Cyre, spike, and Twilight were walking through town, admiring the glorious day. Their friend had finished his training a few minutes ago, and Twilight didn't have anything planned. So, they decided that they would take a stroll. "Wow, what a glorious day! Twilight noted. "Yep, looks like rainbow finished weather duty early." Cyre contemplated. "I bet all of Ponyville is going to be out enjoying the sunshine." It was then that she noticed that nopony was around. "What? Where is everypony?"

The only Pony around was a filly, who was standing in a doorway, but she got pulled into the house and the door was quickly closed behind her. "Uhhhh......" Cyre was more confused than the plan twilight used to defeat the Ursa minor. "Is it... zombies?!" The drake asked in fear.

"Uh... not very likely." The mare answered.

"Not likely... but possible?"

Just then they thought they heard somepony call to them, they looked around and saw it was Pinkie Pie. "Psst! Twilight! Spike! Cyre! Come here! Come! Here! Hurry! Before she gets you!"

The three of them ran into Sugarcube Corner and the door closed behind him. It was completely dark, save for the light that was coming from Pinkie's flashlight. "Who?! The zombie pony?" Spike asked.

"Z-Zombie pony?!" The prospect of which scared the pink mare greatly.

Twilight groaned as her assistant clung to her. "Spike! There are no zombie ponies. Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?"

"I'm not alone in the dark." She turned on the lights and revealed the rest of their friends, as well as Apple Bloom.

"Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark?"

"We're hidin' from her!" Applejack pointed outside at some sort of creature wearing a brown cloak.

Apple Bloom then approached the lavender mare. "Did you see her Twilight? Did you see... Zecora?"

"Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name." The older Apple scolded.

"Well, I saw her glance this way..." The lavender mare stated.

"Glance evilly this way." Pinkie added.

" ... And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason." The Unicorn noted.

Cyre nodded his head in agreement. There was no real reason to be afraid, as just by sensing the creature's energy he could tell how weak they were... then again, everyone in Ponyville was weak with the exception of Twilight and her friends. They were slightly more powerful than everypony else. The point was his friends had no reason to be scared. 'There had better be some kind of horrible monster underneath that cloak.' If that were true then his friends would have a somewhat good reason to be afraid, if not then they were all being a bunch of babies.

"No good reason? You call protectin' yer kin no good reason? Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in her lil' horseshoes." She began shaking her sister, to emphasize her point. "So I swept her up and brought her here."

"I walked here myself! Applejack, I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!" The filly protested.

"Not from that creepy Zecora."

"She's mysterious." The shy pony stated.

"Sinister." Rainbow added.

"And spoooooky!"

They watched as Zecora took off her hood, making everypony except for Twilight and the Saiyan gasp. "That's what you're all afraid of?!" Cyre yelled before slapping his forehead. Were his friends really afraid of a zebra... a zebra!? He could tell that Twilight didn't see the big deal either, which made him thankful that at least one of his new friends was sane.

"Just look at those stripes! So garish!"

Cyre's eye started to twitch a little bit, but nopony seemed to notice as they were too distracted by the 'evil' Zecora.

"She's a Zebra." Twilight told them, quickly realizing that none of them knew what a Zebra was. "A Zebra, and her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they're what she was born with."

Rarity fainted in response.

"Born where? I've never seen a Pony like that in these parts, 'cept... her!"

"Well, she's probably not from here, and she's not a Pony. My books say that Zebras come from a far away land. But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?" While she was talking her assistant snuck into the kitchen.

"That's just it, she lives in... the Everfree Forest!" Right after the farm-Pony said that the sound of thunder could be heard... except it was merely Spike.

The Dragon had grabbed some candy from the back and ended up knocking over some pans in the process.

"Spike!" She scolded.

"Uh, sorry."

This was beginning to get even more ridiculous, and the kids warrior was very confused and slightly angered by all of this... mostly because the Ponies were scared of a weak Zebra. His anger was slowly rising by the second, and he was trying hard not to just snap and start yelling. "Don't you remember you went into the Everfree Forest, so why are you suddenly scared of one creature from it?" The fear of the unknown was pretty common... but not to the Saiyan, as he almost always faced the unknown without any sort of fear.

Despite his good point the Ponies were still scared. "The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow..."

"Animals care for themselves..."

"And the clouds move..."

"All on their own!" Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow said in unison which made the purple-maned mare faint again.

Both the lavender pony and Cyre just glared at them.

"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!"

"Not another song." First his friends cowered before a zebra, and now there was singing!

