Twilight and Spike searched and searched her library for a cure. The task was made more difficult since her horn was out of commission, forcing her to search with her hooves. Despite this, she had already made it through just about every book that could possibly help her solve the issue. Unfortunately, each book was met with the same unsuccessful result. "No no no no no! None of these books have a cure!" she exclaimed as she flipped through another book. "Ugh! There has to be a real reason for this! An illness? An allergy!?" she grimaced as she touched her horn.

"A curse!" Spike spoke up.

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

"How about this one?" the dragon held up the book he was looking at.

"'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!"

Her assistant frowned at the rejected tome. "But what if you're wrong, Twilight? What if this really is a--"

"A phurse!" Pinkie exclaimed, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

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

Twilight, however was looking at the pink pony's tongue: it was covered in light blue spots.

"Pinkie, what happened?" the unicorn asked in concern.

"Eh pah Thecora! Sthe put a cursthe on meh!" Pinkie's speech was impeded by her tongue stuck outside of her mouth; furthermore, spit flew everywhere as she spoke.

"Hey, say it, don't spray it, Pinkie!" Spike exasperatedly wiped the mare's saliva off of himself.

He barely finished his sentence when a loud thud shook the place, bringing everyone's attention to the window as Rainbow Dash crashed into it. And again. "She's *thud* trying to say-- ow!-- Zecora--" a crack in the wall next to the door followed the next thud before she bust the door off of its hinges as she flew uncontrollably into the wall in front of her, getting tangled with the ladder, "--she slapped us all with a curse!"

"I'm afraid I have to agree." Twilight and Spike turned to source of the voice: Rarity, who fruitlessly tried to blow her mane; long, unkempt, and almost like dreadlocks; out of her face. Her coat and tail was in a similar condition, causing the two to yell in surprise.

"Ah hate to say Ah told ya so, but Ah told ya so!" the new voice had a high pitch, but the southern accent was unmistakable. The purple unicorn and dragon turned, and gasped as they saw Applejack... barely half the size of Apple Bloom's head; said filly was carrying the orange mare on her back. "It's a curse, Ah tells ya!"

Twilight looked at the timid pegasus who had not spoken, trying to dispel the curse conspiracy that everyone seemed to believe. "But, Fluttershy... seems just fine!"

"Yes, there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with her," Rarity agreed, causing the butter yellow mare to look at the ground with uncertainty.

"Fluttershy? Are you okay?" Twilight asked. But Fluttershy only averted her gaze. "Is there something wrong with you?" A nervous nod was the response, followed by a cringe. "Would you care to tell us?" she asked, slightly exasperated at her pegasus friend's wordless gestures. But Fluttershy only looked away again and shut her eyes. "Sooo you're not gonna tell us?" Fluttershy shook her head in a diagonal line. "Yes you're not, or yes you will?"

Applejack ran up to her. "Good gravy, girl! What's wrong with you!?" she glared impatiently from on top of the tomes spread along the table in the middle of the room.

Finally, the timid mare gave a verbal answer. "I don't wanna talk about it." Everyone else's eyes widened in shock at the mare's voice: it was low and deep, like a stallion's.

The uncomfortable-to-be silence didn't last long as Spike burst out laughing. "This is hilarious! Haha, look at all of you," he pointed at the unamused mares, "we got Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple Teeny, Flutterguy, and..." he trailed off as he reached the librarian. Before he could think of a witty name, the library door flew open. The open entrance was pitch black like an endless void of darkness, the late morning daylight not showing through at all; as if it was nighttime, but without a single star in sight. A familiar figure stepped through the door.

As the ponies and dragon came into view, Delarious waved with a smile. "Hi, girls. Spike."

"Delarious? What are you doing here?" Spike asked.

Before he could answer, a slightly (but only slightly less) familiar figure rushed through the door before shutting it quickly. The sight of this one caused everyone besides Delarious to gasp in horror.

"Jeejee Christopher, I don't look that scary!"

"Bl-... Blue Star!?" Twilight exclaimed. "What happened to you!? You look... like... like a cartoon character!"

