Gate of Friendship

When I got there it was sunny out and with no clouds in sight. I walked downtown to see if any of the 6 were out and about. But it quite the opposite. There was no one on the streets.

No one home? Guess 173 got here. If that's the case I better book it... But why would a dangerous creature like that be in a world like this? Then again, why would someone like me be here? How do I come up with these things?

I was passing by the Bakery. Still nobody to be seen.

"Pssst," A voice said.

I looked around. Just me, the silent buildings, and a small opening in the bakery door.

"Pssssssssssst."

I looked at the small opening and saw a dark shade of pink. Soon identified as Pinkie Pie.

"Trevor," she said.

She looked around and ducked, raised one of her front hooves, and motioned me to come to where she was at.

"Come here."

I sighed and did as she said. As I reached the door way seven pairs of mouths and a pair of claws grabbed me and yanked me into the building and sent me to the floor.

"Not cool!" I said. Almost yelling.

"Shhh," A different voice shushed.

The room was entirely dark besides Pinkie Pie's flashlight, or torch, whatever you want to call it.

"Pinkie Pie, why are you alone in the dark?"

"I'm not alone,” Pinkie Pie answered.

She moved one of the curtains to let in some light, which than revealed the rest of the 6, Spike, and Apple Bloom.

Neeeew! Get me out! I am not staying here with a Cuti--

"Is this who you were talking about sis?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yep. Sure is," Applejack responded.

"And who would this be?" I asked.

"This here's my lil' sister. Apple Bloom."

"And why are you all in the dark?"

"Hiding,” Pinkie Pie responded.

"From what?"

Pinkie Pie motioned for me and the rest to look out the window, and in the middle of the street was a zebra in a brown cloak. Otherwise known as Zecora.

Oh. It's this episode.

She kept digging at the ground with her front left hoof. When she stopped she looked towards us with sharp yellow eyes. Everyone then abandon their spot at the window and back into the darkness. I sighed and went back towards the nearly terrified ponies, excluding Twilight, who seemed to be in disbelief in the situation, much like myself.

"Did you see her Twilight? Did you see... Zecroa?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Apple Bloom. I told you never to say that name," Applejack said.

"Well I saw her glance this way," Twilight said.

"Glacing evilly this way," Pinkie Pie corrected.

"And a bunch of you flip for no good reason."

"No good reason? You call protecting your kin no good reason? Why as soon my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her little horseshoes" Applejack said.

Applejack than started to shake Apple Bloom to reenact her "shakin' in her little horseshoes."

"Did not," Apple Bloom said shakily.

"So I swept her up and brought her here."

"I walked here myself," Appleboom protested.

"For safety."

"Applejack, I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself."

"Not from that creepy Zecora."

"She's mysterious," Fluttershy said.

"Sinister," Rainbow Dash said.

I wanna see that movie. Looked pretty good.

"And spoo-o-oky," Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight and I looked out the window again, with the entire group almost leaning on us. Zecora had her back toward us and took off the hood of her cloak, revealing a black and white Mohawk, and also had two gold earrings on. Everyone gasped except me and Twilight.

"Will you cut that out?" Twilight asked.

"Just look at those stripes. So garish," Rarity said.

So what?

"She's a zebra."

"A what?" Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, and Rainbow Dash asked.

"A zebra. And her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they were what she was born with."

The realization of this new information made Rarity faint.

"Born where? I've never seen a pony like that in these parts. 'Cept her," Applejack said.

"Well she's probably not from here. And she's not a pony. My book says they come from a faraway land, but I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"

"That's just it. She lives in... the Everfree Forest."

There was multiple crashes coming from the other room, sounding very similar to thunder. Turns out it was Spike, trying to get a cupcake and candy cane, but must have slammed into something.

"Spike."

"Sorry," Spike apologized.

"The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow," Applejack said.

"The animals care for themselves," Fluttershy added.

"And the clouds move--" Rainbow Dash added.

"All on thier own," All three ponies said.

"Sounds a lot like home," I said under my breath.

Rarity fainted yet again.

"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff. She's so evil. I even wrote a song about her,” Pinkie Pie informed.

NOOOO!! The one time I don't have my MP3 player!

"Here we go," Rainbow Dash groaned.

"She's an evil enchantress. She does evil dances. You look deep in her eyes she'll put you in trances. Then what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew, and she'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew. So watch out," Pinkie Pie sang and danced.

Pinkie Pie was now on top of the table, panting quite heavily.