"She's an evil enchantress

She does evil dances

And if you look deep in her eyes

She'll put you in trances

Then what will she do?

She'll mix up an evil brew

Then she'll gobble you up In a big tasty stew Soooo...Watch out!"

"Wow. Catchy." Twilight told her.

"It's a work in progress."

"This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors. Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?" The lavender mare questioned.

They all thought for a moment. "Well... Once a month, she comes into Ponyville." The Loyal Pegasus explained.

Cyre tried to restrain himself from shooting anypony.

Then, she lurks by the stores." Rarity explained.

"I think I wet myself from fear." Cyre joked, actually managing to chuckle despite his growing rage.

"And then, she digs at the ground." Fluttershy stated.

Meanwhile Apple Bloom walked over to Twilight.

"Good gracious! Okay, I'm sorry. But how is any of this bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?" Said unicorn asked.

"Yeah! Maybe she's just tryin' to be neighborly." Much like the other two Apple Bloom wasn't scared at all.

"Perhaps she just wants to do some shopping?" The Saiyan added. Back on Earth, he's seen his fair share of strange creatures just going shopping, this might be a similar scenario.

The red-maned Pony agreed. "Yeah! Everypony likes to shop. You know what I think?"

"Apple Bloom! Hush and let the big Ponies talk." Applejack scolded.

"I am a big pony!" She muttered while the others kept talking.

"W-what about digging at the ground? You've got to admit that's weird." Rainbow said.

"What if she's digging for innocent creatures?"

In the background they could hear Pinkie Pie singing the song again.

"I am sure there is an explanation for everything Zecora does. And if anypony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she would find out the truth."

There was one Pony who was brave enough, and not surprisingly it was Apple Bloom. "Well, I'm brave enough; I'm gonna find out myself." Apple Bloom slowly crept out the door, trying not to been seen by anypony. Once outside she started walking around Ponyville and noticed Zecora was leaving, so she decided to follow her.

Cyre also wasn't scared by Zecora, and he was ready to go and prove his friends wrong. With a plan in mind the Saiyan put two fingers on his forehead.

Before her new friend could teleport the rainbow-maned Pony tried to stop him. "Cyre you can't go!"

He 'lightly' pushed her away. "You all are nothing but cowards, I'm going to prove that she is no threat."

Now everypony except Twilight was trying to stop him. "What if... she puts a c-curse on you... or worse?" Fluttershy stammered.

In response he merely smirked. " My four father's have dealt with magic before, so that won't stop me from going. Even if she's as evil as you say I'm far more powerful than her!"

"I think Cyre is right, we should go and see what she wants." The lavender Unicorn stated, getting a nod of agreement from him.

Right as he was about to go Applejack realized something. "Hey! Where's Apple Bloom?"

They looked around and Fluttershy noticed that the door was open. "She went outside!"

"And Zecora's still out there." Rainbow noted.

"The kid's braver than I thought." The warrior noted, with his rage being replaced by slight pride.

The others didn't seem to have much confidence in her, as she was just a filly and could easily hurt herself going after Zecora. The Honest mare was the most concerned. Why couldn't her sister listen to her? Now she was gone and there was a chance she wouldn't come back. Well she wasn't about to lose a family member today. "That silly lil' filly! I told her to stay put!"

Without saying a word everypony ran outside, hoping to catch up to the foolish filly before it was too late.

Twilight lagged behind. "Spike, you stay here in case Apple Bloom comes back."

He saluted and watched her run after the others.

Apple Bloom wasn't too far behind Zecora, who was just now entering the Everfree Forest. The filly gulped but then found her courage and trotted on in. She was following closely behind the zebra.

Just then the others caught up to the young Pony. "You get back here right now!" Applejack commanded.

"Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" Zecora said as she started backing away from them. Cyre looked and saw blue flowers, and he barely stopped himself from stepping in them. From then on he floated. "Guys, she's trying to tell us not to step in those flowers!" But he was to late. All of his friends had stepped all over it. Cyre had backed away from them.

The orange Pony then got underneath her sister and put her on top of her back, to help keep her safe. "Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?"

Everypony except Twilight, Cyre, and Apple Bloom started shouting at the Zebra, making the three of them sigh. Their friends were just too convinced that the Zebra was evil, even though she kind of sounded like she was trying to warn them.

"Beware! Beware!"

"Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

In response to that 'threat' Cyre face palmed.

"And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?"

"Hey you should be proud of her, she was the only one brave enough to go after her... except for me of course." The warrior stated.

Applejack just glared at him. She didn't need him getting involved in her family matters. She then turned back to her sister. "Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?"