It was a brief, but very accurate, statement. He seemed a little scrawny with his arms and legs seeming more akin to thick pasta noodles than actual limbs. Despite this, his shoes seemed to be the same size, if not a similar style. Contrary to his skinny limbs, his body was a different story. While it looked normal enough, its form was slightly abstract and round-ish. Although his hat seemed shorter than before, it still clung to his head tightly but still snugly. His overalls seemed to be slightly too large for him. But while the straps were clearly not touching his shoulders, they still remained in place without any signs of becoming loose. The more scary sight was his face, more accurately, his eyes. They were long, black ovals with no apparent iris, slight triangular gaps missing on the side of each one.

All in all, he looked like an old-school Disney drawing. Only as a man instead of a mouse.

The blue and red-clothed man threw his hands up (while Delarious snorted in laughter at the purple unicorn's exclamation). "IKR! That's why I came here! I was hoping you would know what's going on." He then took notice of the state that the mares were in. "Judging by the looks of things, whatever it was affected you and us."

"What do you mean 'us'?" Twilight asked in bemusement. "Is something wrong with Delarious?"

"It's not obvious?" the toon looked at her incredulously. He turned around. "Delarious, how do you feel?"

"Uh, fine , I guess," the response was given with a shrug.

Blue Star whirled around. "Don't you see? He's making complete sense! I can count on my hands how many times I've heard him say a normal and appropriate sentence in my entire lifetime!"

"H-How do you know he's not just now figuring out a different way to express himself?" Twilight stammered, desperately thinking of a reasonable explanation.

"...Seriously?" Blue Star and Delarious responded in unison with a deadpan.

After a few more seconds of struggling, Rainbow finally broke free from the ladder's steps. "I think we'll find a cure to this curse at Zecora's place!" she suggested before crashing into a wall.

"It's not a curse!" Twilight said in annoyance.

"The zebra from yesterday?" Blue Star asked in bemusement.

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

"It's not a hex either!"

As the girls continued to bicker, Apple Bloom frowned as she spoke quietly to herself. "This is all my fault. If Ah hadn't followed Zecora in the first place, none of this would have happened." She walked towards the door with determination. "Ah just gotta fix this."

Unknowingly, the filly was not unnoticed by Applejack. "Now where does she think she's goin' this time?" The orange mare discreetly leaped into her 'little' sister's tail as she walked outside and down the road.

Back in the library, Blue Star suddenly felt like someone's input was missing. The heated disagreement, shouting in all capital letters, maybe an Explosion... his eyes widened as he came to a realization.

"Hold it!" The mares went silent at the exclamation and looked at him. "Where's James?" As the question sunk in, the girls' eyes also widened as they noticed said person's absence. Blue Star's gaze turned incredulous at their silence. "He's not here!?"

Delarious pointed in the direction of the kitchen. "Well, there's Frag Cat..." The others all looked to where he was pointing to see the puppycat who was sitting on his rump in front of one of the tables near the kitchen, but his head was planted face-down on its surface. "If anyone would know where he is, it'd be him."

Blue Star sighed in relief. "Good. The sooner we can find James, the sooner he can put an end to this fiasco."

Delarious walked over to Frag Cat. "Hey... hey Frag Cat," he tapped him on the back a couple times. Getting no response, he shook him sort-of-lightly. "Frag Cat, wake up, we need your help." But the puppycat only shifted his face so he was laying on his cheek, before letting out a quiet snore. Fluttershy wanted to coo at how adorable the sight was, but kept quiet in spite of her altered voice.

"The poor dear is out cold!" Rarity frowned.

Blue Star frowned deeply. "This is wrong... this is insanely wrong. Frag Cat's a light sleeper, all of us talking like we were should've woken him up. And he's snoring, Frag Cat never snores!"

"Fraph Ceht musthe beh undah the cursthe thoo!" Pinkie exclaimed. Twilight groaned in frustration.

On impulse, Delarious quickly leaned close to the puppycat's ear. "FRAG CAT!"

"AAH!" Frag Cat jolted upright in alarm and looked around frantically, gravity peeling off the couple of board game tiles that were stuck to his cheek. He winced as his ears continued to ring for a few lingering seconds; if there was one thing he wasn't fond of, it was extremely loud noises. Seeing no immediate danger, he relaxed slightly and looked up at the person who had shouted, with a yawn. "Oh... hi, Delarious," he tiredly rubbed his eye with his paw. "Could you not yell into my ear like that again? You know they're super sensitive..."

