationship! I’m talking about catching this colt, he could be dangerous!”

“Calm down Twilight, I was merely poking fun. Come on, let’s all have a relaxing time at the spa, and you can fill in me and Fluttershy about this ‘possibly dangerous’ colt.”

Root Strider climbed out of the river fresh and mud free. “Well, now that’s over with.”

He decided to take a sunny route that would let his coat dry before he got home. As he trotted through the trees he visibly relaxed. He watched a white rabbit holding an apple scold an identical pair of brown rabbits.

He chuckled to himself, and turned his ears to the sounds coming from all around him. The forest was full of life, and he was enjoying it. “See Root Strider, all the bad luck is gone. What can go wrong now?”

He slapped a hoof to his mouth, but the words had escaped. He felt the breeze change direction and begin growing stronger. The entire forest went dead silent as the ground started rumbling. Suddenly a large group of animals came stampeding down the path. Root Strider leaped behind a large tree, and pressed himself against it.

After it passed, Root Strider became aware that the gentle breeze had become a bellowing gale. He heard an explosion, and a vortex of color twisted its way into the sky. Root Strider took a step back in horror. The colors of the vortex were unstable, and began mixing together until it was a brownish monstrosity.

“Celestia banish it!” He cursed as he ran directly towards the vortex, and his home. He heard a female voice let out a yell, and a blue blur shot out of the vortex, directly at him. Root Strider had no time to move out of the way, and even if he did, he knew he wouldn’t. He had to help this unfortunate pegasus who had gotten caught in the vortex. He leaped upwards towards her. They collided and landed in a heap.

The blue pegasus was dazed. Root Strider picked himself up and looked at the pegasus. She looked unhurt. When he noticed her rainbow colored mane and tail, he recoiled away from her with a yelp, and ran in the direction of his home, fear giving him speed.

Everything had been going according to plan. Rainbow Dash had achieved the Sonic Rainboom in a downward spiral, and it had rocketed her back upwards, like she predicted. She hadn’t expected the colors to fuse together and throw everything out of balance. She had reversed direction to try and nullify it. She could feel the tornado weakening.

Suddenly a pot flew out of the brownness and almost hit her. “Huh?” She looked back. She never even saw the sink coming. She shot out of the tornado and something brown and green shot up towards her. Everything tumbled and turned fuzzy. He heard somepony yell in fear, and through stars, she saw something run towards the tornado. “Wait… Twilight’s looki-” she whispered, before her world faded to black.

Root Strider looked over the remains of his home. His garden had been sucked up into the vortex, leaving no trace it had ever been there. His willow tree had split down the middle, and everything had been sucked up. He looked over where the vortex had petered out. “Even if I find my things, I have nowhere to live,” He complained to nopony in general. He trudged over to the willow, and looked about the roots. “Aha!”

He dug under a particularly knobby root, and pulled out two sacks. “At least these survived,” He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked inside the first sack. It contained a modest amount of bits. The last of his royalties for the book he wrote about herbal remedies that are simply… supernatural. He sighed as he remembered the dangerous, and silly things he did to write that book. He looked in the other sack. The inside of the sack had tons of seeds sorted into smaller, labeled bags.

“Hmm.” He pondered, “Where will I go now? I was hoping to eventually make a life for myself here. I guess I should go talk to Her. Maybe she’ll let me stay in her hut for the night and then help me make a plan,” With that plan set in his mind, he hoofed it out of there.

“Ah, now that was what I call relaxing.” Rarity said with a contented sigh as they all left the spa. “Now Twilight, be a dear and let me see the cloak of that mysterious colt you’re chasing after.”

“I told you, I’m not chasing him, I’m trying to find him,” Twilight retorted with a small blush. She pulled the cloak out of her bag and Rarity’s magic enveloped it.

Rarity carefully examined it. “Whoever made this did an excellent job; silk thread and such a unique material. Twilight, after that unfortunate misunderstanding with Zecora, I have been doing some trading for materials from travelers who have been to the zebra homeland. I’m certain this is the same material.” She declared.

“Hmm, He ran off into the Everfree Forest, and was wearing a zebra-made cloak. I believe we should ask Zecora about our mysterious colt,” Twilight said, walking purposefully towards the edge of Ponyville.

“Uhh, Twilight?” Applejack sounded apprehensive, “Are you sure that’s a good idea what with it startin’ to get late an all?”

Twilight looked at the lowering sun. “I want to get this over with as soon as possible, then I can rest easy knowing if he’s a threat to Ponyville or not.”

“A mare with rainbow hair, and you left her out THERE!? Go! Now! This you must amend, for she is a very good friend!” Zecora yelled as Root Strider ran out of the hut and back towards where he had left the blue pegasus. “You must ignore that which you fear, for the timber wolves are drawing near!”

“Ugh! All this trouble started with that purple unicorn. Since then, it’s been disaster after disaster,” He muttered to himself while he ran. “Now I have to go get this pegasus and bring her back, could this get any worse?” He felt a large raindrop hit his forehead. “I had to ask, didn’t I?” He heard a piercing howl, followed by several others, which made him gulp and run faster through the rain.

An old earth pony fell out of her rocking chair as she heard the familiar howling of timber wolves. “The first sign!” She yelled, as she grabbed some pots from the kitchen and ran outside.

Twilight and the others froze when they heard howling coming from one side of the path they were using. They resumed when they were able to calm down Fluttershy and when the howling sounded farther away, and made it to Zecora’s hut with no problems. Rain began falling as they knocked, and very concerned looking Zecora opened the door. “Oh my, come in quick while you are still dry,” They all rushed inside.

