While the ponies struggled with their gift, a zebra noticed something adrift. She wandered through their town, searching with alert eyes and ears pricked. She saw ponies worshipping at a great teat, but she would not be tricked. "How foolish are they," she thought. She would help them, for them she had a soft spot. She trotted with purpose for her home. On the way she spotted another set caught in the syndrome.

Her thoughts came to a sudden crash. Perhaps it wasn't a good time for rhymes.

She had moved past Fluttershy's cottage to find she was home, and she had company. It was Caramel, glassy eyed but otherwise normal, and a female Big Mac. They were kissing and hugging and all the more. Fluttershy noticed Zecora and gazed at her with a happy smile that spoke volumes in its entranced joy.

Zecora fled, lest she become part of that growing madness. She never felt safer in the supposedly fearsome embrace of the forest she called home. She galloped up to her hut's door, spoke a near silent request to her ancestors, and slipped inside. With a relieved sigh, she sank to the floor. She was safe there.

She had little time to wait, however. "I must save those pony folk. From this madness I will unyoke." She began gathering her supplies, considering which would be best for the task at hand. She rooted through her roots and leafed through her greens. She ruminated on her fungi and sorted through her recipes. "Yes." She had decided and went to fetch the first ingredient, but it wasn't where she thought she had left it.

In its place was a black cube she didn't recall the presence of. "What strange thing is this?" She frowned at its swirling patterns. She was absolutely certain she'd remember it if she had ever seen it before . "It is not like me to miss." She took half a step back, afraid to even approach it. What if it was linked to what else she had seen?

The cube suddenly shuddered. One of its sides fell down, revealing a dark interior. From within disgorged the very plant she had been hoping to find. Zecora peered at the plant, sniffing the air cautiously. It smelled right. Perhaps she had been hasty? Perhaps it had come to assist her instead. "Thank... you?" She stepped forward and took the plant in her teeth and hurried to her cauldon, dropping it in.

Every time she reached for the next ingredient, it was there, held in the dark confines of that mysterious cube. She started coming to it first instead of searching her supplies. Perhaps, she thought, it was a gift sent to help treat the problem. Had Twilight sent it? It was rare that the ponies reached out and gave her a gift instead of the other way around.

With a renewed smile, she stirred her creation slowly. Perhaps things were not nearly as dire as she had thought. Maybe the ponies really did care for her as she did for them? She tapped her stirrer against the side of her cauldron and sat down. It would be nice if they returned her feelings, but she was a strange thing to them. They respected her, even liked her... but she was still an outsider. A welcome guest, rather than a member of the family...

With a soft sigh, she dipped her snout into the cauldron and took a sip of what she had made. It was bitter and foul, but it was just the right amount of both unpleasant qualities. This would do nicely. She grabbed a few jars between her forelegs and filled each in time before tying them to her side for transportation. "I am coming to your rescue. A zebra fix is on the menu." She pushed open her door and began trotting down the path back towards Ponyville with determined steps.

She emerged from the forest near her first target. Fluttershy and those with her were clearly not in their right mind, and she meant to fix that. With a firm nod, she trotted towards her cottage. There were no ponies in sight, and no animals either. "Curious..." The thought of them being absent did not sit well. She trotted to the door and raised a hoof to give a knock, but just as she was about to strike the wood, a great roar came from the forest.

Zecora twisted to see an enraged monstrosity. Its head was bald, shaped like that of a vulture. It had no wings, instead grasping arms and cloven hooves for feet. Its tail was wiry and thrashed as its three eyes looked about almost randomly, none in sync with the others until they all fell on Zecora in unison. Its color was difficult to say, it seemed to shift with its movements and by the moment, as if it were a soap bubble ready to pop.

She screamed. That was no beast she knew.

A great crash came from within the cottage. Big Mac burst through the roof in a streak of red. A low chorus sang out, "Princess Big Mac!" as if in heavenly choir.

He came down with a great crash right in front of the creature. "Stop right there!" His heroic entry was mildly sullied by the fact that he was dangling and bobbing fiercely with every powerful movement, as if he were interrupted in the middle of something most intimate.

The creature gave an unnatural hiss that seemed mixed with the sound of rattling gears before rushing at him with those gnarled hands.

Big Mac met the charge with one of his own, his horn glowing brightly through the charge. They collided with a terrific flash, the beast showing new scorches, but had gotten a grip on Big Mac's sides, trying to wrestle with the newest princess. He wouldn't have it and lowered his head, firing brilliant magic into the things face, but it slid off, leaving more marks but not telling damage.

It heaved Big Mac to the ground and thumped its chest with its hands in triumph.

"Nope." He thrust a hoof up at it and a bubble of force sealed it tight.

Until its wiry tail brushed across it and it popped, freeing the beast. With a cackling laugh, it charged on the downed Big Mac.

Zecora watched the battle play out with wide eyes. When had Big Mac gained a horn, and the ability to use it? Had she missed that before? Regardless, staring blankly as he struggled in a life or death battle hardly seemed proper. She pulled out a small pouch and slunk closer, hoping that they would continue.