Pinkie Pie then started singing the song again, but it was an abridged version of it.

"You guys, there's no such thing as curses!" The lavender Unicorn shouted.

Rainbow Dash then flew towards Twilight. "Well, that's interesting to hear coming from Miss Magic Pants herself."

"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."

"I'll bet you also never thought using energy or becoming a deity was real before you met Cyre!" The cyan pegasus shouted, pointing at the Saiyan for emphasis.

"You're right, but everything he does can be explained. His god ki was caused by prolonged training with the gods. And the reason he can fly and shoot energy blasts is because of his ki, a force within him which he can call upon whenever he needs it. It's pretty much like magic, when you want something to happen you make it happen." She then noticed her friends starting to leave.

"Just you wait, Twilight. You're gonna learn that some pony tales really are true." The Honest mare warned.

As they left the Saiyan walked over to the Unicorn. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll come to their senses eventually."

"I hope you're right."

The next morning, Cyre woke up, and ate the final slice of cheesecake he bought a few days before.A few minutes later he arrived at the house of Twilight Sparkle. Inside he could hear Pinkie trying to say something to Twilight, but it seemed their friend couldn't understand. Rainbow Dash then flew into the window, trying to enter the library. "Ow! Oh! She's trying to say-ow!- Zecora -oh!- she slapped us all with a-ow- curse!" She tried to go through the window but ended up breaking down the library door, with Cyre side stepping out of the way. He then walked through the new entrance. Not a moment later rainbow flew straight into a bookcase.

"I'm afraid I have to agree." Rarity said, revealing that she was now very hairy.

Twilight's horn was sagging downward, and was covered in teal spots.

Pinkie Pie's tongue was swollen and also covered in teal spots.

"Hey Fluttershy, you alright?" What came next was something he wasn't even expecting. "I don't want to talk about it." She said in a deep, masculine voice.

This time the baby Dragon was unable to hold back his laughter, and ended up falling on the floor because of it.

"I hate to say I told ya so, Twilight, but I told ya so! It's a curse, I tells ya!" Applejack had shrunk down to the size of an ant, so she had to have her sister carry her around on her back.

"This is hilarious! Look at all of you! We got: Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple Teeny, Flutterguy, and... uh... I got nothin'... Twilight Sparkle. I mean seriously, I can't even work with that... and uh, I'll have to think of one for Cyre."

A scowl appeared on the warrior's face. "You should know that even with some curse put on me, I could still easily defeat you. Also, I didn't get.... Whatever is going on."

Spike chuckled weakly in response.

"This is no joke, Spike. Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Why don't we go see Zecora, she might have a cure for the curse." Rarity suggested.

"It's not a curse!"

"I agree with rarity! We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex!" The tiny Earth Pony exclaimed.

The lavender mare was now getting even more frustrated. "It's not a hex either!"

Soon enough everypony began shouting at one another, arguing about Zecora and the supposed curse she placed on all of them.

While they were arguing Apple Bloom was starting to feel guilty about this. All she wanted to do was prove that the mysterious Zebra was not a threat to anypony, and now her friends and even her own sister were cursed. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't followed Zecora in the first place, none of this would have happened. I just gotta fix this."

Applejack noticed her sister walking away. "Now where does she think she's goin' this time?" She then leapt into her sister's mane, in order to follow her wherever she was going.

"I don't care what you say, Twilight. It's time to pony up and confront Zecora. Come on, are you with me?" Rainbow asked.

"Ah am-pft!"

"And I as well."

The Saiyan shook his head. 'there's gotta be an explanation.... Wait, maybe those flowers... There must be a book on it in here!'

"Uh, I don't know. Seems awfully dangerous." Flutterguy noted, making the baby Dragon laugh some more.

"How about you, Applejack? Applejack?"

Everypony looked around but couldn't see their tiny friend.

"Pf-she's gone-pft!"

"Apple Bloom is gone too!" The lavender Unicorn exclaimed.

"I bet they went after Zecora." Rainbow Dash concluded as she fell to the ground.

Now they were even more determined to see the supposedly evil Zebra, and Twilight was more than willing to take the lead. "Well we better go find them. Come on girls, let's go."

Rarity found it hard to walk, if only because Pinkie was standing on her hair. After her friend got off of her she was able to move, and she then followed after the rest of her friends.

One Pony was having a little trouble moving as well, but for a different reason. "Hey, a little help here?"

Cyre walked over to the bookshelf and started his search. He noticed spike was still here. "You're not going with them spike?"