“There she is, right where I left her,” Root Strider said shakily. He inched closer to the unconscious pegasus. “Come on Root Strider, you’re not afraid. You’re not afraid,” He chanted to himself as he put her on his back. “Now to get back as quickly as possible,” He turned around to see three large timber wolves emerge from the trees. “Horseapples.”

“You mean Rainbow Dash is out there with the timber wolves!?” All five ponies asked at once.

“Do not worry all of you; the timber wolves are still very few,” Zecora said, fooling nopony, “Have a snack of cucumber shoots; to go get her, I sent the strider among the roots.” She put down a tray containing small cucumber plants, and looked out the window. The rain had turned into a downpour.

“Who is the strider among the roots?” Twilight asked “Is he the pony I saw last night?”

“He sounds scary.” Fluttershy said from under a table where she was hiding. She squeaked as thunder roared from outside.

“To find something in the forest, it’s him I’d send, and to me, he is a trusted friend,” Zecora rhymed, “His real name is Root Strider, he is-” She was drowned out by another crash of thunder, and frantic pounding coming from the door. Twilight pulled open the door with magic and a brown pony, Root Strider, Twilight reminded herself, carrying an unconscious Rainbow Dash on his back stumbled through the doorway. Twilight slammed the door shut behind them.

The tip of Root Strider’s tail had been shredded by large claws. His mane was a mess, and he had a small cut below his left eye. “I got her Zecora,” Root Strider looked back woozily at the pegasus, “She’s safe and sound right there, on my back,” and he fainted.

Ch. 4 Branching Explanations

Root Strider’s eyes snapped open as he let out a small gasp. He was lying on Zecora’s bed. The only light came from under a curtain that separated him from the front room. He let out a small sigh. “What am I going to do now?” he quietly asked himself. He heard muffled sounds from the front room. The rain drowned out most of what was being said, but he managed to make out “Heard… check… for me… shy?”

He shut his eyes and pretended to sleep just as a pony slipped past the curtain. He strained his ears, but he couldn't hear the sound of hooves. He cracked one eye open and saw a yellow pegasus slowly floating towards the bed. He quickly shut his eye, but it didn't seem like she noticed.

“Oh, my, I guess he’s still out,” A tiny voice whispered from above him. He felt the tiniest bit of pressure under one of his eyes and a small sting. It took all of his control to continue his charade. The pressure moved from his eye up to his hair in a soft continuous motion. Root Strider’s mind was racing. Oh Celestia’s great ball of fire, she thinks I’m still asleep and she’s stroking my hair. What do I do!? He felt a familiar jolt of pain and a small gasp from the pegasus.

“A bump? Oh no.”

As she began to part his hair, Root Strider let out a small groan and opened his eyes, moving his head away from her hooves. A let out a loud “Oof!” as the Pegasus gave a small squeak, her wings snapped shut, and she fell on him.

Hearing this, five ponies and a zebra moved into the room. With a blush, the yellow pony got off him and rejoined the group of ponies staring at him, expectantly.

He looked back at them in confusion, “What?”

Five ponies spoke at once.

“Why were you taking carrots from Carrot Top’s garden?”

“What were you doing to Fluttershy!?”

“Why were ya skulkin’ around at night instead ah’ using the market like a normal pony?”

“Hi, I just met you, and this is crazy, but I’m Pinkie, so friendship maybe?”

“Where did you get the fabric to make this lovely cloak?”

He was caught off guard by all the questions hurled at him at once. He tumbled backwards off the bed. As he got up, he groaned, “One question at a time, please. I just woke up.”

As the mares quieted down, Fluttershy took a small step forward, and at just above a whisper stammered, “Umm, what’s the bump on your forehead?”

“What’s my what?” Root Strider gingerly poked a spot on his forehead that was covered by his messy hair. “Oh, that’s nothing. I must’ve gotten it when I was running from the timber wolves.”

“Oh my, Zecora didn’t say anything about that when she looked you over and put you to bed. I usually just work with animals, but I could try to help, if you want.”

“NO! No, it’s fine, I mean, it’s just a little bump, nothing to worry about,” He said quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

With a small cough, Root Strider’ attention was caught by the purple unicorn. “So, why were you in Carrot Top’s garden last night?

“I was buying carrots for carrot soup.”

“Soup? All of this happened over soup?”

“I know, kind of silly isn’t it? I-” He was cut off by his stomach letting out an almighty roar. With a blush, he said, “I guess I haven’t eaten since this morning.”

Rarity gave a small chuckle, “Well, I guess I shall remedy that, Zecora, could I borrow your kitchen, and maybe some help?”

“I would be happy to Rarity, but I admit, you are a better cook than me,” She replied as they headed out of the bedroom.

“So,” Root Strider said as he looked at the remaining ponies, “My name is Root Strider, I know Zecora, but I don’t think I know who you all are.”

“Hold on a minute! You haven’t answered our questions! How do you know Zecora!? Why are you skulking around Ponyville at night!? How come nopony knows you!? What were you doing to Fluttershy!?” With each question, Rainbow Dash’s voice grew louder and louder. Root Strider flinched backwards.

“Now hold yer horses there Dash, he saved ya from the timber wolves.”

Root Strider held up a hoof for silence, and eventually got it. “Alright, I’ll answer your questions as best I can, but for each one I answer, I get to ask one, deal?”

He looked to each of the mares as they nodded. “Alright, first question, I met Zecora when we were both foals. You could say I sort of adopted her and her parents as my family. We traveled together for a few years, and then I struck it out on my own. I only recently got back in touch with her. My turn, who are all of you?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle, that’s Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and in the other room is Rarity.”

