Deep in the Everfree forest, a lonely mare sighed wistfully. Zecora had just returned from her now-annual telling of the tale of Nightmare Moon. The foals had all cheered, gasped and screamed at all the right parts while her knowledge of esoteric charms and incantations had allowed her to make it the best experience yet. That however wasn't changing the facts of it all. After all these years, she was tolerated.
Not thanked for her potions or charms, not loved or even befriended for her abilities to help. Voodoo? Potion making was an art! One that few beings had mastered to her level. Charms were, of course, strange to the ponies as well. They were able to access magic directly with the aid of a unicorn.
Not everyone had access to such pure forms of arcane power. Diamond dogs had once been able to sunder the earth with a gesture. Griffons had once learned to use the very air around them to magnify their vision. Dragons had once been able to call fire from the earth with a thought.
The old mare sighed, exchanging her traveling cloak for a shawl. It was a simple thing, more to keep the forest's chill away than to look nice. Her pets clamored for attention and she smiled. Quirky had lost a leg early in his life but he was strong and agile, learning to maneuver quite well in spite of the loss. The mare filled his food dish and left out a small offering of fish for her other pet. Well, Susan was more of an animal that happened to keep the mice and rats from destroying her supplies while she slept.
A snake slithered out from under her bed, accepting the gift and nudging against her leg while blinking it's good eye. Like Quirky, Susan didn't seem to be slowed down that much by the loss of what most would consider an important part. The snake was still fat and happy, catching those foolish mice that ended up sniffing at the paralysis powder the zebra had left dusted on her store-room floor. It only lasted for a moment or two and Zecora herself had accidentally inhaled it in the past(hence the fact it only lasted a few seconds) but it was more than enough time for the snake to snatch up any trespassers.
Moving to her cauldron, the clean one she used for meals, not potions( you only make that mistake once) she pulled open a small duct from an overhead reservoir of water to fill the cauldron and started a fire. Vegetables, herbs and spices all were minced, diced or chopped and thrown into the pot, the smell of a tasty stew soon filling the room. Quirky began hovering around the cauldron as the scent became more powerful, looking to get a taste no doubt. Giving the little dog a nudge, she stirred her supper. It wouldn't do for the small dog to burn itself. Fluttershy wouldn't be calmed from this night for another day or two and she'd used the last of her burn ointment on some foolish little foal who gotten too close to a bonfire earlier in the night.
Scowling slightly she made a mental note to replenish her stock of burn cream. It would require a trip or two into the forest but it wouldn't be that difficult. Not when she knew the forest so well.
As she pulled her cauldron from the fire to allow her dinner to cool to a safe temperature, she was shaken from her musings by a knock at her door.
"Who could that be, so late this dark eve?"
The striped mare opened the door cautiously, her muzzle screwing up in confusion at the pony who was at her door. He wasn't anyone she recognized...
"Good evening, my lady. I'd heard there was a witch of some renown in this forest and came to see if you could aid me," the stallion said while flashing her a dazzling smile.
Zecora stared at the stallion. He was pure white, almost painfully so. His golden mane was perfectly trimmed and cared for, his hooves polished to a shine and not showing a hint of abuse. A purple silk cloak that was embroidered with gold thread sat over his back, giving him a positively regal air. He was in a way the most handsome stallion she'd ever seen in her life. Not strong or brave, or even particularly stunning in his facial features.
But by the Sun did he look handsome to the lonely zebra.
'Has it truly been so long a time, since I gazed upon a stallion's behind?'
Shaking the thoughts off she returned his smile.
"A wicked witch I most certainly am not, but I do brew potions so you're in luck. What kind of brew is it that you seek? What can I do for you this lovely week?"
"My lady, I have searched the alchemists guild, the brew of the month club, the very libraries of Canterlot, but none have been able to find what I truly desire. Wings. Grant me this boon, good zebra, and I, Prince Blueblood the third, shall marry you this very night!"
Zecora's eyes bulged out of her head. Was he that des- no, that sounded bad for her. Was he certain she would fail, or was he just so locked on this dream that he would promise such a thing to her? Before she began to let her eyes wander the stallion's picture-perfect form, she looked back to her brewing station.
"Many are the brews I've studied in the past. What sort of duration do you wish for this draught to last. I know many would say forever, but keep this in mind. Such things are difficult to create, and almost impossible to undermine."
The stallion put a hoof to his lip in thought.
"You make a fair point, witch, but I have thought this over for a long time. I wish to have wings and will do whatever it takes to have them."
Zecora nodded, instantly moving to her work station and beginning to create the simple wings brew. Most alchemists could brew it but it took an expert to brew one that wouldn't fade in a few days time. Zecora was such an expert.
After only about two hours of work the mare bottled the brew and hoofed it over to the stallion, watching intently as he knocked back the potion without a second thought.
He gagged a bit but otherwise seemed unbothered by the taste. What he was more interested in was his back, and the slowly sprouting set of wings that were pushing aside his cloak.
"It...it worked? I don't believe it, you actually did it! And it will last a week?"
Zecora nodded.
"I, I can't believe it, this is the most wonderful- I can't wait to show these wings off to the nobles! Wait until I walk into the court's parties with these!" he crowed, his grin growing with the new limbs.
The mare was steadily turning a deeper shade of red. A noble! And he'd promised her his hoof in marriage for her aid! She giggled like a school filly, thoughts of herself decked out in gold and silk dancing through her mind as the stallion inspected himself in the mirror.
"Well this has been wonderful. I'll be taking my leave."
The zebra blinked out of her fantasies with a start, staring at the stallion who was making for the door.
"Did you not promise to take me as your bride? You even said that this very night, the knot would be tied!"
"Oh please, an alicorn noble taking some voodoo zebra as his wife? I can't do that! I do wish you well though. Better than you're doing now, certainly."
Zecora stared at the preening stallion in shock, shock that was slowly melting into anger. That potion had burned the last of some of the rarest ingredients she'd gathered in her youth, some of them were excruciatingly difficult to find, relying on things like stellar alignment for a bloom or a dragon managing to stab itself on a small bushes thorn...a bush that was only found in the deserts that dragons never traveled anymore. The oaf wasn't even offering to reimburse her for her time, ingredients and effort!
With her teeth grit in fury, the zebra ran to her potions, grabbed the most powerful blessing potion and tossed in a fermented spider eye, turning it into a powerful curse-potion. With a scream of rage, she threw the potion at the noble, the fool still inspecting himself in her mirror. There was a flash of light, and Blueblood was gone.
<-(0)->
"...and that's why if an angry potion-maker ever asks you to marry her, you better stick with them for the rest of your life," Pinkie finished, earning a stare from her friends and a raised claw from Spike.
"I'm pretty sure Blueblood was just spending the week at his summer estate, Pinkie. And why would you say those kinds of things about Zecora?" the drake asked.
"I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a one-eyed snake or three legged dog, either," Twilight added.
"Actually, Quirky and Susan are quite nice. Zecora takes very good care of them," Fluttershy said with a soft smile.
At her friends stare, the pegasus frowned in confusion.
"What? She asked me to watch them a few times when she went looking for rare ingredients."
Author's Note
I'll post the song after a week or so.
Edit: as promised, original song was by Bobby Bare.