Delarious looked at him in concern. "We thought you were in a coma or something!" Frag Cat nodding off before shaking his head to stay awake did not go unnoticed by the others.

"Sorry. I'm not..." he trailed off as another yawn escaped his mouth, "...I'm not usually this drowsy."

"Frag Cat, do you know where James is?"

The puppycat almost nodded off again, but perked up slightly upon hearing James's name. "Oh... uh, last time I saw him, we were playing a game with Conscience." He yawned again and rubbed his other eye. "Although I probably passed out after the... I lost track of how many games we finished."

"Where?"

"Right here," Frag Cat pointed to an empty spot next to himself. As he did this, he finally noticed the six ponies in the room. "Oh, hi girls. I didn't worry you too much, did I?" After a moment, he processed that everyone looked slightly... different. Besides Fluttershy, Spike, and Delarious who looked perfectly normal; and Blue Star, who looked completely different. He rubbed both of his eyes before blinking at the sight. "Oh no... am I seeing things?"

Delarious huffed. "I wish I could tell you 'yes.'"

Frag Cat frowned, trying not to nod off again. "What happened to you?"

"Zecora happened! She cursed everyone!" Rainbow exclaimed, struggling not to topple over in the air again.

Frag Cat held a paw to his mouth as he yawned again. He refrained from stretching, hoping the stress in his body would help him stay awake. The soreness was a plus. "Right," he said flatly. "So you don't know, then."

"Of course we know!" Rainbow snapped, almost immediately . "How else could this have happened?"

"I'm guessing none of you tried to figure out what was wrong...?" Twilight cleared her throat loudly. "...Besides Twilight?"

"I've looked all through the library at possible books on illnesses and alergies, but I can't find anything!" the librarian answered in a defeated tone.

As he yawned again, the puppycat mentally wondered how Blue Star had even been... affected... when he wasn't even there when they confronted Zecora yesterday. He paused in his musings (it was difficult to think with how tired he was anyway) as he looked around. "But... Applejack and Apple Bloom are fine, right?"

"No, Applejack was also...," Twilight trailed off as she noticed the tiny earth pony was nowhere to be found.

"She's not here!" Delarious exclaimed.

"Aah! Or someone stepped on her!" Rarity exclaimed as she checked the bottom of her hooves, the rested of the mares following suit, and the guys checking their shoes.

"...Or sat on her?" Twilight checked her flank.

Delarious stared blankly as the rest of the girls did the same, his mouth formed into a thin line. "...This is weird." Frag Cat shrugged tiredly, too busy slapping his cheek to keep from falling asleep, to pay much attention to the spectacle.

Rainbow's expression lit up as another idea came to mind. "Rarity's hair!"

Rarity yelped as Pinkie started checking in various areas of her mane and coat. "Pinkie, what are you doing? Ah, really-- aah! You ever hear of personal space?"

"Nopth," the earth pony shook her head at Twilight.

"Apple Bloom's gone too," the librarian frowned.

"I bet they went after Zecora," Rainbow suggested.

"This can't be happening..." Everyone looked at Blue Star who had gone quiet for a long while. His voice was low, his tone dark. "This is unacceptable. How could she do a thing like this..." Delarious looked at his cousin's brother in bemusement as he spoke. "She's not going to do anything to him. Not if I can help it." Without warning, Blue Star bolted out the door.

Delarious blinked at the sudden departure before grabbing a surprised Frag Cat and slinging him onto his back. "After him!" he ran after the artist-turned-toon.

Twilight blinked in surprise before looking at the girls with determination. "Come on girls, let's go."

After Pinkie and Fluttershy helped Rainbow stand upright, the rest of the mares followed after Twilight.

Spike, who was the only one left, sighed in relief at how he didn't have to go with them. Turning toward an open empty book, he started writing ideas for nicknames to give to the rest of the group.