"Nope! Uh... gotta stay her and look for a cure.... I got it! Twilight Flopple!"

The Saiyan shook his head in disappointment. "Well, since you're here, help me find a book on exotic plants! I might have a solution to this!"

Apple Bloom was running into the Everfree Forest, desperately trying to find Zecora and fix the problem she created. She knew it was dangerous and stupid, but that hadn't stopped her yesterday. The only thing that mattered was getting the Ponies back to normal, and the only way to do that was by tracking down the mysterious Zebra.

"Stop right there!" Applejack yelled as she revealed herself from her sister's mane. "Turn around right now, missy!"

"No."

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

The filly tilted her head up and caught her shrunken sister in her mouth, and then placed her on a nearby branch. "Hehehe. Sorry, Applejack, but I'm the big sister now."

This made her sister angry. "Apple Bloom, you come back here right this instant! I'm gonna tell Big McIntosh on you! Aw, pony feathers."

The others were just now entering the Everfree Forest. Twilight was leading the charge and the others followed behind her. "C'mon we've got to get to Zecora's. Hurry!"

"Ooh... Ahaha." Rarity was having a hard time though, as she kept tripping up on her mane. "Easier said than done."

"Just try not to get tangled up in your own hair." Twilight told her as they continued onward.

"Hey, wait for me!" The cyan Pegasus was having even more trouble than Rarity was, as she was crashing into a bunch of stuff. Upon crashing into a tree she wound up 'finding' Applejack in her mouth.

"Rainbow! Thank Celestia! There's no time to lose! I need to get to Zecora's pronto!" She made makeshift reins and put them in Rainbow's mouth. "Giddyup pony!"

"Ex-CUSE me?"

She slapped her leg on Rainbow Dash's stomach to make her friend move. "YEEE-HAW! No, Rainbow Dash. Other way!"

The others had finally arrived at Zecora's house, which was a pretty big tree with a door.

"Oh. I look horrible!" The Unicorn noted.

"Plis place plooks horrible!" Pinkie Pie moved some of the hair out of Rarity's eyes so she could see.

Twilight walked up to her window.

They watched as Zecora walked into her house a few seconds later with a jar in her mouth. Just the sight of the Zebra was enough to make the Ponies gasp. They continued looking on as she poured the contents into a big cauldron and started talking in a strange language, which made Pinkie Pie angry. "Sthe sthtole my sthong! Shthe shtole mm mm!"

"She stole your song?" The Generous Unicorn questioned.

"Oh Pinkie. Doesn't sound anything like your song." Twilight told her.

Pinkie Pie couldn't sing it so she slid up to Fluttershy, and gave her a puppy dog face.

With a sigh the shy mare prepared to sing. "She's an evil enchantress, and she does evil dances. And if you look deep in her eyes she will put you in trances. Then what would she do? She'll mix up an evil brew then she'll gobble you up, in a big tasty stew soooo... Watch out."

"You saw those terrible things. Now do you believe us Twilight?" The purple-maned mare asked.

"Scary looking masks, confusing incantations, and a great big bubbling cauldron? Everything is pointing to Zecora being... bad. Or... what if Zecora is just making soup?" Twilight still didn't want to believe that the Zebra was evil, as this all could have been a big misunderstanding.

"Mmm! The perfect temperature for Ponies, I presume. Now, where is that little Apple Bloom?"

"Sounds like she's making Apple Bloom soup." Twilight noted.

Hearing that made everypony scream loudly.

Applejack and her 'ride' came flying by a few seconds later. "I'm comin' for ya, Apple Bloom!" She flew straight into Zecora's and started bouncing around, destroying a good amount of her stuff.

Zecora began speaking in the strange language again, which was apparently lost on the two Ponies.

The others then came charging in. "What have you done with Apple Bloom?" The floppy horned Unicorn asked.

The tiny Earth Pony lassoed Zecora's ear and started to wrestle it.

Meanwhile Rainbow was still crashing into things.

"Ponies! What is this you..." She barely had time to react as the cyan Pegasus knocked over her cauldron. "No! You know not what you do! You've gone and spilled my precious brew!"

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

"You made me look ridiculous."

"You made me sound ridiculous!"

"You made me speak ridiculous!" Although it was hard to make out what the pink mare said.

"You ruined my horn!"

"How dare you! You destroy my home, destroy my work. Then rudely accuse me of being a jerk?"

"You put this curse on us, now you're gonna uncurse us." Rainbow told her.