"Wow. Catchy," Twilight said.

That's not catchy. I've heard better catchy songs.

Pinkie Pie got off the table.

"It's a work in progress."

"This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors. Now tell me, what have you actually seen Zecora do?"

"Well. Once a month she comes into Ponyville," Rainbow Dash said.

"Ooooh," Twilight awed sarcastically.

"She lurks by the stores," Rarity said.

"Oh my."

"And then. She digs at the ground," Fluttershy said.

"Good gracious."

Good grief indeed.

"Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit."

"Yeah. Maybe she's just trying to be neighborly," Apple Bloom said.

"And maybe she's not lurking by the stores. Maybe she's going to them; lurk free, to do some shopping."

"Yeah. Every pony likes to shop. You know what I think--" Apple Bloom said.

"Apple Bloom, hush and let the big ponies talk," Applejack said.

"I am a big pony," Apple Bloom said softly.

"What about digging at the ground? You gotta admit that's weird," Rainbow Dash said.

Apple Bloom was walking out of the bakery without anyone noticing, except me.

"What if she's digging for innocent creatures?" Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie Pie started to repeat her song.

"I'm sure there's an explanation for everything Zecora does. And if any pony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she would find out the truth."

"She"? Ah no, forget that. It’s time for some creative investigating.

When Apple Bloom open the door and walk out to follow Zecora, I followed her while everyone was still conversing. Apple Bloom kept on hiding in bushes at a big distance while I just ducked down and made sure my shadow wouldn't catch her eye. After a few minutes, Zecora left the town, and Apple Bloom and I followed her. Apple Bloom increased her following distance between her and Zecora, so I had to as well, but I still followed my rules of keeping my shadow out of her view. Zecora soon walked in without hesitation. But when Apple Bloom got there however, she gulp and looked like she was gonna walk away. But, she puffed out her chest and walked in with determination. I decided to take a different route then the two did, climbing into one of the trees. The branches creaked and the leaves rustled, causing Apple Bloom to turn towards the tree I was at and looked around. She looked where I was at, squinted, then her eyes were almost widened a few seconds later.

"What are you doing here?" Apple Bloom asked.

I sighed and lowered myself to the ground.

"Doing the same thing you're doing. Following Zecora to find out the truth."

"I don't need you to follow me around. I'm not a baby!” she said angrily.

"I never said that. Like I said, I'm just here for the same thing you are. So why don’t we do it together? We might get more answers."

"Alright,” Apple Bloom grumbled.

Good. We understand each other.

We walked into the Everfree Forest, seemingly denser than I suspected it to be, and a bit brighter too. We kept following Zecora until we got to the field of poison joke. Me and Apple Bloom surprisingly didn't touch any of the flowers, though I was avoiding them on purpose and Apple Bloom was just lucky.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack yelled.

"Trevor!" Twilight yelled.

Curse it all, they finally realized we were gone.

Apple Bloom, Zecora, and I turned to the 6, who were standing right in the middle of the poison joke.

"You get back here right now!" Applejack yelled at Zecora.

"Beware. Beware you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke," Zecora rhymed.

Applejack ran in front of her sister and stood in a guarding pose.

"Keep your creepy mumbo jumbo to yourself. You hear!?"

The rest of the pones began taunting the zebra, excluding myself and Twlight.

"Beware. Beware."

"Yeah, back at you Zecora. You and your lame curses are the ones who better beware," Rainbow Dash said.

"And you. Why couldn't you just listen to your big sister?" Applejack asked.

"I-I," Apple Bloom stammered.

"Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could’ve put on you."

"Just like in my song. Evil enchantress, evil dances, and the trances," Pinkie Pie began to sing briefly.

"You guys. There's no such thing as curses," Twilight assured.

Rainbow Dash flew low to the ground, enough to touch the flowers, and went up to Twilight.

"Well that's interesting to hear coming from miss magic pants herself," Rainbow Dash said.

"My magic, real magic, comes from within. It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations, all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale," Twilight said.

You forget that there's such a thing as dark magic, demonic powers, witchcraft, take a pick.

"Just you wait Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true," Applejack foreshadowed.

The rest of the group left, leaving only me and Twilight.

"You forgot that there's dark magic," I said.

"Dark magic?"