“Why do you go around all sneaky-sneaky at night instead of just walking in and saying ‘hi’?” Pinkie interrupted Twilight as she was about to ask her question.

“Well, Pinkie, is it? I was working up to it. I have been traveling for a long time and I wanted some peace and quiet to settle in. I heard from Zecora that there is a certain excitable, pink pony who likes to throw parties for new ponies,” He said with a knowing look.

Pinkie gave a sheepish grin; she had been planning a party ever since Twilight told her about him.

“Okay, why were you all headed to Zecora’s this late? I know a least you know how dangerous it is at night.”

“We were looking for you,” Pinkie bounced, “Well, not YOU you; we didn’t know you would be here. Rarity said that your cloak was made of fabric that comes from zebra lands, and Zecora is the only zebra we knew, so we came to see her, but then we heard howling and Fluttershy got scared and then it started raining, and when we got here Zecora told us you had gone to get Dashie so we waited and waited, and then you got here, and we were excited and then scared because you passed out and then-” KRACK-KABOOM!

Root Strider laughed as the thunder shocked Pinkie into drawing a large breath of air.

“I get it,” Root Strider chuckled, “Can I have my cloak back? It was a gift, and it’s important to me.”

“Sure, here you are,” Twilight floated the neatly folded cloak onto the bed.

As Root Strider leaned over the bed, Applejack leapt on top of him, pinning him to the bed with a yelp. “Ah don’t know what yer hidin’, but I aim tah find out,” Applejack parted his hair. “What the…?”

With a sudden jerk, Applejack was tossed off Root Strider and onto the other ponies. Root Strider grabbed his cloak in his mouth and sprinted out. There was a clattering of pots and Rarity and Zecora rushed in.

“Oh my, what happened?”

Rainbow Dash was the first to extricate herself from the mess of ponies on the floor. She rocketed out the door, chasing after him.

“Applejack! What did you do that for? Now he’s run off,” Twilight complained, “I had more questions for him.”

“I’m sorry Twilight, but he was fibbin’, and I wanted to know what he was hiding.”

“Ugh,” Twilight sighed, “Oh well, what was he hiding then?”

“Well, it was hard tah tell, him squirmin’ like a worm on a hook an all, but it looked like a nub, like a broken horn.”

“But, that shouldn’t be possible. A unicorn’s innate magic protects the horn,” Twilight said, a hoof coming up to her chin in thought. “That’s why flicking a unicorn’s horn disrupts the magic. It protects the horn first, and then channels magical energies. "

She began to pace, "I guess maybe if he was still a foal, and had a strong burst of magic, there would be a fragile period as the energies overload the horn, but that rarely happens and we have treatments for when it does happen. If left untreated, the magic would become infected and unusable, like a cracked hoof that’s been left to fester. It’s not plausible he’s a unicorn.”

“It is true; he was a unicorn, before the accident which cost him his horn.” Zecora said softly.

Fluttershy let out a small, “eep. Is there anything we can do to help him?”

“Yeah, Twilight, you can do some of your super-duper awesome-tastic magic to fix him, right?”

“I’m afraid it isn’t that easy, Pinkie. His magic is all but gone, and what’s there isn’t usable; it has gone untreated for too long. Anyways, we should go after him. It's dangerous out there.”

Zecora coughed to get their attention, “Do not run off on hoof and wing, for you do not know everything. Let Rainbow Dash follow his trail, while I tell you this colt’s tale.”

Ch. 5 Howling Trees

Rain pounded on Root Strider’s head as he ran. Once out of sight of the cottage and its questioning occupants, his pace slowed to a canter, then walking pace, and finally he stopped and sat down in the mud and rain.

“Root Strider,” He said to the rain, “What am I going to do with myself. Zecora keeps telling me I should confide in other ponies, and it seems like they're friends of hers, but why did they butt their heads into my business and make everything a complicated mess," He stomped a small leaf into the mud, the green of the leaf was covered by the mud. He wondered what they must think of him, and all the secrecy and running away. A green leaf, covered by the mud of his problems. "Gah, why can't I just be angry at them?"

He looked up into the rain, glad that it was a cold shower, "I guess I'm not too angry, I just really wasn’t expecting to be explaining it to a whole group of cute mares,” He thought back to just how physically close he had been to the mares just in the past two days. Yep, definitely happy for the cold shower.

Thud! Root Strider found himself on his back in the mud, pinned by Rainbow Dash. “Aha! Found you! So, what are you hiding under that hair?” With a wing, she swept back his hair, revealing the nub of his broken horn. “Whoa, I didn’t know unicorn horns could break.”

With a yell, Root Strider jerked and twisted, trying to buck her off, but she was ready and used her wings for balance and leverage over him. She let him struggle until he gave up a few minutes later.

“Feel better now?” Rainbow asked, sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

“Honestly, a little bit.” He panted.

“So, you aren’t going to run off again if I let you up?”

With a smirk, he shook his head. Rainbow Dash helped him into a sitting position and sat next to him. They sat in the pounding rain, in silence, for about twenty seconds before Dash couldn’t take it anymore. “So, uhh, this is kinda awkward for me, I’m usually on the other side of this, but, thanks for saving me from those timber wolves, I was trying to stabilize my tornado when something hit me.”

“Wait, your tornado?” He reeled backwards away from her.

“Yeah, it’s a new trick I’m coming up with. I call it the Rainbow Tornado. I’m just having a little trouble with color stability, but soon it will the most awesome trick ever!” She exclaimed, mistaking his look of shock and fear as awe and wonder.

“Uhh, yeah, don’t mention it, ever. Your tornado thing kinda destroyed my home,” He deadpanned.