"C'mon girls. We've got to get to Zecora's. Hurry!" Twilight urged as they galloped into the Everfree Forest. Rarity abruptly tripped over her unkempt coat and slid ungracefully across the dirt.

"Ooh... easier said than done," she said as she got back up and ran to catch up with the group.

"Wait for me!" Rainbow soared around uncontrollably going through a nearby bush before colliding with a tree, detaching a morbidly thick branch from it. The prismatic-maned pegasus groaned, lying on her back as her head hurt. Her eyes widened as something struggled inside her mouth before breaking free, revealing none other than Applejack.

"Rainbow! Thank Celestia. There's no time to lose!" In a questioningly short amount of seconds, the stetson-wearing mare left and returned with a set of twigs and vines and leaves for makeshift reigns. Without waiting for consent, she thrust the stick into Rainbow's mouth. "Ah need to get to Zecora's pronto!" She said before jumping onto the larger mare's belly. "Giddy-up pony!"

"Ex-cuse me?" Rainbow said indignantly.

"Yeee-haw!" Applejack kicked her hoof into the pegasus' stomach, causing her to lift into the air.

"What the--!" Rainbow was suddenly zipping around in the air once more.

"No, Rainbow Dash. Other way!"

Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity approached a twisted-looking tree. While the tree itself did not look fitting for an ideal place to live, there was a door at the front, as well as a wooden mask that hung from above it. The ground surrounding it was bare of any grass or moss, and overall seemed to be well-maintained to an extent. If it weren't for its inhabitant, as well as the fact that the tree-house was within the Everfree Forest, the girls might've thought that it looked completely normal... if a little deformed.

"Oh. I look horrible," Rarity complained.

"Thith plathe lookth ho'ible!" Pinkie lifted purple mane from the white unicorn's eyes so she could see the hut that they stood in front of.

As the fashionista got a good look at the zebra's apparent habitat, she blanched. "Oh my. That place really does look horrible."

As the four mares cautiously moved toward the house, they noticed three familiar figures. Standing by, and staring intently through the window, was Blue Star. Delarious was standing behind him, looking uncertain. Frag Cat was tiredly hanging on to his neck.

As the girls approached them, Delarious turned towards them and shrugged in uncertainty as he gestured towards Blue Star with his eyes. Blue Star also heard them, but didn't turn away from the zebra inside.

The girls went to the window and looked through it. There was Zecora was standing in front of a large black pot that was under an organized pile of burning wood. The rest of the interior mostly looked to serve a practical purpose, various sizes of several vials and similar glass bottles of unidentifiable liquids and powders and such crowding space in the corners of the hardwood floor, sitting along a few shelves on the wall, even hanging from vines on the ceiling. Twilight couldn't understand a single word that the zebra was saying as she tended to the green, bubbling liquid in the cauldron. The only thing that indicated the place was intended to be lived in, and not specifically a lair or laboratory, was the small bed that lay against a wall in the far corner of the room.

"Look at her. She looks so perfectly fit and in good condition. Not a single scratch on hide nor hair of her. James would never get captured without a fight, and he doesn't pull his punches in dire situations." He narrowed his eyes as the striped mare spoke in some unidentifiable language. "Just how powerful is this zebra to kidnap a guy like James, and get away with it unscathed? I've clearly underestimated her."

"You saw those terrible things. Now do you believe us Twilight?" Rarity asked as they stepped back from the window.

"You can't call things that are strange 'terrible.' Not without good reason," Frag Cat protested drowsily from Delarious's back with another yawn.

The purple mare looked around. "Scary looking masks, confusing incantations, and a great big bubbling cauldron?" She sighed, "Everything is pointing to Zecora being... bad." But she suddenly smiled as another reasonable explanation came to her. "Or... what if Zecora is just making soup?"

They all watched as Zecora took a lick at the concoction in the cauldron. "Mmm, the perfect temperature for ponies, I presume." She looked around. "Now, where is that little Apple Bloom...?"

Guys and ponies alike looked at the zebra in horror. Even Frag Cat's eyes widened, his jaw slack.

"Or... what if she's making Apple Bloom soup!?" Twilight rephrased her previous question.

Author's Note

Fair warning, this next chapter has a tinge of darkness at a certain part.