"You don't know about... Alright, lesson time. There's a light to every dark and vice versa. Magic is no different. People from my home in the past used dark magic, or witchcraft as it was called, to bring terrible plagues, or curses, upon different people. A famous one I remember is the mummy's curse. It brought locus, drought, disaster, stuff like that. There is one that most people from my home nowadays use, deals. Or to be more precise, deals with the devil. You sell your fate to the king of evil and he'll give you what you want. But it always ends with the devil twisting it into ruins. But I wouldn't worry about Zecora. She doesn't seem to be one for dark magic or any of that."

"Wow. Things from your home sure are different than here."

Tell me about it.

"Let's head back."

Twilight nodded her head and we headed back towards the house

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Night time had fallen upon Equestria. Nothing had really happened after we got home, besides ponies slowly coming out of their homes in fear of Zecora popping up again. I had changed out of my regular clothes and into my pajamas.

"Going to bed?" Twilight asked.

"Not for a bit," I said.

"What do you think of this Zecora stuff?"

"It seems like everyone is going crazy over nothing."

Like the elephant and mouse thing.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"Shall we continue our conversation over a few glasses of water?"

"Sure."

She and I walked downstairs and sat at the table. There was a glass of water for me and a glass of milk for Twilight.

"Not fancying water tonight?"

She shook her head as I took a sip.

"Did you hear about the disappearances in Manehattan?"

"Yep. Princess told me when I saw her."

"What do you think is causing it?"

"Don't know."

I took another sip.

"Why did you go out and not tell any pony?"

"Hmm? Oh. I saw Apple Bloom leaving so I wanted to make sure she was safe. That and what you said before."

"Oh, that. You still should have told some pony."

I shrugged.

"Least I wasn't in any danger."

We drank the rest of our drinks and set our cups down.

"I'm gonna get some sleep."

I got up and headed upstairs.

"Good night."

"Night."

When I was asleep I had continuation to a few dreams I've had in the past. It was about a girl that looked like one of the regular Japanese ghost girls, the ones with the long black hair and white gown. She wanted me to help her find someone, though she never told me who. She showed me bits and pieces of her past and from what I can make of it she was born into a loving family, a mother, father, and twin brother. But when she was seven she was sent to an orphanage, the reason why though I don't know. She stayed at the orphanage for three years until she discovered something. She was born with demonic powers. She was able to control her powers and went on a killing spree on the caretakers of the orphanage, but she didn't kill any of the kids. However, there was one caretaker who escaped, this one also having demonic powers. She ran away from the orphanage before the caretaker could catch her and had chosen me to find whoever she was looking for. She even made me break into a pastor's house to get information from him. But in the end I shot him. The dream kinda left off from there. I was in the pastor's living room, talking to her.

"You haven't told me who you're looking for," I said flatly.

"We just need to know where he's at or where he'll be," she softly whispered.

"Well the pastor didn't know anything."

She looked towards the door. Suddenly swung open so fast that it put a dent in the wall, and standing at the doorway was her brother, his eyes full of fear and his body shaking.

"S-stay back," he stammered.

"You were after your brother. Weren't you?" I asked.

She disappeared from where she was originally at and appeared in front of her brother. The brother stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. She didn't say anything, but just looked at him. The brother had his mouth opened and looked like he was trying to scream, but was to paralyzed with fear to do so.

This is a family moment. I better go.

I left the room and headed for the front door.

"Thank you," the girl said.

Everything started to fade to black. The faint sounds of birds chirping told me that I was out of the dream.

Twilight is gonna have questions for this one.

When I opened my eyes I immediately looked beside me, expecting Twilight to be there. But, somewhat thankfully, she wasn’t.

Wait. The episode is still going. That means...

I went downstairs to see Twilight with a limp horn and blue spots on it and multiple books scattered around.

"Ugh. There has to be a real reason for this. An illness? An allergy?" Twilight asked.

"A curse," Spike suggested, holding a green book with a plant on it.

"I said a real reason. Something that points to something real."

"How about this one?"

Spike showed her the green book.

Fine, don't say hello to the evil man, that's always a smart idea.

"Supernaturals. Spike, the word 'supernatural' refers to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies, which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey."

Supernatural... I wonder if season 8's out yet.

"But what if you're wrong Twilight? What if this really is--?"

"A burse," Pinkie Pie sputtered, seemingly appearing out of thin air.

Her tongue was now enlarged with the same blue dots on it as Twilight's horn.

How in-- don't question it, just go with it.

"A purse? How could it be a purse?" Spike asked.

"I believe she's trying to say, a curse. Correct?" I asked.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head.

"Pinkie. What happened?" Twilight asked.