Dash winced, realizing he wasn't impressed, “Ouch, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was living in that part of the everfree.”

Root Strider let out a sigh, “Eh, don’t feel too bad, I was going to move into Ponyville eventually. I’m happy nopony was seriously hurt,” He turned away and whispered, “See, she’s just a normal pony, no reason to be scared.”

“Who are you whispering to?”

“Uh, no one. Zecora tells me that I shouldn’t talk to myself.”

“So, what were you saying, to yourself?”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“C’mon, I wanna know what you said.” She took a few steps towards him.

“It’s personal, that’s why I told it to myself.” He took a few steps back.

“Yeah, but I’m here and I want to know!” Her voice rising.

“Why do you want to know so much!” His voice rising to match hers.

“Because you won’t tell me!” She was shouting now.

“Fine! I was telling myself not to be terrified of you!” He yelled back.

She took a step back in shock. “What? Are you... scared of me?” She asked quietly.

Seeing the hurt look on her face, he quickly added, “Well, not all of you, it’s your hair.”

Her hurt look turned to confusion, “My hair? What’s wrong with it?” She looked at and ran a hoof through her mane, “My mane is as awesome as it’s always been.”

“Well, it’s rainbow colored,” He said. Here it comes, he thought.

“So, lemme get this straight. You are scared of rainbows?” Rainbow Dash held it in for as long as she could, about four seconds, before bursting out laughing.

Root Strider sighed and looked away, “They always laugh. This is why I don’t usually tell anypony.”

“Bwahaha! I’m sorry, I know some ponies have irrational fears, but this one takes the cake!” She wiped away tears of laughter, “You shouldn’t be afraid of rainbows, they can’t hurt anypony.”

“Yes they can!” He yelled, “They’ve hurt me twice now!”

The laughter stopped. “How?”

“Well, for one, a rainbow colored tornado destroyed my home earlier today!”

Rainbow Dash blushed, “What about the other one?”

“It was back when I was a foal, the day of my kindergarten entrance exam for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. A rainbow colored explosion happened which caused this,” He pointed to his nub, “and got me kicked out of my hometown.”

“What? How can an accident get you kicked out of a town?”

“C’mon, let’s get outta the rain and I’ll tell you the whole story. I was born in a small town, about the size of Ponyville, a place called Little Bighorn.”

Rarity’s and Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened in understanding and darkened into a look of disgust.

“Little Bighorn? Ah never heard of it,” Applejack turned to Twilight for an explanation.

“It’s a small town, about the size of Ponyville, but only inhabited by unicorns. They are very isolationist so we don’t hear much from them, and-”

“They are absolutely ghastly!” Rarity cut in, “They think unicorns are the only ponies that matter and they run out any non-unicorn who tries to move into their ‘Unicorn Utopia’.” Rarity’s scorn showed what she thought of their utopia.

“Ah don’t buy it. If’n there are no earth ponies or pegasi, how do they grow all their crops, and keep the weather in order?”

“Well, for their food they use a complex system of greenhouses to produce fresh foods all year long. As for-”

“Green houses?” Pinkie cut in, “Why not yellow houses or blue houses. Oh, I know! Pink houses!”

“Pinkie, greenhouses are made of glass.”

Pinkie stopped her bounce in mid-air, “Ooh, and they call them greenhouses because of all the green, growing plants inside them.”

“Uh, yeah,” Twilight was uncomfortably not looking at Pinkie, trying not to think about it, “The weather is a lot simpler. It’s controlled by a family of unicorns whose special talents are all weather based. It just runs in their family.”

“What!? How can a bunch unicorns do a better job than a pegasi weather team!?” Rainbow Dash’s wings flared as she stomp paced around the tree they had taken shelter under.

“Whoa, whoa. I never said they did a better job,” Root Strider said quickly, his eyes wide. He backed up, away from her, and bumped into the tree. With a shudder, the tree dumped the water it was holding all over them. “Great, we’re soaked again; wanna just head back to Zecora’s?” He asked.

The water helped Rainbow Dash to calm herself down. “Sure, but with our luck we’ll-”

“NO!!” Root Strider yelled, covering her mouth with his hoof.

Dash pulled his hoof away, “What the hay was that about?”

“Uhh, sorry. I’m not sure why, but whenever something like that is said around me, bad things tend to happen.” He was looking around nervously as they began walking back.

“Don’t worry, nothing bad is gonna happen.” She waved a wing dismissively as they entered into a clearing.

“Maybe we should just talk about something else.” His eyes darted back and forth, trying to pierce the darkness of the tree line they were heading towards. The only sound that could be heard was the pounding of the rain.

“Don’t be such a baby, we’re almost there. What could go wrong?” KRACK-KABOOM! The flash of lightning revealed six timber wolves as they slunk into the clearing.

“Well great,” Root Strider said through gritted teeth, “I’m so glad nopony said ‘what could go wrong’ just now.”

“How was I supposed to know that would happen?”

“Nevermind that, run!”

“So, after the rainbow explosion that broke his horn, they kicked him out of town? That’s awful,” Twilight’s hooves made small circles on her temples as she processed the information.

“Why? Why would they do something so awful right after he had been hurt in an accident?” Fluttershy’s eyes welled up.

“As a form of punishment. Losing the town’s magic, they resent.”