She needn't have worried. The battle raged on, with Big Mac gaining a few painful stripes where its dirty fingers had dug into him. With a girlish grunt, he rose to his feet in a sudden burst of strength, throwing it back to the ground. It was just the opportunity Zecora needed. She closed the distance and threw the pouch down on the creature. It exploded in a cloud of dust that clung to the thing's soapy skin.

It screamed, not a battle cry, but one of pain. It scrambled up to its cloven hooves and ran wildly back into the forest, screaming and dancing.

Big Mac nodded at Zecora. "Good work. Ah woulda saved you though. Ah'm a princess."

Zecora looked Big Mac over, noticing his female lines to go with his new horn. "So I see, But this is not how it should be. Big mac--"

"You're the best, Zecora." Big Mac hugged Zecora without warning. "Why do ya live so far away?"

Zecora's eyes widened a moment before they fell back down. Big Mac smelled... nice... "Why... would you want me closer?"

"Because yer smart, n' nice, n' wise..." He tilted his head at the zebra in his grip. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because as a pony I am a poser." She raised a hoof to her chest. "I am zebra, this is plain. To be a pony I will not attain."

He shrugged softly. "So?" His horn glowed and hefted her right off the ground. "Zebra's just a striped pony anyway. Yer alright in mah book. Hey! Fluttershy, Caramel!"

The door to the cottage opened, revealing the other two ponies present. Big Mac pointed up at Zecora as he walked along with her floating over him. "Tell her how good a pony she is."

Fluttershy tilted her head at Zecora. "Oh, um, hello." She waved at the captive zebra. "You're a very nice pony. You've helped us, oh... so many times."

Caramel tilted his head. "Ponies used to be afraid of you. I'm, uh, sorry about that." He put a hoof behind his head. "I was a real dummy for going with the crowd like that. You're an upstanding mare."

Zecora wriggled her hooves fruitlessly in the air as if she could escape by running from the force that held her. "But I am not a pony."

Big Mac reached up from below and gently poked Zecora in the belly before letting his hoof slowly trail circles along the sensitive anatomy. "What's that even mean? What's a pony?"

Fluttershy's ears perked. "A pony has four hooves."

Caramel reached up and brushed one of those perking ears. "They have two ears like these."

Big Mac put his free forehoof to his snout. "They gotta muzzle like this."

"Even if I would like to agree..." Zecora's cheeks were darkened. Big Mac's rubbing felt nice. It wasn't appropriate, but she couldn't quite muster the will to care. "What of my speech, I rhyme without stop. An etiquette breach, A syntax swap."

Fluttershy waved for Zecora to be closer and Big Mac obliged, bringing Zecora down in front of Fluttershy.

Fluttershy leaned in and pressed her nose to Zecora's. "No two of us talk exactly the same way. We're all a little different and, um, that's alright." She kissed the very end of Zecora's nose. "You're a pony where it counts the most."

Caramel peered at the curious flasks hanging from their friend. "What are these for?" He nudged at one with a hoof.

Zecora glanced back at them. They were... important, right? She couldn't quite place it. "Am I really a pony? Is this just a kind decree?"

Big Mac casually cleared Zecora of her possessions, setting it all aside before gently releasing Zecora from his grip. "Ah can prove it." He stood up, shaft swaying with the movement. It had softened a little during their conversation, but that was rapidly undoing itself.

Zecora's ears pinned. She wanted it, but she knew the timing was poor. "I... thank you, Big Mac for your offer of passion. My fertility's cycles have an unbending ration. I do not need a foal at this time. Please accept a no with this little rhyme." She kissed his cheek. She hadn't planned to kiss his cheek, but she did. He smelled nice. She could feel the urge to accept what he was offering grow by the moment, but her willpower was strong enough to trot away instead.

Caramel's attention was still on the curious flasks. "She left these."

Fluttershy shrugged. "We'll keep them safe for when she comes back."

Big Mac nodded. "Ayup."

Zecora frowned as she returned to her house. The further she walked, the more her senses began to return. She remembered what she had come to do and gave a most unladylike swear. Her brew had gone to waste, and going back to fetch it risked falling under the sway of the communal madness.

She thought of what they had said to her. Was that also part of the insanity? Were they saying things they believed? It was hard to give them the benefit of the doubt, given the situation. She would need to make a solution that didn't need her being close to deliver. Surely she could think of something. Maybe that cube would help her cook it...

Author's Note

There's a disturbing lack of actual kink in this episode. I realize giving people open voting is getting more paralysis than actual votes, so let's do this a bit more organized:

1) Let's follow Zecora as she tries to make a new cure
2) Pinkie Pie loves sweet things, surely this qualifies
3) The Cakes have their sex lives spiced up with a dash of chaos
4) Mayor Mare has no time for such pursuits, or does she?
5) Vinyl's show is interrupted with a party crasher she will never forget
6) Muffins, belly full of milk, tries to resume her deliveries, but then...

Vote for as many as you like. There is no 'and then', you either vote for a number or not. Comment below!

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