She began sputtering something that I had no idea what she was trying to actually say, but she got spit all over Spike.

"Say it, don't spray it, Pinkie," Spike complained, shaking the spit off him.

A sudden crash turned our attention to a nearby window. It was Rainbow Dash, who crashed into the window.

"She's--" Rainbow Dash began.

She crashed into the window again

"Trying to say Zecora--"

Her wings took her backwards and slammed her into the wall near the door, making huge cracks in its place. Then she crashed through the door and headed towards the ponies and dragon, me being out of the way.

"She slapped us all with a--"

She crashed into one of the bookshelves and got stuck in a ladder.

"Curse," Rainbow Dash finally finished.

I consider this payback for the rumor.

"I'm afraid I have to agree," Rarity said.

Rarity's regular mane and coat was replaced with shaggy dreadlocks from head-to-toe. Spike let out a little scream and hugged Twilight's front left hoof.

"I hate to say I told you so, Twilight," a very high-pitched Applejack said.

We all looked over and saw Apple Bloom with a small figurine-like Applejack on her back.

"But I told you so,” Applejack continued.

Twilight and Spike gasped at the sight. I just stood there, almost ready to snicker.

"It's the curse I tells ya!”

More like plot continuation.

"But Fluttershy seems just fine," Twilight said.

Fluttershy stood next to Rarity.

How are all you people getting in here without me noticing?

"Yes, there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with her," Rarity agreed.

Fluttershy remained quiet.

"Fluttershy? Are you okay?"

She closed her eyes and turned away.

"Is there something wrong with you?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"Would you care to tell us?"

She kept quiet.

"So you're not gonna tell us?"

Fluttershy turned towards Twilight and nodded.

"Yes you're not or yes you will?"

It'd be yes you're not.

Mini Applejack jumped on one of the books on the table with a flower in a vase.

"Good gravy girl. What's wrong with you?" Applejack asked impatiently.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Fluttershy said in a very deep man voice.

I couldn’t help but face-palm.

Bill Cosby, no.

Spike bursted out laughing. I wanted to smack him on the backside of the head with the two knuckles I had on my right fist, but I let it go.

"This is hilarious. Look at all of you. We've got Harity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Appletiny, Flutterguy, and, uh… I've got nothing," Spike said.

I really want to deck him in the schnoze.

"Ha ha ha. This is no joke Spike, now start looking for more books so I can find a cure," Twilight said with annoyance in her tone.

Rainbow Dash finally got out of the ladder and started flying again.

"I think we'll find the cure to this curse at Zecora's place," Rainbow Dash determined.

"It's not a curse."

One last chance to reverse this curse. You stole my heart but I had it first.

Rainbow Dash flew back and crashed into another bookshelf.

"I agree with Dash. We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex!" Applejack yelled.

"It's not a hex either!" Twilight shouted back.

All the ponies started arguing, except for Apple Bloom who was, like me, watching the argument.

This is getting foolish now.

I changed into my regular clothes, jumped out the window, and hovered down to the ground. Once I had landed I walk in the direction of the Everfree Forest, seeing that Apple Bloom had gotten a good distance from me and decided to follow her, keeping my distance of course. When we got to the forest, Apple Bloom started sprinting and got a good few feet ahead of me before I started to run after her again. We both made it to the Poison Joke, but I stopped right before the first flowers, whilst she stopped near the middle of them all. As I got closer I saw mini-Applejack on her head, telling her to turn around. I quickly hid in one of the bushes nearby in case they looked behind them.

"No," Apple Bloom said with a smile on her face.

"No!? You can't ignore a direct order from your big sister!" Applejack yelled.

Apple Bloom threw her up in the air, caught her in her mouth, and put Applejack on a nearby branch.

"Ha ha ha. Sorry Applejack, but I'm the big sister now."

Apple Bloom walked away from the branch and onwards to Zecora's house.

"Apple Bloom you come back here right this instant... I'm gonna tell Big Macintosh on you!"

I got out of the bushes and went up to the branch Applejack was at.

"Why hello my little friend," I greeted.

"Trevor? What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, finding a cure for whatever made you and the others like they are."

Without asking, I picked up Applejack and placed her on my left shoulder.

"Alright. Giddy up!”

She hit me with one of her back hooves to get me going. The pain, if you can call it that, was something between a pinch and a mosquito that just bit you

"That's not gonna work, and I suggest you don't do it again."