“They blamed him for it? That ain’t right; he didn’t do anything wrong. Why didn’t they give him treatments for his horn? You said there was treatment, right Twilight? ”

“Well, unfortunately I know why those ponies wouldn’t do it. It’s an imperfect cure. While it returns the horn, it doesn’t bring any of the magic back. It only allows what’s left to be channeled,” She explained, “and from what we just heard, he was able to animate and manipulate multiple trees as a foal, which would have been invaluable when they rotate crops, I could barely levitate anything at that age. He would have been the pride and joy of Little Bighorn; strong in magic since foalhood. Seeing only a sliver of that and knowing they would never get it back would only breed resentment, so they threw him out. This is only guessing though, I’m not sure exactly why.”

“It seems to be a good reason, to turn tragedy into treason.”

"Hold on a sec, this happened back when he was a foal, when we were lil' foals too, an yer saying it was a rainbow explosion that caused his horn to whack out?"

"yes, but what does that have to do with anything... oh." Comprehension dawned on all the gathered ponies and zebra.

“C’mon slowpoke, keep up!” Dash shouted as she alternated speeding through the trees and waiting for Root Strider to catch up.

“I can’t outrun them. Go! Quickly, back to Zecora’s! I’ll be fine and catch up in the morning!” He shouted as he weaved through the trees as fast as he could.

“I’m not going to leave you all alone out here!” She dropped to her hooves and kept pace running beside him.

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine. I’ve lived alone for years. I’m used to taking care of myself” He grabbed a low hanging branch and pulled it back. Letting go, it smashed into a timber wolf, sending it flying backwards. The howling only got louder as more timber wolves melted out from the forest, chasing them.

“I have an idea!” Dash shouted over the sound of thunder, “I’ll fly us back to Zecora’s! They won’t be able to catch us then!”

“You can’t fly in a thunderstorm! What happens if you get struck by lightning! This isn’t Ponyville where the lightning is planned!”

“Well, we can’t keep running, and I’m not going to leave you here to get eaten!”

They broke through some underbrush and found themselves in a flat open clearing. The timber wolves all stopped at the edge of the clearing. Howling and snarling, but not entering.

“Ha! You timber wolves scared? Make like a tree and leave!” Root Strider facehoofed as Dash continued assaulting them with tree puns, “What’s wrong? I’m stumped. Is it just your bark is worse than your bite?” She hovered just inside the clearing, out of reach of the timber wolves, “What’s wrong, you guys aren’t going to stick around?” The timber wolves snarled at her, but continued to retreat back into the forest.

“Please stop taunting them. I want to figure out why they won’t enter this clearing.”

She glanced over, “does it really matter? We’re safe now and nothing bad can happen.”

She had about a second to throw a hoof over her mouth as it happened. KRACK-KABOOM!

Lightning struck the center of the clearing, exactly where Root Strider was standing. Electricity flowed through him, dissipating into the ground. He struggled to remain conscious; as everything faded to black, he saw a rainbow rush over to him, and the ground moving away from him?

Author's Note

Zecora doesn't talk much because rhyming is hard. :derpyderp2:

Ch. 6 The Root of the Problem

Root Strider found himself flying through the air; a foal again. He gave a small smile as he hurtled towards a large tree limb. As he connected, his horn gave a flash of lavender and the branch bent, catching him softly, before slinging him high into the air again.

No, it's too soon, I can't see this again. His eyes squeezed shut. When he dared to open them, he found himself with his head held low, being carried on the back of his mother towards the city gates.

"This is for your own good. I told you to be careful, but you didn't listen, and now you've lost your magic. Do you know what this is doing to me and your father? What are we going to tell your baby sister?"

"But, but it was an accident. The rainbow exploded and I couldn't control my horn, and-" his voice trailed off as they approached the gate. The gate he was forbidden from passing; the gate that if any foal left out of, they wouldn't be allowed back in.

The gate loomed over them, two guards nodded politely to her as she opened the gate and sneered at him as she stepped into the forest beyond.

"Enough with the excuses! Lying about your failure won't bring your magic back. Now be silent, before you make it any worse," She hissed, her sweet voice soured by scorn.

"You are lucky," she said as she lifted him off her back and onto the hard ground, "My husband was able to convince the judge to give you a small pack of food. The nearest town is three days away. Never come back." With that, she was back behind the gate, which closed with an unforgiving clang.

Would my mind keep me here for the whole lonely walk, trapped here, unable to wake up?

"Boy, was she snooty." A voice giggled as he was glomped by a small ball of pink.

"Muh, bwah, gah, what?" He was speechless. His memories had never been interrupted before. "How are you here in my memory?"

"This isn't a memory, well, it is, but it's a dream too. The good thing about dreams is they don't have to follow the script. Hey! I'm a little filly again!"

"Ok, this is my brain trying to make me feel less bad about all that's happened, and has decided to use a younger version of the pink pony, Pinkie Pie, to do it."

"You remembered my name!" She cheered, the pink foal glomped him again.

"Would you stop that, please."

"We were all so worried after Dash brought you back and you were knocked out again, and she said you got struck by lightning and Twilight wanted me to watch you so you didn't run off again when you woke up, and you looked like you were having a bad dream so I worked some stuff, Spike isn't the only one who can send letters to princesses, and I came here to cheer you up in your dream, and I'm so excited you remembered me!" She finished with a leap in the air.

"Whu-wait, I got struck by lightning?"

They walked along a winding path, the sounds of the forest were soft and welcoming, rather than the usual ominous and threatening, but he didn't even notice.

"Yeah, but Zecora is confused since it just knocked you out; no lasting damage was caused."

"So, what happened?"

"Well, Dashie told us that you got into this clearing, and lightning struck, causing the zapapple orchard to grow which threw you two into the air, she caught you, and flew you back here."

"Hmm. A wild zapapple orchard, makes sense that the timber wolves wouldn't enter it."

"So, who was the grumpy Gilda and where are we?"