Zecora was very angry about all of this, as never before had anypony been so mean to her. She had done nothing wrong and they were accusing her of cursing them? "It is unwise to venture down this road. Your actions will make my anger explode!"

To everyponies surprise, Cyre arrived via instant transmission with a book in his hand. "Guess what, guys? I found a-"

Everypony else looked at Cyre like they never saw him before. "Did I interrupt something?"

After a couple of seconds Apple Bloom came into the house. "Zecora! I think I found all the things ya asked for. What in Ponyville is goin' on here?"

They looked over and noticed the red-maned filly. "Apple Bloom! You're okay!" Applejack yelled.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Twilight rushed over to the small Pony. "Because Zecora is an evil enchantress who cursed us and was gonna cook you up into soup!"

Both the yellow Earth Pony and Zecora started to laugh. "Oh Twilight. Did those silly fillies finally get in yer head? You know there's no such thing as a curse."

"You're just going to stand there and say this isn't a curse?" The unicorn questioned.

"This isn't a curse."

Zecora smiled as the filly approached her. "If you will remember back, the words I spoke were quite exact. 'Beware, beware you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke.'"

"It was a warnin'. About that blue plant. It's called Poison Joke."

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

Applejack peered out of Zecora's hair and looked her in the eye. "What in the hay does that mean?"

"It means this plant does not breed wrath. Instead this plant just wants a laugh."

"...Will somepony please talk normal?" All of this rhyming started to take it's toll on the Honest Pony.

"I think what she's saying is that when we ran in to save Apple Bloom, we ran into the poison joke. All our problems are just little jokes that played on us." Twilight observed.

"LITTLE JOKES?! Very funny."

Rarity furrowed her brow. "This isn't funny at all!" He yelled.

Ignoring his comment Rainbow looked toward the spilled cauldron. "Okay, fine. But what about the cauldron?"

"And the chanting?" Fluttershy asked.

"And the creepy decor?" Rarity added.

"Treasures of the native land where I am from. This one speaks 'hello', and this 'welcome'." She told them.

Rarity scoffed. "Not welcoming atall, if you ask me."

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

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

"Looky 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 explained as she held up her smaller sister.

Things were starting to make sense now but the lavender mare still had a question or two. "But I tried to find a cure in all my books and couldn't find anything. What book has this natural remedy?"

Zecora closed the book and revealed the cover of it to Twilight. "Here is the book, you see? Sad that you lack it in your library."

"Actually, I do have this book, but I didn't look inside because the title was so... Weird. Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super. I...I... I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside." Something in the back of her mind told the lavender mare that Spike was saying 'I told you so Twilight' at this very moment.

It was at this point Cyre spoke up. "Yeah, It's actually the book I found and came here with to."

"Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book." The Zebra noted, earning a chuckle from Apple Bloom.

"That's all well and good, but can you just make another batch so this nightmare can end?" The apple mare asked.

Feeling a little confused as to why he was taking it so hard, the Zebra raised an eyebrow.

"Just ignore her." Twilight told her.

The Zebra nodded. "Mix it up I certainly will. Yet I am missing a herb from Ponyville."

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

Luckily Twilight and her friends could help with that.

All eight of them walked into Ponyville and much like before everypony ran for it. Ordinarily they would run anyway, but now more so than ever. Just by looking at the Ponies they knew they had been cursed, and if the townsponies weren't careful they could be next. So they all went with the usual plan of hiding in their homes and places of business until the creepy Zecora leaves.

Twilight walked up to the flower shop and knocked on the door. "Daisy, we need to talk."

They were now sitting inside a giant bucket, soaking in the remedy.

"Dear Princess Celestia, My friends and I all learned an important lesson this week: Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don't care what your "cover" is; it's the "contents" of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle"

"Applejack! Hey, where's Applejack?!" The filly asked.

They all looked around panicked, trying to find where their tiny friend had gone.

"I'm right here, little sis." Said Pony had been bathing in a smaller bucket next to the big one, as to not completely drown, and was sitting in the now too small bucket. "I ain't tiny no more!"

"Oh! I have never felt so lovely in all my life!" The snow-white Unicorn commented.

Pinkie Pie was probably the most excited out of all of them. "Oh, my gosh! I never 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, my tongue was all 'ehhhh'! It was the worst! Don't you agree, Fluttershy?"

"...Yes." She replied in her normal voice.

They all then shared a big laugh.

Author's Note

And Cyre and co. Meet zecora! I originally wanted Cyre to turn into a ponified version of himself, but I thought it would be ironic if Cyre tried to tell them the reason, only to miss the boat.