And with that, I continued on the trail. We soon Apple Bloom nearing a small light, I turned to Applejack and saw she was a bit red faced with anger.

"AP--" Applejack began to scream.

I quickly put her in between my hands and hid behind one of the trees. I don't know if Apple Bloom stopped or not, but if she did she didn't call out. When I thought that Apple Bloom was out of hearing range I opened my hands and saw a very angry Applejack.

"It's called a stealth mission for a reason!" I hissed.

"Well, what are you doing standing here for? Get going."

"I'm trying to keep my distance. She might be suspicious already with you screaming, and we may never get to Zecora if we're found out. So please, just stay quiet."

I calmed myself down and put her back on my shoulder.

"Right. Sorry ‘bout that.”

"No problem. Now that we have figured things out, let's keep moving."

I looked to see if Apple Bloom was still there, and to my luck she wasn't. Once I found the path again I followed it. After a few minutes had passed we had finally made it to Zecora’s hut, looking like a mixture of Yoda’s hut from the original Star Wars movies and Twilight’s house. It also had bottles and vials tied to the tree with a mask on one of the branches. We saw Apple Bloom leaving the house with a saddle pack on.

"What is that Apple Bloom think she's doing?" Applejack asked.

"This is still a stealth mission," I whispered.

Applejack put a hoof in her mouth. After Apple Bloom was out of sight I moved in closer to the house.

Time to end this episode.

The sounds of multiple hooves running my direction could be heard.

But not in the way I want to apparently.

In seconds the rest of the 6 appeared, Rarity’s hair full of leaves and sticks.

"Trevor. What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"Oh you know, trying to find a cure for you guys,” I replied.

"Ugh. I look horrible," Rarity complained.

"This place looks horrible," Pinkie Pie muffled.

"Oh my. That place really does look horrible."

The rest of the ponies moved in closer until they were looking in the window.

"Nice decorations. If you like creepy," Rarity commented.

The ponies peeking in suddenly ducked from the window, then slowly peeked again.

"Guavaty moni ha lum way. Oka ba te wa um wo a," Zecora said.

Pinkie Pie suddenly took three steps backwards and tried to speak, though I had no idea what she was saying.

"She stole your song?"

"Oh Pinkie. That doesn't sound anything like you're song," Twilight said.

She went to Fluttershy's knees, looking up at her with pleading eyes. Fluttershy sighed.

"She's an evil enchantress. She does evil dances. And if you look into her eyes she'll put you in trances. And what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew, and then she'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew. So, watch out," Fluttershy sang unenthusiastically, while Pinkie Pie did the dance.

"You saw those terrible things. Now do you believe us Twilight?" Rarity asked.

Twilight pondered.

"Scary looking masks, confusing incantations, and a great big bubbling cauldron. Everything is pointing to Zecora being bad," Twilight said.

I would have gone with evil.

"Or. What if Zecora's just making soup?" Twilight Asked.

The ponies went back to the window to see if an answer would be provided.

"Mmm, the perfect temperature for ponies I presume. Now, where is that little Apple Bloom?" Zecora asked herself.

"Or what if she's making Apple Bloom soup?" Twilight asked fearfully.

Be quiet or she'll hear you.

The ponies backed away from the window and looked at each other. The ponies started screaming.

"Well if she didn't hear us then. She'll definitely hear us now," I said.

Rainbow Dash was headed towards Zecora's door.

"I'm coming for ya Apple Bloom," Applejack said.

She leapt off my shoulder and grabbed onto Rainbow Dash's belly. Rainbow Dash crashed through the door and flew every which way in the house. Zecora started speaking in a language I couldn't understand, most likely she meant "what is going on? Stop, stop." The other ponies burst through the door.

"What have you done with Apple Bloom?" Twilight asked.

Zecora didn't give a response back to Twilight, she just kept on trying telling Rainbow Dash to stop. Applejack jumped from Rainbow Dash to Zecora's left ear and started wrestling with it.

"Ponies. What is this you--" Zecora said.

She was cut short by Rainbow Dash crashing into her soup pot and spilling the contents.

"No. You know not what you do. You've gone and spilled my precious brew."

"We're on too you Zecora. I didn't want to believe that you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming."

"You made me look ridiculous," Rarity complained.

"You made me sound ridiculous," Fluttershy added.

Pinkie Pie just sputtered.

"You ruined my horn," Twilight complained.

"How dare you. You destroy my home, destroy my work, then accuse me of being a jerk?" Zecora asked angrily.