"She was my mother, before she abandoned me, and we are outside of... my hometown."

Pinkie stopped bouncing around and walked beside Root Strider, "Zecora told us about your accident and what happened."

"Yeah, you probably don't think a rainbow exploded either, in all my wanderings, nopony remembers it."

"I remember it."

Root Strider's ears perked up and a smile crossed his face, "Really? You believe me? You aren't just pulling my leg?"

His smile was infectious and her bounce returned in full force, "of course I believe you. Without that rainbow explosion, I would never have gotten my cutie mark. In fact all six of us got our cutie marks because of that rainbow explosion."

"Wait, all six of you remember the rainbow explosion? That must be why Zecora told you about what happened. This is amazing!" He danced a little jig that rivaled Twilight's skill. "I knew it! I knew it!" He chanted while dancing.

"Why not?" Pinkie shrugged, "I knew it! I knew it!" She chanted as she danced with him. They danced for a few minutes before they he tripped over her hooves, sending them both tumbling down the path laughing.

When they finally rolled to a halt, he asked, "So, you don't think I'm crazy for being afraid of rainbows?"

"You're afraid of rainbows?" Pinkie held it in for as long as she could, almost three seconds, before she burst into a giggle fit and fell over, "Dashie didn't mention anything about that." She gasped out between giggles.

"Yep, I knew this was to good to be true." Eyes downcast, he got up and trudged past where she had fallen over.

"Hey, wait up." She bounced after him, "It's not so bad, irrational fears can be stood up to and you won't have to be scared anymore."

He spun and stomped back to her, his face twisted by anger, "It is not an irrational fear! That rainbow took my magic away from me, made my parents hate me, and got me thrown out of town!" He practically shouted at her. She couldn't meet his raging eyes, so he turned and trudged on.

They walked in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

"Is it really so bad?" She whispered, her straight mane creating a curtain to mask her face as she walked. "Twilight told us about Little Bighorn; would you really be happy living there if you didn't lose your horn?" She looked at him pleadingly. This time it was him who couldn't make eye contact.

"I know," tears dropped onto the ground, "the town only cared about magic, and my parents only cared about how my magic could raise their influence, the other unicorns only cared about getting stronger magic, but I miss having my magic. I could make the trees my friends, so I didn't try to make any with others my age. I was the freak to the younger ones, and jealous eyes fell on me by the older ones. My magic was either coveted or hated, but I didn't care, because it was mine. I guess I was unhappy because the rainbow took away something I thought couldn't be taken away. I felt like I had lost a part of myself."

"Don't be silly, no one can take away who you are," She looked at his hind legs, "I don't see a cutie mark yet, so losing your magic didn't take away your special talent or who you are."

"Well, yeah, I didn't get my cutie mark until... I made my first potion with Zecora and her parents."

"So your special talent is potion making?"

"Well, not exactly. I can instinctively figure out how plants and herbs interact and what they can do to help others. Potions are only part of it, I also make excellent balms, poultices, and other medicines. I'm also good with spices and color dyes."

"But you didn't find out all that until after you left? and you traveled around with Zecora and her family?"

"Yeah, traveling with her was the happiest time of my life."

Root Strider heard a familiar cry and he saw the foal version of himself run forwards to help a zebra foal that was trapped and thrashing about in a thorny rosebush. A small smile crept up, "Maybe the accident wasn't so horrible."

Pinkie's hair poofed up as she giggled, "Twilight's out of luck, she chased an owned stallion."

"What?"

"No~othing" she sung as she bounced upwards.

"Wait! Where are you going?" he called as he ran up after her.

"I've got to get back before you wake up." She disappeared behind the clouds. "Don't worry, everything is going to be okay. I mean, what can go wrong?"

He gasped as she said those fateful words. He couldn't run on air anymore. branches snapped painfully as he crashed through them. He made a crater in the dirt that was in no way representative of the distance he fell. He heard laughter and saw blue petals as he woke up.

Ch. 7 A Matter of Perspective

He awoke to pink face uncomfortably close to his. He didn't move, for fear of waking her up. He thought about what she had shown to him in the dream. Maybe the rainbow was a blessing in disguise, driving his life forward; not to be feared, but thanked. Of course, thanking a rainbow sounds ridiculous, but there was a pony who was hurt when I yelled that I was terrified of her. Maybe I should apologize, and thank her for not giving away my fear to the others.

He blushed as a single thought rang through his head and blocked out all other thoughts; Pinkie Pie has an adorable little snore.

Pinkie Pie's left eyebrow slowly arched and her eye opened to a blushing face, "You were thinking something naughty," she said, sticking her tongue out at him teasingly.

"What, no I-"

"Don't worry, I won't tell Zecora." She waggled her eyebrows and slipped out of the bed. She swayed her hips as she walked towards the doorway, "As long as you don't run away." She winked at him and walked past the curtain to the other room.

She's crazy, he thought, they're all crazy. Maybe that is what is common between us and the rainbow; we're all off our rockers. he flung his mane about crazily to rid himself of thoughts of mares and laid back down on the bed. Cute mares and zebras occupied his dreams.

The fragrant smell of spiced oatmeal awoke a monster in his stomach, which woke him up. There was a bowl of water and a washcloth on a stool next to the bed. After he cleaned himself up and looked presentable, he slipped under the curtain and into the main room.

"Ah, you woke up a little early, breakfast isn't quite ready," a voice whispered. The voice belonged to a pretty, white unicorn, Rarity, he reminded himself.

He surveyed the room; the other ponies and zebra were still asleep in makeshift beds or hammocks around the room. He tip-hoofed over to her, "It smells delicious."