"You put this curse on us. Now you're gonna un-curse us," Rainbow Dash said.

Technically she doesn't have to do anything.

"It is unwise to travel down this road. Your actions will make my anger explode."

"Where is Apple Bloom?" Twilight asked.

She got up in Zecora's face till they were butting heads.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

"Zecora, I think I've found all the things you asked for," Apple Bloom said as she walked in.

She looked at the ponies and zebra in the mess.

"What in the name of Ponyville is going on here?"

Applejack gasped.

"Apple Bloom. You're okay," she said in amazement.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Twilight got in front of Apple Bloom.

"Because Zecora is an evil enchantress who cursed us, and was gonna cook you up into soup," Twilight explained.

Zecora and Apple Bloom chuckled.

"Oh Twilight. Did those silly fillies finally get in yer head? You know there's no such thing as a curse."

"Apple Bloom, sweetie, you can't just stand there and tell me that this isn't a curse."

"This isn't a curse."

"If you remember back, the words I spoke were quite exact," Zecora said.

"It was a warnin' about that blue plant. It's called poison joke," Apple Bloom said.

"That plant is much like poison oak, but its results are like a joke."

"What in the hay does that mean?" Applejack asked.

"It means that this plant does not bring wrath, instead this plant just wants a laugh."

"Will some pony please talk normal?"

I decided to finally walk into the house.

"I'll be happy to explain. When you went to save Apple Bloom and I, you walked right into the poison joke. These so-called curses are just this plant's little jokes," I said.

"Little jokes!? Very funny," Applejack said sarcastically

Did I strike a nerve?

"Okay fine. But what about the cauldron?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"And the chanting?" Fluttershy asked.

"And the creepy decor?" Rarity added.

"Can't you ponies ask questions through one mouth?" I asked under my breath.

"Treasures from the native land where I'm from. This one speaks 'hello,' and the other 'welcome,' “ Zecora said, referring to the masks.

"Not welcome at all, if you ask me," Rarity commented.

"And the words I chanted were from olden times. Something you call a nursery rhyme."

"But the cauldron? The Apple Bloom soup?" Twilight asked.

"Lookie here Twilight, that pot of water wasn't for me, it was for all these herbal ingredients. The cure for poison joke is a simple old natural remedy. You just gotta take a bubble bath," Apple Bloom said.

Twilight looked over the book.

"But I tried to find a cure in all my books and couldn't find anything. What book has this natural remedy?" Twilight asked.

Zecora closed it the book and showed her the cover.

"Here is the book you seek," Zecora said.

It was the green book with the plant on it. The exact one Spike had earlier.

"Sad that you lack it in your library."

"Actually, I do have this book. But I didn't look inside 'cause the title was so... weird," Twilight said.

Zecora opened the book to the first page.

"'Supernaturals. Natural remedies and cures that are simply super.' I'm, I'm, I'm so sorry Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I bothered to look inside."

But we would still have the Zecora being an evil witch thing. And even if we explained to the villagers they still wouldn't listen. I know this from experience with villagers, curse them all.

Zecora chuckled.

"Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book," Zecora said.

And that's the lesson of this episode.

"Zecora, would you be nice enough to mix up another herbal batch?"

"Mix it up I certainly will. Yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville."

"But whenever Zecora comes to town all the shops are mysteriously closed," Apple Bloom said.

"Oh. Well, I think we can help you with that," Twilight said.

Zecora got on her cloak and we headed into town. Easy to say, we were welcomed with silence. Twilight went over to the flower shop and knock on the door. The door slightly opened.

"Daisy, we need to talk."

Twilight explained the situation to her and was able to get the herb Zecora needed. Rarity suggested we used one of the spa's baths to put the cure in, the majority agreed, and Rarity was able to persuade the two spa owners to let us use it. Once the cure was completed, the ponies jumped into the bath one by one. We had to get a small bucket for Applejack though.

"Oh my gosh, I just realized how horrible it is not to be able to talk. I mean I love talking so much and when I couldn't talk anymore 'cause my tounge was all like ahhhhhhh. It was the worst. Don't you agree Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yes," Fluttershy said, her voice now normal.

The ponies started laughing.

Cheers to the heroes.

I imagined I had a beerstien in my hand and clanked with another imaginary beerstien, then pretended to drink the imaginary water in the beerstien. After every pony was cured and relaxed, they thanked Zecora for helping them and apologized for them accusing her. She accepted their apology and went back to her home.