"Thank you, darling. Pinkie told us you are good with spices, maybe you could lend me a hoof with this?" She gestured to the large pot. "I figured this would be better for a larger group than a more complex breakfast."

"He dipped a small spoon in and tasted it, "A little heavy on the sugar, some ground sunflower seeds should balance it out nicely." With a smile, he added, "and maybe have a small bowl of sugar left out for those who like it sweeter, like Pinkie."

"Pinkie Pie does love her sugar." Her horn glowed and a small bowl was filled with sugar and floated over to the table. He watched as he ground sunflower seeds. I'm not jealous, not at all, well maybe a little bit.

Something must have shown on his face, as Rarity grabbed the bowl, cut off her magic, and carried it to the table.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him, "I can't imagine what it's like to be without magic for so long."

"I try not to think about it. I don't mind if you use it, really. I miss it, but I like the feel of doing things with my hooves. I've gotten pretty good at it."

Rarity blushed and gave a small ladylike cough, "Yes, mhmm. Breakfast is almost done cooking, would you be a dear and get down bowls while I wake everypony up?"

"Sure."

After four bowlfuls of oatmeal satiated the monster in his stomach, he let out a contented sigh and noticed he was the last to finish eating, and that all the girls were staring at him.

"Are ya done, or are ya gonna get another bowl? You eat more'an Big Mac does after applebuck season."

"Where does all of it go, he doesn't have flabby legs or anything?"

"Wow, I bet he's got a black hole in his tummy or something."

"You know I can hear you, right?"

Twilight let out a small cough, "So, Root Strider, I have some more questions for you if that's okay?"

"Only if our deal is still in affect?"

"Sure. Most of my questions have been answered by Zecora while you were... out. So, since your home was accidentally destroyed, are you going to move into town?"

"Oh, umm, I hadn't really thought about it. I initially came here to Zecora's to work out a plan, but I think I'm ready to officially move into Ponyville."

Zecora beamed at him, happy that she wouldn't have to convince him to stay.

"Okay, so my question, I know the majority of my magic is gone, and I can't control what's left of my magic, but can outside influences control or use the magical energy?"

Twilight was thrown off, she wasn't expecting a magical theory question, "Err, I'm not sure. There are cases where a stronger magical creature took control of a unicorn's magic. There is also the case of large scale rituals, where a group of weaker unicorns lend there power to the lead unicorn who shapes the much larger energies into larger spells. I'd have to research more into it."

"Alright, don't worry about researching, it's nothing, I've just got a hunch on my streak of bad luck. Your turn."

"Ah got a question." The orange mare, Applejack, spoke up.

"Fine, go ahead," Twilight grumbled.

"Well, first off, I should apologize fer jumping on you and exposing a painful memory for ya. It weren't right to snoop about in your private affairs."

"Thank you, and apology accepted. It wasn't the way I wanted it to come out, but it's a weight off my chest. So, your question?"

"Ah mean no offence when ah say this, but, how are you gonna pay for your new house?"

"Ah, yes, I forgot about that. I have a small sum of bits with me here, and I've been saving at the Baltimare First Central Bank. About a years worth of royalties for all my books should be enough. How long would a transfer of bits from there to here take?"

Rainbow Dash spoke up, "It depends on which pony you send. There is the elderly gentlecolt who will take about a month, there and back. We also have a pegasus mailmare, she will take anywhere from a week to a month depending on if she gets lost."

"You have a mailmare who gets lost?"

"It's not her fault, She has a condition that makes her wall-eyed. She does her best."

"Wait, that sounds familiar, does she have a grey coat and yellow mane?"

"You know Ditzy?"

"Yeah, she helped me out at the end of last winter, I was up in a northern mountain range getting a rare flower. Long story short, I got caught in a snowstorm, she saw me and pulled me out. Apparently she was sent south to help the birds get back, but she went the wrong way. She said she wasn't used to going places without an address, and then something about missing her muffin, and her muffins before she flew off."

"Ah, that might be a bit confusing. Her muffin is Dinky, her adopted daughter, and her muffins are, well, muffins. She loves 'em both."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense."

"What did you say about royalties? Are you an author?" Twilight was uncomfortably close, excitement plastered on her face.

He backed away slightly, "Ah, yes, I have written a few books, a guide on various spices, gardening manuels, guides to natural medicines. Only one got any publicity though. It's called Supernaturals: natural remedies and cure-alls that are simply super. Have you heard of it?"

Twilight's eye twitched as she heard the title, "Ah, yes I have read some of it," She said in a forced sweet voice, her horn softly glowed, "I just have one question for you," The other girls looked at each other nervously as the pillow was sneaking up on Root Strider, "Why-" Smack, "did-" Smack, "you-" Smack, "give it such an easily misinterpreted title!?" Smack.

"Ow, hey! Ooomph!" He got a mouthful of pillow, "Ith wahf fetty freefenge."

"What?"

"Phoo- bleh. I said, it was petty revenge, against a snobby unicorn up in Manehattin. He had said that earth ponies have no magic of their own, so I titled my book in a way that would emphasize the magic that earth ponies can do through natural remedies that are simply, magical. Plus, I called it Supernaturals since most unicorns who would pick it up have been taught that the word Supernatural almost always equals fake." Smack. He grabbed the pillow, "I guess that you didn't find the title amusing?

"No, because of a misunderstanding, all six of us spent a day panicking about poison joke. We even thought Zecora had cursed us." Smack.

"Alright, I'm sorry about the title, I'm sorry, please stop hitting me."

Twilight released her magic, "I feel a lot better now, who knew hitting somepony with a pillow was so stress relieving."

"Happy to be of assistance." Root Strider retorted, only slightly sarcastically. He grinned, "Do any of you know how to bake? I want to make up a batch for Ditzy as thanks."

As one, they all turned towards Pinkie Pie, whose smile was threatening to split her face in half. "Of course I can bake, I work at Sugercube Corner. Yes, I'll make you some super-duper thank-you-for-saving-me muffins!" In the time it takes to blink, Pinkie was next to Root Strider, pulling him out of his chair. Her voice became gruff, "Come wiv' me if you vant to bake!"

"Whoa, wait a minute Pinkie." He said from the floor, as Pinkie was literally dragging him to the cooking area, "I need to figure out where I'm going to be living for the time being first."

"Well, Ah might be able t'solve that problem. It's Zapapple season, an we usually employ some extra help. There's a spare room in the barn's loft, an two good meals a day, plus pay, if'n you're willing to work."

Root Strider sat up, "That sounds good, but if you want to work Zapapples, there's a talented pony you should find, she's the best, hooves down, at working Zapapples. She taught me everything I know about them."

"We already got the best at working Zapapples, we just need a few extra hooves."

"Seriously, you should at least get into contact with her, I assure you she's better than whoever you have. I don't know what you've heard, but Zapapples can be extremely dangerous. Ponies could get hurt!"

"Are you implyin' that we're reckless? We take every caution cause we got the master of Zapapples with us!"

"I'm not implying anything, I'm suggesting you get into contact with her for your own good!" They were muzzle to muzzle, just below shouting levels.

They both shouted at each other, "I don't care who you've got. Nopony is better with Zapapples than Granny Smith!" at the same time.

They paused, looked at each other in confusion, then burst out laughing. "We were arguing about the same pony!" Root Strider fell over, unable to breathe.

After a short break to catch their breathe, Applejack asked, "How do ya know Granny Smith? You said you learned from her, but Ah've never met you before."

"It was about a year ago, I learned about Granny Smith's Zapapple jam, so I wrote to her. I used to write to her every other week, but lately it's been once a month or so. She's sent seeds, zapapples, jam, her ideas on different applications, and don't worry, as per her terms, I haven't told anyone else about it. Now I'm curious, how do you know Granny Smith?" He said as he sat back down at his seat.

"She's my grandma."

Such a simple statement, yet it caused a chain reaction of thoughts in Root Strider. Blood rushed away from his face as he realized he had been arguing with Granny Smith's granddaughter, then blood raced back to his face as he remembered the last letter Granny Smith sent to him, a letter about her granddaughter and how he really ought to meet her and how well they would get along, and he choked, his chair flew up into the air.

"Y-you are Granny Smith's granddaughter?" He said from the floor.

"Ayuup, you got a problem with that?"

"Ah, no, no problem at all. I'll take you up on that job offer."

"Hows about I help you up first."

"Thanks. You know, Granny Smith talks about you a lot in her letters. Your bravery, strength of character, determination that borderlines stubbornness, and your honesty. she talks about how proud she is of you and that you are an honest pony. I swear, it's almost as if she thinks honesty is your special talent. It isn't, is it?"

Applejack's cheeks glowed brighter which each compliment, "Aww shucks, it ain't my special talent, just my Element."

"Your what?"

"My Element."

"I don't understand, your what now?

"Twilight, explain it for 'im, your in fer a shocker." His eyes turned to Twilight.

"Alright, but promise you won't freak out or anything."

"Why would I freak out?"

"Just promise."

"Alright," He placed a hoof on his chest, "I promise on Celestia's sun I will not 'freak out' about what you are going to tell me. Good enough?"

She nodded, "What Applejack means is the she wields one of the Elements of Harmony, the Element of Honesty to be exact. All six of us do: Rainbow Dash's is Loyalty, Rarity's is Generosity, Pinkie Pie's is Laughter, Fluttershy's is Kindness, and mine is Magic."

"Wait, wait, wait. You mean to tell me that you six are the bearers of the Elements? The greatest heroes since the time of Starswirl? Who have defeated Discord, chaos incarnate, defeated a changling horde, and returned Princess Luna to her rightful place and state of mind? Those bearers of the Elements of Harmony?" With each nod, he grew paler and paler, "Zecora, is it true?" His eyes pleading for her to burst out laughing and it to be a big joke.

"It is true, all they have said to you."

"Well, Rarity, could you grab me that pillow, please?"

"Whatever for?" the pillow gently floated behind him.

"Like I promised, I'm not gonna freak out." Pomf.

"You didn't say he couldn't pass out." Pinkie giggled.

"At least he didn't run away." Rainbow Dash chimed in, chuckling at Twilight's grumpy look.

Smack. Twilight smiled.

Ch. 3 Nightmares and Memories

A laugh escaped from his lips as he was catapulted from tree to tree. He was flying, or the closest thing to it as he was concerned. He knew these trees; they were his friends when he was lonely as a foal. He had had this dream before, and in a few seconds his mom would call out for him.

“Leaf Jumper, Honey!” A worried voice called out, “Be careful up there, and don’t exhaust yourself, you still have to take the entrance exam later today.”

Her voice was as sweet as he remembered, but a feeling of dread crept up his spine as he yelled back, “I know Mom, I’ll be down soon!” His words were hollow, like an actor, and not a good one. He was no longer in control of his body as he was slung towards the tallest oak tree in the small woods.

He screamed in his mind to get on the ground, or to at least close his eyes. As it always happened, his eyes were drawn upwards; towards an approaching wave of colors, and the shockwave that made his magic flare up. The large tree bent without him in it, and rocketed towards him.

A blinding flash, a young colt’s scream, unbearable pain, and a rainbow…